CHAPTER II: OLIVE BRANCH

LONG BEACH CA

3 HOURS BEFORE THE BREAKING

SOTO AND CLYDE

The battle brothers walk through the garage of a big convention center's enclosed parking lot. There were tons of people dressed in all different outfits, stepping out of all types of cars. Comic/gaming conventions were a place where all walks of life came together.

Humans are gamers at heart, even the people who don’t like to actually play games, still love to win, and winning comes from games. When a caveman ran away from a sabertooth tiger, he didn’t think he won, he knew he survived. ‘Surviving is not winning,’ is something Clyde’s dad Clyde Sr used to say. No, most people wanted to win because it's better than just surviving. Right now, however, Clyde didn’t feel like a winner, but more of a survivor. He was dressed in an early two-thousand Army Battle Dress Uniform(BDU), combat boots, and his PAR. He just looked like an out-of-place soldier or a lost Lieutenant, It was his old uniform, but he had kept it immaculate. He was tired and worn out probably because he didn’t get his nap.

He scowled at Soto who happily skipped next to him, wearing a ninja outfit, which consisted of a black jacket, black trousers, a black hooded cowl, and some Jordan tens with patent leather. On his back was a bow with no quiver, rubber throwing daggers strapped to each arm, and of course his black Yankee fitted. Clyde shook his head, no wonder he got flagged at the airport. He looked at the craziness just in the parking lot. “This is insanity.” He said looking at all of the cosplayers. He looked at himself, buttoning one of his pockets. “I feel like a moron.” He frowned.

“Good, because you look like one.” Soto laughed like an asshole causing others around him to also laugh and walked into the convention center, Clyde followed eyeing him, if only looks could kill... Soto walked in through the auto doors like he ruled the place.

A few people look over to them. “That guy looks like the JTF Colonel from TV, the one that gave that big speech. The human one” A middle age man said to a friend.

The friend looked over and frowned. “That Colonel is way more handsome than that guy. He was like a man's man, you know. I remembered his being human speech, I almost cried like a little baby.” The younger friend said.

“You sure? I thought it was his brother that was good-looking.”

“The man’s brother died fighting Dusters man. Have a heart.”

“I was talking about the inventor, you asshole...” Their dialogue blessedly faded away.

“Positivity Clyde.” Clyde preached to himself to calm down. As he looked at his reflection in the sliding doors he had to admit that he did look ridiculous. “You got me there Soto.”

***

2 HOURS BEFORE THE BREAKING

Time moved seemingly at an accelerated pace. As the saying goes time flies when one person is having fun, and the other person was just trying to keep up. They enjoyed the convention.

The first few hours pass in blur, while they go from presentation to presentation. They didn’t miss a thing. Everything from new video games; some console, or PC, but mostly virtual reality games. They even went to book signings for new stories from old-school authors. Soto dragged Clyde from booth to booth all over the CON. Clyde looked lost most of the time. Soto was in his element.

People were dressed as all kinds of fantasy beings, Elves, Dwarves, and even tall blue beings on stilts. Most looked amazingly real, people had been putting a lot of time, and money into these conventions because it was an investment for them. Clyde had to believe it paid off by the copious amount of people filming themselves and live streaming. But it was the exoskeletons that were really next level. Some of them looked like they could turn on, and fly away, and some hovered using some of the newer anti-gravity technology that was recently released, he smiled at that knowingly. His brother had invented it and the JTF had tested it under Colonel’s command. It didn’t have many combat applications, but for rescue missions, it was a world changer. He looked at the suits and some even had real sound, all of them had dope lights flashing on them.

The Duster Pandemic was a major driving force for change in the regular world, but even more so in the entertainment world. Superhero movies had their run, but LitRPG, fantasy, and Anime adaptions became the biggest sellers from the early thirties until now. The multiple lockdowns throughout the world forced many people to read more, pushing fiction, fantasy, and manga to new heights. Internet accessibility worldwide was one hundred percent as of 2032. Helping the world understand their neighbors better. With that came friendly competition, and that was all on display at conventions throughout the world. This was the biggest one ever.

After the boosters came out, and the world permanently opened up, these conventions had been getting bigger, and bigger, until this particular one, which was connected to over twenty other conventions running simultaneously on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s in some places in the world.

