Prologue: In the Beginning.

A man sat scrunched over typing furiously on his computer. Two more days before the deadline. And he was nowhere near completing the game. He heard shouting outside the door. Sweat started dripping down his forehead. “Not now,” He muttered to himself. He quickly saved and closed his work, it was top secret and highly valued. If this got leaked before release it would put the this project of 7 years in jeopardy. He would be letting his team down and he can’t allow that. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. “Dr. Standerton, the CEO is here to see you.”

With shaking hands he walked over to the door. He could feel his caffeine fix needs topping up and who knows how long the boss will want to talk. The doctor opened the door and invited the suited man into the small room. “Hello doctor,” the tall figure said with a large toothy smile. His trademark in the world. “I assume you are ready for the launch in two days. This is the biggest project we have ever launched as the first international government.” He stumbled for his words, “Y-yes sir, a-all ready for the launch. Just the final touch ups and we can press the green button.” The doctor replied. Forcing a smile. He deeply disliked what The Elite has done to the world. Turning it into a mega factory and practically forcing everyone out of jobs by automating all the processes. But working as an IT engineer for them has changed his and his family's lives. He could afford anything he wanted for them at any time. He had no money problems and will probably never have for life.

“Please doctor, we’ve been working together for so long. Call me Chang.” the suited man said. He stepped into the light and it revealed a bald but muscular man. A very attractive man, Standerton thought. But evil. So very evil. “Anyways, I was just checking in on you and making sure we are ready for the launch. My son is very excited.

“Oh, I almost forgot, sir,” He walked over to his cluttered deck, filled with notes and papers. After rummaging through the pile for a few seconds he exasperated an “Ah, here it is”, and pulled out a large bounded stack of papers and a small spectacle case. “This is the Encyclopedia for the game. From statpages for every single creature to a detailed description of every village to kingdom, drop lists of every Boss and a tutorial on every system." He handed him the binder, "and this is your own specially programmed pair of GlassOS. You have created something truly beautiful.”

Stian examined the pair of glasses. "They are a pair of only two glasses which gives a character the status of Game Master. You will be able to control everything in the game with your character. I own the other pair and with this we assure the players there is balance and fairness in the game."

He thanked the doctor for his gifts and left the small room. The CEO will never know how reluctant the doctor was to give him the glasses because he was sure Stian will use the power to control the game in his own best interests.

The doctor went back to work, patching the world and making sure there were no glaring backdoors or glitches. He had planted secrets around the world for players to discover and with that a number of letters which would lead to the ultimate unlock. Godmode.

This will reward players with a tuned down version of Game Master, allowing them to fly and teleport wherever they want to go along with a cash prize of $ 1 000 000. But this will take many years to accomplish. And he doesn’t know if anyone will ever find it. As the secrets are not revealed anywhere, not even in his own handwritten notes. The doctor cleared his mind, trying to focus back on his programming.

Two Days Later.

The doctor sat up with a jolt, reaching for his glasses on his bedside table. Today is the day. Nerves and emotion flooded him as his consciousness flooded back to him. Doctor Standerton went to his coffee machine and switched it on, making him an espresso and sat on his couch overlooking the factories from his apartment. He was not married but looked after his brother and his family with his larger-than-most income. He bought them the apartment next to him and made sure he doesn’t have to go work in those foul factories.

His chauffeur drove him to work, and he was gazing out of the window of the BMW M3, hoping his program and GlassOS will provide an escape for the hopeless. Even an opportunity to some. He explicitly allowed real world trading, hoping to give players a chance to generate an income for themselves with game time. Standerton knew the Elite would abuse this but even if it could only help the most desperate. A pair of GlassOS spectacles were produced for much cheaper than a gaming computer and almost 100x as fast. But the catch is, it was only able to load the game. And it was the only entry to the game.

The car parked in front of the tall, new shatterproof building. It had 92 floors and 80% of those were filled with servers for the massive influx of players they were expecting. The rest of the floors were for developers and creators who brought life to the world. Standerton and a team of 4 produced all the systems of the game, whereas the other developers and creators handled the details.

