1 Prologue: Beta-Tester

Fia awakens in her game station to pure darkness. The helmet hisses as it releases from her, and metallic arms remove it from her head. The light hurts as it floods her eyes, causing her to squint.

"Kee? KEEGAN!?" Fia called out, her eyes slowly adjusting to the light. She tried to sit up but could barely raise her head from the table.

"Easy there, Wildling. You've been lying in that gaming station for a while now, and we need to stimulate your muscles and do a full rejuvenation flush." A voice somewhere above her head softly informed. Tiny spiderlike limbs emerge around the edges of the deep dive station and begin working on Fia's numb limbs. Some tendrils pricked a fluid into specific areas, while others sent electrical currents into Fia's limbs to cause spasms.

"Where's Keegan?" Fia asked, but the technician ignored her question, clearing his throat loudly. Frustration filled Fia, and the feeling started returning to her arms. She lifted herself, propping her body onto one arm after rolling over to face the deep dive tech, ignoring his pleas not to.

"Wher-

-Alright! Alright..." The Tech interrupted before looking over his shoulder at the mechanical eye, focusing on them from the corner of the room.

"I'm guessing They are a player? Look, you signed and read the NDA, correct? So I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you ask that, and so will the person behind this door that will show you out and the clerk working the desk at the hotel you're staying at and the taxi driver you'll have on the way to the airport and most likely everyone you see until you get off the plane that drops you off wherever you're from..." The Tech watched as horror and defeat etched themselves upon Fias face before she returned to her prone position earlier.

"Thank you... word of advice? Just take the money and forget all the people you met there." The Tech said before starting up the arms again to finish the procedure.

"How long was I there?" Fias asked, staring blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling. The Tech tapped away heavily at the holo-keyboard before answering.

"Uhhhh... Oh!? I didn't know I would be attending the runner-up. You and the top ten ran three hundred hours at the settings of a day a second. You lived approximately one million years, give or take. That's likely enough data to solidify a mythos so we won't run another beta. You should be proud! Not many people can say they hold the title of God in a new world!" The Tech congratulated Fia, but her stomach just turned. She shut her eyes tight as tears threatened them.

"Mythos?" Fia asked, trying her best to hide the pain in her voice.

"Yes, the Mythology for the Aware and Unaware None Player Characters to be interacted with before we inject more players into the world at launch. You guys really broke through the surface in just three hundred hours, almost uncovering most of the titles possible..." The Tech's attention narrowed as they read the list of titles their gamer acquired until a specific one caught their eye, causing slight discomfort.

"You know I know you aren't the winner, and I can't grant you your Wish, but I can make it so you don't remember, if you'd like that?" The Tech's offer of peace tugged at the tears in Fia's eyes, allowing them to escape. Anger gripped her chest tight. She was mad at herself. Furious at how much she truly would be relieved to live, ignorant of the millenias she was carrying.

"No, I want to remember. I have to remember... Who would want to forget such an amazing experience!" Fia managed the hollowest of smiles she shined at the Tech, who again looked over their shoulder at the overseer leering above them.

"I understand. Thank you for your Beta Testing." The Tech said as the spiderish limbs ended their job and receded into the table. The door on the other side of the room slides open, and a guard makes his way in, handing a clear bag containing Fias items and clothes she arrived in and extending a hand to direct her to the next area.

After getting dressed, she slotted her usual mods and wallet before being ushered through a full body scan reassuring the guards she was leaving with what she had brought before she stepped through the exit into gray skies and rainfall. Her eyes flicker to life as she checks her account to see endless zeros chasing a nine, replacing the nothing she had when she arrived. Other players stumbled free of the building taking their place on the sidewalk next to Fia and checking their accounts.

Her eyes swept the crowd meticulously, heart racing and stomach sinking as each new face wasn't Keegan.  The force of several Antigrav ports on a group of shuttles attempting to land yanked her attention away. Players rushed the shuttle, quickly passing herby she tried her best to see if anyone was looking for anyone else or if any others lingered.

Still, as time grew on and the crowd thinner, she lost hope and took an empty seat on one of the shuttles. She peered from the window as the shuttles ascended to the gray skies above, colliding against the torrential downpour. She watched the giant white letter reading ASAKA grow tinier as their shuttle headed toward the city.

"o-o-o-Okay, Gamers! You j-j-j-just undertook the Life Plus experience. All of your residential pa-pa-pa-passes have been scanned, and you will be d-d-d-delivered to your hotel's, motel's or ho-ho-ho-holiday inn's [Insert Laugh Track B] strap in and enjoy your ride!" The onboard AI assured the passengers as the shuttle took pace.

  Fia's eyes flicked to life again, a luminescent Turquoise that enveloped most of the iris. A contact list entered Fia's line of sight that she scrolled through, stopping on Niya and selecting call.

A small square replaces the call list with a profile picture of a young woman, seemingly in her late twenties lying in a tub of ice with a deep dive helmet on. It rang for a while before cutting to an answering machine.

"I got the data your client wanted for that fucking nightmare these assholes call a game... Tell your client I will be returning for the launch to help with their heist, but there's something I'd need to steal."