The Digital Alterverse - chapter 2

The orange glow from the sun illuminated Zorath's bedroom in its fiery glow. He yawned and stretched out. Today was the day.

It had taken a few more days since Shinkou joined him, but now his digital world was ready to go. Another friend had recently joined, Rob, and was now quite at home in his own world. Both of them were now his main administrators and had settled into their roles rather quickly. With the beta phase now complete, the next few days would truly test everyone's skills to the limit.

''30 minutes to the conference, sir,'' Zorath's cyber gauntlet chimed in a butler voice. The dragon was very glad that he had made this piece of kit. He personally loved the look of the wrist mounted device as it was, but it could be changed to a large selection of other attire as Shinkou had demonstrated with his necklace version. The voice function was only a recent feature the Alterverse's maker had added, allowing the gauntlet to provide notices, reminders, and other services without having to look at the message.

The anthro dragon gently glided down the massive staircase and under the chandelier to the main living room. After grabbing a quick apple to eat, Zorath activated the home function on his gauntlet. The house around him faded from view, replaced by a maelstrom of blue that slowly rebuilt the main command center. Not only was this the place to get access to all the various worlds that he had already made available, but it also acted as the main headquarters for the Alterverse's administrative team. From here, admins could locate anyone in the Alterverse or scan for various glitches and bugs.

Zorath quickly flicked through the various worlds he had active before stopping on his basic earth world and stepping through the portal. This was where the dragon had staged most of his press meetings over the last few months, with his image being shown as a projection. The plan today was to get a welcome message to all the new people making their way online.

''Good day everybody! Welcome one and all to the official opening of the Digital Alterverse! It has taken a while but now everything is ready. Simply follow the instructions included with your Virtual Reality Pod, or VUP for short, and you will soon join me in this digital wonder!'' And cut. The cameras stopped recording and Zorath rubbed his hands together. They were so close now! Only an hour to wait and his dream would be complete.

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Go! The servers burst into life as thousands of players rushed online, beginning to set up their accounts. He had done it. Zorath watched with glee as more and more people poured into his creation, running exactly as planned. He rushed off out of the control room and set his destination to the tutorial world.

Time to train some noobs.

''Right then. You seemed to be getting used to the extra limbs which is a great start. Now the change will have also brought you new information and instincts. While we have limited some instincts like the urge to hunt prey, we have kept things like how to fly. Trust yourself and you'll have the hang of it in no time!'' The creator was now working with a large group of various flying creatures, mainly dragons. The newcomers were quickly getting the hang of things and it seemed that everyone was enjoying his creation. A small white dragon raised his hand – or rather, his forepaw. ''How do we switch between forms Zorath? I know I have a few.'' Zorath chuckled as a flurry of similar questions began. ''Now, now. Form changing is quite easy. All you have to do is close your eyes and focus on your desired alternate form.'' The black dragon demonstrated by switching to his feral form. ''You see? Now, all of you can try that later. Right now, let's get everyone in the air. Follow me!''

Now soaring over the large plains area they decided to use as a training area, Zorath could see the various groups of newcomers learning all the skills they might need. Shinkou had been put in charge of the magical abilities and was currently showing off a large flaming tornado that Zorath flew directly through, emerging with a blast of ice that gained him a round of applause. 

Rob was also nearby with a small group of more muscular characters, some humans, orcs, Centaurs and a variety of others. The large black dragon was currently showing off the shot put. He grabbed a reasonably sized boulder and lobbed it forward quite a fair ways. ''Nice toss!'' Zorath shouted from above, the group below waving to the creator. He looped back around, flying group still following very well before landing gently back where they started.

''Well done everyone. It seems you all know what you're doing. Now if you have any more lessons go ahead and move on - otherwise, use the home button on your digital device you received at the start. Have a nice day.'' the group slowly dispersed, some disappearing in a column of blue light while others made their way to the next session. Time to check in with HQ and then rest.

''Welcome back Mr. Flamecloak!'' the head technician, Nick, called from his console. ''Everything seems to be running smoothly and we have had no incidents at all yet,'' he told Zorath with a large smile. Looking at the console screen, Zorath had to agree with his head tech - everything was running exactly as planned, no errors in sight at all. While this was fantastic and all, the creator couldn't help but feel uneasy. ''Great work. Just keep your guard up. Trouble could show up at any time. I'll be back later to see how you are doing. Keep up the work guys!''

A short trip later Zorath was back in his private world within his mansion. He sighed and jumped up onto his master bed. This was the life. He was making so many people happy now and his dream was shared with everyone now. Now he could just sit back and watch his creation grow. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, dreaming of what the future could hold.