Chapter 4: Book 1, Chapter 4: Fateful Start

Shane Carther had spent nearly four years developing a brand-new, open-world, online role-playing game. The kind of game he had dreamt of playing since he started the hobby in the late 90s. The sort of game he desired to develop while attending university for game development and design in the late 2000s.

He was lucky enough to be a part of a team of developers who shared his passion and skill. But was also equally blessed to be developing for a well-known and well-loved gaming publisher. The kind of publisher whose select few teams of game-makers pumped out genre-defining classics for the latter half of the last console generation.

Four years ago, Shane Carther earned the opportunity to dedicate his skillset in AI to the Endless Veil project, which he couldn't resist. His primary task was developing machine-learning systems using artificial intelligence to reward players in a game world that was mainly infinitely procedural.

For him, the skills and knowledge acquired to complete such a task started early in life. In elementary school, he discovered his love for gaming. Later, in high school, he developed an infatuation with AI and machine learning. Finally, many months were spent in his college days practicing tutorials and taking classes on the subject.

However, what ultimately jump-started his career was a successful integration of machine learning AI inside a home security system. All to learn the residents' patterns using visual and audio data from within each room. That data would then help predict verbal and physical abuse with astonishing accuracy. Needless to say, this impressed the right people.

Shane's interest in machine learning AI temporarily waned as his passion for game development took center stage.

So, while working towards his bachelor's degree in game design, he found the inspiration to create a new prototype. That of a machine learning artificial intelligence director built upon what he learned from the augmented home security system. A prototype that would eventually be honed and refined into what was powering Endless Veil.

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The deadline for Endless Veil's launch was finally here, and everyone at the studio worked around the clock to prepare it. Shane had his work cut out with more than a handful of remaining coding challenges. Luckily they were primarily simple oversights missed by the small team of game testers the studio hired. Unfortunately, as the deadline loomed closer, he and everyone else in the studio had to crunch the last couple of months. Still, with so few issues remaining, Shane was happy and relieved to see the finish line.

The sale of Endless Veil was set to go live in retail and online later that night. Shane felt ready for it as he strolled home with mocha-flavored coffee in hand. While a radiantly gorgeous sunset bathed behind the city's taller buildings in the warm reflective glow of a nearing twilight.

"What a beautiful evening," he said out loud cheerfully.

Shane immensely enjoyed his walks to and from work. Some would say his already lanky body didn't need the exercise, which was advice he ignored. The real benefit was it allowed him to avoid spending money on a car, insurance, and gas. Thanks to his apartment being near the city's center, he could also get whatever he needed delivered most of the time.

Now that Endless Veil was finally releasing, Shane hoped for a healthy bonus, especially if the public loved the game as much as the team's internal testers did.

The anticipation of the millions of gamers enjoying something he put so much work into made his gut twist into a knot. Regardless, he wore the biggest smile on the evening's walk home. Wholly ignorant of the wild and turbulent future that would befall him.

After the game's launch, Shane decided he would start dating again and drive said dates in a well-maintained used vehicle of his choosing. He would easily be able to afford it, and besides, with only a few scant dates in the past four years, he was getting increasingly lonely. There was his close-knit group of online buddies he would always play with, but none of it could fill that particular girlfriend-shaped hole aching in his chest.

There were acquaintances from work too, but he never really found the right moment to connect on anything meaningful beyond work stuff. His social anxiety certainly didn't help.

Shane spent the rest of his walk home thinking about which class he would pick when starting Endless Veil. He whistled one of the game's boss themes as he considered. The game's setting was high fantasy medieval, with all the swordplay and magic you would expect from that genre and then some.

He chuckled to himself. He knew it was so much more because once you picked your starting class, your character's growth was tied directly to your actions in the game. Even thinking of your character's development in those terms was overly simplified, and he was excited to explore those possible depths. To experience the layered nuance deep below the surface—that only games like Endless Veil could deliver.

The sun had finally fully set, eliminating the bright yellow and orange and replacing it with a hauntingly dull overcast that faded to darkness with each second. The scene reminded him of early concept art for some of the assets that powered Endless Veil's world, further increasing his anticipation. A few minutes later, he arrived at his apartment complex and nearly sprinted up the stairs to his 3rd story one-bedroom apartment.

