Chosen, Chapter 1: The Beginning

Daniel Stewart
Earth
Wednesday, March 8th, 2062
Approximately 4:30 PM
The Atlanta metropolis, USA

Daniel Stewart paced back and forth in the cramped space he used as an office in his apartment. All the room held was a desk, a chair, a computer, an immersion VR rig, a printer, and an overworked desk fan, but the room was only about 80 square feet, so his pacing by necessity involved a lot of turning and relatively few footsteps. With the heat put off by the computer confined in such a small space, Daniel was actually sweating even with the air conditioner and fan, but he couldn’t leave the room; his eyes were glued to the screen where he was tracking the progress of a delivery drone. The drone and its precious cargo were only a few minutes away, but each second seemed to crawl by.

Daniel’s anticipation for this delivery had been building for months, ever since he’d been accepted into the alpha test of the newly announced single-player open-world RPG, The Realms. It promised a whole new level of immersion VR experience and advanced NPC Virtual Intelligences that would respond to emergent situations in ways that didn’t have to be explicitly programmed ahead of time. In short, if it lived up to the hype, the player would genuinely feel like they were living in an actual fantasy world. And the fact that it was a single-player game, rather than an MMO, meant that the player could actually be involved in the story of the game; with only one player to care about rather than millions, the world could react to that player’s particular actions.

It was right up Daniel’s alley. He was never overly social, and although he had played and even enjoyed MMOs in the past, single-player games were what he was drawn to. Interacting with real people was taxing, but knowing that the NPCs weren’t real meant that he was able to relax and act without overly concerning himself about how his actions would affect them. Not that he played cruel or oppressive characters, usually, but the distinction between real and not was crucial for his ability to relax and enjoy—

Thwump

The sound of something being dropped against his front door jolted Daniel out of his thoughts and sparked him into action. He raced out of his office and down the hall and jerked his door open. There on his doormat was a small rectangular package bearing the logo of Distant Journeys, the developer of The Realms. “Finally!” exclaimed Daniel as he scooped up the box and practically slammed the door behind him. Within moments he was back in his office, ripping open the packaging even as he slid into the chair in front of the computer. Inside the package were several pages of legal contract -- which he tossed to the side after glancing at it to be sure that’s all it was -- a small thumb drive containing the game installer and files, and a hand-sized and surprisingly heavy black box. The latter was a module that would add needed functionality to his Immersion VR rig, according to the email he had been sent when the package had shipped.

Daniel plugged the thumb drive into his computer and started the installation process, then swiveled his chair over and began working on installing the upgrade module into his rig. Fortunately, the included instructions were clear and concise, and within ten minutes, he had both the module and the game installed. As eager as he was to get started, however, there were still two loose ends to tie up. First, he sent a short email to his boss, cashing in a week of sick leave. Then, he grabbed his phone and hit the quick-dial for Eve, his sister. After a couple of rings, she picked up.

“Hey Daniel, this is a surprise! Usually, it’s me calling you. What’s up?” Eve’s chipper voice greeted him.

“Hey sis, I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to be incommunicado for a little while, a week or so. The Realms finally got here, and I plan to be in VR as much as possible until the honeymoon wears off. Already called out of work.” Daniel grinned to himself, anticipating her reply.

“You are such a nerd!” She laughed, and Daniel laughed with her. “Alright, no problem, thanks for the warning. Hey, how about we meet up over the weekend and swap notes? Even if you intend to stay immersed as much as possible, you’ll still need food and drink, and a little exercise won’t hurt either.”

Daniel blinked. “Wait, what? Swap notes? About wh-- wait, did you?!”

“You don’t think I listened to you rant and rave about The Realms just out of sisterly affection, did you? You know our interests run in pretty much the same directions, bro! Of course I applied for the alpha test! I’m just jealous you got your delivery before me!” His sister’s voice was full of mirth.

“And you have the nerve to call me a nerd!” Daniel fired back, exasperated. “Fine, fine, let’s plan for lunch on Saturday. Carmine’s?”

“Deal. See you then!” Eve hung up with her standard farewell.

Obligations finished, Daniel started up The Realms on his computer then climbed into his Immersion VR rig. Settling into the cushioned interior, he quickly pulled on the helmet and prepared to launch into the game.