In 2045 Columbus Ohio is one of the most fastest growing cities in the world people live in the stacks as it is the home of many, but while people live there or other parts of the world people live more on the virtual reality game called... The OASIS
Wade Watts is like millions others, he uses the Oasis as an escape from reality due to what they can be there with the only limits being their imagination
The death of James Halliday sends shock waves throughout the Oasis Universe
I'd heard of Halliday, of course. He was the videogame designerresponsible for creating the OASIS, a massively multiplayer online game that hadgradually evolved into the globally networked virtual reality most of humanity nowused on a daily basis.
Everyone my age remembers where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about the contest. I was sitting in my hideout watching cartoons when the news bulletin broke in on my video feed, announcing that James halliday had died during the night.
Normally, the newsfeeds didn’t interrupt everyone’s interactive sitcomsand soap operas unless something really major had happened. Like the outbreak ofsome new killer virus, or another major city vanishing in a mushroom cloud. Bigstuff like that.
I didn't understand why the media was making such a big deal over Bill Gates' death at first. After all, the inhabitants of Planet Earth were dealing with other major issues. Famine, poverty, and disease are all prevalent.
He had died a sixty-seven-year-old bachelor, with no living relatives and, by mostaccounts, without a single friend. He’d spent the last fifteen years of his life inself-imposed isolation, during which time—if the rumors were to be believed—he’dgone completely insane.
As famous as he was, Halliday’s death should have warranted only abrief segment on the evening news, so the unwashed masses could shake theirheads in envy when the newscasters announced the obscenely large amount ofmoney that would be doled out to the rich man’s heirs.