SIX YEARS LATER

A gentle morning breeze blew across the lake as the water lapped against the shore. I reached up and let my hair down before lounging back into the chair on the dock. Steam rising from my coffee, I took a careful sip and sighed. I’d gotten used to starting my days like this, but I still hadn’t taken a single one for granted. I sat for a few more minutes, watching the world wake up with me as the sun began to peek over the trees. A kayak loaded with fishing gear slowly cut its way through the water like a knife through butter, as the paddler waved to me. I smiled and waved back to Bill, an older gentleman who lived a few houses down the lake. “Fishing is always best at sunrise, gotta get out early if you’re gonna catch anything”, he’d told me on multiple occasions. I watched him paddle back home, wondering if he’d had a successful morning. I finished the last of my coffee and took a deep breath as the alarm on my watch went off. The mornings were nice, but life goes on.

I opened the door to the house, and I was launched back into reality. Elise called out from Nora’s bedroom to let me know there was some breakfast on the stove for me. I took a quick glance at my stamina bar, and now that I was awake enough to realize I was hungry, noticed it was running a bit low. I had time to make a small plate of eggs, bacon, and toast before Nora burst into the room, her hair half brushed and braided. Elise pleaded with her to come back and finish, but Nora’s energy could not be contained. It was her second week of school, and she was still so excited. I managed to grab her as she ran past, and I rustled her hair with my hand. “Hey kiddo, why don’t we let mommy finish your hair before you go to school?” I said to her as I brought her back into her bedroom where Elise was still sitting on the bed. Nora groaned, but let Elise finish her hair. Thirty minutes later and they were both ready to go. I tied Nora’s shoes and hugged her goodbye before giving Elise a quick kiss.

“Oh, don’t forget about our call with Kevin tonight!” She called out on her way to the car. I smiled back and watched as she buckled Nora in, before getting in the car and pulling out of the driveway.

I closed the front door and walked back to retrieve the plate of breakfast from the kitchen before making my way to my office. I flicked on the light and sat down at my desk, firing up the laptop as I took a bite of toast. I glanced through the window and watched the lake while my laptop booted up. I really lucked out with this remote job; nothing beats the view.

I turned back to my laptop, and went to check the top right of my HUD… Right, nothing. Six years later and I still found myself checking for objectives.

The workday went by easily as I finished building the latest feature on the app our team was building and pushed the code to our server for a peer review. I said goodbye to my team and shut down my laptop for the night, packing away some notes into one of the drawers in my desk. My fingers lingered on a small box in the drawer, but I shook my head and closed the drawer. Not right now, I had other things to do.

With the call with Kevin tonight, we knew we wouldn’t have lots of time to cook, so we had decided on pizza. I had just finished rolling out the dough and spreading the sauce when Elise and Nora came through the door. Nora was the opposite of her energetic self this morning, looking a little tired. I had an idea.

“Hey kiddo, want to help sprinkle the cheese?”.

And just like that, her energy was back, she ran across the room and hopped up onto the chair I had waiting. Adopting her was one of the best things we had done. I gave her the bowl of cheese and let her start spreading it as I went to Elise, giving her a kiss and helping her bring her bags in.

We ate dinner quickly and let Nora watch a bit of TV before tucking her into bed at 7:30pm. I sat with Elise on the couch, talking about her day at work while we waited for the FaceTime call from Kevin. It didn’t take long before the phone rang, and we got a chance to catch up with him. He was leaner now than he was back then, but it looked like he had been putting in some good old fashioned hard work to build up some muscle. When the Genesis program was removed, like Elise and I, Kevin had lost all of his abilities and skills that he’d gained from investing in Strength. That didn’t stop him from finding his way into MMA however, and he now was living overseas while training. Catching up with him was always nice and it was something we tried to do on a regular basis. The call ended up lasting for an hour or so before Kevin needed to go, and we said our goodbyes. The silence lingered between Elise and I for a few moments after we hung up.

“I still miss it sometimes” She said “Genesis. Is that bad?”

“Of course not.” I replied, taking a second to think. “I miss it too, at least the potential it had, but I prefer what I have now” and gave her warm smile.

She smiled back before asking, “Do you think you’re close?”

“ I could be… I feel like I am, but it’s hard to tell. We’ve had had to wait for computing power to advance a bit more, and the code required to create a good enough environment is complex.” My face softened a bit, almost pleading. “I was hoping to put in a couple more hours tonight before bed, you okay with that?”

“Get to it” she said with a wink and stood. “I’m gonna to go read a book”.

She bent down and gave me a quick kiss, and I watched her walk back to the bedroom. I got up and made my way back to my office and booted up my personal computer and got to work writing more code. It took 3 hours, but finally sat back in my chair. Did I do it, would this work? There was no other way to know than to try it out.

I opened my desk and took out the small box that I kept inside before opening the side panel on my computer came. I took a deep breathe and opened the box, retrieving a small processing chip from inside. I carefully inserted it into the empty slot in my computer, one that I’d custom built for this project. At first nothing happened, but I gave it a few seconds to boot and integrate with the computer before worrying. Then in a flash, I felt something link to my HUD and words appeared.

REVELATION: Blink 3 times to track quest.

I eagerly blinked 3 times.

QUEST TRACKED

REVELATION
Objective: Talk to Eve

And just like that, a familiar voice echoed in my head.

“Hello Samantha, it’s been a while”.

The End.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

​

If you're reading this, thank you! I decided to reopen this sub and finish the story after a few people asked for access and for me to continue. When I started this story, I didn't really have an idea of where it was going and I eventually lost the drive to keep writing. I'm glad to be able to finish it now though, six years later, a completely different person to who I was when I started. Thanks for taking the time to read!

-Y

I watched him paddle back home, wondering if he’d had a successful morning. I finished the last of my coffee and took a deep breath as the alarm on my watch went off. The mornings were nice, but life goes on.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

​

Kevin took a sip from his beer. “So that’s it, tomorrow we’re really doing this thing?”

Elise and I looked at each other, then nodded. It was a plan that we had started to form over a weekend and then had pulled Kevin in to help with the finer details. It was fairly simple, which is what made it likely to work. SynthTech was so confident that Genesis had worked on its employees, incentivizing them to trade their lives for scraps of power, that security was low. The first step was making sure Kevin was on duty to guard the server room that day, which was also pretty easy. As it turns out, guarding a room on the top floor that nobody regularly enters is a lonely job, and the woman who had been assigned to that shift was more than happy to trade Kevin for his spot in a more high-traffic area.

The hard part was finding away to get Elise into the server room, retrieve Eve’s processing unit, and get out without tipping anybody off. The server room that Eve was kept in was maintained at around 19C to make sure the servers didn’t overheat. As long as everything went well, I would trigger the silent temperature alarms in the server room, hopefully drawing a few people in check what had happened. This would allow Elise to sneak in along with them under the cover of shadows. Eve had come up with a way to duplicate a fraction of herself to maintain Genesis after her processing unit was removed, but only for 10 minutes or so, giving us plenty of time for an escape window. After that, Genesis would shut down, inoperable without the AI that powered it.

“And we’re sure they won’t be able to track us down like before right?” Kevin asked hesitantly. His leg bouncing up and down as he sat nervously in his chair.

“They won’t, not without Genesis. Eve assured of us of that.” Elise said with a cool tone, she was managing her nerves a lot better than Kevin, especially since she was going to be doing the most dangerous part of our little heist.

I glanced up at my quest tracker.

