January 14, 2019, 6:04am.

"Forerunner call sign, not established. Please designate your call sign before continuing."

The words appear in front of me, floating in my vision. There's no background, but I have no problem reading them.

Cool, I get to create my character after all. Or at least choose my name. No sign of a menu or logout option though.

"Pandora," I whisper back. I know it's not original, but I've been using it since I was a kid.

My papa told me the myth, but the version he wove was an older rendition.

In his version, Pandora had brought all good things to the world where she placed them in her vase for safekeeping. However, one day a fool bumbled in. He knocked the vase over, barely getting the lid back on. In the interim, he'd allowed all that was good in the world to escape.

All except hope. Pandora's vase contained hope for all of mankind. Even as all other good in the world disappeared, it still held onto hope. It's my favourite story. I've heard the other versions about Pandora's box being all sorts of trouble, but that first story is the one that stuck with me.

"Call sign accepted. Forerunner Pandora Integration - Level 1 initialized. Interface compatibility confirmed. Assessment of base attributes of Forerunner complete. Forerunner compatibility: 53. Additional distribution of attributes allowed based on compatibility. Allocation required to continue integration."

As I finish reading the text, it fades. A transparent window appears replacing it. On the left, I see the assessment of my attributes. Which seems normal except….

ATTRIBUTE VALUE Adjust Strength -20 (+/-) Constitution -03 (+/-) Agility 12 (+/-) Endurance 05 (+/-) Intellect 53 (+/-) Spirit 35 (+/-) Perception 18 (+/-) Resolve 11 (+/-) Integration Points 53

What the hell? I'm pretty sure I'm not that smart. Plus, negative attributes? Does that mean zero is average so I'm twenty points below average? On the other hand, I have 53 points. If that’s a one for one increase, I’m going to have crazy good stats.

While I'm tempted to invest my points, I move my attention to the right side of the panel where it lists my resources instead.

RESOURCE POOL [EDGE] (REGEN) Health 14 [-3.5] (7/day) Stamina 34 [1.8] (18/day) Mana 152 [15.3] (99/day) Focus 123 [9.0] (73/day) Matrix Facet 37 3.6 (24/hour)

Health, Stamina and mana are pretty standard, but what are Focus and Facet? What's a matrix? Am I going to start seeing lines of code? Also, what’s an edge?

Adjusting my attributes is as simple as willing them to increase and decrease. After a little experimentation, I realize that each integration point gives 1 attribute and I can’t decrease the attributes below their starting values. I try to put all my points into intellect, but it stops increasing when I hit 100. Weirdly, I'm still able to assign my remaining points to intellect. They just don't have any noticeable effect.

While I'm messing with my integration points, I notice that my attributes affect resources I wouldn’t have expected. For example, increasing resolve increases focus and mana but also increases my health pool for some reason.

I decide to try allocating my points to strength to see if I feel stronger, but I don't notice any difference. I guess they just affect my character's game attributes which is a relief.

Or maybe they only kick in after I confirm my selection.

While I'm contemplating my attributes, I'm interrupted by a familiar voice calling my name.

“Alexis? Is that you? What are you doing here?”

Turning around, I see Josh standing awkwardly, looking at me. His dark face scrunches up in confusion as he focuses on me. He's out here without his customary toque, so his curly black hair is falling in his eyes. But that isn't what really catches my attention. Because Josh is wearing the most luxurious bathrobe I’ve ever seen.

Despite wanting to answer his questions, I am momentarily stunned by how gloriously pink his robe is. I never would have guessed that Josh had a bathrobe like this. Or any possession, for that matter. The only thing I’ve ever seen him in before is his black trench coat, with his equally black glasses, toque and camo pants.

And this bathrobe isn’t just pink. It has frilly lace at the cuffs, with embroidered roses running up his arms, over his shoulders. There are other roses scattered about the bathrobe, all of which sprout from somewhere on the back of his robe. The collar is white and super fluffy, with little blades of grass embroidered in it. But the best part? The best part is it's definitely his. I can see his name stitched over the left breast pocket.

“Uhm Alexis, hello?” he verbally prods me. Unsurprisingly, I’ve been so fixated on his magnificent bathrobe I may have forgotten he’d been asking me questions.

Thinking back, I try to respond. “Right, yes. Sorry. It’s me. I think.... I think we’re in the Forerunner game world. I signed up for it, so that’s why I’m here. But I’m not sure what you’re doing here?”

