《Ouroboros Online Book 1》 Chapter 1: Twisted Metal It had been a long day at work. One of those where you strain to make it to the end of the workday, looking forward to dinner, a little distraction from binging Netflix or playing a video game. Letting your brain go on autopilot. Jim navigated the slushy winter streets, deciding to grab some fast food, maybe a pizza. He''d earned it. While trying to decide what he was craving the light in front of him turned green. The cars in the left lane beside him were all stopped, but Jim was able to slide past them into the intersection, the right lane being devoid of cars. After making it into the intersection, he noticed lights moving in the periphery of his vision to his left. By impulse, he sped up in an attempt to avoid being hit. He was too late. The car barreled into the left side of the old Buick, thankfully hitting the back door. The next seconds were a blur. There was a sudden jolt and the car flipped over, totally crumpling front passenger side of the car. Suspended by the seat-belt, Jim saw the pavement skid past the windshield. Time seemed to slow as he noticed the time was 6:17 on the clock in the car. Marshmallow World by Bing Crosby was playing on the radio. He idly wondered if the lady singing with him was the same one that sang in some of those Fallout songs as the car slowly slid to a stop. Reaching over and unbuckling the seatbelt he fell to the roof, knees uncomfortable on the square pebble-like fragments of glass that had accumulated there. He was freaking out a little bit because he needed his car to get to work and didn''t have any savings to buy another. He only had this one because his aunt gave him a smoking deal on it. Turning to crawl out the shattered passenger window, he saw two headlights bearing down on him, which got brighter and brighter. ------ The stretcher careened down the hallway of the hospital. The patient was rushed to the operating room that had been prepped. The bloody figure flopped limply as jostled by the maelstrom of people rushing to set up everything. One severe-looking doctor yelled, "Let''s go, people, this one qualifies for the Omega Protocol! We don''t get many of these, so let''s make it count!" Most of the nurses had not worked with him, but all knew he was a major shot caller for the whole department. Nurses quickly swapped attachments made by first responders to IVs pushing blood and solutions of lactated ringers in the hopes of bringing blood pressure back to normal. The well-practiced team got to business and began the fight to stabilize their patient, assess internal injuries and give him his best chance at survival. They worked tirelessly for four hours and finally, he turned the corner. Luckily the patient was young, he had much more resilience than some patients would have, but his injuries were severe. After closing the patient eventually made his way to the ICU for monitoring. He did not wake up. This is what the attending doctors had been expecting, but they were prepared. A large syringe was connected to the IV port and an iridescent silver fluid was injected into the line then connected back to the IV stand. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Jim began to buck and squirm for a minute but the orderlies knew the drill and forcefully held his arms and body in place so he wouldn¡¯t yank out any IVs. Even with the sedatives mixed into the fluid, people often would react to this part of the process. "Take him to the orange wing." the severe-looking doctor commanded and some orderlies pushed the movable bed, with accompanying equipment and IV stands to a large elevator. They exited in an unconventional patient care center, with each patient confined to a solitary room that could be isolated with heavy curtains and a thick security door. Jim was connected to various leads and transferred from his bed to a large capsule filled with a shimmering gelatinous material. Tiny pulses of light could be seen and the syrup-like liquid would solidify around the area of the pulse, reverting to a liquid after the energy dissipated. "How is the consistency? Is the standby routine keeping the gel from solidifying or drying out?" one orderly asked. "Let me check," another one said, dipping in some sensors that looked like a meat thermometer connected to a handheld device into various areas of the capsule. "yeah, everything checks out. Let''s get him fitted and slide him in." They placed a device that looked like a hybrid CPAP and scuba mask over Jim''s prone form. Once in place, they submerged him into the gel, which closed over his head. "How''s he breathing?" "No changes in respiratory rate. Leakage alarms passed diagnostics. IVs are set and full. By the time they empty the gel should be calibrated to supply his other needs. " "Good, I''m beat. Let''s finish up and get out of here. These cases are exhausting!" the larger orderly said and the two flipped out the lights as the capsule began to close and a blue LED light clicked on, indicating the pod was in use. Chapter 2: Watch Dogs Penny typed a quickly as she could, a bead of sweat dripping down. She wiped it away hurriedly before it could get in her eyes and kept entering data. After what she had seen today, she needed to do something. A gutsy, stupid something that could get her fired or worse. She had heard rumors and talk of some of the less than ethical things WSG had done