“When do you get paid?” she asked.
“On the tenth. That’s when I’ll know for sure. At least they said that I would.”
She suddenly stopped eating and said warily, “What would you say if I bought an apartment?”
My recent fears returned, making my heart thump loudly. What I used to think of so much while she’d been away for the tournament was now becoming reality.
“If that’s what you want, then go for it,” I said as calmly as I possibly could. “It's your money, anyway.”
“Oh baby, you are so understanding.” She moved closer and kissed me, looking straight into my eyes. “Are you really okay with that? You’ve been saving so long to buy this one. And now this… the tournament without you…” She stopped, embarrassed.
“I’m fine with that, dear.” I kissed her back, remaining calm. “Real estate is always a good investment.”
“That’s exactly what my folks told me.” She happily returned to dinner. “Droning on and on: 'too much money to put it in bank, better invest into something'.”
Ah, those freeloaders, I thought once she mentioned her parents. I won’t be surprised if they move into that apartment. Their daughter’s living with me anyway.
I had quite a tense relationship with her family. They believed that their little girl was wasting her time with me and that she deserved a better man. I, on the other hand, believed that they were living at her expense, pumping more and more money out of her. One time, while Masha was away, I openly told them my opinion of them, making our mutual hatred official. My girlfriend remained happily oblivious. However, seeing my face whenever I came anywhere near her parents—and their faces whenever they were anywhere near me—she soon stopped taking me with her and visited them alone.
***
“Good morning, Lieutenant.” Strict and fit, my supervisor waited for me at the usual spot to take me to the basement. I greeted her back, wondering why she was being so cold toward me. I didn’t harass her in any way. I didn’t bother her with questions. Despite that, she only said a couple of words when addressing me. This had started a fortnight ago, and I could not fathom the reason.
“Wow.” Entering the familiar room, in place of the ball I saw a monster-like capsule made out of the same weird material but otherwise similar to my personal one, just five times bigger.
“That’s the yesterday’s upgrade. We’ve taken into account all the experience gained from testing to bring our capsules closer to the world’s gaming standards,” she informed. “Please look at how the game itself has changed. We’re interested in hearing your opinion.”
“Thank you, Captain,” I said with a bit of venom in my voice. She didn’t seem to notice, although the regular injection was a bit more painful than usual. I’ve pushed her buttons, I realized. Despite the pain, I was pleased.
The loading tunnel brought me not to the familiar hangar—that had significantly expanded and improved—but to a city. I was dropped into the middle of the city square, among bustling robots and humans. They weren't wearing the usual spacesuits.
“What the…” The sounds of advertisements, the flashes of neon lights, and the smells overwhelmed my senses. I was in downtown, surrounded by skyscrapers, flying ad banners, and traffic flows.
“Hey, friend! Bet you weren't expecting that. I was just as shocked when I got into the game.”
I turned to the man who had addressed me so merrily. Like everyone else, he wore no spacesuit. “Exactly”, I replied. “Cool update.”
We stood there for a while, discussing the changes. More and more people appeared.
By now I was used to this game being played not only by Russians, but by people from many other countries, too, although none of the players would talk about where they were from and how they got here. They would just point at their wristbands. All I managed to gather was that the game was not being tested only by the Russian military; the testing appeared to be international. Sometimes I could hear Hindi, sometimes even Mandarin Chinese.
Parting with my new acquaintance, I went to explore the city.
Once I stepped off the stones paving the square and onto the roadway, a flying car came up to me. The robot sitting inside rolled down the window. “City’s best taxi, sir. Just two credits per mile.”
“Thanks, but I’d rather walk,” I refused, heading for the skyscrapers that were shining like a Christmas tree.
The taxi followed me and soon I understood why. Not yet reaching the crosswalk leading to the skyscrapers on the other side, I bumped into an invisible wall. No matter how hard I tried to round it or squeeze through, I couldn’t.
I looked at the car following me and then glanced around to see that the other players couldn't leave the clearly defined—and rather small—area either.
“Sir,” the robot addressed me again, opening the door. “The management apologizes for the inconvenience, but for now you can only move about the city by taxi. The open world will be enabled later.”
I sighed heavily. That seems like them. They’ll show you a candy, but won't let you have it. I wanted to roam about the city on foot to see its streets, buildings, and shops, and to try the food served in the street cafes.
“Show me the available routes,” I told the robot and got into the car.
“Sending them to your visor,” it replied instantly. The interface panel appeared before my eyes as if I were still in my spacesuit.
“So few places to visit.” I shook my head, seeing only five shops and three quest giver zones marked green on the large city map. “Let’s go to the Fighter Hangar.” I fixed my eyes on my destination.
The taxi door closed at once. The car soared, taking me high up. Up there, joining the traffic flow, we cruised through the city. I watched the beautiful locations flash by, imagining how fine of a walk one would be able to take once they open the city to the players.
Ten minutes later, the taxi started to descend until it landed next to a small shop, with a huge hangar towering behind it. The cost of the ride, a hefty sum of 300,000 credits, was automatically charged to my account.
