Author's Note:

This is my first time writing a story and I'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions you are willing to give. I don't have that detailed of a plan for this story so any ideas you have for it will be considered and if used it will be noted with credit to your username.

*Italicized words are for the MC's thoughts, spoken words will have quotations (obviously).

Arc 1 Freedom has its price

Chapter 1 The world as I know it and new beginnings

In 2045 the first fully immersive virtual reality system was finally developed by a company contracted by the United States army. It was near indistinguishable from reality and was designed to give soldiers experiences during their training that they wouldn't normally get without years of active combat. A consumer version of the device didn't appear for another decade due to the tech not being released until Russia revealed their own working device, roughly 4 years after the US. The remaining 6 years were taken up adapting and changing parts of the system for civilian use as the military didn't ask for or want a pain reduction system, easily transported modules and other such things. At the end of the year 2055 the Flow pod was officially announced by the parent corporation of the not yet formed Breeze Entertainment, Albion Limited. It understandably sold out within days of it being put on sale and generated a large amount of profit for AL despite the high price of a unit and the lack of programs for the system. A few months after the pod started selling the first virtual reality game for the unit was announced, a standard First Person Shooter type game. The game had about 60% realism but beyond that and the ability to be your character inherent in a VR game had little other to offer.

Over the next decade several game companies tried unsuccessfully to provide the game experience the people craved. In all attempts amongst the different genres the highest realism rating was only 81% and the only a few games newer games managed to achieve a time dilation effect, though only at a 1:2 ratio. This wasn't from a lack of technology necessary to achieve higher numbers but rather a lack of understanding of it. AL had released the initial software necessary to create games for the Flow pod when they announced the device. This software was severely limited and was not designed to make full use of the pod, when asked why this was the case they refused to comment. All improvements to the software were made by individual companies and the secrets to how they did so were jealously guarded. The companies that were not able to keep up with the leading developers tried to force the information from Albion through legal action however all attempts to do so failed quite badly. So instead of trying to improve the software they instead switched gears and came at the problem from the hardware side of things. These companies started releasing their own VR devices that could match up to the leading game companies that worked with the Flow pod. This led to the a big VR boom with new rigs, helmets, pods and glasses being sold on the market with an ever growing number of games to match. Until last year (2068) there has yet to any game that could fully realize the potential of the Flow pod nor any alternate device that could offer more than 86% realism or more than an a 1:3 time dilation effect.

When Breeze Entrainment unveiled their new game engine FREE and the VRMMORPG announced along with it FREE World the full abilities of the Flow pod were finally properly utilized. Besides taking full advantage of the pod to provide 99% realism and a time dilation effect of 1:6 the FREE engine enables games built with it the ability to evolve thanks to the AI program embedded in it. The AI not only monitors games built with the system to prevent hacking, fix bugs and keep game balance but can also continuously generate new content based on the parameters developers give it. Each game created on it will be almost completely unique as each new game requires a base copy of FREE to be used. The AI in the base version of FREE has only a bare bones foundation at the beginning and can't be given data from a different FREE AI. This means no AI can develop or make decisions exactly like or for the exact same reasons as another. FREE World being the first game designed on the engine is the pioneer and flag bearer for the next big wave of VR games. Despite the amount of attention being paid to this game little information about its contents is known. The only thing known about the game is the level of realism, td effect, the genre and the simple tagline "no restrictions". So far 30 million copies have been pre-ordered with a wait list of another 30 million for future copies, making it one of the best selling games for the pod in recent history. All I know is that I cant wait to try it.

I preceded to walk back to my seat after giving a brief overview of VR to my class.

Man that sucked, I didn't think this professor was so strict. Yeah I fell asleep and all but I was in the back row and it was the last part of the class, he could at least give me a break this one time. At least I looked over the notes for the today's lesson already otherwise that would have been a disaster. On the plus side at least I got to show off my awesome bull shitting skills to my professor. Who knows it might have even mitigated the bad impression he got of me.

When I finally got back to her seat and sat back down the professor started talking.

"A most succinct overview of today's lesson Ms. Kiell, I'm glad you paid attention to at least the basics of what I've said today."

