Alex’s computer dinged, alerting him to the time and pulling him out of his daydream.
He went through the familiar motions and logged into the Video Meeting at precisely one o’clock.
He was the proctor, so it only made sense for him to be punctual.
There were already five people waiting for the discussion to begin.
He vaguely wondered how they had so little to do that they could be in this meeting, simply waiting, before even he had arrived.
Not a helpful way of thinking about it, Alex. Put on your people-face.
Alex sighed, recentered himself, and then unmuted his microphone, “Hello, and welcome everyone. As usual, we will get started at three past the hour in order to give everyone time to transfer over from their previous meetings. Thank you, in advance, for your promptness and patience.”
He muted himself instantly and sighed again. He was beyond thankful that video feeds weren't required.
He liked his job well enough, but sometimes he felt like a broken record.
He was used to taking the reins and making other people choose what needed to get done. He then made sure that the right people would go and do those things. It was all very… facilitatory.
That was an odd word.
Facilitatory… was he using it right? Should he go look it up? He had a couple of minutes, after all.
“I wonder if this is my lot in life? Is this all there is?”
He thumbed the worn gold band on his left ring finger. Is this all that she’d have wanted for me?
He turned in his chair, leaning back and looking to the picture of his wife. While nearly ten years old, it was still the most recent picture he had of her. “I’ll find my place soon, love. I’ll make you proud.”
It was at that exact moment that the lights went out, and the world—as he knew it—ended.
Alex was a communicator.
More specifically, he helped other people communicate with each other in technical settings.
He helped tech and non-tech people get on the same page for IT related projects. He made sure that others knew what was expected of them, and helped the people with the requisite knowledge make their decisions.
He pushed back on logical inconsistencies or flaws in stated reasoning.
There were many, many other buzz-phrases that could apply to what he did for a living.
He always felt so awkward trying to describe what he did. He’d rather just let other people talk about what they did.
Now, however, he had questions, and uncounted professional hours compelled him to speak, “Umm… Excuse me?”
There was no response as he seemed to be floating in black nothingness.
He could hear his own voice and see his own body despite the seeming lack of light, so that was good, if strange.
He didn’t seem to be standing on anything, yet he wasn’t falling, and his clothes were hanging on him as if gravity was affecting him.
Nothing lined up.
“Hello?”
What seemed like a blue-hued pane of glass appeared before him, easily visible and greatly confirming that something unusual was clearly going on.
He did not particularly like the implications. Thankfully, he had something else to focus on. The blue panel had words somehow etched or printed into its surface.
Initializing.
We thank you, in advance, for your patience.
Well, that was something that he would normally say at the beginning of a meeting… Was someone playing a trick on him?
Was he dead and about to go into a meeting about his afterlife?
He chuckled nervously into the void. Wouldn't that be ironic?
When nothing else happened, he reached out, but his hand passed through the glass-looking panel even before the window pane disappeared.
As he considered things, he felt like he was calmer than he should be.
But that line of thought was quickly replaced by thoughts on the only thing to yet break the monotony of black nothingness around him. It was more like a computer prompt or notification than anything else. Like a message or prompt in a video game, or the blue screen of death… He winced internally. Please don’t have been a literal blue screen of my death…
He didn't think that even he could find humor in the situation if that were the case.
Even with the oddities, he was still himself, so he asked, “Is there anything that I can do? Any way I could assist?”
One should never ask if someone else needed ‘help.’
To offer ‘help' was to imply that the person being asked couldn’t do it on their own.
No, one should always offer ‘assistance’ because the person one was speaking to clearly had everything in hand, and Alex could simply make it easier for them to proceed.
In the end, it didn’t hurt to ask.
This might be a dream, or a prank, or… he really didn’t know. He remembered sitting at his computer, in his home office, what seemed like mere moments ago…
Had he had a heart attack? A stroke? Had someone snuck up behind him and clubbed him over the head?
“Did the world end or something?” He chuckled nervously.
Relevant Inquiry detected.
Yes, your world—as you knew it—has ended.
Your neurochemical levels are under tight regulation to reduce the chance of trauma and speed up your Initialization.
One moment please.
So…not a prank? Or a prank in which they are willing to lie extravagantly.
