ACME didn’t like to be second in anything, and all 625 Contract Workers and 25 managers were in their pods and ready to log into the game the first second the game became available to them. The managers would be in and out of the pods each day, but for the workers, this was the start of five long years. Each group would be arriving at a different location somewhere in the Northern area of the Empire.

For them, the procedure was different. After their pods were securely shut, they were filled with a special gas mixture suited for long-term coma patients. Neural links engaged, putting the contract workers into a light sleep. Their facial muscles relaxed as their minds went elsewhere. They were all greeted by the same messages as they woke up with the sound of a rooster crowing.

Welcome to the World of Genesis Engine

The world is ready for you to explore and experience its stories and delve into its secrets. We look forward to having your help in creating new stories to add to the world! (On your days off.)

Character Creation

There is no need to create a character; this has been done for you by your employer, ACME Corporation. Can you say "Thank you, ACME"? No? Well, that's ok, maybe tomorrow.

Your race is human. Your heritage may modify this slightly. Other things in-game may change your heritage and race. These are quite rare and will have lasting consequences. Please think over any changes to your heritage before making rash decisions.

Your class is Contract Worker. You also have a specialty such as baker, butcher, or street sweeper. You will be given exciting skills based on your specialization!

Not all information about your character is visible at this time. As you grow and make choices, your skills can increase, and you will find out more about your heritage.

DEATH

Try not to die. It will be a painful experience for you. Best to avoid it if possible. Because you are a Contract Worker, special rules apply to what happens when you die, depending on the circumstances of your demise.

1. If you die while completing tasks for your employer, there is no penalty for dying. You won’t lose any of your hard-won experience. Indeed, in some cases, you may be part of a quest where your character needs to die to provide an experience for Players. You’ll be back at dawn the next day, maybe quicker, and spend a few hours recovering. In the meantime, you’ll have a chance to rest in a comfortable private place.

2. If you die as part of an event, random mischance, or at the hands of a player while in a town or area controlled by ACME Corporation, you will not suffer penalties for dying other than a small time out and a recovery period.

3. Deaths from adventuring will incur a penalty similar to what a regular Player would suffer. Items you had on you will be placed inside a grave marker for you to reclaim. We recommend you avoid adventuring, but we also know you’ll ignore our good advice.

4. If you are killed by a Sedge beast or from an infection caused by their bite, your soul won't be sent straight to hell. This is a common superstition in some parts of the world, and we are pretty sure it doesn't happen.

Ozzy woke up and looked at the thatched straw ceiling of his hut, partially hidden by the translucent blue boxes hovering in his vision. After reading and dismissing them, he became aware of certain sensations.

His back felt a hard stone poking him through the thin straw mat he was lying on. The air smelled like wet straw, human sweat, and that certain odor a place gets when many animals are nearby. He was also starving and needed to find a bathroom. This got him up and moving. Sure enough, most of the other 25 people coming out of several huts all lined up in front of two nearby outhouses.

He wondered if this was to help them acclimate quicker to the game world. By making the humans experience the most basic of sensations WALLY told their brains this was indeed the real world. As they waited for their turn in the primitive facilities, people pinched themselves, stretched, did jumping jacks, and sniffed the air. Gone was the feeling of being in two places at once. And with all five senses engaged, they quickly started reacting to the world like it was real.

While standing in line, Ozzy took stock of his belongings. Sturdy woolen pants, rope belt, woolen socks, burlap tunic with wooden buttons. Shapeless leather shoes completed the ensemble that any peasant in 12th-century France would be envious of. He was also the proud owner of a heavy leather apron that hung around his neck and tied behind his back. It hung down to his knees and had a few pockets in the front. Made of black leather, it already had some dubious stains covering most of it. Hanging from a hook on his belt was a heavy meat cleaver with a wooden handle. The edge was dull and had a chip in it, but he also found a whetstone in one of the apron pockets. Ozzy had spent years working in the finest restaurants of EQO3 and sharpening his kitchen knives. He'd be able to put a much nicer edge on what looked to be his main tool.

