Aster paused in the middle of folding laundry as the sound of a soft electronic ding reached her ears. A new email. She reached into the collar of her shirt, tugging free the small pair of glasses that were hanging there. She gave them a quick twitch to unfold them, then slipped them on.
These days, she never went anywhere without her V-Lens. Quite apart from how light and easy to use this new model was, they were instrumental to her job. Being able to read and reply to emails, organize her day, and take calls all while keeping her hands free was a luxury she couldn't ignore.
There was a small timer on the top right corner of the display, no bigger than a business card in her field of vision. Fifteen minutes and thirty-two seconds. Just below it was the widget for her call with Dale. The mic icon was red, showing that she was muted.
She focused on the icon, and it switched to green. “Dale, fifteen minute warning.”
A faint grunt, followed by a sigh. She rarely got more of a reply than that. Not entirely surprising, of course. While his behavior and attitude would have fit well with a teenager, he was in fact nearly sixty-three. Getting up in the mornings wasn't exactly easy for him.
The email would have to wait a bit, she decided, setting down the shirt she held and smoothing out the wrinkles. Dale had to have his breakfast first. She made her way to the kitchen.
She went through her usual morning prep as she set a kettle on the stove to boil. One of the reasons Dale had hired her was because of her cooking skill. In the past few decades, synthesized and dehydrated food had become more popular. While Aster did use synthesized ingredients, she cooked herself, a fact appreciated by the grumpy older man who remembered when all ingredients were grown, and hated the new trends.
Soon, she had a steaming bowl of oatmeal - cinnamon sugar, his favorite - on a small tray and a cup of coffee with a straw. She'd found the recipe for an old brand of oatmeal that sported a colonial figure as it's mascot. A relic from Dale's childhood, and a valuable addition to his breakfasts.
Dale was, of course, in his bed when she pushed the door open. He lay perfectly still, a visor over his eyes, shutting out the physical world. She set the bowl and coffee down in his nightstand before gently lifting the visor, smiling down at him.
“Up all night raiding again?” She asked, knowing the answer. Predictably, he gave her a half-hearted scowl, which made her laugh.
“What else was I supposed to do?” He asked, his voice gravelly from sleep. “You were too busy to join us. We had to hire another healer. It cut into our profits.”
“Well, if you don't want me to take care of the rent, you should say so,” she shot back with a smile. “I'm sure I could find you a nice box down in the alley. Wi-Fi might be a little spotty, and I know how cranky you get when it rains, but don't let me get in the way of your dreams.”
He harrumphed noisily, clearing his throat so his voice was a little less rumbly. Then he caught sight of the steaming bowl. “Oatmeal again?”
She rolled her eyes. “Just like every Tuesday.”
He harrumphed again, but made no complaints as she pushed a button on the side of his bed. The top half of it folded up, switching him to a sitting position so he could eat. Slowly, making sure she blew on each spoonful to avoid burning his mouth, she began to feed him.
She considered her choice of career as she helped Dale eat his breakfast. She'd always planned on becoming a botanist, or maybe a biological engineer. She'd only taken nursing as her minor to fill out in credits, when a friend of the family introduced her to Dale. He'd been in search of a live-in caregiver, and she'd applied for the job, if only for some money to pay for college.
Dale, an avid gamer, well known in certain circles for his skill in fighting games, had been involved in a violent car crash and survived, though the accident had paralyzed his body from the neck down. That had been over twenty years ago now. She'd been his caregiver for just under seven.
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She had no regrets about staying with Dale instead of pursuing something else. He was a great boss, and she genuinely enjoyed her job. Taking care of him was easy enough, and she had plenty of free time on her hands. Most of that was taken up by immersion gaming, a habit she'd picked up from him.
After Dale finished his oatmeal, she put the visor back on his head, and returned to the kitchen to wash up. A quick granola bar and a glass of orange juice was all she ate. Then it was back to the laundry, and time to check her email.
The email that had first appeared was still there, the only unread message in her personal inbox. She so rarely used her personal address these days, as she also managed most of Dale's communications.
The subject line seemed to indicate that the email had been sent by a game studio, which confused her. Dale was usually the one they contacted, either for sponsorship or to send the winnings from his tournaments. Curious, she focused on it, opening the email into a larger window in her view.
Dear Ms. Franklin,
It is our great honor to invite you to a closed beta test of our new game, Project Terra: Alternate Earth! You are one of just over a thousand players we would like to be the first to experience our world. Please read below for a summary of the game.
Have you ever wondered what life would be like if you were to start from the beginning? If we could do the world over again, with the knowledge that we have now, do you think you could make a life for yourself? Well, Project Terra offers you that very chance!
Project Terra: Alternate Earth is a revolutionary new game offered to you by Geam Studio. Explore a world much like our own, but filled with mysterious monsters, sensational sights, and the kind of challenge that real life possesses. It's a brand-new life! Get immersed in the world, fight monsters, build yourself a home!
Featuring innovative, realistic combat and a gritty survival element, this game aims to be as close to real life as possible, all while giving you a fresh canvas on which to stamp your identity! Create a character and explore the world of Project Terra today!
At the bottom, the publisher was listed as “Geam Studio”. Weird, she thought. Not only was it addressed to her, but it seemed to be the type of game that Dale would enjoy, not her. Maybe there had been some mixup in trying to reach him, and they’d accidentally addressed the email to her because she was his caregiver. She swapped windows over to his personal email then, and her eyebrows shot up in mild surprise. The same email had been sent to his inbox.
“Dale, have you seen this email?,” she asked, unmuting herself in their voice chat. “Seems another company wants you to try their game.”
“Yeah, I saw it,” he confirmed. “I tried Googling them, but nothing comes up. They don’t even seem to have a website listed.”
“So it’s a new studio.”
“Hmm, that’s possible. It could also be a secret project.”
It wouldn’t have been the first time a secret game had found its way to Dale. With his extensive experience in gaming and his knowledge of mechanics from the hundreds of games he’d played, developers were always asking for his opinion. Most of those seeking him out were already known, of course, but that didn’t mean that some didn’t try to approach anonymously.
“They probably want me to give them a review,” he said after a few minutes. “I’ll give it a try tomorrow.”
His hesitation didn’t make sense to her at first, at least until she looked at the email again. He hadn’t noticed the release date listed. The next day at noon.
“I wonder why they invited me too,” she muttered. “Not like I’m a famous gamer or anything. It doesn’t really sound like something I’d enjoy, anyway.”
“You should try it with me anyway,” Dale offered. “You never know, you might find something to enjoy in it. The handbook says there’s gathering and farming. That’s right up your alley.”
“Handbook?”
“Below the publisher name. It’s the only link, but it doesn’t lead to a website. Some kind of document explaining the game, I guess.”
She found it quickly now that he’d pointed it out. Indeed, it linked to a document. Not that large, as far as most game manuals went, she thought. But as she read on, she realized it was actually pretty vague. It offered very little in the way of instruction or explanation of game mechanics. “It almost seems more like a D&D manual.”
Dale gave a quiet grunt of agreement. “Still, it seems to have a little bit of everything, for a medieval game. I’m interested.”
She agreed, though hesitantly. She had no way of knowing if the game would live up to her expectations or what it promised. Still, she remotely directed her main console to download the files for the game, content to give the game a try with Dale the next day. For now, there were still chores to catch up on.