Knowing I needed a change of clothing I moved over to my closet, pulling out a pair of simple black pants and a black shirt. As I placed the clothing across my arms I could feel the material of the clothing rubbing against my skin. It was good to feel natural sensations and not those made up of artificial computer code, but I did miss the sensations and how I could alter it. I liked the control of it, something I lacked with my current real life role. I could barely afford the basic technology I used to design my programs, pay my rent, buy food and pay other debts I had. I have a home though, so I should be glad, but I wanted more out of life. The best I could hope was that my use of this technology would be enough that I could get a better job or make a career on my own.

Pushing those thoughts aside, I changed out of my my well worn clothing and put on my selected outfit, following with a simple pair of black shoes. It was not as formal as I would like, but it worked for meeting my friend. I reached for a jacket I had on my desk, looking over the slick surface of the jacket, with its silver lining, loose cuffs, smooth edges and high collar. The jacket looked nice to me, but it also served another purpose, to hide the port hidden on the back of my neck. It was a nice investment, as people often saw the device as nothing more than a spectacle. I held a hatred for them, and would often go to lengths to avoid them, such as hiding the device by wearing a thin jacket or overshirt most times of the year. Putting on the coat I moved to the door, picking up my cellphone and a set of keys before leaving. Placing the keys and a pair of shades in my pocket I left the apartment, locking the door behind me on the way out.

It was already dark as I left the large complex I lived in, stepping away from the numerous, clean white buildings of my apartment that held so many people. It was not much, but it was cheap and in one of the better neighborhoods of town. The artist block, as it was called, was home to a large section of artist, musicians and part time philosophers, most of which enjoyed the company of the local shops nearby. I often enjoyed spending time with these people, that was until I had this device implanted, mostly because of the fear of what others thought, that and a minor infection.

They accepted my seclusion, and I even had some visitors while I was getting better. But, that ended when I started focusing solely on the computer programs and my own artificial world. My mind raced with these Ideas as I moved along the small shops I used to frequent, which consisted of a small coffee shop, and some other gaming or book stores. The memories made me wonder if I should go back and say hello tomorrow, but that thought quickly exited my mind as I thought about the project. That was all I needed to do for the time being. I strolled ahead to a small building, which was neatly painted white with a sign above the door. The sign read simply as ‘Live’, the lettering of a cursive variety with red ink against a black background. I finally made it to the club, all I had to do now to go inside and see my friend.

(Source: dd.heavensentgaming.com)

I look over the screen, pressing the button for developer mode. It was all set now for me to work. Thoughts flow into my head as I scan over the objects in front of me. I lock my sight onto something, the central pillar which I could alter with the weapon. It would be fun. Moving the weapon down, I lined the sights of the weapon meets the object, ready to fire. My hand rested on the trigger, my mind urging me to fire the weapon and release the blast on the object. I tensed my finger, ready to see the blast leave the tool. My finger instinctively loosened as I heard a ring in my ears, I was receiving a message.

“Of all the time”, I say. The ringing continued and with a deep sigh of relief I extend my hand to the back of my virtual neck. I felt for a silver collar, feeling the cool metal against my digits. With a press of my hand I activated a switch, watching as the world around me fades to white. I disconnected.

I felt what it was like to lose all sensation, my mind reaffirming itself in the prison that I called a physical body. With my eyes and my mind back in working order I saw the room around me. It was a quaint apartment bedroom with simple furnishings. A bed rested in the corner of the room, right next to a large window with closed blinds. This made the room with its tan walls all the darker. So dark that I could barely see the various drawings and art books on the desk. The paper-thin glass monitor and keyboard which rested on the center of the desk barely lit these objects. Moving my hand along the keyboard I clicked on a icon to open messages. I saw one at the top of the list.

The message was from a friend of mine, a fellow designer and augmented person. It was a simple message asking me to meet him tonight at our local hangout, a club made popular by many people who had the neural implants. It was a fun place to go to, with Augmented Reality music or video that you could jack into. It really gave everyone their own experience, and allowed silent chats for those who wanted it. I almost always chose to chat silently with those I knew, maybe at times connecting to concerts if the music was good enough.

