Monday morning rolled around and he got ready for the pod by taking a shower and putting on a bodysuit. The suit was special and had dozens of sensors that would be monitored 24/7. He would have even more sensors hooked up to him when he was in the pod and hooked up to the computers and systems of Allcorp. When he stepped out of his room Joseph was there himself to escort him down to the testing and medical areas. They took the elevator to the first sub-basement and Joseph led him to a room that had an oversized FVIR capsule and a quarantined medical area in case of emergencies. Wolfgang hoped they wouldn't have to use it, only time would tell. 

"Ahh, the man of the hour. I hoped you slept well. Now we only have a couple of shots left while we hook-up all your sensors. After that, we will seal you in and flood the pod with the liquid nano solution. We will then put you too sleep and start mapping your nerve network of your brain. That will take about 24 hours. After that, we will load you into your 'Home', that is when we will activate your nanites. Your Home area will have all the amenities of a regular home, shower bath, kitchen, and TV/Entertainment area. It will not have any outside areas. You will have two doors that will lead to the outside of your home, one will go to the VR-Web and the other will lead to Endless Expanse Online. You will be able to modify the Home your home within certain parameters that you can work with your A.I. on making your home the way you want it. Now, do you have any questions before we start???" Dr. White asked. Wolfgang was ready to get his next six months started to see if this would work so he shook his head no and allowed the nurse and Doctor to start poking him again with needles and hooking the sensor leads to his suit.

30 minutes later he was strapped into the pod, the breather was attached to his face and a blue-green liquid started flooding the pod. The nurse talked to him and kept him calm until a sleeping gas flooded the breather and the nurse told him to start counting back from 10.9.8...and then there was darkness.....

HOME SPACE...

The next thing he knew he was waking up in a bed, the room and the bed were completely white. Ok...I thought I was going to be going digital. Then someone opened up the door and a glowing ball of energy came into the room. "Goodmorning master, did you sleep well?" the ball asked. 

"Well enough I guess. I am sorry, but who are you and where am I??" Wolfgang asked 

"Feel free to call me Jeeves. I am your personal A.I. for however long you will be here. This place is your Home area. We can change it within reason, now we have a lot to go over in a short amount of time. The mapping of your Cerebral cortex is complete and the Nano solution is already working on your physical body. Please get up and out of bed, the kitchen is fully stocked with any food that you can think of. The shower is through the door on your right if you want to take a shower before we get too work. Understand?" Jeeves responded. 

"We can make modifications at a later time. Let's get things rolling, what do we need to do?" Wolfgang responded. 

Jeeves pulsed with energy before leading him out into the living room/kitchen area. "You have a video conference call with Dr. White ASAP. We need to go over certain things about the Beta that you will participate in. After that, you can go and explore the VR-Web and get acquainted with the changes that have happened to Endless Expanse Online or do whatever you want. Now those two doors over there are the ones that lead outside your home. You can access the one that leads to the VR-Web anywhere within the Web, while in Endless Expanse you can access the door in common and safe areas. The timer over the Endless door is the countdown before the Beta starts. You will be able to enter before to create the character you want." With that Jeeves went over to the corner and hovered while the TV came on and a Dr. White came on. 

"Hello Mr. Mariconn, how are you feeling? Everything working ok?? Is Jeeves working well with you?" Wolfgang laughed at the doctors' rapid-fire questions. 

"Yes, I am doing fine, my home here is really white....like it is the only color besides what I can see coming off the TV screen. Jeeves is...Jeeves. Time will tell if it will work out or not." Wolfgang nodded his head in understanding 

"Well you have plenty of time to make changes to your home, and Jeeves will be with you both in the Web and the game. We will be monitoring this channel 24/7, someone will always be monitoring you. So if you want to talk to us, just ask Jeeves and he will alert us and we will call you. We have set it up so your family can also call you and chat with you too if they can't jump into a virtual space. Any questions??... Then good luck and enjoy your game" With that Dr. White hung up and the TV turned off. 

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Ok Jeeves, what did you need to brief me on as far as the Beta?" Wolfgang asked 

"Ok Master, because you played the original version of Endless Expanse Online and a very extensive career that has unlocked certain legacy perks, titles, and other benefits. If you would have played the game when Allcorp originally relaunched it 10 years ago that character would have gotten all the perks. Now your Beta character will get them all, so you lucked out with that. Second is like I told you, you can create your character before the Beta actually launches. Third, the Beta will have 10000 players in the faction you will be starting in and yes you will be locked to that faction. The path you walk within that race is yours, I would recommend something other then smuggler/trader due to your starting faction not having much of either right now. NDA will be in effect from day one until the Expansion goes live which will be in 3 real-world months." Jeeves said. With that Wolfgang walked to the door that led to the VR-Web and went through into a place he had never explored.

