A year ago aliens came to earth and explained that, in order to eliminate the loss of life and wasted resources inherent in war, a form of virtual reality had been created to act as a surrogate battlefield. Alan used to be a professional gamer till he "aged out" at 23. For the last year he has been without a clear goal, but an old business acquaintance just gave him the opportunity of a lifetime.
This is fanfiction. I therefore do not own any of the characters or the setting, that right goes to Ephemerality, the original work is known as "The Gam3", and is freely available online. In the original the main character was a teen with incredible luck and a lax attitude that gave him no certain direction. In this version the main character is several years older and dealt with his earlier issues by diving headfirst into the world of competitive e-sports before retiring. His experience resulted in a personality with a sharper focus, but this somehow came at the extreme cost of all luck. There are some AU (Alternate Universe) elements in it and my eventual direction is different than the original author's but, other than that and Alan's difference in personality, the main difference at the beginning is the five years that have passed and everything that happened during that time.
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Something bad was coming, and it was making me a bit paranoid. It was just a feeling and I had, and I had no way of telling what it was about, but it was bad luck worse than someone saying those six unspeakable words. I was not going to make things worse by actually saying them.
"Remember, Alan, treat it like the game that it is," Icewolf said, interrupting my thoughts.
I nodded, trying and failing to figure out what the point he was trying to make. "But it's also not," I replied, continuing a nod. "You told me that The Game impacts real life. That the politics of reality can only be understood by someone in the game."
"Sure, it may be a game that was designed to replace all war, but it's still a game, and you need to treat it like one." Icewolf leaned back on his pod as he spoke with me. He had lost some weight in the last year or so and looked lean, for lack of a better term. It was something of a strange look for the slightly pudgy businessman who had been one of my professional sponsors during my days on the pro circuit. He wore a light grey jumpsuit that only accentuated his newfound shape and was emblazoned with the Omnitech Industries logo of a steel pylon being struck by lightning. It was a ever-present logo around here and one that I had known by heart since I first got into professional gaming.
It was a little much to take in, I thought while staring out the window. The view of San Fransisco was gorgeous but it only seemed to further drive home the absurdity of the situation. If anyone had told me six months ago that I would be in a penthouse suite, one decked out like a Bond villian's lair, about to enter a virtual reality game that was central to the same aliens who had just invaded… I would likely have dismissed them as a troll, and a malicious one at that.
Yet here I was: A retired professional gamer preparing to go into the biggest most important game ever created. It somehow just didn't feel right. I had dropped out of college to play and, to be honest, looked the part with shortish black hair, jeans, and an old jacket from my days at the top. I also had no misconceptions about having any notoriety. It had been almost a year since leaving the team and nobody would remember an old player who had been replaced. Even when I had been on the team my play had been valuable for its dependability and I had personally been valuable for my insight. I was always someone who kept the team afloat and pointed out enemy weaknesses but never the star. Also, to be fair, nobody other than me ever had to be worried about being caught in an ambush while I was on the team. Then age had come. E-sports athletes tend to retire early. This opportunity I now had, this was pure luck of the type I couldn't have dreamed of. It made me suspicious.
"All I'm saying is to play to win. Don't hold back. It's you against everyone and so you should be determined to come out on top." Icewolf growled. He can be a bit intense, but you get used to it after a while.
"Of course," I replied, keeping it short so that he could finish what he wanted to say.
"So in any game, especially one where random crap is worth something, you would take anything and everything you could. If it isn't bolted down, it's fair game; if it is, than bring a crowbar. Even killing another player for their gear is fair game, you got that?" Icewolf prodded.
"Yeah, sure," I answered with a barely restrained eye roll, "just try not to get caught."
"But nothing. If you piss off some faction you can pay them off later, but in the meantime every kill makes you more powerful. Play the Game to win and don't treat it like reality or just another job, it's not and the rules aren't the same. If you die, you'll respawn, and the same goes for every other player. If you kill stuff you'll get more powerful. And so on. A higher KDR and more high point takedowns are all you need to take the lead position, so make the most of it." I couldn't help but wondering how any society could survive if everyone took that view of things, but I guess I would figure it out soon.
