I sat there stunned momentarily as the idea of working for Alex’s company filtered through my mind. Sure, it would be an amazingly fun idea, but there were so many open questions that I wasn’t sure where exactly to start!

“Well, I can see that you are thinking about it, but let me guess… You are concerned about a million and one things about it and have no idea where to start?” He grinned and I saw his shoulders shake slightly as he contained his mirth at my situation. I can only imagine that my face had the look of a fish out of water right about now…

“Uhmm… Yeah. Pretty much really. Like, how the hell haven’t I heard about this yet?” I very nearly threw my hands up at that one, but remembered where we were and controlled my reactions in time. “I mean I understand that you have all of these NDA policies and all that, but how have you kept this a secret so deep I haven’t even heard of rumors about it?”

Alex shrugged, his smug smirk still plastered on his lips as he picked at his food still. “Oh, that is easy enough really. There are only a few of us working on the project in a broad enough scope as to have the full big picture. Most of the people we have working on it only deal with small pieces of the whole, and while they are very good at their tasks, have no idea how it is all being put together into this new venture.”

I shook my head, the scope of that task being beyond my skills as a program manager as I thought more about the sheer number of people that they had to be coordinating between for such an undertaking. “Damn… I really don’t envy you that job Alex. Anyway, how about some more actual details on what you want me to come in and do? You can’t just say ‘here, have a job and be in the office tomorrow at nine’… Give me something to work with here man!”

“Oh, and you are in such a position to decline that kind of offer at the moment?” One of his brows arched as he lifted his glass and sipped the liquid while he took his sadistic pleasure at that jab. He wasn’t too far off with his comment, but I would be damned if I was going into any kind of job blind. Before I could say so though, Alex went on. “But you are right. Details. Right then, let us start with the basics and move on from there for now.

“Realm of Infinity is what we are calling it, and it is a fantasy MMORPG based in a setting about the size of Earth. Massive scale environment with similar weather conditions and climates that you are used to, but with common fantasy differences such as magic and other races. Players won’t be able to start out as any race other than Human, but after progressing through the content there is the chance of unlocking new races for players to use. I have a few documents here that I will send you to read over if you do decide to join us on this proposition.”

“Hmmm… Well it sounds interesting, honestly. But you said this was a job, right? So what are my options for payment? Also, I will need to still find a place to live, and then I have to worry about whatever interface device your company is using to log into the game.” I went back to eating, mulling the options over as I polished off the last of my meal and set my fork down.

I had never really thought about becoming a professional gamer, but there were a lot of people in the world who have gone down that path. Most sports had filtered out of popularity through the last twenty years, and the rise of e-sports had changed the way people found entertainment through the genre from fighting to FPS to MOBA games. The sport was growing exponentially every year with top tier players easily making celebrity status and living off their winnings well beyond their few years in the spotlight.

“Dale, if you sign on with us you won’t need to find a place to crash. You would move in to one of our buildings with top of the line security. Outside access would be severely limited unfortunately, but our facilities have state of the art equipment including a fully stocked gym to keep up your physical condition. We will want you to be playing the game a lot of the time, limiting your real-world time to a few hours a day and living on our grounds will allow you to do that easily. As for a salary, well, let me just say that my boss has authorized me to make sure this is worth your while.” He grinned as he flipped through an AR screen on his pers-com and then flicked it towards me once more.

My unit pinged again and I held off any of my comments in order to pull the display up and check out the message I had just received. And then read it again. And again. Wow… Okay, maybe Alex wasn’t kidding when he said Dumadine Technology was really intending to make me work for my meals if that is the sum they were going to be paying me. The figure displayed in the air before me was astronomical. Easily triple what I was making as a yearly salary at my old job, and there was a footnote saying that there was a possibility of a bonus every month based on ‘other factors’.

“Wow. Okay, I might be putting my foot in my own mouth here for asking, but what are these ‘other factors’ that are mentioned here?”

“That is an easy question to answer. You will be playing for us as a company with no assistance or special treatment. However you will be plugged into our network and will be streaming everything you are doing to our web page to be used as promotional propaganda. The bonus is derived from number of people on average following the stream, quality of the content you are feeding us, and the number of people who use your stream ID as a reference when they buy the game. Really, don’t expect a ton of extra money from that to start. I can see it building up over time as you make a name for yourself in the game and other companies start buying advertising slots on your stream, and you will get a portion of those profits as well.”

