[Rose Spareman]

"I think I'd like to be in tier three, please," Rose said. She had stared at the chart on the wall, going over the pros and cons. One hundred percent pain did not seem very appealing. Alice had explained that Tier Four would place her in a militia, where she could be dropped into the middle of nowhere; that didn't speak to Rose either. So, she had chosen the third tier. Alice’s light flashed with acceptance.

"That is a good choice considering your previous experience and abilities," Alice said.

Rose was thoughtful for a moment. "What will happen when I get to...Wherever I'm going? And if this is a dream, what happens when I wake up?" She asked. Leaning back into the plush chair that Alice had created for her.

"To answer your first question, under tier three, you will start in a city's communal Hall of life; from there you will receive your E.C.A" Alice answered.

“The smartphone that goes on my arm?" Rose said, trying to make sense of everything. Alice had explained that they were used for communication, navigation and internet access. They also were capable of scanning a person's body to evaluate their base attributes and show your ranking within the system.

"Yes, your E.C.A. From there, I would recommend navigating to your personal apartment."

"I get an apartment?" Rose was immediately interested.

"Everyone entering the Dream Universe is allocated basic accommodation. By resting in the bed within the apartment you will set your respawn location, it is recommended that you make this a priority" Alice explained. "To answer your second question. Before you wake up from this dream you will feel intense exhaustion, it is recommended you rest in your bed, as your body will remain in a mindless state, for the duration of your waking day."

"And how long will I be dreaming for? How will I know when I'm going to wake up?" Rose asked,

"You can view the time in the waking world via your E.C.A, every hour you sleep will be almost eight hours of dream time."

Rose's breath caught in her throat. Eight hours, almost three days while she slept. How was this even possible?

The room was silent before Alice spoke again.

"Do you understand everything that has been explained to you?" The white room spoke again.

"Yes, I think so? I have another question though," Rose said.

"Anything I can answer, I will," Alice obliged.

"This is all a little crazy. Humanity in a linked dream of the future, the computers we wear that can scan our whole body."

"E.C.A's" Alice added.

"Right, and the fact that every night’s sleep is almost three days in a dream. It's all a little far fetched, but, for some reason, I have absolutely no problem believing you. Why is that?" Rose asked.

"The simple explanation, I am inside your head. I have activated the parts of your brain that make you trust me, make you ready to believe what I tell you." Alice explained.

Rose was a little surprised, she stayed silent as she digested the information.

"If that is all, you will be transported to the starting area. Several people who you consider to be friends in the waking world have already started. I will now place you in the Dream version of Auckland. If that is agreeable."

"That's fine, thank you," Rose agreed, unsure if she could disagree even if she wanted to.

"You are most welcome."

The room went dark in an instant. When the light came back, Rose was momentarily blinded. She was no longer seated in the small room but was now lying on a bed, in a large hall. A ceiling of glass exposed a cloudless sky held up by grand stone pillars. She was lying on one of the hundreds of beds lined across the floor in tight rows. Looking around, she was astonished by the magnitude of it all. Half the beds were occupied by people, also wide-eyed and gazing around at their surroundings.

On a small table next to her was a sheet of paper and a phone-like device. The note read [Place the E.C.A device on your forearm and press down gently. Please do not forget your shoes.] Rose looked down to see a pair of canvas slip on’s resting beside the bed.

She picked up the device on the table and, following the instructions, she pressed it firmly against her arm. As soon as she applied pressure, there was a sharp sting. Hundreds of tiny teeth pinched down from the sides of the device and latched into her skin. The pain was over as quickly as it began, leaving her arm with a slight itch under the metal.

Rose tapped the blank screen, activating her E.C.A [Welcome Rose] flashed on the screen followed by a menu.

[STATS]

[PHONE]

[MARKET]

[GUIDES]

Rose selected [STATS], and an image of herself appeared on the screen. The figure was dressed in exactly what she was currently wearing, a soft white linen shirt and pants. Below was a table of attributes

Strength (5)

10

Intelligence (7)

12

Toughness (5)

10

Mind (7)

12

Stamina (8)

14

Dexterity (8)

14

Rank

39

Credits

500

Achievement:

Rose swiped back. This device is just like a smartphone...

