《Cyberpunk Universe》


 Prologue

    ... and the development of the game ended before it began!>


    "I''m sorry Mr.Campbell but I don''t understand how is that possible?"


    "Hahaha that''s the face I was having exactly five years ago as they proposed the concept to me. You see it isn''t us, the Company, which made the game, it''sRylys work. Our own little wonder. As you surely know, we aren''t a gaming company. We build the first full dive VR device to help us train our pilots for the presicion manouvers in space so that we don''t lose aquarter of a billion Dollar in equipment alone every time the pilot approaches an asteroid. Thanks to that we are the first and only private Company that mines the astroid belt in our solar system. Then we bring them into a stable orbit around earth and refine it."


    "So your saying that the device wich revolutionized the understanding of the human brains and changed how our society works and trades was developed because you wanted to mine in space?!"


    "That''s a nice synopsis, though you were a bit to shocked at the end but, yes that''s basicly it. So as I was saying.. echem what was I saying.. ah yes.. we developed VR as a byproduct, then I gave myresearch department an basicly unlimited fund for development and tasked them with one thing, "Surprise Me". And sure they did. It costed a fortune but let''s not mention that because my finance chef would defenetly kill me... but there they were, with the first selfaware AI in the history."


    "An AI?! As in Artificial Inteligence???"


    "Yes, yes isn''t that wonderful? Ryly, is the name I chose for her. And she''s a beauty that is sure, we need multiple advanced Fission Reactors to power her at full capacity but her capacity is enormous. I can''t give you numbers because thats secret, between me and you, even the government doesn''t know for sure because they can''t hack us."Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "So what has all that to do with you not developing the Game?"


    "I didn''t develop anything.Ryly didn''t develop anything. I would rather say that it was simulated. Imagine what happens if you feed an unimaginable intelligent AI all the scientific data that you collceted and that was discovered and tell her to create a new universe with it. And then you let her do her thing for a bit under five years. Well that''s Cyberpunk Universe! Of course you need a few tweeks here and there to get the possibility to use the VR equipment to interface with the universe."


    "Wow, just wow. I think you just hooked a whole lot of people to this game. Two Questions. First why Cyberpunk and second what will it cost the hardware and the software?"


    "Well that''s easy but you''ve never been to space befor so you can''t know, Space is THE deadliest environment for humans. A bit of space dust can kill your whole crew and ship in milliseconds, so yeah we thought a bit of cynicism isa good idea after all Cyberpunk means bleakness and danger. The hardware and software are going to be free. We want as many players as possible but you have to have an ID and be over 18. Realism isn''t nice in any way. I wish you luck out there, everything is unexplored and Ryly is always working to create more."


    "Wow thank you for the interview Mr.Campbell, and that was...


    <hr>


    .... loading ID....


    .... age Verified... 18 Years, 3 Months, 34 Minutes and 21 seconds old..


    ....WELCOME TO CYBERPUNK UNIVERSE...


    Please enjoy your stayAlarkJohnson....

 Chapter 1 "University"

    Like every other day, thousands of students walk, drive and take the subway to the university in Los Angles. In a certain wagon, a certain pair of friends come together


    Marco got into the wagon, sits down next to Arlak and greeted him. "Hey Arlak, How''re you doing on this beautiful morning?"


    After a good yawn and stretching Arlak mumbles "Oh shut up Marco, you know this is a bullshit day. I love my major and the profs but come on it''s the first day after the break and now I have to get up at 07:30. Every. God. Damn. Day."


    "It''s not that bad if you could stop playing your fantasy game what was it called again.."


    "The Elder Scrolls: Tamriel"


    "Ah yes that one, if you would stop at some point instead of playing until 02:30 you wouldn''t complain about getting up early"


    "Hey! I''ve got to somehow distract me from Cyberpunk Universe, don''t I? You know how much I like Sci-Fi and how much it bugs me that the VR equipment costs way too much for me to afford..."


    "You didn''t hear it yet?"


    "What?"


    "Hahaha you really don''t know"


    "Hey, please would you stop laughing. People are giving us weird looks.."


    After laughing out loud Marco calms himself down and apologizes "Haha.. ha oh sorry, I''m just excited for your reaction. Yesterday the CEO of SpaceMiners Inc announced that the game and the VR full dive capsule, with a time dilation of five times, will be available for free!"


