Conspawn13: the VR World, A Game No More?

January 23rd, 2042:
Video Games.
If you'd asked the average person what they thought the VR world was for a few years ago, they would have told you video games. There is a lot of truth in that statement, and for the first five years the service was available, that was all it was. The last year has seen sweeping modifications and upgrades, including the opening of the much anticipated finance sector. Offering immediate voice to voice communication, with a less than second delay and using the newest auto translation algorithms, businessmen have taken to meeting in virtual office buildings instead of real ones. The VR World world is no longer just a place to play games, and every day more businesses are making the leap to the virtual, instead of the real.
We had an opportunity to speak to Conspawn13, one of the most active members in the online community of "The Galaxy." Conspawn13 has been one of the greatest voices in the expansion of the VR world, pushing for more social acceptance of the service, in addition to the constant expansion into the financial, diplomatic and entertainment industries. Despite this high level of fame within the VR World, Conspawn13's actual identity is unknown, and when contacted, the Consortium Queen firmly denied any association with the individual, stating the name does not mean he or she is connected to the Consortium.
It should also be noted that Conspawn13 holds one of the highest scores on "Air Terror!", a first person airplane combat simulator, much lambasted by The Homeless Mercenaries for their depiction as a terrorist group.
We met Conspawn13 in his private residence, a top floor penthouse apartment in the Residential residential section of the Core. In the Virtual World. 
Newswire: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today, um...
Conspawn13: Just call me 13. It's easier. *laugh*
(It should be noted here than Conspawn13's custom Avatar is represented as a normal human wearing a Consortium Pawn's uniform with a Knight piece for a head. Take that as you will.)
NW: This is an impressive piece of property you have here.
13: When they began selling real -estate in the Core I jumped on it. When I bought this apartment the building was only two stories tall. Since I owned exclusive rights to the top floor they just keep pushing me higher and higher until we hit the max load limit height. 
NW: You've been a very vocal advocate of the increases to the financial and diplomatic sectors of the VR. What were your reasons? 
13: A lot of people accused me of entirely financial reasons for wanting to develop the VR in this way, and it couldn't be further from the truth. While I do own some real estate in the Core, outside of this apartment, it isn't a lot. I wanted this to be developed to help the peace process. Using the VR for business allows people to meet face to face, and speak in real-time, even if one is in Los Angeles, and the other in Cairo. There's been a significant upswing in the multinational economic sector since people began using the VR for business. 
NW: So, it's philanthropic? 
13: Not really. I didn't put any money into supporting building the infrastructure of it. I just gave it my voice, you know?
NW: What do you think about all the casinos going up using this new economic infrastructure? One in particular, "Casino Nights", based on an orbital platform to avoid gambling regulations has been catching some real heat for not enforcing things like age limits or table amounts? 
13: It’s going to be the downside of progress. There will always be people who take advantage of it, you know? I’m not a big fan of the casinos. Heh. A friend of mine, you know, her father tends to lose a lot of money that way. But it’s your own choice to make, ultimately. Anyway, if it was really that bad the Orbital Authorities would step in and handle it. It may be popular, but not THAT popular. People still lose tons of money at Vegas every day.
NW: You're part of the group, known as Consorts, all of you wear Consortium uniforms-
13: But that doesn't mean we're part of the Consortium. Maybe we just believe in what they stand for?
NW: Still, it's a bit odd, to have this highly organized group of gamers who banded together to bring people into the VR, who all dress as officers, and yet deny they are part of the Consortium.
13: It's been almost 160 years, and people still do Civil War re-enactments. Plus, it isn't important. We don't represent the Consortium, nor endorse them. We just like the uniforms. We're a Guild. 
NW: A Guild?
13: A collection of players who banded together to play games together as an organizational scheme. It's something that's been around since the early days of MUD's.
NW: Mud?
13: MUD. Never mind. I think the only people who play them anymore are the six of us. Anyway. We just wanted to take what we saw as a powerful thing that was being squandered just for games. It had, potential, you know? That was sort of being wasted. And now it isn't.
NW: Where do you see it going from here?
13: More countries. More people. They're beefing up the code for financial transactions, so that soon you'll be able to actually do real business, instead of just talking about it, and then doing the transfer through normal computers. Maybe raise the size of buildings, put in mass transit for Avatars. I heard they want to make a museum, and put the whole old Internet and Ex-net in there for people to view. I dunno, everything. I'm just a big fan, who does a lot of talking. 
NW: Do you know anything about the acquisition of Macroscene by Worldview? That whole transaction was done almost entirely in secret.
13: Nah. Again, I don't work there. It wasn't really done in secret, there just wasn't any need to publicize it at the time, I guess. Macroscene just provided a platform for us to play games on then. Who cared if Worldview wanted it?
13: Sorry, one second. Something in reality.
At this point, 13 turned off his link to the Galaxy. However, we did still get a bit of audio from his side. Due to the nature of it, we've decided to include it as part of this interview. 
13: What's going-
??: Get off that bloody game, we're *static* 
13: Right now? *static* the ship?
??: *Muffled* IGHT NOW.
13: Sure thing, boss.
Conspawn13 did not return to finish the interview, and logged out a few moments later. We have not since been able to contact him.
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