Ever wish your life was a little different? That you made all the right choices, even not knowing where those choices led? I did. I made all the choices that led to a boring life. Good life to be sure, but full of nothing and everything that I cared for. Work, followed by more work, and then a weekend that was sometimes fun and other times a generic carbon copy of all weekends in the goddamn Universe!

I worked because I need money. I needed money because I wanted to live. I wanted to live because… I did not know why. I had a family that I loved, and friends that I cared about, but they all had their own lives and futures that they strived for. What about me?

At that time, I believed with all my heart that I would trade the comforts of my life for a single purpose. When I finally got my wish, I realized my foolishness. I thought myself full of wisdom, turned out I was just full of shit. But the real truth is, if I could make that choice again, I would choose purpose every time. I would choose The Tower every time.

The Tower came knocking on a day like any other. I was walking back from work, when I stepped into an empty room. Except it was not a room at all, just a whitescape that seemed to stretch in all directions.

I shook my head, and lightly slapped myself. No, not sleeping. I tried to take a step back, hoping to back out of this weird nightmare. But nothing happened. I walked forward, backwards, and sidewards, I tried running, jumping, and yelling but nothing worked.

“A man of action I see,” said a voice behind me. I turned to find a young man sitting behind a large wooden desk. There was something unnatural about this man that was hard to pin down. Maybe it was the perfect stillness of his posture, or the unblinking eyes, or perhaps it was the uncanny beauty of his face made in the image of a perfect human.

“Are you an Angel?” I asked the young man, hating the slight awe that slipped into my voice. If he was an angel then that would explain everything. Maybe I had died and was about to be interviewed by this man for the right of entry to Heaven.

“Not exactly, but close,” he replied smiling.

“A devil then?” Or maybe I was going to Hell.

“Nope, but close again,” the man replied, his smile widening. “I am a representative of The Tower, here to make you an offer.”

“What Tower?” I asked, now completely confused. There was Purgatory that was supposed to be between Heaven, and Hell, but I had never heard of The Tower before. Unless I was not dead at all and this was something completely different.

“The one and the only Tower in the whole Universe of course,” said the man. He stood up and walked over to me. “Instead of wasting time explaining all this, why not I just show you something,” he said, and smiled.

One moment I was looking at the perfect row of teeth, and then another I was looking down upon a very familiar street. There was a bit of whiplash, as my mind tried to adjust to the instantaneous change.

“Look,” said a voice, centering my mind. The street below me was the same that I was walking on before…

“Don't blink or you will miss it,” said the voice again. I watched as another version of me walked down that same street. He walked up to the crosswalk, and started crossing when the walk signal flashed. He would never see the car, but I did. It was coming too fast, with no chance of breaking at the red light. I watched in silent horror as the car ran past the red light and smashed into my body. It was flung over the roof of the car like a ragdoll, before hitting the ground hard, and leaving a bloody trail.

I screamed then, because all that felt too real. I don't remember much past that. I imagine there was a lot of retching, and screaming. When I came to myself again, I was lying on the ground and the man was sitting behind his desk, calmly studying me.

“That is your very near future,” he said looking me in the eyes. “You will die, and maybe you will find this Hell, The Heaven, or the Purgatory you were thinking of. Or maybe it does not have to be this way at all.”

“The Tower,” I said, finding unnatural calmness within me. “Your offer.”

The man smiled and nodded. “I am glad watching yourself die a gruesome death did not break your mind.” He stood up and walked over to me. “Most people just lie there crying, and wailing, and denying my existence, denying what they saw. It is all just soo…vexing,” he finished with a sigh. He grabbed me by the elbow and stood me upright. “But you seem to be made of sterner stuff. I like that, and I like people who do not waste my time.” He walked back to his desk.

“Now, back to business,” he said, sitting down again. “We want to give you another chance at life. If you agree, then I will transport you to The Tower, and you will start a new life as an Ascender.”

“And if I refuse?”

“I will wipe your memory, and deposit you back to exactly where I found you, and then… well you saw what happened next.”

The image of a broken body flashed before my eyes. It was hard to deny what happened. The vision had felt too real. The smell of the streets, the soft heat of the early spring, the sounds of the cars, all the other minute details solidified that vision into a stark reality. I wanted to believe that this was some kind of scam, but deep down I knew it to be true.

“All it takes is for one man to fall asleep behind the wheel to destroy your whole future. But what am I saying here, not that you had anything to look forward to anyway.”

“I have family and friends that love me! I have a… good job and...”

“And? Can your family and friends change the inevitable?” He waved his hand and a hologram appeared on his desk replaying my grisly end. “Sure, they will mourn you, and remember you, and pray for you, but that is all they can do. And then there will come a day when they will remember you for the last time. They can’t change the inevitable, but you can.”

