Booking it

(Annotated excerpts from the analysis document, containing selections from the employee handbook and commentary by the Lord Prophet.)

People: typically after a test is complete, the artificial world is broken down for spare parts and the people inhabiting it are reincarnated into new worlds, potentially as the same people but frequently not. We have noted that many testers recoil in horror when they learn of this fate that awaits the people they have grown attached to the moment that the test is complete. As such, we have created options to avert this state of affairs.

-1 Tag along: you may take along one individual to serve as a permanent companion in future tests. They will not retain any superhuman abilities and will need to be repurchased (either as themselves or possessing a local/purchased individual) in future tests, but will be the same individual with the same memories and feelings towards you (plus any additional memories appropriate to the new world and potential bleed over from past lives). If you are ever removed from the position of beta tester, your Tagalongs will be kept with you in whatever post you may be placed in later.

Practically speaking, this is expensive for what it gives me. Especially if I need to pay for their body. I’m only keeping someone with this for sentimental reasons. So, Lividia. Maybe someone else if I can figure out the code.

-1 Letter of Recommendation: you may request that up to 5 individuals be promoted to beta testers. This will allow them to preserve their current personalities (though their original personalities from prior lives and precapture are likely to bleed in). If one of these testers meets a milestone in their testing (such as meeting minimum engagement thresholds or gaining Job Security) they will be allowed to send you a message and a gift of their choice (taken from among their own resources and subject to GM approval). They still must earn their keep, of course; this is cheaper per person than tagalong only because a tester is more profitable to the company.

Probably my best bet for anything altruistic. A postcard and a fruit basket isn’t much for me, but I'm not choosing this for selfish reasons now would I? That said, I imagine Vanessa would give some interesting care packages.

-2 Meeting Ground- You will gain a special company space known as a Meeting Ground. You may enter this space with up to 3 companions for 1 hour per day by default, during which time will stop in your current world. Any other Testers you are on friendly terms with may purchase or earn a Green Orb for 5 credits, which will allow them to come to this meeting place once per week for one hour, which will always overlap perfectly with anyone else they hoped to meet with. They may purchase or earn the orb a second time for 20 credits to upgrade to once per day. Testers in this space may exchange items, assets, companions, and credits, but all trades must be perceived to be even in value. Similarly they may make wagers or engage in PVP bouts, but only if both sides intend to genuinely compete; throwing a match to bypass the rules on trading will be punished. The space will be initially barren but will be upgraded each time someone purchases a green orb, adding amenities like food, showers, and allowing Testers to “save” time to allow for longer but more infrequent visits.

Planeswalking marketplace? The buy in and restrictions make this a little more shaky, but lots of settings have really common items that would be insanely valuable elsewhere. What JRPG protagonist isn’t running around with pockets full of extremely effective and fast acting medicine?

Potential power ceiling is very high, so what is the minimum? Staying in touch with people I know and having a 1 hour time out once per day that could be upgraded to include food and creature comforts. That’s… probably worth 2 credits if the restrictions are even vaguely reasonable.

-3 Family Business- All descendants you may have in any timeline will be automatically promoted to beta testers at the end of testing. This does not apply to children they may have in their own tests; they will need to purchase this upgrade themselves for that.

Fuck I’m glad I didn’t have an impregnation fetish. I don’t think I’ll ever have enough kids to justify this except as a luxury or future proofing.

-4 Death Will Not Part- Any lovers that you grow sufficiently attached to will automatically be added to your account as Tagalongs. As a benchmark, this applies to anyone that you would be able to maintain an emotionally fulfilling relationship with (for you) for a minimum of 5 years given the chance. Should you not have any such individuals, this will instead grant one free instance of Tagalong or Letter of Recommendation at the end of a testing period.

Trap option. Requires that I have a very large harem of very close lovers to get substantial value. I’m sure some people have the mindset for that, but I’d probably end up getting the booby prize as often as not. Seems like I’m a “one-girl, lots of side fun” kind of guy. Plus the description for job security implies I could end up promoted in only 5 tests if I do well. Long term investment with no up front benefit. Next.

-5 West World- We must make money somehow. You may sponsor a world you are leaving in order to make it into one of our many public showcase parks. The setting will be worked into a resetting time loop in which interesting world events are always happening, and you may come back to visit your friends at any time. They will be unaware of their time loop, but they will recognize you. (This option is up for review as many testers have claimed that this was “consigning their friends to an endless purgatory.” Mortal minds are terribly rigid in some ways.)

