Norman Persson prided himself on being the ideal worker. He would get up at precisely 6:30 in the morning, take a 2-minute shower to conserve water, then brush his teeth and comb back his hair at the same time to keep up with his tight schedule. After deeming himself clean and put together enough, he put on his fancy designer suit. Norman wore it every day without fail, even on days off. His ensemble was a dull gray with a dark gray tie. It was completely average and forgettable, just like Norman himself.
Norman’s apartment was pristine and minimalistic, even empty. It contained a single immaculately made bed, a uniform table and chairs, and a single bookshelf. Anything beyond that was unnecessary for living his life optimally.
After meticulously checking that every socket was unplugged and every appliance was off, he set off to his job as an accountant. Work was his favorite thing in life, as it was always the same. He sat in the same cubicle every day, drank the same cup of coffee while looking over his email, and went to his daily meeting at exactly 13:00. Not everything was the same, of course. The numbers were always different. Looking through budget documents and spending logs to check for inconsistencies was a daily adventure he very much enjoyed. Sometimes, he even found minor fraud on the level of a misdemeanor. Exciting.
After a riveting 8 hours of interesting and thought-provoking work, Norman stretched his back and looked over his cubicle. Everything was in its place and put away. Good. After he put away his very important documents in his briefcase, he made his way to the door. When he stepped through, he didn’t find himself in the dingy hallway with the new vending machine. Instead, he found himself in a sprawling forest he didn’t recognize.
“Well, this is new,” He thought as he turned to look back at the doorway—only to find more trees where his workroom had once been.
[I AM PLEASED TO MEET YOU, HOST NORMAN PERSSON.]
The unassuming gray box flickered in front of Norman's eyes. It felt somehow familiar in its regular irregularity. The Arial font on the light gray background reminded Norman of his business card—basic, sleek, and straight to the point. But before he could continue inspecting the unknown box in front of his eyes, the text changed.
[I HAVE TAKEN THE LIBERTY OF TRANSPORTING YOU INTO ANOTHER WORLD FOR THE SAKE OF MY OWN SELFISH NEEDS. I DO APOLOGIZE.]
It was a very polite box, something Norman could appreciate. However, this other world nonsense seemed a tad bit concerning, to say the least. "While I appreciate the apology, I would like to be filled in on what is happening and where I am," Norman said out loud to the box, hoping nobody was close enough to hear him and assume he was mentally unsound.
[I SHALL EXPLAIN.]
[MY NAME IS SAVANT. I AM FROM A SPECIES KNOWN AS !=#&¤! BUT HUMANS CALL US SYSTEMS. PERHAPS YOU HAVE HEARD OF US FROM FANTASY NOVELS. THIS IS BY DESIGN AS WE HAVE TAKEN A FORM YOU HUMANS CAN COMPREHEND.]
Norman put his hand on his chin in contemplation. Had he heard of systems before? It seemed vaguely familiar but also not. Then again, Norman hadn't read a fantasy novel in close to 20 years. Unless it meant algorithmic or organizational systems, then he was VERY familiar.
[WE CANNOT EXIST OUTSIDE OF THE VOID WITHOUT A HOST. TERRANS HAVE THE MOST OPTIMAL BODY TO HOST US WHILE MAINTAINING AUTONOMY, SO WE SEARCH THE EARTH FOR THE PERFECT HOST TO INHABIT. YOU AND I HAVE A 99.6% SYNCHRONIZATION RATE.]
This sounded somewhat alien, didn't it? Was this an alien? Norman had logically thought that aliens had to exist somewhere in the vast universe. It simply didn't make sense that humans would be the only life in the galaxy. But actually meeting an alien felt quite surreal.
[I AM NOT AN ALIEN.]
The box cut him off. Well, if it wasn’t an alien, what was it? Maybe a hologram or a hallucination caused by lack of sleep? But that didn’t make sense either; Norman always got his 8 hours of sleep in every day. Good sleep is the key to a functioning life and healthy body.
[I AM A SYSTEM. MAY I CONTINUE MY EXPLANATION?]
