Cameras flashed and crowds of fans chattered as they gathered outside the main entrance of Rift Diver Games, the UK based developers responsible for the wondrous new game 'Dawn of Divinity'.
'Deep Dive VR' 'Neural Reality 'Alternate Reality', there were a few different names for these types of games, the type that sent the user into a completely alternate, virtual space and used nothing more than their mind as the controller. Dawn of Divinity was not the first in this space, but while they were not the pioneer they were ultimately the one who broke through all the boundaries that had restricted others and put them far above the competition.
Smell, Taste, Touch, Pain. These were the main issues so many developers had struggled with, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of all the different sensations they would have to program. Yet Dawn of Divinity stepped over that insurmountable obstacle like it was a simple pebble on the road, advertising 100% immersion. It was an entirely new world to be lost in and available to fulfil your wildest dreams within. A living breathing world with NPCs that were near identical to real people, and would make the likes of Alan Turing cry with joy.
Even if it sounded too good to be true, how could anyone resist such an offer?
With these temptations and promises hanging over their heads, countless people gathered outside of the development studio in anticipation of the closed beta test that was about to commence within its walls. Eager to be some of the first to hear if their promises rung true straight from the horse's mouth.
But some were here not just for the information, but the horses themselves. That is to say, they were the participants of this illustrious event. Top level E-sports members from some of the highest paying teams, the most popular streamers and other online personalities from around the world as well members of highly respected game journalism companies, and a few from less respected but otherwise still popular journalism services.
Some of these individuals had been flown into the country exclusively for this event. It had practically turned into a red carpet event, the likes you would usually only see at some awards show. Some famous faces were giving interviews, while others were meeting and greeting with fans and some - mainly those who preferred anonymity, slipped into the event while others took the spotlight.
"Um... Excuse me Miss, but you aren't allowed through here. This is for guests only."
One of the service staff hired for the event, a young woman in a pristine white blouse, black blazer and matching pencil skirt, put on her best courteous smile - something well practised in her industry - as she stopped someone from trying to sneak into the event behind one of the guests who preferred to stay low-key.
The individual that she had stepped in front of to stop was a young girl that appeared to be in her early twenties, with slightly pale skin, long and chestnut hair and surprisingly beautiful green eyes that sparkled like freshly cut emeralds. Most importantly, however, this girl was currently sitting in a wheelchair, with a blanket covering the lower half of her body.
Although it might seem discriminatory, it was nothing of the sort. The staff had been thoroughly briefed on the individuals who had been invited to attend this event, even including those whose identities were not public as of yet, although they were under a strict NDA concerning this information amongst other such confidential information.
None of the descriptions the attendant had been given even came close to the appearance of this young girl. It was so odd that the staff member was questioning how the wheelchair bound girl even got so far, as she should have been stopped by other security personnel well before now.
"I know. I'm a guest, that's why I'm here."
The attendant raised an eyebrow suspiciously, suppressing the smirk of derision that wanted to sneak onto her face, but she remained utterly professional. Keeping her courteous smile, the attendant leaned down slightly so she was closer to the young woman's eye level.
"Is that so? Well, I'll just need to see your invitation and we can sort this out right away."
The young woman sighed in response, causing the attendant to let out a chuckle of contempt in her mind. She was already imagining all the various excuses the girl would give to try to sneak her way in.
However, contrary to her expectations, the girl shifted in her wheelchair and pulled out a rectangular device. The sight of it caused the attendant to frown slightly, staring at it in confusion for a few seconds before she recognised it as an old model communicator, a smartphone as they used to be called.
By the time she understood what she was looking at, the girl was already beginning to get impatient. She was holding the device out towards the attendant, showing the contents of its screen. Mainly, the invitation that had been sent to the private emails of the beta testers.
The attendant narrowed her eyes, her iris glowing a dull orange as she scanned the invitation for any errors and double checked the brief they had been given.
"You are Reaper of Stars? This doesn't fit our information. There has to be some mistake."
"That's my brother actually. He had other arrangements today and couldn't be here, so he sent me in his place. He said it was alright, since the company never wrote on it that the tickets weren't transferable."
The girl's innocent smile baffled the attendant even more, but ever the professional she gave another courteous smile while her iris glowed blue while she stood up straight, although had yet to move out of the girl's way.
Seeing the shift in the attendants eyes, Valerie put her smartphone away and rested back in her chair. The glow of her eyes, as well as the shifting expressions on her face as she stared off into the distance was always the indication that she was contacting someone through their cybernetic implants, having a silent conversation with the individual in their head.
