Continue Online The Complete Series

by Stephan Morse

  Roland: Well, Tina, it’s not done all in one go. Part of Continue Online requires new players to stay in town for four weeks.

  Tina: Before you keep going, are you okay sharing these details?

  Roland: Thanks, Tina, but this much is fine. This is only one detail that is explained right at the log-in of Continue. Everyone who’s tried the game knows it.

  Tina: So, public knowledge.

  Roland: Right. Anyway, the game requires you to spend four weeks in a starting town, which amounts to one week in the real world.

  Tina: The four-to-one distortion.

  Roland: Exactly. Anyway, you’re not truly at four-to-one during the first four weeks. Many of the introductory tasks are boring, repetitive ones. The AIs that control player interaction assist by skipping time here and there.

  Tina: Like a quick day at work?

  Roland: Right. Or like those dreams that seem to last forever but really only take up ten minutes.

  Tina: I love those.

  Roland: It’s like that. There are periods when your character is doing mundane tasks that you’ve shown determination to do, but you as a player are skipping in and out of the game. Gliding over portions so the stress on your mind is lessened.

  Tina: This speeds up during the first week of real time?

  Roland: Right you are, and by the fourth week in-game, your mind is used to operating at the quicker speed while logged into Continue.

  Tina: Does this translate back into real world mental acuity?

  Roland: Testing shows it does, but not at any superhuman speed. In fact, nearly everything learned in the ARC can be used in real life, aside from the fantastical items like fireballs and summoning creatures.

  Tina: Too bad.

  Roland: Right? But martial arts, aiming things, all of that does.

  Tina: That leads into our next question. Legally, what sort of worries does Trillium have regarding the things taught in Continue? And I’ll cite a case for our example.

  Roland: Go ahead.

  Tina: A few decades ago, there was a giant move by lawmakers to restrict video games in general, citing that people were learning violent tendencies from them. Given Continue Online’s realism, or anything in the ARC, this is becoming a serious concern again. What does Trillium plan to do about it?

  Roland: Well, there’re a few possibilities. First, Trillium itself is international, it’s not based in any one country, so making a law that restricts it can be extremely difficult.

  Tina: That’s a given, but there are previous cases of countries completely banning games within their borders. Prior massive multiplayer online games have been subjected to this.

  Roland: Indeed, Trillium’s first step was to integrate the ARC into everyday use for a lot of things outside the game.

  Tina: Okay, what next?

  Roland: Then, in the terms and conditions of using an ARC, there’s a clause that states if any legal steps are taken to restrict Trillium’s suite of software, Trillium reserves the right to pull the entire ARC lineup from the offending country.

  Tina: Is that word for word?

  Roland: I paraphrased a lot because of the legal jargon, but it’s in there.

  Tina: Basically Trillium has a stranglehold on the market.

  Roland: It can feel like that, but everyone has the ability to say no. After all, the ARC isn’t a required device for anyone. It’s a luxury item across the board. Civilians, government, corporations, none of them are forced to take contracts.

  Tina: You can’t argue that the ARC device has created a veritable stranglehold though.

  Roland: I can say that our AIs are top-notch due to The ARC Lab’s research. I can say that we have some of the best technology to date out there, and the backing of the people.

  Tina: But you can’t say you have a stranglehold on the entire immersion market?

  Roland: No, we don’t force anybody to participate or actively seek contracts anymore. The only time we pursued funding was during the startup phase. After that, Trillium and the ARC had too much to try to grasp for more. Besides, many of Trillium’s employees enjoy Continue as well, so we don’t need to fight over comforts this side of the ARC.

  Tina: Was there anything else regarding Trillium’s legal defense?

  Roland: We don’t force people to learn things; they choose to. It’s no different than locking yourself in a room swinging a kitchen knife. Plus, most countries’ citizens have a right to bear arms after the Melt Down wars. From the government’s standpoint, at least here in the North Americas, it’s like having a well-trained militia ready at any moment.

  Tina: That’s morbid.

