Val woke up to a blank wall, upon which she had been hooked upon for the last five days. It was about time she finished her final project, which was what she thought, he best work yet. It appeared that she had finally created a work of art that she was satisfied with. She quickly unhooked the different plugs from her intra-venus holes on the back of her neck, stiffly yawning and stretching at the same time. These plugs had kept her full of nutrients for the past five days as she worked, allowing her body to stay suspended. Val winced as she started rotating her shoulder, and got up slowly to the edge of the bed where she had been lying. The bed itself, was a pod with gel-cusioned insides as well as health monitoring services which would warn the local health droids if anything happened while she was under. Blinking, Val got up and looked to the edges of her room. Just a small sleeping pod and an empty desk, with two pictures. One with her family, and one taken more recently, of their greatest achievement. Stretching her arms over her head, Val sighed in content as she made her way over to the closet and picked out the school outfit for the day. Plain grey top, with a black skirt. It made her look a bit bigger, but there was nothing wrong with being a bit pudgey. In fact, she enjoyed that she had a bit more of a voluptuous body. After all, if all she wanted was a beach bod, she could tell the health settings to let her diet and go under for a month or so. It was just that easy. While humming her most recent creation, she quickly dialed up the others- Leffen, Paradise, Viktor, and after some inner turnmoil, Amyr.
The dial wrung three times before both Viktor and Paradise picked up. Val rolled her eyes, knowing what was coming. The two got along fine, but always had to try and prove one thing or another to eachother. It was a neverending pissing contest with these two; and tedious to deal with at times.
"Guys! I just finished! How are your projects going?" Val exclaimed while jumping around a bit in order to get her muscles back into shape. She twirled her curly brown hair that came down past her shoulderbones while looking at the red highlights in her hair. They were fading- she unconsciously stroked them while wondering when she had time to get them re-done.
"You know me, i finished weeks ago" scoffed Viktor, in his best impression of a bad bond villan. Viktor liked to impress to others that he was a badass. In fact, he went so far as to call his fighting "art", which made it all the more miserable when he lost every match. So far. But Viktor, known to the world as Viktor S'Zinsky, was part of the most notorious family in the world. He was part of the "S" ranked families- they had the most influence, riches, and by far, the most server space. And as such, he was basically royalty without the power.
"My newest work is one of beauty. Every strike is a different color, resulting in a tapestry of-"
He was cut off as Paradise interrupted. "Yeah yeah, we get it. Your fighting is beautiful, it's wonderful, and one day you'll win a match" he snickered. "But until that day, i hope that you figure out how to take a beating. By the way, when's your next match?" Paradise asked, only half interested in the answer. It was true, Viktor was a terrible fighter who thought he was always better, but none the less, they always went to his matches, and always cheered him on. After all, he was their friend. And one, seriously, weird dude.
"The next fight is in three days." Viktor claimed. "It's at the Iconoclast, and will be broadcasted all over the world!"
A silent snicker was felt from Paradise on the other side. The two never really got along, but only accepted eachother through a mutal grudging respect after Viktor challenged Paradise to a fight. No one won that one.
"Well, we'll be sure to come cheer you on!" Val said, enthusiastically bobbing her head. They couldn't hear her, but were sure exactly what she was doing. "Maybe this is the day that you'll win your first match!"
Viktor scoffed loudly on the phone. "All my matches are victories, for when it comes to my artwork, there is never any loss. My fights are beautiful and should be recorded for the future generations to watch."
"We'll be sure to come!" Leffen says, finally joining the call. His blonde eyes showing heavy bags, as if he hadn't slept for a few days. Leffen's VR character was an identical model of him just a bit more muscular. For some reason, he was always self conscious about how skinny he was, but that was genetics i guess. In real life, he stood at a respectable 5"10, and had both beautiful blonde hair as well as dark blue eyes. With his high cheekbones, he was actually quite a good looking guy. The only thing that stopped women from throwing themselves at him was, well, himself.
"So, meet up at the Diner? i'm starrrrving" Val exclaimed while hopping on one foot, trying to put on a pair of slacks. Now that the blustering was done, she could bring up the more important subject; food. After five days in the Universe, she was ready for something real.
