He’s a friendly enough guy, but I know his interest is really for his own skin. If I don’t keep up, I let our team down.
“It’s nothing to worry about,” I say. “I’ll snap out of it.” We eat in silence for a bit. “Hey,” I say. “You know anyone that’s ever been to VR World?”
“Aww, man. You’re not actually thinking of trying that sim shit out, are you? It’s not just goggles and gloves, dude. I heard they immerse you in this biological goo or some shit. I don’t think they’ve even fully tested that stuff for safety. You’d be like their guinea pig, except you’d be paying them for the pleasure of experimenting on you. I mean, who even knows how that full immersion stuff messes with your brain?”
“Sure, right,” I say, but something in my voice must have told him I’m not fully convinced, because he keeps on talking. Or maybe the fucker doesn’t get out much and will take any opportunity to listen to the sound of his own voice.
“There’s this guy on Reddit I follow,” Mike says. “He said he had this friend that went completely insane after just one visit to a full immersion VR tank. Like, they had to put him in an induced coma because that dude kept trying to hurt himself after he got out. Full-on psycho. Trent. Dude. You don’t want to be that guy.”
“Dude,” I say. “That’s harsh. I was just curious is all. Thanks for the skinny.”
I don’t know why, but I don’t believe him. I mean, how would something like that only be featured on Reddit? How would the company still exist, and not be completely decimated by safety fines and PR fiascos? Besides, one story of an immersion gone wrong isn’t enough to deter me. It was probably from their testing phase, anyway, and fully corrected by now. That’s why the mainstream news never covered anything like it.
Chapter 3
It’s Thursday. Molly’s girl’s night. She’s not going to be home until late. Normally I’d just go back to the apartment and log into the Arcadia MMORPG and hang out with my clan mates, but tonight I get off my train a few stops early at the downtown station and find my way to the local VR World office. The have them all over the country now, according to their website, which I’ve been browsing nonstop since I got off work.
The office is clean, sterile even, gleaming and new. There are big glass doors and the interior vidscreens are lit up with gorgeous panoramas from landscapes we as a species have long since trashed. Rainforests, great canyons, even cathedrals and some images that look like what I imagine must be ancient Rome.
I log in at the reception module and in mere moments there’s a sales guy in the lobby asking if I want coffee. “Nah,” I shake my head.
“Something stronger?” he asks with a charmer’s smile.
I shake my head again. “I’m good.”
“I see you’re a man on a mission. I’m Quinn, by the way.” He reaches out to shake my hand. It’s warm and I can tell mine is clammy in comparison. His smile is full of bleached white teeth and his sandy brown hair is perfectly coiffed. He fills his suit in such a way that I can tell he probably spends time working out. “Work’s getting to you, huh, man?” he says like we’re friends or something. I hate him already.
“Yeah, I guess,” I say.
“Well, come on back to my office. I’ve got the answer for you.” He seems really eager and then I realize he probably knows my credit rating from the ident card I scanned when I registered at the lobby. No wonder the fucker’s eager. Besides butter and my MMORPG subscription, I live pretty frugally, stash a lot away. Still, no matter how much I save, I’m nowhere near to gaining access to the real Arcadia. Tickets through the portal are made for billionaires and royalty only, it seems.
Quinn shows me into his office and gestures for me to take a seat. It’s more like a cocktail lounge than a place of business. There’s a round table surrounded by a high-backed, mushroom leather, bench seat. I slide in and feel instantly trapped as Quinn scoots in next to me. He starts talking and I can smell the minty freshness of his breath.
“So, what can I do for you? Need to get away from it all, I’m sure. What floats your boat? You want to hit the slopes in the Himalayas? Go SCUBA diving in the ruins of Atlantis? Maybe you need something more exotic?” He winks at me. “We’ve got babes and booze in the Bahamas ... Girls who will do anything you want. Or boys, if that’s the way you slant.” The man won’t let me get a word in edgewise. Isn’t the first rule of sales to listen to what the customer wants?
I’ve heard about all of this. I’ve spent hours scouring the internet about VR World. At first I thought it was just some fringe thing, but they’ve just gone global. Quinn is still talking. “Arcadia,” I cut in. “I want to go to Arcadia.”
