The Allbright System - A Sci-Fi Progression LitRPG Story

Thea rapidly felt her anxiety and discomfort melt as she observed Selene's relaxed behaviour. Without realising it, she sank deeper into the comfortable armchair, cracking a smile at Selene's pouting face.

"Now, I know you likely have a lot of questions. Who wouldn't, after what you went through? I will gladly answer any and all that I'm capable and allowed to answer, but first, let me give you the rough rundown of what's going on:

"You've just successfully completed the Challenge set by the UHF, as the first on Lumiosia, I might add. Your Deep-Dive Simulation Mission, the 'Rog'An Prime Theta Outpost Defence,' is rated as one of the hardest possible missions in our assessment simulations. In other words, your performance is honestly absurd.

"The reason I was laughing earlier about you missing the mission timer is because, according to the AI's assessment, your perception stat is vastly above the norm. Yet despite that, you managed to miss something as critical as the actual mission timer. Just seemed funny to me; please don't hate me," she teased, sticking out her tongue at Thea.

As Selene started divulging the basic information of what was going on, Thea's mind began racing. 'If my performance was that good, I should've been able to get that prize, right?! The way she said that sounds like I beat the ultra-hard mode or something! I wonder if there are extra prizes for that...?'

Before her thoughts could escalate further, Selene continued, "When you first talked to my AI-created image here, it stated that it felt very optimistic about your chances. I now understand why it did so. I'm glad you did well, so I could actually meet you myself.

"With your, again, absolutely absurd performance, I have no doubt you will be able to join the UHF if you truly want to, in the near future. If you do, make sure to send me a message. I'd love to meet up at a station someday and meet you personally!

"But before I get even more carried away, let me give you the gist of what's happening:

"First, with your score of 26,453 points for the mission, you've ranked 17th overall in the assessment database. I'm, unfortunately, not allowed to disclose any further information on what exactly that means, but rest assured that this result is unprecedented and will absolutely cause an uproar in the UHF's command staff."

Before Selene could continue, Thea's smile froze as only a single thought ran through her head, '17th…?! But— I promised I'd get #1… Where did I mess up…?'

Seeing the sudden change in her face, Selene tried to assuage her, "It really is a nearly impossibly good result. Nobody could've expected a citizen from a mid-world, especially an undercity, to do this well. Trust me on this, please! It really is so far beyond any expectations that the UHF had for this whole operation, that it's frankly ridiculous."

At this point in their conversation, Selene struggled a lot with her internal emotions. She really wanted to disclose all the information to Thea, but she was not allowed to. If she decided to do so anyway, only a court martial would await her.

Yet, seeing this unbelievably promising candidate in front of her slouch at the mere mention of being 'only' 17th, urged her to break this taboo. If only the girl knew that the first 30 spots on the leaderboard were AI generated theoretical limits…

Just as she was about to open her mouth and potentially ruin her future career, Thea's face suddenly lit up with a smile.

"Alright. I will! You've been nothing but kind to me and apparently even took your time to be here for real…? I'll take your word for it. I'm still not happy with only coming in 17th, but after seeing some of the marines featured in the simulation, I can't exactly call foul play."

Selene could do nothing but stare at her incredulously for a few moments.

Was it really that simple? She had simply been nice to this girl for what, five minutes? And suddenly she was owed unquestioning loyalty? Just what in the void were the living conditions of a mid-world undercity like, that simple kindness was such a game changer?

Forcing her thoughts back to the mission at hand, Selene managed a big smile before continuing, "Ahh, thank you! I promise, if you join the UHF, it will all make sense. Everything I just told you that I can't disclose will be available for you to learn once you're a part of us. I highly recommend you consider it as a real career option, if you aren't already doing so.

"And to answer your question, yes. I am the real Selene. Nice to meet you, by the way.

"I'm currently on board a UHF station somewhere in the Astraeus star cluster, but I'm connected to you via the Deep-Dive Simulation servers, in order to do this post-mission briefing with you.

"Mind you, this is not the norm either. It's only because of your exceptional performance that I'm even here. So again, trust me when I tell you that you've caused all kinds of things to happen, haha," she chuckled with a devious smile on her face before continuing.

"You see, a lot of the command staff was vehemently against the idea of including mid-worlds in our simulation assessment for this rotation. They said it was a waste of resources and there would never be any viable candidates, no matter how many mid-worlds we scoured.

"Yet after not even half a day, we've already found you! You aren’t the only mid-worlder to pass an assessment so far, but you’re definitely the most impressive one I’ve heard of. The brass is gonna be ripping out their balding hair when they hear of this," she finished with a giddy expression on her face.

