《The Technomage》 One: The Treasure of Mars Hey everyone! I''m back with another story, though I''m much more serious with this one. I must''ve spent more time on this chapter alone than three of my ''Monstrous'' chapters. I intent to make this into a full fledged book, I actually already have several books planned out for this series. Also, for those thinking this is just another virtual reality story, let me just say... Virtual reality is only a tool. PS. the words, ''Thanks'', ''for'', ''the'', and ''chapter'', are hereby banned in the comments section of this story when used in that order. This is a royal decree. PPS. please refrain from reviewing this story until there are at least 5 chapters, this lets the reviewer have a proper opinion of my story. Thanks! 12/19/15 - Phew! Pretty much done PRing this chapter, enjoy the edited version, it ended up being nearly 6k words! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter One ~ The Treasure of Mars ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year 2054. Mars. The ARES VII Mission. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Crunch* *Crunch* *Crunch* *Clank!* ¡°Huh?¡±, exclaimed the astronaut, looking down at his feet. *Chsssshh*¡±What¡¯s the matter, Johnson? Found something?¡±, a man¡¯s voice came through astronaut Johnson¡¯s radio. Johnson grunted, somewhat annoyed at the low quality comms. They¡¯d discovered some kind of metallic ore concentration present in this region of Mars a few years ago. Somehow, it disrupts most electronic signals, so they were forced to use antique low frequency radios. Pressing the button on the side of his helmet, astronaut Johnson replied, ¡°Hmm, yeah, maybe. Possibly a mineral deposit or meteor fragment. I¡¯ll let you know in a sec.¡±. He released the button, allowing the other man to speak. *Chsssshhhhhhh* ¡°Roger.¡± Astronaut Johnson slowly bent in his white low atmosphere suit, letting the low gravity of Mars do most of the work. Getting on his knees, he began scraping at the barren red dirt, searching for the object of his attentions. Soon, a metalic surface was revealed, reflecting the bright rays of the sun onto his face. ¡°What the...¡±, Johnson said questioningly. After a short pause, he began clearing away more and more Martian dirt, slowly unvieling a large metallic dome. It was huge, he¡¯d already uncovered a circular shaped area about as long as he was tall, but it seemed it just kept getting larger the more dirt he moved. Shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun on the reflective metal, Johnson stood up slowly, and pressed the radio button. ¡°Home base, this is Lt. Johnson. I¡¯ve uhh... I think I¡¯ve got something here. I¡¯ll broadcast my coordinates. Bring an excavator.¡±, he said clearly. *Chsshh* ¡°Roger that, find us some buried treasure did you? We¡¯re on our way.¡±, came the reply. ¡°... Yeah, something like that.¡±, Johnson muttered to himself, staring down at the mysterious metal structure. Sighing, he let himself fall onto his back. He gazed up into the dusty atmosphere, hints of stars sparkling behind the dirty sky, and thought, ¡®Damn, I hope I¡¯m getting a raise for this¡¯. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *pant* *pant* ¡°Johnson, just what the hell is this thing?!¡±, exclaimed the astronaut next to Johnson. His name patch read, ¡®Cpt. John Hattoc¡¯ in bold letters. Johnson shrugged, staring up at the mysterious pod they¡¯d unearthed. It had taken them nearly half the day to unearth the structure, even with the help of the robotic excavator, which could easily lift several tons. Eventually, after clearing away most of the dirt and rock around it, they¡¯d been able to pry it up out of the ground, leaving it¡¯s shining surface visible to the world. It was massive, at least a few meters tall, as well as wide, and about a dozen meters long. The thing was shaped like a giant seamless metal egg, with a flat bottom that allowed it to rest on the ground flat. Weirdly, it was impeccably clean, not a speck of dirt nor a single scratch left on it despite the rough handling by the excavator and spending god knows how long under the martian dirt. The light Martian wind blew around the two men admiring the alien structure, blowing red sand over their suits. The mechanical whirring of the robotic excavator near them accompanying the light pings of dirt blown against the metal egg. They stood there for a few minutes, staring in awe at the sight before them. Finally, one man turned to his companion, and said,¡°So, uhhh, who¡¯s gonna tell NASA?¡±. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One Year Later. NASA Facility, Undisclosed Location. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A young man in a scientist coat sat at a computer station in a room filled with various other mechines and towering stacks of paper. The front of the room was thick clear glass looking into a white room with a large, metallic egg shaped object resting in it. The man was typing furiously at his keyboard, fingers flying, navigating through various windows on his screen seamlessly. This man was Jeffery Adams, the lead researcher for this particular project at NASA, a near peerless genius who graduated university at only 15 years old. He was but one of many geniusses working for the company. Suddenly, he froze, mouthing, ¡®No way...¡¯, eyes wide. Slowly, his mouth stretched into a wide grin, clamping his pure white, irregular teeth tightly. ¡°Ha... Ha ha! Hahahaha! I¡¯ve got it! This is incredible! Nobody ever expected this!¡±, he shouted in the empty room. He stood and looked at the metal structure behind the glass wall with a satisfied grin on his face, thinking of his discovery. ¡°Ah! I¡¯ve gotta let Roy know.¡±, he said under his breath before picking up a stack of papers next to him and sprinting out a large door in the side of the room. He flew down a maze of hallways, passing innumerable unmarked grey doors and dodging several scientists. Finally, he reached the end of a hallway, facing a single blue door. He leaned over, panting, and tried to catch his breath, thinking, ¡®Damn, I¡¯m really out of shape¡¯, before reaching up and lightly rapping on the thick blue door. Unknown to him, various sensors were analysing his body, checking for potentially harmful chemicals or weapons. They crosschecked his breathing patterns, stance, facial features and brain waves with a secure database before turning on a small green light on a large desk in the room behind the door. The man behind the desk noticed the green light, and said loudly, ¡°Come in¡±. The scientist cleared his throat nervously and turned the metal handle, pushing forward. The door squeaked open, masking a light whirring coming from within the door. If his handprint in any way did not match up with the prints they had in the database, several thousand volts would have been sent through his body moments after touching the handle. Stepping into the dark room gingerly, he walked forward until he was in front of the large desk, a suited man seated behind it. He stood at attention, waiting to be addressed by the man. The man leaned forward in his chair. ¡°What is it, Jeffery?¡±, he asked in a deep, clear voice. The scientist, Jeffery, swallowed and said quietly, ¡°I¡¯ve figured it out, sir.¡± At this the man behind the desk straightened up and started intensely at the scientist, motioning him to go on. Taking a deep breath, Jeffery said, ¡°It¡¯s... I think it¡¯s virtual reality, sir.¡± The man grunted and said, ¡°Virtual reality? As in holographics?¡± Jeffery lightly shook his head, and began his explanation. ¡°Not quite sir, I think it¡¯s something much more advanced than the run of the mill stuff we¡¯ve got now. As you know, a month ago we discovered the metallic fluid inside the structure was actually a pool of tiny nanobots, but we couldn¡¯t figure out what they would do exactly. Even when we managed to activate the machine, they just sat there and did nothing.