Somniverse

somniverse

Kourosh Keshavarz

Copyright © 2013 Kourosh Keshavarz

www.kouroshkeshavarz.com

All rights reserved.

For Mikayl and Anya

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my wife Maria and my brother Kavian for both their support and feedback in completing this book. Without your help I would have no title, no cover and a very confusing ending.

The first thing Chris saw as his eyes opened was the dense forest directly in front of him. Row after row of trees were only a short distance ahead, their leaves gently rustling in the wind. He stood for the next few minutes in stunned silence.

Eventually, still remaining fixed, he slowly moved his eyes from left to right and was presented with more of the lush green scenery. Rolling his eyeballs up as far he could manage rewarded him with the blue sky directly above. He panned from left to right again until his eyes were back in the middle and slowly started to look down. His eyes stopped at the green blades of grass directly in front of his feet. He studied each individual leaf for as long as he could manage and eventually moved his eyes back to centre.

With the focus drawn away from his vision he became aware of the sounds around him. At first all he heard was the gentle movement of the trees. A few short seconds later he became conscious of a more prominent sound behind his right ear. As random as the leaves, it appeared to have a more solid tempo and continuous rhythm. Curious, his eyes moved to the left. However when they reached the end, his neck moved and turned his head towards the sound. Startled by the movement he lurched to the left and started to fall to the ground. Instinctively his arms shot to his left as he crashed onto the foliage. He winced as the dull pain shot up through his arm.

Chris remained still for a few moments thinking about the parts of his body he had just moved. He thought about his left hand and wondered what it was that was hurting. At the same time his hand moved up in front of his face but this time he could only sink his head deeper into the grass. Holding the hand in front of him, he moved his head in order to see where it stemmed from. He looked along his arm until his neck stopped just short of his shoulder. Remembering the symmetry of the forest he rolled his head to the other side until he could see his right shoulder. At that he sensed a movement and eventually saw both hands in front of him.

He tried to lift his head and saw his bent right leg just at the base of his body. It didn’t take him long to lift both legs into the air at the same time. Excited at the control he had, he moved his limbs around randomly until he brushed his right palm against the hair on his left arm. Surprised by the sensation, he started to rub his hands all over the opposite arms and then as far as he could on his legs.

He then started to rock from side to side. As his movement became more pronounced, he start to roll more vigorously and eventually landed in the foetal position on his left side. Locked in this position, he frantically used his right hand to push only to realise he was lifting himself off the ground. As he pushed more he noticed his body’s lower part following through.

Eventually, Chris manoeuvred his left arm around and found himself on all fours. As he stayed motionless in this position he became more and more aware of the feeling of the ground against his body. He ran one hand through the grass, gently at first and then faster and faster until the rough stalks were almost scraping the tender skin of his palms. Alarmed, he flipped his hand over and brought it close to his face. His palm had retained a faint green colour.

Curiously, he first looked and then brought it closer for inspection, but as he did so he felt a tingle in his nose and head lifted back and lurched forward as the air in his lung exploded out through the front of his face. He moved his right hand towards the offending organ and felt the obstruction in the centre of his face. As he felt around his nose he became aware of a difference in the senses as he breathed the air in. Moving his hand back caused the sensation to revert back to normal. Back again and the smell returned. He took some short sniffs around his hand and then placed it down to repeat the same on his left hand which resulted in disappointment as the hand smelled less of grass and more of his own self.

Pushing himself back up Chris found himself in a seated position. He looked down and was surprised by his own genitalia. Moving his hand towards it he gently poked his penis. After several minutes he tired of the exercise and struggled to get himself to a standing position.

By now he had worked out how to successfully move his joints about. It took a few fumbling attempts with his legs however, to work out the correct sequence of movements to enable him to walk. As he tried out this new function he remembered the loud noise from earlier and looked for the source. Finding the river he began to move slowly towards it. He suddenly stopped as a figure sitting at the river stood and turned around to face him.

The figure had the same limbs as him but the similarities ended at that. Brown wavy hair cascaded down her shoulders. His attention was caught by the protrusions in the upper part of her chest. Placing his hands on his own he noticed the flat surface covered with hair. As he did this she repeated the same gesture but with her hands on her pubic area. Chris slowly became aware of the rising sensation in his own genitals and looked down to see his member growing. Fascinated, the figure by the river took a step towards him. Startled by the movement, he gave a short scream and ran towards the forest. The female figure lurched away from him and fell backwards into the water.

