Chapter Three

Damien had designed his personal VR pod, to look like an exact replica of Darth Vader’s meditation chamber. Sitting down, automated robotic arms went to work connecting him into the simulator. Initiating the closing of the pod sequence, he was looking forward to once again visiting feudal Japan. It had been years since he last toyed within it.

The thing you need to understand about “The Way of Shadow” was Damien’s perspective at the time of its creation. He had just graduated from MIT at seventeen, and not only was his college experience rushed but his entire social development had been advanced prematurely. This resulted in leaving him hormonally supercharged and sexually frustrated by age-appropriate alienation.

Socially discriminated while being a super nerd with anti-social tendencies, led directly to Damien’s near obsession with creating his own virtual reality simulation. After all, how could a self-respecting nerd not want Neo’s power over the Matrix, all while not having to worry about mechanical overlords.

Damien wanted an experience that was Indiscernible from reality. He dreamed of an environment that was viable to all five senses. His first breakthrough came via the realization that a conscious mind could not be hacked. Instead, his path led through the unconscious mind’s unguarded dream state.

This led Damien to develop “Lucid dream” A synthetic chemical compound, that safely induced the user into a stable controllable dream state. It was so effective, with no discernible side effects, that it completely dominated the anesthetics drug market almost overnight.

However, tapping into the subconscious mind was like visiting an alien planet while tripping on hallucinogens. It took time, but Damien eventually worked up a computerized dream interface, that didn't control the dream state but instead directed it through inducing a digitally constructed framework.

The framework allowed Damien to treat the dream the same way one operates a camera’s focus. Taking charge of the direction and focus of the dream was just the beginning. He then began the arduous task of introducing individual frameworks for the subconscious mind to latch onto and assimilate, letting the dreaming mind build up the virtual dream world.

Damien’s next substantial breakthrough was devising the “Repetitive Dream Sequence”, by artificially introducing a user to experience the same dream over consecutive dream dives. At first it was simply reliving the same dream from start to finish over and over. However, through refining the process the induced dream experience was lengthened and broken into a sequence of targeted events, allowing the user to enter and exit at integral staging points.

By this point Damien had accumulated a massive fortune through patent licensing royalties and events were beginning to take on momentum all by themselves. His research began to splinter off into a wide range of different fields. He realized it was only a matter of time before his dream of “Full Immersion Virtual Reality” became an actual reality. The foundation had been successfully laid, and now was the time for him to begin planning the actual content of his virtual environment.

“The Way of Shadow” was Damien’s unfinished pet virtual reality, that he continued working on as a hobbyist, whenever he needed a break from IRL (In Real Life).

The setting of the reality was based on 15th century feudal Japan, and the fully interactive environment was authentic open world format. The playable content involved a story line centered around the prevalent espionage activities of the Ninja, who were stealth soldiers and mercenaries hired mostly by the Daimyos.

To stabilize the gaming element of the environment, and establish law and order, Damien incorporated the ruling class and samurai, as the lawfully good NPC (Non-player character) faction. They provided secure safe zones as law-enforcement, as well as took on the role of quest givers throughout the gaming world.

The Ninja clans were introduced as the chaotic evil faction, and the target of the Playable characters (as a ninja initiate), whose majority of their attention would be directed towards maneuvering unseen around the Samurai.

Damien also provided “the Players” who enjoyed role-playing the hero trope, the opportunity to choose the renegade ninja path upon completion of the tutorial. In which case the Samurai would become their allies and the ninja clans their mortal enemies.

Damien devised the tutorial to be an authentic dream sequence, that required “the Player” to meet targeted goals to proceed. The time frame was completely open ended, with day/night “log-out" cycles that were created to completely submerged “the Player” into the martial culture called “Ninjutsu”. In other words, it was ninja boot camp from hell.

Damien had no desire to portray the Ninja as anything other than a pure evil faction. Therefore, he created the training arc of the tutorial to be overly harsh and brutal from the beginning to the end. One part of his motive for doing so was to shock “the Player” out of their modern-day sensibilities.