Billions of people were live-streaming in dozens of languages and accents. For the first time in a long time, hope was felt by most. The JTF and local governments opened up more bandwidth so that more people had access to higher speeds. With MG Corp, cyber security hackers would have to deal with a quantum computer. Colonel knew this, but most only speculated that the JTF has quantum computing. No other organization has mastered it yet.

Soto pointed at everything; locations, games, people famous, and infamous, real, and fake, big stars, and falling ones. Soto was an Enlighten his enhancement had to do with a very high brain function. He could remember anything he saw once, but only things that interest him, supposedly. Clyde showed mild interest in all of the sights and sounds until they came to a big sign that said...

‘REALITY POWERED by PAR.’

Soto stopped and walked back to Clyde reading the sign. He doesn’t look at the sign. A security guard stood off to the side watching them stoically.

“Stay here I got to hit the head. I don’t want you to get lost Colone,l you know you officers.” He chuckled as he walked off. Clyde shook his head.

***

1 HOUR AGO

Soto walked back frowning, and flailing his hands aggressively, trying to air-dry them, poorly. He looked at the guard and Clyde. “The paper towel dispenser was out.” He answered defensively at Clyde’s unasked questioning look. There was water dripping everywhere.

Clyde looked at the water trail leading back to the bathroom, a short girl dressed as a halfling slipped on the trail and cracked her shoulder pad. “They didn’t have the air blower thingy?” Clyde asked with a wince.

“Oh, they sure did,” Soto answered as the halfling’s friend slipped right next to her trying to help her up cracking his forehead.

“And?” Clyde continued

“And what?”

“And why didn’t you use it? I think you might have hurt that halfling, and you definitely hurt her friend.” Clyde asked annoyed at his ate-up battle buddy.

Soto turned around and looked and the poor girl picking herself up with the help of another person, They both slipped and fell again just as he looked back. “She will be aight. I don’t use those hand dryer things, they are loud and obnoxious, plus all the poop particles in the air are moved around by them, gross. For some reason public bathrooms... ” He thought for a second. “You think that Superman can see all the poop particles in the air?”

“Okay first, that is a pretty gross visual. I really hope they never put that in a comic. I don’t even want to know what a poop particle looks like, and before you tell me, I don’t want to know Soto.” Clyde stopped Soto from going into a soliloquy about poop.

“You sir, are a barbarian. You might be a minimalist, but you are conforming to civilian life, much faster than I thought possible from someone like us. I still can’t believe that you wanted me to call you Clyde. When have you ever called me Anthony? Hollywood changed you homie. Next thing you will tell me you are voting democratic, we are independents yeh hurd both parties have to earn our vote.” He shook his head with mock sadness.

“Fair enough I never have called you that. That just has to do with when we started playing. Back then even in games we always referred to each other by our rank or last name. So I never used your first name unless I was doing NCO evals or awards.”

“Thanks for that Distinguished Service Cross recommendation, It was upgraded to the Medal of Honor by Congress last month actually. I have to go in on President's Day to get it pinned on by the president.” He smiled a big smile. “I already started receiving the benefits, it is a whole lot of extra stuff for almost dying for your country. I can’t complain most recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor receive it posthumously, and while some days I wish I was dead, because of this.” He pulled out his inhaler and puffed it. “I will honor their sacrifice by living a long fulfilling life. Or at least trying to.”

“That is an amazing battle, You have a medal of honor dude. You, a kid from the Bronx, who was given a choice of ‘go to war, or go to jail’, and you turned that into a Medal of freaking Honor brother. I am proud of you.” They dap each other.

“Appreciate you, Colonel,” He started to get a little embarrassed, “Thanks for having my back for the last thirty years man,” Soto said proud of himself, and his battle buddy.

Men don’t take praise well, but Soto was part of the group of men who sought it, craved it, and even needed it. Until he had joined the army, he had no positive way of channeling that energy, which got him in trouble in his youth. But the Army needed those kinds of people. Fighters who seek glory for themselves, and their country. Soto always answered the call for glory. Even after he left the Army he continued to excel. He played games to win, so he could be on top of the leaderboard. He never shied away from the spotlight. That being said, when people that you respect praise, you will always feel accomplished.

