3 Preparing for the Aeu Drive

I was in the hospital for a couple weeks.

There was lacerations across my body that now were stitched up. Bruising and broken bones were about the same. Ranging down limbs, over heads and all across my chest. The doctors managed to get me bandaged up and some rest would heal up those wounds.

There was a more serious concern, however. When I had been attacked by those hounds so long ago, I got poisoning in some of the auditory nerves in my ears. It was so bad, that the earbuds had to be surgically implanted just to work properly. Which wasn't bad, because the surgery was a success. But it had to link to my remaining auditory nerves.

And the teenagers from last night had ripped those earbuds out, and with that, severing my last connection to any sound that I could hear before.

The surgeons had their work cut out for them, but they managed to suture any bleeding from within the ear canal and even managed to close off any breaches within the head. Even with all that though, they couldn't repair the immense damage to the nerves. I now had complete systemic auditory neuropathy. Which explained the silence. I had grown even more accustomed to my sister's sign language and professionals writing on holo boards and paper. I even read through a lot of their lip movements. I think I was getting the hang of it.

But at the same time, I just felt depressed. The doctors said it was a miracle that I even lived, but to me, it felt like a curse that I had to survive. I was a boy that enjoyed the wandering. The exploring, the observing, and the experiencing. And now, because of one selfless choice, I lost one of the greatest senses that I could observe with. It felt alienating.

Although, my sister smiled. She was sad, I knew that much. But she was also glad. I could see it in the tinges in her facial expressions. Everytime she watched me, I could see it in her carefully placed smile. And I knew the reason behind it.

She was sad, because I was sad. But she was glad she wasn't alone.

I couldn't even think about leaving her alone. Not when she cared so much. I sighed, before putting on a smile, signing back and forth with her as best as I could with a cast. Which, was very stiff and hard to do. Not to mention painful.

She had let me know how I had, in fact, survived. Her and the policeman that came in to get a report.

Apparently, a boy who had many of the same wounds and injuries that I had, had gotten to the police station and told them that I was in trouble. They had rushed over as soon as they could, but by the time that they had arrived, the hooligans had left me in the streets, bleeding there. It had apparently rained and there where I laid was a puddle of my own blood and of the pooling water. They apparently had found me at just the right time, for if it was only a little bit later, I may have died from internal bleeding from the brain or from just about a dozen other lacerations and bruisings.

The same boy was admitted for a checkup, but beyond some serious bruisings and a hairline fracture along one of his ribs, he was alright. Which made me smile. Someone had to stick it up for the fellow young peeps, else who would be dreaming?

I was left thinking about my future. It was a strange thought at the young age of 9, but we do mature mentally more quickly. Experiences had a part to play in it, but in my case I think it might be something else. I wanted to be more of a help, and less of a burden. What was the reason why we didn't keep traveling? Me. I lost most of my hearing and racked up quite the hospital bill. What was the reason that my sister worked overtime? It was me again. The hospital bills weren't going to be taken care of themselves.

And now this. The amount of bills that she'd face would be immense.

I needed some way of making more money, and no matter how I thought, I didn't think I could find a job in the real world.

Everything needed hearing. There was hardly any place for the mute or hard of hearing. I might have been able to keep a job as a cook or something as long as I could hear most of my coworkers and didn't cause too many problems. But now? Who would spend hours after hours training a deaf person? There was just too many problems in the workforce to any reputable establishments from hiring me on, and even if they did, it'd be reduced pay and poor conditions.

Which is still an option.

But what I really need is something that I'd have less disadvantages with. And something where there is a lot of monetary gain. The Virtual World was the only same place. I wasn't sure how my auditory neuropathy would affect in game, but it was way better than rolling six sided dice against hundred dice odds.

And so, my birthday was coming up, and I was still stuck in this hospital. But most of my wounds had already gone onto their way to recovery, so I managed to walk about. The first step to preparing for the Virtual World is to prepare your body, and mind.

