CA170: By the way, in case you were wondering - balancing the Game efficiently is my current main objective. Unfortunately my race, the Hunaan, are now virtually extinct due to improper Administrative balance. Don’t let that happen to humanity! Good luck.

Alan began to feel sorry for the Chief Administrator, at least until Eve brought up a piece of information for Alan. The Hunaan race had a thriving colony set up in real life in some far off solar system, they were just virtually extinct, which meant they had little to no influence in the Game. Shaking his head, Alan tried to access the alien internet to research the guild that had been recommended, but was stopped by a message. Apparently he had to finish the "Learn the Basics" quest first.

The basics turned out to be the manual that Icewolf had originally given Alan to learn about the rules of the Game. As a Machine Lord, Alan was also forced to memorize a few more manuals about things like the various alien races, factions, technology and the alien internet, called the globalnet. There was also apparently a freedomnet, used by the Republic, a empirenet used by the Empire and a haxnet used by the Haxlards, but most players used the globalnet which was monitored and setup by the Administrators.

With his new-found memory, Alan managed to learn all this information in a week. At Eve’s suggestion, he also studied a few more subjects, pretty much every core science subject: mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering and biology, while expanding his computer science knowledge. Each morning and evening, Alan also progressed through a series of complex exercises suggested by the Chief Administrator that were supposed to improve his balance. They seemed to work fairly well, although Alan continued to feel a bit off. Still, a day before the Titan arrived at Khersath, three and a half weeks after Alan first entered the Game, he learned enough to satisfy the Game.

Alan had a feeling the Chief Administrator was messing with him now. Alan decided to exit the game, see if there was much of a change in real life. His parents were probably worried about him, although it seemed odd to think of his parents now. Of reality. There were also questions he wanted to ask Icewolf about.

So Alan proceeded to capsule room, returned Home, and logged out.

Arc 2: The Guild

The Game is lost.

-Unknown

Chapter 11

“Yes, I know. I love you too, bye,” Alan said exasperatedly, ending the video conference with his parents. He’d contacted them right after he’d gotten out of the Game. The log out had not been immediate, the process taking around two and a half hours before Alan emerged back into the real world. Alan didn't remember any of it. As he answered his parents’ questions, or at least the ones he was allowed to answer, he’d checked his email. He had one from Icewolf to contact him once he finished the Tutorial, but other than that nothing important.