“You can call me A.M.I., and that situation would not have happened, as you would have already won.”
I tilted my head to the side. “What do you mean by...” I paused. It was weird having a serious conversation with the air. “Is it possible for you to make yourself a body or something?”
A moment passed, and an attractive young woman walked in from the hallway. Long, dark-brown hair framed a round face with a pale complexion. She wore a simple, light-blue dress down to her calves with short sleeves. She sat down in a chair that hadn’t been there a moment before.
“Better?” The voice in my head now originated from the woman in front of me.
“Yeah...” I was expecting a magical glowing ball—not an actual woman. I glanced around the room. “How much control do you have over my dream exactly?”
“However much I need.”
That’s not unsettling at all.
I shook the mind-control thoughts to the side. “A.M.I.” I rolled the letters over in my mouth. “Can I call you Ami?”
“If you would like,” she replied.
“Perfect. Ami, what do you mean I would have already won?”
“Due to the Law of Mercy, all potential contenders who have a zero percent chance of victory are put to sleep. They are not registered as contenders.”
It took a moment to comprehend what she was saying. “Put to... you just kill them?”
Ami shook her head. “They still live, and no direct action is taken. They sleep until fate is allowed to take its course.”
I balked at her statement. “Why put them to sleep then? At least give them a chance!”
Ami froze for a moment as if waiting for something before continuing. “Those put to sleep in accordance with the Law of Mercy are not capable of surviving even the initial culling on their own. A portion of our audience does not enjoy witnessing the pain of what they call the ‘innocent’ and enacted the Law of Mercy. They wish to spare those who would die anyway the pain of a violent death.”
Something about the law still rubbed me the wrong way, but I moved on. “So, does that mean if I am the final survivor, I will get to take Aurora with me?”
She froze again for a moment. “A receiver of the Law of Mercy has never made it to the end of the Game before. The standard operating procedure for such an event is unclear. Would you like to submit a query?”
“Like submit a help desk ticket? If that’s what I need to do, then yes.”
“One moment, please.” Ami froze again for about a minute this time. “Your query has been submitted for review.”
“Great, how long will it take to hear back from... upper management?”
“The timeframe is unknown. Queries are answered in the order they are submitted. Your query is currently 4,670,209,817th in the queue.”
I stared at Ami, doing the math in my head. “How are there more questions than there are people left alive?”
“There is no limit to how many queries may be submitted per contender.”
“Well, shit. Let’s assume I can take her with me for now.” I stood and stretched. “Alright, anything else you need to tell me before I can get back to... not dying, I guess?” The dream shook as I thought about waking up.
I need to prepare a survival kit of some kind.
Figure out what we’re going to do next.
Prepare for the second trial.
“You need to complete the main reason you are here. Your integration into the A.M.I. has been finished for some time now. My primary function is to provide you with an enhanced skill set for the Game.”
“An enhanced skill set?” I eased myself back onto the couch. I liked the sound of that. My current skill set when it came to murder was next to none. I’d take any edge I could get.
My stomach rolled at the truth of what I was committing myself to.
“An A.M.I. is a system by which stored knowledge is imprinted onto someone’s mind and body. Terminology has been modified and the acquisition of knowledge and skills has been gamified, but my core purpose remains unchanged. Think about your status, and you should see our current connection.”
I sat for a moment, unsure of what to do, before trying my best to think about my status.
= = =
Name: Daniel Atkins
Class: —
Skills: —
Constitution: 0
Intelligence: 0
Dexterity: 0
Strength: 0
Arcana: 0
= = =
I blinked at the holographic screen that had appeared in front of me.
Ami did say it was gamified.
I shook my head and smiled. “Alright, I guess start from the top and explain everything.”
“Your class is the name for the knowledge imprinted into your body and mind. Skills are the actions, knowledge, and biological changes your class is composed of. Constitution, Intelligence, Dexterity, Strength, and Arcana are the five axes by which your body is empowered.
