《The Unending Road》 Prologue: An Azure Prelude Prologue: An Azure Prelude ScreeeeeEEE... Crrrch The air in my stomach exploded out of my mouth, a flash of crimson blossomed in my vision, the world tilted around me as lances of pure agony assaulted my body. A final dagger-sharp pain sliced into my back at the base of my neck as my head finally hit the hard, concrete ground. As my vision of the cloudless azure sky slowly faded to black there was only one thing came to mind; [Why me? I''ve already lost so much...] ***** A white ceiling was the first thing to enter my view. I felt like I was floating in empty space, it also felt as though something was missing though it could have just been my groggy, half-awake mind. My first thought; [Am I in heaven? Or did I somehow miraculously survive?... With my luck its probably the former, and just because the Fates hate me, the waiting room for hell.] "He... n''t hear... it... it would... ly mak... worse." I heard the obviously distressed voice of my mother, although it was almost a whisper. As I attempted to solicit meaning from the faint scraps of words that I could make out, my thoughts were cut off by an interruption-- "He''s awake; time to go see how he''s doing." The voice was rich and deep and laced with an accent I could not quite identify. Shuffling could be heard then a quiet squeak of a door opening, preceded by a small tap of it shutting; it almost seemed foreboding. A quiet sound of approaching footfalls then a stern ebony face with clear brown eyes, that seem to see right through you, slid into my sight from the left. For some reason the eyes seem to express a slight sadness. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Graham O''Neil" He began -- I knew what was coming -- "You have been in an accident. You were in critical condition and have been comatose for 4 months. Now that you have stabilized and are conscious, what do you remember?" I thought back to the "Accident" I had been on my morning run, nothing out of the ordinary until a small out of control sedan -- which was in itself odd considering the current capabilities of self-driven cars -- started to careen towards me as if it were a heat-seeking missile. I had barely any time to react as it hammered into to my abdomen. "I remember it all...", I croaked making use of my rusty vocal cords that felt as if hey had not been used forever. The man''s eyes urged me to continue,"The car... the passenger''s horrified expression... and the clear azure sky...", my voice wavering as I spoke. [How do I remember so much I should have hit my head against the ground... the only way I could have reduced the head impact would be--] I paused dreading the consequences, yet all the pieces fit; the dagger-like pain at the base of my neck, the floating feeling that made me feel as though something was off, the sense of foreboding, the doctor''s sad eyes. I tried to move my foot; nothing happened. Next my leg, then my finger, my arm, my shoulder-- Nothing! [No no nononno NO! This cannot be happening. This CANNOT be happening] Almost to the point of tears I said "Doc.. I can''t feel anything below my neck." Prologue -END Chapter I - The Offer Chapter I: The Offer I have finally been released from my room in the hospital. It''s nice to finally be free of the aged white hospital room. Not to mention from being spoon-fed crappy hospital food by some buff nurse who looked like she could take out an MMA fighter. I was happy to be home and thankful for Canadian healthcare otherwise my mother would have been slapped with gigantic bills. The hospital was not all that bad, it was made bearable because of my mother''s frequent visits. She had not fared all that well over the last two years, her health had deteriorated and I was all she had left. It must have been a huge mental strain for me to have been in a coma for 4 months. I also found my doctor, Igor Williams, to be quite the character. Although he could be called imposing with an 195 centimetre (6 foot 5 for you americans) stature, a deep baritone voice, and an serious expression that seemed permanently plastered on his face, his actions were not. He always spoke politely with an air of sympathy interweaved into his words. He came to distract me from my inability to move with puzzles and conundrums, when he had the time. I also heard rumours from a certain MMA nurse that he would occasionally go some of the children''s rooms and read them stories, with a smile on his face no less. He seemed quite surprised with how fast I recovered from the shock of being paralyzed. So I told him my story. It happened two years ago, I remember most of it clearly. I was scrounging up a midnight snack from the pantry. Tortilla chips with salsa to be exact. My mother came down to see what was making all the noise. I remember I talked to her for a bit, the words were inconsequential and forgotten. At some point we decided to sit out on the porch to stare at the stars on that clear summer night. The moon was a pale scythe, slicing through the cloudless black sky, and the stars were white blue sparks like scattered embers of a once great fire. Then an explosion ripped apart the guise of a peaceful night. The moon was quickly masked by the black-grey smoke of the