-- alarm --
-- alarm --
-- alarm --
"Okay, okay" a muffled voice argued from beneath a stack of pillows.
Ramsey blindly felt around the bed for his phone and pressed the lock button. Pulling his head from beneath the pillows, he sat up and rubbed his eyes.
"Still dark? What ti-"
-- alarm --
"Dammit." Ramsey reached back to grab his phone again, but hesitated. The screen was dark. He pushed the lock button, but the alarm didn't stop.
"What the hell? Stop!"
[Alarm stopped]
A pleasant female voice spoke. It was clear and directionless.
Ramsey's eyes opened wide, he quickly looked around and upward. "What?"
[Alarm stopped]
[Begin System Reset?]
"System…reset? What? What's happening?!"
[System Reset – Step 1 Description: Restore avatar to prime state]
Ramsey closed his eyes and shook his head. "This.. this is a dream. I've heard of this, where you realize you're dreaming in a dream."
Ramsey waited… but nothing else happened. Only silence.
He took a deep breath and laid down, comforted by the embrace of his pillows, he sighed.
"So weird".
Ramsey's breathing slowed as he drifted back to sleep.
***
The edges of the closed curtains glowed as the morning sun crept through. A sliver of light ran across the unkempt floor, the bed, and the again sleeping man.
-- alarm --
With the familiar sound and vibration of his alarm, Ramsey reached for his phone and stopped it.
It took a moment, but he recalled last night's dream. Only now realizing that the alarm he heard then, wasn't the same as his usual.
'Hm, I guess you don't notice things like that in dreams.'
Ramsey popped up and walked to the kitchen. He started brewing a cup of coffee, then headed to the bathroom for a quick shower. Stopping to look in the mirror, Ramsey ruffled his dark brown hair, overlooking the receding areas, and admired his deep blue eyes, overlooking the crow's feet.
'44, but still look.. 36'
He leaned in toward the mirror a little closer 'Okay maybe 38'.
The hot shower sprayed the top of Ramsey's head for several minutes, the water washing away the sleep and the strangeness of that dream.
"What was it she said?"
[System Reset – Step 1 Description: Restore Avatar to Prime State]
The pleasant female voice startled Ramsey, he slipped and fell backwards, grabbing the shower curtain and pulling it down with him. The shower sprayed him as he lay on his back in the tub. With his eyes wildly searching for something that wasn't there, he tried to cover himself with the torn curtain.
"Hello?"
[Begin System Reset?]
Suddenly Ramsey noticed black text, the same words the voice spoke, floating in the periphery of his vision. He tried to swat at it, but there was nothing there. He moved his head and looked around seeing the text follow his line of sight.
'What is happening?!'
Ramsey hesitantly reached up and turned off the water, and slowly exited the tub with his shower curtain cover. Skillfully swapping the curtain for a towel, not knowing who was watching him or how, he tried to think what to do next.
'Was there text last night?
Well, it was dark, and the text is black... God, what am I thinking?! What's wrong with me?'
Dripping, but starting to calm down a bit, Ramsey realized he heard the voice when he asked a question. Hoping he was wrong, Ramsey winced and asked, "What is an avatar?"
[Avatar]
[Name: Ramsey Garrett]
[Age: 44]
[Setting: Earth, Information Age, Year 2025]
[Attributes: N/A in current Setting]
[Path: N/A in current Setting]
'She.. it.. knows me about me.
And I'm… an avatar?'
After a moment of disbelief, Ramsey continued.
"What does prime state mean?"
[Prime State - Description: The onset of the avatar's fully matured physical and mental condition]
'Fully matured? When was I fully mature?'
Ramsey walked to his bedroom mumbling under his breath. He quickly dressed in a pair of gray jeans and a black t-shirt and sat on the bed. He was giving in to the situation. Dream or crazy, it didn't seem to be going away. He thought about what to ask next.
"What is my prime state?"
