The Earthborn (A PftA Adjacent Story)- Chapter One

A/N: For those of you curious about what happened to Justin in the original timeline...This is the original POV my story was meant to follow. I decided to go with Emie's POV to make things easier on me, but I held on to the first bit of the original story anyway. I abandoned it when I started focusing on PftA, but depending on what you guys think, I may pick it back up. Let me know :)

Chapter One – Initialization

"Amie!" I exclaimed as my precocious four-year-old smashed the sandcastle I'd been building. She laughed uproariously and took off for the blanket I'd spread under a beach tent, leaving me covered in the remnants of my creation.

"Get back here, you!" I said, quickly catching up to the little blonde before she made more of a mess. She looked so much like her mother that it sometimes caught me off guard. The self-satisfied expression on her face could have been an age-regressed version of Melony.

Thankfully, I'd come to terms with my ex-wife leaving us long ago, the pain of betrayal having been dulled in the years since she left. Aside from looks, Amie shared little in common with her mother.

I scooped her up before she covered the mostly clean blanket with sand, letting out a fake villain cackle as I carried her, screaming, to the waves.

"No, Daddy!" she pleaded, wiggling in my arms as I carried her to the water. "No! It's cold!"

I had no intention of throwing my child in the still-cool ocean in early April, though the weather was plenty warm to enjoy the sandy beach in a pair of shorts and a tee shirt. There were even a few who were braving the cool waters without bothering with a wetsuit.

Crazy.

But this was all a part of our play, this exchange between my daughter and me, so I dutifully carried her into the waves until they reached mid-shin and started swinging her as if preparing to toss her into the ocean.

She squealed with a mix of excitement and fear as she grasped my shirt tightly, knowing I wouldn't let go while giving in to the thrill of possibility.

"What do you say?" I demanded with mock sternness as the too-cool water lapped around my legs, occasionally splashing the bottom of my shorts as the low waves rolled in.

She giggled, so I swung her again, eliciting another squeal. I repeated my question until she finally relented. "Sorry! I'm sorry I stomped your castle!"

I huffed and said, "I guess that's good enough," before snuggling her against my chest and making my way to the blanket, poking her sides and eliciting more screams and laughter as I walked. I figured she would probably be ready for a nap soon, especially since she'd forgone her usual post-lunch nap to spend more time playing.

When a familiar screen appeared in my field of view, I almost ignored it, having already become accustomed to the sight. Only after the first one was replaced with a new screen did my brain finally realize what was wrong.

I'm not logged into Atlas Online right now.

"Daddy? What's wrong?" Amie asked when I stood unmoving for several seconds with her still in my arms.

"I need to call in to work. Something's happening," I said after dismissing the 'Welcome!' notification.

Before I could take another step toward the blanket and our belongings, a strange sensation overwhelmed me, and my vision blurred. My initial impulse was to panic when I could no longer sense my daughter in my arms. Heck, I couldn't even sense my arms!

I was only calmed by the fact that whatever was happening undoubtedly had something to do with Atlas Inc., the company my unit was assigned to as part of a partnership between the government and the mega-tech conglomerate the once-small company had become in recent years.

The people of Atlas Inc. had always made me feel cared for and important, unlike most of their military counterparts. If something happened with the newest expansion, I had no doubt they would fix it soon.

As the thought crossed my mind, my vision began to clear, and sensation returned to my body. Amie was no longer in my arms, causing a fresh spike of fear to surge. Where was Amie? Come to think of it, where was I?

"Amie?" I called out before my training kicked in. I examined my new surroundings, not seeing any sign of my daughter, or anyone else, for that matter. I was certainly not at the beach any longer. In fact, I wasn't quite sure I was still on Earth.

Logically, my body had to be on Earth, but maybe I'd been pulled into the new expansion somehow? My surroundings looked a lot like the inside of the spaceships from the 'Space Exploration' expansion that had been released the summer before.

But I'd never started strapped to a table. Was this some new questline?

"Ahhh. You reference the child you were holding?" a polished voice said from somewhere beyond my vision. "Worry not. Your offspring is safe and will be cared for and educated under the provisions outlined in the Accords – specifically, Article 3."

Was that supposed to mean something? I'd heard of the Accords, but that was a game term. Had Amie been pulled into the game somehow as well? None of it made any sense.

"Where is she?" I asked, drawing a disappointed 'tsk' from my hidden captor. Certainly, that was what the person was, as I was restrained and clearly being held captive.

"She is safe. That's all you need to know." Movement from the side drew my attention, showing a tall, wrinkled old… elf?

"Am I in the game?" I questioned aloud this time.

The elf scoffed. "Of course not. Can you not tell the difference between a training scenario and reality? Can you not feel the mana surrounding you?" he asked, seemingly waiting for my answers.

"I…" I started before taking a moment to consider what the elf had said. Could this be real? I pulled up my notifications, reading them this time instead of glossing over them.

[Initializing… Neural interface is now active]

[Welcome to the Atlantis Alliance!]

Both of those were new. I was about to try pulling up my status when the elf abruptly cut me off. "Well?" he asked impatiently.

"I'm not sure. I don't know how to sense mana in real life. It doesn't feel like it did in the game," I replied, unsure what he wanted.

The elf peppered me with questions about mana, spells, and skills – all things that were part of a game, not reality. None of my answers seemed to satisfy him, and the old elf grew increasingly annoyed. After several tense minutes of interrogation, the elf stopped and looked behind me.

"Oh, that one looks more promising," the elf said with renewed interest before moving outside my view once again. “Let me just get rid of this one, and I’ll look into you a little more.”

Before I could say anything else, my surroundings again became blurry, and my senses dimmed. The sensation lasted a lot longer this time compared to the last shift. Teleportation?

