"Wake up, Weaver Ats. Wake up."

  Ats jolted upright, filing wildly. Who was in his room?!

  His head whipped toward the noise. A flying bird, ner than his hand, ping a few feet away, tilting its head as it hovered in pce.

  It was a colorful little thing. A light blue body, round, and squishy-looking, with wings that shifted from blue te, glowing faintly with e wisps. Its head was yellow with eyes that flickered between shades of blue and green.

  "Wele to your tral Divinity Interface, or CDI for short" The bird's beak moved in sync with the words, though something about it looked off. "I am your Weaving Assistant. How may I assist you?"

  "What the-" Ats blihis was one crazy lucid dream. His bed was still beh him, but stars and gaxies swirled around him iime, as if he was actually drifting through space.

  "How may I assist you?" The bird repeated, fluttering in pce.

  Vivid colors danced in his vision as nebus swirled, occasional wisps of purple and blue weaving through his room. Or at least, it still felt like his room oddly enough.

  This made him a little nervous, w if he was halluating. Gng anxiously over the edge of his bed, it felt like he would fall into an endless abyss.

  "How may I assist you?"

  "What's going on?" Ats finally responded, carefully swinging his legs over the edge. His foot touched the floor, but it rippled, like stepping into a puddle.

  "You have been chosen from Universe 42-4712. World Weaver: Ats."

  "What? From that game? Why?" He vaguely remembered seeing those numbers floating at the bottom left duriup.

  "That information is restricted. Please familiarize yourself with your trol sole and begin the species creation process."

  Ats blinked, and the formation of the gaxies around him shifted and swirled. His mi like it was swimming in an o, adding to this surreal experience.

  'This is awesome!' Every time he blinked, colors ged as the enviro shifted. Deep down, he desperately hoped he wouldn't wake up yet.

  When he finally stood up, the bed vanished behind him.

  The rippling under his feet didn't stop, and with the stant shifting of the room, Ats felt a wave of vertigo.

  " you freeze everything and stop the ripples? This is making me sick."

  "Yes, Weaver Ats."

  -Click-

  He opened his eyes. Everything was frozen. The colors still glowed vibrantly, but the motion siess faded.

  "Thank you," Ats muttered, gng at the bird. "So you're like my personal AI system?"

  "ive. I am se."

  "Uh-huh. Do you have a name?"

  "Weaver Assistant, Number 33729."

  "I'm not calling you that. Do you have a normal name?"

  "ive."

  Frowning, he couldn't think of a name off the top of his head. This felt like one of those 'name your panion' moments, but trying to find a name suddenly was a bit frustrating.

  "Fine, I'll just call you Wisp for now," Ats said, eyeing the e wisps trailing from its wings.

  The bird didn't respond. It just blinked, following him with its beady little eyes.

  Sighing, Ats looked around again. There was nothing. No pce to sit, no 'trol panel'.

  "How do I i with it?" he asked, fused.

  "Think 'tral Divinity Interface' and imagine your sole."

  Doing just that, his PC appeared in front of him. Ats gave a wry smile though, gng at Wisp with disappoi. "That's it?"

  Wisp chirped, flying in circles around the PC, its tone upbeat. "This is what you imagined, and so it was."

  "Oh!" It clicked. Why settle for b whehing else was so surreal? He imagined something grander, and the Pished.

  In its pce, a massive pwice his size, floated in mid-air. A metallig encircled it, lined with shimmering soles emitting gray light, except for two that glowed faint green.

  Smirking, Ats stepped onto the ptform and touched the p. With a gentle push, it rotated beh his fiips.

  "This is such a god-power trip," he chuckled, grinning. Using both hands, he pressed on the p and spread his arms wide.

  The pary view zoomed in on the ter ndmass. Ats's eyes widened as it revealed a hyper-realistic image of a snoed, t mountain. Everything was still barren, but in the far distance, he could spot the rocky basin surrounding it.

  "This is incredible..." He brushed the surface again, rotating the view. There was a water stream directly below his viewpoint, and the terrain was rough and rocky.

  Pressing both hands against the surface again, he brought his hands together and it zoomed back out to the pary view.

  He tinued experimenting, walking around the holographic dispy. When it was iary view, it rotated like a real p. However when he zoomed into specific locations, the holographic dispy adjusted seamlessly to reflect his perspective.

  It didn't matter if he stood in front, far away, or behind, the perspective was still the same.

  "Are you satisfied?" Wisp chirped, perched on a metallic rail behind the species sole. A subtle signal of wanting to proceed.

  "Yes, this is amazing! I save this setup?" Ats asked, finally approag the sole. "This is cool, but sometimes, I feel like my PC might work better. You know, that familiarity."

  "Of course. This setup has been saved to your Weaver ste."

  "Weaver ste? I access that now?"

  "ive. The Weaver ste will bee avaible after you finish this stage."

  Ats sighed. "Do I have anything else in ste?"

  Wisp shook its head, "Outside of this CDI setup, nothing is currently stored."

  Ats sighed again with relief. He was worried about what turn this was taking. He already didn't like that most of the features were grayed out.

  He hated the idea of unlog milestones and then finding his curreup obsolete- or ste items that could've made everything easier.

  'I might not get a choi this game, but I guess I'll know soon enough.'

  The touch-s for the species sole glowed faintly green. Ats reached out and touched it and, with a soft click, the top of the sole popped out.

  His eyebrows shot up in surprise before he pulled it out. The p h before him blinked out of existend was repced by a faint, glowing outline of a holographic human.

  This light-blue holographic faded, and in its pce appeared an elf. Then a wolf. A dragon. A spider. The sequence tinued, eaew creature glowing briefly before disappearing into the .

  Ats stood entranced by it. Eager curiousness had him waiting to see what the one would be.

  Chirp!

  An angry chip o his ear startled him. Ats turned his head, it had eyebrows? It was gring at him!

  "Please proceed with the species creation stage, Weaver Ats!" Wisp gred and chirped angrily at him.

  "Wow," Ats muttered, raising a brow. "My assistant has an attitude."

  "You're taking too long!" Wisp chirped impatiently, its e glowing wings fring as they fluttered in pce.

  "OH?!" Ats's stare intensified, tilting his head ily. "Perhaps I should take even lohen?"

  "Please don't..." Wisp chirped meekly, its gre dissolving into a pitiful, wide-eyed stare.

  Ats chuckled softly before his attentiouro the touchs panel in hand. He stepped bato the ptform with Wisp wiggling on his shoulder in anticipation.

  "Let's begin," he said, his fingers brushing the glowing surface, ready to dive into the stage.