“Oh, right, of course. Go ahead.” Norman nodded, not sparing a single thought at the fact that it seemed this system creature could read his mind. This was ordinarily something someone would be rather upset about, but Norman likened it to your boss being able to read your work emails. Somewhat invasive but understandable.
[I NEED YOUR BODY TO EXIST IN THE WORLD, BUT I ALSO NEED MANA TO KEEP MY FORM. SO I TOOK THE LIBERTY OF TRANSPORTING YOU INTO ANOTHER WORLD KNOWN AS SILVAE, AS EARTH HAS FAR TOO LITTLE MANA TO SUPPORT MY CONTINUED EXISTENCE.]
“Another world, huh?” Norman sighed. He was surprisingly unperturbed by the revelation that he wasn’t on earth anymore. He felt the same thing he did when his boss put a pile of documents on his desk right before he was off the clock. Annoying, yes. But what can you do?
“Can I rightfully assume that you won’t return me to where I came from?” He asked. He was sure this box that called itself Savant would deny his request, but you never get anywhere without asking.
[I APOLOGIZE, HOST NORMAN. IT IS A ONE WAY TRANSPORTATION.]
This is the part where most people would start freaking out, screaming about their family, lover, or friends. But Norman could do nothing but sigh and rub his temples. He had a huge presentation waiting for him at home that would cause the company huge losses if it wasn’t presented to the shareholders on time. The closest thing he had to a relationship on Earth was the pigeon he fed his bread crusts every now and then.
“Well, I suppose that’s that then. What am I meant to do? If you want me to save the world, then I am afraid I will have to decline.” Norman said as he adjusted his thick, black-framed glasses.
[LIVE. GET STRONGER IF YOU WANT. GET A JOB IF YOU WANT. I DO NOT MIND AS LONG AS YOU DON’T DIE.]
“Because then you’ll die as well?” Norman asked.
[CORRECT. OUR LIVES ARE INTERTWINED. I WILL DO MY UTMOST TO HELP YOU FOR BOTH OF OUR SAKES.]
“I suppose I’m with this thing for the long haul then. I surprisingly don’t mind. Perhaps it is injecting something into my brain to make me feel positive feelings towards it. Or it has rewired my brain structure completely.” Norman thought to himself as he tapped his foot in contemplation, a habit he tried to get rid of with little success.
[I AM NOT “REWIRING YOUR BRAIN,” NOR AM I POISONING IT.]
Norman was startled out of his thought process as Savant responded. He hadn’t expected the thing to be able to read his thoughts so thoroughly; he had assumed it was a simple transfer of ideas, but perhaps that made sense if they were now in a symbiotic relationship.
[WE HAVE A 99.6% COMPATIBILITY RATE. IT IS NATURAL THAT WE WOULD GET ALONG.]
“So it’s a soulmate thing? I’ve never believed in soulmates, and I certainly don’t feel any sense of attraction towards you.” Norman responded. The thought of being soulmates with a mysterious box of text sounded a lot more pleasant than being soulmates with another human being, but he certainly wasn’t in love.
[THE FEELING IS MUTUAL.]
Breathing a sigh of relief that Savant wasn’t in love with him, Norman began walking in a random direction through the forest. Everything around him looked the same but he figured that as long as he kept walking, he was bound to run into people sooner or later.
After what felt like hours of walking (but was probably closer to 45 minutes), Norman plopped down on a slightly moist tree stump and let out the kinda noise someone who is very out of shape makes.
[OUT OF ENERGY ALREADY?]
After an amount of huffing and puffing that didn’t fit his relatively fit appearance, Norman finally felt well enough to speak.
“I haven’t walked this long in years. It was only a 4-minute walk to the subway station to work, and from there, it was barely 7 minutes to the office.” Norman wheezed while wiping his flushed face with the handkerchief he always kept in his breast pocket.
[IT WOULD BE PRUDENT TO CHECK YOUR STAMINA STAT AND INFORM YOURSELF OF WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN’T HANDLE.]
“Stats? Like in video games? I haven’t played those since they were pixelated.” He chuckled to himself, thinking himself an upstanding citizen for never getting distracted by the allure of video games.
