《Landis Falls》
Prologue
The year is 2120 and all the great empires of the 21st century have fallen. The world has seen 80 years of sustained peace, and human technology has grown by leaps and bounds. Poverty, and world hunger have become an after image of a nearly forgotten past. The lingering vestiges of corporate greed had been decimated by human unity. While one industry managed survive the inevitable collapse of capitalism. An industry standing as the last remnants of a bygone age. That¡¯s right, the video game industry, the very symbol of the youth, remained and reigned supreme.
Though at one point condemned, and bastardized as the cause of numerous neurological diseases. A single company disproved, and dismantled all opposition. Even during the tumultuous times, as other industries were facing imminent financial collapse innovation quickly disproved all those theories and video games become the leading Industry across the globe. So, with the ¡°nerds¡± in charge, innovation in engineering and technology that was present in videogame landscapes started appearing in the real world.
Free flowing cityscapes with solar powered spires, ecofriendly gardens on rooftops with edible vegetation growing, neatly trimmed trapsing the sides of these wonderful buildings. Public transport networks so efficient that the only way you were late is if You were late. Self-driving and manually driven cars (Because the thrill of driving also survived the years, and due to innovations in magnetics and anti-gravity a whole new world vehicle was introduced, a far cry from gas and diesel of the 20th and early 21st centuries but the passion in design still strongly existed). And all of this was made possible because of the creation of the industry called imagineering.
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These imagineers were given these new positions which were created collectively by the various heads of massive gaming companies. Their idea was a concerted effort to push humanity forward in infrastructure, and tech. So, these imagineers, who were in high demand, were coveted by these companies so there was a race to hire the most brilliant and brightest imagineer as the companies themselves vied for the ¡°top spot¡± as most innovative.
Obviously the most important competition remained the race to create the next great gaming experience. With the growth in technology, computing power, and the accompanying growth of ideas and creativity; One company broke the mold when the developed a fully responsive consciousness transfer system, or F.R.C.T.S for short. It promised a new experience for user¡¯s by allowing them to transfer their entire conscious to a digital landscape and enjoy any number of gaming and other experiences. This system launched a slew of games from many different developers who adapted quickly to the new tech, but this story isn¡¯t about them. This story is about the small company that invented that very system and their flagship game on their flagship system.
Entry: Noyena The imagineer
In this future many video game companies worked closely with governments to build cities in which they could raise and train the greatest Imagineers, these cities became known as Meta-cites ¡°the playgrounds of Imagination¡±.
In one of the smaller cities there is a woman who lives in one of the many dazzling apartments. She is somewhere in her twenty¡¯s, (how old exactly, you might ask? Well, that¡¯s rude you never ask a lady her age is what she would tell you.) and she loves videogames more than anything in the world. She tends to spend most if not all her extra money on anything videogame related (well not just videogame related but mostly.) Of course she has the F.R.C.T.S, but with her love for gaming is so deep she has invested in almost every gaming system ever invented. With this being the case, you can find her playing with any number of ¡°old world¡± hand-controlled gaming systems and since the leaps in technology all these systems and games have active servers even ones that had been long since shutdown.
Her name is Noyena Contra, and she is a rookie Imagineer still within her first six months in the field. A pretty girl, with what one could call an unassuming look her brown skin and slightly freckled face are complimented by a large neatly kept curly afro. Her bright brown eyes, though often covered by some kind of headset, typically adorned a pair of plain black rimmed glasses neatly barely hanging off her slightly pointed nose.
Currently, of course, she is in the middle of playing a game. One that she is having a tough time with, mainly because she isn¡¯t particularly used to handheld controllers. (Not that she would ever use that as an excuse.) She is more accustomed to moving freely, and without the restriction or delay of hardline inputs. Regardless she plugs away all the while screaming obscenities into her headset while clearing adds in her game. Then an alarm goes off in the background¡
¡°Shit! I gotta go guys! I¡¯m heading out to grab the new Landis Falls for the Fracts, any of y¡¯all getting it?¡±
Mightym0u23 ¡°Hell yeah Ladytricksta, but I¡¯m not getting it until next week you know it¡¯s my rotation week¡±
Minister_Doom ¡°Yeah same with me Mighty, it¡¯s crazy they aren¡¯t releasing it digital¡±
Hoosiersteady ¡°Yeah I heard it has something to do with¡¡±
Noyena, cutting off Hoosier, ¡°too bad dude, I¡¯m off rotation this week I¡¯m gonna be hitting it hard; I¡¯ll probably put 80-100 hours in this week alone¡¡± They were all Imagineers, and highly talented ones at that so this was their normal banter, they only worked 200 hours total in any given month, so they were able to choose a schedule that most suited their preferred lifestyle. That was important for Noyena and she locked in on the career path when she was five.
