The sirens echoed off the city’s walls signalling the end of another day, Cain sighed in relief. Not because it marked the end of school, or work, or anything for that matter, but because it meant he was one day closer to the end of his life. He didn’t hate his life, it was just all so meaningless, so monotonous. In today’s world if you lacked talent for sports or music to entertain the Corporates then there was no reason for the living to well… live. It all started over 60 years ago in 2051 when CoreTech released their new A.I that gave robotic arms and other basic machinery in factories the ability to learn and create for themselves, this meant that robots were able to operate completely autonomously and perform self-maintenance without any need for human interaction. By the year 2062, there was no longer a need for people in lower and middle-class jobs. By 2080 the robots became so efficient that currency became a thing of the past, regular people no longer had jobs or needed to work at all. Everybody was provided for by the government, there was no need for commonplace goods to have a price, there were no requirement to earn a living, the benefits from the government were great! That was when humanity, people became just another animal eating, breathing and sleeping from their first day until their last, purpose was lost.

In the early years, it was utopia, life was a party, robots were the employees of the artificial intelligence that operated for the simple purpose of providing for humans. Poverty was irradiated, even with the overpopulation, everyone had more than enough to get by.

It didn’t take long for the corporates who owned the A.I. and robotic tech, started to lose interest in seeing the commonfolk live life with such carefree adventure; vacations on cruises and travelling the globe, and all on the expense of the empire the corporates created. They were jealous; they did not feel superior or appreciated for the world that they had created. So they schemed a new world that fit their egos like a well-tailored suit. They used every bureaucratic excuse available to them to make cutbacks. Supermarkets only stocked the most basic of supplies such as water and bread in order to prevent obesity. Housing services were reduced to their bare minimum to ensure that everybody educated themselves on basic hygiene. Internet, TV and in some cases heating were completely cut off to preserve the precious resources of Mother Earth. Finally, the endless announcements of crime rates, apparently ever-increasing, year after year was enough to enforce city-wide curfews to control the population.

To earn extra privileges, one had to be of value to the Corporates, this was most often through entertainment such as sports, arts, music or prostitution.

For most, each day consisted of the same routine you would expect in prison. Their only meaning in life is to allow rich corporate families to feel powerful and entitled to rule. Workers bees, without any work to do.

* * *

Cain never really knew how old he was, nor did he care. If one was to guess they would assume he was in his late teens due to his lean build and facial features, but possibly the best indication was the constant annoyed scowl across his face.

He spent his days either lying in bed staring at the dripping mould in the corner of his flaking ceiling or if he felt like stretching his legs, he would go wandering around the restricted zones. Areas that contained old unused relics from the world before; book stores, retro arcades and cinemas were the signs that he had read on the derelict buildings, though he didn’t know what any of that was or how these places used to work, he just appreciated the solitude and change of scenery from the standard grey streets and high rise concrete boxes where the living spent their day in mind-numbing routine.

Today was a ‘stare at the dripping mould day’ until the sirens sounded, the doors locked and the lights flickered to a pale glow. Curfew.

He woke sometime before morning, he was able to tell as the lights were still dimmed but something was off about his room, there was a slight breeze. The Corporate issued living quarters were completely sealed, inch thick mechanical steel door and all. He decided it was worth investigating and staggered out of bed, only to be confronted by a robot standing in his doorway.

Crap! I must have been caught in the restricted zone. Ah well, I guess wherever this thing takes me can’t be any worse than here right?

“Please confirm you are Employee Number A58412” Stated the robot

“What?” replied Cain still half asleep

“Delivery for Employee Number A58412. Please confirm your ID”

Slightly more awake, he considered the outcomes of being this so-called employee. He wasn’t sure if this was just protocol for arresting someone, or if it were a broken bot. Bots don’t communicate with the third-class citizens, they deliver bread each morning and patrol the streets and corridors to ensure no one escapes, it was unusual for a bot to speak directly to you, even more, unusual for a bot to speak to you while not being tasered or hit with a baton. Everyone knows their real task is to put every third-class citizen in prison. Prison is the Corporates solution to overpopulation. If you have been charged for a crime – any crime - you are sent to prison, and prison consists of an electric chair, A.I, of course, to send you to eternal sleep. Don’t be upset, the bodies are decomposed under heat and pressure through an accelerated process to create ‘clean’ power for the bots to keep running, therefore maintaining the beautiful resources of Mother Nature.

After considering everything, the benefits he could think of consisted of a change in his daily routine even if it may result in death, so as far as he was aware there were no negatives.

“Employee A58412 here, what do you want?”

“Package 35 has been delivered, please confirm”

“Okay” noticing the cardboard box the bot had placed before his door “I confirm I have received package 35?”

“The contents of the package must be returned to the box and placed in this same location in seven days for collection, please confirm you understand”

“Yeah yeah, I’ll have it all there for your stupid trash can arse to collect in seven days… can you leave already?”