"Alright. I'm in block 248 right now, so i'll be there in thirty. Cya there." Paradise waves, as he heads off. Looks like the kid found another girlfriend, Val thought, while trussing her hair in the small hand mirror she owned. Her brown locks were always unruly, and did nothing to ascentuate her curves. Smiling, she poked her belly fat. It was nice not being a stick. Having a little meat in this day and age gave her an identity that she was proud of. Usually when people went under, it was too easy to just subsist on minimal nutrients and stay skinny. But Val preferred to have atleast a bit of meat. It just looked more... natural. Not that a lot of guys thought that way.
Val glances over her room one last time and skips out the door, humming under her breath on the way to the elevator. Streaming, leaning, out the door. Wondering what comes through the floor! She jumps into an elevator pod and shoots to the bottom floor. Her dorm was near the top, given that she was one of the top students in the academy and slated to make an impression right out the gate. Once at the bottom, Val continued to hum while tapping her feet, waiting for one of the automated cars to show up. Looking up, the studio and educational block was pretty drab in real life. Most of the time, if you didn't have your VR googles on, everything was muted and grey. The sky itself was a brilliant autumn dusk where a small pink overview was floating, just peaking out from the tops of the skyscraper buildings they lived in. It wasn't that there wasn't any color, it was just everyone lived in the Universe, so what purpose was there to create any artwork in the real? All artwork in the Universe was even more elaborate and beautiful than they could create in the real, so it wasn't worth it for many people to do so. Of course, there were always rebels. Every so often you would see a name tagged in spraypaint somewhere but those were always cleaned within the day. The automated bots were too strong to overpower. But sometimes, it's nice to just look up at the real sky, Val thought, with a smile on her face.
As the car pulls up, Leffen waves from the front door and jogs to the car. "Heya! Coming?" Val waves at Leffen.
"Yeah. Can i pay you back for the cab?" asks Leffen as he hops in. Val waves him off. It was practically a habit by now. Leffen came from a poor family, a "D" ranking family, and didn't have much to go on him by himself. Luckily, he lived in the same building as Val, Viktor, and Paradise so it was always easy for him to catch rides to wherever they went.
"Atleast let me buy you dinner. You've helped me out the last.. five times now. One of my projects just sold and i have a little to work with now." Leffen gave a sheepish smile, and held his hands out in a display of parity.
"Okay, but only beacuse you asked a girl so nicely." Val batted her eyelashes jokingly at Leffen, knowing that he would wiggle his eyebrows in response. The ability to do the worm with his eyebrows was one of his few talents. The others being an endlessly large stomach and the ability to zone out at any given moment. Unfortunately, none of this bode well for his graduation project.
"So have you decided on your opus?" said Val, absently staring at the neon advertisements floating outside the windows, blinking and advertising their wares. Everything you could ever possibly imagine were posted up in the commercial district, whether you wanted a vacation getaway server or some sort of horticultural massage. The bright glittering ads reflected off their inner LED screens giving the car an etheral green glow.
"Not yet" said Leffen while wiggling his fingers on his invisible keyboard. "I can't decide on the song. I already have the worldscape created, but i can't find the right song. It has to be something completely unique."
Val agreed with him silently as she couldn't offer any insight into his creative process. It was different for everyone in the group, and Paradise himself was on a completely different level.
"Well, maybe when you're done we can finally check out the World that everyones talking about. Apparently it's incredibly realistic, differnt than a lot of the other games that everyone played in the past" said Val. She wasn't a huge gamer herself, but there were tons who were immersed in the gaming culture. When the Universe first was created, games were one of the first categories that exploded into the mainstream as they were huge sources of entertainment for the masses.
Leffen nodded and looked fondly towards his screen. He was an advent tester of new games and loved to play them, at the cost of some of his own sanity. But within the group, he was probably the most experienced member. It was one of the few areas he excelled at, despite being considered an artist. Of course, he could have continued to play games and tried to climb the leaderboards that some people cherished so much, but doing that required full time commitment and he wanted to atleast complete the Arts school. Or atleast try. At this rate, it was looking more likely that he would just fail out and be relegated to a residential block.
