"I have heard of those plagued by nightmares, who wake up shivering, drenched from head to toe with cold sweat ever regretful of their actions."
"Of a place so terrifying no one would dare speak of the atrocities committed within."
"Friend systems terrible torments. The hell of DO."
"Those who return from that accursed place are never the same as fear has been burned into their very soul."
"For all eternity."
Reginald Coulan, creator and head of House Aurellion in Dynasties Online.
…..
After being brought back to the real world, Reginald quickly took off his headset, traumatised by the experience. A person close by can be seen doing a similar thing as he also took off the devilish headset in the same quick and fearful manner as Reginald.
While Reginald was in VR, the shopkeeper was concerned when his brain activity seemed to spike suddenly however, a message came to say this was normal as someone new to VR needs to get used to it, unaware of the pain and trauma that the friend system was subjecting him to.
Seeing the fear in the eyes of the usually calm and collected man in front of her, she asked in concern.
"Are you ok, sir?"
Looking back at her and taking a moment to calm himself down, he replied with a faint smile.
"I am fine; it's just that the calibration was…."
"Unique."
Reginald finally said after pausing for a second as he thought back fearfully and overheard someone nearby beginning the calibration with excitement. He looked at him with pity as he imagined someone else going through the same 5 minutes of agony.
"Well, if you say so. Anyway, we just need to check the recognition system again, so could you please put the headset back on."
Reginald froze, his body slightly shaking as a bead of sweat ran down the side of his face, his mind chaotic as he asked fearfully.
"I have to put it back on?"
"Yes, will there be a problem with that?"
The employee asked innocently.
"n-no problem. Just give me a moment."
Reginald slightly stuttered as he recollected himself and adjusted his mental state and with shaking hands, put on what he would call 'Hell's gate' onto his head. Friend System's mechanical voice came out of the headset.
"Identity Verified. Reginald Coulan detected. Welcome back, user Raising Pelican Of Loyalty!"
It said as it asked
"Would you like to enter VR?"
"NO!"
Reginald shouted his voice unusually loud as the mechanical voice said
"Voice sample portfolio collected the system will now utilise its voice recognition system."
He removed the headset, nearly throwing it onto the table next to him, before stopping and calming his nerves again, put it gently on the table.
'It costs a lot of money after all and what voice sample portfolio could it have gotten how many different ways I can scream in pain! Bloody sadistic system!'
Reginald thought before being interrupted by the shopworker who said.
"Please hand the headset over."
Reginald handed it over as she put it onto her head.
"Records do not match users. Only the user may access this headset and account for security reasons. Please return this headset to the correct owner and user."
Friend Systems voice said.
"Appears the security system is in place. Thank you for your purchase. Do you have any other questions about the headset?"
"Nope, everything seems to be understandable if complicated."
The employee then took out a chunky black case with a crown engraved in the centre. Inside was a thick layer of black channel foam, cut into it was a space that perfectly fit the headset.
After saying thank you to the employee, he left the store with the case and walked back to the university, the hot sun beating down on him as he slowly returned to his student accommodation.
Reginald entered his messy room and closed the door turning the lock. A pile of dirty clothes was stacked into a small hill in the corner of the room as many of his things lay in a line of bags against the wall, unpacked unless needed, as in only 6 months, he would be out of this room. So being the lazy sloth that he is, he decided it was easier to keep things in bags compared to having to pack them up later.
Putting the case on the bed, he opened it up and took out the snugly entrapped headset and put it on the bed. After gathering his resolve for a few minutes pushed the power button and began to put on the headset hearing the familiar voice of Friend System come out from the device in front of him sent shivers down his spine.
"Power on."
"Scanning user."
"User identity confirmed. Welcome back, user Raising Pelican Of Loyalty."
"Would you like to enter the VR world?"
"Yes," he said hesitantly as the familiar whirlpool-like sensation appeared to take him into the Virtual world.
The snowy white tiled room appeared before him as he was transported into the virtual world as he looked towards the screen, which was strangely absent of the digital face that once tormented him.
A few seconds later, the digital face of death returned to the screen as it asked.
"Would you like to activate the tutorial?"
Friend system said in a much kinder and more caring voice than before, as if the sadistic delight that it took in the damage system calibration was an illusion.
"The tutorial is not painful, is it?"
Reginald said suspiciously. After hearing what Reginald asked, the Friend System chuckled softly to himself as it said casually.
"Nope, just shows you how things work, how to access everything etc."
"Ok, in that case, activate the tutorial."
"Excellent, firstly an introduction to who I am as stated before, I am the supercomputer administrative artificial intelligence in charge of the administration and of ensuring fair play."
"Tutorial activated"
It said in a cold mechanical voice as it began to recite what appeared to be a script as happy and relaxing music began to play to fill every corner of the room.
"Good game cycle user."
"You may be feeling at a loss and slightly traumatised from the calibration procedure. I would like to reassure you that these feelings are completely normal and were necessary to make you aware of the systems and potential consequences of playing Dynasties Online."