“I remember your AI image mentioning that you were also against this. Was that not correct?” Thea suddenly asked, as she remembered their 'first' meeting. While she felt Selene was genuine, this piece of information seemed to clash with what she was seeing.

Her giddy expression giving way to a pained smile, Selene held up both hands apologetically again, “I was. But not for the same reason! I just don’t like extra work, you see. As one of the Auxiliary Staff Sergeants responsible for Deep-Dive Simulation assessments, I’ve been working my ass off for the past month to get all this set up. You can’t imagine the amount of logistics that goes into providing dozens of DDS-Cubes to mid-worlds across the galaxy. Just the security measures alone…!

“Haaa… but honestly, seeing you in front of me right now, it made everything worth it. Not only are you an extremely promising candidate, but you’re also super cute! We always need more cute women in the UHF. I can’t be the only cute one around, you know?” she finished with a wink.

Trying her best to ignore the second part of Selene’s answer, but feeling a distinct heat rise up to her cheeks, Thea could very much understand the reasoning. She too hated additional work, if the remuneration for it was uncertain or seemed off-balance.

Suddenly, another thought hit her, "Actually... I had another question, if you don't mind?"

After the approving nod from Selene, she continued, "There were some — I don't know how to say this... NPCs? AIs? Something like that - in the simulation and — I know it sounds stupid, but I wanted to know how they ended up doing?" She felt kind of stupid for asking about NPCs, but without them, Thea would never have been able to do anything substantial in the challenge at all.

"NPCs...? I guess there were some in there, yes. I don't think you interacted with any of them for an extended amount of time, though — let me check, real quick." Selene answered with a hint of confusion in her voice.

She pulled a datapad out of thin air and started typing away on it for a minute. With a satisfied expression, she turned her attention back towards Thea, "I can confirm that you have only interacted with NPCs for 2 minutes and 34 seconds throughout your entire assessment. I was a bit worried at your request, as candidates are not supposed to interact with them much at all. I thought we ran into a software bug of some sort, haha!"

With utter confusion visible on Thea's face, Selene suddenly understood what was happening.

"Oooohhhh! Thea — Do you think that you were the only real person in the assessment?"

Seeing Thea's hesitant nod, Selene's face formed a gentle smile. "That explains a lot, actually. As you likely inferred from my question, you were not, in fact, the only real person.

"About 40% of all the marines featured in your simulation were real people partaking in the same assessment, at the same time as you. That includes all of the marines you've interacted with, by the way. Private Kellerman, Private Orion, Lieutenant Frost, Captain Sable, and pretty much all the other marines you've had any conversation with.

"The only exception was the large bodyguard at the beginning, who got Captain Sable for you from the main HQ's command room. He was a true NPC," she finished her explanation.

This information hit Thea like a lightning strike. They had all been real people, this entire time?! In retrospect, however, it made a lot of sense to her, based on what she had experienced inside the simulation.

For example, it explained why they had felt so unbelievably life-like. The rez-pods also made more sense with this new information, considering they weren't just for her and had seemed usable by NPCs for no apparent reason.

It did, however, create a dozen more questions in her mind. Feeling like she might finally be able to get some answers to the burning questions that had arisen during the challenge, she couldn't help herself from bombarding Selene with them, one after another.

"So, what exactly was this whole Focus thing? Why did the simulation assist me like that?"

"There was this weird… feeling in my chest, whenever I was about to do something stupid, was that also a simulation feature to help me out? If so, again, why? It didn't seem like the other people got that. That seems kind of unfair to me."

"If everyone else was real, did they not know they were inside of a challenge with me? Or I guess, other challenge-takers too?"

"What was up with everyone's insane physical abilities? I understand that undercity citizens are a lot less physically developed than main-city citizens, but I've been working out and eating well nearly all my life. I don't understand how the discrepancy was this huge? Am I really that weak in comparison to normal citizens...?"

"Oh, talking about insane physical abilities... Lieutenant Frost. I don't even know where to start. What in the living void was up with that whole thing? If she's real, does that mean those were her real physical abilities too? How is that even possible?"

"The enemy captain too! He straight up broke the laws of physics, that's unfair for a simulation! How was I supposed to do anything about that guy, when he can simply ignore physics?! Without Lieutenant Frost there, we would've just gotten overrun by that man!"

Before Thea could continue, Selene held up both hands and urged her to stop, "Stop, stop, Thea! I can imagine that you have a lot of questions. Even more than you just bombarded me with, I'm sure. I am, however, UNABLE to answer these questions."

