It felt like ages passed before the light came into her vision again. As she felt herself drifting off to sleep, a white speck glimmered in the distance. It bobbed up and down in a calming way as it drifted towards her.

“Welcome!” a small voice said from the light. “You have begun the exciting journey into TheirWorld! You are about to experience a great adventure to the vast reaches of the world of ‘Uldarin,’ a land of great power, magic, and mystery.

“First, you must register your account! Your system account code is 2131HE6M5T791-0079134. Once this account code is registered under your name, this system will be tied to you. Please enter the name and data that you wish to register under.” The little sprite’s greeting was followed by a text box which Dassah filled out:

<<>>

Please Enter Account Owner Name: HADASSAH GRAYDON

<<Accept><Reject>>

<<>>

“I see!” it said. “Your name is Hadassah Graydon! It’s nice to meet you! My name is Biku Biku, and I will be your guide through character creation! Before setting foot in Uldarin, you must create your avatar! Creating a character in TheirWorld is a long, but thrilling, process! Are you ready to begin?”

<<>>

Note: Only one character is allowed per account. Once a character has been confirmed, it can only be modified via in-game choices, items, and events. Further, there can only be one account registered per IGSR Number. This account is verified by optics, fingerprints, and DNA, and it is non-transferable. Varier Co. and the associated governments strictly enforce this law. Anyone who fails to adhere to this regulation shall be imprisoned by the government which apprehends them, not by the government of citizenship. See Appendix 1 of the game manual for further details.

<<Accept>>

<<>>

“Accept,” Dassah said.

Biku Biku spun in the air and said, “Let’s take a look!”

The little light materialized into a younger, naked copy of Dassah herself. Creepy, Dassah twitched. She eyed the chub around her copy’s waist and hips with distaste. Her dark brown hair needed a good brushing. For all the things she recognized, however, the body before her seemed oddly foreign.

It could have been the fact that the avatar was clearly aged down. Compared to Dassah, the avatar looked about ten years younger and didn’t have the body that reflected Dassah’s more idle lifestyle and love of good food. But the system had pulled the data from her past. It was more like it had taken an idealized version of a sixteen-year-old girl and applied Dassah’s current biometric data.

“This is your avatar’s base!” said Biku Biku in Dassah’s deep voice. “From here, you can make minor edits to hair color, hairstyle, skin quality, skin color, eye brightness, and eye color. Is there anything you would like to change?”

Circling the avatar, Dassah scratched her head. Had she the power she would have loved to take that chub away, if nothing else, but she focused instead on making her appearance more healthy and travel-friendly. She tanned her skin, put her hair up, and brightened her eyes. When she said she was finished, Biku-Dassah snapped her fingers and was clothed in ragged-looking garments.

“This is the way you will appear in the game. Is this correct?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent! Then I will start teaching you the basics,” said Biku-Dassah, and she held out her wrist. “Do you see this black dot on your right wrist? This is your basic menu button. As you become more acquainted with the TheirWorld system, you may change the button’s appearance and location, or you may delete it entirely. For this tutorial, however, we shall use the standard physical button. Allow me to show you your character’s information!”

Biku-Dassah ran her finger along the dot and pulled up a menu identical to a WristComp. She clinked ‘Character Information’ which brought up a new screen.

<< -------------------- Level 0 No Profession >>

<< Human - ---------- - ----------- >>

<< Mother: ----------- Father: --------- >>

<< Stats: >>

< Body - 5 >

< Endurance - 5 >

< Resilience - 5 >

< Reflexes - 5 >

< Intellect - 5 >

< Spirit - 5 >

< Presence - 5 >

< Resolve - 5 >

< Perception - 5 >

< Fate - 0 >

“Every character begins life with the same base stats and skills depending on your species. These stats and skills will be impacted by the choices that you will make as you journey through Uldarin.

“As you begin your journey through the tutorial, it is your destiny as a hero of Uldarin to meet the Three Fates. The first of the fates shall question you about your past. The second shall question you about your present, and the third shall question you about your future. After you meet with all three Fates, your soul shall be given physical form and be allowed to enter the world.”

“From here,” the light continued, “You shall meet with the First Fate, who resides in this very realm. If you have not read the manual on Character Creation, please do so now!”

Another screen popped up:

<<>>

Would you like to log off and read the Character Creation manual?

<<Yes> <No>>

<<>>

Dassah refused, and the sprite led her forward until a silvery mist surrounded them. It started at her feet, and then engulfed them both.

A cool breeze brushed against her skin. Almost instantly she felt calmer, and the tension in her muscles relaxed.

“Who are you?” the breeze seemed to ask softly. “Who are you?”

“I-I’m Hadassah Graydon,” she answered, hesitantly.

“Not that name,” the wind said, with an echoing breath. “Not that name.”

<<>>

Please enter your character name:

<<Accept><Reject>>

<<>>

Ah. Dassah filled in the name ‘Guin Grey,’ which the game accepted. It must have recognized and refused the register’s name.

“Who are you?” the breeze asked again. “Who are you?”

“I’m Guin Grey,” she said with more confidence.

“Guin Grey, Guin Grey,” it wondered aloud, then: “Why have you come to this place? This place, where the world is made of dreams...”

The world around her plunged into even deeper darkness, then came alive in an explosion of light and color.