Hours before Sam’s life unraveled, he stared at his computer screen with vacant eyes. An old woman droned on about how she’d called the DSHS for help so many times and they’d all been rude. He closed his eyes and tried to hold down a color in his head. He chose orange at random. He tried to shape the orange, moving it from a circle to a hexagon, stretching the edges, applying little curves as if fixing a puzzle.

  “Yes, I am with you, Mrs. Rowan,” Sam said, catching the woman’s question. He pushed her voice to the back of his mind again as he focused on the color. He’d had to come up with this game to supplement the weary nature of his job. He could split his attention, making his mind too busy to drown in noisy thoughts, most of which he’d have to get into when he got home anyway. He sighed, pushing the orange away as Mrs. Rowan’s tired voice petered to a stop. The woman was old. Sam could picture her face, or what he assumed she’d look like.

  His eyes flung open when someone peeked into his cubicle.

  “What do you want, Fred?” Sam whispered without looking at the man. He didn’t hate Fred, but sometimes the man could be a little overbearing. Sam glanced at him now and then put a finger up so he could list the available assistance for the old woman on the side of his phone.

  He spun to face Fred when the call ended, giving the tall man a forced but acceptable smile. Fred grinned, his hands folded across his chest.

  “You want to hang out with the other guys later?” Fred asked. Sam frowned. He’d expected this, but still, it was unpleasant. He’d made it clear he wasn’t really one for hanging out. He was looking forward to his scotch ale and finishing Neuromancer. He tried to formulate a reasonable reason why he couldn’t come with the others, but Fred put a hand up before he could speak.

  “It’s not a large gathering, Sam,” Fred said, his smile casual. “Just a few of us drinking and watching the supermoon from Gerard’s roof. It’d be a blast. After that, you can slip back into being the loner you are.”

  “I am not a lo–”

  “If you say so,” Fred said quickly, putting his hands up, his face split with a grin. Sam groaned. He’d hung out with them before. Once, just after Tara left him. It had been the lowest period of his life. He had hoped being with them would take his mind off the whole thing, but it had isolated him even more. They were the normal kind of group, men who talked about sports, women, and other things Sam had almost no interest in. Yet, it had been nice to just sit there and be aware that he wasn’t alone.

  He swiveled back to face the large PC screen, his eyes finding the date immediately. He’d forgotten about the moon. It had been a buzz online. Everyone was excited as if it was a lifetime achievement.

  “Fine,” Sam said finally to Fred’s back. “Gerard, right? Send me the address and I will be there.”

  He wasn’t sure why he agreed, but once he said it, Fred grinned as if he’d won a bet. Sam closed his eyes, groaning as he imagined going through hours of listening to Fred and his friends talk about inane things.

  It might be fun to drink and let their voices be in the background, he thought. There wasn’t much he’d have done anyway. He had no one at home to hurry to, and sometimes the silence unnerved him. He’d drink, watch an oversized moon, and listen to the others talk about the women in the office they wanted.

  That one decision had him sitting amongst them hours later. The view from the roof gave him a good look at the city below. He stared at the lights puncturing the darkness below, appreciating how random and chaotic it all was. The noise was too far to hear, but Sam could imagine what it sounded like. Up above, the moon was larger than it usually was, full, regal, and overwhelming. He took a sip of his beer and sighed, relaxing into the soft cushion of the chair he’d been offered.

  He had thought this would be a gathering of guys from work, but he could see a few new faces. A girl, Grace, stared at Fred even though he’d come with his partner. Sam looked away, unsure how long before his stare became uncomfortable. Instead, he watched the others. Zack, the squat, loud blonde who laughed as if every cell in his body was created for merriment.

  Amy was one of the girls who had featured in the lusty conversations of the only other of these gatherings he’d attended. She had her hands linked with Gerard now. Sam wondered how he could afford to stay in a place like this, but he didn’t dwell on the thought for long. Instead, he moved on to the next. Grayson, larger than any man Sam had ever seen. He’d made sure everyone knew he was ex-marine.

  Sam stood up, tired of the conversation he wasn’t a part of, and somehow he’d locked eyes with one of the newer faces in the group, Kelly. He remembered her as one of the overly friendly case managers who not only sought a place for children but who felt like they needed to manage their coworkers too. And now her subtle smiles were making him uncomfortable.

  He walked to the ledge, leaning on it with his beer in hand. Not for the first time that night, he wondered what a drop from this high would be like. He wasn’t suicidal, but sometimes his mind wandered.

  “We bore you?” a familiar voice asked, and Sam cursed quietly. He should have known he couldn’t escape her. He gave her his best practiced smile and shrugged.

  “There is a pretty moon up there,” Sam said, hoping that was good enough for a conversation. He’d avoided women since Tara. Not because he feared getting hurt again. He just couldn’t see himself going through that again. It felt like dragging himself through a wringer again.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “True,” she said. Her red hair and white smile impressed upon him her beauty, distracting him from his melancholy. But just past her, he thought he saw something move. Almost too quick for him to be sure.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked. Sam shook his head. He focused on the space he’d noticed the movement, but nothing was there. Just the others laughing. Then he saw it again, and this time it wasn’t a shape. It was a flicker of light in the space between him and the others. Almost as if for a moment that part of space had folded or had simply disappeared.