"Really, I got it," I said, taking a deep breath and barely holding back an eye roll at his attempt to using gaming terms to motivate me. "Nobody ever got ahead by sitting back and just letting things happen to them. I just never imagined that this would be my career path. Especially with how fast everything is changing recently, I half expected to be outmoded by a bot." It was a joke, but not much of one. Afterall, how could any AI beat out my roguish good looks. I did roll my eyes at that thought.
Icewolf paused at that then patted me on the shoulder before continuing. "It is fine, Alan. Do your own thing and build your character like you want. Just remember that there are still laws in the game so try to follow those while anyone is looking or when you might get caught." His words took on a sudden note of sarcasm. "Since the good old United World Government rules the Earth the laws are basically the same in the game as out, but everyone speeds and jaywalks and such. In The Game killing someone or anything similarly non-permanent is exactly the same. But also remember they aren't the final authority. They were able to make the laws because they hold the control points in the Game, and they had that chance because the Administrators and the Enforcers didn't allow any aliens to just do it first. Those are the ones you want to avoid pissing off, them and nobody else."
"If you say so," I replied.
"I do. We both remember when the Enforcer fleet first came here. All they did was hand out capsules and tell everyone what was happening and enforce their own rules, even going so far as to shut us down when we tried to do our own thing. It was only after the UWG had conquered the Earth in game that all our laws started to be enforced, but those two days of anarchy were a taste of why you don't want to get on their bad side." I remembered the chaos that had happened when everything fell apart. The only reason it wasn't worse was that it was over too quickly for people to properly panic or for others to figure out what they could get away with.
"It isn't that I don't believe you, it just seems so weird. Why are credits worth ten dollars each? Why play this sort of game at all? I guess I'll just have to get in game before this will all start making sense."
Icewolf looked over at his own capsule. It was a smooth metallic grey oval about 10 feet long sitting on a rectangular base. If anything the strange lines cemented the impression that this thing had come from space. The only thing that detracted from the sleek alien design were the metal wires and tubes that disappeared into the walls and the floor, seemingly anchoring it in this time and place.
My capsule was different from the four others in the suite. Not only was it larger and a darker shade of grey but it included a box attachment that was just under half the size of the central "egg" that was the whole of the other capsules and the box framed the back portion like the back of a throne. Not only were the heavy metal tubes present but there were additional wires leading to a miniature satellite dish. It was connected to the screens at the center of the room, showing alien symbols, and a bunch of giant cords for god only knows what purpose. All in all I was minorly worried that I would be electrocuted the moment I got in, but that fear was edged out by the irrational notion of how closely the pods resembled sensory deprivation tanks.
"Last words of advice," Icewolf said for what felt like the millionth time. "Focus on yourself before anyone else, but remember that you owe me fifty million dollars for the capsule. You can begin paying me off after the tutorial, with interest.
"I recommend energy weapons, they're easy to use. Just point and shoot; no additional ammo, reloading, or even recoil to throw you off. Remember that armor is of the utmost necessity since it will keep you fighting longer. But even with armor be sure not to piss off anyone with bigger guns than you or anyone with friends who can make you pay for your actions, or at least don't get caught. Finally, are you sure you trust that AI you designed? I know you programmed it yourself, but there have been cases where AI went crazy after being transferred into the Game."
I shrugged. It hadn't been all that hard, all I did was follow an online tutorial. "It shouldn't be a problem. She is supposed programmed to be loyal, but even if that doesn't work she also has restrictions that keep her from lying and such." Well, lying to me, at least.
"Just be careful. The AI that oversees the UWG military operations may be a rank B but most government operations and large corporations are basically run by a rank D AI, same as yours. That's scary enough, but combined with the rank B capsule…" Icewolf let his point stand as he trailed off.
