《Neo - A LitRPG Adventure》 Prolouge Elijah sat upon the throne. His throne. Once he was victorious, it would all be his, this throne, this throne room, the people in it, and so much more. ¡°Master, a subject has been found.¡± Elijah turned and found a slave cowering in front of him, eyes faced down. ¡°Your brother has made the order to begin the process. If successful, he will be landing at the HQ in the coming days.¡± ¡°I see, thank you.¡± Elijah said, before drawing a dagger from his waist, leaning over to the slave, and stabbing him in the back of the neck. As he fell, two more slaves rushed forward and caught his limp body. As they dragged him away, his blood covered them too, making one of them grimace.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Get me Atarah.¡± He snapped at the slave standing beside his throne, as he wiped the blood on his hand onto his robes. A few moments later, his wife walked in. As she entered the room, he smiled, and greeted her. ¡°Hello Atarah, I have some good news.¡± ¡°What is that my dearest?¡± Atarah said with a thick italian accent. ¡°The instigator has been identified.¡± Chapter 1 - Recruitment Authors Note - Hey There! Welcome to my story. I''m going to be expanding this first chapter into two seperate ones pretty soon, so watch this space. The alarm clock began to beep at exactly 7 a.m. Otis buried his face in his pillow, willing the alarm clock to stop beeping, allowing him to sink back into the warm darkness of sleep. Finally, after 5 or so minutes, Otis dragged himself across his small room towards his dresser. Pulling on jeans and a T-shirt, he flipped over his phone, and pressed the power button once. The phone started up with a soft ding. After about 10 seconds, the boot logo of the phone faded away, and was replaced by his lock screen. INSTAGRAM: felixw123 liked your post. TWITTER: frji4 started following you. VOICEMAIL: You have one new voicemail from UNKNOWN. Sighing, Otis entered his password and navigated to his voicemail box. He hit play and lifted the phone to his ear. ¡°You have one new voicemail from an unknown number. Press one to listen to this voicemail, press two to clea-¡± Before it could finish, Otis clicked one, and brought up the new voicemail. ¡°Hello Otis. We know where you are. You thought you could hide from us just by moving cities?¡¯ Otis froze in fear, knowing where this was going. ¡°You have 24 hours to return the money you owe us. Find us at the abandoned factory on the corner of Farmers street and McClain Avenue.¡± Otis dropped the phone, sweating profusely. He stood there for a second, before running to the bathroom and kneeling in front of the toilet. Otto spent the next fifteen minutes crying, retching, and vomiting. When he finally regained his composure he wandered slowly back into his bedroom. Trembling, he walked to his desk and sank into his desk chair, still sick to the stomach. He grabbed his laptop, powered it on, and launched Tor Browser. Navigating to a dark web forum he frequented, he logged in with his usual username, Neo. Once logged in, he navigated to the create post page, and began writing. Title: I owe a gang money I dont have, and I am going to be killed. Body: Hello everyone. As you know, I am Neo. I live in downtown Auckland, in New Zealand. Yesterday, I would not have shared that info with you. But today, I don¡¯t think any hitman could match what is going to happen to me. Let me try to explain. Two years ago, I was living in Los Angeles. I grew up in a family very much involved in the gang lifestyle. When I was 15, my father was killed in a shootout with a rival gang. My mother killed herself two weeks after. Because of this I was left with nowhere to live, and no way to make any money. So, I started selling drugs. I began falling into a state of severe depression. I had nowhere to go. One day I decided to escape. I took with me 2 thousand US dollars. I knew a guy who got me into New Zealand, and i¡¯ve been here ever since. About twenty minutes ago from the writing of this post, I received a voicemail from a man in the gang I stole money from. Basically, he wants it back in twenty four hours, or he¡¯s going to kill me. I have no doubt that he can, would, and will. Well, signing out. Message me if you have any further inquiries or a way to help me. Thanks for the good times. Neo. Otis hit post, before collapsing into his arms on the desk ,and beginning to cry. As waves of anxiety and impending doom hit him, he convulsed, until eventually, sleep claimed him. When Otis awoke, he refreshed the page, and saw that his post had a few replies to it. Osc4r33: Get fucked loser. Rigus688: I¡¯ll miss u man. Rip. X: Call me at +64768656473 Oreoboy: Im calling bullshit. Otis scrolled back up, and studied the third reply. Clicking on the user who posted it, he saw no info. ¡°Hm, weird.¡± He said out loud. His voice was rough and croaky, and it hurt to talk. He felt his eyes sting, and teardrops begin to form at the corners of his already wet eyes. ¡°No, I won¡¯t cry, I won¡¯t give in.¡± He said to himself firmly, not believing it himself. To distract himself, he got up from his desk, and walked the two steps to where his phone still lay from earlier. Flipping it over, he saw that the screen had a hairline crack, no doubt caused by the drop. Not sure what else to do, Otis opened his contacts app, and scrolled through his contacts. People from the subway he worked at. An ex girlfriend, an ex friend. No one worth saying goodbye to. As he was about to leave the app, he found his finger hovering over the button that read keypad. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Well, I have nothing to lose, do I?.¡± Otis said, tapping on the icon and turning to his computer. ¡°6..4.7.6.8..6..5..6.4..7..3¡± He paused for a second, considering his decision, before tapping call. The dial tone had just ended when a woman picked up, and spoke in a soft, mellow voice. ¡°Hello Otis. How are you¡± At this, Otis stood still, stunned. ¡°Who- how?¡± He began to say, before she interrupted him. ¡°I am a representative for Delta productions, and specifically, our new project. Delta Core.¡± ¡°Delta Productions? As in the game company?¡± Otis inquired. ¡°The very same. Now. I saw your post on a particular forum, and we want to help you out. My name is Kaya, by the way.¡± Otis pondered this for a second, before replying. ¡°And how do you plan to help me?¡± He asked, with just a touch of sarcasm. ¡°I¡¯m glad you asked. Here at Delta Productions, we¡¯re about to begin a highly experimental project known to us as the Delta Core. Have you heard of our video game, Delta online?¡± Otis scoffed at this. Of course he had. It had been around for 20 years, first on the computer, now in VR and occasionally in full immersion pods. ¡°Yes I have.¡± He answered simply. ¡°Alright good. Well, to put it simply, we have developed a technology that allows us to implement consciousness into a game. We are looking to create, for lack of better words, an alternate universe.¡± Otis was silent. There were so many things he wanted to say, and he didn¡¯t know which to allow to slip through his lips. So, he asked a question. ¡°Um, how can this help me?¡± His question was answered immediately. ¡°We are willing to offer you a spot as the first test subject to this new functionality. We would fly you out to our test station in The Gambia.¡± Suddenly, Otis knew what she meant. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ this seems kind of risky.¡± Otis replied quietly. ¡°I know this is a lot to process. We¡¯ve sent some forms to you through your email though, all you need to do is click a few boxes and send it back, and our driver will be over to your apartment to pick you up within the hour.¡± ¡°Wait, how do you know my email, my addr-¡° ¡°Think about it¡± said Kaya, before hanging up, leaving Otis sitting alone in his room. Immediately, Otis scrambled to open google, duckduckgo, and various other search engines. In each search bar, he typed, ¡°Kaya Delta Productions.¡± Nothing. ¡°Delta online full immersion¡± Nothing. ¡°Delta Core.¡± Nothing. Otis was just about ready to give up when he had one more idea. Typing quickly, Otis entered the phone number he had just called. A single result was listed in duckduckgo. It appeared to be an article on a dark web blog named ¡°DeltaLeaks¡±. The name of the article was in all caps, and read ¡°HAS DELTA PRODUCTIONS BEEN TESTING A FULL IMMERSION PROGRAM???!!¡±. Chuckling slightly at the clickbait-y title, Otis clicked on the link, and to his dissapointment, found that the body of the article read only ¡°More info coming soon.¡± ¡°Fuck it.¡± Otis said, a little too loud. He was about to close down his laptop when he received a notification from his mail service. ¡°One new message from [email protected]¡± Subject: Sign these and send them back. ¨C Kaya. Body: (N/A) 2 Attachments. Otis clicked on the first attachment, and a 4 page document opened in his PDF reader. The first page looked like the front of a brochure, which read ¡°An introduction to Delta Core.