December 1st, 2085

Hampton Falls, NH

United States of America

1853 Hours EST

Bradford Michael Alexander Robert Pendragon the Fifth, or ‘Brad’ as he preferred to be called, pulled into the driveway of his family home in Hampton Falls.

“Power off.” He said as he stepped out of his car. The command deactivated the electric engine immediately and allowed the vehicle to connect to the charging pad built into the faux-granite driveway under his feet. The only sign of the charge was the subtle flicker of electric-blue light around the rectangular pad, muted by the sporty chassis of the luxury two-door.

Brad’s footsteps were quiet as he approached the doors to the massive house, glancing up at the centre of the brown double-doors and allowing the small projector above the frame to scan him quickly. The wash of blue light raked his form, and a chime of approval echoed from somewhere nearby. Several loud clicks went off, and the doors opened inwards, offering him entry.

“Thanks, Alfred.” He said as he stepped inside, beelining for the large staircase at the end of the carpeted marble entrance hall and ascending them two at a time.

“You’re quite welcome, Master Bradford.” The distinctly English accent of the residence AI responded warmly, voice projecting from one of the many hidden speakers within the infrastructure. “Shall I prepare dinner, Young Master?”

Brad shook his head as he turned left at the middle fork of the staircase, still taking them two at a time. “I ate while I was out.” He glanced at the sleek black band wrapped around his wrist, noting the time when it appeared on his forearm in holographic blue digits. “Has everything been set up, Alfred?”

“Yes indeed.” The AI responded affirmatively. “I had the technicians install the device in your study, as you asked. I take it this is that new VRMMO you’ve been excited for?”

Brad grinned. “Eternus Online.”

“I took the liberty of familiarising myself with the available information, sir. Would you like me to—?”

“No thanks.” Brad said as he stepped through multiple doorways and a long corridor, stepping through the opening doors to his bedroom. “I want to go in blind. More of an adventure!”

“Understood, sir. Is there anything I can do to assist before you engage in the game?”

Brad hesitated. Was there anything that Alfred could do? He certainly didn’t want the experience of Eternus spoiled by the AI, but maybe there was something he could take care of on Brad’s behalf. “Can you call Kent and tell him I’ll be starting it up soon, please?”

“Ah, will master Kent be playing with you?”

“Last I checked, yep.” Brad confirmed. “Though he said he wouldn’t be free until about nine, so I have a couple of hours to kill. Tell him I’ll be figuring out the tutorial while I wait.”

“Of course sir.” Alfred conceded agreeably as Brad doffed his jacket, rid himself of his casual jeans, and pulled off his shirt and underwear. Naked as the day he was born, the twenty-three-year-old stepped through the doors to his adjoining study and settled his eyes on the full-immersion pod resting on a dais at the centre of the room.

When Eternus Online had been announced, the company behind it had also announced a special raffle. The winners would receive custom, specially created cradles for full-dive immersion into the game. Each person had been limited to one ticket to make it fair, and Brad had entered without hesitation. When he’d received the email he’d won, he’d been unable to believe his luck.

The obsidian-coloured pod was shaped like a coffin, an ironic touch that Brad had found weirdly endearing. The electronics that powered it were hooked up to a low-grade fusion generator on the dais beneath it, one that was independent of the home’s power supply and was self-recharging. He had no idea about the science behind it, of course, but that hardly mattered. All he cared about was the fact that it could run even in the case of a full black-out.

The pod itself also had a state of the art quantum uplink to the Eternus servers in the middle of the Atlantic, meaning that his connection was basically uninterruptible. From what his research had told him, the trillionaire behind the creation of Eternus had spared no expense, and the server mainframes for the game had been built onto a state of the art man-made island, named ‘New Atlantis’, adrift in U.S. sovereign waters. Rumour had it that the United States Navy was also helping keep the island safe, though for what reason, was unclear.

“Thank god for absentee parents.” He murmured as he approached the pod, once again finding a positive note in the relative absence of his old money, hyper-ambitious parents and their all-consuming quest to increase the Pendragon family fortune.

The pod hissed quietly as it vented compression, the lid lifting away to reveal the deceptively sparse interior of the metal device, and the viscous liquid inside of it. Brad took a slow breath and shook out his arms and legs, eyeing the interior of the pod with a mix of nervousness and excitement. A breath in and out followed and then he stepped forward, moving to step into the pod before he could second-guess himself.

“Woah. Weird.” He said as the warmth of the liquid inside of it greeted him, and banished his concerns about being cold. With less hesitation, he lowered himself down until he was sitting within the strange substance. An oxygen mask and simple forehead band slid out from one of the side panels and Brad accepted them both, placing the band on his head and slipping the mask into place.

