by Terry Schott
Chapter 15
It took ten years for the Game to thoroughly embed itself into Tygon society. Television shows, movies, books, sports of all types, all slowly declined in popularity. Instead of reading, people tuned in to the Game. The movie business of make believe and special effects could no longer appeal to an audience that was seeing real avatars living, loving, and dying inside the Game more realistically than actors could portray. The Game provided that special something for everyone, and as it celebrated its 10-year anniversary, people were so immersed in the Game that it was a worldwide obsession. Thankfully these industries didn’t die out; jobs simply shifted to focus on the Game industry. Sports experts were still required for fans, they just studied and followed Game players instead of real sports stars. The media business grew even bigger; thousands of new channels devoted to Earth players, continents, and history were created to feed the frenzy of Game followers.
The world prospered and thrived due to Brandon Strayne’s creation. Through the Game, he indirectly controlled all business and finance… a danger no one seemed concerned about…
Excerpt from the video ‘Brandon Strayne; Rise to Power’
Brandon Strayne walked into Zack’s central command office. VirtDyne was the biggest building in the city, boasting 200 floors above ground and another 25 floors underground. The command offices were located on the top floors of the building, with each player sponsored by VirtDyne having their own dedicated area. Of Brandon’s players, Zack was the highest ranked, and his command centre was the first penthouse floor. The outside walls were tinted glass from floor to ceiling, providing a majestic 360-degree view of clouds and the sprawling city. Interior walls separated the floor into five key areas; four large corner offices and a centre squared main office. The centre of the command office was a glass walled area filled with large screens, each displaying different feeds from both around the world and inside the Game. Occupying this space was Zack’s team, an elite group comprised of over 30 specialists in media, marketing, strategy, computer programming, and every other aspect involving business and the Game. Brandon had made certain that each team member was the best in their field. It was evident by the scale and calibre of this operation that the Game was much more than just an educational tool for kids. The new virtual school that Brandon had created wasn’t only for learning. Big business and the world economy now revolved around the Game — a business and economy controlled entirely by VirtDyne, and its majority owner.
Brandon walked directly to the centre office and sat down in the chair at the head of the large, long table. All the chairs were occupied and the team looked prepared to meet. Brandon knew they had advance warning when he was coming, which he preferred. His time was too valuable to waste and this was not a team of hacks fooling around when he wasn’t here. This was the big leagues of the Game.
“Give me the details, kids. Same priority as always, biggest problems first.”
Zack’s Right Hand, Michelle, stood up from her place and walked towards the large monitor opposite from Brandon. The Right Hand of a player was the leader of the group, in charge and responsible for all aspects of the player from this side of the Game. The Right Hand answered to the Patron, everyone else answered to the Right Hand.
At twenty-five, Michelle was a retired top ranked player. She was beautiful, smart, and very experienced at coordinating winning teams. Each time their player went into the Game, the team would elect one member to be the Right Hand for the duration of that play. If a Right Hand did their job well, they would be elected to do the job during the next play. Michelle had been Zack’s Right Hand for the last five plays, a very impressive record even among the elite player groups.
“Someone’s trying to kill Trew,” Michelle said.
Brandon nodded, apparently not too concerned to hear this. “Any idea who?”
“Some ideas, but nothing definite yet.”
“You have it under control? Our boy is as safe as we can make him?”
“Absolutely, sir.”
“Who’s making sure he’s safe?”
Michelle looked downwards towards her left. “I’m not able to say, sir.”
“You just did, Michelle. So she’s watching him and it’s all good?”
Brandon scanned the entire table, searching for someone to silently indicate the situation wasn’t in control. Everyone looked calm and confident. He nodded positively. “Next?” Brandon asked.
“It’s been five days played, and Trew is very young. The scenarios and credits spent on power ups have all worked properly so far. We know that he won a one million dollar prize for being born at December twenty-first. That was expensive for us to buy and, as it turns out, a total waste of credits. Who would have guessed the Mainframe would stop all other births at that time once the first player purchased it?”
“The money sits in an account for him until he’s what age?” Brandon asked.
“Twenty-five,” Michelle said. “His parents are comfortable when it comes to money, so he won’t need it until then.”
“What’s his overall health and disposition?” Brandon asked.
“He’s a happy, healthy boy. They are teaching him religion and eastern spiritualism. Teachers and neighbours all like young Trew; his charisma is high. He’s a natural leader.”
“How old is he and has he begun to self-narrate?”
“He’s seven. The self-narrating is beginning, but still nothing an audience will want to turn in to listen to quite yet,” Michelle said. “He purchased the correct attributes, though. Soon the little voice that talks to itself, detailing life’s observations, feelings and thoughts will start to mature and the crowds of fans will begin to tune in to listen.”
Brandon nodded. Self-narration was part of the programming built into all avatars. Earthlings rarely gave much thought to why they constantly talked to themselves, but it served a crucial purpose for the Game audience. Anyone watching or Firsting the players received a clear, concise dialogue of what was going on in the player’s head. Game viewing had exploded in popularity when the self-narration add-on had been implemented.
“So, not much to report then?” Brandon asked.
Michelle shook her head. “The first few years are always pretty boring. The excitement will start for us and the fans when he is nine. He bought maturity, so he should start self-narrating early for the fans. He will turn nine tomorrow at 2 PM our time.”
Brandon nodded and stood up. “Then I will see you all tomorrow at 2 PM.”
He was at the door when he stopped and turned around to ask one final question. “What about Alexandra Montoyas? Where has she turned up in the Game?”
Michelle held out her hand and one of the women at the table hurried forward with a tablet. Scanning it quickly, she looked back towards Brandon. “Her avatar's name is Danielle Benton. She’s in the United States, sir, a couple states away from the Canadian border. She is six years old, and as far as we can observe, living a very normal life.”
“Any ideas what attributes and credit purchases she made before going in?” Brandon asked.
“Of course.” Michelle paused as she tapped a few commands onto the tablet. “Seems like she didn’t have many credits, and she wasted almost all of them.”
“Let me see,” Brandon said. Michelle handed him the tablet and he looked it over. After a complete scrutiny of Alex’s stats, he handed the tablet back.
“Looks harmless enough. From experience, I know the Mainframe will never allow her purchases to manifest in the Game, but it accepts the credits from those foolish enough to spend them that way. So, then, nothing interesting on Alex yet?” He looked at Kate, the young woman who was in charge of following Alex.
“Well, sir, I received only one strange report about her. I can’t confirm it, but my source is usually very reliable.”
“What is it?” Brandon asked absently, He was bored and ready to leave.
“Raphael has apparently been seen near her, sir, and it appears that he is
guarding her from a safe distance.”
Brandon’s eyes snapped to lock on to Kate’s. His intense gaze forced her to take an involuntary step backwards. He started to say something, but closed his mouth with an audible snap.
Brandon’s eyes flicked to Michelle’s. “Confirm that by tomorrow when we convene at 2 PM, Michelle. If Raphael’s sniffing around, that is a big development.”
When Brandon left the room, the team exploded into activity.