Chapter 10: Chapter 9

Alexander found himself in the infinite white expanse of nothingness that was his home. He felt much more relaxed after spending time with friends, but he couldn't escape the weird feeling that he had changed. He didn't feel like himself anymore, but the worst part was that it didn't bother him. 

The first order of business, he decided, was to decorate his home. He called out in his mind for an administrator, and within seconds one appeared.

Hello Alexander.

"Hey. I was hoping to get some decorations going for this place."

Of course. I can help with that, but you can only buy basic decorations from me. Special decorations can only be found in the overlayer or at any administrator terminal. 

"That's fine. As long as this place isn't blindingly white anymore."

The next two hours were spent decorating. Alexander decided he wanted a stone room lit by oil-soaked torches. He had a massive bed made out of red silk and a desk made out of mahogany. It costed him almost all of his credits, leaving him at only 100 to spend. But it was worth it. 

After that, Alexander decided it was finally time to enter the game. The real game. He felt refreshed and ready to see what the world had to offer. 

Since this is your first time entering the universe, you are welcome to select a specific destination to arrive at. It can be anywhere except for places that require permissions to enter. If you decide not to choose, a random, yet hospitable, place will be chosen for you. 

"Chicago– always wanted to see the Wil- Sears tower." Alexander said with a smirk. A map suddenly displayed Earth. It zoomed in on Chicago, and it was marked in blue with almost all of what was once Illinois highlighted as well. 

What you call Chicago is currently under control of the United North American Alliance, or UNAA. You are free to enter, but keep in mind that this zone has laws you must abide by, lest you suffer corrective action from the UNAA. Is this where you want to go?

"Yeah. Better meet this UNAA." 

Unlike so many other games, and unlike all of Alexander's possible expectations, there was no theatrics. There was a countdown of three seconds, and then suddenly he was right next to what was once the Sears tower. 

The moment was startling, and it took him a few seconds to recover. All around him were people, but it looked nothing like the cities he once visited. For starters, no one paid any mind that some random guy clad only in a kilt instantly appeared in front of them. In fact, he was almost plain compared to everyone else. 

Vibrant and popping colors flooded his vision as he gazed at the crowds of people, their names hovering above their heads. There were Romans being driven in chariots, people with enough hair to be called Sasquatch, people who cosplayed as famous characters from media like Rambo or Anakin Skywalker. There were wizards of all types, from Gandalf look-alikes to people who tried to imitate Anorak from Ready Player One. There was an ocean of references, energy weapons, and neon lights.

After taking a considerably long time to adjust, Alexander turned his attention to the tower itself. And yes, it was there and quite large. When the game came out, it started as a perfect 1 to 1 recreation of Earth, even down to the plastic pollution with fully functioning eco-systems. But while Terra fixed the climate crisis in reality, it seemed not to matter here. Terra added many things to this recreation, from impossible animals to juggernauts of power, just waiting to be raided and killed for insane loot. 

As Alexander looked at the tower, he noticed messages scrolling across the pristine glass. He sighed and a lot of his wonder was suddenly displaced– it was an advertisement. In fact, all around him on the famous buildings were advertisements. Apparently, the market didn't die with Terra's reign, it was only moved. And it was stronger than ever. 

Alexander started walking. He could see everyone's usernames, but that was it. He had no idea if his level was high or low for the average around him. One thing was for certain though, he needed to gain more. And to gain more, he needed to learn about the world around him. What was the best strategy? Who had the power here? What should he be doing? 

Alexander noticed a notification and opened his HUD. It was translucent enough that he was able to keep walking. He noticed two things while he did this though. No one else seemed to be able to see his HUD, and most people walking were messing around with their HUDs too. 

Two new tabs appeared. One was labeled "quests" and the other was labeled "internet." He selected the quests tab. It was blank, but it had a message there.

You have no current quests. Explore the world to find more! Quests can be granted to you by players, non-playable characters, administrators, and even Terra herself!

Alexander sighed. He would have to find his own direction. He selected the other new tab. It was a web page with the latest news from Terra and the most popular news sites, along with a search bar and other features almost all other browsers had before Terra took over. 

He wanted to read through all of the newest sites, but he didn't want to get too distracted while walking. He decided to grab some food. He used the search bar to find some local restaurants, and decided to stop by a local pizza joint. It was something new, as was everything in this game. Every copywrite, trademark, and supreme court case was thrown out the window, and it left anyone who had the will to try and do something new. I hope they still make Chicago style pizza; I heard it was the best damn pizza on Earth. 

When Alexander clicked on the directions button, a blue line appeared in his vision that showed a path to the restaurant. The journey would take twenty minutes. 

After some walking, he arrived. A hostess greeted him. 

"Just you today, Alexander?" She asked.

"Yep. Some kind of corner booth would be nice."

"Of course, right this way." She showed him upstairs and to a small corner booth out of the way of everyone else. It wasn't busy. "When you're ready, just use the table to order what you want, and someone will bring it out to you." 

