I lay down in the pod and closed the lid before closing my eyes, a faint humming could be heard.

Login

With just that thought darkness enveloped me.

New User Detected.

Would you like to create an account?

Yes

What name would you like to associate with your account?

This wasn't my character name, but the name I could use to access my account in a separate pod, or retrieve my account to use in a new pod if mine broke. You didn’t need one per say, your biological signature could be used, but the system would be forced to go through every system on the planet to find yours, which could take awhile, a name shortened things.

Skip

I decided to skip it.

Understood, Bio Signature 884-574-325-***-***-***-***-***-***-***-*** registered

One game loaded to pod, RENEW, is available. Would you like to log in?

Yes

The world flashed once before I found myself in a dark space surrounded by pinpricks of light. It took me a moment before I realized I was in space, A beautiful blue planet below my feet.

I must have stared at the sight for a good five minutes.

“Beautiful isn’t it?”

I jumped, startled at the voice, before spinning to look a an odd woman. I say odd because she seemed to change every second. she would have been gorgeous, if not for the thousands of colors that danced along her skin. They made me a bit nauseous, to look at.

I stared over her shoulder, to avoid the colors, before answering.

“Yes, I’ve never seen anything that could even compare.”

Seriously, some people say earth from space was beautiful, but it didn't even come close. Comparing the two would be ridiculous.

She smiled before becoming more serious.

“I'm glad you like it, would you like to create your character now?”

The question was obviously rhetorical, but I paused before answering, who knew when I would get another chance to see this.

“Would you mind waiting another few minutes?” I asked tentatively.

She paused a second, before nodding thoughtfully.

“I suppose, though I must go, I’m only allowed to help you for a set time, and that's almost up… Just say ‘create character’ when you're ready, if you have any questions just speak aloud and you should get an answer.”

She smiled once more before disappearing.

I just turned back to the planet before me, at peace.

***************************************************************

It was a while before I blinked and wondered aloud

"Who was that?"

The goddess Gaia, Creator of the planet Quies

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I was surprised, but got over it quickly, this was a game after all.

As I had my fill of the planet gazing I quickly got to work.

"Create character"

There are five playable races

CatriA Species covered in scales, a cult like society.SectineA speies of insectoids, Sexualy Dimorphis.ZemminA winged species of fur, territorial and solitary.BitouA 'skinny' race, very social.TauquinA short race of plant people. Primitive.

I frowned, that really didn't tell me much. I muttered under my breath, "I wish I could see what they looked like".

Suddenly five figures appeared in front of me. I was a bit shocked, I had figured the company, Laser inc, had renamed existing tropes, but these figures in front of me were bizar...

The first had the word Catri floating above its head. This example was humanoid with dark scales, not black but a dark grey. Its feet were not what I expected, arched like a velociraptors, but instead of multiple claws they just had one BIG one. Then they had two tails that looked like a couple snakes swaying behind it, the tails were very thin and flat. Finally they had wings, but instead of the arc of a bird's wings, their wings curved down. Think a 'W' instead of an 'M'. Also of note was that the wings were made of giant scales, while the tails and feet were covered in them, and the rest of the body had scales so small as to be almost skin like. The race looked much too heavy to fly.

The next race race example was a Sectine. It was more like I expected. It appeared as a tan insects, with two sets of arms, though the lower set were so small they appeared useless, and the larger set so beefy they seemed impossible to move well. Antenna, and pitch black orbs for eyes, as well as a full body exoskeleton finished the look.

The third was a Zemmin, By far the most normal. It was human save for the lower body was covered in fur, the upper body had the wings of a bat, and a smaller set of wings was attached to the head where the ears would be.

I was getting desperate at this point. I was basically going to live in this world, and so far all my options were freaks.

The next race I skipped over completely, They were little more than skeletons, with a thin layer of skin covering the bones.

As I looked at the final race, the Tauquin, I fell into despair. They only came up to my waist and looked like gobs of wood clumped together and covered in moss. they were downright hideous.

I had figured this would be a world of humans dwarves and elves', maybe beast men here or there. As I couldn't safely make friends or spend time with others in the real world I had hoped to do so here, I even bought an adult pod so I could enjoy various activities, but with scales, fur, bones, wood, and chitin as my only options, I felt hopelessness wash over me.

It wasn't a total loss, I could still have fun and socialize, I just felt ripped off is all.

Sighing I went to select the Catri, the small scales all over their body felt almost like skin so I figured they were to be my best choice.