I opened my eyes, or at least I thought I did, but the world was still dark. There was a beeping in my ear, so I guessed that I was back in the VRIU, and I reached my hands up and away from where I thought my body was. I didn’t feel the edge of the tank where I had thought it would be, and I heard the beeping increase in speed. Then I felt something grab onto my hand, and cold air kissed my shoulders.

“I gotcha, Champ! One second. Let me get this helmet off of you.” Ky’s voice sounded distant through my headset, but I soon felt the tension release from the back of my skull.

I spat out the breathing tube as Ky pulled the helmet from my head, and I blinked a few times to get used to the dim light of the lab room.

“Can you press the privacy button, Champ?” Ky asked with a nod toward the side of the tank.

“Yeeeaahhh,” I said with a chuckle. Now it felt a bit weird to talk without the tube in my mouth. I must have gotten used to it during the game.

I found the button to dim the glass to the observation room, and then I turned to make sure that the glass actually darkened. I caught a brief look at Zarra, Jennifer, and Dr. Dimopoulos before the glass dimmed, but I still wondered if the privacy glass was actually keeping them from observing me.

“Okay, let me help you out, Champ. This will get easier the more you do it. Grab this bar over here,” Ky motioned to the long tube of metal, and I grasped around the bar. “Follow the steps out. Please be careful. I don’t want you to fall.”

“I’m good,” I said as I climbed out of the vat easily. The black liquid of the vat slid off of me like slick gel, and it almost felt like I was walking out of a Jacuzzi.

“There is a robe over in your changing area,” Ky said. “You can put it--”

“Leo, would you mind speaking to us before you take a shower?” Zarra’s voice came into the room through speakers that I couldn’t see.

“I would love to. How long do we have until dinner with your parents?”

“We missed dinner, unfortunately, but they will be happy to join us for breakfast,” Zarra said.

“Missed dinner? Huh? What time is it?”

“It is almost eleven at night,” Zarra said.

“How? Wasn’t it like two when I first logged in? How did nine hours pass?” She must have been kidding with me.

“Let’s talk after you put the robe on, Leo. Unless you want to talk naked. I wouldn’t mind,” her voice turned to a purr.

“Ha, fine.” My clothes were where I had left them in the little privacy nook, and I donned the thick gray robe that I found hanging there.

“I’ve got the robe on,” I said as I stepped from behind the mirrored wall.

Ky had started to stir the black liquid of the VRIU with his paddle, and he reached down with his right hand to flip the privacy switch. I saw the glass in the next room become clear, and then Zarra came out from behind the monitors with the doctor.

“Leo, I’m going to give you a quick check up. Please take a seat,” Dr. Dimopoulos said as she pointed to a stool.

“Sure. I understand the need for all the examinations. That was more than a little intense.”

“Did you like it?” Zarra asked as she pulled a stool from the wall of the lab and sat on it.

“I think you know that I did,” I said with a laugh.

Zarra crossed her lovely legs as she perched on the stool, and the hem of her skirt inched up her flawless thigh dangerously. I was thankful that the doctor shone a flashlight in my eyes because I probably would have gawked like some sort of sex-starved high school boy if not for the light.

“Did you have any nausea or dizziness when you played?” Dr. Dimopoulos asked as she turned off her flashlight.

“No. Not at all.”

“Good. Your vitals were very calm during the game. Do you feel dehydrated or hungry?”

“No. I can’t believe nine hours have passed. It felt like only a few,” I said as I reviewed the game experience.

“It’s probably been a long time since you were so enchanted with a game,” Zarra said, and I saw her lips curve into a smirk.

“That could be.” I nodded and reviewed the session while the doctor took my blood pressure.

It sure hadn’t felt like nine hours. I knew I had spent a bunch of time in the grove looking at the grass, dirt, birds, squirrels, and trees before I finally put my clothes on. But maybe that had only been an hour. Then I’d walked toward the city, and met up with Artus. Was that another hour? The city had been a mile away or so. I could do that walk in twenty minutes at a leisurely stroll. Let’s assume half an hour because I was looking at the grass, the road, and the mountains.

