Chapter One

Late in into the evening, a boy could be seen moving crates from the back of a van into the the basement of a shop. His labored breathing filling the silence of the back alley as he worked diligently to finish the last order of the day. As he placed the last crate in the basement the door leading from the front of the shop opened up.

" Aren't you finished yet, I don't have all evening you know" A rotund man spoke up from the door way. " You'd think, they would be grateful for work, lazy all of them." the man mumbled to himself in disgust, a grimace on his face.

The boy did not reply already used to this kind of behavior from the general populace. He quickly pulled out the bill and placed it on steel table in the basement. An emotionless facade the only expression he was allowed to make or else he would be in trouble with the boss for insulting the client. He really did not want to go searching for jobs again when he just landed the best one yet.

"Here, take it and go, it would be bad for business if anyone saw you stocking my inventory."He took the money placed on the table and went back to the van in the alley and only let out a sigh when he closed the door to the van. "Only a few more to go" that was all he could say to himself to keep his flagging spirit up. He let out another sigh and wondered when life became this difficult, he remembered reading in the library some time ago of the past era when all one needed was the desire to learn as well as the determination to succeed to make something of themselves. Now without some one paving the way forward even to to go to school was impossible as the elite had monopolized education at the higher levels and only made sure that everyone could read and perform simple mathematics. Literature, the arts, and the sciences were no longer for everyone.

It did not take long to gather himself and get his bone weary self back home after dropping the van back at his work place. He dropped down onto the thread bare floor of his small home and closed his eyes to let himself relax. The hustle and bustle of the night life filtering into the house from the outside calming his nerves and allowing his mind to wander.

It was left with a few more credits before he would be able to purchase the lowest end VR head gear that was coming out in the next month. He had been scrimping and saving for over a year now since the initial release of the advertisement of the device. All the information available to the general public was the game would be based on a scenario where the earth had been invaded by aliens and only 10 percent of humanity was still alive, the goal of the game was to help the different factions that still existed to take back the earth and fight for the survival.

Even with how the game was being advertised for such a long time he would not have necessarily have decided to buy one for himself. However, the amount of attention the elites of society paid strict attention this piece of news intrigued him. When he dug further into the news he found out something astonishing, the VR game was being funded and developed by the major powers of the world backed by several of the families with large influence. If nothing else he would have the opportunity to learn within the game as the knowledge and facts contained within had a foundation in reality. If going to school was out of the question he would make use of this chance to learn all he could within the game.