Animus tamer gathering, p.1
Animus Tamer: Gathering, page 1
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
Chapter 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
EPILOGUE
Dedication: To the Great I Am. Thank you for my life and crazy imagination.
I can’t thank you enough for buying this book and hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. This labor of love and humor is but one of many I hope to write throughout my life and with your support and feedback I will just keep getting better and better at my craft. Take care and may our stories have no ending.
Cover art by: Mieke Janssens
Please keep a look out for my other work Last Heir of Dragons on the Amazon Kindle store.
CHAPTER 1
Worst Best Day, Ever
With his winning ticket in hand, Ahtreyu wheeled himself into the main office building of Deep Dive Dreams, otherwise known as 3D. Outside, the main entrance was nothing to write home about, but the inside was amazing! The main lobby had the usual super-comfy chairs and couches, the receptionist desks, and ambient lighting, but the sheer heart-stopping sight of a full-blown virtual dragon flying around floored Ahtreyu. Not to mention the myriad of popular game characters throughout history in vivid holograms.
Each and every image looked very real and were practically opaque. It felt as though he could reach out and touch the skin of the dragon as it flew over his head. Hell, Ahtreyu could almost feel the wind of the magnificent beast blow his hair as it dive-bombed another hologram of a knight in shining armor.
“AH!” A tall beautiful woman waved while shouting a greeting at the awestruck man, “you must be the lottery winner Ahtreyu Tolkieen.”
The sexy brunette in a business suit walked over and reached out her hand. Ahtreyu smiled widely, shaking it. This woman gave his heart a bit of a running leap as she bent over in a small bow. Mainly because her top had just enough cleavage showing to give him a good view of her double-Ds.
Ahtreyu quickly averted his gaze, but she just smiled at his chivalrous response. This woman was no stranger to any and every type of man in the industry, and she was pleasantly surprised he didn’t stare longer at her breasts. Even some of the women she had dealt with before looked at her like a juicy piece of meat. If she dressed any worse than her current outfit of a form-fitting top and knee length skirt, she had to deal with too much drooling so she kept her looks reigned in.
“Right this way please, Mr. Tolkieen.” As she said his last name the second time, Ahtreyu groaned, placing a palm on his face.
“Yeah,” he smiled weakly at her, “a couple of generations back, the family name was changed to be an almost copy of one of the greatest fantasy writers of all time. They even copied the phonetics of the name, just added an E. I’m still kind of getting over it being my legal name because most people this day in age think I’m just a try-hard.”
He kept his smile pleasant, knowing that a video game company rep, of all people, ought to instantly get the reference to his last name.
“Oh, that is okay,” The lady smiled brightly, showing perfect teeth, “I think it’s kinda cool. Considering that it’s your real last name.” That got her a very big smile from Ahtreyu as she added, “My first name is Sarah, and I ended up marrying a great guy with the last name of Connor. So I understand where you are coming from.”
That elicited a deep chuckle from Ahtreyu as they headed to the elevators at the far end of the giant lobby. A couple of times Ahtreyu instinctively held out a shielding arm across Sarah’s legs when a hologram looked like it might attack. She didn’t take it the wrong way, and he blushed furiously, murmuring sorry each time.
The elevator ride was in silence, and the interior of the giant box had nothing but OLED screens running constant updates on events, ads, and a hundred other things he just couldn’t absorb. After shaking off the strobing lights in his eyes Ahtreyu was still geeking out in his wheelchair about winning a one in a billion chance to get the latest tech 3D was developing.
“I have been meaning to ask them to tone down the information overload in these things,” Sarah said, making small talk.
“I just hope no one with epilepsy gets into one of these things.” Ahtreyu smirked and she let out a single ‘hah’.
Things such as epilepsy, Down Syndrome, autism, and a huge swath of other mental disorders had almost been wiped out in the twenty-third century, but the costs of curing such things had skyrocketed when the government had taken over the failing health industry and subsidized it.
