Kenneth pulled into the expensive diner in Downtown Dallas. I had never been here, but then again, it wasn’t the sort of place I’d ever visit. Even if I didn't like what Kenneth had to say, I was in for a nice breakfast and, hopefully, a good cup of coffee. 

A man wearing cargo shorts and a polo working valet took the keys for the car and handed Kenneth a sheet of paper, which he pocketed. We got out of the car, walking into the restaurant where a pleasant-looking woman took us to a table. The interior of the restaurant was lavish and well decorated, and I was feeling self-conscious in my Burger Planet polo and black work pants. There were others in the restaurant staring at me, but they looked away as soon as I made eye contact. Yes, I wished I had brought a change of clothes, but then again, this was the sort of place where people paid 30 dollars a plate for breakfast. It was way out of my price range for breakfast which normally consisted of leftovers from the night before or some Leggo my Eggo waffles doused in cheap syrup.

The waitress came and took our drink order, then returned with two cappuccinos. I was tired as hell and didn’t mind getting a little fancy with my coffee, especially since I wasn’t paying.

“So, Edwin. I’d like to tell you a little bit about our game, then maybe give you the opportunity to take a test dive and play it for yourself before you consider my offer.”

“Dive? Is it full immersion?” I asked.

He smiled and nodded. “It is. We have some pretty cutting-edge hardware back at the lab, and we think it will be the next big thing in gaming.”

“Some other companies have already tried full immersion VR,” I said. “It’s too costly for your target market. Assuming you’re going for the same group of customers as Sakarn Online, a lot of players won’t be able to afford the tech unless you can make it way more affordable. I myself could barely afford to build a junker PC and buy the haptic VR gear to run Sakarn Online, even with the advertising I earn on my blog.”

My blog only made about $300 dollars a month from the advertisements I ran alongside the content I wrote on a weekly basis. Class guides, my current class builds, what I was testing, and things like that. I had fun writing it, so I almost never minded putting time into the project.

“You’re not the first person to bring that up, and we managed to alleviate the concerns of some very wealthy, influential investors. We’re still a couple years away from launching the game, but we want to do our initial launch with standard VR rig support. The game will be playable through the new full immersion tech we’ve developed, but will also have full legacy support for older VR equipment while we continue to develop lower cost full immersion tech with fewer features than the premier version.”

“Okay,” I said. “That’s a good answer, but how does your game differentiate itself from others on the market? Especially Sakarn Online. If it feels like a cheap clone, people aren’t going to want to play.”

He smiled. “It’s completely different. I think you will appreciate the character development, combat, and the world itself. We’ve built our game from the ground up, and the AI running the game is impeccable. What we’re looking for is to hire full-time game testers to stay with us on site at the lab and spend up to a year play testing Stratus Online. Of course, before we get you in-game, you’re going to need to sign some standard NDA agreements to protect the confidentiality of our project.”

I nodded. “I’ve been playing Sakarn Online since I was nine years old, and a lot of the game’s community has a similar story. People who play Sakarn stick with Sakarn,” I said. “While I have my doubts your company can compete, I’m still interested in hearing about your game and perhaps testing it. Let’s talk financials, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course,” Kenneth said, taking a sip from his cappuccino. “I’m only going to tell you what’s guaranteed. We can offer you a starting salary of seventy k per year. We’ll hire you for up to one year, depending on your fit with the game and how you fare, and you’ll be eligible to earn certain one-time bonuses along the way for meeting certain objectives.”

I almost choked on my coffee at the figure. I made a little over minimum wage at Burger Planet, and this was more money than I expected to make for a very long time. “You’re aware I don’t have a college degree, right?” I asked.

He nodded. “That’s not an issue. We’re interested in people passionate about games, and from what we’ve seen from your blog and watching your progress in Sakarn Online, we think you’d be a great fit.”

The waitress took our breakfast order and returned to the kitchen. I folded my hands across the table, trying to remain calm. It seemed too good to be true. “What if I think your game sucks?” I asked.

Kenneth laughed. “We’re looking for honest feedback on the game from our playtesters. We genuinely want to make our game better, so we expect you to be honest and transparent as you play. If it sucks, we want you to let us know. It won’t impact how much you’re paid for the work you do. That being said, we’re looking for a diverse cast of playtesters from all over the world. Being Texans ourselves, we want to stay true to our Dallas heritage and include a few testers from our home city in the program. You’re one of the more influential PVE players in Sakarn Online in the Dallas Fort Worth area, so my company sent me to talk to you.”

“This sounds great and all, but I’d really like to try your game before I commit. When could play it, and how soon could I start with the paid play tester position?” I asked.

“You can play today. We can leave right after breakfast,” Kenneth said.

I was eager to play, but wanted to be sure I wasn't going to be led to some dump of a building and have my organs harvested. “Where is your company located?”

Kenneth took a sip of his cappuccino. “We're in the heart of downtown in a skyrise on Main, not some shoddy building on the outskirts or anything. I assure you we're a legitimate company.”

“Let’s do it.” I was eager to play, and I’d know very quickly whether this was a bogus offer or not once we got to the building. Words were exciting, but the proof was in the pudding. The pudding being Stratus Online. There hadn’t been any developments in full immersion virtual reality, also known as FIVR, because it was expensive, and the versions of the tech released to the public had been more than a little uncomfortable. I was excited to see what this company was building and even more excited by the prospect that I could be making some sweet cash while gaming.

The waitress returned with our food, and we ate. I settled on some blueberry pancakes and, surprisingly, they were better than the kind my mom used to make. There was something delicious about blueberry pancakes, and they remained one of my favorite breakfast foods of all time. Kenneth had eggs benedict.

After we finished eating, I thanked Kenneth for breakfast and we retrieved the sleek Tesla from valet. As it turned out, we weren’t far from Stratus Labs, the company working on Stratus Online.

“We’re almost there. We’ll get you settled with our legal team, and you can start playing Stratus Online today in a test dive. You’re going to love it,” Kenneth said, grinning. He revved the almost silent engine.