The Connected System

WELCOME TO THE CONNECTION

The words filled Loch’s vision. His head hurt. His entire body hurt. He couldn’t hear anything.

YOUR WORLD HAS REACHED THE THRESHOLD. IT HAS NOW BEEN JOINED TO THE CONNECTED SYSTEM AS A HUNTING AND RESOURCE REALM. THIS MEANS MANY CHANGES TO YOUR WORLD. THE GREATEST OF WHICH IS THAT TECHNOLOGY NO LONGER WORKS. SPIRIT IS THE LIFE OF YOUR WORLD.

AND NOW YOU.

AS A PART OF THE CONNECTION, YOUR BODY HAS BEEN CHANGED TO HARNESS AND UTILIZE THE SPIRIT OF THE WORLD AROUND YOU. WITH SPIRIT YOU CAN DO AMAZING THINGS. AS YOU PROGRESS AND GAIN IN SPIRIT, YOU WILL BECOME STRONGER.

The words faded.

As did the pain.

The world came back into focus. First the dashboard. Loch’s head was against the steering wheel, he could feel the rubber. Lifting his head he looked out the window. Everything was the same, but not.

He couldn’t tell what was different. He just knew something was.

Besides the large crack in the road.

Shaking his head, struggling to unfasten his seat belt, Loch opened his door.

He went to step out, felt nothing beneath his feet, somehow managing to fall back into the SUV and not out the door into the void. Cautiously, Loch looked down.

The crack had come right under the car. The front tire was only six inches or so from the edge. Somehow they’d not fallen into the abyss.

And it was an abyss.

Loch couldn’t see the bottom. It was dark. A night with no stars kind of dark.

He forced his heart to calm down. It was beating a mile a minute.

At least the SUV was on solid ground.

For now.

He looked across the wide crack.

The other vehicle, and the guy, were gone.

It didn’t look like they’d fallen into the chasm. It didn’t veer more in that direction. It had run pretty straight between the two cars. Loch could even see the impressions in the dirt where the car had been.

Both the man and car were just gone.

“Kelly?,” he said, sliding fully back into his car. “Harper? Piper? Are you all okay?”

“I think so,” Harper said, sounding groggy.

“Ow,” Piper added.

Kelly didn’t answer.

The seat was empty. Her door was open.

But Kelly wasn’t there. Loch slid over more, trying to see into the woods, looking in front of the car and trying to look around everything in the back. He couldn’t see Kelly.

“Stay there,” he ordered the girls.

Loch cursed, sliding into the passenger seat, legs still in the drivers. He worked his way around, getting his legs out the door. It was awkward, but he managed.

With little discomfort.

Which was a surprise.

Loch kept in shape. Decent for his mid-40s age. Not as good as he could have been, but there was no sign of a gut.

Yet.

And he could hike a mountain.

But that maneuver to get out of the driver’s side, across the center console, onto the passenger seat and out the door? That should have been harder to do.

YOUR BODY HAS BEEN CHANGED

Is that what the words had said?

The strange floating words.

Words that shouldn’t have existed.

Feet hit the ground, Loch fully out of the car. He looked everywhere, scanning the ground for signs of Kelly’s passage.

Or Kelly herself.

Maybe she’d fallen out of the car.

Fully seatbelted, which he had to struggle to get out of, she would have somehow fallen out of the car. Not likely.

He could hope.

There were no visible footsteps, not that he was any kind of tracker. But if she had walked off, there would be a sign. Right? There had to be a sign.

Nothing.

His wife had disappeared.

Just like that guy.

What was going on?

“Dad,” Harper said.

The girls. He had to take care of the girls. Focus on them.

Were they hurt? They sounded okay, but was that just shock?

Loch opened the passenger side rear door, Harper’s side. He could see his oldest. Blond hair, blue eyes. Tall. The athlete in the family. Good at any sport she tried.

And she tried them all.

She looked at him, confused, eyes a little blank.

“I was hurting,” she said. “But I think I’m okay.”

Loch looked her over. He didn’t see any blood on her exposed arms and legs. Nothing soaking through her tank top or shorts. Aside from the confused look, she did seem fine.

