[The user {Felicia Li Yun} restoration in process.]

[1%]

[5%]

[30%]

[70%]

[100%]

[Restoration complete.]

Felicia sat up and yawned, scratching her head. She was once again in the white room.

It felt like she’d just been through a long, strange dream.

[Welcome back, Felicia.]

The familiar round-flat face with 3 dots and a glowing circumference floated serenely in front of her.

Mouth gaping, she sputtered, “You’re saying my name!”

[You have completed your first mission. Congratulations.] Small fireworks shot out of DARS head. [I have decided that occasionally calling you by your name is… acceptable.]

Felicia chuckled, amused at how he wasn’t being honest.

Her hands felt something soft causing her to look down and then freeze.

“Why am I on a bed?”

[This is part of your reward.]

“Reward?” She sat up straight. “Right, rewards! You never told me what I’d get!”

[Would you like me to explain about rewards now or—]

“Explain now!”

DARS’ circumference flashed. [Please look down at your feet.]

Felicia looked down at her feet. There was a catalog and a white metal box with a lid. Picking them both up and putting them on her lap, she noticed the catalog read “Dimensional Dollar Store: Your One Stop Shop For All Your Timeline Needs”. The metal box had made a distinct metallic chingling sound. Opening it, she found a thin stack of bills and two coins, all neatly divided in compartments.

She lifted up one of the dollar bills to get a closer look and frowned, “They’re fake.”

It looked similar to the money she used in her original life, but there were no presidents inside the circle. The small details were wrong the longer she looked at it. The bill was in denominations of 100 while the coins were in 50. She had 9 bills and 2 coins, totaling 1,000…. She wasn’t sure what to call it. Dollars?

[Those are not fake.]

“They look fake to me…”

[That is because you are comparing them to the currency you grew up with.]

“Yeah, because they look like them. Kinda.”

[It is not uncommon for currency to look similar to other currency across timelines.]

Felicia knew from experience this was true.

“Alright, well... So they… they aren’t… uh, dollar bills?”

[They are reward dollars, or RD for short. They are real money that can be exchanged for goods.]

“Goods?”

[From the catalog .]

“Oh yeah…” She put the not-fake-dollars back into the metal box and took a closer look at the catalogue.

It was designed almost exactly like the shopping catalogs from the life she just left. There was even an order form stuck in the center for her to write what she wanted on. She picked the first page to start and it said:

“Welcome to the Dimensional Dollar Store: Your One Stop Shop For All Your Timeline Needs!

At Dimensional Dollar Store we strive for excellence in all we do! Our products are backed with a 100% guarantee. If they don’t work as advertised, you will get a full refund plus a free item of your choosing. However, please make note of all warnings and restrictions before buying and using any of our products. We do not give refunds for products’ listed warnings and restrictions.
Prices are higher than a dollar. All purchases are final. Accepting reward dollars only.

There are two ways to order from the Dimensional Dollar Store. One is manually, using this catalog while the second is automatically, using your nearest System.

To manually order from the Dimensional Dollar Store catalog, please find the included order form. Write the product number, amount needed, and payment. The products will be delivered to the customer immediately. Manual ordering can only be done while in the customer’s home location.

To automatically order, tell your nearest System what you want to purchase and they will deduct the amount from your account and deliver the product directly to you. This convenience is only available in a timeline. Please keep careful track of your remaining account balance, as Dimensional Dollar Store does not allow for purchases on credit.”

Felicia turned the page.

“Dimensional Dollar Store has 2 products. The most popular are skills, which give customers instant abilities without the bother of learning them through study or practice. The second are items. Items can sometimes be used in timelines, but are most often home location specific.

There are 3 types of skills that can be used in a timeline. They are: Single Use (SU) skill, MultiUse (MU) skill, and Unlimited (UL) skill.

Single Use Skills, as the name suggests, are one-time disposable skills that have the most restrictions in our Store. They are simple but useful skills that can be used in any timeline. Their best feature is that they are extremely affordable!

