6:55am 08/03/2025  

Driving down the interstate doing 75mph I always do 5over a habit that I started when I was young. My brother in law use to tell me 9under your fine 9 over and you get fined. So I like to keep it under 9for sure. Quickly changing lanes to keep from losing speed  

Trying to get to the office before the meeting started   

I currently work for a company called demo mode industry I was pretty much a glorified game tester.  Did mostly RPG games and mmo types about as good as it gets for a gamers dream job but it wasn’t all fun and games all the time. The new thing these days is virtually reality. Companies have been playing around with it for some time now although they used their own people for the testing so we haven't had a chance to test any of them out our self’s I make the exit just in time before a car blocked me from crossing 2 lanes kind of a jerk thing to do but I didn’t want to be late. I pumped the brakes to come to a stop making a right hand turn. The office building was right off the interstate I pulled in fast. As I said out loud coming in hot. "I parked the car, got out, and hit the lock button on the key fob. Then I took off towards the main entrance where I was greeted by the receptionist. He pointed to the elevator and said the meeting was about to start in one minute. Wow, I was cutting it close! I pushed the elevator up button to make it hurry up, but it didn't speed up in reality. I climbed in and pushed the 9 button to go to the top floor. Glancing at my digital wrist pad, I realized I had about 30 seconds left. It took about 10 seconds to get to the top floor, leaving me with only 20 seconds on the clock. The elevator door opened, and I ran to the big conference room doors, pushing them open. Trying to remain calm, I took the only open seat available, which drew looks from everyone in the room."  

"Mr. Raynor, I'm glad you made it, but please don't cut it that close again. I would hate to have to write you up," he said jokingly but also with a hint of seriousness. It took me a while to get to know him, but once I did, I understood how he worked. "I apologize for the late entrance, sir," I replied. My boss, Aaron Goldwing - yes, his last name is Goldwing, which makes him perfectly suited for his job here. He was wearing a black suit with his hair combed over to one side. He never looked any different in the years that I've worked for him. He really is a pretty nice guy, for the most part, as long as you stay on his good side."   

I slunk down in my chair, trying to avoid his gaze, and waited for Aaron to start speaking. I wasn't paying much attention to him at the moment. Instead, my eyes were fixated on a pretty girl named Nova Ann Sky at the other end of the conference room. She had long, light brown hair and glasses that fit her face perfectly. Not everyone looks good in glasses, but she pulled them off effortlessly. As I looked her way, we made eye contact, and her bright green eyes captivated me. It was like she had stepped out of a book or something. She noticed me, and I quickly started to blush. Feeling like I was back in high school, I looked away.  

Suddenly, I heard a door open, and a short man with black hair and a buzz cut walked in. He was wearing khaki pants and a blue t-shirt, which made me think that he's my kind of guy. I never could get into the whole suit and tie thing. However, if I ever get married, I'll probably have to wear one, but that's probably not happening any time soon. I'm not one to settle down just yet. Nova has never shown a whole lot of interest in me, other than a smile and a simple "hey, how are you?" type of greeting.  

I had asked Nova out on a date once, but she said she had plans. I didn't ask again after that, assuming that she either had a man already or a cat that she loved more than humans. Some girls are like that.  

Suddenly, Aaron waved at someone to come to the front of the room, and that got my attention. "Everyone, I would like you to meet Alex, the CEO of Dot3 Online Gaming," Aaron announced. Dot3 was the company that had been working on virtual reality for at least two years, with no information being given until a month ago when they launched their closed beta. After two weeks, they switched to open beta.   

Although I was curious about Dot3's virtual reality gaming, I couldn't risk checking it out since I work for a company that does beta testing. I'm under contract with them, so if they found out that I was doing a beta, even for free, I could lose my job. It's not worth the risk, so I didn't bother looking up anything about it.  

However, now that Alex, the CEO of Dot3, was here, I became even more curious. If they already had beta testers, why would he be here? I sat up in my chair and listened carefully to what Alex had to say.  

Alex addressed the conference room, explaining that Dot3 had created the first VRMMO, which was an amazing feat for their software and hardware. However, he also acknowledged that with new games, there were bound to be glitches. To ensure that the game stayed glitch-free, they added two AIs named White Box and C4. These AIs worked together to create new situations, caves, NPC wars, and all kinds of things. Everything they did that was considered a major change went through their system and had to be approved by a human before it would act on its thoughts.  

He then explained that our company was highly respected in the gaming industry, and many game developers even changed their whole plotlines based on our opinions. Dot3 valued our opinions on their work, and they had talked with our boss, Mr. Goldwing, about having one person from our company not only play the game but live it. Alex said that playing a game and living it were two different things.  

