Sasha didn’t really care about anything as he got up on a work day. Every time he had to go to work it was a chore, and he didn’t bother to even get food before heading off to work. He didn’t care enough to do anything but roll out of bed and head out the door. Nothing was different that day, the day it all went wrong, the day he got fired.
Mornings started at 11:50 for Sasha. He’d get ready and get out the door sometime after noon. Exhausted as he was, it wasn’t surprising that he considered most of the afternoon still morning. It was all started with his stupid alarm, blaring loudly. Honestly, half the time it didn’t do anything because he still had his VR Helmet on. Leaving it on too long was supposed to be bad for you, but honestly so was staring at a computer screen until five in the morning and he’d done that for years before he’d gotten his rig.
Thankfully his Helmet came with its own alarm, one that was the neurological equivalent of shooting caffeine and getting blasted in the ears by a claxon at the same time. So, yes, he did get up, and he tossed his ‘uniform’ that consisted of a t-shirt and a hat into his shitty bag. “Bye Mom!” He said as he walked out. Of course, he could have eaten at home for far cheaper, but that would have been too much work. So instead, his routine.
Sasha’s day started with an hour-long bike ride. It wasn’t his bike, it was a rented bike they installed back in the 2020s. The whole thing was busted to hell after so much time, but it still held together. It was cheaper than buying a bike, at least that’s what he convinced himself. By now he could have bought multiple bikes, and he knew that, but he honestly couldn’t be bothered to do something inconvenient for money. That’s about half of why he was in his current position.
Of course, Sasha’s wearables detected his heart rate and marked that he was exercising. It also marked every turn he took, everywhere he went, and how much traffic there was. The future was a surveillance nightmare, just like his dad used to predict. But… Well, it was innocuous. Sure, Sasha thought, they could find out everything about me… but why would they care. All he mattered to the survalors was as a tiny part of a massive focus group, massive croud sourced directions and traffic reports.
Sasha’s app had been around for a while, part of a president Michele Obama initiative to try and fix obesity. It ran at a loss, at least on him, because it rewarded good exercise with vouchers for food. It was essentially pandering to anti-welfare lobbyists, making sure that even government funded food required work and wasn't free, but whatever. It was just enough for food.
As he rode he grabbed his phone and pressed play. During his bike rides he liked to listen to audiobooks. For a few years he’d been obsessed with Gamelit and LitRPG titles, and some of them were still burning a hole in his audible pocket, but he was now going off on this big Native American SF kick that was keeping him busy. It was his biggest addiction, even more than games.
Today he spent literally half an hour trying to pick a book before finally sighing and flicking to a different page. Instead of the book, he put on a podcast. He loved podcasts, mostly gaming ones. He mostly listened to live-play pen and paper games, like Critical Role and The Adventure Zone, both of which were well into their 20th seasons. Occasionally he listened to news podcasts, such as those about gaming news. One of them was actually live, so he popped it on.
“Okay folks, we’re coming up on just under ten minutes until the announcement. For those of you just joining, this is a special livecast of Konami Kode, sponsored by Syzygy Dynamics who want all of you to know about their new game development studio. Some of you may have heard about Syzygy before, but their new Apogee Softworks division is making waves in the development scene!” This voice wasn’t overly masculine, but it did seem male. He sounded like a middle school gamer in a full grown body.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“That’s right Walky, this is a special announcement done by the head of the company, Kai Siocan, known as being incredibly reclusive. Dr Siocan has helped to introduce true cybernetics to the market, and to upgrade that tech that’s in every one of your VR units. Honestly, if there’s one man you can thank for the modern world, it’s Dr Siocan.”
“That’s right Carla!” Walky said, his grin evident in his voice. “And we have exclusive coverage of this story as it drops.”
“That’s not what exclusive means.” Carla siad.
“Eh, it’s good enough.”
“No it’s not you little twerp.”
“Shut up and past the taco bell.”
Well that’s about what Sasha expected. Honestly, the bickering here was half the charm. Like the mythbusters, he wasn’t really sure whether they were actually mad at eachother or not. It seemed like a little bit of both. Walky was an old style streamer, having basically just copied Ninja and been done. Carla started as a V-Tuber, and was now known almost as much for the line of merch she sold.
“The announcement is starting now.” The voices said, slightly out of sync. Soon there was a crackling of sound.
“Hello loyal customers. We thank you for participating in sponsored channels, and we are pleased to make our first announcement of a new generation. As you may know, and you’ve been reminded, I have helped to make the world what it is today, drawing it into the future that was once the outlet of science fiction. Well, now we are advancing that even further…” The tension was palpable, and Sasha sat listening even after his bike was locked and he was ready to go get food.
“I have developed, with the help of my wonderful team, a brand new game that will run on VR hardware, finally taking full advantage of all its controls. Yes, that includes the ones locked by the FDA, which we have finally taken care of to their satisfaction. In addition, next generation hardware will be made available only a few months after the game. So what, you ask, are we selling this wonderful vision for? At the moment, there is a free beta for chosen participants. The game will reach it’s full release in six months.”
“So, you ask, what does that leave you with?” There was a chuckle. “Well, dear listener. We will not be keeping this game a secret. No, the beta testers who have been selected based on special recommendations will be allowed to fully stream their gameplay for all of you. So, world, welcome to PLASTIKOS ONLINE!” There was another bit of frizz, and the two hosts were left alone.
“Wow, I wasn’t expecting that, but it gives me chills.”
“Yeah, I hope that’s a contract we get.”
“We’d have to disband the show.”
“Icing on the cake.”
As Sasha got to his work he turned the podcast off and walked in. He walked down the shitty tables and stood next to the counter until the manager came to check him in. Before he could walk to the back and change the manager grabbed his shoulder and gestured at the office.
“Hey, what’s up?” Sasha asked, sitting on a tool box in the cramped office in the back of the store. His boss took the only chair, of course.
“Well… I’m sorry but… You're fired.” She said with finality.