¡±. Behind the text, there was an image of a galaxy. In front of this galaxy lay what appeared to be a large metal sphere, with a flat bottom. On the outside this sphere, a line drawing of Delta Productions icon shined with blue light. At closer inspection, Otis realised that just above the company¡¯s icon was a small window. When Otis zoomed in on this window, he could vaguely make out what appeared to be a server room ¡°Huh, cool.¡± Otis muttered as he switched to the second page. The second page sported a single paragraph of information, outlining the nature of the game that Otis would be ¡°intergrated¡± into, as the pamphlet referred to it. The game was called Delta online, and it had been around for as long as Otis could remember. It started out as a competitor to World of Warcraft, and slowly but surely, it became the most popular MMO, then game, on the market. Eventually, It was released on the VR headset ¡°Delta View¡±, made by the same company. Otis had stopped playing when the desktop version shut down a year ago, as he could not afford the new gear required to play. The next two pages were a contact info page and what appeared to be a blank page. ¡°Highly informative¡­¡± Otis muttered to himself. He quickly returned to the email and opened the second attachment. This time, the attachment opened in Microsoft Word 2046. This file was clearly the form that the woman on the phone, Kaya, had mentioned. As he skimmed over the fine print of the agreement, it began to dawn on him what signing this would mean. This game, would become, in all senses of the word, his reality. As he read about the process, his eyes were drawn to the final sentence of the agreement, which read simply, ¡°By signing this legal agreement, the individual forfeits their right to freedom of speech, to liberty, and to life.¡± Otis sighed and sunk back into his desk chair, his mind abuzz with conflicting thoughts. Then suddenly, as if not in control of his own body, he leaned over to the computer, and began printing the form. As soon as it printed, he closed his laptop and rested the now printed form on it. Grabbing a pen from in the drawere under his desk, he lifted it to the space designated for his signature. The pen had just met the paper when he paused. Otis took a deep breath, steeled himself, and begun to sign. He drew a large curve, two small bumps, and a swirl that somewhat resembled an S. Once he had signed the form, he placed the form in his scanner, opened his laptop again, and saved the now signed form to his desktop. Logging on to proton mail, he clicked on the email he had just received, and hit reply. He then uploaded the image, and with a deep breath, hit send. Not even ten seconds later, he received a reply. Subject: re:Here you go. Body: Thank you Otis, our driver will be by soon to pick you up. See you soon Kaya. ¡°Holy. Shit. Holy shit holy shit holy shit.¡± Otis said to himself almost hysterically. As he began to calm down, Otis realised he wasn¡¯t sure what to do. ¡°Should I pack a bag?¡± He asked himself out loud, before deciding yes. He grabbed a small duffel bag once used to transport much less inconspicuous goods, and began to pack it with clothes, headphones, a few chocolate bars and a toothbrush. Then, after a moment¡¯s concideration, he added his teddy bear. To be exact, it was his brothers, although Otis had claimed it when he died in a shootout. Even though Otis was aware it wouldn¡¯t matter what he had or hadnt brought once he was put into the game, he wanted to carry a piece of his brother as far as he could. Just as he had finished packing, a large jeep with black tinted windows pulled up outside his apartment. Looking down from his window, he could make out a Delta Productions logo on the side. Otis quickly shoved his laptop into his bag, took a last look at his small apartment, and walked out the door, slamming it behind him. Otis practically skipped down the 4 flights of stairs that seperated him from the bottom floor of the apartment block. When he reached the lobby, a man in a black suit sporting the Delta Productions logo was waiting for him. ¡°Otis?¡± The man asked. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s me.¡± Otis replied, walking towards the man. ¡°Come with me please.¡± The man said simply as he began to walk towards the black jeep, with Otis following him. And as Otis walked towards the car that would take him to his new life, he knew deep down that things were about to get better. Chapter 2 - Travel ¡°So uh, where exactly are we going?¡± Otis asked from the back seat of the car. ¡°Airport.¡± The man replied gruffly. At this, Otis sighed. ¡°Yeah, I know we¡¯re going to the airport, but where are we going from the airport. I think the woman on the phone, Kaya, said we¡¯re going to a place called Gambia?¡± ¡°The Gambia.¡± The driver stared at Otis through the rear view mirror. ¡°It¡¯s a small nation in West Africa. Population of about 2 million. It¡¯s the only nation without strict regulations or an outright ban on full immersion technology. That¡¯s where the intergration will take place.¡± ¡°I see, I cant fault you for utilising a loophole.¡± Said Otis, shifting his seatbelt. ¡°So, tell me more about this intergration.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t, we need to get to a secure location before any sensitive information can be given.¡± The man said gruffly. ¡°Well, alright then.¡± Otis said as he turned to look out the window. As they neared the airport, the driver roated the rear view mirror so he could look directly at Otis. ¡°Okay, we¡¯re coming up to the stop. Don¡¯t get out until I tell you to.¡± The man said as they slowed, stopping in front of a gate. A small building was positioned to one side of this gate, and a man was visible through a small window, which had been slig to the side, presumably to allow the transfer of something, money maybe. The driver rolled down his window and handed the man at the cubicle a card. After examining the card for what seemed like hours, the man handed it back, and the gates opened. ¡°So, private jet today?¡± Otis asked jokingly. ¡°Yes, the one over there.¡± The man said, nodding towards a large black jet. ¡°Holy shit, this is crazy.¡± Otis said, bewildered that his snide remark had so quickly been turned on him. ¡°No profanity please.¡± The man said. ¡°Ok, sorry.¡± Otis said, not wanting to start a fight. ¡°We¡¯re getting out now.¡± The driver said as he stopped the car, opened the door, and stepped out. Otis was about to follow until he remembered the orders given to him by the driver. He could see the driver talking to another man with the same outfit, plus a pilot¡¯s hat. They nodded at eachother, and then the driver walked back towards the car. ¡°Alright, time to go.¡± The driver said as he pulled open Otis¡¯s door. Otis stepped out, breathing in the fresh air. ¡°Whew, I was feeling a bit nauseous for a second there.¡± Otis said, breathing heavily. After recovering, Otis grabbed his bag from the seat next to his, and began walking towards the plane. As he was walking, he heard his name called from behind him. ¡°Otis, Otis!¡± He turned and saw the pilot from earlier. ¡°Hey, Im Matthew, I¡¯ll be your pilot for today. If you¡¯d like to head into the plane, and take a seat, I¡¯ll be right in there once I¡¯ve filled out some forms for your driver.¡± And with that, he turned away and walked back towards the car Otis had just exited, where the driver was waiting. Otis climbed the steps to the entry of the plane slowly, looking back every step to see what was going on behind him. He saw the pilot and the driver leaning over the hood of the car, signing a form. If Otis payed attention, he could make out what they were saying. ¡°Do you know anything more than I do?¡± Asked the driver. ¡°All I know is that this kid was in a spot of trouble and lord delta decided to have mercy by offering him the incredible, once in a lifetime chance to throw away his life.¡± At this, both men laughed, and Otis turned away, and walked up the remaining stairs. The inside of the private jet was, to say the least, lavish. 12 reclining seats lined each side of the plane, each complete with Delta View VR goggles. ¡°Laying the self promotion on thick I see.¡± Otis said to himself, sitting in the left chair in the second row. He sat there playing with the controls for a while before the Pilot walked into the plane ¡°Alright, nice and comfy? This is going to be a long flight.¡± The pilot said as he pressed a button, causing the plane to shake slightly and the stairs to start contracting into the plane. ¡°20 hours to be exact, so, try to get some sleep.¡± The pilot had not even started moving the plane when Otis collapsed into sleep, exhausted from a less than relaxing, albeit short day. At the time the plane took off, it was only 3pm. ¡°Hey kid, get up, we¡¯re almost there.¡± Otis awoke to the sound of the pilot¡¯s voice. Otis sat up straight up and stretched his arms, almost accidentally hitting the pilot in the face. ¡°Woah there, watch it, you wouldn¡¯t want to get expelled from the program before we even got there.