It had been a normal day for Catherine. Wake up, brush teeth, shower, eat breakfast, take her meds, write some code, read, play some of the new ARPG she’d heard was good, talk to her friends on discord. And then in the late afternoon, everything changed.

System Initialization proceeding, please stand by.

She could see text in the air in front of her. She moved her head and the text stayed where it was in her field of view, so it must be somehow being fed to her brain? Or maybe -

Atmospheric checks completed, re-indexing

Atmospheric checks? That sounds a bit -

Unexpected Geological Anomaly, Escalating…

-... worrying, I hope it doesn’t mean they’re -

Solution calculated, Rectifying…

WARNING: Those in the affected area(s) are advised to take cover

- Oh no.

And at that moment the earth shook, and shifted underneath her chair, which tipped over. And Cathering watched helplessly from the floor as her prized possesion, her desktop tower - which she had spent so many hours building, customizing, installing programmable LEDs and liquid cooling in, and generally fawning over - took a dive right onto her head, knocking her unconscious and leaving her to bleed out from a head wound.

-----

Catherine woke not to the splitting headache she expected but rather to a surprising lack of pain. She didn't feel anything in fact - not even heat or cold or pressure. She couldn’t see much with her desktop on her face but she could tell it was still light out.

I probably have a concussion, but at least I’m not dead. Hopefully someone will find me and get help.

And then, shortly after, Catherine saw one more set of messages appear in front of her eyes.

System Initialized!

All new members to the system will be given an option of a class whose requirements you meet or would be able to meet with a small effort. This is in an effort to balance the lack of existing infrastructure and experience. If you reject the offered class, you may acquire a class in the standard way. Class selections are not permanent, however they are difficult, and often expensive to change, except through evolutions, which while powerful, always have additional requirements that must be met. As a new inductee into the system you will likely not be able to change or remove your class in the near future, and you may have difficulty in finding a class if you reject the one offered. Please choose wisely.

Well that sounded promising.

If I get a good one, and this works like a game, maybe I can heal myself, or have the strength to do something useful. This could be the difference between living or dying.

Lets see what class it will offer me...

Class requirements met!

Accept Class: Corpse?

Yes

No

Name:

Corpse

Attributes:

None

Notes:

A corpse is the dead body of a once living being, especially that of a sapient. You are dead.

Traits:

Skills:

Met

Unmet

Be Dead