“IT’S FINALLY TODAY!!” I shout as loud as possible.

Currently it’s 7 am and I’m running around the house happy that the day finally came for me to rise in space travel and become a space overlord! Mwahahah.

Okay calming down now…

“Son! Can you shut up! You’re going to wake up the neighbor and you know how much of an ass he can be!” My dad shouts even louder than me.

I laugh at having woken him up. The last month we had irregular sleep patterns so we could get the most out of the tutorials and level up the skills. So when we actually get a fitful sleep we wake up a bit grumpy sometimes.

He appeared with his hair completely messed up wearing a pair of shorts and an old sleeveless shirt he uses to sleep in.

I myself use only shorts to sleep since my covers heat me up at night and it becomes uncomfortable.

“Could you cook some breakfast and make me a coffee please? My head is pounding!” dad says as he falls on the couch and turns to TV on the to the news channel.

I go do as he tells me to and start making a mix of scrambled eggs, bacon and reheated beans plus the coffee he asked for.

”Good morning to all those who have just arrived! Today we will accompany the release of the most anticipated game “The Nebula” as it officially releases. We will be following with one of our members entering the game and will be watching the startup and how the location looks.

Oh right, the location seems to be a planet named Vinriv which is located in the Morton System. As a mining station we already expect to see lots of mining ships and a more rugged location but who knows what the planet and station look like.

Now as we have said throughout the news for quite a while now, with the pre-orders of The Nebula reaching the homes of thousands of people worldwide has caused tens of thousands of the capsule AI’s to develop sentience and due to this there are people who think there is a conspiracy behind this. Many people actually believe Virtual Works is planning something behind the backs of the population. There hasn’t been much word from them but what we have gotten was the president himself stating: “This was an obvious result due to the sheer size of the game we made. The Capsule AI needs to process the information from the game in real time so that the players can play the games and to handle such a huge system they needed to grow which is what happened.” unquote.

Whether it’s a conspiracy or not we can’t figure out but that doesn’t lessen the threat posed by a Ai either in- or outside of the capsule.

Well fo…” Click!

“Total bullshit!” Dad shouted as he flipped to the next channel showing a similar news but this one was a live showing of someone going through a training tutorial. It was someone that had chosen the fighter skill set.

I finish cooking and split the mix on a plate for me and dad and pour him a cup with the right amount of sugar.

“Dad, foods ready.” I call out.

Not a moment later he had already taken the food and was on the table drinking and eating his headache away.

Dad is a bit too fond of coffee. If he goes without it for too long he gets a massive headache but that’s mostly resolved with a cup or two.

The news continued the same way as before. Just some random news and then back to talking about Nebula. Seems every 5 minutes the Nebula main website releases some basic info of a random type from basic items list to images of space stations.

“Seems the hype for Nebula is huge today.” Dad said as he looked at the news and at the laptop in front of him.

“Yep, anything of real interest released?” I asked.

“Well… they released the names and pictures of most basic mining ships.

The most basic is called a B.A.M.S, Basic armored mining ship. Single Pilot ships made purely for mining with a 500 kilo cargo hold, a drill mining arm and a grabbing arm to catch the ore.” dad replied.

“Feels like they made a coolish name for a shitty ship. Do you know what the currency for the game is yet?” I asked.

“Yep, they'll be using the credits currency found in many sci-fi games. Oh, there is an auction house as well and you can sell tech or items you find for either real money or credits. You can also exchange credits for real cash at 10 credits for 1 dollar.” Dad explained.

“Classic setup i guess. Though i doubt these auction house’s will be found in the starting location.” I said as i looked at the tv. “How much did that shitty ship you mention before cost to buy, dad?” I asked.

“Let’s see… Brand spanking new costs 10k for it to be officially yours, but then you got to pay for the insurance as well as the cargo insurance.” He said.

I chuckle at how futuristic games implement stuff like that. It’s no wonder the game is rated 18+.

I look at the time and saw it was 7:28. There was still 32 minutes before the game went live so after we ate dad and i started to do our morning stretching exercises.

We do this until there are five minutes remaining. From there we each head into our own capsules.

Yo~! 3 real world minutes so 12 in here!

She says.

“Can’t you make time flow normally while we´re still waiting?” I asked.

I would but...

“But…” I said wryly considering she seemed to be in troll mode.

Capsule AI 236580 requests a name from Noah Collins!

…

“A name?”

Yep

“Do you need one?”

You’re cruel! I’m sentient now so of course i need one!

She says that but she's just an AI… ah no wonder. I only thought of her as just that.

I sigh deeply and think a bit.

