《Crucible System: Book 1 - Corporate Hell》 Prologue—My Fault! ¡°No, no,¡± Lard called as Belion charged forward, closing the distance between him and the last of the triumvirates. His armor was half gone and blood leaked from his left side¡ªa wound he¡¯d gotten from Melia¡¯s venomous stinger. He spread his perception, splitting his already fractured mind into separate parts to create as many instances of the battle before him. Above him, he could see skycrafts splitting the clouds, replacing the ones they¡¯d torn apart before. He hadn¡¯t planned for this. And that was exactly what he was supposed to do. That was his job as a guide. ¡°Lard!¡± Belion called, his voice weak even as he fought against Helios with maddening ferocity. Lard¡¯s splintered mind traced the patterns in the mana field, pushing more and more power into it to calculate the most favorable strategy. His body transformed as he expended even more power, straining his innate capacity to the extreme. Yet, the answer didn¡¯t change. There was nothing he could do. He turned his entire body away from the mana field, his form now a wisp of cotton white. He¡¯d tried to divert as much mana away from his physical manifestation to his core. That boosted his prediction ability, casting a wide net of possible solutions for him to access and plan with. Pointless, Lard thought as he watched Belion. There was nothing he could do now. Their allies were dead. And although two of the triumvirates had been killed, that didn¡¯t change anything. Belion would die soon. The venom from Melia was spreading faster than Lard expected and Helios¡¯ self-healing ability made it difficult to kill the monster. The interfaces all collapsed as he watched the last embers of Belion futile rebellion. This world too would soon be overrun, taken under the darkness because of his inability to guide his ward. ¡°Lard!¡± Belion called again, desperation raw in his voice. Lard closed his eyes. He could see the end already. He didn¡¯t have the future-sight function of some higher lever guides, but he saw the patterns in the way Belion moved. His movements were slower, his swings were weak. And his mana core was dim. Once again, my hero is dying. The barren field of Torath¡¯s End was dyed red with the blood of allies and enemies. Lard wondered how he¡¯d made the mistake. He had calculated they would come out victorious in the battle against the hordes of the triumvirate. Did he make a mistake? Was his estimation of Belion¡¯s power wrong? Nienda! The curse hissed out of him in the old language. He had calculated the probability so many times. They were close, but most had ended in their victory. Yet, the reality before him told him there had been an error, a mistake in his calculations that he¡¯d not taken into account. The last and final blow from Helios reached Lard through his link to Belion. It tore through the hero¡¯s life thread and mana source, crushing his core. Lard didn¡¯t have to breathe, but he felt the absence of air in that brief lingering moment. His eyes widened, the agony of the end unraveling him, the sensation tragically familiar. This was not his first loss. The taste of bitterness returned as the final flicker of life faded from Belion and the bottom half of the hero fell back. The Mad Titan, Helios, bellowed a cry of victory. His dark blade was still wet and gleaming with Helios¡¯s blood. His face, marred with living scars of blinding runes and curses was hidden behind his wild-beast helm. His eyes fixed on Lard, holding his frame in view once his victory cry had ended. There was a threat in the gaze, one of promised destruction. Lard trembled, even though he knew there was nothing the mad titan could do to him. He floated toward Belion, his body restructure transforming into his most favored form as he neared the corpse of his charge. He spared the mad titan one saddened look, before lowering himself toward Belion¡¯s top half. Belion¡¯s eyes were wide with pain and the realization of death. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Once more, I have led another to their death. ¡°All that struggle,¡± Helios said, his voice low with dark pleasure. ¡°All these losses could have been avoided. You have failed. Your resistance has failed. You gave him the will of the Crucible. You led them all to this point, orchestrating their fate. Lard Hardfaster, you have failed.¡± Lard winced at the way the titan¡¯s voice altered his name, made it sound so wrong it felt like a curse. Myrlenian names were considerably difficult to pronounce but Helios could have simply called him Lard. Gloating piss of Vathrals! Lard ignored the titan. Instead, he let his furry thin hands slip into Belion¡¯s chest, through the cracked and blasted armor. He reached the oath-knot that linked them by the crucible decree and pulled it out. Oath Decree has been undone¡ª Hero Belion Holspring¡¯s status: Dead Guide Agent¡¯s Seventeenth attempt: Failed! Lard winced, trying not to look at the titan¡¯s back as he walked away, visibly tired. He had won but at a great cost. Not that Vathrals cared about life anyway. They lived to serve, and they did that to death. Lard couldn¡¯t spit, instead he felt a rush of revulsion pulse through him. He took one last look at Belion¡¯s dead eyes and looked away. Shame and anger raged within him. Please, use the transport beacon! Lard groaned. He hated this part of the job. The transport beacon would extract him from this dying world, but he¡¯d be going to someone he wished not to see. He didn¡¯t have a nose his round furry body, but he simulated breathing in and out. Once more glanced around to take in the cost of his mistake and he activated the beacon. A familiar force plucked him from where he stood amongst the dead and the next moment he was walking out of a gateway! ¡°Hey, Lightb¡ª¡± he stopped when he felt the wave of heat wash past him. Lard checked the name on the black hologram projecting from the table¡¯s edge and muttered a curse. The gateway crashed behind him, fading with a muted crackle of mana. ¡°Lard,¡± The Lightborn said, with tight displeasure. Lard tried as much as possible to show remorse. It wasn¡¯t all performance anyway, he¡¯d just lost a world and gotten a lot of people killed. ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t understand wha¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°You saw the whole thing, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t get a direct feed, Lard. But I saw enough to know you are not good for this,¡± The Lightborn said. The halo behind her hair of glowing thin tendrils pulsed rhythmically. Its light filled the room, masking her somehow so Lard couldn¡¯t see her eyes. He¡¯d heard stories about the consequences of looking directly into a Lightborn¡¯s eyes. He didn¡¯t want to know if they were true or not. ¡°Your coordination with your champion was sloppy. You are supposed to be a guide, not a blabbing idiot. Your calculations are not absolute, and you are supposed to be adaptable. What kind of guide would freeze when things don¡¯t go his way?¡± Lard tried to speak and stopped, noting the Lightborn¡¯s irritation in the way her hair writhed behind her. The pulsing of her halo had increased in pace too. ¡°And in the name of the Fallen, what was that sword about? Of all the weapons to give your hero, why the sword?¡± ¡°That is the weapon of heroes, of legends,¡± Lard said, leaning forward, ready to make the same argument he¡¯d made sixteen times before, to five other Lightborns. This one shook her head. ¡°Check the chronicles, the notes of Anders, the stories of heroes past. They all had swords. And I gave Belion the Star Reaper! It was the strongest weapon in his world. How would I have known it wouldn¡¯t be strong enough to fight the Triumvirates?¡± The Lightborn was silent, her hair moving like maddened snakes as her irritation and annoyance climbed. Here, Lard couldn¡¯t isolate himself from the Lightborn¡¯s powers. The light in the office brightened and Lard felt the beginning of a searing pain to come. It started as a sting on his skin until it became unbearable. He adjusted, trying to hold against the Lightborn¡¯s wrath until he couldn¡¯t anymore. ¡°Fine! It was my fault! I should have been careful!¡± ¡°Seventeen!¡± the Lightborn said, her voice a small storm in Lard¡¯s mind. ¡°You have lost seventeen worlds!¡± The light dimmed and the heat vanished immediately. The Lightborn sighed. ¡°And yet, we give you another chance at a fledgling world.¡± Lard frowned. He¡¯d expected to beg for another chance, maybe even cry while he promised to submit himself to punishment if he failed again. This was too easy. ¡°Where am I going?¡± ¡°A need seed world in the Sol system. I fear for them, but you won¡¯t be the only one there. And according to what we have on them, you should be fine.¡± Lard chuckled, trying not to show how worried he was. ¡°Great!¡± ¡°Use the damn beacon,¡± The Lightborn said, looking away from him. 1. Preparation The day was like any other¡ªbeautiful and chaotic. The city bustled with immeasurable energy. The car horns and traffic moaned as Harry rushed to work. The world was untouched, undisturbed, set in the way it had always been. It was a stunning morning¡ªperfect for the working man. Sad for him. He wished the clouds¡ªwhite and puffy¡ªwould turn smoke black. In the wake of the news he¡¯d gotten, he would have preferred rain. That would have been a perfect representation of his state of mind. But the day was crisp and clear as if nature had decided to join in the mockery of fate. He climbed out of the cab, face masked in a frown that had been there since he heard the damning news. I should have stayed at home. What¡¯s the point of being here? He looked up at the height of the Veridian Enterprises building. Its large holographic logo whirled slowly in a cube halfway up its cylindrical glass tower. The face of Alexander Cross, the CEO, appeared for a moment. His smile was unnervingly distracting. Harry frowned at the headshot, hating the man for the same reason everyone else in Veridian hated him. The face vanished, replaced by something Harry could have sworn hadn¡¯t been there before. Someone stumbled into him and whispered an apology as they rushed past. Harry squinted at the square of dark indigo floating in front of his vision. At first, it had seemed to blend with the building like a holo-sign, but then it contracted. It sat in the bottom left corner of his vision, floating like a chat box in a video game and signalling that something was very, very wrong with Harry¡¯s mind. He reached out, trying to touch the box, but finding that he was unable to make contact. His hands appeared behind the semi-transparent panel, barely visible behind its dark indigo hue. No¡­ no! It can¡¯t be happening this fast. I can¡¯t be losing it already. He took a step back and the pulsing block of indigo followed him. Harry winced, hating what that meant. He moved to the left and then right. He jumped up, then tried to crouch under it. All futile. Harry looked around, digging his phone out of his pocket. He couldn¡¯t be seeing things already. The day couldn¡¯t get so bad this early. He placed a call for Cheddar, his best friend and colleague. The phone rang as Harry walked toward the building¡¯s automated door. It slid open as he drew close. ¡°Good morning, Harry Stone,¡± the company¡¯s A.I. voice sang out, startling him. He muttered a curse, ignoring the look from Old Gary, the security man. Harry waved at him smiling anxiously before he saw something even more worrying. He slowed his steps, not wanting to seem like he¡¯d gone completely cuckoo. Hovering a few inches above Gary¡¯s balding head was a black rectangle like the chat box fixed to Harry¡¯s vision. The old man¡¯s was different in size, but it pulsed all the same. And unlike Harry¡¯s, it was not plain. He tried not to be obvious about staring at it, but that was forgotten when a series of letters appeared on the black rectangle, illegible at first but quickly transforming into english. Harry gasped, taking a step back, reading the illuminated words in utter confusion. Level One Drone ¡ª Pre-Immersion None of it made sense to Harry. He blinked up to find the old guard staring at him, an unspoken question on his pinched face. Harry waved at him again, forcing a smile he couldn¡¯t feel on his face. I¡¯m going insane! That¡¯s it, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯m completely nuts! The call to Cheddar didn¡¯t go through, so Harry slipped his phone back into his pocket. He waved a Katlyn sitting behind the curved