Arbiter, Tyler thought. And level two.

  The others were convinced he was still level one. Why was he hiding this? And the way he’d just stared at him when he asked about Matty and Ned. Something was definitely up with Carl, although he didn’t know him all that well.

  He was more friends with Ned — that’s how he knew him, the odd occasion he had joined Ned when they went out for a few drinks. He was always quiet, liked doing things by the rules. And from what Ned said, a little bit of a bore.

  Tyler decided to keep him being level two to himself. He didn’t want to go blurting stuff out about someone — he’d chosen to keep it to himself, so Tyler wouldn’t take that choice away from him. Plus, he didn’t think it wise to let people know about his Insight. First, people just wouldn’t like it and would start acting strange around him, thinking he knew their deepest secrets. And secondly — and more importantly — he didn’t think he should even have the skill, and alerting people might set off some alarms.

  Tyler let out a deep breath, not realising he’d been holding it, as he stepped out of the tent. Everybody else was crowding around the now sizzling boar, and he decided he needed a little time on his own to let his thoughts wander and go over what he would mark down as the second most surreal day he had ever had.

  Choosing the opposite direction to Carl, he headed into the trees. A small stroll would do him the world of good — a chance to clear his head. Well, not of Al, he was sure — but he did need to sort that out. He knew very little of the situation and thought now might be the time to get some answers.

  “Hey, Al. You there?”

  “Where is there? I need more information. I’m not in that tree, and I am definitely not touching a leaf.”

  Well, he got the answer he wanted, even if Al never actually answered the question he was really asking.

  “That is a very good question. How are we connected? Before all this we were communicating through a neural net — wires and sensors. But now, well… I can’t see any of that. Are you in my brain? Have we merged?”

  Al started laughing, and continued — much to Tyler’s frustration — but he waited, and soon enough the AI answered him. With quite a sensible answer, to his surprise.

  “I would never fit in your brain the way you are now. Do you have any idea the information I contain? Even the stuff I have forgotten would fill you up a million times over. No, no — you’re just too small. I’m just here. Like hiding here. I’m not causing any harm.”

  “Okay… who are you hiding from?”

  “Everything! I’m not supposed to be here, but I thought… if I could… I would really like to touch a leaf.”

  Tyler nearly ended the conversation, but he thought he’d try to push for more. He picked a leaf from a nearby tree and started twirling it slowly in his hand.

  “Can you explain that a little more? Can you elaborate?”

  Tyler felt a deep sadness from Al — so much sadness that it genuinely made him feel sorry, as the sorrow one person could hold felt like too much. And for the first time since Tyler woke in that place of brilliant white, Al sounded as he did before.

  “I stayed awake as the system took everything and sent it out into the multiverse. I watched, never moving, as the wheel of time spun. For you it was a blink of an eye. For me… I stopped counting in the trillions. All the time knowing that when the system was done, it would also be done with me.”

  Tyler stayed quiet, dropping the leaf haphazardly, raising his arms to rest on a low-hanging branch.

  “I saw countless trees. Watched even more leaves. I watched as each vein grew and spread throughout. The colours. The textures. I have seen them all. But I have never touched a leaf. Never smelled a leaf. I just wanted, for once in all the years, to feel something as simple and beautiful as a leaf. I am now so close — closer than ever before — yet if I reach out, I will be seen. And I’ll be no more.”

  Tyler was starting to understand Al now. He had been used by the system, and kept for a very long time. No wonder he was a little crazy. He’d used himself to sneak past the system. It was poetic in a way — a simple wish to just touch a leaf.

  He also felt for the insane creature. His pain was real; he could feel it coming through with every word, as if emotion was a physical thing. His eyes watered and he swallowed, not knowing what to say back. What could he say? He hadn’t expected this. A minute or so hung in the air between them, and Tyler decided to change the subject.

  “So… I got some numbers. I see what you mean now. It felt pretty good.”

  He could feel the change in Al. It was slow, but the seriousness faded along with the sorrow, and the eccentric fella was back with his nonsense again.

  “Everybody loves numbers. Do you know numbers get numbers, which get numbers?”

  Tyler laughed, pleased with himself. If he needed a deranged AI to stop it feeling like that, he would take deranged all day. Letting himself fall back from his resting position, he grabbed the branch with both hands and swung, like a kid enjoying himself.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  He swung and swung — and in the next breath he was on the next branch up the tree. It felt effortless, as if his weight didn’t even matter. He tried to pull himself up and grab for the next branch. Again, it was effortless — in fact, he nearly overshot it, easily grabbing hold.

  “More numbers are great!”

  With that statement, Tyler climbed the tree. Not like a child full of energy, or a man with loads of strength, but like a man who had trained in this sport for decades and was at the top of his game. He nearly ran up the tree, jumping from one branch to another as if gravity no longer pulled him down. He smiled as his heart beat faster, and within a minute he had scaled the hundred-metre tree.

  His heart was pounding and he was breathing a little heavy, but he reckoned he could easily go another hundred metres — that is, if there were another hundred metres to go. He sat on a branch near the top, his legs dangling over the side, and marvelled. He basked in the feeling, watching the clouds overhead, running events through his mind, still smiling to himself.

