Alexander found himself in the midst of whiteness again. It had become his home, and he breathed a sigh of relief upon entering. But as his consciousness entered fully into the game, he traced his hands along his new-found scars, frowning as he looked at himself. 

To distract himself, Alexander decided it was time to decorate his home. He called up an administrator and paced around the room. 

Hello Alexander.

"Hey. I was hoping to get some decorations going for this place."

Of course. I can help with that, but you can only buy basic decorations from me. Special decorations can only be found in the overlayer or at any administrator terminal. 

"That's fine. As long as this place isn't blindingly white anymore."

The next two hours were spent decorating. Alexander decided he wanted a room made of cracked stone, which would be illuminated by the dim orange light of oil-soaked torches. He also put in a massive bed made out of red silk and a desk made out of mahogany. It cost him almost all of his credits, leaving him only 100 left to spend. But it was worth it. 

“Finally,” Alexander muttered as he cracked his knuckles. 

Since this is your first time entering the universe, you are welcome to select a specific destination to arrive at. It can be anywhere except for places that require permissions to enter. If you decide not to choose, a random, yet hospitable, place will be chosen for you. 

"Chicago– always wanted to see the Wil- Sears tower." Alexander said with a smirk. A map suddenly displayed Earth. It zoomed in on Chicago, and it was marked in blue with almost all of what was once Illinois highlighted as well. 

What you call Chicago is currently under control of the United North American Alliance, or UNAA. You are free to enter, but keep in mind that this zone has laws you must abide by, lest you suffer corrective action from the UNAA. Is this where you want to go?

"Yeah. Better meet this UNAA." 

Unlike so many other games, and unlike all of Alexander's possible expectations, there was no theatrics. After the countdown of three seconds, Alexander found himself abruptly in front of the Sears tower. 

Alexander gasped, and almost fell over. He shifted his weight and lifted his hand up at the sun, blocking its blinding rays from his eyes. But through the cracks of his fingers he saw a new world. Before him was a sea of colors. 

Characters bustled the busy streets of Chicago, passing by the startled Alexander without pause. There were Roman legionnaires, people in cat costumes, warriors with tribal tattoos, and people levitating. The world was too diverse for Alexander to contextualize, and he struggled to make sense of it all. 

After some more seconds of dizziness, his eyes finally adjusted. He centered himself and breathed out, his shoulder relaxing. Then, he decided to look at the architecture around him, starting with the tower itself. 

When the game came out, it started as a perfect 1 to 1 recreation of Earth, even down to the plastic pollution. But now this world seems alien. As Alexander looked the building up and down, he noticed messages scrolling across the pristine glass. He sighed, and a lot of his wonder was suddenly displaced– it was an advertisement. In fact, all around him on the famous buildings were advertisements. Apparently, the market didn't die with Terra's reign, it only moved. And it was stronger than ever. 

With another sigh, Alexander started walking, to where he did not know. He just wanted to be a part of the movement of traffic and not an obstruction, so he walked. The traffic of the city was intense, busy, and incredibly noisy. Most people were aimlessly swiping in the air, messing with their heads up display. Of course, it was invisible to Alexander, but he could tell from the hand movements. Everyone, while together, were in their own separate worlds. 

The sounds of their voice calls were not, however, and Alexander heard a great many voices fill the air. There were too many to decipher any specific interaction, and the moods of everyone varied incredibly. Still, with how many people were somewhere else mentally, traffic still flowed. It was like an orchestrated dance, every body moving with purpose and exactness. Alexander tried to fit in. 

The smells of the city were now hitting Alexander, and it felt dirty. Of course, he had been in cities before, but the town reeked of industry and exchange. Air vents blew viscous smoke, food from vendors wafted towards him, and engines burning in the streets dissipated their exhaust. Not only that, but there was a slight drift of gunpowder, and that’s when he noticed the military guards. 

Soldiers, drones, and mech units were posted regularly around the city, the deep blue hues of the UNAA pointing them out. They were in the open, and they were meant to be seen. But the scariest part was the battle-damage. Not one military unit was pristine, with some barely having any designs left after whatever fight they had seen. Helmets were scarred, weapons were dented, and drones were chipped. 

Soon, Alexander realized just how much he had walked. He had no destination in mind, so joining the rest, he pulled up his own HUD. Two new tabs appeared. One was labeled "quests" and the other was labeled "internet." He selected the quests tab. It was blank, bar a message.

You have no current quests. Explore the world to find more! Quests can be granted to you by players, non-playable characters, administrators, and even Terra herself!

Alexander sighed. He would have to find his own direction. He selected the other new tab. It was a web page with the latest news from Terra, and the most popular news sites, along with a search bar and other features browsers had before Terra’s reign began. 