1

Come on Alex

You’re missing it!

The board room at ImmersiTech was a hubbub of activity as Alex O’Donahue walked in, struggling with a stack of pizzas and a bag full of soft drinks. Around thirty of the hundred and fifty staff that worked for the company filled the room. As everyone started unpacking and finding their favourites, Sally, the receptionist yelled out from the front of the room; Quiet everyone, it’s starting.

Everyone cheered as the reception area of the office began to hover directly in front of the rear wall of the conference room.

… the office of ImmersiTech. We are here to get a preview of their latest product, Somniverse.

The three-dimensional scene flicked through to an image of TV presenter Rebecca Huntington stepping through the foyer of ImmersiTech and once again everyone cheered at the sight of the blonde receptionist, Sally French, pretending to speak to someone on the video phone.

For the last fifteen years, ImmersiTech have been at the forefront of immersion systems. At first they dazzled us with the Immersion Cinema software. It was the first time users could plug directly into a computer and be truly immersed in the cinematic experience.

She held up what appeared to be a bicycle helmet. There were wires protruding from the back and off towards to bottom of the three-dimensional display. Everyone in the room looked in with nostalgia one of the earliest psionic helmets.

This device allowed users to hook up via the Internet and experience movies first hand by following the actors from scene to scene, while remaining in the comfort of their home. Five years later they released ComaComm which uses the same technology to communicate with coma patients. For the last ten years however, ImmersiTech have been working quietly on their latest release, which is reported to be the most significant technological advance since the public release of quantum computing almost 10 years ago. Tonight we are taking an exclusive first look at Somniverse. The game is the brain-child of Alex O’Donahue, founder and CEO of ImmersiTech, as well as the most senior developer.

Go Alex!

The image was replaced by that of Alex and Rebecca sitting at a terminal in one of the development labs.

So Alex, please tell us about your latest game, Rebecca asked.

First of all, let me make one thing clear. Somniverse is not a game but rather a virtual universe. There are a number of differences however, between Somniverse and other similar applications.

And these differences are?

Firstly, the interface uses our own brand of immersion technology. It was developed at ImmersiTech and is vastly different from anything on the market. Out competitors use a generic brand of immersion which although easily adaptable is limited in its capabilities. Additionally, other programs use a combination of virtual reality augmented with neural receivers to simulate the experience. Somniverse relies on complete immersion using both-way communication directly to the brain. Therefore the only way to experience Somniverse is via the psionic helmets.

Once the user is calibrated to the application, sleep is induced, hence the word Somni, using some very controlled pulses from the helmet. At this point the user becomes connected or plugged into the computer. Now this is where Somniverse becomes different. As opposed to other virtual universe programs, once you are immersed in Somniverse, the user loses all consciousness of plugging in. The moment you are in, you are well and truly cut off from the outside world.

Rebecca flicked her hair before asking the next question.

So what does one experience in this virtual universe?

Basically Somniverse allows you to live an entire lifetime in a matter of a few hours. The game allows you to experience birth, childhood, puberty, adulthood and finally death at a rate of around ten years every hour.

And how is this possible?

The core of the game is the TIMe module, or the Temporal Impression Modifier. This bit of software compresses the information as it flows to the brain, allowing more of it to be received in a shorter timeframe. It is able to do this since the information is bypassing the senses and being fed directly to the brain. The end result is the experience,’ pausing briefly for effect and staring into the camera, ‘of a lifetime Alex stretched both arms out and slowly moved them towards each other. In only a few hours.

So how does the user remember their experiences? If time is compressed, how does the brain have room for all the memories on top of their real memories?

Let me begin by correcting you. The experiences in the universe are real. Each user controls their actions. They will be detached from their real life so they can't influence what they do during the game based on their pre-immersion experiences. What they do is live life the same way they live their regular life but in a completely different world, and using their own mental capacity.

The next point is that people will remember the experience. Not unlike regular life, their recollection of specific events will be based on their importance relevant to the person. You don’t recall everything you have eaten in the last few days, but you remember for example, the brush you had with a celebrity or the piece of advice or poignant moment in your life that made you choose your current career. It’s the same with the virtual universe. The users remember what they believe is important. Since most of the storage space in the brain is never used, Somniverse allows you to experience the things you don’t have time for in real life.

You mentioned that people are detached from their personalities. How does that work in the context of the game?

