9 VR

Virtual reality had been around for a number of years. It wasn't anything really new, but that didn't mean that new features and breakthroughs weren't still being made. Originally, the companies working on virtual reality focused more on trying to implement equipment that would bring the game to you, but would only do so externally. For instance, the first virtual reality gaming equipment was actually nothing more than a headset that accompanied your standard controller. These headsets were expensive and most people didn't see much use in buying them as they didn't really enhance the gaming experience, rather, they merely changed the screen that you would use. It was treated the same way people would treat an expensive high definition screen vs. a smaller, cheaper, lower quality screen. It also didn't help that most games were not compatible with the VR equipment and that making a game compatible with the equipment was more expensive than the novelty of being able to use the equipment with the game was worth.

So, VR died out before it could really take off. That was until a new company decided to put more research into the subject and finally made a brand new breakthrough.

Braxx Co. was a military funding corporation that usually designed smart weapons to be used in times of war. They were well known for their work with quantum technologies and developing new and improved communication devices to be used in the field. Their work transcended the military aspect and seeped into the everyday citizen's life. Their findings were implemented in phones, transportation and even the medical field. Originally, it seemed that VR was to be used by the government during times of war. The research being put into it was secret and most people were unaware that Braxx Co. was even researching into it, unless they followed the money trail back to Split, the company that had sold their rights to the VR research to Braxx Co. originally. Theirs wasn't the only research that Braxx Co. bought; it is speculated that over thirteen companies sold their rights to the VR research to Braxx Co. to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.

Of course, most people weren't watching Braxx Co. close enough to notice the shift in VRs ownership.

After Braxx Co. bought the rights to all the research, they took nearly thirty years to complete their own research and turn it into something that resembled it's modern equivalent.

Then, something happened that most people didn't expect. In fact, it's unlikely that anyone saw it coming, including the institutions that were waiting anxiously by the side, waiting to buy the newest equipment and weapons that would be born of this new VR technology.

Braxx Co. sold all of their research.

This wasn't uncommon, sometimes a company will sell their product or research to another smaller company they own for tax purposes.

But they didn't sell to a sister company. They didn't sell to another company that was even slightly affiliated with Braxx Co.

No, they sold the research to a company called Thought Box.

Thought Box was a relatively small gaming company. It was known for only putting out a few games every couple years. They had no connection to Braxx Co. in any way.

The general public was put off by the idea that Thought Box was the company that was able to buy this research material. The thing was, though some of the games this company put out were well received, many were seen as below the current standard.

Thought Box buying the rights to the VR research that Braxx Co. used millions of dollars to compile over the course of three decades was…unexpected and seemed like a bit of a waste. Some people even likened Thought Box spending tens of millions of dollars on this research material as them winning the lottery. Not many people thought this way. After all, VR was a proven failure in the past.

Those people that said it was like Thought Box winning the lottery…were first proven very wrong.

While Thought Box may have had the research and information needed to create the equipment, that meant nothing if the games were not up to par. Which ended up happening again and again. And again.

Though Thought Box was able to create games for their new systems and equipment, the cost of designing their games went through the roof. Slowly, they put themselves into more and more debt.

Then, they threw a Hail Mary. They released the rights to create games for the VR equipment.

The turnaround happened almost overnight. Other gaming companies were just waiting, foaming at the mouth with rabid anticipation to be able to create and sell games for the VR equipment. Of course, the equipment that was used was already analyzed and other companies were starting to develop their own versions of the VR equipment, but they couldn't utilize it yet, as the copyright was jointly held between Thought Box and Braxx. Co. Thought Box was easy enough to deal with, they weren't a large company and were slowly driving themselves to bankruptcy, but Braxx Co. was another story altogether.

Immediately after Braxx Co. sold the research material rights to Thought Box, Braxx. Co. had various institutions suing them. Apparently, these other institutions were under the belief that Braxx Co. was developing the VR technology in order to sell it to them. There were reports that these institutions had paid for the research to be done. After a few years, Braxx Co. was able to get off with barely a slap on the wrist, paying a few million in penalties for broken contracts. It was speculated that Braxx Co. actually agreed to work on more research for these institutions if these institutions pulled back a bit. None of this was confirmed, but Braxx Co. did do quite a bit more business with those institutions.

This was no small matter. The institutions that were gunning for Braxx Co. were not small. Each could be said to be on par, even larger and more formidable than Braxx Co. itself. But, Braxx Co. was still able to get off almost scot free despite seemly pulling one over on them. This made it obvious that, while Thought Box could be disregarded by these wealthy gaming companies, Braxx Co. could bury any of them even on their worst day. So, the gaming companies chose not to poke the sleeping beast and allowed their own research into the equipment to go un-utilized for decades after their completion. One company did in fact attempt to release a gaming consol that was based on the copyrighted equipment and was shortly sued into bankruptcy by Braxx Co.

Ever since then, Thought Box was still considered one of the leading manufacture and researching companies on the latest VR technology. Braxx Co. still owned part of that original copyright, though that VR equipment and system was vastly outdated.

And VR has become something that no one had ever imagined it would be.

VR has made viewing content and gaming into something more than just entertainment. It was able to generate an incredible amount of economic worth. It created entire worlds. It was the stepping stone that brought artificial intelligence to the next level. Computers that could literally think for themselves were developed. Games that could sustain and generate content in their own worlds were developed. Of course, this was all still strictly monitored by the human's that created it.

The government, life, the economy, everything changed after VR was developed…it affected everybody, and yet…not everyone was able to enjoy it.

VR was both the greatest thing that was ever created by humans and the most out of reach for many.

It was expensive. It was glorious. It was not fair. It was reality, but better.

VR was the first stepping stone to creating a relatively safe and sane world. It caused the entire rules to change. Not directly, mind you, but indirectly. Fame became what mattered. Religion, while still subtly followed, took a back seat. Extremism and terrorism and war, everything changed.

Of course, VR wasn't the only thing to affect the world and begin to mold it in the direction that it currently was in. The new smart weapons helped, artificial intelligence was a big contributor, and the ever increasing distance between the top ten percent of earners, and the rest of the world, all of this played a part in changing how society worked.

World hunger was solved. World peace attained. And the price? Many of the freedoms and rights that were largely enjoyed by the masses were confiscated. Freedom of speech? Ok, but everything online is censored. Freedom to bear arms? Gone. Freedom to choose your place of work? Sure, if you can find something. Freedom to live where you want? Go for it, if you can afford it. Want to work without joining the "labor force"? That's fine, but there is no minimum wage and the labor force workers are given precedence over others. Wanna drop out of school? You go ahead and do that, but you need a diploma to receive your pay from your job.

While many of people's rights remained on the surface, there were rules and regulations that made it impossible to enjoy those rights.

Corporations became people. Literally, corporations and the people that worked in them were considered the same entity. This allowed the big cats in the high offices, who were wealthy, but not well known, to rack up "fame points" without anyone knowing their names or faces. Of course, the only ones to enjoy this treatment were those in the higher up positions, the other's below them were all labor force workers.

Approximately 15% of the world's population were able to afford VR. That's 1.5 billion people. 1.5 billion people walking around in virtual realities. Despite the fact that only 15% of the world's population could enjoy VR, the consequences of VR and everything that came after affected everyone.