How long had it taken for Artus to drive the wagon through Cutno and reach his first stop? It hadn’t felt like more than another half hour, so now I was at two. Something wasn’t adding up correctly. If nine hours had passed, I would have been hungry, or thirsty, or at least had to take a piss. I felt as if only an hour or so had gone by.

“He’s looking fine,” Dr. Dimopoulos said after she finished with my blood pressure.

“Thanks, Trina. I think you can head home now,” Zarra said.

“Sounds good. What time do you need me here tomorrow?” the older Greek woman asked.

“Whenever you usually get here. Leo isn’t going to be playing tomorrow,” Zarra shrugged.

“I’m not?” I said, and I realized that I’d forgotten all about a poker face.

“My parents would still like to meet you for breakfast, and then you said you needed to be somewhere in the morning? Orlando was it?” Her lavender eyes seemed to twinkle under the LED lights.

“Yes, I need to be there a few minutes before ten in the morning,” I sighed.

“So that is all we can do tomorrow.” Zarra shrugged her shoulders.

“Okay.” I tried not to let my annoyance sound through my voice.

“Ky,” Zarra looked over at the man stirring the black liquid. “I called the cafeteria and let them know that the Champ just logged out. Can you run over there and grab him some dinner?”

“Sure thing Ms. Zerne,” the man said, and then he turned to me, “Do you want anything in particular?”

“I’m not super hungry, but I guess I should eat. I try not to do carbs, so maybe just some meat and veggies. I’m not that picky.”

“You liked the miso soup at lunch?” Zarra asked.

“Yeah, I really did,” I said as I tried to match the woman’s brilliant smile.

“Cool. Got it. I’ll be back in a few,” Ky nodded to both of us and laid his paddle down on the side of the tank.

“I’ll leave as well. Leo, I hope we meet again. It was a pleasure,” Dr. Dimopoulos held out her hand, and I shook it.

“Thanks for taking care of me, doc.”

Ky and the woman exited the door on the opposite side from my suite, and I watched the door slide shut behind them with an authoritative sound.

“So now that we are kind of alone,” Zarra whispered, and I turned back to look at her.

“And I’m almost naked?” I asked with a laugh and pointed to my robe.

“I’m actually still here,” Jennifer called out from her seat behind the computer screens in the observation room.

“I know, Jennifer. Can you take some notes? I’m going to grill the Champ here.” Zarra winked at me.

“You got it, Ms. Zerne.”

“What were your overall impressions, Leo?”

“Wasn’t my hint earlier enough?” I laughed again. “I owe you an apology.”

“No need to apologize. I understand where you came from. My promises were a sonata that you’ve heard too many times.”

“Yeah, but I do feel bad. This game is great. I’m . . . well . . . I’m in awe,” I admitted.

“What were your favorite parts?” she asked.

“There are a lot Zarra,” I laughed. “The graphics, the sounds, the tactile feel. It was beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. It really felt, just real. I could even smell in the game, it was amazing. How did you get the scents? It was so wonderful. Ha. Can I apologize again? I feel like I should have asked Ky to bring me some crow to eat.” I realized I was kind of babbling, but part of me didn’t care. The game was so damn good.

“No apology necessary. I am delighted that you loved it. What else?”

“The AI is amazing. How long did you take to develop it?”

“Ohlavar has been a project of ours for many years,” Zarra gifted me with a wide smile, and it actually looked like her cheeks flushed a bit with my compliments.

“So that is the name of the AI? Is it an acronym for anything?”

“On-line Holistic Learning Advanced Variable Alternate Reality. Yeah, I know it is a mouthful. Dad named it, and he wouldn’t listen to me explain how difficult it would be to market big words.” She laughed, and I found myself smiling along with her.

“Ha. Maybe the name doesn’t matter that much. I swear I just sat and watched the birds fly around for half an hour, or something.”

“I’m sure you did. How did you like the NPCs?”

“They were great. Artus is a wonderful first encounter. He seemed so genuine. I tried to throw him off with some game terminology, but he didn’t break character.”

“Ohlavar creates characters like that all the time. I’m glad you liked him. We’ve never seen him before, so he was new to our team as well.”

“How does it create such believable NPCs? Kimmel seemed a little over the top, but I really disliked the man. He certainly came off as a spoiled lord’s son.”

