Despite the early hour, Lance entered the bus with a spring in his step. He was on a mission and he’d been waiting for this for far too long. He found a moderately comfortable seat, there was plenty of room this early in the morning, and settled in. He allowed his mind to wander back to his farewell party at work yesterday. It had been a happy event, but not for the reason most there would have assumed. When he had quit, he'd told everyone that he was ‘moving on to better things’; most took this to mean that he had a new position lined up that he simply did not want to share. In reality, most of them would look at what he was about to do and blanche, citing how he was just throwing his money and youth away, but Lance didn’t care. He had come to this decision, his decision, and nobody could change that now. Honestly, he wished that such an opportunity had come sooner.
From an outside perspective Lance’s life wouldn't seem that bad, after all, he had a job and that was something increasingly rare in this day and age. There were likely hundres of people ready to fill the seat he had just vacated. For all Lance cared they could have it. Some would scold him, telling him that his work had meaning, if only to put food into his belly and a roof over his head. But Lance was thoroughly done with his position as a “data entry specialist”, even thinking about his daily grind made his head spin. No, he was not sad to leave it. If anything, he was more upset about leaving behind his apartment. He’d spent many years there with his mother so it’s no surprise that there would be some sentiment attached to that place. Still since his mother had passed last year it just hadn’t been the same.
The bus groaned around a corner jolting Lance back from his wayward thoughts. His destination was near, he pulled the small archaic string activating the signal that would inform the vehicle that this was his stop. Lance hopped off the bus and began the short walk to his final destination. He travelled light because what he had with him was pretty much everything he now owned. He’d sold everything, with the exception of a handful of mementos. He’d paid an old friend to store those in the corner of his garage for the next year. One year, that was how long it would be before he laid eyes upon Seattle again. One year certainly wasn’t a long time, indeed he'd been away from Seattle for much longer tha that when he'd joined the marines, but for Lance this year would be the equivalent of a lifetime. He looked ahead and could see his destination. From the outside it seemed to be little more than a glorified warehouse, but the latest and greatest technology lay beyond those doors. He arrived at the gate and presented his data pad so that the guards could confirm his ID. After his reservation was confirmed he was asked to wait and before long a spritely attendant arrived to escort him inside.
“Mr. Spiva…“, the young woman began.
Lance held up a hand cutting her off. “Please, just Lance.” He ceremoniously informed her. He was not fond of his father’s family name. In fact, he’d had the mindset to have it legally changed but for some reason or another his mother wouldn’t humour him. It was ‘tradition’ after all. He'd leanred to tollerate thanks to years of its frequent use in the military but he still didn't use it if he didn't need to.
“Then-“, The attendant continued. “Lance, my name is Sophie and let me be the first to welcome you to this facility proudly run by Evertech. I trust you read welcome package that was sent to your email?” She queried as she ushered me toward the loaming structure.
“Yes”, Lance responded, “I have filled out all the paperwork ready to sign with a witness provided by the company, as requested.”
“My, my”, Sophie beamed as she swiped us through the first door, “colour me impressed. You’re the first person to have actually done everything as requested. We will get to signing straight after your medical. I know you were probably ready to get straight into it but I must inform you that launch has been delayed by an hour.”
‘An hour’, Lance thought to himself. ‘So that will be 60 hours or abouth so two and a half days.' The thought crossed Lance’s mind as they rounded another hallway and into waiting room.
“Alright Mr.... , excuse me. Alright Lance, the med team are just finishing the arrival before you and should be more than a few minutes. I’ll come collect you once that’s done and we will sign that paperwork.” Sophie informed him; Lance appreciated her commitment to addressing him as he’d asked. If the situation were different, he might have tipped her; that is, of course, if he were not currently broke.
As Sophie left and the door magnetically locked behind her Lance did a short scan of the room. If was small and white. The only colour here was the two red leather chairs. The whole atmospher was unconfortably sterile. As Lance sat, he instinctually pulled out his data pad.
“Oh right”, He spoke aloud, “no signal.”
