Viren swallowed the pill, ready to begin his journey into The Anachron. He had made sure that his door and windows were locked and the security system was armed, before he began such an experience. You can never be too careful.

Viren had played a few games that required the functionality of the XPTech, but much like most of the people who had bought into the trend, he too had quickly given up on it. The gimmick of being able to control one’s screen character without the use of any tactile device, such as a touchpad, trackpad, controller, etc. had been around for a few years now, although received with mixed reactions. Utilising the electrical signals of the brain to directly feed inputs into the system was rapidly falling out of favour due to several key issues with biological compatibility.

Initially, the ‘Sculptor Pill’ was designed to prepare the body and mind to synchronise with technological components that previous required a device. The media of augmented and virtual reality were developed to the degree where a human could tell the difference between it and the real world. Much like how it was once difficult to train AI to think and interact like humans, the goal of the XPTech industry and the escapism industry was to train humans to think and interact like AI. This, of course, failed spectacularly on account of the human configuration.

AI on the other hand was a success, up to a point. Using neuralink, humans could play games and to interact in the worlds inhabited by AI, but not created by them. The two component system of the pill and the headset needed to work in tandem for the best results. If the pill was not taken, it wouldn’t make the experience unplayable, but industry ‘experts’ did comment on the quality of the immersion without it.

Viren put on his headset and closed his eyes. I hate this part.

Viren felt a sharp shooting pain that began above the bridge of his nose, in between his eyes and slowly spread across his head. He could feel every strand of hair on his being stung at the root. Then came a sting on opposite sides of his temple, as if pins had been inserted. This was just a sensation though. As the surge left his head and slowly proceeded down his spine into his arms and then his legs, it felt as if it was moving over his entire skeletal system - which, as far as Viren was concerned, it probably was actually doing.

The pill was said to be a safe form of medication designed to numb the body for a certain period of time. During this period, the neuralink was completely established. Before the invention of the pill, when people still had autonomy of their bodies, there would be times that the neuralink did not accurately synchronise the still body with the moving body in the game or experience; leading to some ‘accidents’. 99% of doctors had confirmed that pill was absolutely safe to be used with the XPTech. The manufacturers also made sure to add a disclaimer that the ‘Sculptor Pill’ would not work without the XPTech, therefore it could not (and should not) be used as a sedative. Or else, such a medication would never have been approved for release, considering how cheap it was and necessary for the functionality of such experiences.

Viren had his eyes open throughout; the headset obscured his vision, so it was hard to tell whether the game had started. Since he could clearly still move his arms and legs, it indicated that a link had been established. It was still disconcerting for those people who would try neuralink with other family members or friends in the vicinity looking at a motionless body with the headset on, seemingly alive and doing any number of actions in another plane of existence.

Great, so… now what?

“Welcome Viren!”

Out of nowhere a large blue screen opened up with those words written on it and a male voice uttering those words. This was a voice that Viren recognised from a few of his audiobooks, but could not put a name to. Such an introduction at one point of time would have taken Viren by surprise, but he had played too many games with horror experiences to be too startled by this. In fact, he had almost been expecting an introduction of this kind.

“We shall now begin a series of calibrations, before you can enter The Anachron. Please bear with us.”

Sure. This was another standard practice of the neuralink experience.

“Your vision, according to your last medical check-up was 20/20. No adjustment required.”

“Your medical history shows no conditions that will conflict with the experience. General audio-visual sensors are set to ‘normal’.”

“As you are under 21, your pain threshold has been reduced to 50%.”

“As you are under 21, profanity filters are ‘on’. This is subject to the rules of the state.”

“As you are under 21, nudity filters are ‘on’. This is subject to the rules of the state.”

Damn it! Even in the virtual world those laws are being pandered to by a foreign agency.

“Voice modulation check. Please recite this sentence: ‘The stars of the night, look unto thee. The songs of thy might, fade distantly’.”

Viren repeated the lines.

“Voice modulation has been calibrated to the designated character.”

“Sound calibration check. Please adjust to your liking.”

A turnable knob appeared on the screen marked with equidistant lines, and an arrow on the knob to pin-point the desired level of sound. A song from PARADIGM 24 began playing; although it was not listed as such, Viren recognised it. He adjusted the bar slightly to the louder end. Once he was satisfied with the output he yelled out to the void, “done,” as there was no other visible way to confirm his selection.

“Sound calibration accepted.”

“Calibration complete. Commencing assimilation.”

Viren began to get slightly nervous. He suddenly realised that this was in fact a job and not just another game he played during his leisure hours - which was generally all the time. Maybe I should have read the manual. Or at least finished watching the video before jumping into this.

“Loading Engine… Loading Build... Loading Assets...”

Viren heard a distant drone that gradually grew louder as coloured objects began to pixellate into the black space.

“Loading Textures… Loading Scripts... Loading History...”

Well, too late now.

“Assimilation complete.”

The whole process took a few seconds, till Viren found his bearings. He was no longer on the sofa of his living room. He looked at his hands, opening and closing them, feeling the joints of each finger. These hands were much larger than his own, and much rougher with callouses and scars all over.

This was the body of Erasmus. He was currently sitting on his bed dressed in an untucked black shirt, unbuttoned at the collar, and beige trousers. Viren would have stood up and examined himself in the mirror that he could see at one end of the room, but his right leg had been thoroughly bandaged, as if he had fractured it. This is odd… Viren thought, imagining how he was supposed work with this.

Viren was puzzled unable to figure out what to do next. He looked around the room with wooden furniture and a wooden floor. The walls were covered in wallpaper with a muted flowery design, and were in a state of disrepair, especially at the corners; and the room was filled with a stench that Viren identified as stale tobacco from the presence of an ashtray with cigars and cigarette butts stuffed into it.

Viren began to shift about to figure how he was going to move around with a disabled leg. Just as he got up, the sound of the doorknob turning jerked him back to a sitting position. A strange man entered the room.

He was dressed in a lab coat, or doctor's coat; and yet, he wore shorts and sported sandals for footwear. He looked quite elderly, with unkempt silver hair and a two-day stubble, which made him look too shabby to be a doctor. The man closed the door and walked up to Viren.

With a wrinkled smile he said, “My name is Doctor Jorgen Solvic. I am sure you have so many questions.”