The other motivating factor was “the Player’s” eventual choice between leaving or staying. Staying within the Ninja faction was equivalent to joining the evil camp. Whereas leaving was equivalent to joining the good camp. As a combat-oriented culture Damien wanted to aggravate the animosity between the two rivaling ninja factions. He wanted to draw out the player’s ingrained nature and make the choice more of a personal ideology than simply choosing a side. He wanted genuine emotion involved, as well as highlighting the player’s true personality.

Damien was also a diehard PVP (player verse player) enthusiast and simply couldn’t imagine not incorporating a healthy PVP element into his own personal world.

“The Player” enters the ninja clan as an initiate, and is trained in disguise techniques, survival, medicine, poisons, and explosives. Physical training involved long-distance runs, climbing, and stealth methods of walking.

“The Player” must meet a set requirement of skill to progress to the rank of “Genin”, the rank “Genin” are the regular NPC ally/enemy, they are the expendable foot soldiers of the ninja clans. Once “the Player’s” achieves this rank, it is at this stage, they will be introduced to the Ninjutsu lifestyle, learning not only information on combat training, but also information about daily needs. The guidance provided for daily work also included elements that enable the ninja to understand the martial qualities of even the most menial task. These factors show how Ninjutsu establishes the fundamental principle of adaptation.

Only by reaching the rank of Chunin, can “the Player” graduate the tutorial. The NPC, “Minni bosses” are all at this rank, and act as field commanders who are stronger versions of the regular foot soldiers. Reaching this rank also triggers one of two main quest lines: “Act I “The Escape” or “Act I: Survive”.

It is at this point in the story line, that “The Player” is introduced to their first “Main Boss” level character, “the Master” who is the leader of the tutorial ninja clan, who is a “Jonin” raked ninja. The ninjas of this clan act as freelance agents mainly employed by the warring military governments of the Daimyos. The Shogunate also provides a variety of quests from monitoring the regional Daimyos, to directly interacting with the cutthroat politics of the Imperial court.

Damien’s purpose of loading “the way of shadow” was to train his Cybernetic HIVE memory matrix via a virtual reality interactive lifestyle simulation. (Reference: Total Recall) He also understood the “Star Wars” universe, basically meant him fighting was an inevitability.

Damien’s intro into the game world was literally coming back to life. He specifically recreated the sensation of being resuscitated, as “the player’s” first experience waking up inside the virtual environment. It was the same this time, as he desperately sucked in a lung full of life-giving air.

“Take it slow, kid. You were with the ancestors just a moment ago.”

Kneeling over Damien was a familiar character, and “the player’s” NPC tutorial guide for the foreseeable future. His name is Rei Zoku, an old man who is a recruiter for this region’s ninja clan.

“Alfred. Pause simulation.”

“Very good Sir. simulation is now paused.”

“Alfred, bring all remaining cybernetic systems online.”

“Very good Sir. all cybernetic systems are online.”

“Alfred. create a virtual character skin of my physical body, formulate it as close to approximately reflected by its estimated physical traits, attributes, and characteristics. Once completed you may import “character skin” into the simulation”

“Very good Sir. importing “Skin” ..., 5 ..., 4 ...,3 ..., 2 ..., 1 ..., now.”

Damien’s virtual body proceeded to liquefy, like the T2 (Terminator 2) and then changed shape, growing larger, while taking on the alien features of his cyborg body. Settling into the new form, his breathing altered noticeably in its overall efficiency. It no longer felt like sucking air in through a straw. Now his lungs simply inflated without any resistance. The same proved true for exhaling.

To Damien it all felt automated and mechanical. Then he realized that was exactly the point, he had designed the Cybernetic HIVE life support systems to manage these functions. Even to regulate his heartbeat, filter his blood, dispose of bio-waste, and many other minute but necessary functions the human body does organically.

“Alfred, resize “skin” by scale in accordance with storyline requirements, continue to adjust as needed.”

“Very good Sir. adapting “skin” per requirements.”

Inside the game “the Player”, starts as a fifteen-year-old kid, regardless of their actual age. He installed stringent security protocols on the more “adult focused” material at the locations.

Damien tried to sit up, only to find that he was physically paralyzed. He still needed to teach his “Cybernetic HIVE memory matrix”, how to move organically like a biological human.

“Alfred, import “Basic Human Motor Function Routine”.”

