10 Figuring it out
The world was not fair. But then again, it never was. Was it better in the past, when you had the freedom to do much of what you wanted, but could run the risk of being victimized or starving to death? Or when war ran rampant in the world and innocent people died and lost their homes and lifestyles to it? Or was it better now that you had a fraction of the rights that you had before, but you never had to worry about where to get your next meal, or about being thrown into a terrible situation that was out of the government's control? Sure, the Labor Workers were probably discontent with having to work so much, but they never had to worry about their children's future or about their children's lives being lost to some atrocity. There was give and take on all sides all around the world since the beginning of time.
Sara never intended to change the world. In fact, she and many others believed it was better and safer than any other time in history. She wasn't wrong, not necessarily. By giving her freedom away to the government in power, she and her forefathers were able to guarantee that their children and their children's children would be taken care of.
Because freedom was limited, science and technology was unrestrained. Cloning and artificial intelligence was developed and was able to bring about more stability to the world. Jobs that were incredibly dangerous for the average person to take on and work were no longer worked by people.
Oil was cast off. The companies that had made it rich by owning and selling it were forced to look into renewable energy. Solar, wind and water energy was utilized in it's place. In fact, the cars that people drove never ran out of battery power, as they were made utilizing some of the best and latest technology in Solar. The bodies of the cars were able to absorb the sun's rays and recharge themselves. Homes were all outfitted with solar energy, it was the law. Large windmills could be seen turning at the wind brushed against their humungous fins, supplying additional energy to the grid. The air was cleaner than it had been in almost a hundred years. Over population was still an issue, as science and technology had reached the point that most illnesses were able to be cured, though there were newer ones that had mutated from old ones that were still issues. Such as the illness that Sara and her mother contracted when Sara was born. It was one that still affected her mother, making it impossible for her to have any more children. Even Sara was very unlikely to be able to have children in the future. It wasn't impossible, but the chances were perhaps a little over 10% that she could successfully have any children, even with the advances in artificial insemination and gestational care.
Sara was not an entirely unique existence. She only wanted to live a better life, like many in the world. Due to the easily accessible nature of the internet, she was constantly shown and reminded of the possibility of a better life for herself. She could see others that were doing it, this caused her and many in unfavorable positions to be willing to do just about anything in order to achieve those lifestyles.
If you were surrounded with people in similar situations as yourself and did not know that there was a possibility to actually have something better, then you would be content with what you had. You would not know any better. But, if you are constantly shown other's who perhaps started out just like you, or in a similar situation as you, you too would want what they have. You would even perhaps become obsessed with achieving that goal. Depression at being unable to could set in once you've failed a few times, or haven't been able to break out of your situation after a while.
This is one of the reasons that Sara's mother no longer posted to social media. She couldn't stand to see the lives and successes of others that she herself couldn't achieve. It caused a depression to set in because of the seemingly helplessness of her own situation. Others were lead to the same conclusion, completely trying to shut out all the voices in their lives telling them how great and green the grass was on the other side. They decided to merely focus on themselves and their own happiness. This was not a wrong decision, not at all. It wasn't a popular one and was seen as rather strange, but there were a number of people that did this.
Sara was just like many people her age not yet beset by the crushing despair of finding out that they would never have the lifestyle that their idols and role models had. This despair would claim many, but the need and want of something they may never be able to have would continue to drive them forward, forcing them to try just once more to break out and become a star. After all, what do they have to lose? Nothing, really.
Sara used the time she was waiting for the game to release to become more familiar with all of her new equipment. The VR system was a suit that one put on and then laid down, comfortably. They were usually used during the night, while sleeping, though continued used in a dream state was not recommended and if you used it too much while sleeping, the system would lock you out for a time. It could be used during the dream state, or while awake. Most hobbyists would use it during the dream state as they would probably be considerably busy during the day and preferred to play at night when they had the time. Using the headset during the dream state would cause your avatar to respond a bit more sluggishly and would sometimes cause you to have difficulties getting the avatar to listen to your commands. This was obviously caused because you can't always control your thoughts and "actions" in a dream state.
Most professional gamers would use the equipment when awake. This could cause its own set of issues. For instance, even though you are immersed in the game, sometimes the signals that your brain set to the system would also register in your body, causing you to move around in real life. This was usually only be seen as a moving of your hand, or a twitch of your arm or leg. It wasn't usually so overt or extreme that you were running in the game and end up running into your wall or, worse, out your window. It had happened before that while you were running in game, you ended up running head first into the wall or door, but these cases were usually very, very rare and only happened when you were in an extreme situation in the game.
This did, however lead to the VR developing companies to implement a warning system that will sound if it detects any movement of your body from outside of the game. Alarms will sound and a warning will flash in front of your eyes, asking you to exit the game and readjust. If the movement continues and you do not attempt to leave the game, the VR system will directly kick you from the game and suspend your avatar for five minutes. This also led to the gaming company to create and sell an accessory that went along with the VR suit. It was a large capsule that you would lie in to ensure that you would be safe during your gaming session. These were sold separately from the VR equipment and were not necessary for playing. Most people did not buy and utilize these capsules, but a few of the more popular professional gamers did utilize them as they cut back on the real world distractions and the likely hood that they would end up kicked during a vital point in the game.
The VR suit wasn't just used to monitor your body during gaming; it was also created in order to gather your body's specs. This was a bit controversial when the gaming companies first came out with this idea, as many people didn't want their personal specs recorded and used for their avatars. They wanted to be someone else in VR, not themselves.
The companies then came out with a statement saying that this allowed them to create an environment that would be up to 99% realistic. If someone used their own body type while gaming then it was even more realistic and caused their ability to function in game even better. After all, if you wanted to be six foot in game, but were just over five foot in real life, this could cause some issues with control. Those that changed their body shape and size to more than 10% of what it was in real life, were only able to experience up to 85%-90% of immersion, while those that utilized their true body size and shape were able to experience almost total immersion. So, the suit allowed for them to not only monitor your bodies movement and vitals in case of emergency, they could also allow for a more realistic and immersive experience.
It was like the Pro mode that many games allowed their players to access. Usually, games had two modes, Pro and Leisure. Leisure mode allowed the game system more control on things like damage output and hit rate, while Pro mode allowed for the player to have complete control over those aspects. Those that were unable to hit a target every time in game would probably prefer Leisure mode, while those that wanted to showcase their true skills would be better off with using Pro mode. Most times, those that used Pro mode used it because the system could sometimes limit your own ability in the game versus real life. For instance, when you played a game and your character was an archer, but in reality you had never fired a bow before, you would obviously not be able to become the greatest archer in game. But, with the system in place, correcting any mistakes that you might make, you could very well become one of the greatest archers in VR.
Many Professional Gamers used pro mode as, if you were able to dominate in game without help from the game, then you could really truly be called on of the greatest players. Of course, it was still possible to dominate as an archer in Pro mode even if you had never fired a bow in reality. VR and Reality were obviously very different, so there were people that could be great in VR and not so great in Reality. The game would allow sight buffs and zooming and even effects that allowed the arrow to fire accurately even if you can't see the person you're firing at. It was a game, after all. And, your avatar could be ten times the strength of your real persona and a hundred times as fast. Virtual Reality game everyone the power to be who they wanted.
