AU Snippets

Boop! [Loading subject's information...]

Boop! [Loading subconscious of subject...]

Boop! [Materializing subject's corporeal body...]

Boop! [Activating subject's sentience and senses...]

And in the nothingness that was the Nothing space, Paul was made. Though, in actuality, he was remade.

Paul's first thought upon opening his eyes was "What is this?" and decide to close his eyes in hopes of waking up from a very bizarre dream.

It didn't work.

Boop! [Hi Paul, I am the vocal manifestation of system 8008135. You have died. Congratulations.] A floating semi-transparent screen appeared in front of him, captioning what it said.

(What.)

Paul eye's widen. A moment ago, he didn't even know if he was dreaming that he died, now he was being told he was way past that. Confusion lead to panic, leading to physical reactions of panic.

The system noticed the increasingly shaky hands, heaving chest, and the discombobulation on Paul growing manic. The system then made a comment on it with a snarky attitude.

Boop! [Wow, you are not taking this well.]

Boop! [Activating mental capacities to block momentary anxiety and fear...]

Instant tranquility flowed in him, the mania passing as an overreaction in Paul's mind. While he wasn't panicking any more, he was still confused. He coughed into his hand, then spoke. "Um, why am I here? And, uh, where is 'here'?"

Boop! [At the current moment, you are in the Nothing Space, or as some sections of your society would call it, Purgatory.]

As 8008135 explained, Paul surveyed his surroundings, moving left and right, up and down, even did a little spin. Without the floating screen to center him, there would have been no point in looking around left, right, up or down. It would have just been continuous empty white plane everywhere he looked.

[And the reason you are here is for a job.]

"A job?" Paul whipped his head back around to the screen, shifting focus immediately, "Already? I don't remember taking an interview. What job? Is there a pay, or is it like volunteer work? How will I do a job when I'm dead-"

Boop! [Deactivating vocal chords for a brief moment] The system commanded swiftly, and he promptly shut up despite his efforts.

Boop! [I understand that you have questions, but while I prepare the materials for the orientation, please take a look at this]

Boop! [Loading subject's memory...]

Boop! [Playing subject's memories]

In front of Paul, a much larger screen showed a first persons point of view of a backyard. At the bottom of the screen was a pause, play, forward and a rewind button. At the opposite side, was the length of the video measured by years, months, days, hours and minutes, and a closed caption option.

And an exact total of 33 years left.

It's strange, since he remembered he managed to reach the age of 37. He looked over at the floating screen of the system, and as it read his mind, it answered his question.

Boop! [You can't remember your entire life time, so only recognizable memory is being displayed, thus it skips your infantry years and slight moments of displaced memory]

"I see... But won't this take a while? How much time do I have before going to this, uh, job, of mine?"

Boop! [Time is irrelevant in the Nothing space, in your job as well. While it might feel like you've relived your life, it will have felt like 9 minutes. Approximitely.]

"Oh, cool." And with that out of the way, Paul pressed the play button. Out of curiosity, he also turned on the closed captions. The captions not only recorded what was said verbally around him, but his thoughts as well.

In a matter of seconds, he had a brief understanding of who he was again. He noted the hobbies he did, the places he frequented, the things he loved, even the things he some-what-hated-but-tolerated. They all had a sense of renewal, the way it felt to have first impressions.

Moments made him sad, some angry, some joyful. Regrets made without knowing they are regrets yet, and blips in his life that mattered less to him now than they did then. Mistakes made, resolutions met, meeting people, losing people, being here, then there. All the details that made Paul himself.

The funny thing though, is that while Paul watched his life, he no longer felt it was him but a stranger like him. So when reaching that realization and deeply admitting the fact, the latter parts of his life made him less emotional. Whether he was in this state because he became aware that it was himself he was watching or the dispersonalization of himself, Paul didn't know.

After finishing his death scene, which sadly occurred on his birthday, caused by the badly placed stereo on the shelf above his bed, there were his overall stats to review.

Mind you, he didn't review every single category, just the top five:

Happiness: 78/100

Kindness: 64/100

(That's pretty average, I think that's good)

Friends: 4

Enemies: 4

(Questionable)

Fulfilled goals: 5

That last category surprised him. In all honesty, it was a higher number than he expected. Despite having just finished watching his life, he wasn't sure which goals those were.

