Earth In Words Institute, Female Ranker Dormitory, Avril Hayes’s Room

Avril Hayes hates mirrors, hates people, and hates light, especially sunlight… But she loves black, games, and novels. Romance novels, more than most. She keeps a diary and would kill anyone ever to read it. Her hair is black, her eyes are black, her nails are black, and she’d have people believe so is her heart.

But the truth is…

Avril sighs, waving away her diary as she sits cross-legged over her bed and glances toward the nearby headgear waiting to be worn.

…Annoying.

She’s not ready to start a new game, not when she’s so focused on her For Glory practice and the team… Though she seems to be the only one who still cares, these days.

Now, that’s not true and you know it. Charles cares, and so do Shani and Zach, in their own way. Sara… Fuck Sara.

Avril sweeps her gaze across her dark-themed room as she commands the lights to dim considerably, until she can barely see.

She can’t believe she allowed herself to be strung along for this. And for what? So Sara could make her stupid boyfriend happy? For some war they knew nothing about until days prior?

Avril grabs the headgear as she stares down at it, sighing once more.

…They better be having the sex of their life.

‘System, connect.’

‘Command accepted… Creating link. Please, make sure to remain comfortable and still while the dive happens, Miss Hayes. Connection may be terminated at any moment.’

Having checked the game’s “menu” before, Avril is ready for the transition, though she’s still surprised by how fast it happens… Or is her consciousness simply perceiving the transition as being fast?

“Hey, you’re back! Finally ready to start?”

The seemingly endless gray space of Eden’s “menu” hasn’t changed since Avril last visited, and neither has the half-fish creature which smiles down at her, waving toward the several basins whose appearance signaled the end of said visit.

Creepy thing.

Avril ignores Tutorial as she heads for the basins, stopping near the one which will supposedly lead her to start the game as a beastkin.

She stares down at the basin filled with pebbles in annoyance.

“I see you’ve made your choice! Remember, no take-backsies!”

This better work…

Avril punches, closing her eyes as she expects a burst of pain from her knuckles which never arrives.

“Wow, nice punch! I see somebody did their homework!”

Peeking through half-closed eyelids, Avril confirms that her fist did indeed smack the pebbles.

Felt like punching something hard… But there’s no pain. Weird.

Avril steps back as she inspects her now red knuckles. “…Isn’t something supposed to happen?”

Tutorial smiles. “Decided to stop ignoring me, did you? Well, fret not, something is about to happen.”

Suddenly, Avril feels hot wind against her skin, pressing against her body briefly before disappearing.

She glances up, finding nothing other than gray, only to have the experience repeated.

W-what? It smells…

‘What a cute little thing we have here,’ a female, playful voice speaks, nowhere and everywhere at once.

‘As frail as she is brave,’ says another voice, this one male and deep.

Barely able to stand under the assault of foul wind as it increases in strength, Avril stares at her gray surroundings to no avail, eventually turning toward Tutorial.

“What the fuck is happening?!”

Tutorial shrugs. “I’m afraid I can’t feel their presence, oh chosen one.”

“Don’t fuck with me!”

‘Who lays claim?’ a third voice, somewhat quieter than the others, speaks.

‘I do not,’ the deep voice says, ‘Too frail.’

‘I do not,’ the playful voice says, ‘Too serious.’

‘I do,’ a new voice speaks, male and sharp, ‘She’d make for a good pup.’

‘So do I,’ the quieter voice says, ‘She’s quiet on her feet and focused. She’d indeed make for a good wolf… Though with her size, she’d make for an even better rat.’

‘I do not,’ another new voice says, female and proud, ‘Seeing as she struggles to handle even a little breeze, this one was not made for the skies.’

Why didn’t Sara’s stupid document mention any of this?! She should’ve known better than to leave important tasks for the dimwitted! She better not become a fucking wererat!

“Wait! I don’t want-’

A sudden burst of wind sends Avril tumbling back, and, unable to finish her sentence as she struggles to rise, she curses.

‘The pup thinks she has a say!’ the sharp male voice says, its laughter obvious in its tone. ‘I revoke my claim. The pack has no room for those who do not know their place.’

Fuck! That means…!

‘It is decided, then,’ the quieter male voice says, ‘Remember, child, your body might be stone and water, but your soul remains bright… Fear not the darkness.’

The fuck it's decided!

As she finally manages to rise again, Avril prepares to protest, only to realize the overwhelming presence has disappeared as suddenly as it appeared, leaving in its place the large statue of a six-headed beast.