¡± The pilot said, grinning. ¡°Wait, I was out for how long?¡± Otis asked, bewildered. ¡°Nineteen hours, you seemed pretty tired. Not enough sleep lately?¡± The pilot said. Looking up, Otis saw that the pilot had dark bags under his eyes, no doubt from driving a plane in the dead of night for 19 hours. ¡°Well, you better get ready, once we touch down, it¡¯s all action.¡± Otis couldn¡¯t tell whether the pilot was joking, and he didn¡¯t care to ask.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Im hungry as fu- heck, sorry, I forgot about the no profanity rule you seem to have around here.¡± ¡°Sorry about that, company policy. Anyway, let me get you some food. Do pancakes sound good?¡± ¡°Yeah, that sounds pretty amazing right now, I havent eaten in at least a day.¡± At this, the pilot chuckled and shook his head. ¡°Well, if you want them, you can order them from the VR headset, and the machine will make them, and let you pick them up when theyre ready.¡± ¡°Okay, awesome.¡± Otis said as he pulled on the VR headset by his seat. When he first pulled on the headset, a black screen showed. He was about to inquire when a dialog box appeared that read ¡°FACE DETECTED. POINT YOUR CROSSHAIR AT THE CONFIRMATION BUTTON AND BLINK.¡± Otis followed this instruction, and sure enough, when he did what had been asked, a UI appeared. He selected food from the menu and navigated to pancakes. He pressed order and was greeted by another dialog box making him aware that his order would be ready in five minutes. Otis leaned over and looked out the window. Below him was a sprawling desert. Very different to the green landscape he had been used to in New Zealand, but reminiscent of the hot climate he had known during his time in LA. Otis soon found himself drifting into a rabbit hole of reminiscence, which he was only pulled from by the sound of his headset beeping. Pulling it on again, he saw that his pancakes were ready. He quickly pulled the headset off and lifted himself from the seat with a groan. At the back of the plane, he found that there was a small slit in the wall that read ¡°Food pickup.¡± He stood in front of the slit, and was slightly taken aback when a voice spoke. ¡°Hello Otis. Your pancakes are being dispensed now.¡± The voice said, before a bag slid into the slit. Otis took the bag and returned to his seat before opening it. Inside, he found a plastic container, which contained three pancakes, a small container of maple syrup and a small, sealed cup of orange juice. ¡°Typical airline food.¡± Otis muttered to himself as he began to eat the pancakes, and found they were sweet, but slightly rubbery. As he was finishing the pancakes, the pilot announced from the cockpit that the plane would be landing in 15 minutes. Looking out the window, Otis could already see that they were losing elevation. Under them, a sprawling city filled with cars and people could be seen. ¡°Brikama, it¡¯s a nice city, isn¡¯t it. Very nice people as well.¡± The pilot shouted from his cockpit. ¡°I agree.¡± Shouted back Otis, not sure what else to say. Fifteen minutes later, the plane touched down in a small airport. The touch down was smoother than he expected, and he felt himself looking through the window of the plane in awe as they soared along the runway, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake. Eventually, they slowed to a consistent pace, and the pilot directed the plane towards a small field near the end of the runway. Once the plane had come to a full stop, the pilot came out of the cockpit. ¡°Well, here we are, The Gambia.¡± He said, smiling widely. ¡°I¡¯ll be escorting you to the car that will take you to the testing facility, before I get some rest. So if you just grab your things and follow me.¡± Otis did as he was told, and a few minutes later, the pair were standing in the field, waiting. ¡°Oh, see, here it is! Right on time.¡± A car identical to the one that had transported him to the airport had just rounded the corner of a dirt road that circled around the field before stretching off in one direction. ¡°Well, it was a pleasure to drive you and I may see you again sometime, take care Otis!¡± With that, the pilot returned into the plane. Turning around, Otis saw that the car had finished moving, and was now waiting for him. He wandered towards it, and was greeted by a woman who appeared to be a Gambian native. ¡°Hello! Welcome to the Gambia! You must be Otis?¡± The woman said with a smile. She was wearing a black and blue dress that accented her tall figure. On closer inspection, Otis could see that right above her heart, the blue lines snaking throughout her dress came together to form the logo of Delta Productions. The Delta Productions logo consisted of an axe and a sword, overlapped in the centre of a large circle, symbolising the greek symbol for delta, the company¡¯s namesake. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s me.¡± Otis replied as he approached the car. A man wearing the same suit as the driver back in New Zealand was sitting at the wheel, expressionless. ¡°Alright, well hello Otis, you can call me Layla.¡± Said the woman, as she invited Otis to sit in the back of the car with her. ¡°Im assuming you have a lot of questions about what is going on, but I assure you, all your inquiries will be addressed in due time.¡± ¡°Okay, well, right now I just want to be done travelling.¡± Said Otis meekly, illiciting a laugh from Layla. ¡°Yes, Im sure you would like that, well, no worry, you¡¯ll have the whole rest of the day to relax before we begin the tests tomorrow.¡± The car began to depart the snmall airport, and enter into the city. ¡°Tests? what tests?¡± Otis asked curiously, and almost worriedly. ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry about it, they¡¯re just some standard procedure tests, you know, checking your blood, testing your mental strengths and weaknesses and the sort.¡± Said Layla, a little bit too happily for Otis¡¯s liking. ¡°Now, I have been told to ask you a couple questions on the way to our testing facility, just to keep things moving, is that Okay with you?¡± ¡°Not that I have a choice since I signed that form, but sure, fire away.¡± ¡°You are correct.¡± The woman said as she drew a small piece of paper from her handbad. ¡°Okay, first things first, have you ever played or known anyone who has played Delta Online?¡± The woman asked as she studied Otis. ¡°The video game.¡± ¡°Yeah I have, I used to play it back when it was available on computer, but I sort of stopped playing once you guys stopped updating stuff on the computer, and eventually shut it down.¡± The woman began to scribble some notes into a notepad she produced fron her handbag. ¡°Okay, cool!¡± The woman said as she finished noting down his answer. ¡°Do you remember what level your character was when you stopped playing?¡± ¡°Jeez, I guess around level 30? I wasn¡¯t great at the game, but I had a lot of time on my hands, and I thought what better way to spend it than grind?¡± Replied Otis, chuckling. ¡°Alright, and what was the name of your character?¡± Otis answered this one immediately. ¡°Neo.¡± ¡°Okay! Thank you Otis, those are all the questions. Look, we seem to be coming up on our testing facility now." Looking out the windscreen, Otis could see what appeared to be an old factory, with the Delta Productions Logo printed on it. Outside, a large carpark was full with what seemed like hundreds of cars. Even a block away, Otis could hear the commotion inside, and feel the energy. When the car reached the carpark, they snaked through the long lines of cars and found a park outlined in yellow. Otis got out of the car slowly, looking in awe at the size of the place. ¡°Well Otis, shall we go in?¡± Said Layla, standing by the hood of the car. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s.¡± Said Otis, and they walked into the building, and for Otis, into a new life. Chapter 3 - Preparing ¡°Alright Otis, so, when I leave, I¡¯m going to need you to strip, and then head through that door.¡± The room the pair were standing in was small and had a bench on either side. Just above the benches, small metal hooks were hung. Layla stood in the doorway, while Otis walked about a third of the way down the narrow room, and placed his bag on a bench. Layla pointed to a small door on the opposite side of the room as she gave him instructions. ¡°Inside the room, you¡¯ll find a robe and some undergarments. Just put those on and wait, someone will be right there with you.¡± ¡°Okay, Thank you,¡± Otis said as Layla began to exit the room. ¡°I¡¯ll be seeing you tomorrow, if not today, so see you then!