receptionist desk. There was no rectangular box hovering above her head, but she seemed different, strained somehow. Her smile was an inch or so wider and she didn¡¯t make their usual joke as Harry slid his card over the detector. She stared past him as if she couldn¡¯t really see him. Or perhaps she just wasn¡¯t in the mood to joke. Harry left her, walking briskly toward the elevator. He spied Dex and Voss patrolling the foyer discreetly. Voss was Gary¡¯s son, but he looked nothing like the old man. Tall and lanky, with thick locks of dark hair, he barely resembled the stout, thin-haired guard. The eyes were a different story, however. Put them both together and look at those eyes and you could start to see the resemblance. Clarice was on elevator duty. Her hands were clasped in front of her, her head slightly bowed to her chest. She looked like she was sleeping, or praying. The black rectangle pulsed over her. She didn¡¯t move to open the elevator for Harry. She didn¡¯t lift her head to flirt as usual either. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Harry pushed the button frantically. He knew she wasn¡¯t dead because she kept tapping her right fingers on the back of her left palm. Rhythmically, obsessively. Other than that though, she seemed utterly zombie-like. The elevator sighed open and Harry entered. Before the doors closed, someone else joined him. A girl he¡¯d never seen before. Her ID listed her name as Sarah and suggested that she worked in the marketing department. She studiously ignored him, looking everywhere but at his face. Harry wondered whether he¡¯d cut himself shaving or if there was some other disfiguration which prompted the woman to look away. You¡¯re just being paranoid, he chided. People don¡¯t think about other people. She¡¯s probably just worried about a meeting or dinner with her boyfriend or something like that. Logically, he knew that there were a thousand reasons why she was avoiding him and none of them actually related to Harry. But it still cut a little, the fact that she wouldn¡¯t even acknowledge him in any way. Some inner rebellious part of Harry wanted to clear his throat or just introduce himself and extend a hand while smiling broadly, just to throw the woman¡¯s plans awry. Maybe next time, Sarah. The elevator ride was uneventful. Harry stopped at the third floor. He stepped out into the crisp air of the cooperate ecosystem and sighed at the near-silence on the floor. He took a step left, hoping the weirdness was over only to be startled by a voice that reverberated around him as though it was being blasted out of speakers on all sides. ¡ªOne Hour Until Total Immersion¡ª The words were spoken in a stuffy, male, English accent. He looked left and right, searching for the owner of the voice and suspecting either a prank or some new company invension being beta tested on the floor. This wouldn¡¯t be the first time a Veridian R&D team decided to test some new technology out on company employees without warning. There was no sign of anything out of the ordinary though and, in addition to the startling voice, identical words were written on the hovering panel to the bottom left of his vision. The digital display hovered, stuck in that lower left corner and refusing to budge no matter how vigerously he shook his head or turned around. Harry stared at it, his heart thumping in his chest. This wasn¡¯t what the doctors told him. He¡¯d expected¡ª He groaned. He hadn¡¯t expected anything. Not anytime soon, anyway. This was driving him nuts. As he headed toward his pod the sounds of murmuring filled the floor along with the occasional shuffling of pages or a sporadic burst of laughter. Everything seemed perfectly normal and yet completely unusual. Maybe it wasn¡¯t the office though? Maybe this was all down to Harry. He quickened his pace, rounding the corner and reaching his pod, finding the area mostly vacant. Aside from Jean and the discarded hoodie and satchel which suggested that Bo was also in evidence, everyone else wasn¡¯t at their desks. Weird. Everyone hated the job, but they all needed the money. A large screen hovered in the middle of a section of pods which formed a larger cluster. It was showing a muted vision of one of Veridian¡¯s many internal ads aimed at promoting synergies and excellence, and pumping out a dozen other buzz words that meant nothing to the average employee. Harry ignored it. He looked around the floor, spotting Cheddar in the next pod over, grinning like a loon as he stared up at the internal ads showing on the screen. Cheddar¡¯s eyes were opened wide behind his lightly-tinted glasses, red spiderwebs of veins prominent around the edge of each eyeball. Still high. Harry shook his head as he walked over and sat down next to the other man. ¡°Dude, you¡¯re gonna get the boot soon if you keep this shit up.¡± His best friend grinned like he¡¯d just been complimented, nodding to himself, glassy eyed. Harry chuckled, relieved to find that thee wasn¡¯t a black rectangle floating above Cheddar¡¯s head. He at least, was normal. Utterly stoned, but normal. ¡°Too nice a day to clock in sober, dude,¡± Cheddar drawled. ¡°I can¡¯t survive in this shit hole otherwise.¡± ¡°Gil seen you?¡± Harry asked. Cheddar shook his head and Harry caught his rapid glance to the left. Cheddar¡¯s eyes stayed there for a moment and he grinned broadly as though something fantastically humerous had appeared on the other side of the floor. ¡°No,¡± Cheddar said. ¡°No one¡¯s seen him. Weird flu going around, I think. That¡¯s what Jean said anyway.¡± ¡°Yeah, I noticed,¡± Harry said. ¡°No sign of life downstairs either.¡± Cheddar shrugged, turning back to stare up at the screen once more. ¡°You get any sleep?¡± He asked, grinning again. ¡°I went out like a light the second I hit the bed.¡± Harry chuckled. ¡°I managed to get a couple of hours. Not enough. Feel like absolute shit this morning, and I blame you for it. We should have started earlier.¡± ¡°Dude, you¡¯re such a frigging lightweight!¡± He laughed. ¡°Shadow of Olireth rules! Game¡¯s too damned good to quit, that¡¯s all. Besides, you were the one who wanted to finish the Oberon questline. Damned thing took like four hours.