Morgan felt like he’d been on a week-long bender. His head was throbbing, and his stomach groaned like an angry abyss. Blearily, he pried open his dry, crusty eyelids and looked around. For a few moments, he was stricken with confusion - was he on the floor of his bathroom? Wait, that wasn’t right; he was on board the Pilgrim 9. No, that wasn’t right either - there weren’t tiles on the spacecraft, even in the officer suites. What? Suddenly it rushed back to him, and Morgan sat up with a jolt of adrenaline. He’d been on an EVA, the yellow golden mist, the darkness, the strange voice in his head. Morgan rubbed his eyes quickly and looked around. Yes, the floor was some sort of dark ceramic tilework, and, in the dim shadows, he could make out gray walls in front of him and to his left. The light was faint, but it had a golden hue. Morgan looked to his right and then behind him and gasped. There was the source of the glow. It was a small golden ball, about the size of a marble, seemingly hovering in the air about two feet off the ground and about a yard away from him.

“What the fuck…?” Morgan struggled to his knees and realized they were bare; he wasn’t wearing his EVA suit or the silver jumper he’d had on underneath. He was wearing a simple pair of brown cloth shorts, and that was it. “Seriously, what the fuck?” He wasn’t cold, and he realized that the glowing, floating marble gave off a bit of heat. Behind the light source, the tile floor stretched into yawning shadows. Morgan couldn’t hear a sound, but as he strained to see past the marble, he started to notice that the light felt good. Like stepping into the summer sunshine after sitting in a dark, cold movie theatre, sort of good. He hesitantly stretched his hand toward the marble, and it steadily glowed, not moving, not blasting him with heat - just a warm, comfortable radiance. He stopped his fingers about an inch from the marble and pulled back his hand. Just what the hell was going on?

Morgan stood up and stretched his aching joints, peering into the shadows. He could see that the ceiling was of an average height and looked to be gray in the dim light, just like the wall he’d been lying near. He took a step toward the nearby wall and placed a hand on it. Cool stone. Definitely stone. Solid and thick. Morgan walked along the wall and came to a corner. Another stone wall. As he moved away from the glowing marble, his eyes adjusted gradually to the dark, and he realized he was in a rectangular room about 15 by 30 feet. He’d been lying near one corner. Morgan walked the perimeter until he was in the corner opposite where he’d been lying and furthest from the glowing marble, and he saw that there was a wooden door with large metal hinges in the wall. The door was smooth, and the boards it was crafted from were a rich, deep brown. It fit almost perfectly into the stone doorway, with just the tiniest of cracks between the wood and stone. There was no handle.

Morgan gingerly felt around the wood, gently pressing and trying to pull at the edge with his fingernails. He couldn’t get it to move at all. Setting the door aside for the moment, he continued his circuit around the room and found absolutely nothing but the tile floor and the stone walls. He felt like he’d be hard-pressed to even come up with some dust. He walked over the cool, hard tiles back to the glowing marble. “I guess it comes down to you, eh?” Once again, Morgan stretched his right hand out to the marble, noting that the warmth was not at all unpleasant, even less than an inch from his fingers. Very gingerly, he stretched his fingers out the last little bit and felt the smooth, warm surface of the glowing ball.

There was a bit of a flare, and Morgan pulled his hand back, but the light moved with it. He realized his hand felt very warm and that the light was moving through his finger and into his skin. The warmth spread through his hand and up his arm. He held his arm out and saw that the light was spreading through his body, almost like it was traveling in his veins. At first, his hand and arm were glowing, but as the warmth spread through his body, and Morgan felt like he’d been dropped into a warm, luxurious bath, the glow faded.

***Congratulations! You’ve achieved level 1 base human.***

The message was floating in front of Morgan’s eyes. White text on a gray, semi-opaque background. Morgan reached up to his face, wondering if he’d had augmented reality glasses on this whole time, but there was nothing there. He closed his eyes, and the screen was still there! He opened his eyes and realized the room wasn’t completely dark with the glowing marble gone - there was a very diffuse dim light emanating from the ceiling. He reached out and tried to feel the screen in front of his face. To his surprise, he could feel it. It was pliable and stretchy and moved with this hand. Morgan swiped the screen like he would dismiss a notification on a workstation, and it worked - it zipped away, shrinking into nothing. Only to be replaced with another one:

Status

Name:

Morgan Hall

Race:

Human - Base 1

Class:

—

Level:

1

Energy Affinity:

9.2

Energy:

20/0

Strength:

6

Vitality:

8

Dexterity:

8

Agility:

7

Intelligence:

12

Will:

10

Titles & Feats:

Human Champion

Skills:

System Language Integration - Not Upgradeable

“Uh, what the hell is this? Am I in a game?” Morgan’s mind was spinning. Though he spoke out loud, he was surprised when another screen popped up in front of the status screen.

