Riley lay on metallic grass under a sky the color of lavender neon. Floating cubes drifted overhead, shifting in and out of existence. The horizon shimmered like a half-rendered video game.
Riley groaned and sat up.
"Okay… okay this is definitely not Earth."
A soft chime echoed around him.
WELCOME, USER
BOOTING NEXUS INTERFACE… ERROR
DATA MISSING
RECONSTRUCTING… FAILED
A transparent holographic panel blinked in front of him.
Most of the text was corrupted.
LEVEL: ???
CLASS: UNDEFINED
FOLLOWERS: 0
TRAIT: %#!@!—CANNOT READ FILE
PERK UNLOCKED: GLITCHED PRESENCE
"Huh? I didn't unlock anything!"
A shadow fell over him.
He turned—and froze.
A girl stood there. About his age. Bright teal eyes. Cloak rippling like smoke made of polygons. Her hair sparkled like strands of data.
She looked at him with equal parts curiosity and suspicion.
"You're… new," she said softly. "And your aura is broken."
Riley blinked.
"My what?"
She stepped closer, eyebrows knitted. "Your data signature… it's unreadable. Like someone scrambled it on purpose."
A notification chimed—
CHARISMA +1
FOLLOWER GAINED: AERIS VALE
Riley nearly fell backward.
"Follower?! I didn't do anything!"
Aeris tilted her head. "Your presence is… unusual. People can feel it."
That didn't sound comforting.
Before he could ask more, three armored soldiers appeared on a nearby ridge, red visors glowing.
Aeris tensed. "The Null Order. They must've detected your arrival."
"My what?!"
QUEST GENERATED: SURVIVE YOUR FIRST TEN MINUTES
PENALTY: DELETION
"Deletion?!" Riley yelped.
Aeris grabbed his wrist.
"Run!"
And the two of them sprinted across the glitching plains of Nexus-9.