NaNoWriMo Reboot

One of the dangers of writing fiction is that you eventually realize you are emptying your words into a literary black hole of no return. That’s not a fun thing to realize, but it’s important. You need to know when to reboot your work.

I’m sad to say I came to that conclusion so early in this month but I am excited about what comes now. My Project has changed, and with it comes a whole new ballgame. It likely means I won’t make the NANOWRIMO guidelines though if it leads to a project I’m going to finish I am better off. I spent today thinking about how to change my story and I want to share where I am now.

Title: Lifers

Nine years ago the Monolith Corporation announced the world’s first Virtual Reality based platform “Alternate Simulated Home” which became known as the world of Ash. Shortly afterword, the digital colony of Terra Alpha was opened.

Terra Alpha was created primarily to assist children with physical and intellectual disabilities preventing them from communicating or living a normal life. The patients are kept and treated at a physical location while they are in a VR capsule where specialized software serves as a bridge to resolve difficulties impairing them. They awaken in a living, breathing, 3D world that gives them a freedom they never had.

Parents found themselves able to actually communicate and interact with their kids. Some even go so far as to basically move into the colony themselves. Many of the patients have parents who spend time in the real world on a job, but every remaining moment is in a VR capsule and living life with their kids.

The world still isn’t perfect. Medical Science still isn’t able to resolve the physical problems that impact many of the patients and the system is designed to allow the avatars to age naturally. When their body fails them the children do leave the game permanently.

The colony itself is run by a group of employees who serve in various capacities; working as teachers, counselors, doctors and a digital police force to keep the peace. One day the captain of the digital police force finds himself visited by a young girl who reports that her physical body actually died three days ago.

Which leaves the question of how she is still online.

Investigating further it’s found more instances of it occurring. As the patients pass on, they remain online. The thought sends shockwaves through both the real and digital world.

Some parents of patients begin to question whether it truly is their child they are communicating with. Throngs of people who are unhappy with their lives take another tact and attempt to login full time to recreate the digital mortality that seems to have been gifted to these children who have become known as “Lifers”. The game has literally become their life.

In a unanimous resolution the United Nations Security council labels the program a potential danger to world peace. As a result the digitial police force of Ash is given 60 days to explain what’s going on or te entire program will be shut down.

This is just a high level overview. I’d love thoughts on the subject.