Chương 12: Chapter Eleven: [Let Us Introduce Ou@$3VES]

"Hello, Host! My name is 701! I am your system admin. Welcome to the Reincarnation Society!" A bright voice with the lyrical quality of a voice modifier slithers out of the floating box. Perhaps it sensed my pause of deliberation, and its voice curled around my ankles, "Host, you have a mission and a quest in progress. Would you like to leave the soul space?" A deal off the bat. Even I can sense in my stupor that I'm being played. For what and by whom, I didn't know yet. That's the next best move.

"Who-What are you? Why did you do this—What is this?" I held out my hands. An example of what it had done. Peeling back the costume I'd been wearing for too long. The childish quality to my tone vanished the more I spoke, and I bit my tongue so I could taste the metallic flavor. Real. This is real, right? It responded.

"I am your personal system administrator. I pulled you into this space so I could inform you of your current position beyond this space. This place is defined as a [Soul Space]. You and I alone exist here." His voice caught at the end, and I cocked my head in confusion.

"Where are you?" Are you this? I reached out for the screen, and my hand passed right through. Wet clothes cling to my body, and puffs of air in front of me are the only testament to this new reality. Real. This has to be real. What did you just take from me? I looked around for it. This stranger in the darkness had opened a door to a place I'd forgotten. Glancing back, uncertain to that screen and then—Ria. Grace? It didn't matter. She. Looked. And. Saw.

"!!!" It was there. Watching without blinking at my attempts to find it. Stilling and straightening, I froze on the spot and took a step back without meaning to. A little white robot with blue electronic eyes appeared in the corners of the darkness, footsteps going quiet as it froze where it waited. Ripples from around its ankles closed the distance and met the rings I'd caused with my own pruning feet. A creepy robotic penguin and a soaked ghost blinked at the same time.

Oddly tilted heads reminiscent of a wild cat and wide eyes gazing headlong into each other's reflection.

"..."

"…" It waved its flipper at me, and my right eye twitched. What the hell? All at once, I decided to crack the ice, ball my hands into fists, and get it over with. I don't have the patience to play mind games with this thing.

"What system? Who are you? What's a reincarnation society and what did you do to me?" It's not talking anymore. Is it broken? Can this thing break? Mustering some courage, I crossed the distance, "What is my position? What do you want from me? Hello?" I waved my hand back at it, to see if that was the magic password. Quiet controlled panic self-realized as I remember the only thing worse than not being alone in a strange place, is being alone in a strange place.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. Don't go. Don't stop talking to me. My fingers gripped the cloth I'd woken up in, knuckles white with the force I'm exerting. Why is it so cold? Ice crystals formed under my nose, and I sucked in a crisp breath. Heaving a gust of warm air that turned into a cloud. She stopped asking and pretended to wait patiently.

Her shifting feet betrayed her actual feelings on the matter as she pondered over whether to apologize and kneel to its level. Whatever got it to start speaking again. The creepy penguin replied, finally, and my shoulders dropped, "I exist to assist you in completing your tasks. Would you like to see your mission board?" That's not an answer to any of my questions. Maybe if I humor it a little, it'll answer me. I shrugged and exhaled.

"Fine. I guess so." A new blue screen identical to the last popped up. Bright white words appeared on its face. English words. It knows English. It knows. On its screen were four blue folder tabs. Only one used grey-colored letters and a different font than the white letters. The familiar sight sparked unease and surrealism in me. That confirmation that I'm not crazy or alone, warring with the feeling that something isn't right here. Of course it's not. Nothing is okay about this, but if I play by their rules.

Maybe it'll let me go. Go where?

"..." That's a question I can't begin to worry about right now. Look at the screen. What is it showing me, and why is it so important? I crossed my arms and hopped from one foot to another as I squinted at the blurry screen. My hand raised to push my glasses back, and I belatedly realized it at that exact moment. One, I was somewhat near-sighted again. Two. It knew that. It knew, and the letters enlarged for me to see clearly. I swallowed the anxiety, and my throat worked to help the process. Focus.

Why is that one labeled Mission and one of the other missions labeled Quest? What is any of this even for? Is it asking me to do something? I checked the screen twice to confirm what I was seeing before stepping around the screen to see it closer. Standing only two feet away, directly underneath the screen, staring directly at me with unnerving patience and scrutiny. No expression to be read on its smooth face.

Goosebumps prickled the exposed skin of my arms, and I took another involuntary step back, widening the distance. Shivering from the persisting below average temperature, I pointed a shaking hand at the elephant in the room, "What's this quest and mission for?" The tab labeled Side Mission expanded so I could read the larger summary of the text. Jesus. An entire essay I had no intention of reading until it got closer and sat down on its tail.

"..."

"Please. Let us introduce ourselves." Does this mean I should do that too? Warily, I sat crisscross applesauce a good three feet away and turned to the screen. An intrusive memory of doing this in primary school helped ease the way I was grinding my jaw to smithereens. [Newbie Mission!] Set up a system status and become familiar with your available system functions! Learning about system function early on helps prevent misunderstandings between Admins and Hosts during their time together.

Hosts often experience confusion, dizziness, nausea, and frequent bouts of mood swings due to the sensitive nature of the conditions required to fulfill the contract. Hosts, we want you to know. Admins empathize with you. We want to bear your burdens. We love you with all our hearts, and we welcome you into our family. Once you become one with us you'll see why it's so important that we're all on the same page. We want you to be happy, Host. That is why it's so important you read the following carefully.

As it will impact our relationship with you going forward. We only want what's best for you, and you can help the process of us providing you with the best resources available. [Reward: [Hidden Lineage] activation, One Hundred Experience Points, One Skill Point, and a [Newbie Gift Bag].] I have no idea what most of these values are and why I need to have them according to this zealous machine. Love and empathize?

The baffling usage of such intimate words struck a cord with me as my mind ran a mile a minute digesting all of this not-helpful information. My forehead creased with worry, and I discreetly snuck a peek at the little monster next to me thinking it wouldn't notice. It hadn't moved or spoken since sitting down. If it weren't for the open eyes glued to the side of my face I would think it's resting or charging. My best guess is that this [System] is based loosely on ordinary game mechanics.

Which explains most of the bizarre lingo. Experience points, Rewards, Missions. It makes sense if you're delusional enough. But why? I jolted when the robot opened it's beak, "Please complete the mission as soon as possible."

"Why?"

"Please pay attention to any penalties incurred upon failing any task assigned to you." It turned to me fully. It's entire plastic and metal body facing mine.

"We want you to be happy, Host. Your happiness is our happiness."