Day 1

A hallway filled with doors answered him. Ethan sighed and walked down rows of doors, each marked helpfully with a vacant or occupied sign. He only had to walk twenty or so feet to find an open room and stumble into it. Exhaustion took him as he fell into the neatly folded queen bed, a smile graced his face as sleep took hold.

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A robotic voice startled him out of the dreamless rest. “Wake up, it is the first day of The World Ending Trials. Wave One has begun.” It echoed in the small room as Ethan groggily blinked away the sudden light. Slowly adjusting to the harsh light that flooded the room. Noticing he was still in his bloody clothes he sighed and looked down at the bed, it was disgusting. Some of the dried blood had become liquid again as he slept on it, forming a rough outline of his body in green and red blood.

Checking out the rest of the room revealed a small step in shower, and a closet. Peeling himself out of the crusty clothes that cracked as the dried blood bent and clung to his clothes. Gagging slightly Ethan decided to just throw them on the floor and step into the shower. The water ran over his tired body in rivers of red and green tinted shades as it went down the drain. Scrubbing with soap helped with the smell, and soon Ethan was as clean as he was going to get. Staying clean was important, who knew what kind of space diseases he could get.

When Ethan stepped out of the shower, still dripping with water he froze. His disgusting clothes that had been on the floor were gone, replaced by perfect clean copies. The bed was pristine and made neatly, as if he had never slept in it. There was no sign that anything had happened, he heard no movement during his shower. Suddenly words appeared in his vision as he dried off, startling him as water dripped down onto the floor.

Welcome, those of you that have survived this long. Congratulations, your pathetic lives are becoming more and more worthwhile every day. Now, Most of you are holed up in Safe Zones. The company has decided that this is boring, from now on those humans that do not kill at least one invader per day will be teleported into an arena together. You will only be allowed to leave when half of the humans are dead. Have a wonderful day!

Reading it a few times he sighed and put on his new clean clothes, a brown dry fit shirt and grey athletic shorts. Ethan wasn’t at risk, today he was going to kill every single goblin from his old apartment building. He exited his room and walked down the hallway to the main room with the vending machines. When he opened the door to the main room Ethan was pleasantly surprised to see Sam waiting there. “Hey, I thought you’d come around sometime. Look there are more people here, but they don’t leave their rooms and I thought you’d be back here eventually. Have you bought anything yet?” He asked rapid fire as Ethan calmly walked out of the hallway and into the room.

“Didn’t everyone see that announcement?” Ethan asked incredulously. “I know I won’t be at risk because I’m going to kill some goblins today, but everyone else?” He shook his head and glanced at the doorway. The rock dragon wasn’t there. “Was that thing here this morning?” he asked Sam warily.

“I saw it, I was hoping to join you if you went out today. Maybe we can handle that thing together?” Sam asked with a small smile. “I don’t have any organics...but I do have this.” He reached behind his back and pulled out a wand. “It’s not much but it has versatility, shield, healf, and lightning bolt. Cost me 2,000 points. I was lucky enough to hit a few things on my way here with my car” Sam smiled sheepishly “I figured survivability was better than attack at first.” He explained.

“I gotta buy my upgrades first, all I know is that I want a good mix like you...only I can afford better options.” Ethan said sheepishly. “Do you know anything about the things we can buy? Organics or magic tech like that?” He asked looking at the wand...maybe he should? No, the massive robot that could probably kill him in a half second said that Sun’s Heart was what to get…

With a sigh Sam looked over at the vending machines. “Honestly I have no idea how they even work. I just paid with these points that I can’t see and got what’s essentially a Harry Potter wand.” He smiled sheepishly “You’re probably best off with Organics...if my wand runs out of charge then I’m fucked most likely.” He said with a small frown. “Actually how many charges is it and how long does it take to recharge?” He mumbled under his breath and then looked up. “I’m going to do some magic, take your time picking.” He said and walked off, a white orb appearing around his body. The shield spell.

Ethan shrugged and walked over to the vending machine for the Mutant Multitudes, it loomed in front of him like a monolith, a tower of frightening strength. This..thing had the ability to grant him otherworldly powers? Yeah right. He stood there, alone gazing into the dark screen before tapping on it with his finger. The list appeared again, he scrolled and selected Sun’s Heart.

Would you like to make any more purchases?

Flashed helpfully on the screen as all the other options appeared again, except for Sun’s Heart. He looked over his options again. Was he right to ignore the magical tech entirely? Maybe, he could get Iron Skin, and Regeneration. That seemed like a potent combination. So he picked them. Nothing held back now, he needed to live more than anything. Who knew what was out there...waiting in the ruins.

He still had fifteen hundred points to spend. He could still get another one! Or he could save up. Who knew how many levels there were, or what other options would become available. Titles unlocked things, and there had to be more than just one title but you had to be alive to reap the benefits. Better to spend now and be alive later than not spend now and die in a ditch. He selected Extra Spectrums and chose Infrared, and then scrolled along the list. Five hundred points wasn’t much for an organic. He confirmed that he was done with his purchase and from the screen a tray emerged. On that tray was a Gatorade bottle.

Please drink, the nanites inside will construct your enhancements. Thank you for choosing the Mutant Multitudes.

Oh great, bottoms up I suppose. Ethan grimaced and chugged the entire bottle. Turning to Sam he grinned and yelled over “Hey is there anything good worth about five hundred points from Gordano?” He yelled. By now Sam was fiddling with his wand. A heat started to rise in his stomach, almost like heartburn. The pain grew and grew. Ethan clutched at his chest and sat down. This was all getting a little crazy. He thought before a cough racked his body. He could feel something...hot right in his chest. Like...like a sun.

Fire began to coalesce in his hands as he concentrated hard through the pain. “Sam I have fireballs!” He shouted in joy as his concentration lapsed. Those fireballs immediately exploded in his face with a rush of superheated air and fiery anger.