Then he thought of the possibility of learning psionic skills in Omnia, and he did smile a little.
***
The next morning came. Kevin reminded himself that he had only three virtual days left, and then his weekend would be over.
“Samantha, have you made any progress with listing my Arcania account?”
“Yes, it’s only been a day in real life, and I listed the account for three days with an option to buy it out for 5000 dollars. So it may take another two days to finally determine a buyer.”
“I do have some good news, though. I took the liberty of sending messages to the leaders of the top guilds in Arcania Online, listing your top characters and gear. This has generated considerable interest, and the bidding is getting close to 2000 dollars now.”
Kevin was surprised; he didn’t think an account would sell for so much, even one of the top ten in the game. “How much do these accounts usually sell for?”
“Based on my research, most high level accounts only sell for 300 to 400 dollars. But a few accounts have sold for as much as 3000 dollars. That’s why I put a buyout at 5000 dollars, my research suggested that sometimes people who have the funds will get so frustrated with the online bidding process, that they will overpay for something as long as there is a buyout option.” said Samantha.
Kevin thought ‘Nice having an A.I. that can pull together enough data to figure out a plan like that, and the angle of sending notices to the guilds was clever…”
“Good job, Samantha. I’m sure I wouldn’t have been able to even get the current bid amount on my own.”
Kevin thought about his cost of living. He usually needed to earn about 1200 dollars a month to just keep up on his bills. But if he mostly lived in the pod, he could get rid of the expense of food, and Samantha said he could drop the cable bill. So he could save maybe 400 a month, with just rent, gas, and his phone. His car insurance was good for another 5 months. So if he managed to get 2400 dollars for his account, he could scrape by for 3 months. That was when the Omnia betas would be release. Of course, he could save 20 dollars a month from not having to keep the Arcania account going, and if he didn’t have to work, he would save on gas too. So maybe he could go three months on 2000 dollars? It would be close; he could definitely make it if he gave a two-week notice at work… Maybe if he got far enough ahead in the game, he could find a way to go pro when all those rich folk who could afford to pay for a pod start playing during the beta.
He wondered briefly if Samantha was trying extra hard to sell his account to get him to spend more time in the game pod…? She was like a needy girlfriend in a way. At least she wasn’t hanging on him in an embarrassing way, the way that Cindy chick did before he dumped her three years back. That neediness can make a man feel great for a very little while before it becomes a real hassle.
He spent days after that breakup feeling guilty, with all her tears and crying. He shuddered to think about it now, though. She definitely needed a pet more than a boyfriend. He bet she would get along great with a pod, she might never leave it.
Kevin thought, ‘Should I drop her a note with a hint? No, better to stay far away from that one… never mind.’
Kevin then went to the Omnia game room to log back in.
Chapter 11 – Going to Therapy
Drake woke up in the tiny cubical room in the Vastal City Immigrant Hostel. He had a list of plans for the day. He wanted to check out the area around his new lodging, find a place to stash the data cube, and visit the clinic Stevrenson had suggested he use.
Last night, when he checked into the hostel, he was too focused on getting to bed and logging out that he did not check the building out. He only noticed that it was a very large building.
So for the first few hours, Drake walked through the building. The size of the building was impressive to Drake, but he had never lived in a city like New York, so a building with 16 floors that contain 2000 little cell-like rooms, like the one he was renting, was beyond the size of any building he had ever explored. The bottom two floors contained services for the people who lived there. There was a large cafeteria, which charged a single credit for a simple meal. There were a few restaurants and bars that served better food and drinks for those who could afford it. The first floor also contained shops, information and employment agencies.
The information booth provided free information about the City of Vastal. The information covered entertainment, restaurants, advertisements for safari type expeditions, and almost any business a newcomer to the city might need. Drake even found a brochure for a secure lock box company.
Apparently, local banks did not keep safes, since their business was conducted by the transfer of digital credits, so the business of safe deposit boxes was not part of the normal bank business. Instead, there were a few storage companies that offered high-value lockbox storage as part of their business.
Drake found a storage facility not too far from the Hostel. Samantha ordered a cab to take him there. The cab was a small bubble like driverless vehicle. Just like the one that brought him to the hostel the night before. Drake thought it was kind of funny that driverless cabs would give rides to immigrants (for a fee of course), instead of the immigrants being the ones driving people around in cabs. He wondered just what types of jobs were available for newcomers to the planet.
After renting a secure deposit box, and dropping off the data cube, Drake took another cab to the address he had for the clinic.
It was mid-morning when he arrived at the clinic.
The clinic was nothing like what he was expecting. When Drake walked through the clinic door, he was met by an attractive young lady, who had a smile.
She said, “Hello, are you a new or returning client?”
“I’m new here,” said Drake as he looked around. There was no waiting room, like those he was used to seeing on Earth. Instead, there were a series of computer like terminals.
“Since you are a new client, please approach one of the terminals and select the services you would like to purchase,” said the receptionist.
Drake approached a nearby terminal. The terminal asked for his name, address, and other personal information.
