The wind howls as the leaves of trees rush by on all sides. The dirt path below, worn from the constant press of feet, is once again flattened by the descent of a quick step before the foot rapidly rises again. The sharp, rhythmic breaths, in beat with the metronome of footsteps, continue un-ending as the boy continues to run along the forest path.
The view of trees and many leaves in the canopy above is broken occasionally, allowing the magnificent sky to peak through the overgrowth. The sun above is slowly setting as the sky’s color turns into beautiful oranges, reds, and purples. The chirps of birds and rustling of squirrels add to the peaceful atmosphere. The smell of rich earthy soil and the natural smell of forest leaves fill the air, purging it of the smell of humanity. As the boy runs, he can feel his mind clear. Sure, his face may look serious, and his muscles may be strained, but his mind begins to relax, coming to a state that rarely comes nowadays. With his mind clear, it drifts from the trail in front of him. He thinks of the races he’d run, the medals he’d earned. He thinks towards his future, imagining himself as a star runner, the likes of which the world has never seen.
He sees his figure of a young adult standing 5’10’’ with a lean yet powerful build, racing through the country with his opponents left in the dust behind him. He sees his black curly hair trailing behind with the tips becoming sun-kissed. Each stride he makes is powerful and confident, and the finish line is in sight. As fast as the thought appears, it fades.
His mind drifts to the more fantastical, he sees a powerful dragon flying high and fast, behind it stands a mountain strong and tall, yet alone among a sea of trees. Mist falls from the mountain, revealing from beneath it a rushing river that cuts through the forest. Then the image passes as he ponders how a fantasy world would work, and his mind is drawn to an image that he has seen more and more recently, the image of an odd-looking 3D stick figure in the position of a ballerina spinning with their head back. The image invokes a feeling of movement and change.
The boy's head crests a hill, allowing him to spot a clearing ahead, and beyond it lay the last half mile to his home. His mind remains focused on remaining strong through the final stretch, to maintain the pace, to keep his head up and body tall. When he enters the clearing, the tranquility of the forest does not follow, abandoning him to the chaotically dull life that is human society. As his feet come upon the driveway, and his pace slows, he lets out a deep breath, as his run comes to a close.
*Beep* a sound comes from the watch as he clicks the end button
Distance: 5.13 mi
Time: 35:58
Pace: 7:01/mi
Reads the watch summary after the activity ends.
“Wheew, that was a good run,” the boy says as he walks up the steps to the front door.
When he enters the house and sees his father around the corner, he says, “5 miles at 7:01.”
And his father smiles “That's good. I’m glad to see you getting back into shape, Josh.”
“Yeah,” Josh replies, “The last year was rough, but if I can keep this up, I’ll definitely be able to do cross country at college.” As he speaks, he walks up the stairs to his room to take a shower.
As I enter the shower, I think, ‘The run definitely felt good, didn’t feel like a struggle to keep the pace. I’m nearly back, Now all I need is to get a nice dose of motivation and emotions, and I’ll be truly back.’
As the hot water stings against my back and my hair becomes nice and smooth under the water's onslaught, I start to feel more free and relaxed. ‘I wonder if I would have managed to win at states this year if I hadn’t needed to move. Maybe I could have even gotten a girlfriend, or even just a nice group of friends in general.’
“Huuh”
I put the shampoo in my hair, then move to lather up with soap as my mind wanders. ‘With AI working as everyone is saying it is, it’s definitely the path I need to take in college, it’s the best chance I’ve got at being anything in this world today.’ With the soap done, I wash out the shampoo and move on to the conditioner. ‘If only the world were more… fantastical. Isn’t that the allure of fantasy? It gives everyone the power to have a level of control in life unimaginable to the modern person. And sure, some hater might say, ‘Oh, that’s only because you think you’re gonna be the one with magic while everyone else doesn’t, meaning that what you really want is power over others, not magic’ or something to that effect. And sure, there is merit to that, but, they're wrong.’
As I continue to think, I lather the conditioner through my curly hair, taking the knots out, and comb my fingers through. ‘I mean, sure, I think there is a reason that most power fantasies will send the main character back to a time when they knew less and somehow use the knowledge of physics as well as being magically the only person who thought to meditate… yes magic can be utilized as means to become more powerful than one's current standing, and that can be empowering, but I think that magic has merit beyond that. I think the fact that it can allow simple people to be able to gather together and have a reasonable chance to threaten a corrupt institution gives it a certain allure. Even the simplest aspect of making the basic aspects of life, from chores to housing to sanitation, into simple tasks requiring only the smallest of efforts makes it easier for us to live without being so reliant on someone or something we don’t believe in. Magic is the embodiment of taking your independence into your own hands, making your reliance on someone a choice rather than a necessity!’
