Chapter 1

## Train

The game begins with Orion on a train to the town of Kredon. Orion has been selected to study for his last year of high school at Kredon Academy on the West Coast of the United States. Orion was born in Kredon, but moved with his father to the United Kindom when he was eight years old. Now, he is returning to his hometown along with his best friends Annie and Chang who he was allowed to pick to accompany him. Annie, Chang, and Orion discuss their expectations, excitement, and worries about coming to a new town. Another conversation topic is the game Eternum. Annie mentions wanting to play in Kredon, leading Orion to have an internal monologue describing the virtual reality game. Eternum has taken the world by storm by being a virtual reality game that feels more real than real life and hosting thousands of servers. Before the train arrives, Chang and Annie pressure Orion to pick which of the two is his best friend. The friends will meet their host families at the train station. Finally, Chang and Orion discuss the prospect of finding a girlfriend in Kredon, attempting to keep Annie from overhearing, but she quickly discerns the nature of their conversation. At this moment, the train pulls into Kredon station.

## Introductions

The friends arrive in Kredon but there are two exits to the train station. Annie and Orion split up to find their hostess Nancy, whom they will both be staying with. Lucinda appears and introduces herself to Chang. She will be Chang's hostess for his exchange year. She quickly goes to retrieve her daughter Micaela who is waiting at the other exit. While Lucinda is gone, Chang complains that she is not pretty and looks life a fifty-year-old woman. Orion assures him that her daughter must be prettier, but Chang fears the worst.

In an intimidating first appearance, the massive Micaela appears, replete with Darksouls-style healthbar. Micaela is a weightlifter and perhaps the best athlete in Kredon. She introduces herself to Chang and obviously makes it known that she is super nice. Lucinda then reappears. Privately, Orion expresses regret that Chang's host family is not the prettiest, but that they seem very nice. This is when Chang tells Orion that Micaela is perfect for him and that he is in love with her already. The Garcia's and Chang depart for their home.

Orion continues to wait for Nancy to appear when a nearby payphone rings. If the player picks up, Orion is told by a mysterious voice (that somehow knows his name) that he must find Calypso and the Gates of Archeron. An old woman attempts to take the payphone, and whether or not Orion refuses to let he use it, he is unable to get more information out of the mysterious caller.

At this moment, Nancy arrives. Nancy and Orion reminisce and reaquaint themselves. Nancy remarks that Orion has grown up to be handsome and Orion tells her that she seems to look and act the same way he remebers. Annie comes from the other train station exit and discovers that Orion has found Nancy. Nancy and Annie agree that they already like each other from their phone calls and cannot wait to get better acquainted in person. Annie and Orion will both have their own rooms in Nancy's house. Nancy and Annie talk about Nancy's two children, Penelope and Dalia. They also discuss her life when Orion lived in Kredon, but Orion zones out of the conversation. Quickly snapped back to reality, Orion realizes he doesn't know what they are talking about as they prepare to get into the car to head to the Carter home.

## Welcome Home

Orion arrives with Nancy and Annie at the Carter's home. Orion remembers spending lots of time their being babysat by Nancy and playing with Dalia. Annie expresses amazement as they enter the house, but Nancy demurs that houses are not expensive in Kredon. She bought the house when pregant with Dalia.

Dalia and Penelope are heard arguing upstairs. They come down and barely introduce themselves, instead looking for help from Nancy. Penelope wants the car so she can go to a modelling gig and Dalia needs help to find her running shoes. Orion can tell them that they can catch up later. Either way, they both quickly dash out of the house. Annie says she would like to unpack and see her room anyways. Orion is also shown to his room and they settle in for the night.

## Strange Dream

As Orion drifts off to sleep, he comes to in a strange child's bedroom. Orion is very confused and horribly scared; he attempts to talk to the kid, but he doesn't respond except to say Orion's name. Eventually the scenery transitions to what appears to be a ruined cathedral interior. A woman stands near where the altar would be. Horrified, Orion feels he has no choice but to follow her. She asks if Orion will "help us." To which the player can choose to respond. Either way, out of fear, Orion eventually agrees to help her. He wakes up in a nervous sweat.

## Big Breakfast

Nancy bursts into the room to find an indescent Orion. Embarrased, Nancy says she will get a lock for the door. Nancy tells him the others are up and having breakfast and that she if off to work. To herself, Nancy thinks about Orion and decides she needs to get back into the dating game.

