Thomas stumbled into the classroom, breathing heavily. It was his first semester of college, and according to his brilliant plan, he'd stacked all his classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from eight to two, only ten minutes between each class. This way, he had afternoons, Tuesday, and Thursday off, which he thought was brilliant. However, he'd forgotten to account for the locations of all these classes, so every morning he had to go from one end of campus to the other, then back again, over and over. His life of sitting on the couch, playing video games, and watching TV had not prepared him for this. Thankfully, this was his last class of the day, on Friday, so after this, he could relax for a while.

"Alright class, today we'll be continuing…" the professor began droning on, quickly lulling Thomas into a dazed stupor which his tired body was more than happy to take advantage of. His eyelids immediately began to grow heavy, as he struggled to stay focused on the lesson. However, only ten minutes in, he was face planted on his desk, snoring lightly, as the person next to him poked him slightly, trying to wake him up. Thankfully he'd sat in the back, so most of the class missed his panicked awakening. He nodded his thanks towards the guy next to him and went back to trying to listen.

The adrenaline from his slight panic helped him stay awake, but he still had trouble staying focused. Something about the professor's cadence just hit Thomas's ears wrong, turning it into a droning mess that went in one ear and out the other. Everytime he tried to focus, he'd find his attention pulled away not even half a minute later, by his own thoughts, by the window or the clock, or, particularly, by the cute girl sitting a few rows down from him, a little to the right. Thomas didn't know her name, but he thought they should be in the same major, since she was in about half his classes. Well, sharing Calculus and Physics probably wasn't particularly telling, but since she was in his Intro to Computer Science class, he figured it was a safe bet.

So, of course, despite knowing pretty much absolutely nothing about the girl, Thomas had a crush. He'd gone through this shit in high school too. Find a pretty girl, like her for little to no reason, do absolutely nothing about it, and get severely depressed when you see her talking with another guy. Honest to god, Thomas hated being a teenager. At this point, a crush was just a source of frustration caused by raging hormones. If he had a choice, he'd just rather not.

Finally the class finished, and Thomas climbed to his still aching feet. *I need to run.* Thomas sighed to himself. *Just a mile a day, until I'm in better shape.*

[Daily Task: Run a Mile (0/1)]

Thomas stared blankly at the strange notification that had popped up in the upper right corner of his vision. He looked down at his hands, which appeared normal. He looked at the clock, looked away, then looked back, and it was acting normal as well. *So I'm not dreaming…* He thought to himself, frowning as he scratched the back of his head, pondering the strange notification.

"Do you have a question?" The professor asked, noticing him standing there, staring off into space with a frown.

Thomas looked around, seeing that all the other students were already gone, and it was just him and the professor left in the classroom. "Uh, no… just- uh, nothing." Thomas stammered in response, before quickly heading out of the classroom.

The professor watched him go with a frown, before sighing and shaking his head. "Freaking potheads."

Thomas headed to the cafeteria in a daze, still not quite sure what to make of the mysterious panel that showed the daily task. It wasn't particularly obtrusive, sitting faintly in the upper right corner of his vision, almost like a mission list in a video game. *If this is how I figure out the world is actually just a simulation, I'm going to be a little miffed. Couldn't it be a little more spectacular than a task bar?* Thomas thought to himself, shaking his head as he got his food. Since he wasn't about to run right this minute, he sat down to enjoy his meal, pulling out his phone and pulling up some manga to read.

"Mind if I sit with you?" A guy asked, walking up to Thomas's table with a full tray.

"Go for it." Thomas agreed with a shrug.

The guy sat down across from him. "I'm Henry, by the way."

"Thomas." Thomas responded shortly, before returning to his reading.

Henry nodded as he started to eat his food. "So… what's your major?" He asked after a short period of silence.

"Computer Science." Thomas answered.

"Ah, cool. I'm going for Psychology." Henry answered.

"Fun." Thomas nodded back.

"Do you enjoy Computer Science?" Henry pressed, trying to move the conversation along.

Thomas shrugged. "I'm a freshman, so I haven't really gotten into it yet."

"Gotcha…" Henry trailed off awkwardly, before simply shaking his head and returning to his meal. They both continued to sit there silently, Thomas focusing on reading, while Henry simply ate his meal, before standing and leaving with a quick goodbye.

Thomas continued to waste time in the cafeteria, enjoying his reading as he kept refilling his drink. This was generally how he spent his afternoons, just sitting somewhere and playing on his phone, either reading, watching YouTube, browsing reddit, anything slightly enjoyable while he wasted time. Occasionally someone like Henry would sit down and try to talk with him, but… he was never all that good at talking to people. He just couldn't find that middle ground between oversharing and undersharing. When he actually tried in a conversation, he'd usually end up rambling on about some esoteric subject he vaguely knew about, leaving the other party staring at him like he was some kind of freak, so in general, he just answered questions and left it at that. In both scenarios, people ended up leaving him alone, but at least this way they wouldn't spread rumors about him behind his back.