Alex looked to be highly excited over this prospect, and really it was kind of contagious as he spoke and I quickly found my own expectations rising by the moment. Something felt off about it to me though, and I had to hold up a hand to forestall him from going on any more. “Wait, does that mean there are other people in my situation who will be playing as a representative for the company?”

A frown formed on Alex’s lips, but he didn’t lie to me and nodded. “Yes, there are nine others that are being given this offer as well. We have ten slots open for this gambit and part of the job will be to compete against these other players. The amount of content within this game is mind-boggling and our CEO decided that using ten top tier gamers to progress into those expanses right off will allow others to easily step into the world and fit into their own roles without much difficulty.”

He sighed and sipped his drink, contemplating his next words carefully as I sat there and digested the information. “Also,” he started hesitantly, then pressed on, “there is the fact that you and the nine others will be starting out on the ‘hard’ difficulty and not the normal one that all other players will be using. The differences might not seem to be much on paper, but I can assure you that you will need to do a lot of reading into the game manual before launching as the hard mode will be a big set back right off the bat.”

Now it was my turn to frown a bit. I was used to playing games on their ‘hardcore’ modes often enough. That was where the real power items and artifacts come into play and allow a person to progress much farther than most casual players, but being a pioneer into this new game would make it that much harder without guides and such to go off of. “Are you saying I get one life and no second chances here?”

Alex shook his head quickly and waved a hand. “No, no, no. You will be able to respawn still, but the death penalties are extremely harsh and you don’t have access to some of the starting options. The details are all in a data packet I will be sending you if you want to go forward with this, but I can’t divulge much without you actually agreeing and signing on to this.” He paused and glanced around before leaning in closer and grinning at me. His voice hushed down to a whisper I was barely able to hear. “Trust me Dale… You want to take this offer. RoI, Realm of Infinity, is unlike anything you have ever seen or heard of before!” He sat up all the way again and raised his glass to me with one more smug smirk. “Now, are you on board with me and Dumadine Technology?”

I stared at his glass as I thought quickly. This was indeed a once in a lifetime chance if Alex wasn’t over-hyping this game and hardware, but I still didn’t have all the information I wanted. Granted, from what I had heard so far from Alex I wasn’t going to be able to get more until I had agreed to work for DT. Alex was my best friend, however, and he has never turned me wrong before in the past. Plus, the sum of money I would be receiving for doing this seemed well worth my time no matter how I looked at it.

Alex seemed to sense that I was right on the edge of accepting, and let an almost feral smile cross his face as he threw in the one thing he had absolutely no doubt I could resist. “Oh, by the way, Kayla and Archie are being offered this exact deal right now too.”

My eyes snapped to his instantly as I felt a rush of emotions come over me. Those two were bitter rivals of mine back in the day when I was a major gamer. Incredibly skilled and ruthless in their ways, they always gave me a good run whenever we met in a game. If Dumadine managed to get those two skilled players on board, then I just had to make sure I was part of this undertaking as well.

“In that case…” I raised my own glass and clinked it against Alex’s before we both drained the remaining liquid before setting the glasses down with dual thumps. “Count me in! I haven’t run into either of them in years, and I seem to find myself wanting to test them out again.”

“I also hear Kayla is single again.” Alex looked at me slyly as I focused back at him. “Maybe with yourself being single as well something can happen there this time? I seem to recall the two of you having some pretty good chemistry back in college.”

That was true enough, I supposed. Kayla and I had indeed clicked when we were younger, but she had a boyfriend at the time she was fairly serious about so I kept my distance as much as I was able to. Being in a small circle of top tier gamers made it hard for us to not be close though, as most high level groups tended to stick together against the world in the end.

Sure, we were usually on the opposite sides of encounters, but that didn’t stop us from respecting the others’ skills and determination when it came down to it and we always parted ways on good terms.