It was overwhelming, it was a mix between an Eastern trading Baazar, with giant neon signs, and a highway moving at a couple of hundred miles per hour. "Initializing filters at 50%. I am sorry, master, the VR-Web can be very overwhelming until you get used too it. Now, where would you like to go?" Jeeves said. 

"Holy crap Jeeves, understate much...Can you set me on a path to the official site for Endless Expanse?" Wolfgang responded. 

"Just follow the yellow brick road, master and it will stop at a building. Just treat it like any other building, open the door and walk in and you will access the site and the content included." Jeeves responded.

Wolfgang chuckled at Jeeves response. At least he had a sense of humor. When he came to the door, he opened it just like Jeeves instructed. A voice came over the loudspeaker "Account recognized, welcome back Mr. Wolf. It has been over 15 years since you last logged in to Endless Expanse Online, would you like us to go over some of the changes that have been implemented in your absence sir??" 

Wolfgang was surprised at the voice..."Ahhh Jeeves what's going on??" 

Jeeves promptly responded "It is just the local AI. Most sites have either an AI or VI running the website or assisting the human administrators. Just talk to him like you would talk to me." he responded. 

"Ok sir, please can you show me what has changed." The AI promptly responded. 

"Very well sir, I apologize for the confusion earlier. I assume this is your first time using VR-Web?" Wolfgang nodded in response to the AI question. "Very well Sir, since you have left the game, the following changes have been implemented within the game." 

1-Full VR-MMORPG has been implemented with the game, not just 3-D. 

2-First Person combat is now possible (Space and Ground Combat)

3-Planets can now be invaded and controlled by factions you represent 

4-Planetary Exploration/Administration/Exploitation is now possible

5-Traveller (Players) factions can now form alliances with local (NPC) factions

Dam, during the original game they could see planets but they could never land on them. Everything was done in space, now he could leave whatever ship he was assigned too. He was no longer stuck in space!!! He could land on a planet and get out and stretch his legs if he wanted too. Being able to create alliances with NPCs could be an amazing boon for player factions, it could turn the tides of war in player conflicts. Player Factions (Fleets) usually controlled trade routes, space mining areas, and shipbuilding facilities. Now player factions could own planets now too and the player cap for factions had increased from 5 thousand to 10 thousand players. He would hate to administrate such a large number of people, but the sheer amount of what you could do and territory you could control if you had that many people working together...could change everything. Quality of Quantity though, one good captain could take on 5 bad ones easy. He had proven that time and time again against his enemies with a single ship and no Fleet support what-so-ever. 

"Jeeves can you query the Beta servers on anything to do with the faction I will be playing?" Wolfgang asked. 

"Of course master. One moment while I compile the information" Jeeves responded

Beta Faction-The Remnant: 

The remains of the Imperium that were driven to the edge of the Galaxy. To survive they destroyed Dozens of Jump Gates to isolate themselves and prevent Humanity subjugation and Extinction. Only a few isolated Jump Gates were left active lead back to the rest of civilization. They have scraped by and subjected every species in this isolated part of the galaxy.

Survivors: Increases the rate that you increase Skills by 5%

Prideful: Increase the chance you will enter combat by 10%

Battle Hardened: Fleet based Skills are started at level 2 and are learned 10% Faster

Betrayed Imperialist: Less likely to form treaties with Outside powers, Militaristic and Expansionist

The Remnant is primarily made up of humans with few aliens among their member worlds. Mandatory military enlistment for all men and women from the age of 18 with a minimum enlistment of two years. After that, they could leave the service if they choose too. It is encouraged for citizens to develop trade skills as well to support themselves and the Imperium. Due to the Imperium being cut off from all the main Jump pathways, exploration is the most respected and feared path for an Imperialist. They need to explore for the survival of the Imperium, but if they expose themselves to their old enemies they could be wiped out.

Economic wise, the Imperium is weak due to having very little external trade. Technological development has also stagnated due to being isolated from most of the Galaxy. The Imperium controls a couple hundred worlds and 6 Jump Gates within the Imperium. From an empire that had thousands of worlds and hundreds of Jump, this was a huge loss to the Imperial economy, society, and military.

After that, he watched a couple videos. Watching was the wrong word because he had a first-person view of what was going on in them. He had no control over what the characters did or said in those videos. It was amazing, he felt the heat from the explosions, felt the ground beneath his feet, watched as troops did combat drops from High Atmo onto an open battlefield. 

He could not wait to start playing..."Jeeves lead me home. I need some sleep. Wake me an hour before launch, I will create my character then." Wolfgang said as he walked away from the Endless Expanse building and to his Home.