fire. Immediately I sprinted back into the burning house, and down the hallway to base of the stairs, the explosion had ignited the stairs. I saw my father, little sister, and little brother trapped by the scarlet-orange flames at the top the stairs. My sixteen-year-old self was captivated by the angry flames and the fearful azure eyes of my three-year-old sister that begged me to save her from the relentless inferno. My mother, had to drag me out of the rapidly deteriorating building and I think she only managed on pure adrenaline. Never before have I felt so powerless. By the time they were dragged out by the firefighters only Grace had survived. According to the firefighters my father, sister and brother had been forced into the second floor hallway by the flames. My Father had pushed his way through the inferno carrying my sister in blankets. After passing the blazing blanket which contained my sister through the window to the firefighter, the floor gave sending Falk and my father tumbling onto the floor below. My severely burned sister was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. One week later It did not get much better Grace was still alive in critical condition, but was not expected to survive much longer. My mother and I were "lucky" having only suffered minor burns. We also learned the the fire was most likely the result of arson. It was not unexpected as my father had been a lawyer, a damn good one at that. However, his job in general was an easy way to make enemies. The investigation got nowhere and no evidence of arson was found and as a result it was declared an accident. Two weeks later my sister, despite the expectations, seemed to be getting better and was well enough for visits. Her once pristine skin, marbled with a shiny purplish red, her fair chestnut hair, tipped in a coal black, her azure eyes, vacant as if she was still trapped in that hallway on the second floor. I visited her every day. Sometimes I read to her from a children''s book, others I brought her animal plush toys, anything to return her to her usual careless cheer. What finally reached her was her old dog plush toy, a gift from dad, that had miraculously survived the fire. How ironic that the Fates decided to keep a plush toy safe in place of my father and brother. Unfortunately it seemed they were not content with two innocent lives. One week later, a month after the fire, Grace died of complications. I fell into depression, my mother managed to stay strong. She had always been strong, apparently strong enough for the both of us. She let me in on her secret; "Graham, if the Fates ever push you down, get back up defy them with all you have and never, ever give up again. I¡¯m pretty sure even the Fates will have to give up at some point if they can¡¯t keep you down.¡± It could not have been easy to raise a depressed sixteen-year-old as a single mother with only a high-school education. She had managed to find a job that made it barely possible to keep us in a two-room apartment. I never managed to figure out where she worked and what she did but she always came back tired. Even then she found time for me, she even made sure I attended school and was eating well, restricting her own meals to bare minimums or sometimes even skipping a meal altogether. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. It took me one year to break out of my depression, one year to stand up again for the second time. I took on various part time jobs and began to take runs and train myself in the morning; I needed strength if I was to defy the fates. I put all my efforts into my studies as well. Every weekend I visited my family''s grave and sat there speaking to them about the events of the week. I did not want them to feel as lonely as I had for that long year. I graduated top of my class with a full-scholarship to my local university. I could have probably made it into a higher profile university but I wanted to stay here to support my mother not mention the tuition would be beyond what we could possibly afford. The fates seemed to love their own sense of humour. They literally hit me with the accident the day after I graduated stripping me of all my hard work. Igor listened silently, seemingly deep in thought over my words, considered it for a while, then he spoke; "Graham," his rich voice began, you could here a bit of what I now knew to be a Ghanian accent in his words. "it seems you have been through quite a lot. I will not say I can understand what it is like, but if you need someone to talk to you can always talk to me. I know it is not much but it is all I can offer. Stay strong Graham I can see strength in your eyes." To me, those words were enough. It was then I remembering my mothers words. I put them to heart and stood up again. How I would love to see the Fates expressions if I had some how managed that more than figuratively. ***** ¡°Hello Graham.¡± A curt greeting spoken seemingly from nowhere; I would have jumped a meter in the air from surprise, had I been able to. ¡°Hello uncle. I certainly was not expecting you to pop out of thin air. How have you been?¡± ¡°Well although I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve fared the best I¡¯m certainly in a better condition than you.