Dassah

[𝙻𝙾𝙰𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙶…]

[𝙻𝙾𝙰𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙶…]

[𝙻𝙾𝙰𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙶…]

Ting.

𝖵𝖠𝖱𝖨𝖤𝖱 𝖢𝖮𝖱𝖯𝖮𝖱𝖠𝖳𝖨𝖮𝖭 𝖯𝖱𝖤𝖲𝖤𝖭𝖳𝖲

↽↽⇁⇁

𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙸𝚁𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙻𝙳

↼↼⇀⇀

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[𝖲𝖸𝖲𝖳𝖤𝖬 𝖲𝖸𝖭𝖢𝖨𝖭𝖦…]

[𝖯𝖫𝖤𝖠𝖲𝖤 𝖧𝖮𝖫𝖣…]

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Dassah sat in the dark as the loading screen faded, but even with the eerie background music playing quietly in the background, she was not afraid.

That darkness was her friend. A promise. Her door to a new beginning.

After so many years of waiting, after traveling across the universe to get the chance to playtest the new, valkyrian-crafted MMORPG, TheirWorld, the time had come.

Shivers of anticipation pulsed through her body—and the fact that it felt like she was really having those shivers while existing only in a dream-like mental state?

The impossible made possible caused her to quiver in awe and gratitude.

Dassah loved games. While Dassah in the real world could never be anything more than a trembling wallflower who could hardly stand up for herself, in games she could be anyone.

An adventurer. A crafter. A builder.

She’d spend tens of thousands of hours plugged into various simulators, RPGs, and MMOs sitting at her desk—but TheirWorld offered a new opportunity; a chance to live in those roles in virtual reality.

Years of applications, studying, and tests had all culminated in this moment.

What will I be in this life? Dassah wondered, giddy. She had a whole list of ideas, of course, but she had to remind herself not to get too carried away. It’s all about how the mechanics feel, isn’t it?

Finally a white, glimmering speck of light appeared in the distance.

Dassah narrowed her eyes, wary of its approach. The light bobbed up and down and swayed to and fro, but it moved with intent. It drifted toward her like a leaf on the wind.

Is it a faerie? But it didn’t seem to have wings. A will-o-wisp, then?

It drew up to her, floating almost a foot from her face. Dassah reached out to it, wondering if she was meant to grab it. The air around it was warm.

“Welcome!” said a small voice coming from the light. Startled, Dassah immediately pulled her hand back to her chest. “By entering this, the Point of Creation, you have begun an exciting journey into TheirWorld! You are about to experience a great adventure, where you can live the life you desire in a fantasy world created by the imaginations of millions, compiled by Varier Corporation!

“You have been lucky enough to be chosen to enter Uldarin, a world of great power, fantasy, and magic! Only time can tell what mysteries and secrets you will unravel on your path to become the greatest of heroes!

“Before we can continue, you must register your account!” the light continued. “Please enter the name and data that you wish to register under.”

Ting!

A sheet of paper that resembled a contract poofed! from the light, along with a fluffy feathered pen. It stated the system code, and circled the places she was meant to sign. Dassah filled out her name, personal ID number, and equipment serial code, before a system screen popped up.

🔳

▶Account Owner Name:◀

HADASSAH GREYDON

◆ Accept ◆ ◈ Reject ◈

🔳

“I accept,” Dassah said, and the system accepted the verbal command with a friendly du-ku!.

“I see!” the light said as it appeared to look over the floating form. “Your name is Hadassah Greydon!”

“You can just call me ‘Dassah.’”

“Dassah, then! It’s nice to meet you! My name is Biku-Biku! I am the guide who will accompany you as you progress through this, the Point of Creation! There are three tasks you must complete before you can be born into the world of Uldarin: your Avatar Creation, the Meeting of the Fates, and the Fortune Reading. Are you ready to continue?”

“Yes!” she answered.

“Good! Please confirm the following!”

🔳

IMPORTANT!

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 serial code.

This account is verified by optics, fingerprints, and DNA.

It is non-transferable.

Varier Co. and the associated governments strictly enforce these regulations. 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 ◆

🔳

Dassah barely glanced at the screen before saying, “I accept!”

She probably should have read it more closely, but legal stuff was going to be legal stuff.

She’d read the instruction manual later. Probably. There was definitely one in the equipment box, but she spent about thirty seconds flipping through the pages for the pretty art, then promptly tossed it into the corner of her dorm room.

As long as I don’t break any laws, it will be fine, right? Orientation should have covered most of it, anyway. I’m moving to my official apartment tomorrow so, I’ll find it then…

The chances of her ever reading it though were slim to none.

Biku-Biku, however, seemed to have no concept of how she was brushing off this ‘important’ information and made an agile cartwheel in the air.

“Excellent!” it said. “Let’s take a look at you!”

The will-o-wisp shattered into what must have been a thousand pieces. Each shard of light morphed into geometrical shapes, ebbing as it grew in size. At first it was neat to watch how it populated into a human-sized doll, but the experience turned mildly disturbing as it began to materialize into a younger, mostly naked copy of Dassah herself.

Creepy, Dassah twitched.

Compared to Dassah, the avatar had taken about ten years off her real age, and didn’t have a body that reflected Dassah’s current, more idle gaming lifestyle and love of good food. It was more like it had taken an idealized version of a teenager and applied it to Dassah’s current biometric data.