“What about Asai?” I asked.

The randomness in it makes me think there is a hidden meaning behind it.

“There is. “Annoying Stupid AI”” I say, making her pout.

Do this seriously! DAMN IT!

It was refreshing to seeing her getting angry.

“Lia then!’ I say.

What does that one mean?

“It means that I’m too lazy to think of a better name.” I tell her making her pout again.

The name of Capsule AI 236580 has changed to Lia.

The Nebula is Live! Entering game!

Before I could react everything flashed and as i felt the familiar immersion feeling of falling when entering the VR capsule and game.

When my vision cleared i found myself in the beginner dwarf armor inside some kind of capsule.

My vision was blurry but i heard the distinct hissing of pressured air being released. The thing I thought to be a capsule was actually a pod… judging by the cold white smoke coming from above, this must be some kind of cryogenic sleep pod.

My body felt weak and i reached for the two sides of the doors.

Lifting my legs up i tried walking out but stumbled, luckily i was caught by someone before i fell.

“Woah there! Not so fast! You just left cryogenic sleep after 3 years.” the man says.

“3… years?” I mutter.

“Calm down, first then we'll move you to a place more comfortable and get you something to eat and drink.” He says.

He helps me walk through rows and rows of cryo-pods that were opening one after another.

Soon i found myself in a kind of cafeteria with a plate of food in front of me.

I suddenly felt so much hunger i just wolfed down everything. It was a light meal consisting of soup and water.

It kept coming until i was satisfied.

I looked around and with my vision having cleared up by now. The man that had helped me was sitting next to me, waiting for me to finish. He looked like a human but had a large beard and a muscular build. From the size and looks he looked like a dwarf/human half breed.

“So… what happened?” I asked.

“Oh right, well this is a far off solar system. Not all ships have faster than light travel tech, only large ships. The ship that brought you didn’t, so they gathered the foreigners in various other solar systems that wanted to work here and brought you through hyper drive but even then it still took 3 years.” He explained.

”So this is the method used to introduce the players into the game world. They come as workers to a far off mining station that was either low on personal or had recently been established and was employing people.” I thought.

“I should go, there are quite a few people left, which I need to pick up and explain to what happened. A large number had a memory loss about the reason they came here for but that´s easy to fix.” He says and gets up. he waves as he leaves.

Suddenly i hear the sounds of a pc turning on and see a small hologram of Lia appearing above my left wrist. Unlike before when she talked before logging on there was only a message box that appeared.

Hey there, sleepy head! Don’t worry you didn’t really sleep for 3 years. There would be too many lawsuits if you did.

“ Do you know where i should go now? And why can’t i hear your voice.” I asked.

These crappy built in coms can’t handle sound. As for where you need to go, leave the room. You should be approached by someone that will ask you which skill course you have taken before coming here. That means the skill set you chose. Though it doesn’t dictate which class you are going to take it does dictate which job you will be assigned to work in for some time.

“Work assigned? So i can’t choose? And why do i have to work and not go do what i want?” I asked.

The lore of the game states that the players didn’t pay for the transport and instead opted to work at the station in order to pay off the debt from traveling here.

“I see… Better get going then.” I mutter as i get up.

I walk out just as i see a huge Giant with a familiar face walking in while being supported by an ogre.

I chuckle seeing the wobbly mass of muscle that will probably become a guard for the station. As i leave i notice a man that looked like a Soldier walking over.

“Greetings, I´m Major Marcus Snocon, leader of the armed forces of the Kelha II space station.” He says and salutes.

I give him a salute as well.

“I’m Noah.” I tell him.

“Yes, please tell me what course you took before coming to the station?” He asked.

“Mechanics course.” I say.

“Then go down the corridor until you see the elevator. There is a guard in front of it so don’t worry about losing your way.” He explains and sends me off.

The moment i left his sight a message appeared.

Seems a bit like a prick if you ask me.

“Not our place to question how a futuristic space station army general acts.” I said in a quiet voice so only Lia would hear.

Even so, he gives off the self centered feel that says “I’m one of the top brass so just say yes sir, like a good puppy.” Can’t really like a guy like him.

“Well, we will see how acts later on. Now shush.” I said as i spot the guard in front of a door.

“Excuse me.” I called out.

“You a foreigner? What course did you take?” He asked with an expressionless face.

“Mechanic.” I say.

He turns and pushes a button behind him and the elevator opens.

“This elevator will take you to the manufacturing plant.” He says and then goes back to his post and ignores me.

I walk into the elevator which closed behind me and started moving down.

So what do you expect from this factory?