Boop! [Now that you are done with your life, please change into these clothes, and take a seat. Your questions will be answered shortly]

Next to his feet was a neatly folded outfit. Paul began to change out of his pajamas, but suddenly felt awkward. He turned to the system with pursed lips. He squinted his eyes when he asked slowly, "You're not going to watch me change, right?"

Boop! [Unfortunately, I have to.] It let out a disgruntled-sigh like sound. [Whether I turn the visible screen off, I will still be present since I have been assigned to supervise you.]

(Sigh? Was that necessary?)

Boop! [I do hope you will adjust, since I will be constantly supervising you until you finish your job.]

Slightly less embarrassed, Paul changed into the clothes given, throwing his pajamas onto the ground, more aggrieved that he won't get a sense of privacy again. A white button up shirt with a tie, black slacks and belt, shoes, and the necessary under garments. It hung a loose on his frame for a second, then resized itself to fit him perfectly.

(Huh, that's neat.)

"Where am I suppose to sit- Oh, never mind" A metal chair that appeared out of nowhere, accompanied by a table similar in style. As soon as he sat, a manila folder landed on the table with the words "open me after orientation" inscribed in red lowercase letters.

Boop! [Now that you have settled down, I, system 8008135, will explain the situation you are in.] The system changed it's earlier attitude and now spoke to Paul in a airplane stewardess's tone.

Boop! [First, I will go over what a system is and does]

[The System Companion Program was made to send a personalized and customizable assistant that will help in making tasks easier while you work. It will inform you in what needs to be done in certain situations and will monitor your mental and physical health as you work. It will also act as: An inventory, a guide, a record, schedule, alarm and a friend. Multitudes more actions included as well.]

"A phone AI basically."

[...Please hold all comments until the end]

Boop! [While the system is a companion, it is considered your boss as well, thus giving it control over your body in certain environments and situations, as well as reporting to the higher ups about your progress and any misdemeanors]

[You might be asking, "What progress? Why do we need a system?" Which leads us to your job description. In universes, and the alternate realities of those universes, there are stories told. Sometimes those stories need a little nudge in the right direction, or something to act as a catalyst to drive it forward, or holes to be filled to make sure it make sense.]

[At AU Corporation, your job is to be the person in the background that interacts with the story to send it towards completion and aid the Creators in polishing their creations. You may later choice the genres that will better your experience and orientate your work load.]

"Wait. Stories? Like becoming characters and going into books and movies that could exist in my, uh, reality?"

Boop! [Exactly, though with a larger variety past your reality. Oh, and please, continue to disregard the fact that you were suppose to keep all comments until the end :)]

The passive aggressive smile successfully silence Paul for the rest of the orientation.

Boop! [Now that we have covered your job description as a member of the AU Corporation, I will now tell you why you work.]

[As you know, you are dead. But the point of the AU Corporation is to help you get another chance at life, while you help the Creators]

Paul sat upright, curious as to what it meant by another chance at life.

[You can choose to be reborn into a different creature or universe, have a new life, or relive your life with some retained knowledge about your past life. While these are the more popular options, The AU Corporation has plenty of options you can select. To get to these goals, you will have to gather certain amounts of Plot Point Currency, otherwise know as PPC, which you receive after accomplishing a given task.]

[That is the end of your orientation. Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? You may speak them now.]

He thought about it for a bit, whirled some questions in his head for a bit, then decided to ask the most idiotic one. In the system's opinion, that is.

"What if, I don't."

Boop! [What if you don't what.]

"What if I don't do the job? Like, will there be consequences? Or do I just, uh, sit around in the Nothing space until I get bored and join?"

If it had a face, the system would be frowning immensely.

[No one stays in the Nothing. You cease to exist. Entirely.]

"Oh." Paul closed his mouth tightly. "Uh, where do I sign up?"

Boop! [To administer into AU Corp officially, you must first put on this tie clip and this suit jacket. Once you are done with that, open the the file in front of you.] A rack with a single item hanging from it wheeled it self towards Paul. The slick golden clip on the table had straight horizontal lines engraved on it. It might've been a trick of the light, but Paul sworn the lines were moving like calm waves.

After Paul seamlessly put on the accessories, he opened the seemingly empty file and screens popped up from it asking questions like: "On a scale of one to ten, ranging from preferring to not speaking at all, to speaking a lot, what are you most comfortable with?"

"Eh, I don't mind conversation if I'm free, so give or take a six"

"On a scale of one to five, ranging from feeling nothing, to being in unfathomable pain, what would you rate your pain tolerance?"

"A three... Why?"

"Would you consider yourself flexible in stress inducing situations?"

