I've never had the best relationship with sleeping on the floor. Between a bad back from being too reckless when I was younger to being such a light sleeper that vibrations from people walking around would frequently wake me up, sleeping on the floor would usually mean a day of drowsy fatigue and a sore, if not crippling, painful back.

  This made waking up feeling rested, relaxed, and pain-free while also feeling the cooling sensation of a hard floor on my back much more strange.

  Slowly, I opened my eyes, blinking away a few floating stars as I looked up at a paneled ceiling, complete with skylight windows. As I scanned around more, I could see hanging lamps glowing enough to light up the room. Slowly, I pushed myself up, sitting back on my elbows as I examined my unfamiliar surroundings. The room was large, classically decorated with dark wood paneling and accents, with dark wood tables and leather chairs along the sides. I could see windows along the walls with curtains drawn, letting me see a hazy blue sky.

  I felt like I had woken up in a stateroom, somewhere that was clearly too rich for my blood. I had absolutely no idea where I was, nor why I had been sleeping on the floor. Before I could stand and start to look around properly, a voice echoed from behind me.

  "I suppose banking on you turning your head to look behind you was too much," the voice said, the tone more than a bit fresh. "Perhaps I-?"

  I jumped to my feet, whirling around to face the voice, reaching to my hip instinctively, only to find that my concealed carry was missing. That wasn't entirely surprising, considering I didn't tend to sleep with it, but then again, I couldn't specifically remember going to sleep in the first place. When no immediate threat availed itself, I relaxed, my eyes locked on the man standing at the far end of behind a clean, perfectly organized counter.

  "Hello?" I asked, raising my voice slightly so my word would reach him.

  "Oh, marvelous, he speaks," the suit-clad man responded, his slightly British accent only making his words sharper. "Surely, our chances of survival have skyrocketed. Now, only if he knew how to use his indoor voice."

  I couldn't help but frown at the man's words. They made very little sense to me, but it was still clear that he knew more about what was going on than I did. Rather than fire back and potentially piss off a source of information, I slowly made my way to the desk he was standing behind. I took a moment, noting the crisp, perfectly aligned suit and tie, as well as the coiffed black hair, before finally speaking again.

  "Hello, my name is Connor… do you mind telling me what is going on?" I asked, trying to be polite. "I have no idea where I am or what has happened."

  I was lost in a strange, if admittedly well-decorated and well-built building, with no recollection of how I got there. I was uninjured and clothed, which was encouraging, but not knowing how I got here was very concerning. However, given I had no idea what was going on, the least I could do was hold off the hostility until I learned a little bit about my situation.

  "Greetings, Connor. My name is. I am the caretaker of your Headquarters," He explained, gesturing around both of us. "As for what is going on… perhaps this is a conversation best had over coffee."

  Maxwell stepped out from behind the counter and led me to one of the nearby tables. As we sat, I spotted an already filled coffee mug, set on a tray beside a cup of tea. A row of cookies rested next to both, but rather than take any, I followed Maxwell's lead, only picking up the coffee and taking a sip. After I had enjoyed a sip of the admittedly great coffee, Maxwell gave me a rather commiserating look.

  "I'm afraid there is no pleasant way to say this, sir, but you have died," He explained, his voice gentle. "Your apartment's carbon monoxide detectors were faulty, and you passed away watching TV after work. If it is any consolation, your brute of a landlord is going to prison for knowingly neglecting safety requirements."

  The news washed over me in a wave. For some reason, I didn't doubt I had died, not for very long, at least. Instead, the knowledge seemed to settle into my mind easily and without sparking any doubts. It felt right, somehow. I could feel it resolve something profound inside me, almost like I had known in my soul, but my brain refused to get the memo until someone pointed it out.

  "That… okay. I died," I said, accepting the fact pretty easily. "And yes, it does make me feel better that he is going to prison. The prick deserves it."

  Maxwell simply nodded, taking another sip of his tea, letting me stabilize after the world-shaking revelation I had just arrived at. My drink was forgotten in my hands for a good two minutes before I finally let out a long breath, taking another sip and meeting Maxwell's eyes.

  "Alright, I'm dead, what does that make this?" I asked, looking around. "Not seeing a lot of fire and brimstone or pearly golden gates."

  "Oh, no, you've misunderstood, sir," he explained, putting his teacup down. "You died, but you are no longer dead. You see, you have been chosen. Plucked from your admittedly boring afterlife to be given a challenge."

  "A challenge?"

