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Dome of protection Rome – May 19, 2078

Today was born in Enzo Emmanuel Romano aka Ceasar, the youngest of a fraternity of five brothers and sister.

Rome, unlike Paris, is a poor city, very poor, one of the poorest cities in the whole world…

But the Romano family, a former Italian noble family was even poorer, over-indebted after its attempt to invest in agriculture in the middle of the climatic crisis, it was quickly contrary to declare bankruptcy, to live in the immense city slum that is called the dome of Rome.

Enzo and his brother and sister grew up in total poverty, lacking everything from food to clothes to medicine; however, there was one thing his parents provided for him… An education, and Enzo soon understood what righteousness, honor, discipline was; everything that could have made him a perfect aristocrat…

But unfortunately in a chaotic world, to be able to feed these five children, this parent was quickly obliged to chain small jobs badly paid and very exhausting…

Until he discovers neo-crack, a fabulous drug, which in small doses makes you insensitive to pain and sleep…

It was first the father who fell into it, then the mother…

Enzo was 8 years old and found himself with two drug addicted parents and his brother and sister, abandoned to themselves…

Having less and less parental control, they quickly fell into delinquency, first robbery, then armed robbery, until the day he tried to rob a bank…

He was quickly arrested… But the justice of this end of the 21st century was very repressive… He was sentenced to 30 years of non-compressible prison in different prisons in order to avoid that the family gang was reformed in prison.

At 16 years old, Enzo quickly realized that his life was ruined and that his family was destroyed, it was a brutal fall, because in spite of the poverty and the drug addiction of the parents, the family bond had always allowed to be welded…

But when Enzo in his cell, realized that the party was over for good, it was a shock, a brutal shock, for him he considered that this world had taken everything from him, first the family patrimony, then it’s parents, then it’s brothers and sisters…

So he curled up in a ball and cried in his small cell of 2 square meters, which smelled of urine… then he noticed that he had linen sheets strong enough to make the hangman’s knot… That’s what he did… He tied it to the bars of the window and hung himself.

But fortunately for him, fate had decided otherwise…

Once hanged he quickly lost consciousness, then without explanation he woke up two hours later on the floor, as if someone had saved him…But he didn’t notice anyone in his cell and if it had been the guards, he would have probably taken him to the infirmary.

He didn’t understand what had happened that night, but what he did understand was that he still had things to do in his life

The day after his incarceration, released World of Warcraft II…

The upheaval that this game brought, was hardly measurable, it was not a video game nor a flim or simple entertainment… it had the ambition to be a second world…

The wave of shock, that this game had even touched the prisons, the Guilds being always in search of new talent, they quickly realized, that had nothing better to incarnate a warrior, than a real warrior in the real world…

That’s how the first governmental reinsertion program by VRMMORPG was born… For the world government it was a godsend… Not only do they get money from the big guilds, when they find a talent, but they also reduce their own costs by losing a prisoner… While finally presenting the beneficiary as a person who had succeeded in reintegrating… A beautiful operation of political propaganda in itself…

Three months after the launching of the program…Enzo’s prison was the first one chosen.

It is besides a guild of first order to the world plan which visited them… A certain Renovatio Imperii, a guild specialized in the PvP, which had for goal to reach the world podium of the best guilds

Enzo understood immediately that it was his ticket out, he also understood what to look for a structure of this type … He is not looking for a brainless bastard, but a barbarian able to civilize, and adopt the customs of Rome …

Enzo used the little money he had to buy a suit and prepared a ready-made answer to the possible questions he would be asked…

After almost 7 days of hearing, Renovatio didn’t find any candidate until it was Enzo’s turn to come forward…

And the surprise was in the air, when he saw a prisoner in a suit, with a nice hair and speaking in a very educated way…

In fact, the five evaluators were doubtful that it was a prisoner until they read his criminal record…

One of the men in the middle said

“Hello young man…I am Edward, the founder of Renavatio but you can call me by my pseudonym Augustus, if you wish… We are here because we are looking for a talent for our PvP guild… At Renovatio, we are not lacking in talent unfortunately, with VR technology is so immersive, that even our greatest professionals have a hard time dealing with the stress and realism of the game, so a player who will be excellent at training will be at best a good player on the field, so we need someone who is used to dealing with adrenaline and having a good level of combat…”

Enzo answered

“He is in front of you…”

In the room everyone was killed, one of the Renovatio executives answered

​ “What makes you say that?”

Enzo answered

“I have been fighting in the slums of Rome since I was eight years old, since I was six years old I have been under constant pressure, always afraid that a rival gang would come from behind and cut my throat…”

Edward replied

“Hmm, I understand what you are trying to say… I also see that your name is “Romano”? Like the ancient noble family of Florence?”

Enzo replied

“Yes… My parents lost everything, with the great ice age… But I received a very strict education and the good sitting of the Italian nobility…”

Edward replied

“but will you do the job? It remains to be seen!”

Enzo answered

“Make me face anyone and you will see that I am made for this job!”

Edward replied

“Ahah, I like it a lot! Your file is interesting Enzo…We will review it and follow up with you…You can go…”

Once Enzo left, the five examiners began to discuss Enzo…

one of the examiners said

“I am not in favor of Enzo’s membership, he is too young and therefore unimpressive…I prefer the first choice, the 39 year old former professional boxer, who killed his wife…”

one of the examiners replied

“It is true that a professional boxer would be a better choice in terms of pure skill, but the problem is that these people often have severe brain damage…”

Edward added

“I agree, the boxer is certainly a better choice in terms of skill, but is too worn out, I do not want to invest thousands of credits on a man who will have a stroke overnight, especially since you know that immersive VR technology is extremely energy consuming for the brain … “

He added

“And then I am quite intrigued by this Enzo Romano…”

One of the examiners answered

“Why can’t you make them both fight? We’ll take the one who stands at the end…”

Edward replied

“Good idea, summon them both for a virtual fight next week, whoever wins will be free…”