The disturbing feeling finally receded, and I found myself lying on the floor of an empty room decorated with symbols I'd often seen engraved into Atlas' office building walls.

Where was I? Even more importantly, what had the elf done with Amie?

= = =

Aside from the symbols engraved throughout the stone room, the only interesting feature was a small alcove in the wall near what looked like a door. A bowl was inside, holding a single crystal tile on a piece of string. Was I supposed to put it on? I examined the item, wishing I knew what it did.

Suddenly thinking of my identification ability in the game, I sent a mental query like I would have in Atlas Online. My display exploded with data like it had been waiting in the background for me to acknowledge its presence.

I immediately recoiled, pushing all of the information away. There had to be an easier way to go about this. Maybe I should start as I had in the game – by calling up my status.

With a mental command, a new screen appeared.

͠ ͠ ͠

Name: Justin Mercer

Level: 0 (3/100)

Profession: None

Affinity: Fire

͠ ͠ ͠

Health: 120 (2.4/min)

Stamina: 230 (9.2/min)

Mana: 100 (5/min)*

͠ ͠ ͠

Attributes

Strength – 11

Agility – 11

Vitality – 12

Intelligence – 10

Wisdom – 10

Perception – 11

Unallocated: 0

͠ ͠ ͠

Spells

[General]

Universal Translation (passive)

[Fire]

Skills

None

͠ ͠ ͠

Well, that solved it. Unless I had been pulled into the game without any equipment, it looked like this was real. Besides, my real name was listed on the screen instead of my username. That had to mean something.

I noticed my attributes looked better than they had when I started playing the game. All of that training must have made a difference.

I wondered how my interface knew I had a Fire affinity without being tested until I realized that was a stupid thought, given how much 'testing' the game would have done. It was probably more than enough to verify my affinity.

Now that I thought about it, I realized I did feel an odd sort of connection to fire suddenly. I could feel small streams of heat flowing through the air. Was that from the affinity? It was certainly different than anything I'd ever experienced in the game.

I needed to figure out what was going on as soon as possible so I could find Amie. The elf said she'd been sent somewhere safe, but I didn't particularly trust his word. He'd sent me to… wherever this was, after all. Aside from the odd pendant, I had nothing besides a pair of beach shorts and a tee shirt.

I didn't even have shoes, and the Fitmon every Atlas employee was required to wear was nowhere to be found. It wasn't hidden like in the game. It was missing – something I thought was nearly impossible since there was no release mechanism. Short of cutting the strange band off, it wasn't supposed to be capable of being removed.

And Amie! Wherever she was, Amie was only wearing a bathing suit with a little beach cover over it. Hopefully, she wasn't all alone. I could only imagine how terrified she must be.

What did he say? She'd be cared for and educated based on the Accords? Those were rules against killing and torture. What did they have to do with childcare? It didn't make any sense. None of it made any sense!

"Deep breath, Justin. There's nothing you can do right now. Focus on what you can control." Following my guidance, I took a deep breath and held it for several seconds before letting it out.

"Okay," I said, feeling a bit more centered. I needed to assess my situation. "Empty room – no visible threats. Unknown location, but it seems safe enough. I should be fine to look through my interface and see what's different."

I nodded to myself. I'd never been big on talking to myself, but something about having my daughter kidnapped and sent who knows where while I was teleported to some other unknown location had unnerved me. I needed to hear something other than silence.

And who was the elf, anyway?

I shook my head. That was a worry for another time. Pulling up my HUD, I scanned through the information and options available. Given my low experience (which had already increased to five, even while I did nothing!), I couldn't buy anything. Not even a basic Identify spell.

I didn't want to risk wearing some unknown item, especially not if enchantments and magic were a thing now. Deciding to play it safe, I placed the item in my pocket and slowly cracked open the door, only to slam it shut immediately as a sense of pressure and suffocation overwhelmed me. It was too much. There was no way I could survive that density of… mana?

Was that what the old elf was talking about?

Needing something to focus on that I could control, I sat on the floor and fiddled with my display, making sure things like my health, stamina, mana, and experience toward the next level were clearly visible. After opening the door, my experience jumped by two points, giving me a total of seven. It wasn't enough to do anything with, but maybe it wouldn't take that long to gain enough experience to buy a spell or two.

I wasn't sure what was making it increase so quickly, either.

In the game, we passively gained a couple of points every day or two early on, and those passive gains seemed to increase slightly when we went to higher-tiered planets. What kind of environment would cause such a quick increase?

It was certainly nothing I'd ever heard of. Clearly, whatever area I was in was much higher-tiered than anything I'd seen in the game. Was I even still on Earth? Given the sheer density of mana outside the door, it didn't seem likely. The elf could have sent me anywhere, after all. I doubted he would send me back home where I could contact someone with authority.

Besides, who would I even tell? My boss?

Now that I was considering it, I could only assume that my boss and everyone else in the Atlas Inc. chain of command were involved in whatever was happening. Based on the notifications, they were probably part of the Atlantis Alliance.

While I wanted to dismiss the possibility outright, I couldn't deny the facts – or how eerily similar everything was to the game. I'd seen the introduction several times but never really paid any attention to it. Now, though, it seemed a bit on the nose.

How… obvious! In retrospect, it totally made sense if they were giving governments insider information about what was coming. The game had even outright said various governments had worked with the Alliance to prepare for the reintegration.

I wanted to hit myself at the realization but settled for checking my experience. It was still sitting at seven – no, eight now. It shouldn’t take too long to gain enough to get the Identify spell and figure out what the tile did. It was the only thing in the room, so hopefully, it was something useful.