A man walked out through the large glass doors of an extravagant building as the clock struck 12. ‘This isn’t what I thought it would be...And what was his name?’
Fred was an ordinary unemployed man in his late twenties. That is, until now.
He had finally gotten himself a job. As his monetary problems had escalated, his tries of finding work had made him search for jobs outside of his hometown. And he had finally found both a place to work and a place to live.
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About 30 minutes earlier
“Thank you, Mr. Eversteen for your application to join our company. I will give you a response in a moment so please wait outside.” As Fred leaves the room the jury start to mumble and speak about what he had written on his application.
‘Great. I probably just doomed myself. I should not have said my favorite game was “Secret of Mana”, they are going to think I am some kind of retro fanatic.
And how would i describe myself? I don’t know… an introvert maybe.
Favorite animal? With check boxes? Who could possibly answer what their favorite animal is through check boxes?
...Was it a trick question? Well it is too late now, it is going to stay as a bird anyway.’
“Would Mr. Eversteen please join me again.” As Fred was led back to the room he could feel his stomach starting to hurt. As he entered through the light, wooden doors his heart started beating frenetically.
“I have decided to let you start working here. Your work will concern our new title “Forest of the Azure sky” where in you will act as a mix between a NPC and a player.”
‘..That’s not what i applied for..’ “Okay.. But why?”
“You don’t want the job? That’s fine, I can let you become a janitor as you wanted.”
“NO! I want it! What should I do there though? I’m not that good with computers and that stuff.”
“Computer? No… I can’t give out details. In you elect to join, you will get the information but not before that.”
“Sure, I’m in. But how would my presence help in any way?”
“As you most likely are familiar with, we at “Desktop” are a company that manufactures both hardware and games. We have invested money into creating an artificial intelligence that will help us with the server operation. We later found out that it could also play as characters in our games, to give them more ‘personality’. This however made the game perform worse as more energy went to the NPCs.
We had intended to solve this through getting another AI, but they don’t always cooperate. We therefore need base behaviors that the AI can copy to other NPCs.
That’s where you come in. You will be observed by the AI. You will of course not be alone in this, we have intended to have at least 100 people acting as ‘filler’.”
“...I don’t get it but whatever. My only question about this is, Why do they need to have people to copy in the first place?”
“Ah, that has with the NPC behavior to do. As an example a player walked into ten different shops in the same city and all the NPCs reacted the same way, that being the best way according to the AI. The result being that all NPCs react the same way to one player.
“But what about players? Can’t you base the NPC behavior on them?”
“Players are not Merchants or shopkeepers in the game, so all imitation of them would be strange in a shop. But we are having our programmers look into getting the AI to base behavior on them, but so far it doesn’t work. Not on the AI side but the Human Rights side.
.Also regarding your way of working, it would be for the best if you spent as much time in the game as possible. We have a training program that should allow you to stay in shape whilst playing. Also where do you reside at the moment?”
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“I live in an apartment close to the centre of the city?”
“Awful! It will take you to long to get here. How about we give you a residence here instead? It’s of course part of you new job so you won’t have to pay for it.”
“Sure, that sounds gr-”
“Wonderful! Then shall we go to your new place? Great! Come now!”
‘I’m not sure what happened, but he sure likes to talk.’
“Ah, we can’t forget about the contract! Here you go. Just write here and here. this is just a formal saying that if you leak any information, you will have to reimburse us the approximate value of the information.”
‘I can’t see anything strange about the contract so fine. However it feels like I’m getting ripped off here’
“Okay, let’s go!”
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“So here is you new place. Nice, right?”
‘It isn’t to bad, for a one room apartment. One yellow wall however.. I don’t know, especially if it’s in this bright shade of it. But I won’t complain. The lamps tho.. why 8 lamps in a rooms barely 7 by 5m2. That’s too many.’
“Why are there so many lamps?”
“Oh, that’s a funny story. The person who lived here before suddenly developed a fear of darkness for some reason. She would not leave the room at all towards the end.”
“The end? What happened to her?”
“She disappeared. But enough about her. As you can see you will get a bed, a TV and the VR-set. I would not recommend sleeping in the VR-set as it isn’t made for sleeping in. You are allowed to bring anything you want here, as long as it doesn’t cover that wall.”
“Why? is it something special about that wall?”
“No. It is just that the colour on the wall is of a colour not present in the game, so if you see this colour, it means you are no longer in the game. Handy, right?.
The console by the VR-set is not to be moved and yes, I know it looks like a metal box, but why would we give you the best designed stuff, you’re not allowed to tell anyone anyway. That is the link between you and the servers, so be careful to not hit it to hard.
You can now get your belongings from your former apartment. Please hurry so we can start.”
As Fred now exit the building the clock strikes 12.
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When Fred returned to his new workplace he was almost immediately tested to see what kind of shape he was in and if he had any unknown allergies that could affect his daily life when working.
After the tests, Fred was finally allowed to enter the game.
“I am Fred Eversteen. Code 20130806_FED”
Welcome to Forest of the Azure sky. You are registered as the user Fred Eversteen. Is this correct?
“Yes”
Congratulations. You are a part of 100 players that have special conditions applied to them. Please spin the Wheel of conditions.
“...what?”
Repeat Congratulations. You are a part of 100 players that have special conditions applied to them. Please spin the Wheel of conditions.
“...Fine. Do what you want.”
Affirmative. You have received the ‘’Blessing’ of Speed’ and the place as a hidden trainer in the art of Agility. Starting Character creation.
Choose your starting race:
Human Elf Dwarf Beastkin Giants Animals Elemental
Your starting race has been selected as Elf. Your starting point has been selected as Aster, beginner village. Your appearance has been decided.
Do you wish to enter the Tutorial?
“Stop! No, there is no need to enter the tutorial, but i would like to change the other things. I don’t want to be an E-”
Unable to change character after confirming selection. Skipping Tutorial. Starting the game. Please enjoy Forest of the Azure sky.
“.....It’s Fine. I will still get payed for this. It’s okay. It’s completely cool.”
Player Fred Eversteen has received the title “Chance” Due to being the first to let the AI choose during your creation, you will always be the one favored by lady luck. : increases luck by 5’
Due to ‘’Blessing’ of Agility’ stats are relocated : increases agi by 5
“I’m of to a great start!”