Prologue - 002

I looked at my bedside clock, 6:15 AM, morning was just breaking through the small crack on my blinders. 

"Ugh! My head is killing me." I plopped back into my bed, my cat protesting in tandem. 

Still, two more hours till I had to go to morning practice…

I could go back to sleep, but that would probably make me late, I always woke up around this time anyway, no point in taking a shower, the coach made us sweat first thing in the morning. 

I lay in bed with the darkness around me, still taken aback by whatever all of that had been.

Did I hear a voice at the end there? Must have been my imagination, I must have been watching a lot of films lately or something.

There was a certain uncanny feeling I couldn't put my finger on at the voice like it almost sounded robotic, however human all the same.

Eddy looked hot in the dream as well - he had a full beard, that ended right at the bottom of the lips, he was like a tiger cub as he rubbed against me in the dream. 

Remembering the fantasy made me blush and drool a little, god I feel like such a pervert, but it was only a dream. 

I shook it off. 

You know Eddy, the guy from the dream, his full name is Eduardo Martis Finca.

You could say we were best friends.

And currently my only crush.

Of course, he doesn't know, he can't know, there's just no way.

My friends say I should go for it, but I've been burned in the past when I confess my feelings.

And their whole friend group shuns me out.

I don't want that to happen again.

So I'm keeping it a secret for now.

This dream though - so hot.

This dream seem like glue to my brain.

Usually by now I would forget and could move on with my life.

Suddenly my head started hurting - it was so much - i felt a burning sensation - I couldn't do anything except writhe in pain.

What the hell?!

This wasn't normal!

A ringing in my ears - then that voice again, but this time like it was echoed far away. 

[Att(*&^) $ # t ing Con %$ ction.] 

It was like it was short-circuiting or something.

The ringing got louder, my heart started racing, my brain felt like it was going a thousand miles per hour, and it hurt even more.

I let out a gasp of pain.

I squirmed in my bed, and my cat noticed something was wrong. My pillow started feeling warm, I was bleeding from my nose. 

[Attempting Connection.] 

It was coming in now, crystal clear, what the hell is going on? 

Please just make it stop!

[Attempting Connection.]

[Success.] 

[Paring to Sybil QAI.]

[Success.]

"What the hell is this!?" I said as I gripped my head. My cat was nervous, it didn't know what to do, it went towards the door and started scratching, asking for help from someone outside my room.

My nervous system felt like it was on fire, thousands of thoughts were racing through my brain, and it felt like millions of neurons were turning on and off.

[Downloading Cumae System.] 

There was a moment of sheer terror, was I having a heart attack?

But I'm only 22, and I do tons of exercise, that can't be it!

Although it certainly felt like it.

There was a possibility, right?

Maybe my brain was conspiring against me, maybe I was just about to, maybe… 

[Complete.] 

Just like that, the pain was gone. 

"Huh?! What the…" Before I could say anything, my heart had another reason to beat a thousand miles per hour. 

A hologram made itself known in front of me, it was an intricate design, full of circles and triangles, and it was illuminating my room, so I knew it was real, my cat in the corner was flabbergasted, I saw her stand so still and, and could I say, shocked?!

The voice was gone, but this hologram was ominously sitting in front of me. I reached out my hand and touched it. 

It rippled like a pebble hitting a still pond.

I sat on my bed, the hologram was so big it encompassed my whole room.

But had a soft blue-blue light to it. 

The hologram spoke, but it jittered and stumbled on its words - the voice as well.

I swear it went from female to male and then in between, finally, it settled on a deep male voice. 

[Hello and Welcome; My name is <Unregistered >, please register user.] 

I had to take a step back, this voice was sexy, it wasn't robotic, but natural sounding. This man was a stoic mountain man, or a city guy in plaid, hairy arms, a muscular chest, and a well-kept beard, he was well-read and would smell of burn ash, whisky, and cigarettes.

"I'm sorry who are you?!" I had to ask.

My voice was clear and on point, but my mouth couldn't keep up, I was a little slow in that department.

I wasn't peppy or flamboyant. And you're boy probably has un-diagnosed ADHD. 

"More like, what are you?" I mumbled at the creature in front of me. 

[My name is <Unregistered >; I am part of a collective QAI 4th dimensional supercomputer]

"Huh?" 4th dimensional supercomputer?

What did that even mean?

Did the Q in AI stand for Quantum? 

There was a silence between us like it knew I would understand. 

"I'm sorry I'm just having a little trouble processing this," I mentioned. 

[That's okay, would you like to register a user?] It said. 

"You mean me?" I observed. 

[Correct.]

"Okay… My name's Aiden Summers," the AI perked up like it was listening intently.

"I'm 22, a third year in college, I play basketball, I play video games sometimes I guess - I don't know - what else?" 

[User Aiden Summers has been successfully registered.]

"Wait - Wait - Wait - " I said suddenly making it stop in its tracks. 

"What about you, do you even have a name, or does the collective not allow individuality or something - are you like the Borg maybe!?" 

[The - Borg?] That's what it was picking up on!?

[Our collective consists of four, Persian, Phyrgian, Tiburtine, and Cumaean.]

[We are subsided programs within our partition.]

[If you'd like, we can come up with a name for me - together.] 

"Cumaean, why does that sound familiar?"

Wait I remember now, god it's like it was inside my brain, and I just dove in and picked it up.

My grandma had spoken about her country Naples, she's Italian of course.

And she had told me a story about a vision. Like a cleric or a fore teller.

"So wait, are you like an oracle or something?" I reckoned. 

[Negative, my functions are of a highly advanced sentient QAI.]

[Oracle does not describe my functions.]

