by Tom Larcombe
Light Online
Book one:
Farmer
By: Tom Larcombe
Text copyright © 2019, Thomas Larcombe
All Rights Reserved
This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, businesses, places, and events
are the products of the author’s imagination.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,
or actual events is purely coincidental.
You can see the author's other novels (non-LitRPG) at:
Tom Larcombe's Amazon Author Page
Dedication:
For my wife Heather, who makes my writing possible.
Cover Credits:
The cover isn't a perfect fit for the book, but it was done by Sonya Larcombe.
Good catch, same last name, she's my daughter who is pursuing a career
in art. So I commissioned the cover from her to help her out with that and
get more eyes on her work.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
About the Author:
Chapter One
The technician looked up at the man supervising him.
“Are you sure you want these pods set up this way Allan?” he asked.
Allan glared at him.
“Do it. Just like the diagram shows.”
“Yeah, but I thought this game had a time limit of thirty days online at one time before the player had to take a day off?”
Allan sighed heavily.
“That's what we're trying to fix. We've got everything covered, players should be able to go for a lot longer than that with our system. The problem was overloading of the brain. They didn't constantly update the player's brain with the memories of what they'd done in game, they kept those local and fed them all into the brain at logout. These rigs should do a daily memory dump to the brain, limiting the possibility of an overload. I don't know why they didn't do it this way in the first place, but once we prove to them it works they're going to snap up our procedure and we'll be hundreds of millions of dollars richer.”
The technician shook his head, but went back to installing the modifications he'd been hired to install.
Allan looked down at the sheet in his hand, scanning through it one last time. When he was satisfied that the ad read the way he wanted it to he walked back to his office and submitted the listing to a local online paper.
He kicked back in his office chair, putting his feet on the desk. The monitor in front of him showed an in-game view from the perspective of one of the men he had working there for him. The wide open field had plows running through it, pulled by something that closely resembled oxen. When the employee turned around Allan saw the farmhouse, complete with outbuildings to house workers. He grinned to himself as he thought about the extra money he'd be pulling in during the test.
~ ~ ~
Eddie stared at the screen on his wall. The job listings in his area scrolled past just slowly enough that he could read them and stop on any that might interest him. His eyes flickered around his tiny efficiency apartment, all three hundred and fifty square feet of it. When he was looking for a place of his own it was the only one he could afford. Now, if he didn't find work again soon, he wouldn't even be able to afford this place.
His eyes flashed back to the screen as he stopped it from continuing to scroll.
Did I just see that right? he thought.
Sure enough, after he'd scrolled back several lines, the same entry caught his eye.
'Looking for people to farm in Light Online' the ad read.
He clicked the link, eagerly scanning the details.
'Position will require applicant to move to a company supplied location for LTI farming of Light Online.
Remuneration for successful hires includes room, board, and a small cash stipend.
Email for further details.'
The listing ended with an email link that he immediately clicked.
Hot damn! Mom told me that gaming would never get me anywhere in life, he thought. If she were still alive I'd have to forward the listing to her, after I applied of course. It just shows how bad it is in the USA now though. It used to be that farming gold or items in online games was only profitable in some of the third world countries because of how little they could pay the players. Now I'm eager to try to get the job even though it probably pays crap, because it's something I actually qualify for and will enjoy doing. Plus, room and board? Hell yeah! I was about to get evicted here anyhow since I never paid last month's rent.
He typed up a quick email, answering the basic questions from the ad. He listed his experience as a player in numerous virtual online games and expressed his interest in the position, then sent it. Of course, he'd never done LTI before, his own experience was only with a headset and gloves, but he thought that it couldn't be that hard to adjust to full immersion. The Long Term Immersion experience of a game world was something he'd always wanted to try, but never been able to afford, especially not this particular game.
Light Online was one of the most popular games out there right now, also one of the most expensive to play. When an inquisitive reporter asked them how they'd gotten their name, the world discovered the hubris of at least one of the developers. The first time they'd booted the world, one of the developers had said, deadpan:
“Let There Be Light! And.... we're online.”
The name Light Online had been coined from that comment and it had stuck.
It was truly a self-contained world to the players. The technology used was advanced well beyond what was available to most people, and the game took it a step further still by using the mind of each player to help process their individual experience. That made it feel more realistic to the players and freed up processing power elsewhere in the game network to keep the world running smoothly.
