Joe was having a pretty good day. Even after picking up a part-time job, he'd aced his computer science midterms and had enjoyed the praise that accomplishment brought. The job didn't pay much, but it was remote computer science work, so the real-world experience was invaluable. All of that was secondary to seeing his family together for an Easter Sunday meal.

They had a small family, just his parents, and one older sister. They were all very busy and didn't see each other as much as Joe would have preferred, so he treasured the holidays that made these rare dinners happen. They'd finished the meal and were about to have dessert when strange burning red letters flashed into his vision.

Rejoice Humanity! You have been invited to join the Galactic Hegemon.

It is time for our Centenary Caste Competition. The best 1% of humanity will be given a 1 cycle tutorial before the 5 cycle contest.

Be brave, be bold, but most of all, be strong and earn your place and privileges.

When the words cleared, Joe looked around in alarm. "What the hell was that? Did you see that too?"

His words hung in the dining room as the truth became apparent. Joe was now sitting alone.

****

Almost eleven months had passed since The Message and The Disappearance, as most Americans now called them. There had been no further contact, and if anyone had any idea what was going on, they weren't talking to the general public. There were the standard riots and crime rise that seemed to go hand in hand with scared people, but it quieted down after a few months of normalcy.

Joe still lived in his parent's suburban house on the edges of Dublin, Ohio. He'd cleaned the dining room but otherwise left it untouched, waiting for its former occupants to return. The upper floors had been curtained off with tacked-up blankets, with Joe sleeping in the living room. The cost of gas and electricity had almost tripled with the labor issues and uncertainty that had gripped the nation. His parent's first-floor master bedroom was also sealed off, but only because Joe couldn't bear to take over their place.

Colleges had shut down for six months after the events, and he didn't have the time to return once they reopened. With the massive amounts of inflation and price gouging, coupled with the lack of good-paying jobs, it was all he could do to keep the house powered and himself fed.

Joe was dressed in several layers of clothes and probably looked ridiculous. He didn't care even a little bit anymore. He'd had to trade his car for an old Honda motorcycle after gasoline hit $15 a gallon. It got him to work, but it sucked pretty hard in winter. The snowmobile helmet completed his ensemble as he went outside. At least the wind chill wasn't bad today.

He drove towards the highway, and twenty minutes later, he was moving boxes at one of the distribution depots. Packages had slowed down like everything else, but there was still a need with the postal service officially stopping. It was tiring and low-paying work, but it still put food on the table and kept the lights on in the house.

Six hours later, he walked out sweaty and tired with sixty dollars in his pockets. It would have seemed like a better deal a year ago, but if he was very frugal, that might feed him for three days at the current prices. He drove home and crawled under the blankets while turning on a space heater. The curtains hanging up let him heat the kitchen, dining room, and living room to the cold side of comfortable. He kept the heat on just enough in the rest of the house to prevent the pipes from freezing. He was about to open up yet another can of Pork and Beans for a cold dinner when he froze up. Burning red letters once again filled his vision.

Humanity

The survivors of the tutorial have entered the Caste Competition.

The contest will continue for 5 cycles or until a sole race is left standing.

Your fate is in their hands. May fortune favor the strong.

Joe dashed to the dining room, and it sat empty and a bit dusty as usual. Joe knew it would be, but he still curled up in the living room and cried himself to sleep anyway.

***

Two and a half years had passed. Joe was not doing any better. Most of the world had devolved into chaos. Humanity did not do well with fear and the unknown. Joe could still find work most days in the Greater Columbus City State. It was usually growing crops or picking trash for metal, but it usually kept him fed. Joe's 5'11" frame was lean in a way that spoke of hardship. Despite being in the best physical condition of his life, he had lost some weight, and if he didn't get some more food out of the sad little garden he'd started this summer, he'd probably downgrade to scrawny.

Joe sat up and stretched before reaching over and drinking from a clay pot nearby. He drained the last of the water and made a mental note to fetch and boil some more before sundown tonight. It didn't look like rain, and getting stuck without water was a bad decision nearing summer. He stumbled to his feet and then froze as burning red letters crept across his vision once more. His panic peaked before he even read them. The contest wasn't supposed to finish for another two years if he had guessed the cycle length correctly. Unfortunately, his worst fears were realized as he read the script hanging in front of his eyes.

Humanity, the last of your competitors have been eliminated.

Your determined caste level is 13 of 13.

As such your planet has been claimed and will be repurposed for ideal resource production. Rifts will be seeded across the planet to increase resources and mana density. Your orbit will be corrected to ideal Hegemon standard. Do not interfere with any Hegemon activity, as the bottom caste you have no rights.

Rejoice that all castes receive at least the basic Hegemon Growth System.

Better luck next century.

Joe hadn't had power in over a year. If he did, he would have noticed it cutting off around the world. He wasn't close enough to any of the new rifts to feel their emergence, which was a small blessing this close to a major city. He didn't flinch at the proclamation that he had no rights or ponder what the Hegemon Growth System even was. His eyes had been frozen by the first line and stayed locked even after the message faded. His family was dead.

A small blue script appeared in the lower left of his field of vision.

Initializing Hegemon Growth System. There may be some discomfort.

Suddenly his body seized up as every muscle cramped with his neurons felt like they caught fire. Mercifully unconsciousness claimed him quickly, and Joe didn't have to feel the system forcefully graft itself unto his body and soul. He laid there twitching while ephemeral wisps of blue fire occasionally seemed to hover over his body. After about an hour the process completed and Joe seemed to relax while still staying asleep. Most of humanity joined him in that as the world quickly changed around them.

****

In the street outside the Columbus City Center Apartments, a rip in the air formed of flowing blue fire. It started the size of a coin and quickly expanded to big enough for two people to walk through it without ducking. A breeze flowed out of it into the world. Wherever the breeze touched, things seemed to subtly change. A flower turned blue and squeezed out wicked-looking thorns. A seed took root and sprouted into a small maple tree in minutes. A group of rats was hiding in the sewer nearby, waiting for night to arrive. Their ears perked up, and noses twitched at the breeze coming their way. The eldest practically screamed in terror and began sprinting away. Before it made it a few feet, they all dropped and started twitching. The eldest's back spasmed so hard that it broke its own spine and died. Some of the youngest dissolved into puddles that dripped off into the distance. The rest changed in various ways. Some had more and sharper teeth. Some had long claws. Most of them were now the size of a large cat, and all of them were hungry. They fell on each other in a frenzy until the four biggest were left. They tore into the fallen, and once they were sated, they ran off to claim the rest of the sewers near the rift.

This situation repeated itself everywhere a rift opened. However, the blue mana rifts wrought more drastic changes than any other. The process was fueled by life itself. The more life present, the more that rifts opened. Major city centers became danger zones while the humans remained oblivious to the world around them. Yesterday would be the last good night's sleep most people would have for the foreseeable future.