Last Game Standing

Chapter One: The Preview

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It had started two years ago. The main companies in cyber-entertainment had grouped together. There was a massive discussion: Could they do the impossible, and design and program a fully working virtual reality program? And if so, would it be possible to sell to the general public without any major flaws?

They hoped so. It would be the first time a completely interactive program could be set up, that anyone could access at any given time or place.

Sadly, this just wasn't possible. Portable virtual reality consoles were decades away from being produced. For that matter, the idea was dropped.

However, that didn't mean that a virtual reality game could not occur. Movie companies had been producing television shows and cartoons for virtual reality usage for years. Although only a marginal amount of the world's population had brought into it, those who had been interested kept coming back for more.

But television shows is one thing. Interactive games is quite another.

Although some virtual games had been published, they were too primitive. Often the game would crash when it received orders that were not programmed into its game engine. Thus most plans had been discarded.

But not this time.

Under one united banner, Computer Programmers United, or CPU for short, the major companies pooled their resources to make a pure masterpiece. It took two years for it to be developed far enough to become a stable game for demonstrations to be displayed, and a virtual console to be produced.

But that was the past. Let us move into the present.

**********

After two years of work, CPU finally completed the basic amount of designing and programming to provide the basics for a demonstration. A small group of CPU representatives, wearing black tuxedoes, stood in front of a large crowd of over four thousand people, waiting to see what was happening.

The main representative walked to the front of a large stage, where he was watched by everyone there. He glanced towards another representative, a young man in a shiny white jumpsuit. The youth was standing next to a large white-and-blue pod. The young man nodded, and the main representative began to speak to the crowd.

"Welcome. My name is Jake Palm. A couple of years ago, our organisation, known as CPU, began work on a virtual game program. This game would push our knowledge to the limit, and teach us more about cyberspace then most of us already knew. After months of dedication, we have completed…"

The crowd began to cheer wildly. Everyone, from a nine year old boy, to a elderly man, gave all their heart into this enthusiastic roar.

Jake Palm raised his hands, and there was silence. They all watched him diligently, waiting for him to continue his speech.

"As I was saying," Jake Palm continued, "we have completed a large amount of this game. However, despite this, the game is still imperfect. But we can still allow a preview, as well as a playable demonstration of our game. May I draw our attention to Carl Wentworth, our demonstrator?" Jake motioned towards the youth in the white jumpsuit. "Sadly," Jake continued, "We attempted to persuade him not to wear the jumpsuit, but he has no dress sense whatsoever." This got several laughs, and about a hundred suppressed giggles.

Carl walked towards the front of the stage. Now it was time for his speech. He recalled the instructions in his head: "Just say a few words, get into the machine, and let everyone else guide you though it."

With his instructions in mind, Carl started to talk. "Now, folks, I know y'all a bit disappointed about not getting this game tonight." This received a sullen "yes" from most of the crowd. "But all the same, you get to try a simulation of it for a good coupla of hours. That'll have ta do for now. Till then, it might be another few years before it gets released, but still, it's som'thin', right?" Carl went on, his heavy Texan accent creating dents in his English grammar. Most of the crowd was still upset, but certain individuals, who had been listening to every word the man had said, had gotten extremely excited. In less then a minute, realization had dawned on every last person in the crowd that they could play a demo of the best up-and-coming game yet.

Carl grinned. Now he had their attention. All he had to do was get into that pod and everything could start rolling.

"Now, ya may have noticed this pod? This here is our new virtual console. Notice how big it is? Ninety-nine percent of the world's population could fit here, and for those who are bigger than that, the pod can slide out to fit ya." With that, Carl opened up the pod. He put his hand inside the pod, and extracted a small amount of gel. People looked at it, confused.

"This here is the base of all our consoles abilities. Memory data, program files, and so on are stored in this stuff. This may seem weird, but it also contains special fluids that send ya into a sorta sleep. Then you load into the game, and your mind synchronized with the console, meaning stuff flows at the right pace, and not too slow or too fast, like with other virtual life consoles."

Now, if anyone wasn't watching Carl, they would have a serious need for a brain cell. This was a massive development for virtual reality programs. They hung on to his every word, and savored every piece of information he impacted on them.

Carl had their undivided attention, and he loved every moment of it. He put the gel back into the console. It rejoined perfectly. It wouldn't be damaged by exposure to the elements, as it was nearly impossible to dilute in any way, shape or form. It also provided plenty of breathing space from within the pod, without any of it being consumed whatsoever. It was perfect. Now he just had to prove it.

"I will now step inside the pod. The pod allows unlimited breathing space, and instant relaxation. There is no special clothing required for the pod, thus allowing anyone to play."

With that, Carl slipped into the pod, and watched as it closed slowly. As soon as the door had been shut, the gel multiplied, until the pod was completely filled by it. Now, engulfed by darkness, Carl began to feel tired. His body began to sleep, yet his mind was still somewhat awake. It registered what was going on, and decided that it was a dream. Carl slept, while his subconscious began to get in touch with its inner gamer.

**********

While this was happening, the people outside wondered what was happening to Carl. Could there be any explanation to what had happened? Would there be any way for them to contact Carl while he was inside the pod? And if so, how?

