System Administrator:

Only few people lingered in Levi's group. They had fun only at the moment of hacking and partying, and the general meetings in chatrooms bored them. This annoyed Levi, despite the fact that he always said that he was ready for such moments, and finding like-minded people who will be with him until the end is the most difficult thing that you can think of in the framework of Elysium.

"Maybe it's time for us to create our own event live? Then there will be more people and they will leave less often," one of the guys suggests to him.

This time they are sitting in a spacious room with a huge window that opens onto a hologram of an Asian metropolis like Hong Kong. There are large plants around, everything is illuminated with bright purple neon light, reminiscent of a phytolamp in shade. There is a small, but rather deep pool in the room along the wall, due to which many users who enter this chatroom don't notice it and fall into the water. The lighting in the pool is also purple.

In the middle of the room stands a statue of Buddha, the size of a man. Levi sits comfortably on top of it, his legs dangling over the coffee table, which is lined with joints, an ice bucket, and bottles of pink gin. Various banknotes of high denomination are scattered on the floor. There are euros, and dollars, and yuan, and rupees, and yens. Typically, location designers use this decoration to show that money in the virtual world has no value - this is a kind of metaphor, so in many chatrooms you can see the floors strewn with pieces of paper. However, in the real world they are also not particularly used anymore.

"What kind of nonsense? Do you think it's a big problem for us to create our own event live? If they wanted to, they would have done it a long time ago. That's not the point. We have a different path," Levi replies, rolling his eyes.

"I mean, to develop an interesting event live. Like, for example, event-live with religious overtones, or role-playing event-live, where everyone plays the role assigned to him. Something like that might be interesting and keep users there. It's just that everyone has become tired of parties for a long time," he mutters.

"We don't just have parties. This is a protest. We go against the rules, create new ones. It may sound funny, but it's only for now. What is the point of doing an event live? To waste time aimlessly again? This is what they are striving for. I just want you to finally open your eyes and see what I see," Levi says.

The guy is silent, realizing that Levi cannot be persuaded.

"Just think about it, we are already being controlled. Divided up the world without asking, stripped everyone of their jobs, stuffed them into a metaverse, into a fucking simulation like we're retarded. You also have to play by their rules. Well, no, I don't want to live a life like this. We basically have nothing. Only avatars. We are like cattle in a pasture that doesn't exist. I don't understand why many of you don't see this, and moreover, rejoice at this alignment. Elysium is one big dump of unnecessary people. And I want to make a full-fledged world out of this dump, where everyone will have property, rights, where there is no artificial intelligence that replaces us in almost everything. I want a different life, and it's not about parties. More precisely, parties are like the first level. The beginning of the entire plan. And that's why I really need users who will go with us till the end. Yes, we can be blocked for hacking, but it's not as scary as living like soulless robots. Tell me, do you want your own location?" Levi asks, nodding in his direction.

"But... I'm not a designer," the guy replies in confusion.

"Here!" Levi pats his knee aggressively, "I'm not talking about that! Do you want a location that will be your home? Not to create, but to have, to own it. I don't know how to explain it to you..."

"Sure I do."

"Do you want not just your apartments, but exteriors? Your own garden, private beach, your own street?"

The users thinks.

"That would be cool," he says honestly, smiling.

"That's why we hack chatrooms! Each of them can be privatized after being hacked, you know? Privatize under a special password code that even admins won't be able to do anything. At some point, they will simply have to come to terms with the fact that Elysium is becoming a full- fledged state, not just a virtual simulation of life!" yells Levi with enthusiasm.

"But I don't understand... Designers create locations. They can create a location for themselves and put it on a password. Why can't we create our own locations and do the same? Why hack ratings? We only attract attention."

"Everything is correct. For attention. I want the protest to be heard. I want everyone to see that we are unhappy. I want us to not just quietly create our chatrooms and sit silently in them, but to declare ourselves to the entire server."

The user silently looks at Levi.

"Okay. Someday it will reach you," the leader sighs wearily and turns to the window.

The user leaves the chatroom.

At this moment, Ada appears.

"Are you with the news?" Levi turns to her.

