Year 2102. Society changed a lot past these years. Due to global warming there has been a restriction on oil extraction , electric cars numbers exploded , replacing the ones on fuel, people started using alternative environment friendly energy ,and so on. In short humanity was on the right track.
Also life expectancy was now , due to advancement in medicine ,120-140 years.
There were still conflicts throughout the world , but not military , instead they were economical in terms of sanctions or preferential taxes. But still countries introduce mandatory military service of 1.5 years. Better safe than sorry. This was one of the reason countries didn’t attack each other anymore. They weren`t sure they would win. Despite this society of a whole was advancing in the right direction, despite minor cases of racism or social out casting.
Better paying jobs, no more food shortage, crime rates reduced ,well things were getting better and better.
A lot of people started working from home for better pay and more free time. Although there was a lot of money and welfare to go around , other things got more expensive. To go to a college was the most expensive, having pets and so on was also taxing , fashion, art and handmade crafts exploded in price, this being and age of mass productions.
Mark Stent was one of the wealthiest man on the planet. He was in top 20. He could have been in top 5 but Mark wasn`t a very greedy man. He was greedy alright but it didn’t reflect the position he was in.
He donated a lot of money to welfare and aided in the past the underdeveloped countries. He was a person that always thought of a global scale instead thinking with tunnel vision like a greedy rich man whose all purpose was to make more money.
Even if the world was going in the right direction, Mark Stent had some doubts, or rather call it a fear.
He knew human beings are bot ugly and beautiful creatures in terms of what they can do. They can help , heal or start peace , or they can inflict pain, kill and start wars. He considered this time of peace like the calm before a storm.
So 20 years ago he started a project company, Beyond Systems, that tried to develop a virtual reality system where people can let their evil side, wishes, greed ,dreams surface in there. Better in the VR system than in reality. He also hopes people will learn a lesson, and have better control of the “evil”/”bad” that is resting inside them.
That project is in its final stages of completion ,the project that will take war from the real world and introduce it in VR, the very first and “last” , War of Ages.
War of Ages was advertised for over 2 years before its release date. there were lots of commercials with singers , idols in them, lots of talk shows , protests from health organizations , public safety concern and so on.
6 months before its scheduled release date there were tv conferences held by the CEOs of Beyond Systems from several countries HQ. The CEO of Beyond Systems South Korea was Kim Joon.
That tv conference had the best tv ratings past 20 years. Almost 90% of South Korea was watching it.
“ We understand that War of Ages is set in a fantasy world. Can u tell us more about it and its final purpose?”
“well first of all let me tell u about the world. Its set in a world the size of Jupiter , or to be more exact 121.9 times bigger than earth in terms of surface area. It`s set in fantasy world with free gameplay , and swords and magic, monsters, and so on. You can train to get stronger or if u want become a fisherman and go fishing….there are no limits to what you could do. You can become anyone you want in War of Ages. Also as the name of the game implies , there will be a lot of war between the thousands of kingdoms that exist. “
“What is the purpose of the game?”
“ Ahh!.. I forgot..hahahah… I don’t know.”
“Huh?”
“Hahha..well to be honest these type of tv conferences are airing all over the world in their respective countries…there will be a video message from Mark Stent later so you will all find out”
“…….”
“ Isn`t the world to big?”
“Ha haha …O I forgot to tell you the most important and nice part!. Hahah”
All reporters: ‘how is this guy a CEO?’
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“ Well … it was decided when created that a player should have the chance to travel all over the world of War of Ages.. if he is capable…so anyway we set the time 1 to 5..1 day in real life equals to 5 in-game…1 year equals to 5..pretty nice right …hahaha”
“…..”
All reporters : ‘ I hate this guy! ’
“ Mrs. Kim there were a lot of concerns regarding safety. What can u tell us about them?”
“Well first of all with today’s technology its pretty simple. When you think of something or transmit commands to your limbs or other parts of the body, your neurons emit small electric signals. Our VR systems which our customers will buy will be able to interpret those signals and transmit them to our servers and thus he will be able to transmit those commands in real-time in the VR world . Also a signal is sent back to the body so when he kicks and punches he won`t do so with his body also….also in real time..hahaha..o by the way I cant tell u how that’s system works or ill get fired..hahhah!”
All reporters: ‘ Just get fired already … die! ’
“ Doesn’t that mean u mind control people”
Suddenly Kim Joon became dead serious.
“ No it doesn’t! And this is the most important thing! The VR world is governed by 100 individual Ai with different personalities. They are responsible for the weather , monster creations, dungeons ,landscapes event ,quests and so on. At their basic structure they are programmed to not harm players in real life or allow interference from outside. They are basically a closed system with no access from outside… the system has been closed for 5 years after the programmers finished adding the last touches to the system ….and now even our top programmers or even Mark Stent doesn’t have access to the system.
During the programing there were several inspectors from over 20 countries also from O.N.U and so on that checked our programing to make sure there is no dangers.
Also throughout the world there are 100 servers each with its own Ai that makes the Network that’s hosts exclusively the server for War of Ages.
And if you are wondering how safe are the servers.. well u can try to nuke them for example and there wouldn’t be a scratch on them……the safety measures exceed hundreds times those of Pentagon. We also have contracts with different countries’s militaries to guard those facilities. Unless u mount a large scale military campaign against them u can’t even set 1 foot inside the perimeter. Hahahahha..haha.!”
All reporters: ‘ isn’t that over the top? ’
‘”Why didn’t you release War of Ages earlier?”
“ Well to be possible to have quests and other events. and most important…..fun… hahaha ..the world had to have some kind of background history..right..hahah…so we ‘cranked’ up the speed to 50000 to 1 so in those 5 years they had a 250000 year history..hahah.. the AI are pretty smart so we could’ve have gone for 100000 to 1 ..hahha…but anyway imagine a quest related to a 100000 year old story..pretty awesome right?”
“…..”
“ what`s the price of a VR system? Also what’s the price of the monthly subscription?”
“ Our products vary in terms of prices the cheapest one is worth like 2 minimum salaries and it’s a helmet type ( aprox 4000 euros) and on the other hand we have the capsule line which is at least 10 times more expensive than the helmet type depending on its options. The monthly subscription is 1200 euros , and the more months you buy in advance the cheaper it is. Also Mark Stent has decided that the first month of subscription is free…hahhah”
“ Again what is the purpose of the game… the final goal?”
“ I don’t know….. all I know is that there will be a video message for every person that logs in War of Ages…. And all I know is that it will make some pretty big waves in the world ! hahha…anyway lets end it with this..hah ha”
This video conference was almost 6 months ago and was playing on a screen outside a VR systems shop.
Outside in the rain there is a waiting line… and from all the people waiting there is a guy who has all eyes turned on him , ….the reason being, he seems out of place.
Tomorrow prologue part 2 of 2 and chapter 1. :D