“Congratulations, Mr. Ellis. You’ve won the right to create a custom faction in the upcoming game, 【Pervasive Stars】.”

When Julia Harriette said that, Jonah Ellis just looked towards the window, watching the urban scenery blur by. As he… frankly, he was escaping from reality. As he came to grips with what was said, he just scratched his head, feeling that this wasn’t real. After all, in all of his 31 years of life, he had never successfully won anything in any raffle or lottery. This time may not be money, but still, he won something.

After resignation seemed to show on his face, Julia spoke to him again.

“Are you ready to listen to what will happen from now on?”

“... Yeah. No, not really, but yeah.”

Honestly, things were moving too quick. But in this, Jonah raised his opinion of this woman in his mind, since she seemed good at timing and understanding, as well as reading expressions. He still didn’t know what her position was, but it was possible that she was in a high position. Not a low one, despite her showing some deference to him, but a high one. Because of the fact that she was the one to pick him up, for something that was probably a high priority and not to be trusted to just anyone.

Looking at her briefly, he took the moment to take in her appearance now that he wasn’t in his working mindset.

She had medium brown hair, a soft white complexion, no visible signs of using makeup, and yet her eyes seemed to stand out pleasantly. Her eyes were an emerald green. She was slightly tall, and gave off a secretary woman kind of impression. Her chest was perhaps about average? Her black suit and white shirt seemed to prop them up a bit, and the clothes themselves didn’t seem uncommon. As for her age… He would have to guess that she was around her mid-thirties. She looked too mature and knowledgeable to be younger than that.

He had seen a lot of naive faces in his life, after all.

“Have you finished appraising me, Mr. Ellis?”

“... Why are all the women I know so sharp…? Um, just Jonah is fine, Ms. Harriette.”

“Then, I’ll take you up on that, Jonah. Julia is fine, as well.”

Truly, it felt like too many women throughout his life were sharp. That isn’t to say that he was easily readable. He was actually quite hard to read, since his expression would rarely change unless he forced it. He just seemed to have the bad luck that women he would talk to would be able to see through him easily, and he still doesn’t know how they do it.

“We’re currently on the way to the airport. There’s a private jet to take us to the main branch of SynTec Studios. Well… not that we really have a main branch, as we are a coalition of companies. We’ve had a building prepared to serve as such for the meantime. All of the winners are being taken there, same as you.”

“Will English be fine?”

“Yes. All of the employees can speak English fluently. If you wish to converse with them in their native tongue, you’ll have to make do with the prototype UC. Flawed as it may be, it was to cut down on costs and the spread of information.”

“Universal Communicator… Not as catchy as Universal Translator. If I remember correctly, some film fan made a patent for the name and wouldn’t give the rights for it to anyone, no matter what was offered…”

“Well, it’s a big world. Not everyone is going to be understanding.”

“Right. Sorry, I digressed. Please, continue.”

“Once we arrive at the main branch, all devices will be confiscated temporarily, in order to install the NDAP. Those who do not agree to this, will be asked to leave, and their winnings denied.”

“Fair enough.”

With the advancement technology, the need for privacy to be upheld was also increased and developed. When a company wishes to do a non-disclosure agreement, they can now use a program on devices. This program will automatically censor information in real-time and inform the involved parties when the agreed non-disclosable content is mentioned in any form.

Though, there are some people who are experts at working around this programs using cryptology.

“There will be a room prepared to sleep in for the night, and 24 hours later, a meeting will be held. This 24 hours is there to give enough time for everyone to arrive, and have at least 8 hours sleep. What you do with the rest of your time is up to you. A low level clearance will be added to your ID card, which will give you access to facilities such as the gym, pool, cafeteria, lounge and game room. Clothing and other such things will be supplied.

However, we are not a hotel, so please don’t expect such a service from us.”

“... I feel like that’s a flag for one of the other winners to expect exactly that…”

“... Coming from a game designer and programmer, that sounds too convincing…”

With a wry smile towards each other, they see the airport in the distance. Seems like they would reach their destination soon.

After they got to the airport, they didn’t have to wait for anything, and went straight for their terminal. At the gate, Jonah swiped his ID Card and went through, following Julia. It seemed that the two bodyguards wouldn’t be coming along.

