Kael's eyes snapped open to the sound of his alarm screaming at him. 7:30 AM. His dorm room looked exactly the same as always—clothes scattered on the floor, empty energy drink cans on his desk, Marcus's side of the room looking like a tornado had hit it.
For a moment, he almost convinced himself it had all been a dream. Some fucked up nightmare brought on by too much caffeine and stress.
Then he sat up, and his Quickmart shirt fell open. The fabric was shredded, torn to ribbons by claws that should have killed him. But his chest was smooth, unmarked. Not even a scar.
"What the actual fuck," he breathed.
GOOD MORNING, USER KAEL VYRNHEART
The blue screen materialized right in front of his face, making him jerk backward so hard he fell off the bed. His head smacked against Marcus's desk chair.
"Ow! Shit!" He scrambled to his feet, pointing at the floating interface. "You're real. You're actually fucking real."
CORRECT. BLOOD SYSTEM BETA VERSION 0.7 IS FULLY OPERATIONAL
TUTORIAL MODE REMAINS ACTIVE
PLEASE PREPARE FOR BASIC INSTRUCTION
"Tutorial? No, no no no. I don't want any tutorial. I want this thing out of my head!" Kael grabbed at the screen, but his hands passed right through it. "Delete account! Uninstall! Whatever the fuck you call it!"
ACCOUNT DELETION IS NOT POSSIBLE AFTER BINDING
WOULD USER PREFER TO REVIEW SYSTEM BASICS OR PROCEED DIRECTLY TO PRACTICAL EXERCISES?
"I prefer to wake up from this goddamn nightmare!"
NIGHTMARE PROTOCOLS NOT FOUND
DEFAULTING TO SYSTEM BASICS
THE BLOOD SYSTEM IS A SUPERNATURAL ENHANCEMENT INTERFACE DESIGNED TO OPTIMIZE VAMPIRIC FUNCTIONS. AS A NEW USER, YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED BASIC ABILITIES INCLUDING:
- ENHANCED HEALING- IMPROVED PHYSICAL CAPABILITIES- BLOOD CONSUMPTION PROTOCOLS- THREAT DETECTION
"Vampiric? VAMPIRIC?" Kael's voice cracked. "I'm not a fucking vampire! Vampires aren't real!"
INCORRECT. YOU ARE NOW CLASSIFIED AS A SYSTEM-ENHANCED BLOOD DEPENDENT ENTITY
CONGRATULATIONS
"Don't congratulate me for this shit!" He started pacing, running his hands through his hair. "This is insane. I'm insane. I'm having a mental breakdown."
His phone rang. Marcus.
"Kael, dude, where the hell are you? Peterson's been calling the store all morning. Says you never closed up last night and the back door was wide open."
Kael stared at the phone. The convenience store. The alley. The monster that had tried to eat him.
"I... I had to leave. Emergency."
"What kind of emergency? And why does your voice sound weird?"
TUTORIAL EXERCISE 1: ENHANCED SENSORY PERCEPTION
LISTEN CAREFULLY TO YOUR FRIEND'S HEARTBEAT
"What?" Kael whispered, but then he heard it. Through the phone, impossibly clear—the steady thump-thump, thump-thump of Marcus's heart. He could practically smell the bacon Marcus had eaten for breakfast, could hear the rustle of his roommate's clothes as he shifted in his chair.
"Kael? You there, man?"
"Yeah, I'm... I'm here." His voice sounded hollow even to himself.
"Look, Peterson's pissed. You better call him before he fires your ass."
The line went dead. Kael set the phone down with shaking hands.
EXCELLENT. SENSORY ENHANCEMENT IS FUNCTIONING PROPERLY
TUTORIAL EXERCISE 2: PHYSICAL CAPABILITIES
PLEASE PERFORM A VERTICAL JUMP
"Are you out of your mind?"
HUMOR IS NOT PART OF THE TUTORIAL PROTOCOL
PLEASE JUMP
"Fine. Whatever." Kael bent his knees and jumped, expecting maybe a foot of air time.
His head hit the ceiling.
"Holy shit!" He crashed back down, stumbling and nearly taking out Marcus's lamp. The ceiling tile above had a perfect head-shaped dent in it.
VERTICAL LEAP: 8.7 FEET
WITHIN ACCEPTABLE PARAMETERS FOR A LEVEL 1 USER
TUTORIAL EXERCISE 3: STRENGTH ASSESSMENT
A red target appeared on Marcus's metal desk chair.
PLEASE STRIKE THE DESIGNATED TARGET WITH MODERATE FORCE
"I'm not breaking my roommate's shit."
