TUNE IN, TURN ON, DROP OUT "If some unemployed punk in New Jersey can get a cassette to make love to Elle McPherson for $19.95, this virtual reality stuff is going to make crack look like Sanka." -- Dennis Miller Twentieth Century comedian and prophet "Chip me in, Johnny; Chip me in, Jane! Jack me to the max, pump that comstim in my veins! Hear the fire all around me with my com-enhanced brain! Rockin! with my FNFL! -- Kansas City Charlie (and the Flying Buffalo Chips) THE ARCHITECT OF DREAMS The walls of Seattle City Hall were of the finest marble, finely engraved with the works of masters and local unknowns alike. Despite the crowd, the noise, and the numerous doors and halls, once I got my bearing the hallway seemed designed specifically to bring me where I wanted to go, as if it were made specifically for me, specifically for this occasion. The ceilings were vaulted, but not too high, and if I didn't know better I would've sworn that the light coming through the slanted windows was sunlight and not from hidden fluorescent tubes. Rather than take the elevator, I took the stairway, the more to explore this amazing feat of architecture. The stairs were actually designed for walking. They were thin, and gave the impression of a European castle, but whenever I passed someone, it was never crowded. I stopped once to look out the window, over the city. There were so many new buildings, and so many buildings in progress. All the work of one man, the man I was there to see. It was the saddest thing I had ever seen. I was here to convince him to leave this world, but I could've stayed, myself. Before this, I used to be surprised that perfectly normal people could give up reality for a chip-induced fantasy. Now, I'm surprised that such a small number of people actually do. No, there was no way I could succeed. This was everything he'd ever wanted. How could I convince him to return to the regular bump-and-grind? John Doe graduated summa cum laude from Stanford University in 2046. His degree was in Architecture. His dream was to design and oversee the building of a new city, a true artistic creation of the future. But no city was willing to outlay that kind of money for a makeover of dubious necessity, and John had to content himself with standard work for standard buildings in standard cities. He was talented, no question, and his work was admired by his colleagues. But there wasn't any room in this world for what he wanted. Until he met her. He'd always been jacked so he could plug into the computers and design from within. But he'd never thought of using simsense. Until a friend bought him a custom chip for his birthday, and life was never the same. In this chip, he was the most sought after architect in the world, and everyone clamored for his attentions. In these last three years he has gone further in his dream world than he could ever have gone in the real world. He has designed whole cities, and buildings that fill the senses. I did meet him that day, and we discussed his leaving. But only after he took me on a tour of his favorite projects, including a restaurant that he not only designed, but owned. The only thing he regretted was that his father wouldn't come inside to talk to him. But that wasn't enough of a hook to bring him out. -- Dr. Jerold Stratton, Ph.D., Psychology HOTEL CALIFORNIA (Ark of the Damned) The Dream Park was conceived as the ultimate test of the future today. Brainchild of future activist Trurl Klapaucius, the Dream Park has degenerated into the best example of what the future has to offer. >>>[This is the hope of the future, chummer. Our population has already recovered from Vitas, and is growing faster and faster. We need more room for people, and the more room we take for people, the less we have for food, even synth. Trurl may have given up, but he's given us our only chance at a future of hope, rather than a future of pollution, sweat, and homeliness]<<< -- Mel Walsinats [05:32:19/05:11:52] Trurl emigrated from Poland to Seattle in 2030, and acquired backing for his project (Dream Park) in three years. Construction began on June 22, 2034 and was completed on September 18. The original Dream Park contained 400 rooms. Trurl sold lifetime living rights for 100,000Y each. Tenants were required to have their own plug. Trurl provided waste disposal and food. The food was nothing more than gruel pumped into the body, and the living accommodations were spartan, if clean. But the magic was in the built in matrix. The Dreamtime, he called it, and tenants spend every moment of their lives in the Dreamtime. In the Dreamtime, the building is a luxurious mansion, the food is the finest cuisine the world can offer, and everyone is beautiful. He sold all 400 spaces in 43 days. The Seattle government freaked. They decided that they did not like this type of development. They have since passed very restrictive laws protecting the residents of the Dream Park and making it next to impossible for new Parks to be built. The Dream Park owner, for example, is forbidden to touch a tenant's base payment -- it must be returned if the tenant ever decides to leave or the Park is ever closed down. But it doesn't matter, because no one wants to leave, and the interest on 40 million Nuyen is a very nice profit, even after taxes, food, and custodial expenses. After all, only the minimum of upkeep is necessary. No one ever unplugs from the Dreamtime. >>>[Well, not quite true. But the turnover is incredibly slow. Last year, only 10 vacancies opened up, and the year before, only 12. So far this year, 3 vacancies have been filled. Out of 1,600, that's pretty fraggin' low. Unfortunately, we don't know how many of those are people leaving and how many are deaths.]<<< -- Frank Bishop [06:27:33/05-12-52] >>>[How little you know. Nobody dies in the dreamtime -- we're forever young, there's no sickness, no disease. What's there to die from?]<<< -- Mel Walsinats [07:31:01/05-12-52] >>>[I think you've mistaken your virtuality for reality, Mel, old chap. Your icon may be in paradise, but your body is atrophying in its own shit.]<<< -- Wily Coyote [09:05:51/05-12-52] >>>[Drek, Coyote-san. They take care of us here. The vessels are kept clean, and if they atrophy, well, so what? There's only one important muscle on the whole thing.]<<< -- Mel Walsinats [18:54:32/05-12-52] Trurl grew disillusioned with his child, and sold it to Sam Belding (accountant for Concrete Illusion) for a reputed sum of 2.8 million Nuyen in 2042. Belding doubled the number of spaces -- after all, the tenants didn't need any of the space other than their bed and their jack. He offered to let anyone who wanted to leave (there was a waiting list, supposedly, of 5,000 people who wanted in), leave. Only 78 people did so. Then, he turned around and sold the 478 new spaces for 150,000Y. The seed grew to 103.9 million Nuyen. It was during Belding's tenure that Dream Park became known as the Ark of the Damned. When he sold it, most of the letters in the neon logo had stopped working (in the real world; in the Dreamtime, of course, they're fine), leaving the letters "D am ark" which may or may not have been purposeful. Belding sold in 2048. The third (and final) owner is Dr. William Hansen. He has doubled the number of spaces again -- there are now 1,600 tenants in the Dream Park. All of the neon letters are dim now, and the place has come to be known as "Hotel California." 299 of the original tenants remain, and 385 of the second group remain. Those who bought the approximately 800 new spaces paid 180,000Y apiece, and the price has currently risen to 200,000Y. Only government inspectors are allowed to see the inside of the Dream Park. Visitors must jack in in the visitors' lounge, and prospective tenants are allowed to jack in from the landlord's office. The waiting list is rumored to hold over 1,000 people, so the Dr. Hansen doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to, as long as it's not required by law. There are four people to a room (what used to be a single person room in Trurl's day), and it'll probably jump to 6 people per room soon (3 beds, 2 high). That'll bring the population of Dream Park to 2,400. If Seattle ever relents, you can be sure that Dream Park will build up as well. It's still only 4 stories tall!