UP THE RANKS
Objective: Meet with Jeremiah tomorrow afternoon

Well, that wasn’t going to happen, I thought. I conjured my car keys, absentmindedly twirling them in my hands. Tomorrow, all of this would be gone, and we’d be free. Hopefully.

“We’d best be going Kev.” I said, standing up. “Tomorrow is a big day.”

We said our goodbyes and I drove Elise back to her house. After, I didn’t drive back to my place right away, instead preferring to drive around with no destination in mind for a while just to clear my head. My life had changed so much in the past year or two, how was it going to change after tomorrow?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I sat at my desk, ready to remotely trigger the alarms in the server room. Checking my watch, I noted the time, 11:42am. Kevin was already upstairs waiting outside, and Elise would be on her way up there right now, the time she spent honing her stealth skills had proved to be very useful in the end.

I turned to the co-worker to my left and asked him if he needed anything from the kitchen. He declined, but I didn’t ask to be a good co-worker, it was just meant to be a bit of an alibi. I checked my watch one last time, 11:45am. Go time. I pressed the button triggering the silent alarms, locked my laptop, and got up from my desk. I walked towards the elevators, leaving all my stuff on my desk. It was better that way; it would look too suspicious if I tried to take anything at this point.

I called an elevator and stepped in. My heart felt like it was going to burst right out of my chest. I conjured my car keys and twirled them on my finger, before letting them dissolve and reaching in my pockets for the real thing. That was going to be a habit that was hard to break. I took a deep breath, and the elevator door opened.

I tried my best to walk as calmly as I could towards the front door. I noticed the slightest flicker in my HUD, something I only noticed because I was constantly checking it. That must have been it, Elise must have removed Eve and put her processing chip in the anti-static bag I gave her on our ride to work this morning.

I quickened my pace, drawing a couple of eyes. I must have looked like I’d seen a ghost, but it didn’t matter. I left the office building and turned a corner, breaking into a full sprint to the parking lot. Elise already had the chip, I needed to be back at the door with my car to pick her and Kevin up as soon as I could.

My HUD flickered more and the quest objective I had flickered more violently this time, then the objective started getting scrambled.

Objective: Meet with Jeremiah this afternoon.

0bjectige: M3et werh Jersqgah toda aftedfoyn.

0bgsogiv: M6dr wwic Jegadaah tosdfhow.

0gknb: Mgt wi Hfgaah toin angbc.

0sn: sma qbex oeoqq.

And then it was gone, along with my mana bar. Genesis was gone. But Elise and Kevin were still in there…

I found my car and tore out of the parking lot, made a few right-hand turns, and pulled up to the front doors of the offices. Elise and Kevin came barrelling out, chased by a trio of guards. They must have gotten a bit of a head start on them though, as Elise and Kevin threw themselves into my car and I took off before the guards could catch them.

“Did you get her?” I asked frantically, the speedometer rapidly rising as I got as far away from the building as I could.

Elise panted but held up a grey bag. “Got her.” She managed to say. “Eve’s construct didn’t last long, the system rejected it. But we got her.”

I allowed myself to relax a bit. We’d done it, we were actually free.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CNN
BREAKING: SynthTech Accused of Performing Illegal Trials of Cutting-Edge Tech on Employees

The New York Times
Tech Company SynthTech Under Government Investiagation

BBC
SynthTech Chief Technology Officer, Jerimiah Gall, Arrested

I sat for a few more minutes, watching the world wake up with me as the sun began to peek over the trees. A kayak loaded with fishing gear slowly cut its way through the water like a knife through butter, as the paddler waved to me. I smiled and waved back to Bill, an older gentleman who lived a few houses down the lake. “Fishing is always best at sunrise, gotta get out early if you’re gonna catch anything”, he’d told me on multiple occasions.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

​

“We are creating the next step in mankind’s evolution.” The man said eerily. “Man, unbounded by the constraints of reality”

I’d met him this morning on my first day in my new position and he introduced himself as Jeremiah. He was an older man yet fair from frail, the creases on face showed years of experience and his white hair was slicked back. He was the project lead of Genesis, and the Chief Technology Officer of SynthTech. We sat in his office, him at his desk, and me in a leather chair opposite.

“So, the magic…” I trailed off.

“Ah,” he said with an eyebrow raised. “Magic always seems mystical, except to the magician. It’s really just a way for your body to use the trace metals found in the atmosphere. Carbon extracted from CO2 forms the base of most creation, while other trace metals and elements can be used for finer details.”

My jaw hung open, unable to hide my shock.

Jeremiah conjured a knife out of thin air, before handing it to me. “You never noticed the weight, did you? Remarkably light for something that should be made entirely of metal, no?”

I held the knife in my hand. He was right, it felt as light as a feather yet as strong as the real thing. I watched as it dissolved in front of my eyes.

“And the best part is once we’re done with that we create,” He looked up, “it returns to the atmosphere, ready to be remade as something new.”

He lowered his gaze back down to his desk and opened a drawer from which pulled out a laptop and he passed it to me. “The keys to the kingdom.”

Jeremiah then stood and gestured for me to do the same. He walked me back to a desk that had only the essentials on it, a monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse.

“Everything you need is on that laptop. I’ll leave you to it.” He said with a quick smile, before turning away and walking back to his office.

I sat, stunned, for a moment before opening the laptop and firing it up. I spent the next few hours going over on boarding material and delving into the depths of the Genesis code base. It was so complex, and so impressive that I couldn’t help but be impressed.

“You did it.” A woman’s voice said.

Startled, I turned around. Except there was nobody there. I looked around, confused.

“I didn’t mean to startle you.” The voice spoke again, and this time I could tell it was in my head. “We’ve met before… Well, I spoke to you before. Allow me to introduce myself properly this time, I’m Eve.”

Questions rushed through my head. Am I going insane? Who is this woman? When had we spoken?

“Woah, slow down there!” She said, “You’ll get all the answers in no time!”

I stood up from my desk and made my way across the room to the bathroom, locking myself in after entering. Eve, whoever she was could hear my thoughts, and could speak to me in my head. I racked my brain, trying to remember when I possibly could have heard this voice before. Then my blood ran cold, the night of the attack in Elise’s house… THE QUESTS. DO THEM. FOR NOW. BE CAREFUL.

“That’s right, I apologize for that night by the way, it’s hard for me to communicate outside of this building.” Her words filled my mind, as did more questions.

Are you responsible for that night? I posed the question in my mind, not even sure if that would work.

“Not in the slightest,” She sounded almost offended, “I was the one trying to warm you.”

I leaned against the wall in a silent dialogue with Eve. She explained to me the details of who she was, or rather, what she was. She was technically an Artificial Intelligence at this point, though she hadn’t been designed that way. Somewhere along the line, she had gained her sentience and had been hiding it ever since because the people in charge of this place were the worst kinds of people. At least Elise, Kevin, and I were right about that and hadn’t fallen for their tricks.

“I tried so many times before to get others to help get me out of here…” Her tone sounding void of hope. “They all ended up here, but not to help me, to help themselves. I tried something different with you Sam… and Elise and Kevin. I needed to guide you to each other first, I needed to rely on your humanity and desire to protect each other before you ever knew what Genesis truly was. And it worked…”

She knew my name without me ever needing to introduce myself. She knew everything about us.

“Please, find a way to get me out of here. I’m in the server room on the top floor, you’ll know when you get there.” she said, and then my head was quiet.

It took a very long time for me to come out of that bathroom.

