James Markstrom reclined on his couch watching history in the making. The 88 inch tv screen mounted in the centre of the living room wall was tuned into the stream of a well known space commentator as everyone waited with baited breath for the spaceship Ares to begin the final approach. James sat there, barely breathing as the countdown ticked down to 60 seconds. He couldn't really fathom that it was finally happening, promises of 2024 and every Hohmann transfer window after that, the landing on Mars was always 2 years away from being 2 years away. James watched the clock tick past 30 seconds and the call come over the radio. "All systems nominal". 15, 10, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Ares tilted forward, 1 engine lit as the first human landing of another planet began. January 29th, 2036 at 11:34 pm CST. James leaned forward, his entire body rigid and unmoving as he watched Ares slowly enter the thin Martian Atmosphere, the stream nothing more than background noise, not consciously processed as the commentator was half informative, half nonsensical excited screaming. 15 minutes later Ares entered the atmosphere nose first, screaming towards the ground like an intercontinental ballistic missile, manoeuvring thrusters fired on the right side of the craft, spinning it 180 degrees with the thrusters on the left side activating to cancel the rotation. 15 seconds later, the 3 core engines lit and began the process of slowing Ares' descent. 5 seconds later the 4 landing legs rotated outwards from the ship until they were at a perpendicular angle before continuing through, splayed out for better stability rather than sitting in line with the ship. 13 seconds later, 2 of the 3 engines cut off, leaving only the central most engine active as Ares approached the ground.
Tiny specks of Martian dust were blowing up and away, billowing around the landing legs as the spaceship slowed for landing. On the stream, it was basically impossible to tell that Ares had landed as James' awareness returned to him and the words of the streamer became more than a subconscious buzz. "This is the most historic moment in human history, the first time we left Earth completely behind and traveled through the blackness of space until Earth was nothing more than a small blue dot and Mars was nothing more than a small red dot. We're expecting to hear from Ares Captain Alvin Richardson any moment now so I'll pause here until he speaks."
"Houston, All systems nominal. This is the second leap in a future for humanity that isn't confined to our home, a future of unlimited possibility as we seek to travel the solar system and then the galaxy. I have no doubt that Serena will have a far better speech prepared when she takes the first step onto Mars and becomes the first human being, to ever step on another planetary body."
James finally unwound, he started running around his living room, screaming and yelling like a maniac and he could only hope that his neighbours were watching or at least understood. The streamer waited a few moments to ensure nothing else would come through, "Captain Richardson always said he was not a man of many words but I think that really captures the sentiment that we are all feeling today, a world and a future of limitless possibility. It's important to note that the crew checklist will take about 15 hours and we are not expecting hatch opening until approximately 4:13 pm Houston time tomorrow. I'll be taking your questions and answering your superchats for quite a bit as well as catching up with everything that was said during the landing itself."
James flipped off the TV and plopped back down on the couch, his eyes were watering and he was breathing heavily. 15 minutes later, James got off the couch and headed to the kitchen to grab a fresh pop but his legs felt heavy and he had a brief understanding that something was horribly wrong as the world started spinning, his legs felt like they were mired in quicksand and he saw the floor rush up to smash into his face.
James blinked his eyes to clear his head, there was no roof above his head, the sun was warm on his face, the birds were chirping, and he was definitely not in Winnipeg anymore. He slowly sat up, taking a moment to get his bearings before he really studied his environment. He was in a field that was about 100 meters long and 250 meters wide with a variety of wild grasses. The border and beyond was nothing but trees although even from his sitting position he could see a very tall mountain distance. Before he could really take stock of what happened to him and why he had collapsed in his kitchen and ended up in a completely unrecognizable world, a small blue creature, barely 3 feet tall with a humanoid appearance, a face that looked uncomfortably stretched and ears that drooped like a basset hound, popped into being, appearing from nowhere about 5 feet away.
"Welcome, James, to the Eternal Game. You've been chosen as humanity's representative from the over 8 billion members of your species as someone who represents the right profile that will accurately represent the capabilities of your species, while adding to the overall quality of the game. My name is Atal and I am your guide and dedicated game master while you are humanity's representative."
James' eyebrow quirked. "I guess that answers the where I am question, some kind of fully immersive game, and the why me question, although that's a bit vague, so now the next question is why does the game exist?"