A few moments of nothingness followed, and Brad was about to open his mouth to pose a query to Alfred when a sudden prompt lit up his vision.

New User Detected. Initializing . . .

Brad blinked at the message, experimentally waving his hand in front of his face. When he touched nothing but air, he realised that the message must have been projected in his vision alone, and his eyes widened.

“Okay. That is cool.” He murmured to himself.

A moment later, another prompt replaced the first one.

System initialized and calibrated.

All power and connection readings nominal.

Please lie down and close your eyes to begin.

Brad did as the prompt requested without much hesitation, allowing the warm liquid to frame his face and closing his eyes. He felt the liquid rising as he did, and detected the subtle hint of something else coming from the mask covering his mouth and nose. Before he could even open his mouth to question, he felt his consciousness slipping away, focus pulled from him. The distant sound of the lid of the pod closing accompanied him as he drifted, and the faint hiss of pressurisation was the last thing he heard as the liquid covered his body and face.

A moment later, Brad’s eyes snapped open to an endless white void.

“What the hell?” He muttered, before a prompt abruptly filled the air before him, making him blink rapidly.

Welcome, Traveler, to Eternus Online!

Eternus Online is the latest, and most cutting edge form of VRMMO gaming. Unlike other games, there is neither a script nor a standard experience to Eternus Online.

Every player is limited to one character. Permanent death is very rare in Eternus Online, but is not impossible. You are allowed 1 re-roll every 6 real life months.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Eternus Online operates with a time compression system in place, allowing 4 hours to pass for every 1 hour in the real world. This equates to one in-game day for every 6 hours in real life.

Time compression is an experimental feature, and all users must consent to medical monitoring to avoid any unforeseen complications, the terms and extent of which are included in the Eternus Online EULA.

Do you wish to view the Eternus Online EULA?

YES

NO

Brad hesitated, and then shook his head and selected no. Alfred had already gone over the EULA when he’d looked into the game, and the AI had raised no major concerns when questioned. If Alfred saw no reason to worry, especially given his programming to protect the lives of the household, then Brad saw no reason to bother with the minutiae. He’d already known about the compression technology as well, and that was part of what had made him so excited for the game in the first place.

The compression could be roughly calculated to 91 real life days per year in Eternus Online. With the average human lifespan nearing close to one hundred and fifty years thanks to modern science, that meant that if someone played Eternus Online for half a decade, they would experience over a dozen years of life within the realm of the game. It was an incredible breakthrough in modern technology, and something that only ten years prior had seemed beyond the scope of possibility.

“So, what now?” He asked to the empty air, only for another prompt to fill his vision.

Well, at least he knew how to get things moving. He had to prompt it verbally.

By waiving the viewing of the EULA, your consent to its contents has been assumed. If you wish to view the EULA at any time, please access the [Help] option in your in-game menu.

To proceed further, it is time to create your character. This character will be your Avatar within Eternus Online for the duration of your playtime, unless you decide to re-roll or are permanently killed.

Once you begin the character creation process, it is extremely important that you do not log out or disconnect during the process. Are you ready to begin?

YES

NO

Brad selected yes without hesitation, and glanced around as the window disappeared. A few moments of silence passed as he considered whether or not another verbal prompt was required, and then another few seconds again before he decided to throw caution to the winds and opened his mouth to speak.

Before he could, however, he was interrupted by a flash of light and the appearance of a new person in the endless white. The new arrival was female, standing around five foot five with her blonde hair in a corporate-chic haircut, dressed in a white blouse and a simple black pencil skirt. Matching stockings and cream heels completed the look.

“Hello!” She said with a winning smile, wiggling her fingers in greeting. “I’m Ada, your actualisation assistant. I’ve been sent by the Gods to help with the construction of your host body within the world of Eternus!”

“Uh… Hello.” Brad said uncertainly, blinking at the bubbly tidal wave of personality before him. “So you’re here to help me make my character?”

“Yup!” Ada said with a grin. “You Travelers sure do use weird terms.”

Brad’s mind raced as he took in the blonde, before he decided to throw his confusion aside. Was it really surprising that a game as ambitious as Eternus would have dynamic character creation wrapped into an immersive experience? In a way, he’d already started playing the game.

“Um, so how do we do this?” He asked instead of answering her statement, unsure how to proceed.

“It’s simple really!” Ada replied happily. “I’ll go ahead and create a simulacrum for you to interact with. When you’re happy with the look and feel of the example, I’ll pass the design along and your soul will be tethered to your body within Eternus!”

Brad nodded along as she spoke. The gist of it was simple enough, and he saw no reason to ask for elaboration or hesitate in proceeding. It all seemed relatively straightforward.