Sporting his new uniform, Orion heads to breakfast where he finds Dalia looking out at the pouring rain. Dalia hopes the rain stops because she has a swimming competition the following day. Orion and Dalia note that it feels like they have already been talking for weeks and then continue to discuss her run from last evening. Orion opts to skip breakfast. At this point, the Carters' cat Carolyn appears. When Orion returns his attention to Dalia, she has a massive breakfast spread prepared on the table which she proudly says it is all for her.

Penelope then enters the kitchen, unware of Orion's presence. Penelope complains the storm kept her awake and decides to have cornflakes for breakfast along with tea with three teaspoons of sugar. Penelope tells Dalia that she didn't get the modelling job. At this point, Dalia calls attention to Orion who has not said a word the whole time, eliciting an angry question from Penny about why he hasn't said anything.

By this point, Dalia has already finished the massive breakfast and tells Orion that he will meet Annie on the way to school. They then briefly talk about Eternum and that Annie mentioned being accustomed to rain because of spending time in the Plains of Saturn server.

## Walk to School

On the way to school, Orion sees Kredon University where Penny currently studies. He hopes to one day get into a college party there. Then he sees Annie and a blonde boy that seems to be bothering her. The player can choose to intervene in this dialogue, otherwise the game jumps to the next scene.

A boy named Axel is trying to get Annie to go with him to a party and his making very direct moves on her, but she does not appear interested. The boy is apparently rich and very self-entitled. Not to mention creepy. Annie threatens to call the police if Axel touches her but he laughs and says his family, the Bardots, control the police. Orion invervenes and either punches Axel or convinces him to leave. Regardless, Axel is angry and promises revenge for messing with a Bardot.

Annie thanks Orion for helping her out but is worried about the repercussions of what Orion did. Annie tells Orion that William Bardot (presumably Axel's father) is the largest shareholder in Ulysses, the creator of Eternum. He may even have personal sway with the Founder himself. Orion shrugs this off and the two continue heading toward school.

## First Day of School

Orion arrives at his classroom and tries to get to know some of his classmates with little success. Orion begins to wonder if he is dead or invisible when a voice confirms to him that they cannot see him because he is dead. Shocked Orion falls to the ground, and looks up at a girl that had snuck up behind him. Orion complaints that Luna's jokes could give someone a heart attack and complains that he can't fit in. Luna hands Orion a flyer written in the language of Eternum: Nhurein. The flyer invites people to come to her father's cafe where they can compete in a quiz competition for a chance to win an Eternum implant. Orion notices that Luna is whereing gloves and asks about them, but she appears to dodge the question. Luna then heads to her own class to pass out more flyers.

Dalia approaches Orion and comments that he is already making friends. Orion complains that everyone in Class A is difficult to talk to. Dalia says most people in their class are annoying or idiotic and proceeds to explain the different groups: the jocks (including Micaela), the Eternumites, the repeaters, the populars, and the brains. Orion asks for more information about the populars. Dalia lists them as Benjamin, Charlotte, Axel, and Chang. Orion expresses surprise the Chang is already part of the popular group. Orion talks with Chang and Axel quickly starts hurling insults at Orion. When Axel discovers that Chang is a friend of Orion, Axel kicks him out of the popular group. Mr. Keating enters the classroom.

While in class, Orion can't help but steal a glance at Dalia. He whispers to Chang that he thinks she is pretty, but Chang disagrees and says to look at Micaela to see beauty instead. If applicable, Orion asks Chang if he wants to come to the cafe for the quiz competition. Mr. Keating reminds the class to start studying, and the students head home for the day.

## Shower Show

When Orion arrives at home, he is greeted by Nancy who asks him to clean the bathroom. If he accepts, the scene continues, otherwise Nancy is dissapointed and Orion gets ready to head to Mr. Hernandez's cafe with Chang.

Orion heads into the bathroom only to find an already spotless room. The player can choose to clean the tub thoroughly or quickly. Cleaning it thoroughly will result in more favor from Nancy later. While cleaning the tub, Orion hears a click at the door. Orion can either reveal himself and exit the bathroom or hide in the tub and hope he is not found.

If Orion remains in the bathroom, he is unceremonisouly kicked out by Dalia when he is eventually discovered, but not before he gets the chance to compliment her.

