Pag blinked suddenly staring up at the dimly lit pod ceiling, the red light that emanated from the rear of the pod slowly grew, allowing his eyes to adjust to a new level of light, before there was a click and the door slowly opened allowing a new source of light to spill into the pod. With a groan he sat slowly, one hand cradling his foggy head as he pulled himself from the pod.
Pag blinked at the dumbfounded expression on Jorge’s ashen face. Then he noticed the expression of pure triumph and joy painting Dave’s face. Followed by the myriad of expressions on various other people in scrubs behind Jorge and Dave. A tall man with luscious long hair and a serious set of glasses pressed through all of them and hooked a machine up to the pod, muttering to himself as he pulled a vape out and took a long drag.
That was the only sound as Pag stood there looking around at the people surrounding the pod for what felt like hours until Jorge finally stepped up and guided him to a chair at the side of the room motioning for the other individuals in scrubs to join him.
“How are you feeling kiddo?”Jorge asked as he pulled out a small device and slipped it onto Pags index finger.
“Bit of a headache, a little hungry. Fine though. Why?” Pag asked as another man wrapped a cuff onto his arm and powered it up to take his blood pressure.
“That’s all? No blurry vision? No nausea or other pain?” Jorge asked shining a pen light into his eyes.
Pag grimaced shaking his head. “No, was there something off with my vitals in game?”
Jorge didn’t meet his gaze for a moment as he typed furiously on his tablet making note of all the information that he and the other medical technicians observed. Finally he looked up and sighed. “We’re going to have to run scans to be certain. Frank, what’s the read out?” He asked handing the tablet to a young man. “Eli, go grab a chair and tell the others to get the machines ready.” he said before turning to the man who was still using a small machine connected to the pod.
“Well preliminary info says that it was a successful 100% synchronization though it does seem to be picking up a few errors, they’re not the ones I’ve come across before so once all the data has been gathered it’ll have to be gone through line by line as we pull up the recordings of his playtime. Non of the errors appear to be of the mechanical aspect though.” he said taking another hit from the vape, this time a whiff of some fruity flavor reached Pag.
“How soon ‘til we know for certain.” Dave asked stepping further into the room and reaching into the pod, pulling out a small crystal from the rear of the pod.
“My end? At least two days.” Jorge said in a rough voice shooting a glare at Dave. “We will have to run scans, do blood work and stress tests.”
“Yeah it's going to take a minimum of two days on my end as well and that’s with me and all the other devs putting everything on the back burner with extreme overtime. And I mean all of us. Including everyone all the way back to Alpha stages.” Frank said rubbing his face and shaking his head.
“Do what needs to be done and get me the results.” Dave said before turning to look at Pag. “Looks like your steak dinner is on hold, sorry. I’ll make it up to you though. For now just hang tight kiddo.” he glanced at Jorge, giving him a smile and wink, then rushed out the door.
Jorge stared at the door for a moment before turning to stare at Pag. “Frank, mind getting me a slightly edited version of the NDA so I can fill the poor guy in on what he just did?” He asked pulling a small needle tourniquet and alcohol pad from his scrub pocket.
“Coming right up. Want it digital or physical.” Frank asked disconnecting his device from the pod.
“Email a digital copy to me. That way he can read it on the way to the medical wing. He doesn’t need to sign it, I’m sure Dave slipped it in on him when he signed out the pod. I just want him to be aware of certain things before I try to explain anything.” He said wrapping the tourniquet around Pags upper arm and rubbing the alcohol pad across a highly visible vein.
Pag watched as Jorge tossed the alcohol pad to the ground holding his hand out to one of the other techs who handing him a needle and bundle of vials. There was a small pinch as the needle bit into his arm and Jorge connected a vial long enough for it to fill up then switched to the next one. By the time that the eighth one was filled and the needle removed Pag had begun to feel lightheaded.
“Get these to the lab and have them run a full panel as if he were a new applicant.” he said handing the vials to another tech who nodded and squeeze out the door past the wheelchair that was pushed in. Jorge motioned for Pag to get into the chair and turned to the remaining techs. “Get him to the lab. Do all the pre-hire scans we run, do a full physical, an EKG, and run a non nuclear stress test. Once all that is done set him up in one of the private rooms, no one aside from myself is to have access to the room for the time being. I will adjust that as needed.” Jorge looked back to him and handed him a large touchscreen phone. “Here, read this pdf. Read all of it.”
