by Seth Ring
“We had to work our way up, managing our relationships with other groups and the powers in the world. Nova Terra is not like a game where each NPC has a couple quests and lines of dialogue. They all have their own lives; to the point that you could accept a quest and then come back and find that the person who gave it to you went and died. Or started a new business. Or got married or had a kid. At the end of the day, Nova Terra is another world. And like the real world, life moves along without you. If you’re serious about going it alone, you’d better be prepared to work for what you want. If you put in the time and effort, you will be okay. Nothing of value is going to come easy, but everything is achievable.”
Furrowing his brow, Xavier thought for a minute, his eyes drifting across the scenery outside his window.
“Then where is the fun? Isn’t the point of a game to provide entertainment? If Nova Terra is so hard, how is that different than real life? There must be something about it that draws people in. I mean, almost 70% of the world plays.”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong. It is fun. Really fun. It isn’t as uncomfortable as real life. Like, you don’t sweat no matter how hot you get. Everyone’s hair looks great no matter how much you have been running. It is like life, but with most of the uncomfortable and inconvenient parts edited out. But Nova Terra is more than that. When it first came out, it was a game, but when they built Fantasia it became as important as the real world.”
“Fantasia? You mean the city? Isn’t Fantasia in Nova Terra?”
“Not quite. It sits parallel to it. So, you can hop back and forth. Think same universe, different planet. I do almost all my business there because of the time dilation. That is the only way I have time to play.” Julia smirked. “Almost everyone in the business world uses Fantasia to handle their business and Nova Terra to relax.”
CHAPTER TWO
Seeing the large smile on his aunt’s face as she talked about Nova Terra, Xavier couldn’t help but think back over the many years he had lived with her. She had gained custody of him from birth after a tragic accident took the lives of his parents. Julia, only nineteen at the time, had stepped up to play the part of both mother and father to him. Not to mention, Julia had taken on a leadership role in his parents’ multi-million-dollar energy corporation.
Xavier hadn’t even made it to the hospital to be born when a drunk driver turned his parents’ joy at the coming birth of their first child to a nightmare. His parents had survived long enough to be brought back to the hospital emergency room, but both passed away during surgery. Miraculously, Xavier survived both the crash and the emergency c-section that followed. His aunt rushed to the hospital only to find her sister and brother-in-law dead.
Xavier had grown at a furious rate, dwarfing other children of similar age. His bones and muscles grew so strong and dense that he was walking by the time he was two months old and was almost four feet tall by the time he was one. This astounding growth left the pediatricians who were monitoring him dumbfounded. His ever-increasing diet fueled his rapid growth, and the doctors could only attribute it to some unknown form of gigantism.
As he got older, he began having problems. His bones, organs, and skin struggled to keep up with his massive frame. Almost daily his skin would stretch and split, leaving bloody trails across his body as his skin cells tried to duplicate. Despite his abnormal strength and the size of his bones, gravity began to prove too much for him. Facing this difficult situation, the doctors were at a complete loss, trying one failed treatment after another.
For the past sixteen years, Xavier had gone in and out of hospitals around the world, trying every conceivable method to solve the issue with his body. His aunt, who had proved to be a successful businesswoman in her own right, had spared no expense. She wasted a veritable fortune on treatment and research no matter how obscure.
In this unprecedented case, Xavier’s muscles and bones were almost 32 times stronger than normal, allowing him to move his 840-pound body like a regular sized person. However, even though Xavier’s body was much stronger than was reasonable for someone with his condition, far surpassing the limits of normal humans, his weight still caused him to struggle to support his body.
In fact, by standing to his feet, he easily broke the World’s Strongest Man deadlift record. Unfortunately, the pressure of gravity on his bones had caused numerous stress fractures in his hips and legs over the years, and, by the age of eight, Xavier had found himself unable to walk without a mechanized brace.
To complicate his situation, his medical condition caused him to be threatened by the danger of literally ripping through his own skin. The result of his massive musculature meant that any sudden action would cause his skin to tear open, accompanied of course by lots of blood and pain. Careful movement was still possible, and through technological aids like his electric wheelchair and his mechanized brace, his life could have a modicum of normalcy.
After getting home, Julia got him settled in his room and reminded him that his Taijiquan instructor was going to be coming in half an hour. While he waited, Xavier opened his computer to do some research. From what he knew already, Nova Terra was a gamer’s dream, but it differed from many of the games that existed previously.
“Information on Nova Terra,” Xavier said, watching the computer create a virtual library for him. Seeing the huge amount of information still streaming in, he narrowed the search. “Basic game information.” Soon he had a manageable amount of information in front of him, and he began to browse.
No visible stats, no damage counters, the game was touted as the first true alternate reality. If you could do something in the real world, you could do it in Nova Terra. The ads boasted unlimited freedom, restricted only by ability and resources. Judging by the variety of posts on the message boards, it wasn’t an overstatement to say that you could do anything in Nova Terra so long as it did not fall into the category of certain criminal acts.
