World Seed: Game Start

World
Seed

By
Justin Miller

Copyright
Justin Miller

Table
of Contents

Chapter 0: Prologue

So,
where do I begin? I guess I can start with who I am, that’s
always a nice way to begin things. My name is John Hulett, just
turned twenty and am what many have decided to refer to as a NEET.
Unfortunately, this does not mean that I am an excessively clean
person, but rather that I am unemployed. A few years back, my parents
decided to virtualize themselves, opting out of their physical lives
to join the net communities. Legally, that leaves all of their assets
to me as their next of kin. I mean, you can’t drive a car if
you don’t have a body anymore, right?

Oh,
some of you may be wondering what I mean by virtualizing? Well,
lately it’s become quite a trend, though the technology for it
has existed for decades. Originally, it began during the onset of the
VR age, when someone discovered that they were trapped in one of
their video games. That discovery seemed to fuel scientific
curiosity, until they discovered how to replicate and control such
effects. Once it was completed, people were allowed to transfer their
minds into an online world similar to a life simulator game.

But
just having that was boring, so people began making connections to
allow the online communities to connect to others, or even connect to
popular games. For a while, there was talk of forcing people to work
in games to pay the server maintenance for their communities, but
eventually it was just decided to apply a special tax that slightly
limited what they received compared to others. After all, they are
essentially immortal now.

At
first, everyone was scared of this technology, because they saw it
more as a death sentence than eternal life. So, it was offered to
terminally ill patients as a means to ‘beta test’ it,
with overwhelmingly positive results. Soon, the families and friends
of the initial testers were all signing up, and it just shot off from
there. Nowadays, it is suspected that there are more people in the
online communities than in the real world, but nobody has bothered to
conduct an exact test.

But
I got sidetracked. After my parents virtualized themselves, I was
left with all of their worldly goods. And, I won’t be humble,
they were pretty well off. While they still have access to their bank
accounts, everything from their home to cars was transferred to me.
Normally, this still wouldn’t be enough for me to live a
carefree life thanks to expenses such as bills and groceries. After
all, why should I expect them to pay for services they don’t
even need anymore?

As
such, I turned my attention to the fastest rising industry around,
online gaming. Yup, it was actually a common job for people to play
online and sell various items to earn a living. After all, what would
the online communities need, since they don’t require food,
water, or electricity? They simply need people that will share the
items that they have trouble getting on their own.

That
plan worked for quite a while, actually. I was able to pay my bills
and support myself, but recently that hasn’t been enough. With
more and more people going for the same job, the demand has
diminished, and so has my pay. Right now, I’ve probably got
enough saved up for maybe six months before I have to look into other
ways to earn money. Which brings me to what I’m doing now,
watching people unload a giant silver casket in my bedroom and plug
it in.

Yes…
a giant silver casket. The first VR devices actually looked quite
similar to this, but nowadays they have been simplified to a small
helmet you can wear while you lay down. This device is one of the
beta versions of the next generation of hardware, known as Seeds.
According to Manifest Industries, one of the leading developers for
online games, the Seeds go above and beyond the limitations of
Virtual Reality, augmenting the experience to include 100% realism.
If their advertisements hold true, these devices(and the initial game
released for them) will function so well that it will even simulate
the results of your activities on your physical body.

Of
course, this isn’t always the case, or else players would die
the first time they died in a game, but it does allow them to
exercise in the game by playing normally. The main point for me,
however, is that this is a new realm for video games, and thus a new
market. After spending roughly half my savings, three month’s
worth of expenses, I was able to reserve one of the first Seeds.

This
is my gamble, my hope to earn enough to keep the lights on. If all
else fails, I’ll just virtualize like my parents. They’ve
already assured me that they would cover the costs to do so if I ever
wanted to join them.

“
Alright,
Mr. Hulett.” The technician walked up to me with his electronic
clipboard. “Everything is hooked up and ready to go. If I can
just get your signature here.”

I
nodded to the man, taking the clipboard from him and signing it
before handing it back. “Thanks… And it comes with the
game pre-installed, right?” I had to ask, since it would suck
royally if I had to go and buy the game separately.

“
That’s
right, sir. After ten o’clock tonight, the servers should open
up to the net community, and those with a Seed like yours.”
After he said that, I glanced to the clock, and saw that I still had
about four hours left until then.

“
Alright,
guess I’ve got a bit to get ready.” I thanked him again
and let him out, before going about my nightly routine to take care
of my physical needs. The Seeds promised to be capable of feeding the
user, and even disposing of waste, but that doesn’t mean I felt
comfortable trusting it with such yet. This was a new technology,
after all, and still only in the beta stages.

So,
an hour and a half later I was back in front of the Seed, staring at
the device which looked all too much like a coffin. With a sigh of
resignation, I opened it up and laid down inside. The interior was
actually fairly comfortable, designed to have the user lay down on a
padding that felt almost like a bed. The only unusual part was the
mask I had to wear over my mouth, but even that was easy to adapt to.
With a thought, the Seed activated itself, triggered by my
brainwaves.

Yes.
I thought to the machine, which began emitting a high pitched noise
for a moment in response to my answer.

Yes…
my middle name is Verity, get over it…

Yes..
I thought again with a sigh, and that’s when the world seemed
to turn upside down. First, there was a bright flash of light, and
then I was no longer lying down in my Seed, but rather standing in an
empty world. It took me a moment to realize that I had been logged in
already, but that thought was drowned out the moment I heard a
giggling from somewhere behind me.

Whipping
my head around, I saw a woman not far away, wearing a flowing blue
robe, with similarly colored hair and eyes. Her proportions were a
near perfect hourglass, and she was smirking mischievously at me. It
took several long moments before I realized why I was getting that
look, as my eyes slowly moved down to look at my own body. Given how
it was advertised, I naturally thought it was expected to go into the
capsule naked. However, I was now regretting my decision as my
attire(or lack thereof), was transferred to this empty world.