As he situated himself in the wheelchair they pulled him from the room and rushed down the hallway. The PDF on the phone screen seemed to be an NDA much like the one he had initially signed upon hire as a tester for Alluring Realms Games. The only part that seemed to differ was that now there were clauses dealing with experimental technology and development. This part he read with greater attention than he had given the other sections. Pag read through it twice by the time they reached the medical wing and was forced to hand the phone over to one of the medical staff members as he was shoved into an MRI machine.
By the time they pulled him off the treadmill from his final stress test and handed him a glass of water his mind was foggy with mental and physical fatigue. The dull headache he had climbed out of the pod with was now a full blown searing rod that had settled right behind his left eye and his hands shook. His stomach felt as if at any moment it would surge upwards and take a bite from his lungs, the hunger long past growling and settled squarely into an ache that gnawed at him. His clothes clung at him in places, sweat now soaking his shirt and socks.
Pag wiped at his forehead before downing the glass of water in a single gulp, frowning as the water failed to diminish his hunger but rather made it worse. “Is there any chance were about done. I’m starving.” He said weekly as he looked up at the techs.
“Once your vitals are back to a resting pattern then we will grab you something to eat and get you to your room.” Marie, a short blonde woman with a black skirt that fell to her calves said. Pag had realized early on that her right eye was a prosthetic and found it hard to meet her gaze for fear she would think him rude for staring when he was just amazed at how realistic it was, it even moved like her other, the only reason he even realised it was a fake was the way the light reflected off of it. Hell even the scars around that eye looked more like wrinkles and lines that come with age rather than scars.
“So I’m done then?” he asked as he leaned back in the cold metal folding chair, taking a deep breath.
“Unless Jorge says otherwise, yes.” She said taking his empty cup and replacing it with one full of something fizzy.
Pag looked down at the cup before taking a sip, his brows furrowing as the flavor of fruit loops washed over his taste buds. “7-up?” He asked glancing back up at her.
Marie nodded. “Yeah, help get your sugar back up to a decent level while you rest and wait for your food to arrive. Not supposed to give you anything aside from water, to make sure you stay hydrated, but you’ve had a pretty rough day so I figured that it’s highly unlikely that they monitor my secret stash.” She shrugged taking a sip from a cup with a smile.
“Thanks, I appreciate it. Any chance you can shed some light on what the heck is going on or do I have to wait for Jorge?”
Marie sighed and bit her lip “I-”
“Marie, thank you. That’ll be all. I can handle it from here.” Jorge called out, his voice cold and his words clipped as he held the door open and gestured for her to leave.
Marie glanced at Pag, offering a silent apology as she stood slowly and left. The click of her heels echoed off the walls until Jorge pulled the door shut behind him. He stood there for a moment, his eyes roving over the lab then slowly trudged over to a computer station and began tapping away at the keyboard. Pag sipped on the soda, his eyebrows furrowing as he watched Jorge who occasionally threw a glance his way.
Jorge rubbed his face and ran a hand through his hair before standing rapidly and approaching him. He stopped a few feet away from him, pulling a seat over to sit directly across from Pag. “Well, it looks like nothing major has changed since your pre-hire screening, but you really need to watch your sodium intake and probably need to take some calcium because it's on the low end.” He said, his voice tired.
“Great, you gonna tell me what the fuck is going on now?” Pag said calmly, the faint notes of irritation creeping in, as he sat his now empty cup on the floor. He wove his fingers together and placed his hands in his lap, his face peaceful, despite the roiling emotions that tore at him, as he gave Jorge his full attention.
Jorge nodded and sighed. “You are aware of the NDA that you signed before getting into that pod, correct?” He asked waiting for Pag to nod before he continued. “That pod unit that we pulled you out of earlier was an experimental pod known as the Lazarus pod. It uses highly sophisticated technology to sync your mind and the game servers together to allow you to play anytime, anywhere without any additional tech. However up to this point it has failed. Critically.” Here Jorge stopped and took a deep breath before continuing
“As best as I understand it, and keep in mind I’m just an RN with rudimentary understandings of how these things work, due to the technology being so advanced there was an issue with the power requirements that led to the previous testers of that pod not coming out of it alive.” Jorge shifted in his seat and leaned back a bit, opening his mouth to continue but Pag held a finger up.
