Realm part one

When it began, no-one knew what was happening.
In fact, I recall clearly thinking I was going mad. None of what was happening could be real it seemed.
Then when we came together - in the game and out of it, we began to talk and share our experiences. We quickly came to realise that it was happening to all of us. And though it seemed impossible, we had to accept the fact that it was real.
Then we began to understand why the government had seen fit to ban the game in the first place, and why they hated it so much. It became all too obvious suddenly the threat that the game posed.
Even so, we were never prepared for both the outcome and the real truth that we discovered.
Its hard to look back on those days, there is a lot of pain for me there, but this is a story that must be shared - I think. So many ordinary people are finding life difficult to accept now, their depandancies shattered in the fall out from the end of the game.
I think an explanation is owed to them, as we took their lives in our hands, thinking they wanted to be freed.

The year was 2015 when Marc Tiffer and Gayle Reed first began work on the Realm. Microsoft had recently released Work World and it was revolutionising both the internet and real life.
Work World used Creative Labs VR studio - a standalone device that plugged straight into a fibre optic internet connection to allow for "Total Immersion" gaming experience. Work World turned the gaming idea into an operating system that allowed people to go to work in a total immersion virtual office, or shop in total immersion malls. A mass conversion of business from the real world into virtuality began - cutting business expenditure dramatically.
Now there were a few drawbacks to the VR Studio. Firstly it couldn't "interface" with a person unless they had an implant installed in their brain - with an external port to plug into the machine. And although these were small and discreet it soon became apparant that they were prone to both infection and rejection. And while most infections were mild external affairs that might prevent use of the station for a short while, there were a few infections that gave people brain fevers leading to blindness and brain damage. Blindness no longer affected a persons ability to function in an on-line reality - images were downloaded directly to the brain by-passing the eyes anyway, but brain damage obviously prevented any further use of VR studio.
Rejection was not exactly common, but common enough that within a short space of time an new underclass was appearing in the world. It occured when the brain in question simply refused to accept information through the VR port. Occaisionally the body would physically reject the implant, but this almost always resulted in the death of the rejectant.
As businesses soon began to require that employees work through Work World (which eventually expanded to include schooling too - drastically cutting the expense of education).
Initially, to prevent addiction and other problems related to overuse of the VR studio, Creative Labs had installed a timed cut out point into the hardware for the station. Microsoft required this to be removed for the purposes of Work World, so the cut off became a software enabled feature and that was hacked within seconds of it's simultaneous re-launch with Work World.
VR gaming addiction became widespread, and the new global government set about comabatting it. Creative Labs were forced to make the VR studio dedicated to Work World and VR gaming was restricted to Arcade booths on commercial premises.
In stepped Marc Tiffer and Gayle Reed. They had both worked on the early code for Work World but had been released by Microsoft on grounds of a suspicion of security breaches on their part. It was Gayle's idea to try and crack the Work World code, and then Marc's idea to create Realm with it.
Realm is an entirely illeagle piece of software, which can be accesed only through temporary portals in the Work World network. It is run by what could be called a pirate outfit, who are constantly on the move. The servers are portable, designed specifically for Realm by friends of Gayle and Marc, and the team of hackers attached to the Realm Crew work in shifts round the clock to maintain connections between Work World and Realm.
The game itself is a simple Dungeons and Dragons type world - with all the prerequisite creatures of the genre and features such as systems of magic, several sentient species to play as and so on.
One interesting feature - and one that was developed as an extension of the original Work World is the "Quick Skill Access" feature. It allows a player to learn at least something of a Realm skill instantly - in exchange for money. It also enables skil gains through use in a way unique to the realm world. Information is directly fed to the brains subconcious learning centres, by-passing the sensory stimulation route of learning to allow skills to be attained without the years of learning that is usually required. It was thought by Realms programmers that this would remain specific to Realm becuase of the unique physics of the virtual world. It was certainly considered impossible for this information to have any relevance outside of the Realm world.
