‘System Assist, what is a temporal assessment room?’ Aya asked after a minute of silence after the ominous warning. Her head was too full to properly process the rest of the messages, focusing on the first trivial thing that came to mind.

Notice.

The temporal assessment room is an infinite space in time where an individual can be fully assessed so that it can be integrated with the System. This is only a possibility during a System Initialisation. Due to its unique location, time dilation occurs.

‘Motherfucker’ Aya grumbled to herself after reading the notice. ‘I spent my time running around like an idiot for nothing. Although I did get some points to different attributes… I suppose it wasn’t that useless...’. She popped her neck, trying to relieve the tension in her shoulders and neck. ‘Guess I should use the hour I have left usefully. System Assist, show me my Status Screen.’.

Name Ayzira Woodstone Age 23 Gender Female Class None Level 0 Experience 0/100 Titles Survivor, Determined 1, An inquisitive mind 1 Afflictions None Attributes Strength 5 Agility 6 Endurance 6 Intelligence 8 Willpower 8 Skills None Spells None

‘Nothing really new.’ She muttered as she looked over her status screen. ‘I was kind of expecting things like a health bar though. Is this connected to those invisible attributes I read about earlier? System Assist why is there no health indicator or health bar on my status screen?’. She felt it important enough to ask about anything about health in this new System.

Notice.

Health is not shown in your Status Screen, because the concept of health is too variable and complex to display. It is based on several attributes, both visible and invisible. Furthermore, damage to health can differ in many ways. Therefore, you have an internal indicator with which you can estimate your life force. However, injuries like decapitation will always result in death.

‘Basically, just the same as it used to be, that’s good. One less thing to worry about. Okay, so the status screen is pretty forward. And from my previous round of questioning, I know that I can earn more attribute points by exercising (except intelligence), levelling, getting more titles, classes (whatever those may be) and certain items. Can I get more information on classes yet…?’ she wondered as she queried the System. ‘Bummer, guess I’m still not smart enough for that answer.’ she snorted. ‘Joking aside, how do I relate to the rest of the world? These numbers are pretty useless on their own. What does a strength of 5 mean? System Assist, what is the average Status Screen of humanity?’.

Notice.

The average of the visible core attributes of the surviving Earthlings is as follows.

Attributes Strength 5 Agility 4 Endurance 4 Intelligence 5 Willpower 5

Aya blinked in surprise. ‘How did my scores get so much higher in comparison to the average human? I’m not that amazing.’. She pondered her status screen. ‘I had a +1 in endurance thanks to my work-out a while back. +1 to intelligence and +1 to willpower thanks to two titles. Not everyone would have had those. Although I can’t imagine I’m the only one who spent my time useful.’. She shrugged, ridding her mind from questions that, at the moment, were not that important. It was good enough to know where she stood in comparison to the human average. Let’s hope that will be enough, she thought to herself. ‘I’ve got about half an hour left. And I still need to change my system settings, learn more about skills, and ask about those changes to Earth.’. Aya fell silent for a few seconds before snorting. ‘My priorities are so not what they need to be. System Assist, how does Earth differ thanks to the System Initialisation?’.

Notice.

There are too many changes to list in detail. However, there are a few important changes that the Council is willing to share.

Not all technology and man-made materials will work Current wildlife may have mutated or will mutate in the future due to increasing mana levels. Dungeons have been added and may spawn in the future. A random selection of monster and beast type races may spawn upon or be transported to Earth. Galactic travel will be possible after 5 Earth years.

Aya blew out a heavy sigh. ‘That’s a lot to take in. So not only do we need to worry about mutated killer rabbits, we can also expect alien monsters? Great, just… Great. I hope guns still work.’. Closing her eyes to shoot a quick prayer to Lady Luck, she was a prepared as she could be. ‘System Assist, do guns still work?’.

Notice.

Guns and other weaponry made of carbon steel and/or other steel alloys still work.

She let out a relieved sigh before freezing. ‘How the hell do I know what kind of materials my gun is made of? Fucking hell.’. She rubbed a hand across her face. ‘System Assist, what happens to technology and man-made materials that don’t work anymore?’.

Notice.

Certain technology will cease to work while some man-made materials will have been used to fuel the System Initialisation.

‘Let’s hope that unsuitable guns have vanished, instead of blowing up while trying to use it.’ she muttered. ‘System Assist, what man-made materials have disappeared?’.

Notice.

Unknown.

