"A gamer girl, huh?" He said. "My favourite." Immediately regretting it. What the hell, he thought. The girl’s amazing looks and choice of pastime combined had over excited him it seemed, he was completely off his game.
The girl made an hmm sound, and he felt as though he could see the eye roll through the back of her head. He sighed and grabbed his phone to write a message.
∆ ∆ ∆
Victor was reading the graphics card's packaging when his phone bleeped. He placed the box where he found it and read the message.
Keep your cool. DEFINITELY DON’T say that gamer girls are your favourite.
What, he thought, why would I ever say that? He looked up from his phone and took in his surroundings. Then he saw her. I actually said that? What the hell? He approached the sofa, and as he got closer, he was able to imagine why things had gone so wrong. He took a deep breath.
“Watch your six.” he said.
She turned to him, somewhat taken by surprise, then turned back to the screen as her in-game character began to grunt in pain. Her health bar had dropped by half.
“Thanks a lot, fella, now look what you did.”
“Me? I told you there was someone behind you.”
"I knew that. I was about to avoid him, then you shit me up from back there."
"Yeah, whatever. Don't blame me for your lack of skills. Let me put it right."
He sat down beside her, picked up a controller and entered her game as Player Two. The screen split down the middle, and his avatar's viewpoint appeared on the right-hand side. Together they quickly finished off the remaining enemies, and she turned to him, gave a begrudging smile, with a shake of her head and roll of the eyes.
Despite the wry smile and that her teeth were somewhat oversized, they were also bright and even, making her smile beautiful regardless. Victor wasn't a shallow man, but he still made these semi-conscious observations on occasions that afforded him the opportunity to take in some eye candy. The wonders of genetic evolution and the rules of physical attraction appealed to the scientist in him.
He was transfixed for a moment before he said “We make a good team. Fancy finishing the mission?”
“I was planning on it, I even signed in on my live account to make sure I could continue at home. I don’t have the game yet, and I thought I’d been sitting here way too long to waste it.”
“Ah, a kindred spirit. Gaming OCD.” he laughed.
“It’s a disease,” she said, nodding matter of factly. Her face was youthful and cute, her large eyes sparkled like the Japanese manga characters Victor was so fond of watching. Is this girl for real, Victor thought. Please don’t tell me you’re here with your boyfriend.
They continued the mission, successfully taking every enemy in their path, barely losing health in the process. Their tactics and manoeuvres were well synchronised and efficient, Victor felt like their attunement bordered on telepathy. They reached the end of the mission with the highest possible winning grade and a celebratory hand shake followed.
"We make a good team," Victor said. Then with an exaggerated look to his upper right that said he knew how this was going to sound "It would be a shame if we weren't able to this awesome partnership to the test again sometime in future."
“Smooth.” she said.
They both laughed, the brunette giving Victor another flash of that pleasant smile.
"I know your gamer ID, Gamerwoman ninety, right? Woman with a zero in place of the O. I can add you as a friend if you want to play co-op once you have the game. I haven't bought it myself yet, so I'll add that to the gear I'm picking up now."
"I think I've been motivated into buying it today too. I sometimes get free copies ahead of release, but this one slipped past me. They have a buy one, get one free offer on right now. We could get two and split the cost."
"Great idea, but I usually like to know the name of a person I'm entering into a business deal with."
The girl he knew as Gamerw0man90 chuckled, “Beth,” she said.
“Pleased to meet you, Beth,” he said and reached his hand out to shake again. “I’m Victor.”
"Nice to meet you too, Victor. Are you done shopping?" she asked.
"I just need a new graphics card. I already have one in mind so I can go get it if you want to grab the games."
They split up to pick up their goods, then found each other again at the checkout. Victor paid for everything, then Beth handed him a couple of notes in exchange for her game. Victor thought for a moment about giving her the game for free but decided it was too early to be showering her with gifts, this wasn't a date, he blamed that disarming smile.
They exited the store together, exchanged pleasantries and said goodbye. Beth was somewhat confused by Victor neglecting to ask her out, she felt sure that he'd been hugely into her, however conceited that may have sounded if it were said aloud. She turned to watch him walk towards his car, he wasn't doing the same, which further confused her. She reached her car, opened the door and dropped into the driving seat. Her phone made a notification sound. She took it from her bag and saw that she had a message to her gamer ID in the companion app she had installed on her phone. She opened it and read the message.
We might not be as great a team virtually, we may have to be in the same room to take full advantage of our connection. Victor.
The gamer tag attached to the message was FutureBoyVic. She smiled and typed up a reply.
Well, we'll have to see about that, FutureBoy. Maybe you'll have to prove yourself first. Player vs player session online tonight? Beat me and I'll think about giving you my number instead. Mum taught me to never allow strange men to get me alone.
She put her phone down while she started the engine. Her phone pinged again. Another message to her gamer ID.
Challenge accepted.
∆ ∆ ∆
Victor walked into the PRE-Innovations headquarters.
