Omnitopia Dawn Read Online Free

shocking pink and blue, the words said:
     
    THIS SPACE
FOR RENT
     
    Rik’s eyes went wide, and the breath went right out of him as he realized what he was looking at. Standing there, looking through Arnulf’s eyes, it took some moments before he could even summon enough reaction to activate the “player services” control in the game software and bring up his account info. A little graphics window popped open in the darkness next to him, glowing with basic information: his lifetime score history, acquisitions, game gold balance, overt karma, professional in-game associations. And there, by the cross-and-wand logo of MediMages Without Frontiers, he saw something he had never expected to see, never even considered possible: a symbol that looked like a golden apple.
    Oh . . my . . . God!
    In the master info panel, the little envelope logo for his in- game messaging inbox was flashing. “Go to mail,” Rik whispered.
    The window cleared, showed him the messaging pane. One new message, from Omnitopia Microcosm Management to R. Maliani.
    “Open message,” Rik said.
    Dear Rik,
     
    Congratulations and welcome! Your game status average and other criteria have qualified you for entry to Omnitopia’s Microcosm Development Program. Attached to this message you will find introductory materials and links that will allow you access to . . .
    He had to stop and get control of his breathing: he was actually starting to hyperventilate. Oh. My. God!
    “Game on hold,” Rik said hurriedly. The big pause symbol superimposed itself over his control window and began flashing on and off. He stared up at the glowing words hanging in the empty sky. They didn’t go away.
    “Save position and exit game!” Rik said.
    “Game position saved: exit recorded at seventeen fourteen local time,” said the dulcet Omnitopia control voice. “Thank you, and come back soon to Omnitopia!”
    Between one blink and the next, the darkness vanished. He was lying on the couch in the game room, with the RealFeel goggles and headset screening the rest of the room from view. He pulled them off, still breathing hard. Acoustic ceiling, coffee-colored walls, bookshelves, slightly tatty rug, everything was perfectly normal. Except for what just happened. Not normal, not at all. Maybe we’re finished with normal as we’ve known it . . .
    He leaped up from the couch, yanked the game room door open, and ran down the upstairs hall. “Angela? Angela!”
    No answer. Rik reached the stairs in the middle of the hallway, grabbed the banister, swung himself around on it, and went down the stairs as fast as he could. At the bottom of the stairs, eight- year-old Mike, about to head up to his and Davey’s room, had stopped and was staring wide-eyed at his dad. “Mike, where’s Mommy?”
    “Out back, Daddy—”
    Rik plunged past his son and ran around the corner and down the hall that led to the kitchen and the back door. “Angela?”
    She had been sitting out on their little concrete patio reading a book. Now, though, almost certainly having heard him shouting upstairs, she was on her feet, heading toward the back door. He caught her halfway in a bear hug, swinging her around and around.
    She stared at him. “Rik, what is it, what’s the matter?”
    “Absolutely nothing!” he shouted. “Everything’s great!”
    After a moment or two Angela dug her feet in and stopped him from twirling her around. “What?” she said. “What is it? Did we win the lottery or something?”
    “Better than that!”
    She gave him a strange look. “What? What could be better?”
    “I just got a message from Omnitopia. They’ve elected me to the Microcosm program! I’m going to have my own Microcosm!”
    She blinked at him. “And this is good?”
    He swallowed, trying to calm himself. “Honey,” he said, “how many people play Omnitopia?”
    Angela shook her head. “I don’t know. You’ve told me once or twice, but I have to admit I probably wasn’t listening. Fifty