Okay Eve, I get it. I’m not going to replace you. Moving on, do the shield energy and regeneration imply that I should have a shield of some sort?

Affirmative. The first item that should be purchased next is power armor of some sort. It could increase your chance of surviving an encounter up to tenfold. Almost every player wears power armor which has a built in force field whose energy depletes with each blow it takes. Your earlier supposition about the general uselessness of melee weapons is false, as a melee weapon is capable of dealing much greater damage to shields than most ranged weapons, and the shields greatly help melee weapon users get in range before they are injured.

Alright, now what’s with the question marks?

Your resistances and skill proficiencies have been undetermined. At the end of the tutorial a number of your proficiencies and resistances should be calculated by the Administrators, and thus displayed in your ability window.

Um, right, what were the skill proficiencies again?

Alan could almost hear a mental sigh from Eve.

As the Game manual explains, your skill proficiency will range from around two billion to one. Once you improve your skill and it has a proficiency of one, the skill will rank up. As you have most likely noted, some skills are basic skills, which may evolve into intermediate, advanced, and master level skills once various requirements have been met. Other skills may also evolve or combine in various ways. Skill rarity denotes how rare the skill is within the Game, while Skill Rank is simply the rank of the skill. I now also have a much stronger grasp on various skill trees and talent combinations. The first combination I suggest you finish is buying the Talented ability that was unlocked once you purchased Gifted and Skilled.

Abilities and skills are the same thing, right?

Yes. The words are interchangeable in the Game.

Alan’s next thought was interrupted by Daisy, who tapped him on the shoulder. Apparently he’d been talking to Eve for so long it had been noticeable.

“Are you okay?” Daisy asked.

“Yes, I’m fine, just a lot of information to take in.” Alan noticed the cyborg, apparently a level 73 Techno-spy, glance sideways at him.

“Um, let’s grab something to eat and we can talk about it. I mean, who knows where else we can find Earth fast food.”

Actually, a number of Earth chain restaurants have recently opened up on Khersath, serving such galactic delicacies as Big Macs and Ho Hos, Eve sent.

"Sure,” Daisy said.

Alan and Daisy walked over to the food court. Alan decided to splurge a bit, given the 80% discount. It would probably be the last affordable Earth food he’d eat at the very least. He got a fast food feast consisting of a burger, a basket of fries, a slice of pizza, a chocolate milkshake and a glass of Coke. Every bite was delicious, better than most meals Alan had eaten in real life.