“Did they have the ones we needed?” Spencer asked.
“Yep,” Victor said, throwing the bag of tiny screws for Spencer to catch.
“Someone’s had a good day,” Spencer said. Victor was smiling from ear to ear.
“Sure did,” he said. “I groundhogged the shit out of it.”
Chapter 9
The warehouse renovations were coming to a close, the windows, walls and doors were now much more supportive of Simon's ability to live there comfortably. Building a bedroom on the upper floor was an option, but he preferred to keep the plan open, allowing line of sight to the drive from where he slept. The extra money in his bank account made no real difference to the way he kept his living space, he still slept in an area that was cluttered with his work. The kitchen was also on the upper floor and was consistent with the open plan theme. The bathroom was the only place that had any privacy, which contained a large walk-in rain shower with a total of six heads and a large whirlpool bath. The bathroom was a perfect place for him to relax after a long session of obsessive compulsive work. The warehouse living space could be seen as a physical representation of Simon's mind, open and focused on the act of invention.
The selfie drones sailed through production without a hitch, since all possible setbacks had been planned for in advance, and sales were doing extremely well. The most recent schematics to arrive on the drive were a self-contained, portable factory for the production of nanobots. Nanorobotics is a field of technology for the creation and employment of simple robots measuring a fraction of a micrometre to perform tasks at a level so microscopic it would be otherwise impossible to achieve. Though nanobots have been a staple of science fiction for many years, it has only been approaching reality over the past decade. Now the technology was about to make a huge leap forward.
Once the factory was assembled, the first batch of nanobots would be larger than the projected end product, but they their ability to handle delicate construction work would allow them to self-replicate in progressively smaller dimensions, generation by generation.
One hundred p
ercent of the current PRE-Innovations workforce were seated on their luxury, ergonomic office chairs and gathered around the drive, they no longer had to squeeze into the small space in front of the laptop to which it was wired. The drive and its boxes of entangled photons were placed centrally within a triangular arrangement of desks. Simon, Spencer and Victor could access the drive from their own individual terminals at each workstation. They were all inspecting the plans and blueprints of the nanobot production device.
"I can't foresee any problems in assembling this. Our future selves are excellent at making sure we have everything we need in this timeline to fulfil the requirements of production." Simon said.
The plans also included links to websites that would supply them with the parts they needed for the machine's assembly, capitalising on the drive left no room for inefficiency.
“I’ll make a start on ordering the materials from the list we have,” Spencer said.
“This will be the biggest change we’ve made to our timeline,” Victor said. “Imagine the lives we’ll save with medical nanobots. This could be the end of cancer.”
"As nice as that sounds," Simon said "I worry that might initially be detrimental to society. We're already overcrowded. What if a reduction in cancer casualties makes the situation worse? It will be a massive influx of additional humans in a short amount of time for the new reality we create."
"Well, I'm sure if that's the case, it will hardly be Armageddon. If it works out poorly for the future, we'll let our past selves know immediately. We can make corrections, permanent mistakes are a thing of the past." Victor said.
"I suppose you're right," Spencer said. "The easiest solution to the population problem would be for us all to just agree to stop creating new little humans, but it seems like the majority are against that, so it's not an option."
"People do love their little humans." Victor agreed.
"It's possible that we'll eventually be able to create weather controlled environments, like bio-domes, that could make uninhabitable areas of the earth more hospitable and suitable for farming, but that doesn't solve our water problems. We can't create water out of nowhere." Simon said.
"Yeah, we can create water from oxygen and hydrogen, but we can't just conjure those elements into existence. Most hydrogen is generated from fossil fuels, and we're already running out of those. We're doing our best to create a shortage of oxygen too." Victor said.
“If the drive could send us the specs for warp drive sometime soon, it would put my mind at rest,” Simon said.
“Yeah, it seems that, even though we’re speeding up the natural course of history, it just can’t move fast enough,” Victor said.
"Maybe we should readjust our expectations on how fast this is going to happen," Spencer said. "We're too eager, it's not going to happen overnight even with the drive working for us. We should chill out a bit, we're already thinking about colonising other worlds when all we've done so far is create a tool for narcissists. We want the end game without actually playing it."
“Have you never heard the phrase ‘Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars’?” Victor asked.
"No. It doesn't really make much sense. We're already among the stars, on a revolving planet." Simon said. "Plus it doesn't work here, we already went to the moon, there wasn't much going on there. Mars either."
“That’s true, but it’s metaphorical, Simon. You’re always so literal.”
Spencer yawned.
"How are you feeling today, Spence? You been sleeping OK? How's your keyboard working right now? I thought it might have a few shorts with all the drool you put into it yesterday." Victor said.
“I’ve been awake a lot of nights. Feeling a lot of anxiety about what we’re doing. I need to make sure we’re living up to our responsibilities. We could save so many lives.”
"I agree, Spencer, I do, but we also have a responsibility to keep the bigger picture in mind. We want to improve the future, not destroy it." Simon said.