I’m with the many testers on this one. Yeesh.

Training Wheels- by default you will start with whatever your avatar happens to own, which is unlikely to be much. You may sweeten the pot, giving you more to work with at this critical point in any test. These upgrades, like all others, are persistent and will apply to all future tests as recurring boosts.

-1 Care package- You will start any test with a collection of useful but unremarkable items priced at the local equivalent of 500 US dollars. Depending on your starting environment’s needs this may include rations, a weapon, armor, medicine, a cell phone, fashionable clothes, durable shoes, or a small amount spending money. In addition you will start with one minor company asset.

Basic protection from bad luck, then? I don’t know enough about what I might be expected to do to know if this is worth the trouble. If I’m in a zombie apocalypse cold open, having a full hiking backpack would be really nice, but I think I’ll risk it. Almost any binding I’m aware of could let me couch surf within a few days, tops. I just have to have faith in the company not throwing me naked into a situation where I’m likely to die of exposure, I guess. That would seem like poor game design on their part.

-2 Silver Spoon- You will be exceptionally lucky at the beginning of any Test. Meeting valuable allies, finding useful or expensive treasure, appearing in a relatively safe place, or having your life/autonomy saved by deus ex machina once are all common manifestations of this perk. The benefits of this perk rapidly diminish, with a duration ranging from 10 minutes to one week depending on how long the “primary narrative” of the setting is intended to take.

Good early momentum. I especially like the potential deus ex machina letting me be a little more reckless. Do I need it though? These are all intended as entertainment products, and they have control over everything from my situation to my physical abilities and skill set. Are these worlds balanced around pay to win? Fuck it. I’ll spend my credits on the assumption that the base game is supposed to be fun.

-3 Well prepared- you will start any test with the local equivalent of 5,000 US dollars worth of legally obtained useful items. This may include fine adventuring gear, a modest vehicle or pack animal, specialized magical or technological tools, and anything you might find in the Care Package upgrade. In addition you will receive one random moderate company asset.

Moderate assets? That’s stuff like one off bindings, reward for service, and a greater temptress bell. Seems overpriced though.

-3 First Girl Wins - a more focused and longer lasting version of Silver Spoon. One of the first people you encounter will be an attractive person of your preferred gender who has the skills and resources to thrive in this world, especially with your assistance. He or she will be incredibly easy to impress by you and only you. Basic human decency will provoke eternal unconditional love, general competency will earn deep respect, etc. You can still plausibly alienate him or her, but typically only through a sustained campaign of abuse or an utter perversion of their moral principles. Alternatively, one of your Tagalongs could possess a local with the relevant skillset/resources for free and join up with you early on.

Ahh. So this is where power fantasy isekai protagonists shop. Alternatively, it’s like that one free five star character you get in Gacha games. One high quality practically free anchor waifu, either new or as a free body for Lividia? Nice. Only problem. I kinda like being the hero? I’m not at all upset about having strong women around me, but I don’t want to encode reliance on an out of my league woman for every future reincarnation. Setting it aside for later, maybe.

-5 Fortunate Son- you will always start with a privileged position that carries with it power, agency, and at least a modicum of stability. You may be independently wealthy, a favored position in a well established criminal organization, nobility, or a religious leader, as a set of easy examples. This will come with responsibilities and behaviors you must perform in order to maintain your status, though you will always receive a skill package to ensure baseline competence. If you perform your duties adequately you will always be at least relatively well off; even in the event of total societal collapse you will have some assets and connections to draw upon.

Massively, massively overpriced. Basically an alternate game mode with extra demands on my time and energy for an admittedly nice payoff. Also a chance of putting me in a position where I’m not aligned with my organization. If I’m in Warhammer 40K do I really want to start out in a Cult of Tzeentch, even a fairly successful and well hidden one? Power *with unpredictable baggage* is not worth 5 souls.

-5 Prepper- you will start with the local equivalent of 50,000 US dollars of no-strings locally sourced items. This may include high quality equipment, cutting edge technology, moderately powerful magic items, or a top tier net deck for a children’s card game. In addition, you will receive one random Major company asset.