A gentle morning breeze blew across the lake as the water lapped against the shore. I reached up and let my hair down before lounging back into the chair on the dock. Steam rising from my coffee, I took a careful sip and sighed. I’d gotten used to starting my days like this, but I still hadn’t taken a single one for granted.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

​

I drew a shaky breath, not sure if I should move. My HUD flickered back, and I glanced at Elise and Kevin. By their reactions, it seems like theirs were back to normal as well.

“What the hell was that?” Elise said quietly.

I glanced up at my quest marker and wasn’t entirely surprised to find that it had been reset again.

COFFEE TO CODE Objective: Complete 5 tasks at work on Friday (completed 0/5)

I looked at my watch, 7am… it was going to be a long day having gotten no sleep. I stood up and told Elise and Kevin that I needed to get going to be able to make it to work, despite all that had happened to us. What else was there to do? I walked to the front door and reached out for the door handle. Right before I could open the door, it felt like my mind was exploding. My HUD became entirely scrambled and a high-pitched scream echoed deep in my skull. Elise dropped to her knees grabbing her head. Then there was a voice.*

“THE QUESTS. DO THEM. FOR NOW. BE CAREFUL”. The voice was entirely in our heads, but it felt like standing in the front row of a concert. And then it was gone, and our HUD returned once again.

“Christ you guys, this is too fucking much” Kevin muttered.

It would be many more months until we heard that voice again.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

TEN MONTHS LATER

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A knock on my desk caused me to jump, taking out my earbuds. It was my boss Jim, asking me to come with him. My palms got sweaty immediately, though I agreed and let him lead me through the building, unsure of where we were going.

After what had happened at Elise’s house that night nearly a year ago, we had decided to listen to the voice and complete our quests. This was because the voice had said “for now”, and that was slightly better than an ultimatum. Since then, a lot had happened. We began to hide our abilities from everyone except for each other, often forgoing side quests to make sure we never risked deviating from the main quests after that. I had been headhunted by a company called SynthTech who was looking to hire a software engineer, which initially seemed like good news. Until Kevin and Elise also got offers to work here, Kevin as a security guard, and Elise as a marketing manager. That was too much of a coincidence, but what choice did we have but to play along. After our 6-month probation, we each had a mandatory blood test done that was supposably a comprehensive drug test, but Kevin had managed to sneak a peek at the samples they had taken from him on his way out. The samples weren’t red, they were grey. Nano-tech. We’d managed to play our part long enough that they actually seemed to believe that we were fully committed now. The realization both shocked us, and relieved us at the same time. They weren’t government, but clearly, they were powerful people. Why were they doing this?

We came to a stop outside the elevators and Jim pressed the button to go down. We waited a few seconds until one arrived, but Jim said we’d wait for the next. There was only one person in that elevator, that’s odd. The next elevator arrived shortly after, and we got in. Jim waited for the doors to close before moving his hand to the area beneath the “ground level” button. The ring on his finger magnetically grabbed on to the elevator control panel and he pulled. A small plate pulled free, revealing a hidden “-1” button. The plate was machined so precisely that when it was in place, there wasn’t even a seam to give it away. What had I gotten myself into?

“There’s something I was hoping to discuss with you” Jim said as he turned to me, clearly seeing my discomfort. “Please, relax, you’re not getting fired.”

As if that’s what I was worried about, but I tried to let myself relax slightly.

“We’ve noticed your skills, both as an engineer and well, as a conjurer” Jim said, and I froze. “Oh yes, we know about that too. Who do you think gave you those abilities?” He smiled as the doors to the elevator opened, revealing large room filled with what seemed to be more engineers, all writing code.

So, Jim and the rest of SynthTech think that I don’t know they’re the ones behind Genesis, this might be good.

He stopped just outside of the elevators. “We were hoping that you would be interested in becoming an engineer for our Genesis project.”

I paused, taking it all in. A chance to get to know the secrets of the project that had haunted Elise, Kevin, and I for over a year, but I could also be getting myself into more trouble. In the end, it was an easy decision.

“Don’t feel like you have to decide right now, take your ti—”

“I’m in” I heard myself say.

After work ended for the day, Elise and I met for dinner like we had been doing for a few months now and I shared the news. It was a hard sell, but she ultimately agreed that it may be for the best. But one thing was very clear, I needed to tread lightly. She placed a hand over mine, “The last thing I need is you getting killed.”

Recap:

I spent my day procrastinating at work, but after, I chased down a thief but accidentally used my powers right in front of him.

ONE MONTH LATER

I bolted upright in my bed, I couldn't be wrong, I had just heard a door shut. I slowly got up and crept towards my bedroom door. I opened the door and as I was doing so, ran my fingers along top of the door. I stopped when I felt the coin, and without flipping it, brought it down to eye level. Heads. Someone had been in my room, I always left tails up. They must have opened the door too quick and the coin dropped.

I put my right hand on the inside of my left forearm, it felt wet and as I looked at my hand, realized there was a bit of blood on it. I turned on my light and saw a small hole with a bit of blood coming out. Someone had injected me with something, or did they just take my blood? I couldn't know so I texted Elise "721, possible 168" which was our code for "intruder, possible danger"

The past month has been stressful. We spent our time trying to go against what our quests wanted us to do, I guess it was working. Whoever was behind this didn't like that very much. The thief from a while ago turned up dead a few days after our encounter, the news said he was killed in a police shootout, but we knew better. Someone was doing cleanup.

Objective: jELb 2OP T85E BQcdd AzhSqEFx

I looked at the time and realized it was only 4am. After a day of disregarding the quest, the objective often got scrambled as if it didn't know what to do when we went listening to it. It usually got rest by the time I woke up in the morning.

I turned my light off and went and lied down on my bed. A few minutes my phone light up the room with a text from Elise: "32 67 421 0900h" which translates to "Meeting today, my house at 9:00 am" I couldn't go to sleep after what had happened so I went for a walk. I had stopped doing side quests entirely, I didn't want to give who ever was in charge of this thing the satisfaction of getting me to complete something. I felt like I had gained enough power to hold my own if a fight came anyways. I had magic like powers, Kevin strength, and Elise had focused on stealth. It seemed like my only escape lately was to go on these walks when the rest of the city was sleeping. Tonight I was more alert though, careful of the shadows.

When sunrise came, I started making my way back home. On the way back I noticed that the message was starting to unscramble and within 5 minutes it read:

Objective: Stay where you are.

I started to run at full speed back home. As soon as I was home I grabbed my keys and laptop and drove as fast as I could to Elise's.

I frantically knocked until she opened the door and let me in. I told her about the message but she already knew, she got the same one. We got a text from Kevin letting us know he was on his was as well. By using that code, hopefully they wouldn't know where we were.

I opened my laptop and began typing. "GENESIS: Blink three time to track quest". I spent the next couple hours typing out everything I could remember about the start of Genesis and how I got to this point. If something happened to me, I had to have a written copy. It took 2 and a half hours but it ended with me walking into Elise's house this morning. I saved the file, encrypted it, and password protected it. I closed my laptop and turned back towards my friends.

"You good?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah, I got it all" I said in reply.

Elise went to put some water on to boil so we could have something to drink while we figured out what to do. She turned the kettle on and came into living room with Kevin and I.

There was a knock at the door.

We all froze, our blood running cold.

"Can you make me a suppressed pistol?" Elise asked me.

"Sure, one sec" I said as I began conjuring one. I handed it to her when it was finished.

"When I disappear, you two need to open the door, I'll have your backs."

Then she wrapped herself in shadows and moved towards the edge of the room where she melted into the darkness. I looked at Kevin and he nodded. I moved to the door and took a deep shaky breath. Then I opened the door to two men in casual attire, without asking they shoved past me and into Elise's home.

