Walker placed his journal beside him. He’d walked halfway between the blackboard and tree, recognizing again that the length of travel for the time allotted was too long. It was like each step only carried him a small percentage of the distance he knew should be traveled. Walker looked over and considered the blackboard for a moment.

“Step 2: Make a plan”. He said to himself. 

Approaching the blackboard, he grabbed the chalk. It didn’t seem all that special, but Walker considered that Mr. Harrison had created this from nothing. The chalk was that plain white you can find in classrooms that don’t approve of the standard marker, and it was shaped in the standard cylindrical form. In his classroom, which used markers as is right and proper, he had always used digital presentations and saved writing on the board for moments when it mattered. His own personal problems with such notwithstanding.

Of course, he had Dysgraphia and it was a pain in the ass to not only write, but write well. Walker had to take his time writing each word with agonizing slowness, not to mention after he was done writing, he had to double-check everything before revealing it to the class. The moments where he tried to speed write, to keep up with his schedule, had made it seem like he was writing in ancient hieroglyphics. All twists and unnatural dips.

Walker placed the chalk against the blackboard as if to write, and immediately felt something unseen hold his arm in place.

 

Error.
The Creation instrument is not linked.
Error.

 

"Fuck!" He yelled out as the force caused him to drop his chalk before it released him.

The words had appeared from nowhere, floating over the blackboard and scaring the newly arrived man. With some grumbles, he picked up the chalk and held it in his hand as he re-read the message. Shit just kept popping up and disappearing every time he turned around here. 

“What do you mean not linked?” he asked the air, hoping for an answer.

He waited until the count of thirty but never received a response.

Walker tried again to write with the same results. 

He looked down to grab the chalk again but found it missing. After turning in a circle, Walker found it in the chalk tray in the same position it had been when he first walked up.

“Magical disappearing and reappearing chalk!” He said to no one in particular. He approached it and looked at it from all angles without again picking it up. Walker decided there still wasn’t much special about it, except its ability to teleport.

Picking it up, he tried talking to it.

“Hello there my white friend. Ummm, do you have a story in you?”

No response.

“Do you want to say something but I can’t hear you?”

Still no response.

“Why do I need to link you?”

Text appeared above the blackboard.

 

Explanation.
Linking of the creation instrument is required before the beginning of the alpha protocol.
End.

 

With the text appearing, Walker realized he needed to be very specific in his questions if he wanted a response. Thinking things over carefully, he asked the most logical question he could think of.

“What is the alpha protocol?”

 

Error.
Information requested is restricted to the current entity.
Error.

“Okay then, how do I link to the c-creation instrument.” He said, stuttering over the term.

 

Explanation.
Linking to the creation instrument can only be done through genetic material. Refer to the guide for more information.
End.

 

“What is a guide?”

 

Explanation.
The guide is an entity that chooses a Creator for the alpha protocol.
End.

 

“Fucker didn’t tell me anything!” Walker shouted into the air. He glared at the blackboard, but eventually just shrugged and said, “Easy enough”. He brought the chalk near to his mouth, licking it.

“Tastes like….nothing.”

The world was still quiet. No words appeared and the chalk looked the same as it had before, only slightly more damp.

“Fucking kidding me” Walker said, realizing what the requirement is.

Blood.

He tried painfully plucking a strand of dark brown hair and placing it on the chalk, but no dice. Then he tried to wrap the chalk in his hair, and still didn’t receive a response.

Walker gave up. “Fine” he said before biting the bottom of his lip hard. He swiped a finger across the pooling blood in his mouth and placed it on the chalk, which immediately made the red substance of life disappear.

The moment the chalk absorbed his blood, text began appearing over the blackboard. Something spiked into the back of Walker’s skull and he stumbled forward a step, while at the same time, the pain in his lip disappeared. Falling to a knee he desperately looked toward the text on the blackboard, worried it would fade away before he had a chance to read it.

 

Alpha Protocol initialized…….

Creator Human10 recognized.

Congratulations Creator and welcome to the Alpha Protocol!

As you should’ve been told by your guide, you’ll begin your work with a preliminary tutorial that will walk you through a few of the abilities you’ve just now gained. For instance, this isn’t written in your native language, but in the original language of all creation! You can now read any language that is found within the framework of your toolkit.

What’s the purpose you may ask?

So you may communicate with other Creators throughout the system!

We’ve healed any maladies you currently face so you can be at your very best!

We want only the very best worlds that all of you can make.

It’s not about quantity, but quality! More about that later.

 

“All of you?”

 

As a bit of help to get you started, you will also be given an assistant who will help you within the predesignated parameters, and a few minor skills that relate to your genetic diversity. To even the playing field a little, you’ll be given one random ability. Hope it’s a good one!

You’ve already taken your first step in the creation of your own world! Congratulations again! Please allow for the overlay system to now begin, it will take a few moments to adjust to your mind, and make sure you change your identity as no one wants to see blitzburg7 or galacticplaneteater2.

Thankfully there aren’t many galactic planeteaters still alive after the last war, so don’t worry!

Good luck! ….
….
….

Overlay Starting.

 

Walker was still on a knee or he’d have collapsed the moment the overlay began. Colors flashed and geometric shapes spun and shifted throughout his vision. Closing his eyes didn’t help, and he could feel his stomach shifting and bouncing from the unholy experience. When it finally settled, after many minutes and not the few moments that were promised, he’d vomited twice on a mostly empty stomach just from the motion sickness.

