“And for those of us just joining us, we are discussing the newest game to be released by InterD studios.” The image of a casually dressed blonde smiled while a monitor behind her flashed and spun, resulting in the word, Esoteria.

“Yes, Jane, after much, much, way too much waiting, the release is finally upon us!” A dark haired man, with delicate wire-framed glasses sat next to her.

“I know, right! I can’t wait to log in and roll up my character.” Jane made small quotation marks in the air while saying, roll.

“Yes folks, it’s been over a year since InterD shared the news of their newest VRMMORP. Very little was released to the public and the Beta test was over six months of highly confidential work.” George nodded and pushed his glasses up.

“I was so disappointed that none of the Beta testers were able to release any goodies for the rest of us.”

“It’s been very secretive all round for this game release. Other than minor videos and interviews with game developers, little has been publicly shared.”

“For those of you who don’t know, InterD worked with CyberNow during the preliminary game design. CyberNow is the biggest manufacturer of VR technologies in the world today. Providing VR immersion units and cybernetic equipment that are used all over the planet.” Jane glanced down at a small tablet in her hands, “Along with the release of the game, there is a new VR capsule also being released with a focus toward gamers!”

“And it’s about time,” George interrupted. “Most of the fully immersive units have been dedicated to healthcare, education and military directives. While some games have been released, most of the best programs have had those factions in mind.”

“It’s crazy to think that just 20 years ago nearly all gamers sat at a desk in front of a monitor and typed away at a keyboard.” Jane chuckled.

“Times change and technology grows!”

*Click*

The screen faded.

Martin Williams ran a hand down his shirt and turned to face the room. A dozen people sat around the u-shaped table and waited, quietly.

“Sharon, update.” He said.

“As you can see, most of the gaming news outlets continue to pepper their broadcasts with commentary regarding the release. Viewer response is positive and we are up 5% in the expected pre-order sales.” Sharon sighed and turned to the woman sitting next to her.

“VR unit sales have also increased, many subscribers of the VR10 unit, which released in second quarter, have requested free upgrades to the new VR20.”

“Of course they did.” Martin nodded, ignoring the chuckles and coughs from the other senior executives.

Martin had been President of InterD for over a year and his direct manner and focus on profits had already seen substantial market gain. Unfortunately, he replaced his predecessor after the Esoteria development project had reached its end.

“Are the AI’s ready and has all data been rolled to production systems?”

A younger man anxiously shifted in his seat, the one nearest the door. “Yes, uh, sir. The backups were done and restored with no errors on the test systems. The um, migration team started the roll out but when the transfer of AI datasets started, there was an issue.” Dave gulped as every eye turned to him.

“An issue? Why wasn’t I immediately notified, what is the status and when did this occur?” Martin barked.

“Oh, uh, it was a minor issue. We rolled back and started over and it worked like a charm. Dee decided it was a minor anomaly which had been resolved and shouldn’t delay the schedule.” His face flushed and his eyes glanced around.

“Dammit,” He started to pace. “I don’t care if it was a resolved anomaly, full system shut down or a farting spider on the wall. I need to be made aware of anything that does not happen as expected.” Martin’s voice chilled the room. Most shifted in their seats and waited.

“I want Dee in my office in 10 minutes. Now, tell me the status of Esoteria.”

Once more, Dave felt the pressure of being in the center of attention, he silently cursed his boss for picking him to attend this meeting. “Well, all areas appear to be functioning as designed, AIs have checked in and taken position. All the last bugs from the last week of testing were resolved and tested before the migration. We have a clean slate and development considers it ready.”

Martin nodded. “Fine. I guess it’s time. Now get out of here.”