Chicago, IL

Friday, May 2nd

 

Anyone interested in the technology field was currently rushing home or to their favorite local cafe or pub. In just under an hour, the Neurolink Corporation would start streaming its annual technology showcase to announce their latest products. The big rumor this year was the announcement they had finally achieved a full delve capable Neurolink implant. Delve, or delving, was the term players used for the transfer of consciousness from reality to virtual. Previously delving had been done with bulky and expensive capsules players would have to climb inside. Another major rumor was that Neurolink Corporation would be announcing a brand new gaming company along with a new game for their delve-enabled implant.

 

Kyle McCoy was running as fast as he could towards his favorite fully immersive virtual reality (FIVR) cafe, The NeXus. There was no way in hell he would miss the live stream for this year’s showcase. He was a considerable FIVR enthusiast and spent almost every night after finishing his schoolwork playing Phantasmal Realms. Phantasmal Realms had been the most popular FIVRMMO on the market for the last five years. As he got closer to the cafe, he could see the typical crowd waiting to enter the cafe, along with his buddy Shaun outside playing gatekeeper. 

 

“No-Life Member coming through,” Kyle called out, getting closer. 

 

Shaun looked over to Kyle and extended his fist, Kyle bumping it in return. 

 

“Think they’re going to announce a delve-enabled Neurolink?” Kyle asked.

 

“Rumor is they’ve cracked it, and It’s going to change the gaming world. Another rumor is it will allow smell and taste sensations as well, completing all sensations for delving. If it happens, mom and dad are worried it’s going to force them to close the cafe if everyone can afford to delve at home,” Shaun replied.

 

“Never going to happen, man. You’ll just replace the capsules with cots. Not everyone has a safe place to delve at home. Also, tons of people are lazy. They can delve here and buy their pop and snacks a few feet away. Why would they need to grocery shop? I mean, your mom’s cooking is better than most of the diners around here.”

 

Shaun shrugged and let him in ahead of everyone else. Having a No-Life Membership gave him the benefit of access to the cafe 24/7, even if they were full. Glancing at the FIVR pods and noticing them all closed, he headed towards the lounge area.

 

So no watching the showcase from the virtual convention floor. Kyle thought.

 

 Reaching the lounge area, Kyle found a couple of seats open on the sofas and chairs in front of the giant wall-mounted TV screen. He went up to the counter, greeting Shaun’s mother, and bought a bottle of his favorite Chicago Root Beer and some Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites. Taking a seat in front of the screen with a timer reading 00:03:23, he had made it with minutes to spare.

 

As the countdown hit 00:00:00, the screen faded to black. Celtic style music started playing as the screen got brighter to reveal a stunning landscape of rolling plains with mountains in the background. A lush forest spread below the mountains covering everything above the rolling hills. The camera panned to the right, and you could see a vast desert peeking out behind some of the mountains and a large body of water in the distance. The camera kept moving to the right to reveal the coast of an ocean filled with what had to be hundreds, if not thousands, of small islands dotting the water from the shoreline and to the horizon. As the camera made it back around to the coast, you could see a forest made out of massive multi-colored mushrooms.

 

The camera finally stopped back where it had started and then rose into the air rapidly. The sharply rising view broke through the atmosphere, and the planet started to get smaller and smaller. The view then tilted up, and Kyle could see moons orbiting the planet, seemingly all in the same orbit around the planet. The viewers could make out at least twelve moons that seemed to be more planet-like themselves with an atmosphere, water, and land. 

 

The moons looked to be equal distance apart from one another in orbit around the planet except for a space between two moons where another moon should have been to keep the symmetry and distance. 

 

Maybe the moon was just too dark to see or isn’t there for another reason. 

 

As he continued to look and study each moon, another moon popped up in the space where he thought there should have been one. As the new moon spun in its orbit, Kyle recognized it right away. It was the planet Earth. Looking at the size comparison of the planet in the center, he could see it was five to six times larger than Earth and the other planets orbiting it.

 

As the camera’s view stopped far above the planet and the thirteen planet-moons orbiting it, the words Fantasy and Shattered Helix flashed onto the screen. The video faded to a stage with the single woman everyone in the world knew, Xavia Zvain, the grandchild of Nicolaus Zvain and the founder of over fifty massive corporations across the globe. 

 

“Hello, and welcome everyone to the Neurolink Corporation’s twenty-eighty-seven product showcase. In twenty-sixteen, my grandfather Nicolaus Zvain revealed the first basic computer-human link interface that allowed sight and sound to be transmitted directly into the brain. Today, sixty-seven years later, I can announce we’ve finally produced the first full delve capable Neurolink Implant with all five senses. We will now be able to implement tastes and smells within our virtual worlds.”