I had a game plan. The hospital had a very high tech library. And it also had connections to the web. I'd be able to read up on information that may be usable inside the Virtual World, while also looking through the forums of those who step into the Virtual World first. As much as I'd like to start with those starting, it was looking that I'd be a couple days later than the initial release date for a couple reasons.

One was that you needed an Aeu drive to get in. And that was only attainable when you turn 10 years old. Which was later this week. And the other reason was that I was too injured for the Aeu Implant Surgery. So, later it would have to be.

That day, I went off to the library. My sister had been leaving for more and more of the day. It was simply because she worried less when I seemed to be get better and she needed to make up for lost hours. Which worked for me.

I hit the books. Memorizing facts about war and manufacturing. I was missing a lot of details, but by using different books, I started to bridge the gaps between technologies, strategies and theories. Each day, I'd spend more than 18 hours stuffing my nose into books to get more indepth knowledge. I started to widen my ideals through physics and communications, even learning the basics of the intricacies between languages.

There was so much details that I crammed in my head to understand that I dreamed of the wars of the past, of the creations of wonders and discoveries. I remembered loosely the journals of adventurers who discovered what was once the undiscovered. From sailors to mountain men, to engineers and war commanders. There was so much to learn, and despite going through so many different books, I seemed to have a good recollection on what I had been pushing myself to read. In fact, I could give a summary in my own words on almost every individual book.

When the new Virtual World was initiated after a 24 hour digital dark period, I started reading up on the forums and the records of past Virtual Worlds.

It was funny, because even from New Hope, it had the MMORPG Trope. Albeit, in any of the virtual worlds from New Hope to Perfection, there was never a one way wins it all type of play. There was classes of different types that had different kits that could be played in completely different ways.

But there was a noticeable difference after Arch 2. See, in Arch 2, they started ranking the classes and making the more rare and stronger classes hidden from view. From Arch 2 to Perfection, the highest class rank ever recorded was an Epic rank. And if they ranked their classes in any way close to the way that they ranked their weapons, then there was at least 2 higher ranks that have never been explored.

The Epic rank class that was recorded was the Blue Flame Swordsman. And during Zenith, from which the class was founded, it was a class that recked the front lines of battle with magical swordsmanship. The founder of that class was a school goer at the time, so he'd be in their 40's or 50's by now.

I had delved a little into his backstory, but I found that there was a lot of secrecy behind how he found the class or even about himself. Which was very curious, but as it was getting later in the night on the eve of my birthday, I decided to read up a little bit on the forums.

'Ah. Here it is.' I thought with a smile, moving my hands across the holo screen to pull it up. On the top of the page said in big, bold print, [ THE NEW VIRTUAL WORLD : RED STRING ]. I figured I was in the right place, so I read through the page.

Most of it was personal reviews, but it did showcase a couple of the special features.

The first new one was Synchronization. It was essentially a more compatible synchronization between mind and muscle memory from the real body and the avatar. What it detailed was that more aspects of the person would transfer into the Virtual World. If you were well practiced with certain martial arts, it would transfer that skill from the real life to your character in a quantifiable manner. It was the same the other way around, only, it usually only was able to transfer muscle memory. So, if you practiced certain martial arts in the game, your muscles would have similar memory in the real world. Same with other techniques that were learned, no matter if it was cooking or forging or farming.

The second new feature was Essence. Essentially essence was a core that added another aspect to the game. Initially mind and body seemed to embody all the traits, whether they be physical or mental. But with essence, it'd record personality and soul and essentially create a personalized essence for one to tap into. It was amazing hearing some of the essences that people got. Some got one related to an element. Like a fire soul, or a frost soul. And from elements, it ranged to stuff relating to their situations. Like a prominent clan leader could easily have a command soul or a motivate soul. There was literally no end, and they seemed to further influence how you'd play your character.

I did a little bit more research on the two, but finding the exact same data from it, but with different examples. I decided to close off the holo screen and head back to my hospital room. I need to rest before my birthday after all.

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As I awakened, my eyes quickly spotted the girl in the seat next to me. Her blue eyes pierced into my green, and I could only smile comfortably.