When people had access to generic life-extension technology and took much greater care of their bodies with natural herbs and regular exercise, the health industry plunged into bankruptcy. The general public didn’t have access to the ‘good stuff’ like spinal repairs though. Which is what Ahtreyu needed just to have a hope of walking again. Such things were still far and away out of reach to those without million dollar bank accounts.
*Ding*
The elevator doors opened, and she led Ahtreyu down a brightly lit hallway. His excitement on the cab ride over had been building, and now that he was here, his heart was close to bursting out of his chest. Trinity could almost feel him vibrating in his wheelchair next to her, and her smile never abated as she slid her access card into the reader and opened the door.
Inside lay a large orange and black egg. Ahtreyu looked up at her sideways and she smiled back down at him.
“The very latest, cutting edge Nano-Immersion-Pod,” She explained, grinning wider, as Ahtreyu’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head, “we call it NIP for short,” she giggled softly, “engineers do love their acronyms.”
“Bu-B-B-BB-BUT,” Ahtreyu had NEVER had as much trouble forming a sentence before in his life, as he stared at the glorious NIP, “that pod,” he whispered, “is rumored to be so damn good,” he gulped hard, “that the Nanomachines can even repair major injuries while you are immersed.”
His voice was barely audible, and Sarah asked him to repeat what he said so she could hear him.
“They can indeed, Mr. Tolkieen,” Said a red-haired man, poking his head from around the pod, “badass last name by the way.”
He smiled warmly, and Ahtreyu just nodded his head woodenly. The man ducked back and kept working, as the beautiful company rep gently wheeled the still stunned Ahtreyu closer to the NIP. As they rounded the edge of the pod, Ahtreyu could see a team of five people, including Mr. Redhead, working furiously and they all stopped temporarily. The whole ordeal made the entire day so far feel surreal to Ahtreyu.
“Thank you all, so much.” Ahtreyu’s voice cracked slightly and they all smiled.
He couldn’t put into words how intensely lucky he had gotten with winning the lottery at 3D. He was now staring at his chance to walk again in the real world while playing games in the virtual one. The accident that paralyzed him was still fresh in his mind, and his friend’s helping him through his hardship.
“My name is Faranon by the way,” the redhead Faranon said, extending his hand, “I rarely go by my legal name around here.”
Ahtreyu nodded, and vigorously shook the outstretched hand. There were still tears threatening to burst free from Ahtreyu, but he held it all together as they finalized the pod's systems and got all green lights on their glass-tops. Glass-tops were just two panes of nearly indestructible glass that acted as a screen or keyboard depending on what you needed.
“We would be delighted to escort you back to your home to set this up,” Sarah said with a bright smile, her eyes full of amusement and good humor, “unless you have another ride set up already?”
Ahtreyu shook his head as he blinked back the unshed tears, “I was just hoping to tell you where I lived so you could deliver it to my house. Then head back home in a cab.” He admitted with a shrug.
The excitement of getting the bleeding edge of Immersion Tech was not lost on him, but he was trying to calm down his heartbeat to somewhere in the low two hundred beats per minute, so he didn’t have a heart attack before he could give this NIP a spin.
Ahtreyu had just been reading about the rumors of 3D pulling out ALL the stops with their next Immersion Pod model, but if just half of what the rumor mill said about the pod was true, he was literally the LUCKIEST bastard in the world.
Full Immersion was invented almost eighty-five years ago but was immediately denounced by everyone, everywhere, when it was discovered the makers of it were using the tech to rewire people’s brains. Almost two full generations of people were instantly brainwashed to buy what they were told, vote how they were told, and even kill who they were told. A worldwide battle for dominance took place between the megalomaniac brainwashers and the people that listened to the conspiracy theorists about the true nature of the tech that was being made ubiquitous.
