There was no surprise that the game’s AI knew about me. All they had to do was scan my social media.
“It is time for you to choose.” She smiled reassuringly.
“What will be your player name?”
“Lucius Edwards,” I answered.
“Very well. Lucius Edwards accepted. Your body size, weight, and facial features have been uploaded. Because of the nature of the experiment, you will not have an option to change them. If you want to get stronger, then you must work hard.”
Behind the AI, three large wooden displays with five shelves apiece shot up from the floor. It had been impossible to see the floor because everything was white with literally no horizon or objects to give it context.
“You currently have 10 silver coins to spend on the items before you. Just look at them for longer than a second and the price will appear. Money works as follows. 100 copper coins equal 1 silver. 20 silver equal 1 gold. 20 gold is equal to 1 silver talon. 20 silver talons are equal to 1 gold talon. You may now proceed.”
Looking down, I wore silver boxer briefs and a sleeveless undershirt. No socks? Immediately I felt the fabric of my shirt and at my waist. The shirt was more finely woven than the boxers, so the only difference I felt was the texture. How was that possible? Literally moments ago I had been without clothing. When had I been dressed? How had it happened? It seemed the Cube I was inside was also my personal assistant.
Stepping forward, I was immediately fearful I would fall off the platform. I stood 6 feet off the ground. My senses swore I was in a virtual world, but I knew my consciousness had not been placed into the normal dream state that allowed deep dives. Logic told me the Cube had already been activated and I was safe. I reached out one foot at a time and tested the environment. After I had gone ten feet, twice as far as I needed to go to fall off the platform, I started to relax.
With a deep sigh, I walked the rest of the way. Somehow the Cube was simulating my real world steps into this world. There was no treadmill and every step felt as solid as walking on real ground. My toes clenched at the ground and felt a rubbery surface.
At least I wasn’t as cold as before. My newly acquired boxers and shirt blocked the appropriate amount of air and radiated my body heat back at me.
I hadn’t felt this uncertain about technology or a virtual world in a long time. I was a newbie. There was also a vividness to this place that wasn’t a visual thing. I couldn’t place it.
My heart thundered in my chest. My pulse quickened.
Standing before the three displays, I found myself unsure how to proceed. The left display held clothing and armor. If I spent all of my coins I could get a thin leather vest and leggings. It was the best armor on display, but I didn’t believe it was worth the cost. The sand colored, cotton tunic and pants were only 2 silver and seemed fairly durable. A pair of leather boots came with the set.
The next stand held a number of purses and bags, sleeping bags, and hats... Why hats? On a single shelf sat canteens and pouches of a variety of dried fruits, seeds, and nuts.
Finally, there were weapons. Even though they were all rather worn, the bronze swords, spears and axes stole my attention.
I grabbed a Low-Quality bronze short sword and examined how it felt in my hand. The texture, weight, and balance were pretty good. A single swing was all it took to feel the difference in feedback my muscles gave in comparison to normal virtual reality. Normally deep diving bypassed the nervous system and spoke to your brain directly. When you swing a sword in deep dive, the motion is always perfectly smooth. Almost too fluid to be real. The variables increase significantly when your own arm is involved.
“Every item is graded and placed in one of the categories: Low Quality, Average, Fine, and Superior. Even within these categories, not all items are created equal. Upgrades will become available to you later that will improve your ability to examine equipment.”
Grabbing the heavy cotton Average quality clothing I got dressed. The sword had cost me 4 silver and the outfit 2. With 4 silver left I grabbed a well-fitted hemp backpack that went over each shoulder and tied across the chest, filling it with a pouch of mixed nuts and raisins on top of my new sleeping bag and a canteen of water. After that, I was left with a single silver.
Since I had no idea what Freedom would throw at me, I thought being prepared for anything would be better than just being ready for a fight. All this talk about survival, and looking at the items offered, made it seem insane to pass up this opportunity.
Not seeing anything else I just had to have, I kept the final silver as a trade item in case I had not chosen well.
“Your total is 9 silver. You will find your silver coin in the coin purse on your belt.”
With my backpack on my shoulder and sword at my side, I turned to face the AI. Though the pack really wasn’t too heavy, I didn’t expect to feel it at all, which set me off balance. I easily caught myself, but my moment of clumsiness clarified for me what the vividness of this world really was. Not only was I experiencing this game with my waking consciousness, but my real world coordination came with it. It was not something a deep dive could measure or simulate. I was really in the game.
Looking down, a small leather pouch was now fastened to the side of my belt.
“That finalizes your purchases. Now it is time to reveal to you a few things that have been hidden until now.
“First, there is a leveling system in Freedom just as in the role playing games, but that is where the similarity ends. In Freedom, the system is based on military grade mixed reality. Similar technology is used by you every day in the real world. Mixed reality warns you with information about your surroundings that can save your life in an emergency. This has revolutionized the battlefield by giving individual soldiers the ability to see things that they normally couldn’t and hear things impossible for the human ear. This information makes them super human.
“Imagine seeing the threat before it presents itself and being able to spot any ambush before it happens. This is what Freedom’s Leveling System is based on. You will have the most advanced military tech become available to you as you level. It will be implemented like a normal gaming system and keep true to Freedom’s fantasy setting. Choose wisely.
“Side note. All of this tech is available in the real world under a different name. Master these systems and you will have a set of skills to add to your resume.
“Here. I am unlocking your two starting systems, the Personnel Condition Monitor and Metaverse Access Hub. There are a few hidden systems we will not speak about to encourage you to explore the MR menu.”
As she was saying it, the Personnel Condition Monitor popped up to the left in my peripheral vision. It was ethereal and only lost that status when I looked directly at it.
No surprise, it was basically a red health bar with a large round circle above it that shone green. There was no advanced training needed to interpret it. Green meant I was healthy. To its left, there was an outline of a person. This should indicate what part of my body was injured if I took damage in the future. Clicking on the person brought up a very basic Character Status screen. It resembled parchment in color and texture but was really just a digital display.
It read as follows.
Character Status
Player Name: Lucius
Leveclass="underline" 1
Health Points: 221
Endurance Points: 330
Combat Leveclass="underline" Unknown?
Strength: 28?
Dexterity: 40?
Endurance: 33?
Abilities Unlocked: Personnel Condition Monitor (Basic), Metaverse Access Hub.
What was with the question marks and combat level unknown? The stats themselves were also fairly high for level 1, weren’t they? It sounded like my stats and level really wouldn’t have any direct relationship, so these must be a numerical estimate of my strength, dexterity, and endurance that my real body was capable of. So my stats would grow as I got in better shape. Hmmm.