Unknown Location, Earth 2017)~>

"Is it ready?" A man in a black business suit asked aloud.

"The Ark Matrix is ready, sir. We managed to get things ready before the Cataclysm begins," a wiry speckled secretary replied-looking over his notes.

They planned this since travelling back in time after those aliens forced the Chronos Herald to initiate another fucking loop though not everyone survived the initial trip backward. Five different iterations of the same loop and it pissed off their leader since their System abilities couldn't activate until after June First-the day of System Integration-and the fucking meteor won't be coming for another year. Luckily for everyone involved, they managed to be forced back in time about twenty-five years which allowed them significant amounts of time to build a way to save those they knew would die on Integration Day from the meteor impact. Due to having people who were formerly Monarch-tiered Cultivators with high Intelligence scores through the System travelling back with them, they managed to utilize their skills to build a Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online game (VRMMO game for short) that their company called the "Ark Matrix" inside the development teams.

To the public in the next year, it will be called "Cruxborne Legends."

"Thomas made sure to implement the final patches to the Matrix Code before reporting a full system green. By Integration Day, the Ark will be able to host over two million people throughout the next century when the System Veil drops," the secretary finished.

"How far down do we have the Matrix Servers?" the business suit man asked.

"Approximately five hundred meters below surface level and with the magitech we brought back with us, the servers will remain online after System Integration," he replied. "They are also made with materials that prevent Herald interference-to the best of our knowledge. We also made sure to encase the server room with lead-infused materials and placed a powerful hydroelectric generator next to the magitech generator. These protocols should protect those within the Ark from ever being detected by Heralds-especially the Chronos Herald."

"Good. If this new iteration goes well, we may hopefully be able to use the System to reintegrate these people back to Earth and they will be ready to face the new reality in the twenty-second century."

"Sir, shall we at least test if the full integration will work for the Ark? Better safe than sorry concerning those fuckers," the secretary asked-silently fuming over the Chronos Herald's actions.

No one knew how the Chronos Herald had been forced to send them all back in time by the aliens, but they hated the Herald and the aliens who summoned it. In the previous iterations, the Heralds were only supposed to come when the Veil dropped to serve some mysterious purpose yet the alien invaders called up the Chronos Herald every time around three decades-sending back most of Earth's inhabitants back in time to before the System integrated with Earth. Only a few-including those within their company named "Reality Interactive" and the dreaded Black Scythe Guild-retained their memories of the previous iterations and worked to change their inevitable fate though with very little success. When the System turned on for the fifth time, both the businessman and secretary looked up any viable way to defeat the Chronos Herald which they did find through the System Bazaar.

Sadly, it was only a single line of text that made things feel hopeless.

"Though the Heralds seem impossible to harm or kill by mortal or god, only the Primal Powers have absolute authority."

The businessman gave his secretary an approving nod. "Choose a tester and make sure they are someone who knows how to play games and are no longer publicly playing in any tournaments. This test will only work if the person is unaware of the Ark's true purpose-"

Ring.

Ring..

Ring...

The sound of a phone ringing silenced the conversation mid-sentence as the businessman looked to see his phone ringing.

Unknown Caller

[Unknown Number]

He picked up the phone and spoke into the receiver. "Hello?"

"Yes, is this Mister Clarkson Andrews?" the caller asked-his voice sounding inquisitive.

Clarkson asked himself as he replied.

"This is him. Who is this?"

"Never mind that, mister Andrews. The people I am currently representing in this call are willing to inform you about a potential candidate that may be of interest to your future endeavors."

That caught his attention and rang alarm bells in his mind. This might be a lawyer firm or some kind of other business who had leaders come back in time from the future as well, but Clarkson had to play this cool. He needed more information.

"Send an email to a person called 'Markus Reeves' for your project. He will be your tester."

The call ended with a soft click.

He turned to his secretary-who also looked flabbergasted and alarmed-and said "Markus Reeves. Get him. Seems like our mystery caller wants this Reeves character to be our tester."

Unbeknownst to them (or anyone else in that company), that caller hung up at the pay phone somewhere in the southwestern region of the Oregon Territory. A plan was put into motion more than a year into the future...