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“Constitution is a measure of your overall health, vigor, and durability.
“Intelligence is the speed and reliability of your mind.
“Dexterity is the efficiency of the communication between your mind and body.
“Strength is the maximum effort or power your body can produce.
“Arcana is how effectively you can alter the world around you via your mana.”
I looked away from my status. “When you say mana, do you mean magic?”
“Not in the way you are thinking, though its practical application would, on a surface level, be considered magic by the contenders.”
“So, it’s not magic, but it is magic? Very clear.” I shook my head. “What does that mean exactly?”
Ami froze again for a moment before continuing. “During the integration we changed your DNA, so your cells naturally grow an organelle similar to the mitochondria that produces mana. Mana is an energy that allows one’s thoughts to affect the world around them. The simplest example is wanting something you are holding to ignite, and then it does.”
“How on earth is that not magic?”
“I provided a generalized explanation of a complex process. You could similarly question how eating a carrot leads to creating and performing music, yet, in a way, it does.”
I pinched my lips tight and returned to my status. “Hmm, I’ll accept that for now. Why are all my stats zero? I know I’ve got a bit of a gut now, but zero seems a bit harsh.”
“All contenders start at a baseline of zero.”
“So, everyone starts out physically the same?” Images of obese coworkers and roided-out influencers flashed through my mind.
“Everyone is assumed to be the same baseline upon initiation. Even if someone wasn’t, the standard deviation of your species is two or three at most.” She paused. “There seems to be a common misunderstanding among the contenders when explaining the A.M.I., and a system-wide announcement is going out.” She sat still for a few more seconds before continuing.
“The five attributes aren’t a measure of your current status and don’t directly correlate to your current ability. They are your baseline, what your body naturally desires to be at. Two Strength is not twice as strong as one Strength. The maximum potential of the man with two Strength is slightly higher on the genetic level. The appropriate work still needs to be done to reach said potential.”
I mulled over what she said in my mind. “So, you’re saying I still need to work out to get gains, but my Strength stat determines my upper lift limit.”
“Yes, but not only Strength affects your lift limit. All five attributes work together to varying degrees to achieve a goal.”
“I guess that makes sense. When do I get to choose my class?”
“You may select your class now.”
A new window opened in front of me with a list of potential classes. I flicked my hand through the list, rapidly scrolling down several hundred options. I returned to the top and focused on the first option. A new window opened with more information.
= = =
Soldier: Disciplined and determined, you are the backbone of every army.
Skills: Basic Weapon Proficiency | Basic Survival Proficiency | Basic General First Aid
Attributes: Constitution: 4 | Intelligence: 1 | Dexterity: 3 | Strength: 4 | Arcana: 1
= = =
I frowned at the sparse description. “Skills seem pretty self-explanatory. Is the ‘attributes’ row the number of attributes I gain if I select this class?”
“When you select a class, knowledge and muscle memory will be imprinted into your mind and body. You will start with a basic understanding and an incomplete class synchronization. As you perform the class’s skills, you will synchronize with your class. The attributes listed are the increases you will gain as you complete your synchronization.”
I nodded along, a bit of excitement filling my chest. Her description gave me hope that I had a chance of surviving until the end. I didn’t need to already be a deadly warrior. I could become one.
I scrolled back through the list of classes. “How much longer do I have here until I wake up?”
“Technically the amount is finite, but the time dilation in your mind is so great you would go insane before you ran out of time.”
I smirked as I put the Soldier description into the “maybe” pile. “Perfect.”
The hours passed in a blur as I sorted through the classes and their skills. I yawned and shifted again on the couch. The first thing I learned was that classes were not all of the same quality. I asked Ami about it, and she confirmed my suspicion without outright saying it.
Classes existed on a difficulty scale. The more attributes a class came with, the more information the class had and therefore the harder it was to synchronize with. From what I could tell, the average class had fifteen attributes.
