Real World

North American Alliance- Greater New York City Area

I groaned as I sat up and stretched my muscles. "Finally, I was beginning to wonder if we were going to have to put in a call to have you kicked out.' I froze at the words and looked over to see a man sitting on my only chair. 'Relax, I was told you received a message from Marc. I am from Blackrock, you are more than welcome to contact Mr. Dupree to confirm my identity. I am Alex Masters, I was assigned to watch over you and make certain you go to a meeting with the corporate representatives. Why don't you call them after you finish stretching and everything? Ok?" Alex asked me and I glanced at my door but it was intact.

"Mr. Daniels, I have been getting into hard to reach places half my life, your security was laughable compared to some of the places I have gotten into. Go, do what you need to, and confirm my identity so we can get this show on the road." Alex told me and I gave him a small nod as I pulled up the contact info for Marc and put in a call immediately.

"Hello there, this is Marc Dupree." a deep voice responded after a couple of rings.

"This is Kevin Daniels, I was wondering did you send anyone over from Blackrock?" I asked him and I heard some laughter from the other end.

"Let me guess, blonde hair, blue eyes, kinda creepy, and was there waiting for you when you logged out. Called himself Alex Masters?" Marc responded and I snorted in amusement.

"Yep, got it in one," I replied causing Alex to smile.

"Alex, stop being creepy, it's bad enough you do it at work. We want to be friendly with Mr. Daniels not alienate him, asshole!" despite the words, laughter and amusement laced Marc's voice.

"It's not my fault you are not observant, at least Kevin here had an excuse.' Alex responded with a smile. 'Now if you will excuse us, Kevin has to get ready. We will be in an hour?" Alex asked looking at me.

"About an hour, where are we going?" I asked them both.

Marc responded immediately, "Here to Blackrock Corporate HQ in downtown New York. We have several things to discuss, no legal action, but we have to advise you on what is going to happen within and without Fate Online because of what you triggered. See you soon Kevin. Alex keep me appraised if your timeline changes please." with a click the line disconnected.

I headed for the bathroom. "Is this a formal meeting? Do I need a suit and tie?" I called over my shoulder causing Alex to laugh.

"If you want to, but this is more like a cause and effect' meeting with a sales pitch mixed in as well. Beyond that, I would say dress how you want, it's your life and your show." the man responded and I grunted.

"So how often do you break into people's homes?" I asked him as I sent a message to Jared to let him know what was going on. If anything like this was off, he would find out. If the worst was to happen, he would find my body and kill everyone involved, just like if anything happened to him I would do the same for him.

"You would be surprised, or not depending on your viewpoint. Blackrock has a ton of problems, people from various Clans trying to get a leg-up on the competition to corporate espionage. It keeps me well employed, but while you were difficult to find, you didn't spoof your ID when logging into Fate, otherwise, it would have taken a lot longer to find you." Alex responded as I jumped into the shower.

I heard music start playing and smiled, it was a signal from Jared he had set up and was aware. I took a deep calming breath and hurried up. Semi-casual no t-shirt and jeans was what I would wear.

Thirty minutes later, we were flying through the air. The AG car was flanked by several drones and a couple of vehicles with security people paced us from the front and behind. "I understand Blackrock making a statement, but this is overkill and draws the attention they want to avoid," I told Alex causing him to snort.

"Well when the boss says jump, everyone jumps. I had no real control over it." the man responded and I snorted in amusement and tried my best to not yawn. I was tired after a very long day, and despite any sleep, I got while in the game, it wasn't the same as real sleep. I enjoyed the view of the skyscrapers flying by, it was a nice view and one I had not enjoyed in a while.

"So besides Marc, who will be at this meeting?" I asked Alex as I watched the skyline pass.

Alex took a few moments to respond, "Marc, of course, someone from legal and at least one Developer. Other than that...maybe a Director to represent the board depending on if whatever you found was significant enough. No, I do not want to know." Alex told me and I chuckled in response. Before I could respond, the aircar started to descend slowly.

I gaped at the buildings surrounding us, but the Spire was the most prominent of the three and where Blackrock Corporate HQ was located. The large building that surrounded the square, had three large towers jutting from it even though it was called the Spire. Built from the ground up by the CEO and owner of Blackrock Corp, Anthony Mitchel. The man was smart, to say the least, had designed and built Adam and Eve, the predominate A.I.s that ran Fate Online.

"Here.' Alex offered me a hat, I knew it was a 'shade' a device that would obscure my face from any digital recording devices. 'Eyes will be on you from the moment you leave the car, we can at least obscure the digital ones." the man offered and I took it. I was certain it wouldn't protect me from the digital eyes owned by Blackrock.

I placed the cap on my head as the aircar settled and moved to the door but Alex stopped me. The security units and drones spread out, seriously it was overkill. Alex opened the door and pulled me out with him as we were quickly hustled across the square. The few people that looked our way, were given hard stares from the guards. I felt like both a prisoner walking to the gallows and a rich bastard flaunting my wealth at the same time. I kept my head down and did my best to ignore the stares of the curious, as soon as we were in the building and the doors were closed behind us I relaxed and starting looking around.

Most of the security personal moved off, but enough stayed around to keep the gawkers and questions away. I nodded my thanks to them, as I studied the various busts, sculptures, and artwork around the entrance. "Ahhh, Kevin welcome!" I looked over to see a man about five and a half feet tall striding over to me. Based on the voice it was Marc.