  Roland: Trillium and the government are being very forward-thinking on this. The technology is dangerous if abused, but the same could be said of a rock in the hands of someone willing to lift it.

  Tina: Hah, that’s funny, Roland.

  Roland: It’s true. People are worried about someone going in and learning how to shoot a gun, so Continue wasn’t placed in a modern setting, but other ARC programs, that are just as immersive, don’t focus on swords and sorcery. We don’t regulate them for what they teach people.

  Tina: Why not?

  Roland: I could go on about it, but most of this, and the laws cited by each country, are stated on Trillium’s web page. Legal has done an amazing job of citing case and counter case, Tina, and I’d shame myself trying to repeat their brilliance on that front.

  Tina: Interesting. That brings us to the last topic, and this one is a doozy too.

  Roland: If it’s the one I’m thinking of, Tina, we could go around and around on it.

  Tina: I won’t ask for the party line; our viewers want to hear what it’s like from someone who’s been inside Continue for longer than your average player.

  Roland: Fair enough. Ask the question though, to ensure we’re all on the same page.

  Tina: Continue operates at a higher speed. A year here is almost four there. How do you think it will play out? Do you have ideas about the future of humanity if we’re torn on where we’re spending our time?

  Roland: I don’t think of it as being torn. I think of it as a lease on a longer life. The immersion ratio is huge. Many of my coworkers will put in a full day here, then do a day or two in Continue, getting something near three-to-one for their time. Ask your grandparents how much they would have loved to find extra hours in the day to learn the things they wanted to.

  Tina: Like the skills in the game?

  Roland: I’ll do a common one—fishing. You can fish in Continue and there are some interesting rewards, but mostly it’s peaceful. Instead of commenting on how this links back to real life, many of us use this as a vacation.

  Tina: Okay, I’ll bite. What do you mean?

  Roland: Instead of being forced to plan a trip three weeks ahead of time, imagine that you just grab the family, all of you log in and spend the day together on a beach, or fishing. Or watching an arena duel. Heck, maybe your family has an entire army to lead that night in some battle.

  Tina: And then what?

  Roland: That’s it. That’s the afternoon. You can go to work tomorrow, or school, whatever, but you’ve got the chance to have a vacation every single night if you want, with whoever you want. If nothing else, the ARC is amazing for affording people these kinds of chances.

  Tina: We’re veering a little off point, but you’re still bringing up something important, Roland.

  Roland: I hope so. My wife and I are closer than ever. Instead of planning anniversaries or date nights, we do a quest, or tackle a tournament, or spar. The woman is hell with a sword. There’s enough time for everyone to spend together…

  Tina: Or apart.

  Roland: Heh, well the missus prefers to keep an eye on me.

  Tina: Some of those avatars are saucy.

  Roland: You’re going to get me in a different sort of trouble here, Tina.

  Tina: Sorry.

  Roland: Anyway, here, there, time is relative, but I think this ab
ility to live however you choose is the whole point of Continue. It’s in the name.

  Tina: There is a certain freedom to being able to wander the world without ever leaving your bedroom.

  Roland: Or, heh, being able to spend time with your wife in the bedroom while stationed across the country.

  Tina: Now you’re digging your own hole. This one isn’t my fault.

  Roland: You’re right, Tina, but don’t get me wrong—there are thrills, challenges, everything you could want if you Continue Online.

  Tina: Well done.

  Roland: Thanks. I thought it was clever.

  Tina: Anyway, that’s all we have tonight, folks. Games for Gamers signing off. Say good night, Roland.

  Roland: Good night, Roland.

  File: Transcript 13Q42

  Capture Source: Stranger Danger - Online Blog - Episode 45

  Time: Approximately 2 months ago

  Benn Tower: Folks, for those of you just now tuning in, this is a broadcast for Stranger Danger’s website to bring you The Word. I’m your host, Benn Tower, and we’re sitting here with Deacon Rochelle. Today’s topic? Society’s latest blind spot—the Alternate. Reality. Capsule.

