Jessica Brown bit into the hot-pink cake her mother had made for her, and everyone around the table clapped, cheered, and whistled. Or took her first bite as permission and bit down on their own slice of the sweet strawberry cake. What was left of the pink quick-mix cake her mother had made held a message that still made her smile: “Congratulations and happy birthday!” with a little yellow smiley face in the shape of the old-school emoji next to it. It wasn’t much, but it was what she had asked for, and her mother had put the effort into making it herself.

“Look at you! I can’t believe you're all grown up!” her uncle said, patting her back as she chewed. She swallowed and smiled at the tall, heavily muscled man. He had always been there for her. He was like her father in some ways. In other ways, he was like an older brother, teasing and getting her in trouble. “Graduating a week before your birthday. Valedictorian, right?” Jessica shook her head.

“Salutatorian. That jerk Brandon Mathews took valedictorian. The committee liked his speech better or something.”

“Just like white people. Always got to give their kids just a biiit more than us, huh?” Her uncle shook his head sadly, but the smile on his face didn’t falter. Jessica fought from rolling her eyes. Her uncle had opinions. Lots of opinions, and most of them about white people.

“Don’t you go filling her head with none of that critical race nonsense. Jesus loves everyone, no matter the color of their skin,” her mamma said as she passed the two of them. The plump woman reached a hand out and smacked her uncle’s shoulder with a heavy thwack. “If I hear you doing it again, you won’t get a burger. You hear me, Jethro?” Her uncle winced as his elder sister swept by, delivering another pile of cooked burgers to the table.

“I better go. She’s going to think I’m converting you to devil worship next.” Jethro rolled his eyes before giving Jessica a winning smile and making a beeline for the food.

“I’m so proud of you, baby girl! Look at you, graduating, with good grades and all!” Her grandma wrapped her in a giant hug, and Jessica had to concentrate not to drop her cake. “And your mamma said something about you already having a college degree? Explain that,” her grandma asked as she released her.

“Oh, uh, well, I got my associate degree while in the honors program. The school has an agreement with the local community college, and I earned free college credits while taking those extra-hard classes. Sister Mary says that I can basically write my own full-ride ticket to any college in the country now, with my grades and age. And, you know, being black.”

“I don’t much care for those types of handouts,” her grandpa said with a frown. 

“It’s not a handout. Our granddaughter earned her place at any of those schools, and you know it. Don’t go talking like that. You’ll make her feel bad, you old brute.”

“Oh, well, of course she did! But she can do it on her own. She doesn’t need a committee of white folks telling her she got in because she’s black, though. That’s just condescending. And racist.” Her grandma rolled her eyes, and Jessica had to fight from joining her. Jethro got most of his opinions from Grandpa, usually by taking the opposite ones. Her grandma opened her mouth to say something else when the world was filled with a loud trumpeting noise. Then, as if she were in some kind of video game or something, a text box appeared in front of her, and a strange voice read it for all of them to hear.

Jessica sat on her bed, reading and re-reading the dozens of prompts she had received after the initial notification from the thing that had called itself “the System.” Her family and friends had all nearly panicked at first, at least until her grandpa had stepped up and taken charge of the situation. Declaring that they would all meet at his farm in three days and get away from the cities before things got crazy. Detroit was already a hellhole of crime, or so he said, and he wanted his family and friends safe if the city was going to set itself on fire. Again.

“Suttons Bay isn’t that far away,” she whispered to herself as she closed the information and sighed. “We can get back here in time for me to still leave, I think.” Her college tour trip she had planned with several friends was important to her. She wanted to see the campus, meet the teachers and administrators, see which one would be the best for whatever field she chose to do. But if Detroit, let alone the entire world, went to chaos, she guessed her trip wasn’t really all that important. Still, the thought of her plans being dashed depressed her.

“Jessica, get down here! They’re sayin’ something about all this system nonsense on the TV!” her mom yelled from downstairs. Sighing, Jessica got up and went. Sure, she was eighteen years old, barely, but her mamma was and would always be her mamma.

When she entered the living room, she found nearly every member of her family still there. Her friends who had attended had largely left already, heading home to connect with their loved ones in all the chaos. “Come sit by me,” Jethro said, making a bit of room on the couch between him and his wife Latisha. She took the seat and started watching what the anchorman was saying.

“If you are just tuning in, we are waiting to hear from the secretary of defense. But these stunning images have recently been captured by our local affiliate in Wyoming.” The image of a massive blue beam of light shooting into the midday sky as far as the eye could see filled the screen. “I have just been informed we have now established a live feed at the northern base of Kings Peak on the border between Wyoming and Utah. We now join them live.”

