[CYA] Chapter 103: Twelve Days/One Day

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CoBVoWIgqz9s2odRYlmimiln7N6F7Sr0qCOW0eEEZJI/edit?usp=drivesdk

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<Alex, Real - Endure, High School Cafeteria>

Twenty minutes after he’d established his mana circulation technique, Alex was eating a third helping of food—this one provided by James since the young man apparently had quite the store of ‘emergency food’—even while Alex finished up imparting the information.

“So, yeah. If possible, I recommend being naked when you finalize your technique, or at least try to be wearing things you don’t care about.”

Natasha cocked an eyebrow. “Didn’t you have this issue before, if to a lesser extent?”

Alex shrugged sheepishly. “Yeah, but I was always able to get the clothes clean. It was a blessing that I’ve not been wearing my great coat, as I don’t think that would have been easy to cleanse even from the lesser amounts. As to my normal clothes? Well, we aren’t short on detergent after all, and the washing machines here function on magic. This time, though?” He shook his head. “Entirely a lost cause.” He glanced toward Kaylee. “I think the washer should be able to clean itself…”

The woman shook her head and sighed. “We’ll get it sorted…” She then gave him a grateful smirk. “Thank you for not saying that you ‘Did your best.”

“Thank you.” Alex gave a little chuckle. “And yeah, it didn't even cross my mind…” He looked away and gave a little cough.

Natasha grunted, drawing Alex’s attention back. “Fair, I suppose. I feel you should have known better.”

“Maybe so, but that isn’t the point.” Alex conceded.

That led into a series of questions about the technique and things surrounding it, which Alex strove to answer as best as he could. There was a slow movement of mana in the area around Alex, but oddly enough, it seemed almost like he was just causing mana to move around, rather than drawing it in as he might have expected from the fiction that he’d read. There might have been more to it, but since the base was keeping his mana one point shy of full, he hadn’t seen anything more than that as of yet.

Finally, Alex felt full and leaned back, content. “Wow… I haven’t been this hungry since after my hallway trial.”

That started the others muttering in agreement. As they spoke, however, Alex started to frown, glancing at each of his group. “Wait… I think I can guess how most of you killed your hallway zombie, but… Pilar? How did you do it? Didn’t you pick something magical? Were you able to use that?”

The woman scoffed. “No. Are you kidding me?” She grimaced. “I was told that I had magic, but nothing told me how to use it. That alone nearly got me killed.”

Everyone had quieted down, the side conversations ending so they could listen, and they were all regarding her with interest. Lenka was the one to ask. “So… How did you kill it?”

“I didn’t.”

John smiled, clearly having heard the story. Still, he didn’t steal her thunder, nor interrupt her comedic flow.

After a pregnant pause, Pilar continued. “I managed to trick my way around it.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “What? How? Was your hallway wider than mine?”

“About four feet?”

“Yeah, that sounds right.”

James waved a hand dismissively. “Right right, we’ve established that the hallways were the same size. So? How did you do it?”

“Well, I had been in a cold room when this all happened, and so I was wearing a really big, heavy coat. What I did was, I got its attention, and when it got close, I threw the coat over its front, knocking it aside. I then bolted for the door.”

Alex regarded her with a slack jaw, and he wasn’t the only one. Still, he was the first to voice his incredulity. “That worked?”

“Yeah. I used to be fascinated with bullfighters… and Spanish men in general, actually, but that’s beside the point.”

John shook his head, a self-satisfied smile clear across his lips. “Cured her of that.”

Pilar patted his shoulder. “Yes you did, dear. The point is I remembered a lot of movements and techniques, and just sort of went with it in an adrenaline fueled attempt. I then let go of the coat of course, rather than pulling it back. It worked out well enough.”

That started others telling about their own hallway experiences.

As they wound down, each remembering how much they needed to be about, Alex found himself frowning. “It really hasn’t been that long, right?”

Lenka shrugged. “I haven’t been counting, but probably about two weeks?”

Grant grunted. “Twelve days, actually, or there abouts.”

Kaylee cleared her throat, glancing at the clock on the wall. “If we’re going to be specific, in a quarter hour it will be twelve days, exactly.”

Natasha snorted a laugh. “Oh, how time doesn’t fly.”

That got a laugh from everyone as they stood to go their separate ways.

<Ray, Real - Survive, Earth?>

The last day had been just about the strangest in Ray’s life.

