I awoke to the buzzing of my phone, giving my brain the most cursed message that it was in fact, time to get up. I threw the thick blanket off my skinny frame and sat up the early morning fog crouched upon my brain like an angry god demanding its tribute of caffeine and sugar. Rubbing my eyes, releasing them from the grip of sleep. Slowly ripping myself from the warm sheets of my much-beloved bed like an ancient titan rumbling from a millennia-long sleep. Trying not to be too loud as I stumbled my way slowly to the door. The house was on the older side, made mostly of old-growth wood and bricks. It had been in the family for a few generations; it sat along Mulberry Avenue just beside the local cemetery.
Cave City, despite its name, was not a true city, barely cracking two thousand in population. As I stumbled past the pictures of me and my brothers through various stages of life I made my way to the kitchen. My eyes stopped for a moment as I looked at a family picture and I could swear something was missing… ehh probably nothing.
My attention was turned towards the cupboard where we kept the coffee grounds. I reached and grabbed the small electrical kettle, walked over to the sink, began to fill up halfway, and placed it on the small stand; reaching out, I grabbed the french press. By the weight, I knew there were still coffee grounds returning to the sink. I washed out the used coffee grounds from the french press.I knew I wasn't supposed to put them down the sink but any other way was too much of a pain early in the morning.
As I was waiting for the water to finish boiling I slowly tapped my foot. Finishing it up, I returned to the counter where the kettle sat and began scooping the grounds out of the red container of coffee grounds; after putting in three times the recommended amount, I put away the coffee grounds as I waited for the switch to go off. Finally, I heard the small click of the switch going upwards, signifying its singular task was completed. Grabbing the handle of the kettle, I gently tipped the spout into the open face of the french press as I poured it in a circular motion, making sure all of the cheap coffee grounds were hit by the boiled water.
After placing the kettle back on its stand, I set a timer on my phone; typing the four-digit password, I flicked over to the timer app and set a 30-minute timer before I turned around and walked into the empty living room and flopped down onto the empty couch. Opening up my favorite doomscrolling app, I began to flick through the various short-form videos as I waited impatiently for the elixir of the gods to finish brewing.
Finally, the timer went off; I quickly made a swiping motion, turning off the sound. As I made my way back to the kitchen, I stopped, grabbed a clean mug from the dishwasher, and returned to the countertop where the french press sat. Pressing down on, slowly separating the grounds from the heavenly concoction. Grabbing the small black handle I slowly poured the steaming black liquid into the mug, putting the french press down I opened the cupboard and grabbed the small bag of brown sugar I poured the sugar eyeballing the amount as it fell into small clumps, letting one more medium size clump plop into the open mouth of the mug I put the small bag away in the cupboard closed the small door and turned and navigated my way to the white refrigerator opening it, I scanned through its selves finding my quarry I grabbed the slender bottle of store brand coffee creamer. Turning around letting the refrigerator door close on its own. As I made my way there I heard the familiar but subtle sound of the refrigerator closing behind me. Popping the cap of the hazelnut creamer, I bent it slightly over the mug watching the white liquid crescendo down the shoot of the lid into the air and pour downwards, pulled by gravity to the mouth of my mug, the liquid fighting the black liquid in a hopeless battle, swallowed completely by the dark elixir. Placing the creamer down on the counter, I turned to my right, reached the silverware drawer, and opened the drawer, scanning the hodge-poge of different styles of silverware that had accumulated over the years. I grabbed one of the smaller spoons and closed the drawer. Turning to my left and returning to my mug, dipping the small spoon, I began to mix the dark liquid; slowly, the influence of the creamer began to show, turning the liquid from a dark black into a medium brown color. A small smile spread across my face as I tapped the spoon on the rim of the mug three times. I picked up the mug, the warmth from the cup permeating my hand. Turning right again, I placed the spoon into the sink as I began to walk to the living room, passing through it and to the Front door, grasping the handle. I slowly turned it and opened the door, and into the sun, its golden rays shining on my face. I walked over to a small bench situated outside and sat down carefully, watching my coffee to make sure it didn't go up past the rim. Sitting down I brought the cup up to my mouth and began to sip the divine liquid. The caffeine acted like a beam breaking through the bulwark of fog looming over my mind as I overlooked the neighboring houses and the street, opened up my phone, and started to poke through the various apps.
My morning continued as normal, I texted a few of my friends and soon I pressed on the white triangle app and began to watch a video on cave wildlife, the guy on the video had a similar passion to me, wildlife biology, right next to my town was the Mammoth Cave National Park the largest known cave system on the planet with 426 miles of caves being known and many more theorized to exist. I wanted to be one of the people exploring those depths. I continued to watch as the guy continued to explain how ferns tended to live at the mouth of caves as many prefer shade or indirect light.