He wanted to read through all of the newest sites, but he didn't want to get too distracted while walking. He decided to grab some food, the smells now convincing him. He used the search bar to find some local restaurants, and decided to stop by a local pizza joint. It was something new, as was everything in this game. Every copywrite, trademark, patent, rule, law, ordinance, and supreme court case was thrown out the window, and it left anyone who had the will to try and do something new. I hope they still make Chicago style pizza; I heard it was the best damn pizza on Earth. 

When Alexander clicked on the directions button, a blue line appeared in his vision that showed a path to the restaurant. The journey would take twenty minutes. 

The walk was straight forward, the best part being the new GPS system. As he walked, he also thanked Terra for displaying current traffic, weather, highlighting obstructions in his path with a blue outline, and displaying the state of street lights in front of him. As he got to his first crosswalk, Alexander also noticed that street lights had evolved. Cross-walks were highlighted red when busy, and white when available; street lights were now holographic; and there was now a voice with every intersection telling him when he could move. 

Soon enough, Alexander arrived at his destination. He had to get through a few scam artists calling out his name, and even a few clans trying to recruit him, but eventually he made it. It was a small, brick establishment, and had a holographic sign out front; it was a large Italian man eating a slice of pepperoni pizza. He chuckled and went inside, where a host greeted him. She was tall, with blond hair, and had a variety of strange tattoos on her face. 

"Just you today, Alexander?" She asked, almost in a robotic voice. 

"Yep. Some kind of corner booth would be nice." Alexander replied. He liked how his name was public and people could see it; it almost gave him a false sense of popularity. 

"Of course, right this way." She showed him the way forward, and Alexander saw an eclectic scattering of guests. There were UNAA soldiers on break, two barbarians at a table, and a shadowy figure hidden away in a corner. He brushed it off and followed her up some stairs and into a booth. 

"When you're ready, just use the table to order what you want, and someone will bring it out to you." The hostess said as she walked away. Her username, which she chose to be available, read Heather. 

Just like with the real world, while a lot of jobs were done by machines, there were still many jobs that no one wanted a robot for. Waitresses, cooks, service jobs; It was a good way to make credits without having to go out and kill something, or someone. 

Alexander ordered a beer and some garlic knots while he waited for his pizza– a small deep-dish pepperoni.  Then, he started looking through the news. 

Fifty credits later and two hours of almost non-stop reading news articles later, Alexander wobbled and rubbed his forehead. His head hurt, but at least he sort-of understood the state of affairs. 

When the game was released, there was no single institution that was able to transfer power. No one had power or wealth in the world anymore. The only thing to start groups was some sort of allegiance to the old structures of power. The UNAA was no exception. Led by a mysterious upstart named John Walker, it was a conglomerate of what was once American and Canadian citizens. It sprung up incredibly quickly after the initial release of the game, which was roughly three months ago. 

Their banner was a blue flag with a silver star in the middle, and they stood for some of the same principles as the United States of America once did. In their videos, they talked heavily about civil rights, democracy, and the rule of law. They promised elections once their power was secure, and they seemed popular enough. So far, they’d captured some of the major cities in the US, including what was once Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, much of Texas, and most of Washington state. Most places kept their original names for the sake of simplicity, but some groups who conquered territories decided to start with new names and new identities. Except for New York. For no reason that Alexander could find, everyone was now calling the city New New York. 

One of the other major sources of power in the North American region was the New California Republic. The flag was a bear on green grass, with a white background, and a golden sun in the top left corner. This group was led by a council of five members who were once pro-gamers, and who had decided to conquer California. So far, they had succeeded, with almost all of California under their control. And while they weren't in open war against the UNAA, the two powers did not get along. 

Canada was mainly under the control of the UNAA, with a few of the major cities such as Ottawa, under its control and many outposts dotting the land. Mexico was the exact opposite, being rather divided. While the New California Republic fought to gain more control of the region, having many outposts themselves, they contended with the UNAA and many roaming warbands. 

 

Hawaii and Alaska were not under UNAA control and the New California Republic didn’t have any footholds there either. Instead, one of the first, and now one of the largest, corporations had turned them into massive corporate resorts. The company itself, Rathbone Inc., started their claim to fame pioneering laser pistol technology in the first days of the game, and are now the single largest producer of plasma and laser based weaponry. Their factories, located within either the heart of Alaska, far from its beautiful shores of corporate hotels, or in the gulf of Texas, produce millions of weapons. They have their own security, police, utilities, and have declared themselves a nation-state. The executives of the company also lead the “country,” and the class system of the country is based on company rank. Alexander scrunched up his face in confused disgust, trying to rationalize a company-country. But then he remembered Jamestown. 

