100th year anniversary
"In the year 2130, the world was a shell of its former self.
Exactly 100 years ago a nuclear war had ravaged the planet, leaving it unrecognizable. Within a few short months, all the major cities of that time had been reduced to rubble, and most of humanity had perished in the ensuing chaos.
The sun had been blocked out by the smoke of the nuclear bombs, and the survivors were left to face a bitter winter that threatened to wipe out what little remained of the population.
To make matters worse, scientists had found out that due to the earth having been blocked from the sun for an extended period of time, the earth was headed to an irreversible coming of a new ice age.
Desperate and hopeless, the few remaining survivors of the war began to accept their fate...
That was until a new organization emerged from the ashes of the old world. The New World Order promised to provide a safe haven for all who remained, regardless of their race or political beliefs. Not only did they promise safety to the remaining people, no, they also promised safety for their next 10 generations.
That is right, just when news broke out that the world was heading to an ice age, did a new organization reveal itself stating to provide a safe spot for each individual and their next generations to come.
This organization was led by the top scientists, engineers, and influential families who had managed to survive the war.
They knew that in order for humanity to survive the coming ice age, the best thing to do was all to work together and live relatively close together.
So this became their plan. Their plan was to construct one massive, weather-proof building to house all of the remaining population for at least one thousand years .
This building needed to withstand temperatures of -1000* Celsius if they were to survive the impending ice age.
The New World Order called their building project "The Line," and reassured the people that their plan was really achievable.
This news brought hope back to the survivors, and they quickly began to rally behind the cause.
Everyone pitched in to help build The Line, and the construction progressed rapidly. Within a few short years, the massive building was completed. If it had taken even one more year, there might not have been enough workers left to finish the job.
A building that spanned for tens of kilometers long, that was completely self-reliant and driven by the highest of technology and that could house billions of people at a time.
In just a few short years it became the reality...
The Line stood as a symbol of hope in a world that had been all but destroyed. The survivors could finally take refuge within its walls, protected from the harsh coldness and the looming ice age."
//OFF
With a quick flick of his wrist, Floki shut off the government's AI-broadcast. It was the same old story that he had heard a hundred times before, nothing new or exciting.
The broadcast always started with a recounting of the nuclear war that devastated the world in 2030, followed by the formation of the New World Order and the construction of the Line.
Then, it delved into the problems that arose as the population grew, and finally, it talked about the advancements in Virtual Reality technology that had become the single important part of life in the Line.
Floki found the broadcast to be boring, as it was always just a one-sided tale told by the government.
He craved to know more... deep inside of him... he longed for more than his pitiful life currently amounted to.
But that seemed to be impossible, it felt like he would live in his cramped little apartment for the rest of his life, he really believed he had no future ahead of him.
It wasn't entirely without reason for him to think this way, currently there was no life outside of the Lines because of the ice age they were living in.
The only reason that they all were still able to live was because they lived in the safety of the Line.
Fortunately the technology has advanced significantly since the past 100 hundred years, and most people actually enjoyed their days. Mainly because of the high-tech VR games that had become widely available.
In these games the people could explore vast and ever-changing worlds, they could go on super realistic adventures that were even more unreal than most of their dreams.
Unfortunately for Floki, life in the Line, wasn't exactly as all the others. Having both his parents die when he was still at a young age made it rough for him.
It was hard for him to live, even though the government supplied him with free housing, it was a lonely life for him.
Being an orphan was though as barely anyone would look down to you with a helping hand.
This had made Floki somewhat resent life and the whole Line in itself.
While others had the leisure to spend all their time in their virtual spaces, Floki could only afford to play these games at set times, at other times he was forced to work, this was because he was considered as the lowest class citizen, so no one cared about him if he were to be forced to do labor in his pitiful life.
Work wasn't common in the Line, as most of the work was already automated. Most citizens never worked a day in their lives, yet they surely knew that the in the lowest levels of the Line, the slaves were doing all their work.
Even worse, the work that mainly had to be done, and that apparently couldn't be automated, was revolved around the sewer network.
So Floki, while being so young of age had to begin working cleaning others people's shit!
Floki was expecially angry at this, seeing that he and the other citizens like him were treated like complete trash.
Life really wasn't fair!
"I'll never forget the way I've been treated." Floki cursed under his breath as he started getting up from his bed.
Before Floki had time to cool down a sound could be heard.
*Ting Ting!*
Floki had just received a new notification from his wrist device. It was a message from the government, reminding all citizens to begin attending the festival at the plaza to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the New World Order.
Floki sighed.
He knew he had to go, it would only make it worse for him if he decided to stay in his room.
He got up from his bed and walked to the small mirror on the wall, checking his appearance.
He knew he didn't look like the rest of the citizens. He was dressed in cheap clothes, with a dirty hoodie covering his dry head. He was rather skinny, with black hair and patches of facial hair. But he didn't care about all this.
As he left his room and walked through the brightly lit corridors of the Line, he couldn't help but notice the excitement and anticipation on people's faces. They were all dressed in their best clothes, with bright smiles on their faces. It was as if they had forgotten about the harsh reality of their lives inside the Lines, at least for a moment.