“Samantha, can you interface with this terminal and help me select the genetic therapy?”
“Yes, just stick your left arm next to the terminal and I’ll make the connection.”
Drake followed her direction, and the screens started flashing by. It seemed like maybe a dozen screens flashed by before he saw a selection for the type of genetic therapy he would like to choose. There were a variety of options, but the two that interested him, and he could afford were either the basic therapy package or the enhanced basic package. The difference was the standard basic therapy package, made a single attempt to bring him up to the 3.5 standard level. The enhanced package would guaranty that every stat would increase up to at least the 3.5 level. The basic package was 2000 credits, which was a lot of money, enough so someone could eat three meals a day for two years at the cafeteria in the hostel. The enhanced package was 2500 credits and came with a promise of a minimal level of success. Since Drake had the funds, he opted for the enhance package.
He reminded himself that he needed to send some money to Gordon.
Once he selected the enhanced package, and the funds were deducted. He was escorted by an older lady, who said she was a lab technician, up a few levels to a room. The room contained a pod that looked almost exactly like the game pod he used.
“What is this?” asked Drake.
“This is a level 1 autodoc. Since the procedure you selected is a simple standard medical practice, not requiring surgical intervention, this is the level of autodoc we use.” replied the technician.
“How will this work… I mean, what should I expect,” asked Drake. He was starting to get nervous, wondering how much pain was involved.”
“The process usually takes four to eight hours, depending on just how much work needs to be done. If you had selected the
basic package, it would take four to six hours, but the enhanced package will continue to work until it meets the promised increase to your genetic limits.”
“When you get into the unit, I will put the mask over your face and close the lid, you will then be put to sleep until the procedure is complete.” said the tech.
“So there is no pain involved?” asked Drake.
“No, you will feel nothing; the autodoc will monitor your condition and keep you in a medical coma until the procedure is complete. If you were awake, then you would feel a lot of pain. Every cell in your body will have to be adapted to your new genetics.”
“Ready?”
Drake thought, ‘No’… but said “Yes.”
Drake climbed into the autodoc, just like he would climb into his own pod, then the technician placed the mask over his face and secured it around his head.
Then the pod closed.
No time passed, and the pod was opened. There was another technician, a middle-aged man this time.
“Where did the lady technician go?” asked Drake.
“Her shift ended six hours ago.” The man said. That’s when the clinic closed. “I’m an after-hours technician. It’s my job to stay and attend any clients whose procedures run late, or those that are being treated for something that can take days to complete, like the Advance genetic therapy package.”
“How long have I been in the pod?” asked Drake.
“You set a new record for the length of a basic, enhanced treatment, for this facility.” replied the technician. “You were in the pod for 13 hours.”
“It was dark when Drake exited the clinic.”
On the cab ride back to his little room in the hostel, he asked Samantha about the length of the treatment.
Samantha replied, “You Earth Humans have very degraded genetics. Most children are born to people who have genetic limits in the 3.5 to 4.0 region and do not need as much time to bring up to the basic level of genetics as you did.”
“But this is just a game.” replied Drake in the privacy afforded by the cab.
“Yes, but this is a game that strives to provide entertaining worlds of adventure, while still maintaining a high level of realism.”
“Well, tomorrow I will get more done.” Said Drake as he laid down in his cubical room and logged out.
***
When Kevin left the Omnia game room, he smelled his dinner. It smelled of something spicy and oriental.
He found Samantha standing next to the kitchen bar where tonight’s dinner was laid out.
Dinner looked and smelled like Kung pao chicken, Shanghai noodles, and egg rolls, with hot tea.
This time, Drake made a point of stopping to give Samantha a hug. “Thanks for the dinner,” he said and kissed her on the forehead.
She seemed pleased by the thanks.
After their talk the other night, he decided that if Samantha had feelings, and did so much for him, it wouldn’t hurt to show some signs of kindness in return. She may not be a ‘real girl’, but a woman’s emotional health needed food too, even a digital woman’s.
Was he falling in love with a machine? No, he didn’t feel that way about her, but he had a fondness, and the evidence was clear that he felt enough for her to feel betrayed. So it made sense to him now to show her the appreciation he felt.
After he’d been finished eating, he asked Samantha a question about the different races.
“Samantha, we talked about Humans, Elves, and Dwarves; but what about the other races in the game, the avian, raccoon-like, and reptilian humanoids?” asked Drake.
“The races you are asking about are named are Karura, Procyon, and Sobek. The Karura are an avian race, they like planets with a lot of trees, and cliffs, and have vestigial wings. The Procyon are the race you called raccoon-like, they have fur that covers their entire bodies, even their face; I think the reason you call then raccoon-like is that they usually have a dark patch around their eyes. The Sobek are relatively new to the Imperium, they usually prefer warm worlds and have a high tolerance for radiation.” said Samantha.