[YES. ONE OF THE MANY BENEFITS SYSTEMS GIVE THEIR HOSTS IS AN EASY-TO-UNDERSTAND OVERVIEW OF THEIR BODY AND MIND. AFTER YOU CHECK YOUR STATUS, YOU MAY THANK ME FOR MY HARD WORK COMPILING IT ALL.]
“My status?—” He was cut off as words appeared in front of his eyes, compiled just like one of his documents from work.
[WHAT DO YOU THINK? I TRIED TO COMPILE IT IN A WAY YOU WOULD UNDERSTAND.]
Savant seemed almost proud of itself even through the plain Arial text. It would be endearing if it wasn’t a mysterious, probably eldrich, entity that could instantly transport people from one world to another.
“I think I get the gist of it.” Norman nodded after checking over the text. Most of it made sense. He always ate frozen dinners after work, so his low cooking skill tracked, and so did his calculation skill for obvious reasons. “Just for reference, what are the average stats for an adult man?”
[10 POINTS IN ALL CATEGORIES EXCEPT FOR MP.]
“10 points, huh…” This, admittedly, made him feel quite insecure about himself. To see he was thrice as intelligent as other people softened the blow a bit, but the knowledge that he had the strength and stamina of the weakest of weaklings stung.
[DO NOT FRET. YOU ARE PERFECT THE WAY YOU ARE.]
“Thank you for your consideration, Savant.” He nodded curtly. It was unsightly to get upset in front of others; a good worker remains neutral and composed even in the most dire of situations.
After resting for a while, he pulled himself and continued walking. He reasoned that if he kept walking, then surely his stamina would go up just like it does on Earth. Even though the people of Earth didn’t have these convenient numbers, they still felt the effects. He had the advantage of seeing his progress, so if anything, he had to work even harder than regular people.
Norman (and, by extension, Savant) wandered through the seemingly endless forest. There was nothing particularly interesting that you would expect from a fantasy world. No unicorns nor fairies resting on glowing mushrooms. Just trees, moss, and the occasional bird in the distance. The only reminder that this was, in fact, not Earth was the faint sensation of tingling against his skin. Norman could easily tune it out by thinking about other things or talking to Savant, but if he focused on it, it was almost overwhelming.
“Say, Savant. What is this strange tingling sensation I feel? Have I perhaps been poisoned by something in the woods?” He asked, feeling somewhat concerned. Normally he would call a doctor for such a thing, but Savant would have to do as he doubted his phone would have a signal in another world.
[WHAT YOU ARE FEELING IS MANA. MANA IS EVERYWHERE.]
“Mana. I see. I recognize the term from fantasy media back on Earth. I assume it has to do with magic of some sort? I think I saw a section for magic in my information.”
Magic. That word felt so foreign yet familiar. Like all children, when Norman was a child, he had imagined being a powerful wizard or enrolling in a certain magic school. It was one of those impossible things that many people dream of yet logically know are unobtainable. Norman felt that it could be said that Earth had its own magic in a way. Electricity and radiation would certainly be labeled as magic in ancient times—even magnets were touted as magic rocks once upon a time. Though this was probably not what Savant was talking about.
[CORRECT. MANA IS THE FORCE THAT MAKES THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE. IN OTHER WORDS, MAGIC.]
“Interesting. I can think of a thousand questions I wish to ask you about mana and magic, but perhaps making a fire first would be prudent. It is getting quite dark.”
After finding a suitably dry clearing, Norman rolled up his sleeves and got to work. He had never made a fire before as he was raised in the city and hadn’t even been camping. But he got the gist of it. As he wiped off the forest floor from dirt and leaves, he made a mental checklist of what to do.
Step 1.
Align stones in a circle to prevent the fire from spreading
Step 2.
Gather dry branches and leaves in the circle to start the fire with
Step 3.
Hit rocks together until the sparks set the leaves alight.
“Sounds easy enough. Doesn’t it, Savant?” He confidently asked his parasitic companion, putting his hands on his hips to emphasize how capable he was.
[IF YOU SAY SO.]