“One, I’m pissed off, and to be entirely honest here it’s not just that my life was put on the line here but it is compounded by the fact that I wasn’t warned ahead of time. In fact I was actively lied to. If I’m being real here I probably would have still gotten into the pod knowing that the previous testers died. I don’t mind doing stupid especially if there’s a chance it will work and there’s a big pay out. Calculated risks are one thing but its when I’m not informed of the stupid and I do so unintentionally that I get pissed off. Even if the dice fall in my favor.” Pag said clenching his fists with a frown.
“And two?” Jorge asked leaning back in.
“How does it work?” Pag asked simply.
“To be honest I’m not too sure. Like I said, I’m an RN, I handle the medical aspects of this operation. Dave and the dev team can tell you more. What I do know is that it uses a unique power to resonate with the matrices within minerals that do not naturally occur on this planet to store data and sync with the servers.”
“Not naturally occurring?” Pag asked waving his hand in a circle trying to get him to continue.
Jorge shrugged. “To the best of my knowledge, the first time the mineral surfaced was after pallasite meteorites crashed to earth a few years back. Around 100 or so crystals comprised of that mineral have been found since and a few of our developers have even found a way to make synthetic ones. Jury is still out on if they function the same though. “Jorge held his hands up to stave off Pag’s question as he opened his mouth. “I don’t know anymore than that.” He said standing slowly.
“I was just going to ask when I can eat. I’ve not eaten anything since before I began my shift earlier.” Pag said rubbing a temple.
“I have a large pizza and a two liter on the way. Assuming Xian doesn’t waylay the poor delivery boy again it should be here in about thirty minutes or so. In the meantime if you want to shower you can, or you can go to the common room and hang out with some of the other offline players. I’ll take you to a room where you will stay temporarily after the food has arrived. All of your stuff is in there already, we just need to monitor you a little closer for a day or so to make sure that you have no adverse reactions. Also so if the information slips out, like it inevitably will, this will ensure no other plays will bother you until you’re more settled.” Jorge said rolling his shoulders and twisting at the waist until his back gave an audible pop.
“Common room?” Pag asked. “I wasn’t aware there was a common room. I was just told about our living quarters, the pod rooms, the medical ward and the cafeteria.” he said standing up and stretching.
“Ah, it’s a pretty big open room with retro consoles, arcade games, computers, TV’s and snack machines that you can purchase stuff from with your wristband. Most of the machines also accept payment via your wristband.” Jorge said sheepishly. “You should take a look at the facilities maps some time. We also have a gym, weight room, pool, and other recreational areas.”
“I can purchase things from machines with my wristband?” Pag asked his mouth began to water at the thought of a possible snack.
“If you have earned enough points in game yeah. It’s a new function that was implemented not long before you were hired. Our dev who created the bands also does some in game testing and came up with the idea. There are machines with food, the tablet in your room can use the points to order room service or even order clothes or other stuff. Hell xian uses his points to pay his house payment and utilities or buy clothes for his daughters. Though there are a few sites that are blocked after the uhm.” Here he stopped and his face flushed as he cleared his throat. “Bad Dragon incident. There’s a 13:1 ration for points to USD. Most players prefer to save the points up so that they get automatically converted to major cash bonus at the end of the month but some have been trying it out.” Jorge said padding over to the door and holding it open for him. “So, what would you prefer?” He asked.
“Lets try the common room for a bit” Pag said slowly.
Jorge nodded and waved for him to follow. “Right now the servers are down for maintenance so there should be a few players in there. Let's not say anything about the pod. Most, if not all of them, are unaware of its existence.”
Pag followed behind him, his stomach grumbling at him, and offered no response as he tried to get his bearings. They took a turn and the floor switched from linoleum to a pale icy blue carpet. The hallway widened up going from allowing two people to walk side by side down it to the point that four or five people could possibly walk down it with plenty of room to spare. Pag was just about to ask how much further they had to go when they stopped outside a set of double doors that stood wide open, offering a view of a room filled with several kinds of gaming equipment. His eyes fell on the machines in that lined the back of the room and his stomach growled.
There was a machine filled with ice cream bars, a machine that served soft serve cones, one with chips and snack cakes, one with fruit, at least three machines offering even the most obscure brands or flavors of soda, a Japanese style ramen machine and a coffee vending machine, a machine with what looked to be cans of sipping soup, a machine with microwaveable frozen dinners, and a machine with hamburgers. Those were just the ones that he could see and make out from where he stood.