After about two hours, he headed back to his dorm, throwing on the TV while he did some homework. His roommate wasn't there, but it was a Friday night, so he didn't expect to see his roommate again until Sunday evening. Once he'd finished his homework, he just relaxed on the bed, watching TV, until his attention was caught by the little window again. He stared at it for a second, before sighing and grabbing some exercise clothes.

"Fuck it, let's see what happens." He muttered to himself as he headed towards the campus gym. He soon arrived, and after changing, he climbed onto a treadmill and started a light jog. In the corner of his vision, the task notification started to slowly change.

[Daily Task: Run a Mile (0.01/1)]

By the time the progress hit 0.1, Thomas was already breathing hard, but every time he wanted to give up, he'd see the little progress notification tick up, and he just couldn't. It only took him maybe twenty minutes to finish, but it felt like an hour to Thomas as leaned heavily against the treadmills support bars.

[Daily Task: Run a Mile (1/1)]

As the task finally reached completion, Thomas felt a surge of… something enter his body. It didn't really seem to do anything, but then again, it didn't seem like there was a whole lot of it either. One thing was for sure though, completing the task definitely did something. Thomas didn't have much of a mind to contemplate this however, as he stumbled to the drinking fountain and began chugging water.

"Whoa there, slow down!" A voice suddenly interrupted him. "You're going to make yourself sick!"

"Huh?" Thomas grunted dumbly, looking up from the fountain at the athletic girl lecturing him.

"Just drink normally." The girl continued. "Otherwise you'll make yourself sick and throw up, which wouldn't be pleasant for any of us."

"But… this is how I normally drink." Thomas muttered sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

The girl froze slightly, not sure how to respond to that, before shaking her head and sticking out her hand. "Sorry, I'm Amber."

"Thomas." He responded, shaking her hand loosely.

"Are you new? I haven't seen you around before." Amber continued.

"This is my first time at the gym." Thomas confirmed with a short nod.

"I meant to campus." Amber snickered slightly. "I could already tell you're not exactly a regular here. Quick tip, get a nice bottle for water. Much better than running to the water fountain whenever you're thirsty, plus you can drink as you go."

"Oh… yeah, I probably should do that." Thomas agreed.

[Acquire: Nice Water Bottle (0/1)]

As Thomas frowned slightly at the new notification, Amber continued. "So, are you a freshman?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Thomas nodded.

"What's your major?" Amber continued.

"Computer Science." He replied.

"So that's why you're hitting the gym." Amber nodded as if she'd suddenly understood something. "Sick of spending every day crouched over a keyboard?"

"Not… really. We haven't really gotten into programming yet. The last few classes focused on flow charts." Thomas explained.

"Flow charts?" Amber asked, scrunching her brow in confusion.

"Yeah. Basically, programming is just about figuring out what you need to tell the computer in order to get it to do what you want it to do. The key is breaking a task down into detailed steps, which is why we use flow charts, to help think through each step in detail. Other than that, programming is just learning how to talk in a way the computer understands… and math. Lots of math." Thomas explained.

Amber just blinked at him blankly. "I see… I take it you like computers then?"

"Less and less each day." Thomas sighed. "See, I am quickly learning that computers are very, very stupid. Lots of tedious work for minimally satisfactory results."

Amber raised an eyebrow at him. "So are you thinking of changing your major then?"

"Not particularly at the moment. Just because the job isn't particularly satisfying, doesn't mean it isn't profitable." Thomas answered with a shrug.

"You know, you're a difficult person to talk to." Amber replied, frowning at him.

"I'm sorry?" Thomas answered, sounding vaguely confused. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I don't mind."

"I can't just not talk to you. That isn't how things work!" Amber countered.

"Why not? If it's uncomfortable talking to someone, why do you have to force yourself to do it? I mean, there's something to be said for being accepting of everyone, but it isn't like everyone has to be friends, right? Some people just don't mix well. It's natural." Thomas retorted with a shrug. "If all we ever do is wave at each other when we pass by, that's fine. Also, wouldn't it be kind of selfish to force someone to be your friend just to make yourself feel better?"

"You aren't forcing me to be your friend." Amber responded in a consoling tone.

"Actually, I was talking about you…" Thomas replied.

"I-I'm not forcing you to be my friend!" Amber exclaimed.

"So then, I could…" Thomas gestured away, taking a step towards the locker room.

"Wait! Just- What is wrong with you?!?" Amber complained.

"I'm weird. I'm used to it. Why make a big deal out of it? Every now and then I find one of my people, and I make a friend. Otherwise, why force things?" Thomas explained, before continuing to the locker rooms to change, leaving a baffled Amber standing there.

After a quick shower and change, Thomas headed towards the cafeteria for dinner. A few minutes after he sat down and started to eat, someone plopped down into the seat beside him.

"What if we just didn't pick the right topic to talk about?" Amber asked.

"D-did you follow me?" Thomas asked incredulously.

"Only a little. Not the point. Do you have any hobbies?" Amber continued.

"You-" Thomas began, before sighing and shaking his head. "I like reading, watching TV, playing video games, stuff like that."

"What have you been reading?" Amber asked.