“Oh, you want the full-on fantasy experience. Well, I don’t blame you. You know, one of my favorites is Ancient Egypt. You wouldn’t believe the creatures we have dreamed up for that sim. You can answer the Sphinx’s riddle, seduce Cleopatra—the whole shebang.”
“Look, Quinn,” I say, cutting him off before that minty breath threatens to suffocate me. Is there some reason he’s trying to steer me away from Arcadia? “I know what I want and it isn’t Ancient Egypt. Can you sell me the Arcadia package or not?” I move like I’m going to scoot out of the booth.
He puts his hands out as if to stay me. “Sure, sure,” he says, but he doesn’t seem very certain.
“Are you sure? Because you’re talking about everything else—”
“Hey now, no worries. I’m sorry about that. To be honest, elves just seem a bit strange. They’re kind of weird looking if you ask me. Those pointy ears and how freakishly tall they are. But hey, this is about you, not me.”
Damn right it is. “Tell me about Arcadia, then,” I say.
“So, your basic package gets you the tour of Silverkeep City and a jaunt through the countryside, complete with a dragon ride and a visit to the unicorn forest.”
“But there’s more than one package?” I prompt.
“Absolutely!”
Now we’re talking his language. I can practically see him counting his commission creds in his head. He settles in for the pitch, waves his hand over the vidscreen on the table. It glows with a sweeping panoramic view of Arcadia. It sings to me. I know this place. But here, even on the flat screen, it somehow seems more real than it ever has before.
“You’re a gamer, aren’t you?” he says. “I can tell. I see that look in your eyes.” He nods his head knowingly at me. “You know every inch of this landscape. You don’t need to see the layout of the city. You’ve already visited the unicorns. You’ve already flown on the backs of dragons. No, that’s not enough for you.”
“Go on,” I say, but it’s not like the guy needs prompting anymore.
“You want to be the hero, amiright?”
I give him the merest nod of my head. I feel a lust inside me for this. I already know I want it. Tell me about it already.
“At VR World, we can give you everything you want. Our quest line package sets you up not as you, but as your avatar from the game. By the end of the quest chains, you’ll be the hero of the land, win the hand of the lady in distress, engage in epic battles, and build memories to last a lifetime. You’ll see all the magnificent landscapes, smell the smells of the grand Silverkeep City. You’ll actually feel the buffs, taste the foodstuffs, and your body will be as strong or as smart as your character class allows.”
The dude must have practiced this, because I’d bet my last cred he’d never rolled a toon, but he knows how to speak my language.
“You get to go in game and feel the way a sword slices through heads, or how a fireball blazes through fingers ...”
I can tell he’s fishing. “My main’s a rogue,” I tell him. “Assassin class.”
“Then boy do we have some sweet daggers for you.” He moves his fingers and a sexy pair of jeweled daggers takes over the vidscreen. But more impressive than the rubies gleaming in the hilt is the flat black of the steel. It’s so dark it wants to disappear. I can almost feel how those blades must thir
st for blood, how their keen edge will slide into my enemy’s back.
“What else does the package include?” I ask. Like it matters anymore. Just take my money.
“Everything you want,” he says. “We set you up with a truly unique quest line. Every package we design at this level can only be played once. Just think of the stories you’ll be able to tell in your guild chat rooms once you get back from this baby. And no one else will ever have the same experience.”
I didn’t believe that at all. I’m sure that there were enough details changed from package to package that the company could claim it was unique, but it was all semantics. It’s not like they were actually going to build a completely unique quest line for me, Trent Webb.
Quinn is still talking. “Of course, you’ll have epic fights—and full access to the Silverkeep City bordellos ...” He winks at me again. When I don’t take the bait, he clears his throat and moves on. “Basically, it’s everything you’d ever want. The strength, the story, the weapons, the fantastical creatures, and the scantily clad girls, all at your disposal.”
“I have all that in game already,” I say. Now I have misgivings for some reason. He hasn’t even told me what’s on the price tag, but already I know Molly won’t like it.
