It was 3:07 a.m. Quinn lay on her back, staring up at the shadowy ceiling. Sleep had, it seemed, found better company elsewhere.

  A miserable blend of anger and self-pity twisted in her stomach. It felt as enjoyable as taking a cold shower in winter, which was an experience she was painfully familiar with.

  The news that she had to participate in all six rounds was a problem. A large, fat, ugly, thoroughly unwelcome problem. Aside from how she could possibly survive that long, she had told her sister they’d only be separated a couple of months. Now she was just one more adult in Sophie’s life running around breaking promises.

  Turning her face sideways on the pillow, Quinn stared at the blank wall for a long time. She knew she shouldn’t be throwing herself a pity party, which accomplished nothing aside from creating more uncomfortable feelings she’d rather not have.

  Reaching into her pocket, her hand found the coin Silas had given her. She gripped it hard and closed her eyes, concentrating on the cool metal in her palm. She blocked out her thoughts, repeating the phrase etched into the coin as she took slow, deliberate breaths: Play to Win.

  Quinn swung her legs over the side of the bed and wiped her face with the back of her hand. No more lousy parties today.

  For the next several hours, she replayed everything from orientation while stretching on the floor. Anxiety still churned in the pit of her stomach, but by the time breakfast came, she felt steady and determined. Choosing a character archetype seemed important, and she wanted as much time as possible to think it through. So, after quickly eating, she climbed into the VR pod to start the tutorial early.

  The lights blinked smoothly on when she closed the lid, and the small metal disk attached to her temple. This time, she wasn’t startled when she heard the cool, female voice speak into her mind.

  “Good morning, player Quinn Wexley. Welcome to season forty of Eterna. You will now be transferred to the tutorial, where you will be introduced to the user interface, core mechanics, and character archetypes. Currently, you have three hours and fifty-two minutes to complete the tutorial. Upon completion, you will be loaded directly into the game and synchronized to the global start time. Would you like to proceed?”

  “Yes,” Quinn said nervously.

  “Confirmation received. Beginning initialization.”

  All sensation melted away like someone was turning down sliders on a control panel. Quinn barely had time to register that she was really doing this before the simulation materialized.

  Looking around, she saw she was standing in a dimly lit room, bare except for a large holo display hovering in front of her.

  “Welcome, player Quinn Wexley, to the tutorial,” said a voice behind her.

  Quinn jumped and spun around. A woman in long, flowing white robes was standing there, her hands tucked serenely into her sleeves.

  “My name is Ava,” she said. “I am your assigned AI tutorial assistant.”

  “Jesus, lady,” Quinn said, clutching her chest. “You know, people get stabbed for less where I’m from.”

  “Knives are not included as part of this tutorial.”

  “Of course they aren’t,” Quinn said dryly, “Fun costs extra, does it? Well then, if you’re done being super creepy, I’m ready.”

  Ava inclined her head and floated toward the display, her robes gently rippling out behind her as if moved by a breeze. “We will begin with an overview of Eterna’s user interface,” she said as a menu appeared on the holo. “You may access it at any time by initiating the thought. The interface is intent-based and functions similarly to muscle movement. Please close the menu now.”

  Quinn stared at her, momentarily taken aback at being asked to do something so soon. Then, she focused and imagined the menu was an extension of herself. She pulled inwards, and to her utter astonishment, it blinked off.

  “Good. Now, open it again.”

  Using the same mental gesture, she pushed outwards and grinned as the menu reappeared.

  “Excellent,” Ava said. “Performance improves with repetition. The menu consists of several tabs, each with a unique function. You may navigate by mentally swiping left or right. Please try now.”

  Quinn flipped forwards and backwards through the menu and found it to be just as natural as opening and closing it.

  “Very good. We will now review each section, starting with your map.”

  The holo shifted, displaying a screen labeled Map in loopy cursive. The map itself showed nothing except for a single blue dot in the center, the edges fading into indistinct gray.

  “Eterna utilizes a fog-of-war system,” Ava explained, “which means the map only reveals locations you have previously visited. Dots symbolize other participants, NPCs, or creatures. You are represented as a blue dot. Teammates are green. Additional colors are listed in the legend for your reference.”

  “Makes sense,” Quinn mused. So far, it was very similar to Dominion.

  “You may only view the position of other participants who choose to share that information. Locations of NPCs and creatures become available once you acquire their lore.”

  Ava unfolded her hands from her sleeves and gestured lightly. The menu shifted to the next tab, labeled Lore. It was empty.

  “Here is where all discovered game data will be stored. Creature entries unlock upon defeating them. NPC lore populates as you obtain information or build trust, through conversation or quests, for example.”

  She gestured again. “This is the inventory tab, where you store everything you collect. You may expand your inventory capacity by purchasing upgrades. Next is your crafting menu. To craft most items, you must first research them. Once you do, the recipe will appear in this menu.”