She selected the phone option, and a list of contacts came up, scrolling through them she found the one she wanted. Roses' head fell. Even though all her friends were on this list, Erick's name was greyed out and almost translucent. Maybe he is still awake, guilt flushed over her as she remembered the hurt in his eyes from just hours before. She knew she still loved him and maybe with this new world he would be a bit more motivated, he always did like to play games.

She went back to the menu and found a map function further down. There was already a pre-set destination for 'Home'. She selected it and looked at the map. Her 'home' was only a few blocks away. With a renewed sense of excitement, Rose rolled off the bed and strode out of the hall.

As she emerged through the large double doors, she couldn’t stop her eyes roaming from one sight to another. She was standing in a courtyard twice the size of the hall. A low hedged maze twisted in front of her, ending in a large, manicured lawn. It was all enclosed in the tallest skyscrapers Rose had ever seen, each as wide as a New York city block. The light shimmered off the reflective glass and white steel. How is this Auckland? Rose asked herself. The city she knew had only a handful of large buildings and none even half the size of the ones surrounding her.

Her astonishment peaked when a car emerged from between two buildings, skimming above the ground. Where the wheels would typically be was smooth bodywork. It tilted in the open space, speeding straight up and disappeared into the sun's glare. Rose shook herself and began following the directions out onto the street.

More cars floated between the buildings at a conservative speed, while above the tops of the buildings she could see them speeding along. Aromas flooded the street from the food vendors that lined the sidewalk like hot dog stands, selling everything from curries to tiny pigs on a spit, the latter making her a little queasy. She checked her stats page on her wrist to see she had 500 credits.

Rose didn't know if that was a decent amount of money or not, so she didn't stop to buy, only to gaze at the goods. As she walked, she couldn't pull herself out from the state of astonishment that consumed her. The pavement and building fronts were all pristine moulded concrete and large neon signs hung down over the sidewalk advertising stores and their location within the giant towers. The sun was blocked every two hundred meters by large, covered bridges that connected the buildings.

When she got to the skyscraper listed as 'home' on her map, she stood outside, staring up at the endless mass of steel and spotless glass. It was the same as all the others, with hundreds of floors stretching into the sky. She pushed through the rotating door and was greeted by a real-life robot.

"Greetings miss, welcome home. Do you have any items you would like delivered to your room?" As the robot spoke ropes and cords of bound steel and hydraulic lines moved in much the same as tendons and muscles in a human face.

"Um.. No, I don't. Thank you, though..." she responded. Unsure if she should enter the lobby further. "Please miss, call me Stanley. What may I call you?"

"Rose, if that's alright."

"Of course, Rose. We are here to serve. If you do not have any items feel free to proceed up the elevators. Or if you would prefer, the bar has recently been stocked with some fantastic Hiteshian sweet wines."He gestured first to a set of ten elevators at the back of the lobby, then to his left where Rose could see a sitting area and bar, tended to by an identical robot wearing an apron.

"I think I'll check out my rooms, do you know how much they cost?" Never one to be casual with money, the 500 credit amount under her name was starting to feel insignificant. "Cost? My dear Rose, the rooms are yours free of charge, as are all those within the building's basic levels. If you would like an upgrade, they can be purchased from me or any of my colleagues throughout the building, a premium suite costs twenty-five thousand credits, and a deluxe suite will be one hundred and twenty thousand credits. Fantastic facilities these have, would you be interested in an upgrade?"

15,000 credits. So, what could 500 credits get me around here? Rose contemplated

"No, thank you. I'm sure my current suites will be all good for now,"

Stanley nodded his metallic head in understanding, "Please, at your leisure." He stepped aside, "Just please be sure to follow the rules of the premise. No weapons fire or violence. If there are any concerns, security or otherwise, feel free to call out to me and I will be of assistance almost immediately.” With that, he turned and walked stiffly away to greet another person entering the building.

Rose walked to the back of the lobby, her shoes squeaking on the polished stone floor. Upon reaching the elevator, a light above one in the center lit up, the doors silently slid open and then closed behind her. A small panel lit up showing [Floor 37] as the elevator began to move, building in speed. When it reached the thirty-seventh floor, the doors slid open. Rose was still gripping the railing.