Xavier had not even scratched the surface of the information on the game when a knock at his door let him know that his instructor had arrived. Clicking open the door from his computer, he moved to the edge of his massive chair and grabbed his robotic frame. Strapping his legs into the supports he pushed a button on the side of his chair, and with a hydraulic hiss, his chair pushed him up into a standing position.
Standing at five feet tall, Ms. Chen was dainty, with short hair and a gentle looking face. Although he was almost twice her size and countless times her weight, Xavier greeted her with the utmost respect. She had been teaching him for many years and was more of a grandmother to him than a teacher. The fact that he had once watched her completely thrash ten of his aunt’s best bodyguards at the same time helped, as well.
“Hello, sifu.” Xavier greeted his teacher, his mechanized brace helping him bow slightly.
“Hello, child. Julia informed me that you will be leaving us soon. Then we better get all the practice in that we can. First stance.”
“Only for a few years. Supposedly, when I get back out of Nova Terra, I will not need this brace anymore.”
With the assistance of the mechanical frame, Xavier was able to move through each of the stances that they had been working on. He had been doing Taijiquan for almost 11 years, but the nature of his condition had made progress rather hard. He tried passing from stance to stance smoothly, focusing on his breathing, relaxing his body to avoid stiffness and gathering his strength in anticipation of each of the moves.
“You’ll still probably be as clumsy as an elephant,” grumped Ms. Chen, pushing him to correct his stance.
There was always a slight clumsiness that could not be overcome due to the mechanical frame, but overall, Ms. Chen was satisfied with his efforts. After two hours of careful practice, she climbed up on Xavier’s massive chair to give him a kiss on the forehead.
Since he was rather sweaty, Xavier moved to his bathroom after saying goodbye to his teacher. He had designed his personal living space, so he didn’t have to duck as he walked through th
e door and into the massive shower. Peeling off his sweaty clothes, he showered and got changed. Each one of his actions was focused and deliberate. The more he thought about living in a world free of the danger of hurting himself with a simple movement, the more excited he became.
The days passed slowly, too slowly for Xavier, whose anticipation grew every hour. Thankfully, there were tests to do to make sure nothing would go wrong with the immersion process, otherwise he might have gone crazy. As the day got closer his regular routine was interrupted as the hospital set up his pod and had him try it out.
For Xavier, who had never enjoyed the opportunity to pursue life the way others were able to because of his physical condition, Nova Terra promised a level of normalcy he had only dreamed of. While swords and magic and dragons were not normal, at least he could experience them the same way as everyone else.
Sitting next to the floor-to-ceiling window in his room, Xavier looked over the well-manicured lawn and neatly pruned trees that dotted the southern side of the estate. For years, he had been trapped. Trapped by his body, trapped by the perfection of a life where everything was handled for him. It was almost time to break free.
The day before his immersion, Xavier accompanied Julia to the Atlas headquarters to complete the final paperwork. Because he was a major shareholder in Atlas, they held a board meeting to explain his situation and set up the procedures for decision making while he was in Nova Terra.
“This paperwork is a drag,” Julia complained, flexing her cramped hand. “If I have to sign another paper my hand will fall off. You sure generate a lot of paperwork for someone going into a game. I can’t wait till you are finally in Nova Terra. Then I might finally get some time off.”
“Then you’ll finally have time to go on dates with one of the hundred guys who called you yesterday,” countered Xavier with a straight face, earning himself a scowl.
“Forget it. I am too busy making my guild the number one guild in the world.”
“Oh yeah? How close are you?”
“We are doing pretty well.” Julia sighed. “There are a lot of good players in Nova Terra and, unfortunately, they play together. We rank in the top ten, though the rankings tend to fluctuate a good bit. Considering the restrictions on our guild, I am quite proud of what we have achieved.”
“What sort of restrictions?”
“Well, we only accept women into the guild, and we are a pure mercenary corps, which means we do not take on anything that isn’t a mercenary job.” Seeing her nephew’s confused look, Julia smiled. “There are many things that a guild can do in Nova Terra. We handle requests from other players and NPCs. Other guilds might trade in luxury goods or sell production items in a store.
“Some even hunt for rare creatures or explore the game. With how large Nova Terra is, people haven’t even scratched the surface of the game. According to the rumors floating around, there is an entire storyline that we have not activated yet. But that is a rumor at this point. With all the different things that we could choose to do in Nova Terra, we have decided to focus on mercenary jobs.
“While we might take on a job to guard a merchant caravan or a bunch of miners, we won’t run our own caravan or do the digging for ore ourselves. We do have a production branch, but we use everything they produce ourselves. Because we restrict ourselves to a specific kind of work, it is a bit harder for us to expand than guilds with a diversified portfolio.”
