Excerpts from the survivors.

  “Chaos. Just utter chaos. By the time I reached the ground floor, it was already swarming with those monsters. There was no way out!”

  “I saw it happen. They were like meteorites, falling from the sky. They hit everything. Buildings, cars, buses… that is what shook the building.”

  “I knew we were fucked when they started eating each other. When we were all stuck in the dark room… on the fifth floor… I am sure no one trusted each other.”

  ***

  After a long conversation with Raghu, explaining to him whatever she had understood, Uruvi retreated to her cubicle on the fourth floor. The floor was empty, as almost everyone decided to stay back on the ground floor, leaving her plenty of space to stretch her legs.

  Her things, which consisted of her laptop and its bag, were exactly where she had left them. ‘No use for you now…’ She thought as she pushed the laptop aside. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her charger and quickly plugged it into the port and her dying phone. There was no reception, but it was still capable of being useful.

  She leaned back against the backrest and exhaled. She had a lot of questions eating away at her brain. Being around other people, who were just as confused as she was, fed more doubts and questions into her brain. That is why she needed some time to herself. To clear her head and think about things that mattered at the moment. After much deliberation, she felt like she had the right questions to ask.

  “Hey, Robot. You there?” she said out loud. Despite knowing that it could read her mind, she still preferred to speak out. It felt less weird and intimidating.

  “Affirmative.”

  “Let’s… have a talk, shall we?”

  “Affirmative. I am here to assist you.”

  “Wonderful. Now… why don’t you tell me what is going on? We are in an apocalypse, that is clear as day. But how? How did this all happen?”

  “Negative. I do not have the permission to access the requested information.”

  She let out a loud grunt. “Okay… let us try this. Could you summon that robot… huh… Grand Advisor?”

  “Negative. Do not have the privileges to summon Grand Advisor.”

  “Wonderful.” She aggressively scratched her hair in frustration. “Fine. We will figure those out eventually. What now? Or… what next?”

  “Thinking… Tutorial completed. Contestant advised to explore the world, defeat monsters, level up, and acquire new skills and spells.”

  “That is pretty much given. But what is the end goal? Are the contestants going to be put into an arena and forced to fight to the death or something?”

  "Negative. Endgame is still being deployed by the system. Phase one allows players to level up and gain strength.”

  “Oh. So, this stuff is being deployed in phases, huh?”

  “Affirmative. Phase two will allow players to see quests and tasks, and rank up by completing them.”

  “When is phase two coming out?”

  “Estimated time… thirty hours.”

  ‘Plenty of time then.’ “Battle and level up. Seems simple enough,” she said. ‘It also gives me enough time to head out and find dad and mom.’

  She shifted the conversation back towards combat and the system. “Okay, robot. My level announcement was interrupted by the battle. Could you let me know what I got from the level up?”

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  “Affirmative. You have gained – 1 weapon, 10 attribute points, 2 skill points, and 2 spell points.”

  Her eyes sparkled on hearing all the bonuses she got. “Whoa! That is a lot! Speaking of weapons…” She looked down at the axe that sat leaning against the foot of her table. It was a fine piece of metal that she could not take her eyes off for a while. “Is there anything I need to know about it? What is its attack?”

  “Affirmative. Weapon: Calamity Cleaver [Battle Axe]

  Base stat: +40 Attack

  Sub stat: 5% increase in Attack

  Special ability: Fighting Spirit. Increase DMG dealt with each hit by 10% for each Level of Naval

  Chakra.”

  “Hold on! It gets stronger whenever I raise my Navel chakra?”

  “Affirmative.”

  “What are its attributes at?” She tapped on the Attributes tab, opening up the Chakra chart. The Navel chakra was attached to Valor, Dynamism, and Serenity, which were at 14, 14, and 13, respectively. Her Root Chakra attributes fared slightly better. Root - 15, Toughness - 14, and Renewal - 15. With 10 attribute points in her hands, she theorized what her best approach to upgrading them was. ‘Is it wise to dump all my points to Navel Chakra?” After a good amount of thought, she finally decided not to. ‘Rushing is not going to help. Let’s take this slow and steady.’ She split the points to even out the six attributes she was focused on, bringing all but Serenity to 16 points, while Serenity sat at 15 points.