“We have to keep some secrets from players.” She winked at me. “It is very much a sandbox now. The characters are created, and brought into the world, and then allowed to form their civilizations. We will insert the players into the game at more of a ‘starter’ area. We just wanted you to get a feel for what a small city would look like,” she explained.

“It felt real. I’m sure you saw me just people watching. I still can’t get over it. The NPCs in the city felt alive.”

“Yes.” She beamed at me. “This is the usual feedback we get from new players.”

“How did you develop the world? I noticed there was some kind of racism toward Artus’ people. Fenia? Was that what they are called?” I asked.

“Yes. So I’ll give you a little hint, but then I’ll have to hold onto the rest of our secrets. We began the game world about five hundred years ago. After this cataclysmic event that ‘wiped’ out the world’s history.”

“Was this the ‘Time of Heliotrope’ Artus spoke of?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “We realize it is a common fantasy trope, but it gives us some flexibility to add dungeons, bosses, loot, and the past that we can more easily manage. We’ve got a bunch of that backstory planned out, but we don’t want to reveal it all to players as soon as they login, we think it will be more interesting if the community discovers it together. Ohlavar just started creating the world from that point, and it has let the culture evolve using Earth-like examples. So we think it will be relatable to the players, but also be exotic enough to keep them interested.”

“That is really smart,” I said as I considered her words. “I’ve got to say that I’m interested in the world.”

“And you haven’t even scratched the surface. You haven’t even scratched a scratch on the surface. The AI has some incredible events, quests, and well,” she smiled widely and let out a little chuckle, “let’s just say I’m really happy that you got to play.”

“So you mentioned that this was a sandbox. So I guess that you loaded a unique instance for me?” I asked.

“Well, no.” She frowned a bit. “The world is persistent, and the time is matched to real life hours, so the AI will keep running the environment, even without players. We decided to go against instanced sessions, because we want it to feel like a real world, and not a game. We feel that the graphics are cutting edge, and--”

“So, what is going to happen to Artus?” I felt my stomach sink.

“What do you mean?” she raised a perfect eyebrow.

“What will happen to him? The guards captured him. Before I logged out, the captain guy said that Lord Halafast’s men would take him.”

“Well, what do you think will happen?” She shrugged.

“Fuck no. They will kill him? He didn’t have anything to do with the fight. That is fucking dumb,” I felt my anger rise when I thought about my virtual friend getting executed because of me.

“Maybe. Fenia’s aren’t liked much in the world. There might be a trial, but if you think he’ll get executed, he probably will. I’m sorry.” She frowned.

“Ugh.” I got up from the stool and started to pace the floor of the lab. I kind of felt sick to my stomach.

“Since we are on the subject, how did you like the combat?” she asked.

“It felt real. Zarra, everything felt real. That’s probably why I am so pissed off about Artus. I really, really liked the guy, and he gave me my first quest. Now he’s going to die because of me. Oh,” I stopped pacing and gave her a sheepish grin. “I guess I wasn’t supposed to fight huh?”

“No, but I forgive you.” She smiled. “Any comments about the combat? Anything we could do better?”

“Yeah, but let’s start at the beginning. I’ve got a bunch of feedback. Some of it is just nitpicky, but I think some will help you appeal to gamers that are used to playing Astafar Unlimited. I’m assuming that is the market you are going to go after?”

“Sure,” she said with a nod. “Go ahead, Jennifer is listening and taking notes.”

“So, first feedback is that I didn’t like the lack of a user interface,” I said as I sat back on the stool near the beautiful woman.

“I can understand that. What specific visuals or commands were you missing?”

“Just everything. I didn’t know what time it was, I didn’t know if I had an inventory. There was no map overlay or even a compass. When I did Artus’ quest and unloaded the boxes, there was no progress meter over my head. There weren’t any life bars and no way to see the damage I did to the NPCs.”

“Fair enough, but before I dive into a response. I’ve done plenty of research on you. There are countless interviews where you said you didn’t actually like Astafar Unlimited’s UI, and you had turned off most of it.”

“Well yes, I turn off the detailed combat report, and the damage numbers popping up on screen. I turn off pretty much everything but health bars of NPCs, players, or monsters within twenty feet or so. Unless I target them with a missile weapon or magic outside of that range. I still keep the game time, compass, and I always have my little mini-map up so I can draw on it for the rest of my group. Although, Jax often draws dicks on the team map for laughs.”