to expand their market and increase profits, but to have it discussed so openly and flippantly set her off in a way she couldn''t describe. It felt like a betrayal after she had joined the company ten years ago and thought that she could start making a difference for people like her brother. She had been grabbing a file for her division chief when she had heard Lance Sterling speaking with someone not visible in a nearby office. She wouldn''t have paid any attention usually, but a loud bang as Lance punched either the wall or his desk startled her. "I''m tired of waiting for the old man to come around! He''s a genius, but he''s also an idiot if he wants to open source this. This would be huge for OO, and WSG needs this to happen. We would dominate the market and our competitors would be light-years from catching up to us." Lance said. "He says the money doesn''t matter to him. He says he has more than he could ever spend from his other patents and inventions. Why shouldn''t he give it all away? He also made it seem that he knew we would use the tech for, let us say, less than above board purposes." Lance''s voice grew cold and hard, "If money is not his thing, we''ll find what is. What is his family situation like?" "He''s got a wife and a kid, still lives at home, though he''s in his twenties I guess. " "Some lazy, failure to launch-type millennial, I''m guessing?" "To see them they get along just fine. Roark believes in letting the kid find his path. Says his dad never forced him to do anything and it allowed him to find his passion." the unseen man replied. "That''s just what I wanted to hear! Ok, here''s what you''re going to do. I''ll contact my people to handle the other parts of the plan. It''s irritating to have to call in some of my markers, but the look on his face when he finally hands it all over will be worth it." From there Lance described how he would engineer a car accident, and place Mr. Roark''s son in an induced coma. Then infuse him with nanobots and put him in the game as a means of ''recovery.'' The nanobots could be manipulated in certain circumstances to keep the boy alive and even help him recover. They also could drag on his recovery, injecting sedatives and influencing hormones and the body''s recovery processes. Penny knew that if the boy died in-game, the nanobots could take control of his vitals and cognitive function. Due to safeguards placed by manufacturers, the nanobots were only susceptible to hacking during a respawn event. During which, individual attributes and penalties had to calibrate, locations reassigned in the game, and the cognitive link refreshed that allowed a patient''s brain to interface with the game engine and the sensory centers that synced with the program. Penny had been gone too long. As much as she wanted to hear more, she knew they would miss her if she stayed much longer, and this could be an inconvenient coincidence if she got caught and they put two and two together. It probably wouldn¡¯t have hit her as hard if the intended victim was a stranger, but Penny knew the target: Mr. Roark''s son Jim. She didn''t know Jim personally but had done a summer internship in college with Mr. Roark when he was a professor there. She was one of the last classes to work with him before his research took up more and more of his time and he chose not to teach anymore and focus solely on his work. He had formed Nanodyne with his own money and had been producing new iterations of technology and AI that were so modular and adaptable that more and more things were becoming automated and ''smart.'' Sometimes Jim would come in and keep himself occupied in the lab while his father worked. Penny was impressed by how well that the kid could entertain himself. He seemed to pick a task for the day, and he doggedly worked at it until he finished. One time it was a 1000-piece puzzle, another time a Rubik''s cube. Never with any video games though, which was odd for kids his age. She guessed it was because his dad wanted Jim to be mentally active. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Penny made her way to the elevator as quickly and quietly as possible. The meeting was of average length, but it felt like it dragged on forever. She began to think about what she would do, the details of the meeting lost as she formed a plan. After her meeting, Penny hurriedly squirreled herself away in one of the old access ports she had used in her early days with the company. She was writing code that she could insert as a drop for a specific player. She set the drop for Jim Roark, hoping the system wouldn¡¯t assign him a random name. If that happened, her job would be complicated exponentially, trying to find a single character in the myriad of player-selected names. She designed a specialized item that would allow her to communicate directly with Jim among its other properties. Finishing quickly, she electronically hid the drop so that she could access it quickly when she had more information. She left the room and headed to the cafeteria, feeling like everyone was watching her and that somehow they were all plotting to make her disappear. She didn''t know who she could trust, and her inherent paranoid made her flushed even though she was currently doing nothing wrong. "Penny..." a voice came from behind, and an arm touched her on the shoulder. She yelped and spun around, assured that some burly men in