“Oh I highly doubt that Kayla even remembers me much, Alex. Besides, it seems like I will be having my hands full starting from behind in this game compared to how other players will start, so probably not much time for reconnecting.” It was an interesting idea though, and maybe I could speak with her again either in game or out.

“Hmmm… Maybe there is more options for that than you are thinking. I can’t give out too much yet, as you haven’t signed anything, but I can say that you will definitely be seeing her again soon. If she signs up for this as well that is.” His face had a mischievous look to it before he turned to get the waitress in order to pay the bill.

I was curious as to what he meant by that, but didn’t want to get him in trouble with his company for divulging info he wasn’t supposed to and maybe ruining my chance at a new leaf in life. So, I took everything at face value for now and let the matter drop on that front for now and changed the topic slightly.

“So when and how is this going to work then? I am assuming I will need to head over and sign a ton of paperwork and turn my soul over to Dumadine in order for this to go through?” Maybe I was exaggerating slightly, but the point of my comment surely got across to my friend.

“Pretty much, actually. We aren’t starting this venture for another week honestly, but we can get all of the documentation and stuff taken care of today and you can move into the apartment building whenever you are ready. Knowing your situation at the moment, I would think that it would be a big help to get a pad set up as soon as possible.”

The pretty waitress came over carrying a small tablet and she smiled at the two of us. “Thanks gentlemen. Can I get you anything else today or are you just looking to settle up and get back to work?” This woman really was a good waitress. Straight to the point while being friendly and not bothering us overmuch so we could discuss or business. If Alex didn’t leave the woman a good tip I was going to have to add some in on my own.

“No, thanks. We are ready to settle up and head out.” Alex tapped his wrist to the woman’s tablet and an AR screen popped up before him with the bill total. I could just see the amount and wasn’t that shocked. As I said, I had been here a few times before and knew what the prices were roughly even if the menu didn’t list them individually. Alex added on a healthy tip of about what I wanted to give her so I didn’t bother tapping my own pers-com to the tablet. “There you go, thanks for the meal!”

The waitress noticed the tip that was added in and beamed a smile at Alex as she slipped the tablet into her apron. “No, thank you! Have a great day gentlemen, and please come again!” After gathering up some of the dishes, she walked away towards the kitchens once more to leave us to stand and exit.

Alex stood up and looked at me, waiting for the waitress to stride far enough off before speaking. “Want to come with me back to the office now and get things rolling? I have a car waiting for me outside so you won’t need to grab a cab or take a bus.”

I got out of my seat as well and shrugged. “Good a time as any to get this all done and out of the way. Plus it isn’t like I have anywhere to be. How does the living situation work out anyway?” I followed behind Alex as he started weaving between the tables on his way towards the main entrance.

“We have an apartment building attached to one of our corporate offices. It was originally meant to be for out of town workers to crash in so they didn’t have to get a hotel, but we have fixed it all up and made them full apartments instead of little hotel style rooms.” Once out of the restaurant Alex walked right up to a sleek black car waiting on the side of the road and opened the back door, holding it open and motioning me to get in.

The sudden light shift from lightly lit interior to bright sunshine made me squint my eyes until I climbed into the back seat of the car, the tinted windows once again relegating the light levels to acceptable levels. “Sounds like you guys have this all figured out. How long has this plan been in the works? Just doesn’t seem like something dashed together at the last moment after all.”

Alex climbed in behind me and closed the door softly. The car immediately pulled out into traffic, the privacy barrier between the front and back half of the car rolling up to keep our conversation private. “This plan has been in motion for a couple months now, and we have just recently gotten things squared away in regards to bringing in the professionals and housing them in the apartment building so as to keep all the tech secret still. Can’t go and sending these state of the art devices all over to private residences until the market has had a chance to get stabilized with this equipment.”

Well, I couldn’t exactly fault them there on that line of reasoning. Smart move really, even if it meant that I was going to be living under a roof I wasn’t familiar with. I would be able to manage under those conditions well enough, especially if I was going to be spending a good amount of time inside of the game.

