.
.
.
------------
/BEEEEP!/
/BEEP BEEP!/
In the middle of a busy metropolis, the Sun shone in the sky strongly, displaying its mightiest form, the heat of summer, for the poor people running to work in the morning.
The cars' horns echoed all around as people rushed for their work, the sounds of engines roaring in the wind as the motorcycles pushed through the traffic at high speeds…
The smell of exhaust and… Something indescribable, this was everyday life in a big city.
Some people relaxed inside their homes, still enjoying their vacations and air conditioners, some enjoyed their holidays in the pool and beach, playing with their family and friends.
Everyone chooses their own way to enjoy their lives, be it doing something productive or simply wasting away in bed…
But in the middle of this busy city was one strange young man…
Somewhere in this packed city was a small warehouse without any windows and the few that had been fully covered in black film blocking all sight to what was inside.
Its walls were tall and covered in sharp metal wires, and even an electric fence…
It even had some sort of sound insulation! What could be happening inside it?...
…
/BAM!/
"HUFF!"
The warehouse's insides looked quite messy, having many metal tubes and beams all around the place, thick and thin metallic wires, cables, and even some gym weights could be seen scattered around the place giving you the impression of somewhat orderly chaos.
Some of these objects seemed like your everyday gym equipment, like the bench press machine.
Yet some seemed to have been welded together to make some sort of abomination… As if despite the incongruity of these objects, they all served a purpose, they were all there for the same objective…
And that objective was clearly the more you walked around the place… This place was a gym… And this wasn't obvious at first glance.
A very strange gym, after all, some of these machines were strangely welded together into even bigger machines, as if their original specs weren't enough, whoever did this had a clear goal in mind, and that was to push them as far as they could…
But why? Was there even a need to increase the maximum weight of a leg press machine so that it could support 4 times its original maximum weight?
"HUFF!"
The faint moans of a man could be heard all around the place, but it was difficult to discern it amidst the sounds of metal moving and creaking…
"29… 30!!"
/BAM!/
Suddenly, the sound of metal colliding against something was heard, coming from the corner of the warehouse…
And at the corner of his 'gym' was a young man laying down on a metal bench, it was clear what he was doing.
He was doing bench presses… But something was wrong… How many weights were in there? Multiple thick metal discs each weigh down as much as 100 Kg!
100… 200… 300Kg… Too little.
It's at least 600 Kg! (1320 pounds)
This is close to double the world record! (350)
"..."
As he got up from the bench, he stared at the air for a few moments before he shook his head and said:
"Nothing once again… Well, it stopped changing over half a year ago anyway, that was why I stopped coming here so often… But still…"
"It's a shame, every bit counts." He said as he stretched
Standing at a massive 195 Cm (6,4 foot tall) and with impressive, well-developed muscles, this young man was a unit of a man.
His muscles were big, but not overwhelming. Proof of someone who took a lot of time and care into his own body. He was not aiming to be a bodybuilder, but just to have a healthy body.
His hair was rather short and even a bit curly. And as he stretched, he passed his hand on his wet hair making it fall behind his head and showing more of his face.
A pair of thick eyebrows, a thin and sharp nose, together with dark blue eyes, and a chin dimple.
As he finished his stretch, he cleaned his face with a towel and looked all around him with a smile.
"I really did go far… But the time has come…"
As he walked towards a small room on the second floor of the warehouse, he received a call on his cellphone.
It was a classic touch screen phone, but when the young man picked it from his pocket, he unwrapped the phone like tissue paper…
"Dad?... Really?!... Tell them I'm going right now!"
Once he turned his phone off, he put it back in his pocket and started running!
…
In front of a large apartment complex, two people, a middle-aged man with a few gray hair strands, and another man with an orange hat and a worksheet in his hand could be seen waiting near a big truck.
"Is he coming soon? I still have 3 more houses to visit until nightfall…"
"I told you, he isn't that far… Oh! He's over there, see? It didn't even take 5 minutes…"
/Fwoosh!/
The young man jumped out of his bike like a comet making it fall on the ground as he walked in front of the worker.