¡± With that, the door closed, leaving Otis alone in the room. He quickly stripped, and shivering in the unheated room, he opened the door Layla had pointed to and walked in. The room was larger than the one he had come from and had a strange cylinder shaped pod in one corner. Next to the door Otis had walked through, there was a hook similar to the ones in the previous room. Hanging on this hook was a robe and a pair of underwear. He pulled these on and began to pace back and forth across the room. A few minutes later, a man entered the room. He was taller than Otis and very muscular. Unlike the other men he had seen, he simply wore a light blue T-shirt, which sported the Delta Productions logo, and grey sweatpants. ¡°Hello there, you must be Otis. My name is Ebrima, but you can call me E. I¡¯m going to be your personal assistant during the time leading up to your integration into the game. This means I¡¯ll be letting you know where you need to be, what to bring, and that sort of stuff.¡± Ebrima, or E, talked with a thick accent, but Otis could still make out how unsurely he said the term ¡®integrated.¡¯ ¡°This room is one of our cleansing rooms. That pod in the corner is basically an all in one cleaner and cryo-therapy pod.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m assuming you would like me to get in it?¡± Otis said cautiously. Otis had hated the cold since he was young. His hatred for it didn¡¯t seem to have any rhyme or reason, but it was there, omnipresent and in some cases debilitating. ¡°Yes, I do. I don¡¯t mean to sound pushy, but it may be a good idea to co-operate here. I wouldn¡¯t put it past some of the others to force you into a pod considering the contract you signed.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Otis said with a tinge of regret. Only now, as the sheer terror set upon him upon his receiving of the voicemail yesterday, had begun to wear off, did Otis begin to truly understand the severity of what he had got himself into, and how little of it he truly understood. ¡°Okay, great!¡± Said E, motioning for Otis to join him by the pod in the corner. ¡°This button here will start the process, just press it and get in. The entire cleansing will last about seven minutes, and then it¡¯s done.¡± E pointed to a large green button with the word ¡®BEGIN¡¯ on it, before turning and strolling to another door on the opposite side of the room. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in around ten minutes to check on you, have fun!¡± The last phrase of this sentence was said so cheerfully it almost seemed sarcastic. Shrugging off the thought, Otis stripped again and placed the clothes he had just taken off on the hook he had retrieved them from. He walked over to the pod, pressed the button, and got in. Otis stood naked and shivering in the pod for about twenty seconds before he decided to investigate. He was just about to open the small door on the side of the pod in order to press the button again when the process began. Immediately, Otis was slammed with what felt like a ton of scalding hot water from all sides. It rushed into his nose and mouth, making him cough and cover his face. After recovering from the initial shock of the water, Otis became more comfortable, save the pain of what felt like thousands of tiny jets of water slamming into every inch of his exposed skin. Otis was just getting used to the experience when the flow of hot water ceased, and was replaced by ice cold water, once again sending him reeling with the shock of having hundreds of litres of liquid being catapulted into him, this time freezing cold, causing Otis to crown down, sitting on the floor and covering his face with his knees. For the next few minutes, Otis was subjected to an endless cycle of scalding hot, followed by freezing cold water being launched at high speeds into his skin. Otis only arose from his position on the floor when he felt the blasting intensity of the water replaced by a shower of what felt to be a liquid, but not water. Otis was about to open his eyes when he realized what it was. Soap. Just as this realization dawned on him, the water returned, forcing him back into his sitting fetal position. Eventually, the water stopped and was replaced by hot air, drying Otis¡¯s skin. Otis stood up and rotated slowly, letting the warm air dry his now tender skin. When the hot air stopped, a robotic voice read a message to Otis. ¡°PLEASE EXIT THE POD, AND RETURN WEARING A STANDARD ISSUE CRYO-THERAPY UNIFORM.¡± Scurrying from the pod, Otis ran to the other side of the room. When he got there, he found that the clothes he had put on the hook were gone, and identical clothes were now folded and placed on the small bench under the hook. Whether these clothes were the same ones Otis had worn previously or not, Otis was not sure. He quickly pulled on the new clothes and hurried back to the pod. Next to the large green button he had pressed to start the process he found a smaller, blue button labeled as ¡®CRYO¡¯ next to it. He pressed this button and stepped back into the pod, which was now dry. After waiting for a few moments, nitrous oxide began to seep out of vents on all sides of the pod. Otis became worried as the gas approached his face, filling the pod, but was relieved when the vents shut off as the nitrous oxide reached his shoulders. Otis sighed and began to inhale. That¡¯s when the cold hit him. The cold felt like a thousand knives being slowly pressed into each of his pores. Otis screamed silently, not wanting to make any more noise than needed. Otis stumbled backward as a reflex, causing some of the gas to lap at his face. The cold reached his face then too, and his eyes squeezed shut with the power of a hydraulic press. Otis eventually forced his eyes to open, just as the robot voice spoke again.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°NOW DRAINING ALL NITROUS OXIDE. FULL CYCLE COMPLETE. PLEASE EXIT THE POD ONCE DRAINING IS COMPLETE.¡± Sighing in relief as Otis heard the distinct sucking noise of a vacuum and the gas began to recede, leaving Otis standing exposed in the pod, still shaking from the experience. Only a few seconds after Otis stepped out of the pod, he heard the door open. Otis turned around and winced as the fabric of the robe rubbed against his raw skin. When he completed his rotation, he saw E standing in the doorway, holding back laughter. ¡°Did you have fun?¡± E said, before letting a chuckle slide between his lips. ¡°Yeah, it was very refreshing.¡± Otis was determined not to let E have any small victory over him. ¡°Oh, was it now? Would you like to go again?¡± E said sarcastically as he placed his hands on his hips, his mouth pursed, but his eyes still smiling. ¡°Yeah, sure, let¡¯s do it.¡± Said Otis, walking towards the pod, determined to best E. ¡°Fine, you win.¡± Earl conceded, before laughing heartily. ¡°You are a stubborn one, aren''t you. Anyway, grab your stuff and come back in here.¡± Otis did as instructed, and when he returned thirty seconds later, carrying his bag, E was holding an identical uniform to the one he was wearing. ¡°Okay, put this on. It should fit, but if it doesn¡¯t, well, deal with it.¡± Earl said as he practically pelted the pile of clothes at Otis, causing him to drop his bag and struggle to catch the clothes. A few seconds later, when Otis had regained his composure, he motioned for E to look away. ¡°Okay, but be quick about it, the wall isn¡¯t very interesting to look at,¡± E said, looking away. Otis quickly dropped the robe into a pool around his legs and donned the clothes he had been handed. The clothes were the same as E was wearing, consisting of a light blue shirt with the Delta Productions logo on the top left, and a pair of grey sweatpants. The clothes fit snugly, but not too tight. The sweatpants were loose, but not large. Otis winced again as the clothes shifted into position against his skin, which still felt scarred from his ordeal in the shower, if you could call that torture machine a shower. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m good to go I think, what now?¡± Said Otis curiously, feeling slightly more confident around E than he was around the drivers and Layla. ¡°I¡¯m going to be taking you to where you¡¯ll be sleeping for the duration of the tests. Plus, because we have no schedule for today, I can show you around the place before we go to your room. Just follow me.¡± E opened the door and held it open for Otis to exit as well. They stepped out onto a walkway that ran along the inside of the factory, suspended in the air by metal cables. When Otis looked down, he was stunned. ¡°How high up are we?¡± Otis asked as he looked over the edge again. Below them, the room seemed to extend downwards for miles. Walkways like the one they were standing on now lined the perimeter of the room in fifteen-foot intervals. Many people, mostly Africans, walked along these walkways, some in uniforms similar to Otis¡¯s and E¡¯s, some in lab coats, and some in what appeared to be body armor. ¡°And are those people security guards?¡± Otis added to his question. ¡°Yes, they are, how did you guess,¡± E answered dryly, ignoring, or forgetting Otis¡¯s first question. Far below the pair, on the bottom level of the building, Otis could make out what appeared to be a plethora of factory machines, with crowds of people working along them. ¡°Okay, so this is the hub, you wont be here much, but it¡¯s the centre of the factory. Down there on the bottom level is where we produce VR headsets for selling in Africa, as well as where we develop all of our newer cutting edge stuff. Now let¡¯s get going, up here is an entrance to what we call the catacombs.