3013: Glitch: 3013: The Series

By Laurie Roma

As the owners of Artane Electronics, Magnus, Nicolo, and Razar Artane have revolutionized the industry with their inventions. They are considered the ultimate visionaries, especially when it comes to creating innovative games. While they aren't afraid of breaking boundaries or taking chances, the one thing they won't risk losing is Brielle, the female they can't seem to live without.

 

Brielle Lee is a genius in the field of neurotech, but she's pretty much clueless when it comes to understanding love. Otherwise, she wouldn't have wasted years crushing on her three insanely hot Krytos bosses when they only see her as a brilliant brain they can order around. At least, that was what she assumed they were doing. But things aren't always what they seem…

 

When their new mixed reality game is sabotaged and the Artane brothers' lives are put in danger, it is time for Brielle to upgrade herself to heroine status. Can she find a way to save them, or will it be game over before they even get a chance to level up?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Laurie Roma
• Release date: Jul 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9781942979319

Book preview

Prologue

The world had changed in the year 3013.

Earth rebuilt their civilization after the Alien Wars ravaged the planet and an unknown virus nearly wiped out the entire population, but nothing could ever bring back what once was. A new age of mankind was born, but some of the edicts set forth for humans to survive have become obsolete in the ever-changing universe.

What fate has in store is uncertain, though, one constant is clear. In a cosmos filled with endless possibilities, love is the ultimate prize. Warriors from every species search the stars for love, and they will risk all to fight for those who hold their hearts. But danger is always present when worlds collide. As new challenges arise, all the known races must adapt and learn from their allies. However, not all desire peace, or to live in harmony.

And as a new year dawns, the battle for the future has only begun...

Chapter One

It was an absolute whiteout.

As Brielle Lee trudged through the knee-high snowdrift, the force of the biting wind did its best to shove her off balance. Adding to her misery, a flurry of snow slapped against her face, completely impairing her vision. Despite the thick fur lining the hood of her pink coat, the goggles that protected her eyes, and the flap that covered her mouth, her face was still freezing.

Stars, so was the rest of her.

Even wearing gloves, snow pants, and heavy boots did very little to stop the icy chill from seeping deep into her bones. The protective clothing might have been waterproof and heat insulating, but she wouldn’t last much longer if she didn’t reach her destination soon.

Desperate to get out of the brutal cold, she continued to push forward. She was barely able to see the blue ice palace glowing in the distance through the raging blizzard, but its faint light was her only beacon of hope. Unfortunately, she’d only made it ten more feet when the sound of a loud crack reached her.

The noise was slightly muffled by the roar of the wind, but the alarming sight of the avalanche careening toward her was impossible to miss. Her eyes went wide with fear, and she let out a vicious curse. She hadn’t even noticed the mountain range to her right. Hell, she could barely see five freaking feet in front of her under these conditions, so that wasn’t exactly shocking.

She tried to pick up the pace to outrun the oncoming surge of snow, but it was clear that she wasn’t going to make it. A few seconds later, the world crumbled beneath her feet, and she let out a terrified scream as she fell straight into an ice crevasse.

She hit a smooth, curved wall of ice that sent her sliding down at an alarming rate of speed. Trying to slow her descent, she used the small pickaxe she’d pulled from her belt, but it hardly made a dent in the thick ice. She barely had time to blink before she hit the unyielding surface of a small ledge. Thankfully, the backpack she was wearing took the worst of the impact, but she still landed hard enough to rattle her damn bones.

Her shoulder jolted with pain when she slammed the pickaxe into the ice to stop herself from rolling right over the edge. The ice cracked and groaned beneath her, but fortunately, it held firm. With one arm and leg dangling in the air, she swallowed hard. It was unnerving to realize just how close she had come to plunging into the dark abyss below.

It really had been too damn close.

After carefully rolling herself to safety, she sprawled out on her back. She pulled down the flap that protected the lower portion of her face and watched as each frantic breath she took plumed out into a cloud of gray smoke. The frosty air felt like it was burning her lungs, but the cold felt good against her heated skin.

Sheer panic had made her body temperature skyrocket.

She lay there for several long heartbeats, staring up at the opening she had tumbled through. Brielle had fallen a good distance, and without the proper equipment, it would almost be impossible to return to the surface. Instead of attempting it, she did what any sane person would do and called for a freaking timeout.

Tugging off her gloves, she tapped at her wrist unit and called up the program to connect her directly to the system.

Evo, pause program!

The roar of the wind was abruptly cut off, and the temperature immediately increased to a more reasonable level. Still, her bare hands stung from the lingering cold, and she rubbed them together to get some warmth back into her fingers.

Program is paused, Diva Elle. Your every wish is my command.

Brielle gritted her teeth in aggravation at the cheeky response coming from the game system. No matter how many times she switched her handle back to Administrator Lee, it always ended up reverting to the nickname the Artane brothers had programmed into the mainframe.

They were annoying, yet brilliant bastards.

Lamenting the fact that she didn’t have the power to override their commands within the system, she took a minute to simply relax and catch her breath. At least with the game paused, she wouldn’t have to freeze her ass off while she lay there.

It was still cold, but bearably so.

Evolution, or Evo as Brielle had lovingly nicknamed it, was the latest game creation of Artane Electronics. As a key member of the design team, working on it had utterly consumed the last few years of Brielle’s life. Not that she minded. She loved integrating innovative neurotech into their various inventions, but this new mixed reality game was next-level.

It was something that had never been done before.

And she was damn proud of it.

Evolution was not only an advanced multi-layered survival game, it also combined several different types of games into one complex universe. Once a player entered the system, there was pretty much no limit to what they could do. They could be themselves or build an avatar of their choosing. People could live an entirely different life in the Evolution universe.

Inside the game, they could bring their wildest fantasies to life.

Players could live a dream existence or they could fight in wars or relive ancient events. They could even sell and buy goods that could be used throughout the various settings. They would also hold competitions and tournaments where champions could win real-world and in-game prizes.

While commercial gain was a big incentive for certain people, others just wanted to play and be entertained. If that was their goal, they could forgo all of the commonplace activities and strictly devote themselves to the quests or fighting in the battle royale portion of the game.

Evolution could be played in the usual formats, such as on wrist units, screens, or by virtual reality. It could also be played using holo-tech, although that required space to fully utilize that option. If someone didn’t have access to a private unit, they could rent time in one at any Artane Gaming facility found in every city and space station.

But that wasn’t the most remarkable part of Evolution.

Magnus, Nicolo, and Razar Artane, the owners of Artane Electronics, had quietly purchased the rights to a small planetoid that was now the game’s live-action home base. The planetoid was made up of several large islands and miles of vibrant blue water. Originally, the plan had been to develop some of the islands so they could highlight a few sections of the game. They had also planned to construct a small town that included a resort, stadium, and a variety of shops to accommodate their guests.

Those plans had drastically changed when the Vyper brothers had unexpectedly decided to visit the planetoid. Brielle wasn’t sure how the Dragon Warriors had known about Evo, though she hadn’t been surprised when she’d heard they had shown up. Now, the entire planetoid had been completely reformed into one giant kickass, interactive adventure park.

It was literally the next evolution of gaming.

Brielle had only arrived on Evo a few days ago, but what she’d seen so far had been absolutely amazing. It was difficult to believe all of it was actually real. While the different landscapes and settings had been created with magic, most of it was maintained using a complex electrical grid, advanced nanotech, and an extensive network of satellites that surrounded the planetoid.

Once they were ready,