He leaned into the car, looking past Harper to Piper.

His youngest looked more shell shocked, but otherwise fine. Shorter blond hair, green eyes, not as thin as her sister. Piper was the more creative one. The helper, always wanting to make or do something. No visible blood or wounds on her either.

“What’s happening,” she asked.

Loch had no answers.

He stood up, hands on the top of the car, looking up and down the road again. They were in the same spot. He recognized most of the trees. More had fallen, making a mess. The crack would stop them from moving forward, but he thought he could drive the car backwards around the corner. There was some room between the edge of the woods and the crack, no big rocks to get in the way. He could make it work.

Keep the girls out of the car. Just in case.

Find Kelly first.

Find Kelly.

He shook his head, trying to focus. His thoughts were everywhere. Loch prided himself on being calm under pressure. He was kind of calm now. A little. Some. At least looking like he was calm.

He really wasn’t.

It was too much.

“What were those words,” Piper asked.

Loch looked back into the car, surprised. She had seen them too?

“That was weird,” Harper said, rubbing at her temples.

Harper as well?

What was going on?

The words had said something about joining the Connection. Whatever the hell that was. Connected Realms? Spirit?

It was too much.

He had to find Kelly.

“Where’s mom,” Harper asked, realizing her mother was missing.

“Mom’s gone,” Piper said.

Loch could hear the panic in her voice. He wanted to grab her and just hold her close, let her know she was safe. He couldn’t do that right now. He had to find Kelly.

And figure out what the hell was happening.

“Mom,” Piper said.

Harper leaned out of the car, looking up at Loch. He shook his head. She nodded.

“Hey Pipes,” Harper said, leaning over to her sister. “It’s okay. Dad’s got it under control.”

Loch wished that was true.

“Stay here,” he said, walking around to the rear of the SUV.

There was nothing there. No tracks.

Thankfully nobody.

Should he go into the woods a bit, see if she had wandered there?

He didn’t want to think about her wandering in the other direction, toward the crack. Loch looked across the road, where the other car and guy had been. What had happened to them? The car and guy had disappeared. It didn’t look like the car had fallen into the chasm.

Had Kelly gone off with them? Maybe to get help?

Why wouldn’t she have tried to wake him and the girls up? Wandering off with a stranger wasn’t something Kelly would do.

And how would she have gotten across the chasm? It was as wide as the road.

THE SPIRIT IN THE WORLD WILL GROW AND DEVELOP NEW RESOURCES, ADAPT EXISTING CREATURES, CREATE NEW CREATURES AND BRING BACK LEGENDARY CREATURES. AS A NEW HUNTING/RESOURCE REALM IN THE CONNECTION, EARTH IS NOW OPEN TO PORTALS TO THE OTHER WORLDS IN THE CONNECTED SYSTEM. THE OTHER BEINGS OF THE CONNECTION WILL VISIT, LOOKING TO CONQUER NEW TERRITORY FOR THEIR CLANS IN ORDER TO CLAIM THE UNTAPPED RESOURCES THAT EARTH WILL HAVE TO OFFER.

AS ONE OF THE SURVIVORS OF EARTH’S ADAPTION TO BECOME ONE OF THE CONNECTED, YOU WILL HAVE TO FIGHT TO SURVIVE IN THIS NEW WORLD.

Loch didn’t like that last line. He read it again. The words were light blue, hovering in the air in front of him. He reached out, trying to touch them, but couldn’t. Were they just in his vision?

What did it mean by survivors? He moved to the side of the SUV, stumbling as the floating words messed up his balance.

“Survivors,” Piper asked. “What? MOM!!,” she screamed, her young mind jumping to a conclusion.

Loch wanted to run to her side of the car, hold her, but it was too close to the edge of the chasm. Instead he moved to Harper’s side, crouching down at her open door. He tried to stay calm.

The words in his vision were frustrating. He could see Harper and Piper through them, the images semi-translucent. It was odd.

And it was horrible.

He wanted the words gone.

They vanished.

He blinked. They stayed gone.

