System 19

Seth took a long look at his face in the still-fogged mirror, contemplating whether or not to shave. Finally he shrugged, tightened the towel around his waist, and walk back down the hall to his dorm room.

Seth had lived in the same dorm room for the past four years he had been at this college, and he was almost feeling nostalgic when he considered he only had one more semester until he graduated.

Almost as soon as he'd pulled on his pants his door shot open and a familiar face came into view with a big smile.

"Good morning Seth, you ready for tonight?"

"Hey Rodger, yeah I'm looking forward to it, it's a tradition right?"

"Yeah buddy, it's the biggest party until graduation! After classes today come find me, we can head out to the woods together."

Seth nodded in agreement, then gestured to his still bare upper half. After a moment Rodger laughed and closed the door so Seth could get dressed in privacy.

In truth Seth didn't care about modesty, he just was anxious about tonight and wanted some time alone to get his head on straight.

'It's just one party, no need go be worried'

That's what he kept telling himself, but he'd been so busy over the course of his schooling, between classes and sports, that this would be his first party.

Seth shook his head, none of that mattered right now, he had two finals he still had to take before he could do anything else. Finally dressed and with his backpack slung over his shoulder he set off to get a cup of coffee then head to class.

.....

Walking out of his last test Seth should have felt elated, he knew he had done well, however a sense of deed had descended upon him about tonight, and a headache had started to form behind his eyes.

'I told everyone I'd be there, I can't back out now '

While he was considering getting more coffee his headache came on full force and was so powerful that it was all he could do to close his eyes and try to let it pass. He was nowhere near his dorm so he couldn't head there, he saw a bench nearby so he sat on hit as quickly as he could and tried to ignore the pain in his head.

After about ten minutes sitting in silence the pain began to subside. He'd been sitting still with his eyes closed the whole time, he inwardly hoped that no one had seen him.

"What..."

As he opened his eyes he immediately noticed strange symbols in the corner of his vision. As he looked at them they rearranged, stopped, then rearranged again over and over until finally they appeared to be English and he could read them.

'0/32 SYSTEMS COMPLETED'

Seth was speechless, the pain in his head and his anxiety about tonight all forgotten, he was fixated on the words he was seeing. Silently he put his hand through the air to see if he could find the letters in front of him, but he went right through the space where they seemed to be.

'Ok. Ok.. Ok..... I'm not crazy, I know I'm not crazy... maybe it's the stress I've been under? Maybe I didn't sleep enough last night... or maybe this is a dream? Did someone slip me something?'

His mind raced through different possibilities but no matter what he thought of to explain what he was seeing the words resolutely remained.

'0/32 SYSTEMS COMPLETED'

Feeling defeated and unable to come up with a reason that made sense he slumped on the bench and said to himself,

"Maybe I need help."

As soon as he said this, additional text appeared above the first message.

'WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCESS THE HELP DIALOGUE?'

Seth didn't know what to think, but since it was offering to help he figured he should take it, he was probably losing his mind anyway. He looked around to make sure there weren't any students or teachers nearby then said,

"Yes, access help dialogue."

Once again the words responded.

'WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE HELP WITH?'

"What are you? What is happening to me?"

'I AM THE HELP DIALOGUE OF THE INTERFACE, AND YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO BECOME AN OPERATOR.'

Seth read the answer twice but didn't understand it.

"What is the interface?"

'THE INTERFACE IS THE METHOD YOU HAVE FOR INTERACTING WITH YOUR SYSTEM.'

"My system?"

'YOU RESIDE IN SYSTEM 19 BUT WITHOUT BECOMING AN OPERATOR YOU ARE UNABLE TO RECOGNIZE IT'S EXISTENCE. NOW THAT YOU ARE AN OPERATOR YOU MAY INTERACT WITH YOUR SYSTEM USING THE INTERFACE.'

Seth's head was spinning, none of this was making sense.

"Why did you choose me?"

'YOU WERE THE LEAST INCOMPATIBLE OPTION LOCATED NEAREST WHEN THE INTERFACE LEFT THE LAST OPERATOR."

Seth considered that, least incompatible, that didn't sound like a very high standard. He was just unlucky. Then he realized what it had said.

"Why did the interface leave the last operator?"

'DETAILS OF PREVIOUS OPERATORS ACTIONS AND DEATHS ARE INACCESSIBLE.'

Seth sat in a numb silence. Someone somewhere had died while using this thing. He wasn't even sure what it was for but it suddenly seemed much more dangerous. The words shifted after he had not spoken in a few minutes.

'EXITING HELP DIALOGUE, WOULD YOU LIKE TO INITIATE THE TUTORIAL?'

He was dumbfounded, he had played enough to know that this is what happened in video games. After a moment he shrugged and decided if he was crazy anyway it wouldn't matter.

"Yes, run the tutorial."