IIt had been so long since a perfect rainy winter Sunday that he paused for a moment before starting to read his books again. It reminded him of his childhood in a more tropical country, even the smell of ozone coming to mind as if he could feel it right now. But today was cold and the house closed, so he decided it was time to chill. He decided to make a coffee. Those organic beans were around for some time and he never managed to make them. He then started to toast it with calm, the next step was to grind it. After pouring water it was done. After making coffee from organic beans he had finally decided to use, he grabbed a book from the shelf and settled into a cozy spot by the window.

Ahhh this is heaven. He thought as he was sipping his coffee. This corner was nothing so special, it was not made by an architect, but for him, it was like a present from God itself. His daughter one day decided that she needed a place to read her books and bought a new armchair with the card. She didn't get any presents on that year birthday, but it was a comfy armchair and he ended up using it during the night when the girls went to sleep.

He opened with calm the book, flipping through the pages until he found his place. How he loved it, it was like meeting an old friend in a coffee shop and batter about old stories and new facts. Before starting to read, the notes caught his attention. It was a reading day, so why not review the notes and start the session with a fresh memory?

His consolation was that his wife and daughter were out; she would be upset if she saw he had started making side notes in the books again. He remembered that one time when he got one of her books to read when they were young. It was so interesting that he took notes to remember later without thinking. When he noticed half the book was marked by his calligraphy. The fury he saw in her eyes is something he never wants to see again. She always was so meticulous in her studies, that she tried to make him promise to never take notes again, that there were no more books for him. Well now he only reads his own books, but he tries to minimize the notes just for the sake of his life. She always uses digital books now, but he prefers the feel of paper and writing with a pencil. He always felt he learned better that way.

He picked up the most recent note, and right after it, there was a marked passage.

"... And so, because our senses sometimes deceive us, I decided to suppose that nothing was such as they lead us to imagine it to be..."

He read the passage out loud, and as if by enchantment, the strangest thing happened. A blue window appeared in front of him. It was semi-transparent, with white letters, somehow he could manage to read the letters pretty well. It was like the letters went in his mind.

"Hello people from this tiny planet."

"The Interchangeable Dimension Institute greets its citizens on behalf of the D.o.W."

"Sorry for the inconvenience it might cause, but we wanted to make contact with beings of another dimension. In doing so, the system scanned you, and now you are all part of it."

"Being integrated so suddenly has a 0.00347% chance of a successful event leading to a remarkable civilization."

"The usual result is chaos, blood, and doom."

"Work hard not to be part of the statistics, at least the bad ones."

"Each one of you will be given a born trait and 25 skill points. Treat it like a game and specialize yourself."

"This may be our last communication; it's too expensive to send these messages."

"We hope for an era of peace and a happy integration for you."

"What?"

Everything was so sudden and absurd that his brain almost shut down. For a brief second his mind started to create innumerous answers to the phenomenon, but them all ended up with him crazy.

A strong sensation in his chest started to build up. His breathing got erratic and his body was not responding well. Now was in front of him a strange computer window, one that should never be there. It was too much for his brain. When he was about to shut down and freak out sounds of cars crashing came from the window. That helped him to focus on something, anything but that strange blue window. He hurried to see what was happening on the outside of his apartment. 

The blue screen kept following him, it was annoying and persistent as it would not accept being ignored. At least it was semi-transparent and he could somehow look through it.

What he saw was not good. People were confused trying to understand everything. The screen was in front of them as persistent as it was it made a lot of difficulties for everyone. 

The sound of a crash called his attention, one car lost control and hit the wall. People tried to run, some managed but others were hit. Some went to the middle of the streets causing even more accidents. In a couple of seconds, awful crashing sounds started to pile up on the streets. 

Painful moans, desperate cries, and a horrible visage were in front of through the blue window. But just one thing was coming to his mind as the blue screen only showed him one message. 

"Loading..."

"The girls..."

Where did they go again? He couldn't remember what his wife said to him. He tried hard to focus and remember her words. It was something about girl's day and brunch. The adrenaline in his blood was making him despair.

His daughter loved a small cafe that serves brunch. They must have gone there. He was so absorbed with having time to read by himself that he didn't pay attention.

That's my best guess. Damn, I can check where they are on my phone!

Suddenly he wanted to look after the phone. It was like the dam thing decided to hide from him, to make a prank. He started throwing things away searching. Everything was for nothing as his phone was charging in the kitchen. He left it there while making the coffee.

He turned to run and get the phone, but he was in a blue space, infinite in every direction. The sight took his breath away, it was beautiful and disturbing at the same time. It was as if the cosmos itself was in front of him, but instead of darkness, there was a deep blue. There were many white dots over it.

Astonished he looked around but one detail shocked him: he was naked. His belly protruded, his dark brown hair was thinning, and his beard had some white in it.

Astonished, he looked around but one detail shocked him: he was naked. His belly protruded, his dark brown hair was thinning, and his beard had some white in it.

"Scanning completed."

"Born trait Generalist was given."

I don't have time for this...

He was starting to freak out, a sensation growing in his chest, anxiety building so fast he was about to lose it.

"Tension identified, procedure 178 in execution."

A light enveloped him, and everything passed, like a heavy backpack with a typewriter was removed from his back.

"Please proceed with the selection."

What is this thing? I'm feeling better like it was nothing, is this messing with my mind?

Calmer now, he started to think as the system began to show a giant list. The were so many things listed there it was mindblowing. There was a search function on the left top of the screen, it was a loup symbol in white. He got curious and the function itself activated. A hover screen appeared, offering various options to refine his search. He could enter keywords or phrases for real-time suggestions. Apply advanced filters like category, rarity, and type, and sort results alphabetically.

Before he would make the choices he looked around one more time. He noticed that he was inside a light bubble. It was clear where he was and the floor seemed to be transparent. It was like he was one of the stars he was looking at.

He tried to walk but his legs moved over nothing, although when he was still it totally felt like he was on a firm floor.

Those starts must be a place like this. We are all going through the same experience right now. The system said it was an integration of sorts anyway.

He kept looking at them trying to magically find his family.

I don't think it would be so convenient.

He looked at the list. There were some strange ones. Almost everything could be found there, some vague like conceptions, others super specific.

Maybe they are in the same boat, choosing wherever we are supposed to.

With a thought the options rolled over, but just names appeared.

Let's see. Anniquilation, summoning a 3rd-grade demon, eating vegetables, problem-solving with trigonometric... They sure are eclectic.

The system didn't seem to be a good teacher. The options were so diverse that you couldn't find any indicators of what they meant. It lacked the most simple explanation of everything related to it.

I feel like a rat in a lab... How I'm supposed to choose if I know nothing about it? It's like there is no difference between them. Maybe I could make the explanation myself.

Deciding to make everything clear he started to look for some keywords. Every time he thought something a list of related skills appeared. Each line had a column called cost. The more generic concept cost him only 1 but the more specific were expensive as 10 points.

Hum... maybe this can give me some explanation. It's everything I would like right now at least.

"Selected skills:"

• Help

• Search

• Guide

• Explanation

• Research

• Analyze

• Process

• Notes

• Strategy

• Recover

• Persistent

• Read

• Reach

"Attention!!!"

"Synergy detection: LitWORLD guide effect in action."

Oh my, what is happening now? I hope it is a good thing...

"For me it is. It has been so long since someone unlocked me."