He grimaced, feeling momentarily fearful before it passed.
He’d never liked pranks.
Still, if the world had ended, either he was dead and it didn’t matter, or he was safe, at least for the moment.
Did anything really matter?
Initialization complete.
Innate self-leveling is noted as more robust than anticipated.
Neurochemical stabilization noted as too extreme, lessening interference.
Alex sucked in a deep breath, eyes widening slightly. “What’s going on?”
You are being inducted into the System.
This is the setup for your tutorial.
Your tutorial must be overcome before you are returned to your planet.
Take this time to adjust, so that you are prepared for your changed homeworld.
“Thank you for the thorough response?”
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
You are most welcome.
Alex looked around, seeing nothing. “If you don’t mind… what now?”
We can start somewhere simple if you like.
“I think that I would appreciate that. Thank you.” He considered for a moment before he asked his most pressing question. “Am I dead?”
…Is the concept of death and the afterlife considered ‘simple’ in your culture?
That does not align with our information and research.
Alex shook his head. “No, your information is correct. I just realized that I wanted to know.”
Analyzing…
Analyzing…
Query Accepted.
You should have died, yes.
In the initiation of your world, the surface was spliced together with other worlds, and you would have been killed by such a splice.
Alex blinked. “Would have. So… not dead?”
No.
“But I should have been?”
Yes.
“Why could you not… be more precise? Simply not have killed me with a splice?”
Excellent question.
It was found to be more energy efficient to provide an Apology Tutorial to those whom the merging would have killed outright, separate from the standard Tutorials.
“That… says a lot, actually. So, what is the Apology Tutorial, exactly?”
That will be revealed when appropriate.
Now, however, the time for you to ask questions has passed.
We are ready to begin. Thus, we need to move on to asking the standard questions to keep things moving smoothly.
Would you like to keep your current name?
He blinked a couple of times at the change in direction in the conversation, but he didn’t feel a need to object. So, he just rolled with it. “Yes? Is there something wrong with ‘Alex Johnson?’ It’s not a curse in the new reality, or a children’s book character?”
No, we simply like to offer the option to change, if you’d like.
“That is very kind. I think I will keep my name.”
Choice Logged:
Name logged and locked:
Alex Johnson
Human(??), 0
Decision Rating: Well reasoned
That was… interesting. It rated his choice? Also, why were there two question marks after ‘Human’?
He almost asked, but something else was weighing on him more from the blue window’s previous statements, “If I may ask… who is ‘we’ in this situation?”
We are the observers of reality within the System.
“...I don’t mean to be rude, but… are observers meant to interact this much?”
We are not—and we generally do not—but this is your Initialization.
And this whole process is meant as an apology, so certain concessions have been made.
We find it better to make beings in your situation within the System feel comfortable during these choices.
You in particular find relaxed communication comforting.
“That’s… fair.” He needed to refocus himself.
It had been decades since he’d last done martial arts, and despite achieving his black belt back in high school, he’d never gone beyond that. Still, he often took comfort in the self-calming aspects that he remembered from the practice.
After pulling in two breaths—then giving a single, long exhale—he nodded, “What’s next?”
Next, you will go through the rest of the Initial Choices.
Then the Tutorial Aspect selection will occur.
We will be less communicative during that process, to limit our influence upon you.
The System will use this medium of communication going forward.
Are you ready to proceed?
System Notice:
An active internal visualization capacity has been detected and will be temporarily enhanced to aid your decision making.
“I think I understand? Yes. I am ready.” He realized that he was still much more calm and focused than he should be, given the circumstances, but they had said that they were balancing his brain chemistry, so…
He only had to wait a moment before the next pane popped up, and it was a massive one, comparatively. Unlike previous ones, it seemed that he could make selections throughout the whole window.
System Language Settings:
Please make a selection in each field
Translate intelligent, auditory communication in languages unknown to you into:
English (Selected)
Valley Girl
Pirate
Pig-Latin
Bleeps
Silence
[NULL] No other known language found for Alex Johnson
Do Not Translate
Translate written words into:
English (Selected)
Valley Girl
Pirate
Pig-Latin
Scratches
Blank Surfaces
[NULL] No other known language found for Alex Johnson
Do Not Translate
Content Filters
Obscenities:
Bleep
Silence
Randomly Generated Replacements
Best Translation of Intent
Do Not Filter (Selected)
Insulting or Otherwise Offensive Speech:
Bleep
Silence
Randomly Generated Encouragement
Do Not Filter (Selected)
Tutorial Addendum:
You are responsible for your own choices.