With the advancement of technology, the ID card had become a handy thing. It served as ID, debit card, passport, driver's license, keycard, house keys, and could also be loaded with credentials such as the aforementioned low level clearance. For example, his work credentials and clearance level were loaded on his, allowing him access to different floors of the building.

At first, there was a lot of concern about putting so many things into one card. However, after a few successful cases over the decades, it quickly exploded and became widely used. On another note, currencies had recently finished being merged into one, becoming eC, Earth Currency. Specialty and unique stores still used their original currency now, which has become a bit more valuable, and is somewhat of a novelty.

While thinking these things, Jonah was welcomed onto the plane by a beautiful flight attendant. As is the standard, I guess. Or rather, I feel she’s a tier higher than the usual flight attendants? While thinking that, he smiled at the welcome and greeting, and took a seat across from Julia. They seemed to be the only passengers.

“Guess no one else in this city won.”

“There were many who bought a ticket across the world, after all. Well, the flight will be about 5 hours.”

“5 hours? Guess I happen to live in quite the opposite direction.”

“How long does it usually take you to get to your destination by flying?”

“An hour, two tops. Some business trips across the ocean. I heard from my grandparents that it used to take them half a day to do the same distance.”

“Is there anything you would like to know before we arrive? There are some things I’m not allowed to reveal yet, though.”

“Hmm… Nah, I’ll wait until we get there. Were you based here or did you get a flight out to get me?”

“I caught a flight out, same as the others team leaders. All of us leaders are those who have been working on the AI factions for the game. We were split up and will be in charge of a winner each. By the way, we will be referring to you 15 winners as the Frontrunners. The higher ups couldn’t decide on a good name, so it may be subject to change.”

“I see. So you’ll be in charge of the creation of the faction I think up?”

“That’s right. I’ll be here to guide you in their creation, and give you pointers to better make them mesh into the game without troubles. Though I feel I’m lucky, since you’re a game programmer. You probably understand balancing and design quite well, so I’m looking forward to your faction.”

“Thank you for the compliment. I’ve been making some notes on what I could do, but they’re on my computer at home. Well, it’s saved to my Link, so I’ll be able to retrieve it to my terminal. I also write as a hobby, so I’ve gone a bit out there with what I’ve prepared. We’ll see how it holds up when it comes to using it, though.”

“Oh, then I’m certainly going to be looking forward to it.”

“I think I’ll get some rest now, while I’m still denying reality. I might be too excited to sleep later on.”

“I understand. Then, have a good rest. I shall do the same, since this is my second flight of the day.”

Like that, they both took a supplied sleeping tablet given out on planes, and got comfortable in their reclined seats.

Airlines had, by popular demand, started supplying sleeping tablets to private and first class flyers. These are developed to work specifically for travelers, to avoid sickness or to just get a good nap. It was non-drowsy, and only assisted with sleeping. This way, if something were to happen on the plane, they could still wake up and be alert in short order.

----------------------------------------

Julia Harriette, 10 hours ago...

Julia had been in her office, working on tweaking some of the AI factions she was in charge of creating. Most of them had been fully designed, so they were now in the process of being balanced with each other before actually being implemented into the game. On top of that, they were coming up with more in-depth details for even the minor characters. This was such a large scale project, and everyone was putting in all their effort and love to make it successful.

After inputting primary details for one character, such as their major and minor traits, negative, positive and neutral, as well as a few lines of key events for their past and personality, she used the AI character assistant. This assistant was a tool that was mainly used by companies making large scale games, and it would take what you’ve given, run it through a database, and auto-fill the blanks so that it would be a nearly unique character.

Checking the result, Julia nodded in satisfaction. As she was about to work on the next, she got a message from one of the Directors, telling her to finish up as soon as possible and report to their office. She knew what it was for, because her and several other team leaders were told ahead of time that they would be in charge of the Frontrunners and their factions.

It seemed that her partner had been chosen. She was somewhat dreading it, knowing how unruly and idiotic some people could be, wanting everything without given anything. Finishing up her work, she tidied up and headed up to the Director’s Office.

Outside the door, she took a breath before knocking.

“Enter.”

“Excuse me.”

Opening the door and closing it behind her, she stood before one of the Directors for SynTec. He was from an older generation, but he was a gentle person. With a gesture, he motioned her to take a seat. With a nod, she sat down with a straight back. Receiving a pad handed to her as she sat, she got straight to work with the Director’s voice as a BGM.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“This is the public profile for the Frontrunner that you’ll be in charge of. Jonah Ellis.”

