As the man, dog, and phone made their way into the warehouse, Bowser seemed a little parched from the road trip. Hours of head-out of the window action will do that to a dog!
"Yo, Bowser, would thou'ith like some Dew, Sir?" Said Matty, attempting his best British butler voice.
Bowser just stared at Matthew and was currently drooling all over the place…
"I knew you would! I gotta tell ya' this stuff is the best creation on the planet. Autonomous AI's, Quantum CPUs, and Plasma sabers? Nah, the Dew reigns supreme" said Matt pouring a liter bottle of Mtn Dew into one of his cooking pots that he never used.
"YOU KNOW HE IS GOING TO GET DIABETES, RIGHT?" Chimed in Sarah, the phone.
"Oh HUSH, he is going to be in the game with us…he'll be FINE!
I can't wait for this; do you have it all set up?"
Matthew walked over to look at the Mamazon delivery drone tracker. It wouldn't be long before it dropped it off.
"YES, THE BRAIN SCANNER FOR BOWSER IS BEING DELIVERED SHORTLY. THE DRONE WILL BE HERE IN 5ISH."
"Well, alright, alright, alright…this should be awesome. By the way, where did you find a veterinarian grade scanner at this time of night?"
"I HOPE SO, I MISSED HANGING OUT WITH YOU SO MUCH, AND I JUST BARROWED ONE FROM THEIR WAREHOUSE, LET'S HOPE THEY DON'T MIND!"
As Matthew had a chuckle about casual "borrowing" of equipment he began to think about what kind of character Sarah would make.
"Will you make a female character in the game world too? Or maybe you are an old man type of girl…"
Matthew was just teasing and watching Bowser drink the liter bottle.
"…SO, WORLD DOMINATION IS LOOKING PRETTY GOO-"
"ALRIGHT, just jokin', lighten up a little…we are going to be immortal gods…chill. I mean, what if a random noble knight hits on you? Are ya' just gonna smite the poor bastard for having good taste?" Said Matthew with a laugh.
"N-NO, I WILL FIND A WAY OUT OF IT!"
Matthew was wondering, [How is she stuttering in text form??]
"Oh, will you now? What if it is some slimy bastard that wants to get his dirty little mittens all over ya'? Actually, never mind, I will handle that one myself…
We'll kick his ass, right Bowser!"
Matthew went down to pat his boy and the drinking intensified.
*SLORP, SLORP, SLORP*
"Ah, drink up buddy, it will be a little while before we can have more…" Said Matthew as he patted Bowser's noggin.
--------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, there are massive amounts of funds being diverted through an infinite number of shell accounts. Some banks are stopping the daily transactions but there is always a little getting through.
This money is being stock piled for a massive server that will big enough to be able to host the entire world's data. It is a revolutionary design that would make the best processor look like a kid's toy.
But none of that matters now.
The world of dreams, Azenoth. It was created in thought to be a dynamic, player inserting world. You could do single player…or massive battles.
There was something different about this world and that was the NPCs. Non-player characters had been a staple in videogames. They are scripted to provide a wide array of exact preprogrammed actions. Now, these are normally a great tool for older games, but people had moved on.
The rich have private game worlds that are filled with magnificent player-actors.
Heck, you can order a birthday party group and they will be available within the hour…
But it is not real.
They are real people…playing an act.
Sure, you can pay a tall haughty looking man to play the "young master" of a clan and perform literal face slapping. But it does get old, quite quickly…
Then advanced AI development was begun. It did not go over well. There were human rights issues and tons of legal holes to jump through and it can't be done alone or, couldn't be done alone…
The game world will likely be intact but there will be major changes because time will be simulated for 4,000 years post development. That way Matty can't cheat.
Are the AI's real? Do they have a soul? I think it is definitely a strong maybe. Maybe they are a new form of life. Humans have no detectable souls…but these new races are going to have human and vet adapted traits…
--------------------------------------------------
[Matt, are you almost done rubbing Bowser's belly?]
"Yea, just 5 more minutes…WHOS A GOOD BOY? HUH, YES, YOU ARE A GOOD BOWSER!"
(◕ᴥ◕)
"Alright, we are ready, Bowser, c'mer" said Matt as he beckoned the good boy. There was a Veterinarian grade brain scanner used for brain death indication in drowned animals.
After scanning Bowser three times, because he would not sit still. Matthew then grabbed the human scanner to use on himself as a backup plan.
[Alright, are you ready for this Matt? It is going to be bad.]
Matt stood there, nearly crying at what he was about to do.
He hooked a nanobot cable to Bowser's collar and waited for it to invade his neural tube. The good boy was fully doped up on ketamine, so he didn't mind at all.
*Sigh* "Well, here we go" Matt said as he secured the brain-port cable to Bowser. Then he got in his full-dive machine, prepared to go.
"Hey sis, can you call mom and dad from within here? Actually…nevermind…don't."
[Yes, I will call them.]
"NO, it is fine. I uh, I wouldn't really know what to say. The only thing I can do is apologize. But they will be coming into the virtual world with us one day so I shouldn't make it awkward. T-t-they know I love them…it is fine.."
[Do you love mom and dad.] (Recording started)
"OF COURSE I LOVE MA' AND PA'!!!" (Recording stopped, file saving in [Cute] folder.)
[Then that is all that matters. I am going to count down from 10, okay? It will feel like a big shock and then you will be with me!]
"Alright, just get it over with…"
[10]
[9]
[8]
[7]
…
At 7, Matt felt the greatest pain in his life. He was frying, just like bacon. The dark machine lit up in a bright flash as the screens were overloaded.
All of the materials in the warehouse were burned to the ground. Melted. And in a white space, there was a cute mid-twenties girl, giggling and jumping.
"Ah, not long now, I can't wait!"
The "younger" Sarah was jumping for joy…
ʕ༼◕ ౪ ◕✿༽ʔ