“Can you give me more information on the Techno-Magic Universe? I mean a general overview, planet conditions, races, monsters, gods?”

  “Died?

  “I’ll be assuming someone else’s life?

  “I won’t be dead, will I? Some type of zombie or vampire?”

  “If I am replacing someone, can I make cosmetic changes? Or will how I look completely reflect the person I am becoming? Is my appearance pre-determined?

  “And will I absorb that person’s memories and personal history?”

  “You said there were Gods and Demons, so do I need to worry about them? Will they be able to recognize that I have assumed this person’s life?”

  “You identified this Universe as one of techno-magic, does that mean technology and science are blended with magic and individuals have access to both? Inventions and innovations are able to be implemented and created so that any even the lowest level can use?

  “Would it be possible for me to create and build technology that I am familiar with from Earth?”

  I realized as S-Prime finished answering my question that I was stalling. I’d already decided what realm to choose, but my past life had shown how cruel the nature of man could be. In this place of color and movement, I was safe. Safe from conflict, safe from pain, safe from rejection. But this feeling of safety was transient, I suspected that if I did not choose, a choice would be made for me, and I had had enough of being the victim. For once in my existence, I wanted to chart my destiny.

  Perhaps it was short-sighted not to ask about the other Universes, but the lure of magic was too strong.

  “I choose the realm of techno-magic,” I stated, determined to make my next life as wondrous and different from my past life as possible.

  Blue screens and a drop-down menu of available choices appeared, pages of choices and possible selections became available. I read the number of choices at the top in disbelief, page 1 of 323,847.

  “How many species are there?” I asked, stunned by the number of selections available.

  “There has to be a way to narrow down the list. Can I input search criteria?” I asked.

  “OK. First, list long-lived species, with powerful casting abilities. Species that cost no more than half my current creation points, please.”

  “Filter by factions. List only those that are considered good or neutral. Remove any evil-aligned species if those exist. And remove species that are at war or have been enslaved or subjugated.”

  “Remove species that have environmental restrictions, species that are only capable of breathing water or take harm when exposed to sunlight.”

  “Remove any species that have existing curses, have low populations, minimal infrastructure, or have recently evolved.”

  Satisfied with the list of species remaining, I clicked the prompt to view page 1 of 1. Three species were highlighted.

  I’d played Elves and Draken in a few fantasy MMO’s. Because I felt familiar with their skill-sets, habits, and weaknesses, I believed that I would be successful if I chose those races.

  But to play Sidhe?

  I’d never heard of a game that allowed that race to be explored. What little I knew of these powerful creatures had to do more with novels than games. The Sidhe histories I knew were based on Celtic folklore and mythology. On Earth, they had been considered Gods. Gods of Death, Battle, Light, and Magic.

  The Sidhe had established a pantheon of Gods as powerful as those Gods from the Greek or Norse mythology, and they could, at times, be just as cruel. Mostly, they were known for their love of music and ale, their weakness to iron, and the tricks they played on mortals.

  I wondered why their weakness to iron hadn’t disqualified them when I was sorting. Probably because I had sorted for curses and environmental factors, not genetic weaknesses. It was also possible the weakness to iron was a myth and not a real concern.

  It would have been safer to choose the Royal Elf or Draken, definitely smarter, the entire reason I sorted for long-lived races was that I wanted to postpone my next reincarnation and visit before S-Prime as long as possible.

  Even though I knew. Had experienced definitive proof that death was just the next step in the soul’s evolution, I still had a fear of the unknown. And starting over, losing all my memories terrified me.

  I couldn’t resist, the temptation was too great.

  The chance to experience what true elemental and magical power entailed was something I had always dreamed of. There was no way I would pass up this opportunity.

  Certainly, the functional immortality was a big draw, considering my next reincarnation was probably not going to be result in as many Karmic points as this one had. And the chances to make an informed decision about who and what I would be when I reincarnated was so rare that this might be my only opportunity across all my future reincarnations to make these decisions.

  “I choose Sidhe,” I declared, discarding the safe choices for the lure of the unique.

  Start life all over? Allowing myself to be at the mercy of adults and caregivers?

  No thanks.

  I’d learned the vagaries and dangers of trusting others in my past life. I wanted as much control over my life as possible, and my starting life over as an infant removed that control.

  Still, I had concerns about the ‘soul’ of the individual whose life I would usurp. Fearing the answer, I asked a question that had been bothering me since S-Prime had explained the Ascension process, I knew that S-Prime had claimed the person had already died, but I needed assurance that an innocent person wasn’t being killed so that I could transmigrate.

  “What happens to the person I become?

  “Whose life did I select?

  “Does my choosing their life result in their death, allowing me to take their place?”

  “Do you randomly select individuals to create a pool of choices for me to select from?”

  “So, I am prolonging their life by choosing them if they become my guide?”

  “They will all meet with you like I am doing now?”

  “The goal for life is to earn enough karmic creation points to rise to Universal sub-level 1?”

  “Why factor in karmic debt owed by other's actions then? It seems people with bad luck or treated badly would advance at a much faster rate to sub-level 1.”

  “So those who are abused are rewarded with higher matter/energy conversion points?” I asked in disbelief.

  Honestly, it seemed like circular logic to me. I received higher points because others treated me badly, but it wasn’t the abuse that generated my higher percentage it was how I dealt with the abuse, but if I hadn’t been abused, I wouldn’t have had to deal with those issues so the abuse led to the higher percentage.

  Maybe you had to be a Universal constant or S-Prime to fully understand, but I guess the reason was moot, I certainly wasn’t going to appeal the decision and ask for a lower percentage.

  The discussion had assuaged my mind, I wouldn’t be responsible for killing an individual if I chose an ascended. That person would die no matter what my choice.

  “I choose an ascending Sidhe and the avatar assistant!”