Prologue: Echoes of Tomorrow

  The desert wind, dry and persistent, tugged at the brim of my worn Stetson. Sunset painted the sky in vibrant strokes of crimson and gold, a beautiful backdrop to the vast emptiness that surrounded me. I took a long drag from my cigarette, the nicotine a familiar comfort. Retirement hadn't been quite what I expected. Peace was elusive, even out here in the quiet solitude of the Nevada desert. My name is Jack Rourke. Or, was. These days, I mostly answered to "old timer" at the local diner. Twenty years in the Marines, some things seen, some things done. Came out with a chest full of medals and a head full of… well, let's just call it experience.

  I flicked the cigarette butt into the dust and watched the embers die. The sun dipped below the horizon, and the desert air grew cooler. I turned to head back to my small cabin when the world shimmered.

  Not a heat haze. I knew those. This was different. Like reality itself was glitching. My senses went on high alert. Years of training, ingrained deep in my bones, took over. I scanned the horizon, eyes searching for the source of the disturbance.

  Then, it appeared.

  A swirling vortex of light, shimmering and pulsating, right in front of me. It crackled with an energy that felt both electric and cold. My heart pounded in my chest. This was no hallucination. This was real.

  Before I could react, a beam of light shot out from the vortex, engulfing me. No pain, no burning. Just a sensation of being pulled apart and put back together, all at once. Then, darkness.

  * * *

  I woke up on a cold, metallic table. My head throbbed, and my body ached. Disorientation warred with a rising sense of unease. I tried to sit up, but my arms felt heavy, unresponsive. I looked down and saw bandages wrapped around my wrists and chest. Panic began to set in.

  The room was sterile, clinical. White walls, gleaming metal surfaces, and a low hum that vibrated through the floor. Other people lay on similar tables around me, some still unconscious, others groaning and trying to sit up. I didn't recognize any of them, though I got a sense that someone had attempted to collect every ethnic group on the planet.

  Then, a voice, calm and measured, echoed through the room. "Greetings, subjects. Welcome to Phase One."

  A holographic image materialized in the center of the room. It depicted a tall, slender being with grey skin and large, black eyes. It resembled the "gray alien" figures from all those conspiracy theories. Beside it, another holographic figure appeared, this one reptilian, with scaled skin and piercing yellow eyes – a “lizardman”. The gray being spoke.

  "I understand you are experiencing some disorientation," it said. "Please remain calm. All will be explained."

  "Where am I?" I croaked, my voice raspy.

  The gray being responded. "You are in a secure facility. We have brought you here for a purpose."

  The reptilian figure continued. "We are aware that this may seem… unconventional. However, we assure you that we mean you no harm. We are… preparing you."

  Preparing us for what? The question hung in the air, heavy with unspoken dread.

  Together, the two beings explained about the "System," a force that would soon reshape the world. It spoke of levels, classes, skills, and dungeons. Terms I recognized from the few times I'd seen my nephew playing video games. It sounded like science fiction, or fantasy, or some bizarre combination of both.

  "This System," the gray alien said, "is a reality that will soon engulf your world. It will fundamentally alter your understanding of the laws of physics, and it will destroy the fabric of society in the process."

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  The reptilian alien added, "We, meaning the people my associate and I represent, have all been subjected to and observed the effects of the System on other worlds. The transition is invariably chaotic and never fair. In almost all cases, we have seen it lead to widespread devastation and societal collapse."

  "So, what? You’re just going to kidnap us and tell us the world is ending?" someone shouted from one of the tables.

  "We are hoping that what we have done will give you a chance to prepare," the gray alien responded. "A chance to survive. A chance to help others survive."

  They explained that we had been selected. Chosen to receive an experimental technology, a "Personal System," surgically implanted within our bodies. It was designed to help us adapt to the coming changes.

  "The Personal System," the reptilian alien explained, "will grant you abilities, skills, and knowledge. It is as close as we have been able to come to reproducing the overall System on a local basis, and it has many of the same capabilities, albeit in lesser form. It is our hope that this will allow you to prepare to interact with the System, to understand it, to even… control it, perhaps."

  "Control it?" I scoffed. "You expect us to believe that we can control something that can fundamentally alter reality?"

  "We do not know," the gray alien admitted. "This is our first attempt, the first time we have arrived at a pre-System world with enough time to make a difference. It may all come to nothing, and we are sorry if this turns out to be the case. But if you can learn to navigate your Personal Systems, and use them to the best of their -- and your -- ability, and if you teach others to do the same… then perhaps your world may be the first to pass through this ordeal with some measure of success."

  They went on about infrastructure, about extending our Personal Systems to others, creating a network. It was all very technical, very complicated, and very hard to believe. But looking at the faces of the aliens, so calm, so matter-of-fact, I couldn't shake the feeling that they were telling the truth. Or at least, their version of it.

  "We have already performed the necessary procedures," the gray alien said. "The Personal Systems have been implanted. You will find next to you a device resembling a wristwatch. This is intended as an interface aid -- think of it perhaps as a "tutorial", while you get started. The interface will allow you to manage and control your System until you learn to do it completely internally."

  My eyes sought the small object I had previously observed near the bed, and I grasped it. I felt the cool metal and glass of the device. It was sleek, unobtrusive, no more notable than a modern exercise band in its simplicity.

  "The activation process is very delicate," the reptilian alien said as I returned my attention to them. "It must be done under supervision. We will proceed in small groups."

  A wave of anxiety washed over me. What did they mean by "delicate"? What could go wrong?

  As if reading my thoughts, the gray alien said, "There is a known risk of complications, this being both experimental technology and yours being a previously-unknown species. We have had..." the alien paused as if rethinking its sentence, "only a short time to observe you and collect medial data. We expect the activation process to fail for some of you, and we fear that some of those failures may be... final."

  They then showed us a demonstration, which was explained as a computer-generated graphic but seemed perfectly real. A group of ten people were led into a room. They sat in comfortable chairs and were strapped in by an assembly of aliens, some of the gray and reptilian type we had already seen, others looking like tall mantises or floating jellyfish. These other aliens then sat in front of some control panels next to the activation chairs and the process began. The wristwatch-like devices on the people's wrists began to glow.

  For the first short while, the process seemed to go smoothly. But then, one of the individuals began to convulse. Their body arched, their skin turned pale, and a strange, high-pitched whine emanated from their device. Then, silence. The individual lay still. The aliens rushed to their side, but it was too late. The screen cut to black.

  A chill ran down my spine. This was real. And it was dangerous.

  The aliens then addressed us again. They emphasized the importance of cooperation, of working together. They stressed that we were not just subjects in an experiment, but the key to humanity's survival.

  "We understand that this is a lot to take in," the gray alien said. "But we have no time for disbelief or denial. The System is coming. And we -- you, especially, must be ready."

  As I looked around at the other abductees, I saw a mixture of fear, confusion, and a flicker of something else… hope. Maybe, just maybe, we could do this. Maybe we could learn to navigate this new reality. Maybe we could even become something more.

  As I strapped the device onto my wrist, I knew one thing for sure. My life had just changed forever. The desert, my quiet retirement, all of that was in the past. The future was uncertain, dangerous, and… strangely exciting. I took a deep breath, the metallic tang of the air filling my lungs. It was time to face whatever came next.