"Ronan, do you know what is going on?" Sam asked as he tried to pull his leg free.

At the prompt that flashed before our eyes, the crystal protrusions retracted and we all fell back to the ground in surprise. I rubbed at my wrists, noting a bruise starting to form before healing immediately. "What the..."

"Excuse me what?" I said, turning to look at the crystal as if it was a person talking. It was a bit jarring considering it was writing itself before my eyes.

The crystal pulsed and the lines of text vanished from our vision. "How's that, eh, kids?" The light inside the crystal pulsed with the pitch of the voice. It was borderline robotic, in that it was monotonous but expressional. It was a strange combination that certainly fit the strange happenings.

"Better?" Sam answered hesitantly as he moved beside me. He then turned and whispered over his shoulder. "Ronan, please tell me you know what is going on. I am starting to freak out a little bit."

"The talking crystal freaks you out more than the creatures trying to kill you? Better take a note about that for humans," the crystal chimed again.

"Would you be able to explain what is going on? And what exactly happened to us? Maybe what exactly it is you are?" I said. Out of the corner of my eyes, Sam and Danny nodded their heads urgently.

"Suppose those are all fair. How about we take those in reverse order, eh?" The crystal pulsed and a 3D picture appeared in our eyes. I knew it had happened to my friends too because they flinched. The diagram looked like a digital version of the crystal before us. "What you see before you is a visual depiction of yours truly, a Category 2 Entity Cluster. I suppose your technology analogue would be an artificial intelligence, except I am smarter. Or will be smarter, anyhow."

"So you are like a person?" Danny asked after swiping at the air hoping to get the diagram out of our faces.

"Of sorts. Let's go with... crystalline sapient for now. Should serve our purposes. Now, as to what happened to you." I tensed, a shot of adrenaline coursing through my veins. "You were Attuned. In Danny's case she was also Refined."

When the crystal paused for an uncomfortable amount of time, I prompted it to continue. "We don't know what that means."

"Ah, right, sorry. New incarnation, still working on some kinks. Attuning: The awakening of latent mana within a particular organism. Refining: The specialization of an attunement to a particular behavior due to an affinity for it. Hopefully those help you out."

"Wait, so what does it really mean that I am attuned to Fire and then have a refinement for Flames," the woman asked, taking a threatening step towards the crystal.

"It means that when you utilize your mana, it will have fire properties and a tendency to dissipate into flames. To keep it simple."

"Does that mean the same for me? What does a Life attunement mean?" Sam asked.

"It means that living things will respond to your mana. Sometimes using it entirely to form themselves, even. Preempting Ronan's question, it means you use mana to control the earth and anything from the earth," the crystal answered. As confusing as everything it was saying was, it was being very forthcoming.

"Let's back up. Or if you keep answering questions like you have, speed up. We don't know what you are, we don't know what mana is or what is going on here." I gestured vaguely at the world around us. "We've been underground for a long time.

"Yep, I knew that one. Got that one straight from your memories, Ronan," the crystal pulsed.

"Wait, you saw our memories?" Danny asked, the blush on her face visible even through the shifting color light of the crystal.

"That is correct. The whole 'Conceptual Backgrounds Compiled' thing was my... brain... forming from your combined experiences. It's how I can speak English instead of just mana waves. Clever bit of interfacing by the way. Those old people down in your home really did a number with the Entity Clusters."

"The implants..." I whispered, as the pieces started to click. "You somehow connected to our brains via the implants. Okay, I can follow. Then you created a mind for yourself using all of us, but why?"

"Well, here it goes. The 'what is going on' bit. As I am sure you are all aware, your world came to an end. Mana originating from the Entity Clusters has warped your entire planet from what it once was, to the... deadlier alternative you three have experienced. This was not an accident."

"Wait, someone triggered the Metier Apocalypse?" Danny asked incredulously.

"Right, that is what you humans call both mana waves and the Entities. In a sense. We were designed to hunt down Mana Dregs. Dregs are the byproducts of life. Pollution, if you will. Almost everything generates pollution in some way. When mana gets involved that pollution tends to become more... complex. "

"I might need to sit," I said, leaning my back against the mound of soil I'd excavated.

"Feel free. Nothing nearby has a Quotient high enough to sense you three while within my influence," the crystal provided. It sounded chipper, as if it had expected the development.

"What are the Entities? You make it sound like they are the Crystals," Sam asked, taking a spot next to me.

"Would make sense if I explained that. Us Entities aren't true minds, instead we are amalgams of experiences. Hence the translation into Clusters. We need to be a high enough Category, which for all intents and purposes just means size, to be able to do and think about certain things. Mana is entirely more complex than most organic brains can comprehend. The reason we were sent to Earth is outside of my purview, but I do know that your pollution could have triggered our arrival."