The System takes no responsibility for misunderstandings created due to the censoring, filtering, or silencing of speech.
Choose wisely.
Alex stared in subdued wonder for a long moment.
This System contained an instant translator of both auditory and written communication?
That was amazing!
That alone was far beyond any current technology that he was aware of… not that the other things he’d experienced were normal by any means.
Even so, some of the choices were just odd.
Who in their right mind would choose to hear unknown languages all in ‘Valley Girl’... or ‘Pirate’? What would that even mean?
He had a momentary imagining about accidentally selecting ‘Pig-Latin.’
A man approached Alex, a clearly advanced weapon drawn and pointed his way. “Urrendersay oryay ebay estroyedday.”
Alex continued to eat his croissant, speaking around the food in his mouth, “I’m sorry… What?”
The gun came up just a bit, the alien’s finger moving to the trigger. “Eclareday ouyay illway otnay ebay iolentvay oryay iyay illway estroyday ouyay.”
Alex’s head hurt too much for this. “Please just let me eat. I don’t have time for this.”
“Iyay iedtray otay ebay icenay. Iyay avehay ootay uchmay otay oday. Egonebay.”
The man's weapon flashed, and Alex knew only darkness.
He huffed a laugh, his own mind already straining at his imagining of pig-latin. “Yeah, let’s avoid that. English is fine.”
That also explained what ‘active internal visualization’ had been enhanced. This was going to be… odd.
He then considered the other options for a moment. He didn’t particularly like listening to obscenities, even if it wasn’t something that he ever commented on specifically. But he also didn’t know how the System would classify ‘Obscenities.’
He shrugged. “Sure, let’s see what we get with ‘Randomly Generated Replacements’ and ‘Best Translation of Intent.’ Selecting both will probably randomly choose between those two, I’d imagine.”
He doubted such settings were permanent, but even if he could make changes later, silence could just be dangerous. If someone was charging at him, yelling obscenities, he wouldn’t want to be caught unaware because the System had silenced their words.
For ‘Insulting or Offensive Speech’ he once again wondered who would determine what that meant?
He had a brief flash of what might happen should he select ‘Randomly Generated Encouragement.’
Alex was a bit confused.
The man seemed rather perturbed, but his every word was glowing praise for Alex’s work.
“Thank you?”
That seemed to make the man even angrier… which somehow made him compliment Alex’s mother, his wife—may she rest in peace—and Alex’s appearance in general.
“You really don’t have to be so nice… You seem rather put out, your words aside. Can I help you with something?”
Many of the onlookers hooted with laughter, even as the man screamed at the sky.
Right… I should have asked if I could ‘assist’ him with something. That was a rookie mistake. You’re better than this, Alex.
Alex was thoroughly confused, but he decided it was worth trying to apologize for the slip of the tongue. Well, he was going to try until the man hauled back and punched Alex in the face.
Alex shook his head. “Nope.”
Obviously, he could adjust if necessary, but it would be exhausting to constantly be trying to filter through falsely ‘encouraging’ words to find what people really meant.
It was better to just be insulted and know that that person was a jerk or didn’t like him.
For ‘Insulting or Otherwise Offensive Speech,’ he left the selection on ‘Do Not Filter.’
And those were all the language settings, as odd as even having language settings was to consider.
When no other pane or prompt immediately popped into his vision, Alex looked around for a long moment, through the massively empty black void.
Then, thousands of creatures appeared—ranging from humanoid beings to monsters of nightmares—scattered in the space around him.
His breath quickened in fear for the briefest instant before a blue system notice sprang up in front of him, grounding him in the new ‘reality’ of this System.
Right, I’m not about to be assaulted. Not just yet anyways.
It’s time to Choose Your Apocalypse
(Apology Tutorial):
Choose a type of creature as your ‘Initial Tutorial Opponent’ in your introduction to the System.
Oh… Well, that’s interesting.