"Well, there's this manga- well, actually it's a manhwa from Korea… Anyways, it's about this skeleton who dies trying to protect his master, and is sent back to when he was first summoned. He figures out he keeps his stats every time he dies, so using his knowledge and this bonus, he tries to do better each life, protecting the people around him." Thomas answered. "Though… I suppose the skeleton doesn't have to be male… I mean, everyone around talks like he's a he, but it's possible he could be a she. Though actually, I suspect he's actually the skeleton of this Kevin Edaulbaum guy, which is not the actual name but I don't quite remember it right now. He keeps finding books written by him, and there's some background conspiracy type thing going on related to his identity, but I'm not entirely sure."

"How about politics?" Amber groaned.

"I don't really pay attention to politics. Too depressing." Thomas shrugged.

"Fashion?" She asked, sounding slightly desperate.

"No." Thomas said definitively. "Why are you pushing this? We tried talking, it didn't work out, no big deal."

"Because I am a sociable person! I don't believe there's someone who I can't talk to!" Amber exclaimed in frustration.

Thomas was about to retort, when he noticed Declan walking by and waved him over. "Hey." Declan said with a nod as he sat down and started digging into his food.

"Hi, I'm Amber." Amber quickly introduced herself, sticking out her hand.

"Declan." Declan responded, ignoring her hand in favor of his food. "Did you do the calc homework already?"

"Yeah. Why?" Thomas responded.

"What'd you get for number seven?" He asked.

"Uh… 17 and some fraction I think. Why?" Thomas asked again.

"Thought I might have done something wrong there. I got the same though, so probably not." Declan explained shortly. "Did you hear about the signal they supposedly picked up from outside the solar system?"

"It's probably nothing." Thomas scoffed. "This happens every few years, something weird happens, everyone freaks out about it, and ten years later it's only referenced by alien seeding conspiracy nuts."

"But what if it actually is something?" Declan continued. "Who do you think would start the war first?"

"Definitely us." Thomas answered. "We'd go on about how peaceful we are, how progressive and blah, blah, blah, then we'd figure out they're extremely sexually dimorphic and their women are treated essentially like animals, and we'd try and 'liberate them' which wouldn't work out very well since their women are essentially animals. They may throw the first punch, but it'll be our fault."

Declan rolled his eyes. "What kind of situation would produce that severe a difference? The two sexes would have to experience two completely different environments while still living together."

"Not necessarily. Maybe they're like anglerfish, except reversed. Oh, or possibly there's an extreme bias in breeding and there's like a hundred men born for every woman, so there's an extreme competition among men to breed, while the women essentially just have to exist." Thomas countered.

Declan nodded. "I could see that… they'd probably have one of those super toxic alpha male cultures too. At least ninety-nine percent of the males would be second class citizens, to reduce competition for mates."

"Castration would have to be a regular practice." Thomas agreed. "Can't take the chance your kids are actually some subpar beta's."

"Man, institutionalized castration, classism, and sexism… fuck those guys, they deserve to be wiped out." Declan declared.

Amber looked between the two of them with a slightly horrified expression. "What the hell just happened?"

Thomas frowned at her. "Humanity, fuck yeah?"

"Dude, I totally have to catch up on Jenkinsverse. It's been ages since I read it." Declan interjected.

"How far have you gotten?" Thomas asked.

"Uh… what's her face just cheated on muscle man Martinez I think." Declan answered.

"Man that was old when I last read it and that was a while ago. I'm pretty sure they had a major time jump pretty soon after that… wait, no, that is the major time jump." Thomas continued.

"Right, his training years and all that, before, I assume, being the ultimate space badass." Declan confirmed.

"Essentially, but he does have that healing crap helping him out." Thomas told him.

"Right. Wouldn't that be awesome though? I'd be down to work out if I could just patch myself up right after." Declan replied.

"I'm not exactly down for the whole 'tear myself apart just to put myself back together' thing. Seems a little masochistic." Thomas countered.

"Isn't exercise in general kinda masochistic? I think the healing would actually make it less so." Declan retorted.

"Gym rats do like to talk about their aching muscles with a weird sort of pride…" Thomas commented in a thoughtful tone.

"Maybe all that exercise is compensating for the fact that they're too manly to get a dominatrix. 'I want to be spanked, but I have too many muscles'." Declan mimicked with a bad German accent.

"Okay, seriously, how did that just happen?!?" Amber exclaimed. "You were talking about a book, and now suddenly you're on to kinky weightlifters?"

"Don't judge them, we all have our own little eccentricities." Thomas commented in a judgmental tone.

"Yeah, like the fact that Thomas likes milk." Declan added, making a disgusted expression.

"You and your brittle bones can go suck on a garden hose." Thomas retorted.

"The bones thing is false, you know." Declan responded.

"Really? Man, they really played fast and loose with facts back in the day. Milk helps bones, carrots help eyesight, fatty foods are the problem, not sugar. Can't imagine Popeye helped either." Thomas sighed.

"Are we any better with our 'superfoods'? Cause putting chia seeds on your muffin totally makes it healthy." Declan responded, rolling his eyes.

"Ugh!" Amber grunted in frustration, burying her face in her arms.

"What's up with her?" Declan asked.

"She's not very good at conversation." Thomas responded, as a faint sob came from Amber's huddled form.