2

I really couldn’t tell you how long the utter lack of brain input went on. Visual came first, a swirling gray fog I perceived around me even though I couldn’t see myself. Figures surrounded me, to mist-shrouded to make out more than their presence. I could tell they were different, and that there were seven of them. One for each World, I could see where this was going. I’d seen similar enough in other character selection screens.

A woman’s voice came next.

“You are about to enter Riftworls Online, a gaming experience truly like none other. You are approaching a universe that spans spaces and times, an entirely unique experience both shared with others and tailored to your individual personality. Be ready for the ultimate adventure. You will never be the same again.

“First you must create your alternate self. Riftworlds Online takes things beyond characters or avatars. Your brain is being mapped so the experience you have can be customized with information from both your conscious and subconscious minds.”

How’s that for creepy and invasive? But it was too late to do anything about it now. Not even a user agreement, no privacy statement about how that information would be used. There must have been something in the packaging about all that. Leave it to the government to not bother telling me about any of this.

“The first step along your journey will be to select the World you will enter. There are seven, connected by a central Hub, and connected to each other in many different places. Review the seven Worlds and step towards the one you choose.”

The mist thinned some as if partly dispersed by a gentle breeze I couldn’t feel. I still couldn’t see the figures any clearer, but a box of text floated in front of each. I read post-apocalypse first.

Wastelands, Post-Apocalypse World

Society has collapsed. Will you struggle just to survive, or will you carve out your own little empire among the wreckage?

I scanned over some of the others to find the Space Opera description.

Futura, The Space Opera World

The World of Futura has many planets to explore, where military conflict can be anything from small scale skirmishes to sweeping space amadas. Futura offers the widest range of available races. As for adventure, your options are as wide as the sky. High technology, alien mystics, heroic military officers, roguish pirates and smugglers, ancient lost civilizations...New wonders await.

Will you live by your wits and your laser blaster? Will you command a starship exploring the frontiers? Will you battle alien invaders with your comrades as ground infantry or a glamorous fighter pilot? Step forward and embrace your destiny.

I already knew I’d be starting in either Space Opera or wastelands. Hopefully she’d be one of those. But I had to consider the possibility she wasn’t. With that in mind, I needed to figure out what kind of character I’d need to be to have the capabilities to find and protect her. She was a cleric, so focusing on healing abilities would be redundant. But I’d be starting alone, so I’d need to be something that could work alone. I figured a space character would give me access to communications and travel and maybe scanning stuff I could use.

I wasn’t sure about embracing destiny, but I stepped towards it.

The mist shifted, a whirling galaxy of stars in an ocean of blackness. The view zoomed in--or it rushed at me--bringing one spiral arm closer and closer, sweeping past nebulas and stars until I saw a map of dozens of star systems connected by dashed and dotted trade-route lines. Wastelandworld seemed like it ought to be smaller place to search.

“You don’t have to remain human if you don’t want to,” the woman’s voice suggested. “The options are yours. Step forward to claim your race.”

Figures stepped out of nebula and galactic gasses, encircling me. Familiar text boxes floated before each. As I looked at them the figure stepped forward, clearer to get an idea what to expect.

Human

The most diverse Riftlands race, humans are the only race that can start in any world. They easily learn to get along with other races, and can become any class. If you want the least restrictions, choose to be Human.

Android

Androids have the most restrictions, but come with a number of unique advantages.

They can never use Spells or Prayers, have reduced Charisma, and are immune to poisons, toxins, and mind control. Androids cannot be magically healed, but instead are repaired. They have the slowest Health regeneration of all the races. Androids can be build for many specialties, and android players will choose from a range of models to customize.

Cyborg

Cyborgs mix human and machine parts to create a range of different capabilities. Cyborgs learn any magic at a slower rate than most other races, but they can learn it. Cyborg players will choose customization packages which will offer different abilities and bonuses.

Elf

Elves are graceful and quick and beautiful but not as strong or tough. They excel at magic but can learn to become good at almost anything. They make outstanding navigators and adapt well to different gravities. If you want to be part of the World’s oldest spacefaring civilization, step forward.

Fenurian

Fenurians are a feline spacefaring race from the forest planet Fennur. While they are new to space exploration, their influence is expanding rapidly. Whether scouting a newly discovered planet, or dogfighting in their sleek fighters, or negotiating trade deals, Fenurians are natural explorers. If your curiosity drives you to be the first to see new sights, step forward.

Mordian

The Mordians are a fierce and proud warrior race. Strong and tough they live for the pursuit of greatness. Whether you’re a Samurai-like warrior, or a mystic leaving your monastery home, or blazing your trail across the sky, you’ll be the master of your own destiny. Step forward and grab it. Make your people proud!

Figures stepped out of nebulae and galactic gasses, encircling me. Familiar text boxes floated before each. As I looked at them the figure stepped forward, clearer to get an idea what to expect. Some of them were easy to rule out. Android would be too limiting, especially alone. I had no interest in being a cat-man. The Moradian was...ugly, with exaggerated, harsh features that suggested angry as the default state. Space-Elf was intriguing, but when it came down to it, cyborg struck me as being a good mix of flexibility and customizability.

And when it came down to it, this wasn’t a game for me. I had a mission. Space-elf sounded fun, but fun wasn’t the goal. Cyborg struck me as the right combination of searching and protecting. I stared at the half-human, half-robot, gulped and stepped forward. The figure nodded approvingly before fading into dust.