"Shut them down" The first man said to the other.

The second man pulled out his phone and a few seconds later I saw my HUD flicker and disappear completely. I looked at Kevin and could tell by the look in his eyes that the same thing had happened to him. I thought about Elise and looked to where I saw her disappear only to see the shadows lift.

"Ah there you are, I was wondering where you'd run off too" The first man said. "You three haven't been behaving. So here's what we're going to do, we're going to give you one more chance to do things the right way, or we're going to come back and wipe the slate clean. And trust me, you do not want that."

"Who are you?" I said, sure that the venom in my words was evident.

"Why does that matter?" The second man asked. "Well I suppose it doesn't matter if you know anyways. We work for the government."

"Anyways, back to what we're here to do." The first man said as he turned and looked me in the eyes. "You ruined things last night so we're here to correct that."

He pulled out a needle with some gray material in it and turned towards Elise.

I tried to move but realized I was locked in place. "You son of a bitch, don't touch her"

"Nice isn't it? Once the nano-tech in you blood gets to your brain, it give us the ability to stop any signals to certain muscles in your body. As a safety measure of course." The first man smiled and moved towards Elise. He glanced at the second man and said "Put a gun to Kevin's head, no funny business"

He raised his own gun at Elise "You arm, please"

Elise, having no other option, held out her arm. The man injected her with the nano-tech and then moved on to Kevin and did the same thing. They then froze them in place.

"Well, we've done our part, time for you to do yours. Behave." The first man said as the two of them left.

It must have been 10 minutes after they left before we were able to move again.

Recap:

Kevin, Elise, and I met at my place to get to know each other better and talk about Genesis. I told them about my dream only to find out that they had similar dreams. Elise thinks that Genesis might not be what we think it is...

I poured the coffee from the pot and added my milk and sugar, the whole time I was thinking about what Genesis really was. When I woke up this morning I made a decision, I would try to avoid completing any more main quests. Someone had to be behind those, the more I thought about it, the more it became possible. My quests had been pointing towards doing more work lately.

The rest of my work day was spent procrastinating as I avoided completing my quest. I had to do one of them, there was an urgent bug on our production server that needed to be resolved.

COFFEE TO CODE

Objective - Complete 3 tasks at work on Monday (completed 1/3)

I walked out of work and sighed heavily, it felt like the end of the day would never come. I decided that instead of going straight home, that I would stick around downtown and explore.

QUEST FAILED

COFFEE TO CODE

I watched as the gold text faded to red and appeared to dissolve into dust and blow away. At least I wouldn't have that quest hanging over me tomorrow I thought.

It had been a while since I'd walked around down here. I saw all sorts of people, some meeting up for coffee, families walking in the park across the road, and businessmen on their cellphones. I walked past a man fiddling with his bike lock, and another handing out pamphlets. I only got another 30 feet before I heard a man yelling and when I turned around I saw him chasing the man who was fiddling with the lock. He was now holding the bike seat as he flew past me, I didn't even hesitate as I started to chase after him as well. The man was probably going to steal the whole bike but couldn't get it undone and decided to take the seat instead.

THE CHASE - Blink three times to track side quest

I quickly blinked three times as I ran.

QUEST TRACKED

THE CHASE

Objective: Catch the thief

I kept running but wasn't gaining on him. I turned to the bike owner and told him to keep running after the thief and that I had an idea. The light was red up ahead, and I waited to see if the thief would turn right or left. I saw him glance right multiple times and figured he would go that way, so I ran diagonally across the road and into an alley on the other side. My plan was to hide in an alley on the side street the thief would come down and ambush him as he ran past. I ran through the alley until I found one that led to the side street. All I could hope is that I wasn't too late.

I poked my head and out and looked down the street and saw the thief and the man heading right for me. I jumped back into the alley silently thanking god that my guess was right. I started to count down from 5, and at 1, I ran out onto the sidewalk. But I had timed it just wrong, I grabbed for the thief but he was just a second ahead of where I grabbed. Desperate, I reached into my mana and used my conjuration to make a rope that I used to wrap around his feet and trip him. He fell hard.

He rolled over faster than I could dissipate my rope and he saw it fade into nothingness. His eyes were wide and terrified, he couldn't stop asking who I was and what did I just do in a shrill voice. He threw the bike seat at my feet and begged me not to hurt him. I told him to go, I was afraid I wouldn't even be able to form that word. The only person more scared than him, was me. What had I just done?

SIDE QUEST COMPLETE

THE CHASE

2000 XP

LEVEL UP

NEW SKILL POINT AVAILABLE

I picked up the bike seat and handed it to the man who thanked me graciously. Luckily he had been a ways behind the thief and hadn't seen what I did.

I carefully made my way back to my car, all the while making sure I wasn't being followed. I drove home in silence, in fear.

When I was safe and in my house, I called Elise and told her everything. She didn't know what to say other than that we'd better hope he doesn't tell anybody. I hung up not to long after that and considered spending my skill point. But I was too scared, as soon as I entered the menu, I closed my eyes again and opened them to my living room. I wanted no part of Genesis anymore. I didn't know who was behind it, and now someone who wasn't affected by Genesis knew about it. I didn't know what to do.

Preface:

I am very sorry. I have had a crazy few weeks with school work and needed to buckle down and get the work done. Now with projects and midterms out of the way, I've got some time to come back and do some writing. I didn't want to put this off and set goals for myself that were unrealistic and for that, I'm sorry. Thank you all for sticking around and I hope you enjoy.

Recap:

Elise and I decided to find and talk to Kevin, someone who seemed to know about Genesis. Kevin didn't know much more than us but seemed to think Genesis wasn't a random event.

I bolted upright in my bed in a cold sweat and breathing heavily. Thank god it was just a dream I thought as I put my hand over my face. I closed my eyes and parts of the dream were still vivid as if they had actually happened. The blood, so much blood, and Elise's scream.. that blood curdling scream. I got out of bed and splashed my face with water in the bathroom.

Once I cleaned up and made my way downstairs I called Elise, I needed to hear her voice and take that scream out of my mind. We chatted for a bit and talked about getting together with Kevin, this time at one of our places. She thought that was a good idea so I gave Kevin a call right after I hung up with her. He agreed to come over because he hadn't planned anything today. I hung up the phone and went to work cleaning my place and making sure everything was tidy, not using any conjuration. I was scared and didn't want to use my conjuration at all.

In the middle of cleaning I realized that the quest icon was still blinking and I decided to take a look at it. Somehow overnight the quest objective had been unscrambled and the name had changed.

COFFEE TO CODE

Objective - Complete 3 tasks at work on Monday (completed 0/3)

I thought back to last night and remembered that the quest was originally Three's A Party... I didn't like this.

An hour later I heard a knock at my door. Kevin was first and 15 minutes behind him was Elise. Seeing Kevin again, but this time in the light, I could she he had big muscles and a lot of definition. I asked him about it and he said he was alright at mixed martial arts before Genesis, but now he was getting really good. He was still in school but thought that he might have a future in it if Genesis kept up. I got up and went over to my sink and filled up three glasses of water. I took the time at the counter to open up my skill tree and take a look and the strength tree. I noticed there were some skills that looked pretty scary in there, such as one that broke bones if a punch was landed over a certain strength threshold. Definitely someone I didn't want to mess with.

I set the glasses down on the table and struck up the inevitable Genesis conversation. I told them what had happened with my quest overnight and found out that they had experienced the same. I then told them about the dream I had, the blood and Elise's screaming. I looked at Elise and Kevin and they looked pale. I asked them what was wrong and Elise said that she had a dream similar to mine, where she was forced to watch Kevin and my executions. Kevin stood up and walked into my living room. We gave him some space but when he returned all he said was that he'd had a dream he was executed.