  "Indeed, Sir. Think of it as a second chance, but with a little extra work to make it interesting," he explained, his hands in his lap. "The world our lofty patrons have brought us to is not a pleasant one. In fact, surviving here will be quite a difficult and treacherous battle."

  "Lofty patrons? Treacherous battle?"

  "Oh my, that echo is certainly strong, I will have to hang a few more tapestries to try and cut it off," Maxwell said, raising an eyebrow as I gave him a hard look. "Yes, Sir, this world is significantly more dangerous than your previous home. But worry not, they have not left you high and dry."

  "Who is 'they?'" I asked, now frowning.

  "Eldritch beings, outside the realm of mortal minds and ken," He explained with a frustratingly casual shrug. "They have vested interests in seeing people like you being sent on grand adventures, struggling through great conflict and overcoming adversity. Beyond that, Sir, I cannot say. My advice would be to simply treat them as an always distant sponsor, a corporate branch responsible for rewarding our work without interfering."

  Rather than say anything, I reached forward and took a cookie, waiting for the man to continue, which he did after a moment.

  "As for the issues and dangers of this world, which we now by extension must face, vary from smaller dangers to veritable armies," He explained. "Which is why our benefactors have given you a way to generate your own army and a base in which to house them."

  "Generate my own… What?" I asked, now beginning to question whether this was all some sort of joke, cosmic or mundane.

  "Oh yes, you have been gifted a rather interesting system of sorts," He assured me, before putting down his cup of tea and standing. "Come, I will show you."

  He led me back to his counter, turning his back to go through several stacks of paper. After a few seconds of searching, he made a slight sound of victory before turning to hand me a single sheet of paper.

  "You see, the entities that have graciously sent us on this journey have curated and will continue to curate, an extensive list of tasks, or quests if you will, in which they challenge you to complete," he explained. "Doing so will lead to rewards, which could vary from local currency to entire battalions of soldiers, all loyal to you."

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  As he spoke, I looked down at the paper, which was more parchment-like than the thin, clean white paper I was used to. On it were the details for a quest, so labeled at the top left. It explained that I would receive the "Standard Soldier Kit" for stepping outside of the Headquarters and staying there for thirty seconds. There was a whole chunk of fine print detailing specific things, mostly focused on preventing me from cheating the system by doing things like stepping outside for a second before returning back inside, then repeating that thirty times. While seemingly pointless for such a simple task, I could see the stipulations making any complicated tasks significantly more difficult.

  "Okay. So you are saying that by leaving this place and standing outside for thirty seconds, I would receive this "Standard Soldiers Kit," I stated, looking up at Maxwell. "What exactly is that?"

  Rather than replying, Maxwell simply raised his eyebrow and made a gesture as if he was turning something over. Letting out a sigh, I flipped the parchment over, revealing more information about the reward. Apparently, a "Standard Soldiers Kit" was a set of light combat attire, a single pistol with one spare magazine and twenty-four extra bullets, a rifle with two spare magazines and sixty extra bullets, a canteen, two ration packs, and one first aid kit.

  It also informed me that the "SSK" could be assigned to a single person, which would allow the kit to be replenished and repaired if the recipient spent seventy-two hours or more inside the HQ or associated territory. Alternatively, the kit could be broken up for multiple people, losing its ability to replenish.

  The downside was that no one else could use it once it was assigned to a single person, and that the assignment was permanent.

  After reading all of the information through again, I carefully put the parchment on the counter before taking a step back.

  "Right… okay… so either this is an incredibly elaborate prank, I've gone completely insane, or…"

  "To be frank, Sir… Does it matter?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "Is there anything you can do for now besides go along with it?"

  I stood there, looking at him, then at the blank board behind him, before finally looking back behind me at large room. I could see a few doors along either side of the wide hall, as well as more furniture. Down at the furthest end, the room changed, a T-shaped split that led in opposite directions at right angles to the hall I was standing in. For a moment, I considered taking a break for it, running down the hall to test the doors or see what else I could find. Eventually, I shook my head and turned back to Maxwell.

  "I could make a scene, but I think I'll leave that for later," I said, letting out a long, frustrated breath. "You got any other massive mind-breaking revelations, or can I find the exit and put this whole 'quest for rewards' thing to the test?"

  "Oh, I believe you will regret asking that in a moment. First, do you accept this quest?" He asked, gesturing to the parchment on the counter.

  "Sure, might as well."

  "Very well."

  Maxwell waved his hand over the parchment, which fucking vanished as he did so. I stared at where it had been, then at Maxwell, waiting for the smug, British bastard to reveal his trick. Unfortunately, he did no such thing.