“Unless you signed up too,” I add after a moment’s thought. “And before you ask, I don’t know how I got here. I swear I fell asleep on my couch. The next thing I know, poof, I’m waking up on the lawn with the sun shining on my face like an old Nordic folk tale.”

While the fact that we were kidnapped is worrying, I'm buoyed by the fact that there's an interface and that I have mana. Mana means spellcasting. In a game this real, spellcasting sounds awesome. Also, if we really have been abducted, then we're very far away from my mother and my sudden financial crisis. That might be a factor. Maybe. A little.

“Anyway, have you figured out what your starting stats are? I’m thinking that I’m going to focus on my mental stats, my physical stats are pretty awful, honestly.” I barrel on before starting to focus back on my status.

“Alexis, what are you talking about? I signed up for the Forerunner Initiative extreme wilderness survival training program, not some game! And no offence, but I can't imagine you signing up for survival training. Never mind being approved for extreme level training.” Josh is practically panting by the end, pulling me back to reality.

Wait, what? They were running a survival program too? Though I guess even if this is a game world, it's real enough you might be able to do survival training. I certainly feel like I’m outside. The air is even a little chilly. If we weren’t in the sunlight I might be freezing right now. I wonder if I can channel mana into fire to keep myself warm. And he's staring at me funny because I've been ignoring him for too long.

Again.

Normally Josh is a glance at me, then ignore me, kind of person. Now that we've woken up in a field in our pyjamas together, he's looking at me differently, like maybe now I'm a real woman. Okay, maybe not. Besides our pyjamas probably aren't an important part either.

But.

Oh. My. God.

So pink.

"Alexis," Josh whispers quietly, staring over my shoulder, "what kind of game did you say this was?" his voice descending into a whisper as he starts to crouch down in the grass.

Pfft, like crouching will help you hide in that robe.

"I'm not too sure. They weren't very forthcoming with.. any…." I trail off as I see what inspired Josh's cautious behaviour. His choice is probably better than my reaction.

Considering I just stand there, staring with my mouth hanging open, I'm not setting a very high bar.

There before us, in all its feathery splendour, is a freaking dinosaur. It's one of those really big ones that are like five stories tall and eats leaves.

A lot of leaves.

Possibly all the leaves.

I think they're called oh-my-god-that's-huge-osauros.

Or something to that effect. It doesn't move very quickly, slowly grabbing another bunch of leaves, its long neck dragging its majestic feathers through the lower branches.

Suddenly, Josh trying to impersonate a rose bush makes a lot more sense to me. But it's a leaf eater. Surely, we're safe? Unless it starts walking towards us of course. Then we’d be pancakes.

Or if it likes to munch on roses, I snicker to myself.

I wait and watch the giant feathered dinosaur for a full minute and a half before I decide we’re probably safe as it isn’t going to trample us. I base this on the fact that it's been slowly moving away from us, grazing on the upper canopy as it goes.

Turning back to Josh, I see that he's flicking his gaze back and forth between me and the dino. When he sees me looking at him, he finally straightens up to his full height of nearly two meters. Which, compared to my meagre 154cm, feels almost as tall as the dino.

I watch him open his mouth, but before he says anything, he clicks his jaw closed before staring off into the distance. Turning to see what new threat he’s found; I step back while turning the direction he's staring. All I see is the standing stone, glowing brightly.

While it's pretty cool, with its glowing runes and all, I'm eager to get back to my character sheet.

Trying to be polite, I ask him, “So, we good? That dinosaur’s clearly not going to eat us, so I’d like to set my stats before we get started with our training.”

There, I asked for permission and everything.

Waiting two whole seconds, okay, one second, I take his vacant stare and lack of reply as assent, bringing my character sheet back up.

I’d hardly noticed at the time, but it automatically faded when my attention left it, keeping it from obstructing my view when I wasn't interested in it. Handy feature that. I’m definitely giving positive feedback to the devs about the smooth design.

Occasionally glancing up at our massive neighbour, I quickly check which stats affect my mana the most. It's definitely intellect and spirit, though perception and resolve both have a lesser effect as well. I do put three points into my constitution first though. My gamer instincts suggest that a negative con is a really bad idea, no matter my other stats. However, even after playing with the stats for a while I'm still having a hard time making up my mind. I decide I'll just put half my points in Intellect and half in Spirit. My adjusted stats definitely have a much higher focus on magic.

