In Artyom Kamenisty's book "The Strangest Noob", readers will be able to see a very exciting game world and, together with the hero, immerse themselves in it with all their consciousness.

The main character is a Russian guy who works in the United States in a secret production. His name is Eugene, but the nickname Ros is most often used. Events take place in the future. Virtual reality games with full immersion are becoming the most popular. Technologies are developing and have reached the point where it is possible to immerse a person's consciousness in the game even after his death.

Eugene is not a fan of computer games, and therefore is completely unfamiliar with this universe. But one day he had to go there. After an accident in the service, he found himself on the verge of life and death. Since he received injuries that are very difficult to heal, there was little choice - either die or go to virtual reality, where you can earn money and exchange it for real money. Such earnings will enable Evgeny to recover and survive. And he agrees to it.

Once in one of the most popular games with millions of players, Ros at first did not understand anything at all. After all, he had never encountered life inside the game before. But gradually he figured everything out, not without help, of course. He also realized that he had special abilities, and therefore needed by someone influential.

Ros had to adapt in difficult conditions, when yesterday's union broke up. Now there is only war ahead. Every day there are magical battles, the ruins of the mine, which suddenly became a welcome prey, now and then move from one to another. Everyone leaving the city and coming into it undergoes a thorough check. The weak suffer and the strong go about their business. They are much more important than power and victory in the war, and they also need Ros - the strangest noob.

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Artem Kamenisty

THE STRANGE NOOB

Darkness is never absolute. Even in an unlit room, with no windows and tightly closed eyes, you can always see at least something: a thick rash of barely noticeable white dots, faded stains, unclear, elusive pictures. It was as if a battered negative of an overexposed film was inserted into the projector, and they decided to use the inner surface of the eyelids as a screen.

He didn't have to explain what that meant. He remembered everything, or almost everything, until the very moment when a flash flashed in the hangar. Perhaps the last light he saw in his life.

He no longer has a visual center, or at best he is badly damaged. Even if the eyes are preserved, which is unlikely, he simply has nothing to receive information from them. No other explanation came to mind.

The visual center is not a tiny dot in the backyard. It may very well be that the brain was damaged in several places, and seriously damaged. Actually, given the power that gave rise to that last outbreak, it remains to be surprised that he is still alive and even retained the ability to think rationally.

Or maybe not alive at all? Death is an unknown phenomenon. With all the knowledge accumulated by mankind, no one has yet given an exact answer to what comes after.

It is difficult for an atheist to believe in higher powers, but now he would not be surprised if a luminous tunnel with winged figures and divine music opened before him.

The tunnel did not open. And the winged angels did not catch his sinful soul. Instead, he heard a strange voice:

Day ninety-eight. Examination. One, one, one. You hear me? If you hear, try to answer. React in some way. We see that your indicators have changed, but we do not know if you are conscious.

Not very similar to the voice of higher powers. But it doesn't sound like a human voice either. Faceless, somehow metallic, as if a synthesizer is broadcasting. Despite the situation, he did not fall into confusion, the consequence of which would be problems with an adequate perception of reality. Almost instantly I realized that his assumptions about damage to the visual system were indirectly confirmed. They try to reach him using the organs of hearing. Judging by the absence of background sounds, most likely, he also does not have ears, information is transmitted by acting directly on the sound nerve or parts of the brain responsible for hearing.

What does he even have? What's left?..

I can hear you. Do you hear me?

Repeat. I'm doing the tuning, strong distortion.

I can hear you. One, one, one, one...

Enough. We hear you well. Wait, now you will have an important conversation.

In the absence of any stimuli, it is difficult to judge how much time has passed. It felt like an eternity to him. But everything in the world is finite: the same metallic voice came to life again:

Congratulations. We no longer hoped. You have returned from that world. How are you feeling?

Can not answer. In turn, I will ask: exactly how many of me returned from the other world? What's wrong with my body? And what about the rest? Those who were nearby.

Unfortunately, I can't answer either. The exact answer. To do this, you need to contact the doctors.

Are you not a doctor?

No. Yes, you must remember me: I am Steve Adkins.

I remember. You worked on the recruitment for our project.

Yes that's right. However, since then I have been promoted a bit.

Since then? It was yesterday. I saw you only yesterday.

No, you didn't see me yesterday. More precisely, they saw it, but it is in your "yesterday". I'm sorry, but for some time you were in a coma.

How long?

It would be better to learn about this from the doctors, I was asked not to report such details.

Why am I talking to you and not to them?

They provide our conversation. We need to discuss extremely important details with you as soon as possible. For this, an employee of the legal department was called in, we will discuss all the details with his participation. Wait a bit.