suits were there to take her to someone that wanted to speak with her. Jack, the office mail guy, stood there, still sorting a couple of items. He looked up and said, "Sorry, didn''t mean to startle you. I have some of your mail. Did you want it now or should I leave it in your cubby?" "I''ll take it now, thanks Jack," she said with a slightly shaky voice. Grabbing the small bundle of letters and a manilla envelope she hurried to lunch. Her stomach was uneasy; she did not feel hungry at all but decided to go anyways to keep up appearances. As she stood in the line, nothing looked appealing. Her queasy stomach roiled against some of the smells that never bothered her before. She was always so easily flustered. It was going to be a long night though, so she had to grab something. Settling on a wrapped ham sandwich and a Squirt, she would at least have something for later. Finally, she had started to cool down and relax as she stood in the checkout lane. No one had accosted her or accused her of anything, so maybe things were going to be alright. Her skin felt slightly clammy and gross, and the back of her blouse stuck uncomfortably against her skin. She decided to go outside and see if some fresh air would finish clearing her head. Hacking the internal servers was not difficult for her, but she had always been a rule follower her whole life. Her programming prowess had been why she had been first hired at World Serpent Games, and her skills with her team led her to promotions into other capacities. She liked order and structure and could organize people to get tasks done. It was easy for her to see things holistically and then assign the individual tasks to be completed. It was partially responsible for her elegant, concise coding skills as well. Penny''s parents had passed away when she was in her twenties, leaving her to care for her younger brother Sammy. He hated to be called Sammy by anyone else besides family. To them it was Samuel. He was fiercely independent, despite his condition and had become quite involved in his teaching career. Sammy had a genetic disease and paraplegia since birth. Through some of the breakthroughs using brain mapping and VR training, WSE had made huge leaps from their game technologies to influence real-life recovery and brain remapping to acquire new real-life skills. It would take time to develop, but there was hope, and she knew Sammy would be one of those willing to do the work with physical therapy. She hoped that as a high-ranking employee, he would have access to preliminary trials. Guided transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation to stimulate the muscles as the character moved in the game was already a function of the game for those who had a capsule. What was happening virtually in the game, triggered the player''s real muscles to move to provide a more immersive experience, as well as replacing monotonous exercise routines. A player could get stronger in the real world by playing video games. It was the best of both worlds for a lot of people. Therapeutic co-therapies were another lucrative line of development for WSE, but the company wanted to have the process perfected before release. It would allow them to expand their already significant medical therapy division, growing an already impressive slice of market-share. Despite the hope it brought, Penny was disheartened to learn that her company had a darker side than she ever imagined. She knew most corporations were focused primarily on profits and realized it was naive to think they would be as altruistic as she expected them to be. She hoped that this was only Lance¡¯s influence and not the company¡¯s unspoken goal as a whole by the decision makers. Either way, she could not let this happen. She wouldn¡¯t allow it happen. Chapter 3: Star Ocean Jim blinked his eyes and shook his head. He was floating and tumbling as if he were in space. Everything was dark except for twinkling lights all around him about 20 feet around him in a sphere. As he tumbled around he saw a large screen come into view with a countdown timer. There were about two minutes left. As he tried to focus on the screen he saw the question: Please choose your class from the following: At least 50 different flavors of occupations were on the long list after the prompt. A red warning bar above the input field was flashing. If no entry is registered, the system will choose a class at random. Jim was used to video games, even though he had only played more now that his dad wasn''t around as much to disapprove. When he played with the gang, he usually played caster classes. His role was the cleric and was the dedicated healer when he and his buddies played D&D or multiplayer MMORPGs. The timer hit 59 seconds and Jim finally found the cleric entry. In his haste to select it, he misjudged and hit Paladin by mistake which was one entry away. "Bizknacker!" He yelled in frustration as the timer kept counting down. The screen went blank, preparing to show the next optimization choice. It was going so slow! Jim didn''t know how many more screens he would have to cycle through, but if this were like most games, there could be a lot of selections, and the timer kept its merciless march to zero. Finally, the next screen was up. Now he had to choose his alignment, which was easy since everything but lawful good was greyed out. He clicked it quickly and another pause