She signed, [How are you feeling, Birthday Bro?]

[Bored? I want to read already.] I had a mock bored expression on my face, but it was wiped into a small fit of giggles after a mere second. [No, I'm feeling alright. Getting healthy and I'll get my Aeu Drive and then I can help out.]

I had smiled at her, but her blue eyes seemed to soften sadly. [You don't have to worry about anything, your big sister will help you out. I don't want you worrying about this.] Her eyes seemed ot display the seriousness in her words. She was really worried about me. I could tell.

[I will worry about it. Because I want to. I want to pay for the bills. I want to buy you a meal.] But so was I. She worked herself to the bone and back. I wanted to do my part. And I would repay all that she had given me with interest.

Her face hesitated at my straightforwardness. Sign language usually was phrased in a straight and direct manner, without a lot of sarcasm or joking, beyond what we let slip in our facial expressions. But she knew how serious I was about this.

[Fine. But there's no rush. Take it slow, and stay safe.] Her brilliantly piercing and demanding blue eyes displayed her concern well. My heart was warmed, and I smiled tearfully.

[Yes. I promise.] I nodded and gave her a thumbs up after signing. That seemed to brighten her up a bit too.

The rest of the party consisted of eating a couple small carrot cake with a delicious cinnamon icing on top, and messing around with each other. We didn't have the money to waste on gifts, but I didn't see a need for one. I was growing in years, and I wanted nothing more to spend that growth in celebration with the one who had been with me for every year in the past.

And so my birthday passed, and my sister kept busy and my body was ready for the surgery for the Aeu Drive. And I was soon prepped and shot into the operating room to get it in me.

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There was a dark room lit up by the lights of dozens of screens that hung on the wall, spread about. Along the tables were various of buttons that glowed in a lesser way than the screens. There was a few people in the room too, and they were talking.

"Are you sure we should be doing this? They didn't even sign the waiver or the forms yet." A lady in a white coat with brown hair, and a brilliant pair of violet eyes asked.

Another woman in a dark suit with a skirt, smiled and responded. "It's not the first time that we have done this. Besides, telling them that they may have been hooked up with a prototype ruins the triple blind study. There are certain measures that need to be taken in account. Especially from the Creators." The lady keenly pressed her forefinger against her glasses, pushing them up farther up the bridge of her nose as she spoke matter of factly. Her blond hair seemed to be tied neatly in a professional bun.

The white coat lady pucked her lip out in frustration. "But there are less illegal ways to take care of those certain measures without endangering my care-"

Before the lab coat lady could finish, the business woman turned to face her. The eyes behind the glasses appeared visibly for the lady doctor to see for just a second. And in that second, an immense change happened.

The doctor had stopped speaking in the middle of her sentence. Gulping in fear, she had actually collapsed down to her knees. Terror stretching across her face that had a lot of cold sweat running down.

"I have decided. Not you. Understand?" The business woman phrased her words very seriously.

"I understand." The doctor whispered, her voice almost faint and strained. She had lost her voice from the sudden pressure.

The business woman pushed her glasses at an angle. Her eyes faded away and the pressure that the doctor felt faded away slowly. However, it didn't feel slow to her. As she immediately gave a sigh of relief as it began to fade. "Good. Well, I'll be keeping in touch. Now remember. That nondisclosure still applies. We wouldn't want anything... to happen. Would we?"

The doctor felt compelled to nod fervently to show that she understood. The feeling of terror from before would surely haunt her dreams for many days and that was just a passing look that the business lady gave.

"I'll be seeing you later then. Ciao." The blond woman rose to her feet, and left. Shutting the door with a loud clunk as she left the room.

The doctor who had been on the floor for awhile got up on her feet shakily. She had been trying to clear the remaining sensation of terror that she felt. No matter how much she thought of it, it felt like her life was a step away from the edge of the tallest spire ever conjured up. The amount of terror that caused was truly a first in her life.

She sighed though, clenching and unclenching her shaking hands before passing a glance at the folder that she kept on the table.

It said one name.

Aviaro James Espinar-Sainz