Subtleties? Shall we discuss? As far as I understand, everything is very sad with my body. Why should I talk to a company representative and its lawyers? Enlighten. Or even this doctors did not allow?

I'm not a lawyer, it's difficult for me ...

But you still try.

Fine. I will be brief. I cannot comment on your condition, but it was the result of an injury received during working hours at the workplace. The leadership in my face expresses to you sincere ...

You promised briefly.

I'm sorry. So, under the terms of the contract in such cases, the company assumes the cost of treatment. True, there are limitations. In particular, we do not pay for treatment abroad. We also do not pay for foreign deliveries of organs for transplantation. Well, a few other points. In your case, payment was made and is being made in full. We were ready to continue to do this, but your unforeseen exit from a coma disrupted plans a little.

Plans? I hope you meant treatment plans?

I'm sorry, but a full-fledged treatment in your case is difficult. Actually, more or less guaranteed maintenance of your life was possible only in a coma. By coming out of it, you have created a problem for your body.

And why do I need a body if it is not treated?

I admire that you are so cold-blooded in assessing your condition. It is indeed very difficult. But medicine does not stand still. Already now there are experimental developments that may help in your case.

Do you want to offer me an experimental treatment?

What do you. No. You misunderstood me. Let's put it this way: you have to wait until new treatments become available. It is most reliable to do this in a state of artificial coma. This reduces the burden on the body, and your psyche can be seriously affected during the waiting time.

I understand that you want to offer me to voluntarily fall into a coma?

Yes, there is a method that is completely safe.

This is not for you to judge, but for doctors, whom for some reason I do not observe.

You can talk to your doctor right now, but I'm afraid he'll suggest the same. There is no alternative.

There is always an alternative.

I have heard about your extraordinary talents, but I will be extremely surprised if you find another way out of this situation. I don’t consider staying in the current state as a way out - it will, in fact, be a veiled euthanasia.

I need a lawyer.

He's about to be.

Am I at the clinic?

Have you been on duty here, waiting for me to come to my senses?

No you.

So you've arrived? It's hard for me to judge the time, but it seemed that not much had passed.

I connected to you through the equipment of the medical center in our laboratory building.

That is, the lawyer is now walking from the administrative building?

Exactly.

When it arrives, turn it back.

What? For what?

I really need a lawyer, but not yours. I need my lawyer.

The company does not pay for the service of outsiders ...

Did I say something about payment? Contact Morrison & Fenton right now in Frisco. Tell Mr. Fenton that I'm in big trouble. Ask him to represent me. If he agrees, educate him about the situation and help him contact me as soon as possible. I'm assuming there won't be much time for that?

Yes, your condition ... Well, you yourself understand. And I want to assure you that in vain you refuse our lawyer. I assure you, no one is plotting anything bad against you, it’s just the situation…

Forgive me for interrupting you again, but time, I... we both understand, is precious. Please hurry up.

All former agreements on neutrality and even friendship have been forgotten. Yesterday's allies look at each other like wolves, and if only they looked: swords clash, arrows whistle, magical thunder rumbles. Yesterday, the useless, almost unprofitable mine became the scene of fierce battles. Its incinerated ruins change hands several times a day. All roads in the province are under control, no one can enter or leave the city without identity verification. The weak suffer because of the incessant violence from the eastern raiders who came to the rescue, and the strong ... The strong are busy searching for the culprit. They want the weirdest noob.

The cart of the history of our world prefers to move in a gentle spiral, and, completing the coil, you are very close to its beginning. The history of the Second World seems to have simplified its path to the ring, from which there is no way out. When you take hold of a magician's staff, don't expect no one to take it away from you. Or it won't change to anything. For example, on the pickaxe with which you met the first days of a new birth, just as rusty and good for nothing. The ring is for that and the ring: everything that happens to you will be repeated again and again. Except with minor variations. For example, from a relatively free miner you will turn into a disenfranchised slave. Entire provinces are burning in the fire of an unprecedented invasion, the most powerful clans and the emperor’s guards have taken up arms, trying to stop the hordes of nonhumans. A war is raging that no one expected, for which no one prepared, not even suspecting that the boredom of provincial life could be dispelled so quickly and cruelly. What is your role in all this? Unknown. But it is known where you should start: take a pick in your hands and proceed. There is enough ore here for your age.

