A year of my life, signed away with a few simple gestures on a tablet, standing in a semi-enclosed booth that made a mockery of any sense of privacy. Countless chimes of affirmation sounded as others signed, each for their own reasons. Me? I had nothing left. No job. No friends. No family. This opportunity was a parting gift from my late brother, Aiden. Of course I signed. Who wouldn't? Veil was marketed as a revolutionary, fully immersive VRMMO (Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Game). “A new world, full of possibilities.”

  I was determined to make the best of this alpha test. I remembered our late night conversations fondly, the two of us sitting together. Aiden talking about his dreams and goals within Veil as I plucked out notes on my guitar. He had been so excited to experience the fantastical new world. Climb the Adventure Guild ranks to the very top. Save those in need. I would do it all, in honor of my brother. I would be a goddamned hero.

  A series of pulsing lights built into the wall led me to a doorway that hissed open in a spiral. Similar sounds echoed up and down the hallway as other participants stepped through their own doors.

  “Good luck Chandler,” a heavy-set man to my left said as he stepped into his room.

  We had been standing near each other throughout the orientation and tour of the Habashi Corporation’s facilities, and I was sure he'd told me his name. I'd forgotten it in the whirlwind of activity that followed. Signing hundreds of pages of legal documents presented on tablets, video presentations of what to expect in Veil once we logged in, final medical examinations. It had been a busy morning.

  “You, too!” I called as his door closed.

  I stepped through the circular doorway in front of me with a heady mixture of excitement and anticipation.

  The room was small, just a few paces across. A single pod-like structure took up most of the available space. Tubes and wires hung from the ceiling in a thick bundle, connected to the device, and then led from the base into the ground. A clinical, antiseptic smell hung in the air. My skin prickled with cold.

  In an odd moment of disassociation, I realized this would be my last glimpse of the real world for an undetermined amount of time—per the alpha agreement. We, the participants of the alpha test, would be the first to experience Veil. The first batch of players to test the experimental new technology that allowed for full sensory immersion. One component of the alpha test was to see how their technology maintained the human body while engaged in VR in perpetuity. Theoretically until the alpha ended, though the information provided had lacked specifics. Our contracts dictated a year of availability—at minimum.

  That time away from the real world didn’t bother me. Quite the opposite, in fact. My body thrummed with anticipation and excitement. I had nothing left in the real world. No emotional or familial tethers. Not anymore.

  “Please step forward, remove your robe, and have a seat,” instructed a disembodied voice—our guide since entering the building—from unseen speakers.

  I untied the medical gown I had changed into after the examination.

  A small section of wall slid open. Within was a red arrow pointing down a chute and text that read “Discard.” I dropped in the gown, and it slid away as the wall slid seamlessly back over the chute.

  I turned from the wall and looked upon my new home for the foreseeable future. A reclined seat sat within the pod. The surface glistened with some kind of gel-like substance. As I sat, the sensation surprised me—it was almost like floating.

  I tried a sensory deprivation tank a few years back. Floating in salty water, completely enclosed. I felt that same sense of isolation and weightlessness now; it was an odd absence of feeling.

  “Take deep breaths, and begin counting backwards from one hundred,” the voice instructed.

  Small sections of the pod began shifting around, encasing me. I took two deep breaths as the pod transformed around me. Circular sections began rotating around my chest and waist, locking into place a few inches from my body. Something pinched the back of my left arm, and unconsciousness took me before I recovered from the shock.

  I awoke lying on the ground, disoriented and excited. I could feel soft grass below me and the warmth of the sun high above.

  I stood, looking around the gently rolling grassy field that stretched in every direction.

  My body had been replaced with a blank white avatar, like a genderless mannequin. I reached up and felt a smooth, featureless face. I had no eyes, nose, or mouth, and yet I retained all of my senses. I rubbed the lingering ache on the back of my arm.

  Cherry blossom petals drifted around me. Looking up, I noticed they were being generated from nothing about ten feet above. I stood beneath a massive dome of sparkling blue light that stretched in every direction beyond sight, replacing the sky and horizon. The blossoms remained on the ground for a few moments before dissipating. I reached out and grabbed one between my featureless fingers. The silky texture gained the faintest hint of moisture as I pressed my fingers together, releasing a familiar perfume. I rubbed it gently, bringing it to my face and inhaling. The realism surpassed my expectations.

  The familiar scent of cherry blossom petals reminded me of a festival my city held annually every spring. I had been there with my younger brother just a few months ago.

  I remembered us walking down a path, laughing and eating a fried pastry we bought from a food vendor, planning our reunion a year and a half later when he would emerge from the alpha.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  He had been so excited to be accepted into Veil, the revolutionary full-immersion game that had only accepted 10,000 Alpha applicants from millions of hopefuls. He was the whole reason I was here. I wasn’t selected. I was, however, a close enough biological match to my brother that I had been selected as a backup.

  He died a few weeks ago. A tragic loss of life, the news outlets called it. Dozens dead in a burning apartment complex. His last night on duty at the fire department before taking an extended vacation to participate in the alpha, but he had managed to save a little girl. Her family had been at the funeral. One little spark, and my world burned to ash. The last living member of my family.