“Jorge, please don’t tell me you told them that we needed another break from the game to socialize and exercise” A voice called out from across the room.
“Nope not my doing this time Charlie.” Jorge said with a laugh. “Dave’s doing this time. A major game overhaul from what I understand. Don’t quote me on that though, I’m just a medic.” Pag looked over to the young man sitting at a table with a steaming bowl of ramen and a can of Big Red.
“Just a medic he says” Another person calls out with a laugh. Pag glanced over to see a women with cyan colored hair and thick eyeliner. The overhead lights glinted off of the septum piercing and she caught his gaze with a smug smile.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“How about I grab you a soda and show you how the machines work then come back when your food arrives.” Jorge said quietly with a chuckle as he turned to Pag.
Pag gave a nod as he took in the various people that milled about the room. There had to have been three dozen or more just in this room alone.
Jorge led the way into the room, heading straight for the machines. “You have a preference on what you would like to drink?” Jorge asked him.
Pag looked between the nearest drink machines before pointing at one. “An Orange Crush would be great.” He said stepping closer to watch.
Jorge slid his sleeve up and held his wrist band up to the palm sized LCD screen embedded into the machine. After a moment there was a chime and the screen switched on.
624 credits available. 26 credits to purchase 16 oz. Please select your purchase or cancel now.
Jorge pushed the number combo for an Orange Crush then pressed accept.
Your new total is 598. Thank you for your purchase.
The Orange Crush slid into the receiving slot and Jorge handed it to him. “Don’t fill up on snack foods, your new temporary room doesn’t have a mini-fridge.” He said patting Pag on the shoulder.
“My old one didn’t either.” He said furrowing his brows as he twisted off the lid and took a gulp from the bottle.
Jorge didn’t respond, simply giving him a wry smile before turning to leave. “I’ll be back when your food is here. Try not to let them eat you alive kid.” He chuckled.
Pag watched him go sipping from the bottle some before turning to a machine and holding his wristband to it to check his available credits.
650,000 credits available. One bowl of Ramen 39 credits. Please make a selection or cancel now.
Pag coughed, Orange Crush burning its way up his sinuses. He slapped a button to make a selection and remove the obscene number from the screen before anyone else saw it. There was a whirring noise and the smell of beef broth drifted up to him.
Would you like to add any customization's to your order?
Pag blinked and looked through the options, clicking on the option to add extra meat, an egg and to add extra spice before completing his order.
Your new total is 649,959. Thank you for your purchase.
A plastic bowl dropped into a small chamber behind a glass door. Noodles, broth, salted meat, a boiled egg fell into the bowl and a chime let him know it was ready for him to eat. Pag slid the door open and pulled the bowl out. He looked around and spotted a container of individually wrapped forks, spoons, and chopsticks. He walked slowly, weaving between the tables as he headed to the container careful not to spill any of the ramen.
“HEEEEEY, its Paggums!” a familiar voice called out from behind.
Pag winced and sighed as he sat his bowl down grabbing a disposable fork from the cup in the center of the table. He plopped down in a seat, hoping that if he ignored the voice its owner would pass him by.
“Christian, leave the kid alone. He obviously just wants to eat.” Another voice called out as Xian slid into the seat across from him.
“Nonsense. I just want to check in on him” Xian said waving off someone behind Pag. “How's it going kid? Enjoying the game so far?”
Pag nodded around a mouthful of ramen and swallowed. “So far so good. Just doing some social quests and stuff.” He said pushing the recent events from his mind and shrugging before taking another bite.
“Hey, nothing wrong with social quests. Gotta start somewhere and you can still get pretty high level off of just socials alone.” Xian said with a smile before leaning in. “You get to check out the shrines to Ilmas any?”
Pag coughed, heat rising up his neck and across his cheeks. He shook his head and shoved another bite into his mouth.
“Xian, leave him be man. Come check out the info for the new event and the updated scoreboard that the devs just released.” Charlie called over holding up a tablet.
Xian stood quickly and rushed over to look at Charlie’s tablet. Pag released a sigh of release and finished off the ramen, noting with surprise that despite the salt used to preserve the beef it was still very tender and savory.