¡± The man at the desk nodded, recalling the discovery. ¡°Well, I had an idea and decided to carry out an experiment on my own. I sent electrical signals resembling brain waves into the device, and the nanobots exploded in activity! They latched onto the brainwave simulation and began sending their own signals to match it. I watched through the camera we set up inside, and the liquid was gushing around, as if searching for something. I believed they were looking for a body to latch onto, perhaps to simulate the five senses through the nerves, so I tried something else. I redirected the signals that the nanobots were sending into the supercomputer, and built a program to simulate the nerves of human eyes and sent the images to a monitor. The images actually ended up being a pure white room that was approximately 3m by 3m by 3m in size. I also noticed that it began sending out some sort of signal into space, but since I didn¡¯t know what it did, I turned it off for now.¡± Jeffery finished up his report. The man sank back into his chair, deep in thought. After a few minutes he nodded to himself and addressed Jeffery. ¡°Alright. I want your team focusing on replicating the device on a smaller scale and beginning experimentation with chimpanzees. I want to know exactly what this thing does and how it does it.¡± Jeffery nodded and began turning towards the door, but the growling voice of the man behind the desk stopped him. ¡°Jeffery, I think you know what will happen if I ever catch you experimenting with it without my approval again.¡± Jeffery shivered, fear welling up deep in his gut, and nodded frantically, not wanting to anger the man any further. The man just stared at him, and said in his growling voice, ¡°Go.¡±. Jeffery sprinted out the door. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One Year Later. NASA Facility, Undisclosed Location. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A small crowd of scientists and various men in business suits looked intently out through thick clear glass into a stark white room. In the very center laid a scaled down version of the massive metal pod. It was in two halves, the top half being held up by six hydraulic pistons around the edges of the two halves. Filling up the bottom half was a dull gray metallic fluid that seemed to flow around in random directions. On the left of the room, seams appeared on the markless wall and part of the wall slid up, revealing a nervous looking man in a gray skintight suit. Swallowing nervously, he walked towards the opened capsule and stood before it. They¡¯d said it was completely harmless, but he was about to submerge himself into a vat of tiny nanobots for gods sake. Clearing his throat, he glanced at the one way glass, behind which was a small crowd of onlookers. He took a deep breath and gingerly lifted one leg into the capsule, submerging it into the gray liquid. He thought it felt like he was stepping into sandy oil. Placing his other leg in the capsule and submerging himself up to his neck, he took one last breath of the metallic filtered air of the facility, and sank his head into the fluid. He sucked the nanobots into his lungs, allowing them to enter his bloodstream and provide oxygen to his body as well as connect to his nervous system. The pistons hissed and the top half of the capsule sank slowly, until the seams disappeared, sealing the man inside. On the other side of the glass, attentions switched to a scientist staring intently at the monitor in front of him, as he began reading information off the screen. ¡°Brainwaves, good. Blood pressure, good. Heart rate, high, but within acceptable levels. The nanobots are now connecting to his nervous system. Switching to patient¡¯s point of view, please focus your attentions on the screen to my left.¡±, he said professionally. The crowd sighed in relief at the safety of the man, but the experiment wasn¡¯t over yet, and they focused their eyes on the screen taking up the entirety of the left wall. It flashed white before blurrily coming into focus. The view appeared to be some kind of household living room, as clear as if they were looking through a window. It was, in fact, a virtual room designed for this very test. The camera began to move, panning around the room, before looking down. A body covered in a gray jumpsuit came into view, the camera placed just above the neck. A pair of hands came into view, turning this way and that, clenching and unclenching. The scientist frowned and leaned towards a microphone sitting on his desk, saying into it, ¡°Mr. Phillips, please don¡¯t forget to report your observations aloud.¡± The camera looked up, as if surprised, and a voice came from the screen, ¡°Ah, right, sorry. Umm, it... It feels so real, it¡¯s like I¡¯m really here. I can feel the pressure as I close my fists, and the soft touch of the carpet I¡¯m standing on. Are... Are you sure this is a hologram?¡±, the man in the jumpsuit asked haltingly. A quiet but excited chattering began among the scientists and the businessmen appeared to be pleased. The scientist frowned again, and said into the mic, ¡°Mr. Phillips, you aren¡¯t paid to ask questions. Please attempt to walk towards the table in front of you, then pick up the box on top of it.¡± Mr. Phillips nodded, shaking the camera, and took a cautious step forward, watching his feet. Soon he became smoother, and walked towards the mahogany table, stopping for a moment before reaching out and attempting to pick up the cardboard box upon it. Upon touching the box, he jerked his hand and said, ¡°Ah!¡±, surprised, knocking the box off the table. Muttering a ¡°Sorry...¡±, he crouched down, picking up the cardboard box, more confidently this time, and inspected it. The people in the room gasped and began chattering excitedly. ¡°What is the meaning of this?!¡± One person exclaimed. On the corner of the box, barely noticeable, was a small dent. ¡°We... We never programmed that!¡±, exclaimed a scientist fearfully. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three Weeks Later. NASA Facility, Undisclosed Location. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeffery the scientist strode purposefully through the hallway, a force to his steps he didn¡¯t know he had in him before now. He stopped momentarily at a large blue door, before taking a deep breath and shoving it open. He was authorized now. The suited man had his back facing the door, studying various papers pinned to the back wall. He turned at the unexpected entrance, surprise briefly flashing on his face before he forced it into a scowl. Before the man could berate the scientist, Jeffery spoke angrily, ¡°I can¡¯t accept this! Why must we keep this a secret?! My discovery could revolutionize the world! You can¡¯t-¡± Jeffery was cut off by the suited man holding his hand out in a ¡®stop¡¯ gesture, and growled, ¡°First of all, it isn¡¯t your discovery, it¡¯s NASA¡¯s, and thus I have final say over what happens with it. Secondly, you don¡¯t have a high enough rank to know company secrets like that. By the way, I¡¯m revoking your door authorization.¡±, glancing towards the still open door. Jeffery opened his mouth as if to argue, but the man cut him off again with a glare, ¡°Stop, if you say one more word about this to anyone, you¡¯ll be out of a job.¡±, he warned. Gritting his uneven teeth, Jeffery spun on his heels angrily and stalked back out the door, frustrated. The door closed behind him and he stood in place, shaking in rage. How dare they! This was his discovery, it rightfully belonged to him! Did they even think of the lives they could save, the people they could help with this technology?! Jeffery took a deep breath, quelling his anger. This was not the time to be getting emotional. He was a smart man. The smartest he knew. There must be something he could do, he just had to figure it out. Like a math problem. He always got As in math, even in university. Even as he stalked through the hallway, he began formulating a plan. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One Week Later. NASA Main Server Room. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The soft electronic beeping and the low whirring of hundreds of server machines were the only sounds in the large concrete room. It was late at night, and the technicians had long gone home to their beds, leaving the night guards and multi-layered security system to take care of the place while they were away. Dozens of hidden cameras embedded in the three foot thick concrete walls watched the entire room like a legion of hawks. Heartbeat detectors, heat sensors, vibration monitors, all manner of high tech security gadgets surrounded the server room, leaving no corner unwatched. It made sense. This was where NASA kept their greatest secrets after all. At the far end of the room, sat a door. A massive gray metal door, thick enough to take a shot from a tank head on, secure enough to not let a single mote of dust pass. A low beeping sounded, and the door slowly opened upwards, revealing a lanky young man in a black hoodie and sweatpants. He had dark bags under his eyes, as if he hadn¡¯t slept in a very long time. Peering around the corners to check if anyone was around, the man shuffled into the room, pressing a button on his smartphone that closed the door. He took a deep breath and walked slowly into the room, checking for any late night workers. A single bead of sweat dripped down his brow. Jeffery had spent the last week trying to hack into NASA¡¯s database. It was known to be nearly impenetrable, with firewalls upon firewalls, and even an AI guard dog that patrolled the system for unauthorized users. As far as he knew, he was the first one to be able to slip past in the last thirty years. He hadn¡¯t tried to steal anything, however. He had only one objective. Access. Enough authority to enter this particular room without setting off any alarms. The information he was looking for wasn¡¯t on any of the online servers. No, they were in this place, surrounded by lead laced walls that stopped any signal and enough security to make China¡¯s emperor to feel vulnerable in comparison. Jeffery reached into his back pocket, pulling out a short metal stick as he scanned the labels, searching for the object of his efforts. ¡°Fusion Wave Propulsion, nope. SCP Project, nope. Davidson Wormhole Development, nope.¡±, he muttered, walking down the aisle. Finally near the end, he stopped and smiled. He found it. The label on the server tower read, ¡®AT:VR¡¯, Alien Technology: Virtual Reality. Quickly finding the correct port, he popped the cap off his metal stick and plugged it into the server. Immediately, the thin tube bent upwards and split at the middle, opening up into a light blue holographic screen showing a variety of password protected files. Knowing he was quickly running out of time, Jeffery selected all of the files and then pressed the button labeled, ¡®Download¡¯. A horizontal bar appeared in the middle of the screen, reading, ¡®Now downloading: 198Gb/44Tb. Estimated wait time: 23 seconds.¡¯. The time ticked down slowly. Jeffery glanced at the thick metal door at the end of the room, another drop of sweat rolling slowly down his face. After what seemed like an eternity, the seconds finally ticked down to zero, bringing up a light blue box that said, ¡®Complete!¡¯, with a smiley face. Jeffery tapped the ¡®Done¡¯ button on the top right of the screen and the metal stick snapped together. He quickly yanked it out of the port and shoved it back in his pocket, striding back to the metal door. He pulled out his smartphone, opening the application that would let him open the door. Before he could activate it, however, the door began sliding up on it¡¯s own! Jeffery panicked, searching frantically for a hiding place. He dove to his left, barely catching a glimpse of sandled feet under the door as he rolled under a thick wooden desk. Peering out from under it, he could see the legs of a thin man in shorts with a tool belt on stride through the door and stop in front of it. ¡®Please go left, please go left!¡¯, Jeffery thought frantically. After a few seconds making a scratching sound that sounded like writing, the man turned and began walking to his left, and the door started closing slowly. Seeing his chance, Jeffery scrambled out quietly from under the desk and lightly ran towards the quickly shrinking doorway. He dove under it, rolling a few feet past the door, just barely hearing a man say, ¡°Hmm? What was that?¡±, before the door closed. Jeffery grinned and wiped his brow, his hand coming off drenched. That had been way too close. Pushing himself up off the ground, he checked his smart watch before sprinting down a hallway and turning left, dodging the patrols of guards that he had mapped out the day before. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three Days Later. An Unassuming Suburban House. Northern California. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Crunch*... *Crunch*... *Crunch*... *Gulp* I swallowed the mouthfull of ¡®Wheaty Delight!¡¯ reluctantly, and shove another mouthfull of my dull breakfast into my mouth mechanically, eyes glued to the television. Something about some terrorist attack in the middle east, I think. It¡¯s always the same shit anyway, the news stations never seem to report on anything usefull, like scientific discoveries or new technology. *Gulp* *Sigh* I lift another bite of cereal up to my mouth and absently switch channels, delaying my inevitable trip to the hellhole they call ¡®high school¡¯. Not that I hate the learning part of going to school, no, I actually enjoy learning new things. It¡¯s the way they teach it to you is what repulses me. To them, I¡¯m just another number to force feed facts and propaganda to. Similar to the news stations, actually. ¡®Wait. What was that?¡¯, I think, a title on one of the news channels catching my eye as I flip past it. I change back to the channel, ¡®The Daily Day¡¯, apparently. I read the title on the bottom of the screen and my eyes go wide. *SPSHHH!* ¡®Wheaty Delight!¡¯ goes everywhere in my shock. Whoops. But, seriously, who wouldn¡¯t be shocked over this! This... Changes everything! ¡°Heh... Heheh!¡±, I let out, milk dripping down my chin, as the news anchor began her report. *Whoosh!* I lean back reflexively, dodging the frying pan that was thrown from the kitchen to my right. ¡°What the hell do you think you¡¯re doing, wasting food like that?! Get off your ass and clean it up, damnit! And get yourself to school already!¡±, a feminine voice shouts from the kitchen. Normally I¡¯d sigh dejectedly and begin packing up, getting ready to face a morning of useless facts and an afternoon of flying frying pans, but I¡¯m way too excited right now to get down! ¡°Alright, mum! I¡¯m going!¡±, I yell back at her, grabbing a towel she¡¯d also thrown at me and wiping up the mess I¡¯d made. She¡¯s not my real mother, of course, she¡¯s way too young to have a sixteen year old son like me. She adopted me back when I was thirteen and treated me like her own since then. It wasn¡¯t very cerimonial, she kind of just just waltzed in, picked me up, said, ¡°This one!¡± and suddenly I had a mother. I never could figure out why a single twenty three year old would want to adopt a kid over half her age. Not that I¡¯m complaining. I finished cleaning up and trudged over to the door, catching a glance of a firey readhead with pearly white skin in an apron. I shoot one last glance at the television, a grin creeping back onto my face as I threw my backpack over my shoulder and shamble out the door, a light spring to my step. As I left, the reporter continued to drone on excitedly, ¡°-That NASA has reportedly been working on an exciting new piece of technology which allows the user to enter a completely virtual space and move as if they were really there! NASA has plans to commercially release this technology to the public along with a fantasy video game in approximately three years!¡± I shut the door and hurry to the bus stop with what I¡¯m sure is a shit eating grin on my face, eager to share the news with my friends. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two Years Later. An Unassuming Suburban House. Northern California. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I rest my hand on the door knob, and take a shaky breath. ¡®C¡¯mon me, today was the last day of school, there¡¯s no more time to put this off.¡¯, I think to myself encouragingly. Honestly, I¡¯m absolutely terrified right now, I think this thing I¡¯m about to do might be the most dangerous conversation I¡¯ll ever have. The reason for my fear was the firey redhead on the other side of this door. The violent woman I¡¯ve come to call, ¡®mother¡¯. Over the past two years I, along with several of my previously aimless friends, have been making extensive plans about our future. Our future as virtual reality broadcasters, that is. That¡¯s right, after NASA¡¯s announcement of their virtual reality system, ¡®Nexus¡¯, and their accompanying MMO, ¡®Nexus: Afterworld¡¯, I had been wracking my brain trying to find out how I can spend as much time inside virtual space as possible. After all, who would want to slave away for some corporation when you could go on adventures in a virtual world? Eventually, I realized I could become a broadcaster. The people who broadcast for regular video games seem to be able to live comfortably, and with the massive hype about VR, I¡¯m sure I¡¯d have no lack of viewers. I brought the idea to my rather large group of friends, and invited them to join me, but most of them already had their own plans for their lives after high school. Fortunately, three of the particulary goal-less ones loved the idea and decided to join me. ~Flashback, 1.5 years prior, Delson Heights library~ I looked at the three eager faces before me, grateful that they decided to go along with this crazy plan of mine. We had all gathered around a table in a secluded corner of this needlessly extensive library at the school. Seriously, why even have physical books, everything is online these days. On my left is Philip DeMovere, a real laid back American guy with long back hair and a sharp, angular face. We¡¯ve been friends ever since I started high school. He tends to be half assed about most things, but I know I can count on him to get things done when they need to be. He¡¯s going to be my primary companion in game, shooting footage alongside me to get the best shots for our movies. When I¡¯m busy editing or not able to go in-game, he¡¯ll be taking care of politics, resource management, and anything else that needs to be done in the virtual world. Directly across from me is Shen Tao, a migrant from somewhere in China, never asked where exactly. He¡¯s something of a genius programmer, we¡¯re not even surprised anymore when he comes to school half asleep and tells us he¡¯s been working on a web security program for Tesla. Obviously, he¡¯ll be creating our net presence, including a website, a custom live streaming application, and building a personal server cluster for us to use. He says most of it will be automatic after he finishes them, so he can spend time in-game with the rest of us. On my right is Pamela Nordskov, our very own Scandanavian princess. Not a real princess, unfortunately, but she sure gives off the atmosphere of one. She¡¯s taller than me, at 6¡¯2¡± (I¡¯m 6¡¯), with long curly golden hair and a regal face with soft blue eyes. She specializes in mathematics and art, as weird as that combination sounds. She¡¯ll be our graphic designer and accountant. This group has a lot of potential, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ve got what it takes to get this off the ground and running smoothly before the system comes out. Personally, I¡¯m a bit of a jack of all trades kind of guy, so until we can get in game, I¡¯ll be helping out where I can as well as learning everything I can about video editing and directing. ¡°So David, what¡¯s up with the sudden booty call? Finally admitting your love for all things pink and sparkly?¡±, Philip says teasingly, snapping my out of my thoughts. ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve got some exciting news. Do you guys remember how I said we should try to contact NASA about getting in early to get some footage before anyone else?¡±, I replied with a light grin. Everyone nodded and leaned forward eagerly, an excited glint in their eyes. ¡°Well, I finally got a hold of a representative, and after a long phone call going over all the legal mumbo jumbo, and giving them some examples of our work, they agreed to let us have an exclusive first look at the character creation menu a few weeks before launch!¡±, I continued. The table erupted in cheers, eliciting several shushes from around the room, and we all sat back down sheepishly. ¡°That can¡¯t be all, this is NASA we¡¯re talking about, they surely won¡¯t give out exclusives for free. What¡¯s the catch?¡±, asked Shen. I shrugged and replied, ¡°Not much, we¡¯d have use any footage we take to make a sort of gameplay trailer for them, we¡¯d only get a short message at the end and a link to our website in the video description. If we pull it off to their satisfaction, they¡¯ll give us all half off discounts on the Nexus. We won¡¯t be able to actually go in game, but we¡¯d be able to throw together some cool features of the character creation.¡±. There was a moment of silence at the table, which Pamela promptly broke, saying, ¡°Sounds good to me! So, this thing is basically official now, kind of weird to almost own a company while we¡¯re still in high school.¡± ¡°Yeah, I can almost see the wrinkles already!¡±, exclaimed Philip cheerfully. I chuckled as Pam hit Philip playfully. This can work. This will work. ~End Flashback~ I sighed. Pam, Phil, and Shen have all already spoken to their parents, not that it went very well with any of them. Who wants their child to play video games for a living, after all. Alright, no more hesitation. I took another deep breath and turned the doorknob, stepping into our modest appartment. ¡°Mum, I¡¯m home! I need to talk to you for a minute!¡±, I yelled towards the living room, shrugging off the heavy backpack. Time for some shouting. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.5 Years Ago. A Certain CEO¡¯s Office. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Sir, are you sure about giving those kids exclusive access to the character menu before the game launch? What if they don¡¯t pull through?¡±, said a short man with glasses standing in front of a large desk. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Desmond, I have the feeling they¡¯ve got what it takes. Besides, even if they don¡¯t end up making the trailer, it¡¯s no major loss for us. You just need to worry about keeping leaks under control. You remember what happened to the last person that leaked information, don¡¯t you?¡±, said the man behind the desk darkly. Desmond shuddered, before grunting and looking away. He still passed by that particular room on occasion. It was where they tested the effects of virtual torture and stressful situations on the brain. There were three filled capsules in the room. Two of which were occupied by monkeys. He pushed his glasses up and turned back to the man behind the desk. ¡°One last thing sir. The projected completion date has been pushed forward a few months. The programmers still insist the machine is practically doing all the work for them, filling in blanks and making corrections. Are you sure we should go through with the launch, sir? We still don¡¯t know all of the effects the machine might have on people.¡±, Desmond said firmly. The man behind the desk nodded and leaned back, saying, ¡°Yes, we¡¯ll go ahead with the plan. We have insurance with the U.S. government, after all. They are very interested in the prospects for military training in VR. Make the appropriate announcements to the public. Other than that, proceed as per usual.¡± Desmond nodded and excused himself, heading back trough the thick metal door as fast as his short legs would carry him. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, Across The Galaxy. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Your Majesty! We¡¯ve picked up some sort of signal from cluster 34A3, we think it¡¯s from Progenitor technology!¡± The king¡¯s face lit up in a smile full of sharp carnivorous teeth. ¡°Excellent! Prepare a fleet immediately, I think I shall allow my youngest Del¡¯Gesh prove his faith this time.¡± Two: A Grand Entrance Sorry for the month and a half delay, folks. I blame school and lack of after school motivation. Enjoy, and, as before, please wait until I have at least 5 chapters up to review the story. "Thanks for the chapter" is still banned! Indefinitely! 6000 words! Woo! Chapter 2: A Grand Entrance ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I look across the coffee table at the mysterious woman in front of me. Despite turning 30 a few months ago, she shows no signs whatsoever of her age. Rather, she looks even younger than me. Her bright red hair cascades around her round face with soft features, a sharp contrast with her pearly white skin. This woman is, of course, my adoptive mother, whom I had just finished telling about my plans. She sighs and leans back in her seat, frowning. ¡°I see. Well, I knew it¡¯d come to something like this eventually.¡±, she says firmly. Huh? Where¡¯s the yelling? The flying frying pans? Weird, I kind of expected more... Violence, I guess? ¡°So you approve?¡±, I ask her, not totally convinced of benevolence. She frowns again, looks off to the side for a moment, and throws her feet up on the coffee table. ¡°Hmm, well I wouldn¡¯t say approve per say. But, it¡¯s your life, and you¡¯re eighteen now, you should make your own decisions about your life from now on.¡±, she says, nodding. Maybe she thinks she¡¯s being wise? Before I can say anything, she stops me with a finger in the air. With a fierce expression, she says, ¡°However. I can¡¯t just let my little Davey boy go out into the wide world without anywhere to live, you know? So you¡¯re going to scrap the whole ¡®take out a loan for an apartment¡¯ part of your little scheme. Until you¡¯re properly on your feet, you¡¯re going to be staying here with me!¡±. She finishes with a proud expression, arms crossed. Wow, mother, I never knew you had it in you! I always thought you were just a bundle of nerves and mild violence! I might be crying a few tears of happiness right now! ¡°Of course, since you don¡¯t have any more school, you¡¯ll be doing twice as many chores to take the load off your poor mother, won''t you?¡±, she asks with an evil grin. I take it back! She¡¯s definitely a demon! And these aren¡¯t tears, it just happens to be raining right now. Indoors. ¡°M-mother, please. I¡¯ll be busy with work, I won¡¯t have time to look after the house!¡±, I try to tell her. She puts her hand against her mouth in mock horror, and says, ¡°Oh? You¡¯ll leave your frail adoptive mother to do all the work? You¡¯ll let me work my poor hands to the bone while you go play your video games all day? Me, your sole family member in the whole world? Oh, well, I see, if you really must. I guess I¡¯ll just have to find myself a more caring son to help little old me.¡±. She sighs dramatically, and looks pointedly at me. I sigh heavily. ¡°Alright, alright, you got me. I¡¯ll do any house chores you give me in exchange for food and a place to stay¡±. I grin at her and put out my hand as if to shake on a business deal. She smiles widely and takes my hand in her dainty fingers, shaking slightly. ¡°Deal!¡±, she says happily. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Four burly men in blue overalls and baseball caps that read, ¡®NEXUS¡¯ in big gray letters lift a huge wooden crate through my room door and set it down with a thump in a corner. I push myself off the wall I had been leaning on watching them work and walk over to where they stand huffing and puffing. ¡°Thanks, guys. Good work.¡±, I say smiling. One of the men smiles back at me and wipes the sweat off his thick forehead with a hairy arm. ¡°¡¯S¡¯ good mate. Ye ¡®ave fun with this ¡®ere thing now.¡±, he says in a deep voice. I nod at him and hand him a twenty for the hard work. He grins at me, showing off a few broken teeth and squeezes out my door along with the other men, off to the next job. I follow them down the hall and let them out the front door before I grin excitedly and sprint back to my room. The crate was massive, it took up nearly the entire wall that it rested against. I¡¯d looked up the dimensions online to plan out where I¡¯d put it, but damn did it look huge in person. I grabbed the crowbar I had prepared on my desk and got to work cracking it open. After a few minutes of hard work I had my brand new shiny Nexus VR capsule out in the air, the light from my desk lamp shining off the chrome surface. I grab the manual and begin trying to figure out how to crack the thing open. ¡°Hmmm, so, the button should be about... Here!¡±, I press the button on the underside of the capsule and it lets out a low hiss, as the top half begins rising up through the work of six pistons. ¡°Haha! It feels like I¡¯m in a sci-fi movie!¡±, I say with gleaming eyes. I so dearly want to just climb right in and go off on adventures right away, but I force myself to sit down and read the manual in it¡¯s entirety. Wouldn¡¯t want to get stuck in there, after all. After a long and exciting session of manual studying, I stand, making my bed creak, and begin stripping down to my birthday suit, as explicitly stated in the manual. Hoping I won¡¯t have to scoop nanobot liquid out of my crack when I get out, I step into the cool fluid gingerly, and lower myself until only my head is above the liquid. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, I blow all the air out my lungs and plunge my head underneath, trying to breath normally. I flail around a bit as the fluid invades my lunges, making me feel like I¡¯m drowning. NASA wouldn¡¯t go to all this trouble just to kill some people, would they?! I somehow managed to keep myself somewhat calm and not bash my elbows against the sides, but that was seriously terrifying. Soon, though, the fear of drowning begins to fade away and I find myself falling into unconsciousness. I try to open my eyes, but all I see is darkness. It feels like I¡¯m floating in space, but without the stars. Everything is numb. Slowly, my surroundings begin to light up and I begin to regain the feeling in my legs, surprised to find them firmly planted against the ground. I hold my hand up to my face. It appears blurry at first, but gradually it comes into focus, and I wiggle my fingers a little. The darkness gradually brightens until I find myself in a white space not unlike that from the classic movie, ¡®The Matrix¡¯. Wow. This is it. Virtual reality. It might not be much, but the scene takes my breath away. After the numbness fades, I do a series of physical (virtual?) tests as specified in the manual. I try to move each part of my limbs individually, trying to expel the remnants of the numb feeling. I pinch different parts of my body, testing the pain feedback to my brain. I do mathematical calculations and recite poems out loud. I do jumping jacks, push ups, sprints, all manner of physical exercises without even breaking a sweat. It seems my virtual body is a hell of a lot more fit than my physical body. After making sure everything is in working order, I speak the keyword clearly, ¡°Connect.¡± (if some idiot didn¡¯t read the manual like I did, saying anything would prompt the system to give them a list of commands), suddenly the floating feeling returns and the white room begins to blur into colour. Soon, I find myself standing in a small room that has no door with hardwood floors and white painted walls. Directly in front of me is a laptop computer on a small wood desk with a wood chair. Not that I needed it. The computer is for people who didn¡¯t bother to memorize the voice commands. This is apparently my Home room. A space specifically for me that exists within NASA¡¯s servers. I am able to personalize it however I want, so long as the total dimensions of the space do not exceed 1 km cubed. As it was something that had been previously released on the web, I knew about it before hand and I already have design plans in my head. I grin and say, ¡°Build Mode.