Den virkelighed, Internettet har skabt, har ud over kravet på videnskabelighed en utopisk eller dystopisk overbygning. Dens selvbestaltede profeter bekæmper en mørklægning, der afspejler en international konspiration.

Nettet er på mange måder den nye underverden. Det er en alternativ virkelighed, der ofte tager skikkelse af en af de populære on-line games.

‘What is Alternate Reality Gaming? An interactive drama played out online and in real-world spaces, taking place over several weeks or months, in which dozens, hundreds, or thousands of players come together online, form collaborative social networks, and work together to solve a mystery or problem that would be absolutely impossible to solve alone.

In an alternate reality game, the goal is not to immerse the player in the artificial world of the game; instead, a successful game immerses the world of the game into the everyday existence and life of the player. The ultimate goal is to have the player believe that the events take place and characters of the game exist in his world, not an alternate reality.

In a strange but very real way, the ARG creator is trying not to create an alternate reality, but change the player’s existing world into an alternate reality.’

Som i ’Dungeons & Dragons’ er der en Dungeon Master, men i den moderne udgave bliver dette job alt for krævende og overtages af en AI, en avanceret chatbot. Sådanne programmer er endvidere blevet så komplicerede, at deres svar, narrativer og instruktioner på et tidspunkt bliver uforudsigelige, hvilket får dem til at virke intelligente og bevidste.