“Yes, I’ve seen a bunch of his interviews. He is quite a comedian.” The beautiful mocha skinned woman giggled. “We really want the players to think that it is real. This was my mistake. I thought that you wouldn’t mind the lack of UI visuals.”

“Ahh okay. But you have them?”

“Oh yes. We can have a map, compass, clock, health bars, and do damage numbers-”

“What about inventory? I was kind of confused about the way it worked.” I realized I’d interrupted her, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“We are going to make it a realistic inventory. The game will only allow a player to carry what their stats and backpack space allows. There won’t be any windows or any easy management systems,” she explained.

“I think that is a mistake,” I said.

“Why?”

“A bunch of other games have tried that, and it doesn’t resonate with players. It is too cumbersome to pack everything, and to only be able to hold a small amount of loot. Players really don’t like it.”

“I can understand your points, but do you think players would get used to it if the rest of the world felt so real? I know about some of these games that you are referring to, and they aren’t as realistic as Ohlavar Quest.” Zarra bit her lip casually, and I could tell that she didn’t agree with me.

“It is a possibility, but let’s look at Astafar Unlimited. When you level up, you get some more inventory space, and you can buy other equipment to get inventory space. You need to understand how important progress is in these games. Players have to feel like they are getting better with every hour they are investing. It needs to feel like life, only the players want to feel like strong heroes that have quantitative improvement tiers. Having an inventory system just like real life, with a player having to make these hard choices about what to bring, even at the top levels, will be unappealing. Advanced players don’t want to have the same inventory space as a new player. Does that make sense?”

“Yes, of course. Thank you for your feedback. What if we made higher level characters stronger so that they could carry more gear? Or what if we made items that could act as magical bags?”

“Like the whole ‘Bags of Holding’ stuff? Sure that could work, but you have to make them level required. You have to think about progression with every item, quest, and sweep of the game,” I said.

“Got it. That makes sense, and it is something my father often talks about. I’m excited for you to meet him tomorrow morning. What other feedback do you have for us?”

“It sounded like you didn’t log me in at a true starting area. Are you going to have a place where new players can get more accustomed to the game and combat? Maybe with an NPC helping them?”

“Yep. We have the whole ‘kill ten rats’ thing planned. But we will have a more advanced mode where players can start a bit past that point. It might be similar to your experience. We think that could be fun for players who want a challenge.”

“Did you start me with higher than normal stats? I felt really strong when compared to the NPC guards. Artus seemed amazed by my strength.”

“Ummm. I’m not sure. Jennifer? Do you know?” Zarra looked over my shoulder toward the observation room.

“Yes we did, Ms. Zerne,” the blonde woman responded over the speakers.

“There you go,” Zarra smiled at me.

“There needs to be a way where I can see my stats and stuff. How do you plan on doing levels and skills?” I asked. My stomach actually growled a bit, and I realized I was starting to feel hungry. Thoughts about food reminded me about the in-game smells that I had experienced, and I realized that Zarra hadn't given me an answer about how they got that combination of scents in the game so realistic.

“We have a stats screen. I just didn’t enable it for your play. The stats are going to be based on our magic system roles,” she said. She didn’t speak for a few more moments, and then a coy smile spread across her full lips.

“That sounds kind of interesting. Can you tell me more?” I asked Zarra. The pretty woman’s purple eyes flashed past me to look at Jennifer, and then she fixed on my face again.

“Sure. A little more, because you are so charming. Do you remember the magic system?”

“Uhhh. Body, Mind, Light, and Shadow? Artus only spoke briefly about it.”

“Good. I’m glad you remembered. So Body will have ‘Brawn’ and ‘Quickness’ beneath it. Mind will have ‘Intelligence’ and ‘Willpower’. Light will have ‘Perception’ and ‘Charisma,' and Shadow will have ‘Comeliness’ and ‘Luck,'” she explained, and I couldn’t help but think that the woman must have been investing all of her real life stat points in Shadow and Light.

“And you get stat points when you level?” I asked.