¡± ¡°Knowing you, you would not come here unless you were doing more than checking up on my condition. Especially since you don¡¯t seem capable of supporting mother even if you seem to be so busy doing something.¡± I did not even attempt to hide the sarcasm that seeped it¡¯s way into that last line. ¡°My work and your mother are completely different matters and you of all people should know that I can¡¯t just go drop a check for 500,000$ into your mailbox and make everything better. If something bad happens I¡¯ll step in, but it is in my personal policy that people should be as self-sufficient as possible in terms of livelihood.Though you are correct that checking your well being is not the only thing on my agenda.¡± [Well no one saw that one coming.] ¡°So what is this so called ¡®agenda¡¯?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve come with a proposition. One that even you can fulfil even in that condition. Well, rather than a proposition, a better term would be an offer¡­¡± ***** I was released from hospital today 3 months after the pleasant ¡®chat¡¯ with my uncle. It took a while to heal some of the more serious wounds from the crash, even if I could not feel them and so in the end it took quite a while to return to my worn out house, a single floor house right beside a busy roadway. Not really what you could call ¡°prime real estate¡± but it was the best we could manage after all that especially since the insurance we had at the time did not seem to cover ¡°accidental ignition¡±. However I loved it anyways after all it was the crystallization of my mother¡¯s hard work. Those 3 months gave me time to think. What was I going to do and how could I make money? How much money exactly? enough to create a comfortable life for my mother and myself. I could not just get a simple job at a burger place or something like that. That is pretty damn hard without use of most of my body and it really does not give me enough money. I had no ways of getting spinal repair surgery, especially since it¡¯s still in it¡¯s testing phase and I definitely had no way of getting my hands on limb augmenters. Limb augmenters are a new technology that reads information from the brain via the spinal column, or in my case what left of it functioned, and use that to control your limbs via an exoskeletal suit or internal implants. In other words it was a way to make my body move once again. However currently they were stupidly expensive because of the special battery needed to power it. Compact energy sources do not come cheap. Online, sure there are plenty of jobs but I really am not all that good at that type of thing and would I type without use of my body. [No matter how I look at I am backed into a corner. What am I going to do?¡­ Hah, I hope I don¡¯t regret this but it looks like I¡¯m going to have to take uncle up on his offer.] Chapter I - END Chapter II - The Meeting Chapter II: The Meeting ¡°I¡¯ve come with a proposition. One that even you can fulfil even in that condition. Well, rather than a proposition, a better term would be an offer. Help me out with something and I will help you out. Currently you seem to have no way of making money, making you almost literally deadweight for your mother.¡± I held back the urge to call the MMA nurse to punch him in the face after that one, but I knew there was at least a grain of truth in that statement. ¡°So I want you to test out a new piece of technology for my company, something even you can test, an VR Capsule. As you know I work for a company called Loki Logic Games, and recently the company wants to expand our testing group for a new type of capsule. This capsule although more powerful than the previous model but it also specially designed to work on people with spinal damage. Previously when anyone with spinal damage attempted to use a VR capsule the connection area of the capsule overlapped with a part of the spine that did not work and thus the capsule could not perform at it¡¯s full capabilities. This capsule is an attempt to fix that. Having found out about the accident that happened to you my company asked me to present you with this offer; ¡®If you test this capsule, we will not only provide you with the final version of the capsule once it is released but a game of your choosing to test it on. We will not, however, guarantee your safety in the case where something goes wrong in the capsule or that you tamper with the capsule on your own.¡¯ Well actually, that is the summary of a 50 page waiver that you will have to sign in the case you accept. Once you have recovered contact me if your interested.