Things were looking pretty bleak. The global economy, while stable now, took another dive. War with anyone was just a matter of when. Which power would snap first? For the most part, everyone just tried to keep out the way. There was no outlet any more to vent some steam without inciting a riot. The struggle to feed one’s family became more important than buying the latest cell phone or car.
Inspired by works such as The Matrix and Inception, a small research team had an innovative idea for virtual reality as an escape from this dreadful world. They tinkered with a surround sound arcade station and upgraded the Virtual Boy of the olden days. After a few years, their full sensory immersion prototype caught the attention of the military. It became the new platform for cadet training. When the technology had been mass produced, the systems were connected together. This essentially eliminated the standard training camp. Video games became the new war video games.
As each country developed its own version of the computer system, the independent networks synced up for each engagement. Decades of bloodshed could be done within the virtual construct and without actually losing a soldier. Countries still continued to fight, but the horrors of war had come to an end. There was no more need for the machines of death.
The money from the military contracts was reallocated to support the next Baby Boom. Without war as a major form of keeping the population in check, more and more hungry mouths came into being while the resource supply continued to disappear. Communities imploded as families moved back to the major cities. This lead to overcrowding until contractors could build taller skyscrapers. The stifling environment of the metropolises was made tolerable when the virtual reality program entered the private sector. Programs were written to replace tourism and entertainment. Since the system was fully immersive, the noise pollution of the city could not carry over into the program. Tempers began to simmer down when everyone could go their own private white sand beach and distress.
Initially, only the wealthy could afford the interface devices. This changed as the technology eventually became cheaper and more portable. Soon, every household had at least one interface. Individual hubs became part of a much larger network, affectionately called the Conduit. What made the Conduit so great was that it worked in conjunction with sleep. Users still gained all the benefits of REM sleep and didn’t have to worry about missing work.
Doctors had known from the Conduit’s war game days that constant exposure to the system became addicting. While some aimed to treat the now recognized condition of cyber addiction, others created drug cocktails that could lengthen the time spent sleeping without the negative side effects of hypersomnia. Currently, everyone with an interface has some degree of Conduit dependence (whether socially, biologically, or both). Some users have compensated for this by making their career within the digital realm of Conduit. They only log out to take care of biological needs.