“You will have to excuse Xian, he can be rather incorrigible. Sometimes you have to just tell him to fuck off. In the kindest way, he’s harmless. He just likes to tease people. He’s a good guy, just trying to get by and earn enough to put his girls through a decent school now that they’ve all been privatized.” a tired voice said from behind.
Pag twisted in his seat and looked up at the man behind him. He blinked, recognition shooting through him as he noted the lusciously long hair and vape he held.
“My name’s Frank, I’m a dev and a tester. My game tag is SkiptumHuga though we’ve not crossed paths in game yet. I wanted to apologize for all the crap you’ve had to deal with. I’m the one that changed your bindings so you wouldn’t go back to soohan when you died after sean booted you from the tutorial. I’d also like to let you know that Jorge and I both tried to talk Dave out of using the Lazarus pods. Guess he just decided to do it without telling anyone this time so no one would argue. He’s a fucking idiot. He doesn’t even read the documentation the devs or engineers give him and documentation is the lifeblood of any project. All he cares about are profits and keeping the shareholders happy.”
Pag stared at the bottom of the empty ramen bowl for a moment then met Franks gaze. “It’s not that big of a deal. I’m just irritated that I wasn’t warned ahead of time.”
Frank nodded thoughtfully and took a drag from his vape. “I can understand that.” he exhaled slowly, careful to blow it away from Pag. “So how was the game play versus a regular pod?”
Pag shrugged. “It didn’t feel or seem any different that I could tell but I didn’t really get much time in to check it out or know that I needed to be looking if things were different.”
“Seeing as the servers are down for a while you likely won’t get a chance to test whether or not it synced up to allow you access to the game without the use of a pod or helmet.” Frank said sitting lower in his seat. “Shame.”
A hand rested on his shoulder and he turned to see Jorge. “Food’s here, C'mon. Lets get you to your room so you can eat and get some rest.” He said giving a small nod to Frank.
Pag stood and tossed his bowl, fork and now empty orange soda bottle into a nearby trash can. “see you around Frank. Maybe we’ll get to meet up in game some time.” Pag said as he and Jorge headed for the door, still surprisingly hungry. Frank offered a small half wave and took a long drag from his vape.
As they reached the doors the smell of smoke reached his nose but just as he was about to say something Jorge whirled around, furiously scanning the room before settling on the vending machines in the back. A near inaudible curse fell from his lips and he shook his head. “Looks like Dennis broke another machine.” He sighed and turned back to the hallway. “Thank god I’m not maintenance. Lets go.”
Pag leaned back in his chair, setting his cup of sprite next to the remains of his fifth piece of chicken, tomato and extra extra extra garlic and cheese pizza. He’d been surprised to find his favorite pizza waiting for him in his room, but the surprise had quickly faded after he remembered the personality questionnaire that he had filled out along with his pre-hire paperwork. He looked around the pristine room and scratched at the new sensors Jorge had told him in no uncertain terms that he was to leave on until further notice then stood. The plush carpet tickling his bare feet with each step. Now that he had eaten well beyond his fill it was time for a nice hot shower followed by sleep. The cold wooden floor of the bathroom was a shock as he stepped in and quickly stripped and slipped into the shower, turning it to the hottest possible setting. There was a moment of frigid water and he cursed flinching away from the shower head to the corner furthest away where he stayed until steam billowed out to fog up to fill the whole bathroom. He eased into the water and stood there, letting his muscles relax under the stream of scalding hot water until it marginally cooled. The memory of the bath in game made him laugh and he scrubbed at himself, slightly gentler around the diodes and sensors Jorge had placed then stood there until the water became a tepid flow. He quickly turned the water off and dried, wrapping the towel around his waist as he returned to the bed room.
The dresser slid open soundlessly and he pulled out a pair of flannel pajamas bottoms and a pair of boxers. Once Pag slipped those on he glanced at the pizza box, his aching stomach protesting that there wasn’t even enough room to so much as lift the lid for one last look. He sighed and tossed the box into the trashcan along with the empty two liter and cup then placed the trash can out in the hallway next to his door. Pulling the door shut behind him he looked around the room again before using the blessedly low tech lights witch to flip the lights off and made his way to the bed.
Though the sheets were not as soft as those in his previous room the bed was infinitely more soft than his. He sunk into the bed, his eyes suddenly burning with the need to sleep. He stared into the darkness for a while before rolling over to his side and drifting off to a dreamless sleep only waking when there was a loud knock at his door.