I was planning on going to Colorado State to get my degree, and It looked like it was going to shake out. Although I just finished my junior year I hadn't applied yet.
Scrolling through my notifications I saw three missing calls from Dad? Huh, looking I saw that I had put my phone on silent. Pressing the call back button I wondered what was so urgent that dad had to call me.
'Ring', 'Ring', 'Ring'
After the third Ring, my Dad picked up his voice, sounding confused and eerily uncertain.
"Son why haven't you picked up the pho- you know what that doesn't matter now" He said clearly on edge a stark contrast to his typically laid back demeanor. "What's wrong?" I asked, the uncertainty and grim curiosity seeping through the cracks of my voice.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Have you looked outside, Kien?" He stated his voice returned somewhat to normal but I could tell he was uncertain.
"No, I haven't, what did I forget to take the trash cans out- wait no thats on wednesdays, wait let me step outside for a second dad” I said mentally processing what it could be. Coffee cup in hand I opened the front door and I froze. There in the sky in contrast to the light blue sky and idyllic clouds was rift like a tear in the sky, the middle part was an incomprehensible darkness that slowly transitioned into vibrant blues, purples, and blood reds that looked like water colors pouring into the world.
“Dad, what in the actual fuck-” was all I could say as my eyes seemed to be locked on to the rift.
"I don't know, I woke up this morning and there's a crack in the sky, a great gaping void, the news is just completely radio silent about it, I know you’re into the science stuff please tell this is just a freak weather event or a glitched out Aurora Borealis-" My dad’s voice was still calm but I could hear the panic just below the surface, and then he just cut out.
Checking to see if I had hung up by accident, just then my phone started heating up and as I went to look at it I saw my phone begin to smoke; throwing it away quickly, I watched as my phone began to melt on itself. Then two small rectangular screens appeared in my vision.
…
Welcome to the System
Your Galaxy has been Integrated
Your Homeworld of Earth is in Processing
You have 7 Standard Days Until the [Tutorial]
Survive [Kien Noble]
…
I was caught completely off guard and I looked at my coffee wondering if the creamer went bad or not, and then dismissed the notion as Dad had bought not even three days ago. Looking back at the screen I tried to interact with it by slapping it but it seemed that it was merely projected into my vision rather than actually being in front of me.
…
[Alert!]
Due to being a member of a newly integrated world you have been granted the general passive skill [Appraisal].
...
Name: Kien Noble
Level 1
Race: Lower Human
-Rank One Sapient
Health:(100/100)
Mana:(0/0)
Primary Class: [Press Here] Secondary Class: Empty
Trinary Class: Empty
Body Stats
Strength:1 Agility:1
Regeneration:1 Endurance:1
Durability:1
Mind Stats
Wisdom:1 Intellect:1.6
Memory:1 Perception:1
Intuition:1.2
Soul Stats: 1
Willpower:1.5 Mana:1
Luck:2
…
General Skills: [Appraisal]
Titles:N/A
Achievements:N/A
....
The window knew my name, Kien Noble, how and why? I felt a ping of anxiety at what was happening and more so how little I knew about it, taking a sip of my coffee I tried to calm myself down. While all of this was confusing beside my phone turning to slag there was nothing to worry about, right?
Rather than focusing on what little I did know I focused on the screen that looked like video game status.
What did it mean by [Low Human]? That seems purposely insulting; but was also filled with implications: what constitutes [Low Human] from, say something like a [High Human]? If there's a [Low Human], then it tracks that there should be a high one, right? Or was that human logic, it was possible this was completely alien. My brain was overdrive however I came to the conclusion that any conclusion besides that one would be formed from ignorance. Looking at the smoking puddle that was my phone, I had the feeling that the crack in the sky had something to do with this.
I tried to blink away the screen, and to my surprise, it disappeared into a small corner of my vision. Shakely, I reached up and pugged the rest of my cup of coffee; little did I know how long it would be until my next one. I stood up and slammed open the front door just to get wafted in the face by smoke as I looked around. All of our electronics had melted like my phone and had spread the fire to the surrounding wood furnishings. Rushing forward, I saw the electric kettle had melted and had ignited the wood around it, igniting the nearby pantry. Quickly I dashed past the plumes of the slagged electronics and into the hallway grabbed the family photos and ran into my room quickly I grabbed my old bag that hadn't caught fire yet and quickly stuffed a few things of clothes and other keepsakes before rushing through the now quickly burning family home of my family for the last four generations. As I dashed out the backdoor and into the backyard I coughed out the smoke as my eyes were tinged by it too.
