Andrew opened the backseat and chuckled at the sight of the giant wooden chest he received from One Up Games strapped in the backseat with seatbelts like it was a baby. He had gone through what felt like days to obtain this, so it only felt natural to make sure that it was as secure as it could be; the last thing he wanted to happen was for the chest to somehow slide in his car and damage any of the products inside. He knew the chances were incredibly slim, but he didn’t want to take the chances with everything that had happened to him lately.

The garage door was already in the process of closing behind him by the time he maneuvered the giant chest out of the backseat, all the while, making sure not to scratch or bump it on anything. The chest was beautifully designed, but it seems the manufacturers forgot to add handles, making it very awkward to carry.

While lugging the chest through the garage and into the house, he thought about the interesting night he’d had at the shopping center. If he wasn’t forced to do that, he would have never gone to an event like that and witnessed the passionate, friendly, and helpful community that Vladimir and his team had built. Waiting in line for hours upon hours wasn’t something that Andrew found himself wanting to do again, but if he were to do it, he would like to do it again – at a future Final Conquest midnight launch.

The whole night was better thanks to meeting and talking with Camille. Deep down, he felt awful about barraging her with questions left and right all night long when he could have easily looked online for answers, but the way that Camille explained things was very easy to digest -which he really appreciated. That type of skill, regardless of what field people find themselves in, was very rare. She was able to see when he fully grasped the subject before moving onto a different one without sending him into confusion with the new data.

Because of that, he decided that Camille was going to be his personal consultant. The amount of time saved from proper explanation was invaluable to him, especially with the time constraints he was facing. He tried his best to push the ticking clock into the furthest recesses of his mind, but it always found its way back to the forefront.

Having reached the kitchen with his muscles straining from holding the chest at an awkward angle as to not hit any adjacent walls in the hallways, Andrew placed the chest down on the white marble countertop. He knew that he needed to get started as soon as possible, but he was in dire need of a shower and a change of clothes. He had been in his suit far too long, and his feet were beginning to hurt from standing in his dress shoes.

Before any of that, he needed to start the installation process of Final Conquest. It would be more efficient to shower, change his clothes, and get a little food in him while the game was downloading.

Andrew opened the chest and picked up the data card with ‘Final Conquest Fire Skies Complete’ written on it. He turned it around in his hand a few times, deep in thought. It was hard to believe something so small contained the data for what seemed like an entirely new world, and he was about to jump headfirst into it. It was time.

He set the data card down on the pedestal built inside of the marble counter. “Samantha, transfer the files from this data card to the Splicer please.”

“Scanning...”

A blue light scanned across the surface of the pedestal, then winked off. “Scan complete. Final Conquest Fire Skies Complete detected. Eighteen petabytes of data is currently being transferred to the Splicer. Estimated time of complete file transfer is fifteen minutes.”

Andrew strode out of the kitchen and towards his room where he couldn’t wait to wash off the day’s exhaustion.

__________

Upon stepping into one of the three spare bedrooms, the overhead lights flicked on, revealing a blocky mass sitting directly in the middle of the room with a white blanket covering it. The Splicer didn’t deserve such treatment, Andrew knew that, but he couldn’t help it. Every time he saw it, it reminded him of his mother… and now he could throw Vladimir onto that list.

He tried to get rid of it when his mother died, but his father convinced him to keep it – saying that he may one day need it. Well, needless to say, he was right.

He stretched in his snug-fitting athletic wear.

“Samantha… Power on the Splicer.”

Samantha’s voice played through the speakers in the bedroom. “Powering on the Splicer.”

A soft hum filled the room, and a turquoise light spanning the length of the covered Splicer illuminated underneath the blanket. Andrew strode over and slowly pulled at the blanket with a shaking hand. Images of Vladimir and his mother flooded his mind as the blanket slipped to the floor, revealing the Splicer in all of its glory.

It was a sleek, angular capsule-like device spanning seven feet in length and four feet in width made entirely out of polished steel, aluminum, carbon-fiber, and a window allowing one to see who’s inside of it. The exterior was finished with Chrome and a single maroon stripe extended from one end to the other, marking this specific Splicer as a limited edition one. He and a few other people close to their family received one as a gift, making them extremely rare and worth quite a bit to the right buyer.

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A turquoise light crawled along a small gap spanning the length of the unit. Upon reaching the end, a small cheerful tone chimed.

“The Splicer is powered on and ready to use,” Samantha said through the speakers.

Andrew walked over towards the head of the Splicer, where a twelve-inch holographic touch display appeared in front of him, showing the completed download progress of Final Conquest.

“The Splicer is up to date with the most recent firmware update, though we will have to perform a new calibration test due to it being approximately eight hundred seventy-four days since your last use.”

Had it really been that long since he’d last used it? That long since his mother died? He noticed his body beginning to tremble… though; it wasn’t due to repressed memories creeping back into the present. It was something he hadn’t felt in a long time… excitement. He was still mad at Vladimir for pulling this stunt and making him do all of this, but after experiencing everyone’s energy for this game… he couldn’t help but be excited. He was finally going to play his best friend’s game.