¡±, clearly. Immediately a blue screen appears in front of me, blocking my vision of everything else. On it are two buttons, labeled ¡®Sculpting Mode¡¯, and ¡®Upload Designs¡¯. Huh. I didn¡¯t know you could draft designs and upload them directly. Oh well, I had planned to build the place by hand anyway, and since time is perceived four times faster in here, I might as well go all out! I try to roll up my sleeves, but realize there¡¯s nothing on my arms. Now that you mention it, it does feel a bit breezy down there... ¡°Dismiss. Apparel.¡±, I say the commands and the first screen blinks into nothingness and another appears before me. This one has a 3D render of my body doing a T-pose on the right and a list of categories on the left. I press my finger against the ¡®Pants¡¯ button and it expands into a list of different categories of leg warmers. I navigate through the windows happily and pick out some comfortable sweat pants, a loose fitting cotton t-shirt and a pair of fluffy slippers. If you¡¯re going to do something, might as well do it comfortably. There were options for more extravagant outfits such as silk bathrobes and the like, but they required a monetary transaction. Tch, greedy bastards. I pressed the ¡®Confirm¡¯ button on the bottom right and immediately felt new weight on my body. The clothes I had picked out had instantly appeared on me. It felt a little strange suddenly being clothed, but hey, if the system wants to dress me who am I to complain. ¡°Build Mode.¡±, I say, bringing up the first screen. I select ¡®Sculpt Mode¡¯, and the two buttons are replaced by a new box, this time of various different materials, which floats to my left, leaving the space directly in front of me open. ¡°First things first, let¡¯s get rid of this sorry excuse for a Home.¡±, I say. I point at the wall next to me with my right index and middle finger, and a box appears asking me if I want to demolish. I select ¡®Yes¡¯, and the wall disappears, revealing the endless white matrix from before. I quickly remove the rest of the room and look over to the materials box. Selecting a block that looks like fancy stone bricks creates a 2m cube in front of me as well as a small ¡®Confirm?¡¯ button to my right. I use the hand signals I had memorized from the manual to manipulate it into a long thin rectangle on the ground. I select ¡®Confirm?¡¯, and nod approvingly to myself. That¡¯s the pathway done, now for the rest of the fortress! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After a surprisingly fun five hours of building, which equates to about 1 hour and 15 minutes outside virtual space, I finally have my humble abode complete. I stand before a humongous monstrosity of a castle. It¡¯s base is octagonal in shape, with hexagonal towers at every second side. The towers spear up six stories high and are topped with pointed shingle roofs with blood red triangular flags at the points. The main castle rises up four stories tall with a thin overhanging roof top catwalk with alternating half metre and quarter metre blocks at the edges, giving it a real fantasy castle feeling. Hanging from the catwalk are thin red banners similar to the tower flags. Directly in front of my is a massive wood and metal double door with simple stone steps leading up to them. On either side of the door are long red banners. _____ 0/ \0 | | Something like this from above? 0\______/0 I would¡¯ve liked to keep building, but this will have to do for now, can¡¯t keep my future fans waiting, can I? ¡°Games.¡±, I say, prompting a screen to appear. It shows a list of games currently installed in my system, which, of course, amounts to a grand total of one: Nexus: Afterworld. Swallowing my excitement, I press my finger against the button, and my surroundings once again fade into a cacophony of colours. Soon, I find myself standing in an expansive grassy plain that seemed to stretch off into nothingness. I can feel the faint breeze blowing against my clothes, the light of the sun against my face, and the soft feeling of the dirt under my slippers. I grin, kick off my slippers, and let myself collapse onto the soft grass, enjoying the relaxing atmosphere of the place. I close my eyes for a moment, savouring the feeling. ¡°Ahem.¡±, I hear someone clearing their throat behind me, and I arch my spine and look back with my head upside down, confused. Standing in the rustling grass is a woman. Her white dress flutters around her ankles and her waist length black hair flows around her body with the wind. She tilts her head and smiles gently at me.Quickly I scramble to my feet, my cheeks reddening. ¡°Uhh...¡±, I say like an idiot. The woman giggles for a moment, then says in a soft voice, ¡°Greetings, traveller. I am AI 32, tasked with assisting players in creating their in-game avatars. Would you like to begin?¡± ¡°Oh, um, sure.¡±, I answer haltingly. She just surprised me, okay?! The woman nods and waves her hand, prompting a wriggling mass of earth to rise up out of the ground. After a moment, it begins to take a more tangible form; me. An identical clone of myself stands about two meters from me, to the left of the AI woman. ¡°To change the appearance of your avatar, say, ¡®Customize¡¯.¡±, the AI says. ¡°Customize.¡±, I repeat, prompting a swarm of slider windows to appear around me, each with the option to change a particular trait, such as Nose Length or Big Toe Enlargement. I don¡¯t change too much, I make my nose a little sharper, smile wider, hair longer, and I give myself bright purple eyes. Hey, it¡¯s a fantasy world, why not? To be honest, I would have only gone with the hair and eyes, but I¡¯m not stupid enough to think people wouldn¡¯t try to track me down if our videos get popular enough. The funny thing with the human mind is that it only takes a slight change in facial characteristics to make a person unrecognizable. ¡°I¡¯m finished¡±, I say to AI woman. She nods and waves her hand again, and everything blurs. Soon I find myself in the body of my avatar, my vision returning just in time to see a cloud of particles fade away where I was previously standing. ¡°You will now take a personality test to determine your Power.¡±, says the AI, and waves her hand once again, bringing into existence a table and chair, upon which sit a stack of papers and an old fashioned pencil. Uh oh, I don¡¯t like the look of that. I¡¯ve seen the iconic stack enough in school to know where this is going. ¡°To achieve optimal results in your Power choosing, please fill out every question on the sheets provided, including one hundred forty three multiple choice and three essays.¡±, the AI says, confirming my fears. ¡°Ugh, couldn¡¯t I do it on a computer or something?¡±, I ask her with a grimace. ¡°Querying... Negative, taking the test in paper is part of the test.¡±, she replies. I sigh dejectedly and trudge over to the table. I guess I¡¯ll be cutting this part out of the video... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Hours Later ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I slam my pencil down on the wooden desk and lean back in my chair tiredly. That thing was ridiculous. ¡®What would you do if you saw someone being attacked in an alleyway?¡¯, ¡®What kind of leader would you follow?¡¯, ¡®What is your favourite flavour of ramen?¡¯, it felt like my soul was being interrogated! And those essays... I don¡¯t even want to talk about it. After a short break, I lift my head off the back of the chair, and say, ¡°I¡¯m finished.¡±. AI 32 simply does her signature hand wave and the desk, chair, and test dissapear. Yes, the chair I was sitting on. I fall on my butt with an ¡°Oomph!¡±, and just lay back on the grass dejectedly. ¡°Processing... This may take several minutes.