  "Wonderful. Now, if you will follow me," he said, once again stepping out from behind the counter. "I shall do my best to 'break your mind' as painlessly as possible."

  I followed after the well-dressed man, passing a few more tables and bookshelves, until finally, we reached the split. Maxwell stopped and gestured down one of the offshoots, toward a simple but very sturdy-looking. The walls were reinforced with stone, and on either side were coat cabinets and hangers.

  "This door leads outside to our new home," he explained confidently. "I am told you will recognize it, which I'm sure you will be able to use to your advantage. Quests that take place in the 'real' world will be rare. And on the other side…"

  Now we moved again, heading through the opposite hall to a smaller door. This door led into with multiple alcoves along either side. We walked toward the closest alcove, and Maxwell gestured to the door set inside. It was darker and smaller than the door we had just walked away from, but despite being inside… it looked like a reinforced exterior door.

  "This door does not go to our new home. It goes to a very different place, a world that has fallen to pieces, and where the worst had come to pass," He explained. "I was told that you would recognize it as well, but only in passing, as what you would have recognized it for has long since died and been turned into a near nightmare."

  "Wha- why on God's green Earth would I ever go in there then?" I said, taking a step back from the door before turning to look at the other inset doors, each of them now dark and foreboding. "Are all these ones just as dangerous?"

  "They are not dangerous, Sir. Nothing from that side can pass through to ours. Our patron might have high standards, but they do not seem to be cruel," He assured me. "And no, those doors are still sealed, which is how they will remain until you unlock them through rewards."

  "Again, why would I ever go through any of them?"

  "As I already explained, very few quests will have anything to with the world we physically exist in," Maxwell explained. "Most of your quests will take place through these doors."

  "Into the hellscape you described? That I would somehow recognize?" I asked, looking at him like he was an idiot. "Yeah, I'm good. I'm sure I can make do without rewards."

  "I don't blame you for reacting like that, Sir," He said simply. "But perhaps you should complete your current quest? That was simple enough, and maybe it will give you perspective on just why the quests and reward would be important."

  I frowned, looking at the dark inset door and back at the sharply dressed man before turning around and walking out of the room of doors. I crossed back into the main hall, walking past the split until I reached the large double doors. I paused for a moment before letting out a growl and shoving the doors open, stepping outside.

  Instantly, a wave of heat washed over me. The interior we had just left had not been cool by any means, but the temperature outside was hot and dry.

  As far as I could see, the Headquarters was at the top of a slowly descending hill, with dozens of large buildings dotted around us. Some were more intact than others, but all of them were falling apart in some way, and a few were nothing but chunks of rubble., the buildings became less and less dense until they gave way to a dry, broken, burned, and seemingly lifeless landscape. In was the opposite, the buildings growing more and more dense until they settled into the pattern you would expect from a city. From where I was standing, I could see just a few spots of a river, and in the far-off distance, I could see a massive crane, a crumbling Washington Monument, and just the top dome of the Capitol Building.

  I knew exactly where we were. It was mind-boggling, panic-inducing, and horrifying knowledge, but I knew it anyway.

  "This is… This is the Capital Wasteland. Fallout 3," I said, my voice quiet as I looked at our desolate surroundings.

  "I apologize, Sir. I know this is not easy, but you must know the full breadth of what you see," Maxwell said, now standing beside me. "This world may be familiar, but understand that this is not a world limited by render distance, map allocation, or NPC spawn limits. It is the Capital Wasteland, but not to the scale you expect."

  "What does that mean?" I asked as my brain flashed through the sort of threats that existed here, from ghouls and raiders to Talon Company and supermutants.

  "It means that the threats you face here will be more realistic," He responded. "There are no facade buildings with no interior. No impassable walls."

  "No spawn limits," I repeated, my eyes going wide. "The city will be filled with feral ghouls."

  "Indeed, and traveling in shambling hoards as well. But I'm afraid it will affect most places and groups," He pointed out. "Megaton is no longer a small settlement of barely forty people, but instead a large town with hundreds. To say nothing of the raider groups, supermutants, and Enclave. None of them are the limited, small groups you fought against in your game. And now your Headquarters has appeared, a seemingly recently constructed building. We are not in a heavily trafficked area, but that will only protect us for so long."

  For a moment, I stared out into the wasteland, the Capital Wasteland, before a gust of dusty wind startled me out of it. I quickly turned, pulling the door open with near frantic movements, before all but diving back inside. Maxwell followed after, not saying anything. As the door sealed shut behind us, the sound of distant creaking metal and tugging winds disappeared, leaving us to the silence of the interior.