A Virtual Existence (Closed)
(Closed for Lexavier)
Jin Mantrell had received a letter in the mail quite unexpectedly. He was a frequent gamer and sometimes contributed reviews of games and gaming peripherals to magazines or websites as a freelance writer. A company called Transcend Interactive had written to him, asking him to prototype one of their newest gaming devices. However, they were insistent that this testing had to be done at their own facility. Jin had initially been suspicious but they were promising that it was something truly revolutionary, something that he had never seen before and were offering to pay him quite a handsome fee to do so.
When he arrived he was told that the company had been experimenting in virtual reality. While the technological details were more complex than he could really understand, the gist of it was, that they had found a way to trick the brain into believing it was in a completely different, virtual world, indistinguishable from the real one. By altering the subject's perception of time, the gamer could spend weeks in the virtual world while only passing a few minutes in the real world. "Like Narnia," one of the technicians had joked. Theoretically, with a nutrient drip, a person could be kept in the machine indefinitely, though for obvious reasons, that was untested so far. But they needed willing people to test this new machine first.
The prospect greatly excited Jin, but he was cautious. But after the representative went through the multiple safety features in place, he eventually agreed to test it. After signing some legal forms, he was taken into a room with a large pod in the center. The techs told him to strip down. When asked why, the techs just chuckled and said, "Trust us, you'll be glad you did. Plus it'll help the machine interface better with you."
After getting naked, Jin laid down in the pod and the technicians began to start the machine. They told him that a complex AI would be in charge of the experience and would be there to guide him through the whole thing. As the pod enclosed him, he began to feel very drowsy and the world faded around him as the virtual reality took over.
(Closed for Lexavier)
Jin Mantrell had received a letter in the mail quite unexpectedly. He was a frequent gamer and sometimes contributed reviews of games and gaming peripherals to magazines or websites as a freelance writer. A company called Transcend Interactive had written to him, asking him to prototype one of their newest gaming devices. However, they were insistent that this testing had to be done at their own facility. Jin had initially been suspicious but they were promising that it was something truly revolutionary, something that he had never seen before and were offering to pay him quite a handsome fee to do so.
When he arrived he was told that the company had been experimenting in virtual reality. While the technological details were more complex than he could really understand, the gist of it was, that they had found a way to trick the brain into believing it was in a completely different, virtual world, indistinguishable from the real one. By altering the subject's perception of time, the gamer could spend weeks in the virtual world while only passing a few minutes in the real world. "Like Narnia," one of the technicians had joked. Theoretically, with a nutrient drip, a person could be kept in the machine indefinitely, though for obvious reasons, that was untested so far. But they needed willing people to test this new machine first.
The prospect greatly excited Jin, but he was cautious. But after the representative went through the multiple safety features in place, he eventually agreed to test it. After signing some legal forms, he was taken into a room with a large pod in the center. The techs told him to strip down. When asked why, the techs just chuckled and said, "Trust us, you'll be glad you did. Plus it'll help the machine interface better with you."
After getting naked, Jin laid down in the pod and the technicians began to start the machine. They told him that a complex AI would be in charge of the experience and would be there to guide him through the whole thing. As the pod enclosed him, he began to feel very drowsy and the world faded around him as the virtual reality took over.
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