ATTRIBUTE VALUE Adjust Strength -20 (+/-) Constitution 0 (+/-) Agility 12 (+/-) Endurance 05 (+/-) Intellect 78 (+/-) Spirit 60 (+/-) Perception 18 (+/-) Resolve 11 (+/-) RESOURCE POOL [EDGE] (REGEN) Health 14 [-3.2] (15/day) Stamina 50 [1.9] (26/day) Mana 230 [23.1] (99/day) Focus 174 [9.0] (73/day) Matrix Facet 56 5.2 (40/hour)

When I think about confirming my choice the interface responds by bringing up what I'm starting to think of as “the notification window”.

“Would you like to confirm the current allocation of attribute adjustment integration points (AAIP). Warning, once confirmed, these choices will take 24 hours to implement and cannot be reset.”

Okay, that’s weird. What game takes 24 hours to set your stats? Oh well. Maybe I’ll recommend they speed that up, at least for the beta.

“Confirm,” I say to the air. I probably could have confirmed it mentally, but this is an important moment. I feel that saying it aloud makes it more concrete.

“Allocation confirmed. Temporal matrix integration resumed. Class selection will be available once integration is complete. Note, skills can be unlocked and quests can be completed prior to class selection.”

I don’t get to choose my class now? But apparently, I’m integrating with a temporal matrix and I can try to unlock skills?

Before I can start any new experiments, the notification screen silently displays a new notice.

“Update. Due to the nature of your integration matrix, you may spend 37 facet to accelerate the integration of your class by 18.5 hours. Please note that edge does not reduce the cost of this function.”

Sweet. That sounds great. It also gives me an idea of what edge might do.

I immediately project my thoughts at the system, confirming that I’d like to spend my facet (facets?) to reduce the integration time.

Now, only five hours and 29 minutes to go.

I watch the facet disappear from my status with a smile. As the facet disappears, I feel very tired for a second. Fighting to stay awake, the feeling rapidly fades away when a new notification appears.

“Skill gained: Temporal Manipulation, (skill level 1)”

The skill notice is welcome. The sudden inability to move. Not so much.

The second I recover from the fatigue I discover that my body is locked in place. I feel as though I’m encased in stone. A small part of me wants to panic, but my internal time sense tells me that for every second that passes in real-time, I’m experiencing an hour from my current perspective. My body is literally unable to react to the speed of my thoughts. Also, panicking would require being able to move.

Did I just consign myself to eighteen and a half hours of standing here with nothing to do but read my stats while thinking? I take back every nice thing I’ve thought about the devs. This is going to be hell.

That thought I had earlier about logging out? Yeah, that sounds like a really great idea all of a sudden.

So of course, when I mentally try to exit or logout or disconnect, nothing happens. Whether it’s because I’m forever trapped in a game world, or because the dev’s don’t want me cheating out of my ability, I don’t know. Further testing is required. Another solid minute of escape attempts leaves me consigned to my fate.

As I’m waiting, I decide to see if there is anything else I can access. There isn’t any response when I think about options or help, but when I concentrate on the different parts of my character screen, I get a general sense of what each attribute and resource mean. It's not much but it gives me something to stave off the boredom.

Disappointingly though, concentrating on my attributes mostly gives me textbook definitions.

Strength is physical strength, lifting, hitting that sort of thing.

Constitution is the toughness of my body.

Agility is my body's coordination and smoothness of movement.

Endurance is my body's ability to keep going.

Intellect is my smarts, which I don't feel is accurate.

Spirit is the only one that isn’t immediately obvious to me. The sense I get is that spirit is the strength of the nonphysical part of a person which is the seat of emotions and character aka the soul.

Perception is my ability to observe my surroundings.

Resolve is my ability to keep going.

It doesn't give me a sense of which pools or any game functions that might be tied to any of the attributes, though I did discover some of those with my experiments earlier.

The knowledge I gain when focusing directly on the resource pools is more useful though.

Concentrating on my health makes me realize that it functions as a shield of sorts. So long as I have health available, I won’t be injured by most physical attacks. Makes me wish I didn’t have that negative health edge.

Oh, that's another thing. Edge applies to every action that uses a resource. So, if I take health damage, I’m going to take an extra 3.5 damage each time.

Stamina is similar to health, but instead of injuries, it prevents exhaustion. If I still have stamina available, I’ll be able to keep running without getting tired. I guess there’s a first time for everything. Not that my stamina is much better off than my health.