  Benn Tower: I’m going to pick up this subject by addressing the name first off. Alternate Reality? Really? The name alone is a pretentious play on words. As if they’ve created an entirely different reality on par with our own.

  Deacon Rochelle: As if they could outshine what God has created.

  Benn Tower: Exactly, and then there’s the letters: A, R, C. An Ark, acting like a single device is on par with Noah’s Ark. Tell me this isn’t an attempt at idolatry.

  Deacon Rochelle: The name is only one of many flaws.

  Benn Tower: We’ll get to the other issues in a moment, but this is a good starting place for those just now tuning in.

  Deacon Rochelle: I agree, but the name is the first hint.

  Benn Tower: Here’s how this thing works. You plug it in, connect to Trillium’s servers, and your brain goes on a trip into the ether, cyberspace, la la land. With the munchkins and elves and faerie people. But before I get ahead of myself, I want you to understand that people are in these things for hours at a time. Hours.

  Deacon Rochelle: A pure waste of a God-given gift.

  Benn Tower: So plugged in for hours, and all of their thoughts, impulses, reactions are routed through a central source. There’s the first problem. All your information isn’t yours anymore. It isn’t sacred. It isn’t. Yours. Anymore. Trillium International has access to everything.

  Deacon Rochelle: It’s selfish, and a violation of privacy.

  Benn Tower: You’re a woman of the cloth. When people come to you for a confessional, there’s an expectation of trust that what you say won’t be spread around.

  Deacon Rochelle: Yes, exactly. My vows are held by the highest authority—God.

  Benn Tower: These people, plugged in, everything they do is subject to who knows what sort of twisted minds Trillium has employed, while people use these pretentious machines for sin.

  Deacon Rochelle: Far too often. The Internet was bad enough thirty years ago. Now it’s only grown worse.

  Benn Tower: Here’re some statistics for you. Four out of every five people owning an Alternate Reality Capsule have used it to simulate adultery. The problem is that these simulations are professed to have near one hundred percent authenticity.

  Deacon Rochelle: It’s not only limited to adultery. These programs simulate sodomy, men laying with other men, or women, and all other manner of base actions one could imagine.

  Benn Tower: These devices are encouraging people to engage in immoral actions. Not only the sin of lust, but murder. Murder. This is where things start to go way, way downhill. First though, I need to explain how these ARC devices came into being. Deacon, bear with me while I enlighten the uninitiated.

  Deacon Rochelle: By all means.

  Benn Tower: These devices—the Alternate Reality Capsules—were first brainstormed by The ARC Lab, a company under Trillium International. Their first client? The newly expanded United States Government. Given directly to the biggest warmongers in the world.

  Deacon Rochelle: Especially after the Melt Down Wars.

  Benn Tower: Right. This government participated in one of the biggest murder sprees in this millennium, and now they’re standing behind a device that allows people to experience anything they want. For completely altruistic reasons, I’m sure.

  Deacon Rochelle: Not even.

  Benn Tower: Government sponsored. Not just the good old USA warmongers, but others too. I won’t bother naming them all, but it’s the who’s who of slaughter-encouraging kings.

  Benn Tower: Now they’ve got the first crack at shaping this device, and I’m going to throw additional numbers at you. Listeners, can you guess how many programs on this Alternate Reality Capsule simulate senseless mayhem? There are over four hundred games dedicated solely to the idea of pitting people, human beings, against other human beings for combat.

  Deacon Rochelle: It goes against everything a good, decent person should stand for.

  Benn Tower: Here’re the numbers, folks. One in six. One in six people in the world right now has accessed the ARC devices and killed another person. Keep in mind these are ultra-realistic simulations. Basically Trillium has walked up to every person in the world and said, ‘Here’s a gun. Go shoot your friend in the face.’ And the kicker, people, is that one in six, one in six, has done it. Repeatedly.

  Deacon Rochelle: Murderers. We’ve created a device that trains people to butcher each other, or fornicate with other people’s spouses, and society plain accepts it.