“Not like this, you don’t,” he counters. “Full immersion VR, my friend. This isn’t like sitting behind your vidscreen with goggles and gloves. Our biometric sensors provide real feedback to your brain. You will become your avatar. Let me say that again.” He pauses for some kind of dramatic effect. “You will become your avatar.”
He’s looking at me intently. I’m not going to give him anything. “You’ll feel everything,” he says. We even employ real residents of Arcadia to play in our total immersion VR world, so you’ll be getting the real deal on the other side.
“This isn’t just a facsimile, it’s a living, breathing representation of the real thing, without the hassle of the online MMORPG. No waiting in line for the bosses to respawn, no overcrowding in the central cities, no griefing—unless you’re you in a PVP zone, of course, but you’ll know that well in advance. Plus, we’ll save your stats so that when you return for your next vacation, you can pick up right where you left off. This is actually better than really going there—you’ll experience all of it for a fraction of the cost of actually traversing the portal. I’m guaranteeing you the experience of a lifetime, my friend. I shit you not—if I had a choice between this and the real thing, I’d take this.”
Of course he’s going to say that. “How much?” I ask.
“See? I knew you’d be interested. I could see it in your eyes. Now, because I like you, I’m going to offer you the manager’s special. I don’t do this for everyone, so you have to be quiet about it, okay?”
“How much,” I say.
“I can get you in for a cool two mill.”
Fuck. If I’d taken that drink he’d offered I’d be spitting it all over the vidscreen about now. “That’s the special?” I say, and start to scoot out of the booth for real this time.
“Hey, that’s five hundred K off the regular price,” he says. “It’s the best I can do.”
“Maybe another time,” I say. Molly would fucking have my hide if I spent that much on a vacation without her. I keep scooting. Just then, the vidscreen zooms in for a close up of an elf. Not just any elf, but one that looks astonishingly like Catriona. So much so that my breath catches in my throat. I stop and stare for a moment. I could touch her. It’s my money, after all. It’s not like Molly does anything to add to our creds.
“I’ll do it for one point eight,” I say. “Final offer.”
“Well, I’ll have to cut almost all of my commission out of the deal,” he concedes, reaching out his hand to shake on it, “but you have yourself the package of a lifetime, my friend. You won’t regret it.”
Damn. He accepted that awfully quickly. I didn’t go low enough with my counter. Too late now. “I hope you’re right,” I say.
“Now, let’s get your virtual experience booked.”
The rest of the appointment goes by in a blur. Quinn deducts the credits from my account and we set a date for me to return to VR World. I can’t wait.
Chapter 4
When I return to VR World for my session and log in at the registration desk, Quinn is nowhere to be seen. Instead, an attendant in a white lab coat comes out and says, “Mr. Webb?” No one ever calls me that, it’s always just Trent, but I nod anyway. She has me scan my thumbprint for confirmation onto her tablet. “Very good,” she says. “This way, please.” Where Quinn was all smarmy and full of buddy-buddy personality, this woman is austere, all business, despite the bouncy dirty-blonde curls framing her face.
She directs me to step into a small white room. “I’ll take your vitals now. You can put your clothes in this locker.” She points to a gray cabinet. “Everything goes in,” she says. “Don’t worry. No one will have access but you. It’ll be keyed to your print as soon as you close it.” She looks at her tablet again. “I’ll go get your chamber set up and be back in a few minutes.”
I clear my throat. “I’m supposed to get naked for this?” I ask.
“Oh,” she says. “There’s a dressing gown in the cabinet for you.” With that, she leaves me in the small room. It reminds me of a doctor’s office. Sterile. A few instrument panels on the wall.
What the hell. Let’s do this. I strip and follow her instructions, putting on the thin cotton gown and closing my things in the steel gray cabinet. Then I sit on the white vinyl examination bench and wait.
It’s cold in here, and my thoughts wander to dark places. I wonder if I’ve made a mistake, if this adventure will be worth the creds or if it will turn into the most expensive regret of my adult life. I didn’t even tell Molly where I was going. She hasn’t accessed our savings to see the ding in the account. But I decided this is something I’m willing to ask forgiveness for, not permission. At the same time, this place is giving me all the wrong signals. I’m about to get up and get my clothes back on, ask for a refund, when the attendant comes back in.
