Being alone for the first time since waking up, I take a few deep breaths to center myself and try and shake off the tenseness of what I learned so far. Breathe in, breathe out, meditate just like he told you to. I sit down on the bed and continue going for some time, slowly reaching balance.
Once I feel fine again, I take out my phone and check the battery. It’s roughly half full and I can see I’m not getting any bars. Clock is still working, though, and roughly matches the time of day outside. If this world operates using the same time as Earth, that’s one less thing to worry about.
I turn off my phone and look around a bit before deciding to contact Rep. I take another centering breath. “Rep?” I say and suddenly feel something bloom in my mind, as though there’s a presence in there.
“Hello, Sebastian.”
There is no sound, just the sensation of hearing. It feels like it comes from inside me, as though I am listening to my own voice reverberating through my bones. It is unnerving.
“Please, don’t be stressed. We just communicate using unusual channels.”
Did they just surmise what I was thinking, or did they somehow read my thoughts?
“Our primary means of communication skims surface thoughts, lowering latency and providing seamless action.”
No no no no. No! Get out! NO!
All at once the presence in my mind shrinks, taking up significantly less space. I don’t trust my thoughts anymore, now that someone is listening in.
“We sincerely apologize, Sebastian. It was not our intent. We were not aware of how problematic you find this method. Let us amend it.”
I shake my head at the voice, trying to think only about it and nothing about myself. Then, as suddenly as it appeared, the presence in my mind recedes completely and disappears. I begin doing more breathing exercises, my anxiety having flared up again, and start naming things I saw today. I spend several minutes taking deep breaths and grounding myself.
I settle down once my mind feels clearer and I stop shaking. I could never get behind the concept of telepathy, and this reminded me of how off-putting I find it to be.
I don’t know how long it takes for the presence in my mind to return, this time considerably weaker.
“Again, let us apologize. It’s what our systems default to and we never figure to offer the choice. We can only offer you our word that we have closed off the thought connection and your thoughts are as safe as they can be. Our only method of hearing you now is when you speak.”
I give myself a few moments to breathe in and out and try and place trust. I have no idea whether or not Rep is speaking the truth, but I have little other option than to accept their words at face value. “Very well. I choose to trust you.” I decide to put some emotional distance and just learn what I can now.
“Thank you, Sebastian. We would now like to answer any and all questions you have, and provide guidance if you’re not sure what to do at this juncture.”
“OK. Let me think about my questions.” I give myself a moment to continue breathing. It is taking a lot out of me to stay calm. I figure out my first question. “How did I end up here?”
“Going straight for the hard questions, we see. Very well, let us explain what we can: You died. You died ahead of your time. The thing that killed you was not supposed to be, much less be a danger to you. Getting you here was something of a rush job for us.”
I start processing that answer and decide that I don’t really care. It’s already done and it is as regular an isekai setup as any. “Right. Bozhidar mentioned a Gamer System. Could you elaborate?”
“This might take a little while, so get comfy.”
I settle down better on the bed. “Done. Go on.”
“OK then. Your System is an experimental piece of technology we are testing out. You’re the first to use it.
“To start with, I have to state that we can’t remove the thought connection from the System because it is ingrained into it. I can assure you the connection is unmonitored and will not be saved anywhere. To access the System, you can think or say the words ‘Open System’.”
I do as Rep described and in front of me something that looks like a tablet pops into existence and floats in midair in front of me. The display shows System v1.0 and has a slide to unlock bar which says ‘Slide to Align’. I slide it and the display changes to one befitting a tablet: four apps in the center and a clock at the top, the time it says feeling right based on what I saw on my phone. I don’t see a battery indicator. The apps are Character Sheet, Clock, Notifications and Shop.
“That’s your console of sorts. From it you can access all of the sub-systems and their various uses. Let us do something real quick, since we just noticed something we missed.”