## Cafe Competition

While on his way out, Orion comes across Penelope who is sad about the casting call from the previous day. After some conversation, Orion convinces Penny to come with him to be part of his team in the competition at Loco's Cafe. Penny is tempted by the idea of gaining likes on her instagram by being associated with Eternum.

When Penny and Orion arrive at the cafe, they join up with Chang, but are still one person short of a team. Luna volunteers to be the fourth member, eliciting condemnation from Jerry, but Mr. Hernandez accepts the team. Orion chats with Mr. Hernandez about his past and the cafe when Penelope arrives. She has created a new outfit and is almost istantly recognized by people in the cafe as an influencer. When a man makes a move on her, Orion has the option to intervene.

The competition finally begins with three teams facing off. Orion is captain of his team. The other two teams are led by Jerry and Aysha. The first question asked of Orion's team is who was the first person to reach 100 million followers on X. (Formerly Twitter; in an update, a line was added in which the characters joke about the app switiching names from Twitter to X to BananaFloopExtremeZ and back to Twitter.) The second question asks for the data of the start of the demolition of the Berlin Wall, and the third questions asks for Mel Gibson's middle name. This question is impossible to get correct. At the end of the round, the other teams have not missed any of their questions.

In round two, Orion's team is asked the diameter of the Earth. The second question is about the time it takes a body to decompose, sending Luna into a long monologue about helping her father dispose of a body (just a joke). The final questions is who is the Greek goddess of agriculture. After the other teams answer their questions, Aysha's team falls behind, but Jerry's team has still not missed a question.

In the final round, Orion's team is asked the time Mercury takes to orbit the sun, which Penelope knows, surprising the team. The second question is what country has the highest tax rate as percent of GDP which Chang knows, also surprising the team. The final question, is who is the largest shareholder of Ulysses.

If Orion loses to Jerry, Orion threatens to kill himself, before saying its just a joke and saying that the team will nail the competition at which point the game loops to the beginning. If Orion wins, the team elects to give him the neural implant.

## Time for Bed

Time skips to Orion at the dinner table in the Carters' home. Nancy, Penny, Dalia, Annie, and Orion have just finished dinner, Annie is ecstatic to finally be able to play Eternum with Orion. Penny does not seem interested in joining Eternum, but Nancy notes that a quiz competition is not her usual way to spend time. Nancy asks if Dalia is also excited to play Eternum with Orion. If Orion spied on Dalia earlier, she doesn't say a word before getting accusative at Orion. She then leaves the table. Otherwise she complains that she is tired.

Orion heads to bed, but before he falls asleep Nancy barges in. If the bathtub was cleaned well, she compliments him, otherwise she tells him to do it tomorrow. Dalia and Penny can be heard arguing from the bathroom, calling Nancy away. Having been jolted awake, Orion decided to download instagram to look at Penny's profile. Orion has the option to like a post of Penny in a swimsuit. Orion again falls alseep indescent.

## Sleeping In

The next day, Nancy goes to wake up. If Orion asked for a lock on the door, Nancy does not enter. If Orion did not ask for a lock, Nancy fails to wake up Orion with knocks and opens the door, finding Orion, once again, indescent. Nancy takes a close look and quickly leaves before he wakes up.

## Swim Class

Orion and Chang are seen after finishing a swim class (taught by Mr. Keating as a substitute for the day). Dalia comes over and Orion expresses interest in playing Eternum for the first time. Dalia (who seems to be starting to forgive him if she was angered previsouly) cannot play today though. A girl comes out to the poolside. Dalia tells Orion that she is Alex and that she is the best swimmer and the school and the region (possibly Olympics level). Apparently Alex often skips class and doesn't fit into any one group, but she gets along well with Dalia. She greets Dalia as she leaves, but ignores Orion.

Suddenly, Benjamin punches Orion in the nose. The two argue and Benjamin tells Orion that he must respect the Bardots. Axel threatens to make Orion's life a nightmare.

## Group Project

Orion is back in the classroom. Before dismissing the class for the day, Mr. Keating assigns parterns for a group project. Orion is assigned to work with Alex, who seems to not know who Orion is. Raul and Noah are partnered together. They tell Mr. Keating that they will not be able to finish the project but they don't mind repeating the year. They have business to attend to, somthing about the harbor and a mother who doesn't like American police.

Orion catches Alex before she leaves and the two agree to meet at Alex's house on Saturday to work on the project. The topic is social control. Alex appears to make a reference to the Sons of Astaroth (a reference to Once In a Lifetime, also by Caribdis). Orion gives her a compliment on either her tattoos, swimming skills, hair, or pen. Complimenting the pen confuses her and elicits the best response. For the time being, Alex required Orion to call her Alexandra.

