My cubicle was a relentless chamber of torture, yet I returned every day. I started my career at Ancient Realms Incorporated with expectations of rocketing up the corporate ladder, leveraging my career with both skill and business strategy. I had a real passion at first, fueled by the concept of adding my creativity to a project as huge and unprecedented as Ancient Realms’ deep dive technology. There was still a spark of my childhood dreams jumping at the thought. I smothered the spark myself. It would be nothing but bug fixes again today, like always. I buttoned my shirt.
If only I could afford a self-driving car, I could get a few more minutes of sleep in. It was too expensive to buy coffee daily, so I waited to get the gross, grainy stuff from the break room. Caffeine is caffeine. I slowed to a stop at the red light. My eyelids drooped, but I would be fine. I slapped myself and shook my head. If only I hadn’t been doing as much overtime, I would be much more alert. The light was green, I hit the gas. But my eyelids were lead curtains. They fell, but there was no applause.
It was dark for some time, but eventually, I heard faint sirens from somewhere. My head felt like a bowling ball, and I couldn’t feel anything besides pain. Pain and a vague detachment from consciousness. Then everything became darker than black. As the pain faded, so did my awareness.
Being dead was the darndest thing. More than a lack of senses, it was a realization of how many senses I’d never considered. In whatever nothingness my conciseness was currently marinating in, time had no hold, leaving me without the usual sense of the present. When everything returned, I had no way to appraise the amount of time I spent in the abyss. I felt that I had every right to be confused when instead of staying dead for all eternity, I found myself suddenly and inexplicably no longer dead.
“What the…”
I sat on a white abyss now. I could see, but I couldn’t see myself. I heard my voice, could feel a surface beneath me, and felt the familiar sense of time passing.
“Hello Nathaniel, welcome to your life after death in Ancient Realms MMO”
I immediately saw the source of the voice, a small orb of red light, pulsating before my eyes. My eyes narrowed.
“It is normal to be confused, and I will allow you as many questions as you like. But first, I will explain your situation. Please do not interrupt.”
I nodded slowly, the red light taking this as some kind of agreement.
“You are dead. You lost control of your vehicle on the morning of January 11, 2066. Your vehicle collided with another vehicle, spun, and slammed into the concrete of a nearby building. You died before you could be properly stabilized by paramedics.”
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The creature paused, perhaps watching my reaction. I surprised myself by listening to the information and nodding again. The creature politely continued.
“Moments after you died, before your brain completely lost oxygen, a scan was taken of your mind using a portable scanning device. This scan was uploaded to an Ancient Realms server, where it will be repurposed as seen fit. This is part of a confidential test program, and your digital presence is completely owned by Ancient Realms MMO. No rights are guaranteed to you.”
The fact that I was told that this was a secret program meant I was not expected to be able to do anything about it. I blankly regarded the sphere.
“I will accept questions, though I do not promise answers to any of them.”
“Why am I here?” I asked without much emotion. This could be some kind of test.
“You have been selected to have a second chance. You may be an actor on the great stage of Ancient Realms. You may become an extra or even a prominent character in the player’s quests and interactions. Or you may die.” The orb flickered at its monotone voice’s last words.
“I want to live.” I didn’t know if I meant to say that out loud, but I had a deep sense of necessity. That I needed to survive, at any cost. I thought of who I was, the bottom rung office worker. My inner child was on life support as my dreams wilted, choked by the grime of industry. I could live a better life in Ancient Realms. Have a family like I sometimes considered, or maybe even become a wealthy noble. I could have the wealth, power, and status I only ever dreamed of. The red orb waited, for some kind of final response.
“I accept the offer to join Ancient Realms. I accept my second chance.” I felt unease. The potential rights of AI or downloaded consciousnesses were still unrealized, running through the judicial system without traction. I would be a slave to Ancient Realms. I realized the irony immediately, that I would be made a slave of Ancient Realms even in my next life.
“Good choice,” The red orb sounded pleased, “We will proceed to the development stage. This is a simple process. I, being your game guide, will simply converse with you about the kind of presence you want to have in Ancient Realms. Your preferences will be noted, but all character generation is completely at the game’s discretion. No guarantees. Now tell me, Nathaniel, what do you want?”
“Can I be immortal? Like one of the game’s gods?”
“Your request for immortality is unlikely to be realized. That is all I can know until the generation process begins, but your preference has been noted.”
“Okay… My priorities are that I will be immortal if possible, and have as much potential for growth as possible,” I knew that NPCs in Ancient Realms didn’t level like players. They could only gain power or skill through conventional training. “I would also like to be wealthy, as a secondary preference.
“Is that all?”
“I… Think so?” I couldn’t help but worry. What if I needed to be absurdly specific, detailing that I even wanted to exist on a certain plane of existence? I honestly didn’t know enough about game lore to specify locations. I decided to only worry about what I could control. “Yes, that is all”
“Preferences noted. You will be turned off for a short moment as we allocate you to a position in the Ancient Realm story.”
I returned to the dark timeless place with a glimmer of hope.