On the short drive over, I Googled the company and didn’t find much at all. No announcements about the game, nothing about the company other than the address in Dallas, and they didn’t even have a website. It wasn’t a good start, and things were starting to feel fishy. Kenneth pulled the car into a dark parking garage attached to a tall building in Downtown Dallas. He parked his car in front of a spot with a sign that read: ‘Stratus Labs parking’ before turning off the car. We walked over to an elevator, and it took us up to the 40th floor of the building after Kenneth punched in a pin number on the elevator button panel. The doors opened to reveal a sleek office with a modern design.

There was an attractive secretary at the front desk, and she smiled at us as we walked in, welcoming Kenneth and me. There was a fancy Stratus Labs sign with the company logo behind her mounted on the wall and illuminated by bright orange light. Kenneth led me past her desk through one of the two glass doors behind her to a hallway. It looked like this company was leasing the entire floor, which wasn’t cheap real estate, especially considering the location.

“So, how long have you been in this building?” I asked.

“It’s our second year leasing this floor, but we’re considering buying the entire building. You’ll see why we’re interested in a second,” he said.

There were multiple doors along the hallway, but all of them seemed to be closed. I hadn’t seen anyone else since we’d walked through the front door, and it was unusually quiet aside from the rush of cold air from the vents overhead. “How many employees work with Stratus Labs?” I asked.

“You’re going to need to sign the NDA before I disclose more information on the company and the game, I’m afraid. Between you and me, Mr. Anderson, our CEO is a little paranoid when it comes to others learning about what we’re doing here and with good reason. We’re developing some pretty cutting-edge stuff, and it’s going to take the market by storm.”

We kept walking, and I wondered if I’d see anyone else. It seemed like if this game was as great as Kenneth said it was, there would be a lot more people here. It was bugging me. Kenneth knocked on a door and opened it. The office was huge, and a nameplate on the front of a desk read ‘Jerry Anderson, CEO.’ The man behind the desk looked to be in his fifties and was also wearing an expensive suit. He had a friendly smile under a black goatee and medium-length gray hair slicked back with gel. His desk surface was a holo projector, and he pressed a button on the side to conceal whatever he’d been working on to display the Stratus Labs logo instead.

“You must be Edwin Morris,” the man said. “I’m Jerry Anderson, but you can just call me Jerry. Did you have breakfast? Can I get you anything?” he asked me.

“Hi Jerry, it’s nice to meet you,” I said, shaking the man’s hand. I liked him already; I wasn’t getting any weird vibes, and his office was beyond impressive. The view from the extra wide windows behind him was staggering. I could see almost the entire city from this floor, and it was beautiful. “No sir, Kenneth just took me to breakfast, and we talked a little about your game and what you’re interested in having me do,” I said.

“Good man!” Jerry exclaimed, winking at Kenneth. Kenneth Struhl nodded to Jerry. “Kenneth, I’ll call if I need anything. Thank you for bringing Edwin in.”

Kenneth smiled, patted my shoulder, and walked out of the office, closing the door behind him.

“Now, I want you to play our game today, but you’re going to need to sign an NDA first. Boilerplate stuff, really.”

“Okay, I’m looking forward to playing. Are you planning on making me an offer for employment today if I’m interested after my play test?”

Jerry looked amused. “Straight to the point. I like it. Yes, we are. We want to make sure you’d be a good fit, and we’ll have a pretty good idea after your initial test. If it goes well, we’re prepared to make you an offer today. Otherwise, we’ll have a nice one-time bonus for you and send you on your way. I don’t know how much Kenneth told you, but we’re looking to assemble a diverse cast of team leaders for our testing period, and you fit the bill. You’re one of the first we’ve had for an initial play test because you’re so close to home.”

“Team leader?” I asked.

He smiled again, punching in his passcode and opening the holo projector on his desk. He pulled up the NDA agreement and slid it across the screen toward me. “Please take a few minutes and read it over. It’s basically just an agreement that you won’t disclose anything about our game, company, or any of our assets to anyone until our official launch or the start of an open beta testing period.”

I flipped through the pages, reading quickly then signing my name digitally at the end of the document. I hit the green check mark in the corner and it disappeared.

“Great. Now we can get you playing. I want you to play first, then we can talk. It will be a lot easier to explain after you’ve seen what we have to offer. From your blog, I can tell you normally like to play tank class characters. Would you prefer to test with a tank class today?” he asked.

I nodded. “Thanks for reading my blog,” I said. “I’d love to test out one of your tank classes.”

“Okay. I want you to play the core game mode first. It’s the standard experience that we expect seventy-five percent of our player base to play first. It will probably have the most players at any given time.”

“What’s the other game mode?” I asked.

“Hardcore. You’ll be able to try your hand at it should you so choose, but it’s an entirely different game. We’ll stick to the core game mode for now,” he said, laughing lightly.

I was interested. Sakarn Online did have a hard mode in certain dungeons and raids that allowed players to push their groups to the limit. Only the best geared, most experienced players did well on these difficult counters, and I was proud to say my group of friends and I were among them.

“Great. When can I get started?” I asked, eager to jump in.

“Now,” he said. “Follow me.”

Jerry stood from his desk and led me out of his office through the hallway we’d been in before. This place was strangely empty, and it was really bothering me. It was a Thursday, and it seemed like the place should be on full blast. I decided to ask about it.

“How many employees do you have working here?”

“Just over fifty. Our developer team is in a meeting right now, I believe. I assure you we aren’t a ghost ship. Aside from Kenneth, my personal assistant, office manager, and a few executives, the remaining forty-three employees are all developers for the game,” he said. “All the engineering and hardware development is outsourced in China.”

We continued walking and passed a large windowed wall where a lot of people were sitting at a table discussing something. It explained why the office had looked so empty.

Finally, we came to a small room labeled ‘Room 1’ and entered. There was a fancy chair in the center wired to the floor, and a counter with a small desktop computer and a rolling chair for a technician or someone else. It was way too simple. “No haptic gear?” I asked.

Jerry shook his head, walking over to the desktop and powering it on. “No. You don’t need it with FIVR. The headset we use simulates everything, and a few sensory augmentations handle the rest. It will look, feel, and seem like your body is physically in the world of Stratus Online, and you can modify the sensitivity perimeters of your game experience from your in-game user interface. I’m sure it will all be very intuitive to you.”

“And my starting class and location? Are you starting me off as a level one player?”

“We’re going to start you a little past the beginning areas of the game. Normally, players will build their classes themselves, but we’re going to give you a pre-made for your demo. You’ll be able to go through the full customization process if you sign to work for us after you play.”

“Gotcha. So how does this work?” I asked.

“Just take a seat. I’m just getting your demo setup. Do you need to use the restroom? You can play for as long as you want up to eight hours at a time, but we expect most players to take regular breaks to use the restroom, eat, and perform other parts of life that can’t be avoided. We’re working out a system to accommodate these needs, but the game world is a very real, living thing that can’t be paused. You’ll see what I’m talking about when you play.”

I sat in the chair and waited while Jerry continued to type on the keyboard in front of him. I couldn’t see his screen, so I relaxed and calmed my breathing. I was nervous, but I was also excited to try out FIVR. I really wished I could tell my friends all about the experience, but with the NDA, it was impossible.

“All right, Edwin. Here we go,” he said as a helmet descended from the ceiling. It was attached to cables and a mechanical servo that lowered the helmet. I placed it over my head, and the chin strap latched closed automatically. A visor descended to cover my face, and vents on the side of the helmet opened to make it easy for me to breathe.

“Just close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. You’ll be in the game in no time.”