(DING!) While slumped over trying to force his way through his Comp 1 homework, Mark was startled by a loud noise. Looking up to see what had caused it, he paused and rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had been studying too long and was losing his mind as a result. Just in front of him was what appeared to be a grey, slightly see-through screen.
"What the hell?" he murmured in confusion.
Waving his hand through it, the screen only rippled like water. Since it was still there, he decided to just go along with it. Either he was losing his mind, he was dreaming, or something extraordinary had happened. He had nothing to lose. Looking closer, he saw words on the screen
WELCOME TO THE ARCHITECT SYSTEM!
Mark, an architecture major in his first year, was praying for option three. Despite having an amazing mother who raised him and his siblings to the best of her abilities and he loved dearly, (even when he had to deal with her terrible boyfriends), up until this point, he had lived his life in mediocrity.
At 25, he had no actual achievement to his name. He spent most of his younger years mad at a world that never saw him, followed by teenage years full of meaningless relationships trying to fill the void that anger couldn't anymore. When that stopped working, he closed himself off to the world, living life in a constant state of numb dissociation.
But finally, he had started to get some life back and had enrolled in school for the only thing he could remember enjoying: Architecture. Now, he was never the smartest, most athletic, or even socially adept individual, but one thing he always excelled at was numbers and shapes. He remembered biking to school throughout highschool and taking long detours through wealthy neighborhoods to admire the different houses and the parts he liked best, even if it meant constantly getting in trouble for being late to class.
Despite his love of the subject, college had been hard so far. He hadn't made any friends yet, and all the extra classes that had nothing to do with what he wanted to learn drained most of his energy. Not to mention working part-time at a department store, he was running on empty. If this system was real, it meant he would be bound for more than the mediocrity he had known until now. It was a spark of hope in his dull existence.
Wanting to know more about the system, he was about to start figuring out how to interact with it. As his hand had just passed through it, it obviously wasn't touch activated. Just as that thought crossed his mind and before he could do anything, the screen suddenly shifted to something new.
System Description
The architecture system is an interactive knowledge database designed to help the user learn and explore the limits of architecture.
Current Level: Primitive (To unlock the next level please complete all core knowledge tasks in the current level.)
Functions
Tasks: This function generates tasks that test your application of knowledge learned. Upon completion, you are rewarded with points that can be used to, unlock new learning materials, gain time in the modeling space, gain greater control of the modeling space, and more.
Knowledge Tree: This function allows you to use points earned from completing tasks to unlock access to different branches of knowledge for learning or directly purchase individual pieces of knowledge. (Such as how to produce a material needed for advanced designs.)
Modeling Space:This function acts as a 1:1 model of the real world by scanning your surroundings and reproducing them in a VR format, that you can alter at will to aid in learning and testing designs. It requires points to use.
Life Architect: This function helps you optimize your path to success by assisting with things like scheduling and creating optimal learning plans. More abilities are unlocked at higher levels.
After reading through the description, Mark felt he was about to hyperventilate from excitement. With this system as long as he worked hard, in the future when people talked about architecture the first name to come to mind wouldn't be the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright or I. M. Pei or Zaha Hadid or even Le Corbisar. It would be him. His name. Mark Roan.
Shaking his head to focus back on the present, Mark started looking through the system. Just about everything was locked. Knowledge tree - all grey
Modeling space - 100 points to unlock
Tasks - blank
Life Architect - generate Y/N
Seeing only one option real option, he mentally clicked Yes and then hit the floor like a sack of potatoes unconscious.