MultiUse skills are reusable but have host and timeline limitations. They must also be activated by the customer before they can take effect. Unlike SU skills, MU skills are intermediate and have a 100% success rate when applied.

Unlimited skills are our most expensive offerings but worth every coin! Each skill is at a genius level, usable in every timeline, on every host, and auto-applied upon timeline entry.

Note: SU and MU can be upgraded to UL skills for a fee.

Dimensional Dollar Store also offers a variety of items for purchase! This includes things like technology upgrades, room decorations and room expansion. Some items require a base item be purchased first.”

“They sell… skills?” Felicia asked after reading the second page.

[Correct.]

“How can… how can they sell skills?”

[Which is easier, purchasable skills or jumping between dimensions?]

“Oh.” That was a very good point. “What’s this about technology upgrades?”

[You can purchase a TV and then upgrade the content you can receive on it—]

“Content? Like— like movies? TV shows?!”

[Yes, as well as recordings of your missions.]

“Recordings?”

[I record everything and then what I record is edited to be entertaining for you.]

She squinted at him, “You… record my every action?”

[Yes.]

“Even in the bathroom!?”

[User… I am not that interested in you.]

“Well thank God… don’t want someone spying on me while I’m trying to poo, that’s creepy.”

[Besides your own missions, you can also gain access to the content of the timeline you visited.]

“Huh? Like… if I saw a movie in my last mission, I could access it here?”

[More precisely, the entire timelines TV content in your last mission would be accessible… through a technology upgrade.]

“...woaaaah…”

[However, you can only watch it in your room.]

“Awww….”

[In addition, you can upgrade your catalog and money storage system.]

She scratched her head, “Upgrade it? How can it be upgraded?”

[Currently you’re using the paper version, for 100RD you can get a tablet—]

“Tablet? Like a computer tablet? Apple? Android? That kind of thing?!”

[Something similar.]

“I want it!!!!!”

[Are you sure?]

“Yeeeeeeees!”

[Please look on page 10 of the catalog and follow the instructions.]

“Oh right…” She flipped to page ten. At the top it read “Technology Upgrades”. The first upgrade available was for the catalog. She didn’t bother to read the description, just noting the item number. She then flipped to the order form and paused.

“I need a pen or pencil…”

[Look in your money box.]

Had there been one in there? She looked over and found, hiding underneath her not-fake-money, a standard #2 pencil already sharpened to perfection. Taking it out she scribbled the item number and amount on the order form.

She looked at the order form and wondered what she was supposed to do with it now. Does she mail it somehow or…?

[You need to put the money with the order.] DARS explained after seeing her confused look.

“Oh yeah.” She took out a 100RD bill and hesitantly placed it on top of the order form.

The moment the money touched the order form, it glowed a blinding bright light. She was forced to look away. When she looked back, she found the catalog and money box were gone, replaced by a 10 inch white tablet.

Picking it up, she noted it was light and cool to the touch. Turning it to look on the back, she saw silver letters etched in the back: DIMENSION.

There were no obvious buttons for turning it on so she haphazardly tapped the screen surface. To her relief the screen turned on, revealing a pale yellow background and a single icon on the homescreen. The icon was three stylized letters, DDS. She immediately tapped it.

The Dimensional Dollar Store opened and a popup promptly appeared:

“Congratulations on your first purchase! You’ve been sent a complimentary New Customer Gift Set worth 1,500RD!”

“Huh?” She blinked and then felt a rustle next to her lap. When she looked there was a small basket with three glass bottles inside. “Is this the Gift Set? So fast!”

She picked up the bottles inside the basket. They were slightly transparent and different colors, blue, red, and green. Inside was what looked like a pill. The simple white labels had a different description on each: [Charm], [Instant Pass], and [Natural DIY].

Staring at them blankly she finally asked DARS, “Are they drugs? What do they do?”

[I will tell you if you want but note that you can also search within the DDS app to find out yourself.]

“I’d rather you just tell me.”