Operating the pad, she saw the rotating figure of Jonah Ellis, displaying his full likeness. He was dressed in a black suit, black tie, white shirt. It was a common look, especially for those that didn’t care for trends and appearances too much, and only did it to look the part. He had a black pair of glasses that were rectangular, and seemed to add a slight mature feel to him. With black hair, black eyes, pale white skin, he looked Japanese if not for his tall and thin build combined with his stoic expression.

She could imagine people thinking he was quite hard to approach and unreadable, but when she looked at the light in his eyes, she could tell that he was a gentle and kind person, who was probably simple and carefree. While she wouldn’t be able to read everyone just by looking at their eyes, she did know this type of person, since she had seen them often throughout life. Especially from her older brother who used to look after her as she grew up.

Looking into the details, it looked straight-forward.

Jonah Ellis. Born 2120.11.22. Left home at the age of 18. Worked on and off while learning programming in his free time. Managed to land an entry-level job to a game design company by submitting a well-prepared example of what he could do since he didn’t go and earn a degree. Thanks to that, he got more work experience, and moved up the company ladder to his current position of Project Leader at the young age of 27 and has been in that position for 4 years.

Thanks to his dedication and effort, he got his position purely with his own merit and not with any under the table dealings. It was also noted by him personally that he only works to fuel his hobbies which mainly consisted of gaming. Comments from employers and workmates that have left a review have spoken praises, with little to complain about. The reviewing of a public profile was used in place of things like references on CV’s, since each one would be checked by the government for any unnecessary comments which had nothing to do with the person’s profile.

“Non-smoker, casual drinker of less than once a month, healthy, no record of drug use, negative comments mostly only about how he appears cold, emotionless, hard to approach which could make it difficult for juniors to talk to him, or for him to be placed in a position as a public representative. Maybe I’ve drawn the lucky stick? Or since he’s a gamer, he may be more demanding…”

“Well, you’ll know once you meet and talk with him. We’ve already booked a flight on a private jet. You have an hour to be on it. It’s a bit rushed, but he lives quite the distance away, after all. We want to gather all of the Frontrunners before the winners in the air before the results of the lottery are announced. It’ll be easier to manage a single location and airport, rather than several places across the world.”

“Understood, Director. I’ve been prepared for a while, so I’ll leave immediately.”

“Good. There will be a couple of bodyguards to meet you at the other end with a vehicle. Though I don’t need to say it to you, I’ll say it anyway. Make sure it’s done discreetly, okay?”

“Of course. Then, I will be off.”

With a bow, she left the Director’s Office and grabbed a few things before leaving the building. A car was waiting to take to her to airport. On the ride, she ate her lunch which consisted of just cheese, and a drink of warm tea. There wasn’t much else she could have quickly without getting things dirty. And she would be stuck wearing her current outfit for the next dozen hours or so.

The trip to the airport wouldn’t take long, so she used the time to open her wrist terminal as a holo-pad, and began to get some work done. There was no point in trying to find out more about Jonah, since going beyond looking at the public profile would be a breach of privacy. They weren’t part of the government, so they were still subject to the law.

Besides, she would have plenty of time to get to know him in person, over the next week. The allotted time for the Frontrunners to get their factions submitted was a week from the announcement of the competition winners. The hardest part would probably be the team leaders having to explain without explaining.

They would have to reveal the same thing that was being released to the public, and nothing more. At the strictest, they would have to simply reject a proposal with a resounding “No” instead of explaining what wouldn’t work, since any such clarification could cause the smarter ones to figure out details about the game that aren’t intended to be released until the full release date.

Though having understood that the one she would be helping was a game programmer, she doubted she could keep much hidden from him. Programmers had this innate talent at understanding game mechanics, governing rules, and the flow of data. She wouldn’t be surprised if he made a faction that didn’t need any tweaking after the first submission.

… Actually, no. She would be plenty surprised. None of those working on the faction’s project had managed to get a submission through on the first try, because everyone managed to find flaws and unbalanced portions, as well as possible outcomes and liabilities.

In short order, Julia arrived at the airport, and was immediately put on the private jet. She saw another 14 of them lined up and being fueled, so it looked like the others would be heading out soon. She was probably the first to be briefed and sent out. Given the fact she didn’t waste time and left immediately, that probably helped.