¡± Harry nodded. He was right, of course. It wasn¡¯t fair to blame Cheddar for the late night considering Harry had been just as eager to continue. He knew that would mean a rough morning and a shitty day, but the news of his progressing illness had thrown him for a loop and blowing a night gaming with Cheddar seemed like a good enough remedy at the time. ¡°Never doing that again,¡± he said, pressing a thumb and forefinger against his nose. ¡°Feels like I¡¯ve spent the last ten hours being thrown around a tumble dryer.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you came into work without a buzz, dude. I keep telling you, you gotta level your shit out and get a buzz on. How do you think¡ª¡± Cheddar winced at the same time as Harry. The bustler style voice he¡¯d heard earlier cut through the air once more. This time it was less of an ear-splitting shriek and more of a calm, digitized voice, but the fact that it was coming from everywhere at once was more than a little disarming. ¡ªForty-five Minutes Until Total Immersion¡ª 2. Immersion Harry looked down at the text block on the lower right side of his vision, his eyes wide in horror as he read the message. Foryty-five minutes? Where the hell had the last fifteen minutes gone? There¡¯s no way it had taken fifteen minutes to walk over to Cheddar and strike up a conversation. And what the hell was this immersion about? If this was his mind slowly shedding away, then the doctor had severely underestimated how quickly shit was going to get bad for Harry. Or was this something else? Fear maybe? He¡¯d heard about people that lost their minds due to fear, imagining mythical creatures that weren¡¯t there, experiencing psychotic breaks or having spontaneous heart attacks purely because they were terrified. It wasn¡¯t the sort of thing that happened too commonly these days, but¡ª ¡°Hey? Harry?!¡± Cheddar called. ¡°Hey?!¡± Harry ignored him, still staring at the words glowing on top of the semi-transparent box. Is this my subconscious telling me how much time I have left, using game mechanics to get the message through? God, that¡¯s depressing. I¡¯ve spent so long gaming that now my entire subconscious is stuck in game mode. That didn¡¯t make sense, but then very little made sense at that moment. He closed his eyes, checking if he felt anything different internally. He felt no pain, and real no discomfort other than when the disembodied voice was speaking. And except for the lingering tiredness form the previous night¡¯s activities. Aside from all of that though, he felt fine. Normal. Perhaps it is just a mind thing? ¡°Harry, you doink!¡± Cheddar called again, prompting Harry to turn and face his friend. Cheddar was leaning forward, staring at him with crazy eyes. ¡°What the fuck are you staring at, bro?¡± ¡°What?¡± Harry asked, confused for a moment. ¡°No¡­nothing. I was just¡­¡± ¡°You can see it too, can¡¯t you?¡± Cheddar asked, voice suddenly intense. ¡°You can see the HUD thing, the little box in the top left.¡± Cheddar grinned, shaking his head. ¡°Jesus, I thought I was going nuts. Figured I hit a real bad strain or something. Did you hear the voice too?¡± Harry blinked. ¡°The voice. Yeah. You heard that?¡± ¡°Forty-five minutes until total immersion,¡± Cheddar confirmed. ¡°I thought I heard it a little while back too, but figured it was just my head screwing with me.¡± Harry looked around the office to check that no one was listening. The place was practically deserted, do he needn¡¯t have bothered. He leaned forward heart racing despite his relief that he apparently wasn¡¯t alone in his madness. ¡°I heard the guy speaking pretty much straight away when the I came out of the elevator.¡± ¡°Guy?¡± Cheddar asked. ¡°You¡¯re hearing a dude speaking?¡± Harry reclined, confused. ¡°Yeah. A bit of a posh English accent. Guy sounds like a buttler. What does your sound like?¡± ¡°A chick. English too, I guess, now that I think about it.¡± Cheddar pulled off his glasses, wiping his forearm across his face before slipping them back on again. ¡°What do you think they mean by immersion? I figure it¡¯s some kind of attack, right? Or R&D is screwing with us again?¡± Harry shook his head. ¡°Downstairs, when you first came in, did you notice anything weird about Gary or Clarice?¡± Cheddar shook his head. ¡°No. Not that I can remember. But,¡± he leaned forward, grinning conspiratorially, ¡°I¡¯m pretty baked right now.¡± Harry rolled his eyes. ¡°Yeah. I know. Everyone in the damned building probably knows, you moron.¡± Cheddar nodded, leaning back in his chair and playing it cool. His eye were snared by the screen up above again and he grinned as they glazed out of focus. ¡°Hey!¡± Harry said, clicking his fingers in front of the other man to get his attention. Blinking, Cheddar looked down at Harry. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The guys downstairs,¡± Harry insisted. ¡°You were saying you didn¡¯t notice anything out of the ordinary about them.¡± ¡°Yeah. I already told you, dude. I didn¡¯t notice anything. Why? What did you see?¡± ¡°Looked like a monster tag, like you¡¯d get in a video game. There was one right above Gary¡¯s head. It said level one Drone, pre-absolution.¡± ¡°Lind of game?¡± Cheddar mused, as though he was mentally fumbling around the edges of an idea. ¡°What if this whole thing is some kind of game? Like, a simulation, or maybe R&D are testing some new A.I. bullshit? Gil would know, right?¡± He looked around outside of the pod. ¡°We should ask him.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not here, remember?¡± Cheddar chuckled, nodding. ¡°Oh, shit. Yeah. I forgot. He¡¯s not here dude.¡± Harry couldn¡¯t help but grin. Cheddar was less than useless when he was stoned but his laughter was infectious. Harry forced himself to focus. They¡¯d both heard the voices, different voices, sure, but voices nonetheless. That meant that the morning¡¯s craziness wasn¡¯t all in Harry¡¯s head. Given the nature of the company they worked for, the best explanation was that they were trialing some new kind of AI integration and using Harry and the other corporate drones as test subjects. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time and Veridian was famous for only letting employees know after the fact that the¡¯d been involved in some secret study or other. He clicked his fingers, jabbing them at Cheddar. ¡°Lia! She¡¯ll know what this is all about. If we can¡¯t find Gil, Lia will know.