There was also another problem with QSA. While rejection was not very common amoung users of Work World, it increased significantly amoung users of Realm, and would happen to people who had had no problems with recieving information in Work World. Realm was percieved as a huge threat to society because of this, while Microsoft saw Realm as a threat to the integrity of Work World.
And there was another problem with Realm. While Work World utilised an individuals genetic code to recreate a virtual replica of the individual, Realm fools the individuals brain into believing that it is taller/shorter, fatter/ thinner etc. This leads to a lot of disoreintation on re-entry into the real world, even leading to a few deaths.
The makers of Realm tried to counter this, by issuing a work-out regime that was designed specifically to remind the brain of the bodies proportions. This helped a great deal - but did not begin to address many of the other issues with Realm.

Now the year is 2024, some years down the line. Realm is a thriving parasite community on Work Worlds borders. And although interpol spend a great deal of time hunting down the players of Realm, it's following contiues to grow. And now, something strange is beginning to happen......

Atricus the Fair pushing long loose blonde curls out of his blue eyes clamboured over the drystone dyke and began to amble down the steep incline of the meadow, covering the distance quickly with his long stride. Beneath him he could see the valley of Vassel spread out, with the village of Thame reaching up the mountain side towards him. The meadow was full of goats, tended here and there by the youngsters of Thame. Daisies and buttercups dotted through the lush green of the mountain grass, and Atricus could hear already the muted roar of the famous Thame waterfall. He sighed happily, this was his favorite part of the Realm, his Birth point in it and the part he called home.
He was almost at the gate that led down into the forrest. And as he opened it he caught a faceful of the spray from the waterfall. The air was cool and he was in high spirits as he walked lightly over the muldering pine needles and moss of the forrest carpet.
He was even whistling to himself as he turned the corner before the Thane Bridge. He looked across it's length as he always did, as it spanned the gorge beneath the waterfall. Down to the right of the bridge were the first houses of Thane, and they trickled on down the mountainside from there. The bridge was long, thin and precarious. It was always wet from spray too, as the waterfall tumbled only feet away from it. Beneath it, for some distance was a chasm into which the water fell. At the bottem was a deep dark turbulant pool of water, surrounded at all sides by sheer rock that even a mountain goat could not breach. The particularly brave and foolish youngsters would throw themselves down that chasm into that freezing water every summer, washing up half drowned but apparently happy some distance downstream.
Today, as he looked down the length of the bridge, he saw a familiar figure staring down into the water in deep thought about halfway across. The figure was only just tall enough to peer over the ropes of the bridge, with thick red hair and beard. A gleaming horned helm sat on it's head, and chainmail glinted in the sunlight. Under it's elbow was a massive battle axe which seemed menacing even at this distance. The sight made Atricus smile even more broadly and quickened his step.
As he approached the thoughttful figure on silent feet, he yelled out a greeting, making the figure jump.
"Hail there Old Man, how goes it with you?" Atricus boomed.
Startled, the figure looked up, and then smiled warmly at him.
"Hail Elf, it's been a while since you've been to Thane," he replied.
Atricus stopped next to him, thumping the stocky little man on the back by way of a hello. He leaned forward on the ropes, bringing his hieght down a bit for the benefit of his friend.
Then he noticed something odd, which made him frown. The Dwarf normally was tall enough to reach halfway up Atricus's chest, but today he seemed a good couple of inches shorter. in fact, the Dwarf came to just above his waist.
"That is strange," he muttered to himself.
"What Elf?" the Dwarf asked, sounding a little confused.
"Hmm, you seem very small today, Dwarf, " Atricus replied.
The dwarf looked about himself and then up at Atricus, then shrugged.
"So it would seem my friend. It is a little peculiar, but that's becoming commonplace at the moment,"
Atricus was taken back at this.
"What do you mean Gimli?"