Floki walked past some VR game arena rooms, hearing the sounds of explosions and gunfire coming from within. He never played these types of games, he enjoyed adventurer games more, where you had to explore a world, uncover it's secrets and grow stronger and wiser the more you played.
The Line was a huge place containing probably billions of people, yet Floki had explored less than 0.001% of it.
As Floki made his way to his designated plaza, he was met with an overwhelming sea of people.
'To imagine that there literally hundreds of thousands of similar plazas scattered around the Line.'
Floki realised as he took in the scene around him.
The entire area was bathed in a spectrum of vibrant colors from the festive decorations that adorned every corner.
A stage had been erected at the center, and a massive screen displayed a PvP tournament that had everyone on the edge of their seats. The crowd erupted into thunderous cheers and applause as the intense battle played out before their eyes.
Floki then spotted Ali, one of the very few people that knew Floki by name.
Ali waved at him from the other side of the plaza. Ali was dressed in better clothes, with a VR gaming helmet hanging around his neck.
"Hmph" Floki mumbled with a smile as he looked back at his own clothes.
'I guess the difference between the lowest level of the Line and the second lowest level is bigger than I thought.'
Floki knew Ali from one of the VR games, and they lived relatively close to each other, so from time to time they hung out.
Floki didn't think badly about Ali, he was a good guy to be around with.
"Hey Floki, over here!" Ali shouted.
Floki walked over to Ali, ignoring the stares from the people around him.
"Hey, what's up?" Floki said, trying to sound casual.
"Man, can you believe it? The greatest VR game ever is coming out tonight!" Ali said, excitement in his voice.
"Yeah, I heard," Floki said, trying to hide his lack of enthusiasm.
"Come on, let's go play some of the other games, I heard that after tonight, all the other games will no longer be available! This has never happened before in the history of the Line!" Ali said, grabbing Floki's arm and pulling him towards the VR game rooms.
Floki resisted, but Ali was stronger. He couldn't help but feel a sense of dread as he was dragged towards the flashing lights and sounds of the VR games.
As they entered the game room, Floki felt a surge of emotions. As he watched Ali put on the helmet and disappear into the virtual world, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy.
For a moment, he felt the urge to join Ali and lose himself in the game. But he couldn't ignore the rumbling of unease in his gut.
He turned and walked out of the game room. The game Ali had just jumped into was one of the more expensive ones.
The way it worked with these game arenas was that you had to pay a small fee to play at their locations. And his allowance wasn't enough to afford this luxury, were he to jump into that game with Ali and he wouldn't have the money left to eat for days.
As he walked further through the plaza, he saw that the festival had turned into a carnival of sorts. There were colorful tents and stalls set up everywhere, selling everything from real food and drinks to trinkets and souvenirs. The air was filled with the sound of music, laughter, and the hum of the virtual reality machines.
Despite his initial reluctance, Floki kept going further through the plaza and eventually found himself drawn to one of the gaming booths at the back of the carnival.
The game being advertised was a dungeon raiding virtual reality experience, and Floki hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should really be wasting his time and money on something so frivolous.
But as he looked around at the crowds of people enjoying themselves, he felt a pang of envy. He wanted to experience something like that, even if it was just in a virtual world.
With a shrug, Floki stepped up to the booth and handed over the fee for the game. The attending AI strapped him into the virtual reality headset, and Floki was transported to a world beyond his wildest imagination.
For the next several hours, he was lost in the game, exploring new areas, meeting new people, and battling fierce monsters. He forgot about his troubles and the monotony of life inside the Lines. In that moment, he felt alive and free.
As the game came to an end, Floki slowly removed the VR headset and felt a wave of disappointment wash over him. The feeling of freedom and excitement that he had experienced in the game was replaced with the harsh reality of his life in the Lines.
He immediately grew a headache. He knew that he would soon have to return to his monotonous routine, confined within the walls of his small room.
One of the biggest drawbacks of the Virtual Reality games and headsets was their time limit. They could only be played for a maximum of six hours, after which the user had to take a break to prevent overstimulation and potential health issues.
This was also one of the big reasons that Floki didn't take the VR games all too serious. While he loved the VR experiences and how great and realistic the games were, Floki didn't find it enough yet to fully compensate for his entrapped life in the Line.
Deep down, Floki also longed for a day to come where the technology would be so advanced that you could stay in the game world for days on end.
If such a day were to come, Floki would probably take the games very seriously by then.
As he looked around the now almost deserted plaza, Floki realized that the festival had already come to an end. He knew that the reason for the sudden emptiness was likely due to the impending launch of the new VR game, which was causing a buzz among the citizens of the Lines.
Despite his lack of interest in the game, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of curiosity. What would this game offer that the others didn't? And would it be worth the hype?
Deep down, Floki also wished for a revolutionary new experience. Imagine a game so great that would be played by all the citizens of all 6 Lines together!
Imagine you could play the game at maximum capacity for multiple days on end without receiving any health problems! Imagine.. imagine everyone having the same starting ground…
Floki looked at the time on his wrist and saw the notification counting down: 10 minutes left till the new VR experience!
'I better hurry up home as well. But I doubt this game will change much of my pitiful life..' Floki thought to himself as he made his way back to his apartment.