“It’s just,” I started sadly.
“It’s just what?” said Michael looking at me pointedly.
“It feels like I am running away and giving up. I mean, the last year feels like I have given up on life. I mean, they even have me on antidepressants since they think I would be suicidal," I said bitterly.
"That's because you tried to kill yourself six months ago, Jason," Michael said gently.
"Honestly, what do you think I should do?" I asked him with fear in my heart.
"Honestly? Take it. You're not yourself anymore, buddy. Even Gwen left you. And don't start with it was the accident bullshit. She tried to make this work, and you pushed her away with your anger. Sign it, Jason. Not as your lawyer but as your best friend," Michael says, looking at me with unshed tears.
Sighing, I think back to the last three years. The accident was life-changing for me. And not in the right way. I had a job that I loved in technology. I had a fiancé who loved me. Who even stayed with me for two failed groundbreaking experimental surgeries. Both failures which used up 95% of the one million dollar settlement money from the accident. Now I was broke and had to take charity from the State.
Taking a deep breath and looking at Michael, I say to him. "Promise to come and adventure with me like old times?"
With relief, Michael responds, "God damn, yes! If I weren't so busy with my practice and had an extra $20,000 for the full immersion pod, I would join you more often. Though because you're going to be beta testing this for this new technology, they won’t be releasing it until months from now. But Jason, the early reviews of this game are amazing. They're saying it's just like being there. Sigma Worlds isn't just flat VR like we usually play. You saw the videos they sent us? Take it."
"OK, where do I sign?" I said, feeling a little nervous and scared.
Looking up from his paperwork, Dr. Phillips looks at his assistant, Joanne.
"So candidate number three signed up finally?!" he said with energy.
"Yes, just earlier today. His lawyer was able to convince him. Why did you want him so badly? It's not like we are short on candidates to beta test Sigma Worlds. Why him?" Joanne asked.
Looking at her penetratingly, Dr. Phillips gauged her loyalty. She had been with him for over twenty years.
"Can you promise me that what I tell you will not reach anybody else?" he said, looking at Joanne with piercing gray eyes.
Looking at him, Joanne could tell this was serious. "I do as long as it's not breaking the law."
Not expecting that response, he laughed out loud. “Oh! Thanks for that Joanne, I needed that with all the stress from the release coming out next week. No, it’s not illegal. You know how we have been testing candidates for their Brain Activity Sync or BAS levels? Out of the 50,000 candidates we have tested, the average is 60% and the highest until now at 72%. Well, this candidate has tested at 98%,” he tells her excitedly.
“Hold on, doesn’t that predict how close to reality the player will fully experience the game? As in not just touch but also pain, scent and tactile?” she asked bafflingly.
“Yes! So this candidate is perfect for testing out the new systems we have in the pipeline. Right now, the AIs have to calculate what a person might feel based on their BAS score. That score will tell the AI in the system how much it needs to reduce the pain and feelings inside the game, so users don’t get overwhelmed”, Dr. Phillips starts excitedly.
“What we are working on for later in the system will allow us to use it to heal mental health patients, since they won’t know they are inside a game. We can build virtual wards, so that we can treat patients who are in a coma. Right now, it’s still pretty new, but the wonders of this system will only benefit humanity.”
“OK, Dr. Phillips, as exciting as this sounds, why can’t we tell anyone else? I mean, it’s great that we found someone who has such a high BAS, but what does that mean for this candidate? Why can’t we tell anyone else about it? Will the game settings need to be modified for him?” Joanne asked.
“I know our AIs are smart, hell they built 90% of the first World themselves and 100% of the 2nd World. Once we built the AIs and entered what we wanted, they went ahead and built the entire thing. I’m worried that if they find out, they will want to study him so much that he will have no freedom. I've met him. He was in a very severe car crash, and he's now in a wheelchair. He’s lost his mobility, and it depresses him. How do