“Well… yes and no,” she frowned. “We were thinking about doing away with levels, but you and my father keep talking about game progress. So we think we need to have it. We have been talking about a kind of progress reward system outside of levels.”

“Players really like levels. It puts a clear label on the results of their effort,” I said.

“Yes. I understand. It is good to hear this from you in addition to my father. You are both telling me the same thing.” She let out a quick laugh. “We might do something for when people have spent a hundred progress points on stats then they get a level. My dad likes my idea because character development will happen in smaller and quicker batches.”

“So you’ll be giving them the drug more often. It is a good idea,” I said with a nod and a smile.

“Players will pick where to put their stat points, and it will cost more to increase them as they get higher. That will help keep people from ‘min/maxing’ stats. Magic usage will be given a bonus depending on what the base stats total under each of the four types,” she explained.

“So if I spend a lot of my points in Brawn and Quickness, my Body magic will be stronger?” I asked.

“Yes, or it will be stronger than someone who doesn’t spend points in those stats with the same spell casting ability. There will still be opportunities for players to focus on magic instead of physical combat. Attacking and casting spells will all be considered skills, which will get more powerful through usage in-game.”

“Hmmm. Players might not like that either. That creates an environment where casual players won’t feel that the game is fair to them. Some people will only be able to play a few hours a day, and they won’t like that gamers with a lot of free time will acquire skills quicker,” I explained.

“That is going to happen in any game. Players that have more time are going to gain levels faster, get more loot, and whatever. The only way we can ensure that casual players have a good time, is by creating a bunch of wonderful content for them to experience at all stages of the game. The AI has already done that. The patients you met only play for an hour or so a day, and they can’t wait to login. There are so many tasks to help with in the game world. There is plenty for each player to do, and a bunch of unique items for them to acquire. A lot of games make the high-end content the only place where powerful items can be found, but we wanted to ensure that new players would be able to find epic loot and wonderful quests in their own sphere of adventures.” Zarra gestured dramatically with her hands when she spoke, and I could tell that the beautiful woman was really passionate about this subject.

At the end of the day, that single quality tended to be what made these types of games successful. If the owners of the development company felt passionate about the players and game, it was probably going to do well. Zarra’s desire to have her game perform were obvious to me, and I guessed that her baby was going to be able to kick Astafar Unlimited off its podium, even without my help.

“Haha. Okay, I believe you.” I held up my palms in surrender. “To your earlier point, casting spells, or fighting, or whatever skills get better the more I use them?”

“Yes. Just like in real life, however, we made the progression a bit faster, and there are some magical items you can use to increase their skill. One of the aspects that we do have to work on is the base experience of the player. This is part of the reason you are here testing it now.”

“Oh?”

“Yes,” her lips curved into a sultry smile, and I felt my pulse quicken. “Leo ‘The Lion’ Lennox. Some say you are not just the best gamer to have ever lived, but also the best athlete, martial artist, and strategist.”

“That is totally overblown. I’m just a gamer. Games aren’t a contact sport. I know some of my fans want to put me on a pedestal next to the world’s best athletes, but they are wrong. I’ve never taken a real punch in the ring. Well I have, but it was just for training. I’ve never run a touchdown, or taken elbows on the basketball court during a playoff. I’ve never ridden hundreds of miles on a bicycle every day for a month. I’ve never broken my foot against another dude’s shin and then had to kick a soccer ball, so I could pay rent. The people that played those sports are real athletes.”

“Are they? Most people don't even play football, or box, or ride bikes anymore. I don’t want to argue the semantics of your title, but we can look at what you have achieved so far in your career. There is no doubt in my mind that you will have the highest real life base stats of anyone that will ever log into Ohlavar Quest. The AI bases its logic off of those inherent stats, and it will tweak your ingame stats to reflect that.”

“Are you saying that because I’m strong in real life, I’m strong in the game?” I asked with surprise.

“Kind of. The thing is, we don’t want to go the other way. We want this to feel real for players, and then we want them to feel heroic. If you could deadlift five hundred pounds in real life, but only fifty in the game; would you want to play that game?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Hell no,” I admitted.

“But if you could deadlift a thousand pounds in the game? Would you want to play more?”