  Sam frowned. He brushed past Kelly, staring at the twitching space. “Can you see this?” he asked, walking closer. The closer he got, the larger the blinking space became, as if it was growing. It began to extend in all directions, and when it touched down on the roof, a blazing beam appeared, and inside a light squirmed. Sam jumped back, almost knocking down the woman behind him. He caught her swiftly, holding her up.

  Behind the spreading light, Sam could hear the others screaming. They could see it too. Good, he thought. He thought he was going crazy. He hissed, looking down to find nails digging into his arm.

  Kelly was scared; she looked like she’d seen a monster or something. Then Sam followed her gaze and saw why. Something seemed to be devouring the moon. A swelling light appeared to be swallowing it, and it grew steadily.

  Sam cursed when he felt the ledge against his back. He hadn’t even known he was backtracking away from the growing beam. He looked down the building, and panic tore through him.

  “Kelly!” someone screamed, and the woman gasped.

  “Grayson,” she called back. Sam remembered now. That’s why Grayson came, even though he didn’t work with them. They were siblings or related. She turned to him, eyes large with fear. Sam cursed. She was expecting a solution from him?

  The beam had covered everything in front of them. The moon was half covered as the growing light connected the two; its beauty enveloped by the bright abnormality. Sam turned back again, looking over the ledge. They were left with two choices. They either run into the light or jump to their death. They would die either way. His mind raced with thoughts as he heard screams streaming everywhere. Only a small section of the moon remained visible.

  “What do we do?” Kelly asked, her face wet with tears. Sam groaned. He could feel the decision settling into him, but he didn’t like it. He knew she wouldn’t either. But in the chaos around them, there was only one thing to do.

  Glass shattered below as someone threw themselves down, fleeing from the encroaching light. Sam and Kelly watched as the body sailed down, the man screaming with terror to his death. Not that, Sam thought. Another man dropped, and below a high whine and then a crash echoed. A truck exploded, lighting the night up briefly. Sam decided at that moment.

  “Run into it,” he said.

  “What?” Kelly asked, shaking her head. “Are you insane? I’d rather die than let that thing take me!”

  Yes, Sam thought as he turned to face the creeping light. It grew like a nightmare, moving with unfathomable horror. He hadn’t noticed before, but the longer he looked at it, the tighter he was pulled into the throes of irrational fear. This is how anyone would feel. Then why do I feel pulled to it?

  He took a step forward just as Kelly climbed on the ledge. Sam swore loud enough for her to hear over the chorus of screams and death cries all around them.

  “What are you doing? You jump and you will die, for sure!” he yelled. He felt the light close in on him, and just as it swallowed him, he saw her leap off the edge. Sam tried to leap after her, but the light held tightly to him. It crept all over his skin like a million wet insects. He felt searing stings and tried to shake it off, moaning as the pain intensified. His heart hammered in his chest, panic shattering any possible coherent thought. Fear turned to dread, and he felt himself being pulled down slowly into despair.

  Until a voice anchored him.

  [Requirement surpassed for integration]

  [Potentiality merged with the timeline!]

  [Possible deviation observed]

  [Deviation reversed!]

  “Hello! Anyone there?” Sam screamed, but the murky light muted every sound. The otherworldly voice continued.

  [Legacy acquired!]

  [Checking for impurities]

  Sam grunted as something fused to the base of his neck. He twisted, trying to see what it was, but he was snapped back into place, held down by something invisible in the light. He couldn’t even feel anything holding him. His inside was filled with an alien warmth, and then he shuddered as a pressure passed through him.

  [Impurities observed]

  [Requesting permission to remove impurities from legacy]

  Sam stared as muted lights blinked into place in front of him. Yes and No were written in bold. He stared at them for what felt like an endless moment.

  “Yes?” he muttered. And the next moment he wished he hadn’t accepted. Pain rushed through him, from the tip of his toes to the curly strands of hair on his head, everything hurt. His every breath felt like he was fanning flames in his chest. He stretched, hoping to ease the pain, but it only grew. His bones snapped, first his shoulders and then his ribs and hips and legs.

  [Constitution reconstructed to fit the legacy role]

  I am going to die! I am going to die! No, I am... I am already dead. This is purgatory. This is hell!

  The thoughts came and vanished as his bones pushed out of his skin and slowly slipped back in, stretched, and reattached. He felt the whole process, the scrape of bone against nerves, skin stretching, organs resized and reorganized in the new space. He didn’t pass out from the torment of the procedure, the torture of being remade into something different. The agony flushed his mind of any thought after a while. Only the rippling light existed, that and the never-ending suffering.

  And it ended suddenly.

  [Reformation successful!]

  [Affinity for the Ascension: 100%]

  Sam felt the invisible hold slide off. He staggered forward, feeling an unnatural weight settle in him. He let himself fall to his knees. Somehow, he felt both like himself and not. In front of him, a small screen blinked into existence. On it were symbols, patterns, something he couldn’t understand. He blinked, and when his eyes focused, the symbols squiggled, changing into alphabets he could understand.

  [Welcome, Legacy]

  [Integration status: successful!]

  [You have acquired the Ascension System!]

  [Destination: The Omark Colony]

  [Trial Stage has been triggered!]