It was New Years Eve, and instead of being at a party, not that I had many friends, I was standing in the lobby of one of Perennial’s Pod-Hotels. I was waiting with the quiet Edward. It was not an awkward silence, it was almost companionable. Like Edward I was a natural introvert; preferring solitude to gatherings. The four others had not arrived yet.

The Pod-Hotel’s lobby was located on the first floor of a thirty story parking garage. The hotel itself was located underground. It had room for close to half a million pods or there about. Depending on the configuration of the rooms. I knew that by the time I died, Perennial operated over a thousand of these facilities. Most with the same capacity.

Kira and Masuro were the first to arrive, with Ainsley following shortly. We all had to wait another ten minutes for Liam. While Ainsley and Kira chatted, with the occasional comment from Masuro, I looked around the lobby.

It looked much like the one from my past life. The walls lined with elevators. Fifty of them by my count. There were twenty desks for check-in, but only a handful were manned. Besides my group, I had only seen a dozen other people entering.

Our luggage was already checked in when we arrived. Besides my clothes, I only had a small box with my prized possessions. Ten first editions that I had inherited from my adoptive parents, who had inherited them from their parents. All of them from the late 20th and early 21st Century. I had never opened them to read them; they were simply too priceless. Well, not priceless, they might fetch around ten thousand credits, but to me they were priceless.

When Liam finally arrived, I led our group over to the nearest clerk. The young lady smiled professionally, “Hello, welcome to Perennial. May I ask if you’re here as a group or need individual attention?”

“Hi, we’re here as a group. Under the guild Blue Lotus,” I said with a smile. Liam groaned. He had wanted to be called something like Asskickers United, or the Rebel Alliance. Anything but named for a boring flower. Normally I would agree with him, but after spending a day searching online about rebirth, the name had stuck with me. In ancient Egypt the blue water lily was known as the blue lotus, and it symbolized amongst other things; creation and rebirth. So the name had stuck with me.

She blinked a few times; she probably had a retinal display and a mindchip, which would allow her to quickly check our reservations and IDs. Her smile somehow got bigger, “We got your reservations, and payment has been made. Please follow me.”

She led the way to the nearest elevator. The others seemed surprised that we were going down. They would be in for a treat in a minute. The elevators were made entirely of glass, except the flooring, so we could easily see the grey concrete fly by as we descended.

I sent the clerk a knowing smile, which made her quirk her eyebrow inquiringly. However, the gasps of the others, which indicated we had cleared the walls. The elevator slowed down, something it only did for first timers. I kept my eyes at the others’ faces. The wonder in them made me wish I could see it again for the first time. Turning around as they excitedly started chatting, I took a glance at the familiar view. It was a different facility than the one I used before, but they all looked the same.

With the almost invisible cable, it looked like we were floating in an enormous man made cavern. I knew from earlier tours how big it was, but I could not very well tell the nice clerk that, when she started to explain, “This facility is a staggering four square kilometers. Each side is exactly two kilometers long, and the height of the cavern is four kilometers.”

The kids just looked at her, speechless and if it had been a cartoon, I was sure their jaws would have hit the floor. The clerk must have seen the reaction before, because except for a bit of mirth creeping into her eyes, she continued without the slightest pause, “The many columns you see are not just load bearing, but also the common facilities. The thin columns over there.”

She pointed to some of the columns closest to the walls, “Are those that only have access to a common dining room and communal bath facilities. The next size has those facilities also, as well as a fully functional gym. The one—”

I tuned her out as she explained all the different amenities. Instead I looked out into the cavern. From the few attached boxes to the columns, I knew there could not be many players in here. It did not surprise me. Because of the launch time, barely a million people would login during the first twelve hours. Then came a deluge of players, and before the end of the first day the number would be a little less than ten millions. A week later the number would stabilize around fifty millions. Then it would fluctuate a bit for the rest of the month.