When he entered the building there was a small party of people waiting, shooting confetti and opening champagne bottles when entered. He forced a smile and pushed past them heading straight to the lift. He did not feel like celebrating just yet, the security of his job rested on this launch. The small fragile man waited for the familiar ping when it reached floor 92 and he walked to his office, shutting the door behind him. There he spent 20 minutes lying in his chair, preparing his thought process and focusing on the day ahead.

A team of security was sent to retrieve him from the office and he picked up the gray metallic suitcase. Walking through the corridors, he realized should this fail, this would be the last time he would be walking through here, a place he has come to call home.

Six men in gray suits accompanied him, forming a tight circle around him.They walked towards a boardroom at the end of the floor. He noticed 2 men guarding the entrance to the boardroom as well, and saw an imprint of what he guessed were firearms on their chests. Inside the boardroom was a large mahogany table with a large screen on the wall at the end. On the image was CEO Chang sitting at his desk. “Welcome Doctor,” he said with his wide smile, “You can open the case and place it on the table.” He listened and slowly place the rectangular case on the table and unlocked it with his special code. “Sir, we finished all the work and patched all the backdoors and glitches our play testers found. It is ready for full release.” Chang sat back in his chair, revealing another screen behind him with a man wearing a bright orange hardhat standing in what seemed like a large warehouse. “The moment you press that button doctor, this man here has orders to release your GlassOS to the stores around the world. Whatever happens here today, I want to thank you doctor, for bringing an escape to the masses.”

Standerton felt uncomfortable and shuffled his feet. Chang continued, “What you have created will change online gaming forever. A device that can travel with you and you can access this virtual world from wherever you are. Please doctor, if you would be so kind.” Chang motioned with his hand to the open case in front of him.

He cautiously stuck out his arm, increasing his awareness of what was going on around him. An air of anticipation hung in the room. He turned a switch in the corner of the case which powered the master control button. As he reached with his other arm to press the large circular button in the middle,the CEO said, “There you go, Standerton, do it for the people.” He pressed the green button and the whole building lit up with fireworks and he could hear the servers powering up on the floors simultaneously. Chang applauded and looked at the other screen where the worker was shouting orders on a microphone to the warehouse. The CEO looked back at him, “Now, I have some bad news, please will you not put up a struggle for my men. Your use to me has run out and unfortunately I don’t have space for useless people.” With that, he switched off his camera and the men in the room all focussed on him. The one who led him to the boardroom, stepped out and asked him to hand him his glasses and the suitcase.

“P-please, I do not deserve this! I created this!” The doctor fell to his knees, begging, pleading. “It’s just my orders. Nothing personal. Now please, do not make this difficult.” The man said. Standerton looked around at the other men and saw no reaction. They were of the Force. They do not feel and are stone cold killers. “Please I beg of you.” he cried as he handed them his glasses and the suitcase. The man looked at the doctor on the floor while putting the glasses in his left pocket. “Your household items have been packed into bags for you and a cash deposit for your furniture has been made. Let us go now.” Two men grabbed him on either side and started dragging him out. He shouted and cried the whole way down the hall. “What about my brother? He has family!” The man looked at his watch and walked in front. “Oh they’ll be fine. Billions of others survive without income in the world. You will too. At Least you have some money.” He could feel the men's hands digging in his arms and they did not allow him to stand up and walk. He was light enough and he surrendered to their brutality and allowed to be dragged. Outside the building a transit van was waiting for him.

“Your plane tickets are on the seat. You and your family will be flown to Thailand where an apartment has been prepared for you.” The men dropped him on the cement. He struggled to his feet and as the men walked away he rushed them. He tried to tackle the leader but barely pushed him off balance. The leader punched him in his face and he fell to the floor. Blood flowed into his mouth almost immediately. “Stay down. Don’t do anything rash now doctor.” he said as he wiped the blood off his hand. The doctor looked down, not making eye contact and concealing something in his hand.

He waited until the Force group were in the building when he looked down at his hand revealing his glasses to himself.

“This is not over Chang.”