After watching my sister wave good bye, the Mercedes pulled off. The car didn't need a driver as it was autonomous, but Lane still got behind the wheel just in case he needed to take control. The ride was smooth, and the Mercedes was almost silent as we hit 75 mph on the 101.

"So, any questions my friend?" He said plain and simple. I sat there for a moment and thought about all I wanted to ask him. I had a few questions, but I wasn't sure what he could tell me so I kept it simple. I opened my mouth and began to speak.

"So is it really a game that I'll be testing, or is it something else?" I asked him.

Lane had a slight grin on his face while answering my question.

"Well, I guess technically you could call it a game, but it is much, much more than that. Unfortunately for that question you will have to wait till we get to where we are going. Next question?

I thought for a couple of seconds before replying.

"So is it like a capsule, or helmet like other companies use to enter this world or did you guys create another method?" I wondered

"Well, that's actually a little touchy, but you will be using it soon anyway. We developed a device called the 'WG' or the 'Warp Gate' basically, we have engineered a suit that is close to a scuba diving suit, of course without flippers and all that other stuff, this suit is stretchy and has tons of nanites an other technology engineered into the fabric. The capsule you get into also has a sort of Nano-jelly inside. The suit and jelly work together to transport you to this 'new world', how we got to this point with virtual tech is information I obviously can't share with you, but this world that we have created boasts a 98% realism rate. That means everything you feel in real life will be felt at 98% in this world. That includes pain, and pleasure. Now I know you probably have questions pertaining to that as well, so let me just go ahead and explain to you that this is also a reason why we need testers. All 100,000 people who accepted will be told that one of the reasons for this test is to see if 98% realism is too much for the human body and mind to handle in our 'new world'. Imagine experiencing death, how will a humans brain react to that feeling? And the pain that comes along with it? This is why we are offering so much because your very lives may be at stake. As I have explained in the voice mail, you will be in that world for 3 real life months." Lane finished explaining while behind the wheel.

I was actually stunned. My best friend just told me I may die while testing this shit, what the fuck? I knew there was a catch but to me this sounded crazy. I don't know what my sister would do if I were to just die. She would be beyond depressed... Fuck man! I should have asked him what I would be doing before I said yes, but I probably would have still agreed to join though...

'well shit, gotta just not die then I guess. At the end of the day we weren't going to make it without this opportunity so I had to take it... right?' I thought to my self.

I quickly shook my head and cleared it of any doubts. I was already in the car on the way to wherever the hell we were going... Lane looked over at me and quickly looked back forward before he started talking again.

"look man I know I shoulda told you that you could probably die, but I didn't think that it would change your mind because of the situation you are in. And it was a good deal, right?" Lane was right, even with that bombshell this is probably one of the best things that have happened since graduation night. Well, for me at least.

To be completely honest I knew that Lane was smarter than me, but damn. He is a developer for Huge company in the VR field. On top of that he is only 20 years old! He must have dropped out of college and started perusing this full time. I'm happy that he made something of himself unlike me.

"Its all good man, you are right though. I sure would have still accepted haha" I say with a laugh. Out the corner of my eye I see Lane smile slightly. I guess him not telling me the whole truth weighed on him a little bit.

"Did you have anything else you wanted to ask?" Lane said. I looked at him and casually shook my head. With no more real questions I just sit back and enjoy the ride for a while...

***

We drove for a while toward Northern California, finally realizing we were headed toward San Francisco after a couple more hours I found myself in the city. I never left LA because my family never had money to really travel. Not even up state, so leaving the Southern California area is a whole new experience for me. The City of SF was beautiful, but it was kind of small even after a little expansion throughout the years. Navigating this city would be hard if all vehicles nowadays didn't have built in automated GPS. After around 45 minutes I found myself getting out of the car right in front of the biggest building in the city.

"Welcome to Realistik, Inc" Lane said with a huge smile on his face. He motioned me forward. I looked around a little as we made our way past the front desk. There was a huge glass chandelier dangling from the ceiling, it gave the hall a grand-ish feel with the light that it put off. The floors were a beautiful pearlescent marble color, and in the center was the Realistik, Inc emblem in the middle. the walls were a dark grey, but it didn't make the hall look dull at all, it was nice.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"Hello Mr. Walsh, and company" Said the lady at the front desk. I didn't get a good look at her but she had a cute voice, lane quickly greeted her and we made our way to the elevator. I thought that we would be going up, but I was proven wrong. Lane pushed a button labeled B* (B with a star next to it like the main floor but for the basement), and soon after the doors shut and we made our way down.

Realistik Incs, main building has a total of 65 floors. 55 above surface, and 10 below from what I could tell. The last button was labeled AUTHORIZED literally.