When the second month hit, many of the casual player would quit, sending the number below forty million players. Where it would stay until April 1st when Masters’ would announce the Great Challenges. Of course many people would think it was an april’s fool. An old tradition, but Ken Masters was an old fashioned guy. Nonetheless, the numbers swelled to around ninety million in a day.

The greatest intake of course came on April 2nd when Masters’ confirmed the Challenges were real. The number quickly swelled to a quarter billion before noon, and when the week ended the number of players were close to a billion. Of course that was accounts. The average active player number was around half that during the weekdays.

“—and the center column is of course for our Penthouse Suites. In there you’ll find private spa and training facilities, and a private shopping floor with twenty boutiques. We got a contract with over a thousand luxury and high-end stores. Just give us an hour, and we can have your private shopping set up,” the clerk gushed with more enthusiasm than before. The look on the kids’ faces told me they did not want to hear about what they could never achieve.

‘Or maybe they can with my help, but is all that really necessary?’ I thought wryly. Below us I could thankfully see we were about to arrive at the platform. One of fifty floating platforms that hung a few hundred meters beneath the ceiling. I could see our rooms was already there.

“Oh, here we are on the platform,” the clerk said as the doors opened. She was the first out and happily chittered on, “The six boxes you see here are your individual rooms. As soon as you’re inside and secure in the pod, our cargo drones—”

She looked around for a few seconds before finally spotting what she was looking for, “That you can see over there, will ferry you to your assigned tower and floor. Each floor are self contained, so don’t worry about getting lost. Though you’ll likely have the floor for yourself the first day or so, do expect others to be assigned the same floor.”

The drone she pointed to, was a large one. Looked almost like a forklift, but not just with forks for lifting. It had four sets of fork that would clamp down on each side, the bottom and the top. You could not even feel you were being moved, except for a slight jostle when your room attached to the column.

I stopped listening to the clerk, and pulled up my new wrist device. I had spent some precious credits on a cheap used model, and sent back the school’s. It had synced with the hotel AI and indicated which of the rooms were mine. Without saying anything I headed toward my room.

“Excuse me mister,” she called out, “You've to listen to our safety protocols.”

“I already had a tour earlier,” I fibbed and opened the door.

“Uhm, okay,” she stammered, before getting back into character and continued, “The fi—”

The door mercifully closed before I had to listen to her anymore. Sure it was a bit rude, but I had heard the lecture a hundred times before. Each time I brought in a new batch of hires for Dawnguard, I went through it. And there were a lot of new hires over the years.

The room was small. Maybe four by five meters. Most of it was taken up by the pod. In the back there was another door, leading into a closet sized toilet. It only contained a retractable toilet and sink, as well as cabinet for medication and small personal items. I knew that in the space next to the toilet were a powersource and life support system. In case of critical failures in the facilities, the system could provide for a single inhabitant for well over a month. However, the inhabitant would die of hunger before that.

The pod itself looked a lot like a larger version of the Coffins. Which they in fact were. It was the same technology, and Perennial had developed it for the purpose of medical treatment, but the Corporate Congress had found other purposes. I found it a bit ironic that to prevent people from having to live in Coffins, I had to go into something very similar.

With a wry smile I registered my luggage reference with the room AI. The AI would ensure that my few possessions would be delivered to my room. Next I undressed completely before opening the pod. The inside of the pod looked like a comfortable bed, and it was. Except for the pillow. Sure it was comfortable, but it looked like a head cage from an MRI machine from the early 21st century. Most of the scary stuff, like cables running from the sensor to the machine would reveal themselves after you had gone to sleep.

The pod functioned while you slept, and the pillow sent out vibrations in a frequency that made you sleepy. Working while you slept meant that they did not have to be as invasive to block motor functions, like earlier Immersive technologies did. Your body did most of it for them. Besides a few straps that you would never know had been there, it did not restrain you in any other way.

Functioning while the players slept also meant that they could dilate time. While there were a few instances with insane dilations of four to ten times, for example if you cast haste or in certain dungeons, but otherwise the game went with a one to two dilation. Meaning that for every hour in the real world, two would pass in the game.

