Jill woke up to her phone alarm. She rolled over and looked at the device through bleary eyes. Nine in the morning. She groaned, then slowly rolled out of bed.

  After getting dressed, she peered out of her window. The tower stood, looming up into the sky in the distance, and she made the same promise to herself that she made every day. "I'll go up it. I promise."

  After a quick breakfast with her family, she left the house in a hurry. She had a class at ten and didn't want to be late. She was joined by Jenny, her best friend latching onto Jill's arm as they walked together.

  "Ugh, I don't want to go to stats today," Jenny whined. The older girl had put off math courses as long as possible, which meant taking them with Jill. Jill rolled her eyes, the girl was a scholarship student for track and field and hated any desk work.

  "You're going to have to get used to sitting down sometime. Can't coast on sports forever."

  Jenny pouted, "Stop making sense!" she batted her friend's arm playfully.

  The two of them walked onto campus, surrounded by people of all ages and races. Drowl University was inappropriately named in Jill's opinion, considering that it was on Earth more than any other reason. But it had been established a few years ago, along with this entire settlement to be closer to the tower. The whole world was still enraptured by the inverse planet and had gone all in on making contact.

  It had been twenty years since the tower had been completed, and contact was still a tricky thing. Most bore-bots didn't come down the tower, only a few ever appearing in news broadcasts or scientific labs. The other races supposedly living on Drowl were pretty much the stuff of legends, even the humans supposedly living there.

  Some people of Earth were allowed up the tower on occasion, but the only ones with a free pass were people chosen by the system.

  Jill had met a few people chosen by the system. Guest speakers at the university mostly, but a friend had been chosen a month ago and gone up the tower. Jill hadn't heard from him since.

  She wasn't worried. If she could go to a place of blades and magic, adventure and discovery, she wouldn't write home much either. No...not if, when. When she could go, she mentally chided herself. She had always wanted to go, ever since she had been old enough to learn about the tower.

  Her grandparents had compared it to when humans had landed on the moon. Every kid in the world had wanted to be an astronaut and go to space. Jill was sure that space would be a great second option, but Drowl had stolen her heart. She felt...connected to it. Like she and the strange new world shared some great secret.

  Jenny pulled her out of her musings and they went to their classes. She worked hard in every course, making sure to maintain her 3.9 GPA. Her favorite class though, was system theory. No one really knew why a strange alien world actually used something out of anime and manga. A blue rectangle with quantified stats and leveled abilities was so far removed from real life that it was insane. Somehow, Drowl had been gifted this by their God and considered it divine in some way.

  There was speculation about Jack, the mysterious bore-bot that had appeared on Earth before she was born. Some of the bore-bots who visited often looked disdainful when his name was brought up, while others spoke almost reverently of him. No one on Earth had managed to get the full story, but it was widely speculated on.

  These theories were covered in her class, as well as things like skill lists, levels, stats, and other functions of the system. Jill took to it like a fish to water. She read lots of manga and stories with systems. She did the exercises to try and determine people's stats and skill levels. She had even planned out her own job progression, should she ever be chosen. It all just felt like something out of her own brain, instead of the awkward thing that most other people thought of it as.

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  Jenny was the only other person she knew who seemed to get the system in a similar way. She wasn't as knowledgeable but seemed to have an intuitive reaction to each and every new piece of information. She must have been a system genius or something because she often thought of applications or ideas for skills that the professor had never encountered or considered before. It was the reason she and Jill became friends in the first place. Bouncing crazy ideas and theories off of each other had led to long talks and fun interactions.

  They were leaving the school for the day in the late evening when it happened. Two butterflies floated down from the sky toward them. These were no ordinary butterflies, they were blue and translucent, made of sharp, angular screens instead of chitin. Jill stared, unbelieving as one of the butterflies landed on her outstretched hand. She hadn't even realized that she had been holding her hand out toward it.

  Words emanated from the butterfly, in a masculine voice that people had later associated with the bore-bot Jack. No one knew why the voice was the same, but Jill had a theory. What if Jack was from Earth? What if he had gone to Drowl somehow, and made the system? What if he had come back, and somehow connected the two worlds together? She didn't know the answer, but now she could find out. She was being chosen.

  The words finished. A blue screen appeared in front of her. A status screen. She turned to look at Jenny, who had also received a status screen, and felt herself grin wildly. The two girls threw themselves into a hug and began jumping excitedly. The butterflies continued to hover in midair, seemingly unbothered by the actions of the two girls.

  "We did it! Oh my God, I can't believe it!" Jenny was over the moon, eagerly checking her stats and skills. Jill quickly did the same, noting with satisfaction that most of her guesses had been spot on.

  "This is crazy...I've gotta tell my family!"

  "Wait! Shouldn't we register first?" Jenny had a good point. Registering their new status would start the paperwork needed to be granted acceptance into the tower. The sooner they did it, the sooner they could visit Drowl.

  The two nearly darted off to the registration office, but Jill stopped and turned to the butterflies. "Thank you so much!" She gave them a small bow and a big grin.

  The butterflies made small screens appear in midair and typed out a response. [You're welcome. May the system watch over you.] With that, they flew off into the sky.

  Jill and Jenny ran to the registration office. Once their new status was confirmed, the paperwork began. Jill filled out every form easily, having long since memorized what she would need to do after being chosen. After turning everything in, the paperwork was given a once-over and then approved.

  "If you girls want to stick around a few minutes, a representative from Drowl is actually here. He says that he wants to meet any new chosen who come through if they're willing."

  Jill nearly burst with excitement. Jenny wasn't much better either. Someone from Drowl? Probably a bore-bot. Jill had never met someone from Drowl, and she would not pass up this opportunity. Both girls immediately agreed.

  Ten minutes later, a bore-bot walked into the conference room where they were waiting. Jill felt her heart nearly stop. The bore-bot was a tri-internal type. Gears, steam vents, and mana containment tubing were visible all over their body in a patchwork fashion. The whole effect made them look cobbled together, but Jill still found her breath taken away. Because she knew who this was. This was Abac! The bore-bot who had appeared after Drowl had come to Earth. She had seen pictures of him from his meetings with world leaders, he was the second most important bore-bot after Jack!

  He was only a little over four feet tall, but he had a presence that made him loom larger in Jill's eyes. She only belatedly noticed that there was a system butterfly sitting on his shoulder, one that vibrated slightly as they entered the room.

  Abac greeted Jenny first, shaking her hand and congratulating her on being chosen. Then he turned to Jill. "You must be Jill, then." He reached out his hand, and she took it. Parts of his hand were cold, while other parts were warm.

  "It is an absolute honor to meet you, Mr. Abac, sir."

  He chuckled, "No need for the formality. I should actually say its an honor to meet both of you."

  At their confused expressions, he continued. "You two have actually checked off a few boxes that interested parties are investigating. Some very important people would like to meet you both."

  Jill and Jenny exchanged a look. That was a good thing, right? "Umm, Mr- uh, I mean, Abac. When you say, important people, who do you mean?"

  Abac smiled, the butterfly on his shoulder vibrating so hard it nearly fell off the bore-bot. "A couple of Gods, bore-bots, and demons. They're hoping you can help us work out a few kinks in the system."