They arrived at their destination 15 minutes later. Traffic was nonexistant now, with the automation of vehicles. Everything flowed seamless, which was the main benefit of having robots take over the world. Well, we say robots, but the owners of the robots were the true rulers. It wasn't that they weren't benevelent, but the automation had solved a lot of problems. Too many in fact. It was inevitable that during the first few years, war broke out over who would own and control these, which led to a massive war that decimated the population. Both massive and tiny drones which viciously slaughtered millions mercilessly during the years they called the Great Blinding were used to great effect, which resulted in a pyrrhic victory for all nations involvedl.
In the end, ten delegate families banded together to create the accords which govern the world in its' current state. This was the beginning of the creation of the current class system which governed all that remained. At the top of the ranks were the "S" class families; these families were the creators of the greatest content that the consumers used. They could vary from anything from sports stars, artists, entertainers, builders, or readers, but any individual who reached a certain threshold of viewers and followers were considered part of the "S" family.
After the "S" family came the "A" class. The A class were the 10 members of the ruling families. Each family controlled and essential part governing the world. Some were responsible for the agricultural districts which created the food and nutrients for the intravenal injections, and others were responsible for the maintenance of server technology. At the very least, there were also families responsible for the cleaning of sewage and keeping the streets shiny. Each of these families were in complete control of the automated bots that they used to do so, and were given complete autonomy over the sector they ran. This led to some very interesting philsophilies when it came to the different places. For instance, the A'chman family, which controlled the distribution of energy, had trade policies intact with the A'witch family which ran the sweepers. The limit of energy imposed meant that the A'witch family had to always run on a strict schedule, with any deviations being solved at the end of the week, or end of the month. This has led to year long wars between the two families where one would write obscenities or draw graphic pictures of anatomy all over the streets and houses of the others. Seeing as they had until the end of the month to clean, it was never the A'witches highest policy to actually clean these and they turned a blind eye to the juvenile wars.
All being said though, the conflict itself was juvenile and the trade agreements work. There wasn't much to be changed, although future generations might try and negotiate a slightly better deal. For the most part however, the neverending graffiti's were a source of entertainment to all involved, and so the policy remained unchanged.
Despite the small fueds that remained within the families, a harmonious balance was created which resulted in the creation of the current utopian world. Population control was strict, but that was only due to the limited resources that were being created in order to maintain this stress free environment for the majority. The masses understood this, and didn't complain. Sure, you had to apply for a child and prove merits, but if you timed it correctly generally receiving a slot was not too difficult. Luckily, upward momentum within the classes was purely merit based, and the lifestyle changes weren't too different. Plus, with most things in the Universe being government subsidized, it meant that most entertainment was completely free. Private servers, if you were so lucky or talented to receive one, were plentiful and everyone had their own room to innovate. Education was free, but not equal. However, college institutions such as the one that Leffe and Val atteded were completely open to the population. After all, the betterment of the entire society is greater than the needs of one person.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Val and Leffen hopped out of their car and entered the small retro diner that they gathered at every week. It was one of the few true retro styled diners left in the city, having been outdated and considered out of fashion for several decades now. Most people loved the new high-society diners that were so popular, that were full of VR entertainment. Why would you want to sit in a dumpy diner seat with fake taillights from a 80's muscle car when you could be dining under the shadow of a blue whale, with the blue reflection glinting off your lovers eyes? Or if you want something more casual, there were definitely places for that as well.
But still, they loved this place. It seemed oddly friendly- a classic gathering places for misspent youth.
Viktor waved at the two as they settled into their regular booth by the corner, where an outdated jukebox was playing songs ranging from 30 to 500 years ago. Some of these were so vague that the concept of "A milli" didn't really have any meaning, but they were fun to figure out and listen to nonetheless.
"Hey" said Leffen, already browsing the automated menu on the table. At this point, it was already an automated action. Everyone knew what they were getting, but it was fun browsing the different choices.
Viktor nods in his direction as he continues to stare into space. Unlike the others, he could afford a full implement which allowed him to access the Universe wherever he was. Extremely expensive equipment had been individually grown and planted inside him from birth- one of the few perks of being part of an "S" class family.
