POV: Wren

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The world has made an unexpected discovery one winter morning in early December of 2023, a technological advancement no one had ever really conceived possible. An announcement of a new company had news stations scrambling to get as much info as they could out about it. A company named Life as Fiction announced they would be launching their new technology. Tech that could bring to life any fictional character in this world, the real world. The only limit was for every fictional character there could only be one real life version of them in existence, leading to an extreme exclusivity of ownership to that character. They were a company trying to get as much money as they could from their tech, luckily copyright laws let the creators of the characters some control of who received the real life version of their character.

Many companies wanted in on that exclusivity, so many characters were bought with large sums of money by the most wealthy of the population in a very sort time-span. Having the real life version of the character was starting to become a status symbol, and having more than one gave even more status. But there was other companies that refused to make money off of what would be considered real people after they were brought to life with this technology. One of these companies was Larian Studios. They chose to have some form of contest for who would be the caretakers of their characters, they wanted people who would respect autonomy to be receiving the technical ownership of these characters.

This is where I come in. The lists of forms I had to fill out, and interview processes they had was fairly intensive, but it was a process I felt was needed. My views aligned with Larian's in the fact that I knew these characters would be real people who wouldn't want to be owned. They needed a friend, a guide, in their new world they were forced to live in. And after the connection that I, and many others, had felt towards the character Astarion, I wanted to be that friend to him in this new world. So I buckled down and filled out the forms.

Just one of the many questions I had to fill out was "Why do you want to be the one that receives this character?" But the answers came to me easily, my empathy towards any character in general was seeping into my answers added to the way that I felt I knew him. After playing Baldur's Gate 3 for hours on end, getting to know him more every time I replayed the game, it was like he was already real to me even if I had never actually met him. So I typed out my response.

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Why do you want to be the one that receives this character? He is not just a character to me. I know that Astarion would not wish to be in a life where his existence is owned by another. If he would be put into my care I would fully sign away my ownership to him so he would only belong to himself and none other. I wish to become his friend, but the only thing I truly want is for him to have his full freedom and be able to live his life as he pleases. Even if that life would have nothing to do with me.

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Other questions included things such as what is the housing arrangement like, do you work full time, how would a stipend for his care help you, and a wide variety of personality questionnaires. I worked solidly for about 4-5 days on all the paperwork and phone interviews slowing working up the ranks. It seemed the more paperwork I was filling out, the closer I was getting to actually being the one who received Astarion himself in my life. It was unreal to think about. The discord server I was in lent me realization at how far I had come in this process, many other fans were doing the same process, but they hadn't had to fill out half the forms I had or spend nearly as much time on everything. Maybe I did have a chance, that could bring me a renewed sense of vigor for life, maybe

I was a rare type of candidate for getting a character, I didn't really have a full time job that kept me away from the house. I was a videogame streamer, small time, but enough to keep me afloat. The place you lived in was nice, but only enough room for about 2 people. There was a living room and kitchen space, with an extra bedroom I have been using for streaming. After recently graduating college, I hadn't needed to start working a typical job because of my streaming. If it wasn't for having great friends, I wouldn't get out nearly as much, not that I go out much as it is. All of this together meant I had the time to help someone settle into a new world without it affecting my job or life poorly. A sad thought, but helpful for this particular situation.

After the busyness of the last few days, I found myself thinking back on all that I had done, letting my mind wander over the situation with little direction. This was the first time I hadn't been fully preoccupied by this whole situation in days, besides when I slept that is. I hadn't let myself think that I would "win" the competition per say, I was hopeful, but the nagging feeling that I would never be the one picked sat heavy in my gut. The doubt was eating at me now that I was not preoccupied with various tasks of the process. But just as I had started to spiral into these thoughts...

*Bzzzzz bzzzzz bzzzzz* My phone started to ring with an incoming phone call, one I wasn't particularly expecting. I picked it up after a few seconds where I readied myself to answer, regrouping my mind after its wandering.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Wren speaking?"

"Yes, this is her." A small amount of confusion toned my voice.

"This is Larian calling, we would like to fly you here as soon as possible. You are the one we have chosen to be the caretaker of Astarion."