The Second World is a virtual space without inviolable boundaries and strict laws. Complete freedom of action in the vague framework of game conventions. Pay and enjoy, and the rest is not your concern, everything will be tracked by the last generation AIs. They cannot err, they cannot be bribed, they cannot deviate one step from the basic rules of the Second World. So rest easy: your gaming process is under reliable supervision. But are supernetworks so omnipotent? Then why do they disappear one by one and the best minds of the corporation cannot identify the cause of such global failures? And how can you be calm about your gameplay if the owners of the game universe have left for themselves a lot of loopholes inaccessible to ordinary players? Including the unthinkable - with one attack of a monster hidden in a technical location, you can destroy any player both in the virtual and in the real world. Those who are behind the scenes of the Second World do not play games. Everything is much more serious.

All rights reserved. No part of the electronic version of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet and corporate networks, for private and public use, without the written permission of the copyright owner.

* * *

Chapter 1

He didn't have to explain what that meant. He remembered everything, or almost everything, until the very moment when a flash flashed in the hangar. Perhaps the last light he saw in his life.

Or maybe not alive at all? Death is an unknown phenomenon. With all the knowledge accumulated by mankind, no one has yet given an exact answer to what comes after.

It is difficult for an atheist to believe in higher powers, but now he would not be surprised if a luminous tunnel with winged figures and divine music opened before him.

The tunnel did not open. And the winged angels did not catch his sinful soul. Instead, he heard a strange voice:

“Day ninety-eight. Examination. One, one, one. You hear me? If you hear, try to answer. React in some way. We see that your indicators have changed, but we do not know if you are conscious.

What does he even have? What's left?..

- I can hear you. Do you hear me?

- Repeat. I'm doing the tuning, strong distortion.

- I can hear you. One, one, one, one...

- Enough. We hear you well. Wait, now you will have an important conversation.

In the absence of any stimuli, it is difficult to judge how much time has passed. It felt like an eternity to him. But everything in the world is finite: the same metallic voice came to life again:

- Congratulations. We no longer hoped. You have returned from that world. How are you feeling?

- Can not answer. In turn, I will ask: exactly how many of me returned from the other world? What's wrong with my body? And what about the rest? Those who were nearby.

“Unfortunately, I can’t answer either. The exact answer. To do this, you need to contact the doctors.

- Aren't you a doctor?

- No. Yes, you must remember me: I am Steve Adkins.

- I remember. You worked on the recruitment for our project.

- Yes that's right. However, since then I have been promoted a bit.

- Since then? It was yesterday. I saw you only yesterday.

No, you didn't see me yesterday. More precisely, they saw it, but it is in your "yesterday". I'm sorry, but for some time you were in a coma.

- How long?

- It would be better to find out from the doctors about this, I was asked not to report such details.

Why am I talking to you and not to them?

- Subtleties? Shall we discuss? As far as I understand, everything is very sad with my body. Why should I talk to a company representative and its lawyers? Enlighten. Or even this doctors did not allow?

- I'm not a lawyer, it's difficult for me ...

- But you still try.

- Fine. I will be brief. I cannot comment on your condition, but it was the result of an injury received during working hours at the workplace. The leadership in my face expresses to you sincere ...

- You promised briefly.

- I'm sorry. So, under the terms of the contract in such cases, the company assumes the cost of treatment. True, there are limitations. In particular, we do not pay for treatment abroad. We also do not pay for foreign deliveries of organs for transplantation. Well, a few other points. In your case, payment was made and is being made in full. We were ready to continue to do this, but your unforeseen exit from a coma disrupted plans a little.

– Plans? I hope you meant treatment plans?

- I'm sorry, but a full-fledged treatment in your case is difficult. Actually, more or less guaranteed maintenance of your life was possible only in a coma. By coming out of it, you have created a problem for your body.

- And why do I need a body if it is not treated?

“I admire that you are so cold-blooded in assessing your condition. It is indeed very difficult. But medicine does not stand still. Already now there are experimental developments that may help in your case.

"You want to offer me an experimental treatment?"

- What do you. No. You misunderstood me. Let's put it this way: you have to wait until new treatments become available. It is most reliable to do this in a state of artificial coma. This reduces the burden on the body, and your psyche can be seriously affected during the waiting time.

“I understand that you want to offer me to voluntarily fall into a coma?”

Yes, there is a method that is completely safe.

- This is not for you to judge, but for doctors, whom for some reason I do not observe.

“You can talk to your doctor right now, but I'm afraid he'll suggest the same. There is no alternative.

– There is always an alternative.

“I have heard about your extraordinary talents, but I will be extremely surprised if you find another way out of this situation. I don’t consider staying in the current state as a way out - it will, in fact, be a veiled euthanasia.

- I need a lawyer.

- He's about to be.

- Am I at the clinic?