Once boarded, the plane took off in due order, and the five hour trip was spent with Julia taking a nap. Once the plane had arrived, she spent a few minutes fixing her appearance and hair with the help of the flight attendant, who she found to be a beauty in a tier above what she could reach naturally.

After leaving the airport, she was met with two burly men who were to be bodyguards, and a black vehicle. After a quick introduction, they got a move on. A short drive later, they were at a tall building dedicated to a company which focused on software development, including game programming. They didn’t particularly make a name for themselves, and were usually contracted to deliver things. Not a minor company, but not a major company either.

Entering with the bodyguards slightly behind her, Julia approached the receptionist with a practiced smile. She gave a quick glance to the woman’s name tag. Elisa Voorhees. She couldn’t quite place where she had seen that last name before…

“Hi, how can I help you?”

“Sorry for the sudden appearance. I’m looking for Jonah Ellis, in regards to an important matter that needs his urgent attention. Could you please see if he is available?”

Pondering for a moment, Elisa had a finger to her chin as she recalled the face that goes with the name. A kind man, despite his hardened exterior. First in to work, last to leave work in his team. Quickly checking his schedule, she found that there wasn’t any important things he had going on at the moment, so he should be available. Sending a message through, a quick response came, indicating he had been free.

“He will be down shortly. Feel free to have a seat, ma’am.”

“Thank you, but I’ll be alright.”

Like that, Julia stood in a place out of the way so that she wouldn’t interrupt business as she waited. Not longer than five minutes later, a man walked down the hallway. He had a straight posture and appeared somewhat broad despite his thin stature. His expression and body language seemed to ooze a feeling of “do not approach me”, yet once she saw his eyes, she could confirm that he wasn’t thinking such a thing. It was somewhat typical of an introvert to desire their space, and his body spoke that. His eyes seemed kind, though.

As they began to talk, she kept eye contact as much as she could, since she knew that she wouldn’t be able to tell much with just looking at his body language. Throughout their short dialogue at the receptionist counter, she could see him come to an understanding of the situation.

While they were in the car, it was fun watching the emotions in Jonah’s eyes. It reminded Julia of her childhood and growing up with her brother. She even teased Jonah when she realised he was trying to get a read on her, and then stopped for just a moment on her chest. She wasn’t annoyed though. She did get quite a bit of attention because of them, especially with how he usually dressed at work.

With her chest defined well thanks to her suit, she was used to the ogling of others. Rarely any of them did it rudely though, but more so because they couldn’t help it. Of course, when pervs tried to sneak a longer peek, she was well versed in angling her body and diverting attention and conversation in order to avoid them. Being their boss also helped.

Not that it stopped her being playfully flirty with some female colleagues that ogled. Platonically, of course. Not good to get in a relationship with workmates, and she was good friends with the ones she did it with.

After enjoying the flustered emotions in Jonah’s eyes when he found out he was a winner, she went on to explain things even after they boarded the plane. Though she did seem to notice that he dwelled on details here and there, as if he was having an internal monologue as he did things.

When they went to sleep on the plane, she finally got some good rest. And of course, she asked the flight attendant to wake her up before Jonah, so that she could fix her appearance like before. Being the understanding female soul that she was, the flight attendant whose name was Alexis was more than happy to agree.

Private jets allowed passengers and flight attendants to bond more like friends, than simply an employee and a client. Though, this differed depending on the passenger. There were some who liked to show off their wealth and power, and others who liked things strictly professional.

Just as they were about to land, Julia freshened up and fixed her appearance in the spacious lavatory of the jet. Making sure the sleepiness was out of her eyes, she returned to her seat to see Jonah now awake and staring out the window in a daze.

“Did you manage to rest well, Jonah?”

“Can’t complain. How about yourself? You’ve probably had a longer day than me, with twice the jet lag.”

“Well, I’ll survive. Once we’re out of the airport, we’ll be picked up and taken to the main branch. From there, as I’ve stated before, you’ll be given time to rest and adjust before we call you for a meeting with the rest of the Frontrunners. If you would like to ask any questions, you can contact me. I’ll have security add my work contact details to your wrist terminal when they add the NDAP.”

“Understood. Oh, will it be possible to play my games here? I have a daily gaming schedule I’ve kept to over the years. I have guilds to message and whatnot.”

“Hmm… It should be possible, but I’ll have someone check on that for you.”