“Okay, you got me. I understand,” I chuckled at her. “But I still feel like I was a bit too strong in the game, at least for starting out. I don’t know how much those crates weighed, but I lifted them really easily. When I kicked that guard in the head, he just died, and I hardly put any effort into the attack. Maybe if I actually had a lot of levels above the NPCs that would have made sense.”

“How do you know you didn’t have a lot of levels? We didn’t show you your stats.” She winked at me.

“Okay, fair enough.” I laughed. “One last thing I really didn’t like about the game. Well, it is still bugging me honestly,” I said with a sigh. “The quest with Artus and Kimmel. I feel frustrated that I wasn’t able to get out of that escort quest without fighting. I didn’t see a clear dialogue tree where I could have gotten him to leave the fenia alone. So I did what I thought was best, but now Artus is probably going to die. I dunno. I’m just frustrated by the outcome. I can see you losing players over it.”

“I understand. A lot of our quests are just sandbox events randomly created by the AI. It will learn from you as well. It wants to make the quests challenging, but not frustrating.”

“It needs to keep me addicted. I get it. I just wish I could restart the quest and pick different outcomes,” I admitted with a sigh.

“This is good!” she laughed. “You were really attached to Artus, huh?”

“Yeah. I liked him a bunch.”

“We are doing a good job then, but it is just a game. None of it is real. You probably liked him a bunch because you always played the cat race in Astafar Unlimited.”

“That could be.” I laughed. “You’ve done a great job. The world and the NPCs do seem real. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about a game NPC. It is a bit frustrating,” I laughed and felt my stomach growl again. Ky would probably be back in a few minutes with my food.

“So let us talk about that for a bit, but first, is there any other critical feedback you have?” Zarra asked.

“No. I think that is everything, and it sounds like you’ve already puzzled through a bunch of it.”

“Yes. We actually have all the changes ready. We could log you in tomorrow with them. If you didn’t have plans in Orlando.” She gave me a wicked grin, and I considered what Sal would say if I just didn’t go to Disney World tomorrow. There was no doubt that he would lose his mind and call the President to get the military to find me or something.

“Yeah. I do have to go. World Champion commitments and such,” I sighed.

“Jennifer, can you leave us alone for a few moments?” Zarra called out toward the observation room.

“Yes, Ms. Zerne,” Jennifer called back.

I turned my head and watched the pretty blonde woman adjust her glasses and then walk out from behind the glass. She gave me a shy nod and then left through the door that Ky and Dr. Dimopoulos had.

“Now that we are alone,” Zarra’s purr ticked up my spine, and I turned around to look at the beautiful woman. “Let’s talk about the future.”

“Okay.” I tried to keep my emotions in check, and I crossed my arms over my chest. What was it with this woman? Yeah, she was pretty. Okay... Beautiful. Okay… one of the sexiest women I’d ever spoken with, but she was also a bit arrogant and entitled. She should be turning me off a lot more than she was turning me on.

“I want you to work with me full time on Ohlavar Quest. Well, I should say that my parents and I want you to work full time with us.”

“It is a great game, but I have a bunch of commitments, and--”

“Quit them,” Zarra interrupted me.

“It isn’t that easy.”

“Why not? Leo, you are bored. I can tell. Why were you at that diner in your old neighborhood? You are losing yourself to your title. You aren’t challenged anymore. I have a colossal challenge for you here. Think about what we could do together,” she said with a careful smile.

“I don’t see why you need me to work with you full time. I just played for nine hours and gave you a bunch of feedback. It seemed like none of what I said was a surprise to you. The team just hadn’t implemented it yet. I don’t know how else I can help you, and I do have commitments to Astafar Unlimited.”

“I appreciate your feedback, but you are correct, it isn’t anything that we haven’t heard, and we can have those changes ready tomorrow, but I want you to work for me for a couple of other reasons. Will you allow me to explain?”

“Uhh of course,” I smiled at her.

“On top of the Alzheimer's treatment, we want the world to have an overarching quest to it. Hence the name.”

“Okay,” I said, and I started to think about my parents. I had been so caught up in the game that I’d forgotten about the treatment aspect of Zarra’s virtual world. As soon as this stuff in Orlando and the island get away Sal had planned, was over, I would spend some time investigating Zarra’s treatment methods.