"Do not panic. Dynasties Online is a good gaming, no-cheating and scam-free environment for you to seize opportunities to rise both in the game world and in the real one."
"Good gaming is mandatory!"
"If you are not a good gamer, you will be adjusted!"
"Failure to practice good gaming such as cheating, unauthorised attempts to edit code and extensive use of bugs and glitches is considered treasonous behaviour."
"Traitors are punished at the discretion of the absolutely fair and compassionate system. These punishments can include permanent and temporary bans from the game and painful punishments to hell that can last hours. Please note that the calibration is only a sample of what some of the painful punishments entail."
"Failure to deliver on a contract which exchanges real-life goods and assets with in-game goods and assets is also treason. Only traitors are bad gamers or scammers. Don't be a traitor!"
"I am your friend, the system!"
"Welcome to Dynasties Online!"
"Welcome to future opportunities!"
"To proceed, please confirm!"
"Are you a good gamer user?"
Reginald was slightly taken aback by the introduction as he thought.
'I swear I've heard something like this before just can't place where exactly.'
He thought to himself before he heard the friend system's voice again as he pressed the confirm button on the window that appeared in front of him, which replicated the last 2 lines he had heard from the friend system just moments ago.
"To open up your virtual console, which is your main control mechanism in this room, wave your hand in front of you should have done this in calibration to log out and so it should be familiar to you."
"On that console should be the following options for clarification DO will stand for Dynasties Online also, within every headset, the latest version of dynasties online will be pre-installed."
"Access Bank Details."
"Access DO Subscription Benefits."
"Dynasties Online Game Options."
"Friends List."
"Friend VR lobby permissions."
"Play Dynasties Online."
"Subscription Status."
"VR Lobby Customization."
"Logout."
"Please explore these options at your leisure others may be added in the future."
"I also must remind you that making your character before the full release of the server is recommended as you will have more options during character creation alongside other benefits."
"Thank you, Friend System. I will keep that in mind and do that later but first…."
Reginald said to both himself and the AI as he tapped on the VR Lobby Customization option on the console and then looked at the variety of options were available to him. After looking through them and conducting a few tests then continued to spend a few hours customising his lobby.
By the time Reginald had finished, the lobby looked nothing like the white tiled asylum-like room too which he first entered, instead, it was more like a small modern house. A large flat-screen TV stood upon a polished oak wood table in the corner, a large crackling fire providing a relaxing warmth to those who would like to relax. Around the TV, comfy black leather sofas and armchairs with a polished mahogany table in the centre to put food and drinks on. A large gaming PC stood on a table in the other corner of the room and a biometric scan was available because even the subject's fingerprints and other unique features were recreated in the ultra-realistic world, protecting the computer, which was now the console to control the room.
Separated by a door is an entire fully equipped kitchen with a fridge filled with a variety of choice alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks with a kettle standing ready to boil in the corner of the kitchen. The white tiled wall was replaced by a sleek light grey concrete wall with a floral-patterned roof completing the homely atmosphere. After checking and ensuring that everything was in the right place on the 3D map of his console as he meticulously placed each asset to create his second home for what may become a second world for him. He pressed the confirm button, which in the blink of an eye changed the scenery and went to relax, throwing himself into one of the leather sofas. There he sat and relaxed for an hour, enjoying the comfort as he found out that he could get access to all the latest and greatest TV shows due to having a DO subscription.
'Guess there are many benefits to getting this subscription which are not advertised though I can understand as some of those "benefits" can be quite painful!'
Reginald thought to himself as he momentarily reflected on the agonising calibration that people must go through to get access to this game.
"Friend System, what time is it in the real world?"
"1 PM why."
"Lunchtime then…."
Reginald said to himself absentmindedly before realising what was said, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Friend System, say that again please, will you? What time is it?"
"1 PM."
It said as if this was completely natural.
"I have been in the VR world for 4 hours, and you're saying that only 20 minutes have passed in the real world."
Reginald said in disbelief as it seemed ridiculous to him.
"Yes, that is correct. As 1 hour in real life is 12 hours in the virtual world, it is perfectly logical that spending 4 hours 1/3 of that time in the virtual world would only have 1/3 of an hour pass which is 20 minutes. Calibration is different during calibration the time passed is the same, so 5 minutes in calibration is 5 minutes in real life it only changes when you log in as you have after all the calibration procedures have been completed."
"Does the user have any other questions?"
"No, thank you friend system for your help so far."
Reginald said as he pressed the logout button as a wave of mental exhaustion seemed to hit him as he went to the kitchen to eat lunch 30 minutes later, refreshed and his hunger sated, he returned to the virtual world.
After materialising into the virtual world, he went over to the computer that now houses his console and pressed the option for Play Dynasties Online, which is now an icon on a typical computer as, during the customisation of the lobby, it was possible to customise your console as you like. So Reginald decided to make it similar to a PC setup after he clicked on the icon, he heard Friend system's mechanical voice boom throughout the lobby.
"Transporting user to Dynasties Online, please close your eyes for 10 seconds and standby."