Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Juggling the bread to my left hand as I grabbed the milk I couldn't help but notice the prices. Up again. It doesn't need to be said at this point, but reality sucks. It feels like every day things get just that little bit worse and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

Maybe it was just me, feeling worn down with the world? Like I had hit a dead end in life and there just wasn't enough optimism left in the tank for me to make a move, for better or for worse. Contentment through exhaustion and apathy.

I wonder if anyone else ever feels like that?

Walking up the counter I plopped them down, nodding to the guy manning the till. I watched as he rung it up. “And twenty Benson and Hed-”

The world dissolved into golden beams of light as I fell, gravity tearing my body down and down and down, that falling drop you get on a roller-coaster hitting every organ and bone in my body in an instant. I tried to scream but my mouth was too heavy to move, frozen in place. Everything was frozen as the universe roared purple through my brain and then I slammed into reality.

I was left standing and panting in horror and shock. What had just happened? What was that?

I was in a dark room lit only by the harsh red glow of emergency lighting, bright enough only to illuminate the surroundings and cast everything in a dim red, but leaving most of the details hidden in shadow.

There was a large blank screen that covered the far wall, several consoles arranged before it with empty chairs. To either side was an dozen more recessed computers with the occasional seat, also empty. I didn't want to turn around, because I had noticed as soon as I... landed? Arrived?

There were people behind me and despite being a grown ass man, I was too scared to turn around. This was too much, too fast and I wasn't coping well. I mean, what even was this?

Still, the future waits for no man, and the clearing of a throat behind me made that abundantly clear. What was I, a man or a mouse?

I turned and... was that two girls? Two young girls had been standing behind me, maybe mid teens? The lacking light made it hard to tell precisely, but one looked Asian and the other Caucasian. Strangely hued black hair and yellow contacts (maybe to match with the yellow jumper she wore?) and a frankly scandalously short skirt. Now, I wasn't a prude, but I don't think something that looks like a school uniform should include a micro-skirt. Maybe it was just me? Was I the strange one? Had the world passed me by, the new wave riding high on the promise of eight inch skirts? Was this really the time to be staring at the the vicinity of a (possibly) schoolgirl's thighs?

I wrenched my gaze away to the other girl. Several inches shorter than me and whip thin, she had rather thick, long brown hair. She wore glasses and was still at that awkward teenager stage where they hadn't yet blossomed into the person they would become. She looked... drained. I think she was the one that had cleared her throat.

I flickered my gaze back and forth between them for a second, unsure what to say, what was happening, how it was happening and more importantly, maybe, why it was happening.

“Hi”, I tried.

“Hi” Glasses responded. Yellow jumper raised a hand in half greeting, seemingly as unsure as I was. I noticed her eyes darted to the glasses girl briefly, seemingly following her lead.

“HI!?” I stressed and hoped it carried enough of an inflection to indicate the unasked questions. There was a lot of subtext in that word.

“This really isn't easier the second time.” said Glasses to Yellow Jumper. She looked back at me and took a deep breathe “Hi. Again. Do you want to have a seat? We've got a lot to talk about. I promise I'll will answer all your questions.” she gestured behind her to where several seats sat before a raised section of the room that ran behind them. The seats were faced towards me, towards the big screen in the wall.

Something in the back of my head was screaming for attention, a subtle pulse of disassociation that I was just too overwhelmed to handle. There was quite enough to be getting on with I feel.

Truth be told I was feeling rather faint and jittery, the sudden fright flowing away but leaving my body flush with adrenaline and tension that couldn't just settle down. Taking a seat would help me, but it was also a subtle ceding of the situation. And right now? I could use all the control I could muster. It wasn't a smart choice, driven by obstinacy and bullheadedness, but since when had anyone ever accused me of being smart?

“Normally I'd probably sit, but standing feels good right now. Thanks though.” I said. Glasses frowned but seemed to shrug it off. She bit her lip and her mouth formed a thin line. It's obvious she was deeply uncomfortable by what was happening.

“Right, um. What first?” she said and I had the feeling it was directed more at herself. Or maybe just the room at large.

