Collison. The beam struck and annihilation resulted. Not furious, erupting destruction, but the erasure of everything monster and material. The Snarg and several dozen Grunks vaporized as the wall of fire spread outward. Trailers, cars, trees and grass vanished. The Clarkes, and three stunned dogs, fell the distance between the trailer floor and the dirt. A static burning smell lingered, though no flames had ignited. Celestia fell the hardest, as she was standing before impact.


    The trailer park''s other survivors fared the same. They toppled where they stood or crouched or hid. Many scattered into the trees. Some huddled together as the Clarkes did.


    The Terminal followed Celestia, hovering over her where she lay face down. It displayed a readout.


    Quest Added: Run for your Life!


    Due to unforeseen circumstances, Prodigies are to meet with their nearest Guild Master for further instruction!


    Objective: Rendezvous with your Guild Master


    Error: Legacy class detected. Fusion class detected. No compatible Guild. Assigning Martial Guild


    Quest Added: Martial Law


    Objective: Learn martial training from your Guild Master


    So you like to hit things? Don''t wanna fuss with spells and big decisions? Join your local Martial Guild today!


    Map marker added


    No one read this, so the Terminal remained suspended. The dogs reached Celestia first, licking at her face and crawling onto her back. Pops stumbled to his feet, shooing away the dogs and dropping again with effort to rouse his daughter.


    "Goddamn it, where was she stabbed? I don''t see it."


    "I dunno, she has a million shirts on," said Conrad.


    "Oh, God, everything''s gone. I need super glue!"


    "Pops," said Celestia. "Something healing." She pointed, and the Terminal raced to meet her finger.


    "Huh, this thing?"


    "Cards. Healing."


    "Alright, alright, lemme see."


    A dozen cards displayed on the screen, drawn in crude vector lines.


    "Okay, here! Paltry Heal. That''s all there is." He tapped a finger on the card. The card appeared in Ccs hand. She used it at one. An opioid warmth washed over her. She struggled onto her back. She was delirious.


    "Dad. Where''s Conrad and the dogs?"


    "They''re right here, everyone''s alright. I dunno, something happened, but we''re alright. They hit us with an orbital later or something."


    "Uh, we might wanna do what the terminal says," said Conrad, reading the prompt.


    "Would you back off!" Said pops, shoving Conrad. "Jeesh. Give her some space."


    CC reached for the screen, finding that it now had tangibility. She took the screen in both her hands like a tablet, holding it above her face. Her eyes scanned.


    "Need me to explain it to you?," said Conrad.


    "Shut up, dude." Said Celestia. She returned her attention to the screen, struggling to read. "Flambard Knight..."she said, almost a whisper. "Does it mean a flamberg?"


    It glinted in the night sky. Something tiny and bright. Celestia caught sight of it just peeking around the Terminal''s edge. She eased the machine to the side, to watch the falling star widen. Her eyes narrowed. Instinct moved her head a second before impalement. Celestia scurried on her back as a sword embedded in the dirt.


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    A new cacophony arose from Pops and Conrad. The pups, as usual, investigated first. They ran circles around the sword, barking. Celestia crawled on hands and knees toward the sword, buried almost to its hilt in the hard dirt.


    "A flame bladed sword..." she said, enamored.


    She took the hilt and pulled. It was unlike her training swords. Besides the difference in blade, it had a different heft than a shinai or even a live katana. And her experience was with Kendo, not Kenjutsu or any actual sword fighting. Holding the flammard was alien.


    Conrad''s eyes burned with jealousy. Pops tugged Celestia''s many shirts upward, searching her side for the wound. He found nothing but dying blood.


    "That''s amazing. The card did that, huh. It sent the sword, too?"


    "Whoever''s talking to us through this Terminal did," said Celestia.


    "It''s not who, it''s what," said Conrad. "This is just like a litRPG."


    "What''s that?" said Pops.


    "Dunno," said Celestia.


    "Gimme the sword," said Conrad, holding out his hand. "You don''t know what you''re doing."


