A bright flash and a bit of disorientation later, she was standing in what most people took to calling the “Lounge”. The Lounge was the main screen you saw on login and when switching between programs, although many have turned theirs into secondary homes. Looking around, she took in the comfortably lit room she had spent years building. It was designed after an old study she had seen pictures of, once used by her favorite author, and with elements of his works for flair. In front of her was a grand fireplace crackling away, filling the room with the scent of smoke and a welcome heat. The mantle was covered in small photos and fantastic scenes depicted from stories and games. To her left was a large circular window that looked on a sunny garden and multiple grassy hills with chimneys poking out at odd angles, underneath of which was a battered, yet well cared for, leather couch positioned to catch the sunlight just right. On her right a large wooden desk filled with bits of paper, pens, notes, letters, and the occasional drawing, all from her many, often random, boring hours spent here between books or when looking for a quiet place away from the modern world. Maps lined the walls from fantasy worlds and historic journeys alike.

Last was the back wall, which she turned to now. From floor to ceiling was a bookshelf, slotted with the many titles she had yet to find physically or those from today that only existed in this digital world. She ran her hand along the spines, still amazed at the almost perfect realism of the leather and cloth bindings. Within this shelf, she hid the few programs looking like books themselves that she had downloaded so as to merge seamlessly in this fantasy which she had created for herself.

Wishing to start as soon as possible, she moved to where the newest book lay, looking at the golden inlay titled, “RESTART”. Boldly printed above the symbol, a green dragon coiled around a large silver tree, which she admired as she walked over to the couch and made herself comfortable before opening the cover.

She continued to look at the first page, beginning to worry that she had picked the wrong book. Once a program is opened it takes you into that world or stage, but right now she was simply looking at the first page which held one line in a flowing script. “So the Journey begins….” With a deep breath to calm the slight twinge of nervous excitement, she flipped to the next page, only to find it blank.

“Odd,” She thought out loud.

“Very,” said a light voice next to her.

So, like a reasonable adult in their own personal space, she acted rationally.

By screaming and throwing the book in the direction the voice came from.

Very rational.

Jumping up and rushing to the nearby mantle, she pulled down one of the replica swords and turned to face her attacker. Or is it an intruder? Thief? Vagabond? Focus! Right, the to-be-determined stranger.

Picking up her poorly thrown book was one of the strangest creatures she had ever seen. Humanoid in nature, it was as if a lizard and an owl had a beautiful child. The creature was under 5 foot tall, covered in a colorful variety of feathers and dressed in what seemed to be leaves and bits of bark. The creature was staring at her with bright green eyes.

Walking over to her, the creature returned her book, holding it in a six-clawed grasp. Speaking in the same quiet voice,

“I think you dropped this?”

She tentatively stretched her hand out the take it, as if the book itself might bite.

“I’m sorry for startling you like that, I was merely interested in what it was that you found odd.”

“What?” She asked, a bit lost for words.

“I said I was sorry for startling you, I merely tried-“

“I GOT THAT PART! WHAT ARE YOU? HOW DID YOU GET HERE? WHY AM I YELLING?”

She was shouting mainly in confusion at this point. As said earlier, totally rational.

The smug little feather lizard actually seemed amused by this, smiling and looking at her, the picture of innocence.

Getting a grip on her rampaging thoughts and panic, she simply finished with the first thing that leaped to her mind.

“Well?”

Classic, Right?

Standing a little taller, the diminutive being spread their arms and stated with enthusiasm:

“I’m your guide!”

“My guide? My guide for what?”

“To your new life, of course.”

New life? What new life? Then it hit her, much like the book had hit it.

“RESTART?”

As she said the word the world around her shifted a bit, and instead of her Lounge they were now standing in what looked like a high-class dressing room complete with a full-length mirror. The lizard walked up from behind her to stand next to the mirror.

“If you would please step forward we can start on your character creation.”

Deciding to listen, she moved in front of the mirror and watched as everything dimmed around her. She was standing in the middle of an abyss, surrounded on all sides by thick mist and darkness, the only light coming from the illuminated mirror. The frame of the mirror was covered in strange carvings, but upon closer inspection, the carvings turned out to be small imitations of a variety of body shapes, sizes, and genders that were highlighting the changed portions. Out of curiosity, she poked the one that looked to be taller, and in an instant, her body grows a couple of inches taller.

“Oh, this is going to be fun!”

Hours must have flashed by as she morphed her body to her imaginations perfect self. What she ended up with was elven in nature, with full lips and a bust to match. She stared at herself, unable to come to terms that she was the woman standing in the reflection. Many minutes went into staring in wonder at this ethereal body before she realized that she didn’t feel any better about how it made her look. She may have changed many perceived flaws about herself, but none of this was real, she wasn’t the reflection, and while others might enjoy this beautiful version of her, she never would.