With basic functions taken care of, people congregated around a large wooden table in front of their huts where Billy was sitting. An older woman in a cotton apron and dressed much better than they were was ladling boiled groats into 25 wooden bowls.

Billy was at the head of the table. "Grab a bowl, toss down some breakfast, and I'll talk while you eat. Lunch and dinner will be in the Tavern, and breakfast will be out here. Groatmeal is free; anything else you pay for."

"Anyway, welcome to the lovely village of Sedgewick. This is one of twenty-five areas where ACME Corp has crews of contract workers. Its local resources seem to be timber, stone, unknown herbs and fungi in the forests, and a foul-tempered bovine known as a sedge beast. ACME has a contract to deliver meat and hides to the army, so we'll be focusing on setting up a slaughterhouse, tannery, smokehouse, warehouse, and butcher shop, with priority to the smokehouse and an area to start slaughtering. The army has an outpost 10 miles down the road, and they'll be expecting to pick up a shipment in seven days.

"I see some long faces. I know, I know, this isn't what you expected, and I'm sorry for that". Billy raised his hands palms outward, asking for their forgiveness, and then smiled. " Let's see if we can't make you all a bit happier. The boss would want us to roll up our sleeves and get right to work. But hey, you're new in town. Let's go explore for an hour or two and spend some money. Buy what you want, but remember that a blanket and a spare pair of socks will get you further than spending it all on booze. Be back here by eight, and we’ll start our first workday. Everyone heard the sound of coins hitting a table.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

[You're rich! Ok, not really, but you do have some money. ACME has given you an advance on your salary of 100 copper coins in credit. Just tell the merchant your name and sign his book to spend it. Go help out the local economy!]

"All right, you've got some time and some money. Be back here by 8 am, and we'll get to work. We need to get as much done as we can. The world is open, and at some time in the next few weeks, there’s a chance that players might show up; a very few are being let in for beta testing. I'd like to get some stuff done before then.

Fully three-quarters of the people headed straight to the Tavern that was just opening its doors. Ozzy wasn't surprised at all. Rolly meant to follow them, and Ben was looking longingly at the sign on the wall in the shape of a flagon. Suzette and Ozzy each grabbed one of them and dragged them towards the general store.

"But...but....first beer in a new world!" Rolly was appalled at the thought of skipping the Tavern.

"I have to agree with Rolly," Ben said as he stared at the Tavern.

Suzette wasn't having it. "Oh yeah? And how many blankets do you think that general store has? How many good daggers? Do you think the alchemist has an unlimited supply of minor healing potions? Let's buy what we can before the good stuff is gone. Beer after." She turned and headed into the general store. The other three followed.

It turns out that 100 copper doesn't go very far. Asking about the monetary system got a roll of the eyes from the balding man behind the counter, named Sven. “Guess I better get used to it. I heard we had a bunch of folks coming to live here that would need some help. It’s pretty easy. A penny is your basic coin. Save up a hundred of them, and you can trade for a silver penny. If you become rich and earn ten silvers, that’s worth a gold crown. Not a lot of gold in these parts, I can tell you. A lot of folks just barter the goods they make for the stuff they don't. Not uncommon to see some farmer bring Derek at the tavern a basket of carrots to pay off his bar tab.”

Ben eyed a beautiful steel dagger, but at two silver, that was half the group's money. The matched set of hand crossbows with dark wooden grips made his hands itch, but he didn't even bother to ask.

Their purchases ended up being practical and of lesser quality and lesser price. Suzette suggested a large pack for each of them to store their gear. Everyone took a blanket, copper eating knife, tin cup, and a water skin. Keeping in mind that they wanted to get a start on adventuring when they could, they pooled what was left of their money to get a bronze machete, a small trowel, and a hatchet. As soon as they had a day off, they planned to start searching for herbs and exploring a bit.

