System Break

The next major turn was when I was twenty-one in 2024.

The sound of the black hawk's blades was the only thing I could hear. It was a night mission in the middle of nowhere. My unit was the black ops go to for the CIA in these circumstances. One where failure was not an option with a borderline risk level. If it was any worse, they would cancel the op. And they probably tweaked the scope to ensure it got the green light.

My dreams of pro ball were long forgotten. I had loved the army so much I applied for special ops as soon as I could. And when I succeeded on my first attempt, I excelled and was then recruited into an elite unit. One that wasn't on TV.

The helo dipped suddenly. We were all harnessed into our bucket seats. I undid mine and leaned out the window as I gripped a steady handle.

The helo was dark, so the pilot was flying with radar only. It was then we clipped something and spun. I don't know why but my instinct was to let go and jump.

Out of the six men from my unit and two chopper pilots - I was the only survivor. It spun, crashed and turned into a fireball within moments of my letting go of the handle.

Later that night I was rescued by the second chopper, but it wasn't a complete miracle. After a medivac and emergency surgery I was alive – but I couldn't move my legs. I was a paraplegic.

The final nail in my coffin was in 2031. I was twenty-eight.

I pushed my chair up the ramp and into the vet hospital. As I bumped into another vet, I swore.

"Cool it man," he said.

"Just get out of the fucking way," I spat.

"I'm sorry dude," he apologised although he did nothing wrong. I should have felt guilty, but I was too angry with my life to feel anything of the sort.

I went up the annoying elevator to the fifth floor where my case handler's office was located. Harry was his name.

"Okay," I announced as I pushed through the door to his office, "I'm here. Do you need more blood? What is it this time?"

Standing in the corner was a Chinese military officer. I knew what he was from his uniform. All the Asian dress uniforms looked similar but as former spec ops I was trained how to tell them apart. The uniform was trying too hard to look important. Way too hard.

"Ben," Harry said, "This is Captain Chen and he is from the People's Liberation Army. China. Do you remember that program I told you about?"

"The highly dubious experimental program that wanted my blood and my DNA set off some alarm bell in their system?"

Harry looked apologetic. "Yes. But not the words I used. Captain Chen is here because you have met their criteria."

Captain Chen bowed deeply. "Specialist -"

"Just call me Ben. I'm not a specialist anymore," I interrupted him.

"My apologies. Ben. We would like to bestow upon you a great honour to join our programme. I have the details here," and with that Captain Chen put two copies of a very thick document onto Harry's desk.

"Give me the short and curly," I requested.

Captain Chen looked confused.

"He wants an executive summary," Harry interpreted for the Chinese officer.

Captain Chen bowed again. "Ben. In the cooperation between our countries, you have become known to our most prestigious researchers in the art of Qi channelling and manipulation. We would like to offer you a place in our programme which it is a great honour because you will be the first foreigner to be invited."

"You do know I can't use my legs?" I asked sarcastically.

Captain Chen nodded. "This has no bearing on the programme. You will be paid well whether successful or not. And in the event of success, there is a small chance you will regain the use of your legs."

"You're fucking kidding me," I scoffed.

Captain Chen looked dead serious.

"What's the worst case?" I asked.

"It is my role to give you all the information," he tapped the three hundred or so page document. He frowned slightly. "It is possible you could die."

"Is that the worst?" My laughter was tinged with sadness - my current predicament was worse than death.

Captain Chen shifted uneasily. I put it down to cultural differences at the time.

And here I was in an unknown Qi World – the Earth Year was 2031. I had no idea if a day was twenty-four hours in this place - let alone what year it was.

I sat up groggily as if I was the one hit in the head with a rock. There was something wrong with my eyes. Everything had a blue tinge. I decided to pretend that this was earth and attribute earth navigation by the sun. I ignored the three moons. I noticed one had disappeared all on its own.

The blue haze was not uniform as a few sections possessed a concentrated glow. They were almost like bright blue orbs floating in a pool. One was a faint orb to the south, and another to the east with three to the north.

I stood, and the blue began to wink out. The last to disappear was the strongest, which was to the north-west.

It's a good a direction as any, and I brushed myself off and headed in the general direction.

As I walked, I studied the sky and landmarks. Then I felt cold between my legs.

What sort of crazy game is this? I'm fucking naked!

I walked for another hour mumbling to myself. "Why didn't those assholes tell me more about how this works? Fucking bastards. I bet all their soldiers know what the hell is going on."

I was feeling better despite not taking in any food or drink. I thought I should need water soon, so I kept an eye open for the signs of an easy mark. Without any containers, this was not going to be easy.

This is a game, right? I was sceptical because I felt like I was here, not controlling this lump from somewhere else. And when I kicked my toe, I felt pain immediately. I should have been cursing, but the awesomeness of feeling pain from my toe overcame the usual reaction.

I stopped and inspected my lump. It was my term of endearment for my new body. I was still surrounded by grass, so there were no trees to get an idea of my height. I had a penis. Check. Wait. I was hairless. I felt my head. I was bald.

Holy fuck. I'm some albino mother fucker. Except I was not pure white. I was pinkish.

"Stupid fucking technician." I yelled into the sky, "You know I'm fucking black right?!"

Of all the dumb mother fucker things they could have done to me. My only consolation was that I was a man. It could have been worse.

It suddenly dawned on me if this was a game I should be able to view my stats.

"Display!" I called. There was no reaction.

"Um, rank?"

Nothing.

"Help?" I asked and low and behold commands appeared in front of my eyes.

.

Commands: Skills, Stats, Abilities and HUD.

User - once a combat maneuver or qi ability is unlocked assign it to quick action.

I whispered, "Skills."

.

-General-

Running, 0.42

-Combat-

Melee, 0.38

-Survival-

Navigation, 0.19

.

I laughed. That was it. I had no skills other than what I had earned. The sun was beginning to set, so I made my way to the tallest hill and looked around.

The only thing I could see were mountains far to the North. They were well beyond the horizon but tall enough to be seen. I sighed and kept walking to the northwest. There was no point stopping unless I lost my sense of direction or became tired.

I was actually looking forward to seeing what sort of night sky this world had to offer. For the first time in a long time - I was in a good mood. I might be a white mother fucker, but at least I had legs that worked.