- You were on duty here waiting for me to come to my senses?

- No, you are.

"So you've arrived?" It's hard for me to judge the time, but it seemed that not much had passed.

- I connected to you through the equipment of the medical center in our laboratory building.

- That is, the lawyer is now walking from the administrative building?

- Exactly.

- When it arrives, turn it back.

- What? For what?

“I really need a lawyer, but not yours. I need my lawyer.

- The company does not pay for the service of outsiders ...

Did I mention anything about pay? Contact Morrison & Fenton right now in Frisco. Tell Mr. Fenton that I'm in big trouble. Ask him to represent me. If he agrees, educate him about the situation and help him contact me as soon as possible. I'm assuming there won't be much time for that?

- Yes, your condition ... Well, you yourself understand. And I want to assure you that in vain you refuse our lawyer. I assure you, no one is plotting anything bad against you, it’s just the situation…

“Forgive me for interrupting you again, but time, I ... we both understand, is expensive. Please hurry up.

- Fine. Wait a bit.

Again he is alone with the darkness, but busy not looking at its incomprehensible darkness, but thinking. Perhaps he had a useful conversation with Adkins. Achieved the required, and even without serious objections. This, of course, if the conversation was with Adkins, and not with his own schizophrenia, locked in the remnants of the brain mutilated by the explosion. What's next? Is there an alternative? And will Morrison help find her? Morrison is unlikely, but if Adkins gets through to him, he, if taken, will most likely entrust this matter to White. But White can find a front exit even from the gas chamber, and on its sides there will be at least two porters in liveries, without a single speck of dust.

And White also owes him something, and I want to believe that he is one of those people who do not forget about debts.

Perhaps, indeed, schizophrenia ... How can White help in a hopeless situation? Here it is not necessary to think about lawyers, but about euthanasia or coma, which is essentially the same thing.

– John? Can you hear me?

“Steve, I’m much more pleased if you call me Evgeny now.

- All right, Eugene, as you wish.

In the position of the dying, it turns out, there is good. One can brazenly spit on the Americanization of the most sacred thing: the name.

Small but plus.

We have contacted Mr. Morrison. He has agreed to take over your case. His employee John White will work with you.

– When can I talk to him?

“He has already left here, to us. It's closer than the clinic. I can't say exactly when it will be. But he is already asking you to drop him all the materials on your situation, he wants to get acquainted with them on the way.

Has White got a personal chauffeur? Hardly, rather strongly trusts the autopilot.

“Can I talk to the doctors for now?”

- Yes. Of course.

It would be better not to speak. It's one thing to assume that everything is bad, it's another thing to listen to the nightmarish details from the outside, enumerated by a dead metallic voice.

It's not just bad. This is the end. The capacity of the patient is more than questionable. It is strange that polite conversations are being held with its miserable remnants and even lawyers are involved in them.

It is not surprising that this stub, which was once a young and healthy body in excellent physical shape, does not want to remain in this world. There is nothing else for him to do here. Only the fact that he was able to deliver from a scorched laboratory to a deep resuscitation unit in less than five minutes allowed life to linger on the miserable ruins of its former splendor.

Adkins may be a bastard, but he's right: you can't last long in this state. days? More like a watch. He will simply go crazy, staring into the darkness and counting the remaining moments of existence. He already now imagines something bad in the darkness, silently creeping up, licking his lips carnivorously. The psyche needs stimuli, and here they are not, with the exception of the metallic voice of Steve, so he tries to fill the void.

Jane, can you hear me?

Not Americanized "John", and not even "Eugene", not "Ros": "Zhenya", well, let's say "Zhenya".

It looks like White.

- I hear. Funny nigga, where did you wear so much?

- Why is it funny?

-With such a name do you want to be a serious niger?

“Niger” is not a very good term for a dialogue between two interlocutors who respect each other.

- And I do not respect the Black Sea.

Have you become a racist?

- Yeah. And quite by accident. By chance I bought myself a house in Alabama. Nice place, and nice neighbors, quite different from the northerners. Do you know that rare Negro can cross Alabama from one end to the other and never take a bullet in the process? So I didn't even notice how I got involved in this case.

- Zhenya, I know perfectly well what Alabama is. And I know you. I'm being hinted at from all sides about your incapacity. Try to prove that you just decided to joke on the verge of a foul in a situation that is completely not conducive to humor, otherwise I will start listening to the opinions of others.

“Namesake, do you know Adkins?”

- Already familiar.

- Understood. You, using the peculiarities of our communication, are trying to find out if I am an impostor. And what's the verdict?

How did I meet your cat?