When the world was almost ripped apart, along came a strangely named Donalex Trones. He led a group of freedom fighters to overtake the corporations and bring back some semblance of order to Earth.
After just twenty years of people being freed from the tyranny, a new golden age of renaissance occurred, and the space age started taking shape. This is when the world discovered cold-fusion and made virtual reality tech tamper-proof.
Nowadays, if even one single line of code is geared towards controlling the mind, that entire company is put on trial and shut down if found guilty of mind tampering. The Anti-Brainwash-Act of 2134 put an end to any and every attempt with death penalties being levied against those who knowingly write code to “hack” a person’s brain. Needless to say, the next batch of wanna-be brainwashers couldn’t find anyone to help with their plans of ultimate control.
Ahtreyu contemplated the cellular regeneration this pod was rumored to have, along with the ability to basically LIVE in the pod with his body being put into a state of near suspended animation. He didn’t even feel the bumps of the road as the van hauling him, and his new NIP made their way back to his place.
“Oh, uh, just place it in the dead center of the room,” Ahtreyu said to the setup crew trying to be careful of his meager belongings in his cramped apartment.
“Ahtreyu,” coughed a small man with sandy blond hair, “MR. TOLKIEEN.” Coughed the man even louder, as the crew set about plugging in and spinning up his pod.
Ahtreyu inwardly groaned, “Yes, Mr. Dart?” Ahtreyu instantly recognized his super-intendant, though he rarely had dealings with him. The superintendent was known strictly by the reputation of having a MASSIVE Napoleon complex. He only stood four foot six in a world where average heights had soared to six foot four, even for women.
“What in the hell is going on in here?” Dart asked in a huff, clearly upset at the commotion, but thankfully not stopping the work.
“I… uh,” Ahtreyu didn’t know if he wanted to divulge that he currently had the ONLY retail 3D NIP in existence, but at the same time, “well, I won the lottery that 3D has once a year, and they are here installing the machine for me, as I doubt I could do it myself.” Ahtreyu gave a wry grin as he pointed down at his legs.
“I… I see,” Mr. Dart narrowed his eyes as he stared from the doorway, “well, just so long as not a scratch gets put on the floor, ceiling, or walls, or…”
“Not to worry, sir,” one of the crewmen stopped Dart in his rambling, “this beauty here won’t need any kind of damage causing hook-ups.”
The man pointed to the now fully set-up NIP and Ahtreyu hastily signed his life away on the digital receipt pad. He all but bum-rushed them out of his apartment while trying to remain courteous.
“OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod,” Ahtreyu turned back towards the center of his room to stare in awe at the gleaming pod. Just a few external wires at the base, a small box connected at the lower back of the pod, and some short antennas out of the very top was all he saw.
Wireless technology took a turn for the better when the DNA-destroying signals of 4G, 5G, and 6G were shut down after the war. Innovation sprang forth with new frequencies that didn’t negatively affect the mind or body, and then things got interesting.
Near-zero latency signals could effortlessly travel across the globe and it didn’t even harm the bees and other helpful insects, unlike the microwave technology of the twenty-first century.
Even the pod before him, as advanced as it is, only really required a steady stream of electricity, and a stable piece of the ground underneath it. Ahtreyu put a shaky hand on the smooth surface of the pod, and he had to take many deep breaths to slow and steady his nerves.
He was looking at a new hope for his life, a fresh beginning for prosperity, and it didn’t cost him anything. Closing his eyes, Ahtreyu gave a prayer of thanks to God, and his best friend Derik. Ahtreyu had never been a Bible-thumping evangelist, but he did indeed believe in God, karma, and being a decent human being to others.
Ahtreyu wheeled around the pod, carefully going over the power cable and wires, and looked for the entry. Not seeing anything, he went over to the small table with a pile of manuals on it and sifted through them all.
“All the centuries of advancement, and we still have paper manuals.” Ahtreyu murmured as he sought the only useful piece of info in the stack.