  Benn Tower: Deacon Rochelle has a different strategy.

  Deacon Rochelle: My congregation is one of the few remaining that is wholly offline. I’ve encouraged people repeatedly not to plug in, and explained that it’s an affront to the world we’ve been given. We’ve backed up to an older set of beliefs regarding technology like these capsules.

  Benn Tower: And it’s a good idea. For those who want more information on the dangers of modern technology, check out Stranger Danger’s site. We’ve maintained a web presence because it’s the easiest way to get messages, like Deacon Rochelle’s cause, out to the masses. To folks like you.

  Deacon Rochelle: My church does have a small Internet presence on your site as well.

  Benn Tower: The buck doesn’t stop there, folks. To roll this ball of insanity into a neat little package for you, the ARC device trains people to murder, sponsored by the government, and we’re not even to the kicker.

  Deacon Rochelle: No, we’re not. It gets worse.

  Benn Tower: I’m going to bring up a simple question for you people listening in the audience. If this ARC device, this government-sponsored machine, if it’s so great and safe, why did they program it to put the taste of food into your brain?

  Benn Tower: Think about it for a moment. Think, think good and hard, folks. Are you putting two and two together? If not, let me spell it out. This machine can put a flavor in your head. The flavor of, I don’t know, let’s say pie. You think you taste it, but your mouth back here in reality, in the real world, it isn’t even open. You’re sitting in a device, eyes shut, and tasting pie.

  Deacon Rochelle: It’s a dangerous slope.

  Benn Tower: The question I have, the real message you all need to put hard thought into, is this, and this is what I really want you to think about—if this device, sponsored by a government known for its history of encouraging war, this device that trains citizens how to kill other people and become desensitized, if this device can put a flavor in your head, what else can it do? Can it make you kill your neighbor in cold blood? One in six, folks. One in six. Think about that next time you’re outside. Think about that next time you’re with your family. Have they been trained, conditioned, and encouraged to kill?

  Deacon Rochelle: And this is the future people have been waiting for. This is the world countless individuals worked tow
ard.

  Benn Tower: Exactly, folks. This is the future, and it’s in your head, in your thoughts. If I were a betting man, I’d lay odds on this whole thing being a terrible idea.

  Recording Date: July 2nd, 2031 (4 years prior to Continue Online’s release)

  Quality: Poor

  Details: This video was recorded by a group of hackers trying to pirate software from Trillium Inc.

  The video started with a shaky screen and two men looking into the lens. Their faces were covered with old-fashioned ski masks. One clearly white, the other darker-skinned. Suspected ethnicity is Hispanic. Both are male. They have been labeled W and H accordingly.

  “Are we on?” W spoke first.

  “Yeah. Recording’s going,” a female said from somewhere behind the camera. Her fingers came across the screen’s edge and a wide screen television. She has been labeled as F.

  “Fire it up,” said F.

  “All right, ladies and gentlemen,” W talked right into the lens. He stood between the recording device and the large television. “This is Team Lance, and we’ve stolen Trillium’s latest AI program to try to ask it a few questions.” He turned to the side where the probable Hispanic male was. “Is it ready?”

  “It’s almost done. I’ve had to lock this site down six ways from Sunday to even remotely feel like we are safe,” H answered.

  “Okay.” W nodded while turning back to the camera. “Everyone, we’ve isolated this site from the network, removed all wireless signals nearby. We also put up a Faraday cage around the majority of the building to make sure. Final protocol is a surge that will overload everything in five minutes.”

  “Tell them why,” F, the unseen female, prodded.

  “Right. This AI is a self-aware, self-learning program that can think exponentially faster than you or I.” W looked to be smiling under his mask. “We’ve made sure it can’t jump the rail into any other equipment.”

  “We’re a go!” H gave a thumbs-up.

  “All right.” W ran back to a computer that he’d been sitting at prior. A look of panic touched the features visible under his ski mask. He hustled back toward the camera, then said, “We are allowing limited access to a dictionary and terabytes of information about our world and universe.”