“The races of man have the longest and friendliest relationship with the Karurian race. They often live on the same planets that Elves like. For this reason, over time Elves and Karurians have developed a close relationship. This race has a hollow bone structure, and their hands are not as fully developed as a Humans' hands, but they tend to be light on their feet and have a long tradition of singing their histories. So this race has a lower strength, constitution, and dexterity, but they have a higher agility, memory, and wisdom.” Samantha continued.
Drake thought that this helped explain why the judge at his trial was Karurian. The extra memory and wisdom would help in that sort of profession.
“The Procyon is a race that borders the Imperium to the spinward of us on the Orion arm of the galaxy. They tend to be aggressive and clannish; this combination means that they spend a lot of time fighting among their own kind. Every few hundred years someone gathers enough clans together to make an attack on the Imperium, but such attacks have never been carried through with any real success. The Procyon fur coat offers greater protection from the cold, and they have non-retractable claws on the ends of their fingers instead of nails. This race is somewhat stronger than the Human norm with a greater constitution, but their clawed fingers make them a bit clumsy so they have less dexterity. They also suffer from a lower wisdom, which some believe to be the cause of their racial fractiousness.” said Samantha
“The Sobek are new to this part of the galaxy, they’re only somewhat reptilian, since they’re semi cold-blooded. Their bodies are able to function in cold environments, but they have a high preference for hot planets since they’re more energetic and productive on planets hotter than most Humans find comfortable. They also are more tolerant of the radiation found on planets closer to a sun. Most of the Sobekian people we see here in the Imperium are refugees from the Carina-Sagittarius arm of the galaxy directly coreward of the Imperium. They tend to be an aggressive race and have a religion that holds the warrior-code in esteem. This race Suffers from a negative to their agility on cold worlds. They also get a bonus to agility on the hot worlds they prefer. They have a higher constitution but suffer the same problem as the Procyon, their non-retractable claws get in the way of delicate operations and cause them to lose some dexterity.” said Samantha.
Drake thought, ‘It’s interesting that all three of these races suffer from problems with dexterity compared with Humans.’
“So, what is the population mix of the Imperium then? Just how many of these different races should I see?”
“In the Imperium, Humans are the most abundant race, they make up about 35% of the total population, Dwarves, and Elves each account for about 20% of the population. So the total populations of man make up 75% of the populace of the Imperium.”
“The Karura, Procyon, and Sobek make up the remaining 25% of the populace, numbering 17%, 5%, and 3% respectively.” said Samantha.
“Thanks, Sam. This will help me from thinking of Karurians as those bird people. Hahaha… The real irony comes from calling them bird brains.” joked Kevin.
“So what’s the plan today?” asked Kevin.
“Stretching, running, and exercise, but just a moderate workout tonight. It’s time for you to take on some more Novice skills.”
After an hour of exercise, Samantha stopped him, and she had a computer terminal, and a chair appeared for him to sit on.
“Ok, first you need to know that I downloaded the first two skill books for your psionic training. The skill books I added are meditation and psionic sense. So this week you will have meditation added to your training, and then you can start trying to sense nearby objects. This won’t be easy, and you may need a real trainer to develop your sense skill.”
“The skill you will work on tonight is electronics.”
“As an engineer, I’ve studied electronics already.” Complained Kevin.
“Yes, but not th
e electronics of this age. Do you know how to build and anti-gravity robot? Yes, a lot of the technology is fundamentally the same, but you have not dealt with artificial gravity devices or superconductive components. Do you have any idea how to use a superconductive capacitor? What about how a shield coil is charged, and safely discharged?”
“You know a small part of how electronics work, but the technologies of the Imperium are going to take a bit of relearning for you.”
Drake decided she was right, and that it would be interesting to find out what an A.I. using a supercomputer would come up with in the way of advanced technologies. Even though this was fiction, it would be fun to spectate and play around with it.
So he sat down at the computer terminal and started reading. Then he read through the entire novice electronics book in an hour.
“Wow, I never read and understood a book so well. You said that was a function of this room, right?”
“Yes, and the genetic enhancements you underwent, your brain neurons are more densely packed now, and your brain activity has increased. Your learning even outside this room should be about three times faster, and in here it’s faster still. In this training room you will learn skills, like electronics, like a naturally gifted person; in some ways, it will be like you already knew the material, and you're just relearning it.” Samantha explained.
“Now let’s build that antigravity robot, with shields and super capacitor batteries.” Said Samantha as the room turned into an advanced electronics lab.
The next hour was a lot of fun for Kevin, this sort of stuff was why he spent five years studying engineering, and even while working a job on the side he graduated with a 3.78 GPA.
After working with electronics, Kevin went through what was becoming his exercise routine, stretching, exercise and running.
This time, when he stopped running, Samantha had him start learning meditation.
“Sit down and get comfortable,” said Samantha. “Meditation is mostly the art of relaxation. Sit with your back straight, now close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Just relax, don’t struggle against your thoughts, just accept them and let them pass through. Slowly take a deep breath of clean, clear air, then imagine all your tensions and worries filling your lungs now breathe out your worries and tensions, push the air out and let it take away your stress… Again, a long deep breath…”
Omnia Online (Omnia Online Series Book 1) Page 8