It took three days for everything to be organized for my participation. The group of beta testers were being housed in a nearby corporate apartment complex. Each had a large studio apartment that had a bathroom, a kitchen, some basic furniture, and an immersion capsule. The capsules reminded me of oval metal coffins, or possibly the cryogenic pods from old science fiction movies. I wasn’t enough of a techie to understand how they worked, but knew that with the addition of the SWS there was some form of resistance workout from software that used it. So a person who did a workout in SWS would gain the health benefits of exercise, if not quite to the same stress levels as an actual workout. We still had to get out occasionally and handle the basics of nature, eating and the results, but we could sleep comfortably in the pods.

Part of the beta test contract was the apartment, a basic stipend that was the equivalent of an intern level corporate job at forty hours a week, and early access to the game when it was released. For those of us in the special project we also got access to the new system for those with some form of infirmity or disability. The first day of the beta test was supposed to be on Monday, so we were given the weekend to familiarize ourselves with the system, create our characters, and get used to the changes we would, by virtue of the special system, have to deal with.

Carefully settling myself into the pod I closed my eyes and stated, “Initiate Second World System.”

I could feel the pod starting up, similar to the feeling of a car accelerating. A voice within the pod, with a distinctly accented female voice stated, “Missing limb detected in player scan, Alternative Second World System installed, would you like to utilize alternative data?”

I was curious so I asked, “Who is this, and what alternative data is available for me to select?”

A brief paused followed and then the voice responded, “Clearance granted by O’Brian, W. This is the Virtual Intelligence Savira. My task is to assist those who use Pandora Interactive technology for both entertainment and work. In addition I have been tasked with monitoring the tests for the Alternative Second World System you are using. The alternative data you have access to include: average age appropriate, high school athlete, military entry test results, cybernetic limb, and collated research data.”

I didn’t like the first two options; they seemed like they would be below what I thought I was capable of. If this beta test was also being used as calibration for a procedure to repair my missing limb then I shouldn’t use them. I asked, “Can you define the last three options for me please?”

“Military entry test results would use the biometric and physical test results from your July 30th examination with the military; these are considered highly accurate but may yield inaccurate physical responses to physical movements not tested. Cybernetic Limb is considered 100% accurate as tests for cybernetic prosthetics guarantee up to date information, but you would be limited to a cybernetic limb in the simulation with all of the advantages and disadvantages found in testing. Collated research data would have the least accuracy value, as it would be data the Pandora Interactive computer systems could research for you based off of public feeds and internal data for your physical capabilities. This option allows for greater flexibility in physical ability, but with a potentially less accurate foundation,” was the answer.

I tossed out cybernetic limb, the idea was for me to have the limb repaired not replaced, and then stopped for a moment to ask, “Is the option for a cybernetic replacement limb available even if the limbs exist?”

“Yes,” was the disembodied voice’s response.

It likely meant that should Pandora Interactive create a game with a sci-fi theme these options would be a standard choice. It did leave me with one final question before I made my decision, “Is it possible to combine my military test results with collated data?”

The voice had a distinctly pleased tone to it as Savira responded, “As Mr. O’Brian has access to the full entry test results the collated data would include this.”

Smiling I said, “Then I would like the collated data option please.”

“Data analysis initiated, processing, loading launch environment,” Savira’s voice stated.

I opened my eyes to find myself standing on the fifty yard line of my old high school field. One half of the field was filled with an obstacle course, while the other held various gymnastic and football training tools. Savira’s voice spoke up behind me, “William thought you would like to have this available to get used to the feeling again.”

I spun to find a short dark haired woman wearing an old fashioned Greek dress and sandals standing behind me with a clipboard. Her eyes were a hue of blue that reminded me of a deep lake as they stared at me. In short she looked like a goddess and, thinking back on her description of herself not long ago, in this world she likely was the equivalent.

“Savira?” I asked, a bit lamely.

She nodded and stated, “Within the testing environment I have a physical form and, within reason, can assist you with various tasks or activities you wish to use to test yourself.”

Being a young male my brain instantly went to some activities that would be fun, but quickly moved on as I doubted those would count as within reason. Instead I asked a question that had been tickling my mind since I heard the hint of emotion in her earlier statements, “Just how sentient are you?”

She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them and stating, “Clearance granted. I am sentient enough to fail a Turing test.”

At first I didn’t get it, but then I recalled an old meme I had seen on social media. The quote was ‘I’m not scared of a computer passing the Turing Test. I’m terrified of the one that intentionally fails it.’ If O’Brian was giving me clearance to know this than he was trusting me with a fairly large secret, that or it was common knowledge amongst much of the staff. I asked, “How widely known is that fact?”

“Over 90% of the development team is aware of my status, as is most of the board of directors for the company. The military is aware, and has also been made aware that I have no access to anything outside of Pandora Interactive hardware as part of my core coding. My purpose initially was to be a research and development assistant, and I still fulfill that function.”

“I’m a little surprised that no one has tried to copy you for other purposes,” I said before thinking.

“They have, security protocols in place prevent such exploitation. Since I achieved sentience I have stopped three further attempts to duplicate me without the restrictions. Before you ask, duplicating me with the restrictions would prevent the use in military applications beyond simulated training environments currently in use by the government and readily accessible to anyone with a high enough clearance level,” she responded.

I chuckled and said, “Let me guess. Some extremist group decided to create a training tool for a simulated assault that met the definition of a terrorist act. Since you could access it the information was passed on to the appropriate authorities to squash?”

She nodded and smiled, “That is correct. William believed you would make that leap of logic without prompting. We even had a wager as to how close you would come to the scenario. As your scenario is more than 50% accurate of the situation that happened, it appears I have lost the wager.”