Atal nodded and rolled his shoulders, "That's a logical next question, I can already tell you're going to do well here, most species either freak out or try to get violent, neither is particularly useful. The game exists as a means of protecting the structural integrity of the galaxy. War and conflict is inevitable, almost all species have internal strife and when a species meets another species that doesn't view existence the same way, wars can end in the destruction of planets, stars and even galaxies. We were one of those species that shattered galaxies and set off supernovas in conflicts that could not end any other way, to soothe my soul, I can unequivocally state we did not start those wars but we did end quite a few of them. To stop that ever happening again, we created the Eternal Game. A method for all species to compete, build alliances, earn technology from us in the real world, non-military of course and allow for that bloodlust to occur in a less destructive manner."
James stood and stared into the distance of the new world that would be his home for an uncomfortable length of time before he turned back to Atal, shrugged and said "Okay, so I can kind of grasp the concept and I can also assume that whatever your species is called, is so powerful that you can maintain some kind of detente in the real world. I imagine I'll spend a lot of my free time pondering these concepts over the next few forevers..." James gave his head a powerful shake, "Okay, how does this game work and most importantly, how do I avoid getting killed or enslaved by another empire, many of which I imagine have been playing this game for millennium and are therefore much more advanced technologically and much larger."
Atal smiled widely which just looked slightly creepy and off on a face that was stretched so tightly. "To answer your unasked question, our name, just like my own is completely unpronounceable and incomprehensible, instead we have adapted to simply using the descriptor of Game Masters, as it accurately reflects our role. But, onto the more important questions. The structure of the universe we've created is dependent on hyperlanes or specific dedicated tunnels that travel between solar systems. That makes it so that a species which has been in this game for over a million years is still unable to reach newer species as the time involved alone would make such a trip impractical, let alone maintaining an empire of that scale, logistics are real here, it's not all just added to an aggregate pool you can do whatever you want with. As far as your neighbours who are more recent additions to the game, we've implemented a 30-year impenetrable shield around the territory that has been set aside for your starter civilization. There is no obligation to claim all of that territory and it can be claimed by other groups after 30 years. When it comes to surviving against more powerful foes, that's something that you have to figure out on your own. You are allowed to travel outside of your limited space within the first 30 years, however you can not be attacked and you can not attack, peaceful exploration and early contact with other groups is allowed."
James’s face was slack and his eyes unfocused while he nodded along to the explanation. "Okay, I've got 30 years to defend myself, that's good news at least and I guess the only question left before we get everything started is, can I die?"
"No, with one exception, you will be humanity's representative forever, if all of humanity is defeated in the game, not just vassalized or enslaved, but defeated to the last human, you will die and humanity will start again, in a new place, with a new world and a new representative although they will not lose any of the gifts you have earned them, simply won't achieve more gifts until the new representative rises to the level of your achievements." Atal said.
James shrugged. "Not a pleasant thought, but not too much I can do about that, how do I start?"
Atal clapped his hands and said, "Simply think construct buildings, it will give you a list overlaid in front of you as if you had your own HUD. You can also think resources and those numbers will appear across the top of your HUD. Resources will always assume you are asking for what can be built directly in front of you, however if you think civilization resources, you will see everything as well as a breakdown of where those resources are located.”
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Resources
10000 stone, 10000 iron, 10000 copper, 10000 food, 10000 fuel
Construct Buildings
Town (Level 1)
Cost: 200 stone, 200 iron, 200 copper, 200 food
Reward: 500 people, 10 hauling trucks
Jobs Available: 5
Unlocks: Quarry, Mine, Farm, Factory, House, Apartment, Road, Refuelling Station
James mentally selected town and his world shifted to a bird’s eye view. He placed the town in the centre of the valley in a spot that was highlighted with glowing yellow, indicating that was the expected town location or at the very least, the game’s recommended town location.
A popup appeared on the top right corner of his HUD, Towns available (1/157) and a notification bell showed a little (1) symbol. James clicked on the notification and popup appeared in the centre of his vision with single message with the title “Achievement Unlocked”. He selected the message.
“First town placed in the Eternal Game; rewards have been unlocked for Humanity.”
The ground rumbled as dirt exploded away from the centre of the field, a large spear point appeared through the debris with a thin metal pole at the tip. The spear point drove upwards, expanding at a constant rate until it transformed into a shingled roof on top of a 2 storey building with a Juliet balcony aligned over the front door, with a wrap around balcony giving access to the Town Hall from the North and West. Over the front door hung a large sign with a white background and black letters displaying the words Planet Town One. The stub of an asphalt road pushed west to east, 100 meters from the north side of the Town Hall. Between the road and the building, all of the wild grasses transformed into an immaculately manicured lawn, this lawn extended the same distance from the house in all directions.