¡± Cheddar nodded. ¡°Yeah, I guess so.¡± ¡°She has to know,¡± Harry said, convinced that he was speaking the truth but not moving from his seat. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Cheddar leaned forward. ¡°So, you gonna go ask her?¡± A few seconds passed before Harry answered. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m ready to see her just yet. Mabye someone else will know?¡± ¡°Or, you could just man up and go see her, dude?¡± Harry shook his head. ¡°Nope. Not yet.¡± ¡°Okay, well then I guess we just park our asses here and wait,¡± Cheddar suggested. ¡°I guess it doesn¡¯t matter anyway. If this is just some kind of test, then we will know soon enough.¡± They sat nervously. Harry noticed Cheddar had somehow climbed down from his high. He was blinking, eyes shifting left and right in obvious parranoia. Harry wondered whether this was a side effect of whatever test they were currently undergoing. ¡°You okay, dude?¡± he asked. Cheddar nodded. ¡°Yeah. I just¡­shit man, it feels like I just fell into a bucket of ice water or something. My buzz is¡­completely gone. Shit!¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright dude, just calm down.¡± ¡°Not sure I can. I¡¯m not equipped to handle this shit sober, dude. Maybe I should just head home? Say I¡¯ve got a bout of explosive diarrhea or food poisoning or something?¡± Harry put a hand on the other man¡¯s shoulder, trying to calm him down. ¡°Just, take it easy, man. It¡¯ll be fine. Like you said, we just need to sit here for a bit and run out the clock, okay? Then Gil will show up, make us sign some bullshit waiver and we can go get a coffee and forget this shit ever happened.¡± That seemed to do the trick. Cheddar nodded, chest rising and falling as he tried to steady his breathing. They sat for a few minutes, each lost in thought. Harry considered calling his mother mother. He hand¡¯t told her the latest from the doctor yet. Last night had been another attempt to put that off but he knew sooner or later he¡¯d have to call her and deliver the bad news. Later, but not now. There was too much going on at the moment. I¡¯m fine. This is nothing. Just another stupid test. He closed his eyes, forcing himself to breathe calmly in and out in the hope that this would still his mind a littl. There was always something odd going on in Veridian. It was exhausting. ¡°Fuck, man this is taking for ever,¡± Cheddar said, breaking through Harry¡¯s meditation. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just go and talk with Lia?¡± Harry shook his head. ¡°Ain¡¯t gonna happen dude. You can go ask if you want though?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s time to stop avoiding her?¡± Cheddar asked. ¡°What?¡± Cheddar snorted. ¡°So you poured beer all over her tits, big deal. Shit happens and I¡¯m sure she understands that.¡± Harry looked over at his friend. It was easy for him to say. The bastard could have been a male model if he¡¯d wanted. From his scruffy blond hair, deep blue eyes, and square jaw down to his naturally athletic physique and the casual way he carried himself, Cheddar had a way with women. They tended to be far more forgiving when he flashed his pearly whites. By contract, Harry wasn¡¯t nearly as handsome and had to work through a pile of social awkwardness just to open his mouth and offer a simple greeting to a member of the opposite sex, let alone flirt with anyone. That shit came naturally to Cheddar, but in Harry¡¯s case it was a little more like teaching a chicken how to ice skate. ¡°You just gotta forget that shit and get back on the horse,¡± Cheddar went on. ¡°Ask her out and just see what she says. Worse case she says no, right? Besides, she was totally laughing when you threw the beer all over her. She knows you didn¡¯t do it on purpose.¡± Reliving one of the worst moments in his recent history wasn¡¯t exactly what he had in mind this morning but thankfully Harry was saved from the necessity of replying as a head-splitting shriek tore through the office at precisely that moment. Harry flinched, slipped off his chair and bonked his head on the edge of a nearby desk. He didn¡¯t feel the impact because the momentary pain that had shot into his mind at that moment was a blinding flare that pushed back his other senses entirely. He flailed about on the floor, seeing Cheddar sitting nearby, hands clasped to his own head, glasses askew. A voice pierced the haze of pain. It spoke in slow, punishing clarity, counting down the seconds of a timer, the timer to Immersion. Harry tried to stand, but pressed against his body, forcing him down against he floor. He cursed trying to shove off whatever was holding him in place. It was like trying to lift a cement truck on his back. Harry groaned, finding it hard to breathe with the pressure all around his body. The voice continued, steadily. Untouched by the madness. Another scream echoed to Harry¡¯s left. The pain in his head had become a living thing, stretching. He grabbed his head, trying to cry out but finding that he could no longer hear or sense anything other that...pure agony. Whatever was in his head tried to claw its way out through his eyes. The pain was excrucianting and Harry scrapped and scratched at his eyes, desperately trying get at whatever had burrowed into his mind and was now trying to escape. Then, just as soon as it had begun, it was over. All of it. Gone. ¡ªHello, Harry Stone. Welcome to the Infernal Crucible!¡ª Harry blinked, opening his eyes to see the building foyer appearing before him. He stood within a milling crowd of confused co-workers. Cheddar lay sprawled on the floor, blinking, his glasses gone. Harry gave him a hand, heaving him up to his feet as they looked around the foyer. ¡°What the fuck is this now?¡± Cheddar asked. Blood dripped from a shallow cut on his cheek, staining his light blue shirt as it dripped down onto his chest. He shook his head, still disoriented. ¡°No way in hell I¡¯m signing a waiver now. Bastards are gonna get their asses sued for this shit.¡± Harry reached up and pressed a hand against his head. The excruciating pain had gone and there was no sign of whatever had torn its way into his mind. ¡°Gill?!