"I get that, Simon, but anything we do here could be detrimental to the future. These nanobots could be weaponised. How are we going to safeguard against them being used for the wrong reasons?"
"They could also be used to save the planet by pollinating the flowers, should we lose the bee population altogether. I would say that it's best not to worry about it. If we create these devices or let reality run its course and allow them to become realised in their own time, they could become misused whenever it happens. At least we have a head start on correcting things in whatever way we can." Simon said.
Spencer sighed. "Of course, you're right, but you should also have the same view on the lives we're saving. I never would have gotten into this with you if I thought we were doing the wrong thing, it's just the speed that things are happening and the weight of obligation to do this right."
"I can lend you some Xanax if you like, I often find it hard to shut my mind down at night. Too much science to contemplate."
“Where did you get those? They’re not healthy for you, Si.”
"You can get anything from the internet. I don't take them every night, I know enough to not become reliant on them. They're just more reliable than counting sheep. Sheep just make me think of cloning and how to improve its process."
"Let's just hope that's not on the schedule for the drive. Clone growth pods might be a bit creepy for you to sleep in the same room with, Si." Victor said.
"Yeah, I'll dig out a basement for those."
Victor and Spencer shared a worried glance. Simon smiled and rolled his eyes. The others laughed in relief and Simon went back to work on his station. Spencer and Victor both stared unfocused through their own terminals, eyes intermittently flicking toward Simon.
Chapter 10
Victor was seated in his favourite reclining chair, just feet away from his sixty inch LED TV screen, which was displaying the start menu of his latest game purchase. Victor's flat was a typical man cave, plenty of expensive technology and very little in the way of decor coordination. The central focus of the room was the entertainment centre which he had placed against the wall. His recliner and sofa-bed were placed close to the screen, using minimal space, this left a sizable portion of the room for the exercise equipment, and it's growing layer of dust. The flat was more orderly than most bachelor pads, however.
Victor was fully prepared for his decisive battle against Gamerw0man90 — alias Beth — logged in on his live gaming account, headset on with microphone primed. Beth had chosen a specific date and time for their prize competition and sent it to him in a message within a few hours of their first meeting. The prize for winning the competition was her number, as they'd discussed during their previous exchange in the computer store car park. Victor realised that the reward was merely symbolic, as he could message her at any time via her gamer tag in the app, but he was still determined to outplay her and win the digits. Victor had been practising with the game's player versus player mode for the majority of the day in the free for all arena. He'd placed first in an exceptional number of the games; first person shooters were his speciality. His evening meal was set by his side to give him less reason to leave his chair and — by extension — Beth's virtual company. Victor had once again ordered his favourite pizza, promising himself it would be the last time for at least a month since he'd already finished off three this week. There was plenty of beer to accompany the pizza in an iced cooler on the opposite side of his recliner. He'd already paid a visit the bathroom, so he was set until she needed to excuse herself.
He felt a slight jolt of excitement as the message ‘Gamerw0man90 is online' dropped down from the top left corner of his screen with a bong sound. Excitement soon turned to mild anxiety; how long do I wait until I contact her? Too early looks too eager, but wait too long, and she might go back offline without noticing me. He contemplated why Beth was affecting him this way; it wasn't his usual M.O. with women. He knew she'd have had a similar message relating to him on her scre
en and would most likely have already seen it. While he fought this internal battle, there was another bong from a pop-up which contained a message from Gamerw0man90.
Ready to limp home with your tail between your legs and no prize?
Victor was too happy that she had been the first to make contact to worry about the trash talk, but he played his part anyway.
That number is mine. I've been practising all day, never losing a match. Get ready for a pwning.
He twiddled his thumbs — figuratively and literally — for a few seconds while awaiting a reply, an unconscious habit, along with plucking his fingernails against each other. He didn’t have to twiddle for long.
You think so? What qualifications do you have to back that up?
Victor found the question somewhat suspicious.
Well, I pwn on first persons more than I pwn elsewhere. In games. So there’s that. :D
The wait for a new message was a little longer this time, allowing his paranoia to kick in. Something at the back of his mind stoked the fires of doubt. He couldn’t put his finger on it.
Have you ever livestreamed a gaming session against some of the world’s greatest players to your 20000+ followers?
The pieces clicked into place. Gamerw0man90 was the handle of a YouTube user who uploaded video game tips, tricks and playthroughs along with live commentaries on gaming sessions. How could he not have made the connection before? He’d used one of her playthrough videos with a game he’d had a hard time solving. He couldn’t understand why he didn’t remember her face. Possibly because the video he had seen was mainly audio commentary, containing a few sections of picture-in-picture, her face appearing in the smaller box. He was positive if he’d seen that face in full screen before, he would have remembered. He typed up another message, already feeling his metaphorical tail slip between his knees. He initiated a voice chat session, and the ringtone jingled to a few seconds before she picked up.
Drive Time Page 5