Andrew pressed a button on the holographic display, and a loud hiss filled the room as the Splicer opened revealing its sleek grey interior with a black memory foam padding and a small pillow. He slid himself into the machine and sighed as he felt his tight muscles relax and sink into the padding. The Splicer let out another hiss as it closed itself over Andrew.

As soon as it closed, thousands of tiny green lights flickered on above him and floated around like fireflies. Andrew couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the lights dancing above him; it was one of his favorite parts of being in the splicer.

A voice rang out through the interior of the Splicer. “Begin Calibration.”

Mechanical clicks, whirs, and pops filled the space around Andrew, then stopped.

“Calibrating height and weight.”

Andrew felt the pad he was laying on begin to pulse and shake every so slightly.

“Height and weight calibrated. Your height is measured at six feet and two inches, and your current weight is 185 pounds. Body Type… Athletic.”

A small holographic display hovered close to his face and blinked slowly.

“We will now be testing your vision, follow the dots on the screen, and hone into them as fast as you can.”

A jagged-edged dot appeared on the screen, and Andrew focused his attention on the dot. The dot began to mold and meld until it was a perfect circle. The dot changed positions on the screen at varying speeds and distances. After a moment, numbers and letters began to appear in the ever-changing shapes.

“Please say the numbers and letters you see.”

Andrew tracked the morphing shape throughout the interior of the splicer and called out the letters and numbers he saw. The display winked and the morphing shape disappeared.

“Your vision is twenty-twenty. We will now measure your body fat percentage. Please remain still.”

Feeling a slight tingle all over his body, Andrew knew the Splicer was sending a small electrical current through his body to get the proper readings for the test. The tingle subsided.

“You are at eleven percent body fat. For your height, weight, and age, you have scored in the top 10% of registered Splicer users.”

Andrew smiled. He had been working hard on his physique and strength for the past year and was glad to see these kinds of results. All of those hard days in the gym in between his intense work schedule were paying off. Though, lately, he hadn’t been focusing on weight training so he was sure he could do better.

“Basic calibration complete.”

A holographic display winked on in front of him, showing a graphic of a black Dragon looking menacingly at the viewer. “Would you like to play Final Conquest: Fire Skies?”

Finally, it was time. Relishing the moment, Andrew closed his eyes and took in a few deep breaths. He opened his eyes. Albeit tired, he was ready to go.

“Yes.”

“Before you play Final Conquest, be sure to be well-fed and set all alarms needed before you start the game.”

“Set an alarm for four hours from now.”

“Alarm has been set.”

A red button with the word ‘play’ in white text appeared before Andrew. He pressed it and triumphant horns played through the Splicer’s speakers. A woman’s cool and soothing voice followed after the horns.

“Welcome to Final Conquest, Andrew. Before we begin, I see this is your first time logging in. We will need to run a few more calibrations before you go into your dive. With your permission, I will begin the tests.”

Camille had said that the Splicer does a lot of calibration tests to make sure that you have the best class suited for your body type and personality. He didn’t know what tests to expect, but he was excited to see what they threw at him.

“Yes, please begin.”

“Alright. First is the IQ Test.”

“Final calibration test completed. Thank you for your patience.”

Andrew’s head reeled. He knew there would be a few more in-depth calibration tests, but he didn’t know that there would be that many… tests ranging from calculating his IQ, determining his personality, how well he could speak, how quickly he could solve math problems, percentages, and various other tests he didn’t know the meaning behind were thrust upon him.

“Dive will now commence. Please relax.”

Before he could even prepare himself, the firefly-like lights above him began to pulse in a mesmerizing manner, and a cool wave permeated his mind. All thoughts vanished.

Andrew opened his eyes and found himself in a grassy field with the sun high and bright in the sky. He felt the long grass underneath his feet and a slight breeze hit his face. Trees spanned for miles all around the field, and a snowcapped mountain range loomed over them in the distance.

It took a moment for him to process and remember that he was actually in the game. He lifted his arms and flexed his hands, feeling all of the sensations he would feel if he were to do this in the real world. He was blown away. Looking down again, he realized that he was wearing a white linen top and brown linen pants. He could feel the fabric press against him as if he were actually wearing it.

“Hello there, traveler!”

Startled, Andrew turned around to find a white-bearded old man with nearly translucent white eyes wearing a plain gray robe leaning on a wooden staff with a large knot of wood at the top.

He looks so… real. Incredible! He walked up to the old man and started examining him closely, finding that he was able to see frightening amounts of details. Everything from the man’s pores to his nose hairs was visible. The old man grinned sending Andrew scurrying backward.

“What? Never seen an old man before?” The old man laughed. He looked over Andrew for a moment and nodded to himself. “I’ve never seen you in these parts… what’s your name?”