¡± E began walking towards a door in one corner of the room, stopping to let a man in a mail delivery service uniform pushing a metal cart pass. When the pair reached the door, E produced a card from his pocket and presented it to a small black box situated to the left of the door. The box made a beeping sound and there was an audible ¡®click¡¯ from inside the door. E pushed it open and revealed a long hallway, which stretched for a considerable distance before trailing off into a flight of stairs. The floor seemed to be made of a vinyl tile, which was polished to the point where Otis could make out his reflection. The smell of detergent permeated the air, causing Otis to wrinkle his nose. ¡°These are the catacombs. Don¡¯t try to learn how to navigate them, you won''t be here long enough, and plus, I¡¯ll be there to help you. Otis guessed this area got its name from the way the hallways seemed to go forever, ending in a staircase that surely led to yet another hallway. For the next five minutes, E led Otis down the hall, explaining to him the purpose of each room they walked by. From lounges to conference rooms, to rooms dedicated to the designing of new factories, and even a gym, the catacombs, as E called them, had everything. Finally, they reached the stairs at the end of the hallway. Just as Otis had predicted, once the pair had travelled down two flights of stairs, the endless length of hallway continued, below the strip of the hallway they had just traversed. Eventually, E stopped, and walked to a door labelled ¡®The Instigator.¡¯ ¡°Here we are, this is your room,¡± E said, turning and smiling at Otis, who was studying the words printed on a metal label, mounted to the door just below a small window that allowed a clear, albeit limited view of the room. From through the window, Otis could make out a plain looking bed, a small desk, and a row of three portraits of tw0 men and a woman, all looking stern, and all white. ¡°Yeah, I see you looking at the portraits. Those are all the CEOs of Delta Productions. Down there, on the left, is Henry Deron.¡± The door was now open, and Otis began to walk cautiously into the room, still looking at the portraits ¡°Henry Deron founded Delta Productions in 2001. When he died in 2016, his wife took over. Jessica Deron died only two weeks before Delta Productions became the highest valued company on earth. When she kicked the bucket in 2030, her son, Nathan Deron. He¡¯s very mysterious, and as far as I know, only the board members have ever seen him in person.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s not creepy at all,¡± Otis said lightly, shrugging off the seeds of discomfort forming in the back of his thoughts. Otis half jogged over to the desk in the corner, trying to escape the eyes of the men and woman on the wall above him. On the desk, there was a Lanyard with a Delta Productions strap and a card at the end that read ¡®INSTIGATOR. LIMITED ACCESS.¡¯ ¡°Okay, so there is a restroom through there.¡± E pointed to a door at the end of Otis¡¯s new bed that he had not realised was there. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a little while to settle in, but you can call me back by telling the room to.¡± ¡°Is the room listening to me?¡± Otis asked, looking around suspiciously. ¡°I feel like I deserve more privacy than that.¡± ¡°Well, technically, you have no human rights.¡± E reminded Otis. ¡°That¡¯s right, I almost forgot,¡± Otis said dryly but quietly, contemplating once again the depth of his circumstances. ¡°Alright, well, I¡¯ll leave you be.¡± Said E gently, clearly noticing Otis¡¯s change in demeanor. ¡°The wifi password is YRNEH2001.¡± With that, E left the room, leaving Otis alone in his room, his mind, and the world. Chapter 4 - Discovery Chapter 4 After relieving himself, and washing his face with cold water from the faucet, Otis returned from the restroom into his bedroom. "Okay, let''s see what we can find about you, mister Nathan Deron," Otis said, jokingly pointing at the image of the current CEO, that was sitting on his wall, watching him through inanimate eyes. Otis sat on his bed and pulled his laptop from his bag. He opened it up, wiping a piece of thread from the touchpad. Pressing the power button, Otis found that the laptop was out of battery. "Great, now I have to find an outlet," Otis muttered as he placed the laptop on his bed and stood up again. He walked over to the desk and kneeled down. Sure enough, there was an outlet. After retrieving his laptop and charger from his bed and his bag respectively, he plugged in the laptop and sat down on the chair in front of the desk. Once the laptop powered on, he connected to the internet, typing in the password he had been given by E. "Now, let''s do some investigating," Otis said to himself as he pulled open tor, and navigated to duckduckgo. He searched for ''Nathan Deron'' and was greeted by a long list of results. The first of which was an article named ''A small glimpse into the life of the elusive CEO of the world''s largest company.'' Clicking on it, Otis found a series of images of a man, who looked to be about fifty years old. He was slightly bent over as he walked, and had tubes protruding from his nose, and a tube in his wrist, all of which lead to an IV drip he was wheeling beside him. Exiting out of that page, Otis visited the Wikipedia page. This page presented quite normally, and Otis skimmed the info on the left side of the page, stopping on a piece of info that made him sit up straight. ''Born May 14th - Age 32." "Age 32?" Otis said to himself a little bit too loudly. Quickly going back to the article he had been reading before, Otis made the obvious observation that Nathan Deron was not well. "I wonder who will succeed hi-" Before Otis could ask himself this, there was a knock on his door. Otis closed tor and shut his computer, before yelling "Come in!" A few moments later, the door swung open and E walked in. "Have you settled in?" He asked, eyeing Otis''s laptop suspiciously. "Um, yeah, just, uh, playing minesweeper," Otis said as nonchalantly as he could. "Well the tech department picked up some tor activity on your computer, and it took some effort on my part for them not to send a squad down here to violate your non-existent human rights. You might want to refrain from doing things you wouldn''t want others to know about." Otis sat there, face red, and stunned. When he finally choked out a message, it was brief. "S-sorry." E burst out laughing. "Wait, you were actually using tor? Jesus, you''re an idiot, I was joking." "You''re such a dick, E!" Otis''s red face turned from one of humiliation to one of anger. Otis was about to start yelling when E spoke. "Alright, I deserve that. Anyway, it''s almost midnight and I was told to make you go to sleep. They''re going to be doing a sleep test on you tomorrow, so you need to be well rested." With this, E turned his back and shut the door again. Otis groaned and sat up. He walked to his bed and lay down, taking off the sandals he had been issued. It wasn''t long before Otis had been claimed by sleep. When he awoke, it was because of E''s voice, resonating through the room. "Rise and shine! It''s a new day, with new opportunities, like getting changed into the clothes on the bottom of your bed!" Otis sat up and found that there was a pile of clothes on the end of his bed identical to the ones he was wearing. After pulling them on, Otis stood and was about to sit at his desk when he remembered what E had told him. "Hey room, get me E," Otis said, looking up at the ceiling. Almost immediately after he said this sentence, he heard a loud beep, followed by E''s voice. "Alright, I''ll be down there in a second." Otis raised his eyebrows and grunted in surprise. A few seconds later, E came back. "Hey, are you ready now?" E looked up and down Otis''s body, before continuing to talk, before Otis could answer his question. "Good, come with me, you have a blood test in ten minutes." "A blood test?" Otis asked, surprised. "Yes Otis, a blood test, do you know what those are?" E replied dryly. "Now hurry up, we have to be there soon." Five minutes later, E and Otis were standing in a small white room with a chair in one corner, and a set of drawers in the other. A doctor joined them in the room after about a minute. The doctor was tall and wore a white coat. She had long brown hair, which was tied behind her back, and she wore a wristwatch. "Otis, please sit down." The doctor said sternly but with a sweet voice. Otis did as we told, sitting down on the chair in the corner and crossing his arms. The doctor walked to the drawer in the opposite corner of the room and produced a key from her pocket. After retrieving a small syringe from one of the drawers, she returned to Otis, and staring down at him, said, "Please present your arm." "Will it hurt?" Otis asked, still wary of needles from when he was a child. "No, it won''t hurt a bit." The doctor said, grabbing Otis''s arm, and thrusting the needle into the crease of his elbow. Otis squealed and had to calm himself quickly so as not to move around on the needle. A few moments later, the doctor withdrew the needle, the syringe now filled with blood. "Was that so bad?" The doctor asked rhetorically, as she placed a plaster on Otis''s arm. Otis turned and saw E standing next to Otis, pale-faced, and trembling. "I hate blood." Said E softly, still staring in disgust at the syringe full of Otis''s blood. