The parking lot was mostly empty by the time Connor stepped toward the gym. The sun hung low over Ridgefield, bleeding orange light across the field and the glass doors ahead.
He could still hear distant voices laughing, car engines, sneakers against pavement but they faded as he approached the building. The heavy metal doors opened with a soft echo that rolled through the wide, empty space.
The gym smelled like varnished wood and chalk dust. Faded blue lines marked the volleyball court. The air was cool and dry, every sound bouncing back in faint ripples.
Connor hesitated near the entrance. He hadn't planned to go in. He just wanted to look. But something about the place, its silence, its stillness, pulled him forward.
The storage cage near the wall was half open. Inside, he could see the faint round shapes of old volleyballs stacked in a bin. One of them caught the light, worn and dull, like the one he'd found at home.
He stepped closer. The squeak of his sneakers sounded too loud.
As he reached into the bin and his fingertips brushed the ball's surface, the gym lights flickered.
The hum of electricity rose. A faint vibration pulsed through the air.
Then a light entered his vision. It glowed bright blue so bright it cast faint shadows across the floor.
[SetterOS: Activation Detected]
Connor froze. His reflection shimmered faintly on the glossy floor.
[Initializing System… 1%]
"What the…"
He stepped back instinctively, but the light followed him, scanning across the gym in invisible arcs. It wasn't projecting anything outward, everything happened on the air, but the world around him felt like it was shifting, reorganizing.
The progress bar crawled upward, steady and hypnotic.
5% … 12% … 29% …
As the numbers climbed, faint data flickered at the edges of the display: diagrams of human joints, lines tracing measurements he couldn't understand.
A soft beep echoed, almost in sync with his heartbeat.
His breathing slowed. The screen vibrated.
[Core Systems Detected: Player Link – Connor Blake]
[Analyzing physical parameters…]
He felt a tingle run down his arm. The ball dropped from his hand and rolled across the court. The screen displayed a model of a human body, highlighted with bright lines.
[Performance Output: 63%]
[Muscular consistency: unstable]
[Reflex calibration: incomplete]
The vibration stopped. For a moment, everything went still.
Then the progress bar jumped—74% … 85% … 91% …
The light on the screen grew stronger, reflecting off the polished floor. He could almost feel something in the air—like static before a storm, the tension of an invisible current wrapping around him.
[Initializing Core Modules…]
[Player Scan: Online]
[Stat Progression: Online]
[VisionSync: Locked]
[Reaction Timer: Partial]
[Focus Mode: Partial]
[Spatial Awareness: Locked]
[Skill Replay: Locked]
[Emotional Sync: Locked]
Each word appeared like a heartbeat, one after another, pulsing with faint sound.
Connor swallowed hard. "This isn't happening."
He turned toward the door, half expecting someone to walk in and tell him it was a prank, but the gym was still empty. His reflection stared back at him in the glass, bathed in blue light.
[System Initialization: 99%]
The air shifted again. The blue glow spread faintly over the floor, tracing the volleyball lines in shimmering streaks.
Connor felt a surge in his chest pressure, heat, something like adrenaline.
Then, suddenly.
A car horn blared outside.
He jumped. The light flickered.
[Update paused]
[Connection interrupted – awaiting stable environment]
"Connor!"
His mom's voice, faint through the door.
He looked down up at the panel. The glow dimmed. The gym returned to normal.
He blinked, heart still racing, and hurried out.
Elena's car was waiting near the curb, headlights on. Sophie waved from the back seat, her little hand pressed against the glass.
Connor climbed in, forcing a calm smile.
"How was your first day?" Elena asked, easing the car back onto the road.
"Good," he said quickly. "Met a few people. Teachers seem nice."
"See?" she said. "Told you it wouldn't be that bad."
Sophie leaned forward. "Did they have vending machines?"
Connor laughed softly. "Yeah. You were right. Total highlight."
Sophie smiled, satisfied.
The rest of the drive passed quietly. Connor kept his hand on his pocket, feeling the faint warmth of the phone against his leg.
When they pulled into the driveway, the sky was turning violet. Dinner was simple. pasta, salad, the soft chatter of the evening news. He laughed when Sophie told stories from her day, answered his mom's questions automatically.
But his mind wasn't there.
Every few minutes, he thought he saw that blue glow again, flickering faintly in the reflection of the kitchen window.
After dinner, he helped with the dishes, went upstairs, and closed his bedroom door.
The room was dark except for the pale light of the phone on his desk.
He sat down slowly and hesitantly said "System", the blue screen appeared.
[System Update Complete – 100%]
His breath caught.
The display reorganized itself, lines shifting into clean icons and a single central logo: a stylized volleyball formed out of intersecting blue circuits.
[Welcome to SetterOS v1.0 – Diagnostic Mode Active]
He hesitated, thumb hovering above the screen.
Then he tapped.
The logo dissolved into a list of glowing entries.
[Core Systems]
• Player Scan – Active
• Status window – Locked
• VisionSync – Locked
• Reaction Timer – Partial
[Training Modules]
• Stat Progression – Active
• Skill Replay – Locked
[Tactical]
• Spatial Awareness Map – Locked
[Mental Systems]
• Focus Mode – Partial
• Emotional Sync – Locked
Connor scrolled slowly. Each word pulsed softly, like a heartbeat.
At the bottom, a smaller line of text appeared:
[Current Performance Output: 63%]
[Recommendation: Physical calibration required]
[Suggested Activity: Ball contact, 10 minutes per day]
He frowned. "Physical calibration?"
As if responding, the screen shimmered, and faint diagrams appeared, stretches, drills, simple movements. His name flickered at the top corner, followed by a new status:
[User: Connor Blake | Level 0 – Initialization Phase]
A smaller box expanded beside it, showing faint grayed-out tabs labeled "Progress," "Team Link," "Mental Sync," and "Challenge Mode."
All locked.
Connor leaned back in his chair. The screen was quietly now, but the faint hum was still there, almost inaudible, like a pulse waiting to sync with his own.
He turned it off, but the afterimage stayed behind his eyelids, a flash of blue circuits and the word Setter.
When he finally lay down, he couldn't sleep. The images replayed in his mind: the gym, the light, the bar stopping at 99%, the hum that felt almost alive.
Somewhere downstairs, the house creaked softly as the heater turned on.
He rolled onto his side, staring at the faint glow of his phone on the desk.
And just before his eyes closed, a final whisper of light pulsed through the dark.
[SetterOS Online. Awaiting Player Input.]