I woke up. Alive. Which was a surprise.

Also surprising was that I felt more like me--the me before I came to this world. I hadn’t realized it, but my thoughts and feelings from before were constricted. They were dim and cramped, tied down by something that was no longer binding them.

I sat up and stretched. My eyes went to the flint tools in the corner, and I saw that the handaxe missing. It wasn't a dream then? Well, I’d be a fool to think it was--I was alive after all and no longer poisoned. An otter visited while I was dying and saved me, both from the poison and whatever it was compressing my spirit into a smaller shape than it was supposed to be.

I had no idea who she was. All I knew was that I felt better, much better than before. I called up my Status to make sure everything was okay.

Eight (Hidden Status, Oliver Michael Sandoval) Age 8 Soul Marks God Touched, Spontaneous Formation, Memories of Another World Attributes Strength 8 Constitution 8 Agility 8 Intelligence 14 Wisdom 14 Spirit 13 Charm 11 Luck 12 Hit Points 8 Mana 13

Woah! There I was! The me from before I died. I hadn’t disappeared after all. Even my old name was there. I was moved...I’d worked so damn hard to make myself a better man and hated the idea that all that effort was lost. Clearly, it wasn’t--I still had my memories and experiences, but a name stands for something. It’s more than just a bunch of letters and sounds. My name represented me and all I’ve been through. It’s what Helen used to call me. Not Eight, but Ollie. Well, I was Eight now too, but I didn’t mind as long as it was an addition instead of a substitution. I didn’t mind as long as I kept my roots.

In addition to the new information, the old information was restructured. Did the page change along with me? That was an interesting question. But even more interesting, was the note about it being Hidden. That implied there was a way for others to see my Status. Which also implied that other people had them too.

I hadn’t been sure about that. My gift from Diriktot the Fallen Clockwork God might’ve been unique. Oh, it also meant he was looking out for me. Considerate, that.

It was disappointing my physical Attributes were unchanged, but at least the intangibles were higher. And, if they really represented the Attributes from my previous life, I could use them to make assumptions about the numbers’ meanings.

Scores of 10 to 12 were likely average for an adult, while 13 to 15 were above average. And an Olympic athlete? Probably in the 16 to 18 range. Anything 19 and above must be truly extraordinary. It looked similar to the scale used in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, but with the upper limits still unknown.

A Strength of 8 would make me rather strong for an eight-year old. I would’ve guessed a score of 5 or 6 to be honest. There must’ve been something necessary about the number 8, a hole through which only something eight-shaped could pass.

The Soul Mark entries felt as weighty as my names. Each felt engraved in the metal. They appeared to reflect a permanent record of the events and experiences that shaped me.

I was curious to see if there were other changes.

Talents Jack of All Trades Talent Scout Blessings Diriktot (Fallen Clockwork God) Helen Miriam Sandoval (Spirit) Ikfael Glen (Spirit, Temporary) Meliune (Goddess of Compassion, Temporary) Curses Conditions

First, I wasn’t Poisoned anymore. Huzzah! I knew that already based on the fact that I wasn’t dead, but I believed in celebrating even the smallest victories, especially when the situation’s dire.

And ooh! There were Talents! My inner nerd celebrated. I loved talent and perk systems in games. They were often the best ways to make a character my own.

I quickly focused on Jack of All Trades, and my memory flashed to the countless hours of instructional videos I’ve watched--sitting in the editing suite, reviewing B-roll, attending film festivals, watching the competitions’ work. The opportunities were truly endless.

And Talent Scout originated from all the hiring I’d had to do. We weren’t a big enough company to afford the masters of filmmaking, so I sifted through thousands and thousands of resumes hunting for unpolished gems, the folks with hidden talents. I caught them early and cheaper! And then we grew them into masters. They often left us for bigger productions and more money, but we had their skills long enough to produce some amazing work.

Hmm… so I had two Talents, but did they do anything? Did they impact me in the same way Blessings do? That’d make sense since they were grouped together on the same page. Questions, questions.

And speaking of Blessings, there were two new entries. Who was the Spirit of Ikfael Glen? Was she the otter? Or responsible for the otter? If so, then I owed her my life. As for the Blessing from my wife… I... what could I say? She always looked out for me, and just seeing her name was enough to warm me through.

