The darkness felt like it lasted an eternity. I saw the endless black void around me for less than a second, I knew, but it didn't feel like that at all. For what I guaranteed was likely going to change my life, I hadn't fully braced myself, and when sight came back to me, I wretched on the floor, bile and the previous contents of my stomach no longer there, atop concrete. A sidewalk?

I felt the weight of the pack on my back now, trying to push me down, and it felt heavy. Much heavier now than it had been at home. Perhaps it was the weakness in my limbs. Maybe not. But, after taking several deep breaths, I looked up from the now vomit-stained floor. I saw people still lying on the ground, on their backs as they groaned. Some were also puking, trying to figure out where their stomach should be And then there were others, unsteadily making it to their feet, while I managed to stay in the other group: Those on their hands and knees recovering. I opened my bag that Owen had quickly filled and pulled out a water bottle. I'd take stock later, but for now, I chugged the drink down as if I was in the middle of the Sahara.

Slowly pushing myself to my feet, I groaned and noticed that all of us were on a giant slab of concrete, where our puke was already washed away. I could see people of different nationalities: Russian, Chinese, Taiwanese, Turkish, Dutch, and some Americans as well. There were others, of course, but these were the ones I could list easily enough based on how they spoke and looked. Languages were something I thought were awesome, and were a huge part of my life. I couldn't talk another language, but I did understand what people said, to a degree.

I closed my eyes for a good moment, taking more breaths, before a box of text appeared seemingly from nowhere but the darkness of my eyelids. I panicked, opened my eyes, and looked around. Nothing. I closed my eyes again, keeping them like that for three seconds, a box appeared again.

KIERA MACGUIRE

AS YOU ARE THE FOURTH PERSON TO ACCESS THE FRONTIER SYSTEM, WE OFFER YOU SOME CONGRATULATIONS! WELL DONE! NOW CHOOSE YOUR FIRST CLASS!

TIP: THE ONLY WAY TO ACCESS THE SYSTEM IS VIA SLEEPING!

It was a strange thing. After the first couple of attempts to make sure it wasn't a hallucination, mainly by opening and closing my eyes for varying amounts of time, I began to question everything.

What is this? Why is this? Who made this? I recoiled, rubbing my eyes with my fingers. It wasn't what I expected to happen, but I suppose it's better than dying. I began counting the people around me as more and more appeared. Some were asleep. Others were terrified and hyperventilating. I think I was pretty well off. Two minutes passed, and I finally was able to stand straight.

Another two and everyone else was slowly calming down and standing up. And another five minutes later a figure, clad in that red cloak that was confusingly familiar appeared. They stood in the centre of the concrete floor, looking around.

"Good evening everyo- Oh! Kiera, good to see you again I hope your wrists are alright now?" F.S. asked, making me cover my wrists.

"They're fine now, thank you." I told him, nodding once.

"Of course, of course! Well, since the first fifty of you are here, those of you who haven't accessed the welcome message, please close your eyes for roughly three seconds. Those of you who have already read that first message, I applaud you! Now, everyone, I'm going to allow you to choose your first class whilst conscious if you so desire! After this, you will be made to use the system while asleep." Several protests were rising even as F.S. spoke. Understandable.

"Now, now, calm down everyone," He said, sounding like a teacher attempting to grab grade-schoolers attention. "You may all be confused, have questions, and I'm sure are very angry. However, I will answer this: Why are you here? Why were you chosen? Why am I doing this? Who are you?" He lifted a finger with every question he pointed out. But as he was in the middle of mentioning another reason, someone spoke up. "Don't fuck with me! Do you know who I am?" They shouted, and F.S. looked at them with a bemused expression.

"Why, yes, yes I do. Jeremiah Oswald MacLoughlin, son of Howard MacLoughlin and Jessica Fugere. You're twenty seven this year, had a crippling addiction to alcohol four years ago but have been recovering, and are a self-made entrepreneur who created a brand of clothing that plagues youths in Latvia for some odd reason." As F.S revealed they knew who he was, the man seemed to flinch, his plan to somehow threaten him likely crumpling. Eventually, as F.S. went on and on about who he was, JOM charged at him. To be honest, I thought he was stupid. Really stupid. F.S. just moved all fifty of us without being nearby after all, who's to say he couldn't shoot beams out of his eyes?

For all his bravado was worth, he did make it further than I had expected F.S. to allow. He got within arms reach before F.S. - I think he just blinked - sent him flying backwards.

