Sol System

Prologue

The AxonKit was released a couple of months ago, and for about a year, it's been the one thing I want most in my life. The AxonKit was the first successful full-dive virtual reality technology to be available for the consumer, granting sensory inputs to all 5 senses. It's a way to be whoever you want to be and go wherever you want to. To think there was a way I could have a girl's body, it's been on my mind ever since I knew that was a feature. I didn't even care about the games available on it when it launched, all I cared about was that I could finally be a girl. Even with the state of the world becoming much more accepting of trans people, medically transitioning is still impossible as a 15-year-old without their parent's help, and there was no way that I was going to come out to mine anytime soon. I was terrified of coming out to my parents, especially since they were so outspoken about their views on the LGBTQ+ community, which was a huge disappointment to me.

Virtual reality had been the only way to escape the real world for me, and the only way I could be somewhat comfortable with myself without my parents knowing. Money has never been a problem for them, so usually, if I ask for something, they don't have a problem with it, so I already have a basic VR setup. I don't have a bad relationship with my parents, at least from their perspective, it's just that they don't know I'm trans, so they have no reason to hate me. On my last birthday, when I turned 14, they decided I could have an allowance. By that point, I knew of the AxonKit and when it was going to be released, and since then I have been saving all the money I can so that I would be able to get it when it was released.

I introduced one of my best friends, Rose, to the concept of VR a while back, and ever since she's been even more enthusiastic about it than I was. She is also the only person to who I have ever come out as trans, as I fully intended to be a girl as soon as I entered VR. Along with that, she was also someone I trusted with almost anything, and at the time it felt right to do so, not that I still wasn't terrified that she would react negatively to it. She was truly a good person and it felt amazing for someone to finally know and accept me, since then we've been even closer as friends. She was able to get the AxonKit when it first launched. I already intended on getting it at this point, but her singing nothing but praise for the game, made me want it even more. One game she was excited about was Sol System, a space simulator completely designed for full dive VR.

Despite tons of people knowing about and waiting for the game to come out, not much was known about the developers. Originally, the company was formed by a guy named Roberts who started a Kickstarter fundraising campaign in 2011 for a space game where you would be able to do everything in it, along with a story game alongside it. The development was filled with problems, setbacks, and missed deadlines. It ended up taking about 11 years for the game to finally even leave an alfa state. Unfortunately, by then, the news of full dive VR becoming consumer-ready reached the company and Roberts was already changing the game to be for VR. This extended the delay of the game by years. With an already dwindling fanbase and people even more production problems, the company chose to leave public view almost entirely for six years. They finally reappeared in 2026 with an ad for Sol System and an official release date set of April 30th, 2027.

The company behind Sol System - Stellar Project - was the same company run by Roberts back in 2011 under a new name, and after being almost impossible to find, only a few people made the connection between the two. To everyone else though, they were a new, unheard-of game company with an amazing new game coming out, especially with those who could get an AxonKit. I did hear at one point around when I got the AxonKit, that it had sold around five-hundred-thousand copies after 3 months of release. For a normal console that would be staggeringly low, but the AxonKit was pretty expensive so I think that evened it out. When I finally was able to afford mine, coincidentally, there was a bundle between Axon and Stellar Project that had both the Kit and Sol System together, along with extra money and some basic starter necessities that you wouldn't normally get.

The day the bundle was available to the public, Rose and I had already gotten ourselves to Target to ensure we'd get a copy. I had to get myself a full bundle of the Kit and game, while Rose was just here to tag along and to make sure I got one. Despite getting there before it even opened, there were already a few other people there forming a line. Somehow, when the store did open, the people waiting were very calm and collected as the target employees guided everyone to the back and started giving out the bundles. As soon as we got what we came for, we went back to my house to set up the VR system. One of the important things she set up was my RSI account so that when I got into the game I could just send her an invite right away. After getting the system set up and the game installed we hung out for a while and set up a time for us to play the following day. For the rest of that evening, all I could think about was how excited I was for tomorrow and all the time I would be spending in-game. I couldn't wait to leave my world behind, if only I could do it for good.

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Hi, this is the first book I've ever written, so thank you to anyone who clicked on it. I'd love to get some feedback on my writing and story, so please comment if you have anything you want to say.

If you couldn't tell, this book is heavily inspired by Sword Art Online and Star Citizen. The latter title is a game I really hope comes to fruition, and the former is a story with an amazing concept that I think was done very poorly. The story itself is original, but some of the smaller, physical elements might be inspired by other existing titles.

None of the images are mine and all of the ships that will be included belong to Cloud Imperium Games. I don't own anything other than the story and the characters.

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