Prologue: Welcome to the Great Game

Prologue: Welcome to the Great Game

It started four years ago on an early spring day that has since been known as Apocalypse Day. An earthquake that broke the Richter scale was felt across the world. It was as if a giant hand reached out, grabbed the planet and shook it. There was destruction on a level never seen before. Cities disappeared under landslides, blown away by storms, or swallowed by tsunamis. Every place showed some signs of destruction. When the tremor finally came to an end and people were finally able to investigate what could have caused this, another change was discovered.

The planets and stars were different. None of the original planets could be found and instead there were a lot of new ones in their place. One of the new planets was larger than Jupiter and was close enough to be seen by the naked eye in the sky. It wasn’t long before people discovered the truth of what had happened. Somehow the Earth was moved to a different place in the Universe.

Almost immediately, every world leader was at each other’s throat to determine who was responsible, until a screen appeared in front of every living human at the same time.

Congratulations and Welcome to the Great Game!

Your planet has reached the required minimum population, spiritual, or technological level for a planet of sentient species to join the Great Game. As a new species, there will be a one-year adjustment period followed by a ten-year trial period. After that time, your planet will lose its protection and will need to prove its ability and worth to continue to exist in the universe.

Survival is in your hands. When ready, enter and take your place among the Species of the Universe and find your place in it.

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Afterwards, the screen disappeared, and no further explanation or instructions were given. Many felt the whole scenario was a hoax, but that was hard to believe with the strange planets and stars in the sky. Still, it was a hard concept for many to believe, and a lot of theories came out about mass hallucination, matrix, or even government conspiring with aliens. Those thoughts disappeared a year later, on the first anniversary of Apocalypse Day when hundreds of blue portals appeared all over the world.

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At first, there was an effort to isolate and study the portals, but every time one was closed off, or blocked from access, the portal would disappear, and another would appear somewhere else. Sometimes they would appear near to the previous portal, other times it would appear far away.

There was an effort to determine how many portals were around, where they were located, and where they would appear next. Because they were constantly disappearing and reappearing seemingly at random, it was impossible to come up with any definitive numbers. Still, some things were discovered that remained constant.

1. Only one living creature could use the portal. This included animals as well, though efforts of throwing animals into the portal to remove them proved ineffective, as the animal would often pass through as though the portal wasn’t even there..

2. Nothing that entered the portal returned. The portals were one way only and would disappear once something entered them.

3. Nothing that was not part of the person or animal will go through the portal. Clothing and technology were left on the ground when the person entered. Even technological implants the person had appeared discarded on the ground after entering.

4. No one could be forced into a portal. Accidentally touching a portal or being forcefully thrown into one would only result in passing through the portal harmlessly, but the moment the individual intentionally chose to touch the portal, they would disappear, taken away by the portal.

After three years of study and experimentation, and this was all that could be determined about the portals. No new message came, but the portals continued to appear, and life continued on.