The lid slowly closed, and soon I found myself asleep. I floated in a dark empty space. A pleasant female voice announced, “The servers will open in roughly two hours and eleven seconds. Do you want a countdown, or just be logged in automatically when they open?”

“Just log me in when the servers open. Could you provide me with a messaging app, I want to write some messages to the other in my guild.”

“Sure thing. Remember that there are no instant communication in Carn Online, nor is outside communication allowed except in emergencies.”

“I’m aware, thank you,” I said. Though it was just an AI, there was no reason to be impolite. Especially not the new AIs that Perennial launched together with the Challenges. The AIs in the game was indistinguishable from real people. Something I pointed out once again in the message I wrote to each of my employees.

A messaging app had popped up in front of me, and it reacted to every little thing I thought. It did need double confirmation before sending a message, which was very important or you might send something that best should be kept private. I also reiterated for the tenth time what skills they had agreed to pick and what they should buy with their starting coin.

The time had flown by slowly, mostly I had spent the time following the chatting of the others. It was funny how Edward suddenly became much more talkative, now that he was not face to face with them. And he was also funny. He actually had a very nice humour. Nothing gross or too dark, mostly it was self-deprecating, but in a funny way.

Liam of course kept digging himself into a deeper hole with the ladies, by not editing what he sent. There were a lot of inappropriate things amongst his messages. Meanwhile, Masuro asked a lot of questions I had already answered before. However, I did not have to answer; because Edward answered him for me. And he framed them with American football references that I would never have thought of. It confirmed that I had picked the right guy as the leader for the party.

When the servers finally opened, a flash of blinding light brought me into another dark space. A deep male voice sounded through the endless space, “Welcome mortal. I am Iynicus the God of Life. The world of Carn is under attack by sinister forces, and the Heavenly Laws that bind the deities, prevent us from doing much. Which why you and your ilk has been summoned. To help us fight back against these invaders. First you need a body. Select how you want your avatar on Carn to look.”

In front of me, a mirror poofed into existence. And despite that there was no source of light, I could clearly see myself in it. I looked better than I would do six years from now, even dressed in drab brown newbie clothing. However, it was not a pretty sight. Thirty two years old, I already had a receding hairline. In a few years I would be sporting a bad comb over. Even at that moment I was easily twenty kilos or more overweight. It was luckily spread well out on my two meter tall frame.

It was something that would have to change, but not on my avatar. I would have to train hard everyday together with the others. It was one of the reasons our tower included training facilities as well as a small pool. The other reason was that the better control you had over your own body in real life, the better control over your avatar you would have. As long as they were similar. Which was why I had instructed them to take the same option as I was about to take, “I want my avatar reflect my real body, and keep it updated.”

“Are you sure, mortal?” the voice queried. It was almost offensive, as if it insinuated that I was ugly. I was not a catch, but I was not downright ugly.

“Yes,” I confirmed. The only one who should pick additions to her body was Kira. No reason why she should not have her legs. At some point I hoped to give her them in real life as well. It was one of the points Ainsley had negotiated into the contracts. When the guild was established and could afford it, it would help pay for regrowing Kira’s legs.

“What do you want to be known as?”

“Damian Heosphoros,” I immediately replied. The game would not allow you to get away with just one name. You either needed a surname, or call you self something like Will the Great.

“Very well,” the voice boomed one last time before I found myself in a library. I was inside a humongous tower, with shelves along the walls stretching endlessly into the sky. The shelves were filled with books and scrolls. And from time to time a skull or a brain in a jar.

“Welcome to my library,” a figure standing in the middle of the room said. Shrouded in ever shifting shadows, one could not tell if it was male or female; the voice indeterminable, “I am Lyra, the Goddess of Secrets. This is my library where all knowledge is stored, even that which are forgotten. Since the world of my followers is in peril, I’ve agreed with the other gods to provide each Traveller with five skills, spells and abilities. Let no mortal, immortal or deity say that Luke, the God of Secrets, kept her secrets in a time of crisis.