(She would have much rather been a professional gamer but her parents were against always giving her some out there what if¡ reason.)
Everyone thought that Imagineers had it made because they worked such relaxed hours, but Noyena knew the truth. The work they did was such that it was for the very advancement of humanity plus that one guy figured out a few things about worker productivity. Thus, the development of the meta-cites: all-inclusive cities created by companies with educational institutions lower and higher, housing, shopping, leisure, and medical run by AI and highly trained individuals.
People in these cities are highly paid, and yet only work a set number of hours in specific rotation. Depending on their field the AI may end up taking up the remaining bulk of their work. But this was not the case for Imagineers. There hours on paper were far fewer, and their pay on paper was much higher, but one rotation, at bare minimum, had them work for 3 straight days and most of the times they would go well over the 200-hour monthly work limit. These four gaming buddies where all Imagineers so they knew what it meant to get some good old free time in.
Mightym0u23 ¡°Lady, you¡¯re crazy as always. I¡¯ll check you next weekend, I¡¯m out too. Gotta wake up early, and go in to the office.¡±
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¡°Later Mighty!¡± a chorus of voices vibrates through Noyena¡¯s headset, after she just shuts her system down. She¡¯s never been too good at goodbyes to her they seem very final. Noyena starts running around, putting herself together to face the world for her this is very simple, she puts on sweat like casual pants, and an over shirt with a hood of a similar material, when a mechanical disembodied voice calls out questioningly to her.
¡®Miss Noyena where are you going?¡¯
¡°No where Tina, why do you always hassle me when I¡¯m about to go out?¡± Noyena snaps back, slight agitation in her voice. Tina is the name Noyena gave her home AI system mostly because she didn¡¯t like the manufacture name ¡°Honey Sue¡±, so when she moved into this apartment, she changed her name and personality to be just a tad bit more doting.
¡®Miss, you never activate your location monitor when you leave so I must know to activate it myself, remember Y¡
¡°My safety is your top priority I know Tina, I know. I¡¯m just heading to the game store I¡¯ll be back in like an hour!¡± With that she closes the door gently behind her, the sound of a two deadbolt locks clank behind her and then Noyena turns towards the elevator. Her apartment is in the residential district of one of the first Meta-cites founded, and the shopping district in her spire was 12 floors down, it wouldn¡¯t normally take an hour to get to the game store and back, but Noyena was feeling a bit lazy so she took her time. When Noyena finally makes it to the game store, (there where many of them but this one she liked the most.) she peruses around thoughtlessly, looking at various collectable items, and different games most of which she has already. She bumps into an individual rocking back and forth muttering to himself inaccessibly:
¡°You shouldn¡¯t have played the game¡ You knew it was a trap¡ You knew it would trap you; it would kill! you s-shouldn¡¯t play¡ kill you!¡± His head snaps towards Noyena, and he stares her directly in the eye; she feels as if he is peering into her soul looking for gods¡¯ final judgement.
This makes Noyena uncomfortable so she backs up slowly waving her hands. ¡°Dude you¡¯re crazy, what the hell are you talking about no game can trap you or kill you this isn¡¯t that wicked old cartoon ¡®Sword Art Online¡¯ no one can get trapped in a videogame¡¡± (Weird-o she sighs to herself) Just then, a female voice over the loud speaker calls for her
*Noyena Contra your order is ready*
¡®Miss Noyena, your order is ready, hurry home.¡¯ Tina¡¯s voice chimes in her ear out of nowhere throwing Noyena off a bit.
With a disgruntled mumble she returns ¡°Okay Tina. You know, I can hear the freaking announcement; Boot up my system Tina, I¡¯m going to scan my digital copy to you, so it is loaded up when I get there.¡±
Why did she get both a digital copy and a hard copy of her game you might ask and that answer is simple it was a practice she picked up from her father. He always told her ¡®You can lose a digital game any number of ways, but if you have the hard copy, it proves your collection.¡¯ She figured it came from some deeply personal experience, and didn¡¯t really understand what he meant. Nonetheless she still would always (and will always) purchase both.
