Lost in Space

by Dmitry Raspopov

“Cool.” I paid no heed to the regular medical procedure. My eyes were glued to the capsule. Once again, the military truly amazed me.

  “Mariya? When does the testing end?” I asked warily, remembering my fears. “I’m suddenly a bit concerned about losing my job.”

  The girl shot a sidelong glance at me, withdrawing into herself. A foreboding chill ran down my spine. “Mariya?”

  “I’m not authorized to discuss that, Lieutenant.” She entered her Ice Queen mode once more.

  “All right.” That confirmed my worst fears. However, I realized that the prospect of losing this job scared me less and less. If the game gets published, I could create a personal account. And play. Knowing how to make money in the game, I could easily survive the first couple of jobless weeks. Or even months.

  “I’m done with the examination. You may get into the capsule.” She turned her back to me, pointing at the ball that had become my second home over the past few months.

  The inside was much more comfortable now. Perhaps even more comfortable than my home capsule, I thought, lying down onto the jelly-like bed that hardened so as to become perfectly ergonomic for my body, making me as comfortable as one could get.

  Loading.

  The starting square was as busy as usual. My eyes were instantly drawn to the people walking on foot, most of them not followed by any taxis.

  I rushed to the street trader’s wheeled tray I had spotted a long time ago, but could not reach because of the invisible barrier. Fearing that I would bump into it again, I slowed down a bit. Approaching the crossroad, I put my hands up to at least avoid running nose first into it.

  One step. Another one. And another one. Nothing happened. I reached the other side of the street and the wheeled tray. The trader behind it looked like a typical Chinese man. “What would you like, sir?” he inquired as I gaped around, touching things, startled and not believing what my eyes were seeing.

  Did I hear that right? Did I understand him even though he was speaking Chinese?

  Looking at the tray, I felt like I had been transported to Vietnam, which I had visited ten years ago. Spread on the ice was a wide variety of fish, crabs, shrimps, seafood on small skewers, and even a giant marlin with its tall upper fin fully spread.

  “Four shrimps,” I pointed at the striped giants closest to me.

  “Nine credits,” he said. I nodded.

  Enchanted, I watched him select the shrimps I had pointed at and grill them over the open fire. To a city guy like me, who had seen it only once in a foreign country, this looked like a sacred rite. Leaving with two grilled and skewered shrimps in my hands, I saw a line of people queuing in front of the seafood trader’s tray.

  The shrimps tasted just like those I had tried in Asia. Eating, I walked down the street, peeping into every shop and café I saw on the way. They seemed to be selling everything: garments, accessories, and even weapons! I encountered two infantry shops that differed in product range and price. This world is close to the real one as a gaming world can get.

  I was in raptures and overflowing with emotion. Despite being full, I visited a café to get a coffee and some snacks. There was no one there but me. Apparently, not everyone had discovered that the city had become fully available. Only a few players were roaming about like I was, looking for the edge of the map. I discovered the edge after leaving the café and taking a taxi to the city outskirts. Not yet popular— or populated—with players, it looked like a ghost town, but still every shop, every café, and every restaurant was open. A real miracle.

  That was when I got another idea. Catching a taxi back to the square, I entered the building with the giant sign reading: ON SALE.

  Chapter 10

  At the reception I was greeted by a pretty girl who smiled at me and asked, “Interested in buying real estate, sir? We have a special discount today.”

  “I could buy an apartment here?” I asked warily.

  “Sure. And even more: all our residents are provided with personal warehouse spaces that they can use to store their trophies in.”

  I rolled my eyes with pleasure. “How much?”

  “Are you interested in a standard apartment, De Luxe, or the President Penthouse?”

  “Please, list all of the prices.”

  “The standard apartment is 100,000 credits. De Luxe is 500,000. Penthouse is one million Galaxy credits. Please note that the 50% opening day discount applies.”

  I whistled at that. 200,000 dollars for a virtual residence?