This left enough for each of them to have a flagon of ale at the tavern. Only one copper penny was left over. Ben pocketed that, declaring it to be their lucky copper piece. Most of the other contract workers had cleared out of the tavern to spend what was left of their money at the general store. Some were going to be disappointed and cold tonight. No one had informed the shopkeeper he'd need to keep more than half a dozen blankets on hand.

Wondering how close it was to 8 am, Rolly said, "Time". No handy clock appeared in his vision. Ben pointed at the wall where a large mechanical clock was hanging. Rolly was trying to remember how you figured out non-digital time when the clock gave a loud tick, and two small doors opened on its face.

"Oh, my grandmother told me about these. Now, a little bird will appear and say Coo-Coo eleven times." Rolly was skeptical about this pronouncement from Suzette. And he was correct. Instead of a small bird, a mechanical milkmaid with a bucket appeared on the left and moved slowly to the center. From the right appeared what seemed to be some sort of demon. It was taller than the milkmaid, with hooves, a bull's head, and glowing eyes. Its mechanical arms rose menacingly.

The milkmaid swung her wooden bucket in a circle that ended with the top of the demon's head. A loud GONG! was heard as a striker hit a bell within the clock. Eight times the maiden swung her bucket and Eight times the GONG! rang out. The demon turned and retreated to his door, the milkmaid in hot pursuit. "Wow, I can't wait to see what it does at Noon!" Rolly smirked at Suzette as they exited the building to find out what the first day's work would entail.

Billy was busy reinventing paperwork. He was writing out work schedules, lists of jobs, and assigning workers despite not having normal writing tools. He'd been assured there would be office supplies here. Something to write on, something to write with—how hard could that be? The Egyptians had invented paper, hadn't they? So, a sort of medieval village should have some, or so everyone at ACME had assured him.

As it turned out, Sedgewick did have writing materials for sale. The local scribe was only too happy to sell Billy twenty sheets of vellum, several quills, and some ink pots. The vellum was thick and stiff, roughly two-foot square in size. He had asked what the stuff was made from and gotten the answer of "Goat." It was difficult to write on vellum with quill and ink. It took longer; you couldn't make mistakes, and it took practice. Billy was considering charcoal and wooden boards when Ben came to his aid.

“Allow me, sir. I’ve had practice at this.” Billy gladly allowed Ben to take over as his scribe, as several people started talking at once.

"HEY BILLY!!, It’s hard to chop trees without an ax. How come I didn't start with one?

" What does a Holly tree look like?

" I'm supposed to find sedge beasts and drive them to the corral. What does a sedge beast look like?”

Ben let Billy handle the questions while he carefully made a list of the people and their professions. They had a Butcher, a Shepherd, two Bakers, a Courier, two lumberjacks, two Stone Wrights, a Temperature Mage, two Tanners, two Carpenters, two Blacksmiths, four Farmers, a Druid, a Cooper, a Wainwright, and two Miners. Ben was curious about the mix; no scouts or guards. Billy wasn’t expecting trouble.

The village had a lot of room on all sides. There was only one road leading out, heading south. The top tower of a fortress could be seen several miles away. The worker’s huts were on the North side of the town, and Billy spent most of the day picking spots for the large barn-like building they’d need to use as a smokehouse, the corrals for the animals, a large storehouse, and where the fields would be.

The two lumberjacks, and Cham, got to work cutting trees. Ozzy found himself in the hauling crew. He and three other people eyed the large tree trunks they had to move down to the village. He remembered they had a hauling skill, which would help. Grabbing hold of one end of the foot-thick log he lifted and got it off the ground, to everyone’s surprise. Jorges, one of the blacksmiths, got on the other end with two other people in the middle. They got the two-ton log down to where the carpenters were starting on the smokehouse and went back for more.

Nearby, in the meadows, large herds of some type of cattle were grazing, big animals with horns and large humped backs like buffalo. One of the large bulls with reddish fur glared at Ozzy and pawed the ground as if sensing an enemy. He stared back, then laughed.

Cows could wait; he had lumber to haul and a barn to build today. He'd deal with figuring out his Butcher job tomorrow.