Virtual Me: Valkyrie
Michael Ocheskey
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Published by Siren Song Publishing.
Copyright © 2019 by Michael Ocheskey, second edition.
Original copyright © 2014 by Michael Ocheskey.
All rights reserved. Except as permitted by the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
ISBN 978-1-950005-00-0
Marketing image (cover art) designed by BOBooks.
Prologue
For me, it was the opportunity of a lifetime. I had never been much for the gaming world. In fact, I considered most games to be pathetic wastes of a person’s time and intellect, but some-thing about this game drew me to it.
My employment at New Tech, New You magazine re-quired my attendance at the SimTech designers’ panel, but even if I hadn’t been a columnist I would have been among the crowd. Today’s announcement was going to change the future of the gaming industry. At least, that’s what the press release said.
As I stood amidst the front of the gathered crowd, pen and pad in hand, preparing for the upcoming panel, I found myself becoming giddy with excitement, which was a relatively strange feeling for me. Nothing had excited me this much since I’d received my first book as a child, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.
Most children would have been more excited to receive a toy or a pet. I wasn’t most children. That was a fact my parents quickly picked up on and continually pestered me about.
While other children were out playing, I was studying. It didn’t matter what. Knowledge was my life and I lived it well. I read everything I could get my hands on. Books, magazines, newspapers; these were my toys. As I grew older, I realized my mind didn’t work the same way other peoples’ did. The way I viewed the world around me, my social interactions, even the way I learned were atypical. Knowledge seemed to imprint itself on my mind and I rarely forgot anything that I’d learned.
My parents claimed I grew up friendless, but that wasn’t true. I had many friends. My friends all existed on the written page. I loved immersing myself in the vast fictional worlds I encounter-ed whenever I opened a book and preferred those worlds to my own. I longed to be a part of those worlds, to be spirited away. Perhaps that was why I didn’t like video games. Video games weren’t realistic enough for me. I never really felt a part of those worlds. It was always: push a button, watch computer graphics, repeat; like the instructions on a bottle of shampoo.
By the time I was an adult, I had already accumulated enough knowledge to have any career I strove for. I chose to work as a journalist so that I could continue to expand my knowledge through researching the articles I wrote. Besides, my language skills were my greatest asset, spoken and written alike. I was multilingual, and my language skills also included the realm of computer programming. A career where I was able to use those skills was my greatest desire.
Today, I stood among the masses gathered to report on the unveiling of what SimTech was billing as the ‘be all, end all of the gaming industry’ and ‘the last game you’ll ever buy.’
The crowd was getting restless as we waited. The press conference was scheduled to start five minutes ago and SimTech was notorious for never being late with panels, interviews, or press conferences. The noise began to rise as the crowd murmured amongst themselves. When the noise was almost deafening, the spotlights from the edge of the stage flared, lighting the center of the stage.
I heard a metallic clicking noise and the humming of an elevator in motion. A middle-aged man rose from the center of the platform, his arms outstretched theatrically, a broad smile rested on his face. A small podium blocked from his waist down. It was covered with a black cloth.
A hush fell over the crowd. The anticipation in the air was almost palpable. Roland Evermoss greeted the crowd with a silent wave like he was humanity’s savior and spoke into his wireless headset.
“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Roland Evermoss, founder and CEO of SimTech. All of us at SimTech welcome you to the greatest day in our company’s history.”
Oh, hell. This was going to be long-winded. Just as in previous announcements, Roland Evermoss turned the event into a spectacle. First, he would recap the company’s achievements and ramble for a few minutes to build up suspense as we all awaited his company’s latest achievement. I wouldn’t need to take any notes for a while.
As if to not disappoint my expectations, Roland cleared his throat dramatically, scanned the crowd with a false smile of remembrance, and continued, “When I first had the dream for Simulated Technologies, or SimTech, as we’ve come to be called, it was a dream of bringing the distant future into the present. Yes, with the brightest minds in the world...”
I snickered and shrank into non-existence as a few heads turned.
Roland continued as if he had heard nothing, which was likely. He was lost in his speech. I was sure a meteor could have struck him and he would still be speaking.
“...we have given you the very things many said were nothing but science fiction. We have brought you hover-cars running solely on hydro-electric power, androids and gynoids to assist in your daily lives and make them easier, bio-mechanical prostheses which look and operate like real limbs and organs, the best in recycling technologies, and now we bring you the greatest experience of your lives.”
Roland ripped the black cloth off the podium in front of him to reveal his latest device. I had to squint to see it, even from the third row. It appeared to be sunglasses. They had pitch black lenses that I was sure no one could see through and were visor shaped. Apart from their shape, they looked unassuming.