“Okay, well what do you think about this?” Clyde said pointing at the sign. Moving on from his friend's slight discomfort.

Soto gave up on air drying his hands, he wiped them on his ninja outfit. “Mr. ATM, You can’t just buy your way into this one. It’s uber-exclusive.” He mocked.

“Really? I would think you would have access. Why is it so exclusive?” Clyde asked.

“I am the leader of the number one guild in two of the biggest virtual reality massive multiplayer online role-playing games, and I still couldn’t get in,” Soto said rolling his eyes.

“There doesn’t seem to be a line,” Clyde said looking at the empty area beside the guard.

“Let’s go, one day we will get to play that game. It will be epic, maybe even legendary.”

“What is so epic about it?”

“They keep a lot of stuff under wraps. Everyone had to sign an NDA. They even gave certain people different information so if it had leaked they would know who it was right away.” Soto commented.

“That makes it epic? Or is it the lack of information has people filling in the blanks with their imagination?” Clyde asked.

“Of course, some of that is happening, but it is the fact that a few people have been banned for life from the game. Even before the alpha test was even launched. My guild mate got banned because she shared a picture of the world, just a picture, with the guild. It was on our internal chat too, and she still got banned anyway. We have no idea how MG Corp knew, but not even an hour after her doing it, she got an email stating she would no longer be able to play the game... ever. It was devastating for her, her team, and her family, pretty much anyone who knew her directly through gaming, got banned as well.” Soto sadly stated. “It was nuts, it was just a picture of the Empire State Building, There was a massive magic fight happening, but other than that you couldn’t make out anything else.”

“That is some mean security bro.”

“Facts! But it did do a lot to identify who was giving out real information about the game, and fake stuff. All of the real info was taken down aggressively, and the people who posted them were banned. But that only legitimized the post in the first place, and no matter how good you are, once something was on the internet, it is there forever. The internet is undefeated. Not even huge media conglomerates can control what is posted and who repost retweet, or just screenshot for personal use.” Soto finished.

“Word, that is true. They will find a joke you posted two decades ago, and call you racist for posting it.” Clyde shook his head.

“Comedy is all about timing bruh, and I am sure the joke was funny back in the day. But there has always been a thin line between comedy and disrespect, the times, and attitude of people are what determines that line, and how wide or thin it is. We realized that words have a huge impact on our decision-making as a whole. Think about advertising, Why do they repeat things over, and over again in their commercials? Because it works.”

Clyde nodded, “Yeah it does, thats why you can’t wear Walmart and thrift store stuff. You have that fashion sickness of name brands. They are made in the same place as the generic stuff is made too. Yet people will pay ten, to one hundred times more money for it, because it is better advertised, and put in a convenient outlet to be purchased.” He shrugged. “So what's different about this game?” He said moving past the rabbit hole conversation of politics, commerce, and history.

Soto’s smile lit up at all the information, and rumors he knew about the game. “It is supposed to allow any person to affect the entire lore of the game. They can uncover mysteries of the past, or by becoming a good king and leading their people into prosperity. You have multiple ways to power up and even have simulated pain, which changes how everyone will play, adding a massive level of realism to the game world. Also, you can only make one character. It’s supposed to be you, or something like that. That was in the one post that got deleted before even any repost could happen. I love single-character games, they usually allow you to have a wider array of powers, and skills, or the abilities to switch between different build types. Not for nothing.” Soto continued, “It's hard playing different races in most games, it's why they give them bonuses because human is our base, and we don’t get shit. No powers, no night vision...”

“No thank you! I get it, we aren’t special.” Clyde cut him off before his rant went on. Sheesh!

Soto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly ”Yeah, that. But that makes us more innovative though. There is always some workaround. Humans are weaker than Orcs, but we breed faster, and whatnot.” Clyde glared at him. “Anyway... umm, yeah, if it has any of those features we’re cooking,” Soto said looking longingly at the sign. His eyes moved to the wanna-be intimidating security guard. Even crippled, and in his mid-fifties, Soto didn’t think the guard had a chance against him. He turned to his brother and just knew that he had already assessed the guard, and found him wanting. “This is supposed to be a closed beta and presentation, it is happening all over, at every convention in the known world, and even at the north and south poles supposedly. They sent them headsets, internet boosters, and fusion batteries for the North Pole so that they could all play at the same time. So invite only they had to be able to control the amount I guess. Even the security guard looked like he was a made man.” Soto said sarcastically. “Doubt they will pull it off anyway. It's got to be a logistic nightmare. The whole world, get the fuck out of here. You feel me?”