"It's quick aye?" The small voice made her look down.

A young boy was standing in the doorway. His face flushed and his breath came in excited bursts. "Yeah, faster than I expected," Rose responded, stepping out of the elevator.

"Dad said we could go ride it! If you jump right when you get to the top you can almost touch the roof," the boy said. He squirmed past Rose into the elevator as a man in his late thirties sprinted around a corner. "Jimmy, wait for me please!" He was visibly out of breath from chasing his kid. Rose stuck her hand between the doors to stop them from shutting.

"Thank you". The man painted. "Jimmy, what did I say about running off? What if you get lost, this is a big place." the father scolded the boy.

"I won't get lost, I'm not a little kid anymore dad, and Stanley said he can see everything in the building and would keep an eye on me."

"Yes well, I'm not sure if I trust Stanley just yet."

"Don't be a racist, dad," the boy scolded his father back as the doors closed.

Rose smiled as she looked down the three hallways stretching out from the elevators. Looking at her wrist, she saw the halls mapped out, with a bright yellow line running down the left hand one. This is some top-notch G.P.S. She thought as she followed the line down the hall passed identical grey doors inset into grey walls. When she reached the end, she was standing next to apartment number 3721. Grabbing the handle, she heard a firm click before twisting and pushing the door open.

'Her' apartment was made up of three small rooms. The living space was thin with a kitchen against the left-hand wall extending from the door to the middle of the room. The far wall was dominated by a large window with a couch facing out. A miniature desk was set against the right wall and an empty bookshelf on the left. Two doors in the left-hand wall led to a small bedroom and bathroom. The whole place was shades of white and grey except for a yellow accent wall at the head of the bed.

She was in the middle of looking through the bathroom cabinets when her wrist began vibrating. Checking it, she saw a small phone icon with the name [Amy] across the screen. She tapped it, hoping something would happen, and it did. Amy's voice exploded from the device. "Rose, Love! Can you believe this? Is that really you? Or am I dreaming?"

"I think you're dreaming, but it's also really me," Rose responded. That's weird to say.

"Where are you? What are you doing?" Amy asked in her usual upbeat tone.

"I'm just checking out my apartment," Rose said, pulling open another cupboard.

"We did that earlier, Cam and I got two next to each other. Had to ask the robot guy to shift us, but he was nice about it,"

Rose closed the draw and pulled open another "Stanley?" She said "Yeah, I met him. Did you see the way those wires moved when he spoke? It was kind of creepy."

"Stanley? His name was Albert."

As it turned out, all the different apartments had their own concierge robots, identical, but with varying names. Amy and Cam were in an apartment building a block down the road. She arrived to find them loitering outside.

"Rose!" Cam called as he skipped up to meet her. Amy trailed behind him. "Can you believe this? I keep wondering if it's real or if I'm just high. How long have you been here? You're the first face we recognize. Did you see the cars! I really want one." Amy placed a hand over his mouth to give Rose a moment to respond. "Um, I only just... a couple of hours maybe, I haven't really looked at a clock," she replied, glancing around at everything once again.

"I know what you mean," Amy said. "It's a little overwhelming as soon as you see it, aye?"

Rose nodded.

"Cam and I have been here for, I think almost…" She looked down at her forearm "Twenty hours now, going to bed early paid off," her smile stretched across her face. "I found Cam sitting in the entrance of that big hall. Apparently, after someone told him everyone came through there, he refused to move until I showed up.” She patted his arm lovingly.

"Where's Erick? I assumed he would have found you pretty quick too." Cam asked.

"I'm not sure, and I don't think he would. We had a fight earlier. We kind of…Well, I kind of broke up with him." She stammered, trying to get the words out of her mouth.

Amy and Cams' brows furrowed simultaneously. Rose swore she had seen a flash of anger behind Cams expression, which made sense. They were good friends. Am I going to lose my friends too? She couldn't hold back as tears began dripping slowly down her cheeks and everything that had happened in the last few hours came crashing home.

