Ready Player One.

I’ve been kicking around a theory about this reality as of late.   I think I have it fleshed out enough to put on “paper”.

This world we live in is indeed a simulation.  But unlike the tropes that the Matrix sets forth that we’re involuntarily being inserted into this reality and be passively made available for the energy our captive bodies create… this is a “game”.   It’s being played by some higher beings and the SIM is planet Earth in this particular galaxy with all of the conditions we know to be our “normal”  Each being is assigned an avatar.   And the goal of the game is to get to the “end”.  Live out this “life” on this planet with all of these constructs in place.

You aren’t allowed to choose your character.   It is assigned to you.   You aren’t allowed to choose where your character will be set on this board and the conditions therein.   You simply have to make do with the situation you’re given, attempt to make the avatar survive in this landscape.   Try to stay healthy.  Try to stay in your right mind.  Navigate the multiple obstacles presented whether internal (race, class, disability, disease) or external (environment, upbringing, circumstance).   The game is intuitive and surrounds you with characters that are either like-minded or that are attracted by the mind you set forth.   New boards open up to you when you travel, or learn new disciplines or reach game societal determined “milestones” (married, divorced, ordained, the birth of a child, promotion at work, etc).

The game has a predetermined “end” for each character but the player cannot and will not know the definitive point at which they might meet the end.   And pending on their placement, they are given a list of objectives to achieve and some guidelines on how to maneuver through this world.   Breaking the rules has consequences.  Notice I didn’t say “breaking the rules and getting caught”.  The game is tallying it all up.  The leaderboard is assessing point boosts and demerits all the while and takes EVERYTHING into account.  Greater penalty if you “get caught” which will be ultimately assessed in the end.

Objective – follow the guidelines… listen carefully for that “purpose” – (prime directive) issued to your character and try like hell to achieve it before the “end”.   Making it to the end with minimal demerits and adequate success on your progress bar to the purpose affords you one of three bonuses:  Replay the character, but now with greater knowledge of the path, therefore allowing you to correct previous mistakes, identify paths better taken and the possibility of achieving the purpose sooner / in a more profound way.  Opt to play a different character for the thrill of navigating it all anew knowing none of the powerups or pitfalls. Or you get to gracefully bow out and play something else.

Of course… you can quit.   It’s just a game after all.   But the consequence of quitting is having to relive the same character with all the pitfalls and all the mishaps for a to-be-determined-by-the computer amount of times.  (And I guess there’s some kind of penalty in the “real” world where these higher beings are playing that makes them have to adhere to these rules… it gets very Inception style here so we’ll just assume that for the sake of this argument.)  So it could be one time over… or 100 times.   Watching this same poor character live through his or her particular mess that made them ultimately want to quit anyway.  I imagine it has to be torturous (and a complete waste of time) for the higher being.

I’m getting the feeling my player wants to quit.  Again.   But is hoping that this is the last go around for my character before I get the option to try again for the power up.   Really doesn’t feel like it though.   I hope they can hold out. I feel like the next go around might be the chance at playing a different character.  Finally.

I’m staying hopeful.

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