Solomon's Crucible 1. A Beautiful Day (Patreon)

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People respond to catastrophe in different ways. Some try to find a sympathetic ear. Some get drunk. Some go start a fight.

Solomon Gragg liked to be alone.

He'd spent Friday evening working up the nerve to propose to his girlfriend. By Saturday morning he was single. In retrospect, he could admit that there had been some problems with their relationship. He still thought their issues would have been swept away by a firm commitment, but his ex had rather firmly disagreed.

Eventually, he would have to figure out who would be moving out of their apartment. He'd have to figure out which possessions belonged to him, and which to her. He'd have to work through which of his friends were actually her friends. Eventually.

For now, he'd already called in to work to schedule an impromptu four day weekend. He'd driven along the freeway, turned off that onto a state highway, then turned off that and continued down a dirt road. 

As he pulled into an empty parking lot next to a little-used trailhead, Solomon was fairly confident that he was the only human being for miles around.

After he grabbed his backpack and set a brisk but not punishing pace for the next few hours, he was sure of it. He was making his way along a trail cut into the side of one of the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, and finally came to a stop when he broke through to the first scenic overlook. 

The left side of the trail ended in a steep drop into a narrow ravine. Beyond that, though, he enjoyed a panoramic view of nearly untouched wilderness.

It was the kind of pristine scenery that could heal a broken heart. Solomon could have stood there for hours, simply enjoying the beauty of nature.

[Welcome to the System!

Earth Zone #000450791... incorporation complete!

Advance! Fight! Conquer! The multiverse awaits!

Please note that incorporation into the system may cause disruptions to the "laws" of physics as your society previously understood them. Also, during the adjustment period, the system may affect the behavior of local wildlife. This warning serves to notify you that the system will not provide redress for injuries suffered as a result of these ordinary side effects of system integration.

First grace period expires in: 59:27.]

A blue box appeared in his vision, obscuring his view. When he looked around, trying to find the source of the projection, the box moved with him. As it did, the number in the lower right corner of his vision smoothly ticked down.

Eventually, he gave in and read the text.

"Okay," he said. "This is messed up."

The box vanished as soon as he finished speaking. This would have been more reassuring if not for the fact that the countdown timer had relocated to the bottom right corner of his field of vision. He turned his head to the side, then back, and the timer moved with him to remain in the same spot in the corner of his eye.

Was somebody messing with him? Solomon reached back and brushed his fingers against the pistol he kept holstered at the small of his back. After a moment he shook his head and brought his empty hand up to scratch the back of his head instead. He wasn't naive enough to hike deep into the mountains without being able to defend himself, but he wasn't the sort of psycho who would respond to a prank with deadly force.

More to the point, he didn't see how any human being could do this. Forget the blue box. To seamlessly integrate a clock into his vision no matter how much he looked around, it was beyond any human technology he'd ever heard of. 

Was he cracking up? Could a crazy person hallucinate their own personal stopwatch? It didn't seem likely. 

If he wasn't crazy, and this wasn't a joke, then it must be... real?

"This is really messed up."

He fished his phone out of his pocket. Getting reception out in the middle of nowhere was always a crap shoot, but he figured it was worth a shot. Maybe somebody would know what was going on. Somebody on the internet would have a theory by now, at least.

His phone was completely dead. He'd checked at the beginning of the hike that he had 99% power, enough to last for days.

...the system may cause disruptions to the "laws" of physics...

"Come on."

His attention was drawn from the useless brick in his hands by a ferocious snarl. Looking uphill, he saw a mountain lion tearing down the hill headed straight for him. It was absurdly reckless. Not just that, but absurdly unlikely. Mountain lions were nocturnal. They went out of their way to avoid humans.

...the system may affect the behavior of local wildlife...

"Come on!"

He dropped the phone. Every month, he visited the shooting range to practice for this sort of scenario. He reached back, taking firm hold of his pistol and drawing it free from its holster in a smooth motion. He brought it in front of him, swinging his left hand forward at the same time to take a secure grip. The mountain lion was uncomfortably close, but he took a half second to make sure that he had the sights lined up on his target and squeezed the trigger.

Click.

That was funny. It always went "bang" when he did it at the range.

Solomon had time for one sulfurous curse before the mountain lion was on him, not slowing at all as it leaped into the air. He ducked and tried to sidestep. It was almost enough.

The mountain lion's outstretched paw clipped his shoulder as it passed him by. The glancing blow was enough to tear up his shirt sleeve and send him staggering backwards. He was dimly aware that the mountain lion continued on its way, barely slowing as it tumbled off the trail and into the ravine.

Solomon took one step back. Two. Three. He could feel the ravine waiting somewhere behind him, but he was still falling over backwards. He needed to take one more step to stabilize himself. Just one.

His heel came down on open air.

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