The Metaverse: Virtual Life-Real Death

by William Kurth

  “I’m more interested in the architecture of the systems, the coding, and the protocols. Other people see the cool results—and they are cool. But I tend to see the ones and zeros.” Wu shrugged.

  “I guess I’m weird that way.”

  “Not weird, just real.” Argosi grinned.

  “Show me the operation, and let’s get me fitted for the SecondSkin so I can meet my team in-world. No point in me starving for nothing.”

  “Matt, can you come up here and take over?” Wu said before turning to Argosi. “This way, Commander.”

  Wu took Argosi from the control room through a set of doors that opened to the cavernous room that held at least a dozen H-Pods, eight of which were currently occupied. The empty ones were apparent as their two halves separated, the bottom portion sitting on the ground on their pads with the upper portion above them. Occasionally an H-Pod shifted on its axis or rose higher or lower.

  “This part of the facility occupies both the third and fourth floors. One-half of the fourth floor is where the command and admin offices are. The other half is sealed off and rises above the roof to give us the 25 feet we need for the pod arm.”

  Wu looked around, surveying his domain.

  “These pods are the latest and greatest from Digital-Life. Agent Callum here will tell you when you go full emersion with the SecondSkin there is no discernible difference from real life, if that even makes sense. The photo-realistic tech stuff has been around for a half-century and coupled with the VR headsets it was pretty realistic. When they added in the exoskeleton, it got even more real. But there was that barrier that you could feel physically.”

  Argosi nodded, most of the history of Virtual Reality he knew, but Wu was just trying to be informative. “That’s what we have at FLETC.” Argosi chimed in.

  “Exactly,” Wu said. “But when SecondSkin came along it was a game changer. The software could not only actually and physically interact with your body it becomes part of you and you a part of it right down to the biological cellular level. The skin is technically alive, Commander.”

  “Another good reason to avoid going full emersion, Mr. Wu?”

  Wu smiled. “It does seem a bit macabre. Encasing yourself in a living orgasm then sealing up your physical body in a pod, being fed through a tube in precisely monitored and measured servings. Like going back to the womb, if you think about it.”

  “Then there is the whole idea of escaping reality to visit reality,” Argosi said with a grin.

  “Bingo, boss. Let’s get you fitted for a skin.”

  ***

  Argosi didn’t much like having to stand completely bare-ass in a scanning booth while Wu, one of his techs and Callum watched from a control station. Nothing like having to stand naked in front of your clothed subordinates 20 minutes after meeting them.

  “Just a few more minutes Commander, stay as still as possible, we are calibrating with PA.” A voice belonging to one of the techs announced through a speaker.

  “PA?” Argosi asked.

  “Sorry, boss.” It was Wu now.

  “Palo Alto, California. It’s the main manufacturing facility for SecondSkin. As soon as they have all the measurements, you can get out and get dressed. They are fast tracking it to us, should be here in 24 hours or less.”

  What all are they taking measurements of, and who else is involved? Argosi wondered, not really wanting to know the answer.

  After another minute Wu was satisfied all was good and told Argosi he could step out of the booth and get dressed.

  “Sorry that you had to go through that. We could have sent you to a commercial measuring place that uses mostly animatronic devices, but it would have taken a lot longer. We do that for the female agents. They have their own dressing and H-Pod area but my sole female tech isn’t qualified on the calibration unit yet.”

  “How many female agents on the MCT?” Argosi asked.

  “Since Comma, excuse me, Deputy Chief Stezno is leaving, none in this office right now, but there are a couple out of satellite locations.” Callum jumped in.

  “That gives us some extra Pods for you to use if you need to bring on some additional Agents,” Wu interjected.

  “How many?”

  “There are four unused currently in the female section commander,” Callum said, jumping in again.

  Argosi had seen this before. Wu was a civilian. Callum was a sworn federal officer. It was a rivalry that seemed to exist particularly with the younger guys. Argosi ignored it he had bigger things to do. Like, call back my wife. Argosi glanced down at the missed call notification.

  New Polis, Metaverse

  MD found Derek in the large dressing room just off the main bedroom. The dressing room itself was as large as some of the main rooms in other apartments in this building. It held dozens of drawers and shelves in between a series of closets that hung myriad items of clothing separated by formal, semi-formal, business, business casual and so on. Angled shelves held dozens of shoes and other types of footwear similarly organized. In between all of these cabinets and closets were comfortable chairs to sit on, dressing mirrors and tables which had glass tops holding a variety of watches, rings, cufflinks and other jewelry.

  Derek had laid out several different clothing options on a large plush white couch, jackets draped on the back, shirts and pants on the cushions below them, shoes on the floor with socks on top of them. Most of the assorted outfits looked far too formal for what MD had in mind. He was going to an appointment with a colleague, not to an afternoon garden party at some estate.

  “Derek something a little more casual perhaps?

  “Of course, sir. I have some additional items on the other couch.”

  MD had not noticed those and walked over.

  “Of course. Thank you, Derek. You covered all the bases I see.”

  “My pleasure, sir.”

