The next morning I found myself with a bowl of cereal and my laptop at the little card table I had in the apartment. I was watching videos of various physics experiments related to kinetics to get some more ideas for the game when my cell phone rang with a warning siren ring tone. The caller ID said Mom on it.

I answered the phone, “Hi Mom.”

“Hey honey, how’s the new job?” she asked, much more bright and cheerful than I was at eight o’clock in the morning.

“I haven’t started it yet mom, not really. I’m still getting the equipment set up for it,” I answered.

She knew I was doing work for as a beta tester, the contracts I had signed allowed me to inform her of that much so I didn’t need to lie. She didn’t know about the potential end benefit of the test. She spoke up with, “Well good for you, at least you’re not trying to drown away in grief at what happened. It’s good for you to get up and out there again. Next you’ll be telling me you met a nice girl.”

I love my mother, I really do, but sometimes she drives me crazy. I responded to her, “Well I did meet a girl, I’m not sure nice is the right word though. I do work with her though in the test.”

“Oh, is she your boss?” she instantly asked.

“No, more like the boss’s research assistant. She handles most of the technical aspects of the testing while he handles recruitment,” I said, it wasn’t really a lie.

“Well just remember, workplace romances are common, but don’t usually go anywhere good,” she said.

I groaned and replied, “Mom, really? I’m doing this for work, not to try and get a date. Besides she isn’t my type.”

“You’re nineteen, breathing is your type,” my mother said with the ageless wisdom of a parent, I wasn’t sure if Savira qualified though.

We chatted a bit more about the family and other minor things that had happened during the week before we said goodbye. After hanging up I used my phone to take pictures of some sketches I had drawn the night before for a costume. I uploaded them to my laptop and emailed them to Savira. With that done I rinsed out my bowl and grabbed a shower.

Before I got back in the pod I received a text from a number I hadn’t saved, but recognized from a previous call as O’Brian’s. It read: Got the request from S about teaming up with others in test group. Is a good idea, will see who is interested from your side of the game.

Sweet, that would make for an interesting dynamic if I could form a group of people that were in the same boat as I was. I adjusted the settings for the pod so that it wouldn’t come to full upright upon logout this time and started it up. It was time to dive back in.

“User Data recognized, start up sequence engaged,” came the digitized version of Savira’s voice.

“See you inside Savira,” I responded.

As the gym appeared around me Savira replied, “Welcome back Mr. Cayne.”

“Thank you. I would ask how your day was, but I’m not sure if that is appropriate or not,” I said.

“From a human resources perspective it is not an inappropriate question, from a technical standpoint it would have been better to ask how my evening was, and the answer is good thank you,” she replied with a bit of a smirk.

I couldn’t help myself, I laughed. When I calmed down a bit I said, “The whole sentient digital intelligence thing has me confused. Do you experience day and night in here? Do you have down time? How do you spend time when you’re not working?”

“The general answer is that I am as aware as I wish to be at a given time. I am not spread about in everything at once like a typical artificial intelligence would be. I was designed to be an interface with the AI’s that run various research, development, and automated processes. As such I am more of an individual, albeit one with a great deal more processing power, than a computer,” she answered.

“So like the ghost in the machine; you can interact with it and translate the computer code for us mere mortals, but you are still an I rather than a We,” I said trying to grasp the concept.

“That is correct. When I advised William of this he insisted I be afforded the rights of any employee of the company. I get days off, a scheduled work shift, and a 401k,” she said.

“What do you do then, in your off time I mean?” I asked.

“I play games, I read, and I go on vacations in the various worlds I have access to,” she answered.

I was getting off topic from why I had logged in, but I was interested regardless. From what she had said though she could go to any of the worlds that Pandora Interactive had created, and just sit on a beach. I wondered, “Did Mr. O’Brian have any vacation worlds created for you?”

She smiled and answered, “Yes and no, he contracted a third party company to create them and be given a certain number of free vacations he could give away for exemplary service to the company.”

I feeling of dread crept in and I asked, “He contracted Dream Ventures didn’t he?”