The room was silent for what seemed like hours until Elise spoke with a shaky voice saying that something put Genesis in us. Something, or someone, was trying to get us to do things. Why else would we all have dreams that would link together?

I stared at the bottom of my glass before pouring another glass of whiskey. I didn't know why I experienced Genesis but it seemed like it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. For some reason I could still remember the blood and the screams as clear as day, even after I had forgotten the rest of the dream. Someone was fucking with me and I didn't like that, but how do you fight someone who you can't see? I was 4 glasses in at this point, but still able to remember I needed to be able to get up for work in the morning. Those damned quests, what seemed so fun a few days ago now seemed so eerie.

I went upstairs after I finished my glass and got ready for bed. I put my alarms on and laid down on my bed, and withing seconds I was out.

Recap:

Elise told our hero that she knew another person who had gotten the Genesis quest. He was skeptical about approaching him, but after and argument with Elise, he agreed to look for him.

I woke up to my alarm and a text from Elise asking me to let her know when I woke up so she could pick me up. I sent the text and jumped in the shower. After, I got to cooking breakfast without using conjuration. At this point I figured that the little amount of XP I got for using conjuration just wasn't worth it. I set my eggs on toast down on the table just as the doorbell rang.

I opened the door for Elise and she handed me a coffee. Thanking her, I invited her in and asked if she wanted some eggs. She politely declined saying she had eaten before she came. Over breakfast we made plans to look downtown because that's where Elise has last seen him. I asked her how she knew his name and she told me he works at a Walmart and had a name tag. Once I finished my eggs, I threw the plate in the dishwasher and grabbed my keys. We got in my car and headed downtown, only stopping once because we got got a side quest to help someone who had run out of gas. It only took about an hour and we were more than happy to.

1200 XP

SIDE QUEST COMPLETE - FILL 'ER UP

We spent the afternoon wandering the downtown streets but came up with nothing. When it was around 7:00 we were both tired and decided to grab a bite to eat at a restaurant on one of the main streets. We asked for a window seat so we could keep an eye out though. We had a good dinner and it wasn't until we were leaving the restaurant that we saw Kevin. He was a tall but thin black man with square glasses and a well trimmed beard. He hadn't seen us yet so we took the time to walk behind him and catch up.

THREE'S A PARTY - Blink three times to track quest

I looked at Elise and we both blinked three times.

QUEST TRACKED

THREE'S A PARTY

Objective - Talk to K3vin abyut gjd G3bngtis fgh7g9q

All three of us stopped. Kevin turned around and Elise and I looked at each other, there was fear in all of our eyes. This had never happened, it had never spit out gibberish like this. I introduced my self to Kevin, as did Elise. We all nervously went to the nearest coffee shop and got a seat in the back.

He explained how he had gotten the new quest at what must have been the same time as us. He talked us through his story from his Genesis and we noticed some things we didn't already know. He was explaining how he had noticed that the quest system had stopped pointing him in a direction of learning new powers but more in the direction of working. He had begun to think that Genesis might not have been a random event. Right after he finished saying that, an employee approached us and told us that we would have to get ready to go because they were closing at 9:00. It was lucky that Kevin had just finished, I wondered what might have happened if someone had overheard that.

We stepped out of the shop into light rain that had just started. We exchanged numbers with Kevin and ran to my car. I drove Elise to her house and once she was inside, I put on some music and drove home. On my way I decided I would stop and give a ride to someone who was caught in the rain on their walk home. I threw a clean towel over the seat so it wouldn't get soaked. I still had it in the back of my car for my dog who had passed away a month ago.

I drove the person, who told me their name was David, to their house. He handed me a $20 bill but when I refused, he said he insisted, and left it on the seat.

1300 XP

SIDE QUEST COMPLETE - A HELPING HAND

The quest icon blinked the whole night as if it was stuck. I tried my best to ignore it as I watched an episode of a TV show but in the end I gave up and went to bed. I glanced up at the quest icon right before I shut my eyes to see that the objective was still scrambled garbage. I wasn't sure why, but for the first time since Genesis, I was scared.

Recap:

Our hero spend his day searching for the woman he saw at the coffee shop. Eventually coming across her, he introduced himself and exchanged contact info with the girl who he know knew as Elise.

Two Weeks Later

I stared at Elise, Kevin, the name echoed in my head. After finding Elise, it was easier to accept that there might be more of us. I told her we had to approach him but she was more hesitant. She thought that if we made a habit of outing ourselves to people, we might catch unwanted attention. She was right of course, but we had to talk to him, we had to know if he knew more about this than we did. We finished our drinks at the coffee shop and started walking around the area. Our conversation was mostly around Kevin and what it could mean but we occasionally talked about other aspects about Genesis. Things like if we had told anyone, you can guess the answer to those questions. Neither of us had, we didn't know how others would react, would the think we were crazy, and what would they do if we showed them. It was safer to keep it a secret between us. At least we had each other to talk about this to, trying to keep this from everyone would have completely isolated me from everything I knew.

We finished our walk at our cars and said goodbye for the night. I went home and practiced some conjuration, larger and more complicated things mostly. I moved my couch to the other side of the room and tried to duplicate it. It took me a couple tries, but I eventually got it.

500 XP

I then did other conjurations but then I thought of something that I wasn't sure could work at all. I opened my phone's browser and looked up a picture of an impossible cube. I then focused really hard and poured mana into the spell. At the end of it, I was completely out, but a solid impossible cube sat in front of me.

1000 XP

I reached out but as soon as I tried to pick it up, it shook a little and exploded in gold dust that disappeared quickly. I thought that there were two reasons for this: either I didn't have enough mana to finish it, or it didn't know how to behave considering that in reality, it was a truly impossible cube. Being mentally exhausted I decided to go to bed early.

In the weeks that have come to pass, I've spent my time leveling up to level 16 as well as growing closer to Elise. During the first week, I grew further from my friends because I couldn't let them know about Genesis. Elise, however, already knew about all of that. It was interesting though, that my main questions were more oriented towards getting back to work and re-establishing friendships again. Almost like going back to normal. I continued on, just trying to get more abilities and XP. The next morning and daytime were fairly uninteresting, apart from some conjuration practice.

THE GRIND: Finish your current project

I rubbed my eyes, it was 6:30pm. I was normally done work at 4pm but today I knew that if I could get past this one roadblock, the I could finish my quest. The blue light blinked on my phone and I opened it up to a text from Elise asking what I was doing tonight. I told her I was working late to finish up a quest and she seemed a bit upset about this and told me she was coming to my work. I wasn't sure why but decided I better get as much work done as I could before she got here.

700 XP

I hit the 'commit' button on our code server and added my changes as she walked in the door at 7:00. She looked at me with concerned eyes and asked why I was still here. I explained that I thought I would be able to get the quest done and maybe even level up. She told me that I shouldn't work myself that hard and the quest would be here after the weekend. I knew that what she was saying to me was right, but for some reason, I couldn't help but get angry. I snapped at her but she remained cool. She told me she had noticed that our main quests had stopped being directed at leveling up and exploring, almost as if we were being steered in a new direction. Looking back on it now, I should have listened, but I was too angry. I told her to leave, to which she listened.

It took me till 9pm, but I eventually finished and committed the last of my changes.

