Dystopian Tales Online

"Oh shit, have I not sleeping enough time or it was just I'm seeing a cult rising over here. Are you sure this is the right room?"

Flying a trip from China with only a few hours of sleep, Frass no longer trusted his rationality and blurted out any possible words he could think of. Wondering what this pseudo meeting in front of him, his vision might be playing some trick or he has finally gone insane.

He is about to leave when the lights are lit up again and Carter approached him. Seeing the white robed scientist, he somehow reached a conclusion that something ridiculous is happening inside the room. This calmed his nerves and heaved a sigh.

"Okay, what the hell is happening in here?" He asked the scientist.

"Some fun the kids thought of," Carter just shrugged his shoulders. One man cough up, Jung specifically.

"Okay, just where should I sit?" Frass looked around and found the chairs empty. "Clover is not here yet?"

Carter shook his head sideways. Frass narrowed his eyes and fished his phone out. He quickly dialed a number and placed it on his ears. The players watched as this man waited for an answer when the ring was cut off with a vibration.

"He-"

"Where the hell are you brat? Come here or I will-"

The sound of the door opening caught their attention. They all shifted their eyes to door. It was faint but somehow they heard a noise coming from Frass travelling to the door as if the other phone is right just there. The shadow slowly materialized from the distance, fully emerging a body of man in an age almost closer to fifty.

Yes, they are now seeing a stoic man with a silver hair, wearing a round glass piece on his left eyes, both hands covered in gloves, and a phone on his ear. He is wearing some butler suit and has this air of discipline around him. The players remained for a while.

WHO IS THIS OLD MAN?

IS HE CLOVER?

"Master Frasier," the old man bowed before Frass. "The master has a cold. I am here as a substitute."

"Oh, he did say he had a cold the other day," Aries muttered.

This one sentence calmed the players. Yes, yes, Clover is not an old man. He didn't sound an old man in the game. He is just here as a substitute. Frass closed the call and walked towards his chair. The old man followed, though, he didn't sit on the chair. Instead, he placed a laptop on the table.

"Hmmm? What is that for?" Damian asked in curiousity.

The butler opened the laptop and connected it to some video chat. Though, they can't see a person on the screen but a four leaf clover, the sign of Clover.

"Oi, oi, don't tell me he's attending this meeting through chat?" Alexander asked.

"I'm sorry but I can't attend personally," a coughing voice answered on the other line.

Oh, it's Clover, everyone thought.

"Okay, everyone," Carter clapped his hands in front to call everyone's attention. "Let's just talk about these matters later and start the meeting. Clover, we can set you a clear footage if you want."

"No problem, I can see you guys clearly," the laptop answered.

"That's good, then I will formally start the meeting."

The lights are again lit dim. The projector was turned on, a light starting to form an image. Carter went to the side to open a file with an assistant holding the device. An image was formed - the logo of the company and the game itself.

First, Carter played a video from the first server. Then, comes after is a series of videos explaining the expansion that has gone through years. There are also statistics showing the results of their experiment. The data is favorable and exceeding to what they are expecting. It looks like this game is going to the bright side.

After a few minutes, the video ended with an awe of satisfaction from the players. Carter opened a new file again, but this time is a powerpoint presentation. He also took the place in the front ready to explain the details.

"I assume, with your intelligence, I can skip over the details. But if you have any questions, just raise it. As for now, I've only shown you the data that we received from your neurological assessment."

"What are these neurological assessments for?" Alexander abruptly asked first. "Correct me if I'm wrong but what I've understand so far is that the data that you've shown only showed the activities our brain are able to catch within these years. More of, the changes that happened within these years. What does these changes mean?"

Carter nodded.

"All of you are aware of the experiment from the start. Anyone who can still remember the purpose of creating a game inside a game?" Carter asked the crowd. A girl raised her hand.

"Isn't that to create a new kind of game where everything would be possible?"

"Yes, that's the general term. But to name it further, that is to create a "new world" from the world that we are in."

Carter moved the presentation to the next slides. It showed graphs and some figures.

"We are collecting signals and found out that in every year your ability to detect reality is getting weaker. That is if you are able to stay in the game longer than what we set, you will never be able to distinguish which is the real world and the game world."