The middle-aged man was pissed as he saw the bike crash against the wall violently, while the worker was extremely intimidated by the person in front of him.
For a moment, he felt as if the sun had been eclipsed by his presence…
He wasn't at fault as he was rather small being only 1,65 Cm tall…
"Cough! Are you perhaps… Mr's Dale?..."
The worker looked at the sheet in his hands once again and thought:
'Wasn't he supposed to be 19? Why does he look like… This?!'
"Yes, I am Dale Houston, son of that guy over there…"
"Oi! I heard you brat!"
The worker took out a pencil and said:
"In that case, please sign here… And here… Perfect."
He turned around and went to the truck, where he grabbed a large box and gave it to him.
"We already installed all of the machines but we can't handle these immediately due to legal reasons, you know how to install it right?"
Dale nodded.
"Yes, I do."
"In that case, remember to follow the instructions and to switch the liquid every 8 months and 2 months in case it's used extensively… Pay attention to the AI's warnings and make sure to check the system at least once every 24 hours or ideally, every time you enter and leave the pod."
Dale nodded with a smile.
While the two talked, Dale's father turned around and opened the gate to the apartment. saying:
"I won't be getting up with you, so make sure to clean this mess."
Dale grabbed his box with a smile and said as he entered the apartment:
"Where are you going?"
His dad tapped his shoulder and said:
"Did you forget? I'll go pick up your brother right now, he told me to not be late since he was also eager to test this game out with you and I don't want to see him bicker with me if I get late."
"Oh yeah…"
The dad let out a sigh.
"It wasn't enough to have one, but now there will be two… The freaking light bill…"
But Dale just scoffed.
"Aren't you being a bit overdramatic? I already gave you enough money to pay the light bill for the next 2 years."
But the middle-aged man just scoffed.
"You made a bit of money and now you are all proud, don't forget I helped you pay for this horrendous machine… I could buy a car with this tremendous amount of money…"
Dale smiled and said:
"I'll give you a car as a retirement gift once I make some money in this."
Dale's dad smiled.
"Make it black."
They exchanged a few more words but Dale's dad saw how excited his son was so he turned around and left with the bike while Dale…
/FWOOSH!/
And like a bullet, Dale jumped into the elevator and pressed the button to the 24th floor.
…
/Ding!/
The elevator doors opened and Dale stepped into a clean white corridor with 2 doors, one on each extreme of the hallway.
He turned to the left and opened the door towards a big apartment, being welcomed by a voice:
"Dear? Remember to go get Eddy before he gets pissed again."
Hearing the female voice, Dale replied as he ran around the place:
"Dad's already on his way, and by the way, I arrived!"
"On son… What do you wish for…"
But by the time the voice arrived in Dale's ears, he had already entered and locked himself inside a room…
"Calm down son!" She said with a frown
'I swear these kids…'
She smiled bitterly and shook her head as she went back to her own room.
…
"Finally… One year of preparation… All for this." He said as he opened the box
Inside of it were many black cylindrical tubes with some sort of pressurized liquid inside.
This was proven by the fact that as he grabbed them he could feel the liquid moving inside.
He turned to the side and looked at a bunch of hologram numbers floating near the wall and thought:
'I still have over 3 hours… I can take this slow. I'll first take a shower, eat something, then I will install these once I am ready.'
He got up and looked at the sole object in the room… A massive tube-like structure 3M tall.
"Wait for me, little one, I will boot you soon enough…"
'I waited 6 years for today… But who would think that I am not excited to play it…'
Dale smiled and said out loud as he looked at the moving hologram clock on the wall.
"Yeah, it's not about the game anymore."
…
.
.
.
Notes
HEY!
Welcome to yet another project of mine!
I won't say much in the first few chapters so you can all read it at once and ask your questions or state your opinions later.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy it all!
I plan to add some images later down the line, but not now.