"Yes, I contacted the designer recommended by this mysterious friend of yours," she sits on the edge of the stone Buddha's knee and gestures to open a small transparent screen in front of Levi, "Look," Ada scrolls through the rating chatrooms. Among them there are original rooms with a high rating and familiar names that often appear in the top:

night wanderers - a dark room with large windows overlooking the city at night. Spacious sofas with mirrored cushions, neon sign on the entire wall: "it was all a dream", a soft white carpet on the floor and moon-shaped lamps of different sizes. The moons are so believable that you can see its every sea, a well-done job. Small lilac sparks soar in the room, which disappear before they reach the floor. The format is a regular chatroom for meetings and communication in an informal setting. List full of alcoholic cocktails and cigarettes for every taste.

plant room - a mirrored arboretum full of green plants. The chatroom itself is small, but because of the mirrored walls and lots of light, it gives the impression of a large space. There is nowhere to sit, except perhaps on the floor, and among the plants there are replicas of Renaissance statues with neon wreaths on their heads. The temperature is quite cool.

loner's hangout - a room that resembles a teenage girl's bedroom. The sloping ceiling, like the roof of a private house, the window overlooks the pink sky during sunset. Made in soft pink colors, decorated with lanterns. In the corner, there is a mini-sakura, whose white petals begin to fall off, as soon as at least one user enters the chatroom. In the middle is a large bed with a couple of plush toys, a table with nail polishes and various cosmetics, a floor full of pillows, hot chocolate with marshmallows and muffins on the table. Despite the pleasant childish atmosphere, the room has a melancholic message. It is usually chosen by single girls with chronic depression.

neon dreamers - a space with huge sugar clouds, the taste of which can be felt if you turn on physical access. The dark space around, neon constellations, and the ability to hover in the air.

fluorescence - is an expensive penthouse rooftop chatroom. View of the night metropolis, a huge rooftop pool, a small bar with a variety of alcohol, a dance floor. A distinctive feature is the floor in the form of a green lawn, it is recommended to turn on physical access and walk barefoot.

katharsis - is a two-level arcade-style chatroom in Tokyo's Akihabara neighborhood. Outside the window, it is always night and rains, the walls of the location on the first floor are made of white tiles, at the entrance there is a shelf with manga, three maneki-neko cats, posters on the walls, three slot machines in the corner, LED lamps that change color at the request of the users. Under the huge wall-to-wall window there is a large sofa, along the edges of which small palm trees are decorated with garland lanterns. Butterflies and paper planes fly around the room, a robot stands in the corner, next to it is a vending machine with canned soda, bottles of water and plates of ramen are located on the table in front of the sofa. The second level is made in the form of a small balcony, where there are game consoles, large plush toys and blankets are scattered. The floor on the second level is similar to the water in the pool, the graphics are constantly in dynamics. In the corner near the stairs is a purple statue of Venus holding a jug from which water is pouring. Walls decorated with anime posters and neon inscriptions. Colored lamps in the shape of planets hang from the ceiling and large soap bubbles fly, burst and reappear, but the main feature of the chatroom is that you can fly in it. You jump off the second level and float around the room with all those butterflies, paper planes, bubbles and planets. One of the strangest rooms.

lost lovers playground - evokes nostalgia about the times when you, as a teenager, met your first love at night in the yards of your neighborhood, listened to music and talked about everything. An empty playground surrounded by tall skyscrapers, two swings, a carousel, a slide, a small music speaker, and the sky dotted with stars, and occasionally flying planes. Summer temperature, it's always night here. A chatroom used for occasional dates and heart-to-heart conversations while you spin on the carousel and then raise your head to the sky and feel weightless. A distinctive feature from other chatrooms is that neon light comes only from skyscrapers, the lights on the site itself exude a "retro" light - yellow.

Levi looks through the chatrooms with interest.

"He is really talented. These chatrooms breathe life before division. These rooms, the playground with the swings, in short, I like it. I was in katharsis once, even then I noted the originality of this designer."

"His name is Yuno, right? Is this the designer you wanted to talk to? I looked through his subscribers, there is not a single creator of top chatrooms and event live among them, except for the host of "raving in HELL" and "paradise chill". Apparently, he is not particularly interested in these fashionable mass gatherings and a large number of followers, which is definitely to our advantage. The question is how we will tell him about our goal. Imagine our "illegal parties" or go deeper?" Ada asks.

Levi thinks as he looks at the pool in front of his feet.

"Let's invite him first. We'll talk, we'll discuss everything. If he doesn't agree, then we will think further. In general, it seems to me that there is nothing wrong with telling him about our plan without dodging the main topic," Levi replies.

Ada sends Yuno a friend request and a chatroom invite.

