World Seed

Author's Corner: This is my first story submitted to RRL, and I make no promises on the frequency with which I will be able to maintain my updates. I shall, however, strive to do my best. I can honestly say I was inspired by the stories from authors such as VRDraco, Warhawx, and imaginexbreaker to finally write out my own idea.

Disclaimer: I have a tendency to not plan my story in advance, and write wherever it decides to take me. As such, I may not always know why things happen in my story until it reaches its conclusion. My mind is like a steel trap, I swear! Sadly, I lost the key and can't find my way back in...

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So, where do I begin? I guess I can start with who I am, that's always a nice way to begin things. My name is John Hulett, just turned twenty and am what many have decided to refer to as a NEET. Unfortunately, this does not mean that I am an excessively clean person, but rather that I am unemployed. A few years back, my parents decided to virtualize themselves, opting out of their physical lives to join the net communities. Legally, that leaves all of their assets to me as their next of kin. I mean, you can't drive a car if you don't have a body anymore, right?

Oh, some of you may be wondering what I mean by virtualizing? Well, lately it's become quite a trend, though the technology for it has existed for decades. Originally, it began during the onset of the VR age, when someone discovered that they were trapped in one of their video games. That discovery seemed to fuel scientific curiosity, until they discovered how to replicate and control such effects. Once it was completed, people were allowed to transfer their minds into an online world similar to a life simulator game.

But just having that was boring, so people began making connections to allow the online communities to connect to others, or even connect to popular games. For a while, there was talk of forcing people to work in games to pay the server maintenance for their communities, but eventually it was just decided to apply a special tax that slightly limited what they received compared to others. After all, they are essentially immortal now.

At first, everyone was scared of this technology, because they saw it more as a death sentence than eternal life. So, it was offered to terminally ill patients as a means to 'beta test' it, with overwhelmingly positive results. Soon, the families and friends of the initial testers were all signing up, and it just shot off from there. Nowadays, it is suspected that there are more people in the online communities than in the real world, but nobody has bothered to conduct an exact test.

But I got sidetracked. After my parents virtualized themselves, I was left with all of their worldly goods. And, I won't be humble, they were pretty well off. While they still have access to their bank accounts, everything from their home to cars was transferred to me. Normally, this still wouldn't be enough for me to live a carefree life thanks to expenses such as bills and groceries. After all, why should I expect them to pay for services they don't even need anymore?

As such, I turned my attention to the fastest rising industry around, online gaming. Yup, it was actually a common job for people to play online and sell various items to earn a living. After all, what would the online communities need, since they don't require food, water, or electricity? They simply need people that will share the items that they have trouble getting on their own.

That plan worked for quite a while, actually. I was able to pay my bills and support myself, but recently that hasn't been enough. With more and more people going for the same job, the demand has diminished, and so has my pay. Right now, I've probably got enough saved up for maybe six months before I have to look into other ways to earn money. Which brings me to what I'm doing now, watching people unload a giant silver casket in my bedroom and plug it in.

Yes... a giant silver casket. The first VR devices actually looked quite similar to this, but nowadays they have been simplified to a small helmet you can wear while you lay down. This device is one of the beta versions of the next generation of hardware, known as Seeds. According to Manifest Industries, one of the leading developers for online games, the Seeds go above and beyond the limitations of Virtual Reality, augmenting the experience to include 100% realism. If their advertisements hold true, these devices(and the initial game released for them) will function so well that it will even simulate the results of your activities on your physical body.

Of course, this isn't always the case, or else players would die the first time they died in a game, but it does allow them to exercise in the game by playing normally. The main point for me, however, is that this is a new realm for video games, and thus a new market. After spending roughly half my savings, three month's worth of expenses, I was able to reserve one of the first Seeds.

This is my gamble, my hope to earn enough to keep the lights on. If all else fails, I'll just virtualize like my parents. They've already assured me that they would cover the costs to do so if I ever wanted to join them.

"Alright, Mr. Hulett." The technician walked up to me with his electronic clipboard. "Everything is hooked up and ready to go. If I can just get your signature here."

I nodded to the man, taking the clipboard from him and signing it before handing it back. "Thanks... And it comes with the game pre-installed, right?" I had to ask, since it would suck royally if I had to go and buy the game separately.

"That's right, sir. After ten o'clock tonight, the servers should open up to the net community, and those with a Seed like yours." After he said that, I glanced to the clock, and saw that I still had about four hours left until then.

"Alright, guess I've got a bit to get ready." I thanked him again and let him out, before going about my nightly routine to take care of my physical needs. The Seeds promised to be capable of feeding the user, and even disposing of waste, but that doesn't mean I felt comfortable trusting it with such yet. This was a new technology, after all, and still only in the beta stages.

So, an hour and a half later I was back in front of the Seed, staring at the device which looked all too much like a coffin. With a sigh of resignation, I opened it up and laid down inside. The interior was actually fairly comfortable, designed to have the user lay down on a padding that felt almost like a bed. The only unusual part was the mask I had to wear over my mouth, but even that was easy to adapt to. With a thought, the Seed activated itself, triggered by my brainwaves.