¡± After saying that he left the room without out even waiting to answer the questions I had. ***** As risky as it seemed, I was going to have to take my uncle¡¯s offer. His offer hid more than he stated; in all that there was a hidden opportunity to make money: becoming a pro gamer. As of 2037 Virtual reality had been created. Since then companies started to extend their companies into the newly created and damn near infinite space. Sure I could try for one of those companies but try finding a job that will pay an eighteen year old paraplegic with a high-school diploma enough to create a comfortable life for his mother for the rest of her life. I had to take a risk, I needed to do something that payed extremely well without being illegal. That eliminated just about everything especially since the amount of money I needed was enormous. My best choice to save myself was to become a pro gamer, in other words, a gamer who makes money off of video games. Three years ago in 2037 the first Virtual Reality Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game -- VRMMO for short because that is quite the mouthful -- was released. It''s name New Beginnings; It was a classic MMO featuring a level system and skills and of course the latest in AI for the monsters. It had a realism of 75%. It was not the last nor was it the greatest. Two years later, in August 2039, it was released. It featured a whopping 99.9% realism and featured a unique game system: every player starts off with 10 of every primary stat: , , , , , and . These stats could never have their permanent value changed. is randomly generated secondary stat; a stat that could actually change in base value. Secondary stats can also be granted by the main selling point of the game: . Every skill either adds value to secondary stats or increases the base stats by a percent value or sometimes even both when a condition is met. For example: , at level 1, increases and by 1% when wielding a sword in the dominant hand. Gear works on a multiplying system so superior gear would deal damage based on related stats multiplied by the multiplier it also occasionally had additional effects. However the main factor in damage was how well the sword was wielded; if a person used the sword skillfully it could deal many times more damage than if swung at random. This placed an emphasis on player skill and good because a good, mid-level could be many times better than a good piece of gear. Every could be levelled to level 30 and a player¡¯s level was a culmination of all their skill¡¯s levels. In addition to there was another unique feature called . On the creation of a character They would automatically be assigned an and a . An strengthens characters depending on specific conditions and also affects how NPCs, and in some cases, players see you. are that have no prerequisite and have a chance to be an incredibly rare skill, however on some occasions they restrict a character, so if they had bad luck they would have to reset their character to get rid of it. There of course was an option to turn off with restrictions but that exempt that character from gaining anything above a basic or . Also to prevent players from continuously restarting their character to get their desired or they have to reach level 10. The game world was also different than most. On the surface of that massive world, approximately the size of the earth(510,072,000 km2), the monsters are mainly weak monsters and there is an occasional dungeon filled with monsters and treasure. However in every city there is an entrance, a winding road that made its way deep into the earth, twisting, turning, branching deeper into the depths of the earth. Some parts are vast underground forests, others include mysterious castles and holds, endless legions of monsters, countless caches of treasure, and many other things that exceed imagination. The end of this road had never been found. As such both the dungeon and the game were aptly named <>. All of this world is constantly balanced and controlled by a master AI that is referred to as <>. As with most modern VR games there is a real money auction. Occasionally some gear with rare effects would be sold, and of course potions and in game currency but the main trade was . Some were near impossible to attain normally but could be learned via . When using a skill book, if you met the requirements, you could gain that skill. In rare cases appeared having none of the normal requirements. As unconventional as it seemed <> exploded in popularity as entertainment and even in the media. People soon began to watch in-game events and tournaments as if they were sport matches. As with most things, If there is demand supply will increase to compensate; the number of pro gamers exploded to accommodate the new found popularity. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.This was the game I needed to play; the game that stood above others. It was there that I needed to find my way down to the deepest depths of the road and create my future in it''s worn and winding paths. ***** My uncle came to pick me up in a company vehicle ¡ª a black sedan. Ironically it looked almost exactly like the car that had hit me. Even more ironically this car was taking me to a place where I could reclaim the future that the other had taken. I was strapped into the special seat that was developed to keep the passenger¡¯s head facing forward and kept them firmly in position so their body would not move too much in the seat. It was a long, awkward and silent 10 minute drive to the downtown headquarters of Loki Logic Games. When we reached the front of the building some staff offloaded me into wheelchair and proceeded to push me through the entryway of Loki Logic headquarters. The entryway reminded me some high-class hotel combined with some alien ship. It was both cool and classy at the same time not to mention expensive. [Well you can¡¯t judge a book by it¡¯s cover. I¡¯ll wait until the meeting to make my judgments. Who am I meeting anyways?.] I was pushed into the elevator and then the staff member left. It appeared that my uncle had something to say before the meeting. After pressing a button on the elevator panel my uncle spoke. ¡°Graham, be polite as possible we are going to a meeting with the CEO of the company.