Chapter 028 (Proofread)

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‘ ‘ for thoughts.

“ “ for speech.

* * for actions.

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Warning: May contain mature content (18+) of an adult nature. Read at your own risk.

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Asunder Online (and all its chapters) by fidelc123 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Full Credits to Mecani for Proofreading

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Jacob logged off Asunder Online, feeling uncharacteristically agitated and frustrated. Aiding the druids hadn’t given him any additional rewards, well there was Bob. But he thought of it as dividends in his Leadership skill in-game. Being forcibly logged off Asunder Online meant that he was in the spotlight of VDI so to speak, and that made him nervous. He was also curious what the ‘prolonged brainwave anomaly’ signified.

He checked the time, and there was still around a couple of hours before his scheduled morning parkour circuit. After the unexpected developments in-game, he didn’t think that he could go to sleep. Since he was waiting for a VDI representative to contact him, he decided to skip his morning parkour circuit and meditate instead, to calm himself.

After a few stretches, his morning ablutions and a quick shower, he began meditating. He decided to integrate the technique of becoming ‘the void’ that he had learnt in-game. It was surprisingly effective, and soon he lost himself in the tranquil solitude of his altered state of consciousness.

He was disturbed from his trance, when his cell phone rang. He sighed and checked the caller details. To his surprise it was a blocked number. While it wasn’t too difficult to hide one’s cellphone number while making a call, Jacob felt that this specific call was somehow different. He answered it.

Jacob: “Hello?”

Husky female voice: “Good Morning. Are you Mr. Jacob Campbell?”

Jacob: “Yes. And you are?”

Husky female voice: “Mr. Jacob, I am a representative of Von Danniken Industries. Please call me Kendra. I am calling regarding the recent developments in Asunder Online.”

Jacob: “Yes. What was that all about anyway? I was locked out of the game before dawn, that too on a Sunday! I have been paying my subscription regularly, and haven’t attempted any sort of hacking.”

Kendra: “It was an oversight by the system. Rest assured Mr. Jacob, that a representative will be meeting you face to face shortly, to resolve any queries you have and allow you to play Asunder Online as soon as possible.”

Jacob: “Well I don’t feel like driving to your office on the weekend. How about I visit it after work, on Monday?”

Kendra: “Mr. Jacob, I would advise you to meet our representative as soon as possible, at your convenience. The sooner we resolve this, the sooner you can log back into AO.”

Jacob: *sarcastic mocking tone* “Ms. Kendra, I would advise your representative to visit my apartment ‘as soon as possible’, ‘at your convenience’. The sooner your representative arrives, the sooner your customer’s query can be resolved.”

Kendra: *silence*

Jacob: “I really do not like driving on weekends; please keep that in mind for our future interactions.”

Kendra: “That can be arranged Mr. Jacob. A representative will arrive at your residence within 30 minutes. Is that alright?”

Jacob: ‘What the fuck… that worked? I was just mocking her.’

Jacob: “Yes, anything else?”

Kendra: “Not at the moment, Mr. Jacob. Thank you for your cooperation. Have a nice day.” *call ends*

Jacob: ‘What was that all about? I don’t think they treat their regular players of Asunder Online like that. A visit at home on a Sunday morning, for a nobody like me? What exactly are they so concerned about? Oh well. I am hungry, might as well prepare breakfast.”

---FLASHBACK START---

**Approximately several hours ago, somewhere in California**

A well-built middle aged man, with graying hair was asleep on a king sized bed. Beside him was a redhead woman in her early thirties. There was a picture of the couple along with another picture of a young boy, who look like their son, on the bedside table. Suddenly, one of the cell phones on the bedside table rang. The man groaned awake, and answered the call after inspecting it for a moment.

Middle aged man: *grumpy* “What is it Malcolm? This better not be irrelevant.”

Malcolm: *nervous* “Sir, one of the players has been exhibiting unusual neural activity for over an hour now. He --”

Middle aged man: *annoyed*“So just unplug and prepare for the standard tests. Did you wait so long and disturb my sleep because you want a ‘transfer’?”

