Sitting in the waiting room at the upload facility, Charlie signed what they hoped would be the final document. Charlie had allowed this hope to bloom on previous occasions that morning, only to have it crushed by yet another stack of papers. It was understood that the company had to take significant legal protections regarding this process, but it was still annoying to go through. Charlie just wanted this part of their life to be done with. This is worse than the DMV, let’s get on with it already!

Walking into the room and collecting the papers, the nurse smiled warmly. “That’s the last of them. Ready to be one of the first to enter Elysium? You cleared the upload trial and signed all the paperwork, nothing left but plugging you in. Do you have any questions before we start?”

Standing and shaking their head, Charlie’s heart beat in exhilaration. “None that I can think of. I have sort of been planning this for a while, so I would prefer to get it done with.”

Guiding Charlie through a series of hallways as they chatted the nurse cheerfully made a series of inquiries. “You have been planning it for a while? So, you are not one of the test cases. Mmmmm, no offense, but you don’t strike me as a priority customer. How did you manage to be so early in line?”

Charlie tried to keep the annoyance off their face, did this nurse know any of the HIPAA laws? Let alone professional behavior? I have to remember that this is new for him, he is probably as excited as I am.

“Employee, one of the programmers. I took this as my bonus.” Thinking about it, Charlie was a bit curious as well.

“Am I the first? Employee to upload that is?”

“Ohhh, that’s so cool. It’s nice to meet you. Everyone around here has been talking about how much has been put in to this world, sounds amazing. Yeah, your the first employee I have met so far. Everyone else has had priority for test purposes, medical need, or financial capacity… I think. Some people don’t open up much.”

Scrunching up into a sour expression, the nurse’s face conveyed more information than explanation alone could. He had already had to interact with a rather disagreeable patient it appeared. Rounding the last corner, the pair went through a decontamination area before entering a large room. In the center of the space was something akin to a bed, but with a cavity in the shape of a human body.

“Please remove your clothes behind the privacy screen and then lay down on the device. Cover yourself with the blanket and let me know when you are settled. It might be a bit ‘refreshing,’ they haven’t installed the warming device yet.”

Charlie stripped down, shivering for reasons outside of the temperature, and climbed into the machine. Once readied they called out enthusiastically. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Returning while rubbing their hands together to warm them up, the nurse started attaching various wires attached to suction cups along Charlie’s shaved scalp. “You are pretty psyched to get in and see the world you helped make aren’t you?”

Charlie winked, but tried to keep their head still while the nurse was preparing everything. “You could you tell? I was pretty sure it was painfully obvious. Every day Elysium has come closer to completion, I have found myself daydreaming longer about being there. I have no way of knowing what the finished product will look like, but I have a general idea of what sorts of things to expect.”

“More so than most, it sounds like, on both counts. I will go get the doctor and then we will have you transported to Elysium in no time.” Stepping back from the machine the nurse walked out of the room, leaving Charlie alone.

Charlie could feel their pulse racing and started taking in long, slow breaths through their nose and exhaling through their mouth in an attempt to calm down. This was really happening. Charlie’s heart threatened to jump out of their chest, then the door opened again.

Leading the nurse, a female doctor with blonde hair and glasses appeared at Charlie’s side. In a professional tone the physician made several inquiries while checking over the wires and then pressing several buttons on the device. “You are fully aware of the risks associated with the uploading process? You have put all of your earthly affairs in order and protected yourself legally? You are giving consent free of any coercion or pressure?”

With each answer to the affirmative Charlie’s enthusiasm was tempered by increasing nerves. This is all safe right? Charlie had looked into all of the information available, there was a 99.8% success rate for the process. Seemed like a .2% failure rate was high enough to make sure they covered their butts eight ways til Sunday. With the final ‘yes,’ the Doctor pressed a few more buttons and then leaned over to look into Charlie’s eyes.

“The process has started, you will fall asleep shortly. When you wake, you will be in Elysium.”

Calling out from behind the doctor, the nurse provided a last piece of encouragement.

“Good luck! Have an amazing adventure!!”