¡± I resisted the urge to respond ¡°I¡¯M GOING TO A MEETING WITH WHO!?¡±. [Why the hell am I going to meet the CEO of Loki Logic!? I don¡¯t see any reason to do that if I¡¯m just signing a contract.] ¡°Umm, I don¡¯t really see why that¡¯s necessary could you elaborate?¡± ¡°No¡± Ding [It looks like it¡¯s one of those wait and see cases] After leaving the elevator I was pushed to the end of the hallway. In front of me was a set of large oak double doors. On the one to my right was a dull metal plaque that held a simple engraving:
CEO Martin Cot¨¦
My uncle soundlessly pushed open the oak doors. The inside of the office was nothing like what I was expecting. It looked like a simple study that could be found in most house although the room was larger than normal and was about 10mx10m. The floor was a simple maple hardwood and the walls were a simple white. There was an average sized window on the left side. It was furnished with a couple chairs and a solid stained maple desk. Sitting a the desk was a man who looked about 40 years old. He was dressed in semi-casual clothing ¡ª black dress pants and a grey dress shirt but no tie. His hair was thick and black. He seemed to be focused on what ever was on his desk. My uncle pushed me in front of the desk and then quietly left the room and closed the door. Having finally looked up from his work he looked straight at me with his light brown eyes. ¡°Graham I presume?¡± ¡°Yes, Mr.Cot¨¦.¡± He chuckled a bit. ¡°Don¡¯t speak so formally. Call me Martin.¡± [Okay I¡¯m not sure what is with this guy but he is completely different than I would expect of the CEO of one of the world¡¯s largest companies.] ¡°Alright. Martin why did you want to meet me? I think it should be obvious that you couldn¡¯t possibly meet every single person who takes part in testing like this.¡± ¡°As much as I would like to do so you are correct. The reason I wanted to meet you is I am a friend of your father.¡± Immediately a storm of emotions rose up in me: confusion, curiosity and a bit of hate. Why had I never met him before? How close of a friend was he to my father? Why did he do nothing for my mother after the fire? ¡°I can tell you have some questions but please wait until I¡¯m done before you ask them. Your father and I had known each other since high school; we were to the end best friends. In fact your father, your uncle and I dreamt up this company in high school. At the end of our days in high school there was a falling out between your father and your uncle. Your uncle and I continued the dream while your father went off to law school. One day, 6 years after the falling out, your father came to me and told me that he still could not bear to fully abandon that dream. At the time Loki Logic was in it¡¯s infancy and had just started producing games. He brought to me a concept, a concept which took 17 years to realize. That was the VRMMO The Unending Road. The concept was unused as it would be hard to pull off but he had more than just a concept. He had started to write the history of a completely new world the world that he liked to call ¡°locus somni¨­rum¡± ¡ª the place of dreams. Your uncle was never told anything about this because they never did have a good relationship after the falling out. Your father used a alias to write the history and never once stepped foot in Loki Logic games. He continued to produce the history until the game¡¯s release. One week before he died in the fire he sent me something, he sent me a final piece to add to the history accompanied by a seemingly rushed message. I somehow had the feeling he knew that someone was after him. I doubt he knew that the whole family would be targeted. I have reason to believe that he hid the identity of the arsons somewhere in the history of the game and the last piece is a key to link it all together. Originally I had intended to tell you this a little while after you had graduated from high school but your circumstances changed. Luckily our new capsule was just getting tested and you just happened to fit the requirements. So I ask you, will you search for the truth? and are you willing to take the risk of using an untested technology to do so?¡± After hearing the story my mind blanked for a bit then some doubt crept into my mind. [Is he telling the truth? Did he really know my father? Well I guess there is only one way to find out.] ¡°I will. I do have a quick question though. How do I give consent if I can¡¯t sign anything?¡± ¡°You need guardian consent. I contacted your mother in advance to get her permission. She said ¡®Graham, do what you feel you need to; It¡¯s your life.¡¯ and signed the forms in the case that you want to go through with this.¡° [Haah¡­ That¡¯s my mom. she does things without telling me and she reads my intentions like a book. Or maybe I am just that predictable?] ¡°Okay when do I start?¡± Chapter II -END