    "You''re shitting me? You have to as if they wouldn''t want to make money...."


    "Why the hell would you not believe meeeeeeee?"


    "Really, you ask? Should I remind you of the lie which brought you into trouble with Maris?"


    "Pls just don''t... I know... but here... look", after winceing and mumbling a bit "where was it again..." he shows Arlak a website where the interview was summarized. <UNIVERSE ONLINE WILL BE FOR FREE. The game which was created in absolute secrecy will be released shortly and everybody...>


    Arlak looks carefully at the article and is taken aback "Wow, you really told the truth... Oh, shit now I can''t concentrate on the lesson, but we''re going to play this game together won''t we?"


    "Oh yes, we are going to play this game together, bet on it! Do you know what you can do with five times more time? It''s incredible!"


    "It''s more incredible that you think about the time dilation effect rather than the possibilities this AI could have and the exploration of space.. if the deductions are correct we could learn so much!"Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "Hey slow down it''s a game.." - "No!", Arlak interrupts him loudly "It''s not JUST a game. It''s the best simulation of space and its creation which we have! I bet it''s gonna be spoken about in class. Hell, it''s going to change our whole society if you could work there and bring the results to here, you would have five times the time in a higher tech environment." As he was getting more and more riled up the subway stopped at the university "That''s alright, Arlak, but we have to get out if we don''t want to miss our fist lecture today". "Oh shit, you''re right, let''s get out". As they try to get out the doors are closing again and the subway starts to move again. "Shit, the Prof is going to go nuts.. we better hurry at the next stop".


    They wait impatiently at the door and as soon as they open both of them start to sprint out of the subway and run up to the gate of the university. They hear a shout behind them "Hey, you two! You can''t run around the campus, you''ll run someone over!". Arlak looks back and shouts, still running "Sorry Maris, but we have to hurry!"


    Marco arrives at the lecture theater first and sees professor Kazuo already at his desk and preparing for the lecture. He looks at Marco "So mister Kennet joins us today, how lovely of you. And don''t think I missed you, mister Johnson." Arlak flinches as the professor mentions his name. Cringing Marco tries to explain why they were late, "Sorry Prof, we got out a stop too late because we were having a discussion if Cyberpunk universe is a game or a simulation". "Ok mister Kennet, that''s enough. To my surprise, you guessed part of today''s lecture. Is Cyberpunk Universe a simulation or is it a reality on its own? It''s in this respect an interesting topic because this AI has more analytic power than ever seen before. It could.."


    After a long day at Arlak and Marco walk out of the main gates and talk about their plans "Hm, you don''t have a relative that could get us a VR pod installed, do you?" "That thing that''s difficult at the moment isn''t the installing of the pod, that''s easy you just have to plug it in and connect it to the internet, the thing which is difficult is to get one pod now because they are free and Cyberpunk Universe goes live tomorrow. Everybody wants one and they''re running in every shop." "Well that is bad, isn''t it? So we probably can''t play it for a week or two?" "Everything seems like it." while the two were talkinga person was listening and decided to creep up behind both of them. Landing one hand on each person Maris leaned forward startling both "You don''t have it but my dad works with SpaceRocks and he got to pieces out of the deal. First, he received 15 pods or capsules, call them how you like, and installed them in a separate building. Second, he knows that everything that you can do for work or school is as legal in the pod and on time dilation as in real life. I would like it if you two would be the first ones to join my little E-Head community."


    After calmingdown Arlak asks curiously "What do you mean with E-Head?" "Well I lied before, my dad knows one little thing more. The in-game currency will be coupled with the massive wealth SpaceRocks has and you can make a living off playing the game." "I think my life died in this sentence, don''t you Arlak?" "Well... yes... but doesn''t this have consequences on our health and the university?" "Well, health is no issue because we''ve got special pods wich monitor your health data und stimulate your muscles so they don''t degenerate." "Ok I''m in, where do I sell my soul for it?" laughing at the instantaneous and perfectly synchronous answer of both Mira assured them "Hahaha no you don''t have to sell your soul for it, you just have to come with me and enjoy the Universe. The Character creation will be unlocked a bit earlier but more than that I don''t know so we better hurry." after they heard the proposition the three of them went off to the Subway to get to the place where they will begin their lives as E-Heads, for the better or the worse of the Universe, nobody knows, well probably the worse, there is, after all, a reason why they have the nickname Impossible Chaos trio.