## IT'S ETERNUM TIME

Orion is back at the Carter's home and super excited to play Eternum for the first time. Annie appears wearing an Eternum E-suit. Annie helps Orion to insert the neural implant and don the suit and visor. Annie tells Orion he will have to speak to the "Eternum lady" when he logs in an then he can accept her invitation. Orion's vision goes blue, his senses fade, and he loses control of his body as Annie continues to talk to him.

## Connected. Welcome to Eternum.

Orion feels like he is flying through a portal. A synthesized voice tells him his compatibility is 100%. After initial shock, Orion comes to in a nearly white space with a blindfolded lady. The lady introduces herself as Idriel, the "Lady of Eternum." Orion notices he appears in the game exactly as he does in the real world. Upon further questioning, Idriel confirms that she is an AI created by the Founder. Idriel expresses astoishment that Orion has 100% compatibility.

Idriel proceeds to explain that their are thousands of servers in Eternum, but they all have something in common: the Gems of Doom. The ten Gems of Doom hidden throughout the game must be collected by a single player. The reward is to become CEO of Ulysses by opening the Temple of Archeron. Five gems have already been located. Defeating a player allows claiming of their gems.

To assist players collecting the gems, Idriel created the three Weapons of Atlas. Hyas is a sword that can cut through anything. Its current owner is unknown. The second weapon is Dione, a gun that, apparently, can never miss. The current owner is Delilah Warren. The third weapon is called Calypso. It remains to be discovered and Idriel will not disclose what it is.

Orion has the option to ask several more questions about Eternum. Idriel then sends Orion to the server, Ion, where Annie has invited him. She describes the server as a rough place.

## More Real than Real Life

Orion travels through a portal and emerges in a dark world. Orion feels dizzy and nauseous. Initialy, he is frustrated but slowly begins to notice the intracacies of the world, including the wind of his face and the metalic taste of the puddle water. Annie assures him the sickness only happens the first time. Everything in the world is generated and fed directly to your brain with no need for screens, making the game feel real. The two decide to continue from the lobby to the market.

Annie warns Orion that if you die, you lose your inventory and levels. Annie is recognized by some other players, surprising Orion that she has made a name for herself here. As Orion gets used to the world, Annie asks him to take the leap of faith, and jumps of a ledge. After hesitation, Orion can either jump or chicken out, in which case, one of Annie's friends pushes him off the ledge.

## Welcome to Ion

Orion lands after his fall, and is pleasantly surprised that it didn't hurt. Annie points out some locations in Ion. A hologram of the Founder appears before all players and announces that a new record of simultaneous players has been reached (51 million) and that another Gem of Doom has been found. As the broadcast ends, Orion can help but feel the Founder is staring directly at him.

Annie and Orion proceed to the market where they meet a friend of Annie's called Kitty. Annie gifts Orion 1500 eternals (shocked, he learns they are equivalent to US dollars). Orion promises to pay her back when he has earned enough. Annie tells him to go to the shop and buy something while she talks with Kitty.

The eccentric shopkeeper introduces himself as Chop-Chop and claims to have the best shop in Ion and all Eternum. He shows Orion a shovel, laser gun (which he accidentally kills someone with during its demonstration), x-ray glasses, and a pendant of destiny. Orion can choose to buy one item. The first three are of questionable use, while the pendant can be gifted to Annie. Annie tells Orion she has to help Kitty and to wait for her. Orion has the option to wait for Annie or explore. Waiting skips the next scene.

## Blurred Realities

Orion goes to explore Ion and stumbles first across a human taxidermist and then a place called Aphrodite's. Intrigued, Orion walks inside and discovers a bright room with a receptionist and classical music. Orion learns that the establishment is an incredibly expensive gentleman's club. The receptionist insists to introduce Orion with Eva. Eva is intrigued that Orion has come here, still in the starter outfit for Ion. Him not being a rich client intrigues her and she offers her services.

Orion can choose to get to know Eva better. They discuss the blurred reality that is Eternum. Servers get dirty and people must take showers. Some characters are NPCs and others are player but the difference is hard to differentiate. Eva and Orion then make love. After the interaction, Eva refunds Orion.