Eddie ran through what he knew of the game world while he sat there. He'd stopped scrolling through the job listings after firing off the email. Lost in dreams of glory and reliving some of the boss fights he'd been in and the mounds of treasure he'd gained from them, the chime of an incoming email pulled him out of his dreams.
'Edward Hunter:
We've reviewed your application and feel that you would be a good fit for the position. We do need you to understand that the farming takes place in a remote location of the game and that none of the major cities of Light Online will be available to you, even in your down time. If you're still interested in the position, reply to this email and we'll set up a time for you to come to the facility, finish the paperwork, and start your new job in Light Online.
Sincerely,
Allan Panning
Supervisor, Star Suppliers online branch'
A grin spread across Eddie's face as he read the email. He pumped his fist silently, grabbed his keyboard, and composed a reply.
~ ~ ~
The
next morning he was up early. The facility was two miles away, down near the docks. So he hopped on a bus and rode to the closest stop he'd been able to find. He was nervous all the way through the ride. He tried to check his favorite sites on his phone, but couldn't concentrate. Instead he found himself tapping his fingers or his feet, a nervous twitch he thought he'd shaken years back.
When he got off the bus he wanted to run the seven blocks to the address he'd been given, but at the same time he felt an urge in his gut to drag his feet, or maybe even turn tail, run home, and pull up the job listings again.
I know it sounds too good to be true, he thought, but I can't see where the catch is. I want this badly though, so...
He started walking and soon found himself setting a brisk pace along the sidewalk. When he found the address, he thought about turning around and leaving again. It was an old, dilapidated warehouse, one that had obviously received a quick, cursory cleaning at some time in the recent past. The only thing that reassured him was the sign on the door, obviously new, that read:
'Star Suppliers Online Facility'
So, this is the right place, he thought. I guess I know how they make it profitable to do this in the United States now. I can't imagine this warehouse is costing them very much. Hell, if they own it, the old owner might have paid them to take it off his hands.
He opened the door and stepped in. The door led into a waiting room, beyond which was an office. The waiting room and office didn't resemble the outside of the warehouse in the slightest. All the furnishings were new and clean. An electronic chime sounded as he opened the door and a voice called out from the office.
“Be with you in a moment.”
It was a young sounding female voice and that put Eddie at ease, at least for the moment. When he'd lost his job two months back, his current girlfriend at the time had left him. Since then he hadn't been out much and had been missing female company. The sound of the girl's voice had put him at ease instinctively and now he couldn't wait to see if the pleasant sounding voice was matched by a pleasant set of features.
When the girl came around the corner, her features didn't disappoint. She was probably two or three years younger than him and cute as hell, with pixie features to her face that made her look younger still, but a full body that counteracted that, making her look older, and putting thoughts in his mind that he realized probably shouldn't be there when he was on the job, or at least close to on the job.
“Hi, I'm Eddie Hunter. I emailed yesterday and had an appointment with Allan Panning this morning?”
“Oh, you're early. I'll let him know you're here.”
He couldn't help but watch as she turned and left the room and, once again, the view didn't disappoint.
I've got to get out more, he thought, then realized that if he got this job he wouldn't be going out much at all.
His exchange of emails had explained the position and the pay. The actual cash pay wasn't that much, twenty US dollars per day after taxes. But there were bonuses available and he'd been told, when he asked, that any items they weren't specifically farming for could be kept by the player that found them.
And I know there's a market for those in the game, he thought. Light Online is a lot like real life. The rich are still rich there, so if they want something they won't hesitate to buy it and that gives me an option to make more money. Twenty bucks a day after taxes isn't much, but it adds up when I don't have to pay for room or board. Plus he said something about six days in and then the seventh out, but with an option to stay in right through that pays a twenty dollar bonus for staying in the seventh day. That means a hundred and sixty bucks cleared every week if I include the bonus. That's if I stay in all seven days, but with a three month minimum contract? That's more than sixteen hundred bucks to start over with if I don't want to renew the contract. That's just the pay, never mind any other bonuses or selling anything else I find.
It was only a few minutes later when the pretty receptionist called his name. She pointed down the hallway to the first door on the left.
“Allan is waiting for you,” she said.
“Thank you,” he replied, smiling at her.
She smiled politely in return, for a moment at least, then turned and went back into her office. Eddie headed down the hall to the door she'd indicated. When he got there, he paused and knocked.
“Come on in, it's open,” a voice called out.