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "Oh come on E, it''s not that bad," said the doctor, walking over to E, and to Otis''s surprise, kissed him. "So, are you two a think, or..." Otis asked, staring at the two, who had their arms wrapped around each other''s waists, facing each other, and smiling. "Yeah, we are, brilliant observation Otis," E said, separating from the doctor and running his fingers through his hair. "This is Erin, we''ve been seeing each other for a few months now." "And the company is alright with this?" "Yeah, Delta Productions is pretty relaxed with this kind of thing. Perks of working for the biggest company on earth I guess." "What exactly are you going to be using this blood for?" Otis asked Emily. "Various things, making sure you don''t have any major diseases you haven''t told us about, figuring out your blood type, and things like that." "I don''t have any diseases." Otis assured her. "I believe you, unfortunately my higher-ups don''t, so here we are." Emily separated the tube of blood from the needle of the syringe it was attached to and placed it in a paper bag, before placing it in another drawer. "E, are we done now?" Otis inquired. "Yes, we are. And now, you get to meet the director." "The director?" "Simon Deron. Director of Integration, and the CEO''s brother. Since Nathan Deron is so mysterious, Simon, or as we call him, the Director, is basically the top of the ladder. He answers only to the CEO and the board." "And he wants to meet me?" "Yeah, and now, so let''s get going." E leaned over and whispered something to Erin, before opening the door and walking out into the hallway. After another journey through the twisting hallways of the catacombs, E and Otis reached an elevator. E stopped and turned to Otis. "Here it is." "Here what is, this is an elevator E," Otis said, watching with amusement as E became obviously enraged. "Yeah, yeah it is Otis, now you better apologise or I won''t open it for you." E said, a smile creeping back onto his face as he regained the upper hand. But this advantage would not last long. "Elevator, open," Otis said, staring at the metal sliding doors in front of him. After a few seconds, the doors slid apart, revealing the elevator inside. "Fine, I accept defeat," E said, cutting his losses. "I can''t accompany you in the elevator, but once you get up there, the Director''s office will be, well, you''ll be inside it." And with that, the doors slid shut again. The elevator seemed to glide upwards, not making a single noise during its ascent. When the elevator came to a halt, the doors slid open automatically and revealed a lavish room, rugs that lined almost every inch of the deep mahogany wood that made up the floor. On the walls, a line of portraits identical to the ones in Otis''s room were accompanied by what appeared to be, Otis stood still, shocked. "Is that... Is that Van Gogh?" Otis said, mostly to himself, but also unintentionally to the man standing beside him. "That''s correct. I see you are a fan of art?" Otis turned in surprise, and his eyes drifted to the man in front of him. He was blonde and had green eyes. One thing Otis noticed immediately was the intricate tattoo on his left cheek. The tattoo appeared to be a series of interlocking swirls, diamonds, and circles, that seemed to shimmer in the soft candlelight that illuminated the office. "No sir," Otis stuttered, dropping his eyes as the director studied him. "I was taught about Van Gogh, during school." "Huh, school." Said the director, clearly uninterested. "Otis, let''s cut the bullshit. You want to know what the hell is going on. Do you not?" "Oh, uh, yeah, I guess so." Otis stammered, surprised at the man''s frankness. "Good, then let''s get to it." The man began to talk as he walked to the desk on the left side of the room. He took a seat, before motioning for Otis to join him at an extra chair set on the opposite side of the desk. "You, have been... Selected... to be the first tester of a new service that Delta Productions plans to release in the coming year. This service, as you may have heard, involves the long term, or in your and many other people¡¯s cases, permanent integration into the world of Delta Online. Are you aware that Delta Online has been experiencing some downtime recently?" "Sorry sir, I''m not exactly an avid gamer anymore, you see." "Alright, I understand." The director rested his elbows on his desk and covered his mouth with his fists, studying Otis, before beginning to talk again. "Regardless, Delta Online has been experiencing a lot of downtime lately. This is because we have been slowly removing many of the existing engines, and replacing them with new ones." "What engines?" Otis was quick to ask, intrigued to finally be given more information about the project he had given his human rights up for. "Many of the finer statistics engines are being removed gradually. In their place, we are beginning to implement our new ultra-realism engine, which incorporates all of the experiences felt by real humans on a daily basis. These include thirst, hunger, pleasure, pain, stress-" "Pain. You mean, when I get into the game, I''ll be able to feel pain?" "Not the game Otis, the world. The reason we are discarding so many of these statistics functions in favour of ones that add more realism is that we want this place, Delta Online, to become so much more than a game. Here at Delta Productions, we truly believe that our new project, combined with Delta Online, can become, in every sense of the word, a new universe." "What about death sir. If I die in the game, am I gone forever?" "I thought you might ask that. The answer is, complicated. Originally, when we began the development of the long term functionality of the game, we allowed infinite revives for all players. However, that all changed when we activated the world''s evolution engine." "Evolution engine?" "It''s the system that allows for the world to manipulate its own rules to adhere to the rules set in the game''s core rulings. The four core rulings are what will sustain the world long after all the original developers are dead. Unfortunately, we cannot disclose these rules until you enter the game. Getting back to the evolution engine, when the world discovered the piece of code that allowed for revives, it found it to be in violation of the game''s core rulings. So yes, If you die in the game, you are gone forever." "But can''t you just change the core rulings?" Otis asked, confused. "The only one with the authority to do that is the CEO, and he is determined to adhere to the decisions made by the world." "Sorry if I seem too forward, but what is happening to me. What are you going to do to me? To get me into the game that is." "It''s quite simple really. We put you in a life support pod as you enter the game. Once the world decides to accept you, your body will die." "Alright." Otis said weakly. Despite the fact that he was still reeling from this new information, one question sprung to Otis''s mind. "Sir, I have a question," said Otis, steeling himself and looking directly into the director''s eyes. "On my door, there''s a plaque. it reads ''The instigator''. I was wondering what this means?" "Leon, please escort Otis here back to his room." Otis turned and saw a burly man striding towards him. Taking Otis''s arm, he led him once again through the twisting hallways of the catacombs. When they reached Otis''s room, the man opened the door and pushed Otis in so hard he stumbled, catching himself on his desk. Once he had recovered, Otis turned and saw that the man had paused in the opening of Otis''s room. "I''m sorry kid." Then the gas began to seep into the room. Chapter 5 - Entering. When Otis awoke, his head throbbed, and a cold sweat plastered his clothing to his skin. He gasped and attempted to sit up, but found that leather straps held his chest to what appeared to be a stretcher. ¡°Don¡¯t try to sit up Otis, just listen to me.¡± A familiar voice spoke quietly, making Otis¡¯s head throb. Ebrima spoke again. ¡°I¡¯m sorry you had to get here like this, but the director decided you might cause trouble if we brought you here in a more, let¡¯s say traditional way.¡± ¡°Where am I?¡± Otis spoke softly, clenching his eyes as another wave of pain rushed through his head. ¡°And why does my head hurt so much.¡± ¡°That¡¯ll be the gas still taking effect, nasty stuff, but it does the trick. It shouldn¡¯t kill you, I think.