New Arcadia
F17/100eBook by Eric Jason Martin
In a near-future world locked down by a deadly pandemic, drone-delivered food and online interaction are all most people have. Forty-year-old drone coordinator John Chambers spends more time grinding VR games than working—until a corporate executive offers him a choice: get fired, or become the prime beta tester for Chum Corporation's secret new VR game, New Arcadia, a nostalgia-soaked 1990s arcade city. Reborn as street-fighting hero Blaze, John starts to build a life that feels more meaningful than his real one. But New Arcadia was designed for a darker purpose, and what players do inside it could have dangerous consequences for the world outside.
Books · 3
#1 Stage One
3.55· 436In a pandemic-locked future, forty-year-old John Chambers reluctantly becomes prime beta tester for Chum Corporation's secret VR game, New Arcadia—a hyper-nostalgic 1990s arcade city. Reborn as street-fighting hero Blaze, he finds a life inside the game that feels far more real than his actual one. But the game was built for a darker purpose, and its effects on the real world may be more dangerous than anyone suspects.
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#2 Revolution
3.95· 102New Arcadia expands with a rhythm-game mechanic designed to bring isolated players together on the virtual dance floor. As original players, John and his friends feel responsible for helping newcomers settle in—but other players have a sinister objective: ensure the social experiment fails, and keep the world in lockdown forever.
#3 Judgment Day
3.81· 31A sinister Chum executive plans to seize New Arcadia and lock everyone out permanently. When John and his allies are abruptly kicked from the server, they face a desperate real-world trek through post-pandemic California, battling drones and hostile factions to fight their way back inside—and take on a virtual army to save both New Arcadia and the chance to rebuild society itself.