 

“This new implant will allow its users to delve into FIVR without the large and bulky capsules, all on a single implant at the base of the user’s skull. This new technology uses the latest generation of Artificial Intelligence and nanites to help cut down on the implant surgery and the recovery period. This new generation of Artificial Intelligence will finish the integration process by crafting nanocarbon tubes into the brain, reaching the response centers without surgery.” 

 

Kyle was surprised and shocked. Everyone else must have been to as the cafe went silent for a moment and then started talking excitedly with one another. 

 

No more brain surgery to implant the leads under the skull? That’s going to be huge. So many people rejected getting the implants for that single reason.

 

“Our new device will take anywhere from fourteen to twenty-eight days to fully integrate once implanted. The implant’s Artificial Intelligence will coordinate nanites to create the nanocarbon tubes stretching into each of the brain’s sensory centers. Once the process has completed, users will see small blinking green text saying ‘Neurolink Activation Ready.’ This text will blink every ten minutes and will display around the bottom center of your vision. Once the user can see this flashing text, they can say ‘Neurolink Activation’ and the onboard Artificial Intelligence will take them through the initiation of the new hardware.”

 

“Our Delve Neurolink Implants will be released to the public starting May 12th. Our company will be using a lottery system for the first few waves of implants during the month after release. We will notify those whose lots are drawn via email. This email will contain the necessary information to schedule the consultation and implant procedure of their new Delve Neurolink Implant at any of our Neurolink Corporation’s medical facilities.”

 

A diagram was presented on the screen behind Xavia, showing price comparisons of their older line of implants with the newest one. The price being almost a third of the previous generation.

 

“The price of our new devices are significantly lower than our previous generations. The price has been greatly reduced due to removing the costly surgery of implanting the leads under the skull and the extended hospital stay for recovery and testing. The new price is over two-thirds cheaper than our last year’s model.”

 

A new graphic was displayed on the screen, showing monthly numbers over the next year.

 

“Our goal over the next year is to be able to produce and provide our new implants to those who couldn’t afford them before. We will have discounts and financing options for those who wish to purchase them. Those who have an older generation of our implants will also receive a discount when they replace them. Those with our older Artificial Intelligence capable implants need not worry. Your Artificial Intelligence who’ve you come to know, will be transferred and receive the same improvements as the latest generation of our new Artificial Intelligence.”

 

Another graphic replaced the last one with words that caused cheers and excitement within The NeXus Cafe.

 

“Starting this fall, high school and college students who’ve received a minimum GPA of 3.0 from their last semester of classes from the school they attended will receive their Delve Neurolink Implant for free. First-year students coming into high school will all be allowed to receive theirs, regardless of their previous GPA.

 

The slide changed once more to show the planet shown in the video at the start of the stream, with the thirteen worlds orbiting it. Fantasy displayed on top of the image, with Shattered Helix below the planets and moons.

 

“The video presentation we showcased with the spectacular environments and planets was the first preview of our first upcoming game. Today I have the pleasure of announcing our first new game called ‘Fantasy’ crafted by our new in-house studio, Shattered Helix. Fantasy will be available at the end of next month for both FIVR capsules and our new Delve Neurolink Implants. Subscribing to our Game Pass will allow users to access Fantasy and our future games, including the second game we’re releasing, Outbreak. Those who subscribe to our game pass can start playing Fantasy next month and Outbreak shortly after. I’m now going to turn the stage over to the Creative Director of Shattered Helix, Douglas Saxe. He will have the pleasure of telling you more about Fantasy, Outbreak, and a couple of our future games.”

 

A thin man walked onto the stage, waving his hand at the audience in attendance. He had a pale complexion, with long dirty blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. He wore jeans and a grey t-shirt with a 20 sided die being hugged by a cat, with the words ‘Dungeon Meowster’ printed on it. He looked nothing like the familiar executives that would typically be on this type of stage. “Hello everyone, I’m Douglas Saxe, and I’m the Creative Director for Shattered Helix. I’m here to tell you about our first game Fantasy,” he said.

 

Getting to the center of the stage, he turned to the camera. Simultaneously, the video they had shown earlier started playing on the screen again behind him.

 

“Fantasy will be unlike anything you’ve ever played before. The world wasn’t developed by my team, but by our newest Top-Level Artificial Intelligence. We’ve developed our new AI’s to take our input and craft the worlds of ‘Fantasy’ and its game mechanics. The center world, named Mea, is over eight times larger than Earth. Putting that into perspective, Mea has over ten times the landmass of Earth at around five-hundred million square miles. Mea also has over two hundred times the territory of the current leading FIVRMMO Phantasmal Realms.”

 

The video behind him stopped and displayed an image of the planet Mae and the thirteen moons around it.