  It felt like it had been months—years, even. It also felt like it happened yesterday. I squeezed the petal between my fingers harder, and it dissipated into nothing.

  Text appeared, floating in front of me.

  Initiating Transmigration Integration…

  I looked around, and the text followed my field of vision, fixed in the center of my view.

  It didn’t produce the motion sickness I had come to expect from the heads up display in other VR games. It felt natural, which was an odd feeling since text floating in my field of vision was anything but natural.

  After a few moments, the text blinked and was replaced with:

  Cognitive Resonance Attuned!

  Adjusting and Preparing Rebirth Specifications…

  Rebirth specifications? That seemed like an odd way of describing what seemed to be a character creation screen, but I chalked it up to being an immersive element, which was a nice touch.

  A large, semi-transparent circular display populated in front of me, showcasing a variety of races from the shoulders up.

  I saw Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, Human, and Beastkin. The races all had drop down menus denoting sub-races. There were several other grayed-out boxes with shadowy figures labelled Unavailable. I mentally selected the drop-down for Elf, and a submenu populated displaying three options: Wood Elf, High Elf, and Aquatic Elf.

  They all looked like variations of the stereotypically slender, attractive elf found in most fictional worlds. Aquatic elves had a bluish tint to their skin and gills on their necks; their eyes had some kind of film over them.

  I closed the submenu and went back to the menu displaying all of the races. I noticed an icon in a box on the bottom right. It stood out as the only box not containing a headshot of a playable race. Three arches stood side by side, overlapping and drawn inward at the far left and right. It reminded me of a famous set of golden arches, but with a third arch. They were a dull, bronze-like metallic color.

  Random - randomizes racial selection and forgoes class selection. This option is not recommended for beginners! Class selection will be completed by an evaluation at the Adventurer’s Guild. Provides a small bonus to the first ten levels of experience as well as bonus introductory quests.

  I looked back at the other icons that were grayed out and marked as unavailable, momentarily confused because this random icon was not similarly grayed out. There was no text overlaying the symbol like the other unavailable options. The only indicator that it was not selectable was in the description. I pulled up the description to read it again, and the entire display flickered for a few seconds before minimizing and being replaced with a wall of text.

  The text was narrated in my mind in an excited voice as I read it.

  You have selected “Random!” Brave choice! The world of Aestra is unforgiving and dangerous. You will begin with an experience bonus of 20% for your first ten levels! You will begin with an item: Chit of Admittance. Seek out the Adventurer’s Guild in your starting town for next steps!

  I had a moment of confusion, correlating the world of Aestra with the game title Veil, though it made sense that the name of the game wouldn’t necessarily correlate directly with the name of the lands it encompassed.

  The world exploded into countless pixels that continued breaking apart into smaller pieces as the ground gave way beneath my feet and I fell backwards into blackness. It lasted less than a second, and I landed hard as the world reformed around me.

  I lay in an alley between two buildings cobbled together from a variety of metals and wood, momentarily stunned by the sudden transition. One of my feet had landed in a filthy puddle of what I hoped was water. I sat up, looking down at myself.

  Anger and a sense of betrayal surged through me. There was no re-rolling characters in Veil, not in the alpha at least. The choice had been ripped from my hands by a system glitch.

  “I didn’t choose ‘random,’” I growled.

  My arms and hands were no longer the blank white they had been in the character creation screen. They were now a sickly, pale ashen grey color, elongated, with translucent nails. I was dressed in filthy rags that could barely be called clothing; my shoes were nothing more than two strips of thick cloth sewn to pieces of leather, one of which was now soaked thanks to my unfortunate entrance.

  Climbing to my feet, I was pulled out of my reverie by a gruff voice from behind.

  “What’s this, now?” the voice asked, words running together in a barely understandable slur.

  I turned and saw a human man in a tattered leather vest and pants. He stepped closer, worn boots crunching something underfoot. He brandished a wickedly curved knife. The anger drained from my body, replaced with a knot of tension and fear.

  “It’s my lucky day. Guards’ll pay gold for your head, baby-snatcher,” he sneered. He took another step towards me.

  I raised my hands and took a hesitant step back. I noticed a nameplate above his head, denoted in gently glowing blue typography. His name was simply “Jack”.

  A notification appeared in front of me, and time seemed to slow as I read it. The text was accompanied by a voice that narrated it in my mind:

  New Quest! Evade capture. You have been recognized as a wanted race. Convince your assailant, through words or actions, not to turn you in.

  Reward: Random Copper Reward Chest x2, Copper Coins x10, Experience Points x1,000.

  WARNING! This is a compulsory quest. It will be accepted automatically. Failure to complete this quest will result in negative consequences, up to and including incarceration and/or death.

  least one more, if not more, before I call it for the night. The goal is to have at least a full month of chapters available for my lovely patrons. That's a 12 chapter advance, but I will keep going until it gets up to 20. Want to check it out? Click !