Great! Way too expensive to seriously consider! Yes, getting a Skitterer or a Pen of Written Ownership would be fantastic right at the start, as would getting fully kitted out from the word go. It would probably destroy whatever balance point The Company had in mind, and if they ramped up the difficulty to compensate I wouldn’t have much to counter with. Alternatively, I might get complacent.

Fine Tuning- our experienced testers can afford to be picky. You may make requests for certain changes to be made, or certain options to not be presented to you.

-1 reality alignment- you may alter reality in a way that does not make life easier for you, but which may make it more enjoyable. (Undead girls are attractive and enjoy sex, Mermen are futas, C-cup breasts are the smallest a mature woman can have, etc.) This change will apply to all future settings you find yourself in, if it is applicable.

Is it weird that this is the most appealing so far? I want a fair challenge with lots of hot women. I don’t really want to trivialize the experience. Well, no, I want to trivialize the experience but I want to do it by being a clever asshole and breaking the game over my knee using resources included in the test itself. Making every zombie into a hot girl was kinda fun. Making tauren into muscle mommies was kinda fun. If I can figure out a way to afford this with a clear conscience, I’m spending my credits here.

-1 Hard no- you may select a trait which you will not be required to engage with in future beta tests. For example, no horror settings, no slavery (setting wide or limited to you), no PvP, etc.

I don’t really want to be blindsided by PVP to be honest. That kinda sucked. Is it hypocritical to wax poetic about challenges and then want to make sure I never face someone with the same tools as me? Probably. Still true. Not facing another Nefarian is higher priority than sexy zombies, lower priority than getting my best and brightest out intact.

Anything else… I mean, I don’t particularly want to end up in a Junji Ito manga, but hopefully the company wouldn’t be dumb enough to place testers into environments they wouldn’t enjoy on some level, right? I wouldn’t engage with the work in the intended manner, all my insights would boil down to not liking the genre. That would just be bad testing. By the Light, I hope I’m right.

-2 Opt In- We test a nearly infinite number of variations of a near infinite number of settings. You may request that certain traits are in all settings you find yourself in. Examples include RPG style leveling, attractive women, PVP opportunities, and safe settlements to rest and relax in.

The existence of this option, and the price tag on it, makes me question my assumptions. Seriously, are they honestly just testing by throwing people randomly into worlds with no consideration for what they want unless they pay in souls to express their opinion? Fuck it. If they screw me over in my next test I have job security. I have at least two tries before I’m in any danger of losing my job and identity. Man I hope I’m not crushed by existential dread the moment I lose stress defense.

-2 Social Engineering- You may adjust demographics in a way that will actively alter social dynamics within reasonable parameters. This may make things easier for you, but only indirectly. Some examples include 3 women to every man, polyamory is standard, women can’t get pregnant unless they want to, or elves are notoriously slutty.

Not gonna lie. Being outnumbered by women does have some appeal, especially if they are hot. I’m still possessive enough to not want polyamory as the default; I don’t want to have to specifically explain my preferences on that front to every girl I don’t want to share. It’s pretty easy to institute that rule myself if I get a big enough harem to not care anymore.

-3 Artist’s thinly veiled fetish- the trappings of a certain concept become commonplace and are fully internalized and justified by in universe retcons. Examples include a strict power dynamic between the sexes, nobody ever needs to wear shoes, sentient human-passing robot slaves are commercially available without any ethical baggage, or a proliferation of mind control based technology or magic. Despite the name, this concept does not need to be sexual in nature. Usually is, though.

Mind control for everyone, but mostly for me! Ok. On the surface that seems very abusable for love confessions and the like, but I don’t have any guarantee that I’ll have mind defense. Hypocritical? Why yes. I don’t want a fair fight when it comes to brainwashing and I don’t mind saying it. Putting this one on the back burner for if I ever get something to safeguard my brain in all circumstances.

-4 Veils are for Chumps- as above, but the concept is core to the setting and touches nearly all aspects of life. Examples include the economy revolving around small groups of adventurers, rape functionally not existing because it’s incredibly rare that someone would ever reject a sexual invitation, spiking someone’s drink with love potion as a socially acceptable way to start a relationship, or literally everyone being free loving pansexual nymphomaniacs.

I don’t need everyone fucking everyone. I need everyone I want fucking me.

Power Ups- typically a bit less potent than a big starting boost, these will provide a sustained boost that will make your entire journey a bit easier.