Ahem. Moving on. I swiped up, anxious to see the Skills page.

Skills Artisan Appraisal 5 Construction 8 Pottery 4 Woodworking 8 Domestic Cooking 6 Repairs 6 Martial Archery 6 Logistics 11 Marksmanship 6 Strategy 4 Mercantile Accounting 12 Administration 12 Scholarship Biology 5 Cosmology 7 Chemistry 4 Literacy English 13 Literacy, Spanish 8 Numeracy 8 Physics 4 Social Gaming 12 Relationships 8 Storytelling 10 Spiritualism Meditation 8 Taoism 8 Survival Forest 6 Ocean 3

My sixty-four years of living weren’t for nothing! My inner nerd rejoiced again. There were Skills to explore, builds to plan, except...I didn’t know how Skills worked in this game… this world. Did they just quantify my expertise or could I use actively them?

”Biology powers, activate!”

Nothing happened, except for me grinning at my own joke. The real experiment came next.

“Appraise,” I said, focusing on the moss under me.

It was dark green and dense with tall tufts. I happened to recognize it as Common Haircap, but I didn’t see any pop ups or status windows with additional information.

”Damn, that would’ve been a really useful ability, but nope...no cheats for Ollie.” Not unless the situation required an 8-year old office manager and producer.

Still, I had good grasp of how the Skill scores compared. A score of 1 to 3 meant someone was just starting to learn a Skill. From 4 to 8, they were a hobbyist, and from 9 to 13, a professional. For scores 14 and above, they could be considered experts.

Funny how the System felt obligated to strike out my world’s understanding of Cosmology. Yes, yes, I get that the multiverse is much more weird and magical than I believed. Thank you for the tip, System.

Also, I always felt that keeping a film crew supplied was like going to war. Seems like the System agreed and put my Logistics experience under the Martial disciplines. Strategy must be from all the wargaming I’d done, and Archery and Marksmanship from hunting.

I swiped between the pages, curiously poking at the entries, when a notification appeared at the top of the screen. “You’re taking this phone thing very seriously,” I said.

Diriktot chose not to respond, so I tapped on the notification. A new page appeared:

Eight (Visible Status) Age 8 Attributes Strength 8 Constitution 8 Agility 8 Intelligence 8 Wisdom 8 Spirit 8 Charm 8 Luck 8 Hit Points 8 Mana 8 Talents Blessings Curses Conditions Skills Survival, Forest 2

Huh… okay… so that’s what people would see if they could see my Status. All for the best, I suppose. When was the last time you ran into an 8-year old with professional level Accounting skills? Not to mention the weird Soul Marks, Blessings, and everything else.

There was one Skill though, Forest Survival, that appeared on both the Hidden and Open Status pages.

It was possible the Skills on the Hidden page only applied to my old self. For example, my knowledge of Biology only applied to earth-based creatures, represented by a score of 7, but my knowledge of this world’s Biology was zero, which was why I didn’t have an entry for the Skill.

But no, that couldn’t be right. So many Skills were relevant no matter the world. Relationships were Relationships, and while culture and customs impacted how they played out, I refused to believe there was no overlap. The same was true for Numeracy, Pottery, Storytelling, and even Gaming.

My guess was that the Visible Status was purely camouflage, and Forest Survival was a reasonable Skill for someone in my circumstances.

Whew. There was so much to take in and consider, but one thing was clear--I couldn’t afford to ignore my Status. I’d purposely neglected it while I grieved, but that would have to change. Yes, it meant my old life was gone. Yes, it meant that I’d never get to see Alex and Daniel again. But my life was gone anyway. I’d died. And at least this way, I’d still remember my family. That wouldn’t have been possible without Diriktot’s gift.

I ran a hand through my hair, thinking through the situation. The Status was a tool, just like the flint axe and spear, and it could help me live. One thing I learned from falling off the cliff, I wanted to live, and to do that, I needed to figure out how all the pieces fit together.

And besides, it was fun.

Right, there was much to consider and much to do, but first, I had a debt to pay.