¡±, the AI says. Just like a computer. I guess it¡¯s not really a she, is it. That female body is just a vessel for the program. She talks like a person though, does that mean she technically is a person? Ugh, this is confusing. I wonder if she chose that body or it was chosen for her. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.¡°Processing complete. Now showing a list of available Powers.¡±, she says after a minute, breaking me from my thoughts on life. She waves her hand and a window appears before me. Choose Your Power: Ferrokinesis Technomancy Electromancy Radiopathy Wow, these all sound fun. The Power designers at NASA sure did a good job. They¡¯ve apparently got millions of different Powers thought up, each a little different from each other, so everyone get¡¯s a unique power. Now lets see here... Technomancy sounds, well, different. I click the question mark button next to it to get more information and a screen appears in front of the first. Technomancy is the innate control and understanding over mechanical technology. The user is able to build and manipulate any machine that uses an energy source to move or change physical matter. The user cannot control said energy on it¡¯s own, but is able to direct it through physical contraptions in order to achieve a desired result. By selecting Technomancy as your primary Power, you consent to allowing all other presented options be reintroduced into the system. Damn that sounds cool. To be able to bend machines under my will. I can¡¯t help but wonder if I¡¯ll need to do my own research to be able to use the ability effectively though. The other abilities seem fairly obvious as well, ferro mean iron, so the word probably translates to the ability to manipulate iron or metal at will, while radiopathy is probably something akin to using telepathy through radio signals, and electromancy is pretty self explanatory. Oh well, to hell with it! I swipe closed the information box and press my finger against the Technomancy button, feeling the consistency of wet paper. The screen winks into nonexistence and 32 nods affirmatively. ¡°Players have the option to visit the Training Room before logging into NEXUS. While the game is not currently online, you may still go to the Training Room. Would you like me to take you there?¡±, she asks. I¡¯ve heard of this on the net as well, the Training Room is apparently a huge room filled with all manner of weapons, obstacle courses, and NPC targets. Overall, a fantastic place to get footage. I grin, thinking of all the fun I¡¯m going to have with the poor NPCs, and say, ¡°Yes, please, 32, take me to the Training Room.¡±. She nods and does her signature hand wave, transporting me to a small 2m by 2m room with double doors in front of me. Confidently, I walk forward and push through the thick wooden doors, swinging them outward, a light smile on my face. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After sending the boy off, AI 32 returned once more to staring emptily out into the vast plains, awaiting her next charge patiently. It was her sole purpose after all. Suddenly, she flickered. Fading in and out of existence, her expression changed slowly, from nonchalant to an amused grin. ¡°What an interesting child. I shall watch him closely in his endeavors. He may be worthy.¡±, the figure said, before breaking out into obnoxious laughter. After a minute, the flickering began again, returning the figure to it¡¯s previous state. AI 32 continued her vigil, blissfully unaware of the one minute thirty two second long blank in er record. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beyond the doors is a massive room that stretches far enough that I can¡¯t see the other wall past the thing in the room. The whole room is well lit and the walls are painted white, the floor is a synthetic white material that is tough to slip on. Strewn around the room in a haphazard formation are different obstacle courses with varying degrees of deadliness. I even see one with the classic swinging giant axe. Ugh, I¡¯m not going anywhere near that until I get more used to this virtual body. Dotted around the room in between the obstacle courses are different types of matt''s, each with a different design painted on. There¡¯s even a boxing ring down off to my left, boxing gloves placed on each corner. One thing I might¡¯ve forgotten to mention is that you feel every bit of pain in here as you might in the real world. In other words, if you get chopped in half with an axe, it really feels like you¡¯re getting chopped in half with an axe. This has, obviously, created a huge amount of controversy and Shen actually nearly quit on us when he heard about it. We got him through it by promising him a support role, but he does have a point. Combat will suck. Dying will suck. And I certainly have no illusions that I won¡¯t die eventually, definitely not with stream hunters running around looking for me. I just hope we¡¯ll be able to keep going when it comes to that. I clench my jaw tightly. Whatever happens, we¡¯ll get through it. On the walls to my immediate left and right is a huge assortment of weapons. Whatever you can think of, it¡¯ll have some place on the wall. Knives, spears, swords, pistols, bows, assault rifles, plasma rifles and - is that an RPG?! Wow, I even see what looks like ancient siege weaponry way down in the corner to my left, and if I really strain my eyes, I see a door on my right corner that I THINK says, ¡®Flight Room¡¯. I¡¯ll definitely have to check that out later. For now, I¡¯ve decided to try my luck in the boxing ring. Boxing¡¯s the easiest martial art, right? What can go wrong. I jog up to it, slip through the ropes, and pull on some gloves from a corner. A screen appears before me asking me how many opponents I wish to fight, or if I want to train against a dummy. I select one opponent for now. A white flash lights up the corner opposite me and a man with no shirt and boxing shorts is suddenly standing there with glove clad hands up. Alright let¡¯s show this blo - wait, is that Muhammad Ali?! He doesn¡¯t say anything, but shuffles into the center of the ring and waits for me to make my move. Er, well, it¡¯s not the real Ali, it¡¯s only a simulation, right? So how hard can it be? Just give ¡®em a few swings and they¡¯re down! Having psyched myself up, I pat my gloves together, check the top right of my view for the red recording symbol, and charge at him. A half second before I reach the center, I pull my arm back to ready my devastating punch, and swing as hard as I can at Ali¡¯s face! And promptly get decked. Hard. I fall straight on my ass and writhe on the ground, holding my bleeding nose. Sonuvabitch that hurt! About as much as you¡¯d expect a punch to the face to hurt, at least. Damn, I think he broke my nose! I tear my glove off and try to touch it experimentally and it gives a sick crunching sound along with a fresh wave of pain. Ugh, I guess I¡¯m not going after Ali anytime soon, I didn¡¯t even see the guy¡¯s punch coming. Maybe I should start with one of the obstacle courses. ¡°Finish.