The selection phase is now over. Your final selection is The Cssics {4000 UPs}.

  Prepare yourself.

  The dispy showed the final statement for ten cantas before the text bnked out to a uniform cloudy white. Though the System had disconnected from the dispy terminal Octavia was unaffected. Her avatar was now the only thing on the otherwise bnk surface. Then she waved. "See you soon!" She said before her avatar also vanished leaving only the lifeless white crystal behind.

  "Prisoner enter the pod." The voice of the warden rang out after Octavia disappeared.

  On the sign above the pod I could see the word "Pod" in glowing red letters.

  The pod was shaped into a cylinder with a height only slightly take than me. A vertical slice of the cylinder nearest to me was slid to the side forming an opendoorway. The interior of the pod was made of the same matte bck material as the rest of the facility I had been through. The walls were featureless save for a small rectangur pne of white crystal. A seat occupied most of the pod leaving almost no room to stand in the pod once the door was closed.

  I seated myself in the chair which hugged my body snuggly, it was padded and quite comfortable.

  "Raise both your hands above your head." The warden voice boomed out, now slightly painfully loud in the cramped space of the pod.

  It was such a strange command that I didn't immediately react. My brief dey caused the small crystal dispy to light up with an instructional image. It showed a human silhouette with it's arms raised over is head forming a diamond shape.

  "Raise both your hands above your head." The wardens voice repeated again sounding identical to the time before.

  I raised my arms over my head like was shown to me. Which suddenly caused heavy straps to shoot out from behind me and wrapped around my body. There were six straps, one on each shoulder, one on each side of the waist, and one on each inner thigh. Together they interconnected via metal disks to form a net that bound me tightly and securely to the seat. The sudden force drove the breath from me leaving me stunned for a moment.

  Warden: "Please open your mouth."

  After I did as told, a small extendable arm pced a device into my mouth. A click and beep ter, it retracted.

  I couldn't immediately tell if it had done anything to me. Running my tongue over my teeth I noticed that it felt like there was something on the crown of some of my teeth.

  Before I could continue to explore the warden spoke again.

  "Please look at the red dot." The warden's voice bred out.

  The endless commands were getting on my nerves, still I complied. There was something to be said on choosing ones battles wisely. If I refuse a command here I will still be unable to affect positive change. A command that would hinder me now or in the future could be forced upon me; the warden could call in guards to force me to obey any order they deemed essential even if it damaged me. On the contrary the warden might simply not pursue commands that would benefit me beyond the minimum mandated requirements, like only commanding me to do something once and moving on if I disobeyed.

  I looked into the red dot on the wall, next to the small dispy. Nothing happened. I blinked several times as my eyes dried and continued to stare. When I thought nothing would happen, something shot into my eyes. I began to feel a burning sensation in my eyes, over time the intensity grew and grew till my eyes watered and the sore pain made me rub my eyes in hopes of relief.

  After several moments of agonizing pain, the warden spoke again. "Prepare for system integration." I could barely even register what the warden had said let alone comprehend what "system integration" was with the pain digging into my skull.

  Unfortunately, I found out what soul stitching felt like very quickly.

  More Pain.

  The pain that had only been in my eyes seemed to spread to my chest. I could feel, burning, itching, soreness, pain and a dozen other sensations simultaneously. It hurt so bad that I could have curled into a ball had I not been strapped to the chair.

  At some point the pod did some further preparation on me while I suffered, though I hardly noticed.It was a soul wrenching agony. An agony that made reason stop and made one question their existence.

  Uncaring for my plight the warden's voice sounded out one final time. "Commencing drop."The door of the pod shut with a hiss along with the cnking and humming of machines against and around the the pod.After enduring another moment of agonizing pain, the machines came to a standstill again quieting until only my heavy breath and pounding heart could be heard.Then the pod fell. Down. Towards Pandora and the Great Game. Where endless possibilities await.

  I didn't know how long it was since the pod had first left to fall. The constant sensation of failing and severe chest pain had made the passing time meld together.

  It was only when the edge of a pnet came into view that I was awoken from my stupor. By now the pain had faded, with all that was remaining a memory of the pain. I was still failing, though I had also grown somewhat accustomed to the constant sensation.In the cylindrical pod there was a rge window set into the front section; which was also where the door of the pod was situated.

  Looking out the window I could see the curved edge of Pandora. It's blue seas gave way to white clouds blending in swirling patterns.

  Strapped to the seat in the pod, I was parallel to the surface of Pandora. The ck of directional stimuli was fascinating; combined with the dropping sensation in my gut it felt like I was falling but couldn't tell which way.

  The only movement I could identify was a slow rotation of the pod as it spun about it's vertical axis. The movement resulted in the view through the window slowly shifting

  Pandora eventually filled the entirety of the window. As far as I could see, the entire surface of Pandora was covered in water. I couldn't be sure though as much of the pnet's surface of was covered by massive storm cells.

