I blinked, momentarily at a loss, my thoughts utterly disorganized. A moment, maybe two, that’s how long it took to relive the last moment I remembered, which was lifting my gun to shoot the smug energy monster, then white light and a whole hell of a lot of pain.

I read, then re-read the first message that was all but screaming at me that I was royally fucked. Doing my best to control the rising panic, I turned my attention to the other, more subtle boxes that were just behind the central message. Oddly, the change of my focus seemed to remove the first from my view.

I ignored the disturbing thought that something foreign was inside my brain, causing the image to fade away after it was registered and my attention had moved from it. I tried very, very hard. In the end, all I could do was fall back on training. Focus on the here and now, take stock of my surroundings, options, and obtain as much information as I could. Judging from the next message, that’s what these boxes were for.

System rules and regulations

1) Players designated as Slaves within the system by its current Administrators will be required to enter a single mission instance of their chosen game once a week. (Time-based on the planet they were placed on within the Pocket Universe) 2) Players will be given rewards, based on their achievements within the mission campaign maps, as well as specific milestones, reach on designated planet/galaxy. 3) The System will grant all Players a ‘First Time’ Package; this is to help Players acclimate properly, and give them a higher chance to amuse the System Administrators and your Masters. 4) All Players will be filmed, and their actions sent to be watched by those of the Slave Species remaining on their homeworld. You earn followers through this, and these followers will add to a count. The count is used as currency, of a sort. The higher the number, the more you may obtain from the System Shop when it becomes available to you. 5) Finally, all Player rewards earned within their game universe are permanent. They cannot be removed by force. If you manage to win your designated game, the perks, benefits, abilities, ETC will follow you into your freedom

We wish all Players the best of luck!

I could feel my left eye start twitching, these mother fuckers, at least the one that caused this, was a fucking I.T worker for this...system thing? Unimportant, I chanted that, ignoring the insanity that our entire planet, all our combined military might, lost to a..a...I growled, moving on to the next boxes, refusing to acknowledge what was shown to me.

Congratulations Player!

Player: Damian Fern, you have successfully integrated into the Pocket Universe under the domain of System Administrator Xal’gul. Your chosen game has been set to the maximum difficulty in campaign maps following the main story, for this, you have been rewarded with five items!

Advised: These items are deemed balancing tools, as you have been thrown into a game pre-set to the highest difficulty. All so your Master, Xal’guls, entertainment might last longer.

1) You have received the right to summon one Hero character (System advisory: Suggested you activate this only after you select your designated planets Race.) 2) You have been gifted with one primary structure! (System advisory: Use just after arriving on the chosen world after selecting your Race. 3) You have gained one random enhancement ability. (System Advisory: This is a permanent passive upgrade used on Campaign maps and Pocket Universe. Random advancement may be of any Race, or time.) 4) You have gained one random personal trait. (System Advisory: This is selected from all races at random, applied to a person upon activation. -WARNING- there is a ten percent chance it can be detrimental.) 5) You have been awarded a one time use save. (System Advisory: This allows you to restart one campaign map without detrimental effect, possible to obtain as awards. -WARNING- Has a three-month cooldown, may be used only once.)

The System congratulates the Player!

Now that made me pause and think. This System, or whatever seemed to be designed to please the so-called ‘Administrators’ but was bound to, if not make things easy, at least give anyone entering this shit a fair chance. I flicked my eyes to the next, three more of these damned things to go.

System Announcement!

Player: Damian Fern. As the first Player entered into the System under Planet designation XCV-321-4598, Earth, you have gained a bonus packet for all resources based upon your game, regardless of type, equaling up to five hundred units!

System Advisory!

Player: Damian Fern. You may now customize your appearance; the System has injected your body with the required materials to allow physical customization. -WARNING- The System notes your Game Universe - StarCraft - has three set races within that are playable. Advised all changes made might be overwritten depending on your Race.

Ok...Those two were relatively straightforward. I gained Minerals and Vespene Gas, based on my memory of the StarCraft resources anyway. The second one was far more concerning to me. Had the fuckers injected me with some random alien shit? Seriously?! Of course, after seeing that second message another screen popped into view, this one more disturbing because I KNEW it was being projected from me.

What was shown was me in all my nude glory. Six-five, pushing thirty-five, I was moderately attractive. Nothing to write home about, but Military lifestyle and all that ensured I was reasonably in shape, strong jaw, short cropped reddish-blonde hair, dark green eyes. The other assets were nothing to brag about, but nothing to be ashamed of either. Average, which was all you needed.

Next to the image were the various names, and some tabs detailing each part of my body and modifiers that seemed to allow me to change anything. Fuck, even has a name slot. I narrowed my eyes a moment and tried talking. When nothing came out, rather than continue my fish mimicry, I thought of it instead. ‘Get the fuck away from me jack-ass!’ yea, I was agitated right now.

The image requested if I confirmed that I wanted nothing changed, I thought yes... I thought about a slew of creative slurs, but the System seemed to take that for yes. Then, the final box came into view, all I could do was look at the three images inside this massive box, each detailing descriptions, advantages, and disadvantages of the Races within. Not to mention an alarming look at what I’d look like if I chose any of the Races, though you could still see aspects of..well, me, in each image. At the very bottom, one final message was shown below all the information.

System Notice!

Your choice of starting Race is permanent, but it does not limit your options in any way, should you manage to survive long enough. The System acknowledges that with the difficulty settings as they are you may need more assistance than the initial Race. A final reward is knowledge that would usually be hidden; you may obtain all three given time and depend on System rewards!

System wishes Player: Damian Fern luck in his game!