“All ready?” She gives me a wan smile and doesn’t wait for my assent before waving her scanner over my body. She pauses a moment and there’s a beep. She looks over her tablet for a second, lips pursed, then looks up and cheerily says, “All good here! Follow me and we’ll get you set up in the immersion chamber.”
That sounds ominous. I swallow my misgivings and follow her out through a different door than the one we came in. Cold tile is replaced with lush carpeting. Somehow this makes me feel less naked as I walk down the hall in the thin hospital gown.
“Here we are.” She stops at a seemingly random door and presses a button on the wall. The pocket door slides open, revealing an even smaller room than the one we were just in. “After you.” She waves me ahead of her.
I step into the darkened chamber. It’s comfortably warm, and there’s a huge reclining chair taking up most of the chamber’s space.
“Have a seat,” she says. “Get comfortable.” She indicates the recliner.
“Okay,” I say, and follow her instructions again. I don’t know why, but I’m nervous. Maybe something Mike said. Fuck. That Redditor was proably just a troll anyway.
“It’ll be just a minute,” she says. “We just need Doctor Charles to join us.”
Wait. “Doctor? Is that really necessary? I thought this was totally harmless.”
“Of course it is, this is just a precaution. Doctor is an honorary title, really.”
What the fuck does that mean? Who the fuck is this guy? I take a sharp breath in and force it out, then do that again before saying, “Okay,” again.
At least the chair is really freaking comfortable. It’s warmed up and the whole damn thing is skin temperature. I can’t tell where my ass ends and the chair begins.
“Is this your first trip with us?” the attendant asks.
Now she’s making small talk? “Yup,” I say, not feeling particularly like chatting
.
“Well, don’t worry. Almost nothing ever goes wrong.” Then she laughs, like what she’s saying is actually supposed to be funny. I just look at her.
It’s then that the guy who must be the “doctor” walks in. “Mr. Webb?” he says.
I nod. “That’s me.”
“Great. I’m Doctor Charles. And of course you’ve already met Alice.” I hadn’t, actually. But that’s okay.
“Of course,” I say. “Nice to meet you.”
He smiles and I am somehow reassured. He’s got one of those personalities that just calms a room right down. Soothing bedside manner, I think that’s what they call it. They probably hire their doctors solely based on that criteria. “All right, Alice,” he says. “What’ve we got here?”
“Arcadia visit, sir. Full custom quest package.”
“Excellent, excellent.” He puts his hand out expectantly and she passes her tablet to him and he looks it over. “All right, then,” he says. “Alice here is going to get you all set up and while she does that I’ll go over some of the options for your experience.”
Alice goes to the wall and depresses another button. A drawer slides open and I can hear her taking a few things out. She snaps on some latex gloves and squeezes a glob of what looks like lube onto them. I must look concerned, because she says, “The jelly is just to improve the biometric connection.”
“Yes, try to ignore what she’s doing,” Doctor Charles adds. “Now, I see we have your avatar queued up from the MMORPG. Is that all right with you? Last chance to change it.”
Alice leans over me and spreads the cold jelly on my forehead and I yelp. “It’ll warm up soon enough,” she says, and pulls my head forward so she can access the back of my neck, which she also goops up.
“What about your name. Good to keep the one you selected to play with in regular VR?”
I think about that for a moment. That name had brought me a lot of grief over the years I’d played regular VR with it, but it was one I’d fought hard for. The spelling wasn’t too fucked up, which indicated I was one of the first players to snag the name. People gave me shit for it all the time, sure, but it was lovingly given, and it made me feel noticed in a sea of players. It was my shtick, my thing, the ice pick that broke the barrier of conversation and allowed people to start talking to me in game. Then they’d find out that I wasn’t an asshole and I’d find out if they were or not and I made friends quickly that way. So what if the price was a little grief? “Yeah, I’ll keep it,” I say.
Arcadia Unlocked: A LitRPG Novel (Arcadia LitRPG Book 1) Page 2