  “May I see all three options?” I asked. Paying even a hundred thousand credits felt a bit too much. Planning to buy a fighter, I had saved almost a million. 960 thousand, to be exact.

  “Sure.” She gestured at the elevator. From behind the counter came a robot that looked very similar to R2-D2. “Our robot will show it to you.”

  I was impressed. My own apartment in this world. My personal warehouse for trophies. Isn’t that cool?

  “Please come, dear Guest.” The robot paused before the last word. I remembered that I still didn’t have a proper nickname in the game; I didn’t really need it. During quests, everyone addressed me by the spacesuit number. I was fine with that.

  We went to the fifth floor. The robot rolled out first, leading the way. I followed. We didn’t have to walk much from the elevator as the robot soon turned right and opened the very first door, putting its palm onto the digital lock, then rolled back to let me in.

  Not bad, I thought, coming in and taking a look around.

  A small one-bedroom apartment with a single bed, two closets, and another door painted a strange color. Opening it, I saw a huge hangar, probably a hundred times bigger than the bedroom and absolutely empty. I stepped in to make sure that it was real. I could actually put stuff in it.

  “Now, De Luxe.” Taking a good look, I came out and gestured the robot to follow me back to the elevator.

  We soared twenty floors up. I liked the De Luxe one even better as it had two bedrooms and all of the necessary furniture. As my robot guide assured, each piece could be modified or replaced according to the owner’s taste, as long as he or she could pay for it.

  Entering the Penthouse—one of the four that the building had—I froze on the spot. Never before had I seen such a vast living space. The warehouse hangar was so immense that I failed to imagine what one could put in there to fill even a half of it. The hangar door was in the large attic with windows overlooking the square. This impressed me particularly as all of the other apartments only had large screens in place of windows to display, at the master’s request, what was going on outside. But the penthouse had real windows. Non-opening, as the guide explained, but allowing one to enjoy the natural view.

  Once the tour was over and I was back downstairs, I was too overwhelmed with impressions to hassle, so I just bought a standard apartment for 100,000, despite my heart craving for the Penthouse. I barely stopped myself from buying it. Repeating: I need my ship, I still need my ship, to hush the regrets, I paid the credits and, ascending to my floor, spent some time lying on the bed. I examined the hangar once again, struggling to realize how I was supposed to get my trophies there from the battlefield. What if I get my hands on a heavy machine? How am I to lift and drive it in? The warehouse dimensions obviously hinted that it could store large items too, not only small ones.

  “Well, time to make some money,” I urged myself on, recalling my true reason for being there. I had already spent 100,000 credits from my ship fund. Who was to replenish it if not me?

  Descending, I came out to the square and took a taxi to the quest giver zone; their locations remained unchanged. Examining the map, I saw that the machine shops had been moved closer to the center. Apparently they were now using built-in warehouses similar to mine to display their goods. Previously, the machines were displayed in hangars outside the shops. They seemed to have been removed after the latest update.

  Level 2 quest accepted: UT32XZ Planet

  Duration: 8h

  Rewa
rd: 2,000 credits

  Fine for leaving the position early: -3,500 credits; -10 reputation with the the Wargs

  Load the location map?

  Heaving a sigh at not seeing the x10 bonus, I accepted the quest.

  ***

  Quest complete! You got 2,000 credits, the system informed when the quest time ran out. The next pop-up message was new to me:

  Add the trophies to your warehouse?

  Yes/No

  I tapped Yes. I was going to test this game feature anyway. Coming back to the square, I hurried to my apartment. Opening the hangar door, I saw two alien tubes on a shelf. Each tube had an inventory tag number attached to it.

  “What good service,” I admired. But when I spotted a screen displaying the hangar’s occupancy rate and the number of stored items, I could only come up with two words to express my emotions: “Fuckin’ great!”

  ***

  “Oh dear! Look at the news!” Masha came into the bathroom, waving her hands to get my attention. I had to turn the music off and reduce the water pressure to hear her.

