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Jace’s mind raced. No way. This isn’t possible. You can’t stop time entirely. He wished he could turn his head around to look at his pursuers, but he could not. He just knew that they were looking at his back, waiting for…whatever this was to end so they could kill him. He tried to move his mouth to ask something, but this…voice read his thoughts and answered aloud. The same bored, feminine voice.

<<<<<>>>>>

[Alright, let’s get this over with. You get three questions. Make it fast. I want to clock out.]

<<<<<>>>>>

Well. Okay, then , Jace thought. I guess this Cosmic System can read my thoughts. First question: what exactly is an Ascendant?

<<<<<>>>>>

[My name is Shhiv-zal, not just ‘System’.] She sounded annoyed. [I’m assigned to you now.]

<<<<<>>>>>

Sorry. Shhiv-zal.

<<<<<>>>>>

Her voice softened slightly, [Apology accepted. To answer your question, an Ascendant is a quasi-immortal being. Their power is vast and can affect entire worlds. A lot of them are arrogant pricks, but there are a few good ones. They can be killed, but they are tough. Their immortality is only against aging and age-related diseases. That is question one.]

<<<<<>>>>>

That made some sense to Jace. This System was describing gods. Well, near-deities, if they could still be killed, poisoned, or die in some other way. The implications of that on a philosophical level were beyond his comprehension, and he chose to ignore any more questions related to them. What exactly is The Cosmic Corridor?

<<<<<>>>>>

[A travel hub. Transit station. It connects all worlds that have gone through Cosmogenic Merging. You can also get to The Eternal City through it. I mean, the city is nice and all - way better than my home world. But sometimes life can get boring, you know?.] Her tone shifted again to one of interest and became slightly husky. [At least I get the attractive ones to watch on my shifts. I bet you would clean up nicely. That is question two, by the way.]

<<<<<>>>>>

Jace ignored the remark about his appearance. The thought of having a new chance at life, a whole new lease on life, away from this crappy existence at the bottom rungs of society was tempting. Extremely so. The implication of a city that never ended, and the fact that Civilians could relocate made the decision much more difficult.

If he chose Civilian, he would have to get to one of these portals and get through it. Knowing that they would show up in the largest population centers, he did not doubt that the various governments and burgeoning mega corporations of the world would restrict access. And charge an exorbitant fee to travel through them.

One he could not afford. And why would they even let anyone past the portal? Civilians only had the non-willful injury clause in The Cosmic Corridor and this Eternal City, if he understood the earlier message correctly. World governments would not want people getting to a place where they did not have control. Jace was stuck on Earth despite this reality-shifting opportunity. This isn’t fair.

<<<<<>>>>>

[Yup. It sucks. Crappy situation all around in your case. If you do choose Civilian, well, I hope you can get to one of the portals fast. The closest one to you is…fifty miles. Yup, you are screwed. Corpo-Age civs are always abysmal; and post Cosmogenic Merging, your world will probably go down the dystopic route. Honestly? Go with Aspirant. You might die, but hey, you will at least get out of what looks like an unbelievably dire situation.]

<<<<<>>>>>

No shit. People chasing me, shooting at me. Against a deadline that I can’t meet. Probably getting my feet repo’d. This…sucks.

Plus, the thought of having deific power was enticing. Not just for the sake of having power or using it as an escape from his current life of barely scraping by. I’m definitely choosing Aspirant…but I have one more question, right?

<<<<<>>>>>

[Yes. And that does not count as your question. The Cosmic System knows that clarifying statements do not count against the question limit. But please hurry. I want to get home and watch Zzezox and Misthledorp.]

<<<<<>>>>>

Jace ignored his instinctual response of, ‘what?’ as he knew it would count as one of his questions. If becoming an Ascendant means that I can be, effectively, a god…could I bring back someone who died?

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<<<<<>>>>>

[A powerful Ascendant may have the capability to bring the dead back to life. All right. You are out of questions. Time to choose.]

<<<<<>>>>>

I choose Aspirant…Thank you, Shhiv-zal.

<<<<<>>>>>

[Best of luck, I hope you survive your Aspirant Trial. I will be keeping an eye on you.] She giggled. [If you survive, I will take you out on the town. My treat.]