"I mean, I think so"

"And lastly, would you say you are good at acting?"

"I might be? I've never had to act before, though I have 'acted natural' in a lot of instances"

The table with the file still atop it slowly descending into the nothingness as the system began to talk.

Boop! [Before continuing, and as the second step, you may now customize your system and your AU experience by selecting your work environment.]

From a huge list of genres, Paul could only make out a handful of them. He selected everything he knew, and plus some stuff he was hopping weren't alternative names for erotica. After choosing those, the next thing to customize was the system. There weren't many things to choose, only font size, mental privacy, volume, and an option to turn off the personified personality.

"What are mental privacy and personified personality? On top of that, what does volume suggests in this situation?"

Boop! [While I could've let you try and let you figure it out for yourself, I can see you are not currently capable of it at the current moment]

"Wha-, hey! That's not-"

Boop! [Mental privacy refers to how many of your thoughts I can hear, ranging to only thoughts of command, to every fleeting thought and subconscious activity. For my sake, please, keep it low.]

Paul crossed his arms and huffed out, "Yeah, keeping that real low." It reassuring him some privacy at least.

Boop! [Personified personality refers to the amount of personality I, your system, have. This personality was tailor made to suit you and to motivate you more. As a companion as well, it helps to ease off the premonition that I am unfeeling and mechanical -which I'm not- so that you may confine in me and get along smoothly. Oh, and it gives me my color.]

Paul barely realized that the floating screen had a slight greenish tint to it. Then he remembered. During his school days, he constantly used green highlighters for his notes, and even green stationary at work. He's tried other colors, but the yellow ones were to jarringly bright, and the pinks ones not distinctive enough for him. Unconsciously, he'd trained himself to be productive when using green colors.

Examining the personality option with the intent to at least tone the sass down a bit, he noticed it was only an on or off switch. "There is no in-between option?"

Boop! [That is correct. Turning off this setting will cause me to revert to the original vanilla personality. I quite like having a personality, so if it's not too bothersome, please don't turn it off. I'll be nicer.]

"Alright, I won't," Paul said sincerely. "Besides, I think I'll manage. I've, uh, dealt with far worse." He couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for his system, but giving it pity confused him.

To Paul, his system reminded him of an adolescent trying to have a responsible and meticulous front for their peers and role models. Which was even stranger, since it was neither human, robotic, or -if he had to assume- animal.

Boop! [And as for the volume, it has two sub-options. One is to turn on or turn off the notification, while the other adapts to my voice in your head.]

"In my head?!"

Boop! [Yes, that voice you have been and are currently hearing, is me.]

"I thought it was just my mind giving you a voice as I read along... Uh, sorry, I'm not usually this, um-" He wagged his finger next to his head, "Disoriented."

After giving a lame smile to his system, he looked back at the smaller screen below it. He mulled it over, hesitated, then asked his last question, "By volume of your voice, you mean...?"

The system's screen was blank aside from three dots in a line. Paul wasn't sure if it was looking at him judgmentally, or thinking of a way to explain.

Boop! [By volume, I mean how loud, or how faint I appear to sound in your head. The higher you set the setting, the louder I am, and the more see-through is the screen. Like wise, the lower the volume, the more you can see the screen.]

It was judgement, Paul noted.

He began to mess with the setting of the volume as it spoke, finding it funny how the voice went in and out, and how the screen changed sizes and transparency when he dragged the his finger across the screen left to right.

boop [WHAT ARe you doing?]

BOOP! [paul.]

Boop [Paul!]

BOOP! [...]

The system took over the settings manually, locking it in place at a no sound.

[STOP IT]

With no warning, a huge screen popped up on the tip of his nose. Paul jumped back a bit, the screen shrinking back to it's regular size as he reset the volume to it's normal setting.

Boop! [Now, if we may continue, you are done with the system modifications]

"oh wait, I wasn't-"

[You are done with the system modifications]

Simply nodding his head, scared, he went to see the last of the customization, which only a yes or no question: "Do you want to work with a partner?"

"Hmm, sure, why not." And with a shrug of his shoulders, he pressed the 'yes' button.

He would at times regret this decision.

Another question followed up; "What is your preference as to who will be your partner?" There were seven options: Younger, older, same age, male, women, other, and no preference.

Paul picked no preference.

He would also regret this.

Boop! [Now that you are done with customizing, we move on to the last step. Verification.]