  Slowly my view continued to turn until the Pandora left my view until, eventually, there was only darkness.

  Smattered among the canvas of bck were many glimmering stars. Some were simple dots of light, too far or too small to make out any details. Others exploded into an array of colors and shapes, dazzling in their form.

  My eyes were drawn to one star in particur.

  It was not unique in is appearance; a simple white dot perhaps slightly brighter than average. What made it so different was that the star moved. Unlike the many other stars who hung unmoving upon high. This star bzed a white hot streak as it shot through heavens.

  Eventually the view of the stars from the window was once again blocked, this time only partially. In the direction of the pod's spin was what was, seemingly, a dull gray column that stretched the full length of the of window. Upon further inspection it turned out to be some sort of an artificial structure that appeared to wrap around the entirety of the pnet forming a ring. As it remained overhead for a long time it meant that I was following an orbit parallel to the instaltion. And it was likely where the prison cell I had just been earlier was.

  The pod continued to spin slowly. Revealing the stars once more.

  The view from the window repeated, alternating between Pandora and the stars. After several rotations the artificial structure had shrunk into the distance, now a thin barely visible band. Pandora was now closer though how much close was hard to tell.

  Time passed as I marveled the sights, utterly alone.

  I was jolted into focus when the pod rapidly decelerated. The feeling of free fall had been reduced to nearly half. It was a paradoxical sensation, on one hand it felt like there was finally something solid under me but on the other hand it still felt like I was falling.

  More interestingly I could tell the direction of motion. I was falling down feet first; seated as I was, it meant most of the force went to my thighs and butt. Though I suppose it is possible that the pod could be being accelerated in which case the direction of travel wouldn't be known.

  Over time the pressure increased until it felt like I was sitting on solid ground. Fmes of a array of reds and blue licked the sides of the pod, turning the view of Pandora into a blurred haze. The pod hummed as it descended; a soft vibration combined with a low stay beat.

  The force, however, continued to build beyond that of a normal weight.

  It felt like there was someone sitting on me as the force grew almost unbearable.

  Eventually the weight settled at about double what I would have experienced on normal ground. I also noticed that the pod had stopped it's rotation. It's position was now locked in, with the window facing down and giving me a clear view of Pandora.

  Eventually I caught a glimpse of nd on the otherwise endless water. It was clearly artificial or at least a sculpted and stuck out even from space.

  A circur grid of isnds formed a rge hollow ring. From the pod they were little more than spots in a pattern.

  In the center of the ring was a rge ndmass surrounded by more isnds, though these had a more natural unordered spread. The rge mass was separated by many rivers that converged in a mountain range in the center of the continent. Each section the rivers separated sported a wildly different environment, though I could not see the details the colors already differed greatly. These differences extended to the isnds which were painted in a spectrum from vibrant greens to blood reds and magenta purples.

  The center most section of nd was a valley formed by the mountains. From this valley a massive pilr stretched up and out into the the depths of space and beyond my vision.

  Eventually the pod straightened out to be vertical. With the view port being horizontal I could see little, but space and the distant horizon that continued to be my only view for a long time.

  It was only in the st nelde before contact that I saw distant mountain peaks. The lush forests, sprawling rivers and endless fields of the sub-continent of Crownfall stretched before me.

  I had little time to admire the ndscape.

  One moment I could still see the expanse of the Crownfall before me. The next my view was abruptly interrupted by trees. In the moment it took me to realize that I was so close to the the ground, I hit the ground. I felt and heard the soft thump of contact.

  For a long moment all was still and silent.

  Then front section of the cylindrical pod slid aside and the straps holding me to the chair released. I rose, my legs somewhat unsteady after being seated for long.

  Like a newborn calf I took my first, shaky step upon the earth of Pandora.

  My bare feet sank into the soft grass that formed the small gde I had nded in. Early morning light lit half of the clearing leaving the rest still in shadow. Flowers dotted the space along with a multitude of other shrubs and bushes.

  Beyond the clearing stretched the seemingly endless forest I had seen on the way down. Trees towered high above the forest floor, their dark green branches forming a nigh impenetrable canopy. The understory of the forest was left in the dark with only occasional patches of sunlight breaking the gloom. The forest floor was a yer of fallen pine needles with growths of various flora spread throughout.

  The tranquil quiet of the of this pristine untouched nd was banced against the promise of blood and glory in the Great Game.

  "HELLO!" A figure popped out of the corner of my eye waving in an animated fashion.

  Jumping internally, I turned to see who had welcomed me to Pandora. At least I tried to turn, only to find the figure remained in the peripheral of my vision the whole time while I turned. In the end I only spun in circles, dizzying myself. Stopping, I tried moving only my eyes, but found the same result, with the figure in the corner of my eye. Looking forward and using my peripheral vision I could broadly make out a figure but couldn't see it was.

