A man was sleeping on a small bed in a small room. He felt a vibration somewhere on his bed. It happened again and again until he finally reached over and swiped off the alarm on his phone. He cracked one eye and looked over at the phone plugged into the wall and lying just within reach. It was 7:35, just like every other day for the last month. He slowly got out of bed with a muffled groan and did a few basic stretches before heading into the small bathroom. After a quick shower, he was staring into the mirror, having shaved and brushed his teeth. A second alarm went off, so it had to be a workday.
"Is today the day, James?"
He continued to stare into the mirror for another minute. His not quite six-foot frame with dirty blonde hair and pale grey/blue eyes stared back, as empty and unblinking as usual. He shook a pill out of each of the bottles next to the sink and did a quick dry swallow with a sigh. He then went back into the only other room in the tiny apartment and pulled some mostly clean clothes from the pile next to his bed. A minute to put on a threadbare coat, and he was headed out the door.
It was only a five-minute walk to the bus stop, and he arrived right before the 8:15 bus arrived. He held a nearly perpetual blank stare as he gazed out the window until the bus arrived in front of the mall. By 8:50, he was suited up in a tan jumpsuit and standing next to the clock-in terminal. At exactly 8:55, he clocked in and proceeded to start cleaning the restrooms around the mall.
The day passed as usual, with a burger in the food court for lunch and various custodial duties taking up his time until 5:00. The bus ride home was very uninteresting, which was usually a very good thing. Bus excitement rarely ended well. Finally getting back to his apartment, he heated up a Beefy Boy frozen dinner and started streaming old 80's cartoons.
After a quick dinner, he went to lie down in bed while the TV kept its streaming. As he started to drift off to sleep, James realized that he would have to change something at some point, just as he had every day for a month.
***
There was a vibration nearby. At 7:35, James rolled over and swiped off the alarm. After his shower, a second alarm did not go off. That would make it Monday, and he was off today. James stared into the mirror after brushing his teeth. The same pale eyes stared back at him.
"How about it, James? Is today the day?"
He continued to stare into the mirror for a minute. Suddenly the mirror went black. His image was blinked back into the black background, but it definitely wasn't him. The mirror image's mouth curled in a smirk, and the eyes had a definite spark of life.
"James," The mirror spoke in a voice so close to his but jangling oddly across the higher frequencies, "Today IS the day." The mirror started to shine like a bottled sun, and suddenly he was falling towards it. Upon making contact, he slipped through, and after a flash of unbearably bright and shining silver, everything suddenly went to black. Before his face was swallowed by the light so bright it would surely scorch his flesh from his bones, a whisper escaped his lips to lightly echo through the now-empty apartment.
"Finally."
***
Pressure and something else crawled over his skin, with both sensations increasing steadily over time. He couldn't really put a name to the something else, but it was starting to feel like being submerged in a pool of chili oil. On the one hand, James was in favor of feeling something new, but this was certainly not something that would be considered enjoyable for the bulk of the population.
There was no sensation of movement. There was nothing except the pressure and the slowly building pain. The novelty of the situation had now worn off, and James was wondering what he needed to do here. He only had enough breath for another minute or so, and if the sensation on his skin were anything to go by, breathing here would not be an enjoyable experience.
James did what he always did; he locked himself down. Not thinking and not feeling had become second nature at this point, so he retreated inside himself and tried to go back to sleep. The pressure and pain increased again, eliciting a grunt of annoyance, but nothing else as he continued to retreat into himself. His consciousness was starting to flicker slightly as he stubbornly refused to breathe. As James faded out for the second time today and his brain checked out, his only real thought was that it was about damn time.
***
James arrived at his destination with a short fall and a solid thump, not that he was aware of it yet. His brain was being rebooted for the third time today. His first thought was that losing consciousness this often could not be good for him.
He opened his eyes, and a very unfamiliar ceiling was the only thing in his immediate field of view. He didn't know what the ceiling was made out of in his apartment, but he was very sure it wasn't grey stone. James shifted his head slightly and was surprised by the lack of pain. It was a plain room made of a solid dull grey stone with a wooden door with a paper attached to it about ten feet away. A waist-high pillar held a dark red orb between him and the door, though there was plenty of room to get by on the side.
James was more interested in the door as he was starting to get a bit hungry. The mirror had rudely kidnapped him before breakfast, and his routine required some food after his shower. After he levered himself up from a thin mat, he wobbled for a second, but the dizziness passed quickly, and he walked straight to the door. He pulled on the plain metal handle, but it didn't move. He pulled harder, but it didn't shift at all. He decided to read the note attached to the door at this point.
Welcome back to your true home. The Earth you know was created as a sanctuary after humanity's original homeworld was rendered uninhabitable. You will be pleased to hear that not only are you able to survive here, but you can also help restore Pangaea to its former majesty. You have been brought here as part of the repopulation effort. Be aware that your estimated time of survival will be measured in hours without the Regulated Growth System. The lucky ones died, and the warped ones are far less fortunate. To accept this system and begin your new life, you need only put your hand on the orb in the center of the room. Survive, Thrive, and take back your home.
Well, that was odd. James immediately discounted the possibility of some sort of prank or kidnapping. You would need friends or at least acquaintances for the first and money or fame for the second one. Since James had neither, the simplest explanation was that the note was telling the truth. That officially pegged things at weird and only likely to get more so.
He looked back at the pedestal and the orb in the center of the room. He walked over and gave it a closer look. Getting closer, he noticed a symbol etched on the blood-red sphere. At first glance, it was a circle with a square inside, with a triangle nested inside that. Upon closer inspection, the lines were actually woven of a triplicate strand of characters that didn't really match any writing he was familiar with.
