The sky had taken on a hazy glow as the sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon. The few trees in the city could be seen performing a wavy dance as they were moved left and right by the cool autumn breeze.
Somewhere in the city was a simple-looking two-storey building located in the city suburbs. Where a not-so-simple youngling pulled on a hefty pill-shaped object. The displacement of this object was an action he was repeating for the umpteenth time today. His restlessness was palpable.
SHRIP!! SHRIP!! He dragged this hefty-looking object to his bedside. Today meant a lot of things to this young one. Today was in some way a rebirth. A certain silence hung around this young ones bedroom. A silence borne from the intensity of emotions that currently pulsed through this young one.
Today, this hefty pill-shaped object would usher him into the world of Cosmic Ascendance
The large object the young man had been pulling on. His newest addition to his personal abode. Was an object that stood at the pinnacle of technology. A "cosmic Pod", the high-level Virtual reality pod that could be used to play Cosmic Ascendance.
Cosmic Ascendance-- a game that had become the zenith of gaming technology. A VR game launched 3 years ago that had taken over the gaming world by storm.
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Virtual gaming had been on the rise since the peak of "industrial automation", during the late 21st century. With progressive automation and indoctrination of artificial intelligence into the labour force.
There had been lesser and lesser demand on human resources in all sectors. Work hours had become drastically reduced, with the global average consolidating as a 10 hour work week. This trend extended even into education, with most of the academic processes occurring remotely, with the physical institutions now functioning as exam and socialization centres.
With the lots of free time people now had, VR game popularity progressively increased, with more and more of the global population taking to gaming as a way to find purpose and excitement. In the progressively monotonous world.
Highly ranked gamers were the modern age celebrities. Their influence, multiple of times greater than what a typical celebrity could muster.
The boy who had been pulling on a hefty pill-shaped capsule all day was named Rex Axel. A former millionaire kid, now an orphaned son. Had been awaiting this particular date, 14th November 2221, for the longest time. He had lost his parents, successful "Warehouse Moguls", just a year after the launch of Cosmic Ascendance. Their death had radically transformed him and his life.
Overburdened with grief, he had heard to navigate recovering from the loss of his parents, together with the pangs of betrayal from relatives, former family friends and his parents business partners. He hadn't been able to hold onto a lot of his parents' wealth at the end of it all. Having to restructure his life anew with all the developments his parents' loss had caused.
At the end of all this, Rex Axel was left with only one burning passion in his heart.
A raging desire for POWER, a desire borne from the hopelessness and helplessness of his plight after his parents death.
And today he would be taking his first step in his path to power. Through the unique advantages Cosmic Ascendance offered.
Cosmic Ascendance, the world's top VR game. Had been unique from its very start. It had launched with its very own custom VR pod, which the game was directly built in, and it couldn't be downloaded or streamed. The only damn way to play it was through the "Cosmic VR pod". A peculiarity that caught the interest of many, especially those with a certain love for uniqueness. Coupled with the fact that it was priced at $2,500, it was a very much affordable luxury, when considered to its counterparts, that cost tens of thousands of dollars, with some high-end luxury ones that their cost even ran into the hundreds.
It sales and popularity was on the rise.
The immersiveness, the game offered was leagues above, everything else in VR gaming. It was so high that the active player base swore that "The game felt more real than reality itself".
The craze was on, Cosmic Ascendance was what everyone could talk about, It was all everyone wanted to buy, no matter how large the sales grew, The cosmic pods were never out of stock.
The company even launched a still-running campaign where gamers could pick up the "cosmic pods" and pay off the cost of the pod with in-game credits that would be drafted into a payment plan automatically.
The game was found to have one major flaw though, a flaw that really affected a large number of the most enthusiastic clients.
Cosmic Ascendance had a strict age limit of 17 years. The game itself directly, did not log in any user below 17. It wasn't a matter that could be resolved with a fake id or getting informed consent. It was a mystery how the developers were able to ascertain each individuals age to enforce this restriction.
When anyone below the age limit logged in, all that welcomed them was a countdown to their 17th birthday.
This was the reason Rex Axel was taking his first step to power today. He was turning 17 in forty-three minutes.
Forty-two minutes and counting.
Like a desert walker dedicated to his sojourn.
The timer kept counting, each lost moment reinforcing Rex's resolve.