The Never Ending Tails

Julio Makarov became in the space of a few years the most important human being on Earth. The establishment of the “Another Life” franchise, especially its latest hardware and software products: The Interface ID Ship and the Life 2.0 game program monitoring the rest of humanity’s existences created a new paradigm for the human race, the end of an era and the beginning of a new age. In this new world, Makarov was on top of everything and everyone else. He was the one and only Omega, the game master who had complete control over the parameters of the game. It was Makarov himself who designed the cast system and all the basic game mechanics of Life 2.0. He was also the first person to be equipped with the Interface ID Ship, and wasn’t subject to any kind of restriction using the technology fully and extensively.

Makarov knew that his creation was going to change the face of the world. He saw the immense potential that it had and all the possible applications that it had to offer, but he also saw how much dangerous and destructive the Interface could be if misused. What was certain for him was that people with the technology would have a huge gap with the ones not equipped. So the first action of Makarov was to push for a global dissemination of the technology.

By 2050, almost all the human race was equipped; on the first of January 2051, the first phase of the Game started: Life 2.0 was fully functional and the unstoppable machine started. The very meaning of being human changed with the game. With the cast system, society was fully functional. Everything that was slowing down humans disappeared, death itself was vanquished. Humans were having the ability to virtually do anything they could imagine and more.

The lower casts were carefully chosen and modified to fill the very basic needs of this new humanity. They were counted and their population was kept alive for an indefinite period of time. No need for them to breed, they can stay in their positions forever, and they wouldn’t complain about it. The game was there to fix that. With the mechanics of the game, motivation was fully stimulated through a process of rewards in forms of direct brain signals to the pleasure center with achievements related to the task the people of the casts were required to do.

The game was quite different on the higher casts’ level; first they were able to breed and were also given the choice to renounce immortality as well as a more proper free will. Makarov didn’t want everybody mindlessly doing what he asked them to do; he wanted to make the game more interesting.

For him, the game was the ultimate form of his art, and the very materialization of his vision of a perfect world. Of course, arguments can be made against his perspective, but with the power that he had over the game, he wasn’t caring at all if his actions were considered honorable by everybody. He was a visionary, and he strongly believed that the world would never be much interesting if not given a notch of control.

He empowered the higher casts, and made their lives more exciting, stimulating and rewarding. The Betas were given the chance to live parenthood once, according to Makarov, he wanted to preserve a part of the social structure that is family, but more suited to the logic of the game. The Betas were also given the choice to terminate their game after a run of 150 years. Makarov noticed that each and every one of them chose to terminate as soon as the run ends. It made him understand that completely taking death away from the equation will spoil the entertainment value of the game. He also believed that free people should choose to live or die. Living forever can become pretty unbearable if you have a free enough will.

Which get us to the next concept that Makarov wanted to let in the game, higher free choice level. A game that is fully controlled is never really “fun”, Makarov thought that by letting free will, the outcome will be more unpredictable, although he still had full control to stop any severe alteration to the Game. He was very interested in the entertainment value of the game as he thought of it as a main catalyst and a strong motivation for the player to keep playing the game.

He made the Alphas the stars of his show. The Alphas were kind of his children, in a Greek mythological context, they would be considered as Semi-Gods. The Alphas had no tasks to fulfill, they were as freer as one can be in the game, and their programs were the more advanced and the more complex among the casts. They were given powers that are above the capacities of any normal human being, entering the realm of super powers all possible through the polymorphic capacities of the Nano-Robots.

The Alphas were also able to achieve reproduction as any regular human being, a love letter in a way that Makarov made about life before the game. During reproduction periods, the super capacities of the Alphas program are blocked so they live the experience the old human fashion way.

To add spice to his prime show in the game, he Gave the Alphas randomly designed organs that if triggered can lead to an instant death of the player. That way, Makarov was limiting the Alpha population, as well as creating a thrill leading to epic events surrounding that specific concept. Some Alpha players were taunted by the thrill and high rewards of cheating death. Special events and achievements were made in the game to push the Alphas in a constant dare devil routine.

Concerning Makarov himself as the Omega, he was fully in control of his mind, and was able to do practically anything in the Game. He was also the ultimate player, and was able to control anyone equipped with the technology and use them as avatars in the game. He was able to constantly keep record of everything happening in the game, and for 900 years, he entertained himself by playing the game through every possible perspective.

He lived more lives in those 900 years than any human being could have lived even if they were reincarnated on earth since the down of the human race. After 900 years, Makarov’s knowledge of the human race became so complex that he came to take a decision which would change his life forever.

Julio Makarov, man born in Italy in a modest family decided to rise above the human race and become a living God.

In 2951, Julio Makarov showcased his rise in the minds of the whole human race, making them know of his change of status, and demanding their faith and complete submission to his Omega will. Julio Makarov was no more that day, only “The Light” remained.

The Light disappeared into the game following his mental broadcast in the minds of the human race. For 123 years, nobody heard about him. The game continued as it was, the conditioning was too good for it to be completely altered by the apparition of the Light as God of the game, and thus self-proclaimed God of the human race.

What it did was the creation of a cult to the Light, people kept on their programs, but added the concept of faith to it, which provided more interest toward the game itself. Rumors started to appear in the higher casts concerning the implication of the Light becoming a God. Theories started to appear among them concerning the new nature of death, and what would death mean at that point if the Light was living through the entire game.

The 5th September 3074 was a historical day in the new world that Julio Makarov built; this day was known as the day of the return of the Light. During that day, The Light reappeared in the game in a physical form. His new body was glowing so intensely that no one was able to directly look at him, pretty much like how the biblical god is described to have appeared to Moses when asked to show its true form.

Looking at the Light was like looking at the sun, but for those who were brave enough to keep looking for a little moment, they were able to discern a human shape at the center some even said that the Light had the shape of his former body as a human, some said that the light had a female body, no one could really tell for sure.

The light spoke to all the people of Earth at once, “Children of the game, People of Earth, I have been long gone and unheard of. It wasn’t without purpose that I concealed my presence; I wanted to see the value of my children. I wanted to see what you will do on your own, and I am satisfied. Most of you chose to accept me as their lord, and many of you have achieved faith. I came back to reward your efforts and show you the path… to The Light!”

Following that came 926 years of peace and prosperity under the Light. He shaped his religion as a major part of the game, and gave back mortality to the human kind. However, he also announced that their faith after death would be in his hands, so he made his status as the one true God more powerful. The ultimate goal in the game became to reach the Light, and join it at death.

During the last years of what was known as the Era of Light, certain groups of people started to oppose it, and wanted to get back control of their lives. They felt that the game had gone way too far. Those fluctuations in the game ended up leading to the events of the fall of the Light in the year 4000.

Even after that, Julio Makarov stayed in the minds of the human race as a God among man, and the oldest man to live. Julio Makarov had a run of 2020 years on Earth, and changed everything conceivable about life, but also triggered the beginning of the end