“Very good Sir, “Basic Human Motor Function Routine” has been initialized via UI display window.”

On Damien’s HUD a display window materialized and began a play through of the beginner yoga-like routine, “Winter’s Technologies” devised to train robots in “basic human motor function”. The entire routine consists of forty-two individual transitions. The estimated completion time is just under seven hours from start to finish.

Damien had to focus on his human memory of how to move his body and drive the simulated body through the entire routine. This allowed the adaptive coding program to write “the memory” into the “Cybernetic HIVE memory matrix”.

Damien met with no issues, and completed the entire process, with a hundred percent rating. Damien was finally standing up and moving around, if a bit clumsily like a two-year-old. However, the program would continuously run in the background, while repeatedly refining itself till it reached a quantifiable level of diminishing effect. For now, however, he at least regained his full range of motion, and moved over to take up his place by the still frozen, Rei Zoku,

“Alfred, resume simulation.”

“Very good Sir. simulation will resume in 5..., 4...,3..., 2..., 1..., now. “

Damien’s surroundings unfroze, Rei Zoku, cleared his throat,

“I’ll be honest with you, kid..., That elixir I just used to bring you back to life, wasn’t mine to give. It was given to me by my master, to preserve my life if needed. My life is the property of my master, but you..., You are not my master’s property. I fear I might have only postponed your death. My master is not the benevolent sort, he will demand payment equivalent to the elixir, and it is more than either of us can afford.”

Damien nodded along already knowing where the storyline was heading and played along.

“I’m just trash. Why did you even bother saving me?”

“It is because you are a lowly orphan that I risk my master's wrath. My master accepts orphans of the lower class into his service. Of course, you must understand that this is equivalent to slavery. Once you enter, there is no leaving my master’s service, at least not alive. To escape, is to be hunted for the rest of your life.”

“I.., I can’t exactly spit out the pill, can I? So, my life might as well already belong to your master.”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“You’re right my master won’t let you go.”

“Fine then, it seems simple if there’s no other choice.”

Damien designed the simulation to have no cut scenes. Every action needed to be acted out, eating, sleeping or traveling, regardless of how inconvenient or tedious. However, it was because of these simple mundane features that granted a much deeper immersion into the simulation. Sleeping was an exception; it was the only action that allowed “the player” to access the “log-out" menu. However, the location chosen to “log-out" was very important, as you would suffer consequences if you laid down in the wrong spot: death or jail were just some of the more common results.

Even though Damien had reached his initial goal, of achieving “basic human motor function”, he still wanted to complete the tutorial to teach his “Cybernetic HIVE memory matrix”; the “Basic Ninjutsu Training”. Thus, he continued the simulation until he could safely “log out”, Only then would he go back to face the dark side, while tending to his physical body.

Damien joined Rei Zoku, as they walked together through the city of medieval Japan. As they walked, the old man began instructing him on how to live and operate inside the simulation. This did not include any ninja training, only purely civilian grade education into the everyday life and history of Japan.

“Hey kid..., you got a name?”

This was actually a very important question that the player needed to take seriously. This would be “the player’s” name and identity inside “the way of shadow” until they deleted their account. Damien only gave it a second’s consideration,

“It’s... Hiroshi.”

“Hiroshi..., you now belong to my master, and we can’t have you shaming him by wearing these rags. Come let's head to the market, while I regale you with our people’s long and glorious history.”

Damien followed along indulging the old man as he tuned out the all too familiar recitation of Japan's timeline;

The first human inhabitants of these Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic era, around 38–39,000 years ago...,

Damien nodded along absentmindedly already knowing the past, present, and future of Japan. Looking around at the archaic city filled with NPC bots going about their business, he had to admit, the Japanese people had created a beautiful society. Of course, he understood this was only a surface level beauty, and what lay beneath suffered all the same shortcomings of any human society.

Even in modern times, the world simmered under an uneasy peace. Damien considered that perhaps peace was a state of imbalance for humanity. Perhaps conflict was a human’s most perfect state of being.

Damien was brought out of his inner mussing by Rei Zoku’s voice.

“Look at this market, it’s only been in the last century that our markets have developed to this extent. Most towns have a weekly market or at least one held three times a month, where merchants can travel to their regions and where farmers can sell off their surplus goods.