'So I'm guessing I'm not gonna be going to that floor anytime soon' I thought to myself childishly. After a couple seconds in silence the elevator doors open

*ding*basement main floor*

"Alright lets get moving, we are just in time for the presentation!" Lane said while practically sprinting down the hall way.

"LANE! Why are you running!!!!" I yell while trying to keep up with him, he casually look backs and smiles

"NO TIME LETS GOO!" And he picks up speed...

'This fuckin guy...' I thought with a slight grin on my face.

***

After running down an absurdly long hallway we reach a huge room, inside there are thousands of people.

"Its hard to believe this facility is under that tall ass building" I said while slightly winded. Lane laughed.

"You ain't kidding haha, thought the same thing when I first saw this place" He said while spreading his arms wide.

"Anyway, lets get you down there with the other 99 thousand and 999 testers..." With that we started making our way down the steps into the main floor area. It was a huge room. It was circular in shape and had what looked like a black screen on the wall all around the room. There was no extravagant chandelier down here. There just your regular LED bright ass hospital-like lights. It was also pretty bland down here compared to upstairs, everything was made out of grey concrete and metal. After walking around a bit I noticed that lane disappeared.

Suddenly, the black screens around the edge turned on. There was a man sitting in a chair at what looked like the top of the Realistik, Inc. tower. the sky and clouds could be seen behind him. He had Blonde hair and blue eyes, he wore a pair of hi-tech glasses, and he was also wearing the same white lab coat with blue and green Realistik, Inc. emblem. His face could be said to be handsome for a man, and his eyes looked serious.

"Hello, and welcome my friends, and now, new colleagues to the Realistik, Inc testing facility. My name is Jericho Madena. I am the CEO of Realistik, Inc., and also the host of this current testing trial. During this time I will be explaining to you exactly what it is you will be doing for the next two months at our facility, please note that your pay with be added to your bank account after the testing phase is complete, and all benefits etc. given to your family members were put into effect the day you said 'yes'." Claps and cheers could be heard throughout the hall, so I'm guessing that not everyone knows that you can possibly die during this test... well until now.

"Now let me explain to you why the compensation for this testing phase is such a large amount Ultimately we at Realistik Inc. have created a new world with our new "WarpGate" technology, and advanced AI 'Sora'. We know that some of you might be moles for other companies be we can guarantee you wont be able to duplicate what we have created. Currently the world, which we have decided to name Serenity for now is currently at 98% realism. We are not sure how the human mind will react when dealt with the situations you may face in Serenity. We can not promise all of you will survive, and for this test you will not be able to log out for two months." Explained the man named Jericho. This was already information explained to me, so I guess it was just a refresher for people who may not have heard. As I was thinking this cries and groans could be heard.

"We can actually die??"

"Shut up idiot he said he doesn't know, that what's we are getting paid so much"

"I didn't know all this... I would have thought about it more..."

"I have no regrets, this will be a new experience, what is life without taking a chance every now and then?"

"I agree! this can be super fun and something not many will ever be able to do!"

There was also conversations in different languages happening so I guess there is some translating technology so other nationalities could understand what Jericho was saying.

Jericho continued his dialogue.

"Now that I have explained the reason and other information pertaining the testing phase, now I will vaguely explain the world serenity itself. The world of Serenity is 1:1 scale of earth, When you enter the world of Serenity your spawn point will be a random beginner town. Some beginner towns may have more influx of you TESTERS than some others. Serenity is an UNTAMED place, and even we who have created it aren't 100% sure what goes on there. Sora the AI we created oversees mostly everything that goes on in Serenity. Sora is comparable to the GOD of Serenity, and we here at Realistik, Inc. are the ones who created the 'gate' for you to enter her domain. While in the world of Serenity the food you eat and drink will nourish your body, and in real life the Nano jelly will essentially do the same."

"Anything is possible in serenity as long as you put in effort and hard work, I don't want to spoil too much and I want you to figure out what it is YOU want from this world. I want YOU to grab it with your own hands. Now, once again I want to thank each and every one of you for showing up here and being apart of this! Welcome to the world of Serenity!" After that the big screen went black.

"HOLY SHIT THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING!" I heard someone say.

"Isn't this like that one ani-"one guy was cut off by another after trying to make quick comparison of our current situation.

"Shut up, don't even say it dude..."

"I think that this is gonna be really interesting, I cant wait to see what adventures lie ahead of me."

Useless chatter was all I was hearing, all of a sudden a bunch of people in white lab coats came in through the hall way Lane led me down. I saw my friend among them and waved at him, he looked my way and nodded with a small smile. Afterwards, they started ushering TESTERS down different hallways away from the main room. Some got on elevators and went down another floor. soon I was lead away as well.