Base Trials

It was the twenty-first of May, of a year I had long since forgotten, when the Trials began. I was having a slice of cake at a birthday party, when the world around me blurred. For a moment, I thought it was a particularly bad case of vertigo, one that I commonly experienced after standing up too fast. From many past attempts, I knew that the easiest way out of this mess was to just stay as rigidly still as possible, and wait out the storm. 

It took me a few moments to realize that this was not, in fact, a vertigo attack. The first clue was that my head stopped spinning after just a few seconds rather than a few minutes. The second sign? A mechanical voice in my head, which stated with unnerving calm, "Welcome, contestant!"

Before I could fully understand what was going on, the disembodied voice continued, "As this is your first time experiencing a Trial, you will first undertake the Base Trials so that a comprehensive profile with your data can be given. You may receive rewards for your performance, so please do your best. Good luck!"

My head spun with questions, but even as it began to straighten out the various uncertainties that haunted me, the floor below me twisted and I fell into darkness.

____________________________________________

Even to date, I cannot tell how much time I spent in that sightless void of black. All I know is that at some point, the strange voice chanted, "Welcome to the Trial of Strength." 

The message heralded the appearance of a blinding flood of light. Even with my eyes closed, the heat and brightness of it seared me. It was only a few minutes later, when my abused eyes had adjusted to the new surroundings, that I tentatively opened my eyes, to see what new horrors lay in store for me.

Before me was… some sort of semi-liquid machine. Even as I watched in disbelief, it morphed and changed, seemingly unable or unwilling to hold a single form. Every different shape it assumed seemed completely unassociated with the previous one, save that they all appeared very high-tech and complex.

Suddenly, it glowed with a blinding light, and I was forced to look away with a sharp cry of surprise. My eyes bemoaned their plight. When the radiance subsided and I was finally able to look back, a familiar yet bizarre sight awaited me.

I was looking at a punching machine.

For a few moments I stared in sheer confusion. Everything about it looked like the same punching machine I had seen when I went out with my mother on a trip. I had been no more than eight years old at the time and was fascinated with the glowing lights, inspecting every inch of it with obsessive interest. Now, the very same apparatus stood before me, down to the cracks in the mutilated punching bag and the inconspicuous dent at its bottom left corner.

Finally, I noticed a single difference: the display screen was not glowing. Perhaps it was that revelation that shook me out of my reverie and prompted me to question my circumstances.

"H-Hello? May I know why I have been brought here? Or perhaps why there appears to be a voice in my head?" I asked.

For a moment, my voice echoed in the empty space, an eerie sound in the otherwise silent realm.

"All of your questions shall be answered later. Kindly proceed with the test, contestant." admonished the voice.

Helplessly, I stepped forward and threw a punch at the mauled boxing bad. The bag… shook a little. Then it moved no more. I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment before I glanced around furtively, ensuring that no one had been around to witness my abysmal failure.

"...The contestant has been judged to have a strength of 0.6" stated the voice.

I flinched in surprise at the sudden sound, before remembering the omnipresent voice in my head. I could have sworn it sounded different from its usual emotionless monotone… was it… disappointed?

I shook my head. "Get a grip," I thought to myself. Then I said it out loud, and flinched at the startling sound of my voice in the empty space.

"Hello, err… Mr. Voice," I said awkwardly, "may I know what is meant by this 0.6 you talked about just now?"

"You may refer to me as the System if you so wish," said the System in a mechanical tone. "S=0.6 is a standard of measurement where 1 represents the current average strength of a lifeform from your species."