He waved his hand again, and the hologram changed. I watched as the car smashed into my body and bent around it as if hitting an immovable pole. The man waved his hand again and the illusion restarted. This time, with me easily jumping over the car, and then again with me cutting the car in two with a sword, and it repeated over and over. Always with me doing some fantastic feat to prevent my end. There I was phasing through the car, and then teleporting to the side to dodge it, or just simply punching it away from me. I was mesmerized.

“I will be able to do stuff like that in The Tower?” I asked, as my miniature self levitated the car out of the way.

“Yes, and much much more,” he said. “You will have to climb The Tower, pass its Trials, and earn every bit of power along the way. I can offer you a chance, but it will be up to capitalize on it.”

“Why me though? There are over 6 billion people on Earth. Why’d you choose me?” I asked, tearing my gaze away from the hologram.

“Because you were about to die, and your death would not cause anything of consequence on Earth,” the man said ,and then shook his head. “But that is not what you want to hear. We both know why,” he looked me in the eyes, “You were not satisfied with your life on Earth, and here I am offering you something more. A purpose perhaps?” He smiled. “But I don't want you to misunderstand. If you choose to accept my offer, I will create a special puppet that will take your place on Earth and will eventually meet the same end as you would. No one will be the wiser. Either way, someone dies today. I just hope it is not you.”

I looked at the man for a long time. It was scary how much he knew of me. Not just about my everyday life, or my future, but the real me. The me that was looking for a greater purpose in life. The me that lived in constant guilt, because I was not satisfied with what I had. I did not know who this man was, but I knew he was not just a man. An alien perhaps, or an Angel, maybe a Devil. It did not matter. If i was to die anyway, I might as well try what this Tower had to offer.

“What can I call you?” I asked, looking him in the eyes.

The man thought about it for a second before replying. “I am a Prime Administrator of the Tower, but you can call me Prime,” he said smiling.

“Ok Prime. I accept your offer,” I said as formally as possible.

Prime clapped his hands dismissing the hologram. “I knew I had a good feeling about you,” he said. “Now, everyone who becomes an Ascender, will get a Boon from the Tower. It is usually a random Ability that will help them in The Tower, but I can make that Boon not so random for you.”

“Oh. Thank you. Do you perhaps know what it might be?”

He waved his hand. “You will find out in time. I do however want you to remember three truths about The Tower before you start your Initiation.”

"The most important fact you have to remember is that The Tower’s real purpose is to cultivate you. Make you more than you currently are. Every challenge, every Trial and hardship is there to temper you for more challenges and Trials further up the Tower. It is a cycle that will drive you until you either die, give yourself up to the depth of mediocrity, or Ascend all the limits, becoming an Ascendant.” The man shook his head with disgust. “Most Ascenders have forgotten this truth. They gain a meager amount of power and think themselves the Kings and the Queens of the Tower and stop climbing. They stagnate, wallowing in their own illusion of grandeur until they die.” He suddenly stood up and walked over to Felix. “Do not ever forget this truth Felix,” he said looking directly into his eyes. “Climb The Tower, and become an Ascendant.” His eyes became unfocused, almost haunted as if remembering something long forgotten. “I can destroy worlds within heartbeats, but even I am nothing but a child compared to an Ascendant.” He shook his head as if dispelling the memory and walked back to his seat.

I was shook. Destroying worlds within heartbeats? Either this guy was speaking the truth and he was practically a god, or he was also living within an illusion of grandeur. Either way I would find out soon enough.

"The second thing is, that you will want to keep your identity as an Outsider a secret in The Tower,” he said, sitting down again.

“Outsider?” I asked in puzzlement.

“Yes. Most of the Ascenders come from the Fringe Worlds located inside The Tower. Among those Ascenders there are some that are quite powerful, and they would give up a lot to gain even a sliver of knowledge about the Universe outside. Not to mention that there are also these religious zealots that want to keep the ‘purity’ of The Tower intact.”

Straight from fire into a frying pan, It thought to myself.

“So there are religious zealots who want to kill me, and crazy powerful Ascenders that would torture me for information I dont have. What else is there?Crazy cultists, Zombies, Dinosaurs, Zombie Dinosaurs?” I asked some sarcasm seeping into my voice.

The man looked impressed for a moment. “Well yes,” he answered, ignoring my sarcasm. “There are some floors of The Tower that have those or similar creatures. But the third truth is actually quite beneficial to you. Have you played video games before?” He asked.

“Yes. Of course I have, but what does that have to do with The Tower?”

“The way to Advance and gain power in The Tower can be quite similar to some of the video games you might have played. The familiarity of the process might prove to be a good advantage for you.”

“I have like a thousand questions about that…”

Prime held up a hand to interrupt me. “You will learn more during your Initiation,” he said walking up to me. He grabbed me by the shoulder and looked me in the eyes. “Be careful with your choices.” He smiled. “It was a pleasure Felix. May we meet again at The Peak of the Tower.” He snapped his finger and I was gone.