“Just state what you wish, and you’ll gain the information. However, be careful what you wish for, and do not ask for the impossible. While no secret of this world remains hidden for Martin, the Goddess of Secrets, your intentions and your world are shrouded in secrecy. So the power of the boons I grant can be limited, if I find you too greedy.”

“Thank you, great Goddess of Secrets. I’d like to learn Observe, Lesser Transmutation, Greater Transmutation, Imbue and Message,” as soon as I mentioned each skill, a scroll flew out of a shelf somewhere and ended up hovering in front of me.

“If you’re certain about your choices, reach out a touch each scroll,” the deity instructed. A little too late, I had already touched the first scroll.

You’ve unlocked the spell Observe, do you wish to learn this spell at this time?

Yes/No

A system prompt appeared in front of me. With a thought I selected yes, and the scroll vanished by dissolving quickly into motes of light that faded from existence quickly. At the same time knowledge flooded into me. The spell allowed me to see more information about my target than the normal Inspect; a natural ability everyone had that allowed them to see the name of their target. If the level of Observe was high enough it could even see through illusions and skills meant to hide identities.

By focusing on my target, and then putting a finger by one of my eyes while saying “Observe”, I could cast the spell. Of course that could be modified if I wished to do so. However, I did not, and even if I did, it was not the time or place for it.

I quickly touched the other four scrolls; confirming each prompt as soon as they appeared, and learned the rest of the skills. Lesser and Greater Transmutation were ritual spells, meaning they had a long casting time and required a lot of prep time and resources. They could transform items. Not like from lead to gold, but if you had a bunch of low quality iron bars, you could use Greater Transmutation to make a single iron bar of higher quality. Lesser Transmutation let you transform one item into many of lower quality.

Imbue was a simple skill, which let you channel mana into manastones and powder. That was it, nothing else, but it was one of the prerequisites for learning Runesmithing. Runesmiths could inscribe items with magical runes and turn the item into a magic items. It was one of the hardest and most expensive crafting skills to master in the game; as well as one of the most lucrative.

Message would to many seem like a waste of a free spell. However, it would be one of the most popular spells when levelled up to a high tier. It allowed you to send a voice message to anyone you could see, or you knew the name off. However, starting out the range was limited and had a long delivery time. Nevertheless, each level up would make it reach longer and have a shorter delivery time.

When the God of Secrets started talking, it shook me out of my contemplation of the skills I had just learned, “You’ve been delivered what was promised, now leave.”

Another flash, and I found myself in what appeared to be a shop. There was a long counter in front of me. There were shelves and pedestals all over the place, however, every single one of them were empty. Leaning on the counter was a large male. Stocky, dark leathery skin, bald and a big bushy beard. If not for the fact that he was almost three meters tall, I would have classified him as a dwarf. A classical fantasy dwarf, not someone suffering from dwarfism.

“Welcome Traveller,” he boomed in a heavily accented voice. Which was weird to hear. Only very old people had accents any longer, everyone else sounded more or less the same. One of the benefits or downsides, depending on your view, of a universal language, and the elimination of others. If I had to place it from the 21st century movies and shows I had watched, I would almost say it was an arabic accent or something like that.

“I’m Dai, the God of Commerce and you’ve arrived in my shop, the last stop before entering Carn itself. All the others agreed we could not send the saviours of our people into the world without a little of equipment. So you’ve five platinum coins to shop for,” he said, and with a wave of his right hand five shiny coins appeared on the counter. He then snapped his fingers and a bunch of books appeared besides the coins, “These are our catalogues. Pick one up, and the store will fill with wares you can afford.”

One platinum was twenty gold coins, which in turn was twenty silvers. And of course one silver was the same as twenty copper coins. Looking at the god, I asked, “Can I just say what I want, instead of going through your catalogues.”