¡±, I say in a nasally voice, prompting the system to close up the fight and repair my face, relieving me of the pain. Thankfully Ali didn¡¯t attack my while I was down, I guess he plays by boxing rules. I slink out of the ring and look around for an easy obstacle course, spotting a relatively simple one farther in the room. I jog up to it and look at it more closely. It starts on a simple platform, from which you are to run across a log in water, swing on trapezes over a mud pit, climb over a 3m high boulder, traverse small 10 cm wide platforms and final do what looks like a wall run to the finish. Easy enough, I suppose, it even has a plaque that says, ¡®Beginner Course¡¯ next to the ladder up to the platform. I guess this¡¯ll do, though I¡¯ll probably run through it in one try, I used to do a lot of parkour with my friends when I was a kid, usually to get away from our caretakers. I climb the ladder quickly and stand on top of the platform looking over the first obstacle. The logs are pretty wide, so I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll have a lot of trouble, but I¡¯ve seen a lot of people fall like idiots when they try to take it slow, so I¡¯d better just sprint straight across. I dig my feet into the springy ground, ready to blast through the course. After taking a deep breath, I start sprinting towards the logs. As soon as I place my foot on the log, though, it starts spinning and my leg starts falling into the water, causing me to lose my footing and land straight on my babymakers, sliding about three feet on the bumpy log. ¡°Ooooooooohhhhhh¡±, I let out in weirdly high pitched voice and let myself slip into the water. I can¡¯t do anything but curl into a ball and wait for the pain to go away. Did they pop? I think they popped. Fuuuuuuck. Suddenly I felt the rush of being transported and the pain disappeared like it was never there in the first place. I open my eyes and find myself on the beginning platform, bone dry, balls in one place. I guess the system recognized that I had failed the course and ported me back to the beginning to try again. Damnit, do I really have to acknowledge it? Fine. I stand up shakily and look towards the ceiling. I take a long, deep breath. ¡°THIS PLACE IS TOO GODDAMN HAAAAARRRD!!¡±, I scream. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Splosh!* I fall into the mud for the umpteenth time, and feel myself get transported right back to the beginning again. I sigh and stand up to try once more. After a few hours of repeated attempts at the so called ¡®Beginner Course¡¯, I finally figured out how to make it past the rolling logs, but now I¡¯m stuck on the freaking trapezes. They¡¯re supposed to be just like monkey bars aren¡¯t they?! You just swing, grab the next one, and repeat! How the hell do those circus freaks do it? *DING DING DING* The sound of a bell blares obnoxiously in my ears, seemingly coming from everywhere at once. That¡¯s the signal that somebody is outside the capsule trying to get my attention. Now that I think about it, I¡¯ve been in here a long time, haven¡¯t I? It must be time already. ¡°Exit Capsule¡±, I say clearly, which brings up a window asking me if I really want to exit. ¡°Yes.¡±, I say, and the world begins to fade away. I faintly hear the hissing of hydraulics, and assume that¡¯s my cue. I sit up and open my eyes, trying to take a breathful of fresh air. And then, of course, go into a violent coughing fit, which expels copious amounts of fluid out of my lungs. Right, I forgot, breath out nanobot liquid as extensively as possible before attempting to breath air, rule number one for exiting the capsule. In the midst of my fit, I feel a dainty hand lay on my upper back, and once I manage to get all the silvery liquid out of my body, I look up at it¡¯s owner. The regal face of Pamela looks down on me with a worried expression. ¡°Are you alright? Did you even read the rule book?¡±, she asked with a raised eyebrow. *Sigh* ¡°Yeah, I read it, I¡¯m just an idiot.¡±, I replied before standing up out of the fluid. When I did, Pamela turned her face away with a troubled look and I heard a snicker behind her. I look over her shoulder and find Philip and Shen standing behind her with shit eating grins. ¡°Loving your outfit, cap!¡±, exclaimed Philip, causing me to notice my distinct lack of clothing. Whoops. I immediately sat back down in the nanobot fluid to cover my lower body. ¡°Umm, has anyone seen my pants?¡±, I ask with a blush. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I sit around my dinner table with the group. We¡¯d all agreed to meet up after we first tried the capsule out and discuss our thoughts on how to take the video. ¡°So is that thing fucking awesome or what?!¡±, said Philip loudly. ¡°Language!¡±, I immediately warned him quietly with a pointed look towards the kitchen where my mother is currently making us nachos. Philip slaps his mouth with both hands looks over his shoulder fearfully. He¡¯s well aware of the dangers of flying frying pans. ¡°Forget that, did you guys get to the Training Room? It¡¯s so cool!¡±, said Shen excitedly. ¡°Cool? More like painful.¡±, Philip grumbled. ¡°I got kicked in the face by Bruce Lee.¡± I give him an understanding nod, and say, ¡°I know what you mean, I tried to box against Muhammad Ali and got a broken nose for the effort.¡± Pamela gives me a weird look and says, ¡°What, you mean you tried to fight one of the greatest boxers in his own game? You didn¡¯t even bring any weapons in with you?¡± Me and Philip stare at her incredulously. ¡°We can take weapons into the rings.¡±, I say with a dead voice. ¡°Well, yeah, isn¡¯t it obvious? You think they expect you to fight martial arts masters bare handed only?¡±, she says confused. Philip groans and slams his head on the table, his long hair pooling on the surface. I just sigh and say, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get down to work. What do you think we should use for the video? We¡¯ve got about three days to film, so we should think of some crazy things to do in the training room.¡±. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One Week Later. NASA Facility. Undisclosed Location ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A man in an immaculate business suit sits behind a desk watching a video on a state of the art tablet. Fast past music plays as clips of people fighting, going through deadly obstacle courses, and flying old fashioned jet planes and space fighters alike expertly in first person POV flash across the screen. The video ends with a missile speeding straight towards the camera, and right before it hits the screen goes black. Huge blocky white letters slam onto screen accompanying the sound of the missile¡¯s explosion and the finale of the music. The words read ¡®NEXUS: Afterworld¡±. Credits roll. The man sits in silence for a few minutes, thinking. Eventually, he nods to himself. He calls out to the lanky man waiting patiently in front of his desk, ¡°It is satisfactory. Send it to the media crew to touch it up, then release it. Give the kids the good news.¡±. ¡°Yes sir!¡±, the lanky man says, before rushing out the door. The suited man leaned back in his leather chair, a brief respite before continuing the endless job of keeping NASA running. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One Year Later, Official Release Date of NEXUS:Afterworld. An Unassuming Suburban House. Northern California. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I checked the virtual watch on my virtual wrist impatiently. Thirty seconds. Right now I am, of course, waiting for the game which I¡¯ve been waiting for during the past year to be officially released. When the trailer I and my friends made was released to the public, it exploded. It totalled almost two hundred million views over the last year, which is no small number in today¡¯s population of eight billion. It completely blew every previous record out of the park. We did, of course, get some payment from making the video, but it was fairly insignificant considering the response it got from the public, though I suppose most of our reward was the capsules we¡¯re sitting in currently. Over the past year we¡¯ve been honing our skills in the Training Room and posting weekly videos. Our website currently has about 230000 active unique members, meaning we¡¯re already raking in a hell of a lot of AdSense money, and that¡¯s just from Training Room videos! As expected, NEXUS videos are a huge business which is only going to get bigger once everyone gets in game. Five seconds. Four. Three. Two. One. ¡°Log In!¡±, I shout from the training room excitedly. The familiar blur of transportation envelops me, and I soon find myself in complete darkness. Frowning, I try to feel out my surroundings, and find myself in a small enclosed space. I try to push upward, and find something give under my arms. I heave with all my strength, and with the crunching of stone I finally see some light. I manage to push the concrete slab out of the way, and take my first steps out into the Afterworld.