[Avatar Ramsey Garrett - Prime State: Age 22]
"…"
"Wait. You said step 1 before. What are the other steps?"
[System Reset – Step 2 Description: Choose Setting]
[System Reset – Step 3 Description: Adjust Attributes. Not applicable in all Settings]
[System Reset – Step 4 Description: Choose Path. Not applicable in all Settings]
"What are the settings to choose from?"
[Setting Options]
[Vraus, Heroic Era, Year 793 – Attributes & Path available]
[Lock, Artificial Intelligence Age, Year 3 – N/A for Attributes & Path]
[Elorr, Birth of Mana, Year 1164 – Attributes & Path available]
[Earth, Information Age, Year 2002 – N/A for Attributes & Path]
"…"
If anyone had seen Ramsey for the last few minutes, they'd think he was in shock or heavily medicated. He was motionless, jaw dropped, staring at nothing.
They would be partially right, though. He was in shock, but what he was staring at was far from nothing. He kept reading the text over and over.
'How can this be real? Some of these look like fantasy worlds.
Heroic Age, is that like superheroes?
And Mana… that has to mean magic, right?'
However, Ramsey kept looking back at the last choice.
'Earth, 2002. It's… time travel.'
The timing made sense, that's the year he would've been in his "prime state". However, the last 20 years of Ramsey's life weren't exactly story worthy.
By age 22, he had already dropped out of college. He majored in Design Engineering, but also had a passion for art and drama. None of that mattered, though. Ramsey was very immature and irresponsible at that age. He liked to say that he majored in beer or partying. Occasionally missing a class, became occasionally going to one. Before he knew it, multiple weeks had passed without going and there was no way to recover.
He spent the next 20 years accepting any entry level job that would hire him. He had worked in restaurants, construction, landscaping, even water filter sales. However, his current job was equally glamorous - working the front desk at a hotel.
Whatever the job, Ramsey was a quick learner and usually pretty good at anything he set his mind to, but he never felt great at anything.
The same could be said about his relationships. They usually came and went with his jobs, never finding anything serious.
'What would I do differently?
I could be rich if I bought stocks or bet on sports.
I could have a second chance at a lot of things that didn't go my way.'
Lost in his thoughts, Ramsay shook his head to collect himself and asked, "Do I have to reset?"
[System Reset will occur automatically in 2 days, 17 hours, 29 minutes]
"Wait! What would the setting be?"
[Automatic System Reset will choose a random Setting]
"So I only have 2 days to decide."
Ramsey closed his eyes to make the text go away and fell back on the bed. He covered his face with his hands and sighed. "I'm sick, I have to be, either physically or mentally."
'But if I am sick, won't I know in 3 days when nothing happens? Maybe I should just wait until then.
But if it's real, then I wouldn't get to choose. And I would waste what time I have left.'
A realization accompanied by a look of fear slowly came to Ramsey.
'What should I do if I only have 2 days left here? It's like being told I have 2 days to live.
I've never made a bucket list. There's so much I've never seen or done. I've never been to Europe. I've never been skydiving. Oh..'
"What happens if I die?"
[Earth Avatar death is final, System Reset will not occur]
"Okay, so don't do anything crazy. Wait, Earth avatar? Are other avatar deaths final?"
[System information is restricted to current Setting]
"So you can't tell me about the other settings?"
The system proceeded to list the setting options as it had before. It was clear that it could not answer every question. Ramsey's chest was beginning to hurt. The anxiety of the situation was taking its toll.
"If I reset and choose Earth, can I reset again whenever I want?"
[Earth Avatar Reset is available after 7500 days]
"7500 days!"
'That's what? …20 years? I'd have to live the last 20 years over again before I have another chance.'
Despite how strange this morning had been, realizing that his life was potentially about to be over was too much for Ramsey to accept. He decided to stay quiet to keep the system, or the symptoms of his sickness, at bay.
Ramsey's thoughts swirled
'What should I do?'