So… I was going to be eaten by my AI? I've seen enough made for TV movies to know how that turns out. "That's one thing I've been wondering about; the game somehow uses ranks, and levels? Which one do I need to pay more attention to?"
Icewolf raised an eyebrow at that but then scoffed and continued. "Ranks are mostly used to describe things or abilities, placing them on a ranking of best to worst or most powerful to least. They may seem odd but they're accurate enough that everyone from the Pentagon to the god damned aliens use them for judging everything from food to spaceships. If you want to know how powerful something is compared to other things that can do the same job, look at the ranking. The Game does uses levels to figure out your character's overall power, but what you get out of it depends on how you have focused your skills. So whatever you do, try not to spend all your levels on worthless shit, ok? Get it into your head that your real ability is determined by the ranking of your skills and of your stuff, but that your level limits both of those things. You'll find out more about it in The Game."
"So all I need to do is get the best skills I can and the best stuff I can, right? Hopefully I won't have to spend too long building up resources to get something really good."
"You won't." He stated simply. "The reason your capsule cost so much is because it's a rank B capsule and has been specialized to let you have an in-game AI. Truth be told I could probably sell it for a hundred million. To put it in perspective an Olympic weightlifter's strength would probably be a low rank D, and your capsule is an B. The main difference between it and something lesser is that you get more starting credits. You'll go into the game with every advantage that a person could want, so don't let it go to waste." He was lying, he could only sell it for fifty million, though he did buy it for only ten so it still would have been a good deal.
"Got it," I said, trying not to sound flippant at his obvious belaboring of his point, "my AI is over powered, the capsule even more so, and I'll start paying you back once I'm done with the tutorial." I considered for a moment the idea of asking why Icewolf had decided to take such a risk for him but remembered that Eve had already looked into the details of how I got this chance. Apparently Icewolf, whose real name was Marvin Dunham, had found this particular capsule for 80% off before he offered to sell it to me along with renting the space to use it. He probably had no idea that I knew what my real debt was, something I would have to deal with later, but for now I had to remember not to piss off the guy who owned the roof over my head. "Let's get started," I mumbled, trying not to let on my annoyance at how he was trying to cheat me.
As I approached my capsule it opened, revealing an opaque pool of silvery liquid. I stopped, staring down at what would be the biggest step in his entire life. If what I had read was true than this was a step into an entirely new life, and even that amount of information was heavily restricted. The best info I could find let me to believe this would be some sort of sci-fi MMO RPG, one built with the most perfect virtual reality ever. It would feel like stepping into a new world, to be a new 'me' based on who I already was. Just about anything was possible, so why was I still so worried. Something had me spooked and it was all I could do to avoid those six little words that could only make things worse.
Icewolf returned a flat smile as I halted before the edge of my capsule. "Think of it as an investment: I have the capital and want to sponsor someone I know is a capable gamer, a friend even. I'll have some jobs for you once you've finished the Tutorial, so we can get started after that. And remember, you play to win." I wasn't sure why he was bringing that up, did he think I was worried about why he had picked me? He had a capsule built for an AI and I had an AI that I had trained, among other things, to play games. The thing that worried me was how much it seemed like good luck that I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. In my experience good luck was made, it never just happened. Something to worry about later.
Taking a deep breath, more to calm my nerves than for any other reason, I climbed into the capsule and sank into the liquid. It felt like gelatin but flowed freely though my clothes. It was only after the lid began closing, forcing out the remaining air, that I remembered that I still held breath. The lid finally locked into place but all light had been gone since he had been forced under the silvery stuff that tingled across every inch of my skin. With no fresh air I panicked, finding that I couldn't even flail my arms as they went limp as the surrounding liquid. It took less than a minute before my tired body gasped for air and found that liquid breathable. For a few moments I wondered how that was supposed to work, followed by an exasperated realization that 'aliens did it' was more than enough of an answer.
And as my consciousness drifted away a stray thought came to me; six words that I would never have willingly spoken, or even thought, if I weren't so relaxed after coming off a panic: What's the worst that could happen?