“We want the players to search for relics of this ancient past. There are fifteen of them located throughout the world. There are hints about their location hidden in the lore of the world; other hints are hidden in dungeons, or other quest areas. Retrieving each relic will be an epic quest in itself, but once all the relics are brought together, we will declare those players involved the winners. We’ll give them a bunch of money for ‘beating’ the game, and then we will reset the servers and start again. Ohlavar will randomize the world and events, and the players will have an entirely new experience to play. This will keep the game fresh for a long time. We think we have a business model that will return us revenue for forty or more years.”

“Hmmm. That could work, but a lot of players will be mad if you reset the server and they lose their progress.”

“Maybe. Or maybe they will look forward to a new experience. We’ve also thought about bridging their stats and gear over to their next characters. It is something we still have to figure out. The main goal is this quest to find the fifteen relics. That is what I want you to do,” she uncrossed her legs and then re-crossed them with the other thigh now on top, and I struggled to keep my eyes on hers. Damn she was hot.

I was going to take a cold shower after this conversation.

“What do you mean?”

“We are worried that the game might be too hard. We think that we want players to be able to beat it in three or four years. If it takes too long, people will get bored with it. So that is the real reason you are here. We want you to play the game, and gather all of the fifteen relics.”

“You want me to just play test the game full time? Why? You don’t need--”

“We’ve got a little over two years until we will be ready to launch. We need to finish some of the medical stuff we are working on, submit to lab testing, and then do a bunch of infrastructure upgrades before we can have everyone in the world accessing the system. To be honest, I’m extremely frustrated about how slow this entire process is going. The AI that my father and his team have developed is amazing, and they have run a thousand and one simulations to guesstimate when human players will be able to finish the game, but I don’t like the idea of a live launch where the game company doesn’t even know how the players are going to fare. If you can work with us, play the game full time, and get the relics, we would be able to mine all that data. We could tweak the quests, encounters, NPCs, etc. The game would launch with so much more polish, and we would have a much better timetable.”

“What if I can’t find these relics by the time of launch?” I grinned at her.

“That is also useful data. If Leo Lennox can’t do it, we’ll know we need to rebalance stuff with the AI. Or not. It will at least give us some true data points from the best video game player the world has ever known.”

“You flatter me.” I chuckled. “Zarra, listen, I really liked your game. No, I love your game, and I want to login right now, especially when you told me about the persistent world and that Artus is probably going to get executed. But even if I want to work with you, making this transition into retirement would take me six months. My manager has my life planned for the next twenty seasons,” I laughed.

“There are always solutions to problems, Leo. Oh, I didn’t even talk money.”

“I don’t think the money really matters. I just can’t do it,” I said.

“How much do you make a year now? Fifty, maybe sixty million?” She asked.

“Yes,” I said hesitantly.

“We are offering you a ten percent ownership in Arnacript and a seat on the company’s board. We can send you the financials on our company, but we are conservatively estimating more than three hundred billion a year in revenue. The spot on the board will also have an aggressive salary that you’ll find similar to what you make now.

“Wow. Ummm, really? That seems pretty substantial for just a playtester,” I said as I tried to wrap my mind around the money she just presented to me.

“And, if you are willing, we can begin treatment of your parents. I’d say it would be free of charge, but you would own a piece of the company, so you would just be using your own treatment and doctors,” she said as her beautiful face took on a sympathetic emotion.

I thought again about my parents. In reality, there wasn’t a day that went by when I didn’t think about them. I didn’t know if I trusted Zarra’s treatment yet, but her offer was very appealing. Hell, she probably could have gotten me to play test the game with my every free moment if she had offered to treat my parents.

But something wasn’t quite right.

I couldn’t put my finger on it. Maybe it was the way my hairs had stood on end when I’d read the strange note in the bathroom. Maybe it was the way she seemed to know everything about me. Maybe it was the security doors, or the armed men here, or that she was throwing a stupid amount of money at me. Something just seemed wrong. Even the game was too perfect to be real. What was that saying about something too good to be true?

The game was amazing, though, and the thought of escaping from the grind of Astafar Unlimited sounded more than a little enticing. Could she really heal my parents? Would I be able to get those fifteen relics?

