Chapter 1
Year 2066
The planet Earth is a member of the Intergalactic Alliance. The future is here and now. Wars are now a thing of the past. The poverty rate reaches 0.001%. The average lifespan has increased. The incurable diseases have been defeated and completely eradicated. The crime rate has been reduced to 0.003% while mankind lives and works for the future.
Virtual reality has become a very important part of life. People live and work in it. The technology has reached to the point of separating the mind from the body making it travel to the other planets while entering special applications which preserve all nine senses.
The era of prosperity seems to have arrived...
Introduction
His breath came with difficulty from his mouth. The wind and the darkness surrounding him were so impermeable that he could not see the edge of the sword dulled by the absence of light. But, in the distance a faint glow made the man's slowing heart bounce.
'Light... Something must be there.' He thought and with difficulty – he was forced by his recently acquired injury to drag his right leg limply behind him – began to struggle towards the source of the now heavenly seeming glow.
The searing pain from the deep and most likely wound on his right cheek was irritating him but he did not have the time to stop for a second and check it or whinge about the pain. The green line which corresponded to the life bar in the left corner of the visual field indicated that there was no further scope left to lose.
While feeling his heart beating ever louder, the light was getting stronger – as deafening as his pounding heart – as if it was inviting him to go near it, the man increased the speed of his gait. But moments before he reached the light, he stopped abruptly.
"Impossible," He muttered. His mouth felt as bone dry as a desert. "What is that?"
Before him stood a tall knight, almost twice the height relative to ordinary man. The armour was the mirage of light shining in the darkness. He raised his sword menacingly, muffled growls left to dangle in the air.
The text 'unknown object' appeared in warning red letters next to the life line of the man. They were left to blink until dissolved.
"Get out… now." He ordered. No reaction.
"Get out now!" he repeated impatiently, his voice raised to a strong shout. He wasn't in the mood of continuing the track and losing all the points that he had collected so painstakingly. The machine continued being disobedient. The scenery around him didn't change.
He was still there in the middle of the dungeon.
"Get out NOW!" he yelled and slammed his hand with force on the wall. And still nothing changed.
The knight stood before him, his sword raised high in the air.
Losing his patience, the man lifted out the lance he was keeping in the other arm. Adrenaline flooded his whole existence. A fiery battle cry of fury flew out of his mouth and he threw himself with vehemence over the knight. And at the very last moment before their weapons collided, he saw with horror behind the visor…
… His own face.
