.Elementa - Project Reality (Escapism, Ends Justifying Means)

I've always wondered why there aren't more games based on hacking.  Not that I condone illegal hacking as a beneficial activity, but rather the use of hacking in a security-based setting.  Hackers are able to find leaks in systems other people would be hard-pressed to even think of, and then help fix said problems, so other, more malicious hackers can't take advantage of the holes.  I made a game system awhile back, when me and some friends were trying to make our own playing card games.  While the card games epically failed, the system concept I came up with stuck with me.  I began making a basic storyline, and over time, it has grown into a large project.  Thought this will probably never come to fruition, and the storyline definitely has flaws, I designed it to confront two problems:

1. Escapism
I wasn't sure what to call this at first, but I recently saw this term used, and realized that's the problem I'd been thinking about the whole time.  Escapism is just what it sounds like: trying to escape from problems or routine in life through entertainment, or by literally escaping.  Nowadays, this is accomplished through games, television, and books.  We are quite good at using escapism as a way to remove ourselves from anything we don't want to approach or confront in our lives.  We instead turn to something that cannot ultimately comfort, and only leaves problems to fester.  The story in Project Reality turns to something even more sinister: what would a fake reality be, one where one wouldn't have to worry about working, eating, or other essentials of living?

2. Ends Justifying the Means
When you want to get something done, how you accomplish your goal does matter.  In fact, often, it matters just as much as the goal itself.  If a pacifist decides to destroy the military to gain world peace, do the ends justify the means? Or is the person really a hypocrite, looking for an outlet for rebellion? If we manage to save someone's life by lying, is our testimony left unstained? Does the Bible ever say we can lie if someone's life is on the line? The ends do not justify the means.  Just because we feel that we will accomplish some greater good does not mean we can do anything to get there.  The second antagonist deals with this in some very strong ways.

These two are the chief problems I confront, though there are also elements of jealousy, sibling rivalry taken to extreme measures, and the ethical quality of hacking present throughout, as well.  Without further adieu, I present the first part of...

Project Reality

The Elementa Network

In the .Elementa world, the very principles of nature itself can be altered through the modern marvel of electronics.  The entire world is beginning to discover the possibilities: Security systems guarded by liquid barriers; military bases surround by shrouds of darkness; air traffic directed along newly-made wind currents…

The ElemenTech Corporation was formed to effect all these changes.  Both inside and out, technology reflects the six elements inherent worldwide.  There are even checks and balances built into the systems, preventing an over-load of any one element to cause chaos to both the internal data and the external surroundings.  The AtomWall security system transforms binary computer data into an elemental fortress, prepared to take on any intruder.  In essence, the more data a system contains, the stronger the wall will be.

Morris Lindstrom – President of the ElemenTech Corporation

The president of the corporation, Morris Lindstrom, was the inventor and mastermind of the project as well.  It was rumored that his younger brother, Kroger Lindstrom, helped with the creation of the system; however, no one had ever seen any proof that he had ever aided the project, aside from a secretive lawsuit soon after the Corporation started.

Morris is known to have excellent business sense.  He ensures the Corporation’s success by paying all his employees a generous salary, while complementing it with a very strict quota.  If you fail to meet the quota, you’re cut from the Corporation, no questions asked.

Morris is at last satisfied with the progress of the AtomWall system, and is now prepared to move on to the next step of the master plan: Project Reality.

Kroger Lindstrom – Engineering Genius,  Inventor of the Elementa network

Morris Lindstrom not only had a good head for business, he also had an incredible sense of back-stabbing politics.  He had worked on the system with his brother, Kroger, who was the genius behind the system.  When the product was nearly complete, Morris went behind Kroger’s back and started the ElemenTech Corporation, stealing all the research and technology at the latest possible moment.  When Kroger discovered what happened, he attempted to shut down the Corporation with a lawsuit; Morris, however, was able to take down the lawsuit by buying out Kroger’s lawyer.  Kroger, furious at being fooled so easily, vanished without a trace to seek his revenge.