Chapter 1: The Game of My Dreams

It was so much smaller than the old rig. It would wrap around the back of his head, with the extra trodes leading upward and pressing against his scalp. Jorah settled it over his ears – it wasn’t even heavy – and plugged in the power cord.

It took a little bit of effort, but he was able to get the cursor on his screen to move after a few seconds. It was always weird teaching the computer to read his brain waves, and it usually caused a bit of a headache, but only the first time.

He was getting faster. Either that or the sensitivity problems were finally being solved.

He selected the icon on his computer to continue with the installation, set up a partition for saved information on his desktop and took a deep breath.

This one was different. This wasn’t just an immersion gaming experience. This was the new generation.

They’d solved the biggest problem with these games, and they’d done it by accident.

Jorah remembered the newscast about it.

“The problem with games has always been one of memory. We used to hide loading screens with clever tricks, like mini-games. You’d think you were playing a card game in world, when really the world was rendering around you. Or we’d make you travel on foot to give the system more time to create the world. But no matter how good our hardware got, there was just too much. It would take up so much space that no matter how fast the processor, we couldn’t make it quite feel real.

“But then we realized that we all get that full immersion experience every night. When we dream, our minds create full worlds for us to play in, worlds that don’t even have to follow the normal rules. And instead of making that experience our goal to replicate with technology, we started asking another question.

“Could we use technology to guide the dreams? Could we use you, the player, as the operating system?

“That’s what makes Æmersion so special. Our system interfaces with your mind directly, and we use you as part of our OS. When you play our game, you are literally dreaming. It even has all the benefits of REM sleep. And when you meet other people, you are literally walking into other people’s dreams, into a shared unconsciousness.”

He didn’t entirely believe it. But he was hopeful. Hopeful that he would be able to spend his nights playing games. And hopeful that some of the things that the message boards whispered about might be true. After all, if the game was housed in your mind, if there were parts of the game that were constructed by your own brain, then that meant it had access to you. There was a way to get into your own mind, to learn things, and to understand things that might otherwise have been completely inaccessible.

Dream gaming. Better than therapy.

The game was downloading into his system. It was the framework his brain would use to construct the experience as he played through his dream. Just a few minutes, and he’d be ready to launch.

Just in case, he’d taken the day off tomorrow. He might need to recover from the experience. After all, dreams sometimes feel real, and this dream was going to be the most real dream he’d ever had. Plus, as much as they insisted that it was a restful experience, he’d be aware and conscious the whole time. He would probably still need to rest at least a little.

His system registered as ready to begin, and he lay back in his chair. He pulled a blanket up over himself and pressed a button on the headset. Soft pads settled on over his eyes, and he let out a deep sigh.

“Please try to relax,” a soothing voice whispered in his ear. “Loading process can vary by person. We are currently playing subliminal music to help you fall and stay asleep. Once your brain has engaged sleep paralysis, we will create your character. Please try to relax.”

He took another breath, focusing on the voice, keeping his eyes closed and trying not to think too much.

“Please try to relax,” the voice said again. “Loading process can vary by person. You are currently in a mild state of trance. Would you like to hear the tutorial?”

Jorah didn’t want to speak, but he knew he didn’t have to.

“You are about to start playing in the world of Rubicon, a science fiction cyberpunk realm. We offer three levels of immersion into the game. At level one, you will have a fully lucid experience, remembering your real life, the fact that you are playing a game, and will maintain a certain level of mod control over the environment. This level of immersion does not allow for multiplayer modes.

“Level two is partial immersion, and is the recommended level of dive for new players. You will be aware that you are not a native to that world, and that you are dreaming, but will have difficulty remembering details of your regular life.

“Level three is full immersion, and is recommended for those most interested in the role play aspect of the game. You will not be able to remember your life outside of the game, and will react with the world as though it were reality. The gamified elements of the world will seem natural to you, and you will not question them.

“I have detected that you are using the model XM7 headset, and that it is currently the best available option. This allows you to set a slider bar between these three modes, choosing your own level of immersion. When you can see the slider bar, please choose where you want it set. You can change the level of immersion between sessions, but within each session your level will remain static.”

Jorah sighed and tried to imagine a slider bar. Slowly, it came into view. A gray bar leading from level one up to level three, allowing him to set the bar wherever felt natural to him. His immediate reaction was to push it all the way to the right, to level three. Full immersion, as much as possible.

He considered moving it further toward level two, even selected the cursor to move it over. But then he thought about it, about his plan and his goal, and he decided to keep it where his first reaction set it.

“In future sessions, I will prompt you whether or not you want to change the immersion level. For now, you are set for full immersion. The body has engaged sleeping protocols, and you are entering REM sleep. I will load up the character creation now.”