The Dwarf laughed slightly.
"You've been in the hills a while haven't you Atricus?" Then the Dwarf sighed and looked up at the Elf, "Well, old friend, to be honest with you, I think they are having server trouble at the Realm Crew. The game's been really buggy lately - especially in the cities, " the Dwarf shook his head, "Someone told me they reckoned it was the latest update doing it, but I've seen some pretty strange things about just lately,"
Atricus stood up again and walked round the dwarf, trying to figure out what had happened.
"It was a bit laggy up in the hills it must be said," he said as he looked, "A mountain troll nearly had me because of it, I lagged out while I was casting a spell and when I came back to it had halved me! I was annoyed at the time,"
Then he saw it. The dwarf's feet were actually in the wood of the bridge, instead of on top of it.
"Can you move?" Atricus asked.
Gimli looked at him askance, and took a step up the bridge. For a second he started to move normally, then he was snapped back into the spot he'd been standing in.
"Shit!" he snapped, and tried to move again. the same thing happened again.
"Hmm, can you Warp?" Atricus asked the Dwarf.
"Not enough mana mate, "the Dwarf said with a shrug "Can you do a Warp Hole on top of me?"
Atricus shook his head slowly, trying hard to think how he could help his friend.
"I'm fresh out of Thought Stone charges, that's why I came back,"
"Damn, and the bloody goatherds will be back down soon,"
"Yes, and the bridge is only wide enough for us to walk down it. The won't get passed."
Atircus looked at this friend again, staring at the Dwarves feet. He realised that he could actually see a small amount of clipping and for some reason that made him feel very worried.
It meant that the substance of the bridge was becoming unstable, and that it may become possible to fall through it.
There really was only one thing for it.
"Time to call up an Elder I think," Atricus said slowly.
Gimli looked at him in dismay.
"Isn't there something else you can do? An Elder will take ages to get here, I can't stay in the game for that long!"
"No. I can't get passed you too get to the Thought fountain to recharge my stone and I haven't even got enough charges left for a Warp to it, that's why I had to walk down the side off the mountain,"
"But what about the Goatherds? You know what NPC's get like when they are stuck!"
"I can't do anything else, I promise. If I could, you know I would,"
"What about Killing me so I respawn back in Vassel Lyn?"
Atricus paused a second, and thought about it.
"Are you a beserker?" he asked the stricken dwarf.
Gimli swore under his breath then.
"Yes, I am," he added to Atricus,"Can't you handle a beserker?"
Atricus shook his head sadly.
"Not without Thought Stone charges, my combat abilities aren't passed journeyman level yet,"
Gimli sighed heavily, and then shrugged.
"Well what can I do? I can't move to make camp for myself, so I can't just log out, and if you try to fight me, I'll auto attack and kill you. You're not even an archer are you?" the last question was a desperate one.
"No, can't be an archer and a Battle Mage. Not enough room in here," Atricus tapped the side of his head.
"If I miss work because the Elder takes ages to get here I'm going to make a complaint. They are suspicious enough there now anyway, I don't want to risk being arrested,"
Atircus nodded in understanding. The game was great to play, but the risks were high because of it being illeagle.
He pulled his pack off his back now and reached into it, dragging out the Elder Crystal. Focusing his concentration for a second, he held the crystal in both hands and established a contact with the Elders.
A face loomed at him from within the depths of the crystal.
"Atricus the fair of Thane, how may we Elders assist thee?" came the whispering voice of the Elder inside his head.
"My friend, Gimli the Beserker of Vassel Lyn, has become stuck on the Thane bridge and requires assistance to move. I would add that he must be able too be freed within a reasonable amount of time because it will soon be time for the Goatherds to pass us on the bridge, and there is no room for them." With the mind voice that he used to speak to the Elders, he tried as much as he could to emphasise the urgency of the situation.
"We shall try to deal with this situation just as quickly as we can, Atricus the Fair of Thane. We Elders are always busy, " and that was the end of the communication.