He’d remembered that this building was specifically shielded. Lance was sure it wasn’t just to keep the customers safe but also to help prevent varrious forms of corporate espionage. He began to cast his eyes across the barren room and no sooner than he’d done this, the door opened. A nurse in blue scrubs walked in and began to speak.
“Lance, correct?” she queried almost hesitantly.
“Yes.” Lance replied plainly.
“Oh good, Sophie had told me you preferred to be called by your given name, but I wasn’t sure if she was trying to set me up for a laugh.” She replied with a short chuckle and a smile.
“Oh, I’m afraid she’ll probably catch you out in the future with that type of banter, but I do genuinely prefer to be called Lance.” He replied with a smile creeping across his face.
“Don’t remind me”, The nurse replied while rolling her eyes, “Anyway I’m Emma. Please follow me Lance and we will get started.”
Lance followed Emma into the hall and then into the next room. Emma glanced over the medical documents Lance had filled out, nodding as she went along. She then conducted a number of tests; checking his heart rate, his weight, blood pressure and so on for what felt like almost an hour.
“Alright Lance,” Emma broke the quiet that had stood since her last set of instructions, pressing a small button on her data pad as she did so. “That all the testing done. You can put your shirt back on, unless of course you feel like flexing for Sophie.”
“I think I’ll pass”, Lance responded nonchalantly.
“Ouch…” Emma enunciated, “I’m totally gonna use that on her later. But I figured, you wouldn’t exactly be looking for a date when you’re about to jump into one of those pods.”
As Emma finished speaking Sophie entered the room. She quickly cast a look over to Emma you gave her a thumbs up in return.
“Alright Lance, let’s get you to your suite and sign those documents.” Sophie assured Lance.
After twisting down a few hallways and having a short elevator ride Lance found himself in a modest room. It was about the size of a small lounge or large bedroom, but the space felt cramped largely due to the large machine that occupied majority of this place. Large rings composed of metal and circuitry seemed to encapsulate a single specially shaped mattress. A set of drawers in the corner appeared to hold various medical equipment and there was a pole where an IV bag could hang. This was some of the most cutting-edge technology in the world and he was standing just feet away. As Lance pondered these things a brief cough from Sophie drew his eyes to a single chair and small table near the door and she motioned for him to sit. Lance followed her lead siting and retrieving his datapad. Sophie took this and scanned through the files nodding as she reached each page.
“Alright Lance”, She broke the silence after a few brief moments which seemed to drag on for some time, “I have confirmed that all forms are completed to the correct standard and I have a note confirming you have paid for the capsule for one year in advance making your time with us ....finite. You may sign the forms now and I will be witness but I must inform you that after you have signed you will not be permitted to leave this room until your stay has concluded or in the event of an emergency such as an earthquake or fire. As I said earlier, we are running a little behind this morning so if you don’t want to wait in here, I could guide you into the staff lunchroom where you can have limited internet access.”
“I don’t mind waiting here”, Lance began to reply, “it will give me an opportunity to think before I dive in.” As Lance finished saying this, he scanned his fingerprint on his datapad and the forms digitally signed themselves.
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“Excellent!”, Sophie affirmed as she checked the time, “Well then, we have about an hour and fifteen minutes until launch so expect to see Emma and a tech come into here in about an hour. It has been a pleasure working with you Lance and I will see you again in a year.” She gave a small nod before leaving the room, the magnetic lock again engaging as she left.
Lance took the opportunity to once again cast his gaze over the hulking machinery that he shared the space with. This device was his new beginning, this DiveDrive would be taking him to a world far away and he knew that the experience would be worth every penny.
“Eternal Journey”, Lance allowed the words to escape his lips in his relative seclusion. It was a revolutionary, full emersion, virtual reality massive multiplayer online role-playing game. Just thinking that line had Lance’s head spinning. It was unlike anything mankind had ever made before, and that was largely because mankind had not made it. Lance reminisced on the ads he’d seen. The entire world, the non-player characters, the environment, the weather, the effects and most of the system had been creating by one of the world’s first ‘true’ AIs, they’d called it Seraph. The DiveDrive that loomed before Lance was how he and many other would get to experience that far off world, and it was very, very expensive.