Many of his colleagues decided to stay late to both enjoy the launch together as a team and work on a hotfix or two should the game need it. Shane was invited by more than a few equally excited coworkers—he politely turned each of them down. While he enjoyed working with Infinite Studios' talented members, he was compelled to decompress once his shift was over. To his coworker's collective shock, Shane felt the usual compulsion to spend his evening at home—just like Endless Veil's players would be—for the launch itself.

Besides, after a lot of iterative testing with software of his own creation, it was improbable that launch-day bugs would exist within the systems integrated into the game.

Shane stepped inside, taking in the small space's familiar evening darkness and lived-in smell. He always chastised himself for not leaving some light on for his usual late arrival home. Some of those he worked beside would arrive early and leave before 8 pm to have dinner with their families. Shane was not one of these people. His nightly hobbies kept him up late enough to warrant sleeping in until almost noon. By the time he got home, it was almost always later than 9 pm, and thus his habits of staying up late were cemented.

The slightly cracked screen on his smartphone told him that Endless Veil was launching in less than an hour. Putting aside his habitual sleeping hangups, he closed the door behind him. He then flipped the switch on some ambient lighting to set the mood for a night of spectacular gaming. After taking a quick shower to get the feeling of work off his skin, he was nearly ready.

He poured over the game launch window watching the installation percentage tick up one percent every second. This was the first time in a long time he felt the hype to play a new game. Maybe I'm biased, Shane mused over that thought for a moment. Yup, I'm definitely biased; he smiled at that unsurprising realization. It was a profound feeling, like a deluge of raw emotion encapsulating his hope and insecurity.

Installation was almost done, and he wanted to be there right from the beginning. With only a few minutes to spare, he grabbed some barbeque pork rinds, arguably his favorite snack, and sat down.

This was it. This was the moment the nearly past half-decade had led up to. Shane knew it wouldn't be a flawless launch, as that kind of expectation was just silly. In fact, he couldn't recall the last time a major online game launched without server errors or severe bugs in the code. Regardless, he was confident in the team's ability to have a launch that was at least respectable for today's modern gamer's expectations.

Shane moused over the start button, grabbed a handful of pork rinds, and clicked it as he sated himself on the tangy and puffy chips. The intro video cutscene to Endless Veil started playing—all done in-engine with startling clarity—and he was immediately absorbed. So much so that it took him a few seconds to realize he was physically choking.

The realization sent a wave of fear and adrenaline through his body, causing him to sit up and lean forward immediately. Eyes bulging, Shane tried dislodging the offending pork rind from his airway with a violent effort. When unsuccessful, he reached to his right to grab the diet cola he had gotten from the fridge. When his hand grabbed at nothing but air, there was a stark and chilling realization it was still in the refrigerator.

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No problem! It'll only take me a second to get, Shane thought as panic rose within his chest, and he stood up in a hurry. As he launched himself out of his chair, the snack in his airway found a way to sink further toward his lungs. To say he bent over forward violently was an understatement.

This involuntary action caused Shane to slam his head on the edge of his desk, flooding his eyes with tears and making his legs fold on themselves. He couldn't stand any longer and clumsily flopped back into his chair, the drink he needed still two rooms away.

The light from the screen showing Endless Veil's main menu lit the back of his head as he sat there hunched over, gagging, choking, and clawing his throat with one hand. A chilling dread crept in as time slowly passed, and breathing was still impossible. Shane very briefly looked up towards his monitor, where the game he spent years helping to make was waiting for him.

The view of his monitor began to grow dark around the edges of his vision. This can't be happening! His mind screamed. He wanted to shout a string of expletives and tried, but no air passed his lips.

