October 14th, 2133. This is the date that in a century or so will be put in history books to be rembered. Why?
Because that’s the date that the first full VR MMO released to the public: Elysium Online: Worlds of Arcadia. This game, as later recorded, changed the world’s economy forever. The currency could be exchanged for real money and viceversa. Old and new big companies emerged with the increasing popularity of the game, pioneering the path to a new era. Futhermore the game gave a new chance at life where one could become wathever they desired. Were they poor? They could strike it rich. Were they lonely? They could become a star in the game, surrounded by all kinds of people. Did they feel unfulfilled? Their dream would come true.
It was a freedom, no. It was more. A new world never seen before.
Now, already a month later the game’s popularity had exploded beyond expectations.
At first a game that promised to deliver 100% realistic experience was regarded as a sure failure. No one wanted to put money in the project, aside from some crazy ones. But as soon as the big names heard that the beta testers confirmed the truth, they immediately invested more than half of their capital.
Heck, it’s so popular that even the countries leaders were showing themselves playing the game to gain more popularity. Some have even started introducing a currency exchange betwen the real and the game one.
The prospective income from the game encouraged people to start new business in EO:WA, some in hope for a change in their life.
In a tranquil neighborhood in the suburbs of Panlei City, three kids aged between 10 and 13 were playing ‘I don’t want to go home, just let us stay here to eat cookies forever’ in the garden of a nice two story house.
“Follow me, my valiant warriors. The great dragon will soon be upon us. Now is our last chance to replenish our strength!” The oldest kid with chestnut hair was swinging his toy sword in the air with pride, his blue eyes looking expectantly at his siblings.
“I shall look out for our reinforcements!” Said the girl that looked exactly like her brother, the only difference being her longer hair tided up in a ponytail, before scurrying off inside the house.
“Commander, we should look for a safe place to wait. If the dragon arrives early, it won’t find us!” The youngest with lighter brown hair and green eyes was standing at attention while sneaking a few glances between the house and the street.
Cracking a smile, the oldest, lead his little brother to a secluded spot between the oleander and the jasmine bushes, hiding them from the occasional passerby on the street.
Soon the girl came back with a plate full of chocolate chips cookies, and under the watchful eye of her grandma she went to share it with her siblings.
While watching them playing happily, the grandma took a seat under the shade. Her short white hair swayed gently with the breeze. Her round glasses rested lazily on her nose while her lime colored eyes followed the kids around.
Once the sun was close to setting, the kids heard a car pull over in front of the house. The oldest one incited his siblings “The dragon is here, chaaaarge!”.
The grandma, still chilling in the same spot, watched as all three children charged like bolides towards a woman in her late 40s with braided blonde long hair and a pair of sunglasses on top of her head.
The woman almost fell down on her butt, the practice from this almost daily occurence was the only thing that kept her steady. With a tired smile she hugged her kids “Did you have fun with your grandma Ariel?”
“YES!” they all screamed in unison. Seriously, thought the woman, these kids are on the same wavelength only when it’s about their grandma or junk food.
The mother told her children to go to the car while she went to her mother in law.
“Auntie, I’m sorry to have left you the kids in such a short notice” she wanted to keep apologizing, but granny Ariel interrupted her “Don’t worry, they kept me company in the last three days”
The woman smiled “Thanks. I appreciated it, really”. Ariel just grunted in response. After a few more pleasantries the mother and kids left.
Grandma Ariel saw her grandkids off with a smile. Once they were driven off by their mother her smile became even wider. “Finally. Peace at last”
She glanced the neighbour’s houses and saw Mrs. Wattson, the old bag next door, hiding behind the curtains. Ariel acted like she didn’t see anything. She didn’t want to risk to ruin her mood because of an old rat.
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Once back inside, she locked the door and rushed with inhumane speed towards the storage room. Behind the brooms and cleaning tools, hidden under an ordely pile of old cloths, was an Omicron box.
The worldwide delivery company had left her order on her doorstep just a couple of days ago. She felt all jittery and excited when it was delivered, however she had to hide it in a rush to keep it away from those three little devils. There’s no way she would let them touch such a precious thing!
It took one month just to arrive. If someone broke it, she would stuff them to death with food.
Dusting off the nonexistent dust she gave a long sigh. “Haiz… Little Lia is the only angel in this family. I should bake her favourite cookies next time she comes to visit”
Granny Ariel took the box upstairs into her bedroom. Inside it was a metallic gray pair of shaded glasses, coupled with two earpieces with a green spiral logo, and a pair gloves.