No doubt she was the subject of this conversation, contacting someone with better information to confirm that she wasn't some crazed fan spinning tall tales with a stolen invite.
Valerie wasn't bothered by the obvious phone call that was happening in front of her, it was a common sight nowadays. Despite the warnings of countless cyberpunk dystopia stories, it was simply too convenient and too enticing for people to stay away.
Thus, everyone had at least the basic cybernetic implants, which were a communicator and scanner eyes. Everyone, apart from people like Valerie that was, as well as a few groups of technophobic luddites who had escaped to what remained of the countryside to return to the 'old ways'.
Unfortunately Valerie's reasons weren't as glamorous as that. With her condition, she just couldn't support such intrusive devices. So the dated old tech was the best she could do. Plus, it wasn't as if she was going to get less stares if she used cybernetics. Technology might have advanced, but people were always the same.
Even now she could feel dozens of eyes on her, judging her for a variety of reasons, although she simply ignored them like always.
Eventually the glow in the attendant's eyes faded and she returned her gaze to Valerie. She gave another well trained smile before silently stepping out of the way, allowing Valerie to pass.
Chuckling to herself, Valerie pressed the joystick of her wheelchair forwards and rolled past the attendant without another word. She knew there was no malice behind her actions, so there was no reason to make a scene about it. However, she was curious if this sort of security was common for these types of events.
It was her brother that had been invited, and her brother that usually attended them. This was her first time coming to one of these, or beta testing in general, so she had nothing to base it off on. Although, even if it was normal, she had to wonder what kind of game this would be to warrant such fan fair and secrecy. It just made her buzz with more excitement in her seat as she made her way into the facility.
***
Within a room in the facility, dozens of holographic displays lined the entirety of the room's walls. All of these displays showed security footage, with each display focused on a different individual.
Within this room stood a pair of men, one of which was staring into nothing as his eyes glowed orange while the other was examining the display showing a young, wheelchair bound woman with a curious expression on his face.
They stood in silence, until the orange eyed man finally spoke with an even, methodical voice.
"Found her. Valerie Ashcroft, sister of Jason Ashcroft who is otherwise known as Reaper of Stars and former member of the Golden Princes guild.
Suffers from a debilitating medical condition, only a few previously reported cases in over 70 years. Presents as muscular deterioration that started in the legs, given a life expectancy of 30 at most. Her own body is fighting against itself, slowly eating itself alive. Her condition is labelled incurable.
Shall we have her crown malfunction and excuse her from the test?"
The glow of the man's eyes faded, causing him to blink a few times, before he looked towards his superior who was still staring at the girl's display with curiosity. A playful smile danced across the superior's face, before he shook his head slightly.
"No... No, I think she will be fine. We've already have to push this event back a week because of the incident. Besides, this will be a good chance to see how well the solution interacts with sub-standard subjects. We were going to get around to it eventually when it hit the open market, we can simply think of this as an advance.
Let her continue with the test, just like the others. Even if she's a dud, we have plenty of other subjects here that will hopefully give us wonderful results. There are, after all, some exceptional specimens here.
Remind me, how long did it take the alpha subjects to show symptoms?"
"The first Alpha subject started showing mild symptoms after the first month, sir."
"Very good. Prepare the beta solution and get the subjects under."
***
Soon enough all of the attendants to the beta test were brought into a large room with sound dampening walls that drowned out the noisy crowds still lingering outside. They were each assigned a reclining chair style bed, like one would find in a dentist's office. However these chairs had specialised gel padding that supported the body perfectly, regardless of their body type.
Even Valerie, when she had managed to pull herself from her wheelchair and into the seat, found it heavenly comfortable. Nurses filtered out, fixing IV's into the arm of every attendant and checking that their extra comfy chairs were properly monitoring their vitals.
A woman with a professional smile stood at the front, explaining to them the process of all that was going to happen, dissuading the worries about the Iv's and going on to explain and promote different products the company would be selling with the games launch.
Then, once all the announcements were finally finished and all the journalists had their intro pieces prepared, a circlet style object - The Neural Crown, as the company called it - was placed onto their heads and, with a push of a button, the device was brought to life with a thrum and a hum.
Valerie's eyes widened as she let out an involuntary gasp as her mind ripped from her body and sucked into the device. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her body slumped against the chair lifelessly.