The screen goes haywire for a moment before returning and showing five apps instead of four, the new addition being called Conversation History. Then Rep speaks again and I see something like a blue holographic display pop up in front of me.
“We realized you might need an easier way to keep track of what we speak of and about. From now on our correspondence will also arrive in text form like this, and everything we said so far will be kept in the conversation history. Let us explain some of the apps you have access to.
“The Clock is what you would expect. You can run timers and stopwatches, as well as set alarms. The alarms will sound in your head and only for you.
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“Notifications should be empty right now, but it will fill up sooner rather than later.
“For the next bit, I’m going to need you to open the Character Sheet. You can do so physically, by tapping, or just thinking the words in a clear manner.”
I tap the app and the display changes, showing me what must be my own character sheet.
Name: Sebastian Harris
Attributes:
Condition:
Body: C
Mind: B
Magic: B
Luck: A
Health: Good
Focus: Good
Mana: Good
Providence: Good
Skills:
Traits:
Cooking E
Mechanic D
Meditation E
Polearm Combat C
Stealth D
Combat Sense D
Honesty D
Self-Awareness E
Spending Sense D
Techniques:
Sub-Systems:
Leg Sweep C
Power Jab C
Character Sheet
Clock
Conversation History (Rep)
Notifications
Shop
XP: 0
Tokens: 10
“Right now, your sheet is a bit barebones. Raising your Self-Awareness rank will make some readings more precise, while whatever you learn will be recorded here henceforth. Besides that, further sub-systems can and will open up new sections of the character sheet. It is our sincere hope that you will explore this System and help us test it.”
The way my sheet looks makes sense. I didn’t expect my training with a quarterstaff to be this prominent, nor that my physical condition translate to a relatively low Body score. As I finish looking over the sheet, I have a couple questions. “What’s Providence?”
“We… don’t actually know. As we said, the System is in testing.”
“Mm. What about Luck? Can I expect to see a tangible difference?” I’m hoping Rep would have an answer to this.
“Probably? How do you measure a tangible difference related to luck?”
My face sours. “I have to admit you’re right.” I think about further questions and decide I have none for now. “We can move on to the Shop, I think.”
“Very well. Simply thinking yourself into the Shop should work as well as tapping out of the Character Sheet and into the Shop.”
I give the thought thing a try and see the display simply shift over. The Shop is another simple app, this time resembling something like a real cash shop in freemium games. At the top I see two types of coins, one with 0 next to it, the other with 10. They are probably mirroring my XP and Tokens, respectively.
The Shop appears to include 4 categories right now: Skills, Traits, Techniques and Sub-Systems, mirroring the sections of my character sheet. I go into each and note that Skills and Techniques take XP to purchase, while Traits and Sub-Systems take Tokens. “It’s clear what I pay with. How do I gain these currencies?”
“Tokens are given by the System for participating in using it. Improving the things on your character sheet will award tokens. We aren’t sure about XP as yet.”
“OK, then.” I don’t fail to notice I didn’t work for the tokens I already have. “Got a recommendation for something I should get from the Shop?”
“We do, actually. The Help File Sub-System should contain a lot of information about the system, and this world, for you to look over at your leisure.”
That does sound like a sensible purchase. “I’ll get it, then. Thanks.” I find it in the Shop and purchase it for 2 tokens, which feels like a decent price if it is an actual official recommendation. At this point I notice that I have been surprisingly calm throughout this exchange. I consider this for a moment, in silence, and decide that the entire thing was like a phone call so far, and phone calls are easy.
That realization, though, suddenly makes me notice how tired I feel. I take a deep breathe and think my way to the Clock app. “I think we’re done here for now, Rep. I want to rest.” Without waiting for a reply I already set an alarm for 2 hours later.
“Very well, Sebastian. Then we will take our leave for now. Don’t be afraid to call if you need to.”
“Mm.” I intone and nod as Rep’s presence in my mind recedes and disappears. I wrap myself with the blanket on the bed, lay my head down, and drift to sleep.