"I want you to listen to me closely here: While I do have the knowledge you seek, I cannot disclose it. It's not a matter of defying orders, but I physically cannot disclose this information in any way. You will likely try asking these questions to other people in the future, but be aware that they will be in the exact same situation if they do, in fact, have this information.

"I'm genuinely sorry for being so cryptic, I wish I didn't have to be, truly. If you want answers, you will have to join the UHF. Only once you're accepted as a recruit will you be able to freely ask and receive the answers to those exact questions," she finished with a genuinely pained expression on her face.

Before Thea could react to this answer, Selene continued with a more determined look on her face, "What I can tell you, however, is that the simulation does not provide any assistance to anyone unless the mission parameters specify this. Your mission did not do this. As a result, everything you have seen, felt, heard, and experienced inside the simulation is a representation of the real world, that is as close as 99.9% accurate to reality."

Wide-eyed at the revelations that had finally cleared up some of her questions, Thea sank deeper into the armchair she was resting on, her mind racing with questions once again. Knowing that she would not be able to receive any answers to them here though, she decided to try and bury them for now, focusing on the current situation at hand instead.

"So… you mentioned I could join the UHF?" she carefully posed, a hopeful look on her face as she stared at Selene. She had always wanted to join them, after all. Even without the burning questions that plagued her mind since stepping into the simulation.

This time around, it was Selene's turn to light up with a big smile, "Yes! Yes, I'm sure you will be able to! We'd absolutely love to have you! It's actually part of my mission here, as the debriefer, to try and get promising candidates to sign up for the UHF.

"If you end up joining, make sure to let them know I was the one who debriefed you, please! It would help me out a lot, haha!

"Oh… I promise that what I told you earlier is 100% the truth! I did not misconstrue any information to get you to sign up… though I now realise how bad it looks, in hindsight… That was supremely stupid of me, wasn't it?" her face deepened to a frown at her obvious faux pas.

To put Selene’s mind at ease, Thea quickly interjected with a forthcoming smile, “Don’t worry! I intended to sign up with the UHF long before this briefing. You didn’t mess up anything. I believe you! Although I will admit, I never thought I’d actually get the opportunity to join, considering where I grew up. How will this all work from now on? Do I have to sign something now, or…?”

Hearing the eagerness in Thea's voice to sign up, Selene's frown disappeared in a flash, replaced by unbridled enthusiasm, "Ahh, no, no. Your results will not be made public until exactly one week from now, when the ladder will be updated. You're free to disclose your ranking, of course, but I would highly recommend against that. Especially in an undercity, you can't be certain how people will react to a sudden windfall, such as the payout from the UHF.

"It was originally meant as an incentive for citizens to bring along their talented friends, but I'd imagine there will be some… incidents… when it comes to the whole deal. Local gangs generally do not like when there is an influx of money they cannot control, after all.

"But don't be afraid, you will be more than safe! Once the ladder is released next week, you will be officially invited to sign up to the UHF, as you've met our minimum recruitment standards. You've done a lot more than meet the minimum, but still.

"Once you've signed up, you're immediately considered an official Recruit of the UHF, which means you will be under our protection going forward. So don't worry about those local gangs or whatever else might try to get in your way," she assured Thea with a goofy thumbs up, as if to show how easy the whole process will be.

Thea had a hard time truly believing what she was hearing. The option to sign up for the UHF had seemed like a long-distant dream to her, that would require years of hard work to get off Lumiosia first. Yet, all of a sudden, the opportunity was right in front of her. Just like that.

It honestly felt a little too easy, too convenient, to her. But at the same time, she could not detect any malice in Selene's words, gestures, or behaviour. She seemed truly genuine with everything she said, including the part about being able to join the UHF.

Deciding to simply trust Selene for now and dealing with any potential issues as they arose, Thea probed for the next steps, "So… what else do we do in this debriefing? Am I required to do anything here?"

“Right! I apologise for my complete lack of professionalism, please don’t mention it to anyone, I’ll get in big trouble…!

“Basically, this debrief is considered nearly complete by now, as I’ve given you the information about how you’ve done, as well as talked to you about joining the UHF. Those are two of the three main reasons for this debrief. The last reason however, is the most important,” Selene answered with a suddenly extremely serious look in her eyes, that made Thea tense up.

Selene got up from her armchair and slowly walked over towards Thea’s, only to stop about half a metre away from it and squat down to be at eye-level with her. Staring intently into her eyes, Selene posed a simple question, “How are you feeling, Thea?”

Taken aback by this sudden turn of events, Thea defensively stammered, “Ehhh... Good? I guess? I don’t know what’s going on right now, why are you asking me this now? I’m a bit tired, but—”, before she could continue, she was interrupted by a concerned-looking Selene, who gently touched her right arm.