Because of this our surplus foodstuffs have become more available than ever before. This is all thanks to our continual increase in our efforts to develop our agricultural techniques and tools. Even though we are still using goods to barter for other goods, we are introducing more and more coins. Our leaders see their value as a tax revenue source and are promoting them across Japan, even trying to standardize currencies, weights, and measures.

Here in the capital and other larger cities the markets have more exotic goods than just the usual non-food items available such as pottery, tools, cooking utensils, and household furniture. We’ve imported such goods as Ming porcelain, Chinese silk, Korean cotton and ginseng, spices from Thailand and Indonesia, or Japanese-made jewelry and weapons.

“We’re here. Let's get you a proper outfit for our journey. We will be traveling outside the security of the city, and we don’t want to appear wealthy to the bandits. There for we will dress like the lower class. That means no silk, stick to clothing made of flax, hemp or cotton. Look, this is perfect for what we need, a simple matching robe and trousers.

We won’t make it far with you barefooted, so get a pair of sandals that fit. Nothing fancy, get something made from wood, or rope, no leather. Oh, and get a straw hat. If you always expect it to rain, then you’ll never be disappointed.”

Damien did as he was told and changed into his new starter gear while Rei Zoku settled the account with the merchant.

“It’s already too late to leave the city today, I know a Widow who we can stay the night with.”

There are two options depending on “the Player’s age; one was created to house “the Players” who are minors, in which case Rei Zoku, would bring them to a typical traveler’s inn for the night.

Damien, however, was well past the 18+ benchmark, and knew that Rei Zoku would lead him to the second option, which was a walled and guarded red-light district on the outskirts of the city. Inside, the prostitutes and courtesans were ranked by price, which directly correlated to the range of services available.

Damien followed along, letting Rei Zoku guide him through the checkpoints. Once inside Rei Zoku bypassed the lavish upper-class establishments, and even the more affluent lower-class brothels. Instead, he brought him to an out of the way corner where a neatly maintained dwelling was situated. Rei Zoku, pulled him to a stop in front of the gate,

“Let me do all the talking.”

Damien followed Rei Zoku’s lead as they were welcomed inside by a very reserved female servant. They were then presented to the mistress of the house, where they were then received with a traditional tea ceremony. Everything happened very formally and rigidly adhered to etiquette. Rei Zoku leaned into Damien, and began instructing him in whispers,

“This is probably your first tea ceremony, so just follow what I do. There are basically only two general rules we need to remember.

The first rule; When it's your turn, the customary practice involves turning to the person next in line and offering the salutation "Osakini" (Excuse me for going ahead of you,) before partaking in the sweets and later sipping the green tea. This serves as an expression of consideration and goodwill towards fellow guests at the tea gathering. Got it?”

Damien nodded, and Rei Zoku continued the lesson.

“The second rule; is for when it is your turn to drink from the bowl. You must pick up the bowl with your right hand and place it in the palm of your left hand. Then using your right hand, the bowl rotates slightly in a clockwise fashion. The purpose is to avoid drinking from the front of the bowl. Your mouth should be placed on the lateral side of the bowl and then a drink is taken. Do not consume the tea in one big gulp, but rather slowly enjoy it by drinking from the bowl about three times. Understand?”

Damien’s extensive research into Japan, made him accustomed to all of Japan’s rituals, traditions, and ceremonies, so this was nothing new to him. However, seeing the beautiful young woman put on a perfect rendition of the ceremony brought back fond memories of past dives. Soon enough the tea gathering ended, and he was formally introduced to the household.

“Hiroshi this is an old friend of mine, Madam Song, and the elegant young lady who performed the tea ceremony is her daughter Shiharu.”

Both mother and daughter wore the finest clothes made of silk, which were beautifully embroidered with designs of flowering plants. Each were equipped with a folding fan, and adorned with a ornate tortoiseshell hair comb, which proclaimed a certain level of status.