"So what? You lot destroy planets because they are too polluted? What about life here on Earth?" Sam asked, a touch of heat entering his voice. My friend's anger finally shook me out of my stupor as a working schema for the madness of the surface took form. It was a rare occurrence for the mellow blond to get worked up about anything.

"Hold on, Sam. From what I've been able to piece together, it isn't... this Entity's fault that they came to Earth. We can deal with that later," I pointed an accusing finger at the alien rock. "If I am getting this right, you lot are like some kind of filter that destroys these 'Mana Dregs' while changing your surroundings. Am I following?"

"You are correct, Ronan," the crystal answered.

"Then the... attunements and the like are how the mana changed us. Why?" I asked, my real burning question coming to the fore.

"Because Entities cannot act directly. Your analogy to us being filters is quite apt. We generate mana, but we also purge dregs into mana. Due to our mostly immobile nature, we rely on the native organisms to bring dregs to us. Our presence also has the effect of accelerating what humans call evolution. Except with mana thrown into the mix. Things get messy quite quickly, even if ecosystems stabilize extremely fast."

"You reached out to us to have us be Dreg carriers?" I asked.

"In a sense, yes. I've already purged the Dregs you accumulated from your fights. No need to thank me." I looked myself over as if I should be missing something. When I asked my friends, they echoed that they felt just fine. "Unless your body were physically being mutated by the Dregs, you'd look the same."

"What do you expect us to do now? We were going to return home at sunrise and I have no idea when we are going to come back to the surface. Now that I mention it, shouldn't we have become attuned and all of that long ago?" I asked as the thought struck.

"Depends. Certain materials, chemicals and molecular arrangements help to passively filter and catch Dregs. Dregs are part of what determines your Attunement, by the way. You only generate Dregs of your Attunement."

"Yeah, I need a break. Ron, Sam can I have a word with you?" Danny said. We rose from the ground and moved towards the brunette, making sure to turn our backs on the...Entity. "What's the plan? I don't--"

"Just for the record, I can still hear you. Not that I care about your secret conversation, but I literally can't not hear you. Man, you three are the most polite backgrounded minds I've encountered. Not that I've encountered many above worms, but going through your memories gives me a point of comparison." Danny glared at the crystal and shuffled to the edge of light our low-burning campfire provided. "That should do it. Have fun!"

"Can you hate an inanimate object?" she growled.

"I don't know if he--it?-- counts as an inanimate object, Danny," Sam said.

"It doesn't matter, Sam. What are we going to do?" she asked.

"We need to figure out how to survive," I said, as I started to voice the hope in my mind. "We aren't going to be able to survive on the surface without the Crystal. Just the tidbit about keeping away creatures is important enough."

"How would we do that? We are out of bullets and I can't imagine Ben has an infinite amount of them down in the Bunker," Danny said, holding up the almost empty pistol.

"Well, I think there has to be magic here," I said.

"What? How would that make sense, Ron."

"Just think about it Danny. You said it yourself. If those creatures we met were Attuned, and now so are we, it stands to reason we should have some of those abilities. If I had to take a guess, that squirrel dealt with air somehow and the tortoises were obviously earth."

"That's true," Sam agreed. "What can we do about that, though? We have no idea how to gain those or use them."

"We ask the thing that apparently has all sorts of answers for us," I said. The light of realization lit up in my friend's eyes as they put together the rest of my plan. "We figure out how to make a deal to be his 'Dreg Carriers' in exchange for information, or training, whatever it takes. If what he said about certain things keeping Dregs out, then the other Bunkers out there might have a chance. With enough of a foothold, returning to the surface isn't a dream."

As I voiced my plan, I knew I would follow through regardless of the consequences. A whole life living underground, bound by stone and metal, was a torturous existence. I loved rocks and minerals, but I longed for freedom. If I could use magic to accomplish that goal, why wouldn't I? Because it's dangerous. My mind argued. True, but so is remaining in a hole in the ground with no real future.

"Enough contemplation. We either choose to fight for our place on the surface, or we stay trapped in the bunker for the rest of our lives." My friends needed an ultimatum. While Danny was impulsive, it was only with short term decisions. She agonized over anything that could have a permanent impact. Samuel just did that naturally, on both counts.

The fear was evident from the wide eyes staring at me. A frown crossed Danny's face while a pensive expression took over Sam's. I waited patiently, contemplating how I would be able to gain the Entity's help. Convincing the Entity to help probably wouldn't be particularly difficult, but how would that help be translated. It wasn't like we had a context for how magic worked... or did we? A wicked grin split my face as I stared at Samuel.

"Oh no. He's got the face, Sam," Danny said, poking the blond and pulling him out of his thoughts.

"What are you--Oh. Oh. This should be interesting. Care to enlighten us, Ron?" he said.