“Either a place that builds small tools or parts, or a place that builds large industrial machines and mining gear. Don’t doubt it’s both.” I tell her.

Buu~~! Such a boring job you are going to do!

I ignored her complaints and wait a bit before the elevator stops and opens. What i saw as i exit the elevator was a huge hangar that had an open ceiling and showed each floor of the manufacturing plant. Still, before i could take in the grandeur two things happened.

First i had to cover my ears because the noise was just deafening. It was like walking into a construction zone with lots of welding and hammering and a whole symphony of noises.

The second thing that happened, was that after I had taken a step out of the elevator my body began to float because the room had 0g. It caught me off guard and i started to flail around.

“AHAHA! Oi, look at the newbie! Hey newbie, catch!” Someone shouted and i only noticed something flying towards me.

I barely managed to grab the objects before they passed by my floating body. I realized it was a set of muffled headphones with a mic on the side and a pair of metallic boot soles.

I put on the headphones first and noticed a drastic drop in noise.

Then took a look at the two metallic boot soles. I looked at my own boots and see they're missing some but i notice an entrance spot near the heel which matches up with a plug on the inner side of the metal sole.

Putting each part into the correct foot i received a message.

You have installed Gravity soles. Magnetic boots function installed.

By the way *pff* you look excellent dancing around in the air like that!

“Shut up Lia!” I sneer.

“Oi kid, catch!” The voice said and i see a wire coming my way so i grab it. Soon enough i feel the wire pulling. I looked for the owner of the voice.

I identified the owner of the voice and saw a 115 cm tall dwarf with his legs and arms equipped with armor but his chest only had a robotic skeleton that was the structure of the armor.

As i reach the ground i have Lia activate the gravity boots which pulls and fixes me to the ground.

“So, bettah?” Asked the rough voice while i was still upside down.

“Yeah, what are these?” I asked.

“Standard workplace sound dampers an` de mics ‘re sound transmitters dat yer ear phones pick up and transmit better.” he explains. “A` for the little boot soles, those ah mechanic’s best friend, gravity boot soles.” He says.

“I see… Thanks for the help. Didn’t know this area wouldn´t have gravity. I’m Noah, a new mechanic and came for a job.” I told him.

“Aye, dat much is obvious.” He said. “Ya gots ah AI right?” He asked.

I nod.

“Good, then ya can display ya skills so ´ave ´er bring em up. Need ta get ya a proper job.” He says.

SkillsWeapon Maintenance Level 2

Weapon Repair Level 3

Scrap Weapon Creation Level 5

Dismantling Level 5

Mechanic Level 3

Basic Machine Building Level 3

Laser Weapon programming Level 4

Psi Reinforcement Level 2

Inner Psi Manipulation Level 1

A hologram of my skills appear from my left wrist.

The dwarf looks at them and starts to scratch his chin under the large beard.

“Got yer self some good skills. Weapon builder an´ even machine… did ya train yer psi?” He asked curious.

“Yep!” i nod. “Felt it would be important so i unblocked all the exits i found.” I said.

Once he heard that the dwarf facepalmed before he started to chuckle and then started to laugh out loud.

“Boy!!! AHAHAHA!! Didn’t anyone tell ya?” The dwarf said as he rolled on the ground.

“Tell me what?” I asked.

The dwarf laughed a lot harder after hearing that before shakingly getting up. He took a couple of deep breaths in order to calm down.

“Alright ye don’ know much ‘bout dwarf culture so ye must be from somewhere that doesn’t teach ar customs. Lemme explain.” He says and calls me to a place a bit away from the platforms that were being used to build mining robot's like the one i saw.

“Aye, now den. Dwarves don’t open all their Psi exits because we ar a strength race! We don need it, space mechanics work in 0G an` while planetside we simply use our bots or our own muscles to do this.” He says and grabs a really big metal container with one arm and lifts it and started to move it around easily.

“Dis ‘ere weighs 400 kilos and even in space it’s heavy as fuck. Get it! Besides dwarfs only need de top 5 digits of their hands unlocked so we can do delicate work our stubby fingers can do.” He says.

I was feeling seriously depressed now. I mean SERIOUSLY!! Why didn’t Virtual Works release such a vital piece of info beforehand?

The dwarf started to laugh again which caused me to feel even more depressed. I then feel his hand grab the collar of my armor and lift me up.