Damien’s design for introducing Madam Song and her daughter was as a reoccurring adoptive family for “the Player” throughout the lifespan of the character. Rei Zoku would secretively betray the Master, by continuously aiding “the Player” as the old man mentor archetype. Madam Song would play the seductive mother-n-law figure, who encapsulate that perfect ideal of the “cougar / milf” archetype. Shiharu would play the seductive older stepsister figure, who encapsulate that perfect ideal of the overly nurturing and bossy big-sister archetype.

“Shiharu, our little friend looks like he could use a bath, why don’t you see to his needs.”

“Yes, mother.”

Damien was led by Shiharu to the back courtyard, where a natural hot spring awaited them. This was the wonderful magic of virtual reality, there were no longer any inconveniences unless it was intentional.

Damien was not surprised or bashful at Shiharu’s demand for him to strip. Nor did he grow flustered at the sight of her own disrobing. He did find it strangely unusually uninteresting as he felt none of the usual desire or lust. After all he had personally devised every element of this scenario to his personal preferences. It was only at that moment he truly understood to what extent his new physical transformation had evolved. He also wondered how much of his personality and lifestyle would be affected.

Damien followed along obediently, finding Shiharu’s scripted performance entertaining. She thus instructed him to sit on a small wooden stool, where she proceeded to scrub him very thoroughly. Once they were both clean, she took him by the hand and led him to soak in the hot spring.

Damien enjoyed the heat, and tranquility of the atmosphere, as they contentedly soaked quietly under the stars.

After their bath, Damien was provided with a simple white kimono to wear, then Shiharu led him to rejoin Madam Kai and Rei Zuko for a meal. As their guests, etiquette demanded Madam Kai served Rei Zuko, and Shiharu served him. The food was served on a tray which was then placed in front of each of them on the floor. For the main dish they each had a portion of rice. For extra flavor there were side dishes of vegetables, seaweed, seafood and fruit. Along with soya bean sauce and paste, as well as wasabi and ginger. To drink they were provided with both green tea, and sake.

Picking up his lacquered chopsticks Damien thoroughly enjoyed the virtual food. He had no intention of wasting the chance to tasting authentic Earth cuisine once again. Besides he still remembered the enormous effort of work it took his team, to incorporate all five senses into the simulation.

After dinner, Shiharu led Damien into a private room with a sleeping mat. He then respectfully declined her offer of companionship for the night. He needed to log-out, and see to the security of his body, as well as contend with the effects of the dark side.

Damien waited for Shiharu to finish closing the Shoji door, before engaging the log-out sequence..,

Damien allowed the VR pod to cycle through the discharge procedures, before finally stepping free. Inside his “mind palace” he was once again in the form of “Parzival” ...,

“Alfred, create a VR skin of this form, and archive it for future application.”

“Very good Sir, is there anything else I can help you with?”

“No, I’m heading out for a while, so don’t wait up.”

Returning to his physical body was a drastic shock to the system, as Damien’s emotions once again flared erratically. Taking in the sensation, and simply enduring it, he sought to aquamate to this invasive effect of the dark side. It was proving difficult to remain calm, but his will was strong as was his focus.

Time passed, and eventually, the effect began to wane, or Damien was simply adjusting to the dark side’s presence. Either way, it was a good turn of events, which allowed him to once again concentrate on more than simply avoiding going insane.

Pushing himself up, Damien stood up and surveyed his surroundings. Not much had changed, there was still too much smoke, and heat. However, thanks to his newly installed filtering system, the smoke no longer affected him. His eyes no longer burned thanks to being hermetically sealed behind diamond lenses. All in all, he was extremely pleased with his new transformation.

Looking around, Damien finally managed to find the Kyber crystals he had been searching for. They had been unceremoniously scattered over the ground haphazardly. Collecting them, he carefully inspected each one for the slightest bit of damage and only felt relieved after he checked the last one.

There were six identical white synthetic Kyber crystals, all synthesized into identical octagonal prisms. (for size reference: image a triple A battery). There was also the original “silver Kyber crystal”, only now it had also been refined into an octagonal prism. (For size reference: image a D battery.)

“Alfred, if you can hear me, I want you to pair with my Cybernetic HIVE Tel-communication inlays and respond audibly.”

“Very good Sir, how may I be of assistance?”

“Alfred, open 1-3 right-hand Kyber crystal sockets.”

“Very good Sir, granting access to 1-3 right-hand sockets, now.”