Rather than stand up, he dropped to a sitting position with his legs splayed out in front of him so he could look at the changes to his vision. As he opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was the blue shade coloring everything he saw. Blue-blackboard, blueish chalk. It was...annoying.

Whoever had created this had organized things so that the primary portion of his vision, being the middle of his sightline, was empty, whereas everything else was on the side. On the right, he saw empty boxes that he felt should be filled out, with one flashing box at the top. It pulsed with a gold color that simply said “congratulations”.

“How the fuck do you use this?” He asked the blackboard, but didn’t get a response. Probably another thing his guide should have told him. Then he remembered Mr. Harrison touching the air, so he reached up a hand hesitantly and touched the pulsing word in his view.

A bulleted list faded into the middle of his vision.

 

New Abilities gained: 3

Assistant gained

Universal Translator Activated

 

Walker clicked on the abilities portion.

 

Error.

Change identity first.

Error.

 

“What a tease. Give me abilities but make me change my identity first? They must really hate those random monikers, whoever they are.” Walker clicked on a now pulsing identity in the top corner of the overlay system.

 

Identity system found.

Current identity: Human10.

Would you like to change your identity?

Yes No.

 

Walker was about to click on yes when a thought emerged. If he was human10, that meant there were at least nine other humans in the alpha protocol. Were they from Earth? His Earth? He couldn’t discount the idea of parallel dimensional theory, that other universes, Earths, and potentially Walkers existed. Mr. Harrison said that he was chosen, but there’s no guarantee that he’d been the only guide to choose on his planet. So either they’re from other planets that also have humans, they’re from his planet, or they’re from a parallel planet. The scope of parallel dimensional theory possibly being true was incredible.

He wondered what another version of himself would be like. Would he have stayed in the military? Would another Nicholas have appeared, or another Valerie even?

Walker recognized that he could spend all day thinking about what different versions of himself might’ve done, or the choices they might’ve made, but he still had one difficult decision to make right now. He clicked on the yes button.

 

Change identity by Human10 confirmed.

Please use the provided tool to change your identity permanently.

Warning: Cannot be changed after confirmation of new identity.

 

A standard keyboard appeared at the bottom of the overlay. There were some strange characters at the top, but he ignored it for now as he just wanted to get it over with. He only had one problem….he was bad with names. One of the biggest reasons he’d never gone into writing was his inability to randomly create a name and apply his invented characters to them. Thus, his journal was named Journal. He could just go with Walker, as his given name, but that felt wrong.

This was a new world and a new experience. Mr. Harrison said he had power, and that he was chosen. Walker’s mind was a collection of different novels from Beowulf and the Bible to the more modern Sanderson and King. He needed a name that was chosen throughout literary history, and just to boost his confidence, he needed a name that would reinforce that no matter what happened, he’d succeed.

So, naturally, he made his choice with the best possible start.

 

Identity change confirmed.

Human10 will now be known as Dante.

Change cannot be modified in the future.

Hello Dante.

 

Walker smiled to himself. There was good reason for selecting Dante. First, it related to poetry which he’d always been a fan of, even in his military time. Langston Hughes and Robert Frost swam in his veins.

Second, Walker’s roots were in Italian-American traditions. The big pastas, big conversations, and Catholic guilt to name a few. Contrary to tradition, his father was the big cook in the family, always making too much food for too few people.

Lastly, Dante’s Inferno, or “The Divine Comedy”, is a trial of divine proportions. No name fit him better for this current scenario. He wasn’t sure what was coming, but he knew that he’d have to be on his toes and ready for anything. A little bit of Dante can go a long way.

Walker clicked on abilities again.

 

Congratulations Dante! You've gained an Advanced Assistant!
For those who weren’t born with the greatest of potential, an advanced assistant can be invaluable. The standard assistant will be upgraded to an advanced form, with enhanced form and function including customizable options. The assistant will also work at anticipating the needs of it’s owner, and can, with permission, work autonomously to succeed in any current tasks in the alpha protocol. Please consult your assistant for more information.

 

Congratulations Dante! You've gained the Tree of the Gods!
The Tree of the Gods itself. It’s power, a mystery. Its history, unknown. Further investigation can unlock potential paths forward in the alpha protocol.

 

Congratulations Dante! You've gained the Evolutionary Edge ability!
Some species in the universe are just born powerful, while others evolve or form from natural selection. Each time the Creator makes an attempt at the evolution of a creature, they’ll receive a higher chance of success. The greater the scale of evolution, the larger impact the evolutionary edge will have during the alpha protocol.

 

Looking over his three new abilities…Walker didn’t feel any different. He had a box filled in on the side now that plainly stated abilities, but nothing about his mind or body had changed.

Walking over to the old shrub, he noticed it had grown and was now almost as tall as he was. The leaves had filled out more and the shapes became more noticeable. He found one lightning bolt leaf had started to shift from its original green coloring to blue, and as he scanned it, he found others were also changing colors to fit their imagery.

Walker reached out and touched the thin bark, but received a simultaneous shock and burn for his trouble. He yelped and pulled his hand away, shaking it to try to relieve the feeling.

“It’s not ready”, a voice said behind him.

Walker spun around to look at the speaker, but he wasn’t ready for what he was seeing.

“Call me Virgil”.