3 Chapter 3: The Storm!
Chapter 3: The Storm!
"Sir, you need to make more space if you want to set the machine here," One of the engineers told Aakesh, as the room would become overcrowded once the machine settled here.
Aakesh nodded and requested that the nearby deliveryman help him remove the chairs and table from the room. The deliveryman did as told since the work wasn't free.
A few minutes later, only the bed and the boxed virtual device were left in the room.
Since the room now had sufficient space for a person to walk through, the engineer began unboxing the device. The deliverymen still hadn't left since the device inside the box was heavy, and it was their duty to help the engineer set up the device.
The deliverymen followed the instructions of the engineer and took the first item out of the box. It was a pod-like device. Just from looking at it, Aakesh was confident that he would comfortably be able to sleep in it.
It wasn't the end, as the deliveryman took out a spherical device the size of a football after the pod. Following that, a few more components were taken out by them.
It was now time for the engineer to work. He carefully took out the spherical device and went behind the pod.
Time flew by, and after around an hour of work, the virtual device was set up.
"Sir, the device is set up. All the basic information about the pod is already available in the user manual. If even then you need the company's help, our helpline number is printed on the back of the manual. It's active 24/7," The engineer respectfully told Aakesh.
Aakesh nodded and gave extra tip to the deliveryman and the engineer for their help.\
After they left, Aakesh opened the user manual and began studying it.
[The virtual device is created by H-Power.
The model name is V1.
The device is powered by a nuclear fusion reactor…,]
Just from reading the user manual, Aakesh was confident that this product is way outside the bounds of what humanity could create at this time.
Electricity generation from nuclear fusion was several times tougher than fission, as it was very difficult and expensive to control the temperature created by the atoms when they fused together. But here, a device the size of a football was a nuclear fusion reactor powering the virtual device.
Aakesh attempted to find information about the company H-Power online, but all he discovered was that it was the organization responsible for the upcoming VRMMORPG Myth Online. It was already known to him, as the diary left by Manish mentioned this.
The diary, like the internet, said nothing more about this H-Power than it was behind the game.
While Aakesh was preparing himself to set out on a new adventure from tomorrow, a virtual meeting filled with solemn faces was taking place on Earth.
"Do we know anything about this H-Power?" The US president was the first to break the silence.
"No," The different prime ministers and presidents had the same response.
Since the website for the game had become active, it had caused a storm around the world due to an unknown company behind the launch.
"Can we get the information on how many virtual devices have been sold and who bought them?" The Indian prime minister suddenly asked.
The Indian government tried to track the purchases made by Indians through the websites, but they had been unable to crack the site. Since the Indian government didn't boast the fastest supercomputers or best hacking capabilities, the PM asked about it in the virtual meeting.
Americans and Chinese held the strongest capabilities in this department, so the question was directly posted to them.
Similar to what Indian experts faced, the Chinese and Americans did as well. Furthermore, the government- or privately set cameras failed to capture the deliveries to the owners of the machines.
It was as if everything had appeared out of thin air.
"Can't we just check through the payment receipts from the bank afterall the buyers must have paid through the available bank accounts?" One of the presidents suddenly chimed in.
The other PMs and Presidents ignored the suggestion since it was the first thing they checked, but for some reason, the transaction happened in every existing bank account.
Their faces turned grave as no politician who had reached the top seat of their country liked things beyond their control.
"Sir, we have got a mail from an unknown source," The PMO secretary came rushing in and whispered to the Indian PM.
The PM disconnected the virtual meeting and asked the secretary to share the content of the mail.
[Dear PM,
We aren't your enemy nor do we want to harm the world. We know you want to find out who has bought the virtual devices so that you can control them. But beware, we don't like anyone's interference.
To show our goodwill, we will tell you that 314,892 Indians have bought virtual devices. We have also sent one virtual device to your personal house.
Enjoy Myth Online and be witness to the grand future!]
The secretary, instead of telling the PM the contents, turned the laptop toward him. It was written in Hindi to make the PM understand it easily.
The PM's face turned grave when he read the content, especially the last sentence.
All the time whenever someone talked about the grand future, it was mostly related to war.