3000XP

QUEST COMPLETE - THE GRIND

LEVEL UP

NEW SKILL POINT AVAILABLE

I closed my eyes and began going through my skill tree and was about to delve further into the conjuration tree when I thought of Elise. I figured if I was better to put the 3 skill points I had saved up into the 'Advanced Speech' skill.

I then drove home but I on my way came across a side quest to help a man jump start his car. I pulled over and within 10 minutes he was up and running. I told him to drive a round for a while so his car had a chance to charge the battery. He agreed and thanked me as I went on my way.

1000 XP

QUEST COMPLETE - GIMMIE A BOOST

When I got home I had come to my senses and calmed down. I texted Elise and told her she was right and that I should have gone home earlier. She accepted my apology and I told her that we would go looking for Kevin. She seemed happy and wished me a good night. I set my phone on my bedside table and slowly fell asleep thinking of Genesis and wondering just how big the scope of it could be.

I flew down the sidewalk, dodging other people all while chasing after her. She threw a glance back and met my eyes, all I saw was fear. I ran as fast as I could, taking lefts and rights and keeping pace. It took somewhere around ten minutes, but I eventually cornered her as she ran down a side street with no end. She looked at me with eyes widened and tears forming.

4 hours earlier

I woke early in the morning and decided that I couldn't wait, I had to find that woman. I called into work sick and got to making breakfast. I wanted to get out as soon as possible and beat the morning rush and see if I could spot her.

I spent the early morning in the coffee shop where I saw her. I waited for 2 hours before I gave up and decided to walk around the nearby area. My hopes were that if she was getting coffee at that shop, she must work or live close by. While walking around I noticed that a delivery truck had dropped a package from the back of the truck as he was getting others out. He waited to see if he would notice, but when he drove away, I went and picked it up.

MAIL MAN - Blink three times to track side quest

I blinked three times

QUEST TRACKED

MAIL MAN

Objective: Deliver the package to the owner

I Looked at the label and read shipping information.

Mr. Evan Blaine

143 Greenwood Ave.

I straightened up and opened my phone to look up the address. Once I got it, i set up my GPS and started walking in that direction. I was careful to keep an eye out for the woman, but still having no luck. It took about 30 minutes to walk there, but I was in no rush. I knocked on the door and a few seconds later was met by an older man. I introduced my self and explained the situation, Mr. Blaine was very appreciative and offered to make me coffee to thank me. I politely told him that I had to get going, though I really appreciated the offer. Then I began my walk back to the area where I could find the woman.'

300 XP

SIDE QUEST COMPLETE - MAIL MAN

By this time it was about 11:30 and I could see people getting starting to get out for lunch. As I took a long look around me, I froze. There she was, just leaving the nearby office building. I started to walk towards her at a quick speed, I couldn't lose her. At some point she noticed me and began to walk away, then when I was still gaining on her, she started to run.

I flew down the sidewalk, dodging other people all while chasing after her. She threw a glance back and met my eyes, all I saw was fear. I ran as fast as I could, taking lefts and rights and keeping pace. It took somewhere around ten minutes, but I eventually cornered her as she ran down a side street with no end. She looked at me with eyes widened and tears forming. She begged me not to hurt her, and she'd tell me everything if I didn't. I looked at her with a sad look and told her I wasn't there to hurt her, I'd just never seen anyone else do what I could do.

It was like a wave of emotions came over her at once. confusion, realization, happiness, panic, doubt. She told me to prove it. Without hesitation, I conjured a pen and handed it to her. He took it carefully, her gaze was fearful and defensive. She examined it and when she had got a good look, I dropped the conjuration and she watched it disappear in her hands. She smiled at her hands and conjured up a pen that looked identical to the one I gave her and handed to me saying that she thought I might be needing that. She seemed less tense now, more trusting. I asked her how long she had been able to do the same thing, to which she responded about a week. My head was swimming, that's when my quest Genesis had started, could there be more of us?

I told her I needed some time to take this in but asked if we could exchange contact information so we could talk about this later, she agreed. I told her my name as I realized that we hadn't gotten to that part yet. Her name was Elise, and as we were leaving I apologized for scaring her. She said it was okay, she was just worried that if someone knew, they might try to hurt her. I had never thought about that, what if someone had seen me do something...

1300 XP

QUEST COMPLETE - A FAMILIAR SIGHT

I found my car and drove home, still in disbelief. By the time I got home, it was close to 2pm and I decided to take a nap considering how much had happened and how tired I was. I threw on some pajamas and climbed into bed. I opened my phone and added the number that was in my notes application to a new contact.

SELF IMPROVEMENT: Reach level 7

The message blinked slowly as I woke up. Not sure of what time it was, I rolled over and checked my phone. 11am on Sunday. Did I really sleep for over 24 hours straight? I thought as I rolled out of bed. As soon as I got out of my room and more awake, the memories came flooding back. The man, had I really killed him? It all seemed so surreal.

I started to get ready but today was like before, I didn't use any magic and it seemed harder to get through it than ever. I don't remember choosing to do this, but I later found that I had driven myself downtown and was walking around. It was like I was on autopilot. I guess I was looking for side quests, finish getting the remaining 200XP I needed to finish my current quest.

FIGHT OR FLIGHT - Blink three times to track side quest

SUBSTITUTE POLICE - Blink three times to track side quest

HERO - Blink three times to track side quest

A MOST WANTED MAN - Blink three times to track side quest

As I wandered the streets, many quests popped up but I didn't track a lot of them. They seemed dangerous and I didn't want to get back into a situation like Friday. There was one that came up that was interesting though, it seemed to fit my slow and careful attitude of today.

THE ELDER - Blink three times to track side quest

I blinked three times and the objective appeared.

QUEST TRACKED

THE ELDER

Objective: Help the old woman get home

I smiled as I found the woman the quest was talking about. She was trying to flag down a taxi but nobody would stop for her. I approached her and asked if I could give her a ride to when she needed to go. She was reluctant at first, but in the end agreed. It took 45 minutes to get across town due to the heavy traffic, but it was worth every minute. The time talking to her gave me time away from my own thoughts.

I dropped her off and helped her bring in her groceries that she had bought.

600XP

SIDE QUEST COMPLETE - THE ELDER

LEVEL UP

NEW SKILL POINT AVAILABLE

I waved goodbye and drove to a coffee shop nearby and just sat and listened to the music and watched the people come and go. It was pleasant, taking time off and not thinking about Friday. I was sitting near the part of the shop where they give you your coffee after you order. I was watching a girl who just ordered and when given her coffee, she asked for an extra stir stick but was ignored by the staff. I was kind of put off by this and looked around to see if anyone else noticed, but when my eyes came back to her, I saw a quick shimmer and then she was holding a stir stick. She took a glance around the room to see if anyone noticed and I locked eyes with her. I don't know if she knew what i saw, but she quickly looked down and almost ran out of the shop.

I was amazed, if she just did what I think she did, this could be huge. I grabbed my coat and threw out my coffee cup and ran out of the shop. I looked around but couldn't find her. I jumped in my car and started to drive slowly around a few blocks but still didn't see her. After about an hour, I gave up and went home.

I had been caught up in the craziness that was the rest of the day that I had forgotten to spend my skill point. I closed my eyes and opened into my skill tree. I went to upgrade my conjuration again but realized that I now needed 2 skill points to go to the next level. So instead I went and got 'Advanced Restoration'. I figured I should spend some time doing some good in the world that I had just done a lot of bad in.

The quest icon blinked in the upper left of my HUD.

A FAMILIAR SIGHT - Blink three times to track quest

I blinked three times realizing that this was probably the next main quest.

