by L. R. Wolf
Dreamscape: Infinity (Book 1)
By L.R. Wolf
**********DISCLAIMER**********
©2017, 2018 L.R. Wolf
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the author
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This includes any and all artwork and written word contained within. IE Cover art etc.
Coverart by [email protected]
**********WARNING**********
This book contains simulated graphic violence, strong language and innuendo
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For my kids, husband, mom, mom & dad in law as well as the rest of my family and friends who supported me in this endeavor! Special shoutout to the talented artists in the BoC discord channel!!
Chapter 1: Special Delivery
∆∆∆
A woman seemingly in her mid to late thirties lounges on a couch staring at, what appears to be, a blank white wall. She absently brushes a few stray auburn hairs away from her face and back behind her ear as she rocks a little blonde boy to sleep. A little redheaded girl sits beside the woman staring at the same wall and giggling at something only she can see.
A sharply dressed man materializes in the corner of the room. As he begins his sales pitch, various images flash across the wall. A big buff man wearing a superhero costume, a beautiful movie star posing at the premiere of their new movie, a little boy wearing a uniform and holding a helmet emblazoned with the logo of their favorite team, a happy couple standing in the shallows of a beautiful beach, the next big movie and tv show playing a trailer quickly across the side of the wall.
“The problem with dreams is that, in most cases, they can’t be controlled. There may be dreams that you would love to have again and again or never again, for that matter. With our patented Lucidity technology, we allow people to take control of their dreams. You can be everything you want to be or do everything you want to do! Want to be a superhero and save the world day after day? Lucidity will allow you to do that! Be the star of your own movie? Be the star player on your favorite sports team? How about going on that dream vacation you’ve always wanted, but just couldn’t afford or didn’t have the time for? Not enough hours in the day to get out and watch your favorite movie or show because you’re off doing something with your kids or stuck at work? Or how about just relaxing in front of a warm fire reading your favorite book. Now you can do it all with Lucidity. The biggest thing in entertainment since the invention of the internet! Remember, here at Dreamscape, we make your dreams an escape! ” The image of the man faded away to be replaced by a cartoon featuring a family of little yellow people, the blue haired mom was carrying a baby with a pacifier while two more kids laughed at a cartoon on the animated tv.
The woman watching the vision sighed at the salesman. The Lucidity visor was something she had wanted for awhile, but the price was rather substantial. Her husband worked all day while she cared for the two children and it was still barely enough to scrape by. The cost of just one single new Lucidity visor was almost half a year of his salary.
She looked down at the sleeping face of her little boy and then gently stood up so as not to wake him. Her blue eyes flicked a bit as she dismissed the TV show she had been watching via the HUD attached to her glasses. She walked into the next room and laid the sleeping child in his crib before returning to the couch where her daughter was still watching some holographic cartoons on her own HUD.
A small icon blinked at the edge of her vision informing her of a new message. She quickly flicked her eyes towards the icon opening the video message from a guild member. He was using the chat feature of their current game so that it was his game avatar speaking since that would be the most recognizable to Noel. This feature allowed people to record video messages using their game avatars. These avatars had a full range of expressions because it recorded the person speaking and how they express themselves and using that for their avatar’s facial expressions. A human avatar in incredibly ornate blue robes and wearing a crown of purple light with stars flowing through it appeared in her vision, the avatar dictating the message in a rather pleasant english accent.
“Hey Noel! How’s it going?! Haven’t heard from you in awhile and figured I’d check in to see how things were. The guild has been missing you! Everyone has been talking about that new VRMMORPG that’s supposed to drop tomorrow night! Sounds like a few guildies will be picking it up. It’s a lucidity based game so if you’ve got the gear then you’re all set. We might actually get to see you then since it’s dream tech and you’d be asleep! LOL Anyhow, check the guild forums since they’ve been compiling bits of information about the game so we know as much as possible before the launch, which isn’t much at this point but still! Catch you later!”
The avatar faded away leaving Noel grinning at the message. She’d been lurking on the guild forums gathering as much information on the upcoming game even though it was unlikely she would get to play, but at least she would know what was going on in the game her guildmates would likely be playing at night while they slept. There was actually very little information regarding the game outside of the most basic information possible. The rumor was that the beta testers had a strict non disclosure agreement that would prohibit them from saying or posting anything about the game. Punishment for even a wayward screenshot was an instant ban from the beta AND the game itself once released. No one in their right mind was willing to risk fifteen minutes of fame for a lifetime ban from a game that could prove incredibly lucrative.
She flicked her eyes again opening up the “Bound and Determined” guild pages before navigating to the Infinity page. A grin spread across her face as she saw familiar names posting various basic guides about the unreleased game.