-1 Professional- you will start any test with a master level understanding of a single relevant trade skill. This will either be an in demand career option (in a peaceful setting where settling down and getting a job is a viable option) or something which provides immediately applicable skills (such as being an engineer on a monster infested space ship).

Not… bad. I’m pretty sure this is an instant promotion to tier 2 specialized in a non-combat role. Given that most of my life is not combat, that could be really good. Good fallback position, flexible to provide benefits when . Mid grade value. Worth serious consideration if nothing else takes precedence.

-2 polymath- instantly gain skills sufficient to push you into the low end of tier 2 in every imaginable field of expertise. Modest skill with every weapon imaginable, general identification of edible and poisonous plants, tricks to navigate in the woods without getting too lost, basic communication in any language, etc. You will pale in comparison to a specialist but you will never be at a total loss.

Being ok at everything is nice, but only if you aren’t prepared for whatever you are doing. Much better to actually pick up the right tools for the job. Spending resources on loss prevention instead of something more proactive is not my idea of a good investment, but still might be worth looking into if I get my ass handed to me in the future.

-3 Wand, Sword, Brush- you will start out as a skilled practitioner of a local magic system (including any needed tools or resources). Your starting level of skill will put you in the 60th percentile among professional practitioners; better than average but inferior to the very best. Should this world lack a magic system, you will instead be skilled in whatever fighting style best fits your identity. Should this setting/part of the setting generally eschew violence, you will be skilled in whatever is typically used by locals to resolve conflicts or establish dominance, such as cooking, business acumen, spycraft, or children’s card games.

Or I could capture/possess someone who is slightly above average. I’m not afraid of training montages. Sure it’s good, I’d take it over First Girl Wins, but is it worth 3 souls? Fuuuuuck no.

-4 Chosen One- you will have a unique or super rare skill appropriate to your testing environment. Possession does not imply mastery (see the prior perk for that), but you will have a substantial edge over anyone who doesn’t have such an ability, assuming otherwise equal skill levels. The inherent or social drawbacks of such an ability, if they exist, will be blunted to manageable levels.

Way too vague and way too variable. Yes, getting the Sharingan would be great if I find myself in the Naruto world, but this could be anything. Also, blunted drawbacks do not mean “no drawbacks.” I’d consider it for 2. For 4? Fuck off Company.

-5 Echoes of Arcana- you may take along a form of magic from any setting you have formerly been to, and both you and your Tagalongs will retain the capacity to use them, though typically only as self taught amateurs operating off of half remembered theory. You will also permanently unlock practitioners of this style of magic for purchase, substitution, power swap, and template stacking, allowing you to spend credits to master this style of magic.

Uuuuuugh. This is an all in option. Picking up Light magic and dropping 20 credits on giving Lividia a Sally Whitemane template would be unfathomably good in any test where I can get my hands on 20 credits. Resurrection and some heavy firepower could serve as an anchor point for almost any strategy. Being able to clean bandages, patch up scrapes, and smite would also go a long way early in the test. It’s so damn expensive though, and might end up making my lives get repetitive. Put a pin in this one.

-x Metaboost- You may purchase anything in the catalog as a permanent upgrade. It will be added to your build free of charge at the beginning of any future beta tests. Cost in reward points is equal to credit cost in the catalog. Bindings cost a minimum of 10 reward points and are mutually exclusive with any other binding. Companions can not be purchased in this way, though you may purchase capture coupons allowing the purchase of setting approved waifus (if you desire to maintain a consistent companion, this pairs well with Tagalong)

I couldn’t guarantee access to a binding if I wanted to, and I don’t know if I need to. Being absolute god king is already getting a bit boring any time I can’t find a project to work on. Basically everything else is too expensive. Is Body Tune Up worth as much as Echoes of Arcana? Is Everlasting talent worth as much as First Girl Wins, Professional, Sexy undead, and Prepper combined? Fuck no. Maybe soul or martial talent would be worth it for the growth potential, but 10 credits is well outside of my budget.

Other- a grab bag of additional options

-1 Origin Discount- gain a 1 credit discount on Origins. You and all members of your retinue will get a budget of 1 credit each to spend on their starter body. This is enough to create a generic “local” body, possess a tier 1 waifu from the catalog, or be put towards a stronger option, like possessing a tier 2+ waifu. Unused credits vanish at the start of testing.

