15 years prior to EndGame Online’s release.

Within a basement research laboratory underneath an ancient manor.

“HAHA! I’ve done it!” A man with stringy white hair atop a wrinkled head yelled out in excitement. “My research has finally paid off! It has only taken me 16 years, but it was worth it! This technology will shape the future!” The man’s eyes shined vibrantly with a youthful fortitude, which sharply contrasted with his mad scientist appearance.

Spread through his lab were various tools and instruments; however, the lab’s main feature lied within the monstrosity of a machine in the centre. It’s height reached the ceiling and it was surrounded by countless cords and wires. In it’s centre was a black leather armchair with metal clamps meant to restrain one’s legs and arms in place. Above the chair rested a massive helmet suspended from the machine, and embedded on this helmet were electrodes from which multi-coloured wires escape. If one did not know better, they would mistake this for an execution chair.

In the corner of this room, a young man lifted his head. This man had straggly dark black hair, his skin was pasty white, and he looked to be extremely malnourished.

“Professor, You’ve had a breakthrough?” The young man inquired with a respectful tone; however, the professor he was referring to was only a self-proclaimed professor.

“Not just a breakthrough! I have solved the equations that separate our conscious soul from the virtual world!” The old man’s voice was full of pride as he made a triumphant pose.

“What?!” The young man’s jaw reached the floor as he stared in disbelief at the old man. These two did not have a formal relationship with each other. Rather, the young man had broken into the professor’s manor on a coercive dare by the neighbourhood thugs.

Various devices and inventions had lain scattered throughout the manor, which caught the interest of the young man. The professor at this point had been observing the young man as he explored the inventions, and before the young man could make off with an invention, the professor blocked his way.

Due to his interest in technology, the professor took the young man in under his wing. The young man didn’t hesitate and grabbed the opportunity. Thus, their relationship was formed.

“Come here! Quickly! Quickly!” The professor motioned with his hands for the young man to come closer. “I have just imprinted the final coding with my equations into this Oracle Cube.” He held a black cube the size of his palm in front of him. The hardware was created only one year ago, but now it sat complete.

This was another one of the professor’s inventions. The young man had no idea how it worked and the only plans available were within the head of the old professor. He couldn’t replicate it even if he wanted. The device it went into, on the other hand, was much simpler to understand and could easily be detached from the main unit. But, none of it worked without this black cube.

“Previously, I had only been able to insert my consciousness temporarily into the virtual network before my brain would be overloaded. But with this, I can transfer it for an indefinite amount of time into the system.” An almost fanatical light reached his eyes. “Do you know what this means for society? No longer will we be constrained by our physical bodies.”

“Mmm. I bet you could make a pretty sweet game out of this technology.”

“A game? You would use this revolutionary technology for a game?!” The professor began to get agitated at the mention of it, but he soon calmed down. “Hmm... Now that’s a thought! Kids these days are growing up with their eyes glued to screens, so maybe a virtual reality game would be possible. What are those fantasy games called? The one’s with all the quests and what not.”

“You mean MMORPG’s?”

“That’s the one! An MMORPG, no, that’s not it.” He paused, “A VRMMORPG!”

Little did he know that this conversation irreversibly altered the path of the young man. A flash of greed flickered in the young man’s eyes.

“Okay, but, how does it work? I mean, how do you transfer one’s consciousness into a computer?”

“Are you aware of the composition of our consciousness?”

“No...”

“Do you know what your brain is made up of?”

“Neurons?”

“It would benefit you to do some undergraduate work in this area. Anyways, So yes, neutrons make up the majority of our brain. They carry the signals for your brain through synapses in a process called synaptic transmission.

“Now, these pathways go throughout the entire brain, and form a network that essentially makes up their person. The machine is designed to scan a copy of this, which is then uploaded into the Oracle cube and converted into virtual data.

“Now, this is only one way, so to transfer back the data, or the memory, electrical impulses are generated to artificially stimulate the area’s of the brain associated with memory, thought, and emotion, etc. This imprints the memory of the virtual environment into the person’s physical brain.”

“Wait.” The young man interjected, “Wouldn’t it be easier to just have them externally connect rather than going through this convoluted process?”

“That’s not a bad approach, but if it were that way, it wouldn’t be as if you were physically in the game. The minor differences would become very evident and detract from the experience. Also, imagine if you were to scan the user’s brain and use that data externally.

“Once you make any movement or thought, many minute changes have already been made to your neural pathways. This falls under the idea of neural plasticity. So, you would have to be constantly sending signals back and forth and the amount of data that would generate would be utterly astronomical.”

“Oh.” He stared with a puzzled expression on his face.

“Anyways, The amount of storage in the device would be enough to store maybe 100 people’s consciousness, as you can imagine how much data comes from one person alone. Therefore, a larger storage system is necessary.”

“So, what would happen if the cube were to be removed while a person was diving in the virtual world?” The young man inquires in an innocent tone.

“Umm... That... Their body would probably turn into a vegetable.”

“Oh. Is that so.” He paused, as if considering that idea, “How though?”

“Well, when the body is hooked up to the system, your body is essentially in a state of comatose. This is to prevent conflicts between the data transferring process. The coding for this process is contained within the Oracle cube, so external intervention would be unable to bring the user out of this state. Essentially, they would be trapped.”

An awkward silence enveloped the two of them.

“Well,” The professor was the first to break the silence, “Enough of that, let me get the machine set up.”

“Are you going to test it?” The young man questioned.

“Hold on. Come help me.”

“Alright!” In truth, there was not a lot he could do to help. The Oracle cube was inserted by the professor into its designated slot with a perfect fit. All the controls were embedded into the armrests of the black leather chair.

The professor punched a few buttons and the helmet suspended above his head started to descend. It went until his entire face was shrouded by it’s cover.

“Link Start!” His body spasmed suddenly as the machine kicked in.

While he watched, the young man thought aloud: “Maybe there should be some way to cut off the sensory and motor pathways to the body while in the system.”

Once his body settled down and the machinery kicks into full gear, the young man was left alone with only the buzzing of the contraption in the background. Thoughts of the possibilities of this technology were spinning through his mind as a spark ignites within his heart.

Emotionlessly, he gazed upon the Oracle cube embedded within the machinery. Red lights glowed along its surface, pulsating with the rhythm of a heartbeat.

The young man reached out his hand on a moment of impulse and grasped the cube. It felt hard and lifeless within his hands; however, before he could make another move, the machine’s buzzing suddenly became louder.

The young man quickly removed his hand from the cube and placed it behind his back. His heart was racing and his posture was as if he had just been caught stealing. In the centre of the machine, the professor’s body gave another spasm. If he was not restrained, he would have injured himself at least twice already.

“Hmm...” The professor’s voice came out from the helmet. “There are still come hiccups, but it worked! There’s a bit of dizziness, but that’s to be expected. Now, if I...”