After the meeting was over I went to check out the assigned living space. It turned out to be a simple room with a standard food dispenser, shower, dresser and a simple but comfortable looking bed. I also saw my duffle bag sitting on the floor in front of the bed.

My watch notified me of a call when I stepped out of the shower. The caller was Damien and he asked if I felt like grabbing food together. He suggested a Vietnamese restaurant that was supposed to be good according to the reviews. I told him I would be there in 15 minutes.

When I walked into, or rather out to the restaurant, as it was on the edge of one of the parks that we had seen on arrival Damien waved me over to a table he had already secured with Nico. The food was great, the company even better and I really enjoyed myself. I asked myself why we didn’t get together more often but immediately had the answer. We simply weren’t on the same schedule in our normal day to day lives.

As the night drew to a close I asked the question that I had avoided so far as I knew it could be charge’y but I was also really curious. “Why are you guys here? You have your income streams and titles. Why a new game? Why a beta test?”

Both looked at me surprised. “Any yourself?” Nico asked right back.

I nodded. If you ask others to talk about their private things you better be prepared to share yours as well and first.

“Honestly, it sounds exciting. I am jonesing for a good MMO and have always been a geek for space games.” Both looked at me skeptically, knowing that this was only half of it. “You know after the last Strike Force fight I need a break. This business gets tougher and tougher as the info leak showed. I am also not getting younger and would love to find something that has some longevity and achievements matter. My agent is on board and we talked about making myself scarce for a while to drive up the price for further matches. And while we never touched on the subject I am pretty sure that he also sees more money for me in a subscriber stream than in competitions that I will no longer win in a few years. So better to take a chance now than try to catch up later. Plus I am not hurting financially at the moment and if I make some good investment choices I will be sorted going forward. So I guess this is a vacation and exploration for me.”

I sighed and smiled sadly. Saying it out loud hurt my pride a little but it was also true. And these guys were people I had known for a while and trusted them quite a bit. The other two nodded.

“Yeah, similar here,” Damien said in a subdued voice. “My reaction times are down and the competition is 10 - 12 years younger. There is a half life time on competitive gaming. So my motive is two-fold. Get the new N-Link and improve my performance by having better tech. And also try to find something else. Find something more. My workshop is ready to go their own way and I think if I try to keep a tight grip on it, it will just implode. So I am thinking about selling my shares to the member, which won’t make me rich but will definitely last me a good while. So yeah. I am looking for something new where it isn’t about me winning anymore. I was thinking about subscriber stream as well. Or just become rich in game and trade the currency. And I don’t want to play alone anymore. I want company I connect with again. You know the workshop was good in the beginning. But the moment we made money there was all kinds of position jogging and politics going on and I am tired of that shit. I’d rather find some friends and chill while making enough to survive.”

I raised my glass of beer to him. “I hear ya man.”

Nico snorted. “Ooooh, didn’t know that you were both already feeling that old.” then she chuckled and became serious. “I just want more. I had a good run, my subscribers are getting pre-produced content that will keep them busy. And I want to join something new on the ground floor. Before it becomes a thing. And the tingling in my lady bits tells me that this WILL be a big thing once release hits. So getting on it. Not sure if I still want to go the adult content route either. I mean it’s fun and all and there is no getting old as a virtual character. But I have done that for the last 9 years and maybe it’s time for something else.”

We sat a moment in silence. “Thanks for sharing guys. Good to know I am not the only crazy one,” I said.

With the solemn mood we found ourselves in after these shares we simply finished our drinks, said our good nights and after a round of bro hugs and cheek kisses we each headed to our rooms and to bed.