"Whatchu watchin?" Val asks, curious as to what their resident "badass" was looking at this time.
"New fight between Carnage and Satiety. They're going twenty rounds in full immersion, with no restrictions on modifications or weapons. It's a new fight mode they just implemented where each weapon needs to be bought or earned by the audience." Viktor explained. He was always watching these fights, it was his main source of entertainment, as well as what he called "visual training".
"Oh, thats cool. Who has more fans?" asked Leffen, settling on ordering a veggie burger. Real burgers were a huge luxury he couldn't afford, but the veggie counterpart tasted almost as good, and was a third of the price.
"Carnage, but Satiety has the more upper class fanbase who can afford to throw more money at her." nodded Viktor. While the others knew who these two fighters were, they didn't pay attention much to the the fanbase and information surrounding them. "The key in this fight, i think, is scoring highest among the fans who can't afford to buy tickets, but are allowed to vote. The neutral fans will decide who gets the power spike faster. Here, we can all watch".
Viktor's eyes begin to glow and project the fight in a 3D matter onto the table. Carnage and Satiety were both posturing in the circular arena that had four separate levels to it. The outside was the highground, where as each step downwards was one level lower until it ultimately ended up on flat ground. Carnage, as the fan favorite, was a massive 6"7 red haired beast of a man who weilded two spiked gauntlets on his fist, preferring to melee his opponents to death. He was known for his gruesome and graphic executions, as well as his infinitely aggressive style of fighting, where he would relentlessly attack with no resolve for his own defense.
On the other side was Satiety, a lithe but muscular female with blonde hair and green eyes. She was always the favorite among those that considered themselves fans of fighting, but not of blood. Ironically, her method of fighting would be to wear the opponent down with hundreds of cuts, allowing them to bleed out methodically and eventually sitting down for a cup of tea while they slowly die. It was more difficult to tell which of the two was more vicious. Atleast death by Carnage was brutal, quick, and oddly merciful. Satiety, after her namesake, only took satisfaction in the slow, but effective, death of her opponents.
As the opening gong ran, Paradise entered into the booth as well, sitting next to Val. He casually puts an arm around her while whistling a small tune.
"Heya beautiful, how are you?" he asks, looking deep into her eyes.
Val blushes and shoves him off her, while simultaneously kicking him under the table as hard as she could. Paradise winces, and slowly backs off.
"Better, now that you're off me. Also, you stink. Where have you been, the whorehouses again? With your charm it seems like the only place you could get in". Val wrinkles her nose as she comments on Paradise's .. smelly musk.
"I'll have you know" Paradise smirks, "that i was featured at a neo-Goth festival last night. My latest creation was a huge hit. You should have SEEN the reaction when the blood sprinklers went off in conjunction with the hypnotic eyes i've been working on for the last week. " he says, as he casually orders a real Cheeseburger. Jealousy briefly flashes in both Val and Leffens eyes as their mouths begin to water at the smell gently wafting from the kitchen.
"It was probably my 11th best work yet. I thought the eyes were pretty good, but they didn't have quite the desired effect i wanted. I WAS trying to inspire a giant mass murderer, where everyone would kill in a massive frenzy. It would have been beautiful with the sprinklers involved, but only an orgy occurred." Paradise mentions, while throwing both hands in the air, immitating sprinkers and then shrugging, resigned to the true effect of his art. "It seems that i still can't figure out how to get people to kill eachother. Unfortunate. All i inspire is love" he sighs, as if it were the worst problem to have.
Val snickers, knowing they had all been invited at one point or another to these giant parties. No one ever accepts, however. They know what Paradise is TRULY like.
"Well, if i DID accept at one point, you'd have to make it a point to feature me as your centerpiece" she says while knudging him with her elbow. "I am getting older, and exposure at one of your shows could be the boost i need to break it big"..
Leffen snickers, knowing the inevitable exchange that was going to happen.
"Sure, but only if you do it naked. Covered in tatoos, and promise to slit your own throat at the end of the day". He says
"No killing myself, and i get to sing what i want. Oh, and i get to choose the colors you display" Val counters.
