Notification of patient status initiated. Plastikos Initiation sequence delayed until full map. Consciousness sedation initiated. 3 2 1…
Claire fell into a deep and dreamless slumber. When she woke up she yawned, her body exactly the way she left it. Looking around she found herself in a void, colorless, with only a few items in the middle. It was a simple floor length mirror, as well as a cork board.
“Hello and welcome.” Someone said as they walked into the area. “I am glad to finally see you.
“Are… Are you a goddess?” Claire asked. Sure, this may have seemed to be an odd choice, Claire had found herself looking at an impossibly beautiful woman.
“In a manner of speaking… yes. You may call me Genetrix. I am here to help you join the world, as what is a child without a mother?”
“Uh…” Claire tried to think of an answer. “An Orphan? Having a single father?”
“It was rhetorical. Now, let us begin.” Genetrix waved a hand at the mirror. “As you can see, you have been completely scanned, and we know your physical details.”
It was true, Claire saw that her reflection of herself was perfect. More perfect than she would have liked, certainly, but that was beyond comprehension. She knew on an intellectual level that she wasn’t particularly fat, but she was still incredibly self conscious about her weight. More so, however, was the presence of some of her scars, which she realized were detailed perfectly.
“Dear… Hmm… I suppose that is something that we should clear up.” Genetrix said. “Do you have any idea what kind of person you want to be?”’
“I… I don’t really know. I know those people out there want to fix my depression, but that’s not something you can just snap your fingers and fix.” She said, frowning. “I mean, I get it, they don’t want me to hurt myself, but this is a little bit intense.”
“Perhaps you should take on an inhuman form. Try out being something different, seeing a different face in the mirror.”
“Did you have something in mind?”
“Several. Due to depression you have experience with muted sensory inputs…” She sighed. “I know it’s not the most comfortable thing to say, but perhaps changing your sensory inputs would help?”
“Like an undead?” Claire asked with an eyebrow raised.”
“Yes, exactly. Or perhaps a construct. There are many constructed races. As a construct you would start out with muted input and you could slowly increase it with upgrades. I suppose that might help you deal with depression’s effects?”
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“Are you sure that’s healthy?”
“Look, I don’t know. I could troll the internet for every paper ever written on depression, but I’m gonna be honest they all have different answers. And, since you won’t be able to feel the physical effects of depression here, I thought this might work out.” Genetrix sighed, snapping and a chair appeared. “Look, you can be whatever you want. I just thought it would be an interesting suggestion.”
“I… I don’t know if I would mind being a robot.”
“Well, not all constructs are robots.”
“I wanna be a robot. Like Bastian.” Claire said confidently. “I assume you know what overwatch is?”
“Really? Bastian. Wasn’t he removed decades ago?”
“Yeah, well, shut up. I like playing on classic servers.”
“Fine, fine. The best option for that would be an ancient machine. The ancient machine race comes from old ruined civilizations, and there are many with different functions. Exploring the world as an ancient machine will allow you to unlock more of your racial memories from before you began to hibernate.”
“So they arn’t just robots, but ancient robots? Is this some ancient aliens shit?”
“Not exactly. A lot of people really love the whole ‘lost city’ trope. I can’t say too much, but let's just say there are a few ancient civilizations to learn about.”
Claire shrugged. “So… I’ll take it.”
“Next for class. You’re choice of class will modify your base body.” Genetrix said, waving a hand at the mirror. In it were four forms. There was a small sleak robot that was made of a dark steel, a larger bulkier one with a massive sword for an arm, a tougher looking one that glowed, and one that had runes carved into it that also glowed. “Rouge, fighter, cleric, mage.”
“Are those standard roles? Like in dnd?”
“Not exactly. You see, they are starting loadouts, but you can gain any skill in any of the main classes. Instead, their roles is based on how they gain power at the beginning. Mages use arcane magic, clerics divine magic. Fighters use their toughness, while rouges use finesse. It’s all in their actions.”
“So a healer would be a cleric?”
“Again, no. You could use healing magic as either a mage or cleric, each one just has different ways of learning it. Divine magic has to come from a divine being, meaning a god.” She waved a hand at herself. “Arcane magic is learned through study, such as finding ancient tomes.”
“I… I want to be a mage!” Claire said smiling. “What comes next?”
Over the course of the next few minutes she also picked her background, traits, and attributes. For a background she chose nanny, which gave her more positive interactions with children. For her trait she chose something called Revelation, which allowed her to once per day gain insight on what she was working on.
“So, do you have a name?” The goddess asked, waving a hand at the last thing that hadn’t been entered. “Sex as a construct doesn’t matter in most cases, so you can determine that whenever it does mater. But a name is something that will be with you forever.”
“Firmament.” Claire said, grinning. “I want to be tough, like the toughest stone.” She held her hand up in the air in a pose that she was clearly copying from an anime. It looked kind of weird in her new blocky metallic body. “And someday, I will reach the sky!”