Evil's Apprentice

It was the year 2154 when the so-called ‘Treaty of Eternal Peace’ was put forward into motion by the United Nations with the backing of all 8 major world powers of the time. The amendment unified the fragmented nations of Earth into a planetwide federation. What followed was a full decade of strife and cold conflict. In the year 2168, the last sovereign nation on the planet succumbed to the pressure of the treaty under the angry voices of its citizens. In the following years, the Federation of Man was formed and at last, world peace was achieved. The world ushered under two centuries of peace. It was the 24th century, science and technology had prospered and the Federation of Man was already a Type-2 Civilization with boundless resources. Venus, Mars and the various moons of the gas giants were terraformed while the Asteroid Belt and the gas giants themselves were mined for an unending supply of resources. With the freedom and comfort guaranteed by unrestricted space travel and A.I.- the Transhumans, having long since transcended their original human ancestors lived boring, leisurely lives. Their only concern- entertainment which could last. To fulfil the entertainment needs- art, literature, music and games attained new never before seen heights. The Federation of Man entered an age which they dubbed ‘The Second Renaissance’. It’s finally the year 2396 and the game ‘World Bender’ is counting down to its much-awaited launch. Having been under constant development for almost 20 years, the game had gained system-wide popularity to the extent that its fame reached even the remote colonies in the nearby star systems. The hype is at its all-time high. As the most anticipated VRMMORPG of the century, the game supports a world twice the size of Earth, promising to provide to the bored Transhumans, decades of entertainment! Meanwhile, on Mars, in the leisure district of Ipsum. A young man with a plan and nothing better to do awaits with an exasperated face, as the countdown to the game launch trickles down to zero. Just a year ago, in a drunken frenzy, he had bet on his life that he would bring the game world to ruins in 10 years.