The year is 2168. With the invention of the CIC (Cybernetic Interface Chip) in 2122, mankind fully stepped into the cybernetic age. Different types of virtual reality had been around for over one hundred years by that time, and each new itteration was a development on previous methods, manipulating sensory input to make it feel like one is in another place. The CIC made all of that instantly obsolete.

Even personal computers, communication devices, and much more simply died out as there was no longer a market for them. No longer did people stare at screens. Some people did not even open their eyes, as the CIC could simulate vision by linking ones global position with G-map data. Google maps and google earth had evolved into G-map, a perfect virtual representation of Earth that updated in real time. Needless to say, crime investigation was a very very simple process. 

And very much like The Matrix, information and skills could be directly downloaded. 

The company which invented the chip, Cybernatural, quickly grew to eclipse every other technology company and managed to absorb them. No more Apple, Alphabet, Samsung, Oracle, IBM, or Microsoft as well as all telecomunications and internet providers becoming obsolete and having their workforce absorbed into Cybernatural. It took only 20 years for Cybernatural to become the single most powerful economic force in the world. They even made language obsolete by creating a lossless file format for raw thought. 

By 2168, the world was completely dependent on Cybernatural. Aside from the CIC, cybernatural also revolutionized robotics. Amazing progress had been made over the past hundred years or so, but as real as some robots were, AI never really got to the point of being "human", though it got close. Cybernatural cracked the code. They did not merely create artificial intelligence, they gave computers life.

With all this, humans were still humans, and the great founder and president of Cybernatural was dying. Medical technology had advanced greatly to the point of raising the average global lifespan to 105 years with some people living into the 140s and a rare few reaching the 150 mark. 

At only 89 years old, Arnaud Park, arguably the greatest mind on Earth during his entire lifetime, was dying. He was a man obsessed with his work, to the neglect of his own health. He never married or even cared much for romance. He was in love with his work. Even now he uses his mental connection to an extremely advanced 3D printer to create his final masterpiece, an integrated chip that not only merges one's mind with machine, but through space-time harmonics, allows the mind to interface reality. He had the theory for a few years, but it took time to invent a 3D printer even capable of building the device, as it would require subatomic precision. This was not all Arnaud was up to in his secret underground laboratory/workshop. Beside him was a body which looked much like an idealized version of himself in the prime of his youth. The plan was to instal the new chip into the new body, and then upload his mind into the new body. The body was created using the same 3D printer, and has several unique features no regular human would have. If this worked, Arnaud would be essentially immortal. 

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Let's skip the obvious. It worked.

Arnaud opened his new eyes and saw the world more clearly than he ever had before. He could see new colors and new details in everything around him. It was such an emotional experience that he found tears running down his face. "Today I live for the first time." He said aloud in his native English.

Stepping out of the operating chair, he found himself feeling great, strong, alert, alive! Now it was time to test the new chip. He ran a few tests of regular features the previous chips could perform, and the new chip did everything well, even better actually. Even the most complex and difficult commands were done instantly. He rendered a complete galactic model in an instant. Just to see if he could, he did the same with a complete model of the known universe and had the chip extrapolate that data to calculate what the unobservable universe might look like. The entire task was completed the moment the command was given, rendered down to the smallest particles and waveforms. It shocked Arnaud. He expected the chip to exceed all forseen limits, but seeing it in action was something else.

Then it came time for the real test. He pulled up Cybernatural's most popular game "Infinite Adventure", and he logged in to his senior administrator account. What he did not expect is that in that very moment, logging in meant that his entire body blinked out of existence and merged into a virtual reality that in that very moment was no longer virtual. He was now practically a God in a brand new world. Like one might expect. He decided to stay. Good for him.

But this is not his story.

Ryan Rudolf started playing infinite Adventure the same moment it became a true world. Unknown to him Arnaud was feeling excited and decided to give the first five new members of the brand new world a special bonus. Ryan Rudolf was the second to recieve this bonus. 

This is his story.