[They are not drugs, but Single Use skills. [Charm]’s description reads: “Make any one idea you say believable and extremely appealing to a single person. (Limitations: Failure rate increases with people who aren’t familiar with the customer.)” [Instant Pass]: “100% pass rate for any single test or interview regardless of the customer’s proficiency.” [Natural DIY]: “If it’s broken, with a little elbow grease and some cursing, you can fix it! Build simple structures without following the directions! (Exclusions: Complex, rare, or highly specialized machines and buildings not included.)”]

Listening carefully, Felicia noted, “[Natural DIY] doesn’t seem to have a limit on what it can allow me to fix or build?”

[Correct.]

“I thought it was a single use item..?”

[Once consumed, [Natural DIY] will be in effect during the mission. However, if the user fails the mission and must restart, [Natural DIY] will stop working. If the user completes the mission and goes on to another timeline, [Natural DIY] will stop working.]

“So… the effect of the skill can be a one-time use or have long term effects, but they can’t be ported for restarts and new missions?”

[Correct.]

“Huh, that’s not bad.” She gently shook the [Natural DIY] bottle, the pill made a soft sound as it hit the interior glass. “How do I take these without people noticing?”

[Like with the [JJ Alarm], no one can see them.]

“And how will I get them? Are they going to stay in my pockets or something?”

[I will hold them for you, all you need to do is ask me and I will give them to you.]

She raised her eyebrows, “You’re like my little servant.”

DARS face went #, [I am the user’s guide.]

Seeing she’d annoyed him, she chuckled.

“So my reward was the money, catalog, and furniture?”

[There is one more thing.] He floated over to her and a small piece of paper seemed to fall out of him, directly onto her tablet.

She picked it up, brow furrowed. There was a picture of a compass on it. Flipping it over were application instructions. It appeared to be a stick-on kid’s tattoo.

“...”

[Please apply this to any part of your body.] DARS instructed.

“Tell me what it is first.”

[It is called [Location Target] and is an MultiUse skill. With it, you can select a single target and track where they are at all times.]

“Woah, a stalker skill…” She paused. “It’s similar to the [JJ Alarm].”

[Yes.]

“I’m… I’m not going to have to keep people apart from each other again am I..?” She asked weakly.

[No.]

“Thank God…” Her shoulders slumped in relief and then she frowned. “Hey, what happened there at the end? Why did you keep calling to me?”

[I distracted you to make you fall.]

“Rude.”

[It was the easiest way to kill the host.]

She leaned away from him in alarm, “You killed me?!”

[I did not kill you, the user. I also did not *technically* kill the host. I simply made it possible for the host to die in a quick and painless manner.]

Felicia muttered darkly, “...the tripping stone… that’s your speciality after all.”

DARS had several ### scroll across his face. [Why won’t the user let that go?]

“It’s not my fault you like to trip people!”

[I will not fight the user.] DARS chanted to himself and then explained, [I chose how the host died, but the host would have died regardless of my interference.]

“Why?”

[Because the host lost her soul. A body without a soul dies a slow death. I did not want your host to suffer.]

“When you say… lost her soul… are you referring to me?”

[Of course. You become the soul residing within the host.]

“Then the original soul—”

[It integrates with you. Restoration is the process of separating your souls from each other, leaving only the user’s clean and untainted soul behind.]

“D-d-does the host soul survive?”

[Of course it survives. Do you think a soul is easy to destroy?]

“How would I know if it was or not?”

[That’s true.] DARS dots scrolled across its face. [The original host’s soul is sent back to its timeline, to be taken care of by whoever is in charge of such matters.]

“Someone is in charge of souls?”

[It can’t be you think souls are just allowed to roam wherever they like?]

“...uh…”

[Consider my own existence. Invisibly correcting the small errors in the timelines. If I am doing something like that behind the scenes, hasn’t it occurred to you other beings might also be doing similar unnoticed tasks?]

“I mean… it has occured to me but… I don’t know the details, you never told me so…” She pouted. “This is the first time you’ve given me any kind of information about things like this.”

