AUTHOR'S NOTE:

The original branch of this story is outdated. For the revised version, please proceed directly to the Prologue. For branches by other authors, continue reading this chapter.

A notification pops up on your monitor and your heart begins to pound -- it's here! You scramble out of your chair and hurry to the front door, flinging it open to find a small package laying on the ground and a quadcoptor drone buzzing off into the distance. Wasting no time, you snatch up the precious package, slam the door shut, and hurry back to your computer.

A week back you received an email telling you that you had been accepted into the alpha test of the next big MMORPG, "The Realm". You had to sign dozens of legal documents signing away more rights than you cared to even think about, and then at last you were assigned your alpha test account and told that you would be sent a physical copy of the game because the studio didn't want to risk it on the internet. A shrewd precaution, really, but the days it had taken to reach you had nearly driven you mad with anticipation.

The wait was finally over, though, and your fingers flew across your virtual keyboard as you installed the client program and sent emails to your boss and friends saying that you were sick and would be taking some days off. You didn't want anything to get between you and a whole new world to explore, not for a few days anyway.

At last the installation was complete. You started the client and climbed into your Immersive VR rig, eager to get started. You hastily skipped through all of the logos, warnings, and at last, a prompt filled your vision.

Greetings, Chosen. Who are you?

You quickly fill in your alpha account info in the spaces provided and confirm. After the barest of pauses, the prompt vanishes and your vision goes completely black. You start to panic, thinking the game crashed or the power had gone out, but a heartbeat later a character creation interface appears around you and another prompt appears.

You have been Chosen. Within this room you may decide upon your avatar in the Realms. Know this: The choices you make here will have far-reaching implications. Do not choose idly, for once you leave this room, you will never be able to return.

Well, that was a bit overly dramatic for just a character creation screen, but who cares? If enough people complain it'll be changed before release. Dismissing the prompt, you turn your attention to the character creation itself. Curiously, the manikin floating in front of you looks exactly like you, and since it was naked you could tell it is anatomically correct there as well. It is a little unnerving seeing a perfect copy of yourself floating in mid-air, and you are more than a little creeped out thinking about how the developers were able to get this data, but again you shove your concerns aside and forge ahead. There's a game to play!

It looks like you got to choose your name, race, and gender, and then you could also mess with the vast array of sliders to adjust your avatar's body to your liking. The limited number of customization options available made the ominous warning from the prompt seem even stranger, but oh well.

Looking at the list of races, you could choose Human, Human (Helltouched), Human (Heaventouched), High Elf, Wood Elf, Dwarf, Orc, or Catfolk. A pretty limited list, but then again this is an alpha test; not everything is implemented yet. You pause for just a moment, considering your choices, and then you know what to pick.