He concluded by saying that he had said all that he came to say, and the rest was up to Mr. Goldwing. Alex looked forward to working with one of us.  

"And with that, he walks out of the conference room." Well, that sounds like fun, but something was telling me this guy is not telling us everything. Aaron spoke up, "Atton, I am volunteering you." It sounded like I was going to be solo on this. Aaron looked at me for a reply. I looked at him and said, "Yes, sir. Just tell me when and where." 

Aaron said, "Good, this meeting is adjourned. Atton, I will send you the assignment as soon as I get all the details from Dot3. And remember, you carry our name in the field." He turned and walked out of the room. 

Glad that's over, but how could he do that? He knows I don't like to work alone. I have friends here that I've gotten close to, like TJ Harris, Matt, and Nova – well, not so close to her at the moment due to getting my 747 shot down at the BBQ. 

I got up and started to walk out of the conference room, Nova still in her chair. Matt walked over to me and said, "Don't have too much fun in the VR world without us," as he smiled. He knew how I felt about working by myself, but he didn't say much about it. 

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I walked into the elevator and hit floor 3, which was our lunchroom. After a few seconds in the elevator, I walked out onto floor 3 and walked over to a vending machine. It was still early morning, so I didn't want a full lunch yet. I got a Pop-Tart and a can of soda. "I really need to quit drinking soda," I thought to myself as I sat down at a table. I was the only person in the lunchroom except for the janitor as I waited for my email from Aaron. 

Nova’s POV. 

We all sat in the conference room. We probably would have started already if Atton had been here. He always had to make an entrance. Matt and TJ were passing some notes about their last beta testing. Something about monkeys and trees. With 15 seconds left on the clock, Atton Cole Raynor walked in, as if he had a calm about him, although everyone knew it was a front. He was good at putting on a poker face. He was wearing a green short-sleeve shirt with a long-sleeve spandex undershirt, khaki pants with the side pockets full of who knows what, and that cute smile. 

"He asked me out on a date once, but my dad and I already had plans for the weekend. I probably should have told him that, but I didn't. And now, he doesn't talk to me too much other than the "hey, how are ya" thing and checking on beta progress. The poor guy probably thinks I love my cat more than humans. I do love my cat though. Her name is Whiskers, she's orange and white, and playful for the most part." 

I looked up from my deep thoughts and noticed Atton looking right at me. He started to turn red as he looked away. Men are so weird. One day he’s asking me out on a date, then he’s not even going out of his way to try and talk to me, and now he’s blushing. I wanted to facepalm just thinking about it. 

Then, a guy named Alex walked in. Atton and Alex must be friends since they dress alike. Alex started talking about the VR game they created and asked Aaron to send one person to help them test their new world. But he acted like he wasn't telling us everything. Before any of us could even blink, Aaron had asked Atton to do this task. 

I noticed that Atton stopped to think, and then he accepted. I knew he didn't like working alone, but he had no choice. The meeting was over, and Atton quickly made a beeline to the elevator. Matt managed to get to him before he got in and said something to him before walking back over to talk to TJ. 

I walked to the stairs and started down. I usually took the stairs as much as I could to keep up my girlish figure. Being a beta tester, it's like there's a code that you have to drink lots of soda and eat pizza all the time, but I had mentioned to the other guys that it was time to break the code. If not, we would all be 300+lbs, and at 40 we would be in a hospital. They all agreed and backed off the pizza. We even talked our boss into putting in a gym. 

I used to notice Atton down there all the time, and he probably lost 35 pounds from it. I made it down to the 3rd floor, and I noticed Atton sitting at a table by himself through the window in the door. I was going to keep going, but my gut told me not to. Dang feelings. I walked in and sat right in front of him. 

"Atton, I thought you were not drinking soda?" I asked him. 

He thought about it for a second, then face-palmed himself and said, "Fail." He began to tell me that the poptart he was eating was the first one in three weeks, but I wasn't buying that. 

So you’re going to lone wolf your next big job huh? 

Atton POV  

I was almost finished with my poptart when Nova walked in from the stairs. She walked up and sat in front of me. 

"I thought you were laying off the soda?" Nova asked me. 

"Yeah, I am or was. Major fail, not going so well on the diet right now. And this is the first poptart in three weeks." She’s not buying it I thought to myself. 

"So, you're going to lone wolf your next big job, huh?" Nova asked me. 

"Ya, I guess I don’t have a choice, but don’t worry, I will definitely keep you informed." Did I really just say I would let her alone know how things are going? Another fail for me. Maybe she didn’t notice. She started to say something, but my wrist pad went off like a tornado just touched down. 