¡®As you wish Noyena, would you like dinner made as well¡¯
¡°You know it, Spinach and fried mushroom pizza please!¡±
¡®As you wish.¡¯
¡°I Love you, Tina!¡±
¡®I love you too!¡¯
¡°Really?¡±
¡®It is what I am programmed to say¡¯
¡°you¡¯re no fun...¡± Noyena liked to play like this with Tina as she knew that was in her programming. She wanders over to the outdoor park instead of going directly to the elevator. She finds a bench and takes a seat. *yip*
¡°What was that?¡± she mumbles to herself.
*yip* *yip*
She hears it again, and jumps up immediately to look behind the bush near where she was sitting. ¡°Awe, look at you!¡±
¡®A puppy! Just abandoned here? That¡¯s strange¡¯ she thinks to herself. She debates on whether she should take the dog, but then decides against it. ¡®Today has been an odd day, and I have way too much gaming to do, I don¡¯t have time to take care of anything else.¡¯ With this decision she moved the puppy to a more visible location hoping that someone else (definitely not her) would come around and take it.
¡°Tina¡ I¡¯m home¡± Noyena says in her best masculine accent ¡°Is my dinner ready? If not, you got some splainin¡¯ to do.¡±
¡®Affirmative, your pizza is ready on the warming counter Miss Noyena¡¯
¡®Awesome¡¯ Noyena slides off her shoes and heads to the kitchen¡ ¡°PIZZA!¡± (mouthwatering) ¡°Thank you for the food, Tina¡±
¡®You¡¯re welcome, Miss Noyena!¡¯ as she knocks back a few slices she ponders the dog {I hope someone finds her} the thought slips through her head as she downs her last slice.
¡°Alright, Tina I¡¯m ready to play, is everything all set?¡±
¡®Yes, Noyena your game download has been completed, you may start it in your leisure, which is to say whenever you would like¡¯
¡°That¡¯s what¡¯s up Tina! High Five¡ Bwahahaha just kidding¡±
¡®I am programmed to understand jokes¡¡±
¡®Did she just get sassy with me¡?¡¯ Noyena questions before booting up her F.R.C.T.S ¡®Whatever doesn¡¯t matter, here we go Landis Falls, show me what you got!¡¯
Entry: Renaissance Imagineering
In a computer lab of one of the adjacent spire shaped skyscrapers, an older thin man, short in stature with pale skin, and wearing glasses like Geordi La Forge stands intently over another man¡¯s shoulder quizzically, ¡°how¡¯s the coding going Jin?¡±
¡°Well sir, the AI program seems to be running optimally, all systems are function at full capacity, and the network is online. We don¡¯t seem to have any lag complaints from any players and the Chief is still in there.¡± The man in front of the consol, Jin, wipes a bead of sweat from his brow.
¡°Really? How long has it been?¡± the shock kind of shallow in the thin man¡¯s voice.
¡°10 Hour¡¯s sir, 25,010 if you include the BETA. He is our number one Tester. Speaking of¡¡± Jin, cut off as if it were scheduled.
¡°Winston! How goes it?¡± The voice of another man who had entered the room rang out. He had an air of overall confidence about him, his green and gold suit fit tightly against his muscles. A wide magnetic smile was spread across his caramel mocha face, while his hair fell in neat shoulder length locks. His name is Trey Ashentri a legacy Imagineer, and due to family circumstances, the current head of Renaissance Imagineering.
¡°Well¡¡± Before the thin older man, Winston, started.
¡°The game plays great, and I can¡¯t wait until it goes global.¡± Treys eyes gleamed like a child receiving the one thing on his Christmas list he wanted more than anything else. Then he continued ¡°I¡¯m glad we decided to go full release to beta testers! That was a brilliant call, Jin!¡± The compliment made Winston twinge a bit.