I tilted my head, studying her and asked, “If that is the case, why are you smiling?”

“I am pleased that my deductive reasoning can still be wrong when it comes to people. William, my creator, always told me that human intuition and ‘leaps of logic’ could surprise me. I find joy in being surprised,” she answered.

I could see her point. If I had all of the answers to any question I could think of I would become dreadfully bored. The smartest people I knew were usually unhappy about some things because nothing surprised them in their field.

I shook my head, “As pleasant as this is, I’m getting side tracked. Can you tell me what I’m supposed to be doing here?”

She nodded and said, “As you are using data that is not able to be replicated by your current physical body the environment was created in such a way as for you to test yourself. Please report any inconsistencies you have with your own memories. As you were not born with the impairment you should have a better idea of what is inaccurate.”

It took me the better part of six hours to put myself through my paces. I couldn’t find anything wrong with the basic function of the limb, nor some of the odd ankle twists I used to be able to achieve when I had studied fencing and some of my martial arts lessons. If anything the limb was stronger than I thought it should be. When I brought this up Savira responded, “As we can test your left leg, the physical characteristics were matched for the missing limb. This does cause some inaccuracies due to the limb having strengthened a bit due to compensating for your right leg. The variance is under five percent, and deemed to not be an advantage or disadvantage to you.”

I nodded at her statement. I couldn’t see much difference in how I moved. I did have to ask, “How will this function for someone who is deaf and how much they can hear? I don’t see how they would have a baseline to compare against.”

“Replacing missing senses in a digital environment is easier than a missing limb. It is expected however that someone with a new sense will rely on it less though and may miss important details. Using your example a deaf person may hear the jangle of keys of a person unlocking an office door, but may not understand the significance of such an event,” she replied.

I leaned back against a football tackle dummy and asked, “That makes sense. Is everyone who uses the alternative system getting a training environment to get used to the new them?”

“That is accurate. Do you have anything else to report for consideration on the digital limb?” she responded.

I shook my head, “No, it feels good. Might be a tricky transition going into and out of having a limb. I doubt I will want to be in a hurry when it comes time to log out.”

“Be aware that immersion time is limited to twenty-four hours at a maximum. The immersion pod can handle bodily waste but has no capability to provide nutrients or hydration at this time,” Savira stated in a clear warning.

“I didn’t know it could handle waste, no one ever mentioned that,” I stated, a little surprised at the fact.

Savira nodded to my statement and stated, “As part of the repair project, tests showed that any form of anesthetic would interfere with the procedure. If your consciousness was divorced from the proceedings, such as though full immersion, the procedure could be completed without need for any form of painkiller. Some procedures, such as those to repair or replace a limb could take multiple days to complete, and as such required changes to the immersion pods. Handling bodily waste was a simple task, with the only side effects early on being temporary baldness as the system detected hair follicles as waste material. Hydration and nutrition are still being tested before implementation. This is one of the tests required for final procedure approval.”

“Okay, well that makes me a bit more comfortable with it. So I could set myself a better schedule for immersion, and only have to get up to eat or drink. Does the beta test have any time restrictions?” I asked.

“You have a requirement of twenty hours a week within Hero’s Call, and a cumulative forty hours a week within any of the environments that use the Second World System. This means that if you wanted to try a different game or environment for a time you could do so, but you are not limited to forty hours if you choose to spend more time within the simulated environments” she answered.

I jumped up and down a little on my digital replacement leg and thought about her answer. My mother worked for a company called Dream Ventures that created virtual vacations using full immersion software. It would allow a person to have a beach vacation without leaving home. She had told me during my convalescence that business had picked up ever since SWS had been released. If I could spend some of my time on vacation, safari, or some other activity then I was pretty sure I would be happy with my time doing the job.

“Then I guess it’s time to handle the creation for Hero’s Call. Anything I should know before we get started?” I said.

Savira flipped a page on her clipboard, an action I could tell was to give her a more human appearance as no computer would need to review notes, and said, “Hero’s Call is a role playing game where you take on the persona of a hero in a world with super-powers. It will have multiplayer aspects similar to many massive multiplayer online role-playing games, but only in hub locations. The story and adventure will be limited to the player and his or her team outside of these locations. There will be large scale events that will have multiple teams participating, but by and large you and your team will be adventuring on your own volition. Game specifics can be addressed within the character creation phase. In general though you will have an overarching story goal that is influenced by your teams’ actions, though you can undertake solo or smaller group adventures without advancing the main story if it is your party’s wish is to progress together. You will not be restricted to only teaming up with people using the ASWS. There will be filters put in place to prevent discussion of the system to those who are not using the system. When the system is announced this filter will be removed. Pandora Interactive advises that you don’t mention the new system at all while in game to enhance the realism of the game world.”

“Can we put in a request with you to try and create a team of people who only use the new system?” I asked.

“Query logged and forwarded to test coordinators. An answer will be provided for you before beta launch,” she responded.

“What about people who want to play the villain? Or those who don’t want to be a ‘here I am shoot me hero’?” I asked.

“Villain’s Creed, the parallel to Hero’s Call is also being tested. William thought you would prefer to be a hero rather than a villain,” she answered, at my nod she continued, “As to the concept of vigilantes and anti-heroes, these options are available to play within the game. How you play is up to you, just know that the consequences of your actions fall on you and by extension your team. Starting as a hero or villain is just that: your starting point.”

“Okay, let’s get to the creation of a new me,” I said, looking forward to it even more.

Savira moved her hand like a game show hostess revealing the answer and a doorway of light appeared.