He almost chuckled at that. The only reason it hadn’t been the strangest by any metric was because he’d once had the misfortune of eating the wrong mushroom in a forest because his date at the time—Becky? Amber? He didn’t remember—had insisted that she knew woodcraft well enough to tell, and ‘These are the best mushrooms you’ll ever taste!’

He’d woken up thirty-six hours later with one hand deep inside the largest fresh-water fish he’d ever seen in person—it was dead, thankfully—stark naked, and at the top of a mountain three states away from where he’d started. There hadn’t even been any rivers nearby for the fish to have come from.

He never did see that girl again, but that might have partially been because he never found his phone with her number in it.

They’d met on a different hiking trail and hadn’t known each other long enough to have actually established other connection points.

This last day had almost been that crazy.

He was definitely more than three states away from where he had been, at least if the mountains in the distance were indeed covered in gold as they appeared to be.

Still, he wasn’t naked, and the only fish he’d seen had been safely in the river that had briefly manifested beside him as he did his best to survive.

So, all things considered, not too bad a day,

He regarded the random assortment of people who were with him… or really who he was with. The park ranger looking fellow at the head of the group was clearly in charge as he tried to lead them through the changing landscape.

Everyone was also looking off into space every once in a while, likely checking the same thing Ray was curious about.

The countdown.

It was less than five minutes before the day they had to survive would be over.

Then we see what new madness is in store for us. He wasn’t watching where he was going too well, so when he stepped down on an uneven rock and slipped, he cursed loudly, stumbling forward.

Others caught him, chastising him to be more careful, but that was it.

They weren’t friends, but they were a group that had helped one another through the insanity. They’d fought off creatures of nightmare and legend—though nothing quite as legendary as a dragon or anything like that—and that had given them at least a bit of camaraderie.

One minute left.

Park ranger called a halt and gathered everyone up before speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear. “Stay close! We don’t know what this will mean, and if we’re taken somewhere, we want to be together.”

Ray wasn’t going to argue, and he shuffled closer as he’d been instructed.

The timer ticked down to zero, and a massive notification window sprang into his view.

Congratulations!
You are among the 60% of sapient life to survive the first day of this Initialization. As such, you will be rewarded with a Tutorial, introducing you to the new realities of your existence.

Please indicate your preferences as to Tutorial companions, and we will take those into consideration.

Note:
Time has been paused so that you are not rushed in this selection process.

Ray blinked a few times, cursing to himself in surprise.

Then, the window changed, and he was presented with a massive list of people. As he looked at each name, he got an impression of the person, and he felt overwhelmed.

There were just so many people.

In one section were his extended family, cousins, etc. Another was people he knew from work, or school. There were people he’d bumped into on the street, or those he’d commented back and forth with on various online platforms.

Even with so many to look over, he immediately noticed some glaring absences, and the sixty percent listed in the previous notification came to mind once more.

If they’re not here, they’re dead then? He felt like that should have been overwhelming, but he also felt like something was keeping him from actually feeling the truth behind his revelation. He was not looking forward to that going away. He assumed that he needed to fill out this form, and so he was being kept from breaking down.

He almost delayed just to keep the vague numbness, but when he tried to move, he found that he really couldn’t. Those in his peripheral vision seemed locked in place as well, so he assumed that was a factor of time being stopped… which should have been scary in its own way.

He could blink and move his eyes, but that was it.

Again though, his mind was oddly calm.

For each person in the notification window, there were four options: Positive, Neutral, Negative, No Comment.

Every single person seemed to be defaulted to No Comment.

He somehow instinctively knew that in every case, both people’s selections would be taken into account, so no one he said Negative to would be put with him, and he wouldn’t be put with anyone who ‘Negative’d him.

He briefly wondered what would happen if he marked everyone as a Negative, and got the feeling that such would be a bad idea. It was a vague sense, not like he’d be prevented from doing it, but more like if he was being difficult, his selections would just be ignored… or he’d be put with a whole bunch of strangers.

Because this list did have that in common. Everyone on it had had a direct interaction with Ray at some point. He couldn’t just find the different film stars he’d watched over the years and ‘Positive’ them for a star-studded experience.

So, famous people he’d never met were out. Maybe I should have gone for more autographs… gone to more conventions?

There was also the sense that these selections would never be disclosed, which was nice, he supposed. It would have been awkward to eventually run into someone who he’d ‘Negative’d and have them be aware of the fact.

With a sigh, he began to go through the names, the process seeming to take forever and to be completed within an eyeblink. That was likely due to the oddities within his mind again.

He was glad that he didn’t have to give reasons for his choices, as beyond the few friends, he’d mainly given Positive selections to women whom he found attractive.

