My vision—my senses—all returned in a rush. When they did, I was no longer in the boss’s room in the Seared Wilds Tower. I stared at the fading afterimage of the words I’d been reading, hoping they’d change. Hoping they’d say something about the dungeon being cleared, or the massive, impending dungeon break being stopped. Anything. I only saw a blue and green orb, hovering in space.

  Earth. I could see Earth—the whole thing. It took up the entire center screen in a wall filled with them, each showing a different portion of the city of Chicago. The United Center. Lincoln Park Zoo. The Bean. Museumtown—the cameras focused on a scene of carnage as a hundred torch-wielding fanatics stormed the barricades our people had built outside the Field Museum. Every screen was frozen; a slight flicker in the combat gave the impression that they were either paused…or the world itself had stopped for a moment.

  A mid-explosion fireball was currently halfway through tearing apart the concrete-and-sheet metal defenses. The impact had thrown someone off the wall; I looked away before I could try to figure out who.

  The room was a CEO’s corner office. Outside, I could look down at the west side of Chicago through massive windows. I sat in a leather chair that had no right to be as comfortable as it was, heart racing and the clarity of solving a puzzle—or winning a fight—slowly fading.

  I wasn’t alone, either. Tori sat to my left, while to the right stood a furious-looking Calvin. His eyes were bloodshot, and the stink of smoke and battle dripped off him. At first glance, Jessica looked like she was in even worse shape; she was covered in gore from the elbows and chest down, and her face was a shade somewhere between pale and green.

  Before I could open my mouth to ask what was happening, the Tower Guardian appeared in front of me.

  She looked different. The liquid metal that had coated her body was gone. So was the armor. It had been replaced with a gold, purple, and white suit that reminded me, vaguely, of Bobby Richards’s—if hers was made of something vaguely iridescent. It almost looked oily. Every time she moved, it looked almost as if she left an afterimage behind; I was grateful when she sat down and stopped moving so much. Her nameplate had completely disappeared. It wasn’t that she had no level. It was that I couldn’t see any information about her at all.

  I was also perfectly ready to continue our fight. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, and I could still feel the sting from her sword. She’d hurt Tori. She’d hurt me. And more importantly that that, this had to be one of the Consortium’s members. I had a grip on myself, but it was starting to slip.

  Before I could lose control, she cleared her throat. “Congratulations, Hal Riley and Tori Vanderbilt, on your victory. The Chicago region is the seventy-fifth region to pass Phase One of Integration. I am—“

  “I don’t give a damn who you are,” Calvin growled. “Get us back down there, now!”

  “I’m afraid that won’t be possible, Calvin Rollins, but do not panic. This conversation will take literally no time at all on your planet, so please, have a seat.” The Tower Guardian sounded both polite and exasperated. “I am Voril, and I am in charge of the Integration process for your region of Earth.”

  I blinked at that. This whole time, we’d been trying to piece together the Consortium’s motivations from a few System messages and what the announcer in the Field of Warriors dungeon had let slip. In fact, we’d even sent Tori, Carol, and Zane to re-clear it in the hopes of learning something new—anything to give us some insight into just what the Consortium wanted, what Integration meant, or anything.

  We simply hadn’t had the pieces to the puzzle until now. And suddenly, this Vorin was handing us a golden opportunity to learn? It didn’t make any sense. There had to be a catch to it.

  “This is my three hundred fortieth Integration, Calvin, so believe me when I say that what’s happening to your Museumtown right now is well within our parameters, and that based on all our previous models, you are likely to succeed in your defense.” Voril pointed at the screen. “There are factors you are not aware of in that fight, as well. You will shortly receive some much-needed reinforcements.

  “But that is not why you are here.” Vorin steepled her hands. Then she stared at me. “What do you know about Integration?”

  None of us said anything.

  Tori looked almost bored. She moved her lips silently, but I had no idea what she was saying. Something with only one syllable, maybe two? I didn’t know how to lip read, especially not when my gaze was pretty much locked on Voril. Calvin was still furious. He wouldn’t meet my eye, or Voril’s. Instead, he stared at the floor.