before the next screen showed stats: Please allocate your free stat points(20). If no entry is registered, points will be allocated at random. Character: Jim Roark Class: Paladin Alignment: Lawful Good Stats: Agility: 8 Constitution: 8 Charisma: 8 Strength: 8 Perception: 8 Intelligence: 8 Luck: 8 Jim tried to quickly move the virtual cursor before the time ran out. Luck was highlighted and the timer clicked to zero. Unassigned stat points randomly allocated. Agility: 8 Constitution: 8 Charisma: 8 Strength: 8 Perception: 8 Intelligence: 8 Luck: 28 "Ah, no! This is ridiculous!" Jim exclaimed in anger. What a horrible build! He knew that this would be very difficult to progress in his class with all his stats being at the very bottom base values. He tried to remember when he had started playing a VR game, but he could remember very little from before. He remembered odd snippets, like his family and friends, but the recent past was a blur. It must be some kind of short term memory loss. It wasn¡¯t totally uncommon in full immersion VR games to be a little disoriented at first as the brain tried to assimilate the different inputs and interpret them into sensory data and to calibrate movement and have these impulses sync with the game world. The amnesia effect was a little weird and different though. Focusing on the game, he wondered why didn''t he have any time to chose properly? What type of game was this? His lack of short-term memory was frustrating. He briefly looked through the menus and did not see any chance to log out in the settings menu. Just options for modifying his display and how messages were sorted and shown. The program continues with the process, booting him out of the settings menu and moving on to the next selection step. The floating screen reverted to its character design mode and Jim saw another message. As a paladin choose your patron deity: No entry selected. Deity class(es) chosen at random: Trickster/Fortune Jim''s mood fell even more. Probably because of his luck stat is the only one he had any points, his patron deity as a paladin had been chosen for him. Disappointed, he waited to see what else was going to be chosen for him. Specialized item(s) detected for the character. Delivered. Please view your inventory to access and equip.Stolen story; please report. Prepare to enter the Kingdom of Dar Jim closed his eyes and felt a sensation of sliding. He was pulled downward as if standing on the sand in the upper part of an hourglass, rushing towards a sparkling light that grew ever brighter. There was a flash of light and heat, and when he opened his eyes again, he was standing in on the top of a large dune. In the distance, there was a city visible. Jim pulled up his inventory and saw he was wearing basic robes. The only other item was a silver sword and a small pouch. He opened the pouch and found an amulet and a small scroll. He pulled out the scroll to read it when a gust of wind blew sand in his face. Spitting and cowering away from the wind, he wrapped a swath of the robe around his face to protect himself from the annoying sand. Keeping the wind to his back he looked at the scroll. Jim Roark, you do not know me but I am here to let you know you are in danger. You are trapped in the game Ouroboros Online and Executives at WSG want to blackmail your father by using you as leverage. You must not die or they will be able to hack your character. I have enclosed an amulet that will prevent any damage, leaving you with 1% of total hp from any strike that would kill you. It will also randomize your character name and facial appearance so you will be able to evade mercenaries or people specifically looking for you, so do not reveal your true name to anyone. I will try to help you more in the future, but I cannot be discovered. Good luck, I will try to contact you soon! ---The Oracle Jim stood there trying to make sense of everything. It wasn''t until after he was older, that his father allowed him to play video games. Probably due to his dad¡¯s life becoming super busy with his company. He simply wasn¡¯t home as much to guide Jim¡¯s choices. Jim had never played OO, mostly because it was one of the most expensive VR games out there. Its highest tier of play boasted sensory connection through nanobot interaction so people could feel their muscles move and experience every sensation. He didn''t have nanobots, they were prohibitively expensive and often killed people during integration if the host suffered from a rejection event. WSG also offered a capsule option that was still only for the richest of people who were reluctant to interact with the unreliable nanobot technology. Capsules offered another level of immersion above the simpler haptic suits that were usually in the price range of most regs. Not everyone was so into games that they would risk dying from the nanobots, even if they did double life expectancy due to their ability to repair and detect diseases and conditions years before they would show up in normal tests. On top of that, the yearly game subscription was equivalent to the average yearly middle-class regs wage. Had his father gifted him a subscription because his company was doing so well? It seemed unlikely, his father was thrifty and pragmatic. Questions for a different day, perhaps. Jim pulled out the amulet from his inventory and wondered, Who is the Oracle? Can I trust him? Why would they