He started to walk away, but Clyde held up two tickets grinning ear to ear, he fanned himself with them. “Really, I guess, I am just, that exclusive. Rank has its privilege, Sergeant Major! And I see two names I recognize on these tickets.”

Soto spun around on him so fast it was comical. He looked at tickets... then back to Clyde... then back to tickets... then back to Clyde. He sputtered, dug in his pocket, and had to hit his inhaler with his eyes wide open, his mouth opened then closed again. “H-How? Just how? You couldn’t have known about it. All of my guild’s resources went into finding information, and half of it was bullshit seriously! How?”

Clyde’s smile slipped a little. “Roger got us in, he designed the VI for the game, and even used some of Dre and I’s story ideas in the game. The military stories mostly.” He looked a little downcast.

Soto sobered a little. Clyde’s immediate family was a little weird, they were all super successful at their craft, but they couldn’t stop trying to outdo each other. Clyde was too calm to argue with them about it, but also too competitive to not accept the challenge. So he knew that there was mad contention there, especially after the death of his twin brother Dre on the last mission Soto had done, apparently, there were skeletons in the family closet that came out after his passing. Soto had never pried, and Clyde had never felt the need to bring it up. “We don’t have to go, man, I didn’t expect something like this, it's mad cool. I really didn’t at all, I have the game on preorder. I can wait a few months, and learn more so...”

Clyde raised his hand to forestall him from talking, and walking away. “It was an olive branch, it cost neither of us anything. Ever since the Silk Road... we hadn’t even talked.” Clyde started. “Did I take the tickets because you were coming, yes, of course, I did,” He shrugged. “But also because it's time, time to forgive, and seek forgiveness. I’ll be heading home to Trinidad to see him, and the family for the spring hiatus of the show I am working on. I already requested the dates. 2039 is going to be a year of rebirths I believe. I am not looking forward to political talks, but it can’t be helped.” Clyde finished thinking about his little twin islands in the Caribbean Sea with a smile. Which made him think about his twin brother, today was the anniversary of his death. A real-world problem he desperately needed a distraction from.

Soto’s mood swings again grabbing a ticket before Clyde changes his mind. “Great. You do that man! Family is everything, especially as an adult, I had my cousins when I was growing up, and now we are all tight still, and so are their kids with my kids. It takes work man, it was easier for our parents, family didn’t move all over the world back in the day. So we had to bring the kids to each other, that took planning and all the other stuff, but my man... You can lead a combat team into hostile territory, but you can’t confront your family?” He chuckled.

“I know, I know. Being the youngest is a hard habit to break, you are the oldest so it's easier for you, but I can’t be using that excuse at this age.” Clyde rolled his eyes. “The kids are all in touch at least, they are better, and less petty than our family adults.”

“Remember when the kids would ask us to play football with them in the backyard, and now all they ask for is money.” Soto laughed.

Clyde smiled at his friend’s back as he walked up, and handed the well-dressed security guard his ticket. Clyde followed. “How is your family doing? I haven’t been keeping up with them on social media lately.”

“Well everyone is out of the house for the New Year's, this year. Alena has an art show in the Port of Trinity. She has had that planned for months. I was going to go take everyone, but the show sold out in like ten minutes. She is really good man.” He shook his head, smiling.

“Unreal how good she has become.” Soto continued “But you know your Trinidadians are sticklers for the rules, so she wasn’t allowed to hold any tickets for anyone outside of her immediate family. She left yesterday morning actually, and landed right before I left today after a layover in Venezuela.” He paused. “That reminds me I have to reply to her text, oops.” He pulled out his phone while the guard scanned Clyde’s ticket.