  Only Jessica and I watched Voril. Jessica’s eyes were locked onto the strange woman’s. There was something in her expression. Fear, and anger, yes, but also an intense, professional-yet-personal curiosity. As for me, I didn’t want to say anything and reveal the half-truths we’d picked up so far.

  “I will take your silence as an indicator that you know nothing.” Voril didn’t look surprised at all. “Now that you have passed Phase One, and have representatives who have ascended to Rank One, you are ready to understand what is going on.”

  “About god damn time,” Calvin muttered.

  Voril ignored the muttering. She unbuttoned the top button of her sport coat, letting it hang loose and revealing the purple shirt and tie underneath. Then she started talking. I pegged what she was saying as scripted within seconds.

  “The universe is larger than you can see.”

  The screens shifted behind her, all popping into a single image that zoomed out from the whirling sapphire and emerald marble that was Earth to view the sun, then going further and further until the whole Milky Way galaxy fit on it. Nebulas and black holes appeared, then shrank to nothing as the picture zoomed out and out so fast I couldn’t even remember where Earth had been.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  The whole time, Voril kept talking. “Every world, every civilization, encounters a defining moment in time, when it either ascends to join the rest of the Universal Order or falls into ruin. Your world failed to ascend, and was designated a Death World. If not for the Consortium, Earth’s descent would have occurred long before you ever made contact with your nearest universal neighbor.

  “A world that fails to proceed through its filter moment typically decays by stages. The Consortium’s Integration process is designed to speed those stages along artificially while activating your world’s System Interface.”

  “Accelerationism?” Jessica asked. It was the first word anyone besides Voril had said in almost a minute.

  The strange-looking woman’s face brightened. “Yes. Precisely. Accelerationism. From the moment Earth failed its filter moment, the end of your world was inevitable. We simply try to fast-forward that process, while providing the resources your people require in order to survive the end of your world and to thrive where we can find a place for you after the end.”

  “After the end?” My gauntlet-covered hand squeezed around the Trip-Hammer’s grip. I took a deep, shuddering breath as something built up inside of me.

  “Yes. As I said, your world’s destruction is inevitable.”

  Voril said it with such conviction that I almost believed it—and I couldn’t help but remember the System messages we’d received at the beginning of the Tutorial and Phase One. The System hadn’t just been giving us power—power that was, in Tori’s and my case, well beyond what humans should be able to do. It had also been ripping our world apart and rebuilding it as…

  As Voril saw fit. She’d said it herself. She was in charge of Integration for the whole region. I had no idea how many states that meant, but it definitely included Chicago. But at the same time, something about her felt detached. The way she condemned our world so easily reminded me of the doctor telling my parents I had strep throat. Like it wasn’t even a big deal. The feeling kept building inside me.

  So did something else. Not a thought—not yet. A second emotion. Not anger, but determination.

  “And the resource extraction?” Calvin asked through gritted teeth. “What about that?”

  Voril winced. “The resource extraction is a sticking point for many Integrating species. However, it was determined that being honest about the process led to better results with newly Integrated members of the Universal Order. To answer the question: Yes, we are taking your resources. Yes, the surviving Homo sapiens at the end of this process will be compensated. No, it is not our primary reason for Integration, but simply a side effect.

  “Did you build the Tutorials? The dungeons?” I asked.

  “No. I did, however, take on a supervisory role during the research and development processes for several Tier One and Tier Two dungeons, and I was fortunate enough to have my name pulled as the Tier Three dungeon’s final boss.” Voril drifted off for a second. “The experience was both invigorating and enlightening.”

  “Can we please focus?” Jessica asked. “We have a lot to learn here. For example, why talk about uplifting, or give out Skills, if the focus is in fighting through the apocalypse?”