Effectively two free credits at the start of a test. Two. More if I pick up more Tagalongs than Lividia, sure, but that’s just not that much. It’ll be an auto-pick if I get a bigger permanent retinue in the future but I’ll pass for now.

-3 Job security- you may trade 3 company credits for 1 point of Job Security, which can be traded in to maintain your status as a tester after an unsatisfactory test or saved. At certain points of Job security you qualify for promotion.

There were many other options that got much more expensive very quickly, like a 20 credit personal pocket plane that persisted between tests, essentially acting as a permanent pocket apartment with added bells and whistles. It could be upgraded with various added functions, such as being integrated with the Meeting Space upgrade, serving as an accessible afterlife to meet with dead retinue members, various cheap upgrades to make it more comfortable, and many far more expensive upgrades to make it even bigger. At the upper end, costing nearly 3000 credits in total, you could have a whole solar system to yourself with functioning ecosystems full of animals and even people, if you paid the souls for it.

Apparently animal souls weren’t considered equal in value to sapients; too narrow in focus. Most divine beings didn’t value them much, so the company could get them for practically nothing. The units I created with my buildings (instead of training existing people) had animal souls; they had a set of instincts, knowledge, and skills imprinted on them and could learn more, but quickly became distressed if asked to get too far out of character. More flexible than you might think, but less than you might hope. That’s stuff you only get with seniority and better paid positions.

Drawbacks: these drawbacks only last for one test and come with a permanent payout.

+1: Harder Daddy- You will have some kind of handicap or persistent enemy from the word go. If you deal with it to the point where you can reliably go 24 hours without worrying about it, a new one will be introduced.

That sounds… a bit nightmarish. Very unpleasant. I mean sure, I wouldn’t get bored, but… no. I don’t want the rules to actively change to fuck me over.

+1: Are We The Baddies? - You will be forced into the role of a villain. Your bindings will have a corruption component that makes your captured girls become more evil. You will have difficulties working with anyone in good faith. This is an intrinsically PVP based drawback; you are not required to lose, but you must be reactive in relation to the designated hero, only ever pursuing them in methods they could plausibly counter.

This isn’t the worst idea. It has some appeal. Playing a bit of cat and mouse sounds fun and I’m pretty sure Lividia is already evil. I’m not a huge fan of PVP but I could get over it. Pin this one in case I really need an extra credit.

+1 Fix Fic- One of our early sponsors wants a version of a setting carefully calibrated to their specifications. A lot of the time these requests are reasonable, like melding the book and movie versions of something together. Reasonable requests are not worth a company credit

The implications of that last sentence scare me.

+1 No Homo- Erich is only capable of capturing people that he could reasonably want to have sex with. Lures, bindings, and targeted company assets have no effect on individuals that Erich does not see as potential lovers in their current form. This has strong synergy with upgrades that alter the world to make everyone more fuckable by Erich’s standards.

On the one hand, brainwashing hot girls into my love slaves/minions is the best use of any binding. On the other hand, not being able to capture dudes, animals, monsters, or ugly people really limits my tactical options whenever I’m not thinking with my dick. Even relatively horny plans; how much harder would capturing Sylvanas have been without Nathanos? Or Abby. Just. In general.

+2 Limited Selection- Erich has a relatively narrow “type,” which all of his retinue must fit into. Some examples: Only bestial species, only elves, only warlocks, or only people he has personally defeated in single combat.

+2 credits is pretty nice. Not knowing what the limitation is is not. I wouldn’t really hate getting saddled with “elves only” or even the single combat thing, but what if I ended up in final fantasy 14, surrounded by Viera, and could only capture Lalafell? I get they only LOOK like kids but I’m not into lolis!

+3 F2P- you get no binding, no defenses, no talents, no shop, no system. In addition, members of your retinue are in no way compelled to love or obey you. Tagalongs will still feel the same way they do now, but nothing will keep them that way if you piss them off.

Brutal. The worst thing is that I don’t know how they choose testing environments. If I knew I was going to Stardew Valley world I could take this and just be a farmer for my mortal lifespan. Chill. Come out the other end with 3 credits. Alternatively I could use the three credits to buy one instance of Job security. Do bitch work, get shit pay, but they basically couldn’t fire me. Keeping that option in the back pocket.