One moment Frank was walking along a peaceful forest trail in Austin; the next he was engulfed within an endless blue corridor. He was falling, but that could not be correct. That horrible blue archway yanked him sideways, so how could he be falling? Abruptly, all movement stopped. He was no where - a quiet, gray expanse surrounded him.

"Greetings Realm Master. Describe the realm you would like to create!" Boomed a voice utterly devoid of emotion.

What the Hell? What is a Realm? How could he get out of here? These thoughts raced through his mind faster than he could truly comprehend their meaning.

"You are not allowed to leave your realm. You will never be allowed to leave your realm. You have been granted the important role of Realm Master for Realm 3,629,156. A realm is a pocket universe within Ck!draaaa*Klx! Realm System" continues the monotonous voice.

His heart was racing out of control. He struggles to draw a breath. "Who are you?" Frank asks shakily.

"This system is the Realm Management System. This system is responsible for managing all realm instances within Ck!draaaa*Klx!. One of the responsibilities of this system is to interact with its Realm Masters. Please describe the realm you would like to create." the voice explained.

He needed to find a method for escaping. This situation is crazy. This must be a dream. People are not kidnapped by glowing blue arches. Get a grip, Frank! "I am not a Realm Master. I refuse to play your game. Let me go!"

Instead of addressing Frank's demands the system continued to speak to him "The system may not create the realm without your input. Please visualize the type of realm you wish to create. Please describe it in a few sentences."

Frank decided to stall for time. "How am I suppose to know what to create? Can you give me some examples?"

"No, this system is not allowed to influence your original choice. Please visualize the type of Realm you wish to create. Please describe it in a few sentences."

Fine! Frank screamed silently within his mind. The monotonous tone of the booming voice infuriated him. "I want to create a world where I am all powerful. I can control everything and anyone with my mind. Might as well ask for the impossible." he said.

"You do not have the power to ascend. You may not be a deity. Your thoughts, emotions, and words have identified the primary ability and the conceptual framework for your realm. Please choose from the following choices."

A translucent screen appeared before his vision. A heads up display slightly obscured the background drawing attention to the table of text floating within the center of the display.

Spirtual Spiritual energy used to posses, to dominate, and to modify an individuals personality. Technological Machines and implants are used to dominate and to control individuals. Mental Powers of the mind are used to dominate and to control individuals.

"Wow, you really are inflexible. Wait... Deity is possible? Never mind. I choose Mental, but your descriptions seem evil. I am not a bad person! Why do I care what you think? You kidnapped me!!"

"Initial Realm Management Interface configuration and personality spawning complete. Yielding control to the interface." Said the mechanical voice.

A new male voice spoke. "Please relax. The racial alignments have not been chosen. The Realm Master alignment has not been chosen.

Before we continue with the racial configuration, you need to understand your situation. The system chose you as the Realm Master for the first realm attached to your world. Ck!draaaa*Klx! is a very competitive environment where other Realm Masters will attempt to conquer your realm. If they succeed, then you die! Please take the initial configuration seriously.

Each Realm Master is granted 100 base points for their initial configuration. You may exceed your base points by a maximum of 50 points, but there are growth penalties for exceeding the base point limit. Here is a summary of the initial configuration you chose." Said the deep, calm, reassuring voice.

Starting Realm Physical Characteristics Pending 0 Racial Modifiers Human Psionics +10 10 Realm Modifiers None 0 Growth Modifiers +10% World Size Growth 20 Base Points 100 Cost of Modifiers 30 Remaining Points 70

"Great! Besides the term psionics and the growth modifiers, that table does not tell me anything useful." Frank complains.

"I suggest you focus on the esthetics of your realm. Why not take advantage of the opportunity to define your ideal place to live?" the voice suggested.

Frank hated how petulant he sounded, and the new voice made a good point. Hmmm... He always wanted to live in a location with a lush forest, but he did not want to live where rain occurred too frequently. He wondered if the system could make a lush forest without it raining almost every day and if there would be enough food to support a community if all of the land was covered with lush forest.

What was his ideal community? Hmmm... It would be cool if all the building were influenced by architecture from the Shogun series. He loved the look of those castles. Even the simple huts from that series had a quiet elegance.

"The system has retrieved enough information to formulate the terrain and starting culture for your realm." the new voice announced.

Immediately, an image formed in his mind which should have freaked him out except it was so peaceful. There were some wooded hills near the ocean. The top of a Japanese style castle poked out above the trees. Perfect! I would love to live there, but how did the voice know? Was the system reading his mind?

"Yes, the system is scanning your neural activity. Do you wish to include multiple races within your realm? Do you want additional buffs for Humans?"

"Let's keep it simple with Humans as the only race.", Frank answered uncomfortably. He was not pleased the system could read his mind. Frank had played plenty of RPG games, and it was very important to correctly configure the player statistics at start of the game. "My humans need to have the stats to excel as psychic warriors and monks. I want all of them to be calm. No drama!!"

"Humans within your realm will receive a stat bonus of intelligence +2 and Wisdom +3. This maximizes the psionic potential for the Human race within your realm. These additional buffs will cost an additional 10 points.”

Given that 60 points still remain, I suggest you maximize the advantages of being the first realm for your world by increasing the realm time compression. The default setting is 5 realm days to 1 Earth day, but you could increase the ratio to 7 to 1 for a cost of 60 base points."

"Are there any other options? I am not sure that using all the remaining points is wise." Frank inquired.

"You could chose to add additional starting population, to add additional races, to add additional abilities, to add unique materials, or to add many other options. I do not recommend it. Very few realm masters are in a position to chose the time compression advantage without growth penalties. It is a significant advantage." the new voice instructed.

"If it is so great, why doesn't every new realm master chose that option?"

"Most new I realm masters prefer magic, abilities, fantastic creatures, and many other options that give them a diverse and powerful society. Very few have the discipline to limit their choices for the long-term advantages." The new voice replied.

Frank sighed wistfully at the options he could have chosen. "I will go with your suggestion."

"What type of government should be installed within your realm?" Asked the calm yet increasingly annoying voice.

"It will be an imperial government. I always wanted to be known as Emperor Frank."

"What will you name your realm?" Asked the voice.

"The Empire of Caradon", he responded.

"Please review the final realm configuration settings. Confirm your final choices. Press Yes to confirm or No to revise the configuration", said the monotonous system voice. A screen appeared in front of Frank's vision.

Starting Realm Physical Characteristics Lush forest, similar to Japanese style architecture 0 Racial Modifiers Human Psionics +10, above average stats 20 Realm Modifiers 7/1 realm day time compression 60 Growth Modifiers +10% World Size Growth 20 Base Points 100 Cost of Modifiers 100 Remaining Points 0

Frank hesitated. He wonder if this decision, his most important decision, is the correct decision. This damn system said other realm masters within the system are trying to kill me. I need as much time to grow strong as possible. After a few more moments of hesitation, he pushed Yes.

System Message The Empire of Caradon, a new realm, was created by Emporer Frank.

"Excellent, your new life begins!"