The picture changed, and a beautiful white woman with stunning red hair and bright green eyes filled the screen, standing in front of the blue beam in the far distance. Behind the beam were some of the most beautiful and tall mountains Jessica had ever seen. But the area around the beam was relatively flat. A bit hilly and filled with small streams but not overly difficult to move through. As she stared into the light, Jessica felt something strange deep inside. A desire to, to…she didn’t know what. But she felt some kind of connection to the light.

“Hello, Greg, this is Susan with KUTS Wyoming. I am coming to you live from what we believe to be the emergence site for the North American Connection Point. This is what we believe the strange ‘system notification’ informed us all about just a few short hours ago. As you can see, the light keeps going straight into the sky. It is believed to be visible from space. In fact, several satellites owned by local tech businesses have snapped pictures of the beam from low earth orbit. They should be on their way to the studio any second. Some have suggested…” The woman's image was cut off, and the image of the man in the studio replaced her.

“Oh, it looks like we lost Susan. We look forward to seeing the images she sent in. I for one…”

“That’s bullshit. They took her off air! She was going to expose the alien invasion,” one of her cousins said.

“You watch your mouth, boy; this is my house, and I won’t have that kind of language in it,” her mamma said, glaring at Rony. He was younger than Jessica by a full two years, but he thought he knew everything. Rony muttered an apology and sat back in his chair, his father chuckling at the entire scene. “Now, it doesn’t matter if it’s aliens, or the devil that’s doing it. I think we should all be ready for anything.” Mamma stood up and muted the TV.

She turned and faced everyone in the room. “Everyone, go home. Do as Daddy said. Pack food, water, and all the warm, cold-weather clothes you’re going to need for a whole year. Meet up here tomorrow morning, and we’ll all get headed out of town together just in case there is trouble.” With that, everyone slowly left, leaving Jessica, her mamma, Jethro, and his wife. “I thought I told you two to go home and get your stuff.”

“Yeah, nah. We’re good. We live downtown. That place is already on fire from what Twitter is sayin’. Looting and rioting. Besides, we’ll stay behind here to help ya’ll pack,” Jethro said.

“Yeah, there ain’t anything back there we need,” Latisha added, concern clear on her face.

While the three “adults” talked, Jessica unmuted the news channel. The video showed a picture of a man in an Army uniform with tons of metals and awards pinned to his chest speaking. When the sound cut back in, she turned the volume down so it wouldn’t interrupt the others’ conversation.

“…This is just a preliminary plan. For now, these sites are being secured by the most local armed forces. The United States will lead the defense of the North American pillar. South America’s pillar is located in the heart of the Amazon, and plans for a multi-national force are being developed. In the meantime, at the request of the Brazilian, Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana governments, the US is deploying two aircraft carrier battle groups to provide temporary security and surveillance of the South American site. We have had no word from the Venezuelan government; however, we are prepared to move forward without their support.

“The European Union has moved to secure their site, which is oddly right in the heart of downtown Luxembourg, directly across the street from the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Australia’s pillar is in the center of that continent directly over the Ayers Rock. The Australian and New Zealand governments, along with a few smaller island nations in the area, are working together with local aboriginal tribes to secure the site. The Asiatic pillar has not yet been located, but we are in talks with the Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese, and other regional partner nations to locate it so we can best provide assistance. That is all I have for you at this time.” A reporter stood before the rest of them could and blurted out a single question.

“Have you located the African pillar yet?” The general stopped and came back to the podium.

“The African Pillar has been located, and the African Union is currently in talks amongst themselves to best secure the site, though there have been a few complications with construction efforts on several public works projects. When I have more information, I will update you all. Thank you.” The man left, nearly running out of the room.

Later that night, the four of them had packed everything they needed: food, water, clothes, winter coats and boots, and even Jessica’s father’s old hunting rifle. When it was all finished, everyone went upstairs to sleep but Uncle Jethro, who stayed up with the rifle. Just in case.

As Jessica fought for sleep, she found herself idly going through what the System called her “characteristics” again. She was both unimpressed and excited by what she read.

What in the world is Innate Sense? Jessica asked herself, and suddenly a definition appeared directly under the word.

“What is magic?” she asked, but this time the System didn’t give her a definition. “Hmm. What about this other stuff?” she asked, but again, no definition appeared. It wasn’t until she concentrated on an individual word that the definition box reappeared.

She went through and looked at all the different descriptions available to her. Nothing really shocked her; mundane skills were skills that didn’t require magic. The only major revelation was when she concentrated on Unassigned Levels.