¡± Otis was not in the mood for E¡¯s humour, and he shifted in his binds, trying to rest his head in a more comfortable position. ¡°Why am I in binds? I¡¯m not going to run away.¡± ¡°I know Otis, but the people higher up aren¡¯t so sure. Thing is, your surgery is scheduled for 2 o¡¯clock.¡± ¡°What time is it now?¡± ¡°The middle of the night, well, closer to one, but the point is, your surgery is in an hour, and they want to make sure that you don¡¯t bail on us last minute.¡± Otis had so many questions, and his throbbing head did not help him to decide which ones he wanted to be answered. ¡°Surgery. You said surgery. I wasn¡¯t told about any kind of surgery.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the surgery, it¡¯s a small procedure, they¡¯re just implanting chips in various parts of your body, which will allow the integration of your body and mind into the digital world. You¡¯ll be given some local anaesthetic, but we can¡¯t put you under for fear the medicine will affect your mind in a way that would be detrimental or possibly fatal to the integration process.¡± E stood up, and Otis could see him now, his face rose above Otis, blocking a part of the bright lights that shone above Otis, illuminating his body. ¡°Good luck Otis, I mean it.¡± ¡°Th-thank you E.¡± In this bright light, Otis noticed the striking brown colour of Ebrima¡¯s eyes. Ebrima began to slowly lower his face towards Otis, before stopping. ¡°Don¡¯t trust the director, he¡¯s not who he says he is.¡± ¡°What? What do you mean?¡± Otis was met with a blank expression. ¡°Just wait here Otis, they¡¯ll come and get you in a little while.¡± With that, E turned and walked away from Otis. After a few seconds, Otis heard a door open, then shut. Left alone in the silence, Otis¡¯s thoughts drifted, naturally, to his current predicament. All of a sudden, he felt a tinge of regret at what he had done. After a few minutes, Otis¡¯s thoughts once again began to drift, this time towards a topic he had not thought about in many months, his brother. ¡°What would he think of me now?¡± Otis asked himself internally. Otis¡¯s brother had been adamant that we needed to preserve reality, rather than abandoning it for virtual spaces. Otis was so enthralled in his thoughts he didn¡¯t notice the newcomers in the room. ¡°Hey, Otis, It¡¯s me, Layla.¡± Otis recognised the familiar voice and turned his head to look at the people who had entered the room. Layla was accompanied by two doctors and a man in a suit, who stood with his hands crossed in front of him in a serious manner. Otis guessed that the man was a security guard. ¡°We¡¯re going to take you into the operating room, is that okay?¡± Before Otis could answer, the doctors accompanying Layla began to wheel Otis¡¯s stretcher. After a few seconds, Otis was rolled through a doorframe, and into a new room. This room was even more brightly lit, and Otis could hear beeping from one side of the room. Although his view of the ceiling limited his understanding of his surroundings, he was sure this was a surgery room. Once, Otis had seen a surgery. His brother¡¯s, to be specific. It had failed. This had made Otis¡¯s faith in medicine very small and had influenced his habit of not going to the doctor when he should have. ¡°Okay Otis, so we¡¯re going to begin prepping the injection points.¡± Layla¡¯s said as Otis felt one of the doctors, gloves covering his hands, roll up the left leg of the sweatpants he was still wearing, and rub a cool cream on the side of his calf muscle. He did the same to Otis¡¯s right leg, before walking to Otis¡¯s left, and repeating the process, this time on his wrists. ¡°Bring him into an upright position.¡± Muttered the doctor to one of his colleagues. The man on the receiving end of the order hurried away, and a few moments later, Otis¡¯s stretcher came to life. The stretcher began to tilt forwards, until Otis was in an upright position, held against the stretcher by the straps binding him. ¡°Otis, you¡¯re going to feel a little something in the place where your head meets your neck. Don¡¯t panic.¡± ¡°Oh-okay,¡± Otis muttered as he heard a sliding noise, and a rush of cool air hit the part of his neck Layla had mentioned. He heard a buzzing noise, and he felt a small amount of hair shaved from the bottom of his hair. Moments later, the same cream applied to the rest of his body was slathered onto the back of his neck. The coolness of the cream, however, was soon contrasted by a sharp sting as he felt something enter the back of his neck. Otis grunted, and his neck throbbed once before the coolness returned. The procedure was much less noticeable when performed on his various appendages, and when it was done, the doctor wiped off the cream with a paper towel and lowered Otis¡¯s stretcher back into a horizontal position.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Is it done?¡± Otis asked cautiously, twisting his neck to look at Layla. ¡°It sure is Otis, we¡¯re going to unclip you now,¡± Layla said, and a moment later, Otis felt the pressure on his limbs and chest released. He sat up slowly and inspected his surroundings. In one corner of the small room, Otis found himself in was a computer. On this computer, Otis could see what appeared to be his vital signs. He looked down but did not see any devices that would be capable of collecting the data displayed on the computer¡¯s monitor. Otis concluded that the small chips inserted under his skin were responsible for the gathering of the data. ¡°Please follow me,¡± Layla said, motioning for Otis to stand up. He did so, and they walked into another room. In the middle of this room, Otis made out large aluminium box, about twice Otis¡¯s height, and about his width. ¡°This is the pod your body will lie in for about a week while your brain is integrated into the game.¡± Otis walked around the pod, inspecting it. In the top of the pod, there was a glass pane. Under this glass, Otis made out a padded area that stretched for around two thirds the length of the pod. Multiple lights blinked from inside the pod, steadily switching on or off every few seconds. ¡°Layla, listen, I need to ask you something.¡± Otis tried to ask Layla before he was interrupted by a loud beep, that resounded through the air. ¡°Otis, that¡¯s the signal. It¡¯s time.¡± ¡°No, Layla, see¨C ¡° ¡°There¡¯s no time Otis, come with me.¡± Emily led Otis to the other side of the pod. She pressed a button, and the box began to rumble. Then, the padded area Otis had seen earlier slid out of the pod in the form of a tray. Emily motioned for Otis to lie down on the tray. ¡°Go ahead Otis, when you lie down, the machine will automatically connect you, and you¡¯ll be out in a matter of seconds.¡± Otis complied, first sitting down on the tray, then rotating himself, and lying down. Before he let his head touch the indent in the padding intended for it, Otis looked around and wished reality a silent goodbye. As soon as his head made contact with the bedding beneath him, wires seemed to snake out from nowhere, sticking magnetically to various parts of Otis¡¯s body. Otis winced and shifted once more before his vision began to swim, and the steady beeping that surrounded him was replaced by white noise. In a matter of seconds, as Layla had promised, Otis¡¯s reality was replaced by darkness. Otis tried to shake his head, or blink his eyes, but found he had no physical existence. Then, all of a sudden, a dialogue box cut through the darkness, bringing Otis¡¯s attention to it. LOGGED INTO SHELL WITH USER ID A-0001. Immediately after reading this, Otis¡¯s vision came alive with multiple buttons. [ENTER DELTA ONLINE] [VIEW EXTERNAL CAMERA] [SUPPORT] [NEWS] Otis focused his consciousness on the button reading ¡®view external camera¡¯ and a loading bar appeared. This bar quickly filled and was replaced by a small window. After a few moments, the image in the window blinked to life and Otis could see what appeared to be the outside of his pod. The pod seemed to be being wheeled through a hallway. Otis willed his consciousness to return to the home screen, and it complied. Otis was just about to press, if you could call it that, the button titled ¡®support¡¯, but he was interrupted by something. No, someone. Otis turned his vision 180 degrees and saw a figure striding towards him. It was a woman. Her brown hair was tied up in a bun, but strands of hair fell forward over her face. She wore a beautiful yellow robe, which contrasted her dark skin. ¡°Hello, player A-0001. My name is Jeneba, but you can call me Jay. I am the AI helper designed to help new permanent players of Delta Online during their integration process.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Otis said, before he jumped back in shock, or would have if he had a body. His voice was robotic, and without accent or flow. ¡°I know, it is very confusing, but you will choose a voice in the character creation stage.¡± Said Jay, obviously reading Otis¡¯s thoughts. ¡°Can I enter the game?¡± Otis asked in his robotic voice, eager to get started. ¡°You can enter when you¡¯re ready, and I¡¯ll be there.