An extra box appeared off to the side:

Race: Cyborg

+5 Strength, +5 Constitution

-10 Magic, -2 Charisma

+100 Stamina, +50 Health

Nightvision 20m

“There are eight Primary Attributes, four physical and four mental. They range from one to one hundred.

“Strength affects carrying capacity, armor that can be worn, chance to hit with some melee weapons, melee damage.

“Agility affects speed, Evasion, Dodge Cance, chance to hit with ranged weapons and some melee weapons.

“Constitution affects Health and Stamina, chance to resist poisons and some spell effects, smaller effect on Mana.

“Appearance affects social interactions, can be more or less effective with other races.

“Intellect affects chance to hit with magic, vision range and chance to detect concealment.

“Magic affects magic damage and mana.

“Willpower affects chance to resist mental magic effects, increases Mana and Stamina.

“Charisma affects social interactions.

A table showed me what I had so far.

Attribute

Base

Cyborg

Strength

10

+5

Agility

10

Constitution

10

+5

Appearance

10

Intellect

10

Magic

10

Willpower

10

Charisma

10

-2

“You may add five points to any two Primary Attributes. Which two would you like to increase?”

That one took a little mulling over. Agility and Constitution both seemed like they’d be important for survival. So one of those was probably going to happen. But Intellect seemed important, too. In the end I settled for Agility and Intellect.

“You’re almost there,” my disembodied companion said. The mists around me coalesced into a humanoid form. Nothing else existed. “Will you be male or female?”

I’ve played both plenty of times. I thought about it. There was too much I did not know about this game. I didn’t think this was the time to experiment more than necessary.

“Male,” I said, since it hadn’t given me anything to step towards this time.

The misty figure solidified to look like me standing in basic white briefs. As if I hadn’t worn enough basic white in prison.

“Now we can customize your appearance. You can look as different as you like.”

From there she ran me through a list of questions. Did I want to be taller? I decided on slightly shorter, thinking that would make blending in easier. I chose to be a little more muscular looking. Hey, a little wish-fulfillment wasn’t going to hurt the mission. They had some weights in prison, but all I’d manage to do in a couple of years was look leaner. Apparently my body wouldn’t bulk up nicely. So I put on some muscle for my new me. Not over-the-top, but some.

I kept my hair pretty much the way it is, with an easy to manage under cut, but I went with darker than my normal light brown. I darkened in stages until is was a fairly dark brown, not quite black. Then I changed my mind and went with a rich, dark red. I could have had any color, or even combinations of colors. Blue would definitely have stood out too much, but dark red looked wicked cool.

She wasn’t kidding when I said I could look different. I played around with different facial features, sharpening them up some, which looked a little more fierce and rugged, but keeping the overall look pretty similar. I could adjust any measurement, and I probably could have resized individual muscles if I wanted to. Pretty darn impressive.

Then I was presented with more than a dozen different customization options. Each had a point cost, and I was given a budget. Most of them also had some kind of visual component, and I could preview what they would look like.

I considered a package with built-in, upgradable weapons. Knowing I couldn’t be disarmed definitely had appeal, but they were pretty obvious and didn’t look concealable. There was even an option for replacing an arm from the elbow down for a bigger gun, but that just did not seem like a good idea.

I did take a Mobility package (x4 Jump distance) thruster-assisted jumping, because that sounded pretty useful.

A Tactical package cost quite a bit but included a lot. It turned my right arm into a gleaming steel, obviously robotic one, and replaced my right eye with a goggle-like lens that stuck out a little and wrapped around the side.

Tactical Package

+2 Intellect, +2 Willpower, +5 Crit Chance

+5 Evasion, +5 Ranged Attacks

Double nightvision range (40m)

That left me enough for Quickness or retractable claws in one hand (+50% melee damage)

Quickness Package

+2 Agility, +2 Evasion

+50% movement speed

That was another tough one, but in the end I went with claws in my left hand. It had the obvious “I always have a weapon” appeal, and I figured I already had boosted jumping mobility, and plus two didn’t seem like that big a deal.

“Only one step remains, your name. You should never use your outside name in Riftworlds Online, and do not reveal personally identifying information about yourself. Take time to think carefully, and then speak your new name.”

Oh, yeah. I hadn’t thought about that part. Names were always the hardest for me. For a lot of players they weren’t that big a deal. But I refused to be Cyborg215, or something like that. For me, they always mattered. Names were part of an identity. When you become somewhat famous in the online community you learn to pay attention to things like that.

It could have been a head scratcher, if I had a head. I didn't seem to. Not yet, anyway. I actually liked my name. I tried to think of a name that sounded like a hero that would come to the rescue. Jack and John were too obvious. Non-human names came easier, but just didn’t feel right for a cyborg commando.

I looked at it appearance I’d selected. I wanted something part action hero and part bad boy, since I looked like a combination of both. A first name came to me, but the last name took more. The cybernetic arm and eyepiece led me to Steele, which I discarded immediately. But from there my brain made one of its characteristic leaps, and I spoke with confidence.”

“Max. Max McAlloy.” Hey, never take life one hundred percent seriously.

“You are now ready to enter your new life in Riftworlds Online.” She actually sounded proud, which I thought was an interesting touch. “Brace yourself!”