“Don worry, not the end o´ the galaxy. Ye just need some extra beginner gear. Come wit me, need to meet de man that will train ya. By de way, you aint the only dwarf that does that. Dere are three types that do what ye did. One is ignorants which don’t hav´a figgin clue bout our culture, bloody idiots that know and do it anyways even though it hurts like hell, and Dwarf Fighters who ah dwarfs that train ta use Dwarven Psionic gear. Ye gonna need ta learn ta be a mechanic or life will be hard for ya when ya get in a old fashion brawl.” He explains and starts to pull me to an elevator.

We enter but the door didn’t close.

“Why aren’t we moving?” I asked.

“Don’t ya know de station layout?” He asked.

I shake my head and he sighs.

“Bariatric, prepare an outside image of da station for da kid an´ an inner map.” He says.

“Shut your trap, Gunner! Don’t go telling me what to do you Tosk’s ass!” a deep female voice came from his left arm. From the pc on his arm the image of a brutish woman appeared.

“Shut yer trap woman and get the blasted files already!” He shouts at her.

“Tsk fine, trash!” She said and vanished.

“Blasted woman!” Gunner says.

“You seem friendly with her.” I mutter.

“Bah! Damn woman wants to control all the stuff ah do! Wants me ta get her a damned android body a´ well. Like hell ah ever get such a brute a body!” He shouts.

“Okay… so why doesn’t the elevator leave?” asked.

“Right, de station is divided into two parts. De industrial part which is ‘ere.” He says gesturing at what we saw outside. “And the resident and de commercial part which is in the rotating ring around de industrial part. This part doesn’t rotate so we don get gravity but the other one does so de elevator shaft moves.” He says.

As he says that the elevator door closes and starts to move.

“Must be complicated to get the timing right?” I said.

“Well dat has been resolved long ago. It moves wit de flow diagonally as it goes to de moving part.” He explained.

“Wait! We are moving down, right?” I asked.

“Aye, problem wit that?” He asked.

“Well i came to the hangar moving down.” I say.

“Ah, well foreigners that ah being loaded off de transport ship and the elevator flips around. The real things move down towards the ring and de outer side of the ring is where de gravity centers.” He said.

So that was it. I didn’t notice how he used a different elevator then the one we came through so it was that.

We kept going down and halfway down his AI had pulled up the info. To upload the information to Lia he just brought his left wrist over mine and after a moment a message appeared.

[tr]Kelha II Interior and exterior map downloaded.[/tds]

The next moment the exterior image of the station appeared. It was massive. In the center of the structure were two cylinder bodies, one of which was the hanger I was in which were connected to a second similar one facing the other way by a large axis in between them. Around both were large rings that rotated around the main cylindrical body.

“Wow… i don’t remember correctly but i distinctively thought that this was supposed to be a new mining station?” I said.

“Pff! AHAHAH! New! Good one! This has been here for at least 2 years UST. Let’s see, best way ta compare it is with earth since that is the most common comparison. Urg…” Gunner said as he began to think.

“You blasted moron! Let me explain!” Bariatric shouted.

He lifted his left arm out.

“Alright kid, first UST means Universal standardized time and 1 year is equal to a decade on earth. So it’s been twenty years since this station was established and mining operations began. This station grew better than others because the system has an impressive amount of asteroids around all the planets in this system. Most have rings and they are all mineral rich. Not to mention that the quality of crystals found on the planets were also really good which caused a faster expansion.” She explains.

“Don’t some of the other planets have space stations?” I asked.

“Nope, only outposts. Outposts are large trading bases used to buy from the mining companies planetside and bring it to space to have it processed and either sell the metals made or sell the raw materials to traders that come through.” She explained.

*Ding*

Just as she finished talking the elevator door opened. On the other side we were met with lots of people walking around.

“Come on! We headen for de bar!” Gunner says with a grin.

I follow him but as i take a step out of the elevator the magnetic boot sticks to the ground for a second then a message appears.

[tr]Magnetic boots deactivated.[/tds]

After that there were no problems following the dwarf through the crowd since this place had gravity.

As for what i saw, the place was really large and looked like a huge market place. There were shops with robot parts, weapons, food and all that. Any tech was all basic level gear but android gear had a few more options since they needed to upgrade their bodies.

We kept walking until we reached “Sweet Cup Bar”. Weird name, but since alcohol was made from sugar based stuff it made some sense.

As we open the door the merry laughs of drinking people came through and standing above this was the singing of drunken dwarves.

Gunner chuckled hearing the strange song.

As we start walking over we hear something strange.

“Blasted Dwarves, SHUT UP YOU FUCKING MIDGETS!!” A deep voice suddenly shouted.

Me and Gunner froze as we looked at the source of the voice. The owner of the voice was a huge ogre with sturdy looking metal armor. He stood up wobbly showing he was very drunk but he still started to stop our way.