*How to survive Infinity! Basic tips and tricks! -Velera
*Who’s playing Infinity?! BAD Rollcall! -Ark
*Infinity Boot camp- Doug
There were a few other topics similarly named but due to the lack of information she flicked her eyes towards the “Basic tips and tricks”, opening a video message. Again, her guildmate had used the avatar chat feature for the forum message. Her guildmate, Velera, an elven woman with pearly white skin and wearing a helm made of horns, feathers and fur appeared in her vision before the avatar began speaking.
“Greetings my BAD brothers and sisters! I know there’s currently very little information about the new upcoming game that we’ve all been drooling about since we first heard about it last year, but I figured I’d take the time to remind everyone what a cluster bomb the release of our current virtual world was in the beginning. If you were one of the chosen few to have picked it up in the beginning I’m sure you will have fond memories of being bombarded by a barrage of notifications during combat. Always remember upon entering Infinity, or any game for that matter, to adjust your notifications and your HUD to your liking before setting out upon your adventures!”
“Don’t forget to pick up any tradeskills or gathering skills and keep them leveled! As most of you are aware, tradeskills and gathering skills are a great way to make money early on in any new game!!”
“For the love of all that’s holy do NOT skip the tutorial! If I see one more gnome go flying by me with their hair on fire I will never let you live it down! I’m looking at you Karm!!”
More avatars flashed on the screen as her guildmates avatars replied first to the post, then to one another. First a gnome with fiery red hair and feathers adorning her shoulders and then the same human avatar she had seen before.
Reply from K
arm-That was one time V! Ok maybe twice...or was it three times? *coughs*
Reply from Ark-Well that explains why I always smelled singed hair when standing next to her. Come to think of it, don’t all gnomes smell like that?? ;D
Reply from Karm- STFU Ark
Reply from Ark-*snickers* <3
Noel laughed aloud at the antics of her guildmates. Though she had never met any of these people, she loved them all. Before her kids came along she had gone on many adventures with these people, these strangers. Some of them were almost like family after all this time. She knew their names, where they lived, their spouses and children’s names and their birthdays. They often posted pictures of their families on the guild website. Together, they had faced some of the most difficult content available ranging from uber dungeons to ancient raids. Her play time had dwindled more and more once her daughter arrived and had become virtually nonexistent with the arrival of her son. Now she lived, or rather gamed, vicariously through her guildmates by watching their gaming streams.
Another icon appeared in the upper corner of her vision, a blinking mail icon. She flicked her eyes up towards it to open it as it indicated an urgent delivery. A mechanical voice narrated the message into her ear via the earpiece attached to the glasses.
“Greetings home dweller! One of our drones is currently one minute away from your current location with your package in tow! The package will be delivered to the backdoor shortly. If you wish to be present during the delivery of the package, please remember to stay away from the drone so as not to trigger any of its defensive mechanisms! Please keep all pets and children away from the drone! Thank you for relying on the Drone Postal Service (DPS) for all of your delivery needs!”
Noel rose from the couch and headed for the backdoor. All sorts of toys were strewn about the floor. She managed to avoid a teddy bear and two dinosaurs that were seemingly poised to attack, but her attempts at successfully dodging all of the toy traps were foiled by a large lego that was stealthily hiding beneath a colorful playmat. She cursed under her breath and then quickly turned her head back towards her daughter to see if she had heard. The little girl was still entrenched in her holo cartoons and hadn’t noticed. She continued on towards the back door.
A black drone dropped down from the sky as she opened the door outside, a small brown package was being held firmly against the underside of the drone by four claw like devices. The blades of the delivery drone hummed quietly as it lowered itself quickly and precisely, the claw on each corner of the package opening up to release its precious cargo onto a clearing in the backyard. Noel waited while the drone finished delivering the package before it slowly rose back into the air and then shot away from the house back to its homebase.
She approached the package and bent over to pick it up. She noticed her own name on the delivery tag. Her brow furrowed as she tried to remember if she had ordered anything recently, but before she could think on it further a tone in her ear indicated an incoming call. The HUD indicated it was her husband calling. She tapped her right ear to open the call.
“Hi honey! How’s your day going?” Noel said with a smile as she closed the back door behind her and placed the package on the kitchen table. The image of a man appeared at the side of her vision. Her husband had brown hair, his HUD lit up his brown eyes. His face was slightly round as he was a bit overweight. His voice was low as he tried to keep his excitement from showing through. A flicker of his eyes told her that he was opening something in his HUD.
“I see that the package has arrived. I was going to have you wait until I got home before I let you open it, but I figured it would drive you insane.” His eyes sparkled with mischief.
“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Noel grinned and shook her head. Her husband knew her way too well. “If I’m going to open this now then how about you holo over so you can watch?” She flicked her eyes to an icon at the top of her vision then over to the side as her eyes scrolled over to something. Her head tilted up ever so slightly as she sent her husband a holo invite. Once he accepted, the kitchen started to fill with light. Before too long her husband was standing in the kitchen with her, a giant smile adorning his face. He looked like their kids on christmas morning.
