Character Creation

I turn off my alarm, and it reads 3:41 am. I get up from my bed and head for the kitchen. I look towards the living room and see that my sister is sleeping on the couch. I walk over to her, and I pick her up. I take her to her room and lay her down in her bed. I quietly make my way back to the kitchen, and I turn on the T.V. with a voice command.

It goes to my favorite channel, and it's the night news reporter this time. It's a guy, and he is talking about something regarding the loading times slowing down for Gaia's Awakening. That might push some people over to The Aeternus Universe. I make myself a bowl of cinnamon balls and pour some milk in. I make my way to the couch and take a load off.

Long loading times these days are very rare. Something must be happening to the server room, maintenance, or something like that. "Despite the slightly longer loading times, it hasn't lost above 1% of its player base. This goes to show how dedicated the players of Gaia's Awakening truly are." The male reporter talks about a topic that doesn't make any sense. It's always been a loss in players once loading times started increasing. Always.

It must be propaganda numbers from GreenTech. They don't want other companies knowing they are losing supposed loyal customers. "Many experts have come out and said that the longer loading times is a sign that the servers need to be upgraded, which will take several weeks. Pushing more players to other games." He is right to believe that.

I watch him hold onto his ear as he gets a message we all can't hear. "Ladies and gentleman, we have breaking news. The server farm for Gaia's Awakening has caught fire from a critical cooling malfunction." I sit on the edge of my seat and lean in slightly as I place my empty cereal bowl on the counter. This is... It's going to be detrimental to Gaia's Awakening. "We are getting reports that a server farm in Switzerland is helping GreenTech with extra servers, so now the game won't be going down. This news station will do its best to keep everyone updated on this situation." Switzerland coming to the rescue of GreenTech. To my knowledge, they have no interest in each other. Other than Switzerland's lax banking laws.

I look at the time on the T.V., and it's 3:55 am. I stand up and walk away from the T.V., and head back to my room. I turn the Air Conditioner in my room on today is supposed to be 94 degrees Fahrenheit in L.A., and I don't want to be sweating as I'm playing. I walk up to my ZSR and select which game I wish to load into on the touchpad on its side. I select The Aeternus Universe, and it loads it up.

The hatch opens, and the cool air from inside brushes my skin. The ZSR keeps you at a cool temp when playing. I don't want my room to be hot, though. I lean into the soft cushion for my body and relax. A headgear comes down from above my head, and I help slide it on. I close my eyes, and it puts me to sleep as the latch closes.

In an instant, I'm brought to an unknown place in outer space, and as I look around, all I see are galaxies shining with beauty: stars and nebula paint spots on the masterpiece I'm seeing. A little screen pops in front of me with a countdown. Only around 40 seconds are left. This is probably until the servers go live, and we can start our character customization.

I look in amazing wonder at all the beauty that surrounds me in infinite distances. If this is all truly explorable, then this game is going to take over the world. The panel in front of me is reaching 10 seconds left, and as I watch the counter go lower and lower, I can feel my heart rate rising. I know I'm not the only player experiencing this. The skyboxes in the other VRMMORPG's were never like this. The counter reaches 0, and a panel with text appears.

[Welcome, Player!]

[Wait one moment while we scan your information!]

A smile spreads across my face, and reality sinks in. An entire Universe to explore, humanity will perish before we even fully discover one percent. The moment passes, and a new text box appears.

[Hello, Scott Autumn! As the only recipient of the tier 4 pre-order pack, you will have two bonuses to your account!]

[The first being a race exclusive for your selection! Once we reach the character creation part of this tutorial, more will be revealed!]

[The second being a very difficult mission! You don't have to select the exclusive race, but it will greatly help this mission!]

[Would you like a basic rundown of how The Aeternus Universe Work? Y/N]

I take a small breath and give my answer. "Yes. I want a basic rundown of The Aeternus Universe." The screen in front of me lights up, and new text fills the floating screen.

[There are 5 basic things you need to know about The Aeternus Universe!]

[Subject 1: Space travel]

[As many players are wanting to explore the open universe and go on adventures. You'll have to build or purchase a ship to leave off the players starting world of Empyrian. How this happens is up to you!]

[Subject 2: Ships and Mecha Suits]

[Ships and Mecha suits are going to be your sword and shield in The Aeternus Universe. While most games have personal stats to increase, the only stat players will have an experience bar. You can spend that experience on upgrades for your ship and mecha suits. While it is possible to gain a personal skill after character creation, most players will only ever have the skills they start with after selecting a race.]

[Subject 3: Races]

[There are countless races in The Aeternus Universe. There are 32 basic ones all players will be allowed to select from.]

[Note: You'll have a 33rd.]

[Subject 4: Starting world]

[All players will be starting on the same world of Empyrian. This world will be a part of the currently known trans-galactic hub. Other aliens and their ships will visit it, but it won't get many visitors since it isn't a main chain world.]

[Subject 5: The Unknown]

[The Unknown is a term for any technology that was created or predated the trans-galactic republic. These are often worth a lot of credits or are incredibly powerful weapons. It is suggested if you ever come across this category of tech, you keep it. They are rare as it is.]

[Those are the 5 basic things you need to know about The Aeternus Universe. Whatever you and other players want to know after this point is up to you.]

[Would you like to move onto character creation? Y/N]

I read all the information over and over again. This game is going to be a heavy interest soon. I'll learn as I go along like everyone else, the only thing different being my race. I won't even bother looking at the other 32 races. I'm going to select my exclusive race and start the journey on Empyrian. "Yes, take me to character creation." The panel glows, and I'm looking at a much larger panel with a list of all the races.

I look at some of the descriptions for some of them. One is a tall, slender grey alien with dark eyes. Another is an elf, but it's called a Jarkiun. I scroll to the bottom of the list, and I see a race with a little box next to it saying exclusive. I click on it and begin reading the things it comes with and its description.

[Primordium]

[An ancient species that has long disappeared from The Aeternus Universe. While they share the same looks a human has, they are, in fact, far from it. They were the first people to leave their homeworld. They were so technologically advanced. They reached the trans-galactic level billions of years before the next species, the Melinore, themselves did. Most of the knowledge on the Primordium is unknown. Only that they left a path for all space-faring species to follow.]

[List of inherent traits upon selection]

[Hyperthymesia]

[Description: Hyperthymesia is a trait that leads to remembering an abnormally large number of their life experiences in vivid detail.]

[Eidetic Memory]

[Description: Eidetic Memory is a trait that allows one to remember any image, sound, or event with extreme detail and no loss of information.]

[Tech Speak]

[Description: As a member of the Primordium race, you are one-of-a-kind when it comes to technology. When it comes to building, fixing, or creating any technology, you are untouchable.]

[Unquantifiable IQ]

[Description: With the gifts coming from being a full-blooded Primordium, your IQ is too high to be measured. This causes other intelligent beings with high IQ to see your genius. Hiding it can help, but it will slip through.]

[Indimidating Genius]

[Description: Species with high egos will be very threatened by your genius, this can cause unwanted conflict. BE CAREFUL!!!]

[Unparalled Problem Solving]

[Description: Your problem-solving ability is next to none. You can solve any problem given enough time too.]

[Would you like to select this race? Y/N]

I smile and take in all the amazing things that come with this race. "Yes." As I say those words, my selection is confirmed, and my height and appearance are copied. As the loading bar hits 100%, my head feels like it's exploding. I take deep breaths trying to help the pain, but it just gets worse. I pass out as I see one last screen.

[Welcome to The Aeternus Universe!]