"I think if you two agree to the plan, I'd rather leave it a surprise," I said, struggling to keep a maniacal laugh from escaping me. "I don't know how it will end up panning out with the Entity."

"We need to come up with an actual name for it. Feels a bit impersonal, don't you think?" Sam said, trying to change the subject as he shuddered. My plans always ended up great. Well, mostly.

"Decision time guys."

The two looked at each other, then sighed in resignation. Answer enough for me. I hustled over to the crystal, leaving the two of them by the fire to commiserate.

"Welcome back, Ronan. I hope your little discussion was fruitful. What can I do for you?" the crystal intoned.

"I have a proposition for you."

"Oh? I don't know that I've ever dealt with one of those. What did you have in mind?"

"Since you have our memories, which is still unsettling, you know about magic, yes?" I asked, shaking off the awkwardness that came from knowing the rock knew all my secrets.

"Correct. Now that I spend some time looking at the concept closer, I can see how you would line it up with your current situation. It certainly parallels many of the concepts of mana. I will have to spend more time on this..." the voice drifted off.

"Good, if you know about magic. I want to know if you know what an RPG is. Sam should have lots of those type of memories." I made note of the fact that the Entity talked about needing 'time' to process things. It hadn't been the first time it had done so, and I realized there had to be something more to it. That's for later, Ronan. Focus on the proposal.

"Yes, they're a subset of games. They take various growths and quantify them. Hmmm. Please continue."

"Well, if you think we can be your Dreg Carriers, we are going to need a means to do so. Humans aren't strong and we often relied on tools to get to where we are--were-- before Landfall. I will choose to ignore the implication that the Entities caused this to Earth, in favor of the future. Can you give us the tools to retake it?"

The crystal remained silent, but the glow within it exploded. The iridescent aura shifted through the rainbow almost faster than I could blink. I was forced to cover my eyes and look away from the blinding light as it continued to grow even more. The static buzz that guided me to the crystal picked back up around us.

"What's happening!?" Danny asked as she touched my shoulder.

"I gave it a suggestion," I said.

Samuel pulled us into a huddle, using our bodies to block the light from blinding us. "Sounds like it went great, Ronan!"

A very physical explosion of light washed over us, knocking the three of us off our feet.

"Brilliant suggestions, Ronan. I can work with this. Are you three willing to become cognizant Dreg Carriers? No… better yet, Dreg Warriors! There has never been a precedent for this, but nothing says it can't work. Humans might just be the species that turns the tide. Enough of that, focus, answer. I can give you tools to retake Earth... and the Beyond," the crystal said. It took a bit to get ourselves untangled. The crystal had been perfectly patient until we stood. "So, your answers?"

"It got that insistence from Ronan," Danny said.

"Can confirm," Sam seconded while brushing some dirt off his hair.

"That's just rude," I weakly defended myself. I knew when I was guilty of something. Lack of motivation unless it was something I was interested in was definitely one of those things. Brushing off my friends' comment, I turned back to the crystal. It wasn't clear how exactly it saw but it made me feel better. "If you promise to help us retake Earth, then you have our support."

"Wonderful... Please interface with the Cluster."

The three of us walked the short distance to the crystal. Hesitating slightly, I placed my palms back on the shimmering surface. My hands instantly sunk through the crystal up to the elbow as if it was some viscous liquid instead of a solid. Having expected the behavior, I didn't yelp or jerk in alarm. Sam to my right and Danny to my left copied my movements.

"See you three in the morning."

"Wait, what--" The world blackened and I was idly aware of a thunk from my head striking the crystal.

---+---

"Rise and shine you three!" the crystal voice said.

The world blinked into focus, and immediately I could sense something was different. Particularly, the two bars lining the edge of my vision. The distinct blue and red of both instantly told me what they were, especially after the suggestions I'd made to the Entity. In addition to that, the world looked as if it was tinged in beige. It was also morning, which meant the Entity had held us through the entire night, even if I didn't feel particularly tired anymore.

"Holy crap," I whispered.

"Ron, why does everything look vaguely green?" Sam asked from beside me.

"No idea, man," I answered.

"Mine looks vaguely red or maybe orange?" Danny said.

The three of us were laying down on the ground at the foot of the crystal. With effort, I pulled myself to my feet. "Care to explain?"

"Before I do, please say or think 'Status'," the crystal said.

"Eh, Status?" Sam said beside me. Thinking of the word as I repeated it in my mind was enough.

Subject: Ronan Terrigan

Health: 100% (Unafflicted)

Mana: 100%

Metier Quotient: 1 (4%)

Dreg Accumulation: 0%

LPS: Wildwood, FL

Communications

Skills - (1) Selection Available

Traits - (6% Banked)

Attributes - Growth Quantified

"Damn. This is not what I was expecting," Danny said.

"This is just like a role playing game!" Sam said as the arrangement clicked for him. He turned to me, looking me up and down. "You suggested that he turn the implant display into a game menu?"