Unlike Immersion Cinema, where a user needs to make contact with friends from the real world, the idea behind this program is to allow the user to flourish and develop as a result of their experiences in the alternate universe. The Immersion technology, which is how the user interacts with the universe, is currently being used by game manufacturers to let users slay dragons and kill monsters with their bare hands. Once the TIMe module was developed we decided to create something unique, and Somniverse is it. Instead of letting users act out their alter-egos we allowed the users to enter alter-worlds as new people through their experiences. In Somniverse the user starts off as an embryo and lives through the miracle of child-birth. This allows the user to slowly let go of their consciousness without the disorientation that confused our first lot of users.

What happened then?

Our first two hundred Adams and Eves, Alex made a double quote gesture and smirked, became completely disoriented as they first entered the world as fully grown adults, since it would be impossible to keep an eye on them during childhood. Even simple body functions confused them. Most were completely taken aback by their limbs and one user began chewing off his arms and bled to death. It took them some time to adjust to being in the game and understand their own physiology. We therefore modified the game to allow them to slip out of real consciousness into altered consciousness in around a year, which is six minutes in real time.

And how do you manage that?

Alex shifted in the chair

Well, firstly the helmet uses pulses to put the user to sleep through pulses generated by the software. Once the user is asleep, it will start creating the imagery by feeding the information through wave patterns via the temples. The strength of the waves is just enough to override those created by the brain as the user sleeps. Once they wake up, it will feel to them like they have been asleep and the whole experience has been a dream. The only difference is that their recollection of some events will be a lot more vivid than if they had simply dreamed them.

So how did this all come about.

The idea for ComaCom came to me when my father lapsed into a coma after a stroke twelve years ago. By this stage the immersion technology had evolved to the point where we could involve a user without manual calibration. From then it was a simple task to communicate in an altered world. As you may know, coma patients tend to respond to external stimuli, so by simulating the sensations we could tap into the patient’s sub-consciousness. The TIMe module was the daughter of ComaCom. My father passed away only after a handful of sessions which meant I spent very little time with him. It was then that I realised time compression would have to be developed further. We are now testing the new version of ComaCom to allow families to spend more time with their loved ones in compressed time with the option of switching their real consciousness on or off. Also Neurologists are attempting to use the game to spend a longer time with the patient in order to create a stimulus which they hope they will assist in bringing them out of a coma.

So how do you control the game?

We don’t. We spent the last ten years working with geologists, botanists, palaeontologists and a myriad of other scientists to make the virtual world as close to earth as possible. Even they asked us the same question. In fact Somniverse was delayed for three months as a result of the debates that followed. In the end we all agreed the temptation to control the game would be too strong. We therefore decided to lock ourselves out. Also the selling point of the program is the fact that it is a parallel universe and no one is interfering with the users. There are however, certain markers which can be used to pass information to the game but the users would need to decode them in order to understand them. Similarly there are points that can be used to pass information out but again the user would need to be able to identify them. The game is completely independent of outside influence.

The other point I would like to make is that the language and operating platform for the game are all developed in-house. We did this for security which means a virus or attack would have to be generated by one of our staff and can easily be traced back to them via a module that recognises the way our staff apply their knowledge to the system.

The screen shot to the reporter putting on the helmet. The image cut to what would be seen by Rebecca. OK, She said If you have a quantum computer and psionic helmet, all you need to do is strap it on and think of Somniverse.com

The conference room once again became a chorus of cheers until Alex stood back up and started talking to the room.

Alright everyone, said Alex. Thanks, first of all for staying here tonight. I know everyone has plans but it is great to see all our developers here in this room watching our success on the tiny PolyVision screen. Compared to any Immersion technology based game it feels like giving up a sports car for a skateboard.

The sound of chuckles spread across the room.

Secondly I’d like to thank you all for your great work over the last six years. I know I am repeating myself from the company meeting, but you developers, engineers and creative artists are who made the game. Sure, everyone in the company is involved in the success, but it was the late nights and weekends that you all put in that means we still aren’t tapping away at our keyboards. As a thank you to you I have arranged for a small bonus in your next pay cycle. I suggest you use it to make up for the time you spent away from your families.

At this, everyone started cheering once again.

Settle down. Alex waited for the noise to die down. Now, anyone who wants to keep partying can meet me downstairs for drinks. I’ve seen most of you spend many a Friday night there. And yes the drinks are on ImmersiTech.

2

Chris Attar woke to the sound of the council lawn mowers making their way up and down his street. He looked up in anguish at the bedside clock and against his better judgement crawled out of bed, eventually managing a posture that resembled a famous tower in Pisa. The infra red sensors on his computer switched on the screen as he walked toward it and a spinning envelope appeared a few centimetres above his desk.