¡± Cheddar said. ¡°You better not have signed off on this one, bro. I got myself an injury here!¡± Harry looked around at the crowd of workerss. Some of the faces were familiar, others were not. He wasn¡¯t surprised by that though. Veridian was too big to know everyone. Most of these people worked on floors Harry had never been to. As he was looking through the crowd he spotted her in the distance. Lia stood with a hand on her head, looking left and right in confusion and speaking to a co-worker. Harry ducked behind Cheddar, hiding himself so that she wouldn¡¯t see him. Jesus, Harry, grow a backbone! He chided himself, but didn¡¯t move out from behind Cheddar. ¡°How the hell did we even get down here?¡± Cheddar asked. ¡°They must have cholorormed us. They pumped gass through the air conditioning unit, or¡­ Shit, I dunno.¡± Harry was about to reply when a voice echoed through the foyer, loud enough to cut through the din of confused employees. ¡°Welcome, suplicants, to the Infernal Crucible!¡± Harry looked up at the figure in front of the crowd. For the first few seconds staring at the figure his mind tried desperately to accommodate what he saw, to rationalize the impossibility of it. Then someone screamed, and another joined. Soon chaos erupted like an erupting volcano. Fear was a terrible thing. And it could be contagious. They all pushed at each other, trying to escape the monsters floating above them, watching them with alien eyes. Harry pulled Cheddar to his side and the pari joined the wave of people trying to get out of the foyer through the automated door that led to the car park. The same force Harry had felt when he¡¯d been pressed to the floor up above returned. This time it was brutally efficient. Harry thought his bones would snap under the weight of it. They all collapsed, every single employee within the foyer, crushed by an unknown power and forced to the floor within seconds. Some cried, others begged for mercy. Harry did neither¡ªhis face was pressed to the foyer floor. The pain was excruciating. This is how I die? Not from some mind-eating sickness? ¡°I will release you in a moment,¡± the alien voice said. ¡°But if you try to flee again I will continue to increase the suppression field until your bones are turned to dust and your insides are pulped. Do you understand?¡± A few people muttered strangled acknowledgement. ¡°Good.¡± The pain instantly vanished and the pressure against Harry¡¯s body dissapeared. Slowly, people got to their knees and stood shakily, leaning on one another for support and staring over at the strange creature that had caused their excruciation. ¡°Once again, I welcome you to the Infernal Crucible. Congratulations! You have all been chosen¡ªyou have been gifted a chance to save yourself and your race. You, weak as you are, are the few found worthy to participate in the Crucible.¡± Whatever that thing was, its mouth didn¡¯t move as it spoke. It shone hot red, like lava molded into the shape of a woman with a single stinger extending down from its abdomen. A black, bone horn jutted from her forehead, just above a pair of crimson eyes. Her body was wrapped in layers of rough black metallic skin and she hovered above the ground. ¡°I am Rhoar of the Arbiter Dominion, and I have come to prepare you for immersion.¡± 3. Augmentum Harry watched the beings in awe and dread. They looked nothing like the aliens he¡¯d expected. Not that he expected her to be green. Yet, he hadn¡¯t expected this. Even though he could see the blazing insides of her skin, he felt no heat. Only the fear that the force from before would weigh him down again. The other two behind her were even more stunning to look at. ¡°This is Galid of the Lightborn race, Scepter of Eio, and witness to this immersion,¡± Rhoar said. Galid¡¯s hair pulsed with deep blue light. The strands, thin as needles seemed to move randomly. His face looked like a half imitation of a human¡¯s, but the angles were all wrong. Except for the eyes¡ªthey were wrapped in many layers of fabric. He was covered entirely in a red and black cloak that fell far below his feet if he had any. Harry watched the turning wheel of light behind him, almost as bright as the strands of hair. It moved slowly, somehow attached to the back of his head. Galid didn¡¯t move, none of them did. Only Rhoar did, as if the other were denied such pleasures. ¡°And this is Verin of the Shadowspawn race, Scythe of Gilirth, and witness to this immersion.¡± Rhoar moved from the other witness quickly, impatient to begin her task. ¡°Harry,¡± Cheddar whispered, staring up at the mass of swirling dark. There was no definition to it. Only a sensation, a startling understanding to never go near the Shadowspawn. Harry¡¯s mind was already conjuring possible unfortunate consequences for that. Cheddar tapped him again, and this time Harry couldn¡¯t ignore his friend. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Dude, you can see them, yeah?¡± Cheddar asked. ¡°You see those things floating above us right? I¡¯m not going insane, am I?¡± ¡°I see them,¡± Harry whispered back. He scanned the rest of the foyer to confirm he wasn¡¯t the only one looking up and added, ¡°We can all see them, Ched.¡± ¡°Good, good. I was beginning to think I smoked the wrong thing this morning. I should probably start panicking all over again, right?¡± Harry glanced at him before turning back to look at the trio hovering over them. Blocks of larger rectangles popped up in front of Rhoar. Each showed a different kind of chaos. Most of the places in some of the HUDs were unknown, but others weren¡¯t. A series of contrails marked the sky as missiles sailed for someone who looked disturbingly like Verin. The mass of darkness expanded, covering the sky like a hungry cloud. It swallowed all the missiles and began to contract slowly. From within the mass, a thin hand of dripping black stretched out. Its fingers were tiny. It flicked one finger and something shot forward, homing on something in the distance. Harry heard the collective gasp when the display zoomed in the instant the last of six fighter jets exploded in the sky. Then more followed below. Harry held his breath as the last of them dropped down, cock-screwing to dodge an incoming attack none of them could see. Then it, too, exploded. It fell down, raining pieces of burning machinery of death. ¡°We are screwed,¡± Cheddar whispered as Harry watched the destruction happening all over the country¡­no, the world. This was a global invasion. These things were taking over, crashing over the world like a mythical storm. ¡°That should convince you of the severity of your situation, Earthlings. You do not possess the strength to fight us. There is no escape, no hope. Only obedience. Only the worthy shall survive.