- Stepped on his tail, and the next time, making amends, brought him sour cream, and you became friends.

- Hello, John.

Well, you finally got to know me. I could immediately start with a cat, and not trump racism.

- Sorry, I'm very nervous.

- Yes, I did not even think to be offended.

- Long time no see.

"Sorry to see you like this...

“I don’t have much time, so let’s do without unnecessary lyrics.

“Understood, I won’t shed any tears.”

“Keep in mind: Adkins may be eavesdropping on us.

- And I understood it.

Have you been informed about my case? Have you read everything?

Everything they gave. You were injured during the explosion in the laboratory. Of the six employees who were at that time in the room, you are the only survivor. It was lucky that you had a deep resuscitation capsule for testing, you barely had time to convey to it. Then more than three months of coma, artificial lung, digestive system, removal ... However, you should have been introduced to this.

- Yes. In this country, nothing is hidden from patients.

- And in yours?

- Anything happens, but they like to lie.

- Zhenya, you wanted us to help you. How?

"They're going to put me in a coma again." I want to know is it forever? What options?

- There is an option to stand up. New body. Clone.

– Is there such a technology?

- Officially, no, although people are slowly growing for themselves. Not in this country, of course, but not so far south everything is possible.

– My contract does not provide for treatment abroad.

- I know. Moreover: it contains a fixed amount, beyond which you will not receive a cent. And you're already dangerously close to those limits. To grow a clone is a sum with seven zeros, or even more. Officially, you can’t do anything like this, because the service is criminal. The clone is grown over the years, while it has its own personality. In fact, at the end we are dealing with a deliberate murder: a formed person is dismantled for spare parts for his genetic twin, battered by time and disease. Running in the technology of the so-called “mindless clones” is a matter of the next few years, but you don’t have those years and you don’t have sums with so many zeros. In addition, in addition to the body, your brain is damaged, and seriously damaged. There is currently no solution to this problem. Even in the best case, with the complete success of the transplant, we will get a disabled person, because the problem of mediated transfer has not yet been solved, although there are changes in this issue and some experts believe that we are on the verge of a breakthrough.

“And you called it an option?”

- Well ... theoretically - this is an option.

“In fact, we just lost time.

- This is useful information. You had to familiarize yourself with it to continue the conversation.

- Sequels? Are there any other options?

- Three options.

- Yes, it turns out that I have an abyss of choice ... I hope not the same?

- No. First, you agree to Adkins' offer. This is followed by a coma and a cryostat. Theoretically, you can stay in this state for thirty to forty years. The rest of the company's obligations, your funds and the funds of your parents will be enough to provide for you all this time, or almost all.

- My parents?

Yes, we have already contacted them.

“They are poor people.

- As are you.

- Well, I would have another five years ...

"Second, you're being voluntarily disabled under Amendment 143 to the Voluntary End of Life Act for the Terminally Ill." We have your death and saved family money.

- Nice ... I'm even afraid to think what the third option will be ...

- Zhenya, you know how conservative I am: sweets are always for dessert.

"Give me your dessert..."

– Have you ever played modern games with full immersion?

- I tested flight simulators about two years ago. More precisely, I tried to test, for the sake of interest. You can call it a game.

- No, it's not exactly that. I mean modern network games. These are games that are played by thousands and millions at the same time, interacting with each other, fighting, cooperating, even creating families.

Sorry, but I haven't had time for anything lately. Working hard to earn my first million, you know. While studying - yes, it happened. A couple of friends, due to their passion for games, even flew out of the course, scoring on everything except computers. I'm not so serious, just dabbled a little. I don't understand why you mentioned them.

Have you heard of the Second World?

- It's clear. Where were you at all, if you were so behind the times?

- I spent half a year in a closed project. Autonomous network, no absences from the territory. Not a single byte of information should have gone before the results were registered. The output was supposed to be a bundle of patents, closed licenses, as well as very substantial amounts in the accounts of the participants. We were in a hurry, worked almost without rest, to the point of exhaustion. Sorry, I can't tell you all the details.

- This is not required. I understood: you were so busy with work that you didn’t even follow the news, and you couldn’t follow some. Let me briefly explain: while you were doing I don’t know what, the world did not stand still. Big whales used to be interested in online entertainment, but now they are racing to stick their snouts out of the muddy waters of the deepest ocean. The transnational game "Second World" cost nearly ninety-eight billion at the start, which is almost the same as the entire program of manned flights to Mars. So you can imagine the scale of investments. The first game with mass support for full immersion technology and at the same time not having critical conflicts with connections from older versions. Although now there are problems with it. The degree of visualization is as close to reality as possible. The most complex world, a successful combination of the developments of many other game projects, which allows users with a wide variety of interests to play comfortably. To date, more than four hundred million accounts have been registered. Each account is named, tied to a specific person, so this is the real number of players.