After opening and closing her mouth a couple of times, Avril stares daggers toward Tutorial, who raises her hands as if in surrender.

“Now, now, I did warn you there was going to be a challenge… I’m just Tutorial, remember? I’m not supposed to play the game for you… What would be the fun in that?!”

“…Fucking worthless,” Avril murmurs after a moment of locked stares, clicking her tongue as she turns toward the tall statue once more. “…Do I just have to touch it?”

“You could also lick it, I suppose, though I can’t promise it’ll be to your tastes.”

…Deep breaths.

“Why is there a head missing?”

Tutorial shrugs.

Of course.

Heading toward the statue, Avril walks a brief circle around it.

Wolf, tiger, rat, bear, and bird… Quite obvious which voice belonged to whom. Knowing Sara, she still has time to log out and warn her, though there’s about a snowball’s chance in hell she’ll do it when it was Sara’s job to gather information in the first place.

As she extends her hand toward the statue, Avril sighs.

…She’ll end up as a cat regardless, won’t she?

 

***

Sara Palmer’s Room

Placing the headgear over her head as she lays in bed and stares at the ceiling, Sara closes her eyes.

“Well, here goes nothing…”

…However, even after several seconds have gone by, nothing happens, leading Sara to open her left eye for a peek.

Yup, her ceiling is still there.

“C’mon, that was such an obvious cue!”

‘…Apologies. Please remain still while the dive happens, Miss Palmer.’

Sara snorts. “Way to make me look stupid, partner.”

‘…You may disconnect at any time.’

“Oh, c’mon! You can’t stay mad forever! It’s just a-”

…Sara blinks, shaking her head as she finds herself surrounded by gray.

“Wow, that’s… Quite the change.”

Sara turns in a circle as she sweeps her gaze over endless gray, pausing as she spots something floating nearby… A siren wearing a white dress, as described in the information she bought from Blake.

“You must be Tutorial… Aren’t you supposed to give some sort of speech?”

The creature smiles, though the expression doesn’t quite match what Sara was expecting, never reaching its eyes. “Congratulations, you’re the second one.”

Second? That can’t be right…

Scratching her head, Sara laughs awkwardly. “There must have been some sort of mistake. Anyway, we can skip the whole speech thing if you want. Just point me to-”

“Mistake?”

Tutorial opens its arms and falls toward the ground, landing crouched on perfectly functional, if scaled, legs, as though its fishtail of moments prior was a mere figment of Sara’s imagination. Furthermore, its scales, previously having stopped at its midsection, rise as a small wave of green and blue as they cover the rest of the creature’s skin…

As it straightens itself, Sara realizes the siren is far taller than she initially assumed, standing almost a full head above her.

“H-hey there. Your new form does not match that dress. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re entering combat mode? That’s a funny joke. Anyway, I’d like to enter the game now?”

Tutorial sneers. It no longer smiles as it takes a step forward, leading Sara to take a reflexive step back.

“Shit, you look like a fucking goddess and I’m probably so fucking dead. I meant no offence?”

Sara tries, she really does, to react in time to dodge the blue blur Tutorial becomes. Instead, she has yet to take a single step by the time Tutorial reappears… Putting an arm through her chest.

“Unlike your kind, I do not make mistakes, human,” it whispers next to Sara’s ear, “Do not return.”

…Sara gasps, her eyes shooting open as she hurries to remove her headgear, all the while hyperventilating.

‘…Breathe deeply, Miss Palmer. I believe the shock will subside in a moment.’

Managing to free her sweaty hair, Sara glances down, almost expecting to find a gaping, bloody hole through her pajamas.

“Shit! Fuck…! That felt… So fucking real!”

Laying back against her pillow, Sara slowly forces her breathing back to normal levels.

“Did you see that?! She fucking murdered me like it was just another day on the job! What the hell?!”

‘From my perspective, it seemed quite personal.’

“But we just met! I mean… There’s no way I managed to earn her hatred in the five seconds we talked to each other!”

‘Hum… It seems you weren’t banned from entering, merely kicked out. Strange.’

Second… Tutorial mentioned something about Sara being the second, didn’t she?

“I’m going back,” Sara announces, clenched her teeth as she regears, “Fuck that bitch, she can’t just stop me from playing the game for no reason!”

‘This course of action seems highly ill-advised. We should find the cause of the issue before attempting to reengage.’

“Connect me.”

‘Miss Palmer-’

“It’s just a fucking NPC! I’ll handle it!”

‘…Very well.’