Chris was amongst the multitude of people who had flocked to a Poly-Vision monitor. But he was only one of the few to invest in the dual function models, as they were still a niche product.

Although at first glance it looked like a standard LCD monitor, it was able to send and receive three-dimensional video through the Internet. This was done via the two parallel lines that lapped around the screen. The inner line was a series of small lasers that pointed to a section around sixty centimetres from the screen. The technology was similar to older laser televisions where small beams displayed the image on a large glass panel. The difference was that the floating image was created by the beams intersecting each other.

The outer line was another row of lasers recording the face of the user and mapping out the colours and features. The information recorded here was sent through to the inner lasers of the recipient’s monitor to display the image of a floating head of Chris. The display appeared as a Venetian mask since there was no mechanism for recording the back of the head. He had installed one of each at both his parents’ and brother’s house and was able to have holographic phone calls with his family.

For a much larger price tag, the more sophisticated method consisted of a base and roof system where a pair of discs create an image by firing precisely calculated beams to the space in the middle to create a solid image at the point where the beams intersect. This option was far too cumbersome for the average home and was mainly used for hotel or company foyers as an alternative to an information desk.

Chris walked over and tapped at the keyboard. Instantly the box was replaced by a hovering bust of his mother holding his two year old nephew Zaccheus. The three-dimensional figure stopped just past the ears. He groaned at the thought of the message as the construct started to move.

Chris, it’s your mother here. He smiled as he thought of his mother still struggling with the concept of video phones after well over twenty years. I got your message last night but you weren’t home. I want to let you know that it is this young man’s second birthday and we are having a barbecue to celebrate. Your brother is coming with his in-laws Chris wondered if she intended to drag out the last two syllables. and your aunt and uncles are coming as well. I also invited our neighbour and they are bringing their daughter Clara. And here it is, the main subject of the message. so make sure you are here at Saturday before eleven. Love you. She then turned to Zac. Blow uncle Chris a kiss. Chris blew a kiss back and continued walking towards the shower.

As he was jolted awake by the hot water he couldn’t help but muse over his mother’s attempts to get him married. Since his brother Alex, two years younger than him, had gotten hitched, the nagging had built up to a crescendo, increasing with amplitude with his sister in-law’s pregnancy and forever growing since little Zac was born. He loved his brother’s family a great deal and cherished the time he spent with them but tried to avoid his parents in an attempt to remain sane. It was hard enough dealing with the fear of getting intimate again without the incessant reminders.

He dried himself and after finding nothing in the fridge, stopped in front of his bicycle and debated whether he should ride it to work after barely two hours of sleep. In the end he decided that although his brain was being punished his body shouldn’t have to pay for his sins and reached for his bike shorts.

3

Jacob Flinders started seething the moment he saw the ImmersiTech offices on the flat screen. He realised then just how much he had not been looking forward to this moment. His months of anger had been nothing compared to the anguish he felt as he sat down before the computer after a night out at the casino.

Seven months ago he had walked out of the office for the last time, his head bowed in shame, his bank account high on seven figures. After months of losing a battle to Alex to float the company so they could retire, he had resorted to other methods of getting rich.

Jacob had been there since Alex had started ImmersiTech with an inheritance from a set of wealthy grandparents. Jacob had initially been content with what he was being paid as a partner once the company had started showing a profit. He dreamed of travelling the world on a yacht once they hit it big and thought that they had reached the top when some of the earlier products were making money.

The problem was Alex did not want to hand the company over to money hungry investors and had vehemently decided against going public. His dreams delayed, Jacob began gambling in an attempt to jack up his earnings. Even on his hefty salary, it wasn’t long before he was broke. He had finally been forced to transfer some funds to his bank account to get some people off his back and was caught with his hand in the till.

Disappointed, Alex made him resign from the company, leaving enough of the stolen funds for him to get out of debt and back on his feet again.

At first he had felt remorse but after a brief moment away in Europe his feelings turned to anger and he returned to take what was rightfully his. After all, as a convicted hacker, it had been his idea to create a completely new language for each module, making the game almost impervious to outside tampering. He had tested the game himself, each time getting less and less into the system until he was finally locked out. He had even enlisted some of his cyber-friends, whom he had only met using the psionic helmet in virtual parties. They had finally agreed that it would be a long time before the system could be breached.

And now, down to his last few thousand he had traded most of his