Just like with the real world, while a lot of job were done by machines, there were still many jobs for people to do that no one wanted a robot for. It was a good way to make credits without having to go out and kill something or someone. 

Alexander ordered a beer and some garlic knots while he waited for his pizza, a small pepperoni.  Then, he started looking through the news. 

Fifty credits later and two hours of almost non-stop reading and watching news articles later, Alexander felt dizzy. But at least he sort-of understood the state of affairs. 

When the game was released, there was no single institution that was able to transfer power. No one had power or wealth in the world anymore. So, the only thing to start groups was some sort of allegiance to the old structures of power. The UNAA was no exception. Led by a mysterious upstart named John Walker, it was a conglomerate of what was once American and Canadian citizens. Their banner was a blue flag with a silver star in the middle, and they stood for some of the same principles as the United States of America once did. On their videos, they talked heavily about civil rights, democracy, and the rule of law. They promised elections once their power was secure, and they seemed popular enough. So far, they've capture some of the major cities in the US, including what was once Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, much of Texas, and most of Washington state. Most places kept their original names for the sake of simplicity, but some groups who conquered territories decided to start with new names and new identities. Except for New York. For no reason that Alexander could find, everyone was now calling the city New New York. 

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One of the other major sources of power in American region was the New California Republic. It has the same flag from the popular game Fallout: New Vegas– a doubled headed bear on green grass with a white backdrop, a red stripe at the bottom, and a red star in the top left corner. This group was led by a council of five members who were once pro-gamers, and had decided to conquer California. So far, they had succeeded, with almost all of California under their control. And while they weren't in open war against the UNAA, the two powers did not get along. 

Canada and Mexico were made up of many small UNAA outposts, with many roaming warbands vying for control, although the New California Republic had a presence in Mexico as well. Along with warbands, there were many more official groups trying to gain control in Central and South American. The beliefs and politics of these groups differed wildly, and these regions were considered chaotic. 

Hawaii and Alaska had been turned into cooperate resorts.

Europe was predominately controlled by the New European Union, the NEU. It was made up of countless Europeans who wanted to live peacefully in their homelands and banded together to make that dream happen. Still, there were many others who didn't like the EU staying alive and just being re-labeled, so many warbands and mercenary bands engaged in skirmishes with the NEU. The NEU was led by delegates from many regions, with members who voted on certain actions politically. They were able to grab military personnel and personnel, and the military side of things for the NEU is led by several generals. 

Russia split into many, many different zones based on ethnicities and political histories. And many eastern EU countries decided not to join the NEU and go on their own. While the region is considered chaotic, the regions are currently at a suspenseful stalemate, as each area wants to generally stick to their own. 

Asia too, split into many different groups all vying for independence and control. The largest source of power near China is the HKA, or the Hong Kong Army. They're a present and powerful group that aims to fight against suppression in the Asian theatre. 

Many countries like Vietnam and Korea re-joined and have developed strong borders while they focus on unification. This trend continued into central Asia, with many ethic groups deciding to stay together and avoid foreign influence. 

The middle-east, however, is in a very chaotic time. Many small groups have banded together, all claiming different rights to land and laws they want to enforce. The one thing they mostly have in common, however, is that they don't want foreign influence either. 

And finally Africa. It has become quite peaceful in most regions, with citizens focusing on building up their homeland and figuring out their identity on the new world stage. Still, it is tentative as some groups seek to capture large areas, but no major wars are currently taking place. In fact, a lot of Africans decided to become mercenaries for armed conflicts all across the globe. 

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Alexander blinked a few times. All the plates were emptied and carried away, leaving him with only a full belly and ever-filled glass of soda. He yawned and stretched. So much information... But at least now he had a grip on what the world was like– what the new world was like. He stood up, stretching some more, and walked out of the pizza joint. 

Walking around the town, he let the breeze and sun help clear his mind. This town was a weird mix of familiar and new. While the basic structure of Chicago remained intact, the layers of identity were warped. From street signs being neon projections, building have ads run across buildings, and animals being used for travel along with vehicles of all shapes and sizes, Alexander felt... odd. It was like a combination of a scene from Blade Runner and Lord of the Rings.

The infrastructure, too, was being morphed at a rapid pace. While everything that happened in this world had to be physically possible in reality, the limits of technology were unparalleled now. Drones could preform the work of a thousand men in one hour, and new things were being built all around him.

Alexander was also surprised just how life-like the scene was. In the tutorial, he was either unconscious or solely-focused on the next task, and in his "home" he knew it was just a game. But from the smells of fumes, the dust in the air, the garbled mix of traffic noises, and even the glare of the sun, this was reality more than anything. And to top it off, he felt more alive than ever. 

Going back to the real world hammered home just how "off" life was before. Any imperfection in his body was miraculously fixed. His lungs were full of air, his heart fell strong, and his feet felt sure. This was, truly, the best drug on the market. He started to dig through his memories as best he could and remember what life was like before, but some weird part of his brain just didn't want to think about that. All he wanted was the new and vibrant now. 