“Ok, you can open it now!” He was practically bouncing. If he had actually been there, Noel was quite sure that he would have ripped the package open himself. An evil grin spread across her face.
“I really should go check on the kids and make sure they’re doing ok first….”She trailed off as she watched his face. He strode over to where the package was sitting, his hands swiping at the box as if trying to open it. It looked as if his hands disappeared inside of the box.
“Woman! Hurry up and open it!” He was trying to frown, but never quite made it. With a grin she finally relented and opened the package. She pulled apart the brown paper revealing a secured box underneath. She placed a finger on the top of the box using her fingerprint to unlock it then gingerly opened the lid to unveil the contents hiding within. Her jaw dropped as her eyes focused on two sleek black visors and two black wristbands.
“Is that...how did you...where…” She ran a hand over one of the visors as she stammered out the response. She was looking at not one, but two, of the newest most advanced Lucidity gear sets. The visor was used to scan brainwaves and to connect a person to Dreamscape servers. This is what allowed people to actually connect to other people even while dreaming. The wristband was used to monitor vital signs from heart rate to blood pressure and even blood sugar. “Seriously Ray, how did you do this?!”
Ray smiled as he saw the shock and anticipation on his wife’s lovely face. “Well since we haven’t had time to do much gaming the last few years, I decided to sell my WotW3 account.” He cringed a bit as he saw the look of shock on her face. They had first met in their first virtual game Forever Questing. Since then, they had been nearly inseparable both in life and online gaming. They made the jump from Forever Questing to War of the Worlds when it released 12 years ago. During that time, Ray had jumped to the top of the Shadow Warrior class boards. Together they had amassed a rather large fortune in gold and rare artifacts. Over the years they had both sold gold and items through the official game marketplaces. Enough to be able to buy the house they were living in and a new car, as well as paying off some medical bills.
She stared at him, not believing what she had heard. An account like his could have easily garnered enough money for the two sets sitting in front of her plus more. “You...sold…” She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence. She turned towards him and reached out to hug him, but her arms met with only air as he was only there holographically at the moment. He chuckled as she recovered from the misstep.
“It comes preinstalled with Infinity. So tonight, my dear, we take a dream vacation, and tomorrow we dine in Infinity, but for now I have to get back to work.” He blew her a kiss.
“Thank you for this, Ray...We’ll see you tonight. I love you!” Ray smiled broadly and with an imperceptible flick of his eyes the hologram faded and he disappeared from the room, reappearing at the side of her vision.
“I love you too! Think about where you want to go tonight! See you after work!” Noel heard him say before she disconnected the call with another quick eye movement. Noel continued to stare at the visors, her thoughts a jumble of emotions. She was excited about being able to go on some more adventures, but for now, she had children to attend to.
Chapter 2: Infinity Online
∆∆∆
Noel and Ray both woke woke the next morning completely refreshed Later that day as Noel settled down after morning chores, she took a moment to reminisce about the previous night. They had decided to take a quick dream vacation somewhere they had been before just to see how this new tech worked. They had played many virtual reality games ranging from RPGs to space faring games and first person shooters. All of those games did a fine job of making you feel like you were in the game, but not actually a p
art of the game. Not one of them even came close to what they had experienced in the Dreamscape.
Noel closed her eyes as she thought about the previous night. She and Ray had decided on going to the beach just to relax. The experience was mind blowing. Once they were synced up together they had appeared in a bedroom overlooking a beautiful white beach. They could hear the waves of the ocean, could smell the salt in the air. Walking outside and down to the crystal clear water they could feel the sun on their skin and the sand under their feet. As they had chosen a private vacation for their first time, it was just the two of them there alone, able to do whatever they wanted. Ray had seemed to summon a picnic dinner from thin air. He had pizza while she had steak. Every bite was packed with flavor as if she were actually eating steak in the real world. Afterwards they took a swim in the warm clear water, dolphins had come right up to them and allowed the two to touch them.
She smiled to herself and flicked her eyes up to the guild forums to make a post.
Who’s ready to be BAD?! -Aya
“Long time no see my friends! I figured I’d let you all know that my glorious shadow warrior of a husband managed to pick up two new Lucidity visors just in time for the release of Infinity! I’ll be using my regular gaming tag so keep an eye out for me! See you tonight and pleasant Dreams to you all!” When she was done posting she closed out of the guild forums. Her eyes focused on the two children playing on the floor in front of her. They were chasing after a holographic cat and mouse. She loved her children a great deal, but there were times she just wanted to get away for a bit. With the Lucidity visors, the Dreamscape and Infinity, she would be able to get away, without actually going anywhere.