“Right. Right, this is, er, complicated. I kind of rambled doing this with Yotsuya.” she rambled.

I glanced at Yellow Jum- Yotsuya, who was half smiling at Glasses. “Yeah, I'm getting that” I said. Shit. That was rude, wasn't it? Kind of uncalled for. Well, spilled juice and all that. “Maybe just... start at the beginning?” I said in what I hoped was a slightly conciliatory way.

“Right. Well, even if you're not going to sit, I am. This is a long story.” said Glasses, exhaustion colouring her words. She sat in one of the chairs facing the screen behind me. Yotsuya- where had I heard that name before?- joining her.

Now that I had a chance to, my eyes raked over the raised section that swooped around the chairs they sat in like a crescent. There was a door back there, metal to join the walls around us. Another was off to my right, to the direct left of that door. My brain was buzzing, but I forced my attention back to the girls.

“My name is Tayor, Taylor Hebert, and I was born on a world called Earth Bet.” Taylor said after a deep breath. “Decades ago, powers began appearing across my world. Some people gained the ability to fly and shoot lasers, or became strong enough to lift buildings. Some became smart enough to create stuff out of science fiction. Which is why we call it Earth Bet- we already punched a hole into an alternate reality, which we called Earth Aleph.” She paused and stared at me. Maybe to give me time to digest, but, well... I didn't need to.

Because WHAT?

I took a deeper look at her face and... I could sort of see it. The descriptions from the web novel could probably be used to describe the young girl in front of me. If you squinted.

This wasn't possible. This isn't happening. I've gone crazy, I must have.

“With the rise of Heroes, came the rise of Villains.” she explained. “The world became filled with hero and villain teams, and it looked like that was just going to be how the world was. But then... things, started showing up. Giant monsters, with powers stronger than the strongest hero. They just... wouldn't die. They attacked cities again and again. Destroying them. And we couldn't stop them” Taylor continued, a faint hint of passion beginning to echo in her voice.

“At first there were three, but then more came. Four, then five. There where eight by the time... . Our greatest hero's were lost one by one. The strongest woman in the world was drowned” her voice cracked slightly but she continued on “The strongest hero disappeared with a trace. Heroes and Villains just... stopped trying to stop them. The Endbringers. That's the, uhm, monsters. That's what we called them... things were hard. And then a government report leaked that, this was it.” Taylor shrugged almost helplessly. “We couldn't stop them. The heroes couldn't, the Villains couldn't, we were going to lose. Humanity. Humans. We were all going to lose. Die. We were all going to die.”

That's... not what happened. That's not how any of it happened. Think, think. This couldn't even be a prank, unless someone slipped me some really strong shit. But no. I drove my fingernails into my palms and bit my lip and OW. Yeah. This wasn't...

So if it's real and I'm not crazy- if I was, then what do I do? Just stare at the wall blankly and pretend none of this was happening- then, what? This was an alternate Earth Bet, with an Alternate Taylor and... why was I here? How? WHY?

“But then, someone reached out to me. No.” Taylor stood up suddenly, staring straight into my eyes. “Some... THING, reached out to me. I don't know what it was, but it was... so, so powerful. Powerful enough that the Endbringers are nothing to it. I don't know how to explain it. Maybe it just Mastered me. Maybe I'm going crazy right now-” Yeah, you and me too kid “-but it offered me a deal. A challenge. A way to earn power and save my planet” her chin rose sharply, staring at me almost defiantly.

“I don't care. I'm going to do it. I'm going to complete that thing's challenge, and earn the power to save my home.” She was serious. She was really serious about this.

“Okay.” I said. What else was there to say? Because nothing had changed. The vague mentions of what was possibly the most handwaved existence in fiction didn't make it more impossible than it already was. We had already boarded the crazy train and I didn't see an exit sign.

“Okay?” said Taylor brusquely. I don't think that was what she was expecting, which, fair. It was a crazy answer to a crazy story.

“Okay. Say that's what happened. That that's,” I waved a hand around vaguely “true. How does that lead into,” and then not so vaguely, indicating the room. “here. This.”

