*Ring ring ring*
*Ring ring ring*
*Ring ring ring*
Hating the world I grab the phone,
“What do you want?” I say grogily, trying not to drop the phone as I lay it on my face and hope it sticks
“Well hello to you too, it's me” Eve's voice sounds from the phone
“You're me? Like, from the future?”
“I know where you live” shes says, irritation becoming mildly noticable
“Well I hope I know where I live”
"You better hope I don't have a knife when I see you"
"If your future self stabs you, is it assault or self-mutilation?"
“haaa, I give up”
“but I would never give up.... WAIT!, YOU'RE NOT ME!!”
Not hearing a reply I start to wonder what she's doing.
“Eve?..... Eve I was just kidding”
*dial tone*
Sitting up I pop open messenger,
'Dinner, tonight, on me. If you call back'
'Followed by cheesecake?'
'Deal'
Less than a second after hitting the send button my screen showed Eve calling again.
“Hey, sorry about that.”
“I know how you get if someone wakes you up.”
“Either way, cool stuff to tell ya', you're going to play the new game right?”
“Of course, you and the others on the team practically begged us to.”
“Alright, well, if you can, pick a high-tiered to top-tiered race.”
“I've seen some of the requirements for top tiers, I think I'll stick to high-tiered.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Ok, just don't go lower, the boosts are worth the cost as long as you make it, the scaling is insane.”
“Considering 85.3% of the population was low-mid tier during beta with another 14.4% being high tiered we probably wont be part of the 0.3% to get one of the top-tiered picks. Getting high-tiered is where I'm aiming”
“1 in 300 doesn't actually sound that bad.”
“For normal people? Not at all, unfortunately this is from the professional statistics since that's the pool of people they grabbed for the initial beta those stats are based on.”
“It'll be alright, even if they were pros the statistics shouldn't sway all that much, considering the nature of the game”
Eve and I continued to talk, trading tidbits of info we came across while surfing the web, potential roles, promising to meet up in game when we got the chance. Ending the call I got up from the gaming couch, stretching with a groan. Checking the cabinets I grabbed my last cereal bar from the box. 'Well I was wondering what I should do with all that time.' Swiping the screen and checked the countdown and saw there was only 22 hours left. 'I slept for 13 hours? Damn no wonder I feel so good.' He thought, proud in his newfound freedom of being able to sleep in as much as he wanted. Seeing a yellow caution icon he scrolls down on the notifications, it's 4 hours old?
Caution
Bio-Chip working at 80% capacity for a period of [6] hours.
(Warning suppressed – Upgrades in progress, downgraded to caution)
'That's strange, I should have the newest updates, maybe a hotfix?' frowning at the 6 hours 'A very large hotfix.' He thought to himself. With a mental shrug he gets up, He walks over to the computer, checking headlines for anything noteworthy.
Paraplegic takes first step ~ Where Software gives second chance to walk again.
Looking at the first headline, 'We've known for years that realistic VR lets people experience walking again' I thought irritably, 'they must be running out of things to talk about if that's the number one headline. Secure in my knowledge that the world is at peace and that the North Naerok dictator hasn't started world war 3 I logged off. Hesitating, 'should I build a shelter? I could be the overlord and call it Chamber 111.' With thoughts of a pending nuclear apocalypse and giant irradiated rats I press the power button on the screen and got up.
Spending the day doing random chores around the house to waste time until his dinner with Eve. It soon reached near the promised time and he headed to the restaurant they had decided on. The old pizza place they usually go to. Walking in he saw Eve, and 19 other people from his team. Making a beeline for Eve I said, “I thought we were going on a date?” a smile threatening to ruin to joke. Surprisingly her face went red “sorry, I thought we were going out with everyone, that's what you usually mean when you say that” she said. The grin breaking through I tried to say something to cover it up at least a bit, unfortunately the high heel stabbing into my foot is telling me its already too late. “Well next time I ask you out it'll be just the two of us.” I said through the pain. Only to be met with more weight added to the heel. Thankfully she let up after another half second, face still a very cute scarlet, almost matching her red hair in brightness.
Standing in front of the crowd I yelled “All right ladies” winking at Eve he continued “everything's on me, drinks included.” Hearing everyone cheer I laughed and ordered pizzas and a beer for everyone else except Eve, I grabbed her a fruit-flavored alcoholic drink and myself a whiskey sour. Settling back, munching on my food, I was genuinely happy spending my time with everyone I had spent the last 5 years getting to know. Ordering another whiskey I got comfortable, ready for the long night of socializing. Eyeing the karaoke machine and looking to see who was getting drunk the fastest. 'Wonder who's getting embarrassed tonight? There's always someone' I thought to myself. Finding my 2nd drink empty I ordered another.....