Prologue

Date: 2155 AD. Planet Earth, American Conglomerate, Washington DC.

Local newscaster reportings, “Earth has been visited by aliens. This visitation marks an incredible leap for all of humanity! According to various conspiracy sites, sources said that the government has been in contact with a group of extraterrestrial visitors over the last five years. Since the creation of artificial intelligence back in twenty-one fifty, we can now confirm that otherworldly influence was a part of that leap in our technology”.

“As for why they are now showing themselves to the rest of the world we have our camera team standing by at the landing site. We are now going to connect to our crew, please stand by…. Sorry viewers but, apparently we are not able to connect to our video feed at this time. We do have audio still and will continue our live broadcast. We will continue to work to connect our video feed as soon as the interference has been cleared.”

The world watches as the screen goes black and disembodied voices of news reporters could be heard. Then there is silence soon followed by the rapid clicking of many cameras going off at once. As the sound of a microphone being adjusted takes place the cameras slow down their clicking. A voice starts to speak, clipped, with no tone of emotion to it, almost sounding like Earth’s early form of a female digital assistant popularized by a company that was oddly represented by a round, red fruit.

“Hello. As a representative of the Nexit Corporation, we would like to extend a hand of challenge and adventure.” The video feed clears up and appearing on the screen is a humanoid individual that seems to have been infused with mechanical appendages. The solitary head attempts to smile at the camera crew, but it’s three eyes which look in different directions is disorienting. With vertical eyelids, it blinks rapidly as the alien’s attempt to do a reassuring smile fails. Their skin and mechanical body parts blend seamlessly together. It was hard to tell if they were born with those parts or if they are enhancements to their biological bodies placed on later in life.

What little of their skin showing was pale but iridescent, flashing different hues as the cameras flash. No distinguishable gender could be discerned appearing to have an androgynous form and appeared to have some form of removable tech on its head. Randomly emitting some flashes of light, changing colors at intervals. Illegible writing scrolled above its arm with advanced holo tech connected to a delicate looking metal vambrace, decorated in knots and patterns that confused the eye *Think Celtic knots and tattoos. It opens its arms, awkwardly, like it is not comfortable with the movement, wide in a welcoming gesture as it continues.

“For the last five years, we have worked in secret with the governments of your planet to help create your artificial intelligence. Now that they have been integrated with your world's technologies and you have your familiarity with the AI, your leaders say it's time we can finally be seen. Our offer is that soon you will be able to join others in our creation, The Worlds of Nexitus! It is a completely AI-controlled galaxy, where all are welcome to adventure, gain power, and live a life like you never could have before. You along with many other sentient species will be joining together to live in Nexitus if you so desire!”

“Our selection process is open to all! At this time though your governments have limited it to humans in your solar yeas of sixteen and above. Our immersion compatibility rate with most species had been ninety to ninety-eight percent. We are expecting similar compatibility rates in your world sometime soon. Do know that if you wish to immerse into Nexitus you do so fully and your physical remnants will become nothing but empty shells without life. Those that are not compatible will be able to view all players in Nexitus. As live feeds are broadcasted to all worlds participating. Let’s see what awaits for those daring enough to leave this old world and life behind, for one filled with adventure, daring, fame, and immortality!”

After the speech came a global company race to mass produce the units necessary to begin mass transfers to the various worlds in Nexitus. Due to unknown factors, birth rates on Earth had been lowering since 2043, and are now estimated to be one birth in nine hundred thousand. Despite having reached a population of over 23 billion it was estimated that in just over a century the population will have declined to a smaller population than New York City in the 21st century. Many hoped this to be the way towards finding a cure or at least keeping humanity from dying out.

However, this hastened our rate of extinction during the first day of initialization due to the mass amount of young adults who attempted to move to Nexitus. During this first wave in 2159 unforeseen complications arose that even the originating race for the tech hadn’t anticipated. Of the over 1 billion that attempted to upload their conscience into a new body in Nexitus, 90% were under 25 years old and casualties estimated at 95% of all who attempted at this time. Many completely failed to upload and died of massive brain strokes. Those were the lucky ones. Too many others, however, completed only a partial upload, were left in a vegetative state in both locations. A slim number getting the best case scenario which was of a painstaking return to normalcy and in the worst case a slow painful death where euthanasia being a merciful end.

The Nexit cooperation explained that it was a complication with human teens as they were undergoing constant neuro and chemical changes during puberty and early adulthood. They reported that the nanotech used for immersion was not programmed to calculate for these constant changes and they did not know how extreme they were. Nexit explained that all other species have controlled chemical changes for when they are ready to procreate, all other times their chemical structures remain relatively constant. It was hard to believe that even they could not prevent this, after all, they are the ones that helped to create the immersion program in the first place.

The social and news media portrayed that many humans believed that the Nexit were not to blame. Others spouted that they were here to kill us and take our planet from us, these individuals were called AntiNex. The next few years were difficult and tumultuous. Humanity began fighting with each other and governments actively fought against the rising AntiNex forcing them to go silent. The overall loss of life during that short time was almost as catastrophic as the original uploading massacre with millions more dead. Eventually, things calmed down and humanity began to pull together and we only heard of the good things that will come from joining the Nexit Corporation and the program began again.

The compatibility rates at the beginning improved to somewhere between ten to twenty percent during the next phase of immersion. With that knowledge, the governments of the Earth banned the immersion process in an effort to not restart the AntiNex movement. The Nexit corporation agreed to involve human biologists, medical, and engineering specialists to help perfect the immersion process.

These individuals, with AI neuro-assisted learning, along with the Nexit were able to start the advancement of the immersion process. Ten years after the first test, the second test group was ready. It consisted of a population group within their seventies to eighties as they had low neuro and chemical changes. The projected immersion rate was sixty to seventy-three percent and with that, the government gave it the green light. This time no fatalities occurred and the first broadcasting of what Nexitus was could be seen by all. We could not believe what we saw during those broadcasts. Youthful bodies without genetic abnormalities, power gained not only by currency but in raw energy called source, and finally, an almost immortal existence. The potential within Nexitus proved to be everything that humans wanted and needed. Humanity wanted more.

The government then opened that immersion program to companies for funding and encouraged them to do private testing for immersion improvement. This brought about 2 major companies that worked towards immersion improvement. Earth Immersion Company (EIC) located in the Americas, and Immersion Nexitus Global (ING) located in Eastern Europe. Each corporation made trillions as individuals donated credits or by buying out slots to be part of the next immersion group.

The second test group’s recording stopped shortly after EIC and ING took primary control for immersion advancement. They continued to work for Nexit but as to the particulars, no one knows for sure. Any concern as to why they stopped was overpowered by humanity’s desire and greed to be a part of Nexitus. The EIC and ING encouraged that the discontinued broadcastings would be solved. But humanity was not too bothered by this as the unknown of Nexitus made the appeal to be there stronger, and EIC and ING did not complain as their funding continued to increase.

Nexit Corporation returned to their homeworld just a few years after the EIC and ING took over. Happy that the companies were on the right track, and with the AI’s they provided they agreed that they would monitor advancement from afar. That was five years ago, there have been no new attempts at immersion, and no one has heard from the Nexit since.