"Oh love," Amy's arms wrapped around her, giving Rose a comforting squeeze. "I'm sure it will be alright. If what that A.I. in the room said is true, everything's changed." she held her for a minute before pulling away. "Come, we found out some stuff today, you haven't lived until you've tried BBQ lizards!"

"Excuse me?" Rose sniffed.

[Erick Sanders]

"The shit you bring me sometimes, Havar. I swear."

Voices jerked me awake, although I didn't have the energy to open my eyes.

"Don't blame me you scab eating roach, the master wanted him. Can you fix him or not?"

"Of course, I can fix it. But it won't be fast, and it won't be clean. Can we spare some stims? This will be painful; it may not be able to cope."

"We're not wasting stims on a slave, if he can't handle it, he won't be of much use, will he?"

I drifted off again, and the next time I came around, it was to the sound of my own screaming. Straps across my legs, chest and head held me fast to a table as hands took hold of my broken arm and began to pull, the bones separating at the breaks.

"Here," someone said, shoving a leather strip into my mouth, blocking my screams and giving me something to bite down on. I blacked out again as someone tugged roughly on my broken leg.

Pain lanced through my body, searing my cells. Every limb stung and ached simultaneously and throbbed with each weak heartbeat. A small hand brushed a wet cloth across my forehead wiping away the beads of sweat "They said you need to sleep, They'll keep fixing you soon."

My eyes blurred with the light as I squinted. A small girl was rinsing a cloth and wiping the sweat from my face. "Sleep," she said again, pulling a blanket across my shoulder. I closed my eyes. "Sure," I muttered as I drifted off.

When I awoke, I felt a million times better, the pain was gone, the aches of my bruised and battered muscle gone. I opened my eyes to see a dirty doctor's office, or what I assumed was a doctor's office. The walls were lined with shelves, jars and containers filling them. Benchtops held various scalpels, saws and packets of rags.

A fat, balding man with a failed attempt at a comb-over bustled around the office, as he turned around, he noticed me watching him.

"Ah, awake! That was fast," he said, as he shuffled around a table. Picking up a bowl and a spoon, he came over and shoved them into my hands. "Eat something," he ordered. I sat up and swung my legs off the bed before getting unsteadily to my feet.

"Where am I?" I said sniffing at the brown gruel in the bowl; just the sight of food had made my mouth water and set hunger rolling in my stomach. I took a seat at a small table next to the bed.

"You, my young friend, are in the house of Master Carlton. A hunting party found you in the ruins of one of Stannals Facilities, everyone was dead, except you." He said as he rolled a bandage up and stuffed it into a bag.

"My legs were broken," I muttered, taking a large spoonful of the gruel that was utterly tasteless.

"Yes, in three places, your right arm also. Four vertebrae, three ribs, collarbone.” He listed, “your left scapula was snapped in two, quite impressive." He chuckled as he went about tidying his tools.

I stuffed more gruel in my mouth, as tasteless as it was, I was hungry. "So, you fixed me? I feel fine now, I guess I should thank you," I said between mouthfuls.

"Oh, don't thank me. I tried, but your injuries were beyond me. You died on that table, right there." He pointed at one of the wooden benches behind him. I stared at the red stain on one of the legs. "I died? But I'm right here," I said, unsure of what to believe. Wasn't I meant to respawn somewhere safe?

"You lost too much blood, and yes, you kicked the bucket alright. But an hour later, one of the mop boys noticed you on the bed. We hadn't even dropped your body in the grinder yet. Though that's been done now." He turned from his work. "What's your name?" he asked, leaning forward, entirely undisturbed by the nature of his words.

"Erick," I answered

"Erick... I'm Karl. It's nice to meet you. I’ve never met a traveller before.”

"A what? I asked.

“A traveller. One of those blessed by the creator to move between universes. Really boy, how can you not know.” Karl said, shaking his head.

Travellers? People dreaming? I wondered.

"When can I go home," I asked, watching his eyes as they studied my face?

"Go home? I'm afraid that's not going to happen. For Creator’s sake boy, do you know how much you're worth? It costs over a million credits to revive someone; it's a messy and long process too. But you...you're free and fast." He smiled widely. "They're putting you into the arena. Hopefully, you'll make the master a lot of credits."