Pag sighed and lay there, hoping that if he ignored it they’d leave him be, sleep still fogging his mind. The knocking continued insistently and he let loose a low growl throwing back the covers. He stalked over to the door and tore it open squinting into the glaring lights of the hallway.
Dave stood before him with a winsome smile, holding a covered platter. “I thought you could use a real meal before we got the day started”
His voice was far too… Just far too much for him right now so Pag said nothing and just stared at him. Dave’s smile dropped marginally and Pag slowly started to close the door.
Dave sputtered in surprise sticking his foot in front of the door to prevent it from closing entirely. “It’s that steak meal I promised you buddy.” He chuckled nervously.
Pag opened the door enough to grab the large, awkwardly weighted platter and look Dave in the eyes as he said. “I’m not your buddy.” before shutting the door and locking it.
The light that seeped in beneath the door was enough to guide to the small table and single chair that he had eaten pizza the night before. He placed the platter on the table, lifting the lid and closing his eyes as he leaned into the heavenly aroma that rose from the food. He stood that way a moment before examining the meal. His eyebrows rose as he took in the sight of the filet mignon, baked potato, salad and cheesecake drizzled with chocolate.
“I just wanted to help you get the hang of using the Lazarus systems before we start allowing other players to use it since, thanks to you, we finally figured out what was wrong with our previous methods.” Dave's voice was muffled as he called through the door.
Pag frowned at the door and shook his head as he reached for the company issued tablet to check the time. 1:45 pm. He rolled his eyes in disgust. It may as well be 1:45 am, he was a night shift tester for a reason. Not to mention it had barely been 8 am when he had lain down to go to sleep.
“That bonus you got was just for using the pod successfully. You’ll get comparable ones for playing without tech and discovering hidden things or bugs in-game. We’ll be opening the pod up to the top 50 players beginning tomorrow then more over the course of the next few weeks once all diagnostics have been run and the medical staff clear you as healthy.” Dave's voice was slightly louder.
“Come back later, I’m not even dressed. I need time to get the basics out of the way. Be sure to bring Jorge or Frank with you. I don’t want to see your face without one of them to act as mediator and witness.” Pag called out to him as he cut into the steak and stuck a thick piece into his mouth.
There was a moment of silence, a deep sigh and Dave muttered. “Fair enough.” the sound of his retreating footsteps fading down the hallway.
Far too soon the meal was scraped clean from the plates and Pag covered the platter back up before padding over to the light switch and flipping it on. He stretched languidly before slipping into the bathroom and tending to the most basic, and currently most urgent, need. With that taken care of he washed his hands and face before returning to the room. He dug out a pair of jeans and plain grey shirt.
He picked the platter up and sat it outside his door, grabbing the trashcan and returning it to its place in his room as he sat at the table, pulling the tablet over. With a swipe he unlocked it and tapped the A.R.Games News app. After a moment of loading the app popped up. Article after article about games they already had on the market, tech reviews, and videos of top players in game displaying character skills against impossible creatures.
He swapped tabs to the Page specifically for beta testers and scrolled to the article about the upcoming event. As he skimmed it he frowned. Apparently it was broken into four parts. The first part was for all players to raise skill levels. Each level would tally up as points with the higher levels offering more points per level while lower levels offering considerably less. It made sense, the higher levels got progressively harder to achieve. The second part was a dungeon diving event in which you gained points by defeating mobs and bosses. The third was an event focused on faction reputation gains. The fourth and final event was an event focused on finding hidden knowledge and bugs.
Pag sighed, the event focused on skill gains was likely to be a bust for him unless he found a way to level and learn skills super fast but the others were plausible. He swiped over to the leader-board Page and clicked on the option of Ludere Online.
Ludere online Leader-boards:
1. FelineFine – 8085
2. PillowHorror - 7989
3. Xian – 7888
4. Exile - 7887
5. PizzaBoi- 7506
6. Scout - 7505
7. Rotapan - 6052
8. SkiptumHuga - 5009
9. Withered - 5001
10. CoinKnight – 3211
11. ProlixalParagon – 3097
12. WitheredWarrior – 3096
13. N00bSl4y3r69 – 3057
14. QuartzDonut - 3003
15. Kingpeony – 2999
16. Pag – 2000
17. TheHeirApparent- 1992
Pag choked and did a double take at the screen. He hit the refresh button and double checked that he hadn’t had a stroke but when the Page reloaded it hadn’t changed. A knock at the door brought him back to the present and he slid the tablet away from himself. He wasn’t sure how they figured the ranking, nor how it translated to the points and it was definitely something he would have to ask about. If he was ranked at 16 with a score of 2000 but had accrued 650,000 points from what he could only assume was supposed to be hush money. The knock came again, more insistent and he sighed crossing the room and pulling the door open.