“It's true.” she said forcefully. I don't think she's very happy with me.

“Okay. And... this?” I replied.

“It's a spaceship.” Yep. Very much not happy with me. And what?

I took another look around and that quiet little screaming at the back of my mind? That's been begging for attention since the moment I arrived at... here. Well, it said it looks very much like a ships bridge out of a sci-fi show.

“A spaceship? You're missing a few key steps there luv.” She's not the only one getting in a snippy mood. She may have signed on for some challenge originating from a being beyond time and space, but I was in it for some damn shopping. And that was it.

“It's the challenge. I have to take the ship and go somewhere and do something. There's this... point system. Thing. For powers. If I do it in Five years, I get a hundred million Credits. Every year afterwards drops it by a million.” snapped Taylor. Yotsuya looked back and forth between us, troubled.

“Go somewhere and do something? Real informative there. You're real good at this explaining thing.” Five years? Seemingly at the earliest? Oh, there was the faintness. Was it getting worse? That chair was looking more and more like a good choice. Why did I not choose it again?

“I DON'T KNOW!” Taylor screamed suddenly. Her face crumpled and she started to cry. Yotsuya jumped up from her chair to hug her. Wrapping the crying girl in a hug, the yellow eyed girl shot me a glare. Great, now I felt like shit. I was popping attitude at a teenage girl and made her cry. Great job.

“I've been here two months and I can't even get the lights started properly! It's too much, it's too complicated and there's not enough... not enough...” Taylor buried her head in Yotsuya's shoulder and sobbed. The Asian girl gently directed her back to her previous seat, leaning in to keep the hug going.

I gently lowered myself to the floor. God damn it, I'm the adult in the room. Act like it.

“I'm sorry. I, I didn't mean to take this out on you. I'm just... not dealing with this,” I waved a hand vaguely, significance attached again. Hopefully. Maybe they thought I just had a terrible twitch. “very well. Sorry.”

Yotsuya patted the teen on the back, not entirely smoothly. I'm guessing they don't know each other that well? “Ano-” she paused. “Excuse me. Sorry. I know some of the details that Heber, eh, T-Taylor explained to me.” she paused again, seemingly waiting for a response. Now that I looked, she was also looking kind of stressed. I nodded.

“When she accepted the Challenge, she was teleported to this Spaceship, alone. Apparently while here, no time in our home universes is passing and we... don't age. Or so she was told. We have this kind of system, that shows up in our head. Like a video game.” she said in a rather strange accent. Yotsuya, Yotsuya, where did I know that name from? And what accent was that?

Hmm, wait, what was that? A system?

“You can buy things from it, if you have Credits. And you get points from daily challenges that are seemingly based on you. You can use it to buy from the shop, from basic items to things out of Science fiction. And... powers.” she trailed off as I held up a hand.

“Processing. Processing right now.” I said.

“It's a lot to take in.” she agreed.

Powers. I disappear from a shopping trip, appear in a spaceship with a character from fiction- my eyes slid to Yotsuya, and it niggled- possibly, no, probably two characters from fiction. I had the option to gain powers.

I gently reclined from my sitting position to lay back fully on the floor and threw my hands up. I was done. Done thinking, done being shocked and bewildered, just. Just done.

“Screw it. Keep going.”

“... Yes. As the designated Captain, and the focus of the Challenge, Heb-Taylor has an additional suite of options in her System. She can, ehm, Summon Crew Members. These crew cost her Credits. And those are... rather tight.” Yotsuya trailed off.

“Why is that?” I asked rather dutifully. It was the only suitable response. Do you ever get that? The flow of conversation where your next lines are compelled by the person speaking, by convention and good manners? A flow of momentum that you have no choice but to participate in.

“There's no food on this ship. Most of the Credits we earn are taken up by just living. And it's a spaceship. It didn't come with instructions. She had to buy information primers that give some details on how to run basic functions. To turn on life support. And how to put on an EVA suit.” She trailed off again.

Damn it girl, give me some options here.

“What did she need to do that for?” I asked.