  “Right then. Skills and Spells. What do we have here?”

  Her current set of Skills were – Charge (Enhancement 2), Last Man Standing, Reinforce, Calm Mind, Adrenaline Rush

  Her current set of Spells was – Domino, Rejuvenate (Enhancement 2), Taunt, Thunderclap

  She debated whether to invest in new Skills and Spells or to upgrade the existing ones. Each of them could be upgraded once more, and she had been getting better at using them. ‘Maybe it would be wiser for me to focus on what I have. Learn the process, then get new skills.’

  She chose to upgrade - Reinforce, Adrenaline Rush, Domino, and Thunderclap.

  Suddenly, a question popped into her head. “Hey, robot. Are there any other special prizes for leveling up, waiting for me?”

  “Affirmative. Level capped at 10, currently. At level 15, the player will be rewarded with a charm.”

  “What is that?”

  “Charm offers special bonuses to boost players’ stats and provides special effects. Combining Charms can create unique battle effects.”

  She did not understand how it worked, but told herself she would figure it out when it came up. “How about Armor? My Biker jacket is wearing off.”

  “Negative. Armor is not a part of Level Up rewards. It can, however, be acquired by crafting or doing quests.”

  ‘Seems like special armor is still not available. Will have to do without it then.’

  “One last thing. Are you unique to me? Or do you serve other contestants… or anchors?” she asked.

  “Affirmative. I am unique to you. Other contestants and anchors have their own assistants.”

  “Oh! In that case, let’s give you a name. Do you have a name?”

  “Negative. I am simply referred to as an assistant, or by you as Robot.”

  “Well, I guess it is my duty to name my dutiful servant then. Let’s see…” She thought about all the smart people her brain could think of, but none of them were interesting or easy to call. There was one name that she could shorten. “I think I will go with Arya. Sounds good to you?”

  It was short for Aryabhata, the inventor of Zero.

  “Affirmative. I will now respond to the name Arya.”

  A soft smile appeared on her face. “Alright, Arya. Time to move out.” She picked up her phone and saw that it was fully charged. “Thank god fast charging.” She disconnected it from the cable and popped it into her pocket. She looked down at her laptop and thought. ‘You have served me well. But it is time for me to move on.’

  She picked up her axe and walked up to floor five, which she knew was empty. She wanted to leave, and walking through the crowded ground floor was going to be awkward and earn her a lot of ire. She could not blame them, though. But at the same time, her job here was done. She had killed the monsters and created a safe space for them. They would need to figure out the rest.

  On reaching the fifth floor, she tiptoed over to the broken window when she came across the broken hockey stick. She looked at it as though it were an old friend. ‘Rest in peace. You were a badass weapon.’

  She looked ahead and peered out at the street just outside her office. It was overrun with vehicles, leaving no space for anyone to drive through. She theorized that it must have been rush hour when the chaos started.

  “You are planning to leave, aren’t you?” said a voice.

  Her heart leapt to her throat as she turned around to see Rita standing before the door. “Hmm…”

  Rita walked up to her, saying, “it is alright. No one will stop you.” She looked out at the ruin outside. “I just wanted to ask. How are you guys so brave? You, Raghu, and even Geet.”

  “We are not. At least not me. I am barely holding myself together. Trying not to think but just act. And I guess Raghu and Geeta are doing the same,” said Uruvi.

  Rita bowed low. “Do you think my family is okay?”

  Uruvi really wanted to answer that question, but Arya, aka robot, had no access to such information. She knew how lucky she was; not only were her parents alive, but she also knew about it. It took all the weight off her chest and let her think much more clearly. She wanted to give Rita the same hope, but all she could give was, “I am sure they are.”

  Rita tried to smile as she quietly nodded.

  Uruvi leapt off the edge, over the garden, and into the chaotic street below. ‘I am sorry, Rita. I can only pray that everything will be okay.’