  “What is it?” covered in foam, I asked with great displeasure.

  “Look!” she shouted again and ran out, letting a breath of cold air in.

  “Nasty girl,” I shook my head. “Home. Turn on the Gaming News channel.”

  “Yes, Viktor. On what wall?” the AI inquired.

  “Right.” Turning up the sound, I took a look at what Masha wanted me to see.

  The anchor’s voice was full of awe as he spoke. Although I missed the beginning of his speech, what I heard was confusing enough. “On scale, this game is on its way to beat all of the world’s other projects combined! Galaxy launches in all developed nations at once, on September 15th! Just imagine: players from over fifty nations entering the game at once to take part in battles on a truly cosmic scale. And there is more to it. Galaxy offers a unique money-making opportunity! Every mission you complete is paid in game currency that you can later withdraw to your real-world account with a conversion rate applied! The reward amounts are more generous than in any other MMORPG ever. Three, five, even ten times more! Just imagine: a single four-hour quest can net you two hundred dollars minimum! Who has ever heard of a game like that? I’m seriously considering quitting my job to make money there!”

  The anchor laughed to show that it was just a joke. This information was nothing new to me. I knew that the in-game earnings were truly impressive, if that was a proper word to describe me making $60,000 in two weeks.

  “Please note: Galaxy is providing its own capsules. Unfortunately, they cannot be synchronized with any other model currently available on the market, but they support every other active game on the planet! That’s why, according to the distributor, the Galaxy capsules will be provided to players by trading in their current capsule on the condition that they will use the item to play at least five hundred hours. The delivery and installation are free. If you’re a first-time game capsule buyer or, if you’d rather keep your current item, you can enter a unique giveaway and win a Galaxy capsule, provided that you play at least a thousand hours. Not only will you be free to enjoy Galaxy and any other games over that time, paying no fees at all—you’ll also be making money! I’ll say that again: the Galaxy capsule is unique and has so many security levels that it had to be designed from scratch, but now it’s a state-of-the-art product, eliminating the need for you to ever get any other capsule. It can do virtually everything!”

  Listening to the anchor, I was blown away by the game production scope, and even more by its distribution terms. The mere words freebie capsule, all-game compatibility, free delivery and installation were enough for sales to sky rocket, eclipsing every other project on the market for a while.

  Don’t forget that the game simultaneously start in all other countries, I reminded myself. A week sharp until you lose your job. Use this time to make as much money as you can.

  Soon enough, the anchor started repeating himself. Switching to other channels, I saw the same game ads everywhere. Glancing at the user comments under one broadcast, I unsurprisingly saw lots of exclamation marks and questions about where one could pre-order the capsule.

  Shaking my head, I switched the video off and continued my shower.

  ***

  “Did you see that? Did you?” Masha almost jumped off her chair, waving a fork at the wall. “At last, I’ll have a new capsule!”

  “Wouldn’t you mind playing five hundred hours?” Closing my bathrobe, I plumped down onto the sofa.

  “Five hundred? That’s nothing.” She continued devouring her dinner, all triumph and anticipation. “Even less so for a brand-new capsule that supports every single game.”

  “My biggest concern right now is that I will be losing my job in a week.” I stroked her the back, making her purr joyfully. “I’ll ask my supervisor about it tomorrow.”

  “Do you get any perks as testers?” Masha asked curiously, turning her back to me.

  “I’ll know that, too. Finish your meal. We have to be at my folks’ place in two hours.”

  “Remind me to bring the gift.” She glanced at the vintage torsion pendulum clock on the table. Dad was fond of those.

  “Don’t worry. It’s so big and heavy that I wouldn’t forget it even if I wanted to,” I comforted her.

  “Well. I’ll go get ready then. Don’t disturb me.” Telling Home to clear her side of the table, she ran to the bathroom.

  Chapter 11

  In the morning I went to work, thinking about the yesterday’s visit; mom and dad were both doting upon Masha and hinting that it was time for us to marry and start a family. We pretended to ignore their insistent messages.