At the same time, the not-hidden warning also chilled the PM's heart. India was one of the most powerful countries to ever exist on this planet, and yet, some company dared to threaten the PM to his face.
"Sir, we have a serious issue," Rushing in, the home minister said.
A bad feeling rose in the PM's heart, but since he was the top post, he calmed himself down and asked.
"The website has become active again. This time, they are selling cheaper virtual devices," the minister said, and at the same time, he pushed his phone toward the PM.
The PM sighed in frustration as he saw the content on the website. This time, the mysterious company H-Power was selling virtual helmets and watches.
The virtual watch was the lowest type of virtual device to enter the game slated to be launched tomorrow. The virtual helmet was higher than the watch but lower than the device in the hierarchy.
What made the PM more helpless was the unlimited quantity of watches, while there were a billion helmets available for sale.
The Indian PM wasn't the only head of state to get the mail. America, China, Russia, England, France, Pakistan, Israel, North Korea, Iran, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Turkey, South Africa, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine: these countries' heads of state got the mail and the virtual device as well.
The only thing these countries had in common was that they either had nuclear weapons or once did.
"The world will change." Every head of state in possession of the mail sighed with helplessness simultaneously at different corners of the world.
Not long after, another virtual meeting was set between the heads of state. They came to a unanimous decision to keep this matter silent.
After the meeting, any other person other than the head of state knowledgeable about the mail was killed, irrespective of their status in the real world.
The countries censored the internet so no one found out about the killing, Since the game was inevitable, the government undid all the restrictions on searching platforms, and the game launch site became the most popular site in the span of an hour.
The virtual watch only sold for a thousand dollars, while the helmet cost ten thousand dollars. The poverty on earth hadn't diminished to an extent where everyone could afford one thousand USD, but for some reason, each existing bank announced the financing schemes for the watch.
The citizens could buy the watch or helmet directly through the bank.
For the watch, the citizens would only need to apply with their identification, and they would become the owners of the watch. As for payment, they would have to pay the remaining sum in the span of two years without any extra cost.
As for the helmet, the criteria to get the finance of ten thousand dollars were strict, but the repayment schedule was still with zero interest rate.
The announcement was sent to every customer through their phones since the data was directly sent by the government. In no time, the announcement sent a frenzied wave across the world.
The governments didn't know who bought the devices, but the company left the lids on the watches and helmets open. As if anticipating this response from the government, the company did not conceal the buyer's details this time.
[Ding!]
Aakesh was working out when he suddenly heard the message alert from his phone. His phone was set on DND, and yet he heard the message notification, so he went to check it.
Aakesh raised his eyes in surprise as it was the message from his bank, informing him about the offers for the virtual watch and helmets.
The diary didn't speak anything about this, so he hurriedly went on the website and saw the virtual watch and helmets on sale.
The helmets were limited in quantity, and more than sixty percent of them had already been sold.
Aakesh then scrolled down the site to check on the differences between the watch, helmet, and device.
When Aakesh read the difference, he couldn't help but get surprised. The virtual watch gave a sense of ninety percent reality, with a stay time of twelve hours in a day; the remaining twelve hours would be used for it to charge. The virtual helmet increased that duration to eighteen hours a day. While the device boasted a twenty-four hours continuous stay.
At the same time, the time difference between the world inside the game and the earth was also published on the site. The time inside the game would flow two times as fast as the earth's time.
Many might feel that the ten percent difference between the helmet and the device's cost didn't make sense for only six hours of extra time. Aakesh didn't feel such.
The game was bound to change the world, and so the longer someone could stay here, the more benefits they would receive.
Earlier, he didn't buy the device for his parents since it would take a huge chunk of their savings. But now that the helmets were on sale, he ordered two of them for his parents.
It was still three in the afternoon, so the day was far from over. Tomorrow at 8:00 AM IST, the game's server will open. Since the server was the same for every timezone, some would start the game with fresh minds, while some would start in the middle of the night.
The two helmets came only two hours after ordering. Aakesh explained the helmet to his parents. They then went to a nearby restaurant for a family dinner.
Aakesh couldn't sleep that night due to what was to come tomorrow. And after what felt like an eternity, the game server opening time was only a few minutes away.
***
A/N: Please comment, what do you feel about the book up till now?
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