help me, unless they have their own agenda I know nothing about. Focusing on the item, he saw its stats: Amulet of Protection Can only be equipped by Jim Roark Item will become soul-bound once equipped and cannot be removed or stolen. Randomizes player¡¯s name and changes appearance so will not show up on direct searches. Any damage that would reduce hp to zero is mitigated to allow 1% hp to remain. Cooldown(hp save): 1 day Looks like it does what she said it would. He donned the amulet the chain and medallion feeling cold against his skin even in the hot environment. Even after wearing it for a minute, it retained its cool temperature. Jim looked around, trying to find some landmark to head towards. Shielding his eyes, his white gauzy robes that flapped in the hot winds that blew sandy grit around him. He saw what he thought to be a city off in the distance. Orienting himself in relation to the sun he set off. Climbing, or more accurately sliding down the dune, he tripped against something hard and tumbled ass over teakettle down the dune. After getting to the bottom, he noticed that the wind was a little less intense, which was a welcome change. He looked upward and saw something dislodged in the sand about 10 feet uphill. He duck-stepped up to the object and saw that it was a small tarnished lamp. Picking it up he looked at the stats. Plain-looking tarnished lamp. Why not give it a rub and clean it up? Thinking better of it, he stashed the lamp into his inventory. He''d try to get to somewhere stable before he threw anything unknown into the mix. If he knew games, the lamp had a genie and a whole quest line that would follow, and he had basically no armor and a beginner weapon. Better to level up a bit before committing to something that may have a time limit. He followed at the contours of the dunes heading the direction of the city. Without any water, he soon grew parched as he trudged through the loose sand. The sun was sinking lower in the sky, and he was able to walk more in the shade as shadows stretched with the waning sun. Unfortunately, he did not have any money, so getting something to eat and drink as well as some lodging would be difficult if he got to the town too late. Hopefully, there would be some easy fetch quest or something some rats to kill so he could make it through the night. From the note he received, he realized that he couldn''t log out. And if the people who made the game were gunning for him, he would have to level fast and stay as incognito as possible. That reminded him to check his settings. He found the settings to make his account hidden along with his level, and stats from other players. He doubted that would keep the developers from finding him, but if there was a bounty out for him it would be more difficult to find. He hoped. They may not know his name, but he didn¡¯t want to broadcast he was a noob if there were bounties popping up. Faster than he expected he reached the outskirts of the city. The town looked deserted, with sand piled up along the edges of round buildings that appeared to be made of some form of clay. Interspersed amid the smaller buildings he expected to see in a middle-eastern setting, he noticed ruins of large skyscrapers jutting out like jagged teeth in the city¡¯s edge. This city appeared to be built on the ruins of another city, long dead. Walking down the main street he saw some evidence of life. A large building with a sign out front with a picture of a bed seemed to beckon to him. Below it there was writing in an exotic language with lots of swoops and dots that reminded him of Arabic. Figuring this was the inn, he stepped inside. A large man stood behind the far counter, polishing long angular glassware. "Pardon me, but I have just arrived in town. Would I be able to trade some kind of service for lodging and a meal?" Jim asked tentatively. The man stopped what he was doing, set down his glass and blinked. Jim wondered if the man spoke English, trying to think of a way to pantomime what he wanted. "Sorry, could you repeat that?" the man said, with a thick foreign accent that was hard to place. "I was just asking if there was a way that I could trade some kind of service for a meal and lodging. I am new to town and have no money yet---" "Of course, of course! I am glad you have come! We don''t get much traffic out here. You have the look of a wanderer, am I right?" "A wanderer?" "Yes, yes, I can see it in your eyes. You are not from these lands, are you? It is very rare that anyone comes here. In fact, I think it must be at least ten years since I saw a wanderer visit these lands. He did not stay long, saying that this land was far below his level. I know of many people who need things around town and that would be more than willing to trade a bit of coin for your help." the man said. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I wanted to hear.¡± Jim was secretly glad he had entered the game in an unpopular area. It didn''t sound like any other players were here, which would be great for him to level and grow accustomed to the game. He would have to increase his reputation with the town and hopefully, the townsfolk would notify him if anyone suspicious showed up looking for him. "What is your name good sir?" Jim asked, putting on his best disarming smile. "You can call me Dilshad....¡± the man said, rubbing his hands together, ¡°...shall we get started?¡±