– Most of which created acc and never played. The rest once or twice went in - and scored. As a result, the real figure is much lower. Everything is just like in my time: on the site of the toy there was a figure of three million, and online there were no more than five thousand.

“Not in the case of the Second World, take my word for it for now. Of course, there are auction accounts, abandoned and others, but there are not so many of them.

- John, you promised to be shorter, but for some reason we have already spent a lot of time discussing some advertised toys.

- This is important, I bring you up to date, and briefly.

- Sorry. Listen carefully.

- Have you forgotten the cost of the project at the start?

- Yes - commensurate with the Martian manned program.

- Today, the "Second World" no longer has a price.

- How is that?

“Can you imagine someone buying New York and Tokyo and getting Berlin as change?

- Weird question.

– So, the Second World is much more difficult to acquire. A little over a year after the end of testing, this project has become invaluable. The original owners now have a modest share, and everything else is divided into several states. Conflicts have already happened more than once: in the real world, one after another, there are notes of protest due to various kinds of actions of national gaming communities. It comes to saber-rattling - real weapons! And all this for the sake of protecting virtual interests.

- What kind of interests?

– Zhenya, they make money in the Second World, and the money is crazy. And there, not everything is as simple as in the good old toys. Much is hushed up, but even the crumbs of information available are enough for those who understand.

“They wanted a toy, but they got a digital El Dorado. In fact, thanks to the Second World, we are about to achieve a complete victory over unemployment. And all over the world.

“Thanks to some lousy toy?”

“Second World is no longer a game. And especially not a lousy game. This is the whole world. Perhaps even better than ours.

- You play?

- I? What are you, only idlers with money really play there, the rest work like draft horses. And why should I work on the Web, if I got a good job here too? I will not hide, sometimes you have to go there. I serve the interests of a number of gaming communities. Their interests in this world. In our good old world. They call him not even the First, but the Third. Zhenya, you have to play. If you do not want to go back to a coma or agree to euthanasia.

“John, I always thought that of the two of us, you would be the last to go crazy. Wrong. It's a shame - because I rarely make mistakes.

- Understand. Your job is to make no mistakes.

“Since I was here, it means I was mistaken ...

- Have you forgotten my words about the fact that much is hushed up?

- Full immersion turned out to be a catch. The high degree of visualization, the size of the world, its content and thoughtfulness led to unexpected effects for the players. If you chose this connection method, then be prepared for a surprise. For the first time this surfaced almost immediately after the start of the "Second World". Then it was, albeit a promoted, but an ordinary game project, with hundreds of competitors breathing down the back of their heads, lagging behind solely because of the difference in funding that was unbearable for small players, and no one particularly shortened the language of the press. The bottom line is that in one of the branches of "VM", where the service of hourly rental of full immersion capsules was provided, there was a fire. At the same time, some of the players remained in capsules. No one was hurt, but the connection was severed. However, none of the players came to their senses. They were pulled out of the capsules in an unconscious state, and none of them could be revived. And then it turned out to be completely strange: at the same time, their characters remained in the game, and some of them panicked, trying to report through all possible channels that they could not go into real life. But as soon as they connected their capsules to the Network, everything worked out. True, there were only a few such stuck. Most got out on their own and were very surprised to see themselves not in capsules. Most, but not all. Well, how do you like it?

– Is this an isolated case?

– Far from it, just now they are trying to hush it up. Moreover, there are rumors, and I believe them, that the so-called "full presence effect" is guaranteed to be achieved after several days of continuous play for any user. If you disconnect the capsule from the network earlier, the normal player will simply wake up. And one more thing: we have one very interesting precedent. A player whose condition was not better than yours was stuck in the game after the death of his body. The death was recorded, the body was frozen in anticipation of the termination of litigation. His character still exists in the game. The essence of the legal problem: the character insists that with the loss of the body, he did not lose his rights. That is, it requires that it retains civil rights and, accordingly, all property. By the way, the property is rather big. Relatives bluntly refuse to recognize him.

Are you offering me an artificial world?

“I could tell you a lot more, but not in this way. We purchased an account for one of our employees, in the game you can ask him for details.

You say that like I've already made up my mind.