In addition to being used for spells, mana also protects against mental attacks. The fact that my mana edge is 15.6 almost makes up for my negative health edge. Almost. If I can figure out how to cast spells.

Knowing my mana edge is going to keep increasing as my attributes go up over the next couple of hours is nice, but I wish I’d figured out what edge was like ten minutes earlier. Or based on my internal clock, I wish I'd figured it out at least nine minutes and 23 seconds earlier. Right before I assigned all my integration points, leaving my health out in the cold.

For the basic resources, that just leaves focus. Focus can be used to greatly enhance actions. In fact, I think I spent half my focus when I used my facet to speed up my class integration. On the plus side, it looks like focus is regenerating even during my time freeze. My facet regeneration, on the other hand, is clearly linked to what I’m going to call real time.

I’m really wishing I could still experiment with adjusting my attributes now that I've initiated this process. It’s only been nineteen minutes and 23 seconds since I started yet I’m already bored. I've been too spoiled by my smartphone.

I try to look around, but I can’t even get my eyes to refocus. Everything is blurry.

This means I don’t have any distractions to keep me from thinking about how my mom stole all my money. Apparently, my time sense works retroactively, because I know it’s been thirteen hours, forty-one minutes and three seconds, real-time since I discovered my account was empty.

The worst part of her taking everything is I've known for years that I can’t keep money in the house, or it disappears. I should've put the money in a new account. Now I have to start saving all over again.

Damn this game, it should be keeping me distracted, not giving me all the time in the world to think about this.

I spend a solid five minutes cursing the game, my mom, and that weirdo on the corner who used to stare at me as I walked past. And myself. For being an idiot. Mentally, because of course, I can’t speak. When I finally stop swearing, I realize my vision has gotten less blurry. I can almost make out the standing stone that Josh was looking at!

Yes! A distraction. I guess I can control my body, it’s just really slow to respond. That should help with the boredom. At least a little.

Another five minutes then I can see the runes on the stone clearly. They don’t really mean anything to me but thinking about their obvious magic reminds me of the notification I saw when I trapped myself. Just thinking about the log brings it back into focus.

Yep, there it is.

“Skill gained: Temporal Manipulation, (skill level 1)”

Realizing I’ve yet to see a skill page, I try focusing on one. Like the rest of my interface, my skill status slides into place at the speed of thought. On it are listed my vast plethora of skills.

Skills Matrix Skill Level Temporal Manipulation 1 Knowledge Skill Level Gaming 2 Engineering 1 Support Skill Level Cooking 0 Cleaning 2 Crafting Skill Level Woodworking 1 Movement Skill Level Swimming 1 Running 1

Okay, I’m not sure, but I think the system is insulting my cooking.

The engineering knowledge comes as a surprise. I’m guessing the woodworking skill is from my time at the mill. The Swimming and running skills, even at skill level 1, actually seem generous. My ability to swim could be compared to a lead anchor while my running wouldn’t be far behind.

I wonder if there are any other status pages that I’ve missed out on.

I try thinking about my class page, but I just get a feeling that it’s processing so I need to wait another 23 hours, one minute and fourteen seconds to access the menu. Or another 5.5 hours and seventeen seconds, depending on how you want to slice it.

Okay, that’s out. What else can I try? Inventory? Journal?

I decide to try thinking about my inventory first because it's less likely. When nothing happens, it’s disappointing, but not too surprising. This game does feel like we’ll be packing things around by hand. Still, I’ve already learned there are mana and time manipulation, so I’d be shocked if there isn’t any magical storage to be found.

Wait. Time manipulation. Like the state of frozen-time I’m in right now! Argh, for all my intellect, I’m such an idiot.

I immediately try focusing on my temporal manipulation skill to glean what I can from it. My first impression is a feeling of emptiness, that there’s nothing to work with. Because it’s fueled by my facet. My facet which I just spent to enter this state. Lovely.

Further concentration reveals that I may be able to enter and exit this state with some practice. Once I have regained some facet obviously. However, since my facet regenerates in real-time, I don’t think I'll have a single point by the time my 18.5 hours/seconds are up.

I guess that means my amazing discovery doesn’t really help me now.

My remaining two sources of hope for the next few hours are a journal and the standing stone in front of me. If I’m honest, at this point, I’m expecting the runes to give me a headache while the journal will probably be another dead end.

But there’s only one way to find out.