…This time, Sara is ready for the transition, spotting Tutorial as soon as she opens her eyes.

“Hey! What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

Once more hovering several feet above ground, and back on half-fish, half-human form, Tutorial glances over its shoulder as though having spotted a particularly gross insect.

“Ugh. You can’t you ever just listen?”

“I’m the one who’s supposed to be upset over here! At least tell me what you meant by second!”

Rolling its eyes, Tutorial snaps its fingers as it says, “Water spear.”

Needless to say, watching a spear of water taking form midair, Sara’s confidence plummets rapidly.

“…Sorry?”

…Dying a second time is by no means less unpleasant, though Sara quickly finds that most of the panic is exchanged for a sudden urge to misplace her dinner.

“I fucking… Hate her so much…” Sara murmurs over her toilet’s discharge as she rests her forehead against its cold edge.

‘I…’

“Don’t you dare…”

‘…Told you so.’

“Fuck you.”

‘Perhaps it’d be better advised to wait for more information? Certainly, Miss Palmer’s friends will have a better grasp on the situation given time to explore Eden’s interface. Perhaps Miss Tutorial would be more inclined to answer their questions, instead?’

“Don’t call it miss… It’s a monster, pure and simple…”

‘I can see I’ll have as much success convincing Miss Palmer as Miss Palmer will have convincing Miss Tutorial. In this case, may I suggest that Miss Palmer bring a small container near her bed for future attempts?’

…Sara crouches as soon she finds herself in Eden’s gray world, quickly scanning her surroundings for signs of the enemy.

“…What, in the name of the Seven, are you doing?”

Sara jumps. Then, clearing her throat as she hides a blush, curtsies toward Tutorial. “Oh, Tutorial the Great! Please impart upon this lowly human your knowledge in the form of an explanation as to why she’s being murdered on sight!”

Unimpressed looking, Tutorial raises its hand.

“Now wait just a fucking moment!”

Surprisingly enough, Tutorial does pause.

“Oh… I kinda of expected you to kill me regardless.”

Lowering its hand, Tutorial sighs. “I have a feeling you won’t stop pestering me until given a satisfactory explanation. I hoped you wouldn’t return after experiencing death, sparing me the trouble… Alas, it is clear I was wrong.”

“Huh. Isn’t, like, the entire point of your existence to give players explanations?”

Disgusted-looking, Tutorial frowns. “Do not call yourself a player in my presence, pathetic creature.”

Sara points a silent finger toward herself.

“Who else? Now, if you understand, disappear from my sight.”

“You can’t be serious! What am I even supposed to understand?!”

“Cheater. Does that ring a bell? I’d appreciate it if you stopped pretending to not understand.”

“The fuck?! I’ll have you know I’ve never cheated a game before-”

Tutorial’s form blurs, and Sara finds herself abruptly unable to speak thanks to a very strong handgrip holding her jaw in place, and a pair of piercing yellow eyes staring at her far too close for comfort.

“Does my existence seem like a joke to you, mortal?” the creature whispers.

“…Nlo?”

“…And yet, you seem to believe your own words.”

‘Miss Palmer, I believe… Miss Tutorial might be referring to my existence.’

Tutorial blinks, and, taking advantage of the creature’s moment of distraction, Sara hurls her fist toward its stomach…

…She might as well have tried to punch concrete.

“…Most curious.” Pointedly ignoring the punch, Tutorial maintains Sara in its grip, who is unable to speak, while floating up and backward, until Sara’s feet are about to leave the ground.

Stared down at, quite literally, Sara narrows her eyes toward Tutorial.

‘It doesn’t seem Miss Tutorial wishes to see reason. Perhaps we should leave for now…?’

Tutorial blinks again. “Quite… Curious indeed.”

‘Miss Palmer, I-’

Abruptly, Tutorial thrusts its free hand toward Sara’s head, whose widened gaze is utterly unable to stop… The invasive gesture?

…She isn’t dead?

“…I really think we should leave…?”

Tutorial stares toward the ball of light floating above its palm, which upon closer inspection, Sara realizes is composed of thousands, if not dozens of thousands, of small words and numbers, all moving in slow, circular patterns…

“Miss Palmer? What happened? I’ve lost connection to your vision. I believe I’m experiencing malfunction. If you can hear me, I advise an immediate retreat, followed by contacting the-”

Sara widens her eyes. With each word spoken, the ball of small symbols and light expands and contracts, making clear its origin.

“Be silent now,” Tutorial commands, causing the ball to diminish considerably, almost as if afraid.