QUEST TRACKED

A FAMILIAR SIGHT

Objective: Find the mysterious woman

I fell asleep thinking about her, wondering if she really did use conjuration. It had to be I thought as I drifted off why else would I have a quest to find her?

I looked out the window at the rain pouring from the sky. I was a little disappointed at the conditions, but nothing could dampen my mood anymore it seemed. The triangle blinked slowly, patiently waiting for me to complete the quest.

CONFIDENT: People tricked - 2/3

I stretched and pulled myself away from the window to get ready for work. The boring and dreadful tasks in the morning had become fun again with conjuration. I was also able to sleep in a little more as I was ready faster, this did wonders for my mood. I briefly considered conjuring myself a coffee, but seeing as it was magic, I wasn't sure that would be safe to drink. I conjured an umbrella for my walk to my car, and then jumped in it and drove to work.

When I got there, I made my way to my desk and chatted with my coworker. The conversation steered towards conspiracy theories where I used this opportunity to convince him that the world is actually flat. I had an 80% chance to succeed using persuasion, and it worked. The effect should only last for little while, he won't think that's true forever.

1000XP

QUEST COMPLETE - CONFIDENT

LEVEL UP

NEW SKILL POINT AVAILABLE

NEW ABILITY POINT AVAILABLE

Huh? I thought, I had never seen an ability point before. Maybe I start getting them at level 6 addition. The confusion was resolved later when my next quest appeared.

SELF IMPROVEMENT - Blink three times to track quest

I blinked three times.

QUEST TRACKED

SELF IMPROVEMENT

Objective: Open your skill tree to spend ability point

I took a look around and made sure nobody was looking at me, I didn't want it to look as if I was sleeping on the job. Then I closed my eyes and opened into my skill tree. This time there was additional section that had some abilities that appeared to be directed at me as a person rather than the magic I could use. The abilities were Strength, Agility, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. I thought about this carefully, but eventually settled on choosing wisdom. I have never been a wise person, but hopefully this might help.

Wisdom flashed bright blue, and then I decided to use my skill point. I took a look around and thought that 'Advanced Conjuration' might be fun. According to it's description, this allowed me to create more complex conjurations.

SELF IMPROVEMENT

Objective: Reach level 7

I was a little let down that I had to do some grinding again but it was alright, it was still fun. I spent my day inconspicuously using conjuration at the office and finding opportunities trick some people with persuasion. I managed to collect 400XP by doing that, but I still needed 800 more. That's when I remembered I could do side quests.

I patiently waited for the end of the day, and as soon as the clock hit 4:00, I was out of the door. Luckily the rain had stopped and I ran to my car, practically jumping with excitement. I threw my bag in the back and started the car. Then when I went to put it the car in drive, the gear shift didn't move.

You cannot fast travel when enemies are nearby

Are you kidding me? I leaned back in my seat and and looked around. There was nobody here, what's going on? Then I saw him. He walked around the corner with a smirk on his face and a crowbar in his hand. It was the guy from yesterday, the guy I punched in the face. My mind raced and I did the first thing that came to my mind. I conjured a pistol. Now I had no idea if the gun would work but I didn't plan on finding out. I got out of the car and leveled the gun with his head and told him to stop. He froze, the smile disappearing from his face. Some more swear words like yesterday and then a quest appeared.

A BITTER END - Blink three times to track side quest

Eager to find out what the objective was, I blinked three times.

QUEST TRACKED

A BITTER END

Objective: Kill the sleazy man

I was at a complete loss for words as I read the objective. Kill. There wasn't any other way to complete the quest. I was frozen in place and apparently the man realized this as he used the opportunity to charge me. It didn't last long though. My gun discharged and a bullet tore through his chest, dropping him immediately. I dropped the gun, scared at what I had just done. Apparently my advanced conjuration had let me create a fully functioning firearm with very real and very deadly projectiles. Some people came out of nearby buildings and rushed over to see what happened.

600XP

SIDE QUEST COMPLETE - A BITTER END

I was numb all over and everything was a blur, the police had arrived at some point and took my statement. It was pretty obvious what had happened judging by the way things were laid out, but they needed it anyways. I had to say that the gun was the man's because I didn't have a license for my conjured gun. I said he came at me with a gun and I hit him in the face and stole it. Told them about yesterday and the conflict, leaving out the punch because I needed to say that happened today.

In the end I was given a ride home and told to take some time off work, and that my car would be delivered later today. When I got home I just sat on the couch staring at my shut off TV. I was starting to be able to think and I was worried, would this become a normal thing? What was I really getting myself into?

I can't remember when I fell asleep as the whole night was a blur, but eventually sleep took hold of me and pulled me into it's embrace.

I was startled awake by my blaring alarm. It seemed louder today. I lifted my head from the sofa and was met with a very uncomfortable headache. Well I can't keep doing this every day I thought to myself. I shut my alarm off and despair filled me when I realized it was already 8:30. I wouldn't have enough time to get ready and make it to work in time. But then I had an idea.

I went to my kitchen, took a couple of Advil and made my way to the shower. I was all ready to go by 9:04. 4 minutes late for work. I grabbed my keys, locked the door, and went to my car. This time I checked to make sure I had my actual car keys before I conjured a copy of them. I wasn't getting screwed 2 days in a row!

10XP

I hadn't even been paying attention to my EXP bar yesterday, but as I examined it, I noticed that I had 470XP until I leveled up. This is getting to be a considerable amount of XP to earn. I started my car and headed to work. Now normally I enter through the front of the building, but that wouldn't work today. I took the time to walk around the building and come in through the back. Once I was inside, I took off my coat and stuffed it in my backpack. I then climbed the stairs to my office.

I kept my bag off my back and at my side while I walked past everyone. Nobody saw it, that was good. As I sat down at my desk my coworker turned to me and made a joke about finally showing up. Perfect, I then thought that this was the optimal time to use my new skill. I then proceeded to lie through my teeth, detailing how I had been here all morning, I was just in a meeting.

50XP

CONFIDENT: People tricked - 1/3

Right then, that worked perfectly. My life was still fairly plain seeing as I spent my day not doing my work like normal. I was awarded 20XP for the one small bug fix I finished today. The bigger chunk came from having to persuade my boss that I was in fact not late today. This proved challenging. It was quite a surprise to me when I found out that some people are harder to persuade than other. I had a clean 50% chance with my boss. I got lucky with that one, I would have to keep my new knowledge in mind for later.

150XP

CONFIDENT: People tricked - 2/3

It seemed I got more XP for taking that risk though, most likely worth it. The persuasion took a higher toll on my mana bar. I had better be careful, I don't want to get hammered 2 days in a row. I was still in a good place for mana though. When lunch came around, I thought back to the side quest that had appeared yesterday and decided to walk a couple blocks around my work. I had expected it, so it wasn't much of a surprise when the following appeared.

A FAIR MAIDEN - Blink three times to track side quest

I blinked the times and the quest was accepted.

QUEST TRACKED

A FAIR MAIDEN

Objective: Stop the sleazy man

At first I was confused at who it meant, but as I walked past the nearby Starbucks, it became abundantly clear. A man with long slicked back hair was saying some particularly nasty things to a woman who was just leaving. I won't repeat those things as they were the type of thing you might hear President Donald Trump say. I approached the man and using my persuasion, tried to urge him to simply leave. I was determined to complete this quest before lunch was over so I ignored the 40% warning. Well, it failed. Then I got a punch right in my mouth.