Paradise rubs his eyebrows as if he didn't already know what he really wanted out of her. "I can't do that, you'd ruin my reputation, what with your greens, and pinks, and yellows. Bright colors, ugh" he mutters.
"How about this. We'll compromise. You can sing and dance naked in a cage suspended above everyone else, if you promise to atleast try be afraid of everything else going on. Like, really really scared, and not just slightly amused". Paradise counters.
At this, Val laughs. "What, your "eldrich abominations?" coming and pleasuring everyone to death? No thanks. That's just too funny. I mean, it would be one thing if anything you did was actually scarry, but its just.. not scarry."
Stil giggling, Val glances over at the fight currently on the table. It looks like Satiety was having a hard time dealing with the ever charging Carnage. She was more nimble but the stadium naturally funneled them towards the middle which was a huge disadvantage. While she currently had the highground, Carnage constantly challenged her top position and was trying to swipe her down to a lower level, where he could eventually corner her to the middle. Satiety, however, was an aerial artist. Every time he tried to move, she would flip over or under his arms and slice, ever so slightly, into his skin.
Leffen looked up from the display, already predicting the outcome of the match. "She's going to win" he says to Viktor.
"Bah" says Viktor, who was somewhat of a Carnage fan himself. "Right now, it looks like it. But wait until the fifth round when they unlock their second tier of weapons. As soon as he has more reach, it'll be over"
Leffen thinks for a moment before looking over the arsenal that Satiety chose. True, it looked like once Carnage had the reach his extended katar-like claws would be unlocked, but Satiety chose an awkward answer for it in the 5th round: a Sickle and Iron, which could be used in conjunction with the rapier she currently weilded.
While they discussed the merits of both weapons, their food came and everyone chowed down. Leffen and Val, still eyeing the burgers that Paradise and Viktor could afford, would occasionally try and swap plates with one of them. Or steal bites. Or failing both of those, just stealing a pinch of meat. Val was always more successful. She could always manage to distract Paradise in just the right way, whether it was getting him to recount the shows he's put on, or distracting him with a light brush of her.. either way, it was too easy for her to be more successful than Leffen, who was stuck with Viktor. It looked like, however, this time he would succeed.
"Hey Viktor, how about a bet. If carnage wins, i'll do whatever you want me to, after my Opus is completed, for a day." Leffen grimaced. He knew what horrors he would be subjected to. Sparring training, Fight training. Simulation. Ugh. He would have to pretend to lose to Viktor in order to stroke his ego, for hours.
"and if Satiety wins, you get what exact?" says Viktor, eyes still on the fight that just rang, marking the finish of the fourth round.
"Well, obviously, your burger." Leffen says, then looks to the top right. "And a milkshake, Oh, AND access to your private room in your server for 10 minutes" he grinned. Viktor owned the server that they all hung out in, but he allowed all his friends to have private rooms for whatever they wanted to use it for. Allowing someone else into your room was tantamount to letting them into your mind- they could see all the hidden things you didn't really want anyone else to see. Of course, there weren't too many things to be embarassed about, but Leffen knew that Viktor had a fondness for stuffed bears, and sported a massive collection he had been dying to take a video of. To show the others, of course, so they could all join in on the mirth.
"Deal" Viktor says, shaking Leffens hand. As they seal the deal, the fifth round began and Carnage struck out with a roar. His extended reach with his Katars allowed him to pressure much harder than before but Satiety had one crucial advantage- her Sickle and Chain allowed her to control his motions by either wrapping up his hand and yanking, or throwing the sickle around his feet, threatening to cut the achilles tendon. It was difficult for Carnage to deal with, as he didn't have the agility to both attack and dodge at the same time. However, there were always moments of short respite where Satiety had to pull back either the sickle, or the chain, which gave him an opportunity to attack. Thirty seconds into the round, Satiety slipped up her positioning and had to jump from the higher outside ledge to the lower inside ledge in order to avoid a fatal strike, and thats when Carnage pounced. Since he now had the highground, he was able to constantly pressure her with downward strikes in order to try and force her down to the second layer. Satiety had trouble keeping up with some of his strikes and had to allow several glancing blows in order to stay on the third ledge, while attempting to wrap her chain around his legs as well.