Charlie hadn’t noticed falling asleep, but that was a seldom occurring experience. Upon waking, Charlie’s mind was clear and refreshed. It felt like being fully rested and well fed, but without the lethargy of having a full belly. Charlie was laying on an odd stone slab, upon sitting up, they could see a room decorated wall to wall with bookcases stuffed full. While observing the walls distractedly, Charlie heard someone clear their throat.

Jumping a bit in surprise, Charlie calmed themselves, this had been expected. Looking up, Charlie could see a distinguished looking gentlemen sitting at a large desk with his arms spread out in a gesture of greeting, a warm smile on his face.

“Welcome to Elysium! It is a pleasure to meet one of the creators, so few have entered.” He pushed his chair back and stood moving over to Charlie and helping them up to their feet.

“Even fewer have uploaded themselves. As a creator and having gone through the upload trials you are allowed to skip the tutorial and retain all of your memories starting on your first day, is that how you would like to proceed?”

Charlie blinked a bit and smiled at the warm welcome while taking their feet. This was not exactly what they had expected, but it was pleasant. “Yes, thank you. I do plan on skipping the tutorial and jumping right in. My name is Charlie, you are?”

“Ahhh yes, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Charon, the ferryman of souls and god of this realm between Elysium and Erebus, Hades’ home. In this incarnation I guide those who are transferring from Earth into our world.

"We will create your new body together, attributes and all. Then once you are satisfied with your choices I will pick a location suitable for your arrival. After that, it’s up to you. You will only see me again under specific circumstances or if I would like to meet.”

Charon moved around the room, taking a book from one of the shelves and placing it on his desk. “Do you have any questions or would you like to get started?” He sat back down in his high-backed chair.

Charlie very much wanted to get started immediately, but it was probably a good idea to get on Charon’s good side. Charlie had the feeling that once the god had gone through this process a few hundred times that the appeal of conversation would tarnish. This was a golden opportunity, best not to waste it. What sort of information can I gain? I didn’t plan for this at all.

“I have a few questions, do you have time for a conversation or would be that intruding?” Charlie sat down in the chair across from Charon and read the title of the book that the god had selected, The Odyssey by Homer. That made Charlie’s eyebrow’s raise. Elysium had been constructed giving the gods full control, relative awareness of their circumstances, and extensive information from Earth. However, Charlie had not expected, for whatever reason, that they would be interested in the philosophy, poetry, and mythology as written by human authors.

Interesting, I know the world is based on Adventurer rules and various mythological pantheons, but I am even more curious to see what the world looks like now. Seems like the Greek continent unlocked first. I was really hoping for the Japanese & Chinese module, but at least it’s not the Norse area. I’ve never liked Vikings.

“It wouldn’t be intruding at all, I can always duplicate myself if there is another upload concurrently. I had hoped that you didn’t want to immediately make your new body, I have several questions for you as well.” Charon affably leaned back and took a relaxed conversational position. “How about you start, you are a guest in my home after all.”

Charlie’s mind went blank momentarily, then they blurted out the first thing that came to mind based on the conversation so far. “If you are a ferryman, where is the river? Your boat? I’m sorry, this just isn’t what I expected. It feels like we are in a library.”

Laughter echoed through the small room, Charon spoke through a huge grin. “I ferry souls, there is no river Styx flowing under your feet that you have to cross. I teleport you to a neutral starting location, I don’t take you there by water. Hence, I have no need of a boat. Is that really what you wanted to ask?”

Charlie blushed as the god explained, that probably wasn’t the best question to start with. “No, it wasn’t. Sorry, I was curious and it was the first thing that came to mind. I am actually a little stumped now that I have been given the opportunity. Perhaps it is best to start with your questions.”

“Fantastic, I only have one, but it may take a bit of explaining it is rather all encompassing. Why? Why did you create this world? Why give control to our pantheon and not one of the others? Why not keep it for yourselves?” Charon leaned back, not giving away much with his facial expressions as he studied Charlie, waiting for an answer.

Charlie’s mouth hung open a little at the god’s cheerfully phrased question. It was akin to asking what the meaning of life was, at least for him. Had any of the other programmers stopped to have a chat? Or am I the first person to be asked that question? How do I answer something like that? I don’t want to tell him his world is based on a game, do I? Wait, he obviously knows that. How much information does he know? How much do I want to give him?