"One reason why we chose participants with higher IQ is because it is much easier to detect the movements of the signals in your brain. In our technology today, we are able to detect the signals inside your brain and we found out that it works different than a normal being with an average IQ."

"Though there are some parts that are still questionable as of now, we can say that a domain of your brain is relaxed especially on subjects you are focused. We are using this advantage in sending the synapses that the dream simulator are releasing to control the game inside your mind."

"Another reason, that would be your rationality to see things. Your perspectives are mainly done due to the facts and studies you created in this world. Once you realized that some of these common laws are being disregarded, you often conclude that this is not the real world. The real world that all of you distinguish follows the main laws of physics, and once these laws are violated, you would infer that this is 'an imagination' or the creation of idea and fiction."

"And so, this data showed that your ability to differentiate the world of games and the world we are now are closing to a threshold."

"We-wait a minute," Aries raised his hand. "Are you telling us that the time will come and we will never be able to know which is which... Isn't that brainwashing or something? You're manipulating our minds completely!"

"I will not call it brainwashing. More of an experiment to see if it is possible to create a world from the dreams you guys are having," Carter said.

"I'm confused. If that is not brainwashing, then what? And your answer didn't matched the question. How is it possible to create a world by that? Are you saying we are creating the world ourselves?"

"I said it before, right?" Carter said. "Your rational ability to determine the real world from the 'imaginary world' is through the laws that you are able to identify. Then, when I said that your ability to detect the reality where we are now and the reality in virtual game is getting weaker, what could be the possible answer?"

"Oi, Oi, you're not saying that we were able to enter another version of reality?" Roderick raised.

Carter grinned. The players' mood suddenly shifted with anticipation.

"Closer, but not yet," he answered. "As what I am telling, there is a reason why we chose people with high rationality grade. Instead of trusting your senses, you rather trust your ability to think and the logic that surrounds. And also, it's hard to brainwash you. Even if you stay in the game for a whole week, I can reassure you that you can still come back safe without confusing that Virtual World to this world."

"Then, if I understood it correctly, we are able to open a new world through a game in our dreams. And because our brain is classifying this world as 'another version of the real world', then does it mean that we are jumping to and fro in two dimensions?" Aries added.

"Pretty much," Carter nodded. "However, this is still a theory working over an experiment. We've been gathering positive data in the recent years and we could tell that if this continues we might able to enter the fifth dimension."

"So the String Theory is already on the work, huh," Alexander muttered.

The String Theory is the main basis of this project. This was explained to them many years ago by Tristan Foster when they are accepted in the experiment. The concept of the game is to mainly create a world from the world that they are now. Tristan offered the String Theory to emphasize that the "world" they are creating is not far from the world they are now, however, there is this comparable polar differences between the both.

"It is the world where everything is deviant of physics," they once remembered. "Or if not, then, magic is part of physics."

Carter moved the slides again. This revelation showed that the project is moving smoothly and somehow getting deeper than they imagined. If they did ever open a new dimension, then this would be the greatest achievement the humankind will recognized after a millennium of stagnant growth. However, it's normal to have doubts.

By opening this world, does it mean that the laws that they already know are false? Or if ever it opened, will it bring goodness to everyone?

Well, there must be a reason why these dimensions are divided from the first place, right?

A cough from the edge of the table suddenly caught the attention of the players. The laptop is still there, connected through the internet with the light blinking telling everyone that somebody is on the other line.

"I'm sorry," Clover apologized. "But can I raise a question?"

"Sure, what is it?" Carter replied.

"Well, I can pretty much understand the theory behind this project and I can say that there's a possibility. Though..."

Clover coughed on the other line. The butler who is still standing behind the chair moved closer to the laptop.

"Master, you can type your question if you want. I will read it for you," he said, concerned.

"No problem," Clover disregarded the option. "Though... I'm assuming that opening the sixth server will finally open this door to the 5th dimension, right?"

"That will be the main subject that we will be discussing in this meeting."

Carter moved to another slides quickly. Though, he faced the players once more to confirm something.

"Are there no more questions? Or I'll proceed to the next part of the presentation?"