  Derek had put out some less formal items on this couch, and MD selected a simple short sleeve button down shirt, and khaki pants with matching socks and soft leather brown shoes, smart casual was the term for his choice.

  MD stripped off his shirt, shoes, trousers and socks, depositing them on the floor. His dexterity was nearly 100 percent now. MD stopped to admire himself, or rather his avatar. He stood in front of a full-length mirror only in his boxers. Unlike his actual physical body, this one was well toned, almost muscular, and of course taller. MD’s admiration was short lived as Derek appeared holding the pants and shirt he had selected.

  MD took the items, refusing further help from Derek. He could have easily selected an “auto-dress” mode but wanted to continue to improve his dexterity and wanted to experience the full emersion experience. It was the little things that made it realistic, like tying his shoes, which he sat down now to do.

  Having completed his change of attire MD walked out of the dressing area and into a corridor which led to the private elevator next to the transporter in the large foyer of the penthouse. MD could have easily teleported to Alex’s location, if not his office directly at least into the lobby of the building that housed it.

  MD felt like walking. He needed to move after spending so many hours in the car getting down to that swamp in south Texas. Alex’s office was seven city blocks. Two-thirds of a mile, give or take.

  MD rode in the elevator, exclusive for the penthouse, down to the lobby. It only took him a half minute or so to descend the one-hundred-eighteen-floors of his building. As soon as the door opened, MD stepped into an ornate lobby. The building housing his penthouse was a very elegant hotel with apartments including the penthouse that one could buy, all owned by Edgar. The penthouse with the indefinite lease that MD held on it was some of Edgar’s compensation to MD which also included a rather sizable bank account in the Metaverse and a smaller yet still significant one in the real world.

  Those funds had sustained MD in both worlds after he unceremoniously was removed from his position at SDG some eight months earlier. MD had his own fairly significant financial resources
, but why use those when Edgar was bankrolling him?

  Walking from the elevator, MD heard both the distant clatter and closer in sounds of people talking either as they strolled through the large lobby with the twenty-foot ceilings and crystal chandeliers or as they stood talking to one another as he walked briskly by them. He headed past the concierge desk, the check in counter and luggage desk before turning left and heading for the main doors.

  MD heard a piano off to his right playing softly as he approached the large glass doors. Some people were enjoying afternoon tea or some other beverage sitting on expansive couches and chairs. Most all were dressed either in business suits or the kind of attire that Derek had set out for him on the first couch upstairs. A doorman opened one of the large doors for MD.

  “Have a good afternoon, Mr. Swanson.”

  MD didn’t respond. It was undoubtedly an AE either a T-2 or maybe even a T-3 owned by the hotel which meant Edgar. He saw no need to pay it any attention or pay it a tip which of course would go to Edgar as the owner of the property.

  Stepping out of the building MD was first struck by the warmth of the outside compared to the cool refrigerated air inside the hotel and secondly by the noise of the street itself. The tall skyscrapers all around him radiated the absorbed heat of the sun onto the sidewalk and street. It wasn’t uncomfortable nor even that hot. It was just a difference of climate from inside the building. A small thing but again something that made the full emersion experience so real, as did the loud horn of a taxi flashing past a limousine trying to merge into traffic in front of his building.

  MD strolled down the sidewalk crowded with other pedestrians walking in the same direction or opposite it causing him to at times walk in a serpentine path. Innumerable cars, busses, trucks and cabs racing by his left side on the street. On his right were shops, stores, cafes, bars and assorted other businesses. He walked by dozens of other tall buildings that looked to house a combination of offices and apartments.

  I wonder how many are owned by Edgar?

  The population of the downtown district alone was greater than that of New York City, Las Angeles, Houston and San Francisco combined. The Downtown District was the center of commerce, culture, entertainment and the arts in the Metaverse. It is where everyone wanted to live and work.

  People or AE’s, one could never be sure, raced this way and that. Horns honked continuously. Occasionally a VTAL raced by overhead. MD looked up to the sky. A few thin clouds but no chance of rain.

  Walking around a corner gave MD a direct line of site down to the harbor and beyond where the island of Venice was situated and where Alex had met Dr. Sullivan. Poor Dr. Sullivan. You thought you would find understanding and acceptance here, but instead you only found death.

  After a brisk 20-minute walk, which included having to wait for several traffic lights to change MD finally arrived at Alex’s building. There was no short cut. Had he jaywalked he would have found one of New Polis’s finest stopping him and ticketing him. Unlike the real world, they never missed anyone. Another intrusive application by Digital-Life to make money and control things here. An opinion not shared by MD alone.

  The 50-story building was nowhere near as nice as the one he lived in, but then again this was primarily an office building, maybe a third of it housed middle-rent type of apartments. Most buildings were a combination of residential, office and retail so that workers would not have a long commute. Teleporters could only be used discreetly in the downtown district. Most people wanted the social interaction of engaging with others, of seeing and being seen.

  It was all part of the master design plan to avoid creating space that emptied out during the day or at night. There were “bedroom” communities, catering to those desiring large single-family homes. Of course, one could live farther out into the countryside if a rural living experience was desired. Those with the funds may have all three. A downtown apartment in the building where their office was located, a beach or resort home and perhaps a ranch, farm or mountain property.