  “How do I research something?” Quinn asked.

  “Research stations are located throughout the world,” Ava said. “You may also purchase a personal research module through the upgrades tab.”

  “Seems like there are lot of upgrades. How do I actually get them?”

  “Upgrades are purchased here through in-game money,” Ava said as she opened the corresponding menu tab. “Eterna’s currency is gold, which you can earn through a variety of ways. The easiest way of course would have been to add funds to your account before entering the game.”

  “Of course it was! How silly of me,” Quinn said sarcastically. “Fucking lovely.”

  “If not, you may obtain gold through different means as you progress,” Ava said. “We only have a couple more sections to go over before picking your archetype. Are you ready to continue?”

  Quinn nodded sullenly and Ava pulled up the Quests / Achievements tab.

  “NPCs will occasionally give you quests. They show up here as well as any achievements you gain. And finally,” she said, “we have your journal tab, where you can keep notes. Everything you write is private unless you chose to share.”

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  Ava turned to face her. “Do you have any questions before we proceed to character archetype selection?”

  “No,” Quinn said, straightening. “I’m ready.”

  “Excellent,” she said, pulling up a new tab labeled Character. A sizeable sphere dominated the display, which rotated slowly as Quinn watched it. There were a few words on its surface, though she couldn’t quite make them out. Beside it sat a table with Level: 0 at the top. Underneath were her stat categories: Power, Mobility, Fortitude, Instinct, Intelligence, and Influence.

  “As you progress, you will gain experience which will increase your level. You may spend your level point doing two things: improving a stat category as well as expanding your ability tree,” Ava explained, gesturing to the sphere. “You my use your hands to zoom in and out of the tree.”

  Demonstrating, she spread her hands and the display zoomed in on the sphere. She drew them back together causing it to zoom out again.

  “This is the new character archetype system that Eterna has been developing for some time. It is designed to be well-balanced and fully customizable to each participant.”

  Quinn mirrored her and zoomed in on the sphere. Up close, it was mostly blank with faint lines crisscrossing its surface like fractured glass. She rotated it slowly until she spotted a word, Faith.

  “Zoom out and rotate it 180 degrees,” Ava instructed. Quinn did so, revealing the word Logic on the opposite side.

  “There are twelve different character archetypes to choose from,” Ava explained, “which are grouped into six pairs of two. What you just found is the Faith / Logic pair. Each pair shares a thematic foundation but represent opposing approaches to gameplay. Selecting an archetype aligns you with one half of the pair and places your point on the sphere at the position directly opposite its counterpart. As a result, it becomes extremely unlikely you will expand your tree far enough to reach the archetype on the other side.”

  “Very cool,” Quinn said excitedly. “I see how that works. But what do you mean about expanding?”

  “Good question. Selecting your starting archetype will reveal the abilities immediately surrounding that point on the sphere,” Ava said. “Nodes adjacent to your position will always be visible. As you spend points, the tree expands outward along connected paths. You may only unlock abilities that are directly linked to your current progression path.”

  “Okay…that makes sense. I think I get it,” Quinn said. “Seems a bit risky, though. Kinda feels like picking a roommate without first checking if they store human body parts in the fridge. You know, for snacks.”

  Ava tilted her head, studying her. “I am not entirely sure I understand your meaning.”

  “Oh, I’m entirely sure you do, creepy lady,” Quinn said brightly, rocking back on her heels. “But my point is that without knowing what abilities I could get, the choice feels a little blind.”

  “The system is complex and can easily become overwhelming. By limiting available information, we aim to guide participants toward more focused decisions and reduce unnecessary noise.”

  “Yeah, I get that. Just choosing between twelve options right now feels like too much,” Quinn said, eyeing the sphere warily. “But sure, let’s do it. What are all the pairs?”

  “You already know about Faith / Logic. The five remaining pairs are Deceit / Truth, Artisanal / Machine, Mind / Kinetic, Chaos / Order, and Vitality / Decay,” Ava explained. “Each archetype sits on the sphere beside others it shares some degree of similarity with. For example, Truth’s neighbors are Logic, Machine, and Order. This matters because as you expand your tree, you naturally move toward whichever archetype lies closest to your path. The farther you grow in a particular direction, the more your abilities begin to blend with the strengths of the archetype you are approaching. In other words, your neighbors shape the path you develop.”

  Quinn rotated the sphere with her hands and saw exactly what Ava meant. This was going to be a tough decision. She was suddenly very glad she’d given herself extra time to think this through.

  “If you are ready to deliberate, I can help guide you,” Ava said. “My recommendation is to consider how you naturally act, react, and survive. Leaning into your inherent strengths will provide the highest chance of success.”

  Quinn didn’t feel like she had many talents, unless provoking people counted as a skill. Scowling, she thought of the compliance officer who’d tried to attack her. Then she remembered the satisfying crunch his nose made as it broke and smiled wickedly.