There were several gasps as everyone saw Jeremiah get flung backwards without being touched, and there were just as many who screamed, if not more. I, myself, had done neither, and instead gulped down my buildup of saliva, eyes wide to not miss a detail. Jeremiah's body flopped as it hit the floor and skidded against the rocky texture, clothing ripped, skin tore, and agony ensued. Pained groans became sonnets of terrifying torture as Jeremiah writhed on the floor. Muscles were split upon contact, blood had caked the ground and his body, stray strands of muscle fibre and broken bones revealed themselves to all who looked, and I just so happened to be one of those who did. Covering my mouth, I gagged and tried to hold back the oncoming vomit. Seeing the many struggles around him, F.S. let out a smokey breath. The smoke - gas, whatever it was - rapidly encompassed all of us who were not the pitiful JOM. From what I could guess, it simply made our nausea disappear. It certainly wasn't the most surprising thing today.

I hugged myself tightly to my legs as I hoped to remove myself from what I assumed to be a nightmare.

"Now, I don't like ruling by fear, so I hope this is the first and last time I ever have to do this." He sighed, although his face betrayed his words, a smile splayed across his features. It sent shivers down my spine. "As we now see, attacking me for no reason is likely to lead to harm. Perhaps now we can have a conversation. Tea and biscuits perhaps?" He laughed into the air haughtily, lifting his head and chin to the air. Another person, although shaky, spoke up with a question this time.

"Excuse... me... But can you answer... what you thought we'd asked?"

"Ahh ah that's right, I knew I forgot something after little JOM over here. First off, why are you here? You fifty were all chosen randomly, as will the fifty after you, and the fifty after them. We are planning an Earth revitalization plan. The planet has become too corroded by the hands of man and we are making sure that we don't ruin it further. This was the best course of action we thought we could use." Without pause, another person spoke.

"And who are yo- no you said that. Who are the people you work with? Is this some sort of go-"

"Please tell me you're not thinking this is a government experiment."

Silence.

"Oh for the love of- Y'know. Nevermind, you, go. Just-" F.S. snapped his fingers and the man went unconscious, crumpling to the ground before disappearing. "Now, does anyone have any good, smart questions?"

There were a series of questions that were both smart and stupid. One which got a grand answer from him was "When can we see our families again?" To which F.S. responded with:

"Whenever they are brought over to that new world!" Some people were dumbstruck, others wept, and some askedd more questions. Of those, a few of them got a smile out of him, while others made his face go blank. After a series of stupid questions, I raised my hand.

"Oh thank fuck, Kiera, you have a question?" His irritation seemed to disappear as I raised my hand and I nodded.

"Where are we going; and uhm... how do I choose my... class?" He clapped his hands together once and muttered something while looking up before his smile practically became a miniature sun.

"To answer your first question, Kiera, the Frontier System, call it what you will it's fantastic at what it does, has chosen a planet for you all to go to. It will give you a rundown when you arrive of all the information I'm going to give you. Hopefully it will be clearer than what I can offer, but anyway. The planet it has chosen is called 'Aiewapa Iriöq'. At least, in its most spoken language that's what it's called. For all of you, it means 'We the Chosen'. Quite egotistical, honestly." He shrugged his shoulders a bit.

"We also spent countless meetings trying to figure out if we want you all to know the language going in, or if we wanted you to learn it yourselves. But, since I was given moderation over the planet, I decided that the first three to unlock the system would know it going in. So, congratulations to Zahur Wole, Odessa Korba, and Jordan O'friel." He looked at his shorter list, then to me, causing me to flinch.

"A shame, Kiera, you were fourth? So close. Oh well, I'm sure you'll manage." I wanted to argue, to try and save me a bunch of hassle in learning a language - which I suck at - but stopped myself as I looked to Jeremiah. Swallowing my words, I nodded, and I could almost feel the tears welling in my eyes. It took all my willpower to not cry.

"Onto the second question, how to choose your class. You'll have to close your eyes for those three seconds to access the system this time. Please do that now." I looked at everyone around me. There were a few who instantly did it, and those who hesitated. I turned back and saw F.S. staring at me with a smile before he nodded. I felt the sweat gather on my nape. I closed my eyes.

One...

Two...

Three...