  Just inside the lobby to his left was a bar, with a few patrons sitting at stools. MD caught a whiff of cigar smoke as he passed. Finding the elevators, MD pressed the button for the thirty-eighth-floor and rode in what would have been silence if it were not for the 20 something next to him with the earphones so loud that MD could hear the lyrics.

  Fortunately, he got off on the fourteenth-floor to what looked like an apartment level. MD stepped from the elevator as soon as the doors opened on Alex’s floor. A directory was on the wall, but he ignored it, he had been here before.

  He walked to a door reading, “Reynold’s Consulting.” MD opened the door that was locked to anyone but him or Alex. MD had set this place up as a front to house an operation center of sorts. MD had a few others of these scattered throughout the Metaverse with different names appearing as legitimate businesses or in safe houses.

  Alex jumped as MD came in. He slipped out of his office and into the small lobby just as MD made his way into the interior. Seeing him, Alex loosened his tie and waved.

  “Come on back, Mr. Swanson.”

  MD followed Alex back to a corner office with views mostly of the alley below and the building across it. Opposite the windows was a large table, perhaps a dozen feet long with numerous large computer screens on it facing towards the wall behind it. MD followed Alex around the workstation and sat in one of the three chairs behind it. Alex sat down next to MD.

  MD glanced at the different screens. Some were just lines of code others held views of someplace in the Metaverse where a Human Element was doing something and unknowingly being watched.

  “So where are we, Alex?”

  Alex pointed to a screen with what looked like a spreadsheet with a dozen account numbers on it.

  “These are our paying customers so far.”

  Alex pointed to another screen.

  “And these are some potential targets available at this current time. It’s just a matter of who you think will give us the most bang for the buck.”

  MD selected each account number one by one. As each was chosen, it brought up a complete profile of the user, what type of hardware he or she was using and the physical location of the pod. Additionally, on one of the large screens, the worldview of the Metaverse from that accounts perspective popped up. MD studied each of the profiles before deciding.

  “This one here, in San Diego. I think he, and maybe his friend with him, will achieve the desired effect.”

  San Diego, California

  Sixteen-year-old Michael Collins and his fifteen-year-old friend Daniel Simpson rushed to their favorite daily activity. Their destination was an H-Pod club just off University and Centre Street in San Diego where they were both members. It was one of the newest H-Pod facilities in Southern California.

  “University Metaverse Portal Club” was a massive facility. It was one of the largest in the nation with 150 plus H-Pods available by the hour, or half day. Most were of the first generation type which allowed a member to quickly enter the Metaverse as you could do so in your street clothes if you were really in a hurry and were not going to do too much movement or other strenuous activities while in the pod.

  Most club members opted for the wetsuit like Intermediate Suit or I-Suit. Worn against the skin, it wasn’t SecondSkin, but it provided a more consistent feeling. Regular clothing, especially if it was looser, could bunch up in the exoskeleton and deliver a less than optimum experience. Plus the I-Suit kept you cooler, particularly if you were engaging in physically demanding activities while in the pod and was more comfortable.

  Also available were some H-Pods in their own sealed off private spaces. They were for use with the latest generation of SecondSkin. The pods there were mostly for demonstration purposes as the facility was also a distributor for the systems. These also could be utilized by individuals whose pods were down for maintenance or repairs.

  Both boys got their assigned pods from the front desk clerk. They went into the changing ro
om and dressed in their personal I-Suits located in their assigned lockers. Both had full memberships courtesy of their parents with all the perks.

  Michael and Daniel walked out of the changing room through the door marked “H-Pod Bays” in their black I-Suits, which covered everything from fingers to toes. They held their individually fitted hoods that they would put on once in the pod. Just outside that door, they waited in a cordoned off area where an employee came and got them and a couple of other members who had joined them before leading them to the bay housing their assigned pods.

  The employee gave them a quick safety briefing on how to eject from the pod if there is a power or mechanical failure. What to do if you feel ill and how to make sure you stay out of the yellow lined areas, cordoned off with a small barricade when walking by the other pods that are in use. The employee then led them to their individual pods.

  The pods at University Metaverse Portal Club were straightforward and easy to enter. You went up a ladder built into the side and at the top you stepped down and sat on the edge. Then you just dropped your legs down into their respective slots in the exoskeleton. The upper part lowered over your arms and you were sealed up, and the exoskeleton tightened itself around you. With an I-Suit all the calibration of a full emersion H-Pod was not necessary and within about 30 seconds of the pod sealing up the two friends were online and in-world.

  One of their favorite activities in-world was one where they could don winged jet packs and race through a variety of pre-set courses or design their own. The one today was of intermediate difficulty.

  In-world, the two got outfitted with winged jet packs that went over the body conforming flight suits. These suits were designed to minimize wind resistance and friction. Technically a game it was also exceedingly realistic. Wear the wrong flight suit or hang your foot out too far and the aerodynamics would be affected making you slower at the least and unstable at the worst.