Nova jumped almost out of her seat. It was kind of like a mix between a tablet and a wristwatch when it came to life, though it would open up in 3D above the wrist pad if you clicked on anything. 

"Sorry, Nova. I turned up the volume so I wouldn’t miss my email from Aaron. Speaking of which, holy cow!" I looked at the current time. It was 8:15 am. "They booked me a flight. I have to be at the airport by 10:15 am." 

"Well, you better get going. Atton and I look forward to your updates," Nova said to me in a calm, girly voice that gave me shivers. I got up, looked at her bright green eyes, and said, "I will try not to leave you disappointed." 

I walked over to the elevator, but it was on the first floor and didn't move. Forget it, I ran into the stairwell and ran up to the 5th floor where my office was. I ran in and started throwing my stuff in a bag. It was a good thing I left a few changes of clothes in my office, or I would have to wear what I had on for who knows how long. Wait, how long was this beta anyways? I pulled up the email, and it said the following: 

From Aaron Goldwing  

To Atton  

Subject Dot 3 Beta.   

"Atton, I know how you feel about working alone. I am sorry, but they didn’t give me a choice right now. However, I am working on letting the rest of the team in later on with luck. Anyway, you are to be there by 9 pm tonight, and you will probably be there for a month. They booked you a flight to their headquarters, and you will be given more details when you arrive. Again, sorry for the late notice and the solo thing. 

End of email." 

I thought to myself, "A month or more? That's crazy! How long does it take to level up in this VR world?" I grabbed my wrist pad charger and my bag, heading for the stairs. "I am not waiting for the elevator, and it wouldn't hurt to walk off some of the soda," I said to myself. I came out on the ground floor and noticed an "Out of Order" sign on the elevator. "Huh, wonder what happened to that," I thought to myself. "Good thing it did that after I made it to the meeting." 

As I walked outside, I saw TJ Harris standing by his truck, waving me towards him. "Hey, I'm kind of in a hurry to get to the airport, bro. My flight leaves out at 10:30, so I need to be there by no later than 10:15am," I said to him. 

"Yes, I know. That's why Aaron asked me to take you. He knows how close you cut it to be at the meeting, and he thinks you drive like a grandma," TJ smiled so hop in Bro. 

"Well, that's good. I don't have to worry about leaving my car at the airport. Although the real reason I was almost late is that I like my sleep a bit too much. I am not a morning person, and last time I checked, I driveway faster than I should. I got in, and we started off. We had 45 minutes to get across town. 

"So, Atton, I gotta ask, what's the first thing you're going to do once you get into the VR world?" asked TJ. 

"Well, I'm probably going to look around at the scenery, see how real things look. After that, though, I'm not sure. I don't even know what time frame it's going to be on, to be honest. I haven't even looked it up," I replied. 

"Dude, you're joking right?" I asked. "I haven't had a chance to look it up yet. As soon as I arrive, I'll probably take a look at the scenery and see how realistic everything looks. I'm not sure what time period it's set in though." 

TJ looked at me in disbelief. "Are you serious? As soon as it went live, I hit the web to find out anything I could. It's awesome, man. I wish I could be there with you." 

I sighed, "I really hope they find a way to get the rest of the team in. Otherwise, it's going to be a long month. So, what setting is it in?" 

"It's back in the medieval days," TJ replied. "You know, swords, kings, knights, and goblins, that kind of stuff." 

"Wow, it sounds like it will be a lot of fun. I'll definitely try to keep you guys updated," I replied, feeling excited. 

Ya Nova told me she would forward your emails to me but she also mentioned something about her cat, but I can't remember what it was," TJ said with a shrug. 

"Yeah, wait she did.  

TJ just laughed. 

We arrived at the airport, and I realized it had only taken us 30 minutes to get there. It was only 10:00am, and my flight was leaving in just 30 minutes. 

"I still have 15 minutes before boarding my flight, so I got out and grabbed my stuff. Thanks for the ride, TJ. I will see you in a month or so," I said as he waved goodbye. I walked into the airport and approached the desk to get my ticket. "Please hand us your ID or you can scan your wrist pad," the woman behind the desk said kindly. 

I scanned my wrist pad, which pulled up all my information. She looked at the information on her computer and said, "Thank you for flying with us, Mr. Raynor. Your seat has been reserved, and the information has been sent to you via the link on your wrist pad. Have a nice trip." 

I walked over to my flight terminal and coincidentally, they opened it for boarding. What timing! I found my seat, which was a window seat. It was great because I wouldn't have to worry about people asking me to move out of the way to go to the bathroom. I put my belongings in the overhead storage and realized that I should use the bathroom before takeoff, so I don't have to disturb anyone else.