I smiled as I thought about it, maybe I need to go to enjoy myself. Looking at my computer only confirmed the fact, spotting all the open documents and programs. The desk was in bad shape also, with numerous dishes and bottles of energy drinks on the edge of the desk. Yea, I really did need to go out. I raised from my desk, weakened by my lack of movement during the last few hours. Pulling away I felt a jerking motion on the back of my neck, I had forgotten I was still connected to the computer. I moved my hands to the back of my neck feeling a quick click as I unhooked the clasp. I placed the wire on the edge of my chair, my free hand closing the covering on my neck. The sliding lock closes with a snap, sealing up my vulnerable port in a waterproof seal. I regretted the design somewhat, disliking how bad the first generation technology looked. But, what can I do? It works, does it not?

(Source: dd.heavensentgaming.com)

My fingers danced across the screen, moving across icons of objects I had coded into the world. It was a long list, with numerous objects that ranged from simple blocks to fully functional objects such as tools or vehicles. I thought about what to summon. I could always go with something simple, but maybe it would be best to go big and summon something I could enjoy. I found my answer on one screen. I clicked some icons that interested me, finally stopping at one of the tools I designed with the world, the data gun and ,of course, some blocks to play with.

Large blocks of various sizes formed in the room around me, the structures becoming solid blocks of steel, each one capable of weighing multiple tons in the game world. They filled the room, creating massive monoliths in the empty space, the tallest one being in the center and guarded by a pattern of several wider, shorter spires that arched out into a spiraling staircase. I stared onwards watching the massive structures in the distance, wanting to conquer the massive series of structures and destroy it. It would be like those old sandbox games I used to play years ago, building or destroying various structures made of various shapes. My thoughts regressed to the shapes as I heard something hit the ground around me.

It was the Data Gun, laid out beside me on the ground, its handgun like design glimmering in the light of the room. I picked it up, my digits holding onto the grip as I held it close to my face. Its barrel was the same shade as the metal on my proxy, the light shining off of its barrel as I inspected it. Within the weapon’s barrel I spotted two faint light which emitted from the firing mechanism. I felt a deep sense of pride as I looked it over, wondering just how much power this weapon could hold.

My mind went over the plans for the gun, how I designed it to manipulate the data without overwhelming my proxy or the technology that kept me in this world. I knew it had two settings, one was a Input mode and the other was output, both designed to be used with developer mode as a quicker way of manipulation. I aimed at a distant wall, watching for a moment before pressing the trigger on the gun.

The action was sudden, and nothing happened. How could I had made something that could not work? With some anger I pressed the trigger again, confused and baffled as to how it failed to even make a noise. Holding back the urge to just toss the device I inspected it again, finally spotting something that made me sick. There was an power switch, that I had coded, and made, but forgot! I remained silence for a moment as I stood there, stunned by my stupidity and the fact that I forgot such a crucial error. Maybe I am rushing it, But I do not care. I just want to see what this can do. I could feel pain. I had a slight headache, a sign that I should disconnect, but I did not care. I had to do my job and test this design.

With a single focused movement I flipped the switch, watching the gun as it starts lighting up, lines of blue light forming along the edges and center of its barrel. As the barrel lit up a holographic display monitor appeared on the side of the gun, showing a list of commands.

(Source: dd.heavensentgaming.com)

Her heart skipped a beat.

She grabbed the radio quickly, and practically yelled in excitement, “Hello! Hello!?” But, there was no response. She pressed the button again, “Hello…” But, to her disappointment there was, again, no response.

A little upset, she picked up her pace and walked upstream. She had begun to grow hungry, she noticed a couple of fish in the stream. The young woman tied her utility knife to a long branch, and walked towards the middle of the stream. She jabbed at one of the fish and, with a splash, she had fish for brunch.

After she had deboned, gutted, and cooked the fish on a small fire. The radio crackled to life, she heard the sound of a man. He spoke with that same thick southern accent, “Hello?”