Now that my hair has been thoroughly washed and my body cleaned, I turn off the shower and dry off with a towel. After that, I put on some clothes, roll out for a half hour and stretch for another. Now I’m off to our twice-a-month family dinner… Hurray. I just hope we don’t get into a fight.
“So how’s work going, Dad,” I ask across the table to my father.
“Same as it’s been for the past few months, we’re still trying to really get a hang of the new tech so that we can start trying to implement it into our computers,” he states after he finishes chewing the chicken curry.
“Why has it been taking so long? It seems like you should have been able to at least start making some headway, given that the earlier team was able to determine its uses for speeding up computers, right?” I ask, curious about why this ‘super-important’ project that had forced us to move seemed to be becoming a wasteful time sink.
“The issue with that is that the only reason the earlier team was able to make that much headway was that they piggybacked off the work of a massive government-sponsored project that the tech’s company is working on. The bigger problem is that we have a much smaller budget and team, and this tech works nothing like what we're used to, for the god’s sake, the machine language it uses doesn’t even use English. It uses this weird runic alphabet that can be built in any direction and has to loop back on itself, we haven’t even managed to make a proper compiler/ checker for the code!” He says as his voice steadily becomes more and more irritated.
“Honey, calm down. I know you and your team can do it; you were the first to make a workable model for quantum computers,” Mother says with a soothing yet confident tone.
“I know. It’s just we upended our whole life for this project, and if it doesn’t turn out, it will feel like I did it all for nothing.”
“Don’t worry, dear, your team will get the hang of it, and then you’ll use the tech to double the processing speed of our computers. Then I can work on making it ready for use on shelves. I believe in you, just like the rest of the company does.”
“I know it’s just I-”
*Creek* *dvmmm*
“I thought Samantha was studying at a friend's house for her last Final Exam. Why’s she back?” Dad asks.
“I dunno, maybe she finished up already,” I propose as the sound of the garage door closing sounds.
“Yeah, I guess,” Mom ponders, “But it’s her chem final tomorrow, so I’d be surprised.”
Samantha opens the door carrying her book bag on her back and keys in her left hand. Her face is calm, though there are bags under her eyes, likely remnants of the earlier nights spent studying.
“Hey, I’m back,” she says, slinging off her backpack after placing her keys on the counter. “The chem exam got pushed back a day due to some extenuating circumstances, so Chelcy wanted to get some sleep to recover. I thought that that was a wonderful idea, so here I am!”
“Do you want to sit down for some dinner before you go to bed then, dear? I made chicken curry with plenty of extra,” Mom asks.
“Hmm… Yeah, that sounds good, haven’t eaten anything yet, and it smells really good, Mom!” She says with what almost seems like a glint in her eyes.
“Well, grab yourself a serving then. Your father was just telling us about work and how he and his team are confident in their success,” Mom says with a smile toward Dad.
“Hmm, yes, confident. I certainly remember describing our feelings that way… totally,” He says, smiling right back before making an exaggerated frown and indicating a tear falling by trailing a finger from his eye down his face.
Mom giggles while Samantha looks between them with confusion, then dawning comprehension. ‘Despite the pains of the last year, I’m happy we stayed together as a family rather than trying to split up,’ I think to myself as a small smile appears on my face.
While Samantha finishes putting her stuff down, gets her food, and sits at the table, Dad starts talking more about his work. He notes things we have discussed before today, sprinkled with new insights. His main issue is the difficulty of interfacing with the tech. It is essentially a processor, though it also has aspects of a GPU, so its ability to be nearly twice as fast as the current model will be groundbreaking… if they can get it to work. Alas, to do that, they’ll need to not only be able to effectively communicate with the device to get it to work as they wish, but they also need to come up with a workable way to translate other code into the language that the tech runs on.
I have asked before as to why the company (Penumbra) he’s working with isn’t helping them; however, he says that it was not a lack of help, but rather that they, too, do not have the solution. They had developed the tech for something entirely different, though Dad isn’t sure what beyond that it’s part of that government project, and the work Dad’s team is doing, while possible, is not something it was initially built for. As such, his team has to do a lot of work to reduce it to its core components so they can rework it for computer processors.
He mentions something new that a work colleague told him about the government project earlier today. Specifically, they note how one part of the project was complete and would be made available to the public tomorrow. A full dive pod accompanied with a game built for use with it. Technically there have been announcements about the tech’s development for the past year, with many having already pre-ordered. However, the information about the project’s completion and that it has been the product of a joint project between the government and Penumbra Inc. is news.