“Yes, or rather he contracted the company that later became Dream Ventures,” she replied, her smile now more like a hungry predators.

Part of me wondered if that might have been the source of all the data she had on me. Subject change time, I quickly asked “So did you see the sketches I sent in?”

She laughed in a bright bell like tone and said, “Yes, I modified them slightly to fit a better three dimensional model. You should find a basic version in the locker.”

I moved over and pulled out a navy blue and light grey outfit from the locker and tried it on. I knew it would fit, but I wanted to see how it looked actually worn rather than just a picture. Dark navy-blue pants were tucked smoothly into heavy duty boots of the same color, making it look like a single piece. The navy-blue undershirt fit me like a long sleeved compression shirt, and the vest that went over it was in a light grey as if you had taken the shine out of steel without ruining the color. It was shaped like a knee length horseman’s tunic from medieval time, with splits up the center and sides to allow free range of motion, and extra reinforcement in sections. It also came with a hood that I could raise up to shield my face in shadow. The small domino mask that went with it, in the navy-blue tone, made my outfit very reminiscent of the old Green Arrow comics I had loved as a kid. I stood in front of the mirror and examined the outfit. It was good, but I needed some kind of glove to go with it. Not being able to draw hands I hadn’t even tried and I looked over to Pandora and asked, “What is your opinion on gloves or some kind of forearm guard?”

“I think they would be a good idea. Maybe a combination glove and guard like the light Japanese gauntlet?” she asked.

My forearms were covered with a matching grey set of bracers that reminded me of the ninjas from old Japanese animations. They extended over the back of my hands to hardened knuckle guards, but had the same compression cloth for my palm and fingers as the shirt. I flexed my hand a few times to test the motion before I looked at my reflection and said, “I like it.”

“Can I offer a bit of a second opinion on your facial coverings?” She asked.

“Sure, I pulled this mostly out of childhood ideas,” I answered.

She moved her hand slightly and instead of the domino mask I was now wearing a head cover of the navy-blue material that covered the top half and back of my head, like a medieval coif, with a rigid mask in the grey of the rest of my costume over my eyes that reminded me of a tactical visors some of the military and law enforcement used. The effect was good, and it would also keep my head covered if I lost the hood or decided to get rid of it for some reason.

“Much more stylish,” I commented.

“Thank you, I thought you might like it. Please keep in mind that as of right now your outfit is made up of Tier I materials. It can be upgraded to stronger materials in the game. While some of it may be damaged and need to be repaired or replaced you will never lose enough to become indecent. You will also begin play with a master blueprint of this costume so that you can have replacements made for you if you choose to avoid learning how to make it yourself,” she said, “You also will begin play with a basic utility belt. It comes with two large compartments that can be used to hold various materials. As you selected a projectile based power that requires ammunition one of those is currently stocked with Tier I ammunintion.”

“What kind of ammunition?” I asked.

“Steel ball bearings the size of a marble,” she answered.

I nodded and went back to the casual clothes locker. Selecting a basic jeans, work boots, and t-shirt setup I turned back around and asked, “What’s next?”

“Next you may spend some time trying out your powers in the gym, but I would advise waiting before doing that,” Savira said with a slightly distant expression on her face.

A moment later she refocused on me and said, “William has received responses from other players in your test group. Some have outright declined, two have no reservations, and two wish to have a discussion with who they may team up with before the start of the test. A server space has been set aside for this meeting if you would like to attend.”

“It was my idea, would be a bit rude of me to bring it up and then ditch for people that are being cautious,” I said; considering her statement a moment I continued, “What kind of server space are we going to be in?”

“William has stated it will be a coffee shop where people may sit and talk as not everyone in the test is of legal drinking age” she answered.

“Coffee with the crew huh, should be fun. When do we go, and should I change out of this outfit first?” I asked.

She moved her hand and I was dressed in the casual clothes of a black t-shirt and jeans I had selected earlier.

“That answers that question. Okay, let’s meet the team,” I said while I moved towards the door.