I was glad I was sitting. If I had been standing, I probably would have fallen on my ass from the sheer amount of notifications and messages flooding my screen. It was absolutely insane, a seizure-inducing nightmare of chat boxes, notifications, and rapidly flickering jpeg images of the rewards I’d earned through the System Integration. I cleared my screen of the notifications, noticing the new tab for Achievements, my vision narrowing at the small, single-digit number blinking in the corner.

  I had five achievements.

  Holy shit.

  “Zahra! We have achievements!” I looked at her, but her gaze was focused in front of us. Her hand was scrolling through her menu as she read her achievements, only giving me a light nod in response.

  I opened my menu immediately, and my screen changed, purple replacing the old blue. I could see each of my achievements in chronological order. I tried to click on one in the middle, but a system error interrupted me.

  Error: Please open the achievement #1 first.

  Fine. I closed the message and went to the achievement at the top. I clicked it, hoping I would finally get something useful to survive.

  The menu began to light up, and Post Malone’s Congratulations began to play in my head. I remember the song playing at my 8th grade graduation. Although it was heavily edited. Still, really weird to hear in the hospital hallway.

  The title for the achievement slowly appeared in front of me, getting larger and larger with bolder text.

  #1 System Survivor

  You have successfully survived through Phase 1 of the Graxis Institute's Integration of planet Earth. This was one of the most needlessly bloody Phase 1s we have ever conducted.

  We’re sorry. Like, seriously.

  Graxis kinda fucked this whole thing up. We were pretty excited to come out here before that happened.

  Reward:

  Item: 3x health potions. Menu and storage capacities have been upgraded. Non-consumable items may now be stored if you hold them for five seconds.

  Now that was what I was talking about! Food was one thing, but we couldn’t really carry around everything we had with us if we needed to escape. Plus, extra healing was always good. I needed to see how much they would heal, but that could wait. I wanted to see more of the achievements, and rewards.

  The next achievement made me snort, rolling my eyes at the next thing the system decided to reward me with.

  #2 Terminal Integration

  You entered the System Integration with a terminal illness.

  Yikes. Your world is about to turn upside down, and chances are, you’re super-mega fucked. On the off-chance you survive, here’s something to make it a bit sweeter.

  Reward:

  Increase Health Ability Score by 1.

  I looked below to my health bar, watching as it went from 170/170 to 170/180. I couldn’t help but grin as I watched the meter refill.

  Yes! Finally, a boost to my stats. Even if it was small, it still filled me with excitement. I needed the help in any way I could.

  “Worked so hard I forgot how to vacationnnn” I hummed the lyrics to the song, the next achievement opening in front of me. The title alone was enough to release all the tension in my jaw. Mostly because it had dropped to the floor.

  #3 One in a Billion

  Phase 1 of integration has always been a short process, typical to whatever is considered a ‘normal day’ as Earthlings would call it. Twenty-four hours is what we consider to be a short phase, especially compared to Inner-Universe planets. There has to be consideration for those who take longer to adjust.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  It's a difficult thing, you know. Every effort of civilization to become useless in a matter of moments.

  Usually, an Integration starts with creating safe zones. The Guards are dispersed after class selection, and newly integrated applicants compete with them on more-equal footing.

  Graxis skipped that part, effectively creating no areas for humanity to survive the Integration.

  Well, almost no areas.

  In the 24 hours before class selection began, nine safe zones were cleared by applicants, solo and supported by teams. You heard us, searched for items, and used them to great effect.

  Only nine? I couldn’t believe it. It made sense when I thought about how many people had died, but still.

  A number flashed in my head, mixed with the memory of waking up in the hospital.

  98.99% extinction rate. That’s what the System had predicted. So far, we were on track to meet that percentage, and then some.

  I took a long breath in, closing my eyes and rubbing the bridge of my nose before continuing the message.

  We love rewarding effective creativity, especially the fewer resources you have. Ingenuity in combat (or before, for all you mage-y types) is a dying art in the Inner-Universe, so getting out here has been a breath of fresh air. The nine of you are incredibly impressive, and we’re excited and hopeful to see you grow.

  I shuddered slightly at the last word, the hiss of the mantis creatures buzzing around my head. I shook it away, but it was persistent. However, when I looked at the rewards (plural!), it disappeared entirely.