“This is your avatar’s base!” said Biku-Biku in Dassah’s voice. “From here you can make minor edits, but the base structure will remain the same. Is there anything you wish to address?”

Circling the strange-yet-familiar figure, Dassah pinpointed some areas to change, then focused on giving herself more of her a healthier, outdoorsy look with just enough difference between it and her that it felt more like the image of herself in her mind. She did indulge a little, however, giving herself a golden tan she could never get in real life, brightening her blue-grey eyes, and fixing her hair in a neat fishtail braid.

Nodding in approval, Dassah stepped back and looked to Biku-Dassah, who, after confirming her changes, snapped her fingers and instantly spawned some rather ragged-looking garments which she was allowed to customize to some small degree.

“This is the way you will appear in the game! Are you happy with this form?” Biku-Dassah asked once more, and once more Dassah confirmed.

Every game must have its pop-ups, I guess, she mused. They had even warned them about it in orientation. The alpha testers always had a good laugh when they talked about the pop-up spam, but since the system was so tied into neurology and people’s brains, Varier Co. had no choice but to include hundreds of warnings to avoid getting sued through their teeth.

At least the confirmations were a little more understandable. Several of the people she knew would be spending over an hour with this kind of character creation setup; it was too restrictive to change your avatar into a completely different person, but it was weird to play a game when your avatar looked like the real you.

Dassah confirmed her avatar with Biku-Biku, ignored about a dozen mental and physical health warnings, and finally came to a point of progression.

“Now for the basics of gameplay!” Biku-Dassah held out her arm and showed Dassah a small tattoo of dots on her wrist. “You can manually open the main game menus with this tattoo on your wrist. As you become more acquainted with the TheirWorld system, you may change its appearance and locations as you desire—even deleting it entirely!

“For this tutorial, however, we shall use it as is. Allow me to demonstrate as we take a look at your character's current information.”

Biku-Dassah ran her finger along the dot and pulled up a set of menus with a UI almost identical to the WristComp computer system Dassah used in real life. She clicked on ‘Character Information’ which brought up a new screen:

🔳

--------- ⬧ Level 0 ⬧ No Profession

⬧ Human - --------- ⬧Clan - ---------

⬧ Mother: --------- ⬧ Father: ---------

◚◚◚

⬘

◊ 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,” Biku-Dassah said, poofing! back into their original light form. “You are human, a race with average stats. Would you like a tutorial on stats?”

“Oh, no thanks,” Dassah said, dreading the pain that such a lecture would be.

“Ok!” Biku-Biku said happily. “These stats and skills will be impacted by the choices you make as you take on your character’s journey through Uldarin and progress through the ranks of countless adventurers—beginning with the Point of Creation and the proceeding tutorial.

“It is your destiny as a hero of Uldarin to meet many challenges, from strength of body, to strength of will,” the light said, “but not everyone will pass these challenges in the same way. To help you understand who you are in this world you must earn your feats and talents under the guidance of the Fates. They shall question your past, they shall question your present, and they shall question your future. Only then can your character truly begin to take form.

“And this is where I leave you, fair traveler,” Biku-Biku spun in a circle and bounced around. “I leave you now with the first of the fates. Be advised, if you have not read the manual on Character Creation, it is highly recommended you do so before entering the Fate Challenge!”

Ting!

🔳

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

◆ Accept ◆ ◈ Reject ◈

🔳

Are they serious? questioned Dassah raising a brow before sending the screen away with the “reject” button. I’m so close to the actual game and they want me to log off? Hell no!

Besides, they must have covered most of this stuff in orientation, right?

Biku-Biku whistled, and a white mist erupted from Dassah’s feet, swirling around her and engulfing her in a thick, dense fog. Panicking, Dassah spun around wildly, looking for some sign as to what she was supposed to do.

A cool breeze brushed against her skin, then, and the tension in her muscles eased. The fog thinned, and the world lightened. Still shrouded in mist, Dassah looked down at her body and recognized the ragged clothing as the set Biku-Dassah was wearing earlier.

She also found herself standing in a pool of water with her reflection staring back at her.

Not Dassah, now, though, Dassah grinned foolishly as she poked at her thin, tanned face.

Dassah, now in the form of her avatar, flicked her hair over her shoulder and fixed her posture.

A cool breeze brushed against her skin.

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

“I-I’m Dassah?” she answered hesitantly, deflating in her confusion.

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

Ting!

Another form-like scroll and quill appeared before her and Dassah read:

🔳

Please enter your character name:

________________

◆ Accept ◆ ◈ Reject ◈

🔳

Oh. Feeling a bit silly she didn’t see that coming, she entered the name:

“𝐺𝑢𝑖𝑛 𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑦”

The wind brushed against her again and asked, “Who are you? Who are you?”

“I’m Guin, pronounced like ‘penguin,’” Dassah—no, ‘Guin’ now—said with more confidence. “Guin Grey.”

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

Shit! The fates! Dassah panicked, remembering she was supposed to ask about the Meeting of the Fate’s task before she fell into it.

“Wait! Can you tell me a little about—!” she cried, reaching out to Biku-Biku—but the will-o-wisp was already gone.

As if someone flipped a light switch, the world went dark.

“Well,” she said helplessly to no one. “God damn it.”

Once again she was left in the dark. Then, the world exploded into light and color, and came to life.