“That makes sense, I guess. All those restrictions are self-imposed, right? What made you decide to play that way?”
“That is an old story,” Julia paused to tuck a stray hair behind her ear. “About thirty years ago, I was in another guild, but the leader was a total jerk, so I quit. When I quit, a bunch of the other ladies quit, as well. We wanted to show him that we could make a guild that was even better than his.”
“Thirty years ago? That would have made you, what? Four years old?”
“No, thirty years ago in the game. This was four years ago in real life.”
“Right. Time dilation. So, what happened to the old guild?”
“They ended up disbanding about three years ago, after we crushed them in a tournament. When we left, we took a good chunk of their core players and the three best player versus player casters in the game. PvP combat is a huge part of the game, so losing us crippled their ability to compete with the top tier guilds. Most guilds solve their problems through duels or team fights, so after we left, they suffered. All the other guilds started to pick on them. I mean, we did too, but we actually had a reason.
“After they collapsed, we continued to grow as we found other players like us. I don’t think there was ever an official conversation about it, the rules formed naturally based on what we are all interested in. I mean, there are only sixty of us. So, it isn’t like we are one of the big guilds. Sixty players is a nice size because we can split into squads of eleven. Ten mercenaries and one officer. We have five total squads with five players in our production division. The five officers are our guild officers, as well. Overall we have a neat little family.”
“It sounds like it.” Xavier could tell how proud his aunt was by the huge smile on her face as she talked about her guild.
The intercom buzzed, and Julia’s secretary informed them that the lawyers had arrived to handle the final paperwork for the medical treatment. It did not take long for the documents to get filed with Atlas’ lawyers, and after finalizing the documents for his immersion, there was nothing left for Xavier to do but wait. Waiting suited Xavier fine - after all, he felt like he had been waiting for his whole life. He would leave the business stuff to his aunt while he got ready for adventure.
The last two days passed, the time of immersion arrived, and his tearful aunt brought him to the hospital. The whole ride over she fretted and tried to convince him to immediately contact her when he got into the game. With a high mastery character and a fully formed guild, she could help him get used to the game in the shortest time possible - an offer that Xavier immediately rejected, of course.
“I want to play by myself at first. You know, take my time and explore. I have 14 years, for goodness sake. At the very least, I want a year on my own. Plus, your guild doesn’t allow men, so I can’t join anyway.”
“Believe me, Xavier, the game isn’t easy. Especially in the beginning. We have tons of experienced players who can teach you the ropes. Plus, the girls have always wanted to meet you! I am positive that they would make an exception for you, if you wanted to join. Like I said, it is not an official rule or anything like that. It just ended up that way.”
“I’m sure all the ladies in your guild are very nice, but I would like to spend some time on my own,” Xavier said, suppressing a shudder. Thinking about being surrounded by innumerable women like his aunt made his skin crawl. He loved her dearly, but one overprotective, clingy aunt was more than enough.
Unable to move him from this position no matter how much she threatened or cajoled him, Julia finally huffed and let it be, but only after extracting a promise that he would at least call her within the first year. A year in the game was only a bit more than a month and a half in real time anyway. The game had a video chat feature that would allow them to connect easily, and Julia went over how to use it with Xavier three times to make sure he understood.
A few hours later, Xavier had been prepared by the staff and was about to enter his custom-built pod. Bending down was awkward with his braces, but Xavier bore with the discomfort so that his aunt could give him a hug. Xavier consoled her in his slow, deep voice. “Don’t worry, Aunt Julia, I can still communicate with you and the doctors while in Nova, so I will be sure to let them know if anything is a problem. Think of this like boarding school. Plus, I will see you soon in game.”
Straightening back up, Xavier stepped over to the massive pod and watched his aunt leave the room. Looking around for his last view of the real world for the next two years, he shed his hospital gown, proving to the curious nurses that he was
indeed proportional all over, and lay down in the pod, which began to fill up with a nanite-infused gel from the large nanite colony on the wall.
Twice the size of a traditional full-immersion pod, the device that had been customized for Xavier was quite impressive. Housing better processing power, multiple power system fail-safes, a state of the art monitoring suite and every other feature one could imagine apart from a mini-bar, the pod had cost a pretty penny, but Julia, ever business minded, had worked out a special deal with Horizon to provide special state-of-the-art backup batteries that Atlas had developed for their pods in exchange for this custom built pod.
Almost instantly the strong anesthetic put him under, and he fell into a deep sleep. Outside the pod, the doctor was glaring at the curious nurses while keeping one eye on the controls for the pod. It had taken almost three years of experimentation to come up with a mixture of anesthetic that was strong enough to put Xavier out without shutting his organs down, so the doctor paid special attention to the pod’s vital sign indicators to make sure there were no problems.
