Any description of John McIntire’s day would not include any synonyms of pleasant or tolerable. “This must be the worst headache I’ve had since my college days,” he thought to himself. “Which doesn’t make sense, since I haven’t had a drink today, or for the last couple of days for that matter.”

Upon further rumination, John also realized that it wasn’t his first time waking up that day and that he didn’t remember falling asleep the second time. As he reached out to rub his forehead, the lack of contact between hand and forehead also alerted him that he didn’t have a physical body. As a sense of panic began to set in, John noticed what appeared to be a flashing exclamation mark in the bottom right corner of his vision, and that concentrating on it seemed to bring up some kind of screen.

Welcome to the System!

Would you like to begin your initiation process?

YES/NO

Wary that any choice could be permanent, John mentally selected the yes. A few moments later, John’s memories of what had happened since that morning came rushing back. Since it was a Saturday, John had woken up a bit later than usual and wandered out to his living room to find his brother Jake missing from the couch Jake had been sleeping on for the past couple of days. John’s TV was also missing from its customary place on the TV stand across the room from the previously mentioned sofa. He knew to let his brother stay over always carried a risk of something like this happening, but couldn’t help the sense of frustration that accompanied the memory. At least he had gotten the TV on sale, it wasn’t the current most expensive model, and anything else of value had been in his room.

As John was letting out a groan of frustration and cursing his brother under his breath, a bright flash of light robbed him of his vision. Suddenly he found himself floating in some sort of white void. Just as he was getting his bearing and began to try and figure out a way to get out the situation he was in, a box appeared in his vision.

Answer the following question. Your honesty in answering these questions will be taken into consideration.

As he finished reading the box, a second box appeared:

Do you feel you are a fundamentally giving or selfish person?

John thought about it and concluded that he felt he is more giving than selfish and answered the question accordingly. As he thought through his answer, a second question appeared:

If you had an excess amount of resources, would it be better to reinvest it in your community immediately, or is it better to first make sure that you are covered to continue to help in the future?

As John thought about it, he figured that there didn’t have to be a dichotomy between the two approaches and that there were some times where the first approach is more appropriate and others where the second approach is more appropriate. As he finalized his thoughts on the matter, another box appeared. This process continued for a couple of hours. While it may have been frustrating for some of his Engineering colleagues to go through, John’s interest in Moral Philosophy kept his attention from wavering throughout the process. Finally, a box without a question in it appeared:

Sufficient data points acquired.

The System is determining the optimal fit for an advisor.

Mahaytar selected.

At once, John could feel an overwhelming presence shift its attention towards him. It wasn’t exactly an unpleasant feeling, and it didn’t have the distinct uneasiness that comes from having malicious attention directed your way. Still, it was something that John felt he needed to give his attention. After a few seconds, the intensity of the focus dropped to a more palatable level, and a powerful androgynous voice entered his mind.

“Hello, John, just give me a minute to find a suitable archetype, it will make manifesting a physical form that much easier for me.”

John watched as a shape began to form in the mist, condensing into a humanoid form. As the details started coalescing, the face appeared to be remarkably similar to those of Tom Holland. To see a known figure was relatively startling to John, especially as a familiar voice now entered his mind.

“Hello John, my name is Mahaytar. I was selected to be your advisor. The reason I may appear to be someone familiar to you is that I have chosen an archetypical character that is close to my domain from your history or culture, which makes it easier for me to manifest in an intradimensional space such as this. Once again, taking an example from your pop culture, my domain is what you would generally classify as Neutral Good, emphasizing pragmatic solutions that allow the growth of Good societies.”

“What do you mean, an intradimensional space?” John said.

“Where we are currently talking is a kind of subspace to your home dimension that you got pulled into due to a kind of cosmic accident. Essentially the System was looking for a soul to fill a position that had become empty. Due to the lack of mana in your soul, the System thought you were dead and an appropriate candidate.”

“But I’m not dead.”

“That’s where the accident portion came in. The System had poked itself into your Universe without realizing what it had done. And anywhere the System is, souls have mana while being alive. So you were tagged as dead, even though mana is generally not available in your world, and you fit the other criteria the System needed, so you were pulled into this space. Which also destroyed your current body, leaving you somewhere between alive and dead.”

“So, where does that leave me?”

“Essentially, you have two options. The first is that you can move on to any afterlife you qualify for, including the one I oversee. This option includes the possibility of reincarnation into an appropriate world. The second is that I can allow you to fill the position that you were pulled into this space to fulfill, though now it will be filled in your world. You will keep your memories, though you will be moving into a new body, at least for the foreseeable future.”

“And what exactly will this position I am to fill be?”

“You will be your world’s first Core.”