Both Val and Paradise were now watching the fight as well, having concluded their odd little dance. The result was Val munching happily on half of Paradises burger, and Paradise sitting there with a storm cloud in his eyes and murderer in his teeth. He looked desperate to do something to Val, but knew that she had outwitted him... again. Those damn words of hers.
"Speaking of fights, have we decided to check on the World yet?" Val asked. There was a huge amount of news about the World, having only had certain details leaked about the new server. Supposedly it was so large that the creator had to bargain with the A'bbarath family themselves in order to secure enough data space. That being said, it could only be one of the other major families who was sponsoring this new game, give the scope of the world they created.
Viktor nods. "I checked it out earlier. The game itself is on par with all the others, but what sets it apart is the hyper realistic combat and the overall sense that it was well created. While not as stunning as some of the other worlds people have created, this one definitely gives the sense that it was a work of love". The fight was winding down now, into the 11th round. Carnage managed to corral Satiety into the lower circle, but was bleeding from dozens of wounds. He was definitely slowing down. The fight was dead even, given that in the smallest circle, Satiety couldn't run circles around Carnage as she used to.
"Well, once i finish my Opus, we'll have to check it out then" said Leffen, not one to be left out of games. He was probably the most excited out of all of them for the release as his mother had some of her artwork displayed within. The creators managed to comission pieces from dozens of artists, as well as sculptors, in order to make the game as beautiful as possible.
All of a sudden the fight was over. Satiety managed to slice both achillies of Carnage with a flourish of her sickle on the cloest and rolled beautifuly to slice the other achilies with her other rapier.
"Bah." Viktor slammed his fist on table and shut off the fight, while ordering Leffen a burger. "it looks like you win this time"
Leffen grinned, knowing exactly what he was going to do with Viktors' secrets.
Interlude: The meeting
Two individuals hovered over the World, staring at their creation from below. They purposely kept their identies secret, but managed to enlist the aid of as many famous artists as they could. The price was hefty, but the triage of mountains that hovered ever closer to the sun in stunning details were worth it.
"Do you think this will work?" a male voice says. He was the creator, and the originator of the World. It was his idea to devise the trap, and his genius AI behind the creation of the World itself. It wasn't the programming that was brilliant, but the idea behind it.
"Yes, Habeebi" said the woman, her back now turned to him, staring over the soaring city in the sky. "It'll have to. Otherwise, we have no respite when people find out what we've done"
She begins to hover and make her way over to the monstrous crystal citadel in the middle. It was created based on the images of the far past- a castle in itself. Instead of stone walls however, the crystalline exterior gave off a sense of awe. Although light did not refract through the citadel, each block used was given a separate hue in order to create a medly of colors, ending in a vibrant throne on top.
Five years ago, the woman found the man. He had broken into her room and was looking through her life, and instead of calling the police or kicking him out, she let him. She allows him to see all the fustrations with their current lifestyle that they all lived, and the furious drive that drove her to become as successful as she was. It wasn't that she despised the utopia that they lived in, she just found everything so contrary, and quite boring. All sense of danger and drama was gone. With the rise of a utopian society, it seemed that the core being of a human had been diminished into this all consuming cockroach.
She startled him when she walked up and touched his shoulder. His hair barely dusting his eyes, face gaunt and hollow. His eyes however, are what scared her. He had the look of an impoverished waif that wanted no more than to devour what was left of her soul. He looked like he would use her until she had no more to give, then throw her away in pursuit of... whatever he wanted. There had to be a reason that he wanted to know who she was, and she needed to know.
"Do you like what you see?" she asked, while walking in a slow circle around him. Her memories were stored here, and the last watched was one of particular intruige to him. It was the memory of her poisoning the ghabi who threatened her with sanctions if he didn't give her what she wanted. One of the few deaths that shocked the world. But she could get away with it- they all could, if they wanted.
The man looked up at her with his cold dark eyes, and she watched as the corners of his mouth raised into a cold, sardonic smile.