TUTORIAL COMPLETION IS MANDATORY
FAILURE TO COMPLETE TUTORIAL WILL RESULT IN SYSTEM PENALTIES
"What kind of penalties?"
SEVERE ONES
Kael looked at the chair, then at his fist. "Moderate force. You said moderate."
CORRECT
He pulled back and punched the chair with what felt like a light tap. The metal crumpled like tinfoil, the impact sending the chair flying across the room to embed itself in the opposite wall with a tremendous crash.
"Jesus Christ!" Kael stared at his undamaged fist. "What have you done to me?"
STRENGTH COEFFICIENT: 847% ABOVE BASELINE HUMAN
TUTORIAL EXERCISE 4: SUSTENANCE REQUIREMENTS
A new screen appeared, this one showing what looked like a health bar. It was mostly red, with just a sliver of green at the top.
BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVELS: CRITICAL
ENHANCED METABOLISM REQUIRES SPECIALIZED NUTRITION
TUTORIAL CANNOT PROCEED WITHOUT FEEDING
"Feeding?" A cold weight settled in Kael's stomach. "What do you mean, feeding?"
SYSTEM ENHANCED ENTITIES REQUIRE HUMAN BLOOD FOR OPTIMAL FUNCTION
RECOMMENDED DAILY INTAKE: 12-16 FLUID OUNCES
"No." The word came out as a whisper. "No, absolutely fucking not. I'm not drinking blood. I'm not... I can't..."
BLOOD SUBSTITUTES ARE NOT SUSTAINABLE LONG-TERM
ANIMAL BLOOD PROVIDES REDUCED NUTRITIONAL VALUE
HUMAN BLOOD IS OPTIMAL
Kael felt sick. Actually physically sick, like he might throw up. "I won't do it. I'm not a monster."
TUTORIAL EXERCISE 4 IS MANDATORY
SAMPLE AVAILABLE IN REFRIGERATION UNIT
"What?" Kael spun toward their mini-fridge. "What sample?"
He opened it with trembling hands. There, sitting between Marcus's leftover pizza and a six-pack of beer, was a blood bag. Medical-grade, the kind you'd see in a hospital. A note was taped to it: "Property of Kael Vyrnheart - Tutorial Use Only."
"How did you... when did you..." His hands were shaking as he picked up the bag. It was warm. Body temperature.
CONSUME CONTENTS TO PROCEED
"I can't. I can't do this."
TUTORIAL FAILURE WILL RESULT IN SYSTEM SHUTDOWN
SYSTEM SHUTDOWN WILL RESULT IN DEATH
YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS TO COMPLY
A countdown appeared: 29... 28... 27...
"You're bluffing."
26... 25... 24...
The health bar on the screen began flashing red. Kael could feel something wrong inside him—a gnawing emptiness that went deeper than hunger, a weakness that made his enhanced strength feel like a lie.
15... 14... 13...
"Fuck! FUCK!" He tore open the blood bag with his teeth. The smell hit him immediately—copper and iron and something else, something that made his mouth water despite his revulsion.
5... 4... 3...
Kael tilted the bag and drank.
It was... incredible. Like the best meal he'd ever had, like ice water in the desert, like every craving he'd ever had satisfied at once.
The weakness vanished, replaced by a surge of energy that made him feel like he could run a marathon or punch through a wall.
When the bag was empty, he dropped it and wiped his mouth. His hand came away red.
TUTORIAL EXERCISE 4: COMPLETE
BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVELS: OPTIMAL
CONGRATULATIONS. YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY CONSUMED YOUR FIRST HUMAN BLOOD
"I think I'm going to be sick."
NAUSEA IS A COMMON SIDE EFFECT OF INITIAL FEEDING
EFFECT WILL DIMINISH WITH REPEATED CONSUMPTION
The door to his room opened. Marcus walked in, took one look at the destroyed chair embedded in the wall, the blood on Kael's face, and the empty blood bag on the floor, and said:
"Dude. What the fuck happened in here?"
Kael opened his mouth to answer, but the system beat him to it:
TUTORIAL PHASE 1: COMPLETE
TUTORIAL PHASE 2 WILL COMMENCE IN 24 HOURS
WARNING: FAILURE TO FEED WITHIN 24 HOURS WILL RESULT IN ACCOUNT TERMINATION
ACCOUNT TERMINATION IS SYNONYMOUS WITH DEATH
GOOD LUCK FINDING A FRESH SOURCE
The screen vanished, leaving Kael staring at his roommate with blood still on his lips and the taste of copper coating his tongue.
"Kael," Marcus said slowly, backing toward the door. "Your eyes, man. Your eyes are glowing red."
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