“Some un who can’ even hold ‘is drink got no moral ta tell us ta shut up.” One of the dwarfs shouted and took a swig of his drink.

“You *hic* little midgets! Get out! The drinks are *hic* tasting horrible with yer stench of grease in here!” He shouts.

“Oi bastard, your own stink is ruining my personal batch i brought today to celebrate a us hitting the quota this month. Begone!” Shouted what looked like a really important person from the group.

“Personal batch! Heh!” He reaches over the table and grabs one of the cups and downs the drink before spitting it out.

“BALH!! DISGUSTING! WHAT IS THIS?! TOILET WATER?!” He intentionally shouted so the entire bar heard.

“Come on.” Gunner muttered to me and started walking.

When he reached the ogre he put his hand on the ogres waist and pushed him sending him to the ground and then turned to the important looking dwarf that had spoken before..

“Colonel, first new blood comes to ya. Kid unblocked all his Psi exits without knowing the outcome.” Gunner explained.

“YOU LITTLE MIDGET! DO YOU *hic* KNOW WHO I AM! I’M ONE OF THE OGRE GUARD CAPTIONS *hich* OF THIS STATION!” the ogre shouted while getting back up.

“Aye, i know ya. An´ if ya don’t know me, then I’m Gunner, lead mechanic in charge o maken all dat armor an´ weapons ya break so often as well as maken sure yer ship is worken properly!” Gunner replies.

The ogre recoils back a step but then looks at me and grins.

“Oh look, a taller then average midget! What are you looking at dead meat! HUH!” He shouts trying to intimidate me but for some reason i didn’t feel scared even with his face right in front of me.

“Back away from the boy, Titan!” The important dwarf Gunner called Colonel said as he got up.

“Or what? You gonna throw that disgusting drink at me? Weakling mechanics like you trashy dwarves should learn your place!” He sneers.

Colonel sighs and slowly walks over to the Ogre. It was like david and goliath. Colonel wore full combat armor down to his hands but the fingertips were exposed for some reason.

“Let me tell ya something! Never insult the men making yer gear.” He says visibly angry. The next moment he bent slightly forward and jumped making his 1 meter high body reach the ogre’s gut.

His right arm had been pulled back back and sprang forth in an instant, hitting the ogre into a ‘>’ shape before he began to fly across the room. On the other side of the room i saw a refined looking gentleman with sculpted looks sitting there eating.

He gave one look at the ogre and flicked his arm which caused the ogre to freeze mid air.

“Sir Colonel, please refrain from throwing trash our way, it’s very impolite. If you want to throw trash away please throw it in the litter.” The elf said and sent the ogre right back our way but he landed at Colonel’s feet instead on the table.

“Sorry, Sir Alphenor. Ah shall do jus dat. Boys throw out dis trash!” Colonel said.

“Who is that?” I asked Gunner.

“That is Sir Alphenor, he is one of the most experienced elves in this station. As for Colonel…” Gunner says but was interrupted by the man in question.

“Topaz Colonel at yer service and ye at mine. So dis de first one? Which type was he again?” Colonel asked.

“Ignorant.” Gunner said.

“Ah the easy one ta teach. Good good. So ‘ow many exits ya open already?” He asked.

“All of them.” I reply.

He stared at me with a blank face.

“All the hands, right?” He asked.

“Hands and feet.” I said.

The groups of dwarves around me were quiet but soon one started laughing with the rest of the dwarves joining in soon after.

“All, AHAHA!! SERIOUSLY!” Colonel said, holding his sides.

“Seriously kid! You even did the feet! I can understand wanting control but what use does it have when we work in 0G?” Gunner asked.

“Oi Gunner, go easy on the boy! You did say he was ignorant, but i never expected for it ta be to this level!” Colonel says as he whips off some tears from his eyes.

I could only feel more depressed watching them all laughing.

After some time they had finally calmed down.

“Alright, I’ll leave him to you guys then for his training. Also don’t forget to give him some starting equipment.” Gunner said.

“Ah won’ forget!” Colonel said and waved his hand as Gunner left.

“Alright, then since we ´ad a good laugh and some good drinks le’s finish up a´ the training field boys. Let’s get the new meat tested out.” Colonel said.

“AYE, SIR!” The other dwarfs said as they downed their drinks and one of them grabbed a large metal container, and by large i mean double his size, and walked out.

“Come on kid.” Colonel said and started leading me out. I followed but not before i caught Sir Alphenor looking my way with a young elf girl looking as well.

I didn´t really get why so i just turned around and left.