As they were working through building the base of the game there was some debate on whether to do a soft release locally. The hope to turn Landis Falls into a cult classic could birthed exclusively out of their meta-cite, which was Winstons idea. Another group had a different idea though, and ultimately, they decided to go with that. It was an extreme test, by releasing the full game to all the Beta Testers without their knowledge, they were able to gauge the difficulty of the overall game and they were able to increase the games AI and development exponentially, a task that could have taken 5-10 years in a fraction of the time. This idea was put forth by Jin and the coding team, who were mostly imagineers, as like a competition for themselves and the games Ai they built. This man, Trey Ashentri, accepted the idea with a smile, while he frowned at Winstons suggestion.
Jin Spoke up again ¡°1 hour and counting sir.¡±
¡°Beautiful¡± Trey nods to Jin in appreciation then turns to the other man. ¡°Winston this is going to revolutionize gaming, and I get to be right there with everyone playing something that I helped build¡ Beautiful!¡± Trey¡¯s Grandfather had started Renaissance Imagineering and when he passed, he had left it to him with the blueprints for his last game, one he designed for they system Trey created F.R.C.T.S. when he was a child, a bit on a whim, while tinkering in his father¡¯s workshop.
There was a haze in Trey¡¯s eyes as seemingly drifts off in a memory, which annoys Winston so he turns on his heel flustered muttering as he goes. ¡°Just you wait I have a surprise for you and all your stupid fans you selfish piece of shit¡¡± There was an almost sinister aura surrounding Winston as he left; who knew what that little statement meant but there was a certain chill that remained in the room.
Back in his office, Winston was sitting at his computer muttering to himself ¡®how much time must he spend, away from running this damned company¡¯¡ ¡°Tracy!¡± He said while pressing a button on his desk.
¡°Yessir, Mr. Molten, how can I help you?¡± a soft woman¡¯s voice rang out through an invisible speaker in immediate response.
¡°Bring me the number on sales from last quarter and do make it quick ¡®He¡¯ is supposed to be here any minute.¡± Winston dreaded these meetings, though he was an imagineer in namesake alone, all he really cared about was money, he loved to see the numbers go up. He had only gotten into that field due to the large monetary gains to be made. He was far less interested with the advancement of other people, as far as he was concerned, they were just piggie banks waiting to be broken open. Winston chose to be a part of Renaissance Imagineering because he Idolized old man Ashentri¡¯s wealth, so much so he became Juniors best friend just to get closer.
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¡°Yessir, right away sir¡± the woman answered. Tracy was a young woman in her early 20¡¯s, she wasn¡¯t too bright especially by the current societies¡¯ standards, but that was surely not why Winston hired her. She was, for a lack of a better word, gorgeous, and she kind knew it, which was evident by her more provocative attire.
Just as Tracy walks through the door files in hand, a hole in Winston¡¯s office ceiling opens and down comes a pole that stops half way. ¡®What the fuck is this shit?¡¯ Winston mouths inaudibly. In the next moment his floor opens and up shoots another pole to meet the one that stopped in his office and then the floor closes. Winston¡¯s eyes sharpened as the ¡®he¡¯ that he was referring to slid down the pole. ¡°So excited to see you sir,¡± he said with cold dejection then continued ¡°You always know how to make an entrance.¡±
¡°So...¡± Ignoring Winston¡¯s discontent Trey continued showing off his new toy like it is the single greatest thing on the planet. ¡°I call it ¡®the fall¡¯ system.¡± There was a long awkward silence that was finally interrupted with an uneasy cough from Winston ¡°the ¡®fall¡¯ system?¡±
¡°Yeah man, ¡®the fall¡¯ system, it¡¯s a temporary name, but honestly, I got the idea from fire fighters.¡± Trey shrugs and starts walking over to a high-end couch in the corner of the room.
¡°Firefighters, really?¡±
¡®Damnit, I bit¡¯ Winston thought to himself.
Trey caught onto Winstons discomfort and his eyes sharpened then he thought to himself ¡®I¡¯ll let you off the hook this time¡¯ then proceeded ¡°Well thus far it¡¯s been completely safe and since I¡¯m the only on that can use it currently no need to worry about the ole purse.¡± And then seamlessly changing the subject. ¡°So, the game looks amazing¡¡± then Trey hesitated, with this Winston raised a hand to try and signal he was busy, but Trey ignored him and continued.