## Excommunication

Annie and Orion meet up again. Annie is sad that she failed to help Kitty get a sword for Orion. Orion forgives her and shows her what he bought from Chop-Chop. If he bought the Pendant of Destiny, he gifts it to her. The two head towards an exit portal to leave the server when they hear a cry for help.

The two investigate and find Benjamin assaulting a girl. Orion asks Annie to intervene, but she is scared that Ben will leverage his friendship with the Bardots to punish her in the real world. Orion can choose to intervene, which gains him favor from Annie. Either way, before Orion can act, a praetorian appears.

The praetorian informs Benjamin that he is in violation of the Eternum Code of Ethics. Benjamin threatens to use his sway with the Bardots to appeal any judgement made. The praetorian tries to take him into custody, but Benjamin resists. The praetorian shoots him in the head in response and marks him as excommunicated. Another praetorian appears and asks if Benjamin was a member of the syndicate, but the first says he was not. Annie and Orion flee the scene in horror.

## Back to Reality

Orion and Annie disconnect. Annie and Orion are thrilled by their experience. Annie tells Orion that Benjamin has no chance of playing Eternum again, even if Mr. Bardot tries to help. Annie then tells Penny all about the excommunication. Penny says she doesn't like video games, but might try Eternum if she gets a modelling job. Penny offers to the Orion to a gig on Sunday, which he can accept or deny. Orion also says goodnight to Nancy who invites him to come with her to yoga class on Saturday which he can also accept or deny.

Orion goes to tell Dalia goodnight as well, only to find her wearing an e-suit. Dalia explains that she has figured out where the owner of the sixth Gem of Doom is and has prepared a trap to steal it. Orion wants to help but Dalia tells him he is a noob. After an arguement he convinces her to let him come along.

## Welcome to Ekabar

Orion logs on to Eternum again and accepts Dalia's invitation. He awakens in a dungeon. Dalia is there and explains she set a spawn point there. The current server is Ekabar, a fantasy server that Dalia spends lots of time in. The Gem of Doom is held by the powerful twins, Con and Xet. To take them down, they will need help from Jerry. Jerry and Orion recongize each other from Loco's cafe. Jerry is deeply in love with Dalia, but she rejects all his advances. The plan is for Jerry to distract Xet while Dalia confronts Con. Con will use his paralyzing spell to freeze Dalia and Orion will have to ambush him.

Jerry goes to distract Xet. Dalia and Orion hear Con approach, so Orion hides in a dungeon cell. Dalia threatens to take his gem and Con freezes her as predicted. Dalia and Con argue while Orion waits for Dalia's signal. If Orion attacks at the right time, he knocks out Con, otherwise he fumbles and Dalia has to help, but her armor is sacrficed to break the spell. If Orion attacked at the right time, Dalia praises him and says they may work together again. Con does not have the gem, so Dalia goes to look for Xet. Orion puts Con in a cell and waits.

Jerry reappears without having found Xet. Orion and Jerry bicker, with Jerry bragging about being level 39. As Jerry yells about his power, an ogre appears and crushes his head, killing him instantly. Orion runs to find an exit portal, but the ogre quickly pursues him to a dead end. Luckily Dalia comes to the rescue and is able to defeat the ogre. Dalia was not able to defeat Xet and is injured, so Orion helps her to walk to the exit.

On the way, the two discover the corpse of Xet. A large, armored figure appears. Dalia tells Orion that he is called Thanatos and has the highest level of any player in Eternum. He already controls three Gems of Doom and has now taked a fourth. Dalia begs Orion to leave her and run away with her inventory items, but Orion can also stay with her. Thanatos approaches the two, but ultimately, leaves without a word.

If Orion stayed with Dalia, he gains favor with her, but Dalia is dissapointed that they didn't get the gem and that Jerry has died. The two exit the server and Orion immediateley goes to sleep.

## End: Chapter 1

Orion is in the computer lab at Kredon Academy. Orion reflects on his experience in Eternum thus far. Dalia tells him he should go to the gym with her tomorrow to get stronger because it will make him stronger in Eternum too. Orion can accept or deny her request. Luna asks how Orion likes Eternum and invites him to play that night.

Mr. Keating walks into the room to begin the computer class but starts with an annoucement. Mr. Keating regrets to inform the class that their classmate, Benjamin, passed away in the night. Axel yells at Mr. Keating that this must be a joke. Mr. Keating assures him that Benjamin had a stroke after exercising.