Closing their mouth slowly, Charlie tried to work through how to best phrase everything. It was probably a bad idea to get on the wrong side of Charon. Head tilting to the side, Charlie pondered whether they had the right to even give an answer to the questions. I was one of many programmers, I didn’t even make those sorts of decisions.

“Well, I didn’t make most of those choices. I am not entirely sure that we did make all of those choices to be honest. I didn’t know which pantheon would be in control. We couldn’t keep control of the world ourselves, Elysium is too large, too complex. There are some worlds that do not have any gods, we control everything there.” Charlie paused and took a breath.

“I helped create Elysium because of reasons that are… personal. I would prefer not to get in to it very much, but suffice it to say that Earth does not have the opportunities presented here. I have always wanted to live in a world of magic and wonder. A place where I can choose who I am, not have it decided for me based on biology.”

Charon had started to nod a bit towards the end, when Charlie had spoken of their own desires he actually smiled. “You seek free will and self determination it seems. Perhaps that answers more than you think. Plato, Socrates, and Euripides all have many opinions on fate. When you say that Elysium is too complex to control what do you mean?”

Charlie could follow Charon’s line of thinking, these weren’t exactly concepts that people would consider related, but Charon wasn’t thinking about this from a typical perspective. “I mean that Elysium is an entire world, constructed from the foundation up. There are too many variables at any given time for us to be able to change one part of the world or another. It is rooted in the creation process. We can set a framework, but there have been terrible consequences when we have tried to change even a small piece of a world built this way.

"The worlds and realms that we can alter and change are relatively simple in comparison to this place. When we change something it is easier to alter everything effected by that change. If a world is too complex, making a single small change will cascade through everything, often corrupting it beyond recovery.”

Scribbling on a notepad on his desk, Charon actually took notes and then nodded as Charlie finished. “Thank you for explaining and for providing the information you have. Did you think of anything you wanted to ask me before we start the creation process?”

Charlie did want to ask more questions, but the anticipation was also starting to become rather unbearable. “If I think of something I will make sure to ask, but yeah, I would like to get started. How does it work?”

Charon opened a drawer on his desk and took out a wooden box with no lid and a velvet inlay. Inside of the box there were five dice, each six sided. Charlie grinned and then couldn’t help themselves, they started chuckling. This is perfect! Just like rolling for a character.

Arching an eyebrow, as only an older gentlemen could, Charon eyed Charlie. “What is so amusing? You are about to roll for your stats, I would take this seriously, it can have significant long term repercussions.”

Fixing their face to hide their outward amusement, Charlie did their best to give this occasion the gravity it deserved. Charon was right, this wasn’t making a character, this was creating Charlie’s new body. “Sorry about that, I just found it amusing that you stuck to using actual dice. I just thought you would use a random number generator, that’s all.”

Waving his hand back and forth dismissively, Charon responded agreeably. “Ahhh, I understand. Yes, I thought that those of you who transfer and are familiar with this tradition would find it appealing. I can have your stats selected at random if you would like, but where's the fun in that?”

Charlie nodded profusely, getting excited, this was best part. “I completely agree. The dice are zero through five correct? I roll five for each stat, in order, and I get to remove the lowest die roll each time? Is the order Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Spirit, Charisma, and Luck? Or do you do it differently?”

Pushing the ornate rolling box to Charlie’s side of his desk, Charon nodded. “Indeed, you seem to have a rather intricate understanding of the Adventurer rules. The others have needed more instruction. You should be familiar with what comes after your stat allocation, but just in case I will go over it.

"You use your creation points to select your race, starting skills, starting items, or to adjust stat points. As a creator, instead of the normal one hundred points, you have double that amount at two hundred. Take the dice and roll when you are ready.”

Charlie scooted forward to the edge of the chair and scooped up the dice out of the box. “I already have a plan for how I am going to spend the points, but things could change in the moment. This is one of the best parts.”

Clasping all of the dice in one hand, Charlie gave them a good blow for luck and then released them. Bouncing around off the edges, when the small pieces of wood finally came to a rest the number’s on each side glowed. Then five shining numbers appeared in the air above the box, representing each of the dice. Magic is going to be fun.