  In response, Voril snapped a finger. Jessica appeared on the screen, and she was talking to us. “Right now, Museumtown looks like the best bet for people. While people keep coming here, he’s got most of his people clearing dungeons to get more powerful. Then, when it’s time, he’ll clamp down on anyone he thinks is powerful enough to oppose him.”

  When the Jessica on the screen stopped talking, Voril began. “In order for your people to survive, you must advance and uplift. In Phase One, the advancement took priority. Future phases will focus on alternative paths to both personal and collective power.”

  I had so many questions, and that feeling building up inside of me wouldn’t stop growing. My hand was still tight around the Trip-Hammer. I forced my fingers to relax; if Voril had been chosen as a Tier Three dungeon boss, she’d almost certainly been holding back.

  She noticed my attempt to relax, but only nodded. “As per the rules for Integration, we only have a few more moments together. Tori Vanderbilt and Hal Riley, your rewards for defeating me will be deposited into your inventory before you are returned to the city below. Calvin Rollins and Jessica Silvers, you will arrive in the exact spot you departed from.”

  My heart sank. If Tori and I landed on top of the Seared Wilds Tower, we’d never make it back to Museumtown in time to make a difference there. I could feel her stiffening behind me; she’d had the same thought, too.

  Voril turned toward us. “As the victors in our fight, I am obligated to return you to the city at any location of your choosing within three miles.”

  I couldn’t wait for Tori to say anything. There’d be time to process everything we’d learned later. Right now, we had to act. Before she, Calvin, or Jessica could interrupt, I made the call.

  Time Limit: Five Hours, Forty-One Minutes

  Tommy Wright flinched as a massive fireball exploded against the barricade Museumtown’s survivors hid behind. He hadn’t asked for this.

  Oh, he’d done his share of killing—both before Integration started and after. And the people he’d killed hadn’t all deserved it. But it had been personal. Even when he’d helped Eddie kill, it had been personal, one-on-one or one-on-two shit. This madness? This insanity?

  It wasn’t. At all. And he hadn’t asked for any of this.

  Sure, he was Level Forty-Five now. That was respectable—even in the army Taven Liu had assembled and put under his lieutenant’s command. That man was Rank One, and Level Fifty-Two. There were three other Tier Ones in the assault, too. And Tommy couldn’t do anything but follow orders. The burns on the side of his head were proof of that.

  He’d followed Eddie and the Raging Bulls because he trusted Eddie to have their best interests in mind—when he wasn’t losing his shit, at least. Then he’d followed the Voltsmith, Hal Riley, because he’d offered him an out.

  Taven Liu hadn’t offered him an out, and Tommy was following him because he had no choice. And because he was terrified. But he’d thought Museumtown would have a chance to surrender. Instead, the Enforcer in charge had simply ordered the attack.

  All around him, people kept dying, and it wasn’t personal. It was war, and the Crusade had a dozen forty-plus mages throwing fireballs at Saul’s old fort. It wouldn’t hold forever.

  Tommy didn’t like any of the motherfuckers hiding behind that wall. Silver had been treating him like a human being, yeah. And Hal, even though he was scary as hell, didn’t have it out for him. The homeless bum who’d become a general pretty much ignored him. But he was scared of Tori. Not the same way he was afraid of Hal, but scared scared. She’d made it clear that she didn’t trusted him.

  Still, it was a lot to grapple with for the gangster. None of them deserved the waves of fireballs and attacking fanatics trying to storm the Field Museum.

  “Wright, get back to the fight!” someone yelled behind him. His head turned to see the hulking bruiser of a lieutenant Liu had sent.

  Cam Rendon: Level Fifty-Two (Rank One)

  Class: Enforcer

  Screams echoed in his ears, drowning out the Enforcer’s words. The burning scars on his head heated up painfully.

  He’d been told to get back into the fight. But no one had told him who to fight.

  Tommy made a choice. He started conjuring a massive spike of blue-white ice. The Enforcer turned to shout at another group of mages, and Tommy threw it right at the man’s head.

  Patreon, if that's something you're craving! If you're not sure, you could also become a free member, and get access to one (1) chapter in advance!