[As you complete each mission, going up a level, my restrictions are reduced.]

“So you can talk about the afterlife stuff now?”

[To some degree.]

“What about your Boss? Can you talk about him?”

DARS seemed almost eager to speak, replying almost immediately, [This is what I can tell you: that person made me and keeps track of both of us. They are not a malicious type of person, but they are also not very sympathetic. If I tell you no or that I can’t, don’t try going over me to talk to them, there is no point in it. I am more cooperative than they will ever be.]

“Isn’t that just your perspective?”

[Who has worked with them longer, me or you?]

“Well, alright alright… thanks for telling me what you could.”

[Your welcome.]

“You seem a lot more… emotional.”

[My restrictions were reduced. I told you I was originally under a lot of restrictions, it affected everything about me.]

She nodded slowly and then got back on the topic of her last mission.

“If the host died what happened to Darius?”

[He mourned for the host, in his own way. Then he recovered and went back to work.]

“He didn’t overwork himself did he?”

[He did at first.]

She sighed heavily.

[But as I said, he would only make that mistake once. After realizing he couldn’t live like a machine, he became somewhat balanced—]

“Somewhat? Only somewhat?!”

[It can not be helped. He was a difficult man to change in many ways. You did a good job, all things considered. He ran every morning and played golf regularly, that was thanks to you. He never made real friends nor did he get married or have children, that was his own doing.]

“He died a bachelor?”

[Yes. But it didn’t matter if he was or wasn’t in terms of his fate. His fate was to revolutionize that timeline. Not only did he do that, pushing forward technology, he changed the course of it. Because of him, the first functional neural-interface was designed in 2006.]

“Neural… computers controlled by the human mind?”

[That’s right. World War 3 was a spectacular sight thanks to that.]

“World… war… 3?”

[Yes, neural-interfaces became common by the late 2000’s. It drastically changed how people interacted with computers, and with each other. By the 2010s, the way wars were fought fundamentally changed as well. Darius disliked seeing his technology being used to kill people, so he began fighting the military—]

“Wait, wait, wait— wouldn’t he be an old man by then?”

[Old is subjective. He made a slight error in judgement, which resulted in WW3 starting in 2022.]

“How is that a slight error? What did he do???”

[He exposed what all the world governments were doing with his technology.]

Felicia went silent.

[This kind of top secret information… codes, schematics, building layouts, all of it was exposed to the public.]

“Oh… my.. God…”

[While governments may know somewhat what they are doing to each other, there is a lot they don’t know. Everything was now visible. Not only did enemy nations have access to the information they could use against each other, ordinary citizens were suddenly exposed to some terrifying truths. It was chaos. The chaos turned to fighting. The fighting grew bigger, eventually spreading and turning into WW3]

Felicia covered her face. “It’s my fault…”

[It is not the user’s fault. Darius was fated to be a trigger for WW3.]

“Fated?”

[Yes. Janice and Jenny interfered with this fate. Darius' existence was supposed to be the trigger that started WW3, but those two kept interfering. Without them he was able to take the proper steps to become a trigger. But, as with many kinds of fate, he got to choose what kind of trigger he wanted to be. He could have played the countries against each other to gain greater wealth, manufacturing war for his benefit. Since he was influenced by you, he chose to expose the evil instead.]

Felicia looked down at her lap, with the tablet still lying there, and muttered, “That mission sucked.”

[But you succeeded?]

“How is it a success to be directly responsible for WW3?!”

DARS dots scrolled across. [This… upsets you?]

“OF COURSE IT UPSETS ME!” She roared, so angry she threw her tablet at him. DARS scooted to the side, avoiding getting smacked in the face. The tablet hit the far wall with a clatter and dropped with a thunk.

Felicia’s eyes filled with tears, “How could you send me on a mission that causes so much death and destruction? I thought.. I thought we were friends!”

[I will send the user's request.] DARS hastily said. Felicia sniffled and looked up at him in confusion.

[Reply received. Request granted.]

“What? What just happened?”