Looking at them for more than a few seconds started a pretty decent headache to form right behind his eyes. James looked away from the symbol to see that it had a slight hand-shaped indentation in the top, making it pretty obvious what was expected there. So, with no further consideration, James put his hand right on top.
Welcome to the Regulated Growth System.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Your consent is required before implantation.
You must give your consent verbally.
"What the motherfuckin' What?"
Despite his rather blase acceptance of the insane twists and turns that his day had thrown at him so far, I'm thinking about you mirror doppelganger, this was just too much. Semi-transparent holographic screens that floated in front of his eyes were the straw that finally broke the camel's back. He quickly pulled his hand away, and the screen winked out. James had never played video games. He only had a flip phone for emergencies. He had no way to realize this system had been made to make integration as smooth as possible for people in his age range. With no previous reference point, this drove home the unreality more than a strange stone room ever could.
"I can't do this today. It's my day off."
He sighed and went back to lay down on the thin mat. It wasn't as comfortable as his bed, but it still seemed to be a better option than the floor. He stared at the ceiling as his thoughts struggled to move through the cocktail of drugs that still inhabited his system. On the one hand, part of him wanted this, as ridiculously insane as it all seemed to be. It was the massive change that some small core part of him desired beyond almost all else, a way out of a wholly grey and empty existence.
Unfortunately, it was just too much, and he couldn't process it. So James did what he always did in these situations. He zoned out and tried to let it all pass him by. After a few minutes of staring at the utterly uninteresting ceiling, against all odds, he fell asleep.
****
Child, you must awaken.
What?
Child, I did not go to all the trouble to bring you here as my forerunner for you to turn into another drooling monstrosity.
My name is James.
James, it is much harder to talk to you without the Regulated Growth System imprinted on your being. Please accept so that the considerable amount of time and power spent to bring you here will not be wasted.
What's your name? It's rude not to introduce yourself.
What? It's Tiamat, and I am the patron deity that summoned you to Pangaea.
Tiamat? Are you a five-headed dragon?
No! If Gygax wasn't already dead, he would be in some serious trouble. I'm not a character from a roleplaying game. I'm Tiamat, Goddess of the Eastern Sea, Nurturer of Life, and Mother of Monsters.
What was that last part? You kind of faded out there.
Mother of Monsters. That is the final part of my official title.
Well, you can see how that makes it a bit harder to trust you. Anything with monsters in it is really a bit off-putting.
Well, you make a few mistakes in the life creation section of your duties, and you never live it down. I'm the giver of life, not the taker. I love all my children, no matter what they happen to look like.
That is somehow oddly comforting. So what happens if I don't accept your computer software, whatever it is?
You will most likely change into a bloodthirsty monster that will kill all it comes across without remorse until you are finally put down, burned, and salted.
That doesn't sound great. It's definitely not a strong contender. What happens if I do accept?
The Regulated Growth System, or ReGS, will prevent the whole monster thing and help you grow strong enough to survive here in Pangaea. It is your only chance.
Why was I brought here, and why am I so….lucid?
You were lost and broken. It is part of my nature to be drawn to such as yourself. Eventually, everyone from your world will be brought over, but our chosen pioneers are summoned first. As far as your current lucidity, we are communicating with our souls, not bodies, so that drugs and damage present in the material world aren't affecting you right now. The ReGS will help with some of that once you accept. Our time is at an end. Wake up and make your choice.
*****
With a start, James was back awake. He struggled to process that weird dream right now, but it felt important. He wasn't exactly sure how real it was, but he knew that he didn't feel terrific right now. It was a super unpleasant mix of nausea, headache, and having been lightly brushed by stinging nettles over most of his skin.
Even in the few minutes it took him to slowly process this information, the symptoms continued to build. He wasn't really sure about anything anymore, but it seemed that he couldn't just ignore this and expect it to go away. Apathy was a comfortable outfit to wear, but even it had its limits. Slowly getting up, with his body protesting at any sort of movement, he shuffled over to the center of the room. The lines on the orb now flickered with a soft pale blue fire that gave off no heat at all. Once again, he put his hand on the crimson sphere.
Welcome to the Regulate Growth System.
Your consent is required before implantation.
You must give your consent verbally.
"I consent."
Consent Acquired.
Beginning Soul Bonding.
This may be uncomfortable.
That was not a promising start, but the decision had already been made, and James was certainly not someone currently prone to introspection or looking back. The stinging started to fade first, being replaced with a chilly menthol sensation that, while not pleasant, was still better than the nettles. A steady pressure started on the skin touching the orb and then seemed to sink inside. It seemed to latch onto something that sat between his lungs and stomach. The pressure built into the worst case of heartburn James had experienced until just as suddenly it was gone.
Soul Bonding is successful.
Beginning Body Enhancement.
This will be exceedingly uncomfortable.
That seemed even less promising. The pressure and the menthol were back again. This time the sensations started from the center of his chest and worked their way outwards. Well, it may have started as menthol, but now it was cold so deep it burned as it spread through every part of him. When it got to his head, it paused momentarily and seemed to strobe for lack of a better word.
When it resumed, it wasn't cold anymore. It was a forest fire that set every neuron it passed on fire until there was no more thought, only pain. The world had been reduced to a cacophony of agony, and try as he might, he could not remove his hand from the orb. There was no choice to be made and no reprieve, just an existence made of terrible light and cleansing fire. Finally, it receded, and his world started to dim as his mind gave up for the umpteenth time that day. Before James collapsed, one final screen flashed into his vision momentarily.
Body Enhancement Successful.
All excess eldritch energy removed.
Abnormalities and foreign bodies removed.
All non-biological chemicals removed.
Neural degeneration halted
Diety Level Override - temporary memory block implemented
Say 'Status' to view your ReGS interface.
Welcome to Pangaea! Welcome Home!