  Driving back home, we were silent, each lost in their own thoughts. In bed Masha showed me more passion than never before, surprising me greatly. Maybe I should take her to my parents more often?

  ***

  “Good morning,” I greeted the sentinel at the entrance. He nodded back.

  Coming in, I was surprised not to see the supervisor and the two-three other testers as usual. Instead, the whole hall was crammed with people.

  “Hey, what’s going on here?” Among all the strange faces, I spotted those with whom I had been grouped with on the first day. Seeing the nerd, I squeezed my way through the dense crowd. “Hi,” I said. “Do you know what’s going on?”

  “Hi. Not really. Yesterday, my supervisor told to come a bit earlier today. That’s all I know.” He shrugged. “Although, it all seems pretty clear. Judging by what they said on the news, we’ll soon be kicked out.”

  “Do you think so? There’s still a week before the release.”

  “What need do they have for us now? Everything has been tested. The results have been recorded. The game capsule has been improved to perfection. The release is in a week. I’ll not be surprised if our worry free and easy life ends today.”

  What happened next proved him true. A colonel came out and invited everyone into the auditorium. Walking in a single line one after another, we crammed ourselves into the large hall. On the stage was a mike and a table with three chairs.

  When everyone took their seats, the colonel and two unfamiliar military men sat at table and started to voice just what the nerd had suspected. “…so today is your last working day. By its end, you should hand in your security cards and IDs and visit the HR department to get your personnel records closed. We thank you for your contribution.”

  The audience burst with indignant shouts.

  “Those who don’t behave will be removed from this room and miss the next part,” he announced loudly and silence was restored as the loud ones were quickly hushed by their neighbors.

  “As testers, you will be able to continue playing Galaxy on unique preferential terms if you want to. Specifically, you get a free capsule. Your account will be transferred to you after WIPE. All of the machines and weapons you’ve earned will be converted to credits and deposited to your account along with any other credits you curren
tly have.”

  Wow, I rejoiced, imagining the fortune I was going to make. My current account balance was one million credits. I was looking forward to the day when I was going to buy a fighter and battle-test it but, considering the news, I won’t be able to do so.

  The audience made an approving hubbub, but fell silent once the colonel raised a hand, calling for attention. “We’re not just giving these perks away to you. For a month after the game release, you’ll have to keep your wristbands on in order to prevent your social circles from getting unfair advantage at the start. Although they’ll still be able to get it through the knowledge you have, at least that the leak will not be as massive as if you were free to blabber it out to the whole web. Any questions?”

  “Colonel, sir,” a raised voice came instantly from my left. “How much will my machine cost if I had upgraded it? Will the upgrades be included in the price?”

  “Everything will be included. Don’t worry.” The colonel waved that away as a trifling matter. “We’re a serious organization, not one that will try to cheat you out of a dozen credits.”

  A dozen thousand credits, to be more precise, I snorted mentally, estimating the money everyone present had on their accounts or invested in their machines. Why are they so kind, anyway? I still couldn’t believe in the truth of their words. Our military was never renowned for generosity, and now it was just giving away such lavish bonuses. What is the catch?

  “Another question.” A hand rose. The man nodded.

  “Will my transport and weapons still be removed if I drop the quest before the time is out, if the quest fails, or if they’re destroyed by enemies? My group is concerned about such great losses. Can you restore the rules that applied before the last patch?”

  “All changes to the game are irreversible,” the mayor sitting on the colonel’s right answered. “So plan your strategy and tactic better. Avoid extensive risk. Accept only those quests you stand a real chance of completing.”

  That news was depressing to me and many others who looked apparently unhappy with it. Losing all the expensive game items at once was not just unpleasant, but also costly in terms of real-world money. If I, for example, lose the fighter I’ve bought for one million credits, I’ll actually lose 200,000 dollars in cash. That thought was scary and intimidating. Maybe this was the catch behind the military’s sudden generosity?