More small talk and hashing out unimportant details went on while the car took us through the city towards Dumadine Technology’s main headquarters right in the middle of the hustle and bustle. While situated almost directly center city, the compound was walled off with a lot of active security personnel patrolling along the walled off grounds. Security cameras covered every angle and there were even guard towers spaced out along the length of the tall white walls topped with barbed wire. They even had drones buzzing back and forth in the air both with the patrols and on their own doing security sweeps. Bit overkill if I could say so, but it wasn’t my money at work here.

The car rolled through the checkpoint at the main gates and drove on down a narrow road towards a large building I knew by reputation if not by sight. Well over thirty stories tall, the headquarters of DT was made of dark metal and tinted windows in a twisting pattern of visually pleasing graceful architecture. Several other buildings dotted the huge compound owned by DT that weren’t nearly as large but still held to the general appeal of dark metal and equally dark glass that reflected the sunlight back at those looking upon them. In the dark I imagined that the structures would be quite hard to see well if there weren’t any lights shining on them directly.

Our conversation tapered off as we entered the area, leaving me to take in all the sights and notice the little things like the immaculately maintained hedges dotting the side of the main road and a few park like areas with little fountains centered in the middle of the grass, some benches set out near the flowing water. Some people were actually sitting there eating lunch and staring at the arcing water shooting out of the top and sides of the fountain.

Our ride ended as the car pulled to a stop outside a set of short stone steps leading up to the main doors of Dumadine Technology and Alex popped open his door to climb out of the vehicle with me right on his heels. Alex closed the door and leaned down to wave into the front passenger window to the driver, signaling him that he was free of his passenger burden, and then turned to walk up the steps. “Welcome to my work place Dale. This is both the brain and heart of our operations where over three thousand people work. Please don’t mind security here, DT is paranoid about corporate espionage and all that.”

As we approached, the double doors that consisted of the main entry way opened up with two security guards nodding a friendly greeting to Alex. “Welcome back Mr. Chapman. How was lunch?” The right guard asked. He was a burly man with a clean shaven face and a wired earpiece that lead down to a radio at his belt. He was armed with a sidearm on his hip and carried his large body smoothly as if he knew how to fight.

“Very delicious and productive Carl, thanks.” Alex stepped aside and motioned at me. “Carl, this is Dale Sullivan. Dale, this is the head of security for Dumadine and he is in charge of all operations involving the comings and goings of these premises.”

I held out a hand towards Carl with a smile. “Nice to meet you Carl. If everything goes well here I will be seeing a lot of you over the foreseeable future.”

“Ah, the mysterious man Mr. Chapman himself had to go out and interview huh? Well it is nice to meet you as well Mr. Sullivan.” He shook my hand in a firm grip and then motioned us into the building where a security checkpoint was set up. Metal detectors and an x-ray machine for bags were manned by more security officers and blocked entry going forward. “If you would please empty your pockets Mr. Sullivan and step through the metal detector we can get you signed in. I am afraid I will need to keep your pers-com here at the main desk until such a time as you have a security clearance.” He spoke kindly, but unapologetically as he stepped up with us to the desk and allowed the main doors to shut behind us.

Alex walked over and swiped his pers-com over a podium near a side gate which buzzed and allowed him to step through and bypass the heavy search. “Don’t worry Dale. We will get you set up soon enough and you can use the VIP access over here after that and skip the hassle. Until then, go ahead and leave your things here as this will only take an hour or two anyway before we move you over to the apartment complex.”

I nodded and did as requested, pulling my pers-com off and a set of keys out of my pocket to add to the plastic bin set there for personal belongings. “No worries, I understand. Here you go Carl, this is all I have on me today seeing as this guy called me out of the blue.” I hooked my thumb over to indicate Alex as ‘this guy’.

The large man chuckled and nodded. “Thanks, Mr. Sullivan. Everything will be kept safe here and won’t be tampered with. As soon as you get your clearance you are free to pick your pers-com up again and so long as a door opens to your device you can go there. I would like to say now though that if a door doesn’t open to the first swipe, try once more if you want but don’t trigger a third failure in a row or security will be swarming you in five seconds. At the same time, that can be a good way to get help in a bad situation too, so just keep it in mind.”

“Thanks Carl. Will do.” I walked through the metal detector and proceeded on with Alex towards a shiny metal door that had to be the elevator going up to wherever I had to sign my life away for this job.