The payroll’s today, I remembered. At last I’ll find out the conversion rate. Every time I asked my supervisor about it, she evaded answering me, telling me that I would find out in due time. I still had no idea how much real-world money I’d be able to get for my credits—apart from those $3,000 that I’d receive as my half-month salary.
Chapter 7
Once I opened the shop door, the robot behind the counter addressed me: “Good afternoon, sir. What would you like? We have the best ships in the Galaxy for any occasion.”
Such stupid advertising made me wince, but I still greeted the robot back and asked it to show me the catalogue.
The opposite wall turned into a large screen displaying all available ship models in 3D; one could select any of those with a gesture and even examine them from all angles. The selected model moved from the wall right into your hands so that you could turn it around, enlarge, or look inside to get a complete and accurate impression of it.
I scrolled past the heavy troop carriers, then past the geared strike aircrafts, stopping at an in-between option that combined both high speed and considerable firepower. It was definitely less agile than the small attack aircrafts and less heavily armed than the bombers.
“Not the best choice, sir,” the robot said, seeing me tinker with the tiny model in my hands as I modified its weapons, gear, shields, and systems. You could change just about anything about it so long as you stayed within the mass, size, and firepower limits. I ended up assembling a ship very similar to the one that I had used to fly in Starry Sky. A single Gauss gun was taking up 70% of the interior, the rest—whatever remained after I had equipped my ship with the massive gun from the heaviest attacker ship in the shop—was occupied by the aiming, sighting, and defense systems.
“Let me note that the ship is too heavily loaded,” the robot criticized my assembly. “It won’t be able to maneuver as fast as othe
r ships of same class. In close combat, your ship is doomed. Mid-range righting will be problematic, too.”
“What about long range?” I asked, curious to find out what it really thought.
“This ship class is not designed for combat distances greater than six miles.”
“Great.” Rubbing my hands, I regretfully sent the virtual model back to the wall, saving all my settings. “Would you give me a discount then?”
“No, sir. I apologize, no discounts,” the robot replied in a tone close to an apologetic one.
Glancing at the million credit price tag—that was the amount they valued my modification of an existing ship at—I left the shop.
I got some enjoyment from visits to the aircraft shops, checking the prices of fighters and modifying them according to my needs and preferences. The robots did not mind me coming and asking. It was my favorite way to relax between missions.
Upon exiting, I was approached by a taxi. Getting in and selecting the nearest quest giver zone, I leaned back in the seat. The car started off, rising high. We made our way, winding among the skyscrapers. Most of the traffic so far is just NPCs, I assumed, looking out through the window. What’s next? This game development leap is incredible. They made all of this in just two weeks! What will they make of it over the next month? The next year?
Reaching my destination, I saw a large wall-mounted counter with quest panels. Beneath each panel was a teleportation circle. A new, optimized design for a large player flow. Why these teleportation rings, anyway? I wondered, coming to the nearest free panel. They could load us in straight from any quest giver location.
Skimming through the list of quests, I selected one. All that time I had been taking only those with x10 bonus, although fewer and fewer of those became available with each day as more testers joined the game. More and more quests for the Infantry class were either completed or deprived of the bonus. As far as I could see, the bonus was available only to the first few players taking the quest once it appeared on the list; it was disabled afterwards.
Hey, what? I was dumbfounded when the quest next to mine, with the x10 bonus but also requiring the Armored Vehicle skill, got flooded with players and became unavailable. What the fuck?! Someone’s already grabbing all of the Armored Vehicle quests and using the skill to level up faster?! In a party, no less?!
Astonished, I realized that some players were smart and committed enough to reach such level of co-operation. Apart from all of them training the same skill, they must have been playing 24/7! My 14-hour gaming sessions looked childish compared to that.
Level 1 quest accepted: UY123F Planet
Duration: 12h
First attempt bonus: x10
Reward: 15,000 credits
Fine for leaving the position early: -30,000 credits; -10 reputation with the Wargs
Load the location map?
“Yes,” I chose such a lengthy quest since it was the only one available with x10 bonus. I didn't mind playing a bit longer if that meant getting more money as my first salary.
***
“Maximov!” my supervisor called just as I was about to leave the building, making me come back.
“Yes, Captain?”
“An addendum to your contract has been issued. I forgot to warn you in the morning. It’s about extracting credits from the game account.” She handed me a digital copy. “You may enable automatic withdrawal of the whole amount once a month. Alternatively, you may request a game currency withdrawal at any time, but no earlier than the 60th day after your past request.”
Weird conditions, I thought. I examined the addendum and signed it, putting my thumb onto the digital paper. Choosing between the two withdrawal options, I ticked the second one.
“Can I get both the credits and the salary today?” I asked. “Just to see how much real-world currency it is.”
The girl looked at me strictly, but her lips curved in a light smile. That was the first time I've seen her smile. “The 300,000 on your account?”
I nodded. “A bit more. But you’re very close.”
