Codename: Freedom - Survive Week One!

Chapter 2 - Tutorial

There was little time before I entered Codename: Freedom. Chewme was the only other person I knew that had been selected to participate in the experiment. It didn't surprise me with his freakish size and athletic ability.

We started training. I already ran daily. To be a professional gamer meant you knew the benefits of keeping one's body in shape. I followed their example. In many ways we were similar to endurance athletes, just not as extreme. I upped the number of miles I ran and added body weight training. Destiny was quick to set up a daily routine for me.

When the day came, my body hummed in excitement. I was alone, except for the kind curly brunette in a white coat guiding me down an elevator leading deep underground.

When the sterile metallic doors opened, my mouth dropped. I felt a tingling sensation in my knees. An underground expanse at least half a mile wide extended further than I could calculate. There was a polished steel walkway before me that seemed insignificant to the underground world I had just discovered.

Humor-filled eyes met mine. The female doctor must have grown to expect this kind of reaction. She placed her hand on my shoulder and motioned me forward.

The walkway reached out twenty meters before we met a yellow railing stopping us from falling to a painful death below. I didn't hesitate to approach it and grabbed ahold of it tightly. Looking down, I saw them for the first time.

Hundreds of house sized, black cube structures lined either side of the bunker running off into the expanse of the room.

My guide led me to a second elevator to our left that was little more than a steel cage. Entering, the creek of steel followed us down.

The cage opened to the ground level. Following the doctor's lead, we approached the first structure. As I neared, I saw it was at least two stories tall, with numerous cords, metal arms and pipes coming out the top and the side facing the wall. It was too high to see the top of it, but there was movement.

Were these really what I thought they were?

I was suddenly thankful we had taken the advice to get in shape seriously. After centuries of virtual reality, neuro-linking was "the way" virtual reality worked. If you wanted to fight an orc, join a battle, siege a castle, blast some aliens, fly a spaceship, or explore new worlds there was no doubt that current technology would let you do just that. Could this machine do better?

"Sit here."

She directed me to sit on an aluminum bench staring up at one of the house-sized machines. Looking around, there were other benches in front of each structure with players waiting.

"Impressive huh?" The lady said. She was looking at the house-sized machine-room before us. "We call it the Cube."

Her eyes closed as she smiled to herself.

In all seriousness, I suspected that I could throw everything I thought I knew about virtual reality hardware out the window.

After a long while sitting, the time finally came. My doctor friend directed me through a doorway to one side of the Cube. She had me stand in the middle of the room as my eyes adjusted to the lack of light.

I soon dangled six feet in the air with countless industrial arms of all sizes hanging from the ceiling and reaching out to me from the walls. They came in all shapes and sizes. I stood on a platform that was compiled of dozens of smaller arms and platforms coming together under my feet.

To my embarrassment, I had no clothing on, but I had been left alone.

There was a sickly, green light running along the wall just above head level that gave the room a haunting feel. Only the silhouettes of the massive mechanical arms were visible. I was surrounded.