- Zhenya, I know you not the first day. You are a fighter, you will not give up. Here's the third option for you: we negotiate with your employer. He pays for the equipment for your connection and an account for several months in advance, then we send you for a full immersion. According to the rules, a connection for more than twenty hours is prohibited, but in your case we will bypass the ban thanks to the precedents with the terminally ill, and there are already two of them. I'll skip the details, but you'll have to digitally sign a waiver of legal claims of any kind if your body dies. Your funds, your parents' funds and the balance of the company's obligations are enough to acquire a working account, special equipment to connect sick players and keep your body in an artificial coma for ten months. During this time, you should get used to the game and find yourself an income sufficient to pay for the account and maintain the body.

- What kind of earnings can we talk about in the game?

- The game currency is freely exchanged for real, and the first is constantly growing in price. Who knows, you might still make your million.

- Some kind of crazy house ...

“Wrong word,” the lawyer continued after a long pause. - I will become a decrepit old man - I will come to you there, so be ready for a pleasant meeting. And, Zhenya, we will not take money from you. Morrison knows how to count coins, but he also knows how to remember those who helped him out in difficult times. And I remember too. Do not expect miracles from us, but believe me: no one will offer you anything better than the "Second World". And the best conditions.

- I understand. Thanks for the help. How and when can this be done?

- What are you talking about?

- Connect to the game. I think there are no more acceptable ways of existence left for me.

- Usually the player writes an application for account registration. The application is checked, then there are medical tests, account payment. In general, the whole procedure takes about three days.

– Do I have three days?

John was silent for a long time and answered only after repeating the question:

– Unknown. That's why we didn't suggest you start a lawsuit with your employer. It is not a fact that we will win, but the fact that it will drag on is not known how long is a fact. The fact that you came to your senses at all is a medical curiosity. Your whole clinic is running on ears. Tests, I hope, will not be needed, you have already been tested during this time, I can’t do it at all. Morrison himself has already gone to the office of the local branch of VM, and he is not one of those people in front of whom they will make red tape. We hope that in your case the formalities will make it easier or faster to go through. If we succeed, you will be connected before the end of the working day.

- How many hours will you have to wait?

“Five or six, hardly more. Try to hold out, don't pass out early. I'm sorry that sometimes I'm late with answers, I'm just on the go agreeing with doctors about the delivery of network equipment. You will have to be connected right in the clinic, you may not be able to stand the road. These are extra expenses, and considerable ones, but you can’t do without them.

Let someone talk to me all this time. I'll go crazy if there are no votes.

- We'll provide it for you.

“Couldn’t you somehow bring me up to date?” Learn to play? I have no idea how to earn money there and what to do in general.

Did you say you were playing?

- Well, yes, I was still a student, probably the last time five years ago.

– Into what?

- "Aces of the First World War", "Stalin's Falcons", "Invasion".

– What is it about? Briefly? What is the essence of games?

- Airplanes. Fight on planes against other players, on the same planes. Something like group air combat simulators.

What about role-playing games?

- Well ... I had one girlfriend. Once, a nurse's suit fell into her hands, and she ...

“I'm not talking about those role-playing games. I'm talking about online role playing games.

“Is that where the elves are against the dwarves?”

- You're exaggerating, but something like that.

– No, there were no elves in the planes.

- Hard case…

Why are elves on planes?

- And the truth is there is no need, but at first it will not be easy for you. Oh, how difficult it is ... And there is no time to learn. Crap! Contract!

– With a working account, you will need a lucrative contract. And we definitely won’t have time to do this before the evening: it’s not our profile. Okay, you are there, in the game, do not rock the boat, sit quietly, wait, we will contact you when we find a good option. I think not later than tomorrow.

– And what will happen to my mind and body ten months later? If I don't get the money?

- You'll get it. You are smart, you are sure to come up with something. And don't forget the million. And even better about many millions. With money there, you have a chance to grow your body here. Let not today and not in a year, but do not forget that medicine does not stand still. They will definitely come up with something. And you will have to pay well for it.

From a speech in the UN General Assembly Hall by Aaron Gray,

first director of the US-Canadian sector

Corporation "Second World"

To feed one feudal lord, dozens of members of peasant families were required, and the bulk of the artisans, in addition to their main occupation, also had to tinker in the fields and gardens. This time is usually called the Middle Ages, but I will call it differently: the era of the peasantry.

It was replaced by the era of workers. The development of draft breeds of livestock, the introduction of advanced tools, and then mechanization made it possible to raise the productivity of peasant labor, which made the birth of the proletariat possible. Our society has become industrialized.