“Junior wasn’t home for Christmas this year, he was on a JTF ‘secret’ mission,” Soto said facetiously, They both rolled their eyes at that statement. They were escorted in by an usher, dressed in an all-black suit, they looked around taking in the whole room, it was impossibly grandiose for the lack of a better word.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The auditorium felt more like the inside of a massive spaceship, than a standard auditorium, the seamless lines of lights running throughout the room guiding people around by different colors. The ceilings were high and looked like there might have been a skylight opening, but it was covered at this point. The room was a wash of activity, once you got past the fact that everything looked and smelled new. There was a screen at the front of the auditorium that was floor to almost ceiling height, over twenty feet tall and wide with a moving display of the solar system. The usher pointed them to their chairs and handed them pamphlets with the words THE GREAT GAME printed on them.

Soto sat down, “Ava was backpacking across Japan, three months ago, I did mention that?” He smiled. “She is the tough one, way tougher than me. She left the day after Christmas for Europe now, three months pregnant man.” He shook his head. “And Layla works for the Vatican still, you know how her mom gets. She still messages me even if her mom thinks I am a devil worshipper. She was the biggest surprise pregnancy, to be honest, she has only been married for four months. ”He shrugged. “I guess when you hold out that long, you just get down to business. I think Ava will be visiting her while she is out there.”

Clyde laughed. ”Yeah, sorry I couldn’t make that. The season was in full swing.”

“Bah, you made up for it.” Pointing at the signs on the wall.

“Yeah, I’m sure she will be happy when she gets my present this year.” He paused. “Adarie?”

“Yeah, the wife left me for real adventure a long time ago. But she physically left with Ava.” He laughed. “She finally got that grant as a research scientist, and I am a VR gamer now, so now she is the one doing long deployments, and I’m manning the home fort.” He does a lazy salute.

“It’s funny how that works out right. Wait, how are you manning the fort from here?” Clyde questioned him conspiratorially.

“Home security system bruh, work smarter, not harder. How are my smart, beautiful, kind, and talented goddaughters Miriam and Domenica doing?” Soto asked while looking around the room, at all the activity.

Clyde smiled, “Miriam is going to Alena’s art show, I wasn’t aware it was back home, but I am sure I missed that somewhere in our conversation. We try to talk every day before my bedtime on days I am not filming anything. She is teaching AP classes now.”

“Really, that's pretty cool. Her school is already the best in the nation, I can’t imagine being in an AP class in that school... well actually with my enhancement I would remember more than enough to pass for sure.”

“That is a cheat power bro.”

“I know right.” Soto smiled. “Photographic memory seemed like a lame Duster enhancement to get, but it has been applicable in my everyday life. I can always tell when something is out of place, I can also retrace my steps nearly perfectly, and shooting, ugh, shooting is amazing. My marksmanship has improved significantly. I can hit anything I can see pretty easily almost unnaturally so. Plus I can always find the remote that is the best part of the power.”

“Damn, that is... well, that is dope, can I put that in a book or show?” Clyde asked.

“Duh! Just break me off with a little bit of dough for it, and I’ll even play myself.” He pretended to fix his nonexistent tie. “And the Oscar goes to Anthony Juan Soto Sr!” He then cheered like a clapping crowd.

Clyde shook his head. “Domenica was working on an A.R security system for the JTF, the last time I heard from her. We don’t talk much, we usually just text every week or so ever since Dre died she has been distant. I try to keep it light, you know, like funny videos, and stuff...though, I haven’t gotten any replies from her since before Christmas. Lisa said that she had been in touch though, but I think she was lying, to be honest.” He said thinking about it, not for the first time. Another real-world problem he needed a distraction from.

“Is that so out of character for Dee? She is an artist, and she has disappeared before for much longer than a few days or a week.” Soto said with a grimace.

“That is what I am afraid of. The last time that happened it almost broke the family, and when she came back a few months later she lost her father.” He slumped in the chair. “It was a great three months though.”

“She is like her mother and Dre. She will put her head down, and go to work, and not even bother with the outside world, for days sometimes even months. She will put her work first. She doesn’t multitask as well as her mom, and she doesn’t focus as much as Dre, but she is the best of both worlds, doing things neither of them could do as individuals, and doing it much more efficiently. She works, works, works, all the time, but missing Christmas is a little out of character for Domenica. It really is her favorite time of the year, like everyone in the family, it was a time to relax from the sixty-hour work weeks we all do.” He looked around the room.