Stopping on a thin booklet titled ‘Quick Start Guide’ he opened it up to find out that 100% of the NIP was operated by voice.
I guess they only bothered to put this on the Quick Start Guide because of morons like me STILL needing instructions…
“Start up,” Ahtreyu said clearly and evenly, hoping he didn’t somehow mess things up before he even got started.
Whirring, small clicks, and even a soft *bong* sound later, and the NIP started softly glowing orange.
“This. Is. Insanely. Cool!”
Having been a tech geek all his life, Ahtreyu had to take more deep breaths to calm his nerves as he read the next step on the Quick Start Guide.
Gulping, he said, “Open pod.” Ahtreyu knew every detail of the current Immersion Pods, but he didn’t want to assume anything about this brand new NIP. Thus, he referred to the instructions just to be absolutely safe.
“User recognized as Ahtreyu Tolkieen,” a very sultry voice came from the pod, making Ahtreyu wonder who in the world they paid for their voice-print. This woman sounded otherworldly hot, “Please enter the pod now, and all systems will be attuned to the registered user.”
The pod’s front made a soft hissing sound as the seal was broken horizontally across the tilted egg shape. As the lid tilted up and backward, Ahtreyu wheeled to the front to see a small set of steps leading up into the milky white substance on the bottom half of the pod.
“Please remove all clothing down to the undergarments,” the sultry voice continued, “or if you wish, you may enter fully nude.”
Ahtreyu could almost swear that the pod’s voice became even more seductive at the words ‘fully nude’. Chuckling to himself, he decided that going nude was the way to go, seeing as how he was literally the only one in his apartment. Carefully removing his clothing, Ahtreyu had just one small problem. His wheelchair couldn’t get close enough to the steps, or side of the pod, for him to enter with ease.
“Shoulda made these steps a ramp,” Ahtreyu grumbled as he wheeled around the pod naked, trying to get in.
Just then, the stairs shifted and turned into a smooth ramp. Eyes bugging out of his head in amazement, Ahtreyu was able to get out of his chair and grab each side of the small ramp, hauling himself up and into the pod. Just then his phone rang, and he swore mightily.
“Do you wish for me to answer the phone?” The pod asked, and Ahtreyu almost couldn’t respond because the pod AI had asked HIM the question.
Just how damn advanced IS this AI?!
Up till now most all Artificial Intelligences had been severely limited in scope and power. Mostly because of the very real possibility that they could overtake humanity in nanoseconds with modern technology. Though the exception or two was made in the interests of advancing humanity to the stars and beyond.
Ahtreyu shook out of his stupor and just before the call went to voicemail, he instructed the NIP to answer as he slid inside.
“HEY!” The voice almost jolted Ahtreyu out of his skin, but thankfully he couldn’t use his legs to launch himself out of the pod.
“Hey back, Derik,” Ahtreyu said breathily, trying to calm his nerves. The pod’s speakers were so close to him, that the volume and suddenness of the yell caused him to nearly have a heart attack.
Gotta calm my nerves, or the safety features won’t let me stay logged in.
For medical reasons, if your heart stopped or other medical emergencies happened, the basic procedure was to instantly log you out and call 911.
“Soooooo,” Ahtreyu could clearly hear the joy in his friend’s voice, “how is your beauty? Is it everything you dreamed buddy? I can’t WAIT till we can play some World of Lovemecraft.”
“Hah hah, very funny,” Ahtreyu smirked, “you know I’m not into that kinky stuff bro.”
World of Lovemecraft was a full-blown spinoff of a game-changing MMO, but it had a MUCH more adult take on the genre. It practically forced you to be the most depraved person in the game, in order to advance your character. It caused a massive upheaval in VR public opinion, but it didn’t break any laws, so it was allowed to remain active. Though rumors abounded about a brand-new type of sexy MMORPG that would blow Lovemecraft out of the water. Way out of the water.