The bot left, and the doors relocked.

I guess I’m not getting arrested. Unless this is some sick prank by the Corporates and the box is filled with poison gas…

It wouldn’t be the first time the Corporates have used more experimental customs to utilise the Prison Protocol. For most of Cains life, the Corporates have loved their reality TV show called “Big Brother”, an interactive show where the Corporates would watch over the snippets of security footage showing lesser citizens break the law. The Corporates would bid on how the citizen would be repurposed into bot fuel. These videos were often leaked into the third-class population, they seemed to find the reactions quite humorous.

Can’t be as bad as living he thought as he reached down and opened the box in front of him.

The contents weren’t what he expected, but then again, what was he expecting other than a hopefully quick death? There were three items and an instruction note ‘Read the supplied employee handbook and only use the equipment when lying down’. The items consisted of a hood that seemed to be made from a collection of intricately woven black wires, a mask that looked similar to one he’d seen once in the Arcade building worn by a man holding a machete, except the one in the Arcade was white and the one he was holding was black with lenses covering the eye holes.

The final item was a thin black glass square the size of his two hands, he picked it up and it started to glow. Once his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he realised it was one of the devices the Corporates carried around, they would read off them during speeches and use them to show the Big Brother videos to any third-class citizen they could corner.

Cain focused on the device and it displayed a series of questions.

State your Employee Number:

What did that bot say? A58 something something? Oh who cares, let’s go with A58123

State your Age and Gender:

Ugh, Older than most, Alive. That should do…

The questions continued in this format, asking personal information which he didn’t bother answering truthfully – for most he didn’t know the real answers - as he was sure he wasn’t meant to receive the box of tech. The questions changed at question 20, where they stopped making any sense.

20) State how long you spent immersed:

21) State how realistic the experience was:

22) State what level you reached:

The questions continued for pages and pages of the same nonsense.

I was only going to lay in bed all day anyway, may as well do it with a hat on he thought as he lay in bed sliding the mesh hood over his head followed by the mask. The wires in the hood constricted around his head, he gripped the mask pulling hard to remove it, but it wouldn’t budge, the suction was too strong, he felt as though he couldn’t breathe. So, this was their plan, this is how I die, I won’t give them a show. He stopped thrusting around his bed and relaxed. He could breathe, but the mask was still stuck to his face.

After a moment that felt like minutes, a small white dot appeared in front of his eyes. Great, I’ve started to hallucinate because of this damn mask! The dot approached quickly growing rapidly until it concealed his whole view. A single message appeared.

“Please be Patient While your Character is Being Created.

The Next Step Requires DNA, You May Feel a Slight Pain”

As he read the final word, he felt the most excruciating pain of needles piercing his neck and temples but before he could react the pain vanished.

“DNA Acquired. Transferring to E.N.D.L.E.S.S.”

* * *

He awoke to sound of talking.

“Adventurer! Please get up, before I can ferry you to the mainland you must tell me your name!”

“What? Me?”

“Yes, you! Can you see any other adventurers around here?!”

Opening his eyes he noticed a large fluffy beast leaning over him wearing the clothes of a Corporate.

“Wha- th -ell?! Whe-? Where’m I?”

“Sorry, I could not interpret the language that you are speaking, please speak one of the six thousand one hundred and nine registered languages”

“What are you? I mean I knew the Corporates were monsters, but an actual monster in their clothes… seriously?”

For once in his life, his expression changed from depressingly sour to somewhat surprised.

“Ah! You’re awake. To answer your questions, I am a Non-Player Character, NPC for short, of the squirrel kingdom. You will find my kind throughout the beginner villages to help you learn about the world you have just arrived in. And my outfit, well it’s called a suit. Now can you please tell me your name Adventurer so you can continue on your journey.”

What kind of package did I receive? I guess this ‘world’ looks nicer than mine and I might as well play along and see where this leads before I get dragged back into reality. But are these NPCs just robots like in my world or are they of a different kind altogether?

“Cain” he stated

“Very well Cain, please step into the boat and your adventure will begin, once you arrive on the mainland be sure to speak to the class tutors as they will teach you how to level your skills and acquire new abilities, weapons and armour to help you survive in our world”

Once he had sat down in the small boat a second Squirrel climbed aboard and began row across the vast waters towards an unknown land, he wished he could have spent the time enjoying the scenery of sun glistening on the water and the fish jumping to catch flies, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the Corporate dressed squirrel monster across from him. After an hour of rowing, he finally relaxed and began to digest what he had been told by the squirrel.

Skills? Abilities? What do I do in this place? And why would I need weapons and armour? This is sure going to be interesting. I just hope I don’t have to deal with any more of those ‘squirrel kingdom’ creatures. They’re unsettling.