It was rather disappointing considering the large screen behind the panel. All the excitement building up in me withered. I could feel it deflating and not at a gradual pace.
“I know they don’t look like much now,” Roland addressed his depressed congregation, “but there is more to these beauties than meets the eye. Let me demonstrate.”
The screen behind Roland switched on and a split-screen view from the cameramen in front and behind showed every angle of his head. He slid the glasses on and pressed an unseen button in the corner of the lens. The temple bands that rested on Roland’s ears began to expand and wrapped around his head until the two bands clasped together.
Metal bands sprouted from all around the now-solid temple band, some reaching over and the rest under the band. They encased the entirety of Roland’s head. Some of the metal bands connected to each other while some connected to the visor-like lenses hiding Roland’s eyes. The whole process took only a few seconds and by the end Roland appeared to be wearing a robot head.
A security guard from SimTech walked onto the stage with a chair in his hands. He placed it directly behind Roland and helped sit Roland down. It appeared that with the visor on Roland wasn’t capable of moving his own body. The security guard pulled a USB cord out of his pocket and placed one end into a jack on the back of the helmet. The other end he attached to the side of the television.
The television screen shifted and instead of Roland's encased head, a man who looked much like Roland, only wearing armor and carrying a sword, was standing in the middle of a dark and eerie forest.
“Hello,” Roland spoke in a voice that sounded like his, but as a much younger man. He continued h
is explanation from inside this new world. “Unfortunately, this screen doesn’t do this world justice, but let me explain it to you as best I can.
“These are the fruits of seven years labor at SimTech; the very first simulated reality game in existence. Of course, this isn’t just a game. This is an entire universe with complete immersion. In this universe users are only able to create one account and only one account is allowed per visor. Once a visor has been worn for the first time it memorizes the wearer’s mental frequencies and will only operate when the one with those frequencies wears it. This is meant as a security measure much like fingerprints or retina scans.
“That person is then brought to the registration process where they create their account and character. In order to preserve the realism of this simulated universe, only one character is allowed per user account. The character you create can be anything you want. The system uses a unique programming language we call mental programming. It combines computer script and a system which can interpret the electrical signals in our brains, recreate those signals, and relay them to our brains. This is how we create the complete immersion atmosphere with all the body’s natural senses. The only sense which is dulled is the body’s ability to feel pain. A player can choose to play without pain or with varying degrees of pain from one to fifty percent.”
Roland continued talking to us as he moved through the world around him, coming upon a few hobgoblins. He engaged the hobgoblins in a fight and the crowd gasped. These non-player characters were intelligent. Unlike the games I’d tried to play and tired of quickly, these monsters didn’t simply charge at you from the front and keep swinging. They dodged attacks, tried to get behind Roland, counterattacked in unpredictable ways, tried to throw Roland off balance, and improvised in their attacks. They even went so far as to pick up rocks and sticks to throw at Roland and toss dirt at his eyes in a failed attempt to blind him.
They engaged Roland in fierce battle for a few minutes and then retreated. I’d only ever seen NPCs retreat in a few games and that didn’t usually happen until they were on the verge of death and weren’t able to move at more than a crippled pace.
This was different though. These monsters weren’t near death and moving slowly. They were running at full speed as if they had made the decision that they shouldn't fight anymore. It almost seemed like they weren't following an algorithm at all. These creatures seemed to possess real intelligence, and as impossible at it may seem, actually possessed free will. Most of them were uninjured or had only a few scratches. They probably could have won the fight if they’d continued. It was as if they realized the fight was taking longer than it should and decided to abandon Roland for easier prey.
When it was safe to talk, Roland addressed us again. Only now he was huffing with exertion. “The NPCs in this game have all been programmed with the greatest of artificial intelligence technology SimTech has to offer, making them every bit as independent as we are. They don’t simply follow a set of preprogrammed functions. They live in their world just as we live in ours.
“What’s more, this isn’t just a game. This is a complete universe designed to function in a multitude of ways. There are countless worlds and galaxies in this universe. Even we don’t know how many because the system AI who controls every aspect of the simulation is constantly creating new features for it. New planets, new NPCs, new plant life, and many other features are always being added. Just as the universe is constantly changing in our reality, the universe in this simulated reality does too.
“There are worlds in this game that were created to direct specifications such as the fantasy world I’m in, but there are other worlds that were created without any specifications by the system AI. These worlds were created for the purpose of exploration. No one, not even SimTech personnel, know what these worlds hold which makes the exploration a fun new feature for players.
“The worlds span genres, with some worlds designed for fantasy gamers, sci-fi, sports, war, historical, and even real-life worlds to name a few. If it can be imagined by the users, it can be done in the simulated reality. There are even more serious features for non-gaming use.