Hitting the appearance reset button, she looked back to see herself, in all her lanky and underdeveloped glory. This was the body she was comfortable in, she knew all its bells and whistles, all its dings and chips, and despite her perceived flaws, this was the only form she would want to take in this new world.

OKAY, maybe I got rid of a bit of baby fat, it’s still basically me.

Selecting finish before she could change anything else a prompt appeared.

*NAME?*

Huh? she hadn’t really thought of that. Normally going by an old Gamertag from PC playing days, but this was a whole immersive world. Who wants to be known as something like that? After a few minutes of thought, a memory struck her from childhood.

Without another thought, she spoke out.

“Alyss.”

And then hit confirm.

***

The room darkened as the prompt screen blinked out of existence. Alyss gasped in surprise as the floor dropped out from underneath her. The wind rushed by her face, her eyes trying and failing to adjust to the darkness, while her body fell.

Then, as suddenly as it appeared, the darkness was cast off by a golden glow. The light grew to engulf her entire sight, yet she felt no pain from the bright contrast the light brought. Only a sense of warmth and renewal.

The descent continued and her eyes gradually grew accustomed to the light, revealing a grand forest below. Her fall was, in fact, a form of flight. She sped above the emerald canopy, passing crystal lakes, herds of fantastical beast, and the ruins of kingdoms long gone from this world. In the distance, in the direction of her flight, she could see the broken claw-like remnants of a stone tower, covered with ivy and moss.

Alyss could feel her body slow in its flight, decelerating as she closed in on the strange tower. While she had zero control over the path, Alyss took a moment to really study her surroundings. At the foot of the tower sat a crumbling cottage, built of the same gray stones, with a drooping wood shingled roof.

Whatever force that was controlling her flight angled her closer to this cottage and set Alyss on what may once have been the front porch, before years of neglect and harsh weather had beaten the wood and stone platform into the ground, leaving a lumpy moss covered square that she found herself standing on.

Finding herself in an odd new world her curiosity outweighed her caution, she decided to explore. Walking up what may have been a path, after some yard work and a heavy dose of TLC, Alyss knocked on the old wooden door - which promptly fell off the hinges and landed in a cloud of dust.

*cough*

“Hello?”, she called out into the gloom.

Silence answered her.

There’s only one way to see if anyone is home.

She walked into the house, careful not to trip over the fallen door. Peering through the settling dust she saw what appeared to be an average homestead if it were from the 1400s or before. A small hearth and kitchen area, a rotting bed, a broken wooden desk, and a toppled table completed the sparse furnishings. Grime covered everything in a thick layer turning everything a monotonous brown-grey.

“Wonderful place, really.”

“It has been almost a century since the last Guardian was here.”

Oh, look! About to be reasonable again.

“AAAAHHHH!”

Spinning around, almost falling over the door again, Alyss laid her eyes on the feathered lizard.

I really need a better name for it.

“If you’re gonna keep popping up can I at least know your name?”

“Certainly, it’s –“ after which unintelligible clicking and whistling noises replaced words.

“Bit of a mouthful, that one. Any chance you have a name I could pronounce without possible calling your mother a bad name by accident?”

“Oh… is Cleite more to standard?”

I think the little guide is being sassy. I’m ok with this.

“I can say it without throwing my voice out, so yes, thank you.”

Happy that she'd finally gotten a little information out of the guide, Alyss recollected the other tidbit Cleite had shared.

“What did you mean when you said, 'It has been almost a century since the last Guardian was here.' And who was this guardian? And for that matter, a guardian of what exactly?”

“You humans certainly ask many questions before halting to listen.”

Slightly irritated with Cleites antics, Alyss shot off a reply.

“Tell me, how would you act if you had been suddenly thrown into this world with next to no information?”

“First? I would listen … As to your original questions, I would ask that you read the journal sitting on the desk over there.”

Her guide lifted one clawed hand to point at the toppled desk, upon which sat a pristine leather-bound journal, untouched by the all-consuming dust blanketing the cottage.

That wasn’t there a second ago.

She turned to say as much to her companion but was left with nothing but air to address. Alyss sighed.

Magic, teleporting, feather lizards that can make books appear out of thin air, this game is gonna be weird.

Deciding she had nothing better to do, she turned back to the cottage and started making her way across the dusted and rotting floorboards. Listening to the sound of the wood groan and creak under her shifting weight, doing her best to move quickly without falling through to whatever lay beneath.

She made it to the desk unscathed and grabbed the journal. Exiting the crumbling structure, Alyss walked a short distance to a comfortable looking tree and settled herself down for a bit of reading.