“Wait, the full dive tech that everyone has been raving about is being developed by Penumbra, the same Penumbra that is working with you to develop a revolutionary new CPU!” I exclaim in surprise. He has made no secret about the company he works with. It is simply that Penumbra’s connection to the Full dive tech has been kept on the down low… well, until tomorrow, I guess.
“Yeah, I was surprised too. The cooler bit is that my Penumbra associate mentioned that they could give us a discount on the pod, so we’ll have enough to share. They explained it was because it would be helpful for me to use the pod as it may increase my understanding of the tech. Additionally, there’s an initiative by the government to have bright youths test the software, and both you and your sister qualify!” He says, beaming with pride.
“Wait, how many are we getting,” I ask, curious.
“And how much will it cost,” my mom suddenly asks quite seriously.
“Don’t worry, mine is free as it’s part of the joint project, and the two for the kids are half off, totaling $500 or the cost of the one unit I had in pre-order,” He says while making calming motions.
“We each get our own!” my sister says with perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm. “It will be clean,” she says under her breath.
“Hey, you have no room to talk. Do you remember how dirty your room got earlier in the semester!”
“I was swamped with schoolwork. I didn’t have time to clean,” she says, her face red with embarrassment while her eyes blaze with indignance.
“Well, it won’t be a problem regardless, so stop squabbling, or that may change,” says Mom sternly.
“Yup,” ”Umm Hmm,” we say in unison.
“Good.”
After that, the dinner went peacefully as we discussed each other's days and then put away the dishes. Then my sister and I went to our rooms as Mom and Dad went to the couch to watch some tv.
I wake up in the morning with an idea already in mind of what I will do today. First, I’ll go on a run. Then I’ll shower, roll out, and get something to eat. Next, I will research what is known about the pod and game. After that, the government should have announced the pod’s completion, so I’ll call Alex to see what he knows.
…
Which does mean I need to leave my nice, fluffy, soft bed to face this cold world! Sometimes I really hate that I’m good at running, cause it means that I need to run, all the time. Well, these legs aren’t gonna run themselves.
“Huuuh”
*creek*
After I get on my shorts and shoes, I set off for a 6-mile run. Well, first, I warm up, but that’s not important. The first mile is a slog, as always, but once I’m totally in the zone, the run really comes to life. You start to get a certain feeling as you run; most know it as runner’s high. You don’t really feel happy, but you do feel relaxed. You get into this state where your mind can just wander to whatever you want to think about, be it the next race, some exciting book idea you’re workshopping, or anything else. And you can see what you’re thinking about, or at least I can. The running becomes sub-conscious. You hardly even notice it; you just go.
On this run, I thought about, well, running. Specifically, why people generally don’t like it. ‘I think people don’t like to run because they’ve never gotten to the point where it’s more than a simple task. What I’ve learned from dropping running and having to build it up from scratch, is that there is a definitive difference in what being active feels like when you have good cardio and when you don’t. That time when I was at school and jogged/ran ¾ of a mile and felt winded was a slap in the face. I had once been able to easily run a few miles without feeling it, all because I had achieved a level of fitness that made simple exercises feel like what walking is for most. I think if anyone gets to running 3-5 miles 5 days a week, once they get used to it, they will be in a whole new world!’
Then I try to figure out how I can world-build a society that runs like 30 miles a day. ‘What if they have city-like locations in major junction points around the continent? But you would only stay there for a season, so for example, they could settle in the winter and summer like nomadic tribes used to. Except the locations of the settlements are super far. Maybe they live in a long mountain range that spans the continent. Maybe on the northern and southern side, there have been massive projects to pacify the terrain into usable land for civilization, and the rest is sparse so…’
“Okaaayy,” I say as I sit in my chair and turn on my computer.
“Now let's see what’s out there on this,” I mutter as my computer loads.
I do some googling, finding some interesting results. While I was foam rolling, the press release about the tech was posted. There are some details that Dad had not mentioned that caught my interest. First is that the government sponsorship extended to the game, with specific emphasis on the relevance of the magic system to modern industries. There is mention of possible further collaboration between the government and Penumbra to help draw interest to the game, with no additional information coming at this time. There is also some information on time dilation, but nothing is confirmed. I also checked a small online message board that generally has some good stuff.
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♦Topic: Order and Chaos: Magical Awakening?
In: Boards ► VR ► Full Dive
Tech Master (Original Poster) (Moderator)
Posted on May 31, 2030:
Earlier today, it was announced the previously anticipated Full Dive VR system was a joint project between Penumbra Inc. and the US government. Additionally, the game that was promised to come packaged with the gear was revealed to be a Fantasy MMO called Order and Chaos: Magical Awakening. I want to see what everyone knows of this as well as any information that may not have been obvious until now.