Shane pounded on his chest with intense rhythmic hits in a last-ditch attempt to dislodge the offending snack. Nothing came loose, and his dread turned into utter despair. Wanting to think of anything else, memories of his life flashed before his eyes. He saw his early childhood as a single child full of love, family, and wonder. Then his schoolboy years when his parents fought, leaving him feeling broken and alone. High school came next, and his family was further fragmented by a messy divorce. A time punctuated by uncertainty with weekly visits to his regularly drunken father. What helped him through those moments was his learning and study of artificial intelligence.

Then there were flashes of his time in college, a place of freedom and change. He wasn't tied down by a dysfunctional familial relationship in this new environment and could pursue knowledge more freely. Shane was alone now, but in a way that left him unfettered. Free and away from the pretending that came with being around his toxic family. He learned, pursued passions, and worked hard to pay for what the scholarships couldn't—but that loneliness prevailed.

My introverted ways really did keep me from healthy relationships, didn't it....he thought almost calmly. The fear and despair were fading. There wasn't any pain, either. All that remained was a vague sense that his consciousness wouldn't last much longer.

Almost as if to confirm this, the long, dark tunnel of his computer screen grew to over a mile away. His once panicked and racing thoughts slowed to a crawl—muddled and calmer.

Wow, I'm actually dying, he mused as the vision of his room faded to a gray-black.

Shane sluggishly felt his body fall forward off his used but still comfortable reclining chair. He anticipated a thud from where his body would eventually be splayed out underneath his desk, but the impact never came. He felt himself falling much farther than what should have been just a half-second tumble to the floor.

His mind began to clear and rearrange. The simple memories he had started to struggle to grasp were now effortlessly recallable. Another new sensation caught his attention; it felt like he was falling through endless space. Shane's heart rate double-timed when he began to sense the speed of his fall was increasing.

There wasn't any wind resistance, yet something was clearly pulling him. Shane had always been sensitive to g-forces on his body. It was the main reason he would get sick and dizzy after wanting to ride rollercoasters. A feeling of panic flared within him when he couldn't open his eyes or move his limbs.

Calm down, man. Your arms and legs are definitely still there, and so is the rest of you, he thought. He tried to rationalize what was happening.

Maybe my brain is processing its last sensations the same way it makes my dreams feel faster? No, that can't be it. My last few seconds of life wouldn't surely take THIS long, he reasoned as it felt like several minutes had passed.

I don't want to die, but maybe that's not what's happening here? He shuddered, feeling lost. Unless I'm falling toward hell. Shane had been raised Christian but remembered what it felt like for his faith to diminish at the same rate as he physically grew and dismissed the idea.

Okay, that's it, when I stop falling, I'm going to give whatever's pulling me through whatever this is a piece of my m—, he couldn't get the thought out before he realized the falling had stopped.

Not only had the falling stopped, but his physical orientation had changed too. Even with his eyes closed, Shane could tell he was lying on his back...on something soft. It was comfortable too, and warm. Shane inexplicably had to fight a slight urge to fall asleep.

Slowly, he opened his eyes to find himself tucked into a small bed nestled in the corner of a cozy but familiar room. "What the hell?!" he croaked, his voice feeling strained.

Wide-eyed, Shane sat up and looked at his trembling hands, unbelieving. I had just died, right? It felt like leaving the freaking mortal coil, for god sake! He lowered his hands and felt the simple wooden bed's soft, white cloth sheets while noticing the walls were made of lumber with the logs interlaced at the corner of each wall. It was a reasonably simple dwelling construction-wise.

"Okay, the familiarity of this room is concerning," he said, trying to focus.

The small log cabin was relatively well-lit, with a contemporary window showering the room with warm daylight, the rays cutting through the dusty interior. There was a small, roaring fireplace opposite the window and a plain wooden door on the adjacent wall. One thing immediately caught Shane's attention above all else, a rusty iron sword with a brass hilt and pommel hanging above the fireplace. A sword he instinctually knew wasn't usable and only for decoration. Why do I know this? And then it hit him.

Shane's face went pale as his stomach twisted, his wide eyes studying the object with profound disbelief.

"Holy shit, this is where a new character spawns in—"

A light-blue semi-opaque screen materialized in front of his vision, interrupting him. He read the four glowing words in the middle of the screen.

-Welcome To Endless Veil, Shane Carther-

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