    "They gave it to me," said Celestia. "I have sword training."


    "It''s a GAME. It''s not about being able to swing a sword."


    "That makes NO sense."


    Movement in the tree line cut their argument short. A sea of red bars moving in a disorderly fashion toward them.


    "I''m driving," said Celestia. "Get the dogs in the van."


    "Oh no you''re not," said Pops. "There''s no breaks on that thing and she needs to go slow. Get the dogs, come on, help get the dogs in. I''ll drive. You just...swing at anything that gets close."


    Pops hurled into the driver''s seat, turning on the ancient engine. "C''mon, you bitch. You better start."


    Conrad made a move for shotgun, but his sister pulled him back by the collar and slipped beside Pops. Two of the Griffons jumped into her lap, and she tossed them over her shoulder toward Conrad. "Buckle up, Bitches," she said.


    "Okay," said Pops. "We gotta get the hell out of town. You said your thingy there has GPS?"


    "I guess? It''s really weird, but I think it''s showing us what''s changed. Which is awesome.''


    "Uh huh," said Pops, suspicious. "Well, is the road still there?"


    "Some of it."


    "Alright. Well...keep your eyes on that thing."


    "Thought I was holding off the wolves."


    "And that. You can do it all."


    As they peeled out of the forsaken trailer park, a mountain peak broke the surface behind them. The mountain rose and widened, chasing their progress as it tore up the land. The dogs yelped , leaping from lap to lap and barking at the intrusion.


    Celestia pulled the wheel in time to evade an errant rock spire. Pops fought the wheel back into his control, and the rode rose up beneath them. The van careened down a roller coaster of earth, weathering the ripples. The paneling fell from the doors, and the drivetrain squealed, threatening to fall from the frame.


    "It''s okay, she''ll hold," said Pops, leaning over the steering wheel. "Remember how many of these Fords I''d get at auction? They get up to 150k miles and they''re done. I wouldn''t even buy em for 50 bucks. But she''s holding up. Someone took good care of her. Not us!"


    "Pops! Not now!" Said Celestia, squeezing a dog tight to her chest.


    The Terminal beeped.


    Warning


    Integration at 70 percent. Expect catastrophic geological failure


    Again, displayed to a vacant theatre. Pops abandoned all airs of caution and floored the pedal. The engine protested, coughed, and something came loose from the manifold. But the van did offer a small increase of speed.


    Dungeon ruins rose before them like flowers, pre aged and overgrown. Castle spires broke the land. The Peninsula fell in one piece into a great valley. Majestic rivers and ragged ranges surged.


    And structures unseen in the normal world stretched across the landscape. Rock tunnels branching the canyon tops, supported by no known laws of physics. Walls of water fell upward, to higher, floating planes of rocks.


    For a terrifying moment, the world became nonsense, like a child''s drawing. The pink clouds formed a smiling face. The road had taken a life of its own, snaking up from the ground. It dropped steeply where moments ago it was straight. The van careened into town, where the buildings had risen up with the land. Houses, grocery stores, fire departments and hospitals all lifted and slid.


    The van flew down Main Street at terminal speeds the speedometer couldn''t read. They entered a long straightaway where the town had partially survived. And here the van veered into a snowy curb and was stopped. Pops tested the pedal, but the thick snow had bested the ancient van. The stretch of town teetered side to side as monolithic trees climbed in the distance. And when it seemed their redoubt might topple, the fury halted.


    A ping from the Terminal rebounded in the silence.


    Integration at 100 percent


    Population loss catastrophic


    Adjusting…


    Adjusting…


    Error


    257 Prodigies detected


    Error


    Adjusting…


    Residual land shift detected


    Adjusting…


    120 Prodigies detected


    Error


    System reset


    System reset canceled


    10,000 Prodigies selected


    Good job! You survived integration and made Prodigy - are you special or something? Guess all those kendo classes weren''t a waste of cash


    And again the Terminal displayed information on Celestia''s latest quest.