“To attach some solar panels to the ship. She had to go out an airlock to attach it manually.” Yotsuya... bragged? Hyped up. Taylor had gathered herself somewhat at this point, her sobs subsiding, but still clinging to Yotsuya.

And, yeah. Fuck that. I'm not walking outside a ship into space. Girl has some balls on her.

All of a sudden I feel rather claustrophobic. Am I seriously in space? Is it just me, or is the room spinning?

“Fuck that.” I said and Yotsuya nodded in agreement.

“There's not enough power, or Credits to do much. So she needs to summon more crew to try to get more Credits and get help. That's how I got here a few weeks ago. She, ehm, summoned me. For help.”

“Okay. So... that's why I'm here? She used her summoning powers? Is it just, what, random?” I asked. It just wasn't adding up.

At that Taylor stirred, leaning away from Yotsuya and taking a deep breath.

“It doesn't work like that. The default summoning option has certain, er, parameters. Like, my sex and age. So a girl and fifteen. Uhm. But when I got here, I had certain vouchers. For purchases?” Taylor said. I nodded along.

“The real bottleneck right now is earnable Credits. Me and Yotsuya,” she paused “Yotsuya and I, can bring in about thirty Credits a day. But a basic summoning costs a hundred. For each year older I make the summon, it costs another twenty. And if I want to add a codeword, um, stuff that narrows the summoned person down, it goes up hundreds. Thousands.” Taylor shook her head in despair. “But of those thirty Credits, we have to spent about twenty just for food and other stuff. It's just not...” she paused, visibly grappling for words.

“So I used up nearly all my vouchers on a new summon. One optimised for earning lots of Credits. You” Taylor finished. Pressure? What pressure? What expectations?

“It kind of gives you a job you can do a number of times a day to earn Credits. Yotsuya has to draw these kind of, scary pictures. Five times a day, and she gets three for each. And I need to do random exercises. Sit ups, jogging, stuff like that. Just... just think of pulling up the system. And it pops up.”

The way the two of them still clung to each other... they hadn't had it easy, had they? If Yotsuya (where was she from? And was that her given name? Yotsuya sounded like a family name) had only been here for a few weeks, then Taylor had been alone for over a month. Alone in a dark place, seemingly without power, forced to spend most of her precious resources just to survive, scrapping together what she could to get help? All to ostensibly save her planet.

So I focused on bringing some sort of system up, and... there it was.

My vision was overlaid with multiple tabs and options. Summonable Items, System Upgrades, Power Purchases, Power Upgrades.

“I got it. Give me a moment.” the teen girls nodded in agreement.

I flicked through the items quickly and... I could see why.


300ml Bottle Water: 2 Credits. Contains (1) small plastic bottle. 270ml water. May contain trace pollutants and/or micro plastics.


Yeah, figures.

A bowl of cereal for three Credits, or a large box of cereal for ten.

Hm, looks like it all scales. The harshest part is getting past the early Credit poverty to afford the larger purchases.

I continued flicking through menus until I found it.


Missions: 1/24. Redeem for a mission token. Complete mission token to Redeem for Credits. 31:29.

Active Missions: 0/1.


So one mission an hour and I could store up to 24? Plus an active? I flicked back to the System Upgrades and found a bevy of upgrades to all of it. Storage, Active, refresh, even reward scale? And difficulty?

The costs made me wince though. Fifty Credits for an Active slot? A hundred for a Storage?

Wait, how was I using the system so seamlessly? It's not like I had prior experience using some thought based magic system. Was it really that easy?

I activated the mission.

…

And stared.

And stared.

“Okay... Taylor, what, exactly, were the Vouchers you used?” I asked tonelessly. The question seemed to surprise her and she focused intently on nothing, staring off into space. Was that what I looked like just now?

“Eh, Bountiful times three, they give the summoned user's missions higher base rewards. Extreme Mission, which ramps up the difficulty for enhanced rewards. And eh, the Meta Voucher. It, seemed like it would help?” Taylor trailed off uneasily. “Why? Is it... difficult?”

I stared at her and then at the window only I could see. Or at least, that I hoped only I could see.

“Well... I hope you kept a refund Voucher handy.”