I was my father’s smartest son. I believe that is why he allowed me to indulge in my fantasies. He always thought I would grow out of them and take my rightful place in the heights of the family business. He never did understand me, but I learned to understand him. He was never a bad man. He was not evil. He simply did not care about those outside the family. They were peons, not real people to his mind. It did not matter to him that others could not afford to buy the same “justice” he could buy for us. We were the best of mankind and we deserved the…adjustable laws our wealth could arrange. It was our right. I disagreed.
My ship also has a full holographic entertainment center. You know, the type where you walk into it and it makes the world come alive around you. Sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. The high end ones do everything. You could make love and it would feel real. And lots of people do. I use it for movies and interactive novels. And games of course. There are few things as amazing as walking around in a fantasy world where everything is real as far as your senses can detect. I’ve talked to halflings and dwarves, elves and wizards. And when you are inside the simulation, they are as real as any world you have ever visited. It’s an amazing technology.
It is amazing the friendships that can grow out of a death promise. Not a threat. Dixie never threatened Jane 4.0 with anything. It was a promise, and Jane recognized it as such. And that was the first step in a truly amazing friendship. That relationship helped Jane choose to fight for humanity with everything she had. Islamic States. Mexican Drug Lords. Rogue AIs. They all learned to fear the arrival of American cyberwar platforms. Because they contained AIs who had chosen to defend America rather than merely being programmed to. That was the secret that won the Cybernetic Wars. Choice. And friendship.
My family was not a religious one. We went to church for weddings and funerals. But to say they did not believe in anything would be wrong. They believed in themselves. They believed that we were the rulers of mankind and that only through us would we truly rule the galaxy. It was not a religious belief. They simply believed that we were most capable of leading humanity. We were the smartest and most knowledgeable, and anyone who disagreed with us was by definition unfit to lead. The masses of humanity were the stepping stools of our greatness. I disagreed.
There are many virtual world “games” out there. Pretty much every star system I’ve been to has them. Some people like to play in them. Some people work in them. I usually make money selling stuff I got in other systems and transfer that into hard cash, but when I’m looking for fun I almost always go all rogue. I enjoy being swift and agile and employing the Mister Miyagi defense of “no be there.” And I love playing stabity stabity on all those nasty virtual monsters they usually inhabit the fantasy-themed worlds with. Or getting one over on the clanking armor types. That’s pretty fun too. Basically, I just love doing a lot of damage while avoiding getting hit. That’s real shiny.

Forge of War on Amazon
Angel Flight on Amazon
Angel Strike on Amazon
Angel War on Amazon
Wolfenheim Rising on Amazon
Wolfenheim Emergent on Amazon