Defiance of the Fall Chapter 1: Roll For Survival

[Initiating System]

[Welcome to the Multiverse.]

A frigid, mechanical voice resonated in Zac’s ears. Or was it inside his head? He wondered while scanning his surroundings in a state of bewilderment. Nothing in his existence had prepared him for this moment, and for a heartbeat, he suspected a catastrophic solar eclipse was taking place. Total and absolute darkness met his gaze. He was the only thing visible, illuminated by an unseen light source as if he were under a spotlight in a void of black.

“Heatstroke?” he whispered tentatively, though this sensation didn't mirror any heat-induced hallucination he knew. Before he could investigate these confusing occurrences further, the flat voice cut through his thoughts.

[Planet Earth scanning complete. Low F-grade mass, ungraded energy.]

[Adjusting]

[Due to insufficient energy and size, planet Earth will be merged with additional planets drafted for initiation. New values: Low D-grade mass, low D-grade energy. Topography readjusted. Spawn points randomized based by cohorts. Wildlife upgraded due to insufficient challenge. Link to the Multiverse system activated.]

“What? Hello?” he yelled, or at least he attempted to, but the oppressive darkness acted as a muffler, swallowing every sound. The voice appeared oblivious to his cries, or perhaps it simply didn't care.

The situation was beginning to feel far too tangible to be a complex prank or a medical emergency. Zac gave himself a sharp pinch; the resulting sting confirmed he wasn't unconscious.

Attempting to find logic in the strange voice’s ramblings only deepened his confusion. It referenced Earth but utilized terminology that seemed ripped from a sci-fi flick or an RPG. However, the voice offered Zac no chance to process the data as it continued its relentless drone.

[Initiating Incursions. Spawning Herald]

[ERROR! Herald occupying same space as you! Adjusting]

A harsher, louder version of that same robotic voice cut itself off.

The threatening tone and the message sent Zac’s heart racing, leaving him with a hollow feeling in his gut. This madness felt far too real, and if it was, he was in serious trouble. He had been told he was sharing space with some "herald," and by any metric, that couldn't be a good sign.

Choosing to be cautious, he tried to leap to the side to dodge whatever was coming, but it felt as if he were drifting in a vacuum. He went through the motions of jumping, yet he remained pinned to the same spot.

[Merge unfeasible. Protocol SL-34572 initiated.]

Phew. At least he wouldn't be fused into some human-herald hybrid. Still, the realization that the voice was prepared to meld him with another entity was deeply disturbing, and his anxiety was rapidly escalating into terror.

Zac tried to mentally force himself to wake up, even delivering a sharp slap to his own face when that failed. Nothing changed; he remained trapped in the void.

[Roll for survival. Due to the massive power gap between Herald UrKhaz and you, odds heavily in his favor.]

“SHIT!” Zac yelled, though it came out as more of a squeak. Full-blown panic took hold, and adrenaline flooded his system. “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?”

His demands were met with nothing but silence until a rift appeared in the dark. Out of nowhere, a glowing screen manifested in front of him, suspended in the air.

The window resembled an interface from an old-school video game, blue with white borders and text. The absurdity of it caused him to freeze for several seconds before the content of the screen finally registered.

It looked exactly like a game prompt, and that familiarity briefly soothed him until the gravity of the text hit home. At that point, his panic returned with a vengeance, bordering on hysteria.

The window indicated a competitive roll between himself and this herald, but the stakes weren't loot—they were their very lives. The ranges for the roll were blatantly biased toward his rival, leaving Zac with pathetic odds of making it out alive.

“Hello? This isn't funny anymore. Let me out!” he shrieked, clinging to the fading hope that this was some twisted experiment. But the reality of his predicament was settling in. Zac stared at the display with a numb expression, trying to grasp the visual data.

“This is insane. You want me to bet on these odds? Why the hell would I roll?” Zac muttered. The moment the word "roll" left his lips, the interface shifted, and the digits beside his name began to cycle rapidly.

[Protocol SL-34572 accepted by participant. Rolling]

“No, no, no, wait, wait. Stop. Let's find another way!” he cried out, flailing his arms in a desperate bid to halt the process. Regardless of his actions, the numbers continued to spin. It felt as though they were counting down the final moments of his life on Earth.

Zac’s panic began to sour into fury at the unfairness of the situation. He felt rage at the total lack of information. He felt rage at the voice’s insulting evaluation of him, seeing the blatant favoritism shown to this UrKhaz person. He felt rage at the deceptive way the voice had triggered the roll, as if it were simply hunting for a loophole to proceed.

With a crimson haze clouding his blue eyes, Zac let out a roar and struck the floating screen, trying to vent his breaking emotions. The screen didn't shatter into fragments as he hoped; it merely flickered under the impact.

Ignoring his physical outburst, the digits flickered again, and the spinning slowed until a final result was reached. Almost like a taunt, an infuriating line appeared where the roll button had been.

The message regarding the reroll drained the last of his strength. It actually wasn't a terrible result. In a video game, he would have definitely secured the drop, he thought with a dark sense of irony. But he was well aware by now that this was no game.

A small part of him still hoped he was just dying in the woods from heatstroke. Even if that were true, he was likely finished anyway. He was either being killed by the sun or some digital deity. Neither conclusion was what he had envisioned for his life. Caught between laughter and tears, his expression settled into a grimace as he stared blankly ahead.

Of course, a sliver of hope remained since the other party hadn't rolled yet. But it hardly seemed to matter when the deck was stacked. He glanced at the screen one more time, his eyes lingering on the potential roll range of his opponent.

The grin slowly faded from his features. A long sigh escaped him, and he sank into a sitting position, eyes closed. Zac’s vitality had been completely depleted by the emotional turbulence. All that remained was a heavy sense of hopelessness, realizing the end had arrived. He would die alone in the wilderness, never getting the chance to bid his family farewell.

Zac didn't experience any grand revelations or massive regrets as his life neared its end, only a simple wish that he had been closer to his family. His thoughts wandered to past memories, seeking a final refuge from the madness.

He remembered his sister, her long brown hair brushing against him during a hug. He saw his father’s tired, quiet smile as he left for work, eyes weary but filled with affection. He thought of his youth spent glued to a computer screen, mostly neglecting his younger sibling. He recalled college years lost to parties and drinking. He remembered his first day on the job, and the sharp realization of how unprepared he was for adulthood despite nearly two decades of education.

[Protocol SL-34572 accepted by Herald. Rolling]

The flat voice spoke again, sounding like an executioner delivering a final sentence.

[Congratulations!]

Zac didn't even acknowledge the voice; his memories continued to flash by. Friends, family, moments of joy and sorrow. It wasn't the most thrilling life, but it belonged to him.

Wait, what? Congratulations? His eyes flew open, refocusing on the display.

He stared at the screen in a daze until the voice broke through his stunned silence.

[Protocol results in the continued existence of Zachary Atwood. UrKhaz vanquished. Resuming standard protocols.]

A violent eruption of light, sound, and color followed, shattering his focus and making his stomach churn. His body felt suddenly engulfed in flames, as if he were being flayed and seared simultaneously. The final images he caught before losing consciousness were the small forest clearing he had vanished from and a massive crimson pillar piercing the sky.