Malcolm: *terrified* “Not at all, Sir. The unplug protocol is being blocked by Icarus.”

Middle aged man: *suddenly alert* “And you waited an hour before informing me? Idiot. Continue monitoring. Nothing should be missed. I will be there shortly.”

The redheaded woman was attempting to stir awake, but the man soothed her back to sleep. He wrote a note and placed it near her bedside table, before quickly entering the bathroom and making a few calls. Afterwards, he dressed hastily in comfortable casuals, and left his penthouse in a private lift. A bald man, with a dangerous air about him and dressed in a suit, saluted him and escorted him to a waiting limousine.

The limousine arrived in a huge building-complex with a massive sign declaring it as belonging to Von Danniken Industries. The limousine stopped near one of the larger buildings, and the dangerous man in the suit got down, before opening the limousine door, and escorting the middle aged man to the building.

All the personnel who noticed him had a respectful expression, but none dared to greet him. He walked with his escort to an elevator, which scanned his retina and thumbprint, and entered it. The elevator traveled downwards for a few minutes, before opening into what looked like a hi-tech underground warehouse, filled with a variety of electronic equipment.

Many people, most of them dressed in comfortable casuals, were monitoring the equipment. A twitchy ginger man with a somewhat hooked nose was waiting near the elevator, clearly having consumed too much coffee. The twitchy ginger nervously greeted the middle aged man and led him to a spacious side office.

It looked pretty sci-fi with multiple LED screens displaying everything from lines of code in monochromatic green, to oscillating patterns in various colors to pie charts and bar graphs. The middle aged man took a seat, with his dangerous sidekick still standing. The twitchy ginger hastily arranged a bunch of printouts on his desk and handed it over to the middle aged man. The middle aged man equipped a pair of reading glasses started reading it. After a while the twitchy ginger summarized:

Malcolm: “Sir, the subject is Jacob Campbell, in-game avatar Jack. He is a 25 year old Caucasian male, of Hispanic descent, working in NASA’s AMES Research center in Mountain View City, California. No immediate family alive, and currently single. Father was a white industrial freelancer, while mother was a Chilean waitress.”

Malcolm: “The subject’s father was working as a long-term consultant for a manufacturing unit near Colina, Chile where he met his future wife. They were involved in a relationship and soon married before returning to the States with his wife. They died in a road accident a few years ago. The culprit was never found.”

Malcolm: “Patterns of behavior observed in the subject, both in real life and in-game, hint at the strong possibility of some form of OCD. If the subject has OCD, he is managing it remarkably well without any psychiatric intervention.”

Malcolm: “That is not surprising, considering he is an active practitioner of yoga and meditation. He also has above average physical fitness and hand-to-hand skills as he has a long term interest in both parkour and krav-maga.”

Middle aged man: *places the printouts at the desk, removes his reading glasses and glances at Malcolm* “You could have summarized his bio from the start, and saved me the trouble. How do you interpret the subject’s current in-game anomaly?”

Malcolm: “Sir, initially his brain wave patterns were dominating in the higher frequency range of gamma waves.”

Malcolm: “After some investigation, we found that the subject had previously meditated in-game and his dominating brainwave in those states was the lower frequency range of the gamma waves. As per our experience, this is not unusual for players who practice meditation in real life.”

Middle aged man: “Then what is the significance of his brainwave patterns being dominated by the higher range of the gamma waves?”

Malcolm: “In our pre-release tests, a similar state was attained by only a handful of people who were trained by Tibetan Buddhist monks in their childhood, and had actively practiced meditation for almost a decade. And that too they could achieve such states only for a few minutes at best, in a single session lasting a couple of hours.”

Middle aged man: “So a prodigy of meditation. That still doesn’t explain why Icarus locked him in.”

Malcolm: “Sir, that is not all. Soon after, his overall brainwave pattern resembled someone with epilepsy having an episode. We tried to initiate the unplug protocol, but Icarus had blocked it. As soon as that happened, I called you sir.”

Middle aged man: “What happened next?”