I couldn't help but call out, "I'd prefer that you call me Sandra, Mr. White."

Staring at me for a bit he nods then says "Ok I'll endeavor to remember that, if anyone else has a preference for what I call you please write it next to your name on the sign in sheet. Moving on, I know I already handed everyone the syllabus but I wanted to emphasize the importance of doing the recommended readings for next class. If you fall behind it will be hard to understanding the lesson, as today was just an introduction the class basically rehashed the readings instead of building off them. This will not be the case for future lessons. That's the end of the class, hope you all have a good weekend."

I packed up my stuff and left my intro to VR class and headed towards my apartment. Me being a Junior at UCLA meant I no longer had to live in on campus housing and not only was the apartment cheaper than a dorm room, it was bigger and closer to my classes as well. I shared the apartment with my best friend she met during her first year, Dave Hersh. We had met during orientation week at the Spectrum (the student run LGBT group at the school) mixer and became fast friends as we shared similar interests and were both computer science majors. We've been through good and bad times together, from Dave's coming out to his parents (bad) to my winning a scholarship (good) so when it came time to find a roommate for the apartment is was natural that I picked him.

Although at the time I didn't realize how much he 'loved' his boyfriend. Bastard kept me up most of the night leaving me only 3 hours of actual sleep, hence my earlier sleep escapade during class. Still it's good to see him happy with some one who loves him, he needs it after what his parents said.

Reaching the apartment I checked my mail box and found the package I'd been waiting for all week, a small brown box from Breeze Entertainment. Excited I took the stairs two at a time till I reached the 4th floor and then I dashed to my apartment,4B. Unlocking the door I yell "Hey Dave, you here?" I hears muffled cursing coming from Dave's room. "Don't tell me you're still asleep, its nearly 10 am and I know you have class in half an hour" The door opens and Dave shuffles out of the room like a zombie "Yeah, yeah don't remind me." *yawning*"God I need more sleep, and some food...and no class".

You need more sleep? you're not the one who had to wake up at 6 after being kept up till 3 by two 6 ft tall men having sex in the room next door. Of course I'm not going to mention that...for now. "We all do honey but maybe you should try going to bed earlier if you're going to complain about being tired after nearly sleeping through your class." Whoops a bit harsher than what I wanted, I blame the sleep dep. Oh well not like he'll really mind the tone.

"What? You tired too?"

"That Obvious?"

"Just a bit."

"Well my sleep wasn't the best, what can you do."

Blushing a bit Dave asks "Uh, we didn't...disturb your sleep last night did we? Sorry I hadn't seen Blake in awhile and kind of needed some.. comfort".

"No, No just wasn't very restful sleep, wasn't your fault" Not really

"Phew, that's good, anyway you only had the one class today right? Then you could just go take a nice nap for a few hours".

"I would but guess what just came in the mail, my copy of FREE World!"

"Really? Damn I wouldn't sleep either. Still can't believe you were able to get a copy, those things sold faster than water in a desert. I'm still on the wait list, least I'm in the upper quarter, guarantees I get a copy as long as I have the money when the next batch gets sold."

"Perks of working for the company in charge my friend, even if it was temporary and unpaid. Who says internships are just for padding resumes. Anyways I'm going to go set it up, get something to eat and get to class, also Blake said he'd see you at The Bite at 5."

"Ok, have fun with your game, I gotta hurry." Grabbing a bagel and a bottle of water Dave runs out of the apartment leaving me alone.

Now then, let's go see what all the mystery was about shall we? Entering my room I see my drawings lining the wall my Flow pod rests against. Smiling I look at the drawing I'm most proud of, a depiction of the sea during a hurricane. Remembering the hours spent throwing away attempt after attempt until finally I was satisfied it captured the fury of a true hurricane brought a wry smile to my lips. Quickly opening my package I found a drive with the words FREE World, with the image of unattached wings on it along with a manual. Briefly skimming the manual I noticed it didn't contain any information on the game, just the installation process and legal mumbo jumbo. Shrugging to myself I hooked up the drive and hoped into the pod and said "program start" and then my vision faded to black.

