Within the spartan cell, Yi Qiang sat cross-legged, eyes closed, meditating to calm himself and focus his mind. It had become a common practice for him, although he did not know why he was trying to focus his mind just before he was killed. Even when faced with death, he was thinking about things in a calm and cool manner, something truly unusual among the frantic populace of current China.

Ten hours passed quickly. Crime rates were at an all-time high and were skyrocketing every second - poverty reigned the streets, and people had to resort to violence and other illegal activities to get by. Thus, many people ended up on death row, resulting in quite a long wait line for such a morbid thing, even when the grace period was all but removed. There were so many people, in fact, that while China started giving last meals in 2032 for people who were about to be killed, eight years later they had to cancel this as it was putting too much of a drain on the government's funds.

Over these ten hours, memories began resurfacing in Yi Qiang's mind. Memories of the initial joy of completing a job; memories of the confidence he first had in himself once he realized he was at the peak of the world of marksmanship; the satisfaction of surpassing his instructors. And the happiness he felt every time he held a ranged weapon, one brought on by feeling the results of years of impossibly hard work. It was all he had.

Yi Qiang started having second thoughts about giving up. There was little he held dear in his world, but that which he did meant much to him - the ranged weapon. Could he really give that all up? But it was too late to start having second thoughts; at this point, there was little he could do.

At the eleven-hour mark, something quite unexpected happened. Thanks to his finely-honed hearing, trained by years of practice, he heard two sets of footsteps walking toward his cell. Ten seconds later, his visitors were revealed:

The first man's presence was obvious, his outfit designating him as a security guard. However, the second was quite interesting. He was dressed in an expensive business suit, likely from a foreign brand.

This man wore glasses and had a demeanor that clearly distinguished him as a professional businessman, and he had a serious “I'll get the job done in ten minutes flat” air about him. He was well-muscled and clearly worked out. From the face down, his body could likely replace that of a Chinese model.

Face-up, however, he wasn't in such good condition.

With a crooked nose, though not the sort that you get from breaking it, but instead a naturally awry one, he wasn't the picture of masculinity. Even his cheekbones were slightly uneven, and his eyes a little too slanted. His hairy, albeit well-groomed, nostrils were clearly showing, and he had slight buck teeth. His face wasn't skinny as the glasses or the other facial features might imply, however. In fact, it was just as well-muscled as the rest of him.

In terms of age, a normal person would find it quite hard to tell accurately, as his face threw people off and rendered their 'experience' in this kind of guessing null. Yi Qiang, on the other hand, had developed quite a few skills in the line of assassination and his training, one of these being the ability to accurately read people and tell certain things about them based on the way they carried themselves. It wasn't some sort of magical or mystical power; it was simply the culmination of both extreme training and experience, although it was surprising to find it on a mere 21-year-old.

To state it simply, the man was in his 40s, most likely somewhere around 43 years old.

“Greetings Mr... is it satisfactory if I simply address you as Mr. Yi?” The man's voice was deep and rich, something that was somewhat shocking coming from what, before the vigorous exercise this businessman must have undergone, must have been a skinny and crookedly feminine kid.

In response, Yi Qiang nodded his head once, his action somehow managing to convey his calmness.

“Good. Now, by the intelligence of my organization, you seem to be a very interesting man. Oh, pardon me, I forgot to introduce myself. I am called Mr. Yang by my coworkers, but you may address me by the name Han Yang, or Mr. Han. Any of these three will do the job. Anyways, both my superiors and I are very intrigued by you, and we have a proposal to make. But first, let me tell you a little about my company:”

“We at Universal Technologies strive to be the best. We recruit from all across the globe and provide our members with the very best information possible. We have entire sections of our company devoted to finding and recruiting people who show promise. And pardon me if this seems presumptuous, but I believe our results show. Our influence spans across the globe, and governments themselves come to us for assistance. Do you know what's even better, Mr. Yi? We have the power and the privilege to refuse them. Ah, I digress. I hope you can forgive an old man for his ramblings, sir. Allow me to get to the point as quickly as possible. At Universal Technologies, we have many departments, each dedicated to a certain aspect of the company's growth. We have a cybersecurity department, a human resources department, an information department, and a global entertainment department, along with many more. I am the head manager of the human resources department, and we are contacting you for a very specific reason. First, however, a little more information, which I assure you you will find useful. Our human resources department is split up into two subsections. One manages our current staffing, and the other one scopes out potential recruits. I am the head manager of the latter, and we are interested in you. Before telling you more, however, I usually give people a little time to process what I said.”

Yi Qiang was impressed at this Mr. Yang's ability to spit out words so quickly and efficiently, all while instilling proper meaning and importance into them. But that didn't matter. What did matter, though, was the reason the man was coming to meet him.

I don't know if I can trust him yet. Although to be fair, I'm going to die within twenty-four hours, so I most likely don't currently have any better option, no matter what he tells me. Still, though, I don't want to express myself in front of him more than I need to. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that you can't trust anyone. I wonder if he knows my true background and/or my profession. That he knows my line of work is safe to assume, as it's one of the only reasons he would be drawn to speak with me. That or my 'father'. Let's hear what he has to say.

Yi Qiang nodded for Mr. Yang to continue.

“I come here representing the wishes of the global entertainment branch, as well as the entire organization. See, our ultimate goal, the reason this company exists, is to provide world peace. It may seem an all-too-common goal, and one rendered meaningless because of that, but what sets us apart from the hippies and the pacifists is that we have a chance. With our manpower, with enough time, we will accomplish our goal. We just need to meet several criteria, which I could go into and will gladly do so if that's what you request of me, however, you seem like a man that's not so interested in our cause, so I assume it will bore you if I go into too much unnecessary detail.”

Very trusting of this man, telling me the motivation behind his company outright. Doesn't he know that the less information the public has, the better? And with such a silly core ideal, this would turn the company into a laughingstock if it were to get out. Then again, he doesn't have anything to fear. Either I join his cause and he surely finds a way or reason to keep me from disclosing the information, or I die. Well.

“Let's proceed. In a week, we are going to release a groundbreaking game, paired with a never-before-seen capsule, that will allow players to experience our game at 100% likeness to real life. But we want to take it a step further. Our ultimate goal for this game is to be able to upload the consciousness into the game itself, allowing people who are willing to live their life in the game to do so. We want you to test this option. You have the skills to thrive in this new world, which is necessary since we have no interest in condemning an incapable person to a life of misery and inability that we're not sure we can take them out of. You also have nothing else. Pardon my frankness, but it's either this or you die. That's just how it is. And while I'm sure you're not as opposed to death as most would, this is an opportunity that doesn't match up too badly against that possibility.

As for why we are releasing a game, or for why we even have a global entertainment branch, it's because of two reasons: first, the PR gained from having millions of people play your game is immense, which is something entirely essential to have enough political power to operate. Secondly, even at low prices, we gain quite a bit of funding towards our other projects, and while we're not poor, the extra fortune would prove very useful. Anyways, think about it.”

Contrary to what Mr. Yang expected, Yi Qiang responded immediately and decisively:

“I'm in.”