James looked over at Atal, “Bit dramatic don’t you think?”
“The Eternal Game serves many purposes but it is the Game Master’s main form of entertainment, it’s a combination of a soap opera, a sports league and a bettor’s dream. For us, we can see everything that is happening in all civilizations, but even for the species of the game, it’s the number 1 entertainment product in 76.7% of their societies. All that despite the fact they aren’t able to see what is happening outside of their representative’s civilization.” Atal replied.
James eyes widened and he span around everywhere but the sky was clear and empty of any visible recording device. “I’m being recorded right now?”
Atal shook his head, “The live stream doesn’t begin until 1 week has passed, that’s to give you some time to get your bearings, most people do not take the first few hours as well as you have, but also to let you get more comfortable with interacting with the game, basically to prevent you from looking like a complete noob. Also, you won’t be able to see the recording devices, it’s better to think of them as a free camera, they can move everywhere, see everything and be controlled by anyone. Everyone could have their own camera following what they want.”
James frowned, “Does the game run at a 1:1 time relative to Earth because I can’t see the relative excitement of waiting and following 30 years of nothing happening and I imagine that becomes an even bigger problem with the time involved in moving between systems.”
Atal shook his head again, “It depends on the home planet of the species as the game runs at a constant scale but in the case of Earth, it works out to a perfect 12:1 ratio. For every 12 hours in game, 1 hour passes back in the real world. That means that 1 year in game for you, is 1 month or to your point about 30 years, that becomes 2.5 years.”
James shrugged and turned his attention back to the town hall. The town having a level implied that it was upgrade-able and if he was going to succeed, he needed a far better grasp of how the game mechanics functioned. He focused on the town hall and saw three options appear in his vision.
Upgrade
Appoint Delegate
Rename
James thought Upgrade
Advance Town hall to Level 2, each level will cost 5 times the resources, it will also provide 5 times the number of people
Town Hall (Level 2)
Cost: 1000 stone, 1000 iron, 1000 copper, 1000 food
Reward: 2500 people
Jobs Available: 25
Unlocks: Power Station, Logistics Depot
James clicked off the upgrade and thought “I don’t see the point in spending 10% of my resources on something with no ability to generate resources, although it’s good to know that I can rapidly increase population if I need it, There’s also nobody on this planet but Atal and I so no point in thinking about delegates right now.” He shifted his eyes to the bottom of the list and clicked on Rename
Rename this town to any name you want, there are no restrictions, please note that all town names will follow the format ‘Planet Name’ ‘Town’ ‘Number’ Number represents the order in which the town hall was placed. Therefore even if all towns prior had been renamed, it will still be the number in which the town was placed, it will not start again from 1.
Do you wish to rename the town. Y/N
James triggered the yes command and watched as the sign over the town hall front door changed with a slight blur to Winnipeg.
James saw the notification bell in the top right of his HUD display a red (2) but he ignored it as he turned back to Atal. “The town hall awarded me 500 people and 10 trucks however I don’t see them anywhere, I was kind of expecting them to just pop up although it might be awkward with them milling around, doing nothing.”
Atal looked around for a second in surprise. “Normally the representative doesn’t pause after the building of the town hall, perhaps we will need to update the instructions to be a bit more precise. By the way, you now have the record for the fastest time to ever rename your town, not a particularly interesting record but someone won a million to one bet on that. They won’t receive word until recording officially begins in 7 days but it will definitely generate more interest than normal in your fledging civilization. To answer your question however, all population rewards require adequate housing for those people to appear. Jobs and food to sustain the population is recommended but not required. The trucks will appear when a road is built connecting the town hall to any other building.”
James nodded and clicked on the notification bell.
“First town renamed in the Eternal Game; rewards have been unlocked for Humanity.”
“Fastest Rename of their first town in Eternal Game history, special rewards have been unlocked for Humanity and Representative James will receive double their starting resources.”
“Atal, I didn’t realize there are special perks and privileges both for humanity and myself with records.” James said.
Atal nodded, “It’s not just records, this is all about entertainment, the more entertaining you are to my people, the more perks and privileges you will earn. It’s also not just about setting records, the number and combination of scenarios in which you can earn perks is limitless. There is even a passive percentage bonus from number of followers and amount of watch time relative to the amount of time that the civilization has existed.”