  “Well, I’m pretty good at pissing people off,” she said. “Just ask dear ol’ Dad.”

  “What an unusual skill,” Ava said tranquilly. “However, one archetype does align with creating disruption, which would be Chaos.”

  “I was only joking,” Quinn said quickly. “Kinda. Chaos does sound like what I generally find myself in, but I usually try not to be noticed if I can help it. Running around causing unseen mayhem is more my style.”

  “Then you may prefer Deceit,” Ava said. “Its abilities center around stealth, infiltration and concealment. As you can see on the tree, its neighbor is Chaos. Choosing it would allow your progression to blend both styles over time, if you wish.”

  Quinn rotated the sphere and spotted them. The other adjacent archetypes were Artisanal and Faith.

  “What about those?” she asked, pointing.

  “Artisanal focuses on craftsmanship, innovation and resourcefulness,” Ava explained. “Participants aligned with this archetype excel at building and extracting maximum use from limited materials. Their strength lies in ingenuity.”

  “Hmmm,” Quinn said thoughtfully, tilting her head. “I do like building things. It’s relaxing. Unlike people trying to fuck up my day, which I find…less relaxing. What about Faith?”

  “Faith emphasizes adherence, devotion and absolute conviction. Faith participants channel power through belief, be it deity or ideological. Many of its abilities center around healing.”

  “Acts of obedience?” Quinn snorted a laugh. “I’m highly allergic, tend to break out in exploding hives.”

  “That sounds painful,” Ava said neutrally.

  “Most assuredly,” Quinn muttered. “So Faith is a no-go. Tell me about the others.”

  Ava explained the remaining archetypes one by one, rotating the sphere as she talked. Quinn listened carefully. She knew she had to consider an archetype’s placement on the tree, since its neighbors would shape her progression just as strongly.

  It took over an hour of turning the sphere and analyzing every position before she finally came to a decision. Deceit felt most like her. And its neighbor was Artisanal, which aligned with her kindling desire to be creative.

  “I’ve made my choice,” Quinn said at last, squaring her shoulders. “I want to pick Deceit.”

  “Are you sure?” Ava asked serenely. “Once you decide, you cannot take it back.”

  “I’m sure,” she said, trying to sound confident.

  Ava lifted her hand, spinning the sphere to center on Deceit. It glowed brightly and all at once the surrounding nodes populated with words. The stat table shifted too, now showing her at level one with several points in each category.

  Quinn’s senses spiked. The room seemed to sharpen like it had been polished, her heartbeat thumping louder. A sickening lurch rolled through her stomach.

  “You begin with twenty stat points,” Ava was saying from the end of a long tunnel. “They are automatically distributed at level one according to your chosen archetype.”

  “I feel really weird,” Quinn muttered, resisting the urge to vomit on her shoes.

  “Gaining twenty stat points at once is not a common occurrence,” Ava said. “Future changes will feel more subtle. Would you like a moment before picking your ability?”

  “No,” Quinn said, squeezing her eyes shut and forcing the nausea back down. “I’m fine.”

  Quinn squinted at her stat points. Her highest stat was instinct with six points, followed closely by mobility with five. Power was her lowest with only one point. Fortitude and influence each had two, and intelligence had four.

  Ava zoomed in on Deceit, revealing six abilities arranged in a ring, each branching toward a neighboring archetype. Quinn scrolled through them while Ava went over the details. The abilities were: Sleight of Hand, Misdirect, Shadow Step, Eavesdrop, Unwavering Lie, and Mask.

  “That’s a lot to choose from,” Quinn said.

  “Yes,” Ava replied. “I recommend choosing an ability that moves you toward a secondary archetype you may wish to develop.”

  It was a good suggestion. Quinn could see the two abilities leading her towards Artisanal were Shadow Step and Eavesdrop. Moving unseen seemed universally useful going into an unknown situation, especially with her power stat so low. The less attention she got, the better. Eavesdrop, on the other hand, felt more situational. She brought up Shadow Step and read the description.

  “Yeah, that one. Shadow Step,” she said confidently.

  “Excellent.” Ava unlocked it and turned to face Quinn, slipping her hands neatly back into her sleeves. “That concludes the tutorial. Do you have any further questions before you join the game?”

  “Just one,” Quinn said nervously. “How important are sponsors, and how do I get them?”

  “Sponsors are not covered in this tutorial,” Ava said. “However, my understanding is that sponsors prefer contestants who are memorable. High-risk behavior seems to correlate strongly with sponsorship interest. You will learn more on that subject as you progress. Do you have any questions about the material we have reviewed?”

  “No,” said Quinn. “I don’t think so.”

  “Good. I will now I load you into the game. You will be synchronized to the global start time and placed in a safe zone. Stay safe, Quinn Wexley. And good luck.”

  With those final words, the simulation dissolved around her.