Trials of a VRMMO Healer

Chapter 1 - From Here to Eternity Online

The first thing I saw in EO was... well, not much. I was floating in a gray void, drifting downward until I landed on... something. It didn't look any different from the void, but I felt like I was standing instead of disembodied. Out of the void I saw a figure walk towards me.

[Hello. I'm here to help you calibrate your system and get started with character setup.]

It was speaking to me, but I wasn't 'hearing' it, it was more like telepathy.

[Please raise both of your arms over your head.]

The figure raised its arms like it was doing the wave and I copied it.

[Thank you. Can you walk towards me?]

I walked towards it.

[What is this in my hand?] it asked, holding out an apple towards me.

"An apple."

"Great!" the young woman exclaimed. I was no longer in a void, but in a wide circular platform that seemed to be floating at a great height. I was standing in what appeared to be a summoning circle. The ceiling was held up by decorative pillars and decorated with mythological scenes of what I could only guess were this world's gods. But it was the scale of the landscape that stretched out to the horizon that really took my breath away. The summoning chamber was higher than I had been in any airplane. I'd seen videos of weather balloons or spy planes that flew this high, but it was incredibly. A cold wind blew through the chamber. It all felt incredibly real.

"My name is Ariadne," the woman who took the place of the previously indistinct figure said, "And this is Eternity Online. I'm one of the AIs responsible for guiding new travelers. Everyone's brain is different, so it takes a little time to calibrate. Everything should be clear now, correct?"

"Yeah, it's incredible."

Ariadne beamed. "Thank you! The creators have worked very hard to craft this world. Shall we start by crafting your avatar?"

Ariadne pointed behind me and there was a mirror, but it wasn't me in it.

"That's just a random appearance," she explained. First, you need a race and this is a good time to get used to using the menus. Here are our current selections. If you focus on one to preview, you'll see it in the mirror. When you're ready, concentrate on, well, being ready. Of course, I'll be here to answer any questions."

A translucent menu appeared to the left of the mirror, listing the races of EO:

[Human]

[Elv]

[Dweorg]

[Faerin]

[Wharrin]

Humans were self-explanatory, 'elv' was just a weird singular for 'elf', 'dweorg' were dwarves and 'faerin' were fairies. 'Wharrin' was a kind of beast person, though they weren't really any particular type. Ariadne explained that just like in the real world, there was a wide variation between individuals and groups. Elves had the thin and fair bishie type, sure, but there were also the giant trollin and the horned deep elves that preferred the darkest parts of the forest. Likewise while some dweorg looked like your typical dwarf others were more like 'gnomes' or 'halflings'. So, rather than a ton of races, there were just a few that could be highly customized. As far as gameplay, while there were some minor differences between races, player skill was far more important and there was no 'right' choice.

I chose Faerin, the fairy people. My plan involved magic and I figured a magical race would be a good place to start. Now it was time to customize my appearance. Like the previous menu, I could edit things just by concentrating on them. It felt like I could spend hours on it.