  Though I couldn't see, my actions to try to identify the perpetrator had clearly amused them. Their giggles sounded familiar. Considering I only have memories of speaking to one person; its pretty obvious who it is.

  "Hello Octavia." I responded. "How did you make it here?"

  The familiar form of Octavia appeared in the center of my vision. Grinning back at me she responded. "What do you mean silly. I'm just a projection"

  Octavia's figure seemed to float in the center of my vision and stayed in the middle of my sight when I tried to look away; almost like she was stuck to my eyeball. For the briefest of moments I was surprised "How are you on my eye?"

  Octavia grinned at me. "Its not just me, you got the entire System in your eyes." She pointed to the corner of my vision where I could faintly notice some text.

  I tried looking at it, only to find that it moved like it was attached to the front of my head. Only by using my eyes alone could I finally read what was written.

  System (Great Game)ID: 5693865.PP24601.YSC-NRV3319.True

  Octavia continued giddily. "You've got the test model of the Nirvana series interface made by the Yggdrasil Stars Collective. Its a cutting edge, non-invasive, biological, client-server based interface that carries all the functions of a normal interface. In addition it is has a highly advanced encrypted connection that is virtually undetectable and completely untraceable as long as the client is within an area, such as Pandora, which is covered by signal arrays.

  All these features come with a heavy price tag exceeding 9000 TDX per client interface. It would take the average civilian from one of the mortal empires nearly a decade to afford a such a piece of technology."

  With the surrounding situation filled with unknowns, I almost convinced myself to tell Octavia to stop talking so I could focus on more important things. Unfortunately this time my curiosity go the better of me. With half a mind to keep an eye out for threats lurking beyond the clearing, I listened to her expin the Nirvana Interface before asking. "But what is the actual interface? Like where is it?"

  Octavia: Its on your eyes, you are wearing permanent lenses that have been improved to dispy high resolution graphics. Its linked to an artificial spirit in your Qi Sea that handles the basic processing and sends and receives signals with the server, the System. Since you can't communicate with the artificial spirit a temporary microphone has been installed onto some of your teeth as well as some speakers on your ears."

  I recollected what had happened earlier, right before the pod had dropped. "Is that what caused all the pain right before I left the cell? When the warden gave me those instructions, they were installing this interface?"

  Octavia: "Yeah, the pain comes from the Promethean Facet of your soul, which naturally rejects any modification of the body or the soul."

  I racked my brain trying to remember what a "Promethean Facet" was, but to no avail. Tangentially I did recall a mythological figure named Prometheus who was said to be the creator of humans. Me: "What's a Promethean Soul Facet?"

  Octavia, being wary of distracting me with trivial information, warned me against pursuing this topic. "This is a very broad and complicated topic that would require significantly lengthier expnations. Are you sure you want me to continue to expin?"

  I sighed, she is right, now is not the time to be getting too sidetracked. Its just going to have to be another thing to put on the backburner. "No, you can stop your expnation. Lets focus up on the immediate situation."

  I looked around the clearing trying to discern my next move. My eyes were drawn to a rock altar as I surveyed the small clearing. On top of it was a singur knife in a leather sheath with a belt.

  I approached, slowly keeping watch of the dark depths of the forest around.

  When I was finally in front of the altar I was greeted with a message from the Great Game. It was identical in form and fashion to those I had seen in the prison, save for the fact that the dispy was no longer a physical object but rather a projection.

  Epoch: New BeginningsInitiation PhaseThe Great Game has begun. During the Initiation Phase Pyers familiarize themselves with the general workings of the Great Game.

  You have arrived in Crownfall a returning continent of Pandora. Having chosen [The Cssics] from out of the [Starting Scenario]s your story will begin where many others would end; in Fairshore, a quiet and peaceful vilge, tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the metropolitan centers.

  Wolves have always roamed the forests around Fairshore. But of te a pack has grown bold attacking loggers and outlying farmers. While the damage has been minimal, the community of the small vilge have been put on edge and they have been looking for a way to remove these animals.You are a Hunter who is passing through Fairshore. When the vilger hears of your profession they pool their wealth to put a bounty on the wolf pack. Eager for work you accept the task and head into the forest to drive off the wolf pack.

  The following are your tasks.Away! Away! Foul Beast [Scenario][Primary][Quest]: Drive out or destroy the wolf pack that is harassing the forest.  Rewards: Increased reputation in Fairshore, 1000 UPs, Css selection, Initiation Phase restrictions lifted, Additional rewards depending on performance.  Progress: {0/1}Down Ye Damn Dog [Scenario][Secondary][Repeatable][Quest]: Kill or capture a wolf.  Rewards: 100 UPs per wolf, 1 SPs per wolf, Additional rewards depending on total progress.  Progress: {0}

  From this moment on you will be recorded and can be seen by the wider world. Remember, your actions may inspire both admiration and ire among the viewers. Of those above, some may make Cims against you or grant Boons to you.