March 31, 2032 “Holy crap.” Rhys was astounded. The fact that he had said nothing but those two words for the previous ten minutes showed just how astounded he truly was. There was a man in his bedroom, plugging in cables and setting up a brand new console on his desk. The guy had been waiting outside his apartment after he got home from work that afternoon. He hadn't believed he'd actually win one of the consoles, not so close to the fifth anniversary celebration. But there it was. Answer a short survey and look what it got him. All he had to do was plug in a program that would gather player data for Yxel Entertainment. The desk sat next to his bed, placed there so he could game lying down if he so desired, and for a moment he felt a glimmer of confusion when the brand new gaming system didn’t include a monitor. He wondered if he would need to go out and get himself a new monitor, or if his old gaming monitor would be compatible with the new system, when realization struck. A second later his hand struck as he smacked himself in the forehead. “Idiot,” he muttered. “Of course there’s no monitor, it’s a virtual reality game, the image is projected into your head.” “Alright, Kid. Here ya go, yer all set up. All ya need to do is go through these instructions, initialize the system and let the software updates install. That should take a few hours so be prepared to wait, ok?” Rhys nodded, accepting the manual from the tech that installed his new console. “Once the software updates are complete all you need to do is install the game.” He held out a small plastic stick, roughly half an inch wide and two inches long that contained his new Firewind Game. “Oh, and ya gotta plug in this sub-routine also. They want to collect all the data they can on how you play and all that crap.” He shrugged dismissively and handed Rhys a second data stick. “While your game is installing you need to plug in the hardware and put it on, there’ll be prompts that will explain what you need to do. Young guy like you, I’m sure you’ll figure out the rest in no time.” He patted Rhys on the shoulder, collected his equipment, and left without another word. Rhys stood there, dumbfounded that he had actually won the console. Whatever it was they were looking for they found it in his answers to their questions and he was now the proud owner of a brand new Yxel FIVR Console System. He stared at the stick in his hand for a few moments longer before a delighted smile spread across his face, his hands balled into fists and he suddenly threw his arms into the air and screamed as loud as he possibly could. “WHOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!” he shrieked and cheered and started jumping around his room like a complete lunatic until one of his neighbors started pounding on the wall. “Sorry!” he yelled, even though he felt anything but. Without waiting another moment he ran over to his desk, settled himself in the simple chair and turned on the console. Nothing happened. He frowned and looked at the sleek black device. A light was on, blinking beneath the power button on the front and there was a quiet humming sound coming from the sixteen linked micro-processors and three cooling fans used to keep it from overheating. It was on, obviously, but it wasn’t doing anything that he could see. A moment later his hand connected with his forehead again. “Idiot, there’s no monitor.” He reached out and snagged the black, glossy box off of his bed. The box that was filled with the hardware he would need to play the game. It took a bit of fiddling, and flipping through the instruction manual that he had been handed by the installation tech, but eventually he found a small driver plugged into a slot on the headset, which he plugged into the console. A small light on the driver lit up and he pulled the head gear on and pulled down the visor. The whole thing looked like a grav-cycle helmet. It had a smooth, cool, metal exterior, but the inside was cushioned and lined with a soft fabric that he new would conform to the shape of his skull once it was flipped on. He plugged in the headset itself to the wall outlet near his bed, then reached up, and pressed the button next to his jaw. A moment later the entire device lit up like a kaleadiscopic light show. The visor showed a dazzling array of colors and designs flashing across it’s curved surface for several seconds before it settled onto a simple message. [b]Welcome to your Yxel Entertainment Systems FIVR Gaming Console. Software update in progress, please wait until this update has completed before you continue.[/b] He sighed, irritably. The tech had said it could take a while for the software update to complete itself. “So what am I supposed to do, just sit here and wait?” he grumbled to himself. [b]You do not have to remain within your Yxel Headset while Software update continues. If you wish to set it down and return later, you are more than welcome to do so.[/b] Rhys blinked. “Did… did the console just respond to me?” he asked. [b]No. The Yxel Entertainment Systems FIVR Console did not respond to your question. The Y.E.S FIVR Headset, did. Please, remove your headset and return in… 5 hours.[/b] Rhys quickly pulled off the headset and stared at it in utter astonishment for a moment before he started chuckling quietly to himself. “That’s nuts,” he muttered. “Voice recognition software on top or everything else. No wonder these damn units are so friggin’ expensive.” He shrugged and set the headset aside, and went into the kitchen to get something to eat. Nothing to be done until the software finished updating anyway. While he ate he read through the instruction manual cover to cover, then dug through the box and pulled out all the included literature on the Firewind gaming world itself. “Multiple classes, jobs, and skill-sets,” he muttered several hours later as he read through the game manual for the third time. “Shop keep to Black Smithing, artificing… jeez, this is nuts. It’s really its own world. People can get jobs inside the game. You can buy a house, furniture, hell you can get married?” He laughed and tossed the book aside. A glance at the clock told him that his five hours were up so he grinned and hurried into his room to try out his new game. He sat on his bed and pulled the headset on again only to find himself facing a blank visor. “Umm… hello?” he ventured. A moment later light played across the inside of the visor again and he breathed a nearly silent sigh of relief as words start scrolling across his field of vision. [b]Software update: Complete Initializing system start-up. Start-up: complete. ……………… ……………… ……………… Please insert game stick in port 01[/b] He dug the data stick for the game from his pocket and inserted it carefully into the port on the console. [b]Error: Unit requires data retrieval sub-routine before beginning installation[/b] “Oh shit, where was that….” Rhys blinked in surprise when the game wouldn’t even install and than remembered the second data stick that the tech had handed to him. The one he had promised to plug into his console before running the game so it could collect the data as part of his agreement with them. He dug around in the box the hardware had come in and found the stick where he’d left it and quickly inserted it into the port marked 02. Immediately the error message disappeared and the game began installing. “Hells yeah,” he muttered and bounced slightly on his bed. He was wound up. Filled with nervous energy and he couldn’t wait to get started. He glanced at the clock. Five minutes to midnight on March 31st. “No work tomorrow. Mom’s coming by in the afternoon so that’s not a big deal. I could play for a few hours and get to sleep late tonight…” He grinned, and without giving it another thought laid back on his bed and got comfortable. It took a little maneuvering to get his head situated comfortably with the gear on but he managed and as the clock ticked over to 12:00 a.m he spoke calmly and clearly despite the nervous energy that was flooding his body. “Start up, initialization. Connect.”