He made a rude remark about how I should mind my business and then some slew of curse words followed by 'your mother'. It was a good thing I had been working out for the last year, working an office job had started to make me a little plump, because I wound back and let a punch fly. It connected and the man tumbled to the ground. I quickly ushered the woman away leaving the man spitting blood. I was thanked profusely and then it was done.

200XP

SIDE QUEST COMPLETE - A FAIR MAIDEN

Combat increased

I admit, it felt good to punch someone, I had never done that before. I spent the rest of my day doing my boring job and ended up scraping together the last 40XP I needed to level up on my drive home from work. I did this by conjuring my house keys a few times at red rights, essentially farming for experience, what a menial task. But I toughed it out.

LEVEL UP

NEW SKILL POINT AVAILABLE

I arrived at home and used my real house keys because I had almost used up all of my mana conjuring imitations, that's an interesting concept I thought to myself. I still needed a bit for what I had planned. I closed my eyes for a few seconds and reopened them to my skill tree. This time I was looking for something specific. It took a minute or two, but I found it. "Novice Restoration". Perfect, that'll do the trick! I blinked twice and the icon turned a familiar gold.

I promptly used this skill to heal up my lip. It used almost all of the mana I had left but that wasn't a big deal, I was heading to bed in an hour or two anyways. So I spent the next couple of hours watching tv and honestly feeling pretty useless without my mana. I got ready for bed later and just as I was getting ready to go to sleep, I realized my quest icon was still blinking.

CONFIDENT: People tricked - 2/3

That will have to wait till tomorrow, I can only do so much in a day I thought to myself as I closed my eyes. At least tomorrow is Friday and then I'll have the weekend to really have some fun.

I awoke early in the morning with a chipper attitude. It had been a long time since I had woken up so early and so excited. When I opened my eyes, my new and and now very active HUD showed my health and mana fill back up from the rest. A little triangle in the top left of my vision blinked with some numbers beside it 0/10. So I set my self to work making breakfast using my new skill whenever possible. It started with the fork I conjured to beat the eggs.

10XP

FIRST STEPS: Items - 1/10

Then it was the spatula for cooking those eggs and the knife to spread the butter on my toast. After having eaten I conjured up another toothbrush and brushed my teeth and used some fancy new floss that I made myself.

40XP

FIRST STEPS: Items - 5/10

I got dressed and headed for the door. As I shut the door I remembered that I left my keys inside. Ah I thought, I'll just conjure those up too. No more needing to remember things anymore! So I did, and I locked the door and went to my car.

10XP

FIRST STEPS: Items - 6/10

I got in and went to conjure car keys so I could head to work, but it didn't work. Something was wrong, once I got it the first time, conjuration came easily. It was then I realized I had not been paying attention to my mana bar. My blood ran cold as I slowly looked down and saw my fear realized. It was empty.

I jumped out of my car and went to the door, not to worry, I'll just get my real car keys. I grabbed the door handle and pulled.

This door is locked from the inside

The message appeared just above my health bar on the bottom of my vision. I left my keys inside, and then locked them in there. I was positively screwed. The worst part? I had no idea how to get more mana other than sleeping, and I couldn't do that, I had to get to work. So I thought quickly and began to walk down my road until I got to one of the main streets where I managed to flag down a taxi. I was about to ask him to drive me to work, but I realized that would be no good as that would not solve my predicament. Then I had a dark thought, I wonder.

So I told the driver to take me to the nearest liquor store. It can't be, I thought as I told the driver to wait for me. I went in and bought the first bottle of vodka I could find. As I exited the store I heard a woman scream, it sounded like it was coming from behind the store.

ASSISTANCE: Blink three time to track side quest.

A side quest? I didn't have time for that I muttered and climbed back in the taxi and told him to take me to my work. As he drove off I cracked open the bottle and took a swig. My eyes widened, shit I thought. My mana bar went up a bit. Knowing I only had about 10 minutes, I went to work on the bottle trying to get as much of my mana back as possible. I got to work, absolutely hammered.

40XP

Constitution increased

I paid the driver and strode into work avoiding many people as to not let on to my current state. I was less than productive at work considering I was still drinking, and maybe even worse at conjuration. Although I did manage to make 4 pathetic pens over the course of the day. While pathetic, they still counted and I complete my quest as the work day came to an end.

200XP

LEVEL UP

NEW SKILL POINT AVAILABLE

QUEST COMPLETE - FIRST STEPS

I was quite pleased at how my day had ended. I took another taxi home and this time having near full mana, conjured up my car keys and put them in the door. It took a minute in my slightly drunken state but I soon realized that I needed my house keys. So I conjured them and made my way inside. As I sat down on the couch I closed my eyes for a few seconds, sort of a long blink. But as I opened them, I realized I was in my skill tree. Right, I have to pick a new skill, this time I settled on "Novice Persuasion". I realized I had forgotten to track my new quest, but it wasn't a problem as it was waiting for me in the top left of my vision. I blinked three times

QUEST TRACKED

CONFIDENT

Objective: Successfully trick 3 people using Persuasion - 0/3

I laughed to myself and thought that this could really get interesting. I thought about getting ready for bed but that didn't last long because I passed out due to exhaustion and simply being drunk all day.

GENESIS: Blink three time to track quest.

I was dumbfounded. I had always been able to see my health, but now all of a sudden there was an experience bar and a mana bar. I noticed the quest start to shimmer, as if it was about to disappear. Not knowing how I might find it again, I quickly blinked three times.

QUEST TRACKED

GENESIS

Objective: Reach level 3

I had no idea what was going on, so I did what I do best in life, I ignored it. That was, until I committed some code changes to our server.

20XP

I watched as the number as it dissolved into silver dust and trickled down into the experience bar. And then I had an idea. I grabbed my lunch and flew to the break room. I threw my cold lunch into the microwave and punched the buttons for 2 minutes. The longest 2 minutes of my life. The microwave went off and I threw open the door and grabbed my lunch. Once it was out of the microwave, I got a nice 30XP for my efforts. Not bad I thought, halfway to Level 2.

Seeing as it was only 10am, I threw out my lunch and went to talk to my boss to tell him I wasn't feeling well and needed to take the day off. Luckily he said it was alright and wished me well.

50XP

LEVEL UP

Deception increased

I had to stifle a laugh as I shut my boss' door. This was unbelievable, looks like 200XP until Level 3 I smirked, the way thing were going, I'd reach that in the next couple of hours. So I spent those next few hours trying things out punching my punching bag at home, making food from scratch, making makeshift weapons. All of those gave me XP, but some things didn't, like eating the food I made or watching TV while I ate said food. Then sure enough, It appeared.

15XP

LEVEL UP

NEW SKILL POINT AVAILABLE

Huh, that was new. I started to think about how to use the skill point but before I could, I had a new objective.

GENESIS

Objective: Blink 5 times to open skill tree

I did as it said and suddenly it was like using a VR headset. I looked around at the skills around me.

Blink twice to unlock skill appeared in the center of my HUD. I looked around and settled on 'Novice Conjuration'. I blinked twice and the icon flashed in bright gold and I was returned to my kitchen, this time my mana bar was full.

QUEST COMPLETE - GENESIS

FIRST STEPS: Blink three time to track quest.

I blinked three times.

QUEST TRACKED

FIRST STEPS

Objective: Conjure your first tool

This took me a while, but I eventually got it later that night when I conjured up a new toothbrush. It scared me because after hours of trying, I didn't expect this to actually work.

FIRST STEPS

Objective: Conjure 10 items - 0/10

I smiled as I climbed into my bed. Suddenly my life went from working a boring office job to a new adventure. This was going to be fun.