"What did they say?" Gimli asked, sounding a little anxious.
"Just the usual crap. We Elders are always busy indeed! They don't have real lives to worry about! Damn AI doesn't know anything about the real world,"
Gimli glowered into his beard and turned his head to look down into the water of Thane again.
"You've got to wonder if the realm crew really realise that we are in as much danger as them for this damn game..." he growled.
"Aye," Atricus replied thoughtfully,his own mind suddenly returned to the reality that Gimli spoke of.
The two friends leaned together against the side of the bridge then and settled in to wait, both lost in their own thoughts.
After ten minutes Atricus started digging around in his bag for his pipe and tobacco.
"Ah now elf... good idea," Gimli said with a small smile. He rummaged in his own pockets and dug out a pipe, then he turned to look at the Elf who was already puffing away. Atricus returned his glance and sighed.
"Yes Gimli... I've spare Baccy,"
Just as Gimli lit the pipe they heard the first tinkle of bells coming down the slope of the hill towards the bridge.
Gimli rolled his eyes and muttered a curse on the Elders while Atricus took off across the bridge to see if he could intercept the goats and their herders.
They were trooping down the hill in single file, following the neatly cut path that they followed every single day without missing a foot. Atricus watched, shading his eyes from the glare of the sinking sun, trying to decide how he could prevent them from attempting to cross the bridge.
As they were almost on top of him he stepped back to block their way.
One of the young herders immediatly stopped in it's tracks.
"My Lord Wizard... please, we need to pass with our goats," he said.
"That's good son, but can you tell me where I might find a dwarven smith nearby?" Atricus asked, using the first thing that popped into his head.
"Ye'll find a smith yonder in Thane My Lord. At the forge by the White Hart Tavern," The youth replied, but even as he spoke two others spoke too.
"My Lord Wizard....Please, we need to pass with our goats," slightly out of sync with each other they spoke, but the words were identical.
Atricus cursed under his breath and had to think fast. He leaped forward and grasped the arm of the nearest goatherd and plunged into a wild jig with the NPC.
The goatherd laughed but then after a moment managed to break away from Atricus's grasp.
"My Lord, you are a merry one but alas, I've no wind for such dancing!"
Just then a goat brushed by Atricus and began to make it's way along the bridge.
"Damn!" Atricus exclaimed. He rushed after the goat and tried in his desperation to grab it, but as it was programmed to do it wriggled away from him with unatural (for a goat) agility.
Already behind him came the first of goatherds and as Atricus and the first goat came upon Gimli the NPC bumped into his back.
The goat, bleating and tossing it's head in confusion attempted to push past Gimli, but was thrown back with each attempt. Atricus, caught between goat and goatherd heard all three of the young NPC's speak, each starting a breath after the other so it seemed very like an echo.
"My Lord Wizard....Please, we need to pass with our goats,"
And now all the goats, following thier herders were on the bridge, each of them unable to move any further as the bridge became clogged. One by one as they ground to a halt they began to bleat loudly.
Atricus sank to his feet in something akin to despair, with the sound of Gimli's colourful swearing drifting over the increasing din of confused goats and goatherders. He looked up beyond the goat to Gimli and shouted.
"How long before you have to go to work?"
Gimli, unable to turn had to twist to look down at his friend.
"I start at 10 GMT, I think I came on at 7..." he replied, looking more than a little annoyed.
"Stuck calls get priority..." Atricus said, trying to console his friend.
"Knowing our luck though, we'll get a warning for baiting NPC's" Gimli growled.
Atricus counted nearly 30 minutes of bleating goats and NPC's, by which time he vowed if he ever heard another NPC say "My Lord Wizard.....please, we need to pass with our goats," he knew he would scream and possibly even quit Realm. Gimli, minute by minute grew in the volume of his swearing and cursing until finally he yelled at the very top of his lungs across the gully of the waterfall.
