The ALPHA system administrators were at a loss for words as player #1237 entered Neural Shock. They were watching the much anticipated battle between Riley and An-Fei and did not pay attention to Kai since he was ranked outside of the top 100 players. For all intended purposes the administrators considered player #1237, also known as Kai, a noob and not really worth watching, especially during the final battle of the two favorites. They considered him lucky to just end up as one of the final three players of the match. Statistics-wise they were right, Kai usually placed in the middle pack and was normally eliminated before the halfway mark.
And now as player #1237 entered Neural Shock he became the focus of everyone’s attention. The eject sequence failed so the player remained in TESS. The player was stuck in an overload abyss and the indicators monitoring his sensory limiters indicated an unbearable amount of pain. A few administrators deduced that the pain had driven the players body into shock, shutting down most brain functions. Most were at a loss for words.
Suddenly a voice sounded in the room. Dr. Xeno, the Primary System Administrator spoke.
“Do not interfere! I will take over. We are attempting to save the player using BETA injection. It’s a new procedure and may damage our BETA system, but it may also work. Neural Shock is still a great unknown and there is no known cure. The best we can do is to avoid it. Since BETA uses a much stronger neural coupling technology we should be able to use it to break the player free from ALPHA’s neural coupling and transfer him directly into BETA.”
No one had any idea how BETA injection worked, but their trust in Dr. Xeno was immovable. Everyone nodded along in agreement with his suggestion.
Dr. Xeno was determined to succeed. He vigorously touched and typed away at the control panel for minutes on end as the rest of the administrators followed his every move in admiration. For a moment he waited for the instruments to report, then he updated the administrators.
“Lastly, forget about what just happened. BETA is still in development. BETA injection was used as an emergency and the technology is still in development and is a trade secret.”
Once the injection was completed, ALPHA’s administrators all breathed a sigh of relief since Player #1237 was now the responsibility of the BETA team. Their highly incentivized year end achievement bonuses could still be met. They simply forgot about player #1237.
Unbeknownst to everyone, the energy from the overload state leaked out beyond Kai's mind and into ALPHA’s primary control system. There it started to affect seemingly random system modules.
Player #1237’s activity log was copied out of the system line by line.
[ 0572 ] INFO: System Normal
[ 0573 ] INFO: System Normal
[ 0574 ] INFO: System Normal
[ 0575 ] WARN: Sensory Overload Detected
[ 0576 ] WARN: Sensory Limiter Integrity Check In Progress
[ 0577 ] WARN: Limiter Breach Detected
[ 0578 ] WARN: Safety Protocols Activated
[ 0579 ] WARN: Ejecting Player
[ 0580 ] WARN: Unknown Interfere Detected
[ 0581 ] ERROR: Ejection Failure
[ 0582 ] ERROR: Failure In Sensory Synchronization
[ 0583 ] WARN: Limiters Overwritten
[ 0584 ] WARN: Sensory System Overloaded
[ 0585 ] WARN: Unsafe Heartbeat Detected 300 bps
[ 0586 ] WARN: Sensory Shock Detected
[ 0587 ] INFO: Requesting Access to Beta
[ 0588 ] WARN: Internal Bleeding Detected
[ 0589 ] INFO: Waiting For Response
[ 0590 ] WARN: Brain Hemorrhage Detected
[ 0591 ] WARN: Sensory Limiter Failed
[ 0592 ] WARN: Death Imminent
[ 0593 ] INFO: Validating Player’s Neuro-Spatial Sync Rate
[ 0594 ] INFO: Player Meets Transfer Requirements
[ 0595 ] INFO: BETA Access Granted
[ 0596 ] INFO: BETA EULA Provided
[ 0597 ] INFO: BETA EULA Accepted
[ 0598 ] INFO: BETA Transfer Initiating
[ 0599 ] INFO: BETA Transfer Complete
[ 0600 ] INFO: Onboarding Initiated
[ 0601 ] INFO: Player Instructed
[ 0602 ] INFO: Player Compatible With 3 Bands
[ 0603 ] INFO: Initial Weapon Selected
[ 0604 ] INFO: Onboarding Complete
[ 0605 ] INFO: Transferring To First Match
And it was casually overwritten without notice.
[ 0572 ] INFO: System Normal
[ 0573 ] WARN: Safety Drill Enabled
[ 0574 ] WARN: Safety Drill Active
[ 0575 ] WARN: Sensory Overload Detected
[ 0576 ] WARN: Sensory Limiter Integrity Check In Progress
[ 0577 ] WARN: Limiter Breach Detected
[ 0578 ] WARN: Failure in Limiter Observer
[ 0579 ] WARN: Simulated Shock Entered
[ 0580 ] WARN: Rebooting Limiter Observer
[ 0581 ] INFO: Limiter Observer Operational
[ 0582 ] WARN: Simulated Shock Exit
[ 0583 ] WARN: Safety Drill Deactivated
[ 0584 ] INFO: System Normal
[ 0585 ] INFO: Player Exited Game