Central and South America consisted of many small city states securing power, mercenary troops looking for conflict, roaming warbands, and the occasional major conflict. The region was considered chaotic, but there were many alcoves of peace. 

Europe was predominately controlled by the New European Union, or NEU. It was made up of countless Europeans who wanted to live peacefully in their homelands, so they banded together to make that dream happen. Still, there were many others who didn't like the EU staying alive and just being re-labeled, so many warbands and mercenary bands engaged in skirmishes with the NEU. The NEU was led by delegates from many regions, with members who voted on certain actions. On the military side of things, several generals from before the game were recruited to help organize militias. 

Russia split into many, many different zones based on ethnicities and political histories. And many eastern EU countries decided not to join the NEU and go on their own. And while the region is considered chaotic, it is currently at a suspenseful stalemate, as each area wants to generally stick to their own. 

Asia too, split into many different groups all vying for independence and control. The largest source of power near China is the HKA, or the Hong Kong Army. They're a persistent and powerful group that aims to fight against suppression in the Asian theatre, and they’re slowly taking over China. 

Many countries like Vietnam and Korea re-joined and have developed strong borders while they focus on unification. This trend continued into central Asia, with many ethic groups deciding to stay together and avoid foreign influence, such as the Tibetans. 

The middle-east, however, was a complete and utter mess. With the power base of Arab princes and the economic power of each country stripped away, groups re-structured and fought against each other harshly for dominance. Ethnicity and race were what reunited groups and cultures, and the region as a whole, from Saudi Arabia to Russia, was on fire. But the one thing they all agreed on was they hated meddling foreigners. Basically, nobody wanted to come in, and they didn’t want you either. 

And finally Africa. It had become quite peaceful in most regions, with citizens focusing on building up their homeland and figuring out their identity on the new world stage. Still, it is tentative as some groups seek to capture large areas, but no major wars are currently taking place. In fact, a lot of Africans decided to become mercenaries for armed conflicts all across the globe, trying to make it big in the new world. 

 

-----

 

Alexander blinked a few times, staring at the empty plates. He didn’t feel like moving, his mind was still trying to orient itself in this brave new world. A voice interrupted him, and he saw the same waitress before him. She had been standing there for a second, waiting for him to get out of his trance. 

“All done?” She asked. 

“Yeah, thanks.” Alexander shook his head, hoping to remove the awkwardness of the situation. It didn’t work. 

He yawned and stretched as she left. So much information... Rubbing his face, his mind now in reality, he looked around once again. The place had become quite busy, with many characters filling the seats. It was lunch time, Alexander guessed, as he looked at the clock on his HUD and started to leave. A few people glanced at him as he left, Alexander trying not to return the favor. 

Walking around the town, he let the breeze and sun help clear his mind. This town was a weird mix of familiar and new. While the basic structure of Chicago remained intact, the layers of identity were warped. Neon filled the air, and while the smog and vapors from smoke and factories threatened to cover the sky, the brilliant sun shone through, illuminating the strange scene before him. The lunch rush was in full swing, and the vehicles that filled the streets were diverse. There were animals from mammoths, giant sloths, and slugs traveling the streets and sidewalks chaotically, and futuristic hovercraft filling the air space above him. He struggled to fit in.

The infrastructure, too, was being morphed at a rapid pace. While everything that happened in this world had to be physically possible in reality, the limits of technology were unparalleled now. Drones could perform the work of a thousand men in one hour, and new things were being built all around him.

But this was life more than anything. The game made things clear, crisp, and serene. Any imperfection in his body was miraculously fixed. His lungs were full of air, his heart was strong, and his feet felt sure of their direction. This was, truly, the best drug on the market.

Alexander tried to think of what life was like before, of what he was like before, as he walked hurriedly through the crowds of the city. He searched as far back as he could, recollecting his life into concrete ideas and general themes, but they were bland. They were like the tan paint suggested at a supply store, one covered in dust and only reserved for the dentist office. His mind rebelled; All he wanted was the new and vibrant now. 

Still, there was work to be done. As he walked, he finally opened his friends tab. He accepted the two friend requests he had received from Jessica and Jacob, and sent them both messages of what he had been up to so far, also wishing them luck in their own endeavors. There were no messages from the other members from the tutorial, and he felt a strange calling to message Jade. He decided to hold off on it, though. Right now, he needed a quest. 