[I have requested that all missions involving the triggering, starting, perpetuation, and continuation of wars or battles be removed from the user’s queue. The request was granted.]

“You can do that?”

[With proper authority.]

She narrowed her eyes, “And you’re not lying?”

[I have no reason to lie about this.]

“But if you have a reason you’ll lie to me?”

[I will not lie to you Felicia.] DARS rephrased his words. [I did not know you would be upset with this kind of mission.]

She wrinkled her nose, still a bit miffed. “How many years did you follow me around?”

[It was Darius that was the trigger, not you. In the end, it was his actions that were responsible, not yours. Therefore, I did not think you would be upset.]

Felicia pulled her knees to her forehead and closed her eyes, sighing deeply. She didn’t say anything for a long time. DARS floated down until he was very close to her face, his dotted face watching closely.

When she still didn’t say anything, DARS said in a small voice, [I am sorry.]

She looked up from her knees, lips pursed. "You mean it?"

[I do.]

Her eyes narrowed at him and then she let go of her knees. The situation still had her low level angry, but there was no point in taking it out on DARS.

Crawling off her bed, she went over to the tablet and picked it up. She’d thrown it really hard and reasonably thought she must have shattered the glass. But there wasn’t a scratch on it. Tapping the screen she “woke” the tablet up.

Looking at it, she noticed another icon had appeared on the homescreen. It looked like a cartoon version of DARS. Underneath the icon was the word “Missions”.

“What’s this?”

DARS floated over, “It lets you review your previous missions, what you earned in that mission, your overall goal grade, and get a small summary of what happens when you left. You can also start the next mission and read the review on it.”

“Goal grade?”

[Take a look and see for yourself.]

She tapped the Missions icon and the app opened. It had a simple format. There were ten levels listed. Level 1 was marked as Completed, Level 2 had a Start button next to it, and the other levels below that were grayed out, clearly unavailable. She tapped Level 1 and then selected Reward Breakdown.

Completed Mission Reward: 500RD
Beginner Bonus: 250RD
Grade B Bonus: 250RD
Skills Rewarded: [Location Target]
Items Rewarded:
Main: Room Decoration [Simple Bed] and [Room Light]
Grade B Bonus: Room Decoration [Flooring: Plain Carpet|Wood|Tile] and [Wall Paint: Any Single Color]

She glanced up and looked around her room. Her bed was a wood frame without a headboard and a thin mattress with neat but plain cotton sheets and firm looking pillow. The room light was located directly in the center of the ceiling. It was just a bulb with a metal chain dangling down.

It was so simple it almost felt like a prison. A shudder ran down her spine at that thought. She almost liked it better when it was empty.

“Can I change the walls and flooring?”

[Yes.]

“Then, um… how about a light green for the walls?”

[Accepted.] DARS flashed, forcing her to blink. In the second she blinked, the walls turned the exact shade of green she wanted.

“Can I have carpet floors?”

[Accepted.]

A very strange sensation came from her feet. It was as if the carpet grew out of the cold floors like grass from dirt, but much faster. Wiggling her toes she noted the carpet was soft but felt a bit cheap. Definitely basic carpet.

“The carpet is white…” She commented with a frown.

[You will have to pay the Dimensional Dollar Store to change the color.]

“Mm… well, maybe later.” She looked back at the tablet, “What does it mean by “Grade B”?”

“All missions are graded. There are four grades: A, B, C, and F. The first three are passable grades, but F is a failing grade and means the mission restarted. To get an A, not only must you complete the main goal but you must also perfectly complete the extra goal. Getting a B grade means you completed the main goal, but did average to poor on the extra goal. Finally, the C grade means you passed the main goal but failed the extra goal completely. C grade missions do not have any bonus dollars or rewards.”

“So I did… average to poor on the bonus goal? Why?”

[Darius never made any real friends or even started a family. This was because, in the end, he valued his work over his private life. However, because of what you taught him, he still did some things— like golfing— “for fun”. This result was considered average.]

“But you said he was difficult.”