“Thea, you went through an insane amount of intense experiences inside the simulation. The simulation is 99.9% accurate to reality, meaning you have felt everything that happened to your body inside of it, with basically no dampener. Despite growing up in an undercity, you are young. There is no way you’re doing fine, after what you’ve just gone through.

“Please, think deeply about my question: How are you feeling?”

Thea wanted to immediately repeat her previous response, as she was truly confused by what was going on and felt deeply uncomfortable with Selene's sudden closeness, coupled with the assertions she had made about Thea's experiences.

Despite that, however, she took Selene's advice to heart.

Selene had been nothing but kind and open to her, perhaps even too open in some instances.

Thinking back to everything that had happened in the simulation, Thea let her mind wander freely for the first time since entering the cylinder. Suddenly, as if a dam had broken, she was overwhelmed with a deluge of emotions.

Fear, terror, pain, uncertainty, horror, and countless other emotions crashed down on her. She felt like she was drowning in the sudden outburst, struggling to breathe.

The simulation had truly taken a toll on her, as she now realised. She had been so preoccupied with continuously moving on towards the next goal, trying to resolve the next crisis, and gathering the next vital intel that she hadn't had any time to actually think about her experiences.

A bout of vertigo threatened to make her throw up as she continued to gasp for air, and her vision went blurry.

Abruptly, a warmth spread through the front of her body, and she heard a calming voice close to her left ear. “Shhh. It's okay. You've been through a lot. You're safe here, I promise. Focus on your breathing. Slowly, take a deep breath in… hold it… now, slowly breathe out.

“You will be fine. Keep focusing on your breathing; you're doing great.”

As Thea continued to followed the calming voice's instructions for a while and breathed in a slow, steady rhythm, she started regaining her senses. She realised now, that it was Selene speaking to her, holding her in a gentle embrace.

Over the next minute, more and more of her senses returned. She felt tears, that had run down her cheeks at some point, a stuffy nose, and extreme exhaustion. It was as if the entire day's exhaustion had come down upon her all at once.

In Selene's embrace, Thea also felt an overwhelming sense of safety and care.

It was as if an armour had been constructed around her, keeping all worries and fears at bay while Selene gently stroked her back and whispered reassuring instructions into her ear. Although she would never admit it, Thea genuinely appreciated this tender moment.

Throughout her life, Thea had experienced little physical affection, which often led her to feel uncomfortable with the mere idea of it. However, now that she found herself enveloped in Selene's embrace, she had to concede that it was, in fact, incredibly comforting in the right circumstances.

For a few more minutes, Thea allowed herself to bask in the warmth of Selene's embrace, focusing on her breathing and soothing her frayed nerves. Just as she began to truly savour this tender treatment, Selene gently withdrew.

"Looks like you've calmed down a bit. Are you feeling better now, Thea?" Selene asked, a gentle smile gracing her slightly blushed face.

Using the sleeves of her hoodie to dry her cheeks, Thea nodded, her voice uncharacteristically quiet and meek as she stammered, "I— I'm not usually— I— Thank you…"

"Think nothing of it. It's part of my role as a debriefer, after all," Selene reassured her.

"The most important aspect of the debrief is ensuring that the candidate can truly process their experiences. I was honestly worried about you, as you seemed too calm, considering what you went through. I feared you were… broken. But, fortunately, it turns out you're just incredibly resilient," Selene added with a wink, standing up from her squatting position in front of Thea's chair.

"As you've worked through most of it, by the looks of it, the simulation should filter out any remaining emotional residue. Once you're back in your real body, your emotional experiences in the simulation should feel like a distant dream, at most.

"It has truly been a pleasure talking to you, Thea. I must say goodbye for now, though, as I have several more debriefings to conduct. I doubt anyone will be as enjoyable as you, but a job's a job, right?" Selene joked with another one of her signature winks.

Thea felt a pang of loss at parting with Selene so soon. Despite their brief interaction, she had grown fond of the quirky Sergeant.

"Thank you for everything, Selene. I'll let you know when I join as soon as I can! I hope we can meet up on a station, like you said. I'd really like that… Thanks again," Thea managed, unaccustomed to the emotional weight of their farewell.

"Goodbye, Thea. Take care of yourself, alright?" With a flick of her wrist, Selene dissolved the room around them. A message materialised in the centre of Thea's vision, indicating that the simulation was about to end.

"You too, Selene! I'll be sure to mention you in whatever form I can! Thank you for everything, again!"

With those final words, Thea's consciousness was abruptly pulled from the simulation and returned to her real body inside the crystal cylinder...