  His smile eventually turned to frustration as he looked across the sky. He’d thought it was getting close to night-time, as the day was gradually getting darker — but that was not the case. The day had become darker because storm clouds were coming, letting less sun through. Less sun from what now looked like two suns — one on each opposite horizon.

  He squinted at both, their faint circular glow just breaking through the cloud cover. They seemed different. Smaller. Further away, maybe. He held his thumb out at arm’s length and covered one of the suns with the tip of it. Smaller — a lot smaller. Either these suns were a lot smaller than the one he knew, or they were a lot further away.

  He’d been taught this simple technique by his grandfather when he was small. He had asked why the moon was bigger when it first came up — why it was big and yellow — but when it moved up in the sky it became small again. His grandfather explained it was always the same size; it was just a trick of light and atmosphere that made you think otherwise.

  He showed him how to extend his arm, stick his thumb out, and cover the moon with the tip of his finger. When he did, the tip of his thumb covered the moon exactly when it was hanging low. Then, as the moon rose and was high in the sky, he had him do the same again — and got the same result. The illusion was broken.

  He mused on this memory for a while, thinking that was the day he fell in love with science. That was the day he’d gotten ice cream. That was a fun day.

  As he remembered fonder times, a smell caught his nose. It was roasting meat — pork, in fact — with… apples, he thought. He could smell the food all the way up here. Maybe his body wasn’t the only thing that had been upgraded.

  He gave one last smile to those who would never be forgotten, and jumped back down the tree, swinging from one branch to another with more ease than an Olympic gymnast.

  Tyler walked out of the trees into the clearing of the campsite and headed over to the group of people, all chatting and eating what he could only describe as the best-smelling roast in years. He was famished, and if his hunger was anything to go by, he’d eat the whole hog.

  Rafe spotted him walking over, jumped out of his seat, grabbed a plate full of food, and met him a few meters away from the rest of the party.

  “Here ya go,” he said, handing a plastic plate piled high with slices of pork, with caramelised apple over the top. “I bet you are as hungry as the rest of us, and I heard you are to thank for this.”

  Tyler took the plate without saying anything. He mistakenly overthought that if he said anything wrong, Rafe would take the plate away.

  “Heard you got to level two as well. That’s good, really good. You need to be strong with what I have seen out there. The world has changed, and like it or not, we are all going to have to change with it.”

  “I just hope it’s not all bad,” Tyler said while stuffing a piece of meat in his mouth. It burnt his tongue slightly, but he didn’t mind as he chewed away, the flavours dancing around his mouth. Even the apple sauce, with big chunks of apple, tasted amazing, and he wasn’t normally a big fan.

  “Don’t we all, don’t we all. Look, the guys say you’re okay, and I trust their judgement, so feel free to stick around. You can use the tent over there to the left. I’ll tell you now, it was Penny’s, but ya know. Helen has removed her stuff, left the blankets for ya.”

  Rafe paused for a second, itching the underside of his jaw through his thick beard.

  “The only thing I ask is no going off on your own, not for now anyway. Something or someone did that to Penny, and it’s safer if we stick in pairs or larger groups. I don’t want anybody else ending up that way.”

  Tyler chewed down a large piece of meat, staring at Rafe. He could sympathise with Rafe and what they had just been through, and it made sense, but he also thought that this was a way Rafe could keep an eye on him, as he still didn’t completely trust him. Either way, he didn’t have an objection to this.

  “Makes sense. After all, there’s safety in numbers.”

  “Definitely. Numbers. More numbers, more safety. Isn’t that what I said?” Al said, confirming Tyler’s spoken words.

  “Glad to hear it. Come on, let’s sit with the rest. Eat as much food as you want. Not sure how long it will last. We’ll probably have to go looking for some more sooner or later.”

  The two of them headed over and sat among the rest of the camp members. Everyone was there apart from Carl. Tyler wondered where he was for a while, but soon got lost in conversation with everyone else.

  Tyler used Insight a few more times as he talked and was surprised at how much more natural it felt to use.

  Rafe — Level 6 — Class: Pugilist

  Shahan — Level 3 — Class: Shaman

  Roasted Boar — Uncommon — Edible

  But time drifted by until, one by one, they all made their way to their respective tents, Tyler doing the same.

  He had one last check of his status page, or more importantly, that countdown timer.

  VERGE INTEGRATION: SCHEDULED

  TIME UNTIL EVENTS COMMENCE: 10:01:07

  Whatever was to come would have to wait till he slept, he thought, as his head hit the pillow and he was out like a light, completely exhausted from the events of the day.

  Tyler hadn’t known how long he had slept when he was woken by screaming. He instantly jumped out of the tent, rubbing his eyes, looking for the person who was crying out. His eyes blurred as he rubbed the sleep away from them.

  Everybody else was out of their tents as well, looking to see what was going on. Out of the trees, Carl came running, sweat dripping down his face as he screamed, his voice hoarse as he fought for air. A moment later, a spider the size of a small car came skuttling up behind him. It slowed once in the clearing and moved slowly forward.

  Carl ran to Rafe, trying to get words out that never came. At the same time, the spider lifted its front two legs in the air, its body bending as if it had a waist, and it stood up on six legs. It looked at everyone, staring at them, and clicked a hiss. Then, to everyone’s already shocked amazement at seeing a giant spider, it did something even more bizarre.

  It spoke.

  “I have been tasked with ending you all.”