New Beginning

After starting the video, a short explanation of the company and their business plan started playing in Ikky's ear.

**Crystal company, the new developing company with advanced Technological breakthroughs. Now introducing new VR Hardware, with complex technology and an even more complex AI system. We are looking for an extensive field of usage. Before we can introduce this technology to a common market, we are looking forward to testing it in the game industry, which will allow us to improve the technology, even more,**

The video continued by explaining what are Crystal's company's business plans and goals. After a while, it got back to the explanation of used Technology.

The VR helmet was a breakthrough technology that allowed users to connect their brainwaves to a central server while stimulating the REM sleep cycle while wearing the helmet.

Users would sleep while their minds would simulate dream-like scenarios, although it would be a dream, the users would actually have full control over the dream, but within the rules set by the game, much like a lucid dream.

The video also explained the risks and limitations of the VR helmet, which was not recommended to be used for multiple days in a row, and that it cannot replace normal sleep, otherwise users would experience sleep deficit or even damage their nervous system.

Because of this, several safety features were installed in the VR helmet, which would force the user to fall into normal or even deep sleep if their brain or nervous system showed any warning signal.

Finally, it ended up explaining why the company took the gaming industry as a starter. The AI system was able to learn based on the users' thinking because it was connected to the users' brains, it was able to read the users' thoughts and their beliefs about what should happen in certain situations, and learn from those inputs.

For example, if the system lacked information about what the sky should look like at sunset, many users would think, "Why isn't the sky red?" and the system would take this data into account and bring it into reality. The exact same thing would happen when interacting with NPCs (in-game characters), the more people would talk to them, the more real they would feel. At some point, they would have their individual thinking, programmed by the system.

---

The video was so long that before Ikky knew it the class was over and Josh was running back to his desk.

"C'mon, go watch the video now!" Josh said excitedly.

"I've already done it, during the lesson," Ikky replied, taking the earbud out of his ear.

"Now you understand why they started the game, right? The system will learn more from the players. They only used 20,000 users as beta testers for the VR helmet, and the system was able to program the artificial intelligence to guide the conversation to a level where it is almost indistinguishable to know, if you are talking to another human being or not!" Josh could barely contain the excitement he felt just thinking about it.

"Just imagine what if there were 2, 5, or even 20 million subjects, in other words, players. Sooner or later the AI will program the game into another reality. Plus the sensorial system is still there, you'll feel your body moving as if you were in real life." Josh was already lost in his thoughts as he tried to imagine what he had just said.

Ikky listened to Josh's explanation and he couldn't help but agree.

'With such a high player base like the game industry, they would definitely get enough data to program everything, forget about the human being, even if the user saw a graphic error, their mind would just think about how it should look, and the system would correct the error itself. It's like reliable and immediate maintenance,'.

"But the VR helmet has to be very expensive, how can they think of selling it to thousands or millions of users?" Ikka asked with concerns.

"They've made a great business plan. They are just going to rent those VR helmets, you don't need to buy them. Also, I don't think the helmet itself is very expensive. It's should be just sensors and wires and some coils or something. I think..." Josh tried to play the genius who knew how things worked, but he failed miserable.

However, he was not far from the truth. The VR helmet really wasn't that expensive. Crystal company used already known technology, just took it to another level where it was able to retain brain signals and sent them both ways. The real breakthrough was the fully automated AI system.

"If anything, I heard that the most important thing in a VR helmet is the chip, it somehow helps to transmit information between the server and the brain, as you know, Crystal company owns thousands of satellites, but if the information is delayed because of the chip, then it will not be good for the user. I heard that you can replace those chips though," Josh said.

"What do you mean to replace them?"

"Depending on the helmet you rent, you can rent a low-budget, mid-budget, or even upper-budget version. Each one has a different chip and will process the information in different speed. Of course, the better you go, the more expensive they will be." Josh continued to explain.

"As you heard in the video, you can use it instead of sleep, but only every second day. The high-budget version can change this necessary break to once every third day, so you can play for two days, then sleep.".

"But still, the helmet itself, even with a low budget, must be quite expensive," Ikky asked.

"No really, the rental fee is not that high, only around $20 for 15 days," Josh replied.

"Anyway, you should play with me too. I know you prefer moving your body rather than sitting in a chair and playing games, but here you get the full experience. Just imagine, running with the stamina you never dreamed of in real life, or maybe we can even fly later in the game!"

"$20 isn't that expensive, but I doubt there will be enough helmets without any pre-orders," Ikky said worriedly.

"Don't worry because Crystal plans to use it for the common market in the future, they already have millions of helmets manufactured. All you have to do is take a test at Test Center to create your character. I have a reservation for tomorrow, you should call and reserve a date for yourself or they will be full!" Josh insisted.

"Okay, I'll check if there's a spot available, next class is starting, by the way, you should go back to your desk," Ikky said to his friend and Josh ran back.

"I should at least try the game, maybe it will be a unique experience. I have a lot of different things I want to try, but my talent and body are not good for such feats, maybe I could pull it off in the game,' Ikky thought.

Ikky pulled out his phone again and searched for a nearby test center to book an appointment. He expected all reservations to be fully booked for several days, perhaps weeks. To his surprise, it wasn't.

After a few minutes of browsing the website, he managed to get a reservation for the earliest possible date, which was Sunday at 7 pm.

'The game starts at 2 pm on Sunday, it looks like I'm going to miss the start. Well, at least the starting location won't be so full." Ikyk thought, not yet knowing how wrong he was.

---

On Sunday, shortly before 7 p.m., Ikky had just arrived in front of the Testing Center.

To his surprise, this Center looked just like a school gym, but also completely different. It was clear that the building had more than a few floors.

After taking a few deep breaths, he stepped towards the entrance, it was time to create his character.