They needn't have worried. A large movie screen, unnoticed by all until now, had been activated. Around the bottom of the screen, several letters had formed. They said: "Carl Wentworth here. Lis'nin' for instructions and everytin' else."

Jake turned to his audience. Although Carl had put on a bit of a show, he had the run of the crowd once again. "As you can see," Jake began, "Carl's accent has transferred over to the game's database. This means that he is in perfect sync with the game engine, and visa versa. This means that he is now playing with nothing but his mind. This allows him to do almost any action that he could do normally, as well as some he previously couldn't."

The movie screen changed into a vibrant meadow, and a ray of light hit some grass. A moment later, Carl had loaded into the game.

"You'll notice that Carl himself is in the game, but that is the default avatar. The game registers your body image, and warps it to whatever you desire. This means you can be whoever you want, with a minimum of errors."

Carl's avatar walked across the meadow. He raised his hand. That was the signal. Backstage, a technician typed in the following code into the preview's program: enter:/item/blitzblade/area:/test/areaone.

Another ray of light hit the meadow, and a sword appeared. Carl ran towards it, and picked it up. A small textbox appeared, heralding that: "Carl found a Blitz Blade!" It was soon followed by another textbox, this time exclaiming: "Carl equipped a Blitz Blade!"

Jake motioned towards the screen. "The best thing about this game is that you save a lot of time equipping items. It takes only a few moments to have a character fully equipped, yet in battle, you will find that can take a while to do so. You will need plenty of willing allies to defend you if you are to do such dangerous maneuvers."

Several of the crowd thought about what Jake had just said. Others, however, were waiting for what would be main part of the game: the battle system.

"Now, I'm sure that you are all wondering about which battle system that we have deployed for this particular game. Is it real-time, turn-based, or from a one-person adventure point of view? The answer is this: all of them. Several areas will be played differently. This way, you can enjoy your favourite battle system without forsaking the rest." With that, cheers went up again from without the crowd. This time, the ultimate game had truly been achieved.

"Now, how about an example?" Jake said, in a lax tone. "Here we have Carl without an opponent. He really should have one. Otherwise, what is the point of having a battle system?" The technician heard this and typed in the following codes: enter:item/truepower/area:/test/areaone, and enter:item/replaytoken/area:/test/areaone. With that, two more items appeared in the meadow.

"Before we allow Carl to fight, we have two more items for him to equip. The small token is a Replay Token. It has only one usage, but it allows Carl to replay an attack. While this may seem meaningless, it deals the same damage over. However, if Carl's attack was countered, or missed, we would instead get a spectacular display of Carl's attack failing. He would also get damaged the same amount that he was dealt before. While it may seem like idiocy to use a Replay Token on a failed attack, you have to activate the Replay Token before you can use the first attack. Also, keep in mind that the Replay Token with react to any special technique, and not just attacks. The other item is known as the True Power. This object, known to be an item not unlike the Smash Ball, which can be seen in certain battles, releases a massive attack depending on the skills, items and powers that the user has. You only get one shot with each time you activate a True Power, so it pays to remain prepared for any unexpected movement from your opponent, lest your attack misses or is countered." Jake finished his long speech on the two items in question, and asked the crowd one simple question: "Who wants to see these items in action?" The reply was a huge cheer. Jake grinned. "I take that as a yes." He said happily.

Hearing those words, the technician typed in another code: enter:NPC/opponent/axebeserker4/area:/test/areaone. Another ray of light hit the ground, and a berserker, complete with bear skins and an axe, appeared. It noticed Carl across the field, and charged at him. Carl managed to dodge with ease, and the berserker's weapon hit the ground with a thud. Quite comically, the axe became stuck.

Using items quickly, Carl activated the True Power, followed by the Replay Token. His avatar flashed, and he jumped at the berserker, calling out: "Mega Blade Blitz!" Carl made several powerful slashes against his foe, before jumping high into the air, where his sword became charged with wild energy. Just when the sword's power had reached it's peak, he hurled it at the berserker, causing a large burst of energy from where the weapon had met it's mark. Carl floated to the ground, and caught the Blitz Blade as it whirled back towards him. Two-thirds of the berserker's health had been extinguished, yet Carl was not finished yet. With a childish cry of: "Let's see that again!" His character performed the Mega Blade Blitz again. This time, the move was shown as a cinematic. Every detail was shown, from hairs on Carl's head, to the flames that the Blitz Blade produced as it slammed into it's target. This time, the berserker could not survive. It fell with a thud, before exploding into gold and a new item, which Carl quickly snatched.

"And that," Jake said, "signals the end of our preview. The trial version will be active in one hour. Until then, relax, talk amongst yourselves, and have a good time. I will see you went the trial version begins." With that, the crowd began speak to one another about everything that had happened. The pod's door opened, and Carl came out, having had the ultimate game experience. But it would be nothing compared to that of the trial version, and even that would seem tiny compared to the complete version of the game that would come in a mere couple of year's time.

TO BE CONTINUED…

How do you like that? It took me a while to write, but I think it was worth it.

Ultra Blader