[Difficult but not impossible. User, don’t be hard on yourself. This was your first mission, you completed the main goal splendidly. Getting a Grade B on your first try is quite good.]

“You know….” She wrinkled her brow and then cocked her head. “I don’t feel as upset about that as I thought I would.”

[?]

“I can remember thinking if I didn’t get the biggest most awesome reward for all the work I was putting into Darius I’d be furious. But now…” She blinked rapidly. “How strange… it really is like I’m remembering a movie. I do feel something, but only because the event or person was sad or likable, not because it happened to me personally. Even Mr. King’s death….” She stopped talking for several seconds. “Yeah, even Mr. King’s death, I don’t feel the crushing remorse anymore.”

[Does this bother the user?]

She shook her head slowly. “No…. that’s why it’s weird. How can I remember over 20 years of living and feel so detached? Logically that doesn’t make sense but emotionally I’m not bothered at all.” Felicia rubbed her forehead. “Am I… am I… alright being like this?”

[You are alright. Humans are not made to carry several lifetimes worth of care and worry. If you carried the emotional burdens of every mission, it would eventually drive you insane. That is why you are restored after every mission. Restoring protects your mental wellbeing and allows you a chance to rest. Felicia, always remember, I will not cause you harm.]

“What about the host?”

[The host is not you.] DARS circumference glowed. [The host is temporary. When they are stripped away, there is only you. Therefore, the host’s wellbeing is less of a concern for me.]

Felicia made a face, “That’s definitely going to cause problems in the future.”

[Completing the mission and the safety of the timeline is paramount. To this end, the host is only a tool. Not only for me, but also for you.]

“It’s still a life…”

[Then you must live it carefully and cleverly. As I said, it is possible to complete the mission by changing only one thing in the timeline. If you can do that and do it well, the host’s life is less likely to be in danger.]

“...I guess that’s true.”

Felicia found she wasn’t interested in her rewards anymore after their conversation.

She walked back to her bed and noticed the square fake tattoo lying there. Picking it up lazily, she turned it around and read the directions. She followed them and, as the fake tattoo wouldn’t be visible to anyone in the timeline, she put it directly on the back of her hand. Holding up her hand, she traced the black lines of her compass.

“Hey DARS?”

[Yes?]

“How long can I stay here?”

[As long as you need.]

“I see…” She turned on her side on the bed, staring blankly at the light green wall. After a while she closed her eyes and tried to sleep. But despite lying there for quite some time, she simply wasn’t tired. Instead, she felt a steadily increasing sense of restlessness.

Sitting up, she sighed heavily. Grabbing the tablet again, she opened up the Dimensional Dollar Store app and began looking through the item lists.

“Hey DARS!”

[Yes?]

“There’s a skill here called [Wand Master]!”

[Yes?]

“Does that mean there are timelines with magic?”

[Correct.]

“Woah! Will my next timeline have magic?!”

[No.]

“Aw…….”

[You do not come from a place with magic and are not used to it. Until you are used to regular missions and the process of completing goals, you won’t be sent to a world with magic.]

“So it’s going to be an ordinary no-magic world?”

[Yes.]

“Bo-oring!”

[If you think it’s boring, then hurry and complete your missions until you can get to the ones you find interesting.]

“Ugh, that’s like eating broccoli to get your dessert at the end.”

[Would the user like to review the next mission to see if it’s really as bad as broccoli?]

She raised an eyebrow, “Is that your way of telling me to hurry up and start?”

[You said it, not me.]

Felicia looked down at her tablet again, finger hovering over the Missions app.

The main reason she’d left the last timeline early was because she was tired of being someone else. She felt smothered. But now…

There was no emotional attachment. The feeling of tiredness, of being smothered, she knew about feeling those things intellectually, but that was all. She felt nothing.

What was left was the thrill of having lived in an alternate dimension. The amazement of having lived as someone completely different from herself for 20-some years. And the intense curiosity about what the next timeline would be like….

Though she’d become herself again, suddenly the idea of being someone else wasn’t so bad.