Malcolm: “His epileptic patterns stabilized after a few minutes; but his patterns are still odd. Right now, the subject’s brainwave patterns are dominated by the lower frequency range of delta waves, with the next largest contribution being by the higher frequency range of the gamma waves. His alpha, beta and theta waves are almost non-existent. The only way to interpret this is as if he was simultaneously in a coma AND meditating.”

Middle aged man: “What is the subject’s status now?”

Malcolm: “Stabilized, but still the same pattern persists and Icarus is still locking him.”

Middle aged man: “This might turn out to be significant. I will make the necessary arrangements to recruit him. Monitor him closely and prepare a detailed report. This event is to be treated as per Class C security protocols. So only rope in those with the required clearance, and follow the necessary procedures.”

Malcolm: “Yes sir.”

Middle aged man: *nods, gets up and walks towards the door* “As soon as Icarus releases him, initiate unplug procedure and call me. I will be in my office.”

---FLASHBACK END---

Jacob was having a leisurely breakfast of boiled oats in goat milk and mixed with apples, bananas and honey. He was browsing the official Asunder Online forums. Apparently, the average level was around 58 and most players were having difficulty finding suitable hunting grounds. As he was amusing himself at reading the rants of other players, he heard his doorbell ringing.

He kept his breakfast aside, went towards the door and peeked out of the peephole. He saw an amicable looking blond man dressed in a suit. While he assumed it was the VDI representative, he didn’t want to take chances. He opened the door a crack, and addressed the well-dressed man.

Jacob: *shouts* “Who is it?”

Blond man: “Mr. Jacob Campbell? I am a representative from VDI here regarding your issue. You had talked with Kendra a short while ago.”

Jacob: *opens door* “Come in.”

Jacob: ‘A bit early. Hope he is not a fixer coming to make me disappear. He sure looks the part, with his slick suit. I should have driven to their office. Oh well, I probably am being too paranoid.’

The suited blond man comes into his studio apartment. He looks around, shrugs and sits on his bed. Jacob sits at his computer desk and resumes having his breakfast, staring at the blond man while he was slurping down his sweetened oat porridge. He finished his breakfast after a few minutes, and addressed the blond man.

Jacob: “Nice of you to wait for me to finish my breakfast. So how should we proceed now, Mr.?”

Blond man: “Please call me Chris, no need for titles.”

Jacob: “Likewise call me Jacob. So when can I play Asunder Online?”

Chris: “Your access to Asunder Online will be restored after a few scans, at our expense of course. And I also bring an offer from VDI.”

Jacob: “The force logoff notice said I had brainwave anomalies. What does that mean, and what kind of scans exactly?”

Chris: “Your brainwave patterns while using the VR equipment were outside of our tolerance limit, and the system automatically logged you off. After further analysis, your brainwave patterns were found to resemble those of Buddhist monks while they pray and meditate.”

Chris: *pauses and observes Jacob* “The test is a simple EEG scan, taken while you perform various actions. This will help us to calibrate your brainwaves and adjust the tolerance for you, so that any similar event in the future will not prevent you from playing Asunder Online.”

Jacob: ‘A simple EEG scan for calibration doesn’t sound too bad. There is more to this event than they are revealing to me, that’s for sure. And who am I kidding? I would do a LOT more to keep playing Asunder Online”

Jacob: “What is that offer you mentioned?”

Chris: “Our research division is intrigued by your result, and we would like to offer you a job.”

Jacob: “Wait, research? You mean like a lab rat?”

Chris: *chuckles* “Not at all, Jacob. You simply keep playing Asunder Online full time, and get paid for it.”

Jacob: “That sounds appealing. What exactly does it involve?”

Chris: “This is a long term arrangement. You become an employee of one our subsidiaries, and receive a salary of roughly $100,000 after taxes and insurances are paid, per year. In return, you play Asunder Online at least 40 Real Life hours a week, in a special capsule which will be delivered to you.”

Jacob: ‘That’s a pretty good offer. But the devil is in the details…’

Jacob: “Why the special capsule?”