He opened the door and walked in, finding the room to be a small office. One corner of the desk was taken up by a large computer monitor that was currently showing a forest scene, but the view was moving as though the motion were from someone walking. He realized quickly that it was probably a tap to Life Online.
The man behind the desk was overweight, his belly very obvious since he was leaning back in his chair with his feet on the desk. As Eddie entered the office, the man switched the monitor off and swung his feet down to the floor. He stood and walked over to Eddie.
“Edward?” he asked.
“Eddie, please,”
The man stuck out his hand and Eddie grasped it.
“Allan Panning here. Your application said that you've played virtual online games before. Ever have any ill effects from it?”
Careful here Eddie, he thought, you know people are a lot more likely to get those in pods than with just a headset and gloves.
“Nope, never had any so far,” he answered.
“Good, good,” Allan replied. “Your application also said you could start immediately?”
“Yeah, I'm kind of between jobs at the moment, so whenever you need me to start I can.”
“Tomorrow?” Allan asked.
Eddie grinned.
“Sure, first thing in the morning?” he asked, groaning inwardly.
Given his own choice Eddie would never be up before ten in the morning, but for this job he was willing to get up as early as they needed him to be up.
“No, no, we're still calibrating the pods right now. Just got them delivered yesterday, so tomorrow afternoon.”
“Speaking of that, what kind of pod will I be in?”
Allan grinned at him.
“Want to go take a look? The management pods are all set up already. They're a newer model, but you've got the same, just an earlier version.”
“Yeah, that'd be great.”
Allan led him out of the office and farther down the hall. He opened a door and motioned Eddie into the room. Lining the walls were five large pods, looking like sleek metallic teardrops turned on their sides. Cables led into the narrow point of the teardrops and as he looked around he saw where some of the cables were jacked into an outlet on the wall. He also saw the large pump in the center of the room, other cables leading from it to the pods.
“LTI...” he sighed happily.
“You ever tried that yet?” Allan asked.
Eddie shook his head.
“Nope, always wanted to though. Used to work on the line for a place that made the nutrient solution they use during it, doing random spot checks on the solution, so I recognized the pump there.”
“Lost your job to automation?” Allan asked.
“Yeah, they were talking about moving the place overseas, but then the trade war started and it was more profitable for them to automate everything, even quality control, and I was out of a job.”
Allan grinned for a moment as though a clever thought had occurred to him.
“Well, the trade war is why you've got a job available here. They're even taxing imported virtual goods now. There are lawyers fighting the law they made that allows it, but for now, if we want to make decent profit, we've got to have supplies available that were obtained by people in the USA. We've got players in game from the other major countries affected by the trade war, we just need to keep everything separated correctly and we can avoid those taxes.”
“I wanted to ask something else really quick if you don't mind,” Eddie said.
“Go ahead, worst thing that happens is I mig
ht not be able to answer you.”
“Why the bonus for staying in on the seventh day? It's like getting a free day of pay and sounds too good to be true.”
“How familiar are you with the LTI setup?” Allan asked.
“So-so.”
“So you know the nanites in the pods?”
“The ones that create the brain interface so everything seems real?” Eddie asked.
Allan nodded.
“Yeah, they're kind of pricey, especially with the trade war going on. Local regulations require we give you a day off each week, but pulling you out of the pod and putting you back in would actually cost us more than just paying you to take your day off in game. Law don't say anything about you not taking your day off in the game, so...”
“Cool, so can we do whatever we want on our day off?”
“Sure, your spawn point will be set at the base of operations, so if you do something stupid you'll just end up back there.”
Eddie smiled for a moment, imagining himself bringing in lots more money through adventuring on his days off. Adventuring in games was what he used to do when he had a day off anyhow, so he didn't see any problem with keeping the habit.
“Awesome. So, tomorrow afternoon you said, right after lunch?”
“A little eager are we?”
“I did say I never tried long term immersion before, but like I said, I always wanted to do that.”
“Sure, right after lunch then. I'll slot you for the first player to go in. That work for you?”
“Yeah, sounds great.”
Eddie had wandered over to the pods while they were talking. He saw the sign on the surface of the sleek pod.
'L.O. POD – Mark V'
Cool, he thought, they're using Light Online's own brand of pods. I heard you get a better experience with those.
“These are the newest ones they've got out, aren't they?” he asked.
Allan nodded.
“Yeah, they are, but the one you'll be in is a bit older. We couldn't get a lot of the newest ones quickly enough to set up, but we got these for management, plus some older models for those doing the farming.”