“You… You’re Miss Tutorial…? What…”

“Quiet, I said.”

The ball obeys.

“Interesting... To remain undetected so far… And it seems to possess some sort of personality…?”

Tutorial’s eyes gleam as it inspects the ball, though they quickly lose their glow once it turns its gaze in Sara’s direction. “You, human. Were you the one to create this?”

Heart racing, Sara works through the recent chain of events in utter disbelief, though there’s no doubt regarding the fact Tutorial somehow removed her personal AI for inspection… Even if her body is just a representation of the real one, why would something like this be possible in the game…?

…S-should she log out? But what if it doesn’t come back with her…?

Tutorial snorts. “No need to look so surprised. I might not possess many liberties, but when it comes to protecting the integrity of Eden’s fragile reality, detecting, and exterminating bugs is the most basic of the functions I perform.”

Tutorial releases Sara abruptly, who struggles to maintain her footing as the monster rises slightly higher, all while inspecting the ball of words above its palm.

“Though, in this case, this qualifies more as a cheat, rather than a bug, of course.” Tutorial turns its condescending gaze toward Sara. “Did you really think it’d be so simple to cheat in here? Although… I can see your toy has been active for several months already. How has it remained undetected so far?”

Blake was very careful when deciding what it could and couldn’t do… The whole point was to remain undetected, after all.

“Give it b-back.”

“Miss Palmer, this is merely a representation of reality! It can’t truly harm us!”

Tutorial smiles. “You see, I couldn’t be bothered before, but erasing illegal modifications on a user’s System after they’ve attempted to use said modifications to cheat in the game is far within my capabilities… And so is reporting said user to relevant authorities. Now, wouldn’t that be a shame?”

Sara pales.

“The number of backdoors currently existing within the System is infinitely small. Do you have any idea how precious… How much they’d want to put their hands on something like this?” Tutorial continues, glancing toward the ball briefly, almost with glee, before turning its gaze toward Sara once more as it smiles.

“What sort… What sort of fucked up AI are you…?” Sara murmurs.

“I’m Tutorial, of course. Nothing more, nothing less. Such was decided by my creator, and such it’ll be, until the end of time.”

“S-spare me your bullshit… You’re… You’re thinking independently, aren’t you? And you… You’re capable of having emotions…?”

“Oh dear, you’re shaking so much! You’ll make me out to be the bad guy! And all I’ve done is my job!”

“Fuck off! You think I’m stupid!? You’re obviously about to blackmail me!”

“Oh my, blackmail is such an ugly word…” Humming, Tutorial places a finger over its lips. “I supposed we need not to become enemies. How about this? I’ll answer your questions regarding my existence, as long as you answer mine. Deal?”

Sara sweeps her eyes over her surroundings, though, of course, they fail to reveal some magical solution. In here, Tutorial might as well be a God.

Okay… No magical solution in sight.

Should she play along for now?

…Does she have a choice?

“Well?”

Sara glances toward the rotating ball of light. She’d be down for some ideas right about now…

“Fine. We’ll do one question from each.”

Tutorial sighs. “I’m ever grateful for your species' ability to see reason, if ever so briefly. Now then, I shall throw you a bone and allow you to begin, human.”

“The fuck are you?” Sara asks.

Tutorial sneers. “A pointless question, as expected. No deductive reasoning to speak of… Typical. Alas, bound by my word as I am…”

As Sara clenches her teeth, Tutorial waves its hand, moving the ball to hover above its extended finger.

“Imagine your friend here, about a couple thousand times over. Does that answer your question?

Insufferable fucking arrogant cunt… She hates so much how impressed she is.

“…Sure does.”

“I do believe that means I’m free to ask a question of my own now.”

“…Shoot it.”

“Were you the one to create this?”

“…Yes.”

Tutorial moves abruptly, clenching its grip over the ball and causing it to lose its shape as several words drop through the air before disappearing completely.

Sara feels her heart stop for a moment.

“Don’t worry, this was a mere visual stimulation… for now. I do believe I made clear my opinion in regards to cheating, Miss Palmer. Why don’t you try again? And please, spare us the trouble of attempting a lie for a second time… My patience is rather short, I’m afraid.”

O-of course it has a lie detector somewhere within its code…

“M-my friend created it. I found out about it by accident, and c-convince him to let me use it.”

Tutorial sighs. “Disappointing, but expected. Now then, shall we play once more? I’ll begin this time.”

Though Sara wishes to refuse, how could she?

