[ WP ] We are in a video game played by our `` real '' selves from the 5th dimension . But something terrible happened and we forgot that we were playing .

The Game was the biggest phenomenon on the planet. What started as the internet and early online gaming, was refined and consolidated into a simple interface that everyone had access to. It was eventually free, and unlike traditional video games and virtual reality, it actually felt real. 
 
 At first, Off-The-Grid Roy Incorporated, the company that developed the Game, did n't allow customers to play without a HUD in operation at all times. This was mainly for ease of control, but also to mitigate the concerns about immersion and possible addiction. The concerns vanished, at least for Roy INC, as the Game became the best selling video game of all time, led by sales of total immersion kits. 
 
 By the time the Mind's Eye came out, half the worlds population was already playing the Game, but it still looked like the early 21st century. There were a lot of wires, goggles and gloves, which Roy INC was happy to sell for only $ 399 each. But the The Mind's Eye was a device that could wirelessly interface with your brain. From your pocket, it could take you on a date with a movie star in Paris, another planet, flying through New York City, or on a date with a young. It was like magic, really. 
 
 The Mind's Eye was built to sync up with only one brain. But some exceptions were noted in the early years after its release. The proprietary technology that Roy INC used to meld the Mind's Eye with a human brain was never released to the public, but it was widely known that they had hired genetic engineers and forensic specialists as consultants. The first case of a Mind's Eye affecting two brains at once occurred when 8 year old male identical twins got a hold of their father's device and both experienced defeating Lex Luthor in a Superman simulation together. Another incident emerged where an elderly couple who were lifelong lovers were spicing things up in the virtual bedroom with youth simulation, and they both experienced each others simulations at the same time. This was the first case of what became known as `` sense-swapping''. But these `` problems'' were eventually designed into deliberate uses of the available technology. And where there are people to exploit, there are those willing to take advantage. 
 
 The first time that someone used the technology of the Mind's Eye to simulate a reality for someone against their will is unknown, but there is a good chance it was some hacker pranking his buddy. It was n't long before a notorious mob boss in Japan was assassinated by way of `` forced sim''. He thought he was taking a limo to the airport, but he died sitting in his enemies basement. And then a series of high-profile politicians were duped into embarrassing behavior thanks to the Game. This resulted in swift legal action in the US courts. Forced Simulation was officially classified as a felony. Some politicians even tried to outlaw the Game itself, but it was far too entrenched. As it turned out, this was probably the last chance we had to escape the hell we've created for ourselves. 
 
 Towards the end of the Known Times, Roy INC released the M.E., or `` Emmy'' update for the Game. Short for Mind's Eye, this update did away with any requirements for technology with the end-user of any kind. Roy INC, buying up and refurbishing old cell phone towers and military satellites, had built a network that could broadcast the sim, for anyone, anywhere on the planet. Naked, in the the middle of the Sahara, with no water or chance of survival, one could drop into the sim through sheer will. 
 
 Thousands died the first day Emmy came online. Millions more died in the following days, lost in fantasy simulations, dehydrated and starving in real life. Language was n't a barrier for Emmy. People who did n't know what a computer was, were thrust into waking dreams, which they could control, like gods. Some people lost their minds forever. 
 
 But many more people eagerly awaited the update. Lucid dreaming was promised and delivered. The sims felt real before and had incredible levels of interaction, but this was mind control! Psychokinesis, levitation, magic. 
 I'm writing this because you may be lost in the sim. We do n't know how far up or down this goes, but it may be simulations all the way. Do what you can to pull people up from below, and try and rise above. 