Damien watched as the top of his right hand slid apart to reveal three empty octagonal prism shape sockets. He carefully inserted a white Kyber crystal into each empty socket.

“Alfred, go ahead and close up the right hand, and open up the left.”

“Very good Sir, closing up right hand and opening 1-3 left-hand Kyber crystal sockets.”

Damien once again watched as the top of his now left hand slid apart to reveal three identical empty octagonal prism shape sockets. He again carefully inserted a white Kyber crystal into each empty socket...,

“Alright Alfred, go ahead and close up the left hand.”

“Very good Sir, will there be anything else I can help you with?”

Creating a fist out of both hands and making double sure to aim them away from anything he wanted to keep. He took a breath,

“Alfred, begin energizing right and left-hand “Cybernetic HIVE retractable light-saber claw interfaces”.”

“Very good Sir, engaging power to right and left-hand Cybernetic HIVE retractable light-saber claw interfaces in 5..., 4..., 3..., 2..., 1..., now.”

With an electric hiss and thrum, three narrow, foot long energy blades hummed into existence just like Wolverine. Damien carefully waved then through the air and heard for the first time the authentic sound effect of a light-saber blade cutting through the air.

“Alfred, disengage right and left-hand “Cybernetic HIVE retractable light-saber claw interfaces. Go ahead and create an activation macro-on/off non-verbal neural interface command for each individual claw emitter, with a UI reference I-con denoting status of function for each, right and left-hand.”

“Very good Sir. Will there be anything else I can help you with?”

“Alfred, open forehead Kyber crystal socket.”

“Very good Sir, granting access to forehead Kyber crystal socket, now.”

This time Damien couldn’t see the process, but he felt the opening and gaged the space before inserting the larger “silver Kyber crystal” into place.

“Alright Alfred, go ahead and close up the forehead socket.”

“Very good Sir, will there be anything else I can help you with?”

“Alfred, begin energizing “forehead Kyber crystal”, while monitoring for any spikes or fluctuations with the prototype “Cybernetic HIVE liquid Kyber crystal circulatory system interface.”.”

This entire system had been completely theoretical and hypothetical. Damien’s only proof of concept had come by way of virtual simulation, and even that had been less than helpful in predicting a result. Even theoretically he wasn’t sure what was about to happen. He wouldn’t be all that surprised if he ended up going off like a Roman candle, if he was being perfectly honest.

A queer sensation began in his forehead but soon spread to Damien’s brain. However, it continued to both eyes, then mouth and flowed down his throat. Even his purely synthetic skin, bones, and dreadlocks weren't spared. His entire physical form was soon radiating that bazar live wire sensation. Yet, the feeling wasn’t abating but continuously building up like pressure.

“Alfred, are you picking up any strange power readings?”

“Negative Sir, all systems are read within their approved predicted parameters.”

Damien really began to think he was about to explode, and debated internally if he should abort. It was surprising how little fear or panic he was feeling. He still had an acute sense of self preservation, only it seemed entirely logic driven now.

“Alfred, go ahead and abort, stop all power going to “Cybernetic HIVE liquid Kyber crystal circulatory system interface.”

“I do apologize Sir, but I am no longer able to shut off power to “Cybernetic HIVE liquid Kyber crystal circulatory system interface.” The system is currently drawing its power via induction. That being said, I would like to report the complete reliquification of all the liquid Kyber crystal composites, and the activation of the circulatory pump. The system has reached a stable pressurization with a self-sustain flow rate.

“Fine. Alfred, continue to monitor.”

“Very good Sir.”

Damien wondered why he ever thought it was a good idea to incorporate such a ludicrous and ridiculously risk experimental prototype into his design. He only remembered thinking how brilliant the concept was and the potential it represented. He had completely ignored the fatal potential.

Damien was beginning to feel like an over filled balloon and was just waiting for the final detonation. However, it was then that the situation reversed, the pressure simply vanished and left a strange awareness of body behind. What was once inert synthetic material was now living synthetic material, or at least that was how it was now feeling to him.

Damien had absolutely no idea how such a thing was even remotely possible and could only blame it all on the Force and his lack of understanding. Whatever the case, he had received an enormous gift.