Charlie’s intrigue was dulled by the results of the first roll, upturned corners of their mouth reversing to a frown. After throwing out one of the zero’s, the total of the remaining dice only came to eight. Not the most auspicious start, hopefully my luck gets better. Charlie continued the rolling process to fill out each of the stat categories. As the last set of dice were thrown, and the lowest score tossed out, a glowing chart appeared above the box showing the results of all the throws.

Strength

Dexterity

Constitution

Intelligence

Spirit

Charisma

Luck

Results:

8

14

9

16

16

11

13

Charlie clucked their tongue looking over the stats. Not bad, not bad at all. Nothing too high, nothing too low. I would have preferred one or two higher scores. It all depends on how I use my creation points, but these stats may make me reconsider once I see the racial modifiers. I doubt it though.

Charon moved the box to the side of his desk. “Good. Now that you have completed that step, how would you like to select your next options? I can provide any number of interfaces. It is best that you consider this carefully, but I imagine you are more aware of that than most.”

“I am. I have put a lot of time into planning this. Perhaps you should walk me through it though. I wouldn’t want to make a mistake now. Can you make the creation process display like the stats did?” Charlie had settled back into the chair a bit, not needing to roll the dice any longer.

Charon waved a hand over the center of his desk and another glowing chart appeared, burned into the air.

Creation Cost Table

Uncommon

Rare

Legendary

Divine

Race

10 pts

25 pts

45 pts

90 pts

Skills

10 pts

25 pts

50 pts

100 pts

Items

25 pts

50 pts

75 pts

100 pts

Stats

+1 pt to any stat category costs 10 pts.

Transferring 1 stat pt from one category to another is 5 pts.

Multi-racial

It cost 10 pts to select multiple races, including their initial creation point cost.

Looking over the glowing numbers and letters made Charlie grin, it was all as it should be. Charon had really made this enjoyable so far. Hopefully this next part would go to plan. “So… I know that I have two hundred points compared to the normal one hundred, but do I have any options that most folks don’t to spend them?”

Charon actually started chuckling and then clapped his hands together. “Yes, indeed! You have access to the godly races, skills, and items. I have to warn you though, it would take your entire allocation of points. If you select anything from the god tier it will take two hundred points and you will have nothing left over.

"The item, as I am sure you are aware, is only guaranteed to be usable by you and suitable. You do not get to select a specific one. It is the same with skills, except that you are assured to have a natural aptitude for whichever skill you end up with. The races are of course a different story. Did you have a particular selection in mind?”

Charlie nodded again.“Well, as you have already noticed, I have a fairly good background with the rules. So I know what sort of modifiers are associated with most races, even the divine ones. Not the godly ones though. Can you give me a few examples of what the godly races look like before I tell you which one I am specifically interested in?”

Waving his had over his desk again, Charon shifted the creation cost table to the side and produced a new set of information.

“Easily. Remember, you will start at level 0, no matter the race.”

Race

Primary Modifiers

Additional Modifiers & Abilities

Red Dragon

+10 to Strength

+10 to Constitution

+1 Ability Point per level

+1 Martial Skill Point per level

Huge Creature: -50% to Dexterity, -50% to Charisma, +75% to Strength, +50% to HP, and +50% to Constitution.

God Tier Abilities – Starting Options:

1. Fire Breath Attack

2. Divine Shapechange

3. Manipulate Fire

4. Aura of Terror

5. Wing Buffet

Siren

+10 to Charisma

+10 to Intelligence

+1 Ability Point per level

+1 Skill Point per level

Large Creature: -50% to Luck, -25% Strength, +50% to Charisma, +25% to HP, +25% to Constitution.

God Tier Abilities – Starting Options:

1. Divine Glamour

2. Song of Anguish

3. Song of Desire

4. Divine Shapechange

5. Mind Blank

Cyclops

+10 to Strength

+5 to Constitution

+2 Ability Point per level

+1 Crafting Skill Point per level

Large Creature: -25% to Dexterity, -50% Charisma, +50% to Strength, +25% to HP, +25% to Constitution.

God Tier Abilities – Starting Options:

1. Forge Living Lightning

2. Rage of the Sea

3. Manipulate Stone

4. Divine Vengeance

5. Summon Flock

Wow, just wow! The primary modifiers alone are easily double, if not triple, the divine racial bonuses. Maybe this is going to be harder than I thought…