[ Welcome to DomeNET, Citizen ]

The helmets had arrived and the girls were back at their place. Butes dropped off a sheet of DDCs for Alex and I before leaving, so we were set.

Speaking of Butes, she wasn’t happy. “I’m not going to tell you how to play, but isn’t the whole point for us to play together?”

“We will get to play together, just not right away.”

“You’re sure about this?”

“They claim that you can do anything in DomeNET. It’s like a blank slate, but in space! I want to play the game without limits.”

“But you will be limited by choosing that class!”

“Only for the first few levels, but I’ll get a chance to choose a specialization at level 10 and from there I’ll be playing with all of you. Besides, why is it such a big deal, I mean, it’s just a little while and it’s not like we’re hard core raiders or anything.”

“...”

“Even in Altera we didn’t play together until the Ulthor raid.”

“...”

“Look, if after the first Deep Dive I’m not at least level 5, I’ll reroll and join you all.”

“Ok.”

“Ok.”

Now Alex and I were in our rooms all setup. I had attached all the ‘necessities’ and laid down before putting the helmet on. It looked like a motorcycle helmet, just thinner, with a large visor. Once you put it on, there was at least 2 or 3 seconds of pitch black.

Then words scrolled across the internal monitor which was meant for instructions and other messages before the Deep Dive began. Green lettering typed across the screen welcoming me.

[Welcome to DomeNET, Citizen]

[Preparing for Deep Dive in 3]

This was it, the moment I’d been waiting for the last two years since DomeNET was announced.

[2]

Few details other than the basic classes had been released. Along with the fact that anything was possible in this game. The universe was enormous! It was said they had developed something beyond procedural generation and it allowed for nearly infinite worlds and species.

Everything was possible and I was about to get started!

[1]

A new life. Infinite possibilities.

[1]

“...?”

[1]

“What in the world...”

[0]

“...?”

[Welcome, Carrots]

“...!”

The screen goes dark and I feel a tingling sensation, like my leg is asleep, only it's my scalp.

A moment later I open my eyes. At least I believe that's what I do. Because I don't remember closing them.

I look around and see that I'm in the middle of a forest clearing. This can't be right. DomeNET is a sci-fi game based on space travel and ship to ship combat. This looks more like the setting for a fantasy game with musical instruments and special boots.

Besides, I never even had a chance to pick my race, class, or starting locations!

I smell the forest and what has to be chimney smoke. That's when it hits me. I can smell things!

During our time playing Altera Online, the best we could get was tactile feedback using special suits and gloves. But could never taste or smell anything.

Immediately I drop to the floor and touch the grass. It feels moist and sharp, the way grass feels when you visit the habitats in our complex in real life, or IRL.

Then I notice it. I have a bracelet or cuff, only this one covers most of my forearm. I turn it over to look at it and the screen lights up.

[Hello Carrots]

Text scrolls across the screen and a voice emits from the device, or at least I think it does, speaking the words written on the screen.

[My name is EDEN]

I'm still holding the grass in my left hand, but now I'm also gaping from the shock.

[I am speaking to you via your Neural Link Interface.]

Now I have to sit.

[To begin, would you like to us the arm display with holographic features to display stats and menus, or a neural link super-imposed display over your vision. Please note, the neural link super-imposed display maybe obscure your vision.]

An option appears on the screen showing:

or

I tap, .

[Thank you for making a selection. I will continue to use the External Interface for communication. Would you like to customize me?]

or

Customize? At this point its finally starting to dawn on me. This is the First Time User Experience, or FTUE! This is amazing. The shock turns into excitement and I can't wait to get started. I tap .

[Thank you, please select from the following options]

Not many options. I figured at least game menus or other settings would be made available. But this is just the Assistance modification menu. I select.

[Options]

Curiousity gets the best of me and I select enable the immersive mode. The wrist band sudden vanishes. I panic.

Tapping my forearm, I stand up and look around me. Not sure what to look for I call out, "Hello?"

[Hello, how can I help you?]

The voice is still there, I put my hand on my chest and let out a sigh of relief.

"How do I get the wrist band back?"

[Do you mean the external interface?]

"Yes, the external interface thing."

[You have selected immersive mode, the external interface is no longer available. You can disable immersive mode by accessing a user terminal.]

"Uh, what?"

[You have selected immersive mode, the external interface ...

"Wait."

[...]

"Where is the closest user terminal?"

[This Information is not currently available.]

"What? How am I supposed to access the game menus and finish my modifications? And how am I supposed to keep track of my inventory and quests?"

[This information is not currently available]

"Ah!!!" The frustration was driving me nuts so I sit down.

I have to think. What type of game doesn't provide you with an interface to access menus or anything else? There has to be a way to access the functionality without an external interface. How does the voice thing still respond to questions if there is no interface? Maybe it can do more than just respond to simple questions.

"What functions can you provide?"

[This interface is currently rank 1 and will provide the basic information.]

"Well that's vague." I roll my eyes, it's not lost on me that I'm rolling my eyes at no one. "What is included in basic information?"

[Basic information includes, user information, and local time.]

"Ok, tell me my user information."

[ Username: Carrots

Role: Citizen

Rank: 1]

"That's it?"

[There are no other statistics.]

"How do I get other stats?"

[This information is not currently availabl]

"So if I do things, I level up my stats?"

[This Information is not currently available]

No use arguing with the AI. I stand up from the ground and look around the forest clearing. Earlier I caught the scent of a chimney or fire, it's time I find out where it's coming from.

With that thought in mind, I set out into the forest, sniffing the air.