Chapter 5

Michael Estrisden POV (Tuesday 1630ish)

Exiting the lift Michael nodded to the security guard behind his desk. From there he exited the apartment complex and a few seconds later entered the back seat of a black SUV. Within moments the car entered the traffic. It was all very organized and Michael took a moment to feel awesome. That feeling dissipated by the time the car hit the fourth red light in a row. His family home was about half an hour from the city center. During the wait he read the forums tab on ‘Gods Online’ website through his tablet.

It seemed Gods Online appeared without warning about a month ago. From there its popularity quickly rose. A resounding theme was one of surprise, it seemed nobody had heard of the game before the trailer suddenly came out. The very idea of a VR game with such high graphics was unfeasible. That was until ‘Gods Online’ arrived. Another common theme was outcry at the exorbitant price of the capsule. It was around $3499.99 for pre-order. With the capsule came the game, with a 6-month free subscription. Michael was rather sympathetic to those that couldn’t afford the price. Perhaps if they had longer than a month to save up it would be different. Thankfully, (for those who couldn’t afford it) Jupiter Enterprises declared that in the following months the capsule would reduce in price. If the forums were anything to go on. There were hundreds of thousands of people waiting for the price to drop. If not more. Michael really had no idea how he had failed to hear of the game until the email yesterday. The games advertisements really seemed to be everywhere. He had passed at least three billboards advertising it while passing through the city.

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There was also a massive argument on which territory would be the best place to start. Michael really found it confusing. There was almost no information on the territories other than their name and what kind of territory they are. The Vikingesque territory was a kingdom, the Kingdoms were a mix of cultures, The Empire seemed to resemble the Roman Empire, it was suggested that the Sand people were tribal in nature but like the rest very little was known about them. Whether they even had cities was unknown. Michael figured he’d make a spontaneous decision when he was in character creation. Perhaps there would be more info there.

The SUV pulled into an exit on the motorway and realizing he was nearing home he turned off the tablet. Michael was curious about what his father and sister wanted. Especially since both seemed to think it was important enough to talk in person. Though likely his sister just wanted something. She would be better able to put her wide eyes to greater success face to face. Although his father was intimidating he was far more anxious about his mother. He had yet to return his mother’s calls. She wouldn’t be pleased. He had spent last night racking his brain on what he may have done to spark a phone call. If he knew he could have produced a feasible excuse. Unfortunately, this plan was going to backfire as he no idea what he had done wrong.

Heading down the long driveway into his family’s property proper. He took a moment to admire this picturesque garden which was so near the center of the city.  The house proper was separated into several different buildings. From a library to swimming pool there was quite a variety. The main house was three floors tall and while roomy, Michael had always wondered why it wasn’t bigger. As the car at the closest point to the house Michael thanked the nameless driver and exited the vehicle. With a heavy sigh Michael knocked on the thick door.