Aya snorted. ‘Great, this again. At least it’s better than being ignored. I guess I’ll just have to figure stuff out when I’m back.’. She checked her internal clock. Well, to call it a clock would be generous. She just had a general feeling about how much time she had left. Which she estimated to be around 20 minutes. Not much time left, she though with trepidation. On the one hand, she wanted to go back home and figure out what happened and what she needed to do next. On the other hand, as weird as this place is, and how ominous the messages are, it was still somewhat safe. In fact, she realised, I haven’t needed to eat or drink the whole time I was here. Neat.

Aya decided to leave the rest of the changes alone. With only 20 minutes left, she wanted to change her system settings so she wouldn’t be blinded every time a notice popped up. Besides, like hell I’m touching on the whole galactic travel thing! ‘System Assist, show me my System Settings’ hoping it would work this time. And lo and behold! It worked. And, of course, she couldn’t see shit again. Suddenly, a round white wisp, the size of Aya’s head, appeared in front of her. ‘Greetings, Earthling’ the wisp somehow said. ‘I am the Artificial Intelligence Support Program, or AISP for short.’. The wisp pronounced its name as Esp. Aya’s first though was sure, why not artificial intelligence? I mean, what is an apocalypse without it? This will NOT be the thing that breaks the camel’s back. Just play it cool, Aya. Although, first thing first. ‘Stop right there, AISP. My name is Ayzira, Aya if I decide to like you. None of this Earthling crap, okay?’. Aya hated being addressed by people with generic names. Especially those who started their every conversation or worse, sentence, with something like babe or girl or something like that. Luckily, she had less problems being addressed as just nurse when she was working. While her mind wandered again, Aya could see the wisp processing her words. It was like it vibrated for a moment while floating in front of her at eye level. ‘My apologies, Ayzira. I was not aware of your name nor your preference.’ It responded. ‘That’s alright, as long as you know now. It’s a pleasure to meet you… I think.’. Nobody could accuse her of having no manners. God forbid my granny would find out, she would kick my ass with her cane. Before Aya could continue down the dark memory lane of granny’s cane, AISP continued its spiel. ‘I am glad to hear that, the pleasure is mine.’. Even the light of the wisp seemed to glow a little bit brighter at Aya’s words. ‘Seeing as your time here is drawing to a close, I will explain the purpose of my presence here. I am assigned to you when you need help with certain functions of the System. This is only given to those who have underwent the System Initialisation and have a higher-than-average Intelligence score. Note that in time, with a high enough Intelligence score, the notices that you see can be replaced with my presence and I could even give specific advice on certain matters.’. That would be awesome, Aya thought. No more annoying blue screens. ‘So, you can’t give advice at this moment?’ she asked just to be sure. The light of the wisp dimmed a bit. ‘Unfortunately, I cannot. At this moment, I can only help you modify your System Settings according to your wishes.’. Aya was slightly disappointed, but still happy she could change her settings. ‘Alright, don’t sweat it. Since we’re short on time, I’ll jump right in. I want the messages to be mostly translucent when they appear, so that I can still focus on my surroundings. This goes for any kind of message I could get from the System. When I focus on the message, I want it to solidify enough so that I can read it, but I still want to be able to see my surroundings. So maybe show the message in a fixed point in front of me, so I could see around it. Furthermore, while I thank you for your help, no more blacking out my vision! I would appreciate it if you would just appear in your wisp form around me. It must beat being in this black space anyway. Am I forgetting something…’ Aya wondered for a moment, falling silent. ‘Oh, right. My status screen. Is it possible to see my status screen like a book or something? I can imagine I will get a lot of skills in the future. If it’s in book form, I hope it’s easier to go through.’. She didn’t mention spells, because it was so far out of her perception of reality that it didn’t even occur to her. AISP bopped up and down in the air at her words. ‘That is certainly possible. The changes you mentioned have been implemented. Do you have any more wishes regarding your System Settings? Any at all?’. It almost sounded like she was forgetting something. ‘I’m not sure, let me think for a moment.’ Aya frowned, trying to wrack her brain to see what she was missing. No more right in your face notices, the status screen in a handy format, what am I… OH! Thank God for AISP insistence. ‘When I am in a fight or other tense situation, don’t show any message until its over or until I state the words show messages.’ She could almost feel the approval of AISP. ‘Messages will know only be displayed after battle or on command.’ AISP responded. ‘Unfortunately, our time here has come to an end. I look forward to seeing you again when you have grown stronger.’ AISP said as it faded away. Before Aya could try and come up with a pep talk for herself, a red box appeared of her. She noticed in satisfaction that she could still see her surroundings and that the box was relatively translucent.

Warning!

Transferring back to last know location in…

5

4

3

2

1

Yet again, Aya’s vision faded to black and she could feel herself falling. Her last thought before everything faded away was, please let this be a dream.