Still, there was work to be down. As he walked, he finally opened his friends tab. He accepted the two friend requests he had received from Jessica and Jacob, and sent them both messages of what he had been up to so far, also wishing them luck in their own endeavors. There were no messages from the other members from the tutorial, and he felt a strange calling to message Jade. Still, he decided to hold off on it. Right now, he needed a quest. 

Alexander looked around him and noticed many, many, many advertisements for quests. In fact, he even started seeing notice board filled with a variety of quests, from simple, low level quests to higher end dangerous quests. Yet he figured that the real important ones you could only get by knowing the right people or being in the right circles. He figured for now to focus on administrative quests to get some levels. These were renowned for their unoriginality but usefulness to get your foot in the door. Other quests, like fetching a certain item, even got nicknames like "gopher" quests or "fetch quests." Alexander decided he wanted to get to the Administrative outpost in space. 

Alexander searched on the GPS he was provided through the internet tab to find some kind of "space port." He found out that there were very few actual space ports in the game, and one of the major ones was here in Chicago. The O'Hare airport was totally remolded the second the UNAA took over. It was now a multi-use port, being able to host and send all types of air and space vessels, both run by magic and mechanical means. Still, ships in the game were extremely new, and most were re-purposed military and civilian craft.

Alexander stopped in his tracks, however, when he looked at the fees. Five hundred credits just to get up there?!? And over two thousand to get to Mars? Alexander started to look for alternatives. He found out that teleportation was a thing, and found a teleportation terminal not far from him. But what he saw was even worse. Five thousand just to go to fucking administrative post? Alexander looked through the net. While teleportation was the single most efficient and effective way to get around, it was by far the most costly way to do so. Alexander felt defeated. And them he remembered that there were Administrative terminals practically everywhere in any zone that was under control. 

He slightly shamefully walked over to the nearest one and looked it over. It did indeed have numerous quests, but it also hosted an open market. He looked in his inventory and found three items. His kilt, his necklace name Prizes that apparently couldn't be sold, and The Death Knight's Hand. He hovered over the item and looked at it's description. 

The Death Knights Hand: Rank S– You slew the Death Knight and captured the thing's hand! The magical flesh has the strange characteristic of never decomposing, and the inherent magic within makes this a superb biological implant! By replacing your hand with this, you are able to use Necromancy without even being a class capable of doing so (restrictions apply to certain classes.) You also gain a stat bonus to strength, being able to wield massive weaponry, and gain a slight proficiency in use. Finally, each melee attack while using this hand slightly heals you and has the small chance to inflict necrosis on your enemy! 

Alexander raised an eyebrow. Seems overpowered, but I don't wanna use. I don't like the idea of necromancy. It really isn't my style.  Alexander tried to see what would happen if he put it in his implant slot. Two warnings popped up. 

You need to see someone who is able to implant this on you!

Due to you class of *Demon* you are incapable of using any type of magic other than your class'.

Alexander shrugged. "Thought so," he muttered as he searched up the item on the open market. Surprisingly enough, the item was rare on the market. He looked at the open listings and the history of the item, only a few hundred had ever been sold. The current prices definitely caught his eye. The highest set price was several thousand credits. Still, he didn't want to just sell it either, so he decided to just hold onto it for now. 

He looked at quests next. Each quest had its own rating, similar to the rating system of items. He guessed the same rules applied. Each rating came with its own level range, he found out, after looking it up on the internet. They went as follows: 

F: 1-25
D: 25-100
C: 100-200
B: 200-500
A: 500-1000
S: 1000+
SS: 10000+
SSS: 100000+

Alexander was really only in the "D" tier, which he was fine with. He was shocked with some of the level requirements, remembering that some of the highest levels right now were only a few hundred. But he figured most quests beyond "C" weren't meant to be done in groups. For shits and giggles, he looked to see any quests beyond "A." Looking through the internet, and any history he could find on the administrative terminal, he found out that only a few S quests have ever been found. And from what he could gather, only one had ever been successfully completed. That quest, one to kill a dragon in Yellowstone Nation Park, was apparently how the UNAA gained so much power and fame. 

Looking through the terminal, he noticed that there were never any quests above C rank. And after grazing through some open message boards, there only rarely soma at the rank of B. He decided to look through some D rank quests through the administrators. They all looked unappetizing and with few rewards. Still, he kept looking, and eventually found one that caught his eye. 

Gather three goudeleaves: Rank D– Gather three of the infamous goudeleaves. They are hidden in forests and native to the forests near Lake Michigan. These leaves  are buried deep within caves, and are farmed by the indigenous arachnoid-culven, a species of massive spiders that use the plant for raising its young. A fully formed goudeleaf can only be found deep within a mother's web. Good luck! 

Alexander didn't mind spiders, and it had a high level reward at five levels, so he picked it. Once he selected it, a notification appeared in his quests tab. He selected it and now found the quest there and off the terminal where he found it. A map also appeared in the quests tab, marking a location. But unlike the convenient directions and visible blue lines he enjoyed so much before, there was no bearing for him to follow. He would have to plot out a course to these strange, new plants. 

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