¡± Otis needed no further encouragement, he turned and willed himself to enter the game. Immediately, he felt his consciousness once again transported to another place, another world. This time Otis¡¯s consciousness was situated in front of a grey character model. To the left of this model, A customization bar shone, and to the right, Jay. ¡°Welcome to the character creation menu. Here is where you will, well, create your character. Start by choosing a gender.¡± Otis chose male, and the player model shimmered but did not change significantly. ¡°Okay, male it is. Now choose your race.¡± Otis looked at the new popup. He was presented with a range of options this time, rather than just male, female, or custom as he had for gender. HUMAN, ELF, ORC, DWARF. Otis paused for a second. Previously, he had always played Elf, but he felt he may as well try to maintain at least a little bit of similarity between his previous life and the one he was about to enter. He selected human and turned to Jay. ¡°Human, I see, so you¡¯re not one for change. Your character model should update now.¡± Sure enough, his character model had been replaced by a man, tall, and with exceedingly pale skin. His hair was short and raggedly cut. He was not entirely clean shaven, and Otis could make out some stubble, that lined his chin. Soon after, Otis was presented with a sleuth of options. Otis played around with his character, adjusted the hair a little, and lowered his hair. On Otis¡¯s previous body, a line of scars had decorated his upper left arm, less than positive reminders of a time past. On this body though, Otis placed a tattoo, one of a pitch-black dove. When Otis had adjusted his character to his liking, he stepped back. His character was slightly taller than average, around 6 feet, Otis guessed. His muscles were toned, but not exceedingly so. His hair was pitch black, and medium length. It fell around his head in waves, partially covering his eyes, which on a whim, Otis had made a piercing purple-pink colour. Otis had customized his starting clothes to match, with a black base, and purple stitching. ¡°Alright. I¡¯m done.¡± Otis said finally, turning again to Jay, who was watching him blankly. When Otis fixed his eyes on her, she came back to life and asked Otis the question he had been expecting. ¡°And what would you name your character?¡± ¡°That¡¯s easy,¡± Otis answered. ¡°Ash.¡± Chapter Five - Identity and Hotels ¡°Ow! Damn!¡± Ash fell to his knees as he popped into existence. Studying his surroundings, he appeared to have materialised in the middle of a small courtyard. He stood slowly, and looked down. ¡°Woah.¡± Ash was not used to being six feet tall. The ground seemed so far away that he was sure that if he fell, he would not survive. Upon inspecting himself, everything seemed to be in order. Of course, his knees were bruised from his less than graceful entrance, and his palms had small indents, formed by the grooves in the stone as he caught himself. Most of all, he was astounded by how real it all felt. He could feel everything he normally would, and more. He felt as if he could tell someone about every single thing he was experiencing. He could feel the heat beating against his face, the stone under his bare feet, and even the small beads of sweat forming just below his eyebrows, but just above his eyelids. Of course, he could probably have done the same in the real world, but the fact that this felt so real, yet wasn¡¯t, was unnerving. Finishing his self-inspection, Ash looked around again, and saw a singular door on the far end of the courtyard, which was propped open. As he approached the door, Ash become increasingly aware of a slight green glow that seemed to frame his vision, almost comparable to a vignette effect. Blinking before deciding to ignore it, Ash took the final steps towards the door. It was made of wood, and appeared to have repaired a few times in the past. Opening the door slowly, Ash stepped inside. ¡°Ah! You must be Ash!¡± Ash, who was indeed Ash, conducted an ever so slightly frantic scan of the dimly lit room in an attempt to locate the owner of the voice. Soon, his eyes settled on the only humanoid in the room, an extremely tall person, if that¡¯s what you call it, who was standing against the back wall, with its arms crossed. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t look at me like that. I¡¯m an elf. My name is Jamie. I¡¯m supposed to show you around.¡± Ash stumbled over himself before addressing the elf before him. ¡°Oh, uh, ok.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get to it, shall we?¡± Jamie had a certain tone to his voice that made Ash uneasy. He sounded a little bit like a customer service representative. Jamie motioned for Ash to follow him, and began to walk out of the room. Ash quickly traversed the room to follow him. This room seemed to be some kind of reception. A polished wooden desk sat on one side, with a few chairs, all wooden and without padding, sat on the opposite side. They exited the room, and found themselves in some sort of hallway. Ash became aware that there was no electrical lighting, and instead, oil lamps lit the hallway.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Welcome to Delta Online! As you know, Delta Online is a fully functioning virtual world based on fantasy tropes. In Delta Online, you can enjoy a normal life in a town, or fight monsters and save princesses! In Delta Online, the opportunities are endless.¡± Once Jamie was done with his little ad spiel, Ash tried to speak, but before he could even open his mouth, Jamie had the answer. ¡°This may seem confusing, but I am Jay. See, as an AI in charge of accomplishing a goal, I have multiple characters at my disposal, all which help to accomplish this goal. This goal, of course, is to integrate players from your world, into mine, without causing too much disruption. I take multiple forms depending on where in the world I am, and who I am talking to.¡± Ash blinked, a little bit overwhelmed, before clearing his throat and nodding. ¡°Uh, yeah, ok.¡± ¡°Right. So, right now, we are in the city of Adion. Adion is the capital of the Western region of Delta. This is where all new characters from Earth will start. Since you are the first, you might be a little lonely for a couple days. But I assure you, you¡¯ll have plenty of friends soon!¡± ¡°Okay. So um, where do I stay?¡± ¡°A great question! Follow me.¡± Jamie, who had up to this point been standing in the hallway, facing Ash, spun around and began to walk down the hallway. Ash quickly caught up, and they walked down the hallway, took a left turn, and found themselves in another room. This room seemed to be some sort of common room, with plush couches lining the sides of the room. The couches looked remarkably out of place with the rest of the room, which was decidedly not lavish. Like clockwork, Jamie addressed this thought. ¡°You may notice the couches look incongruent with the rest of the room.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Ash answered, acting on a suspicion. ¡°Are they from Earth?¡± ¡°Exactly! We have placed some objects from earth in the preliminary living spaces of those coming from Earth. This is intended to help ease you into the world of Delta Online.¡± Jamie said with a smile that was just a little bit too wide for Ash¡¯s liking. ¡°Would you like to see your room?¡± Before Ash could answer, Jamie spun on his heel once again, and the pair made their way through one of around five doors spaced around the room. This door, to Ash¡¯s surprise, had some sort of metal plaque on it, which read ¡°ASH.¡± Inside the room, there was a bed, which to Ash¡¯s surprise, looked a lot like a hotel bed. The sheets were tucked under the mattress, in that way that only hotels do, and the bedding was all stark white. In addition to this bed, the room contained a dresser, a small desk, and a chest at the bottom of the bed, all of which looked quite out of place next to the ultra-modern bed that was the centerpiece of the room. Ash suppressed a chuckle, and walked into the room, taking in the atmosphere. From the doorway, Jamie spoke. ¡°Shall I leave you for the evening? It is around five in the evening. The initial log in can often be tiring.¡± Ash did not feel particularly tired, but he wanted an excuse to be alone, to try to gather his thoughts. ¡°Yeah, that would be great.¡± ¡°Alright, well, sleep well, and I¡¯ll come get you in the morning. If you decide you want the tour before I come to wake you, you can find me in the room just outside your door, with the couches.¡± Ash nodded, and without another word, Jamie left the room, methodically closing the door behind him. He sat on his hotel-esque bed and soon found himself lost in thought. He wasn¡¯t sure why, but he felt a certain sense of dread coming over him. He looked at his hands, or Ash¡¯s hands, or whoever¡¯s hands they were and muttered to himself. ¡°Otis, my name is Otis.¡± Soon though, the thought was replaced by an incredibly potent tiredness, and Ash, or Otis, or whatever his name was, fell deep into sleep.