  Rewards:

  Title: Earth Prodigy. You gain five Ability Score Increases of your choice.

  Item: Belt of the Champion (Legendary)

  This legendary item is a nearly identical replica of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Championship belt. It's representative of your drive, power, and how you take what should be ours. It also increases your health by 25% when equipped. Graxis probably won’t like the smell of what we’re cooking, but they haven’t exactly been cooperative.

  So.

  Powerful items it is.

  These rewards were insane. I could boost my skills, and the belt sounded like a perfect addition. I just couldn’t help the feeling I needed to stack health, no matter what. I closed the Achievements and moved over to my ability scores, which now lit up with a purple flash, a ‘+’ sign beside them, prompting me to spend my points.

  It was entirely tempting to dump them all into health, especially with the increase from the belt. But the fight with the Nature’s Assassin gave me pause. They had been so inhumanely fast, especially after evolving, that hitting them would have been impossible without Christian’s help.

  I was a damage-sponge, sure. But some things I would have to dodge. The fear I felt when we were around level 2 monsters was proof of that. I didn’t want to be forced into taking attacks that could kill me, even with increased health.

  I thought for another minute, playing around with the numbers and what I had seen of other people’s abilities. I slowly nodded my head as I confirmed my choices, my new ability scores shining with purple brilliance. The bump from my cloak was active too, increasing my Dexterity and Strength.

  Strength: 17

  Dexterity: 17

  Intelligence: 11

  Spirit: 9

  Health: 20

  Luck: 3

  Three to Dexterity, two to Health. That way I could break 20 in a stat like Zahra and the more powerful creatures we had seen so far, and hopefully keep up with her a bit better. She had left me in the dust in the last few combats, and I needed to react with less delay. I looked up from my menu, remembering Zahra was a few feet away from me. She was sitting crossed-legged, her palms face-up, resting on her knees. Her eyes were closed in some sort of meditation. I swore I could hear the faintest flicker of flame before I turned back to the remaining two achievements.

  #4 King of the Home

  Graxis S.A.Is hate to see you coming. Kinda ironic considering where a few of them came from, but we digress. You’ve taken down an evolved creature from Graxis with the skill ‘King of the Hill’. Even if you got some help, that’s pretty impressive. Show them what a native species is capable of!

  Reward:

  Title: S.A.I Slayer. You deal 10% increased damage to Graxis-affiliated creatures.

  I didn’t know if I felt encouraged or patronized, but either way I would take the effect. If I didn’t want to rely on kill-shots off Force Resonance, I’d have to deal more damage eventually. It made me a bit worried about how the System was talking, though. I didn’t want Graxis to know anything about me, but if they were watching the Integration, I was sure they would be paying attention to what kind of achievements the System was giving out.

  I just hoped they wouldn’t do anything too drastically, at least for now. As much as the new information and power-ups energized me, I was still fighting the fatigue of the day, and losing.

  I moved on to the final achievement, noticing there was no reward. There was however, something completely different.

  #5 System Comrade

  You’ve proven yourself to be aligned with the System, resisting the efforts of Graxis to exterminate your planet. We like that. We think we like you. Enough to bet on you, a little bit.

  See, we’ve been keeping track of the creatures Graxis has released, and there's one in your area that you need to deal with, and quickly.

  The positive? You’ve already seen the creature and know what area it guards.

  The negative? Well…

  This is going to be a fucked up family reunion.

  Good luck, comrade.

  My heart stopped, my breath stalled in my lungs. Two images appeared in my menu. The first was a headshot of my brother, his red hair shining on the brightly lit field, a determined look below his brows as he assessed the team around him.

  Beside the image was what he’d been transformed into.

  The Transformers-sized beetle who’d killed Amy. There was no mistaking it.

  I felt my eyes drop as I struggled to process the pictures. The final line only made it worse.

  Quest: Familial Avenger.

  Give your brother an honourable end, not a life as Graxis’ eternal war machine. Slay the Linebacked Beetle and clear the Pauley Pavillion Safe Zone.

  I couldn’t help as the tears rushed down my cheeks, first with hopelessness, and then with fury. I didn’t care that the System was trying to help me out. Graxis was still killing us, and turning us into monsters. If we couldn’t stop them, then nothing would change.

  “I’m coming to help, Caleb.” I whispered, staring at the menu.