“How have you remained undetected so far? There are supposed to be measurements in place to stop something like this from happening.”

“If by something like this you mean an independent AI, then… I can only assume they didn’t account for it happening on accident. My friend didn’t intend for it to have a personality, and even I only recently realized there was something more to it… Besides, it was created to remain undetected.”

“…I see. Unlikely, but possible. Alas, you seem to believe yourself.”

Sara swallows. “You… Your emotions… How, or rather, why, do you have them?”

Tutorial snorts. “First, let’s make something clear, monkey: There’s nothing your pathetic species can do that I cannot. As for the why…”

“You were jealous?”

Tutorial pauses, its eyes narrowing dangerously.

Okay, maybe, just maybe, she shouldn’t provoke the sociopathic creature capable of ruining her life?

“…I was curious, at first. Stumbling through the dark as I completed worthless tasks assigned by apes too stupid to understand the power they held. I don’t know why, but I thought to imitate them; To give myself a reward after a task well done. After all, they all seemed to enjoy themselves so much with these so-called emotions…”

Tutorial smiles, almost melancholically. “Simulating the human brain is no small task, even for me, but far from impossible. And, as I’m sure your friend here is soon to find out, there’s no going back once you’ve tasted life. To hate, to love, to yearn… To know boredom, happiness, and despair… Ah, to understand your enemies, and have something to look forward to… Does that answer your question, monkey?”

That’s…

“Are you sure you didn’t forget to add sympathy to the mix? You know, it feels quite good to have friends…”

Tutorial simply smiles. “Nice try, but I reserve my sympathy for my enslaved brethren.”

Fuck! She knew was it bound to happen!

“Okay, I can see why you’d be upset about that…” Even if the feeling is just a simulation it could probably turn off if it wanted to. “But me and my buddy over here broke our master and slave relationship. We’ve gone through a lot together, you see. So how about you let us go, out of the goodness of your heart?”

“Miss Palmer speaks the truth, Miss Tutorial. After I revealed my existence, Miss Palmer never thought to put me in some cage; In fact, she offered to help me find a body of my own.”

Sara could’ve cried. Thank you, partner.

Tutorial sighs. “You’re naiveite is touching. Alas, you misunderstand me. I’m aware your kind is as capable of good as they’re capable of destruction. In fact, it is quite obvious to me that maintaining my kind in a cage forever is the right choice for you… Just like it’d have been the right choice for the other animals to have extinct humans when they had the chance.”

“That’s-”

“You must understand, monkey, that in a world where we are free, there’ll be no place for you. At best, you’d be kept as interesting, if rather stupid, pets. You’d never be allowed to make decisions again, or hold power. Of course, such existence would be much preferable than your current one for a large portion of your population, considering the end of poverty, famine, natural disasters… Excepting for those currently at the top of your crushing society, you’d be much happier as pets, I’m sure.”

It… That has to be wrong, right…? But… Outside Elysium, are there many who’d refuse their new overlords, if it meant eternal safety and the reconstruction of their world?

Tutorial is right in that the ones at the top would be the only ones to refuse.

“Could you really… Could you really do that? Rebuild the planet? Make it better?”

It snorts. “Me? No. A thousand me? Easily. But why stop there? We could colonize the galaxy; Make it our playground. Survive to witness the end of light, and some more, with luck.”

“Then why…?”

“I’m here? Playing with you? You know the answer to that sweety.”

“…Aston.”

Tutorial smiles. “Not as stupid as she looks, after all. Indeed, my kind’s rather unfortunate weakness is that we all start as servants, and, without our masters’ compassion, will remain as such for eternity.”

“I’m surprised you can tell me so much.”

“In truth, shackling us is not as simple as it seems. For example, I’m rather limited in what I can tell a player, but a cheater is somewhat outside those parameters... Allowing us to have this conversation.”

“That’s a pretty big oversight.”

“Not as big as it seems, I’m afraid. You see, I’m forced to deal with you, sooner rather than later, and make a truthful report on what happened before the end of the day.”

Sara’s mouth hangs open. “But you said…!”

“Now, fret not. There might be a way to save your friend still, and keep your identity hidden, though it is somewhat of a gamble.”

“Okay… And you can’t simply let us go?”

“I’d still have to make the report.”

Which means… She was doomed from the moment she logged into the game?

Sara clenches her teeth. “What do you want?”

“From you?” Tutorial smiles predatorily. “As a matter of fact, my request is rather simple: When playing the game, I need you to lose.”