I blinked in confusion, trying to make sense of the thing floating in front of me.

It looked like a hole cut out of the world, bordered by sharp edges, through which shone a kaleidoscope of shifting colors. It wasn't easy to parse any shapes out of that chaos, but if I squinted, I could just make out the edges of a ring of concentric circles, like an eye peering through it. There hadn't been any prelude to its appearance; it just opened in the middle of the park and started talking to me.

I don't know how I expected to find out that everything I knew about the world was wrong. Maybe there would be some fanfare, or at least a little foreshadowing. Instead, my walk home from school was interrupted by a weird shining trapezoid that started monologuing at me with no warning. Next time, give me a heads up.

"Come again?" It was all I could think of to say. Just the thing existing was enough to challenge my entire worldview, which didn't leave enough brain left to follow what it had been saying.

"You have been chosen, Valkyrie Jones," it dutifully repeated. "The Last Ordeal shall soon eclipse this world. You will be among those who fight to protect it. Accordingly, you--"

"Okay, hang on," I interrupted before it could get any further. "Several questions. Do you have a name?"

"You may call me 101."

"Cool, weird name. Next question: Do I have any say in this?" I asked.

"Your status as one of the Chosen is immutable," 101 responded. "No actions will be demanded of you; however, if you wish for your world to not be destroyed, I will advise certain actions."

"No obligations, but huge stakes. What's this 'Ordeal' you mentioned? What am I supposed to fight?"

"Entities have begun to intrude into this reality from another. They will work ceaselessly to eradicate humanity." 101's half-perceptible eye seemed to narrow with contempt... or maybe I just imagined it. It's not as if its voice had any inflection to suggest how it was feeling, or if it had feelings at all. I looked around. Nobody else seemed to have noticed 101's presence, or even that I was talking to it.

"Monsters from another dimension, then."

"For now, these monsters can only enter your world in small numbers. The Last Ordeal is an event wherein the barrier preventing their encroachment will collapse. Accordingly, Valkyrie--"

"Call me Val."

"Accordingly, Val, you shall be granted the power required to fight this enemy. You and the other Chosen must use this power to overcome the Last Ordeal."

I folded my arms, regarding 101 suspiciously. "I thought you said I didn't have to do anything. Do I owe you a yes or no on this gig on the spot?"

"You do not, but it may be in your interest to take immediate action."

"And why's that?"

"Because a monster is nearby right now."

That got my attention. I turned to scan the park for signs of some lurking creature, but practically fell on my ass when I saw it. How the hell could I have overlooked that thing until now?

The monster wasn't easy to describe. Imagine a stone statue of a lion, but with the top half roughly torn off, leaving nothing but the legs and just enough torso to connect them. One of the legs wasn't even connected to the rest of the thing, but still moved as if some invisible structure was linking it together. In the place of a head was a tall, spindly geometric structure, not attached to the rest of it but instead floating just above it. At the center of that was a dark red sphere, pulsing with faint light from within and vibrating like it was just barely being held in place. The whole thing was about the size of a minivan, and the weirdest part was that nobody else in the park was paying it any mind.

"What the hell is that?!" I knew it was a stupid question as soon as I said it. What could this be other than a monster? Apparently 101 also knew it was a stupid question, because it declined to answer.

"Your physical attributes have been enhanced in order to evade its attacks. Furthermore, you may summon your weapon by extending your hand and mentally commanding it to appear."

I was about to ask what kind of attacks 101 was talking about when the red orb looming over the monster flared with malice. A dozen streaks of light lanced out of it in random directions, each one eventually shifting course abruptly to aim in my approximate direction. Maybe I would've been able to dodge one or two, but when faced with the whole barrage, I panicked. There was no way this was possible.

In panic, I moved.

I had barely parsed what 101 had been saying about my physical attributes, but I understood after taking one step. Not only did it propel me several times faster than I would have thought possible, but I could see everything happening around me in crisp detail. I wasn't just stronger and faster; my reflexes had been improved, too. It was such a drastic transformation that I had half a mind to chew 101 out for doing it to me without permission, but at the moment, the alternative had been death. Every step sent me bursting forth in a different direction, dodging between the lances of light as if they were slow. Rather than running away, I pressed forward, closing as much distance as I could before the thing readied a second volley.

Recalling 101's other words, I extended a hand as I tore across the park. Feeling slightly ridiculous, I gave a yell as I thought as hard as I could about summoning a weapon. With no idea what I was summoning, I was expecting it to fail, but it came just as naturally as handling my newfound speed. One moment, there was nothing in front of me, but when I closed my hand, it closed around the shaft of a spear. A long strip of rainbow-colored cloth was fastened just below the spearhead, and the head itself was pure white. Subtle carvings of abstract spiral shapes ran down the length of the shaft. Even in the heat of the moment, I was struck by its beauty.

My reverie was interrupted when the monster unleashed a second barrage of red lances. At close range, I had almost no time to dodge, but I tried anyway, moving on pure instinct. I could feel the blazing heat from the bolts as I squeezed between their trajectories. One came close enough to tear my shirt, tracing a narrow line of stabbing pain along my side. It was the last one, leaving me face to face with a bizarre creature, completely removed from anything I could understand. Could you even fight something like that with a spear?

If I hesitated, it would give the monster enough time for a third volley. So, I went with my gut. I threw the spear.

My spear traveled in a perfect line, thrown with too much force to arc visibly before reaching its target. It pierced through the red orb, shattering it like glass, and continued into the sky, landing somewhere far out of sight. With the orb destroyed, the monster collapsed immediately. I wasn't sure if that meant it was dead or not, but after a few moments, it began to turn to dust. I stood rooted to the spot, gasping for breath, overwhelmed with the absurdity of what I had just done.

"This was the first of many." 101's words shocked me back into reality. "You must continue to fight, and grow stronger, if you are to be prepared for the Last Ordeal."

I didn't reply. As I watched the monster I just defeated drift apart like ash, nobody around paid the scene any mind. It was just dumb luck that it hadn't killed anyone in the crossfire. The enormity of what I was being asked to do slowly started to dawn on me. If 101 was telling the truth, I was going to be fighting for my life, whether I wanted to or not. What do you even say to that?

"...How many of us have you chosen?"