My vision slowly returned and I was greeted by the sight of a strange metallic human figure. The figure I noted had no features just a vague human shape and a silver metallic color. As if noticing me examining its figure, which it probably did though it's hard to tell as it doesn't have eyes, it turned to face her. "Welcome to FREE World, I'm an administrative program created by the AI of this game to guide you through the character creation process. Please note that while I can only answer questions about the character creation and will no respond to other questions. Would you like to begin the character creation process?"

Though a bit unnerved by the featureless...thing talking without a mouth I decide to just ignore it and respond with a simple "yes".

"Very well. Unlike any other RPG or MMORPG FREE World has no set races or base template to choose from. All characters are created entirely by the player including starting stats, skills, traits, starting equipment, resource pool and appearances. You are given a limited number of points to spend in order to change this things. Note appearance starts out with how your look in reality and changes are added to that template, some changes may cost you points. There is a limit to some changers however, height cant be increased above 8 ft or below 2ft. Depending on the severity of the change points may be added or subtracted as your appearance will have an affect in game. For example a person with 10 str and is 8 ft tall will be stronger than someone with a similar str stat that is 2ft. If you give you character changes that give disadvantages that aren't cosmetic, such as making them blind, would give you extra points to put towards something else. Note ailments, such as blindness, that give you extra points might have the potential to be fixed during your play and thus ailments that are potentially harder to fix net more points. All players start with 200 points to spend, note it is recommended that player's design their characters in the way they wish to play as their is no class system in the game. The costs for changes in appearance will be listed near your character as you create it. Costs for stat increases, skills and traits will be appear when you click on them. Equipment costs appear as a 'price-tag' or a plaque near the item. You may now begin creating your character, to make appearance changes just describe what you desire out loud. To purchase stats call up your status by calling out status menu. To purchase skills/traits call out skill list. To purchase equipment call out item store. Final note, it is recommended that you look over everything briefly first as the costs of certain things might shape your decisions during character creation. If you have any questions feel free to ask, I will now go on standby."

I was a bit stunned by the information she received. It really lives up to its slogan, no restrictions, hell there's not even any suggestions. Still this is really fucking cool, I get to be whatever and whoever I want. No other game can compare to the amount of freedom this has. Turning to look at the copy of myself I decided to heed the final recommendation and look over the costs of the various options before diving into her creating her character. "Increase height to the maximum amount and add an additional pair of arms underneath the current set, adjusting body shape and structure to make them fully functional." Her 5ft 9 copy suddenly towered over her, its 2 pairs of arms crossed menacingly over her chest that had now increased in bulk by about 20%. It was quite impressive and looking next to my character's head I saw the number +30 flashing. Turning to the administrator I asked "are additions like more arms, a tail or wings fully functional in game or are there limitations?"

"Any additions to your character are fully functional in game as long as your adjust your character's body to be able to accommodate the changes properly. However there is no assistance with new appendages or other such changes and the player must figure out how to control them by themselves. The level of control is entirely up the player's aptitude, any change can be made to be 100% controlled as long as the player has the ability."

Interesting, that means that a player can potentially have something like a pair of wings and learn how to fly in game or 4 more arms and use them all independently. I start to think of the many interesting possibilities this system offers, staring off into space for a few minutes. Returning back to the present I say "revert character back to initial appearance. "Status menu"

Code:

Status WindowName:???Alignment:???Level:1Class:??Race:??Gender:FemaleTitles??Fame:??Infamy:??-Health:?? / ??Health Regen:?.? / Sec???:?? / ?????:?.? / SecStamina:?? / ??Stamina Regen:?.? / Sec-Strength:0Agility:0Vitality:0Intelligence:0Wisdom:0Endurance:0Luck:0-Attack:??Defense:??

Clicking on strength I read the description, it was fairly self explanatory it increases physical attack. Increasing it by 2 costs 1 point, after 6 increasing it by 1 costs 1 point and after 10 increasing it by 1 costs 2 points.

"Skill List."