 

“That’s only counting the planet of Mae, each world that orbits Mea has its own explorable landmasses and oceans. The worlds of ‘Fantasy’ have over a hundred billion AIs, each controlling a nonplayer character or NPCs. All quest and story content are crafted in real-time, resulting in a unique experience for each player. Every NPC you meet will go about their lives like an average person, doing their jobs, and striving to fulfill their dreams and ambitions.”

The next image on the screen showed a handful of the typical fantasy races; Humans, Elves, Gnomes, Dwarfs, Orcs, Beastkin. There were a couple typically not seen in games as playable races as well. 

 

“Fantasy has hundreds of races that inhabit it, each with their own culture, language, and laws. Fourteen all-powerful Gods influence the worlds of Fantasy. Thirteen of these Gods call each one of the planets that orbit Mea home. The fourteenth God claims Mea and remains neutral in all conflicts with the others. You may also find less powerful gods and beings of power on your travels that could help or hinder you. Take my warning to heart. Always be wary of their intentions on your travels.”

 

The next image displayed three characters dressed in different weapons and armor. They were the typical trinity of starting classes, a massive man with a sword and shield for a tank, an unknown robed with a hood caster with a staff for a healer, and a leather armored woman with a bow for a damage dealer.

 

“There are no classes in the traditional sense in Fantasy. You will not start as any typical class that can be selected. You will learn how to wield your weapons and develop your combat style with them. The skills you can obtain along with your style of combat will set you apart from other players. Players won’t be locked into any one style of gameplay, and it will be up to you to take the time to develop the way you want to play. The system for leveling is also vastly different from other games before Fantasy, using a mix of western and eastern styles. I don’t want to give away too much more about ‘Fantasy’ as it will be our first game to release and want the players to explore and figure things out for yourselves.”

 

The image changed again, this time a view of Earth from space. Kyle heard a scream, and the cities’ lights started to go out, from the west coast of North American traveling to the east coast. Europe went out almost all at the same time. The word Outbreak popped over the Earth.

 

“Fantasy is not the only game we have coming soon. We’re also working on Outbreak. The Top Level Artificial Intelligence has created an identical Earth replica for both Fantasy and Outbreak, using satellite photos, map data, and lidar scanning. The AI’s have created a game world on Earth where the players must survive and fight back a zombie outbreak. Outbreak will not be a game for those who shy away from blood and gore. It will be a truly hardcore experience, with no rules outside what is physically possible to achieve already here on present-day on Earth. I’d like to present you with Outbreak’s first preview.”

 

The live stream faded away from the stage and into a video of someone’s perspective while they were running down a street with abandoned cars on the sides and middle of the road. They were breathing heavily and kept looking around them frantically. It looked to be late in the evening from pink clouds above the horizon. 

 

Spotting a single light blue two-story house in the distance, they began to jog towards it, occasionally stealing glances behind them. Noticing several shadowy humanoid forms coming out of the treeline and stumbling towards them caused them to run faster. Reaching for the door and finding it locked tight, Kyle could hear a few harsh curses escape under the breath of the person they watched the video through. After banging on the door a few times and not receiving an answer, they moved to their left and tried one of the windows. Kyle could see it was a young woman who was around her early twenties in the reflection of the window. She pushed on the window and found it slid open easily. Crawling through the window and turning around, she shut the window and locked it. Checking the other windows in the living room and also locking them, you could hear her sigh with relief. 

 

Moving into the kitchen of the house, she started looking through the cabinets. Grabbing a couple of cans of food, she stuffed them into a backpack she removed from her back. Opening some drawers, she found and grabbed a large knife out of the third drawer she opened. Looking around the kitchen some more, she spotted a small closet behind the fridge and opened it. Inside, she grabbed the broom hanging from the back of the door and a roll of duct tape from the top shelf. Turning around, she walked back to the living room and up the stairs. 

 

Glancing into the two rooms on the second floor, she walked into the larger room, looking around really quickly, and closed the door behind her. Grabbing the end of the small dresser next to the door, she dragged it across the door, barricading it. Jumping up on the bed, she unscrewed the broom handle from the brush portion and proceeded to duct tape the knife from the kitchen to the end of the handle, creating a makeshift spear.

