"Wake up, Weaver Atlas. Wake up."
Atlas jolted upright, flailing wildly. Who was in his room?!
His head whipped toward the noise. A flying bird, no larger than his hand, was flapping a few feet away, tilting its head as it hovered in place.
It was a colorful little thing. A light blue body, round, and squishy-looking, with wings that shifted from blue to orange, glowing faintly with orange wisps. Its head was yellow with eyes that flickered between shades of blue and green.
"Welcome to your Central Divinity Interface, or CDI for short" The bird's beak moved in sync with the words, though something about it looked off. "I am your Weaving Assistant. How may I assist you?"
"What the-" Atlas blinked. This was one crazy lucid dream. His bed was still beneath him, but stars and galaxies swirled around him in real-time, as if he was actually drifting through space.
"How may I assist you?" The bird repeated, fluttering in place.
Vivid colors danced in his vision as nebulas swirled, occasional wisps of purple and blue weaving through his room. Or at least, it still felt like his room oddly enough.
This made him a little nervous, wondering if he was hallucinating. Glancing anxiously over the edge of his bed, it felt like he would fall into an endless abyss.
"How may I assist you?"
"What's going on?" Atlas finally responded, carefully swinging his legs over the edge. His foot touched the floor, but it rippled, like stepping into a puddle.
"You have been chosen from Universe 42-4712. World Weaver: Atlas."
"What? From that game? Why?" He vaguely remembered seeing those numbers floating at the bottom left during setup.
"That information is restricted. Please familiarize yourself with your control console and begin the species creation process."
Atlas blinked, and the formation of the galaxies around him shifted and swirled. His mind felt like it was swimming in an ocean, adding to this surreal experience.
'This is awesome!' Every time he blinked, colors changed as the environment shifted. Deep down, he desperately hoped he wouldn't wake up yet.
When he finally stood up, the bed vanished behind him.
The rippling under his feet didn't stop. The rippling underfoot didn't stop, and with the constant shifting of the room, Atlas felt a wave of vertigo.
"Can you freeze everything and stop the ripples? This is making me sick."
"Yes, Weaver Atlas."
-Click-
He opened his eyes. Everything was frozen. The colors still glowed vibrantly, but the motion sickness faded.
"Thank you," Atlas muttered, glancing at the bird. "So you're like my personal AI system?"
"Negative. I am sentient."
"Uh-huh. Do you have a name?"
"Weaver Assistant, Number 33729."
"I'm not calling you that. Do you have a normal name?"
"Negative."
Frowning, he couldn't think of a name off the top of his head. This felt like one of those 'name your companion' moments, but trying to find a name suddenly was a bit frustrating.
"Fine, I'll just call you Wisp for now," Atlas said, eyeing the orange wisps trailing from its wings.
The bird didn't respond. It just blinked, following him with its beady little eyes.
Sighing, Atlas looked around again. There was nothing. No place to sit, no 'control panel'.
"How do I interact with it?" he asked, confused.
"Think 'Central Divinity Interface' and imagine your console."
Doing just that, his PC appeared in front of him. Atlas gave a wry smile though, glancing at Wisp with disappointment. "That's it?"
Wisp chirped, flying in circles around the PC, its tone upbeat. "This is what you imagined, and so it was."
"Oh!" It clicked. Why settle for boring when everything else was so surreal? He imagined something grander, and the PC vanished.
In its place, a massive planet, twice his size, floated in mid-air. A metallic ring encircled it, lined with shimmering consoles emitting gray light, except for two that glowed faint green.
Smirking, Atlas stepped onto the platform and touched the planet. With a gentle push, it rotated beneath his fingertips.
"This is such a god-power trip," he chuckled, grinning. Using both hands, he pressed on the planet and spread his arms wide.
The planetary view zoomed in on the center landmass. Atlas's eyes widened as it revealed a hyper-realistic image of a snow-capped, towering mountain. Everything was still barren, but in the far distance, he could spot the rocky basin surrounding it.
"This is incredible..." He brushed the surface again, rotating the view. There was a water stream directly below his viewpoint, and the terrain was rough and rocky.
Pressing both hands against the surface again, he brought his hands together and it zoomed back out to the planetary view.
He continued experimenting, walking around the holographic display. When it was in planetary view, it rotated like a real planet. However when he zoomed into specific locations, the holographic display adjusted seamlessly to reflect his perspective.
It didn't matter if he stood in front, far away, or behind, the perspective was still the same.
"Are you satisfied?" Wisp chirped, perched on a metallic rail behind the species console. A subtle signal of wanting to proceed.
"Yes, this is amazing! Can I save this setup?" Atlas asked, finally approaching the console. "This is cool, but sometimes, I feel like my PC might work better. You know, that familiarity."
"Of course. This setup has been saved to your Weaver storage."
"Weaver storage? Can I access that now?"
"Negative. The Weaver storage will become available after you finish this next stage."
Atlas sighed. "Do I have anything else in storage?"
Wisp shook its head, "Outside of this CDI setup, nothing is currently stored."
Atlas sighed again with relief. He was worried about what turn this was taking. He already didn't like that most of the features were grayed out.
He hated the idea of unlocking milestones and then finding his current setup obsolete- or storage items that could've made everything easier.
'I might not get a choice in this game, but I guess I'll know soon enough.'
The touch-screen for the species console glowed faintly green. Atlas reached out and touched it and, with a soft click, the top of the console popped out.
His eyebrows shot up in surprise before he pulled it out. The planet hovering before him blinked out of existence and was replaced by a faint, glowing outline of a holographic human.
This light-blue holographic faded, and in its place appeared an elf. Then a wolf. A dragon. A spider. The sequence continued, each new creature glowing briefly before disappearing into the next.
Atlas stood entranced by it. Eager curiousness had him waiting to see what the next one would be.
Chirp!
An angry chip next to his ear startled him. Atlas turned his head, it had eyebrows? It was glaring at him!
"Please proceed with the species creation stage, Weaver Atlas!" Wisp glared and chirped angrily at him.
"Wow," Atlas muttered, raising a brow. "My assistant has an attitude."
"You're taking too long!" Wisp chirped impatiently, its orange glowing wings flaring as they fluttered in place.
"OH?!" Atlas's stare intensified, tilting his head innocently. "Perhaps I should take even longer, then?"
"Please don't..." Wisp chirped meekly, its glare dissolving into a pitiful, wide-eyed stare.
Atlas chuckled softly before his attention returned to the touchscreen panel in hand. He stepped back onto the platform with Wisp wiggling on his shoulder in anticipation.
"Let's begin," he said, his fingers brushing the glowing surface, ready to dive into the next stage.