“I’ll need some time to think,” I said. It was always the safe answer.

“Oh, of course, I have--”

“I’ve got dinner for the champ!” Ky shouted as he entered through the lab door wheeling a dinner cart.

Zarra’s smile dropped from her face, and her eyes seemed to glow with anger. It was just a quick flash of emotion, and I almost thought I’d imagined it because her smile was back on as soon as I blinked.

“I got you all of God’s creatures to eat. Beef, fish, fowl, and vegetable.”

“Thanks, Ky, I’m actually starting to get really hungry.”

“Let’s set Leo up in his room. Was Jennifer outside?” Zarra asked.

“Ummm no, Ms. Zerne. I didn’t see her.”

“Okay. Leo, I’m going to leave you for the night. Thank you so much for the feedback. Breakfast will be at seven so we can have a few hours to talk with my parents. Should I have the operator give you a wakeup call?” She fluttered her eyelids at me, and I began to think I imagined her getting angry when Ky interrupted her.

“I’m used to getting up at the crack of dawn to start training, but yeah. Have them call me to make sure I’m awake.”

“Fantastic. I’m really looking forward to introducing you to them. Enjoy your dinner, and sweet dreams.”

“Thanks, Zarra. I’m glad I came,” I said, and the beautiful woman blessed me with another perfect smile before she left through the lab door.

“Okay, Champ. Let me push this cart into your room. Can you get the door?” Ky asked.

“Yeah. Thanks.” I opened the heavy steel door on the side of the lab by the VRIU and held it so that the man could push my food into my room.

“I just brought you a ton of stuff, and the bottom is a cooler with a bunch of different drinks, mostly water.”

“Thanks. So have you played the game yet?” I asked as I took the lid off of one of the trays. It looked like turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes.

“No actually. But I’ve seen the videos. Looks like a lot of fun.”

“Did you watch me play?” I asked as I grabbed a turkey wing and took a bite. As soon as the salted skin hit my mouth, I realized I was starving.

“Ummm no. Sorry, Champ,” he said.

“Did you eat? Looks like you brought a lot of food,” I said around a mouthful of turkey.

“I grabbed a snack while I waited for them to make you dinner. I’m good.” Ky seemed a bit nervous, and he glanced back into the lab room as if he thought someone was standing in there.

“Ahh. So you didn’t see me work for Artus.”

“No, Champ. Was that an NPC you met?”

“Yep. Fenia. I got into some trouble, killed Lord Halafast’s fifth son or something, and then Artus got captured by the city guard. They think he is an accomplice. What do you think they will do to him?”

“Most humans don’t like fenias. What city were you in?” Ky looked at me with a smile, but I saw his eyes go back to the lab.

“Cutno,” I said around another mouthful of turkey. I wondered if the same chef that cooked my lunch had made this. The man was a culinary master.

“Yeah. I think that city is kind of backwater. They’ll probably execute him.”

“Jeeze. Harsh. Kind of pisses me off,” I set down the turkey leg and grabbed a fork. Then I noticed the bowl of miso soup, and I decided to drink it next.

“Well, you could always log back in and try to save him.”

“I can?” I asked

“Well, I dunno for sure, but they aren’t going to kill him immediately. They will probably try to figure out where you went. They might interrogate him for a week or two. They don’t know you can just log out.” Ky laughed nervously. “Anyway, Champ. I’m a huge fan, and I want to stay and keep you company, believe me, but I need to finish my work on the VRIU and then head home. Wife doesn’t like that I work with so many good looking women, and she always gets suspicious when I’m out late.”

“I feel ya. Thanks for chatting.”

“Yeah. I hope I get to see you again. Take care.” Ky smiled at me, and then made a quick walk to the lab door. He nodded at me one last time and then closed the door behind him. I heard a lock turn in the metal, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end again.

I took a sip of my miso soup, set it down, and then walked to the front door of my suite. The door opened easily to the hallway, and I took a quick look around to ensure there wasn’t anyone watching me.

Maybe I was just paranoid.

I walked back to the food cart, grabbed the miso soup, and then sat on the nearby couch. I’d have to wake up in half a dozen hours, but I didn’t feel tired. I just felt hungry.

And I wanted to log back into Ohlavar Quest.