"Marc?' I asked and he nodded as I offered my hand to shake and he did. 'So what can I expect, gallows or medals? Or the combination of both?" I asked the man earning a snort of laughter from the nearby security guards. Yes, they were former military!

Marc raised a questioning eyebrow and looked at the security guards, then Alex who smirked. "Don't ask. I am off, Kevin keep a sharp eye out and stay out of trouble." Alex told me and I tossed him the shade as he left.

"Well, let's get started. Can you hand your Communication Unit over to security, we will upload your credentials and will give you guess access to the building." Marc advised me and I pulled the small metal and plastic band from my wrist and handed it over.

The man working the desk immediately plugged it in, "I will also scan it for any bugs, rogue V.I.s, spyware, and make sure it's clean. Once done, I will upload some software that will secure your unit against intrusion and allow you access to any areas you are allowed within the building while you are here with us sir." the man advised me as he typed away at his keyboard.

"I assume you guys will monitor my activities correct?" I asked and the man smiled but didn't say anything...right.

Ten minutes later we were in a conference room, besides Marc their was a lawyer, one of the Developers named Arron, and an Executive representing the leadership of Blackrock. "So, Kevin by doing what you did you started a sequence of events in Fate Online. Some we cannot talk about, some we have to. First and foremost, unless you Sire any Vampires directly, no other Immortal can become a Vampire from the Eternal Night Vampires for the next real-world month. After that, the Vampire Race will be unlocked and the city of Eternal Night will become known to Fate Online." the Developer Aaron warned me.

"Ok, but we will get steamrolled by the response from the Lightsiders. There is no city, it's a fucked up ruin right now. It will take months just to repair Eternal Night itself, how do you expect me to make it a viable power without any support?" I asked them trying to figure out what they wanted me to do.

"As you know, Fate Online is a closed system, we can introduce new content, but it has to be approved by the governing A.I. The Vampire Race was embedded in Ithea three months after the launch of the game. Tons of clues were left about the hidden Race, there are ways to buildup your Races power base, but it will take time. With the time compression, you will have four-game months to get it together." the Executive responded and I stared at him until he looked away.

"Kevin, no one is saying it will be easy, but this is possible. All the tools to success are there, you just have to find them." Aaron added and I frowned.

"How? What tools?" I asked and Aaron shook his head.

"Can't tell you, but you are on the right track, just keep following the crumbs.' the lawyer cleared her throat and glared at him causing Aaron to blush. 'That is all I was going to say." he defended himself causing the others to chuckle.

Before I could press them the lawyer butted in. "Game-wise let's put that to the side for now. With everything going on you will be at the forefront of the Vampire Race. Blackrock wants to offer you employment, housing, and other benefits. At present, Blackrock will be willing to pay you five thousand Credits bi-weekly, we will provide housing here in the Spire including food and cleaning services, the apartment is fully furnished with an ensuite V.I., you will also have access to the gym, pool, and spa while here.' the woman stated as she listed everything Blackrock wanted to give me. 'We would also recommend you stream your play, give incoming players something to see a week before launch. Any revenues from your streaming would be yours of course. We would also like for you to do a set of interviews at launch." I held up my hands cutting her off.

"Hold up, why do you want to pay me anything? Providing housing, I can see to increase security with the launch of a new Race, but why would you want to pay me anything.' I asked her and she frowned but then pulled a set of papers from her briefcase and slid them in front of me. I started reading and noticed it was a standard non-disclosure agreement. 'Seriously?" I asked her and she just kept waiting so I signed it.

"Thank you, now I am sure you have heard rumors that Blackrock has been developing long-term immersion?' she asked me and I nodded. 'Well it is real and we are still testing the tech, but we want to launch it and the Race at the same time. Blackrock wants you to help test the tech and in return, you will be paid for your assistance." she explained why they would be paying me.

"Let me guess, the tech is here in the building?' I prompted them and they nodded. 'How long would each immersion be?" I asked trying to pin down what exactly they wanted me to do.

Aaron responded promptly, "As you know players can stay in Fate Online for a max of eighteen hours. We have people doing various increments of time. We want you in the group that will be under for one-week strait, so twenty-one days in Ithea. Once you logout, you will have a mandatory downtime of eight hours before going back in." the developer explained as I voiced another worry.

"Is there any chance you can buy me more time before releasing the Race? A week or even two would buy me another two in-game months." I asked them and everyone stared at me as if I had grown another head.

"To do that would require approval from Anthony Mitchel, possibly the Board itself.' the executive explained as he adjusted his tie. 'Even if they agreed, we would then have to get Adam and Eve to approve your request. Remember it is a closed system, if they don't want to do it, we cannot make them." the man responded.

"Yet it is a very reasonable request.' I turned to see the 'man' walking in. Anthony despite his growing age, had a sense of life about him. 'Adam, Eve, what do you two think?" the CEO called out and the nearby HALO display lit up with two figures staring at me.

"Hmmm, the mortal has made several good points about his odds and the two additional months in our world would greatly increase the chances of the birth of the Vampire Race to go smoother. I agree. Sister how do you feel?" the man I presume was Adam looked at his female counterpart as she continued to study me before smiling and nodding.

"His request is humble and not too much. It will drastically increase his chances at both his success and their ability to survive with the additional time. I agree. Know this, once done it cannot be undone. Do you wish to continue?' she asked the room but was looking at me and I gave her a small nod and both siblings glowed slightly before relaxing. 'Very well, it is done. The launch to the public of the Vampire Race will be in six weeks, not four. Good luck Jacob Longstrider." with a wink, they disappeared.