“Earth 2.0 is a world where serious matters are taken care of. People can attend school without leaving home, do virtual shopping inside an actual store where the items you buy are then sent to your home via mail or store personnel delivery, or even attend business meetings. Now people can gather from all over the world for a business meeting in the same virtual room. No more telephone or video conferences that get cut off from poor reception or spending money on plane fare just to spend a few hours in an office halfway around the world.
“Also, since we are a multilingual planet, the NPC's that you will meet inside the game are programmed to be multilingual. They take their cues from you. Whatever language you speak to them in is the language they answer you in. If you are multilingual, I suggest giving it a try. Speak to them in one language and switch to another halfway through the conversation. They will switch with you seamlessly.”
My excitement was quickly rekindling. If what Roland said was true, then I would finally get my wish. At last I could be spirited away to a world where I could be anything I wanted and do anything I wanted.
That was the start of my greatest adventure.
Valkyrie’s Birth
I kept close tabs on SimTech in the following days, looking for any news of their new simulated reality universe. The company gave no memorable name to the system, claiming that no name would do justice to such an integrated system. They ended up simply calling it what it was, the Simulated Reality Universe. In order to access the SRU, people had to purchase one SRU-visor for every player in their family that would participate, with each visor costing eight hundred dollars, plus tax.
I wasn’t complaining. It may have seemed expensive, but it was a one-time payment without having to pay for any membership fees or market items afterward. It was relatively cheap comparing it to the virtual reality hardware and software currently on the market which didn't provide nearly the same level of immersion since the experience was purely visual and no other senses were engaged, unless you spent even more money on accessories like haptic suits, haptic gloves, scent towers that mimicked smells, omnidirectional treadmills, and such.
SimTech gave away five thousand SRU-visors to those who signed up as beta-testers. I was lucky enough to be included in the beta-testing. I signed up for being a beta-tester as soon as I returned home from the press conference.
SimTech wanted to have at least twenty-five of the beta-testers be journalists who would write reviews. As New Tech, New You was one of the premiere technology magazines of the decade, I was selected as one of the reviewers. The remainder of the five thousand beta-testing positions were given at random to the over one hundred thousand people who signed up. The beta-testers would be testing the SRU for three months prior to its opening to the general public.
My SRU-visor had arrived in the mail two days ago and the game server was going online in five minutes. I sat on my bed, visor in hands, waiting as I counted down the seconds until I could finally escape into the world of my dreams. I had spent the last two days committing the manual to memory and I now understood exactly how the game worked. More than that, I was also starting to figure out how the game was programmed.
SimTech had created their own unique mind-scanning programming language and kept it secret in the hopes of keeping hackers out of the game, but it wasn’t going to last forever. The programming language was incredibly difficult, and the SimTech programmers had every right to be confident against hackers due to the complexity. I was certain that hackers would be able to crack the programming language, but I was equally certain that it would take them at least a year.
Me on the other hand....
Although I had no desire to hack the game, I found the challenge of deciphering this mysterious language intoxicating and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop
my curiosity until I fully understood it.
Those fools at SimTech believed they had the brightest minds in the world on their team, but there was one girl sitting right here who could outthink them all. With my brain, I was certain that this world would be my playground in only a few short weeks.
My mind was the only thing I had which I took pride in. I was arrogant about my intelligence from time to time, but I tried not to be. I reminded myself of my many flaws to keep myself from letting the arrogance take over.
I wasn’t a very fit person. Scrawny and weak, even for a woman. That’s what my dad had told me all my life, but in this game, it wasn’t the body but the mind that dominated. I was prepared for anything this world could throw at me. While I hadn’t been a very fit person, I had still read every book on martial arts that I could find. I had spent years when I was young trying to prove my dad wrong, but all I accomplished was making a fool out of myself. Reading martial arts books wasn’t going to make me a martial artist, but maybe, just maybe, in this world I could apply that knowledge with grace.
Ten, nine, eight...three, two, one. I slid the visor on and listened to the clicking noises as the metal bands enveloped me. I laid my body flat on the bed and waited with bated breath.
There was a small flash of red light and everything went black.
I was in a void of darkness. I tried to move, but nothing happened. I attempted to look down and realized I had no body. There was no feeling in this darkness and my senses were useless. I had become a consciousness void of the physical.
Then, from the darkness, emanated a voice. “Welcome to a world where anything is possible.” It was a disembodied female voice. “Before you enter Simulated Reality Universe for the first time, you will have to set up a user account and create a character. Please answer these simple questions.”
From within the darkness a small light flickered on. It was the light of a desk lamp. Where nothing had existed previously, a cluttered desk appeared with a gorgeous being behind it.
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