“Hey sweetie. Sorry that your father and I missed your sixteenth birthday. To make it up to you, we got you a surprise part of the game that you wanted so much. It’s already in your pod, so all you have to do is enter the game and apply the gift when you first open it. I have to go, I’ll see you soon. Love you, bye.” Amara closed her eyes and sighed when she listened to her parent’s voice mail.

Her parents, Hunter and Isla Anderson are always gone and rarely does she get to see them. She only got emails or phone calls, with the occasional skype meeting. One or the other had been disappearing to go to work for a couple of weeks, and they would switch, and one would stay home with her, and the other would go to work. This has been going on until she was 10 years old. Then, due to her being old enough to be left alone, they could go and work at an undisclosed operation centre permanently. A job that Amara only knew was in the virtual technology sector.

Amara was so looking forward to Core Microsystem, also called CMS or just the microsystem. Core Microsystems is a newly created Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Game, also called VRMMO, just realized by a new company in the virtual reality business called Ghost World. The game has been very much talked about. About three months ago, there was a glimpse into the ever-growing world and based on how the players in that area grew, and a constantly evolving world was created. What made the game appealing to most of the population is that it was not just adventurer-based. Some classes and jobs that appealed to creators and makers were also available. They were a prominent part of the economics of the game.

Ever since virtual reality became fully integrated with society, life has changed. Society could now lead everyday lives through virtual reality, including having jobs or making money virtually. This was a significant change and very popular when the change was made. Virtual reality allowed a person to play games and have jobs in those games that produced real currency, called V Coin. But early on, there were incidents where people stayed in virtual reality pods too long and suffered injuries, and some led to death. So a time limit was set on them. A person could remain in the pod for ten hours at a time before they were kicked out, with a five-hour interval lock before they were able to enter any game again.

Microsystem was going to officially be released in five hours, and such, players were allowed to set up profiles. Her parents decided to get her a surprise related to the game. Hopefully, it would let her to take her mind off of her depressing life. It was her day off from school, as she was going to spend it in her pod.

Amara got out of bed, brushed her teeth, combed her hair, and got into her pod. She laid down in her pod, quickly getting comfortable as a warm gel enveloped her body. At the same time, a glass cover sealed her into the pod. Her head rested on the gel cushion as lights began to appear within the pod. A low hum started up as she closed her eyes. A second later, the neural link to the pod was established, and her immersion began.

When Amara opened her eyes, she was in the family white room that always appeared. The room was a priming area, where the user could choose what game or app they own that they want to open. Amara would typically jump to the game that she was most involved in at that time, but not this time. This time she scrolled through her apps with the flick of her hand to the Core Microsystem app that she pre-downloaded. A click, and she selected the app and pressed launch. Immediately the white room disappeared, and Amara found herself floating in darkness with a prompt in front of her.

ENTER YOUR NAME

Amara deciding to choose a different name from what she usually used and decided to go with a new name. The name Anaphiel. It was something that nobody would know was her. The name was not connected to any of the other games that she played. So Amara went with it.

YOU HAVE ONE MESSAGE

Amara, surprised to see that she already had a message, opened it.

Hi sweety! Sorry that me and your mother had to miss out on your sixteenth birthday. To make it up to you, we decided to give you a gift. The option to choose if you want to be a dungeon core within the Core Microsystem will be yours to choose. I hope you have a good birthday, sweetie! Hopefully, we’ll see you soon.

Love Dad and Mum.

Amara dismissed the message after she read through it and thought about it. By playing a dungeon core, she would create and have fun while controlling a portion of the game. And she knew that this option was very rare to get. The CMS programmers released this option of being a dungeon core was randomly given to only 0.5% of the players who create characters to the public. While her parents were not around for her when she needed it, this gift made her very happy with them.

CONTINUE MAKING YOUR CHARACTER OR CHOOSE DUNGEON CORE RACE

Amara already knew what she was going to do. She selected the dungeon core race. When she selected it, nothing happened.

“Is this a glitch?” She whispered to herself after a couple of seconds of nothing happening.

“Actually, it’s not a glitch, Amara.” Amara jumped in surprise at the voice that called out to her.

“Who’s there? What’s going on? How do you know my name?”

“Don’t be scared, Amara. My name is Devon, and I’m an employee at Ghost World that is in charge of handling your case. While the world knows that some dungeon cores will be players, they will not know which, and they will not know which player is the dungeon core. To do that, you must sign a nondisclosure agreement about your involvement as a dungeon core.”

As the man, Devon, explained what was going on, a piece of paper appeared in front of me.

“Please sign this nondisclosure agreement before you continue on.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then you will be banned from entering or creating a new character profile on Core Microsystem.”

When she heard that, Amara grabbed the paper and carefully read through the contract to make sure that there was nothing wrong with it, that what Devon said was what was written on the paper, and that there were no loopholes that would bite her in her ass later on.

After reading and re-reading the paper over and over again, Amara signed the document.

“Awesome! We are done here for now, so enjoy your gaming.” With the snap of Devon’s fingers, Amara disappeared from the darkroom in a bright flash, and she found herself in another room with a small figure staring right at her.