The doorbell’s tone punctuated Tony’s listless slumber.

What time is it? he wondered. Tony stripped the blanket off the bed as he sat up. He cleared the sleep from his eyes and grabbed a hoodie, then wandered in the direction of the door of his one-bedroom apartment, searching for pants.

His abode was sparsely decorated. Some of the posters he had managed to salvage from his room at his parents' house were hung on the walls of his bedroom, the "kitchen" was made up of a digital griddle, e-class Ingrediprep unit, and a sink all on the same countertop. The living area was even more shameful to look at, but Tony managed to locate his favorite pair of sweatpants on the third-hand sofa that leaned against the wall. Adjacent to the slumped couch was one of Tony's prized possessions, the Gambit Games Multi-Console projector. The scattered trophies from years of youth sports and martial arts tournaments rested on a dusty shelf to "round out" the feel of the space. The digital chime continued to sound. Whoever was at the door wouldn’t be leaving until he answered, he noted, hopping toward the door, one leg in his sweats, the other struggling to find purchase. "Be right there!"

Tony pulled on his pants, unbolted the door, and flung it open. “What?” he shouted into the face of the mailroom worker of the complex. She was tall, athletically built with sandy-colored cascades of hair, flawless sandstone skin, and eyes so blue he could swim in them. He always intended to ask her name and see if she wanted to get a coffee with him sometime. Most of their interactions had been limited to Tony dropping off rent checks and signing for packages, he couldn't help but feel like there was potential chemistry between them.

Probably explosive chemistry, like the volatile kind, you dunce. Now stop staring and say something!

“S-sorry, I was err- asleep,” he admitted.

Real smooth, Romeo.

Her eyebrow arched beyond the slim ebon frame of her glasses and Tony felt a sweat break out across his back. “It’s noon. You have a package to sign for. Looks fancy.”

Noon? Tony took the tablet in hand and initialed with his index finger without a thought before the mail attendant thrust the package into his hands and left.

It was heavy.

“Thank you,” he called after her.

For a moment, Tony considered jogging after her. Everyone else in the Multiplex was out for the day or already buckled down to work, so if he made an ass out of himself it would only be the two of them. He decided against it and nudged the door switch with his foot. The door swung closed and hissed as the hydraulics built into the springs kept it from closing.

Someday, he thought. Maybe when I drop off this month's rent?

Tony placed the package on his dining room table, the bridge between the kitchen and the living space. A flimsy thing made out of pine that was better suited to holding outstanding bills and junk mail than sitting for a meal. He never really had anybody over anyway and it was just as easy to plop down on the dilapidated sofa and eat while streaming Spider-Man: The Other for the umpteenth time. His heart froze for half a second as he read the shipping label.

To: Antonious King

District 6, Building A, Sublevel A, Apartment 13

Elko, NV 89801

No one called him Antonious anymore, not since the last argument with his father almost a year ago. He shook the thing. There were no clunks, and its contents were well packed.

From: Gambit Games c/o Ascendant Online

1 GG Place

Hollywood, CA 90028

“What the?” Tony couldn’t help but say aloud. Gambit Games had won Indie Developer of the Year Award in 2030 with their RTS “Godmaker,” and won the 2037 “Game Studio Triple Threat” award.

After the micro-transaction fiasco in the gaming community that ran late into the 20s, consumers were hesitant to trust a new AAA studio. Gambit Games had taken the industry by storm with immersive stories, fresh mechanics, and exceptional graphics without VR support. Ascendant Online hadn’t released yet, set for a summer 2038 release. AO wouldn’t be the first VR MMO, but it would be the first put out by Gambit. The release of their "Multi-Console" had revolutionized console gaming, allowing players to relive the classics, all the way back to first-gen XBOX and PS2 games. Beyond that, the tech allowed seamless cross-platform support with the primary consoles put out by Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, and could even bridge with current-gen PC servers.

With feverish excitement, Tony grabbed hold of the first instrument he found to open the package. The spoon was resting next to last night’s empty ice cream carton and carved into the tape securing the box, freeing its contents and a handful of packing peanuts. Resting on top of a matte-black box, emblazoned with Gambit Games’ branding, was a letter.

No one sends letters anymore! he thought, the tips of his fingers running over the coarse parchment. The Gambit Games seal had been almost punched into the paper and the signature at the bottom was in ink, from a pen.

Hello, Antonious!

Congratulations! You have been selected to participate in the exclusive closed beta of Ascendant Online! Contained you will find the Gambit Games Mark II Pro Headset with Ascendant Online preloaded. You will also find three starter codes to grant initial class gear in-game and your own beta tester title code!

This will mark your character as one of the very first and enable you to transfer your beta character to the retail version of Ascendant Online upon release!

Welcome to the Ascendant Program, Antonious, see you in-game!

Auren Brandt

Gambit Games CEO

Tony couldn’t believe it. He’d signed up for the closed beta when he pre-ordered AO with no hopes of being accepted. Gambit Games was a giant in the industry, and they were only accepting three hundred players into the beta. He dashed over to the screen built into the wall next to his door, unlocked it, and opened the “My Schedule” app. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Working third shift had its perks. Minimal interaction with people, decent housing benefits, and a killer shift differential; however, it did next to nothing for remembering what day it was, they all bled together. Tony worked Tuesday to Saturday, and it was an afternoon on Monday. He would have time to play right away.

Without missing a beat, he went back to the table and exhumed the headset. It was a thing of beauty, the same matte black as the box it came in. The Gambit Games logo, two interlocking G’s with a 6-sided die at the merger of the two letters, inlaid with gold at either side of the visor. Turning it over in his hands, the health advisory and disclaimer paperwork tumbled out into the box. No one ever read that stuff and he had no intention of wasting the time to do so now.

Tony retrieved the power supply and charging cable from the box and rushed into his room, flinging the door open, scattering laundry and rippling the posters haphazardly tacked to the plain cream walls. He plugged the cord into the outlet at the head of his bed and the other end into the receiver at the top of the headset. The optimal setup for a full VR experience. A small red dot illuminated, it was charging and ready to go. Tony lay down on his bed and pulled the headset on. He blinked, and the headset powered on — the nodes lining the inside, detecting a user.

The landing screen itself, only a partial VR environment, took him out of the shoddy apartment in the basement of the Multiplex housing hundreds of thousands of people and onto a coastal Elysian field.

Ascendant Online – Closed Beta

The words hung in front of him, just over the lapping waves on the coast. Tony focused on the flashing “Launch” button, and the headset complied. The familiar tingle of the VR integration crawling over his scalp and a subtle chill running through his body.

“Welcome to Ascendant Online. Please, select your starting class.”