 

You could hear her breathing calm down as she got up and went to the window. Looking outside, she could see the humanoid forms in the distance getting closer. Turning around and spotting a full-size mirror hanging on one of the closed doors, she walked up to it. Staring at herself, she touched her left arm covered in bloody bandages. You could see she was covered in dirt and grime, and her clothes had multiple tears in them. She looked down at the blood-soaked bandages on her arm and started to fidget with them. You could hear her catch her breath as if she was in pain while she adjusted the bandage. Hearing a noise, she looked back up to the mirror and saw the two dim glowing red eyes over her shoulder. You could make out an older woman in a nightgown with her right arm missing. Kyle could see maggots around the wound at the shoulder. As she turned around to defend herself, the older woman lunged forward and bit into her shoulder, knocking her back into the mirror, shattering it. The young woman let out a blood-curdling scream as the video faded to black, and the dark Earth with the word Outbreak faded in.

 

“Outbreak will be a hardcore survival game. If and when you die, you will be respawned randomly close by but with just your starter clothes and items. Unlike a lot of games, Outbreak will have a defined ending for each region. The Game will end for a region when a player or group of players finds the cause of the Outbreak and then creates a cure. The player or group of players who accomplish this feat in each region will have their accounts rewarded. These rewards will be limited edition items that can be used in your MicroWorld, we will speak about MicroWorlds shortly.” 

 

The Outbreak logo vanished from behind him and was replaced by three images next to one another. The first image had a voxel or block style set of ruins and blocky looking players. The second was of a ship in space flying towards a gate or portal in the distance. The third image was a jungle with a crashed escape pod type vessel with a group of people surrounding a campfire.

 

“We also have more survival games in the pipeline, as well as our sci-fi space epic coming soon. We will provide more details for everyone as we get closer to their launch for each game.” 

 

The image changed again to a VV logo with the words Virtual Verse under it.

 

“All our games, as well as other games developers create for our platform, will share a single virtual universe called The Virtual Verse or VV for short. When you first delve into the Virtual Verse, you’ll be prompted to create a MicroWorld that will become the launch hub for your games and other MicroWorlds in the Virtual Universe. In these MicroWorlds, you will be able to build anything and mold its landscapes to your liking.” 

 

“From your base, you’ll have access to doors you can login to each game on our platform, as well as doors to your friend’s MicroWorlds. Players who love to collect and customize will be able to bring back copies of items from their games. These trophies and collected materials can be used to fill and customize your MicroWorlds. You can do so much more within your MicroWorld, but finding them out is part of the excitement. Now for the biggest announcement tonight! I will return the stage to Xavia.”

 

Xavia walked back onto the stage and patted Douglas on the back as he walked off stage. 

 

“Hello again everyone, with the announcement of the personal MicroWorlds, I’m here to announce the biggest technological breakthrough the Neurolink Corporation has achieved to date. This announcement will revolutionize our daily lives in ways we still haven’t predicted.”

 

The next slide on the screen just had a large 3:1 on it.

 

“Users with our new Delve Neurolink implant, while on any MicroWorld, will experience a time compression ratio of three to one. Every three hours spent on a MicroWorld, only an hour will have passed in reality. Users who have our Delve Neurolink Implant and sleep for 8 hours will experience 24 hours while in their MicroWorld or other’s MicroWorlds, While delving with our new implant, you will be placed into deep REM sleep, allowing your body to rest while your conscience spends time in your favorite game or work remotely from within your MicroWorld.”

 

Kyle couldn’t believe it. They figured out how to double people’s lives who got their hands on the new implant, maybe even triple the time someone had if they used long term medical capsules. People were already easily living over a hundred years with the current medical technology available. 

 

Time compression is going to change the world. Maybe not for the best, as people will live within the FIVR worlds and games instead of outside in the real world. 

 

The excitement levels in the cafe were incredibly high. Everyone was chatting animatedly with one another. With the world’s workforce requirements dwindling due to the growing AI and robot workforce, people needed more and more entertainment to keep themselves busy. 

 

There are over thirteen billion people on Earth, and everyone will want to get their own Delve Neurolink Implant. I’m betting almost everyone will be signing up for that lottery for the first batches. 

 

Kyle didn’t plan on waiting for the free student version. He planned to contact his uncle as soon as he got home and ask him to transfer what he needed from his trust fund. He had some funds leftover from Phantasmal Realms, but it wouldn’t be enough.

 

There was no way Kyle would pass this up. He could take more college classes per semester and still play every day as he slept. He would even be able to use his MicroWorld to study in less time than it typically would. Well, he would try to. He wasn’t kidding himself; Fantasy sounded like everything he loved, and would spend most of his available time playing it.

 

Xavia started to speak again on the live stream.

 

“Next week, we will start taking preorders for our new Delve Neurolink Implants. Those who preorder will be entered into a lottery to determine your batch number and when you can schedule to have it implanted. We’re aiming to have all preorders and students done within the first six months after launch. I hope everyone here with us and those watching our live stream has enjoyed our presentation today. We will be releasing more details in the upcoming weeks before the first batch of users goes live. Have a great rest of your day!” Xavia cheered.