(Showing Page 1 of 1)
► FishingSword
Replied on May 31, 2030:
Well, I have been hearing some curious things in the martial arts world. Promising youths and upcoming talents have been receiving offers to receive a free pod as well as being paid if they log a certain number of hours a week. Not big money, but definitely money.
► Teddymama
Replied on May 31, 2030:
Don't you think it's weird that nobody has heard of Penumbra before this project? They came out of nowhere with a partnership with the government and revolutionary technology that should still be at least a decade away, yet it's available now. All I'm saying is that something seems fishy
► Clay_Balerina
Replied on May 31, 2030:
Somebody get rid of the conspiracy theorist. We need actual info, not some wack conspiracy on how the government is secretly trying to make super soldiers or hacking our brains.
► Teddymama
Replied on May 31, 2030:
I'm not trying to do some conspiracy, I'm simply pointing out that Penumbra has no history, we don't know how they developed technology at least a decade ahead of its time, and they are being very secretive about it. It's entirely reasonable to be a little suspicious in a situation like that.
► Tech Master (Original Poster) (Moderator)
Replied on May 31, 2030:
Okay, both of you made your point, Teddymama has a right to suspicion, but any further discussion would be unhelpful and thus will result in you being blocked.
► CatNinja
Replied on May 31, 2030:
Without trying to look crazy, I've looked around, and it seems like a lot of tech companies have recently been offering positions with experts in deciphering languages. Additionally, there have been sporadic but consistent talk of runes in a lot of tech circles. I don't know why, but it's a pattern that only popped up in the last 6 months, and it's been becoming more prevalent.
End of Page. 1
After reading through the message board as well, I can feel I am scraping the bottom of the barrel with it being so close to the announcement. It is time to call up Alex
“Hey Alex, have you seen the stuff about Penumbra and Order and Chaos”
“Yeah, I had preordered the pod months back. When I had seen the info for it, the project had already had government backing, I had presumed that it was probably to help with training soldiers in the closest thing to real combat without risk of injury.”
“Definitely, but when I was looking around, it seems like there is a lot of focus on getting people to play the game, with emphasis on those with good grades or maybe martial arts. In any case, it seems that there may be more to the government partnership than simply the military.”
“Hmm… yeah, I see where you're coming from, but this could still all be for military training, with the martial artist to test how realistic the combat is and the smart kids to receive feedback on how intuitive the system is and maybe even how the supposed magic system teaches them?”
“Ahh, you’ve got a point. I might just be making mountains from molehills. But it would be interesting if there was more to it, eh.”
“Yes it would, Josh, yes it would, but that would be far too great a boon for little old us in our small meaningless corner of existence. Sigh.”
“Hey, being melodramatically existential is my thing, no stealing!”
“Yes, yes, now when is your pod showing up? I want to see when we can play together. We haven’t seen each other in months. My pod is showing up Wednesday next week.”
“Don’t ignore me! My pod is showing up in 2 days. My dad somehow got it expedited, I guess.”
“Ehh, you might just be close to the distribution center. It’s why you guys ended up moving out there right.”
“Yeah, I guess I’ll see you in-game on Wednesday!”
“Yup, see you when I get my pod!”
“Bye, Alex.”
“Bye, Josh.”
‘Well, I guess that’s that. Don’t really know what I’m gonna do for the next two days. Play video games and read books… Yeah, that sounds nice,’ I think as I settle back into bed, ready to relax during summer break.
Seems like a good hook, will be interested to see how it continues
Thanks, I hope you enjoy the rest of what's up so far!
Awesome story so far. Can't wait for more. When is the next release?
It'll be tomorrow though I'm not sure when I should post it. I've already completed the chapter, but I want to do daily uploads to maximize visibility and growth.
Btw, since you've completed the chapter, do you think that it is too slow and is losing readers? I've written a prologue but I don't like that it reveals a little bit of the machinery behind the curtain.
@jmlightning In all honesty I don't find any problems with it. (Though you probably chose the worst person to answer that question)
@jmlightning The prologue is fine and I think it was a good decision to show a little bit of info about the government and thier relationship with the company. If not, it would have made me overthink about the possibilities. Alot of novels do that and when I figure stuff out I end up finding most of it boring and I just focus on the MC. You've hit the sweet spot between giving me enough info but keeping the main mystery hidden. I'm really liking it so far.
@Dr-Mantis-Tobogan Thanks, I hadn't thought of that angle, but I can see your point. I think you've tipped me over to being convinced in conjunction with the poll I ran.