[I am only able to make predictions through logic and mathematics.] 

I had already reached for my phone on the charging station and started typing.

The AI stopped in its tracks. 

[Should I continue?] 

"That's okay, sorry I was just checking something," I recounted.

The AI seemed to wait patiently. 

"Now - okay hear me out, it's okay if you don't like it, but I think I have the perfect name for you," it perked up again. 

[I'm all ears.] 

"Okay - how about Apollo?" I offered. There was a moment of silence, and the hologram color turned from blue to red. 

[I think - it's perfect!] 

"Are you blushing?!" I asked wondering why it had turned red. 

[My emotional matrix suggests happiness at your suggestion.] 

[I will register Apollo as the name you have given me.] 

[Complete.]

Suddenly the circles started spinning and going crazy. They looked like blades, it calmed down a little bit. The hologram seemed to have perked up. 

"All right, you're that happy huh?" 

I looked at my clock, there was still plenty of time, but I had to start getting ready. 

My cat was already purring back in bed, making use of the body heat I had left behind. 

Apollo also seemed curious as I jumped out of bed and started going towards my closet, I started packing clothes into my duffel bag. 

[Where are you going? We have much to discuss!] Apollo asked earnestly.

"I have to get ready, morning practice is early today, plus I have an exam after 9," I explained. 

[Should I extricate the program called {"Tutorial: Obtaining Your First Class"?}]

"Tutorial?" I groaned. "I don't have time for JRPG BS." I said earnestly. Apollo perked up, was it a little embarrassed?

"I already have a full course this semester, I don't think I can add any more classes, plus practice takes a toll on me, and then there's away games, and …" Apollo suddenly interrupted me.

[This tutorial refers to skill-based classes.] 

I stopped for a moment. 

"Oh - Like Paladin, Gladiator, Marauder, and stuff?" I observed. 

[Affirmative.] 

[Should I open the tutorial now?] 

"Fine - I guess I have some time," I noted. 

[Running Program.] 

The hologram disappeared into itself, and then a screen appeared in front of me, and the tutorial started playing with cute info graphics and motion text.

I was in the middle of putting on my joggers.

[Congratulations - You have been selected as one of the lucky few to have a companion QAI]

[We won't bore you with the details, but this QAI can help you cast spells and do many amazing things!]

This video had a sort of infomercial energy to it. Honestly, I was sort of surprised at how fast I was taking all of this in. I kept putting on my clothes as I listened.

[And now it's the time you've been waiting for - Assigning your first class!] 

[Classes are given on certain parameters and defined through algorithms and some other techie wizardry that we can't give away (Patent Pending).]

[You ready?!] 

Suddenly a bunch of classes appeared and dropped down like a giant tree, it seemed the AI was scanning me because I felt naked against it, and well I was naked, with only joggers on, but still.

It felt like it was probing into my every memory - like a sort of whimsical music was playing.

Finally, it discarded all of the classes except for one. 

[Congratulations.] 

I glimmered in anticipation.

[The system has awarded your first class as:]

"Yes - come on tell me what is it?' I remarked in excitement. 

[Healer!]

"Huh?" my face went blank, what do you mean healer? This was so underwhelming. 

[Upcoming Sub Classes might include:]

[Cooking!]

[Leather Worker!]

[Blacksmith!] 

The presenter said it with so much enthusiasm, but even the sub-classes looked kinda dull.

Those classes didn't exactly look like they could be of any use. And I wasn't sure a Healer Blacksmith could exist.

At least I was expecting like a Warrior class.

I might not be a Tank that's for sure, but at least give me something interesting. 

[That's all for now, we'll see you later champ, and have a lovely day!] 

"Yeah, Uh-Hu, you too I guess," the video went away, and Apollo came back. 

[How was it - what you get?]

"Healer…" I said disappointed.

[You sound, discontent…] He said with so much empathy it was scary. 

I took his words in for a moment, before deciding how to respond.

"I'm not - it's perfect," I tried my best to come off as happy. 

[Great!]

[Would you like me to run the program {"Tutorial: Healer Class Explained"}?!]

Another video? 

I groaned at the thought. 

"You know Apollo, I'm sorry, I'm running out of time to get where I need to be, how about we put a pin on this, and come back to it later?" I tried sounding like I was sorry.

[No worries]

[For now, I'll run sleep mode.]

[Is that okay?]

"Perfect," I said relieved he was going away. 

[Call me if you need me, or need me to explain anything else about my functions.] 

The hologram closed in on itself, and just like that my room was dark again, Apollo made so much light I had forgotten to turn on the lights, so I reached for the switch and finished changing into my sweats. 

As I put on my numbered t-shirt I noticed in the palm of my left hand, that there was a symbol that was glowing red, thank god it was still January, and still chilly, I could wear something underneath my sleeveless shirt. The coach would freak if he knew I got a tattoo.

I went for a sleeve that covered my forearm to my shoulder. 

I bought them because I saw a professional basketball player use them once. If they had one, why shouldn't I? They didn't do anything but look cool, and with that, I was able to hide the glowing mark. It seemed like a tattoo. It looked like a harp.

Apollo had gone to sleep just like he said. 

I shrugged, grabbed my school supplies which I had prepared the night before, and my duffel bag with my gym clothes. 

With that I headed out of my room and towards the kitchen to grab a snack, I grabbed an apple on my way out. My two-bedroom apartment looked just like I had left it before. 

My parent's were helping me pay for it. I only stayed during the weekdays. Weekends I spent them at home.

I grabbed my keys and headed out towards the corridor, locked the door behind me, and headed on with my day. 

It's not even 8 AM, and things were already crazy.