Less than enthusiastically she picked up the walkie-talkie, and with a mouth full of food, “What!?” And, again, no response.

She finished up, caught a few more fish for the evening, and walked towards her camp. Upon arriving to her campsite, she could see that her tent had been knocked over. And, a sign was placed at its center. “By orders of the Caesar, no ‘a’ structures on any of Rion’s land.”

“Wonderful”, she thought sarcastically, “At least I packed my things up.” So, she packed up her tent materials, and began to follow the wheel tracks from her camp. As she did, she began to hear something in the distance coming toward her direction, by her description, a “van-sized” vehicle rushed towards her. There were two people in the strange “bowl shaped van”, and it was floating… well… “hovering” right towards her.

As the thing came barreling at her, she jumped out-of-the-way. But, instead of running passed her, it had stopped “on a dime”. She looked up, and had a confused look on her face. As did the two people in the vehicle. She picked herself up, with her huge amount gear, as though she were doing a push-up. And, she walked towards them, and she screamed, all of her frustrations;

“What were you two thinking!?” “Where am I!?” “What is this hovering ‘thing’!?” “Who are you!?”

The two, still had the same puzzled look, but broke into a sudden laughter after she had finished her line of questioning. A man, hopped out of the vehicle, and opened a door on the side of it. “Madam, I would love to answer your questions. But, the Rion soldiers are on our tail. And, my wife and I, had just hoped you hadn’t been inside your tent when we stumbled upon it’s trampled remains.”

She then calmed a bit when she got a good view of the, “quite handsome”, green-tinted black-haired young man and his, “quite beautiful”, pink-tinted blonde-haired wife. But, not enough to just trust them. “I have police training, and I know how to use this.” And, she pointed to her gun.

The man responded, “Note-to-self, scared person with a gun.”

She climbed in and the seats were designed like a “tea-cup ride”. She sat across from the couple with weirdly tinted hair, as they nervously smiled.

(Source: craft.heavensentgaming.com)

I turned towards the distant hallway, my hand now at my side as I stared at the surface of the floor. It looked like it was perfectly flat, but the challenges that it held for the technology are great as I had barely tested the system. It made me nervous, knowing that my mind could be pushed to its limit by each stride and that I could be sent into shock. Taking a second to think about this potential harm I acted, my foot arching up into a step. The action was simple, but sluggish, seeming like what a person in rehabilitation therapy would be able to do. I felt slightly shocked as I began the descent, sluggishly leaning forward before I moved my foot out. It was instinctive, Just focusing on a step made the action occur. I landed on the outstretched foot, finding myself too stunned to move. “I had just made a step!” I said with some shock hearing the voice of my digital proxy. The voice was new, a digital version of my own, with its own uncanny accent and various pitches. What an amazing sensation, to know I had coded my brainwaves to it and that it was possible to communicate. My blue eyes focused ahead on the distant wall, knowing that if I could reach it I would reach a milestone like the prior utterance. I focused on walking, watching the environment move as I made progress towards the wall.

The programming worked flawlessly as I moved, the visual, the audio and the tactile information sent to my mind and where it relayed all the information I needed to move. Stopping at the wall I felt some relief, mostly from the fact that I had started walking, and secondly that I had not subcumned to pain which affected Hacks who decided to abuse their minds and the technology. Speaking of which, I would have to check in with my vitals, and sadly I forgot to use a key piece of gear in my eagerness. It was a life sign monitor which was worn on the physical body, and it alerted the user in the virtual world and disconnected them if an emergency occurred. I had bought one, but I had forgot to put it on. Staring at the wall I frowned, knowing that I would have to save the game and begin it again if I wanted to be safe. In my mind there was a battle, one side taking the air of caution and the other willing to risk its own safety for the sake of this experiment. I weighed each option and I came up with one final solution, I would go ahead at the risk of my own body. It could be a stupid mistake, but how could I be affected in such a poorly rendered and small world. With some hesitance I moved my virtual body away from the wall, ready to begin the next stage of testing without safeguards.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of my head I started to think, finally coming up with the next phase of testing. It was just about time to open up the next section, which was mainly a large storage room where I would test how tangible and managable the items I made were. It would also test my ability to touch and interact with more intricate objects than mere walls, something that was needed for later worlds. Moving my hand towards a wall I focused on controlling the world, hoping that the control system worked and I was in developer mode. A holographic screen suddenly popped up on the wall, quickly filling up with lines of code and icons. I now had control of the world and could open up the door to the storage room.