Chris: “Look and feel wise nothing will differ from a regular capsule. However, when it is used by you, it will record a lot more about the state of your body and mind, while you play Asunder Online, and send it to our research team.”

Jacob: ‘So the big bad corporate VDI wants more of my data. But hey $100k after deductions is quite a bit more than I get at my day job. Also I get to play a lot more of Asunder Online.’

Jacob: “What if after you get your data, you no longer want to pay me and downsize by firing me? I will be without a stable source of income…”

Chris: *laughs* “You are aware how large the turnover of VDI is right?”

Jacob: “Still, corporates want profit above all else. I need an assurance that I won’t be shooed away from this position after a couple of years. If I start playing full-time and leave my current job, it will be very difficult for me to get a similar position after such a long gap.”

Chris: “In that case, how about we start with a 5 year contract? The first year you get $100,000. The next year you get an additional $10,000 and so on to stay ahead of inflation. The contract will also include stock options of around $2,000,000 at present day value in our core subsidiaries. At the current dividend rate, that is enough for earning around $50,000 annually.”

Chris: *notices Jacob contemplating* “However, you are only eligible for receiving the dividend if you complete the five year contract, or we cancel it prematurely. You cannot liquidate the stock options for a decade. Also, you lose the stock options if you cancel our arrangement prematurely. In the meantime, the dividend accumulating will be reinvested in our subsidiaries in your portfolio.”

Jacob: ‘That is more or less like a combined $2 million singing/loyalty bonus! I don’t get the cash at once, but if I stay 5 years, or fired early, I get it. Way too generous for rights to a few additional scans. Something big is going on. Oh well, what do I care? I get quite a bit of money and more time to play Asunder Online.’

Jacob: “That is good. But if I resign at my present job without notice, the penalty is three months of my salary. So I need to give a notice of 1 month and can accept your offer only from next month.”

Chris: *smile* “An additional signing bonus of $30,000 will be transferred to your account, if you agree to accept our offer today. You will need to resign from your present job, first thing tomorrow though.”

Jacob: ‘This is turning out to be quite good. The Eldest Druid bitch didn’t give me much for that quest, but the RL rewards sure are awesome.’

Jacob: *smiles* “That gives me a lot of assurance in VDI’s intentions. So I guess after the EEG scans today, let us enter into a mutually beneficial arrangement. And I can start playing AO a lot longer from tomorrow.”

Chris: “Glad to hear that. So will you be accompanying me for the scans? Or drop by later today?”

Jacob: “I will go with you, please wait a few minutes till I get ready.”

Jacob then dressed casually in a t-shirt and jeans and accompanied Chris to a small, unremarkable clinic. He was placed through what could be described as a standard EEG scan, which recorded his brainwaves when he was alert/drowsy/etc. He was also asked to meditate and his brainwaves were scanned in that state. He was also given a series of yes/no questions which he assumed was some sort of personality tests.

His scans had concluded by lunchtime. After that, Jacob wanted to return to his apartment for lunch, but Chris insisted him to have lunch at a nearby restaurant and to proceed with finalizing the contract, and even offered to pay. Jacob then directed him to a nearby gourmet Italian place, which he usually wouldn’t even dare to enter, unless he had a date.

He had a hearty (and expensive) meal of Tossed Salad with gulf shrimps and scallops, and a Salmon Chardonnay with mashed potatoes and vegetables. Jacob then reclined his seat, put on his seat belt and took a small power nap, as Chris drove him to a nearby office.

After arriving at the office refreshed, Chris presented him the contract, and Jacob went over it carefully. Jacob wasn’t very proficient with the fancy legal terms used, but with a little bit of online help he was able to comprehend it. It was mostly as Chris had explained, but it had a few additional clauses.

One of them was a non-disclosure clause, where he couldn’t disclose any of the terms of the contract. He also wasn’t allowed to delete his present avatar ‘Jack’ till the end of the contract. Also, if any other virtual reality game was released, he wouldn’t be allowed to play them during his contract, unless his employers allowed it. He also wasn’t allowed to leave California, for the entire duration of the contract, without the permission of his employer.