He had thought it and the words vanished.

Loch focused on Piper.

“Pipes,” he said, trying to infuse his words with calm, trying to get her to become calm. He could see the death grip Piper had on her sister’s hand. “It’s okay. I’m here. Harper is here. We’ll find mom.”

She took a deep breath, on the verge of tears. Slowly Piper nodded, letting the breath out. Loch knew she was on the edge of panic, but he’d take what he could get.

He was proud of both girls for not freaking out. That was something he wanted to do. Freak the hell out.

But he couldn’t.

Not yet.

THE RESOURCES OF EARTH ARE THERE TO BE CLAIMED. BUT YOU ALL, HUMANS AND VISITORS, WILL HAVE TO FIGHT FOR THEM. EACH FIGHT WILL CLAIM SOME OF THE SPIRIT OF THE WORLD. USE THAT SPIRIT TO GROW STRONGER. THE MORE POWERFUL YOU BECOME, THE MORE RESOURCES YOU CAN CLAIM.

GROWTH IS THE WAY OF THE CONNECTION. TO GROW STRONGER IS TO SURVIVE.

THE CYCLE WILL CONTINUE.

DURING THE ADAPTION, YOUR BODY WAS SCANNED BY THE CONNECTION AND ALSO ADAPTED. YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN STATS BASED ON THE SCAN. ALL NEWLY CONNECTED HUMANS WILL START OFF AT LEVEL ONE WITH A RACE RANK OF F. CLASSES CAN BE SELECTED UPON REACHING LEVEL FIVE. RACES WILL BE UPGRADED THROUGH ACTIONS AND EXPERIENCE.

WELCOME TO THE CONNECTION.

The new words faded. Loch took a deep breath. Nothing in the words sounded good. It sounded like the plot to a bad video game. Even the reference to Classes and Levels sounded like something out of a game.

He looked up at the sun. It had been late afternoon. Looking down at his watch, normally connected to his phone, he cursed.

It wasn’t working.

“Harper, check your phone.”

She cursed. He didn’t scold her for it.

“Not working.”

“Mine isn’t either,” Piper said.

He pulled out his phone. It was completely off.

“I had plenty of battery,” Harper said.

The phone wasn’t turning on.

Whatever had taken out the phones, he’d heard that EMP pulses could do that, would have done the same to the car. It was dead. The key was still in the ignition, with the doors open, and there was no beeping. Dead. Drained of power.

Useless.

Loch sighed. They weren’t far from civilization. There would be homes not more than a mile or two down the road. Some stores not much further. And backing up, going the way they had come, there would be more homes and stores. Gas stations and the like. It would be further to go backwards.

But that would mean leaving the area.

Possibly leaving Kelly.

Loch didn’t know what to do.

The sound of fighting came from behind them, the way they had come, around the bend in the road. Not normal fighting. There was the shout of men, grunts of pain. But it sounded different. Stranger. Some of the grunts were loud and deep. Also the sound of metal on metal, or metal striking wood.

No gunfire.

He heard words. Distant, but not in english. Or any language he recognized.

“Pipes, do not open your door,” Loch said in his third voice. The one that said ‘listen and do it without arguing’. It wasn’t a voice he used often. The girls knew what it meant. This was serious. She looked out her window, eyes wide with fear when she saw how close the chasm was. Piper scooted closer to her sister’s side. For once, Harper didn’t complain about her space being invaded. “Stay here.”

Loch stood up, gently closing Harper’s door. He moved to the back of the SUV, popping the hatch. With one eye on the sounds of fighting, Loch quickly searched through all the camping gear. Tents, sleeping bags, coolers, lanterns, grill. He found his axe.

Sometimes Loch thought about getting a gun for when they camped in the woods. Something he never got around to getting. Now he wished he had.

The axe wasn’t a weapon, it was a tool.

It was a nice axe, for what it’s intended purpose.

About a foot and half long. Axe head on one side, hammer on the other. Made of a black metal, with the handle covered in molded orange plastic.

Holding it in one hand, Loch closed the hatch. He took a couple steps away from the car, watching the fight emerge around the corner.