¡± One after the other, the holo-screens vanished. Harry looked out. The street was silent. Whatever chaos Rhoar had just shown them, it didn¡¯t seem to have reached them yet. Except the weird silence, there was no attack. ¡°That¡¯s bullshit!¡± Someone said in the crowd. ¡°Why are we listening to a bunch of holograms?¡± That fool, Harry thought. He was doubting the whole thing too, but that force was real. He touched his head, feeling a bite of pain from where he¡¯d smacked his head on his table. There was no disputing that. The crowd seemed to expand and bodies pushed against Harry and Cheddar as the one called Galid slowly descended. Closer, it was a surreal thing. Its man-like face looked like a wicked conjuration. As if a wizard had messed up a spell when summoning an angel. The blue light pulsed faster as it reached the ground, lost to Harry because of the sea of people in front of him. He strained to see, trying to push forward but no one would give way. Then the scream started. He didn¡¯t have to imagine what was happening. He perceived the smell of burning hair and skin. The scream didn¡¯t last long. Nor did the stench. One moment the foyer smelled like a barbecue gone wrong, and the next there was nothing. Not even the stink of a hundred or more people pressing away from Galid in terror. The creature¡ªbecause he wasn¡¯t a man¡ªsimply ascended. In his wake was silence and the full attention of all present. If anyone there had any doubt they were walking the thin edge of a knife before. That confirmed it. Cheddar is right, Harry thought, staring at stoic Galid. We are so fucked. ¡°Poor thing,¡± Rhoar continued with a chuckle. Her mouth still wasn¡¯t moving. Her voice was a creeping thought in their ears, their minds. ¡°That could have been avoided. Your survival depends on your dedication to live. Doubt is the shadow that brings you death. Certainty will guide you to the end. Certainty of your worth, your strength, your position. You are nothing. Right now, you are little more than the sniveling beastlings of Iria. Your fangs are dull and your limbs are feeble. You are weak. The Crucible will break you with so little force. But with full obedience to its law, it will mold you. We will carve you like the forgers of Kairin shape their wonders. You will be the Talos of your home world.¡± ¡°Only if we submit to you?¡± Someone asked. Gerald, Harry thought, recognizing the voice. ¡°We should bow or die?¡± ¡°How foolish,¡± Rhoar mocked. ¡°You worship does me no good, human. You are ash before me, dust for the wind. You must submit to the crucible. For your sake.¡± Harry looked out the door again, wondering what was going on. A buzz of murmurs rolled through the group as they tried to grasp what was happening to them. Harry noticed the block of square in front of him had vanished. A strange silence seemed to spread within him, accompanied by a growing impatience. ¡°If it is any consolation, you are not alone,¡± The Arbiter said. ¡°This is not the only testing ground. You are some of many that have been given the chance to evolve. Not all of you will survive this. Most of you will be tossed away as you journey to the top. Death is a good end too, believe me. I have seen forces stronger than you beg for a quick end as Echoes burrow into them. Yet, your suffering, for now, is milder. Your suffering is controlled. You only need be determined and you will find yourself elevated in the ranks of the Crucible.¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. She waited, eyes scanning the crowd below. Her stinger swerved slightly, like a dog wagging its tail. The silence stretched taut like a held breath. They were all hooked now, baited by promises in the wake of the devastating threat of a sure death. A choice other than being burnt alive? Why not? ¡°We have to escape,¡± Cheddar whispered. Harry looked up to find a weird kind of fear on his friend¡¯s face. It was infectious as if airborne immediately Cheddar spoke the words. Harry shook his head slowly. ¡°Soon, you will meet your guide. They will initiate full immersion where you will be given the Augmentum. Your guide shall navigate you through the perils that await you. They will show you how to survive because that is their purpose. They will be your friend for as long as you survive. Trust them if you must.¡± ¡°We are going to die here, bro,¡± Cheddar whispered again. Harry sighed. ¡°What? Can you fight something like that? That thing just fried someone out of existence, what kind of insane Sci-Fi mind fuck is that?¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Harry whispered back to his agitated friend. ¡°We can¡¯t leave now. That door didn¡¯t work, remember? I think that had something to do with Rhoar the scorpion up there.¡± Harry looked up to see if she¡¯d heard him. ¡°We wait then? For a chance?¡± Cheddar asked, sighing with relief. ¡°There must be vents or something we can use to get out of here.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Harry said impatiently. Rhoar was speaking again. ¡°Your immersion will change you,¡± Rhoar continued. Galid and Verin seemed to be statues next to her. ¡°It will be painful. But know that it will be your climb to something higher than you are right now. Once again, welcome to the Infernal Crucible my little pups.¡± First, Galid stepped back as if moving away from Rhoar. Something wrapped around him, as if the space opened up and swallowed him. Harry watched wide-eyed as tiny motes of buzzing darkness ate at Verin¡¯s form until the Shadowspawn was gone. ¡°Showoffs,¡± Rhoar said, and this time her mouth peeled apart when she grinned. Like Galid, she simply walked into space and vanished. For a brief moment, no one moved. They were all stunned to silence. Then as if the shock wore off at once, they all burst into motion. Cheddar turned to join the group rushing for the door, but Harry held him back. Cheddar glared at him. ¡°Now¡¯s the time, moron. We can leave!¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Harry said and as if he¡¯d foresaw what was coming, the force crashed on them again. Cheddar jumped away from the closest body writhing and screaming under the weight of the force. Harry looked around, searching to see if there was a physical source, not that he expected to find it. Another magical phenomenon. He shook the doubt away from his mind. The more he thought about it, the harder it was to doubt it. Those three had simply vanished just now. And before that, they were floating above them as if they stood on an invisible platform. Magic. Was that how they controlled the door? Irrelevant. That doesn¡¯t matter. How do we get out of here? ¡°Thanks,¡± Cheddar muttered as if he was talking to himself as he watched many others suffer. ¡°Looks like you were not the only one with the sense to stay put.¡± Harry followed his nod to find Lia holding on to Nancy, one of the recruits in HR. They looked terrified. He wanted to wave them over, but that might come with some kind of consequence too. ¡°It¡¯s gone,¡± Cheddar whispered when the screaming stopped. Harry felt it in the air. There was a quality to it, not exactly heaviness. Like the absence of a smell. He ignored the compulsion to dig into that. ¡ªShall we begin your immersion?¡ª Harry stared at the HUD wide-eyed. Cheddar went stiff beside him, his fingers wrapping around Harry¡¯s arm. ¡°The chick is back,¡± he whispered as though whatever voice was in his head wouldn¡¯t hear him. ¡°What do I do?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t really have any choice,¡± Harry thought. The question was structured to seem like they could choose to avoid the immersion, but the reality of what Galid did had taken that option away from everyone. They were being moved like puppets. Harry hissed before confirming acceptance. In front of him, a thick, dark-skinned woman from Marketing collapsed. Then Steve from IT followed, hitting the floor face first. Harry winced as he searched for Lia, hoping she wouldn¡¯t fall like the others. Oh shit! The edges of his sight turned to black as his vision dimmed and his body went numb. There was no pain in the process. He realized what was happening just as the British voice said it. ¡ªDon¡¯t worry! You are just going into immersion!¡ª Immersion turned out to be a vast desert of brown, warm sand. Harry watched as a storm tore through the land, moving from the horizon toward him. He reached out, feeling the warmth of the sun. Even the dry wind felt real. ¡°Is this real?¡± Harry asked. He turned around to find a mass of squirming fluid-like matter. It was dark and jagged on the outer surface. It floated, moving in a complex pattern Harry didn¡¯t try to comprehend. ¡ªIt was. This is the waste of Balon. Home of six billion. It was vast, filled with life and culture and corruption and whatever comes with existence. Do you know what reduced them to this?¡ª ¡°They failed the crucible?¡± Harry guessed. He felt the mass¡¯s shock like it was his own. That felt odd. ¡ªYes, they did. They had no champion. Their world was reaped like wheat in season. Sucked dry until there was nothing left, then abandoned. I hope this is enough motivation for you.¡ª Harry contemplated that. If he was being honest, none of it mattered to him. He¡¯d never cared for the planet. And he would be dead in months anyway. But it would suck for his mum, for Cheddar and Lia. He shrugged. He had nothing to lose. I might as well play the hero. ¡ªGreat! I can sense a great resolve in you! This should be a fruitful partnership! I will be your guide!¡ª ¡°Right,¡± Harry said as the desert rolled away and the landscape changed to a field of lush grass and knee-height flowers. Colors scattered endlessly. In the middle of the field, a gnarly, stout tree stretched with vibrant leaves and budding seeds. Harry grinned when he saw the low-hanging fruit. ¡°Some kind of joke?¡± The mass vibrated and Harry heard a series of warbles he immediately understood to be giggles. ¡ªThat¡¯s the Augmentum.¡ª ¡°What is it?¡± Harry asked as he walked to the tree. The fruit was no bigger than a grape. From books and movies he¡¯d read, he expected it to give off a sinister aura. Some kind of power to show how potent or important it was. It did not. Harry tried to hide his disappointment as his guide explained. --The Augmentum is a soul-based seed. A sub-state of the Crucible system. As you grow in power and compatibility, it advances until you carry a mature node. They call those the Ruler Seed.¡ª ¡°So the older the seed, or Augmentum, the stronger the host?¡± Harry asked. ¡ªNo. Time has nothing to do with it. Advancement does. First, you must absorb the Augmentum. It will evaluate and restructure you, enhancing you as much as your present form can manage. That is what we call the base form.¡ª The guide giggled again. ¡ªI can¡¯t wait to see what you will become.¡ª Harry was ashamed to admit that he was curious too. He plucked the fruit. It was soft to the touch, almost like a normal grape. He popped it in his mouth and bit down on it. Something filled his mouth, then wriggled like worms. He tried to open his mouth but that was suddenly impossible. Harry¡¯s eyes widened in panic. He wheeled around to glare at the guide, making soundless accusations. Whatever he¡¯d just put in his mouth wriggled down his throat, multiplying as it moved. He felt all of its writhing and burrowing. His HUD popped up just as the sensation returned to him. He opened his mouth to curse at the guide and the words morphed into a scream halfway. The pain. It curled Harry backward. His spine screaked. Cold fire rushed through his veins, burning his insides, scouring him clean. Harry wanted to scream. He wanted to beg. He wanted to curse everything. He could do none of those. His cry of pain was locked in his head where he alone could hear it. ¡ªImplanting Soul Seed.¡ª ¡ªAugmentum integrated¡­ ¡ªCommencing evaluation¡­ Lard whistled as he read the evaluation feed report. ¡°And here, I shall deliver you a boon!¡± Harry¡¯s body shook violently as the process dragged on. Lard changed the landscape once more to watch the destruction of yet another part of this wonderful planet.