But we didn't stand still. Labor productivity grew not only in agriculture, but also in industrial production. We stepped into modernity with a peasant who is able to feed hundreds and thousands of eaters. Of course, not alone: the industry produces for him machines, tools, fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides; science provides him with new varieties of plants, including those with a modified genetic apparatus, cloned highly productive livestock and fundamentally new methods of crop protection from adverse factors.

But what about the workers? I'll give you a small example. Each of you probably has a car. Every car has a suspension. Up to seventy percent of the main suspension components in more than half of the world's passenger cars are made in a single plant. It employs seventy-six employees, of which only twenty-eight are directly employed. The bulk of the rest is engaged in ensuring the marketing of products.

What we have? We have unprecedented productivity in agriculture and industry. They employ only a small part of the working population. What is left? The so-called non-production sphere: service, trade, etc. We are forced to invent new professions and unnecessary jobs in order to occupy people at least symbolically, to prevent them from joining the army of welfare recipients. But this is not enough, a significant part of those who could be useful cannot realize themselves: they simply did not have enough space, they are no worse than others, but at the same time they are superfluous. And this situation is getting worse every year. We are beginning to become a society divided into a handful of worker bees and a swarm of drones. This causes social distortions, strengthens previously barely noticeable contradictions, leads to an increase in crime and social conflicts.

How to change the situation? It would seem that there is no way out: our world is territorially limited, and its resources are not endless. We cannot make a breakthrough on the existing base, which will allow us to fully use the capabilities of each of us. Man is building bases on the Moon, flying to Mars, and the development of a manned project on the satellites of Jupiter has begun. But all this, you see, although it expands our horizons, is not quite what is required.

One of those southern states of the USA where racial problems were very serious, their echoes are still manifesting.

Account, aka acc - player account. It includes a set of information for authorization, accounting, etc. As a rule, there are no serious obstacles to creating several accounts by one person, and therefore, in modern online games, the number of accounts can be much higher than the actual number of players.

Online - in this context, the state in which the character (or vehicle for simulators) of the player is in a network game.

CHAPTER 1

He didn't have to explain what that meant. He remembered everything, or almost everything, until the very moment when a flash flashed in the hangar. Perhaps the last light he saw in his life.

Or maybe not alive at all? Death is an unknown phenomenon. With all the knowledge accumulated by mankind, no one has yet given an exact answer to what comes after.

It is difficult for an atheist to believe in higher powers, but now he would not be surprised if a luminous tunnel with winged figures and divine music opened before him.

The tunnel did not open. And the winged angels did not catch his sinful soul. Instead, he heard a strange voice:

Day ninety-eight. Examination. One, one, one. You hear me? If you hear, try to answer. React in some way. We see that your indicators have changed, but we do not know if you are conscious.

What does he even have? What's left?..

I can hear you. Do you hear me?

Repeat. I'm doing the tuning, strong distortion.

I can hear you. One, one, one, one...

Enough. We hear you well. Wait, now you will have an important conversation.

In the absence of any stimuli, it is difficult to judge how much time has passed. It felt like an eternity to him. But everything in the world is finite: the same metallic voice came to life again:

Congratulations. We no longer hoped. You have returned from that world. How are you feeling?

Can not answer. In turn, I will ask: exactly how many of me returned from the other world? What's wrong with my body? And what about the rest? Those who were nearby.

Unfortunately, I can't answer either. The exact answer. To do this, you need to contact the doctors.

Are you not a doctor?

No. Yes, you must remember me: I am Steve Adkins.

I remember. You worked on the recruitment for our project.

Yes that's right. However, since then I have been promoted a bit.

Since then? It was yesterday. I saw you only yesterday.

No, you didn't see me yesterday. More precisely, they saw it, but it is in your "yesterday". I'm sorry, but for some time you were in a coma.

How long?

It would be better to learn about this from the doctors, I was asked not to report such details.

Why am I talking to you and not to them?

I'm not a lawyer, it's difficult for me ...

But you still try.

Fine. I will be brief. I cannot comment on your condition, but it was the result of an injury received during working hours at the workplace. The leadership in my face expresses to you sincere ...

You promised briefly.

Plans? I hope you meant treatment plans?

And why do I need a body if it is not treated?

Do you want to offer me an experimental treatment?

I understand that you want to offer me to voluntarily fall into a coma?

Yes, there is a method that is completely safe.

This is not for you to judge, but for doctors, whom for some reason I do not observe.

You can talk to your doctor right now, but I'm afraid he'll suggest the same. There is no alternative.

There is always an alternative.

I need a lawyer.

He's about to be.

Am I at the clinic?

Have you been on duty here, waiting for me to come to my senses?

No you.

So you've arrived? It's hard for me to judge the time, but it seemed that not much had passed.