Second Reality

Second Reality is an online community or virtual world launched on Earth in the early 21st century. Similar in nature to previous online game-based communities such as World of Warcraft, Second Reality has its users assume online identities called avatars that can be of any sex, race, or species (within the parameters of the game).

Owen Harper of Torchwood 3 became addicted to Second Reality, especially after Toshiko Sato modified The Hub's computer systems to create a far more realistic version that that normally available (and Tosh couldn't resist trying out an avatar for herself). Harper's interest became even more piqued when he discovered that an avatar he had become attracted to in the game actually belonged to a former lover. Owen's obsession with Second Reality was an annoyance to his superior, Jack Harkness (TW: Another Life).

Behind the scenes
Second Reality was based upon the real-world online community Second Life, which features many of the same traits as the fictional version, including the ability to adopt avatars of almost any type (including avatars based upon Doctor Who and Torchwood characters), the option of playing an avatar of the opposite sex, and the notion of having online sexual relations via avatars. At one point in the novel, Owen finds his avatar banished to a boring nether-region for misbehaving players. This is based upon an infamous section of Second Life called The Cornfield, an intentionally boring, endless area where habitual trouble-making avatars are sent for a time out. The name of the novel, Another Life, is also a play on Second Life.