Yuno:

Physical minutes are running out, and something needs to be done. Even if I don't use them too often, I feel calmer when I have them. As a designer, I consistently receive a percentage of visited rooms, but it doesn't always meet expectations and often there are few more minutes, or they come late. Many users in Elysium prefer not to spend them at all. They save and save everything, keep it on their accounts, saying that as soon as they get enough, they use everything at once, but we understand that this won't happen.
The only luxury available here (and by that I mean what is most valued) are those very physical minutes. Only they determine how rich you are in this world. You don't need to spend money on your appearance, health, food, locations – all this goes for nothing, and therefore loses its former value, which cannot be said about physical minutes. To feel truly alive is something that cannot be compared with any expensive thing. To be without physical minutes available is perhaps the most terrible and lousy feeling. As I said, you can not use them, the main thing is that you have them, and then it's up to you what to do with them.

Suddenly, I receive a notification from an unknown user. It's an invitation to the chatroom. I don't often respond to such invitations if it's a live event that someone is promoting, but in the case of an invitation to a chat room, it's different - someone wants to contact me directly.

By clicking on "confirm" I find myself in a location called: "Sharing the Vibes".

It contains only two people with very dubious avatars. I look at them questioningly.

"Hey Yuno!" greets me a guy who looks like a user whose avatar accidentally flew off, leaving only two tattoos on his faded face.

"Have we met before?" I ask, still not understanding what they need.

By the pool on the floor, leaning against a huge window overlooking the shining night city, sits quite a pretty girl, though without interesting jewelry, unusual hair color, tattoos, or special lenses. She's perfectly clean. Even her physique is pretty simple - a thin body without lush hips and a disproportionately narrow waist. Almost all girls choose this format here. This body template is the most commonly used among female users.

"We really like your rooms," she flashes a smile, looking into my eyes.

"Many people like it," I answer calmly.

"We like you too," the stranger suddenly says.

"Well, did you invite me for this? In general, here you can leave a review in the location menu. There is a button..."

"Yuno, we already understood that you are a witty and unsociable guy, the fact is that we have a request for you, or rather a proposal," the guy replies.
Now I can see his nickname, which lights up like a tiara above his head. Levi. That's his name.

I sit down on the floor and carefully look first at him, and then at his companion, Ada.

"You should know that I don't create custom locations, it seems that I have already written this everywhere. Don't care about physical minutes. I work exclusively for myself and do only what I want. No orders and other people's ideas," I answer sharply, because I often encounter similar situations.
Sometimes users ask me to create a specific chatroom for giving me minutes. There is nothing more boring for me. Only once I did that. I was in need of real money, and that girl paid well enough.

"We weren't going to place an order. Our conditions are as simple as possible. You make cool locations to your taste, they, as usual, get into the top, and we get access to them, block them at the highest rating stage and offer those who want to go against the rules to enter them exclusively with a password," explains Levi.

I narrow my eyes in contempt.

"What do you mean by blocking? What's the point? Create a private event for yourself and drive the people you need there, what have I got to do with it?"

"The point is that you have to play along with us. This is a kind of protest. We are against the Elysium rules," Ada says.

"What rules are you talking about? This is not a quest, just a life simulator, there are really no rules here. What are you protesting against?"

Levi sighs a little annoyed. I can see how he wants to change his tone, but he pulls himself together and continues the conversation in a more calm manner.

"You see, we are looking for like-minded people. Those who don't like the current system of Elysium," he replies with restraint.

"What do you mean by current system?" I wonder.

"The fact that there is no wholeness as such. Scattered rooms, of which there are thousands throughout the server. Nothing belongs to anyone. If you're not a location designer, you don't even have your own room. This is chaos. Although no, it looks more like a pasture of sheep."

I consider his words, which are not without meaning, and yet I cannot get to the bottom of it.

"Okay, I understand what you are getting at. There is truth in what you say if you think about it, but what is the point of me creating rooms that you will block?"

"The protest. Privatisation of locations. We have already hacked some chatrooms. Small ones. Not particularly rated, because they have weaker protection. We had parties there with our guys. My team, they're pretty good guys, even though not everyone understands why we need it, but there are also really gifted dudes. They have heads that work. Of course, there are much fewer of them, and you are one of them, Ada and I immediately understood this," he smiles approvingly, "You don't hang out in rating events, you don't communicate with other well-known room creators. You're the one who stays away. Plus, your position is not to be sold in physical minutes, and I do respect you for that. So... We hacked something on the little things, but I want to go to a higher level to declare myself and my people. And you're the one who can take us to this level. Therefore, we ask you to help us in this matter."