To Jacob, it was a very good deal, even if the amount spent was barely a pittance to VDI. The clause locking him to California didn’t really matter to him, as he never planned to leave anyway. After formalizing and concluding their business, Chris dropped him off at the apartment. He was informed that his new capsule would arrive shortly.

Jacob then realized that it was almost a week since Valeria had dumped him. While waiting for the new capsule to be delivered, he decided to call her one last time and try to patch up things with her. He called her up, and Valeria answered his phone-call.

Jacob: “Hey babe, so how is your life?”

Valeria: “It is alright. I mean I am not fired, and the tips are good…”

Jacob: “So I was thinking, how to make it better! We should get together for a date. You know talk and patch things up…”

Valeria: “Hmmph, only on one condition.”

Jacob: “What can I do for you babe.”

Valeria: “You stop playing that VR game you are so obsessed with.”

Jacob: ‘It had to be that? No way am I losing Asunder Online and the fat contract over her.’

Jacob: “Are you joking babe?”

Valeria: “Absolutely not! It is either me or your game.”

Jacob: “Then I guess we are done for real, babe. It was fun knowing you. If you ever change your mind, give me a call. Till then it is goodbye.” *cancels his call*

He then left a text to his three friends that he would resign first thing in the morning tomorrow. He just informed that he had found another job which allowed him to work from home, but the confidentiality clause didn’t allow him to disclose any more details. Soon, all four were available, and they chatted for a couple of hours in their IM group. While they pestered him for details of his new job, he was firm on that point and didn’t disclose any further details. Soon their queries died down.

Jacob: But the best part about this is if I actually get more free time, I get to play more Asunder Online!

Carlos: Yeah right. Most ‘work from home’ jobs make you their bitch. You probably won’t get any free time.

Dion: Don’t be so negative, Carlos. Jacob is seldom impulsive, he must have thought this through.

Adam: What Carlos said is true… unless your job involves playing Asunder Online. Eh, Jacob?

Jacob: I can neither confirm nor deny that.

Carlos: Lol. Don’t you give up Adam? He has been copy-pasting it to ALL our questions.

Dion: Yep. Are you training to be a politician in your new job?

Jacob: I can neither confirm nor deny that. Anyway bros, I have to go now. There is someone at the door. See you on Monday, when I turn in my resignation.

Dion: That was a troll move, Jacob.

Smirking, he closed the IM window, and answered his door. It was his new capsule from VDI. The technicians took a couple of hours to set it up. However, they informed him that he would only be able to use it from tomorrow afternoon. Jacob figured this had something to do with VDI calibrating his brain scans.

But still it did piss him enough that he didn’t tip the technicians. The technicians also took his previous capsule. Since he couldn’t play Asunder Online, he wanted to invest some time in his cooking, and decided to cook a classic beef pot roast.

He used a full chuck roast of around 2.5 pounds. Instead of preparing mash potatoes as a side dish, he opted to cook the potatoes with pot roast, as that would cause the potatoes to soak up the flavor of the beef stock. The whole process took a few hours, but Jacob felt that the end result was worth it. Tasting the fruits of his labor, Jacob enjoyed a scrumptious meal, before going to bed.

(A/N: About the preparation time… I am not kidding. It takes at least 3 hours to prepare something resembling a traditional pot roast and frankly is too much of a bother to prepare unless it you are celebrating something.)

The next day, he went for his regular parkour circuit. At work, he surprised his boss, most of his colleagues and the Human Resources department, when he indicated that he wanted to resign today. He was ready to transfer three months of his present salary, as dictated by his employment contract. The process of resigning was surprisingly efficient for such a bureaucratic organization, and he had completed all the formalities by the end of the workday and reached a full and final settlement with his ex-employer.

Jacob was excited as he drove home. From now on, he could concentrate most of his time on playing Asunder Online, and not have to worry about his day job! He would only need to leave his capsule for his meals, hygiene requirements and his morning parkour circuit. He took a quick shower, ate some reheated leftover pot roast for dinner and logged into Asunder Online via his new capsule.

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