Prerequisites unlocked. Now accessing:

CLASS LIST:

Classes Description Warrior [B] A Warrior is a staple of any battlefield. With shields that protect, and swords that cut, a Warrior will reign supreme if brought up correctly. Fighter [B] A Fighter is one who lives by the sword, for the sword, and because of the sword. The sword is their guide and their destination. Rogue [B] A Rogue uses their blades swiftly, deftly, and without difficulty. Using them to rip and rend their opponents, or disable them just as badly. Lancer [B] A Lancer has a good mix of medium-range combat with the drawback of possibly losing their weapon, making up for it with rapid thrusts and cuts. Brawler [B] A Brawler has used their body plenty of times for both offence and defence. To punch, grapple, to throw and to kick. Brawlers use their body as their weapon and their shield. Mage [C] A Mage wanders, using their voice to cast and empower their spells. Their voices are their power and their spells are determined by how the spells are spoken. Wizard [C] A Wizard wields their books with a vigor unseen, casting spells through it with their deeply rooted knowledge and their practised incantations. Cleric [U] A Cleric is a healer, a companion, a friend and your life saver. They can mend your wounds, cure your illnesses, and render your defects moot. Spellsword [U] A true magic-fighter. Wandering through dangerous wastes and derelict ruins in exchange for their power and skill, they learn from age-old fighters and ancient spell users and meld two fighting styles together. Shielder [UN] A class unlike any other, the Shielder protects and attacks with shields in both hands. They are protectors. They are fighters. They are a wall that cannot be trampled. These are the true heroes of the people.

TIP: NOT ALL CLASSES WITH A HIGHER RANK ARE BETTER!

I took a deep breath as the list was presented to me, before I gulped down the saliva that began to form. All I could feel was the clothes on my back, the air on my hands and face, and the subtle changes in the world around me. And yet, as if it was some weird joke, I could hear F.S. speak further.

"Please, take your time to read what classes you have. Some of you have Unique or Special classes, feel free to choose whichever you want."

I did as he said and looked over all of my classes. A lot of them I thought fit under the same umbrella. Why didn't a Fighter fit under the umbrella of Warrior? Same with Lancer. And weren't Wizards, Clerics and Magus' the same thing as a Mage? I'm not good with these terms in the first place, so I might be missing certain details, but I guess it just seemed odd to me.

Very few of the classes actually caught my eye, but I gave them all a cursory glance. It was mostly just the Magus and Shielder I looked at. What kind of fighter used only shields? And a spellsword? Running through ruins? No, I want to stay in one place and be safe! I was a bartender for fucks sake! To be fair, they did send a childish glee through me when I read them, and I suppose I wouldn't be able to stay in one place, considering I didn't know the language... shit. The one that caught my eye the most was probably the last one, obviously. The idea of getting stabbed was highly unpleasant, so why not take a class that would probably stop that as best it could? I read the description a few times over and, eventually, I made my decision. I focused on the class for a moment, waiting for F.S. to speak, but when my focus got too deep, I noticed a swirling collection of particles close in on the name of the class, before they zoned in on a single spot, collected themselves, and then began to quickly surround the outline of the class.

Gasping in surprise, I fell back on my butt, eyes still closed. "OH! There she goes!" My eyes burst open as F.S. yelled "I was about to tell you all how to select your class, but Kiera figured it out! Now, if you all are still having trouble, please, just focus your mind on the option you want. You'll see particles surround it, that's how you know it will have been chosen."

He waited a bit after that, eyes darting back and forth in front of him as he looked at everyone. I raised my hand again, and he pointed to me. "Yes, Kiera?"

"Are these classes permanent, or can we change them later?" He snapped his fingers as my question finished.

"Great question! Thank you! No, these aren't permanent. and even if they were, you can have two classes at most. If you want to change your class, you'll have to reach a certain level with a skill for your class first. For example, you, Kiera, would have to level up one of your skills all the way up to grade [P], which stands for [Perfected], before you could switch your class to, say, Warrior." I nodded. It made... some sense. Can't just change your class whenever. "Now then. Any more questions that you would like answered? Anyone? No? Wonderful." He nodded a couple times to himself. "Then I suppose I shall bid you farewell after one more thing. To open up your system properly, you'll have to be completely unconscious. For the sake of fairness, those of you with Insomnia have been saved from that hell! Congrats! You can sleep now! Just close your eyes and the option to sleep will appear in the corner of your vision, it'll knock you out right away until someone messes with you." He said, and several people actually cheered out in joy. "I know right? That's awesome! The Frontier System will brief you on the planet which I ended up not covering. Ahahaha.

For now, rest. I hope you all live long, healthy lives on your new planet. By next month, there will be fifty more people, and a month after that, fifty more. After the next year begins, we'll send five-hundred thousand of your people. The next month will be five million. And it will increase exponentially until all of you are gone."

Every word was dripping with enthusiasm, even as I fell unconscious, the surroundings slowly turning black, I could practically feel his joy. And I felt sick.