¡°Maybe our best work¡± The hesitation continued steadily in Trey¡¯s voice. ¡°Be yourself, be someone else, the only thing that matters¡ you are the best, or that¡¯s how it used to be¡¡± Winston was wondering why this normally boisterous man who had just slid down a pole into his office was getting on about, as he continued ¡°This game demands a level of teamwork in order to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, we have a pro-level competitive combat system that relies on actual knowledge with the ability to learn and modify any technique. A system for millions of different possible story paths, thousands of different kinds of mobs, special mobs, world bosses, dungeons, raids, sports arenas, futuristic cities, ruins of the past, post-apocalyptic dessert, and the list goes on.¡± Trey stopped and sighed, his brow furrowed seriously for a moment and then he started again. ¡°Winston I¡¯m not going back in until a week after we are live¡ there is someone I want to meet there and I¡¯m going as myself for my Avatar¡¡±
The shock on Winston¡¯s face was visible or was it more irritation? ¡°What? I thought you wanted to conceal your identity from other players, and be in there from the very first minute?!¡± Winston decried a slight choke in his throat.
¡°I know I said that, but I don¡¯t know, this game, it has to be played a certain way¡¡± Trey starts to stand with a somber energy around him. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t understand, you love the business not the games.¡± With that statement Trey grabbed the pole in the middle of the office, with a smile he says to Winston ¡°For now though let¡¯s work on ¡®the fall¡¯ system, kay¡¯ I have it securely programmed to go through our offices (slams had to fist) but I want to see if I can implement it throughout the entire building¡ It¡¯ll be fun!¡±
¡°Okay, sir, don¡¯t you think this, *coughs ¡®fail¡¯* excuse me, ¡®fall¡¯ system¡±
¡°¡¯The fall¡¯ system, just ¡®fall¡¯ implies there is no mechanic to it at all¡ What am I gonna have people just fall into giant air bags.¡± Starts laughing, then stops to think for a second, then starts shaking his head ¡°yeah ¡°¡¯The fall¡¯ system is much better¡±
¡°What I was trying to say about ¡®The fall¡¯ system is that it feels like an insurance issue and for the sake of the business we can¡¯t afford another one of those.¡±
¡°Hey that last one was no my fault. When I said build a roller coaster over and around the building, I did not think we¡¯d have to reinforce the structure of the whole building¡± he shrugged his shoulders, far from and idiot in fact flirting that fine line of genius and insanity, most things Trey did in excess were for the fun of it something he picked up from his grandfather. ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to go tell Roland! He¡¯s going to love it!¡± The next moment Trey tapped three buttons on his wrist and the floor opened ¡°Later Winston!¡±
¡®Roland is 7 stories down¡ did he connect all the managers offices¡¡¯ The thought crept into Winston¡¯s head then he went over to the hole and looked down. There the chief was two floors below already waiting for the floor to open again. And then another thought entered his head ¡®bastard probably has the only remote to the whole thing¡¯ then he called out to his secretary:
¡°Tracy¡±
¡°Yessir¡±
¡°Did you know about this?¡±
*flashback*
¡°Hello there Miss Tracy, is Winston in?¡± Trey swaggered into the office with a huge smile on his face.
¡°No sir, Mr. Ashentri, he is actually on vacation at Fracases Island¡±
¡°Really? Wait, you can call me Trey.¡± Trey flashes Tracy a smile. ¡°How long will he be gone?¡± His smile turned mischievous.
¡°A week sir, he is off rotation, he said since you are always in the game you wouldn¡¯t mind¡± she looks up very nervously, and then was shocked by the devious look on Chief Trey Ashentri face, for sure it did not instill confidence in whatever he was about to do.
¡°This is actually excellent news I have such a surprise when he gets back!¡± he looks sharply at her ¡°you don¡¯t need to remember this or anything you may or may not see, and if he hears about it before I¡¯m ready to reveal it consider your job forfeit¡± Whether he meant it or not she had no desire of chancing it anyways as he continued ¡°this is just a rumor nothing more¡ Trust me it¡¯ll be more fun this way¡± he winked at her and started walking away; ¡°oh yeah, if you keep my secret your job is guaranteed.¡± With his right hand in his pocket, he gives her the ¡®peace¡¯ sign with his left hand and walks away.
*Present*
¡°Well, I heard a rumor, but I was told if you found out I would have been fired on the spot?¡±
¡°W-What? Who the hell would tell you that?¡± Tracy turned quickly and hurriedly went back to her desk determined to keep her silence, and avoid the word belting she was about to hear from her boss.