In front of me appears a long list of skills with descriptions. Luckily there's a search bar otherwise looking for a specific skill would be a hassle. Skimming through the lists I find the lowest skill cost is 5 points while the highest is 70. Quite the range isn't there, best to only get a few skills at the beginning, I'm sure I can get more skill's in game if I want. "Item store" Suddenly the blank white room increases in size and changes its appearance into that of a general store. A large number of items shows up, from plate armor and katanas to wheels of cheese and rope. Looking at the cheese I see the cost to be 1 point per wheel while a full set of plate armor costs 30 points, there's also individual costs for the different parts of the armor. Briefly browsing the store I find the most expensive item to be 50 points while the least expensive being 1 point. Well know that I've gotten a look at the costs I think it's time to finally start creating my character.

After saying "bring up character appearance" the room returns to its original appearance with her character in the middle of the room. Hmm now what to do? I want to be something cool and unique, not a generic RPG trope. I got it!

"Give character draconic scales coming from the top of the hand along the arm to 2 1/2 inches below the arm meets the shoulder. Also give Draconic scales from the top of the feet along the leg to 2inches above the knee. Have Draconic scales starting at the bottom of the neck and to 1/4 inch on the cheeks, the scales should start fading away as they reach that point starting from where the neck meets the head. Add a 3ft long proportionally sized to my body draconic tail and scales along the spine not going further out than an inch to either side of the spine. All scales should be black with a violet tint to them. Fingers and toes should end in small inch long black claws. Knees and elbows should have short 2 inch black spikes growing out of them. Change eyes to those of a dragon and make their color deep purple. Add two horns on either side of my forehead that are 4 inches long the start out going to the side then slowing curving back in then pointing straight out. Grow hair out to 2 feet, change the color to be the same as the scales and have the hair going straight down my back. Make my character be fully functional with the changes." Phew that was more in depth than I've ever described something before. Worth it though cause damn does my character now look like a hardcore badass. Looking at the number next to her character I was surprised by the cost.

85 fucking points are you kidding? Guess that's the price of making my character a non-human weapon but jeez, gona need to carefully ration my remaining points now. I wonder if I could make some changes to decrease the cost that don't affect appearance too much.

"Make character unable to eat food other than meat" Looking to the points she sees the cost drop down to 80.

Sweet looks like it works, although no matter however much I like meat I can't play this game without any other food. Now that I know that this works however I can get some points back.

"Undo previous change. Make character unable to eat vegetables or drink anything besides water and alcohol. Make character have half as much resistance to cold as a normal human. Give character 10% reduction in eyesight during the day." The number now flashing near my character is 70. Better, now on to stats.

I decide to set everything but luck to 10 and luck to 6 , costing 45 points I also chose mana as my resource. 85 points left. Time for skills. Pondering over what to do with my character I decide that I should take advantage of my weaponized body and get a close combat skill. Next up should be something fun, so something to do with magic. Looking through the magic related skills she finds something interesting.

Code:

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Imagination is MagicBeginner10%Imagination is a wonderful thing, some would even say it's magical. A creative mind can be the difference between victory and defeat

Though it costs 55 points it's definitely falls under the category of fun, it's also potentially really good depending on how It works. Deciding to buy it I quickly search for a close combat skill and finds one for 15 points that suits my purposes.

Code:

Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Martial Combatbeginner10%Skill at using your body for combat. 10% increase in damage when using your body to fight

Finally time for equipment. Since I don't have many points left It's best to go for basic stuff.

Calling up the item shop I decide on buying three day's worth of basic food and water for 2 points each, a set of basic cloth clothes for 2 points, a skinning knife for 2 points, a basic backpack for 3 points, flint and steel for 1 point, a carving knife for 2 points, and a small mining pick for 2 points. "I'm done making my character"

The administrator faces me once again "are you sure you wish to make this character you only get 2 character slots and you must delete your character before you may create a new one in that slot"

"Yes I'm sure"

"Very well, please set a name for your character"

Thinking about it for a second I decide on my name

"I want my character to be called Calamity".

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Thanks for reading the first chapter of my first work I know I have much to work on but I hope that you enjoyed reading this. Like I stated before I appreciate any feedback you have, just post it below and I'll definitely read it.

Thanks,

Ren Waya