Mark van Rijmenam - Step into the Metaverse

Laya moved out of the viewing area, and having beckoned a door, she went backstage. Unable to see her daughter in the crowd of frantic students and teachers, Laya pulled open her menu—a rather simple trick achieved by winking your right eye—and invited Mia to a private chat. As Mia accepted, their avatars were compelled together and the surrounding sights and sounds darkened.

“I'm so proud of you, sweetie,” Laya told her daughter. The pair chatted for a while about the show, the song, the whole thing. They'd obviously missed each other and were in dire need of some mother-daughter time.

Right in the middle of their celebrations, the red flashing light appeared once more. It's Ae again. Hiding her annoyance in front of her daughter, she apologized and answered. “Does this need to go through me, or can Daryl handle it?”

Ae explained how Sweden had just announced the same education reforms that Laya was working on. They'd just secured a contract with one of the tech-goliaths to supply all Swedish schools with the latest headsets and lidar systems and even build the Swedish government a metaverse embassy, something all governments were beginning to do.

Mia stood there watching her mother speak with an invisible person, Mia's enthusiasm slowly fading as she remembered why her mom's job annoyed her so much. Laya looked at her daughter knowingly. She gestured her hand and muted Ae, midway through a breakdown on the details of the Swedish deal.

“I'm so sorry darling. You did so well today. I'm super proud. I'll see you at home later.”

They exchanged loving emojis, and Mia disappeared back into the crowd. Laya unmuted her mic. “Save the details for later, Ae. Can you locate my other one? Zack should be finishing school soon.” Within moments, Ae had a position.

“He's in the Pondbox,” Ae reported, her tone preempting Laya's disappointment.

* * *

Pondbox was a newer region of the metaverse. She had told Zack, her 12-year-old son, not to go there as the whole area was Non-GAC Protected. GAC was Government Anti-Cheat software.

The region had hundreds of new experimental game types, content, and NFTs, but it lacked any guidelines or rules. It reminded Laya of the internet in the early 2000s, when she used to scroll sites like FunnyJunk and the earliest version of YouTube. And just like the internet back then, there was a boatload of bots and catfish phishing for passwords and a whole lot of unrestricted adult content. It was not exactly a place a parent wants their 12-year-old to hang out.

Ae had tracked Zack down to a password-protected shoot-'em-up concept a rouge programmer had dreamt up. Using her Ministerial Digital ID, Laya went straight past the password-protected door. On the other side, she saw Zack and Mia talking. The words, “Can't you just lend me yours?” rang out just as Laya stepped through.

They all turned to face each other, Zack and Laya looking equally confused. Mia's expression, on the other hand, didn't alter and had a certain, almost, uncanny quality to it.

Zack hated it when his mom checked in on him. “Mom,” he explained. “You don't need to check up on me.” Zack turned back to Mia. “Now, stop bugging me. Ask Mom.” He then turned his back to them, taking the stance of a soldier in the midst of an invisible battle.

Laya knew something was up. She reached out her left hand, freezing both avatars, and lifted her right to the panic button on her headset, opening a direct line to the M.C.P. and an emergency exit to her right.

Back in the real world, in a nondescript building halfway across the country, a well-rehearsed parade began. A team of programmers and coders donned headsets and wrist-mounted devices. The gentle sound of a low humming interrupted by the occasional murmuring bounced off the dimly lit blue wall. The sign “M.C.P - Ministerial Cyber Police” shone dustless in the well-ventilated room.

Dragging Zack's avatar, Laya stepped through the emergency exit. As the door closed behind them, multiple M.C.P agents appeared around the fake Mia. Laya and Zack were now in a digital twin of their own back garden, permanently set to a mid-summer's afternoon. Laya unfroze Zack and guided him to sit in his real-world safety chair.

“Zack…,” Laya started softly, “You know that wasn't your sister, right?”

Zack was confused at first, but his expression quickly changed into one of shame and embarrassment. Through tears, Zack confessed to his digital mom that he was going to lend Mia their home password. “She said she'd lost it,” he reasoned.

Laya comforted her son as best she could, but no words could replace a real hug. She felt a sudden sadness wash over her as she so desperately wanted to comfort her son.

“I'll be home soon. I love you.”

* * *

Determined to get home, Laya replaced her headset with a pair of AR glasses and marched out of her office door. As she did, the red light flashed again. “This better be important.”

“Always, Prime Minister.” Ae's normal neutral voice was now cheery. “A UN published report just announced the 2024 Supply Chain Resilience project a resounding success. Smart Contracts and a UN-backed Central Digital Currency are now firmly established.” Ae's uncanny smile peaking slightly in the corner as she gave the news. “The WWF also published a report earlier this afternoon claiming the metaverse reduced traffic pollution,” Ae quickly added.

An hour later, Laya's driver pulled into her family home's tree-lined driveway. While her government-issued autonomous 4×4 could drive itself, this was one time Laya listened to her security and stuck with a human driver.

“We're here, Prime Minister,” a tired voice announced from the front of the car.

Laya sat there for a moment, taking shelter from the bracing wind and looking in through her kitchen window. As she sat in the cold and dark, she was warmed by the sight of her smiling family. Well, her smiling Zack and Terry, with Mia just sitting on the kitchen side, scrolling what Laya assumed was an AR social feed. Laya took it all in, soaking in this rare moment of peace.

Laya burst through the door, loudly announcing her presence to the household. Excited, Zack and Mia came running from the kitchen and embraced their mother.

“We haven't seen you in so long,” Mia told her mother through dewy eyes.

“It was only a few hours ago.”

“Mom…,” Mia pulled back slightly to look at her mother in the face. “We haven't seen you in 64 days. I've been counting.”

As the evening went on, Laya basked in the physical company of her family. Sitting around the same table for the first time in months, they regaled each other with stories from school and work. Midway through their meal and halfway through one of Terry's anecdotes, that flashing red light appeared in Laya's eyes. Her family knew what that meant, and a saddened silence descended on the table. Terry, trying to hide his disappointment, stood to hug his wife.

“If they need you, go. We love you.”

Laya raised her hand to her glasses but hesitated. Instead of answering, she removed them. Her family looked confused. Happy, but confused, as Laya calmly put her glasses down on the dining room table. “If it's important, they'll send someone.”

On November 13 and 14, 2020, American rapper, singer, and songwriter Lil Nas X, also known as Montero Lamar Hill, appeared on the virtual stage on Roblox, the global gaming platform especially popular among children. As a first for Roblox, the concert attracted an incredible 33 million attendees, enjoying a unique performance inside the virtual world. 3For Lil Nas X, who is often regarded as a trailblazer, the virtual concert provided a unique opportunity to connect with millions of his fans when physical shows were not possible due to the pandemic. While in-person concerts are capped by the capacity of the stadium and the laws of physics, anything is possible at a virtual show to wow fans, and they can offer a magical experience. Lil Nas X debuted his new single Holiday during the concert, and by all measures, the virtual show was a massive success. It generated a lot of publicity for both Roblox and the rapper, launching a new entertainment format for Roblox and generating almost $10 million in virtual merchandize such as digital costumes, accessories, and avatar skins, which users could purchase using the in-game currency Robux. 4