"Where in the name of fuck is this fucking elder?!?!?"
Finally, appearing on the far side of Gimli, the Elder arrived.
Atricus, seeing the black look that passed across Gimli's face, winced as the Elder spoke it's greeting.
"Greetings Atricus the Fair and Gimli, How may I help thee both today?"
"GAH!!! " Gimli barked.
"Isn't it fucking OBVIOUS?"
Atricus sighed and bent his head down again, trying to ignore the stink of goat that was beginning to cloy the air around him.
"Prithee pardon Gimli sir, but I must ask ye to calm yourself a bit,"
"That's the worst thing you could have said...." Atricus mutterd to himself.
"Calm?? Listen you useless bit of fucking AI, I am stuck in this fucking bridge, IN-fucking-SIDE it, and I can't fucking move. I've got work in about 10 minutes from now and if I'm late again they will probably call the fucking enforcers on me. I've spent the last half an hour with a bunch of twitering NPC's and bloody goats waiting for you even though you are supposed to come IMMEDIATELY to a stuck call and you are asking me to calm down?"
Gimli's face was puce in colour, and Atricus could see flecks of spit in his bushy beard. Beyond him the Elder looked a little blank, and Atricus held his breath for what it would sa next.
"Sir, I must ask you to calm down before I can help you...." it began.
Atricus groaned and dragged himself to his feet, hoping to be able to deflect the Elders attention from Gimli long enough for him to deal with the situation.
Somehow or other Gimli had grabbed a hold of the Elder. This made Atricus's eyebrows arch because he'd always assumed that Elders had the same ruleset as most NPC's - in other words no grab and no attack.
Gimli was now shaking the Elder and Atricus could see that the rage of the Beserker was building up dangerously.
"Listen to me you useless piece of shit. Helping me would be VERY easy. All you have to do is warp me off this useless fucking bridge. What the fuck does it matter that I am fucking shouting at you while you do it?????"
The Elder very suddenly went slack in Gimli's fists, swaying on buckling limbs. Shocked, Gimli dropped it, and then gasped as it slid very dangerously close to falling off the bridge.
Then as they were looking down on the crumpled form, there was a crackling, fizzling noise as a warp hole opened right in front of Gimli. A black swathed GM stepped out from the warp.
"Hello there Atricus and Gimli... I see you have rather upset one of our elder AI's.." He said, his voice sounding very officious and cold.
Before Gimli could start ranting again, Atricus jumped in to explain the situation.
"Yes...," the GM said as he finished his brief description,"I can see how this has been a little frustrating for you both," but he still sounded a little cold and distant.
The GM then raised up his staff and pointed it at Gimli who disapered with a tiny sound of inrushing air, to reapear on the village side bank of the Thane River. The GM himself disapeared reaperaing next to Gimli who was already excersing his legs with a look of relief on his face.
The goat ahead of Atricus gave a happy bleat and went charging across the bridge, and Atricus followed it feeling more than a little anxious to get away from the stench of goat and the chatter of the NPC's.
He could see Gimli and the GM exchanging words, and the displeased look on Gimli's face at whatever it was that the GM said.
By the time Atricus had made it to where the two of them where, Gimli was already going through the process of an emergancy log out. His friend had time to give him a quick wave before disapearing.
"I've had to give your friend a warning for the way he behaved towards the Elder. That kind of behaviour sets off some serious warning bells in our system,"
"I didn't even realise that you could grab an elder," Atricus remarked, irritated to that the GM had given Gimli a warning nonetheless.
"Yes, you can. And Senior Elders have powers of retaliation, that can even be used in town limits. If you push them too far they will use them,"
Atricus raised his eyebrows at this but said nothing in response.
"Thanks for your help anyway," he told the GM, bowing low.
"It's not a problem, but remember in future that you can harm an Elder and that we do take it seriously,"
With that, before Atricus could reply, the GM vanished.