It had been a normal day for Catherine. Wake up, brush teeth, shower, eat breakfast, take her meds, write some code, read, play some of the new ARPG she’d heard was good, talk to her friends on discord. And then in the late afternoon, everything changed.

  She could see text in the air in front of her. She moved her head and the text stayed where it was in her field of view, so it must be somehow being fed to her brain? Or maybe -

  Atmospheric checks? That sounds a bit -

  -... worrying, I hope it doesn’t mean they’re -

  - Oh no.

  And at that moment the earth shook, and shifted underneath her chair, which tipped over. And Cathering watched helplessly from the floor as her prized possesion, her desktop tower - which she had spent so many hours building, customizing, installing programmable LEDs and liquid cooling in, and generally fawning over - took a dive right onto her head, knocking her unconscious and leaving her to bleed out from a head wound.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  -----

  Catherine woke not to the splitting headache she expected but rather to a surprising lack of pain. She didn't feel anything in fact - not even heat or cold or pressure. She couldn’t see much with her desktop on her face but she could tell it was still light out.

  I probably have a concussion, but at least I’m not dead. Hopefully someone will find me and get help.

  And then, shortly after, Catherine saw one more set of messages appear in front of her eyes.

  Well that sounded promising.

  If I get a good one, and this works like a game, maybe I can heal myself, or have the strength to do something useful. This could be the difference between living or dying.

  Lets see what class it will offer me...