Second Life: Welcome to Gaia

Today is November, 20 of the year 2096, fifty years after the end of the chaotic days. This period was named as such because the world, as a whole, was passing for a very difficult period on what pandemics became recurrent, the hate for others or things for no reason became common, and the lack of empathy for the suffering of others took another level, making the world almost unfeeling. People didn't want to change their habits even knowing that it could hurt others or themselves and their family members. The intolerance got strength making many conflicts surge around the world like civil wars or between countries. This chaotic scenery culminated in the Third World War, on which the advanced weapons and means of transportation played an important role in the genocide that occurred in many countries.

All of those events resulted in the death of more than one-fifth of the world population, becoming a stain in human history that will never be forgotten. The sadness, sorrow, and despair would always leave a mark on those that experienced this tragedy. But all those things made people start to rethink their actions and behaviors, changing the world in a way that anyone has thought was possible.

Luckily those years are long gone and the world has reached relative peace. Now people became united and empathize more with the suffering of others, be it in their own countries or in relation with others, resulting in fewer international conflicts and an increase in the interaction between people of different nationalities. The intolerance decreased, but not vanished, as probably never will. The anti-discrimination movements (especially of race, sex, and disability rights) gained strength and affect society heavily, influencing the change of beliefs and behaviors of the world population, and reforming the law of different countries.

In this scenery, CyberTech, a technology company, took the world by storm releasing a virtual reality system on which people could learn in a more effective way by simulating all kind of situations that would be impossible otherwise, like training in defusing bombs, creating scenarios that could help in phobias treatment, or simulating surgeries with living patients and many other applications.

These simulations are made using a virtual reality helmet that makes the connection of brain electrical signal with the CyberTech system[1].

The virtual reality system could only simulate situations to facilitate people's learning, and not make people gain knowledge by injecting it into their minds. This technology's research proved that the human mind can't stand a sudden infuse of information and can only learn by experience and adaptation. People's beliefs influence directly the simulations because they are used to think in a way and can't easily change their world's view. If they tried simulating staying underwater for too long, for example, they will feel like drowning after some time because humans can't breathe underwater, and if the simulation doesn't stop, their real-life body will stop breathing and the person will die.

Later, this company developed a game named Second Life, on which they put together the simulation programs of various fields, building a single system with a God A.I.[2] that controls everything. The company developed the initial worldbuilding, including the classes and initial quest, and will not be responsible for the later updates, but they still have the power to turn off or reset the system in case of some huge problems surge. The only part of the game that CyberTech still controls is the game forum that can be accessed from inside or outside the game.

In this way, the company would get the money from the game from taxes and some data insert in the game by companies and the government requests. And their only expenses would be the energy to keep the system working and the management of the forum.

The CyberTech announced that the game would only be improved and not closed, so the players would have the feeling of experience another life without the risk of it end at any time. It also said that they, nor any other company, would create a new game in the future to substitute Second Life, so the players can truly invest in the game, be it time or money, with no worries. The God A.I. system has the capacity of learning so it will not become outdated in the future and will keep improving. CyberTech could ensure the players that any Virtual Reality Game from another company would surge in the future because the company holds the patent of this technology and monopolize the market, preventing it from happening.

Second Life is a VRMMORPG made based on the world's geographic space, and human history, mythology, and literature. Using the mapping of the Earth globe, they created a virtual reality world called Gaia where many real and fictional races live and interact with one another. The difference between Earth and Gaia is in the fact that in the game world did not exist modern cities and skyscrapers, and its history is very different from mankind. Mythical and legendary beings, monsters, and other creatures and characters from people's imagination are living freely in Gaia, just waiting for players to unravel their mysteries.

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[1] I know I am bullshitting here, but it's fiction. But maybe something like that will be possible in the future because there are researches about using the electrical signals of the brain to activated external devices like computers or prosthesis.

[2] More advanced than the Skynet of Terminator.