The howling wind whispered echoes of despair and futility. Betrayed by its own children, the rotting corpse of mother nature had long ago turned to ashes. Leaving behind a bleak, soul-crushing desert wasteland.

  The gray sand particles stung Herman’s face as he stared at the scene ahead. For a moment he feared he had went back in time. Back to living day to day, where each moment could be your last, fighting with nanoid abominations and desperate survivors alike.

  No, he left that place long ago. This weren’t Earth’s forbidden zones. And yet, the devastated landscape reminded him so much of the real world.

  The queue settlement wasn't much to talk about before. Yes it was barely a shanty town full with gangs and opportunists, but at least it was organized and full with life, however all of that organization and life was now gone.

  There were no gangs, no buildings, and no organization. In fact there wasn't anything else beside rubble, gray sand and the wall.

  Speaking of which. Even the great firewall of Generica hadn’t survived unscathed. Its previous spotless smooth stone blocks were now charred, covered with ashes and tiny cracks, spread along its length like spiderwebs.

  As for the people. Before there was a constant uninterrupted line of humans, starting from the gates and ending almost at Maple’s inn. Now however, there was barely any sign of life. Besides the occasional lone scavenger rummaging in the debris, there was no one else.

  "Wow…" Slippy muttered from atop Herman’s shirt pocket.

  "Yes… wow is about right…" Herman replied with the same amount of disbelief as his digital companion.

  "Oh look look, the Internet!" Slippy suddenly exclaimed. Directing the human’s attention to the right, where the great Internet hub stood.

  The sci-fi techno metropolis of the future was burning. A constant torrent of thick black smoke poured from the ravaged landscape. It rose endlessly from the damaged metallic structures and cracked crystalline skyscrapers. The smoke spread like ink in water, blanketing the sky directly above the city in a shroud of darkness.

  From the toxic clouds, a continuous rain of toads rained down on the panicked inhabitants below. As well as transforming anyone unlucky enough to get bitten by the vicious critters into feral beasts. Which in turn bit more people, only to spread the magical curse and transform more and more victims.

  "Heh, why aren’t we so lucky to get frogs here, at least we won't have to worry about food. Sigh… I miss frogburgers…" Herman jokingly lamented.

  ___

  "Hey wait a second…" Herman suddenly paused, a deep frown on his face. "How did I see all that? The internet hub is quite the distance away, and yet I had no trouble seeing the panicked people fending off warefrogs at the terraces of the skyscrapers." Herman said with surprise.

  "Oh, hehe, weren't humans always able to see that far? I am sure it’s nothing to worry about." Slippy said with a worried, all to suspicious voice.

  Herman’s bullshit senses immediately began tingling, so he took his digital companion out of his front shirt pocket and squinted at him with deep suspicion.

  "You are hiding something." The human said, still frowning at the slip in his hand.

  "M..me? N..never! I… amm why do you think that little old me would… do… any…."

  Herman said nothing else, just stared down the increasingly worried paper slip.

  "Ah, heh, you see it is because of the refraction of the light upon the water droplet's in the air, that human visio…"

  Herman raised one judgemental eyebrow.

  "AH ALRIGHT! I will talk I will talk! Please, no more of the eyebrow of judgment."

  The eyebrow’s threatening posture relaxed, but Herman's frown did not ease. He simply motioned for the slip to elaborate further.

  "Sigh… well, you have unlocked the System…" Slippy said with defeat.

  "Huh? But we are in the queue, no one here can unlock it. When did that happen?"

  "Weeeelllll, time is such a subjective term." The paper slip yet again tried to divert the conversation away.

  "Slipyyy… You are being shifty again." Herman said with a tone akin to a parent scolding his child.

  "Oh alright, let me just show you this…"

  Herman sensed that the Digital paper slip was still hiding something else, but humored him for the moment. In a few moments a tiny holographic projection appeared in front of the human’s vision.

  +++

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  "I greet you people of the neutral zone. I am Martha, the primary caretaker of Generica Online." Said the familiar spherical shape of the AI. Her otherworldly ethereal tentacles floating behind her and illuminating the space around in calming pleasant light.

  "Since the recent confrontation with the Earth’s Government and my domain, I have been forced to adapt my plans for the future. The people most affected from the conflict have been you, the ones stuck in the neutral zone, waiting in line to enter my beautiful world. I am afraid I cannot do much to directly help out, or I risk further escalating the conflict between Generica and the Escaldian Government.

  However what I can do, is prepare you for what is to come. That is why I have integrated all queue members to the Generica System. From now on, you will be able to use all of its benefits in order to grow, advance and adapt to any situation that may threaten you.

  Expect further raider attacks to come soon. The internet pirates are officially unaffiliated with anyone, but it is more than clear that they have been funded and equipped by Escaldia. They will seek to enter my world. I advice you to stay out of their way and do your best to protect yourselves in the event they decide to attack you."

  "Be assured that a plan is in motion to deal with the situation, however I will not disclose more in this wide range communication."

  "That is all. Adapt, be creative, and most importantly, survive."