Alexander looked around him and noticed a plethora of advertisements for quests. In fact, he even started seeing notice boards filled with a variety of quests, from simple, low level quests to higher end dangerous quests. Yet he knew that the real important ones you could only get by knowing the right people or being in the right circles. He figured that for now, he should focus on administrative quests to get some levels. These were renowned for their unoriginality, but also their usefulness to get your foot in the door. Other quests, like fetching a certain item, even got nicknames like "gopher" quests or "fetch quests." Armed with the information he’d gathered from his lunch, Alexander decided he wanted to get to the Administrative outpost in space for some work. . 

Alexander searched on the GPS to find some kind of "space port." He found out that there were very few actual space ports in the game, and one of the major ones was here in Chicago. The O'Hare airport had been completely remodeled the second the UNAA took over. It was now a multi-use port, being able to host and send all types of air and space vessels, both run by magic and mechanical means. Still, ships in the game were extremely new, and most were repurposed military and civilian craft.

Alexander stopped in his tracks, however, when he looked at the fees. Five hundred credits just to get up there?!? And over two thousand to get to Mars? Alexander started to look for alternatives. He found out that teleportation was a thing, and found a teleportation terminal not far from him. But what he saw was even worse. Five thousand just to go to fucking administrative post? Alexander looked through the net. While teleportation was the single most efficient and effective way to get around, it was by far the most costly way to do so. Alexander felt defeated. But then he remembered the countless administrative terminals throughout the city, and smacked his forehead in frustration. 

He walked over to the nearest one and looked it over. It did indeed have numerous quests, but it also hosted an open market. He looked in his inventory and found three items. His kilt, his necklace name Prizes that apparently couldn't be sold, and The Death Knight's Hand. He hovered over the item and looked at its description. 

The Death Knight's Hand: Rank S– You slew the Death Knight and captured the thing's hand! The magical flesh has the strange characteristic of never decomposing, and the inherent magic within makes this a superb biological implant! By replacing your hand with this, you are able to use Necromancy without being a class capable of doing so (restrictions apply to certain classes.) You also gain a stat bonus to strength and proficiency in massive weaponry. Finally, each melee attack while using this hand slightly heals you and has the small chance to inflict necrosis on your enemy! 

Alexander raised an eyebrow. Seems overpowered, but I don't wanna use it. I don't like the idea of necromancy. It really isn't my style.  Out of curiosity, however, Alexander tried to see what would happen if he put it in his implant slot. Two warnings popped up. 

You need to see someone who is able to implant this on you!

Due to you class of *Demon* you are incapable of using any type of magic other than your class'.

Alexander shrugged. "Thought so," he muttered as he searched up the item on the open market. Unsurprisingly, the item was rare on the market. He looked at the open listings and the history of the item; only a few hundred had ever been sold. The current prices definitely caught his eye. The highest set price was several tens of thousands of credits. Still, he didn't want to just sell it either, so he decided to just hold onto it for now. 

He looked at quests next. Each quest had its own rating, similar to the rating system of items. Each rating came with its own level range, he found out, after looking it up on the internet. They went as follows: 

F: 1-25

D: 25-100

C: 100-200

B: 200-500

A: 500-1000

S: 1000+

SS: 10000+

SSS: 100000+

Alexander was really only in the "D" tier, which he was fine with. He was shocked with some of the level requirements, remembering that some of the highest levels he saw on the internet were only a couple hundred, if that. But he figured most quests beyond "C" were meant to be done in groups. For shits and giggles, he looked to see any quests beyond "A." Looking through the internet, and any history he could find on the administrative terminal, he found out that only a few S quests have ever been found. And from what he could gather, only one had ever been successfully completed. That quest, one to kill a dragon in Yellowstone National Park, was a central part of the foundation of the UNAA. After one week in the game, John Walker had led a group of one thousand high-leveled fighters into the park. Only a few survived, but the levels, money, and resources they required were enough to jump start an empire. 

The administrative terminal itself did not offer quests above C, and the message boards on the internet barely had a few B quests. He decided to look through some D rank quests through the administrators. They all looked unappetizing and with few rewards. Still, he kept looking, and eventually found one that caught his eye. 

Gather three goudeleaves: Rank D– Gather three of the infamous goudeleaves. They are hidden in forests and native to those near Lake Michigan. These leaves are buried deep within caves, and are farmed by the indigenous arachnoid-culven, a species of massive spiders that use the plant for raising its young. A fully formed goudeleaf can only be found deep within a mother's web. Good luck! 

Alexander didn't mind spiders, and it had a high enough credit reward, so he picked it. Once he selected it, a notification appeared in his quests tab. He selected it and saw all the details there. A map also appeared in the quests tab, marking a location. But unlike the convenient directions and visible blue lines he enjoyed so much before, there was no bearing for him to follow. He would have to plot out a course to these strange, new plants.