It was a silly criteria, but honestly, he had no idea what else to do.

He did see mushroom girl on the list. Apparently, her name had been Ashley—he’d never have guessed that if he were honest—and even though she was hot he’d marked her with a Negative.

No matter what was going on, he did not want to be with someone who could be so insistently confident on something that mattered, and then be so wrong.

And that was that.

He locked in his choices and… waited.

A moment later, everything vanished, the world being replaced by something like a college campus from the movies.

Around him were a mix of people he recognized and a few that he didn’t. He momentarily tried to figure out the logistics of coordinating all the overlapping preferences and groups before tossing the idea away.

He just didn’t care enough, and he was no rocket surgeon. Besides, not only did he see some of his buddies, but it actually seemed like quite a few of the babes he’d hoped for were there too.

That meant that they’d been at least Neutral toward him. He could work with that.

Maybe, just maybe, the end of the world won’t be so bad.

<Ashley, Real - ?,?>

She’d survived.

She’d survived, and now she was at some sort of school?

Ashley almost hopped in place with glee. When Whitney saw her and came sprinting over, they both did a bit of hop-and-squeel. “Oh. My. Gawd. ASHLEY! This is a magic school. Look!”

Ashley looked up and saw what looked like people floating overhead, coming their way.

“We get to learn magic.” The girl’s eyes widened. “You finally get to put all your plant knowledge to good use!”

Ashley laughed, the tension of the last day bleeding away and leaving a giddiness in its place. “Yeah. That’ll be great.”

She’d always been gifted when it came to identifying plants—even if some people weren’t used to ‘wild picked’ varieties—and she’d always been a great cook—even though ovens and stoves so often had it out for her.

If she could learn how to put those two things together? This just might have been worth it.

Off to the side, Janet was curled up in a ball, crying. A few others were trying to comfort her, so Ashley dismissed the woman.

I thought she’d be great to be with. I hope she’s not a drag.

The flying people landed, smiling broadly around at the nearly one hundred people in the area. “Welcome, Initiates of Earth. You have survived the initial upheaval, and you have earned this tutorial. Congratulations!”

The man held up his hands in triumph, almost as if expecting applause. It didn’t come, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“Now, you will be here for one month before being returned to the reassembled earth.” He held up a hand, forestalling the explosion of questions, and silence fell, despite some people’s mouths continuing to move. “Now, now, we will have plenty of time for questions later. Allow me to get through the introduction.”

He looked around, meeting the gazes of those who were still trying to talk, only moving on when they stopped their efforts. Finally, he lowered his hand.

“Good. Now, your newly initiated world will have need of all types of people, but you will all want to be able to defend yourself.” He frowned for a moment, seeming to be reading something they couldn’t see. “Ahh, I see. As a cultural touchstone for you all, your life going forward will be reminiscent of the old west in the United States of America, or the covered wagon, settler days. You will have some support, but it will not be like you are used to. You will be forced to be more self-reliant than before, until you can reestablish infrastructure. Regardless, this tutorial hub is here for you now to learn what you will need to know for your new life. We have classes, instructors, and training areas. While here, you can earn Merit to be spent upon your departure on whatever you feel is best.” He paused for a moment. “Now, to address the most common questions. Yes, the world as you knew it is over. Yes, forty percent of the people from your world are now dead. Yes, there is magic. Yes, most of you can learn it. You will be responsible for figuring out your own aptitudes, but those like me”—he tapped a bright red medallion on his chest—“are here to answer your questions and assist where we can.”

Janet screamed from the ground, getting her question out before the man could silence her once more. “What if we don’t want to be here? What if we just want to go home?”

He grimaced momentarily before his smile returned, clearly the professional sort, with no genuine mirth behind it. “You will not be forced to take advantage of any of these facilities—provided and sponsored by Lord Ares— but in that case, you will be sent back to your world at the end of a month just as you are.” He shrugged. “While that is not recommended, that is your choice.”

Ashley gave Janet a disgusted look. If that woman couldn’t see how cool this was, then Ashley wanted nothing to do with the woman. Strangely enough, it seemed like quite a few others had joined Janet in their rejecting of this offer, at least for the moment.

The man clapped, and the five others who had descended with him spread out. “Now, come to one of us, and we will direct you where to go from here.” He glanced toward Janet. “Or feel free to do whatever else you wish. We will not hold your hand, nor force you to action.”

Ashley and Whitney both moved forward almost as one, glancing toward each other and giggling.

This was going to be fun.

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