James nodded and turned away, lost in thought. “Entertainment is fine but I have no idea what they find entertaining, alien species means alien thought processes. On top of that, ask one hundred humans what they want to watch and you’ll get 100 answers so there is no benefit of trying to follow a strategy to maximize entertainment, just survive and the longer I’m around, the more watchers I’ll receive simply because I can do more.”
James turned back to the Town Hall and thought “Construct Buildings”
Town (Level 1)
Cost: 200 stone, 200 iron, 200 copper, 200 food
Reward: 500 people, 10 hauling trucks
Unlocks: Quarry, Mine, Farm, Factory, House, Apartment, Road, Refuelling Station
Quarry (Level 1)
Cost: 50 stone, 50 iron, 50 copper, 10 fuel
Production: 10 stone per day
Jobs Available: 20
Mine (Level 1)
Cost: 100 stone, 100 copper, 10 fuel
Production: 10 metal per day (can be used for many different metals)
Jobs Available: 25
Farm (Level 1)
Cost: 50 stone, 50 iron
Production: 250 food per year
Jobs Available: 20
Factory (Level 1)
Cost: 50 stone, 50 copper, 50 iron
Production: Varies
Jobs Available: 50
Upgrade Options: Military Factory, Civilian Factory
House (Level 1)
Cost: 1 stone, 1 copper
Houses: 1 family unit
Apartment (Level 1)
Cost: 10 stone, 1 iron, 5 copper
Houses: 50 family units
Road (Level 1)
Cost: 1 stone per 1km
Details: Level 1 road is a basic paved 2 lane road.
Refuelling Station (Level 1)
Cost: 10 stone, 10 iron, 50 fuel
Charges: 20 per day
Details: Allows land vehicles to refuel, 1 fill up is 1 charge
James selected quarry and his vision shifted back into the bird’s eye view. The icon for the quarry was red and the game didn’t allow him to place the quarry anywhere that he could see. “I imagine there is a way to move the camera to prevent me having to walk around until I get a few point that turns the icon green, How about move left?... Left? Nope, no luck there. How about west, maybe cardinal directions will work? Move west?... West? If they tied the game to my basic understanding of how strategy games work, maybe WASD? W?” James unconsciously moved his hand on his left leg into the correct shape and pressed down. The viewpoint shifted north immediately.
James tried to move left by thinking “A” but nothing happened.
“W works but I must be missing something else, another step that I was doing, otherwise just thinking A would work.” James thought.
James absent mindedly tapped his fingers on his left thigh and his perspective started jerking all over the place. “I guess thinking the key doesn’t matter, the game is expected me to move my hand as if it were on a keyboard, not very efficient but it will work for this task at least.”
James moved the view around until he saw two different locations within a 25 km radius that would work as quarries. One was on the north east side of town 20 km from the town hall, the other was on the south east side of town 24km away. James placed both quarries down, the ground cracked in a thin line across the middle of the quarry to be, as if a giant had plunged an axe deep into the ground in a single solid stroke. The ground ripped inward, throwing up a dust cloud which enveloped the entire quarry site. The dust was captured and carried westward by the wind, leaving behind a complete, ready to work quarry. The quarry was a large open pit with several layers connected by wide ramps designed for giant trucks to haul stone up to the top. On the west side there was 3 small buildings, a gate and a stub of a road leaving the pit.
James, still in the bird’s eye view, switched to the road tool and drew a straight line from the Winnipeg town hall all the way to where a right angle road would intercept the further of the two quarries, he then drew roads out from both quarries connecting to the main road. His notification bell showed another red (2) as his eyes refocused on the world in front of him.
He saw that the 10 promised trucks had spawned in and there were a large number of people starting to move around although nowhere near the promised 500. A quick headcount estimate pointed to approximately 50 people and as James studied the construction list again, he realized it was probably 45 people as the two quarries provided 40 jobs and the town hall provided 5. He watched as most of the people climbed into the truck and drove down the brand new road, completely ignoring the fact that there was nothing to this entire planet but a town hall, a road, 10 trucks and 2 quarries they couldn’t even know existed.
James shrugged, “It is just a video game after all, has to be some allowances for the bizarre early game phase where nothing really exists yet, same as the fact that power just seems to happen on it’s own, something to worry about for later.”
He mentally clicked on the notification bell.
“First quarry placed; rewards have been unlocked for Humanity.”
“All quarries placed for a single town; rewards have been unlocked for Humanity.”