“Well. I’ll file it today as your yesterday’s request. But you’ll only be able to file next one in two months.”
“Thank you, Captain.” I almost saluted, but managed to stop myself. “Since this is a rather happy occasion—may I know your first name?”
The girl shook her head but mouthed softly before turning around and leaving: “Mariya.”
Mariya. Wow. Just like my Masha[3]. I was delighted by this coincidence.
“Bye, Mariya!” I shouted, getting evil glares from the sentinels and also my supervisor who looked back to shake a fist at me.
Whistling merrily, I dropped by the grocery shop and spent some of my freshly received salary on a bottle of expensive wine. Seeing three thousand USD dollars on a separate account titled WORK felt wonderful and it made me buy the best groceries with which I would make a celebratory dinner for Masha. Home would cook the main courses, but at least I could get a couple of cakes, drinks, and delicious snacks.
***
“Good evening, Viktor. Mariya’s at home, playing. She asked that you inform her once you arrive,” the house AI greeted me.
As I carried the groceries to the kitchen, a human-like robot came from a niche in the wall that had not been there before and approached me with the words: “May I help you?”
“Um... Home?” Handing the groceries to the robot, dumbfounded I watched it carry them the kitchen where it sorted them—cold things in the fridge, hot things in the oven.
“Yes, Viktor?”
“How come we have a robot of this model?”
“Mariya bought it this morning, as part of a pack including another household robot and an immediate AI upgrade. The transportation company delivered and installed the whole pack within eight hours. Total purchase amount was $10,000. Do you wish to see the bill?”
“No, thanks.” I was a bit startled by Masha doing this without letting me know.
She bustled out of the bedroom and threw herself at me. Darting a glance at the robot unpacking the groceries, she made a sour face. “You’ve already seen it... I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“Um... Why didn’t you ask me? Last time we discussed that, we’ve agreed that such a purchase was currently too expensive for us.”
“Oh, baby, please,” she waved her hand. “I’ve spent the whole week attending open houses, and I liked none. So I decided to get us this nice upgrade.”
“Thank you. It’s great, really. But you could have let me know.” I still felt a bit neglected.
“Please, dear,” she purred. “Why are you upset? I just wanted to make you happy.”
“Well...” I couldn't stay mad at her for long. “Let’s celebrate then. I bought your favs.”
With a joyful scream, she showered me with kisses. “You got paid? Cool!”
She ran to the kitchen to snatch some custard tarts from the oven, ignoring the robot’s indignation.
I heard the tinkling sound of a fund arrival notification. Checking it, I froze. I received over $60,000!
“What?!” My entire day seemed to revolve around this word.
“Why are you yelling?” Masha ran over, tart in hand, and looked at my smart device while I stood there, dumbfounded.
“Wow!” she said in amazement. “That's a lot... Show me all of your accounts, please. Someone seems to be hiding income from the family.”
“Those are the credits,” I muttered, still struggling to recover from shock.
“What credit? Did you take bank credit? Why?” She apparently misunderstood me.
“I asked my supervisor to put the game currency onto my account,” I explained. “I had three hundred thousand credits in the game. They are worth sixty thousand dollars.”
“Shut up!” She almost dropped the tart. “I’m breaking my back fourteen hours a day for virtually no money at all. You made that much in two weeks?!”
“I did.” I could barely believe it myself. “I m
ust say I’ve been taking x10 quests only. But even so…that’s a bit too much.”
She embraced me, staining my clothes with cream that was on her hands. “Do you need any more testers? Please tell me you do! I’m ready to sign. We’ll play together and make a fortune!”
“I’ll ask my supervisor tomorrow,” I promised. Masha seemed to be really delighted by this get-rich-quick option. She was even ready to leave the team. Making sixty thousand dollars in two weeks was no joke.
Chapter 8
“Good morning Lieutenant.” Mariya was wearing her usual low-heeled shoes, thick pantyhose, and a white smock, revealing her slender legs beneath the uniform skirt while she walked.
“Good morning Ma-…Captain,” I quickly corrected myself, noticing her stare, and rushed to the capsule. Mondays were hard, sure, but I spent the weekend resting and relaxing, and doing some shopping with Masha, which turned into a bit of a spending spree.
“Did you like the Friday payment?” She bent down to take a blood sample.
“It totally blew me away,” I admitted. “Are you hiring any more testers? Many friends of mine are interested in this job.”
“No. We won’t be hiring for a while. The game’s being debugged. In six months or so it’ll be ready to be published. Your friends can probably wait that much to play it.”
She’s so talkative today. I wonder why. I looked at her, but she walked away to the table without paying me any notice. Just like she always did.
The familiar loading screen—and I was back at the starting square. Lots of folks around, just like on any other day, coming out of the blue light in a flash, grabbing a taxi and flying away, others instantly arriving after them or returning from quests. This merry-go-round never stops here because of the multiple time zones in the real world. For some, it’s already evening and they are in a hurry to get home after a whole day of gaming, and others, like me, are just arriving to work.
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