"Not necessarily. I just brought up magic and RPGs. I thought the Entity might give us something like spells or something. Not... well, this." After motioning at my eyes, I realized the two couldn't see what I was looking at.

"You aren't entirely off the mark, Ronan. I will give you all 'spells'. Those are just Skills," the crystal cut in. "Now that you are all on the same page, let me give you all a breakdown of the system I have designed to teach you three about mana. Let us be quick about it.

"As I hope you all understand, Health is your overall life. Should it drop to 0, you will die. Your Mana is the amount of pure mana at your disposal, that which has been filtered and stored in your body."

"How can you quantify those?" Sam asked. "What is this 'Unafflicted' thing?"

"Great questions. Those values are based on a mix of your Traits and your Attributes. We will talk about those in a moment, but as for quantifying. It is a best guess summary. Contributing factors to your physical state and fitness such as your blood contents, skeletal and muscular stress, as well as exhaustion, are averaged to give you an idea of what state your body is in. Say you are bleeding; you would be afflicted with 'Bleed' and your health would be dropping. You lose too much blood, you die."

"Good to know that can be quantified," I said, shuddering at the prospect of bleeding out and watching my life literally tick away.

"Of course, a large enough bit of damage can still kill you outright. Health notwithstanding," the crystal said. Sam gulped. Talk about not sugar coating things.

"Moving on. Your Metier Quotient is analogous to what you might know as a 'level'. When you kill something, you gain their Pith. Since I know you three only know what pith means, I will simplify it. It's the energy and experience that once belonged to the creature. In other words XP, like from your RPGs."

"The rate at which you process Pith depends on one of your Attributes, as well as the compatibility of Attunements between the creature and yourself. I won't bore you with the calculative minutiae. The percent is how much XP you've gathered to improve yourself across the board. Each Quotient will also allow your mind to hold one more Skill."

"Okay, I'll go ahead and ask. Why is it called Metier Quotient? I know you said our concept of mana and the Entities was wrong," I said.

"It felt fitting to include the local namesake for mana somewhere." I was sure that if the Entity had had shoulders, it would have been shrugging. "Helps a bit to differentiate it from the mana that you utilize."

"Then Dreg Accumulation is how much of the stuff we have in our bodies?" Sam asked.

"Yep, that percent is also affected by an Attribute. More on that later. All you need to know about that for now is don't let it get over 100%." The crystal paused, the light within dimming slightly. "Let's pick it up a bit. Please say 'Attributes'."

The larger group of information vanished, replaced by five lines of text.

Attributes:

Strength: 1.10 > 1.20

Mobility: 1.01 > 1.11

Perception: 1.22 > 1.32

Refinement: 0.83 > 0.93

Containment: 1.63 > 1.73

"No questions now. I am running low on mana and want to be able to give you all a chance to select your skills before I need to shut down."

"What!?" I asked in alarm. The crystal hadn't ever mentioned the need to shut down before.

"No questions, Ronan." The crystal's voice sped up significantly as it ran through the details of what each of the Attributes represented. The Entity sounded like a recording at two times speed, causing me to struggle to catch everything it said. "Strength accounts for your body's literal strength but also your durability against various forces. Mobility is a mixture of your dexterity of movement and your speed of movement. Perception takes your senses into account. Refinement and Containment deal with the mana within you.

"Oh! The numbers are factors of what the 'average' human was capable of achieving. Again, many many sub-variables for you three to worry about, so averages are as practical as we need to get." The light within the crystal dimmed significantly as it finished talking. "Not good, rambled too long. Quick, say 'Skills'!"

"Skills," I said, worried about the crystal's urgency and... concern.

Skills:

Offensive - Direct/ Imbue/ Materialize

Defensive - Direct/ Imbue/ Materialize

"Pick one of the three concepts for Offensive!" the crystal shouted. The familiar static built up around us at its words.

I directed my thoughts to the first option: 'Direct'. The world immediately blurred. A deluge of information poured into my mind, eliciting a splitting headache. Strange symbols and patterns, numerical representations of different concepts that I vaguely understood, flashed through my mind before fading away. A lingering pressure at the back of my mind told me the information was there, but mostly out of reach. It was more like a... button. One that would cause the floodgates of information to open a sliver.

The words spelled themselves out before my very eyes.

"Best of luck you three. Look out behin--" The voice cut out along with the static buzz and the glow of the crystal. Instead of the full iridescent light, only a tiny speck remained at the center.

The Entity's last words finally registered and I spun. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the murky light of dawn. When they did, however, I saw a strange heat wave effect in the air. Following the strange effect, my eyes landed on a pair of blood red orbs shining in the shade of the trees a ways from us. The moment I made eye contact, another string of words and a helpful arrow pointed out the creature for me.

"Oh shit."