Technology had advanced by leaps and bounds since sixty years ago. At first VR technology could only be reproduced by cumbersome helmets, causing incidents like broken vases and televisions. Then when VR became more popular, a few companies started to produce VR pods.
It was a big revolution in the gaming industry. People could now play the games in their sleep. However the prices were steep, and not everyone could afford them. Plus it took a lot of space in the house. That’s when Pod Cafes became popular. Those shops let people rent them hourly at an acceptable price.
The latest VR product is the earpiece series. Always coupled with a pair of chip connected gloves, it is now the most compact and popular product ever sold. That’s because other than games, it can directly connect to the web and be used for calls and business. It was advertised as a revolutionary product, and indeed it was!
Ariel carefully read the instructions, after seeing that the lens could act as spectacles she was glad. She wouldn’t need to continously switch between her glasses and the earpiece.
Putting everyting on with care, she thought back to her younger days when she used to play the now ‘old school games’. They were certainly fun, but alas work soon took all of her time, and later she fell in love with a splendid husband and started a family.
Games in her later years didn’t feel as fun anymore and she only played her older ones once in a while.
But everything changed when she saw Elysium Online: Worlds of Arcadia.
She felt like a young kid again.
Playing a full VR game had always been a dream for her generation. She honestly thought that she wouldn’t have lived for long enough to see it.
With a grin on her face she turned on the earpiece.
Ariel layed down comfortably on the bed and went through the holographic menu to choose her preferred settings. Once done she pressed on the virtual icon of EO:WA and she found herself surrounded in a light blue aura.
Synchronization…
Please wait for a smoother experience.
Ten minutes later the floating words disappeared and in their place a gigantic tree with a thousand branches appeared in a starry field. Each of the branches was holding one fruit, every one of a different color from the rest. Ariel heard the rustling of leaves while the title of the game appeared in front of her eyes.
The title lasted for a few seconds before disappearing, a lady’s voice taking its place.
“Welcome to Elysium Online: Worlds of Arcadia” Granny Ariel looked around to see if there was someone talking but she saw no one. “I am Yggdrasil, the Mother of all Worlds” The tree shined… in pride? Huh, they took great care to make this cutscene.
“Brave warrior, I hope you could visit one of my worlds and aid the inhabitants there. However, if you chose to live a slow life I won’t blame you. You can live however you want, whether you search for riches or hope for a place to heal your soul”
The stars all around Ariel shined and an avatar wearing only underwear of herself appeared in front of her. “Since I’m the one that called you here, I’ll let you choose your form” The voice grew silent and grandma Ariel was left with examining her other self.
She thought for a bit. Since it was a game, the age shouldn’t influence her fighting capabilities. Honestly, she never wanted to become younger. Not having kids maybe, but younger? Never.
Ariel left the age meter alone and proceeded on the other customization options.
She made herself a bit shorter, 1,45m and with a bit more muscles so that she wouldn’t look like a shriveled sack of bones. She kept her eyes as a lime green, while changing her hair longer and in a silver color, picking a stylish high bun hairstyle. Then she added a very big pair of black framed glasses as an accessory.
Ariel looked at the overall outcome: she was quite satisfied.
Next she scrolled to the race selection. She watched as her avatar was beautified by the elven race, became green skinned and burly with the orcs, gained a new beard as a dwarf, and grew a tail and animal ears as a beastkin.
She defaulted to human. Vanilla grannies were the best.
Then she could choose the server to play in. To her it really didn’t matter, so she put a random one.
Next was the name. She thought about it for a minute before choosing the one she always used for all her characters: Tacha Macha.
Once she pressed the confirm button, the tree spoke again. “I hope your stay in Elysium will be a pleasant one. And remember: destiny is yours to make”
The stars all around shined blindingly. Ariel felt her perspective change from her observer one to her avatar. She was now a bit smaller, resting under the tree. Her avatar became a little star before flying towards one of the fruits. Now that she was so close to one, she could see that these fruits were actually worlds. Ganny Ariel had no time to look at the other branches before she found herself falling inside the closest world.
A beautiful, calming song accompained her travel between crimson mountains, crystal valleys and emerald forests before landing in an ancient white marble shrine overgrown with weeds.
In white characters, the name of the place appeared before vanishing.
Mittilagart – Shrine of Sudri Beginnings
Ariel, no. Tacha Macha smiled. This game looked even better than what she was expecting.
If there were less people around, it would be even better.