“Who doesn’t like to get presents, and Jesus of course, can’t forget Jesus.” Soto smiled.

Clyde ignored him. “This project is at a JTF location, so I am thinking she was on a gag order of some type until she is complete, or gets to some semblance of operational security. That, or she is at a dark sight like we were in Korea, Iraq, and Mongolia.”

“You are probably right. Don’t you have clearance anymore?”

“Nah, the Standard Operating Procedure is to remove clearance once you retire from the JTF. I made the SOP so I should know.”

“Well, hopefully, it's the former, the latter could mean you won’t hear from her for months,” Soto said sensing that there was more to the story than what his buddy was letting on, but his goddaughter/niece was a great kid. So he wasn’t going to worry about her too much considering that she was protected by the best, and brightest in the world today. Some of which Soto had trained himself. He was confident that they would protect the civilians first, and foremost. He looked around at Clyde’s silence.

The conference room had twenty rows of movie theater-style chairs, a massive presentation screen, with a stage, and the whole room was well-lit by lights in the high ceiling. Also in the ceiling, Soto could see dome cameras embedded in equal intervals apart from each other. “They are live streaming everything here.” He said with a sense of awe.

People were scattered throughout talking and catching up with each other. A few finely suited people walked on the stage next to the screen. They all wore glasses of some type, varying from large ones like regular PARs to one person with a monocle PAR. Every one of them was taking orders from the only person not wearing eyewear.

An incredibly fit, dark-skinned, black female signed paperwork on the stage before handing it back to someone who ran off. She was in a pinstripe pantsuit, with well-maintained afro puffs making her look younger than her late forties, and a name tag that stated, Cameka Neva: CEO P.A.R. CORP.

She expertly moved the procession along, while answering questions, and scanning through digital reports. She was a master multitasker, listening, and giving orders, at the same time. Her leadership style was calm, but firm. Her demeanor made the whole process move incredibly smoothly. Ushers continue to bring in others and escort them to their designated chairs.

The main screen changed, and there were now two people sitting in rooms on a split screen. On the Left, the name [Roger Jacob] in graphic design was under his face, he was a black male, with stylish eyeglasses, and well-manicured dreadlocks. He sat in a plain white room, with nothing on the wall behind him, he spoke to someone off-screen.

The other screen has the name [Yayoi Hara] she was a Japanese woman, with slightly tanned skin, an ornate loop nose ring, and long black hair. She was surrounded by all styles of anime, and pop culture in her background. A beautiful mandala took up an entire side of the wall behind her.

Cameka looked up at the screens. She pointed at them and a few seconds later, their names and positions were displayed below their split screen in a different format.

[SIR ROGER JACOB VI developer.][DAME YAYOI HARA Time dilation lead]

Soto and Clyde sat next to a few people dressed in full-on cosplay. A Latin woman, with Japanese features, was dressed in oversized brown wizard’s robes, and a big witches hat. She sat by herself on the phone excitedly whispering in a mix of Spanish and English. Everyone could hear her even as she tried to be quiet.

“It's so cool in here B... They look like they are about to start... yeah, Jeremy did the stunts and mo-cap for it... I am not messing with you, Yayoi is here, and so is Roger, Roger Freaking Jacob the founder of Gravitons... well via video... That's not how he found gravitons doofus, he is here via video now... Let’s meet up in the game if you don’t make it here in time... What, you are on the 5 you not even close girl... I left your ticket with the guard outside, he looks like a wise guy.” She laughed. “Yes see you in a bit hopefully.” She hung up and started to play a mobile game.

There were two big, uniformed groups of cosplayers, numbering twenty-five to thirty in each group. They are talking to each other and laughing. One group was dressed in black suits with modern weapons, and side arms. Some even look very real. Clyde was pretty sure all of them were real, thankfully none were loaded at the time. The other group was made up of Native Americans, dressed in tribal battle dress, breechcloth tops, trousers, and moccasins on their feet. They had bows and blades. They were comparing their oversize weapons, and laughing. Every one of them was prime gaming age, but they had a corporate feel to them. The leader of the natives wore a war bonnet.

