The world didn't change with a bang. No lights in the sky. No booming voice. Just a flicker on a screen at 2:37 AM.
Leon Dániel Vas was still living in London, in the top-floor apartment of a Victorian townhouse nestled between the legal districts of Holborn and Gray's Inn. It was a quiet neighborhood, far from the chaos of youth culture, and just detached enough to feel sterile—perfect for someone like him.
At sixteen, he had just completed his GCSEs and scored among the highest percentile in the country. His teachers praised his intellect. His parents bragged about his potential. But Leon himself didn't care. Not really.
He spent most of his time alone. Not because he disliked people, but because they rarely interested him. He had no grand ambitions, no passion projects, no childhood dream to chase. He was simply drifting—bright, bored, and utterly unmotivated. There was an undercurrent of coldness in him, not cruelty but detachment. He didn't feel the weight of expectations. He simply existed.
That night, he sat at his desk idly browsing through online lectures he wasn't watching. Half-read textbooks were stacked on the shelves. His room looked more like a place someone had paused than lived in.
He was scribbling absentmindedly in a notebook when the message appeared. It didn't just catch his eye. It shattered the monotony.
[BOOT COMPLETE: Epoch Advancement Protocol V1.0.0 - PRIMED]
Welcome, Catalyst Candidate #044021. Identity: Leon Dániel Vas (Confirmed) Parameters met.
He stared.
His laptop wasn't connected to the internet. It had been physically disconnected for weeks. No Bluetooth. No Wi-Fi. The network chip was even disabled in BIOS. And yet...
Congratulations. You have been selected to initiate humanity's acceleration cycle. Failure will result in systemic collapse within 88.3 years. Objective: Advance the species beyond its current knowledge ceiling. Method: Free will. Incentive: Store Points (SP)
A green "ENTER SYSTEM" prompt blinked softly. His hands trembled.
"What the... what is this?" he whispered.
Leon stood up from his desk and backed away from the screen. His heart was pounding now. He wasn't a paranoid person. But this—this was impossible. It was as if someone had hacked his very reality.
He checked the ports. Nothing plugged in. He restarted the system in BIOS and ran hardware diagnostics. All clean.
When the system rebooted, the prompt was still there. Waiting.
ENTER SYSTEM? [YES] [NO]
He hesitated.
Then, with one breath, he clicked YES.
The interface bloomed into being, smooth and minimalistic. A matte-black dashboard layered with fine glowing lines and icons, like the cockpit of something not meant for now.
SP BALANCE: 100,000 (INITIAL CATALYST GRANT) SHOP: LOCKED (Strategic Planning Phase Active) ACCESS LEVEL: OBSERVER/ANALYST NOTE: First purchases discouraged until Catalyst designs optimal deployment roadmap.
Leon blinked at the glowing text, mind racing. He didn't feel grounded anymore. It was like a great lens had been placed over the world, one that showed how insignificant he had been. And how significant he might now become.
He whispered again, "Why me?"
You exhibit statistically rare cognitive-emotional traits optimal for success. You possess high intelligence, low empathy inhibition, low public visibility, legal protection, and situational autonomy.
Leon frowned. "Low empathy inhibition? Legal protection?"
He wasn't exactly sure what all of that meant. But if he had to guess, it meant he was smart, kept to himself, wasn't famous, and had enough privilege to not get easily crushed by legal systems. That last one made him shudder.
"What? But I've never even done anything."
He opened his desk drawer and retrieved a cheap notebook—the kind he barely used. He flipped to a fresh page and scrawled:
WHAT IS THIS?
WHY ME?
IS THIS REAL?
He typed:
Define "advancement."
Advancement is measured by net positive shift in the species' long-term survivability, autonomy, and knowledge base.
Weighting Priority:
Scientific Discovery (40%)
Social Restructuring (25%) (improving how societies are organized)
Technological Deployment (20%) (getting advanced tech into people's hands)
Cultural Stability (15%) (keeping people from collapsing into chaos)
Leon read the breakdown, heart still thudding.
He whispered, "So.. saving the world. You want me to save the world?"
Correction: Facilitate its acceleration. Saving is optional.
That response chilled him.
He typed again:
What happens if I do nothing?
Eventual collapse of human civilization due to accelerating stagnation, information decay, and elite interference.
Predicted population drop: 78%.
Knowledge retention: < 9% of current scientific base.
Estimated recovery time: 4,200 years.
He leaned back in his chair. The words blurred slightly. This wasn't a game. This wasn't some ARG. It was too detailed. Too seamless.
He stood again, walking to the window. The streetlights below buzzed dimly. Rain had begun to fall, dotting the glass in fat streaks.
"I'm sixteen," he said to no one.
Confirmed. Age is immaterial. Function defines authority.
Leon felt a hollow pressure in his chest. Was this what people felt when they found faith? Was this awe? Or something heavier?
He rubbed his eyes, then forced himself back to the screen.
SYSTEM: PASSIVE MODE ENGAGED
Analyse. Predict. Design.
He explored further. The dashboard showed simulations of global trends—education systems, political unrest, even how misinformation spreads online. It wasn't just futuristic.
It was omniscient.
Note: SP (Store Points) are earned through impactful change. Buying options will be unlocked once you plan properly.
He paused.
He was no strategist. He had no grand ideas. But for the first time in his life, Leon felt something awaken—a low hum beneath the surface. A potential he didn't know he had.
He spent the next few hours navigating the interface, occasionally scribbling notes:
Collapse Drivers:
Bottlenecked innovation (nothing new being made)
Deep inequality
Fake information economies
Power hoarded by the ultra-rich
Possible Fixes (Levers):
Spreading real education
Gaining political power
Sharing advanced AI tech
Creating open systems everyone can use
The more he explored, the more the chaos of the world made sense. It was rigged, of course. But now he had the instruction manual.
Not for revenge. Not for money. But maybe—just maybe—to reset the board.
He finally closed the laptop around 6:11 AM. Outside, dawn was bleeding into the horizon. A soft pink hue washed the rain-streaked glass.
He stared at the ceiling.
"I don't know if I want this," he whispered.
Irrelevant. You have been chosen.
And somehow, he understood: even if he didn't know what he wanted yet—he would soon.
Because purpose had found him.
And now he would never be the same.