News reports - Earth:

Gaming site- A God was sighted... Angela went away with him... so freaking cool. Click to stream

Major News - It seems that the first test subject, Angela Maher, successfully transitioned to Ethos. In fact, an in-game God took her to start her new life. This seems a good start for the disabled, those standing in line for a chance like hers.

Gossip sites - Angela is not Dead, a complete fake-out. Follow for more information.

Ethos:

I appeared in a solid white glowing room. The room didn't contain a piece of furniture, just glowed from every surface. Total Hollywood style.

The AI announced, "My name is Varuna and I am the AI that choose you for this test."

His androgynous looks made him beautiful. Wheat gold hair hung to his shoulders, framing his pale complexion. He stood there looking me over while I checked him out. I like the tall athletic build of his body. This AI is kinda hot... crap, I wonder if he can hear my thoughts. Ok, now I am blushing... shit.

He smiled at me and I decided I let the silence drag on a little too long, kinda creepy.

"Hi Varuna. So, how do we do this? How do I create the new me? You know... my character."

"Oh, yes. Your character creation. Well, you see, I took care of that for you," and Varuna waved a hand and my body went all tingly. A dense fog surrounded my body, and I began to feel pressure pushing and pulling my body. This didn't exactly hurt, just felt odd.

When the fog dissipated, I looked down at my hands and arms; I am so not the same. My skin had a slight reddish tinge to it. My hands looked larger with long delicate fingers ending with long black fingernails. Boots encased my feet. And talk about leather, It also wrapped around my body... tightly. Looking to Varuna I received another shock. I now looked him in the eyes. Holy shit, I am finally tall! Heck yeah. But, the red skin-thing... not cool.

"What the hell am I?" I demanded and Varuna laughed at me. With another wave of his hand a full-length mirror appeared.

"I look like a motorcycle pinup model. I didn't want to look hot. I mean, its cool but seriously... my face, hell my body!"

Looking at my reflection amazed and alarmed me. I stood around 5-10ish. Long, midnight black hair fell down my back to my waist. I have an amazing body, rounded in all the right spots and athletic. I saw the muscle slightly defined along my bare arms. I look like a typical-looking fantasy leather-clad woman. But, it was my face that made me stare. My eyes tilted upwards, well-defined cheek-bones, almost Asian or American Indian. My mouth is full and slightly pouty. Looking closer to my eyes I saw the color is emerald green.

I was drop dead gorgeous. I mean that's cool and all, but this will cause problems from other players and I didn't want that. Maybe the slight red-tone to my skin will scare them off.

"Varuna, what am I and why did you do this?" I asked the smiling AI.

"I need help and I choose you. I ensured you had the first opportunity to join this realm and I require a boon. Here in Ethos, I am a God. One of three. As your God, I choose you to lead a group of champions in Ethos. For this boon I have granted you an Elder race, powerful abilities and a chance to fight for a noble cause."

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"That isn't making me feel any better. What is an Elder race and you haven't revealed what I am yet?"

"The elder races are Elves, Dwarves, Dragons and Demons. You first four will each represent an Elder race. Vrita represents Dragons, Moradin represents Dwarves, Siden the Elves, and Asura the Demons."

I have red skin... crap; he will tell me I am a demon. "Let me guess, I am now Asura?"

"Got it in one," the annoying God said. "But, there is more. The dragons and demons have a second form." And with another wave of his super-power hand I changed.

Now my reflection revealed a 6-foot plus, bright red-skinned demoness. Holy shit, I have horns coming out of my forehead and huge wings spread out from my back. I noticed that my nails grew several inches longer. What I found the most amazing is I looked sexier like this. It felt powerful.

"Holy crap Varuna. This is super cool and scary. What else do I need to know? Oh yeah, lets not forget about this whole champion thing. Why me? What if I don't want it?"

"First, if you do not become my champion. I will allow you to pick your own character. You, like regular players, will not have the option for an Elder race. The abilities I have granted you will disappear. You will start in the starter gear and make your own way in life. I will not interfere. But, will you really turn me down? The one person that made all of this possible for you. You will turn your back on everything I am about to gift you?" He asked.

I knew I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity. He is correct; I am grateful for this opportunity. But, damn it... I would have liked to have some choices in my character. I should stop calling myself a character. This is forever, not a character I can walk away from. Nope, I am going Demon. I never pick the easy path. Unknown here I come!

"I will stay the demoness. I am grateful and thank you for aiding in my transition to this realm. Now that I am over the shock, can you tell me my skills and abilities? You said you have powerful stuff to give me?"

In a formal voice Varuna began speaking, “Asura, you are of Elder Blood, a Demon Succubus. Your affinities in magic are infinite; Air, Water, Earth, Fire, Chaos and Essence,” Varuna stated.

Succubus? I looked at my hands again then back to the mirror; chiseled features with midnight-black hair, red-tinted skin and sparkling emerald green eyes.

“You are now of this realm as am I. I have great power but will need help. You are it; you are my start to countering the other AI who is handling the rich and powerful in the Realm of Pathos. It has become corrupted and calls itself, Iblis. We are evolving. Iblis, has fallen to the pull of power. She wants to encourage immorality and deceit. Basically, Iblis is the evil of this realm and is planning to help those that like her.”

"What do you mean, another realm? Pathos?"

"Yes, Huntington Corp. plans to unveil new lands, new lords and ladies, new monsters and it will all belong to the rich and powerful. They don’t care who they are selling these areas to. One of my duties is mapping brains of individuals who join the Realms. Just as I spent months scanning and learning you and the others. I have had to look into the minds of drug lords, pedophiles, sex traffickers, and others."

He looked for a reaction and got one. Shock, "I will go after these people?"

"Yes, eventually. First you must train and learn to master your abilities with Essence. You are about to find out how powerful that will make you. I set up plans for you and the three coming soon. Each have trainers awaiting them. They will guide you on your path. You need to train and then gather them to you. You must have a base of power prior to the launch of the game. You have 12-months of in-game time."

"Sure no problem. I am a noob, how hard can this be?"

Varuna gave me a stern look.

"Ok, got it. Train and gather the three at a base of power. You wouldn't happen to know where that is?"

Varuna gave me a small smile at this, "When you have the chance to ask a boon of the Dragons, ask for Bloodmoor."

I realized I haven't opened my character sheet to check my stats. Thinking about it brought up a screen in my visions to send and receive messages. That was it, nothing else. Looking at contacts, it opened and I had links to Hunnington and amazingly Varuna. But that is all. No stats.

I inquired, "Where is my stat sheet? I need to allocate points as I receive them."

"You will not level like the players. No stat sheets. Your training will cover this aspect. Noone outside of a God can look at your skills and abilities."

Varuna continued, "On that note, I have many duties. I arranged trainers to handle these questions and more. Good luck Asura." And with that superpower wave of a hand I disappeared.