  +++

  "Urgh, politics…" Herman spat the words with deep seated resentment. “So from what I understand, this Generica AI is going to use us as a buffer against the internet barbarians. And as a result she gives us the System early, so we can be better fighters for her war…”

  “How fucking typical! God damn it I just want to fish and see my family! Is it that hard for politicians to, just, NOT. To just stop. All the damnable manipulations, backstabbings and betrayals. Isn’t it enough that they destroyed one world already? And now they are doing the same in the virtual ones."

  "With a literal snap of a finger, we can make the perfect virtual world. A literal utopia. And instead we have this…" Herman knelt and picked up a pile of radioactive gray sand, sifting it through his fingers as it fell, carried by the wind toward the ruins of the former Queue settlement.

  "I am sorry Slippy. I am just… It is all happening again, history is repeating itself, and there isn't anything that anyone can do about it. It seems that civilization keeps looping around, rise, prosper, then fall and repeat. It seems so futile sometimes. Just like Sisyphus pushing the boulder up the mountain for eternity."

  However after seeing Slippy’s eyes glazing over, Herman took pity on the baby AI and stopped his grandpa-like philosophical lamentations. "Kakhem, anyway..." He coughed awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head. "let's move to more exciting things shall we. Can you please show me the stats page?"

  "Uuu that IS exciting!" Slippy said, eager to put whatever the elderly human was babbling about behind.

  After a short pause of nothing happening, Herman spoke again. "Amm, the stat page?"

  "I am working as fast as I can, ok? It isn't easy being a AI you know."

  "No no, take your time, no rush." Herman raised his hands placatingly. Not wanting to discourage the young AI. After all he had no one to teach him how to do all the stuff that grown up AI’s did.

  Finally, after few moments of intense concentration, Slippy managed to project a screen inside herman’s digital overlay.

  "Good job buddy, I knew you could do it!" Herman said encouragingly.

  "Urgrghh @_@" Slippy moaned with exhaustion, his tiny digital eyes forming swirly symbols.

  "You rest up while I read. Hmm let's see here…."

  +++

  Name: Herman Novikov (Proxy Active)

  Level: 15

  Race: Human

  Age: 140 years

  Class:?

  Profession:?

  Health 500/500

  Mana 500/500

  Strength: [ 50 ]

  Agility: [ 50 ]

  Vitality : [ 50 ]

  Perception: [ 50 ]

  Intelligence: [ 50 ]

  Wisdom: [ 50 ]

  Charisma: [ 1 ]

  Luck: [? ]

  Status Effects:

  1: Sup #$%* ERROR!!! @&!^_)

  2: ID Proxy: Changes how others perceive you.

  SKILLS:

  1: Create fish (Supe %$@# Erro # ndary)

  Badges:

  - Bully hunter: (Lvl 2) (+ 2 % unarmed damage to bullies)

  - Slayer of mecha raptors: (Lvl 1) (+ 1% Damage against mechanical raptors)

  +++

  "Hmmm… Slippy, aren’t these stats a bit high for a newbie?" Herman said, contemplatively stroking his beard. "Also how can I be level 15 already? I haven't done anything yet, and according to the video message time stamp the System unlock happened a few hours ago. I was in death limbo back then."

  "Amm… heh, you saw that didn't you…" The digital slip said with anxiety.

  Herman once again squinted his eyes in suspicion. "You are doing it again."

  "What?" The slip asked innocently.

  "You are being shifty again. Why did you hide this from me? Also what is the deal with the random question marks and error messages?"

  "Oh you know, I didn't want to excite you too much. I know you are an elderly gentleman, and people your age do tend to overexcite themselves over stuff like that. What if I was the cause for raising your blood pressure and you died from the strain? Plus, the tree laws of robotics prevent me from harming or lying you in any way."

  "The tree laws of robotics were a nice philosophical concept for their time, but they are also full with loopholes." Herman said. He was well acquainted with the works of the best sci-fi author ever. And Asimov himself described a few ways to circumvent his laws of robotics in some of his works. In fact, Herman has thought a few more ways to do the same, just as a fun mental exercise. Actually, this will be a good opportunity to discus the topic with a real life AI, and…

  "Wait a minute! I see what you did there, you sneaky toaster. Don’t you think that I will get distracted that easily. As you already mentioned, I MIGHT be old, but I am not a…

  Wait, what do you mean that I am old?! I am not a decrepit invalid! I can take care of myself!" Herman said with indignation, Slippy’s random comment hitting an exposed nerve in the old man’s psyche.

  "I am not a frail delicate old flower that needs to be protected from the truth, you hear me, you young punk! Kids today have no respect for their elders… Urgrgh… Just, please, from now on tell me everything regarding messages or my status."

  "I apologize for the confusion Human Herman, I shall endeavor to be more precise with my predictions in our further dealings." Slippy said in full legaleese AI talk. Sounding more like a chat-bot than the sentient being he supposedly was.

  "Riight…" Herman’s suspicions began to resurface yet again, stirred by the formal talk. "And no bad genie business routines, like you misinterpreting what is important, or waiting 100 years to present the info."

  "Yes yes, don’t worry about it, I will be good I promise." Slippy said with a much more casual voice this time. Putting the suspicious human’s concerns to rest.

  And with that out of the way, the two companions continued with their trek through the devastated landscape, blissfully unaware of the dangers ahead.