(I know prologues are largely useless, but I decided it would be better than another large info dump later in the story. Enjoy.)

The press room of Parallel Entertainment was blazing with conversation. Men and women carrying cameras, notepads or voice recorders talked amongst themselves while they waited for the CEO to make his appearance. The only people in the room to remain silent were the investors present in the fourth row and beyond. The company was always known for putting out some of the best games the world has seen in a long time. Today was set to be a momentous day for the company and a time to put rumors to rest.

The lights in the room dimmed and the crowd started to quiet down as they brought their focus to the stage at the end of the room. The sound of echoing footsteps signaled the approach of the Teo Mencia, the founder, and CEO of Parallel Entertainment. Mencia made his way to the center of the stage in a slow dramatic walk while clasping his hands behind his back. When he reached the axis of the platform, a spotlight shone from the ceiling and illuminated the man in charge. He was a Hispanic man in 40s with an average build and black, slicked back hair. Mencia looked to the crowd and smiled as cameras flashed and red lights became visible as video recorders went active.

“Thank you all for coming to this rather impromptu press conference,” Mencia stated to the crowd. After a short break for applause, he continued,

“I would like to give special attention and thanks to our investors and company heads who are present here today. Without whom this project would not be possible.”

Another applause sounded and lasted for about ten seconds. The businessmen present didn’t make any motions at the acknowledgment, but some of them did smile at the praise. When the silence returned, the CEO resumed his speech,

“As all of you know, this company has been at the top of video game production for the last ten years and counting. Now we come to a new chapter in gaming history.”

When he finished, a small platform began to rise up to his left. On the rising structure sat a black band. The CEO picked up the band and gestured to the crowd,

“Ladies, gentlemen and all those in between...I give you, the AUGLink.”

More and more flashes came from cameras in the first and second rows as Mencia held the device in one hand over his head. As the flashes slowed, he took the device in his other hand and lowered it onto his head. The black band adjusted to his head and a black visor appeared over his eyes. An assistant rolled a chair onto the stage just behind Teo. After taking a seat in the chair, he tapped a finger to the side of the AUGLink. There was a light beep and Mencia spoke a phrase,

“Connect! Axiom!”

The CEO’s body relaxed fully into the chair and a screen illuminated on what everyone originally thought was a blank wall. On the screen was a sea of brightly glowing stars. The camera spun around to reveal the CEO sitting in the cockpit of a spaceship. He stood from the chair with a wide grin and his voice projected from the screen,

“Thanks to our many backers, we were able to make, not just one world for this game, but an entire universe. Hence the name, Axiom.”

Mencia’s avatar stood from the chair and walked around the ship. The interior of the vessel had a streamlined chrome finish. There were blue light strips running along the tops of the walls. He walked through the ship’s halls with a slow swagger and his hands clasped behind his back, as was his typical way of moving about.

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“Axiom’s universe is vast. The server power afforded to us is more than enough accommodate a huge number of players and an evolving universe of possibilities.” Mencia stated as he made his way down the corridor of the ship. He stopped at a new room that was polished white with a circular in its center. The table was surrounded by two curving couches with blue upholstered cushions. With a sigh, the man sat on the couch and the table in the center whirred to life as it displayed a number of humanoid figures in various forms of dress and carrying different forms of equipment.

“Now, I could bore you all with some boring details about class selections and so forth, but I think I’ll tell you a couple of things that make our game more...unique,” Mencia said. He gestured to a set of counters in the upper-left side of the screen next to his avatar’s health and stamina bar, which read “infinite” because he was in admin mode. The first counter is green and over the numbers reads “Game Time”. The second counter is red in color and reads “RWT” or “Real World Time”.

“I may not be able to see your reactions now, but I’m guessing you’re all wondering about the counters. Without getting too technical, I’ll just let you all know that time moves faster in Axiom. According to our techs and beta testers, the game’s time moves about five times faster than real life time. I’ll be pausing for gasps now,” Mencia stated with a wry smile.

The news of the game’s time dilation caused the room to erupt in questions and gasps of surprise. Reporters turned to one another trying to compare notes and make sure they all heard the same thing, they did. Eventually, the room stilled once again and they looked to the avatar of the CEO. He was humming a happy tune while fiddling with some translucent screen that floated in front of him. As if signaled, he turned his attention back to the crowd.

“In addition to increasing the time players will have to enjoy the game, we have one more feature to show off that we’re sure will knock some socks off,” Mencia toned as four hexagonal coins appeared in his hand.

“These coins are representations of the currency of the game, which we call credits. In the game, they buy the player weapons, armor, ships, and much more. In reality, they can be converted into real-world currency at a ten to one ratio. For those of you who are bad at math, here’s a simple overview, ten in-game credit equals one real-world US dollar. Let that sink in,” Teo said as he flipped one the coins in his hand then went back to the screens in his vision.

That announcement caused the crowd to explode. A virtual reality game where time moves slower during play and the chance to earn real money for playing. This would change everything. As it stood currently, the US and many other countries had gone through a new industrial boom in the form overwhelming robotic production taking over most jobs. This caused unemployment to skyrocket and jobs in AI development and computer code writing to become much more essential. Most schools nowadays even went so far as to put basic coding into their curriculums. However, now this game was able to introduce a new way for people to make money. It was amazing. Unlike the last announcement, people didn’t quiet down quickly. Conversation roared in the room as everyone tried to make sense of everything the CEO had to say. Finally, The digitized CEO had enough. Whatever he was doing on the screens in front of him, he finished and then called for attention,

“Simmer down children, simmer down. I haven’t even gotten to the best part of this press conference yet,” Mencia said.

There was a collective sound throughout the entire room as everyone present leaned forward in their seats. What more could this eccentric CEO possibly have to reveal? The answer came as Teo Mencia snapped his finger and a countdown appeared in the upper-center of the screen. It displayed: 6 days/23 hours/59 minutes/55 seconds. At this point, the CEO had logged out of Axiom in order to formally address the audience.

“In just one week’s time, all the world will be able to log into Axiom and experience the next step in this golden age of technology. As I speak to you now, pre-orders have started for the AUGLink package that will contain the game and a month of free gaming time. After the first month, a subscription fee of $200 a month will be required to play. Steep yes, but in a game where you can make real money for playing, we think this is fair enough.”

It was almost a comical sight to see 90% of the room yank their mobile phones from their pockets in a swift motion as they tried to log on to the company website to pre-order their very own headset and a copy of the game. Mencia didn’t even try to hide his amusement at the sight. He merely clapped his hands together and exclaimed to the entire room and everyone watching via the internet,

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the stars!”