Wake up.

[Wake up.]

[Wake up.]

[Wake up.]

The robotic voice trying to wake Julian up was not kind. It was almost like an alarm clock. Julian, slowly waking, tried to feel for a snooze button before realizing there was nothing in his arm's reach. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to not find his dark oak bed stand in front of him. Sitting up quickly in his bed, well haystack that is, made Julian's body ache all over.

"Dang, it feels like I got hit by a truck," Julian thought, rotating his head looking around as well as stretching out his neck.

[You were hit by a truck.] the robotic voice told him. Startled, Julian looked around only to a small, bird-sized UFO floating above him. It took a moment for Julian to take in the sight of the silver floating-disk; immediately forgetting what the mysterious floating object had said. Eventually, he had to slap himself.

"P-pardon?" Julian asked loudly.

"SHUT UP COLLIN! I'M TRYING TO GET MY BEAUTY SLEEP!" a voice yelled through the wall on Julian's right.

"THAT WASN'T ME, YOU IDIOT!" Collin replied with sincerity through the wall on Julian's left.

"JUST SHUT UP!" Idiot on the right replied back just as calmly.

[Please speak with me inside your head. Letting your comrades in arms sleep soundly is a sign of a good follower.] the robotic voice was emotionless, but the UFO showed a great deal of character, growing and arm and hand in an instant to press a finger to its nonexistent lips.

Julian's head spun in confusion, "A good follower? Comrades in arms? Hit by a truck? Haystack? Am I in a barn? No, this looks like a horse stall. Where am I? Who is this voice in my head? Am I going crazy? Am I already crazy? What's my name? I'm still Julian, I think! Julian Kersch, right?!" Julian thought back to Idiot on the Right's statement, "There aren't two Collins, are there?! MY NAME ISN'T COLLIN, RIGHT?"

Julian, in a panic had actually shouted his last question aloud. Idiot on the Right gladly replied, "OF COURSE IT IS, COLLIN!"

"SHUT UP! THAT STILL ISN'T ME!" Collin #1 said exasperatedly.

"GO BACK TO SLEEP YOU TWO!" another voice joined the fray from across the hall.

"Yes, Carla," Idiot on the Right and Collin both sighed a reply. There was a shuffle of hay and silence could be heard once again.

[A good follower asks questions to understand the leader's goal, but I would like you to shut up.] somehow there was an edge to this monotone robotic voice.

Now Julian was terrified, unsure of his own sanity. He clutched his head as he stood up to pace his small, horse stall, "W-what are you?" he thought, posing the most important question in his mind while staring directly at the UFO that was now sputtering out bubbles as if that allowed it to float.

[I am your System Good Follower. Please think my name if you have any questions. You have 3 out of 5 questions left for the day. Your questions restock tomorrow at 8 a.m.. If you would like to ask more please level up your questioning abilities. Questioning is an important quality of a good follower.]

System... SYSTEM?! Julian had heard of these things before. He'd read about how they helped people 'transmigrate' or 'reincarnate' or whatever. They also helped with gaining power in that new world, though it really depends on the System's name. What the heck was a System Good Follower?! Julian felt like crying as he sunk to the floor and began rocking back and forth, hugging his knees. He definitely should have read more about this genre, but he hated it! It wasn't realistic at all! Well he thought it wasn't realistic.

Julian tried to calm himself down by thinking over what sort of questions he needed to ask and what he wanted to ask, but he had to know for his own sanity. He thought, "System Good Follower, what is my name? Where am I? What am I doing here?"

"System: Error; please pose questions one at a time."

Julian's fear for his sanity was immediately replaced by annoyance, "System Good Follower, what is my name?"

[User ID: 576300910

Name: Julian Staff

Follower Level: 0

Power: 0

Abilities: Questioning (lvl 1), Fortitude of Mind (lvl -5)]

[System Good Follower took the time to expand on your question by explaining your status at the cost of 1 extra question. You now have 1 question out of 5 remaining. Would you like to turn this feature off? Warning: turning off expansion feature may cause system to answer questions with very little explanation.]

Julian was shocked, he'd had never seen such a greedy computer program before. Even when playing on free-to-play apps that were trying to persuade you into buying things from their shop by persistently putting ads in your face. But this one just used options before telling you they even existed.

"How the heck do I report this system?"

[Reporting systems action is only available once a year on February 29. This date is System Good Follower's birthday and I'd the only date where Company Good Follower checks in on System Good Follower's ward. Due to the event's meaning to System Good Follower and your interest, a countdown has been placed on your right hand's middle finger. Please extend it to view the countdown. 0 out of 5 questions remaining. Have a great day!] The system lit up for a second, puttered around as if performing a dance, and vanished in a sea of bubbles.

Julian could physically feel the system disconnect from his mind. At least he could report it. The last date he could remember was January 15 so it shouldn't take too long to get in contact with the company in February, but why did the 29th sound so familiar? He slowly extended his middle finger to check the countdown and immediately began rocking back and forth again.

System GF's B-DAY Countdown:

45 minutes

2 hours

44 days

3 years

"..."

"I think I'm going back to bed," Julian mumbled.