When Lance had heard about the opportunity to start fresh in a new world, he knew what he had to do. As "good" as he’d had it, he’d felt that his life was at a standstill. He had lost contact with most old school friends when he'd gone to join the marines, he had a few old firends from those days but they were spread across the country. He was an only child, his mother had passed away last year, and saying that he disliked his father would be a massive disservice to the very metaphysical concept of an understatement. He didn’t have anything holding him back and he didn’t have anything he was working towards. So, he’d gathered up all his savings and his inheritance, sold everything he had including the apartment and used that nearly $600,000 to purchase a single year within the game world.
To most this would seem ludicrous and truly the few he’d told seemed to feel this way, but Lance had a goal now. Eternal Journey had a 60:1 time dilation compared to earth. Apparently, this was the fastest that the human brain could process information. That meant that the year Lance had purchased would be the equivalent of sixty years in EJ. Lance had purchased a lifetime to start over, experience new things, and ‘find’ himself before he would inevitably return to pick his life up in this world a year from now. Some people went on sabbaticals, some people hitchhiked the globe, some people used drugs to go on journeys within themselves and Lance was going to toss himself within a super advanced virtual world.
Lance’s mind turned to an article he’d seen in the last few day discussing EJ. It mentioned how because the cost to lease DiveDrive was so high that the only rich super nerds could afford it. That article was little more than petty complaints. Lance knew from his reseach that the target audience for this product was not actuall gamers but rather those people who’d won at the ‘life sucks lottery’ and found themselves heavily disabled. Lance knew that a good number of them were probably ex-military, the $600,000 a year was probably worth shipping these people off if the veteran health service and other insurance orgnaisations didn’t have to deal with them anymore. Aterall this whole thing was basically a 24/7 hospital ward. Lance pushed this thought out of his head with a grimace as the thought of veterans and their disabilities was unfortunately accompanied with memories of his time in the Congo and he didn’t wish to relive those, not right now, not ever it were up to him.
Lance knew that he was among the few in the world that would be enter EJ for purely personal reasons, most of the rest likely being hardcore, super rich gamers. Many would assume that Lance was a gamer because he was skilled at computers, the two always seemed to go hand in hand. The reality was that he only seemed skilled at computers because his job had revolved around them. Unfortunately, data entry involved no more technical expertise than could be found in a well-trained monkey. In fact, Lance was certain that if laws didn’t afford more protections for animals that the job might very well have been accomplished by monkeys. It would be a lie to say that Lance was not a gamer at all, but he was far from hardcore. He was more the "chill out with a game for a few hours a couple times a week" sort of gamer. He’d used most of his free time watching movies or mucking around online. Besides, at thirty years old Lance was having a lot of trouble keeping up with the latest trends in gaming. He’d never thought that possible when he was younger but before his very eyes, he was turning into one of those old man who still referred to datapads as smartphones.
Lance was so lost in these thoughts he nearly jumped out of skin and felw into a combat pose when the door opened again. Or at least that is what he’d like to believe, the reality had been significantly less graceful and may have involved a small yelp.The nurse Emma, to her credit, didn’t draw any attention to Lance's outburst as she began to speak.
“Lance, this is Mike”, she said gesturing to the man who’d come in with her and now stood to her left, “he will be the technician helping with calibration today.”
“Nice to meet you, Mike.” Lance said offering his hand for a shake. Mike raised his eyebrows, as if this were somehow something unusual. Lance decided to try to save some face during this pregnant pause. “I’ll be in your capable hands.” Lance stated. This seemed to snap Mike from the surprise he’d felt initially, and he returned the handshake. Mumbled a greeting under his breath and headed for the machinery.
As Lance turned to Emma, a look of ‘did I do something wrong’ written plainly across his face he found that Emma’s own face was beaming with a mischievous smile. The smile hid under a mask of professionalism a moment later and Emma continued. “Right Lance let’s get you loaded into the pod and calibrated before we launch.”