<<<<<>>>>>

Jace’s vision went black, and he felt his body once more. His heart was racing, he could hear the loud whoosh of air passing by him as he fell through what seemed to be an endless sea of starlight. He could move his limbs as all the sensations of his body returned to him.

The feeling of free-falling through inky black skies dotted with stars and swirling with streaks of light filled him with a giddy sensation and he laughed. Not just laughter at the thrill of falling, but at the realization that he could bring his sister back. The memories of her smile at her seventh birthday - her last one - flashed through his mind. He had scraped together enough money to buy her a small cake. He even had enough left over to take her to the park, and for the third time in her life, she got to play on swings and slides. An hour of childhood bliss.

The memory of her excitement and elation always warmed his heart. In this instant, it filled him with a desire to get whatever this Aspiration Trial was over with so he could follow this progression to Ascendant and bring her back. The emotional rush he felt was almost unbearable. Come on! Let’s get this started already! The wind cascading by him stilled and Jace felt himself slow to a stop before the black, inky space receded from around him.

He was standing in an enormous conference room. Tables and chairs were set up all around. The space could accommodate thousands of people. Other people popped into existence – just appearing – all around him. Some screamed in panic, some shouted, others were quiet and observing what was going on. Jace fell into the latter group, finding the nearest wall and putting his back to it.

A young woman - around Jace’s age - with neon pink hair and a street-rocker style soon joined him against the wall. She glanced sideways at him and nodded. She made a sign of her index finger touching her ring finger, with the middle finger extended, the other fingers folded into the palm.

“Courier,” he replied. He repeated the finger gesture.

“Independent Webwalker.” She held up two fingers – index and middle – and put them in front of her mouth.

“Jace Seren,” he replied.

“Quinn Cipher.”

Jace held out his hand and she gripped his index, middle, and ring fingers with her own. “Where you from?” he asked.

She brushed her hair out of her face. She was cute, but her demeanor left no doubt in Jace’s mind that she used that appearance to manipulate others. “Sydney. You?”

“New Jersey.”

The code of the street kid completed, Jace felt himself relax as Quinn giggled slightly, “This is going to be interesting. Cosmic power? A trial? Exciting stuff.”

“It’s…this whole thing is just crazy,” Jace replied with a grin. He focused as movement in her eyes caught his attention as if they were focusing in like camera lenses. Holy crap. She’s got head-cybernetics! They were extremely expensive and hard to get. “Where’d you get those?”

She grinned, “I was able to hack into a government database. I ransomed the data for these, and some brain implants. Getting those installed took a while, though.” She glanced down at his ankles, “No shoes?”

Jace pulled his pant leg up, “They’re on a payment plan.”

Quinn whistled as her eyes whirred in their sockets, “Those must have cost you a lot.”

Jace let his pant leg go, “Yeah. I’m basically spending every cred on keeping them paid up. But it was that or be in the gutter.”

“I feel that,” she replied. “‘Doing whatever we have to do to survive.’” She looked at him, “You have the same phrase in your part of the world?”

“Close,” Jace said with a smile. “Ours is ‘Stick together to survive’.”

“Why did you choose Aspirant?” she asked.

“My sister,” Jace replied.

“Did you get three questions?” Quinn asked. Jace nodded and she continued, “My questions were about this Aspirant Trial. We get dropped off in a hostile environment and gotta survive a week. Then, we get Cosmic Power and a Class. After that, we can kill stuff or do Quests to get a type of cred called Stardust. We can use that to buy stuff, or level up.”

Jace nodded before responding, “The Cosmic Corridor gets us to and from worlds, Ascendants are like gods, and my last question was if an Ascendant could bring back the dead. Turns out…they can.”

“That’s awesome,” she replied with a soft, sincere smile.

“If this Aspirant thing can get her back…I have to try.”

“Good on you. Well, slater.” She turned away and began chatting with someone else who had joined them against the wall.

Jace smiled and nodded at her despite not knowing what ‘slater’ meant. Must be some local Australian slang.

A message played across his vision, and he heard a voice in his head. The same announcer-style voice from before.

<<<<<>>>>>

[Your Wayfinders have been assigned! They will introduce themselves as you travel to your Aspirant Trial!.]

[Please note: Aspirant Trials are dangerous. Working with others is allowed, as is harming others.]

[Good luck!.]