***You have been integrated into a System controlled domain.***

Morgan grunted in thought and then swiped the message aside, looking more closely at the status screen. “Let’s see. Race, class, level, stats - a lot like a VR RPG back home.” Morgan wondered about his stats. What was the maximum stat? Was there a maximum? It seemed his intelligence was much higher than his strength. It made sense - he wasn’t a weakling, but he wasn’t exactly a bodybuilder. He’d always been smart, though, and good with puzzles - it’s how he’d gotten his position on the colony ship. What was energy affinity? He suddenly had a thought and spoke out loud, “What is the system?”

***The System is a term used to describe the autonomous collective of benevolent entities that collaboratively manage the Energy infused portions of the known universes to create better harmony between sapient species and Energy and to push those sapient species to greater heights of understanding and advancement.***

Morgan swiped away the screen and said, “What is energy?”

***Energy is the living force that infuses all beings and materials in System-controlled portions of the known universes***

Morgan sighed and swiped away the screen. That seemed a little circular. “What does Energy do?” No response. “Who are the entities that make up the System?” No response. “Am I speaking to the System now?” No response. He decided to take another tack, “What is a class?”

***A Class is a System-curated set of skills and attributes.***

Interesting. “How do I get a class?”

***The System has determined that Humans will be eligible for a class selection at the tenth level.***

“What are attributes?” Nothing. “What is strength?”

***Strength is the measure of your physical power relative to other Energy infused beings.***

That was basically what Morgan had figured. “What is will?”

***Will is the measure of your ability to impose or resist Energy-based influences. It is one of the determining factors in the calculation of your maximum Energy potential.***

Morgan rubbed his head in thought. “What is an Energy-based influence?” No response. “Uh, why do I have 20 out of zero Energy?” Nothing. “What is vitality?”

***Vitality is the measure of your physical and mental durability relative to other Energy infused beings.***

So far, he hadn’t heard anything surprising. “What are dexterity, intelligence, and agility?”

***Dexterity is the measure of your fine motor skills relative to other Energy infused beings.***

***Intelligence is the measure of your ability to manipulate Energy in novel and complex ways and how quickly you do so. It is the main factor in the calculation of your maximum Energy potential.***

***Agility is the measure of your physical prowess and speed relative to other Energy infused beings.***

So intelligence didn’t automatically make you a super genius but was more about how fast you could think and use this so-called Energy. “What is a title?”

***Titles & Feats are System generated packages of perks that are reflective of individual merit.***

Morgan chuckled to himself as he thought of the idea that the system had marked him out as some kind of champion based on the “merit” that he was awake and everyone else was in cryo-sleep. Clearly, the System was not flawless. “How do I see what my title does?”

***Human Champion: Transient title. Energy efficacy enhanced 1.5x. More frequent access to System generated Opportunities for Refinement.***

“What the hell is an opportunity for refinement?” No window popped up to answer his frustrated query. “What is a transient title?” No answer. Morgan could only assume that it meant that the title was literally transient - it moved around. He guessed it made sense - whoever the “champion” of a civilization was would have the title, and that wouldn’t always be the same person. Surely, whenever the rest of the colonists were awake, the system would realize its mistake and move the title to Arthur Ballard, the leader of the Colonial Senate. “What is system language integration?”

***All sapient beings in System controlled space are enhanced with the ability to communicate via a common dialect.***

Well, that solidified a fear Morgan was starting to develop - the System could monkey with him in any number of ways, including planting a language in his mind. He didn’t even know if he was speaking English or “System” right now. He spent the next several minutes trying to get more information out of the strange System UI, but he couldn’t pull any more help screens up. Apparently, he wasn’t talking to the System but just accessing some very minimal help files that were built into whatever interface the System had provided him. “Well, what now?”

***Quest: Survive the Crucible. Reward(s): Commensurate with achievements. Continued existence. Location of other Human entities.***