Lance was hooked up to a myriad of devices. The price for the DiveDrive didn’t just cover the cost of the machinery rental itself, after all. This was a full service experience. His health would be constantly monitored, advance TENS machines would be hooked up to ensure your muscles would maintain most of their tone, the bed was specially shaped and had motors that would machine his body to ensure that it didn’t get sores or blood pooling, and the staff would deal with his ... daily excresions. Lance was a little mortified putting on the adult diaper knowing that either Emma or someone on her team would soon become intimately familiar with certain parts of his anatomy over the next year. Lance pushed the thoughts from his mind, this was all part of the cost after all.
Lance was asked to lay on the bed, and he did so. A couple of retaining straps were placed over him and then the bed raised to a fifty-degree incline, not lying down but not quite standing either. Emma spoke, “Lance I know that you’ve already answered this in your health questionnaire but before we continue, I need to confirm that you have no metal implants in your body. Is this correct?”
“Yes, that’s correct.” Lance replied.
As soon as he had said this, she pressed a button and the metal rings that surrounded the bed moved into a crisscross pattern over top of him. There was a whirling of a motor moving and Lance could almost feel the magnetism in the air.
“Lance we are going to dive you into the waiting area, this will gradually sync your mind to the time dilation and give you an opportunity to select the settings for your experience.” Emma called out over the low hum of the machinery. “Once you have confirmed your settings you will dive into the virtual world, I hope you enjoy your time Lance and I’ll catch you on your dismissal check-up.”
Before Lance had a chance to respond it went quiet, sounds growing more and more faint. Then it was as if he’d blinked and suddenly, he was in a white room. The room was barren, white walls, white ceiling, and white floor. Lance didn’t see any light fixtures; it was as if the room itself produced just a soft glow. It was a surreal experience. Lance looked at his hands and body. They were roughly like his real body but lacked any significant texture. At this moment a small semi-transparent window appeared in front of Lance.
It read, “Welcome, to the Eternal Journey.” Lance tapped the window and a new screen popped up. “Please select you experience.” Lance looked over the options. They were: Integrated (recommended) and Gamer (not recommend). Lance was a bit uncertain; he wanted more information and he focused on the green text that read (recommended) and to his surprise a new window popped up. Lance realised that because the system was connected directly to his mind, he didn’t actually need to touch the screens at all, they would respond to what he wanted them to do. Thinking about it even more logically Lance realised this wasn't his actually body so he wasn't actually touching anything anyway. Lance read the text in the new window. The integrated experience caused you to dive into the Eternal Journey in a random body and place. You will essentially take the place of a non-player character that would have been. You will begin life at age five and your current memories will be locked until you reach age fifteen. This experience is recommended as it helps to ground you within the world so that can truly experience what the world has to offer and have a good sense of your options and abilities. This will also aid you in understanding the culture, politics and climates in the Eternal Journey.
Lance mulled this over. His memories would be sealed away for ten years, which was about two months outside EJ. Lance decided to review the information for the gamer option. The gamer experience is much like playing any other video game. After selecting this option, you enter character creation and then will dive into one of the approved starter towns within the world. This option is not recommended for several reasons. First, if the character you create varies too much from your current body you can experience some lasting disconnect that can take a significant amount of time to adjust to. Second, you will have little understanding of the languages, culture, and society of the world and thus you may struggle to figure out how to progress or adapt.
Lance thought on this. He could see how many peoplr might go with this option as it would be most familiar to them. Lance realise that the downsides mentioned could quickly sour his experience within Eterno and he knew that first impressions were everything. The last thing he wanted to do was spend 60 years with some lingering resentment or worse, try to log out early. He knew from reading his contract that he would not receive any refund if he did that or if he was ejected form the game for safety reasons.
Lance made his decision. He opted for the integrated experience. He was going to be here for a lifetime after all so he may as well experience an entire lifetime. He selected the option with his mind and another prompt appeared. “Are you sure?” it read. Lance selected the prompt for yes, the windows disappeared and after a moment it seemed as if the white room was engulfing him in darkness.