Skills also had a hidden range of usefulness, with more specific skills generally being better. For example, Sword Proficiency was better than Blade Proficiency which was better than Weapon Proficiency, though this wasn’t a hard and fast rule. While Sword Proficiency would make my sword combat top tier, Blade Proficiency would allow me to wield a knife as well if the need arose. It was a bit of a give and take.
There was also a surprising focus on essentially pre-industrial warfare. It wasn’t that gun-related classes didn’t exist, but there were a lot more sword classes than I would have expected. Ami implied the audience wasn’t a huge fan of the impersonal nature of guns, so they were heavily restricted. While current ammo supplies would last for a while, eventually they would run out. At that point, the game would only provide low-lethality or low-fire rate guns, if it provided any at all. I didn’t know what a low-lethality gun was, and Ami didn’t elaborate.
I had one primary goal when it came to choosing a class. Something that would allow me to protect Aurora as I completed the trials.
I immediately passed on anything with fewer than fourteen attributes. Picking a class in the bottom half of strength was just asking to lose. I also passed on any class that didn’t seem self-sufficient, like the many projectile-related classes. I didn’t want to corner myself into relying on ammo.
After my third pass-through, I also removed anything lower than fifteen. Part of me wanted to take the class with the highest attributes and call it a day, but at some point Ami had made another system-wide announcement, reiterating how the attribute system worked. To say I was hesitant to bet it all on an extra point or two of Strength was an understatement. With a sigh, I went through the final three I had narrowed it down to.
= = =
Guardian of the People: No harm shall come to those you call your own.
Skills: Basic Shield Proficiency | Basic Heavy Armor Proficiency | Basic Leadership
Attributes: Constitution: 8 | Intelligence: 3 | Dexterity: 2 | Strength: 2 | Arcana: 1
= = =
Guardian of the People fit the bill for my desire to protect Aurora, but its lack of offensive attributes and skills was concerning. Going full survivability had its merits, but I would have to kill something eventually. Not to mention, the leadership skill was a bit of a turnoff. Grouping with others was a possibility, especially early on, but in the end I would have to turn on those I teamed with. I didn’t want any part of that.
= = =
Shield of the Vanguard: A shield to those who pave the way with the sword.
Skills: Basic Shield Proficiency | Basic Weapon Proficiency | Basic Armor Proficiency
Attributes: Constitution: 4 | Intelligence: 2 | Dexterity: 4 | Strength: 4 | Arcana: 1
= = =
Shield of the Vanguard was a more balanced version of Guardian of the People. It only had fifteen attributes, but that could be seen as a positive. Ami said it would be easier to synchronize with classes that had fewer attributes, after all. I couldn’t take advantage of the extra points if I were dead before I got them.
= = =
The Queen’s Champion: In your hands, the king entrusted his most prized possession.
Skills: Basic Shield Proficiency | Basic Blade Proficiency | Basic Fate Binding
Attributes: Constitution: 4 | Intelligence: 2 | Dexterity: 2 | Strength: 3 | Arcana: 6
= = =
The description is what drew me to The Queen’s Champion: a protector of a single individual. It was perfect, except for two things. The first was the seventeen attribute points the class offered. That was the limit of what classes could offer, from what I could tell. That meant the class was strong but difficult. I was terrified of overestimating myself and falling behind.
The second was the magic focus of the class. I had no idea how six Arcana would help me. The thought of using magic was awesome, but betting Aurora’s life on it wasn’t. Especially magic called Basic Fate Binding, which seemed unnecessarily cryptic and definitely wasn’t as simple as throwing fireballs around.
“Ami, what can you tell me about Basic Fate Binding?”
“Fate Binding is the practice of intertwining one’s mana with another via a mana-weave, creating a deep two-way bond. Depending on how the mana is woven, various effects can be achieved.”
I tried to wrap my head around the possibilities. Given the context of the class, it must be for connecting to whoever you were meant to protect. Looking over the options again, I closed my eyes and went with what my gut felt was best.
“I select The Queen’s Champion.”
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