I had a log and apparently it was auto updating. At least something here is similar to the VRMMOs that I had played in the past. Question was how could I access it. I flopped into my “Captain’s Chair” and stared at the wall straining my eyes to see any hud buttons that I might have missed. But there were none. For that matter there was no game interface anywhere in my vision.

How was I going to check my missions or stats? And for that matter how was I supposed to logout of this game? Did that need to be done from the outside? Was I trapped here? Then a thought struck me.

“Interface” I commanded.

Promptly my vision filled with an amber glow. Several Icons glowed on the left side. As I focused my eyes on them context menus popped out and informed me of the icon’s purpose. Character, Inventory, Ship, Log and several more spaces that were marked empty. I assume I could use them to customize the interface. I breathed a sigh of relief as I noticed the big red button labeled “Logout” on the bottom right of the interface. While I didn’t believe that Lirium would force us to finish each immersion, it was good to see the button.

“Character!”

The character sheet I had seen during the creation process was displayed next to a full body image of myself. Next I checked inventory and noticed that I was wearing an outfit titled “Contract Miner Uniform” and that I was the proud owner of 896 ICU. No clue how much that was but I assumed that was what passed for money here.

Checking the Ship tab finally got me some more information. The screen was structured similarly to my character profile. And image of the ship and its stats side by side. Apparently it was a civilian vessel of type “Digger”, had two active hardpoints, one static and one internal component hardpoints. It had 100 armor and 100 shield.

The active hardpoints had a mining laser and a tractor beam mounted on them, the static component was empty and the internal hardpoint was used by a prospecting processor. The screen also showed me as owner and operator of the vessel.

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Finally I got to the log portion of the interface. It was split into Personal Log, Mission Log and Standings.

I opened the Personal Log first.

Automated entry: 2.5 years ago you were pressed into the service of the Quirm and assigned to your current post as a miner in the Blue Belt system. You were given a civilian vessel fitted for low-level mining. At the same time the ship was charged to your account (15000 ICU) and you have been mining the belt ever since to even your account and leave the service. You can repay your debt by mining Endrite and exchange any production greater than 800 units at 1.5 units for 1 ICU. Your current account balance is 896 ICU.

My head spun. How was that for a background story. At the same time I was able to save less than 1/15th of the required sum in 2.5 years. If I wouldn’t have gotten the updated mission I would spend the rest of my life in this belt. Holy cow!

I checked the Mission Log

Automated entry: Quirt Sector command has changed the requirements for your contracttermination. Mine 10000 units of Endrite to finish your repayment then return to Belt Station and report to system command.

I quickly did the math in my head. 800 units was the daily requirement so I must have been able to do that in the past and maybe a little more. Which meant I should be done in this belt in about 12 days time. While that still seemed horribly long, there was an end in sight. It didn’t do anything for the feeling of having voluntarily signed up for a labor camp though.

To hell with my stubbornness. I should have signed on with the Circle of Lords and fly elaborate attacks against some random enemy or keep the peace or whatever. But no, I have to make it difficult on myself.

After messing with some settings on my interface I managed to make everything but the left icon bar and the logout button completely transparent which meant I could keep it open. For some reason this reassured me that this was indeed a game and that I am not really stuck in some tiny ass spaceship in the middle of an asteroid belt.

I turned my seat towards the consoles. Let’s get to work then. The faster I get this ore together, the faster I was going to see the rest of this game.