“Every act of creation is first an act of destruction”

- Pablo Picasso

When the United Nations of America Space Station was put up for sale in 2038, it only made sense that Bill Gates would buy it for an undisclosed reason. Many economists would chalk up the apparently horrible decision as the foolish impulses of a senile old man. By this point in time, Bill Gates was getting up there in age, being 82 now. Microsoft was still the biggest computer company in the world, driving Apple into the ground over the years as durability and processing power surpassed aesthetic appeal in importance. The Virtual Reality scene was in most people’s homes now, and the space required was only about a hundred square feet. The tech tycoon continued to run his company, but his role was much more reserved. Mr. Gates only took part in a few projects over the years, and each one was some kind of game. Despite releasing numerous best-selling games and hardware, the company’s value declined after the purchase of the UNASS. Money continued to be funneled into the station with no discernible return on investment. For 20 years, economists and gamers alike speculated on what could be in the works up there that it was causing Microsoft’s seemingly endless reserves to run dry? Finally, on July 4, 2058, Microsoft held a press conference to announce the unveiling of their largest project ever. Thousands tuned in using their GooSpecs to watch the decrepit founder of Microsoft roll up to the podium. Behind him, on a large monitor, was a live feed of the Earth as it rotated.

“The doctors tell me I have a few months before I depart this world,” the billionaire began, “but I’ve come to tell you all that I have merely hours.” The crowd gasped and a few people pulled out phones to call the cardiologists they might know, but Bill Gates merely waved his hand.

“Allow me to clarify. You may have noticed that I-” his sentence was interrupted by a bout of coughing, and he cleared his throat before beginning. “As I was saying, I will not be dying. At least not yet.” This statement elicited several more gasps and shouted questions from the assembled reporters, but again Gates cut through the noise with a raised hand.

“Today is the unveiling of my latest project, titled Mythos Online.” At this point, the image on the monitor took up the viewing space on everyone’s GooSpecs, and the Microsoft Space Station, as it was renamed, slowly made its way into view as the camera rotated in zero gravity to put the ginormous structure in frame.

“I won’t get too technical, as I don’t quite understand it all anymore, but this structure will hold the souls and minds of everyone that wishes inside of a brand new world-- a world of magic, of mystery, and of adventure.” With those final words, the world renowned genius declared the press conference adjourned and rolled off the stage.

Over the next few days, more info about the game, or “new world” was released; the virtual world was about twice the size of Earth, but could procedurally generate more territory in the form of new dimensions. There would be a large number of NPCs [non player characters] that would interact with the players and provide quests. The game would have a nearly infinite number of items and an extraordinarily advanced crafting system. Players could earn classes through dedication and work, but they wouldn’t unlock one at the start like in most MMORPGs. Another huge difference from most games was that almost everyone started as a human, so racial bonuses were nonexistent. Players would receive stat bonuses or bonus skills based on the memories they possessed of Earth. That phrase brought up another huge question: how is the game accessing the memories? And that question brought up an extremely controversial answer: Players would not log in using some kind of headgear, they would upload a digital copy of the neural pathways of their brain, leaving their body behind as they embraced a new world. Because of this, only players that were 18+ were eligible, and only those that were unemployed, impaired in some way, or were able to win a contest were able to play.

The entire game was hosted in the MSS, so there was no chance of lag, and no government could claim dominion over the virtual world. Everything would be free to continue without political interference. The MSS would sustain itself financially by allowing users on Earth to pay a monthly fee to watch loved ones or popular players living in the game. It was also being supported by Microsoft itself. Launch day was in about 6 months, and then there would be a standalone tutorial on Earth before the digital souls were flown up to the MSS. One week after the announcement, there were already 100,000 elderly people signed up to participate in the first launch. By the fifth month, there were over a million people signed up. About 300,000 had already been uploaded to the tutorial, and contact had been made so that the world knew that they hadn’t just died for nothing. As the launch month approached, gamers across the globe grew desperate for a way to enter the game and escape their monotonous lives. I was one of them, as were my friends. This is our story.