(Source: dd.heavensentgaming.com)

I was in orbit around that beautiful blue star for a few months. I only scanned close to a quarter of what I was supposed to.

Ya’ know, when there’s a dust storm, there’s a liability that there’s static electricity being generated? Yeah, that happened. Got hit with a big bolt of lightning. I’m sure you were wondering where I had gotten off to. Yeah, that’s where. So, here I am, sitting in the back of a repair transport.

I’m fine, more worried about my twin Chora. Apparently, both Chora and I encountered electrical storms at approximately the same time. When I was struck by the bolt, I sent faster than light emergency beam to the location of my twin, but unfortunately it weakened a small part in Chora’s electromagnetic shield. Long story short; now, nobody can find Chora. So, once I’m fully recovered, I’m going to go on a recovery mission for my companion in the stars.

(Source: many.heavensentgaming.com)

Static filled my head as the neural interface activated and a sensation of numbness came in as my nerves and mind connected with the avatar. Shock overcame me as the sensory information came into my head, and I was finally in the avatar. The sensations are there again, a weight that one would expect of a real body, and a stiffness from undeveloped neural connections. My avatar’s eyes open and I could see vague shapes around me, each of the surfaces mixing into a single pixelated, silver blob that covered my entire area of sight. A ping of pain hits me as the world started loading, the sensations mixing with the network of commands being relayed to both my mind and the avatar’s programing, causing the nerves in this body to fire and relax. I knew it was necessary, but I still had my doubts if this was worth it, if the money I spent and the pain of configuring the unit was worth it. The thought was constant as the firing of nerves continued, stopping at what seemed at my head. I was in control, and with this control my eyes finally focused and I could see.

The room was bland, a lot less than what I imagined when I designed it on the computer. It was a long narrow hallway, with metallic walls, ceiling and floor. It looked like an unfinished bunker with nothing in it, but that is fine as I need a test that is not too taxing on my mind and the hardware. Looking closer at the wall I spotted the minute textures of silver that made up the surface, it was a sight to behold. I could not help but feel some pride as I glanced at my work, thinking about everything I could do. There was more to see, but I was preoccupied with the wall at the moment, moving a hand out to touch the surface of it. I had to see if I could feel the sensation of pressure and touch, that was the one of the greatest test of the world. I pressed my hand towards the nearby wall, the thoughts in my head all driven to experiment just this little part. My eyes stopped at my hand as it could no longer move, pushed to the surface as far as I could push it. I could feel some sensation from the metal wall, a slipperiness that normally comes from metal, and now I could see something more. The wall was reflective, and I could see a reflection of my hand, no, my entire body in the wall.

It was something that I had seen many times in my head, a form which I had associated with art since my dreams of the virtual began. My avatar was tall, with a streamlined body and long limbs. covered in a series of metallic silver plates, it seemed to have fused with the body, each inch covered except for parts of the upper arms, neck, chest and the joints. These parts were covered with a darker shade of gray and seemed like it was the closest thing to flesh as it could get. Of all the parts, its head was the most interesting, mainly because of the seamless smooth mask which adorned it. The eyes were the only exposed part, those mechanical blue orbs casting a dull glow from within the mask. They alone gave all the emotion the face needed. I stared at my reflection taking it all in, examining my design as a clothing designer would their own dress. It was perfect. The feeling I felt was different now, not a curiosity or a smug satisfaction, but pride itself. I was perfect, I had emulated what I had seen as an ideal dream with my power. It was time for me to shape this world and refine it, but first, I had to master this body in the training ground.

(Source: dd.heavensentgaming.com)