I think it over again, silently looking from Levi to his girlfriend.

"Do you understand that this is complete nonsense? How will this change the rules of Elysium and turn it into something, as you say, 'whole'?" I ask.

Levi sighs again and, cracking his knuckles, continues to speak, only more harshly, trying to get his idea across to me in its purest form.

"Our ultimate goal is order. Privatisation of chatrooms, their division between ordinary users. We want to make a small world with its rulers and orders. We don't want to waste time on stupid parties, or dressing up our avatars. All this is nonsense to distract us from what the real world has become. Our life, Yuno, is a disaster. We were exiled en masse into 'virtual reality' like salvaged goods. Fed with brain-destroying pills and forced to 'play' fake. Yes, we're having fun here, but it's already starting to get boring. I want development. I want to strive for something global, I want smart and reasonable people around who are ready to grow with me. As it was in the world before... We had dreams, big dreams, we learned something, competed with each other, went to our personal goasl, we could secure the desired future for ourselves. And now we have been placed in a framework where we are powerless. As I said, we are just sheep in the pasture, lazily munching on the grass offered by the world," Levi looks me straight in the eye, waiting for an answer.

I silently look at him and cannot believe my eyes. This idiot is a genius in his own way. He may be a psycho, but he retained the ability to dream. As the other users compete against each other with avatars, decide who has the best sneakers and chains around their necks, Levi thinks about what will happen to all of us. While all this mass of young minds, unsuitable for the world, locked in a virtual space and goes crazy, ready to kill each other for physical minutes, this guy works with his brains and opposes an unjust system.

The idea is wonderful. The only problem is that it's just unworkable. Unreal. Unbelievable. And that makes me even more sad.

"You know, this is really cool. Everything you just said. At first I didn't even believe my ears, as if you read my mind. I used to think about this too. Not in terms of action, but in terms of how, in general, all this is poorly arranged. It seems that Elysium is a paradise, but the position into which we were driven is frankly not heavenly."

"That's what I'm talking about! I love this metaverse with all my heart, and I think that this is the best invention in the history of mankind. There is nothing better and never was. Here the possibilities are endless, there is no money, only the potential is wasted. I just want to influence other users. Impress them that this ideal space can be used for their own purposes. Not just hanging out and fucking, but living a full life, striving for something, fulfilling dreams!"

Ada, who had been silent before, intervenes in the conversation.

"The only thing I personally doubt is that the users will want to follow us. That they want to redesign the concept of the metaverse and create a system here. But at least, you can try," she says.

And voices my thoughts again.

"Yes. This is exactly what I was thinking about. At first your idea seemed interesting to me, but then I thought - who wants to join? In the end, in Elysium people were given equality. Mankind has been striving for it for centuries, as for an unattainable ideal, and only here they were able to realize it. And your idea is to take a step back again, and not everyone will want to follow. Not everyone will be satisfied with the position to be under someone's authority again, to obey someone's rules invented from scratch, and not everyone will be able to become the owner of their own locations. There will be separation again, just like in the real world," I say.

"Not everyone needs to rule. Only those who are smart enough will rule. We have a good goal, we will not spoil the lives of the users, on the contrary, we will work to ensure that they have the opportunity to implement their plans."

"Okay, let's assume. There remains the last decisive factor - who will allow us to change the structure of the metaverse? There is a system admin. There is artificial intelligence that regulates the order, fixes bugs. And all these privatization will be nipped in the bud."

"We need experienced hackers. I want to destroy artificial intelligence, whatever it may be. This stupid invention is only capable of programmed work, it won't be difficult to erase it."

"The entire Elysium rests on it, as far as I know," I say.

"We have lived without it for centuries, we will live the same amount more," cuts Levi. I sigh, feeling like I need to take off my choker and rest in reality.

"Long story short, Levi. I can create a couple of chatrooms, but don't count on more. The idea is cool, but doomed to fail. If you want to try it, try it, and if suddenly something will work out, the users will be drawn to you. For now, that's all I can tell you," I answer.

"Thanks for that, Yuno," Levi shakes my hand and then adds, "I hope you join us full-time after all. That would be great."

A smile appears on his face.