“Okay. Ready when you are, Ada.”

“Excellent!” She replied happily. “Here we go.”

A sudden flash of light made Brad blink rapidly again, and when he refocused his gaze he stared at what appeared to be a replication of himself. This rendition was inert, arms at its sides and blue eyes staring vacantly ahead. Its blond hair was cut with a fade just like his, and it even sported the small crescent scar on its chin that he’d acquired as a toddler. It was also, he noticed, completely naked.

“Whoa.” He said as he looked it over with a mix of awe, surprise, and embarrassment.

“This is your simulacrum! You are allowed, per the rules of Eternus, to alter yourself within a thirty-percent margin of difference.” Ada said brightly. “Any changes you want to make, you only need to picture in your mind. When you’re satisfied with your choices, just say you’re finished and I’ll take it from there!”

Brad chewed his lip and braced his hands on his hips, eyeing the construct warily. “Any changes I want?”

“Well, you can’t grow horns or add wings or anything.” Ada said with a laugh. “But height, weight, muscle, limbs, hair, face, eyes… Even your genitalia!”

Brad blushed visibly at that, and laughed nervously. “That’s detailed.” He muttered.

Drawing in a breath, he shrugged and decided to dive in. The first thing he did was change his hair and eyes, altering the first to be down to the middle of his shoulders, and adding vibrancy to the gold. His eyes brightened to a more vibrant blue colour, while he went about subtly tweaking his muscle mass.

He’d played football in high school, but he’d let his figure go in the five years since he graduated — and that was something he still regretted. He tightened up the looseness on his belly, and brought three neat pairs of abdominal muscles back into definition. His arms and legs received the same treatment, tightened up muscle-wise. Thankfully he’d managed to retain his general size, even if the definition had faded. The changes, therefore, were easily accepted.

He was already reasonably tall at 6’3, but he decided to crank that just a little more: Pushing himself up to 6’5 and better structuring his jawline. He noticed his body seemed to proportionally increase in density and size with his actions, saving him the trouble of having to adjust anything to fit the new height. His eyes glanced down at his groin, and he shrugged to himself in acceptance. Above average was fine, he didn’t need something ludicrous.

His eyes flickered over himself, and he nodded in satisfaction before turning to Ada.

“I guess I’m done.” He said after a moment. “Can’t really think of anything else.”

The blonde smiled brightly and looked him over, nodding to herself. “Okiedokie! Your psychological acceptance of the demonstrated body is also on par with what’s expected, which is great!”

“My psychological acceptance?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Why yes! One of my tasks is to be on the lookout for gender dysphoria or other disconnections from one’s own body. This is a new world, traveler! You can be whatever your heart desires.”

Bradford blinked, then shrugged. That made sense.

“Okay! I’m going to go ahead and begin the soulbinding process, if you’re absolutely sure?”

“I’m sure.” Brad replied with a final glance over himself.

“Great! Here we go!” Ada said brightly.

A sudden vortex opened before him, resplendent with a kaleidoscope of every known spectrum of colour. Brad raised his eyebrow at it, and then looked at Ada again, who appeared perfectly unperturbed by the development. Deciding not to worry, he watched as his new body lifted off the ‘ground’ and drifted toward the portal languidly. It was funny in a way, watching his own physical self inertly drifting toward a rainbow tear in the fabric of reality.

At least, until something seemed to go wrong.

The portal, in the blink of an eye, seemed to fracture. Its myriad of colours were abruptly shattered, black lines of menacing power threading in from the edges of the circle to turn the entire structure a roiling, vicious obsidian. Bradford looked at Ada, who was now staring at the portal in shock. The blonde seemed frozen for a minute, before she spun back to face Brad. “Why is this happening?! What did you do?!”

“I didn’t do anything!” He shot back, watching as his new body was greedily sucked into the black abyss. “What’s going on? Is there an error with the—?”

“This is wrong! How is She doing this?! WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

Brad panicked as Ada turned to him, looking terrified and shocked, even as he was lifted off the ground. The blonde made as if to grab him, and a bolt of obsidian lightning struck out to swat away her hand. Ada hissed as if burned, turning back to the portal that was now rapidly approaching his vision.

“Ada! What the hell is going on?!”

“I have to report this…” She said while ignoring him, glancing between him and the portal. “This can’t be allowed. You’ll regret this day, Traveler. You’ve just made some very powerful enemies.”

“What the hell are you talking about?!”

Bradford’s demands were in vain as Ada vanished.

Panicked, he turned back to the looming darkness of the portal.

With a final shout of fear, he was pulled in.

Everything turned black.