“Thanks.”

With that short conversation, they finished procedures for landing, and then went through the terminal to leave the airport. Jonah had dwelled on the thought of grabbing something to eat, but she convinced him to wait until they got to the branch, where he would have the cafeteria. After getting in the next vehicle, the two of them were silent for the most part. Jonah wasn’t the type to start a conversation from what Julia could see.

He seemed more of the type to do his own thing, at his own pace. He was still polite and listened when spoken to, though. Gave enough of a response so that you understood he was listening, while still keeping his distance and remaining immersed in his own mind. She couldn’t help but wonder what was going through his mind. Well, in fact, there was only thoughts of what he would write, giving him a slightly more broody look.

Upon arrival at the branch, they went through a couple of security stops first, before being taken inside to a security station, where the guard went through the usual routine of asking for all devices before doing a scan of the body for anything else.

“I’ll remind you again, that you’ll get your devices back in short order. Perhaps in the next three hours. They have to do an external scan for any listening devices, hacking software and so on, before putting in the NDAP.”

“Well, I can understand the concern. I’ve seen some of the malware of both the past and present, and the cunningness of their creators has only gotten nastier.”

“Part of your work?”

“Nah. Curiosity killed the cat. Lost a lot of data in the process of trapping and analyzing some malware that got into my home computer when I started browsing around to learn about them.”

“... I don’t know how to respond to that.”

“That’s what my friends said, too. Though my ex hit me over the head.”

“I… see. In any case, I’ll guide you to the Frontrunner’s temporary dormitory for the meantime, before I get back to work.”

“Thank you.”

After walking through the main building, they passed under a sheltered walkway and into a detached building which, upon entering, did seem to be some sort of living apartment. Julia knew that it was originally designed for workers to live at if they chose to, but few had decided to actually use them, and fair enough. They already work here, so why be so close even on their days off? It was a pain to go in and out of security.

“This here is the living room and kitchen. Well, it’s more of a common room. Bedrooms are upstairs, feel free to pick any of them. Seems you’re the first here, so it’s your pick on what room you want. When you’ve decided, just swipe your ID and it will be encoded to your ID and yours only, aside from those with master key credentials.”

“Understood. I guess the terminals here will have a layout of the branch so that I can find the cafeteria?”

“Correct. You’ll find a terminal in your room. Now that you’re here, I need to get going. The higher ups will want to be informed that you’ve arrived. After that is just waiting for the rest.”

“Okay. Well, good luck with your day, Julia.”

“Same to you, Jonah.”

Like that, Julia left the room and headed over to the Director’s Office. Once there, she followed the same procedure of knocking and sitting down before getting to business.

“So you’ve met him. What do you think of him, now that you’ve seen him in person?”

“Well, certainly better than what I was expecting. I’m also glad that he isn’t the type to lord their status or expect things to be given to them. I’m looking forward to seeing his faction finished.”

“Finished? So he’s already been working on it?”

“Yes. He has been making notes ever since the competition was announced. In the event he didn’t win, we was going to use them to create a new web novel. Apparently he’s a writer on top of being a game enthusiast and game programmer.”

“I can see now why you look forward to what he makes. Any idea on if he plans to make a proposal for a game mechanic?”

“Actually, yes. While he didn’t mention it directly, I do have the feeling after talking to him. He may want something such as a galactic network. Specifically, the dark net, similar to the present day and age which has a dark net underneath everything.”

“Hmm… If he doesn’t propose such, I might make the proposal myself. It’s something that could add a unique element to the game. We were planning on having a system and sector-based network, but we could possibly keep those separate and only connect them via the deep web, and further, the dark web.”

“We are trying to imitate reality as much as possible, after all. There would need to be a black market for players who like to commit villainy, even if it isn’t something to be proud of. I wonder if those 『Warlords』 will join and do the same things?”

“About that, I learned something new from an acquaintance who plays the game that has those Warlord fellas in it. And from what they said, its possible that your charge is the leader of them.”

“That… I don’t know what to say to that…”

“Well, it’s not confirmed. Still, if they are one and the same, then it would surely make things get very interesting, even before the game is released…”

“Indeed… Maybe I should be afraid of what he will make, rather than anticipating it…”

----------------------------------------

“ACHOO! Dangit, did I catch a cold?”

So says Jonah, as he downloaded his notes and began to work on his faction creation already.