Chapter 2
Jake came to in is pod as the lid pulled up towards the ceiling. His muscles were still tense from the stressful day. Actually, he’d been logged in for over a month straight trying to make ends meet. The nutrient levels were displayed on the wall opposite him, they were at 5% anyway. There was no time dilation with his game so it wasn’t really that efficient. He had maybe a day left in-game if he wanted, but that wasn’t even possible since he was being evicted. Looking around the cramped space he tried to memorize his surroundings. Chances were, he wasn’t going to see this place again after he left.
The Virtual reality pod was mounted on the back wall facing the exit, a futon on his left folded up and a small kitchenette with bar counter near the entrance facing a small television sitting precariously close to the sink. A door directly across from the futon led into a small bathroom with a shower, toilet, sink and cabinet. The apartment was I a disarray scattered with random fast food boxes and random bobbles. He actually didn’t own much despite the huge mess permeating the area.
Deciding he had nothing better to do he started cleaning up the mess. ‘Maybe the manager will let me stay just one more day to clean up.’ He went to the bed and gathered up his thin blanket and lumpy pillow stuffing them into a medium sized backpack. He then went and got his toiletries after he showered then put them in the bag as well. Then he went to a cupboard near the entrance and gathered the rest of his clothes into his bag along with a few pictures of his parents scattered about the room. When he went to put them in his bag he looked at them for a moment remembering just the year earlier when they booted him out after high school. Sighing as he remembers the money struggles there too, he moves to sit on the futon and turns on the television. Without really caring he switches the channel to the Friday news.
For a while they talk about the economy and some water crisis in the UN, but then something interesting comes up. The host was interviewing some rich looking guy in a black suit with shorter black hair combed over. The host was some redhead gal in a loose, light blue dress. They were both smiling and started talking as soon as they were given the que to talk.
Host: “Hello everyone Veronica Selm here once again, thank you for tuning into Foxx news on this fine evening. Today I’m joined by Kane Taurin the owner of Space Age, A brand new VR game coming out around the globe on Sunday morning at exactly 8:00 am. Now, we all know from previous ads that this is a space related game. We really haven’t heard how it will work though. Would you mind telling us a little more about it?”
Kane: “Ok, well I guess I can talk about the game mechanics and how you level up in-game. The first thing you should know is that unlike a 50% immersion like typical ratings ours has been rated at a total 100% authenticity level! We consider that to be one of our greatest accomplishments and it shows in-game. This has of course never been done before by any other company. You might also know we are a new company to the market and before you ask, we might make a few other games in the future but for now this will be it for the foreseeable future. Now for the game mechanics, you need to understand that any skill obtained in and out of the games will work inside. It is an actual full reality, anything and everything can be used. Take anything apart, repair, or destroy anything. If you can imagine it, it’s in there somewhere. The only issue is finding it, the world starts off highly unexplored scattered with remnants from many battles and civilizations! Discover and become famous, build an empire or you can work for any one of your starting empires. You have three choices of territory to start in. you have to start at a mining station and work your way off the station. This keeps the players from advancing too faster allowing you to set goals. Everything means more when you accomplish it in space because most of the time it’s going to be ten times harder than you’re used to.”
Veronica: “That is all quite interesting sir, what about the skills and races?”
Kane: “Good questions! Stats and skills aren’t everything in this game. They are just numbers representing your ability really. As all your skills and stats increase you can either feel or see the changes in your body better than the numbers can represent. The skills can help guide you through harder routines such as mechanics, coding, coking, shooting and battle. The list goes on and on, the game is unique in this way which brings me to my next point. It has a deity AI that controls and maintains the entire internal system. Not only that, it keeps generating more world and quests. This New programs so intuitive, you could make a new skill by doing practically anything it sees fit. Don’t be discouraged though, anyone can just as easily get the same ability.
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Huff…huff…
Now for races, you can unlock more alien races in the future and all of them have the same potential. Some can just start off with racial buffs or bonuses to certain learning capabilities. I won’t spoil anything but don’t worry, there will be plenty of races to start off with to choose from. If I was you I’d check out the tutorial in the morning before the game starts to get used to the body.”
Veronica: “Well that seems like a lot of information, I’m so glad that we could have you here today.” Before she could finish her sentence he had taken another big breath and drink of water though. He continued on as if she hadn’t even said anything.
Kane: “That’s not even the tip of the iceberg! Ladies and gentlemen, I present the first Gaming system with a 1 to 10 time dilation while in game. You will literally have ten times the life-time to live as long as you stay in-game. Our personalized gaming pods of course will be required but since we can foresee people playing the game for long periods of time possibly years at a time, we have done something extra. Using the best medical staff in the world we have developed a cure-all sort of system! As long as you’re in the pod your body will stay younger due to a vitamin and chemical solution you will be submerged in and hooked up to. You will quite possibly wake up after a long game period to practically the same body you started with. Not only that but it stops multiple diseases and helps heal. Of course you still age, but the solution keeps your cells from mutating or changing over time and slows their life cycle. Young people of course will fare the longest naturally but elderly even can live a few hundred years longer than expected! Of course you have to be at least 18 or older to play. /this is due to the body growing at rapid paces when they are younger and also due to the realism and inevitable dangers in-game. They can however use a regular pod with faster hardware to play in the cities dedicated on certain safe stations. The game blocks players from doing harm in these places and only your relatives can come visit these sectors, so parents out there can play easily too!”
He looked around at the quiet crowd behind the camera and suddenly there is cheering and yells everywhere. Everyone was stunned but still, the applause only grew. His smile grew and he was soon talking again though I couldn’t hear him through the audience. I think he was saying his outro so I just wait. I’m surprisingly happy about the news and actually find myself grinning and cheering along. He could actually hear other apartments partying and at some points he could have sworn he heard some corks pop. As the crowd settles down and the regular news comes to they aren’t grinning.
Reporter: “Hello there, this is Tammy Larson reporting from the forefront of Foxx news fronts. Currently around the country there have recently been reports mass missing persons reports submitted for single and married couples especially. We are not sure what exactly is going on but we expect that there might be more cases yet undiscovered. There have been no cases of children missing from homes though so that might be a good sign that they simply left. There was no reports of any signs of struggles or harm to the homes though so we suspect people are fleeing homes with debts so they can afford the upcoming gaming pods though. If you suspect any unusual behavior please report to 1-800-***-****. These cases may also be nothing but the investigation will continue until more evidence surfaces.”
I decide that’s enough dismissing it as fugitives running from loans or debtors. The economy is bad after all. At that moment he wishes he could do the same but he has barely a hundred dollars for food and his file will simply be deleted and he kicked out no matter what. There’s no running, he’s being pushed out unlike these other cases.
Just then someone decides to knock on the door. It must be the landlord already, dang he’s fast! As he grabs his stuff expecting to be hurried out immediately after opening up, and downs a glass of water before opens the door to a scene he really didn’t expect. A Taser drops him to the ground as some casually dressed looking men hurriedly put a bag over his head. Then he feels a needle enter his forearm and he’s out without a chance to even struggle for his life… to be continued in chapter 3
(Authors Note: Thanks for reading once again and yes next chapter the VR part of the story will finally unfold so get ready! Also, what class would you like to see as he enters the game and what race should he be? I haven’t specified anything yet but maybe android? ;) Thanks again and any tips and comments are greatly appreciated.)