I spat the tasteless food from my mouth "Arena? Like a gladiator?" I asked, pushing back from the table and the man. Remembering what I had heard as I moved in and out of consciousness. Someone had referred to me as a slave.

"That's what they called the slave fighters of ancient earth, so... yes," He said, his voice calm and placating, he watched me as I scanned the room. I could escape, right? If this was like a game, as the man on the ship had said, then there should be a way to escape. There was always a way. "You need to calm down, boy." The man said. He tapped on a screen on his wrist, and a second later, the door opened and two large men stepped inside. I turned, looking for another door to escape through, but there was none. "You're the property of house Carlton now, we'll see what you can do, then we will make some money off your back." He meant it literally.

The two men pushed and prodded me down out of the office and down a stone hallway, another stepped in after us and dragged the bed from the doctor's office. Karl waved at me merrily as I was escorted out. "Good luck," he called to my back.

They left me in a stone cell, the steel door creaking as they closed it behind me. I was alone, with nothing but the bed and an ancient musky woollen blanket.

I spent the next hour methodically tapping on all the stones in the room, looking for the one that must lead to a tomb or a tunnel dug by another prisoner. They were all firmly in place. Next, I tried the bars on the tiny window, dragging the bed over and standing on it. I reached up and tugged on the bars, one at a time until I was panting for breath. None of them budged, bent or buckled. I flopped down on the bed, sighing in exasperation and defeat.

No sooner had my breathing and heart rate returned to normal than a man pushed the cell door open, he was dressed in stained white canvas fatigues. On one hip hung a pistol with a sword on the other. He walked into the cell and grabbed me by the shoulders, roughhousing me out the door and down another dark stone hallway that ended in a metal gate swung wide. On the other side was a circle of sand, straight out of a roman story. Brick walls stained red-circled the edge with two armed men walking along the tops.They were dressed in the same white uniform and carried rifles along with the pistol and sword. Built into the wall was a silk-covered pavilion housing two men who sat on hard-backed chairs, sipping from stained glass goblets.

"Fight, die, whatever," the guard said, pushing me forward onto my face in the sand.

"I don't know how to fight," I spat back at him.

"Then die." He shrugged, turning and walking back through the gate, slamming it closed.

Before he had even gotten to the hallway, there was a dull thud of feet hitting the sand. I lifted my head to see a lean man, his bare chest displaying a tattoo of a prancing horse. His right hand gripped a straight short sword. I pushed myself to my feet and stepped back as the lean man began running right at me. I tried to dive out of the way as he thrust the blade at my stomach, but I was too slow. I shuddered as the blade plunged into my side, tearing through muscle and ripping between my ribs. Then it was pulled free, tearing as much on the way out as it had going in. I sagged to the ground, my knees sinking into the sand and choked as I coughed up blood. The man tilted his head watching me and with a single swing of the sword, he removed my head.

.

It felt as though only a moment had passed when my eyes cracked open. I was lying on the bed, in the tiny cell. I only had a second's rest before the door rattled against the stone wall as it was thrown open. I tried to sit up, scrambling against the stained mattress, but the same guard as before strode up and pulled me from the room. I screamed as he dragged me back down the hallway, my fingers scraping against the rough stone walls.

He threw me onto the sand once again and just like before, the lanky man moved in from the other side. His sword was coated in cracking red blood. My blood. I tried to run, scrambling to my feet only to trip on my own severed head as it lay face down in the sand. I screamed, kicking it away. My screams were cut short as a blade slid into the side of my neck.

This was the start of the worst night of my life. Twenty-two times I died, twenty-two times I woke and was dragged screaming down the hallway to be thrown onto the sands. My twenty-two dead and dismantled bodies stacked around the outer edges of the arena, the blood draining into the sand, staining it red and making it cling to my bare feet.

The tall man soon became bored with his sword, using a smaller knife, then his hands to break bones and crack my skull. By the last, he simply strolled up to my slumped body as I struggled to stand, familiar tears raining onto the sand and snapped my neck.