Jorge arched a brow at him, the lines in his face somehow deeper than they were earlier before he had gone to sleep. Or had Pag just not been aware enough, too mired in his sleep deprivation and his own whirling thoughts.
“Dave told me you wouldn’t proceed any further without me or frank to witness?” Jorge asked musingly.
“Yeah” was all Pag offered, adding a shrug as an afterthought scratching his chin.
“Well frank is home with a sick toddler while his wife is out of town so I guess I’m your mediator” Jorge said motioning for Pag to follow.
“Right, uh. What's on the docket today?” Pag said slipping on his shoes, flipping of the lights and pulling the door shut.
“The simple break down is this. We will be testing the link between you and the servers. The long story is that we will first have you log in to your account. If you are successful then you can choose to either play a shift or you call it a day. You will eventually have to test your link in various locations but today we just need to see if you can boot it up so to speak.” Jorge said leading him down the hallway.
“If that’s all I’m doing then why couldn’t I just do that in my bedroom or the temp room here in the medical ward?” Pag asked, irritation rising in the back of his mind.
“We need to monitor you and have easy access in case of a medical emergency. It is also likely to be rather difficult to access the game the first few times so we’re going to put you in a sensory deprivation room.” He said stopping at a heavy looking door that Pag had failed to notice previously.
“A sensory deprivation room?” Pag asked
“Like a deprivation tank but bigger. We will be able to see you and if need be have easy access in the event of an emergency.” Jorge said looking him up and down. “Sadly you will have to deal with the diodes a little longer and also it’d be best if you were in as few layers as possible.
“You want me to float in a pitch black room, in nothing but my birthday suit, while you guys watch me ?” Pag asked incredulously
“Well you can keep your skivvies on” Jorge said with an apologetic smile.
Pag sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He glanced around and motioned to a nearby restroom with a questioning expression. Jorge gave a nod and leaned against the wall stifling a yawn. Pag trudged to the restroom and slipped in. Without even checking the stalls he slipped his clothes off and as an afterthought ensured his bladder was sufficiently empty before returning to Jorge.
“What should I do with these?” Pag asked holding up the wad of clothes and shoes.
“Here, here’s a bag to put them in. We’ll hold onto them until the test is done.” Jorge said holding out a small plastic sack.
Pag dropped the wad in the sack and took a deep breath, placing a hand on the doorknob. He gave it a slight twist and stepped into a brightly lit room. In the center was a pool of water that was likely on a saltwater pump if the smell was any indicator.
“Once you're in and settled I'll flip the lights off. We will be able to hear and see you. If need be we will also be able to speak with you but we will try to refrain. Just relax and try to access the game.” Jorge said with a weak smile as he pulled the door shut.
Pag took another deep breath and came to the edge of the pool. Letting the breath out, and cursing beneath it he waded into the water out to the center of the pool where he dipped below the surface to acclimate to the waters alleged 93 degree temperature. The average temperature of the outermost skin layer that most sensory deprivation tanks were. He rose from the water and wiped the water from his face. It was definitely a salt water system, they tended to have a softer water texture and aided in buoyancy.
He relaxed and leaned back to a lying position, moderating his breaths to float on the surface of the water. After a few minutes of just floating the lights flipped off and he was wrapped in perfect darkness. He took a deep breath and imagined he was back in the pod preparing for another night shift. He visualized the boot up screens, entered his username, his password and tried to start up the game.
Still he was wrapped in darkness so complete and silent that he let loose the deep breath he had taken. Pag snorted, of course he wouldn’t have gotten it the first try, that would have been too easy. It’s not like he was the main character for an anime or manga. The memory of a video a friend of his once shared with him that was a parody of an anime they had been obsessed with at the time, in it the main character let loose a horrible shrieking. A sound that old computers had uttered when connecting to the internet using a method called dial up as his friend had told him. He stifled a laugh as he imagined the sound spilling from his mouth as he tried to connect to the game.