He squinted at me, almost seemed a bit offended, “I guess that is a possibility.”

“Thank you, Benevolent One,” I said with a respectful bow. I had no intentions of pissing off a deity. They had real power in the game. However, I already knew what I wanted, and I could save a bit a time this way, “First I would like to request an alchemical cauldron as well as a small manastone kit.”

Immediately three of the coins vanished, while a fourth was replaced by seventeen gold coins. I could hear the shelves behind me moved to the side. I did not need to look to know that my purchases had appeared. Looking at the God, I continued my order, “I would also like to request a small mana grill.”

The last platinum coin and three gold coins vanished, leaving me with just fourteen gold coins. I eyed the pile of coins, which was not enough to get all I really wanted, but I had to prioritise, “Two sets of mortar and pestles, one large and one small.”

That left six gold coins. Definitely not enough for what I wanted. With a sigh I placed the rest of my order, “A manastone solution of poor quality, a poor grade fire manastone, a satchel, two waterskins and two leather pouches. I’ll take the last coins with me.”

“Very well Traveller, I wish you luck, and from the equipment you bought, I hope you generate lots of trade,” the God bid me goodbye and with another flash I was teleported.

I found myself hovering in space, looking down on a planet far below me. The two enormous continents signified that it was Carn. All over the planet there were small points of light. A presence, almost like a slight breeze, flowed around me.

“You’re looking at the world of Carn, it’s time to select where you appear in our world,” a female voice whispered.

“I wish to start in Blackport, Kingdom of Astia, Empire of the Endless Sky,” I said immediately before Lintami, the Goddess of Travel could continue.

“Oh, you know a little of our world already?” the Goddess sounded surprised and asked at a normal volume.

“Indeed I do, Great Lintami, we’ve a little information readily available in our world, and it’s the place me and my guild have chosen to start.”

“And you know who I am, how intriguing,” the voice sounded amused.

“It was a guess, but an educated one,” I fibbed.

“Well, it was a good one. You’re interesting, let me transport you to your destination. Good luck, and stay safe. Oh, and don’t drink the water from the fountain,” the Goddess started to dip down into her mysterious whisper towards the end. A flash and a moment later I found myself in Blackport, with a system prompt waiting for me.

You’ve unlocked the achievement First Arrival in Blackport, check your Achievement Panel for more information.

I actually expected to get another one, or maybe two, informing me that the achievement had been upgraded. Alas, even though I had been quick, someone had been quicker. I was only the first person in Blackport, someone else had selected to spawn somewhere in Astia before me.

Just out of curiosity I opened the Announcement Panel. It had five tabs. One called Friends, Blackport, Kingdom of Astia, Empire of the Endless Sky and finally one just called World. Checking Kingdom of Astia I saw it was someone named Lister the Phantom had gotten that achievement. He had also snagged that achievement for the Empire of the Endless Sky. As expected Aragoth the Conqueror was the first one to log into the game and get the achievement First Arrival on Carn. The same as in the previous timeline.

There was only one other entry under the World tab. Someone named Beercules, had achieved the dubious of being First Suicide. Rather impressive feat, seeing as the game had barely started. It had been the same in my previous timeline. The player had ignored the Goddess’ warning, and taken a drink from the Soul Well.

It gave him a tremendous buff. It quadrupled all his attributes for ten minutes. There were some drawbacks though. First, when the ten minutes were up, all attributes were set to ten for a week. However, that drawback would not be discovered for a very long time. He did however discover the second drawback: If the player drinking the water was not level one thousand or higher; he or she would die after two seconds. Beercules had posted his findings while waiting for the thirty minute respawn timer to count down. It was his first of many ridiculous experiments, which earned him a certain amount of fame and notoriety.

Closing the panel, I thought that it was probably for the better that I had not gotten a higher tier achievement. There were no reason to paint too big a target on my back right from the get go. I would get around to deal with Aragoth and Dawnguard in a few years. First things first, it was time to get reacquainted with Blackport.