WORLD OF EDEN
In the age of AI, anything is possible. What if our genomes, our minds, and our personalities could be hacked using a combination of artificial intelligence and virtual reality? Buffy Jang is a high school senior and a genius at programming. Driven by the lure of success, Buffy wants to have it all: an Ivy League education, millionaire status, and validation for her work and talent. After becoming an atheist after the disappearance of her father, she turns her attention to the popular VR game World of Eden. World of Eden has changed the gaming sector through its incorporation of brain computer interfaces (BCIs). The creator of World of Eden, Sai Tanaka, has reached cult god status due to his innovative invention that has combined neuroscience with the latest technological advancements. Buffy Jang idolizes Sai Tanaka and aims to work at his company, Eden Enterprises. Bluffing and coding her way into a coveted internship, she ends up working for Eden Enterprises while juggling college applications. During her internship, she accidentally sends a virus throughout World of Eden, which infects the brains of all of the players. People start to commit egregious crimes due to the evolution of sin pervading through society. Struggling to undo the damage with the aid of her friend and mentor, Luke Tanaka, Buffy embarks on a journey that leads her to overcome her cynicism and depression to find her love for God again.
Chapter 14 - The Pact
Rod still hasn’t arrived.
I’m busy stewing over what James just told me. The Ruben Corp is collaborating with Eden Realities to take over healthcare. A coup, in essence. It seems AI is just another way of having warfare.
Everyone else has arrived. They’re dressed as elves, vampires, fairies, werewolves, about any kind of supernatural being you can ever imagine is at this party. What happened to the good old slutty bunny costumes of the ‘90s? Remember when Legally Blonde was a thing?
Honestly I can’t. Not even my mom’s generation was born when Legally Blonde came out. The movie is so vintage and Harvard is just so last millenia.
I wish. Harvard is as old school as you can get, but I’m not rich enough to end up there. Only pedigrees of old money and the nouveau rich can end up there. Financial aid policies have changed for the Ivy Leagues; essentially no need-based aid, and you have to win scholarships if you want your tuition to be deducted.
Chapter 13: AI Rave
Just like that.
Atheos was supposed to be just a myth. My dad used to joke about it a lot, saying that if there’s a Heaven for the saved and Hell for the sinners, then there should be an Atheos for the in-between. Not everything can be black and white, some people are shades of gray. That’s where Atheos would come in, a world full of people who are neither saved nor such abject sinners that they belong in Hell.
A type of purgatory, that’s like a continuation of the real world, except when there’s God who leads Heaven and Satan who leads Hell, there would be an oligarchy of Greek-like senators ruling over Atheos.
Chapter 12: Limit is Zero
“So what now?”
I quirk my eyebrow at Rod, who’s playing with his new sword Elysium. Something I noticed about Rod is that he always needs to have his hands tinkering with something, whether it’s a cigarette lighter or, in this case, a sword.
I thought I was hands-on, until I met Rod. He’s the very definition of a kinesthete.
“Now? We go home.”
Elysium and Ephesian, the twin dragons, have already left us. They carried us out of Hell, which I think doesn’t even exist virtually now, because of Rod and me. Then they evaporated in thin air, waiting for us to call them again.
“Home? Like home home or wandering around Eden home.”
“Home home. I’m tired.”
“Got it.” He slides Elysium into its scabbard and stretches. His lithe muscles ripple under his vest and shirt and I try not to stare.
Even virtual Rod is a good looking Rod.