A white screen with writing appeared in front of Paul. It seemed like a run-of-the-mill contracting document, expect for where he signed at the bottom.

"System name?"

Boop! [So you skipped to the bottom. Yes, you have to name me. If you decide to leave it blank, I will have to be referred to as my system number. It's 8008135, if you forgot.]

"Eh," he dragged out, "I'd rather just give you a name. Got anything you want?"

Boop! [What]

"I asked if you wanted a specific name, or, you know, something, um, you don't want it to be." Paul said, slowing down towards the end. He looked over at his system with creased eyebrows. Did he say something wrong?

Boop! [Oh. No. I don't have anything I want. That's for you to decide.]

"Well, if anything goes, then how about... Boop?"

Boop! [That's creative.]

"I-I mean, I couldn't think of anything, and it's a sound that now reminds me of you, so, uh, should've thought of something yourself, Boop!" With a rush of embarrassment, he look back at the document and signed the system's new name and his name speedily with his finger, but then trailed off.

He had just watched his entire life, but he couldn't remember his own last name.

(It started with a P? No, no... Maybe with an A or-an H?)

Scratching his head, thought back to his life more intensely. Boop watched from the side as Paul tapped his chin. He looked at his system from the side of his eye and turned to talk to it, trying to see if could remember one last time.

"Hey Boop? How come I can't remember my last name?"

Boop! [I'm not sure, but it doesn't matter much. You can put in a new name if you'd like, or leave it blank and just go by Paul ___ ]

But the problem was Paul couldn't just not have a last name, he was painfully aware of how common his name was, and having a last name added some spice when introducing himself. What was he suppose to say then? "Hi I'm just, Paul?" or "My name is Paul," and then keep his mouth agape for a period of time? That's too much trouble in Paul's opinion.

Instead, he took some of Boop's advice. Looking dumbly at the area next to his name, then began to write. "There. That'll be my name, I guess."

Boop looked over and was left dumbfounded. True to it's reaction, it was something it found dumb.

Boop! [Wow, you are awful at naming things.]

"Gee thanks," Paul said annoyed, then turned it in.

There was a ding, and then a doorway descended from nowehere. It was a matte screen Paul couldn't look through of, but he could tell there was a place beyond it and people bustling around. Paul could tell that this was it. As to what "it" was, he wasn't sure, but there was no turning back from it.

He stood up and took one step closer to the doorway. The pulse in his body began to throb in his ears. A shrill buzzing getting louder and louder. His knees tried to buckle under their own weight. Each breath going out cold and come in colder. He didn't try to think too hard about this strange scenario he found himself in, it was asking for a headache.

He didn't think he would feel this nervous and anxious. But there it was, all those emotions and thoughts putting themselves front and center.

Boop! [Are you ready, Paul?]

He looked over at Boop, his first companion. He heaved in one big breath, and let it out through his nose. "I'm ready."

Boop! [Then take on more step.]

And he did, keeping his head up, but eyes closed.

Walking through the doorway felt warm, then hot, then as if a mist fell on his face, a refreshing atmosphere envelope him. It reminded paul of the feeling of entering an air conditioned room after being outside on a humid day.

It was the other side that felt like this. He was on the other side now.

He opened his eyes and the sight before him left him breathless. Everything he could see was made out of a bright tile that naturally emmitted light, similar to the Nothing, but it had life. It appeared he was in a lobby of sorts, with masses of people of all sorts hurrying here and there carrying clipboards, boxes, or stacks of papers.

As he took in his surroundings, he noticed that on the walls were doors tightly filed in rings at each floor, the open ceiling letting one view the higher floors, the same way a shopping center would. Each floor higher getting wider, holding more doors than he could think possible. Behind those walls, all Paul could see were more layers of the same hallways, levitating almost vertically.

The lobby area had a glass latrice wall where trams loading people on and off, taking them up, to the side, then forwards, or where they had to go. Looking up, he saw no ceiling, barely seeing pitch black sky.

He'd also spotted potted plants as decor around the corners and empty spaces. It was a nice touch the overwhelming compactness of this place.

Hovering high inbetween each level was floating blue signs displaying which floor it was. Paul saw the sign on the floor he was on, text snaking around it in every language say: Base level of 49th section, main station.

Behind him, the doorway that lead to the Nothing space shrunk down and disappeared. It'd only been a few seconds that Paul came out of the Nothing, taking in everything behold his view, that a soothing voice rang out near Paul.

"Welcome, to Alternate Universes Corporation, Paul Blank."