What is AMIDA?

[Hisae]

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Well shit, this is a bit of a loaded question. To explain AMIDA is something that isn't exactly simple. Imagine that instead of playing a virtual reality game, you are playing a virtual reality that, inadvertently, affects the real world. Similar to the anime movie "Summer Wars," AMIDA is a giant digital network that has, literally, spanned the entire world. People of all cultural backgrounds, locations and races utilize AMIDA for it's convenience, and many companies and corporations have taken interest in the virtual world for the sake of promoting product and trade. People even can hold jobs solely on AMIDA rather than in the real world, as AMIDA requires constant upkeep, and people are always looking for technicians and codejunkies to enhance and promote their product online. AMIDA contains a variety of things: E-concerts, RLD (Red Light Districts,) Shopping, and even an Arena: A place to promote many people's abilities in the ring. There's also such things as races and olympian displays within this network. Anyone who registers to AMIDA is forced to create an 'Avatar,' a virtual representation of either themselves or some sort of persona, with which they can customize as they see fit prior to logging into the network for the first time. It has become so extensive that even cellular devices can access AMIDA.

While the Paradise would be considered a place of fun and enjoyment, it has, as of late, become a bit more...dangerous. As it were, many shady types have taken to AMIDA as well to extort money from people and companies, as well as distribute illegal substances. Crime being introduced into the network has forced government action upon these criminals, leading to far worse situations. The network began to suffer from the overload and output, data began to corrupt and warp, and some people began to disconnect and experience odd side effects after prolonged exposure to AMIDA. This, of course, did not stop people from logging in, though it introduced the presence of a new 'caste' of consumers: The Infected. These people came out of nowhere, with their avatars being corrupted and possessing capabilities outside the normal range of abilities given to the average avatar created within AMIDA. Those that became infected were those that suffered the worst side effects outside of the game, often experiencing occipital and temporal damage (producing auditory and visual hallucinations) that eventually drove some of these individuals insane. Taking liberties a la "The Joker" many of these individuals become unable to distinguish points on their moral compass. They are driven to outbursts and rage, all of which could produce nothing positive for AMIDA and it's residents.

With all of the chaos, certain individuals took lead and began to create organized factions to fight against both the threat to themselves, and the threat to AMIDA. And while the effort was valiant in theory, it only led to more discord between groups of individuals, rather than individual identities. The leaders of these factions however, seem to be on an equal standing, even supporting one another when it is necessary; As they say: "Good for One's Self, or for the Good of Many." As time passed, it became obvious that some Infected were far more affected by their situation than others, which was when a caste system was created to identify Infected by their level of power, and rationality.


For those of you far too lazy to read all of this: A virtual network (Summer Wars) where you take the form of an avatar (a la .Hack// and Summer Wars,) that is able to access everything in the real world, online! Buy a car, have a date, see a concert: All from the comfort of your own computer, being immersed in the virtual reality. Crime is introduced into the system, and the government tries to intervene. This intervention causes bugs in the data, which spawns a series of avatars with corrupted data and abilities known as the "Infected." ( A la Watchdogs, they have the ability to legitimately hack into AMIDA to affect the Real World) The Infected are split into 3 castes: White Hat, Grey Hat, Black Hat, with the castes being Neutral Good, Chaotic Neutral, and Chaotic Evil respectively. Factions were created to try and force back the leagues of crazy Infected, while even utilizing some more rational Infected to find a means to an end.