“Ah! Can you…” I motioned with one hand while I shielded my eyes with the other. His eyes had eyes. It was beyond disturbing. That, and the more eyes he opened, the worse my headache grew.

“Your people have had contact with mine, when the dimensional barriers were thin. It has been some time, however.”

I nodded. “Yeah. I think I’m picking up what you’re putting down. If it isn’t too rude, can I ask how you lost your wings?”

He shook his head. “We are not friends. It is a sensitive and personal subject.”

I raised my hands. “Hey, I get it. No worries.” I paused, putting my hands down, then I leaned in. “So… you’re an angel.”

“That is what your people call us, yes.”

“Weird. Also, I’m pretty certain I’m talking to you in English. I’m hearing what you say in English, but I’m not convinced you’re speaking my language.”

He smiled again, though he kept his extra eyes closed. “I am, actually.”

“How did you learn English?”

“It’s remarkably similar to Common. Think of it as parallel evolution.”

I nodded sagely, saying “like crabs.”

The look of confusion on his face was worth every penny on the planet.

“Like… like crabs? I don’t understand.”

“A cool bit of parallel evolution right here on Earth. We even have a word for it: carcinisation. Scientists have discovered at least five different groups of crustaceans that evolved to be like crabs.”

“While that is fascinating, it is not relevant.”

I nodded. “Fair enough.” I took another sip of the whiskey. “So, what do we do now?”

“Now? Now we enjoy the whiskey. This is a business meeting. Which means that as long as you are here, I don’t need to field stupid questions by barely trained newbies in their fields. Most of them are only level one in their jobs. Half of them haven’t even lived out their first century!”

I laughed. “I’m twenty.”

Douma tilted his head. “Twenty what?”

“Years. I’m twenty years old. Most people on Earth don’t live past eighty.”

He stared for a long moment. “With lives that short, how did you get anything done?”

I shrugged. “Mostly by working together as a society.”

“Exceptional. You must have some incredible incentives for working together.”

Eh,” I said with a shrug. “Not really. Actually, at this point, it was mostly a capitalist nightmare, headed straight for a future as an ecological wasteland.”

“Incredible. What caused you to advance, then?”

“Empathy, probably. That, and those few who expressed greed in positive ways, like by gathering and releasing knowledge. Science was mostly driven by a handful of people. That’s how it looked from the outside, at least. I don’t really know, I was only in my second year of college. Hadn’t even declared my major yet.”

“Truly fascinating. Do you believe you know what your future would have looked like, had the system not come along?”

“Well, it’s only been a day. But it feels like so much more. Practically a lifetime already. I was chatting with a woman on the balcony at a mansion when I fell because of a zero-frame exploit used by a necromancer.”

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“Oh, nasty lot, them.”

“Necromancers? Yeah. Though this one was a pushover. Broke his neck.”

Douma’s eyes widened. I even saw a few extras start to crack open.

“Then again,” I hurriedly added, “he did end up becoming a weird amalgam-thing that wrecked a good chunk of the mansion. Actually, most of it still is trashed. I need to get around to cleaning it up.”

“Is it yours?”

I took a sip and nodded. “Yeah.” I cleared my throat. Rushing that sip had made it stick a bit in my throat. “Yeah. But I wanted to check out town. I was wondering if there was anybody else around, I guess.”

Douma shook his head, swallowing his sip. “No, most of humanity will be in the tutorial for three months. That will take them through leveling up, unlocking abilities, jobs, how technology will work now, all the information they’ll need to be productive citizens in the System.”

I looked into my glass, seeing it was empty. I was a little sad. It had truly been the best whiskey I had ever tasted.

“I think that means it is time. It has been a pleasure having you here. I will look back on this with fond memories in the future.” He stood, reminding me of just how massive he was. I took the hint and stood as well. “I’ll escort you to the floor exit. That should take you to the next available floor.”

I thanked him, opened the door, and stepped out of his office. Despite how cramped it was, the room actually felt welcoming. He followed me a moment later, closing the door behind him. I had to jog to keep up once he started walking because of how long his legs were.

“Do you know off hand what other floors are open?”

Douma shook his head. “No. It was pure luck that we were, since I was expecting a shipment of furniture. The tutorial isn’t just for your benefit. As much magic as there is in the System, sometimes nothing beats good old fashioned hard work.”

“Probably something to do with unemployment, right?”

Douma waved a hand in dismissal. “Not really an issue. There’s so much work to be done that if anybody wants a job, they can find one easily. Support jobs pay enough to live comfortably, though nothing like adventuring. Still, you’ll find about two-thirds of any given population will go into support roles.”

“I wonder how humanity will shake out on that scale. We tend to be pretty individualistic. At least, we are in America. A lot of Eastern countries, especially the Asian countries are community oriented to a mind-boggling degree. Well, for someone who’s grown up in a society like this.”

He didn’t really react. I couldn’t tell if he was growing tired of talking to me, or if it was something else, but he seemed far away. A moment later, he pressed on a bit of blank wall. It looked like concrete, but it slid soundlessly away. Outside was one of the most opulent elevator banks I had ever seen. Marble floors, gold filigreed furniture, gemstone buttons. It was ridiculous. I had never witnessed wealth like that before.

“Hey, Douma?”

The angel stopped, looking at me quizzically. “What is it, Alabaster?”

I was stunned. “Wait, when did I tell you my name?”

He smiled again, though it was gentler than before. “You didn’t, nor did you need to. I’m old enough, wise enough, and experienced enough to tease a lot of information out of identify.”

I realized I had never even tried to use it on the tall man. He gave me a slight nod, as if he knew what I was thinking. I gave it a go.

Douma

Race: Fallen Angel

Faction: Silver Spire Casino

Level: 20 (99)

HP: 2500/2500 (????)

HP regen per second: ??? (???)

Mana: 2500/2500 (????)

Mana regen per second: ??? (???)

“Do note,” Douma said in his rich, faintly French voice. “I am allowing you to see more of my sheet than is normal. While I can’t treat you like a friend, should we ever meet again, I can at the moment.”

“Why does your level say twenty, but something else in parentheses?”

He smiled again. There was a glint in his eyes. “You’re a smart young man. I think you can sort it out. Time for you to be on your way. Good luck, Master Blackwood.”

With his parting words, he gently urged me out of the hallway and into the elevator foyer. I was too stunned to fight back, or even question him. The door slid smoothly and silently shut, leaving no visual mark it had ever been there. I gaped at the far wall, barely registering anything.

“Not twenty. Not twenty.” I wiped my forehead clear of the sweat that had just broken out all along my brow. “He wasn’t level twenty. Not really.”

It took me a few minutes to get over the shock. When I finally did, I walked to the elevators and pushed the up arrow. I glanced around the room, taking it in while I waited for the elevator to arrive. A ding sounded out, announcing the arrival of the car. I noticed something at the same time. A key card was sitting on a table in the center of the room. Neither had been there when I walked in. I looked around, still seeing nobody. With a shrug, I took the card, then stepped into the elevator. There were two floors available: 50 and 99.

I pushed the button for fifty, not wanting to test my luck. Nothing happened. I pushed the button for ninety-nine, and was surprised by a pleasant, neutral-toned female voice.

“Access denied. Please provide access credentials.”

I looked at the key card in my hand, then held it out to the elevator buttons. A soft chime sounded.

“Thank you. Tier-one penthouse.”

The world went black.