Clyde and Soto scanned the room with practiced ease. “Who are they?” Clyde asked not expecting an answer. Only a passing curiosity.

Soto looked at the group before looking back at his pamphlet. “Alpha testers almost everyone in here is. The suits are local organized crime affiliates, the Public sector of course. They are big investors in the gaming world especially since virtual reality became so widespread.”

“Why can’t you just say the government?” Clyde said “So it's a state-funded thing?

“I call it like I see it brother. They take our money and give us a false sense of security. That sounds like the Mob or a gang to me.” Soto rebutted.

“Fair.” Clyde put his hands up in surrender “I agree, who are the other group? They are brave to be dressed like Native Americans.”

Soto looked to the other group. “The Native Americans are actual Native Americans, the tribe name is loosely translated as the Golden Bear tribe. They are a combination of all of the Californian tribes and a few surrounding states. They pooled all their resources together to put all of their money into this venture, they sold casinos, and land back to the government just to be able to afford it.” He had his phone out looking up the information. “I didn’t know that, but makes sense.” He finished with academic curiosity.

“Why?” Colonel asked.

Soto shrugged. “Well, it doesn’t matter, in pre-sales alone they have made more money than all of the Vegas casinos did in a year. They have already repurchased the land, and even got more, They have even started sharing profits with the other tribes uniting them.” He scrolled some more. “Then think about monthly subscriptions, headsets, and pod rentals. It was a great investment. MG Corp always killing it!” Soto smiled happy for them, and the gaming world in general, it was thanks to investors like them that Soto had been able to get into games after he was forced to retire.

Clyde looked up at the screen. He watched the sharply dressed woman control everyone on the stage masterfully, Soto followed his gaze up. “Cameka Neva CEO, and cofounder of PAR. “She is Jamaican man.” He said with an awful Jamaican accent. He paused for dramatic effect. Then smiled large looking for a response.

Clyde deadpanned him.

Clearing his throat, “Y-you’re right i-inappropriate... Anyway Dame Yayoi, is a time dilation specialist. She has been finding ways to trick the human mind into slowing down time for years. In VR though, but now she may be able to do it in AR which is nuts by the way. She had to have figured it out, or why else would she have been Knighted? I am always in awe of the advancement of technology in the last two decades man. Duster's am I right?”

Clyde took off his PAR, “Does this pamphlet have an appendix, glossary, or something? He shook his head. “The only thing I understood from what you just said, and what I am reading, was virtual reality, and AR. Augmented Reality can do what now?” He said more confused than before asking his initial question.

“You have an entire Encyclopedia Britannica on your face, and yet you still ask questions like that.” Soto’s eyes widen. “Dude, that's your brother up t...” Soto said before catching himself.

“I know.” Clyde sighed tiredly, his big brother, and he had a strained relationship for a long time, it was only exasperated by the death of their brother. Andre was the glue that kept the family together, and Clyde wished that he could have taken some of his brother’s burden before it was too late. Clyde looked up at the screen, his face going through many subtle emotions, landing on pride. He smiled at his big brother’s accomplishments.

Roger Jacob was seeking a cure for the Dust no matter what. He always felt guilty about making it inadvertently. He discovered gravitons on a home project he was doing one day, and the rest was history. What the rest of the world didn’t know was that because of that close exposure. Roger and his whole family excluding Clyde, were also exposed.

Roger was forced to pivot his focus along with their family’s matriarch Gillian, to medicine when people close to their family started to die from either withdrawing in some cases, but mostly overdoses because regulations were so lax, early on. Roger was the driving force behind the formation of the JTF. Clyde had joined right away followed closely by Soto to help with the organization grow.

The main issue between Roger’s plans for the Joint Task Force, and the actual way they turned out, was night, and day from each other. Roger wanted an independent, global research, and development organization, with a small military contingent to protect, and police itself. Instead, he got the biggest independent military in the world, with small, but highly effective research teams attached to all of those military bases, not to mention the charter every country had to sign which essentially made the JTF the new world police.

Clyde Jr., or the Colonel like most people called him in the JTF, on the other hand, was the gun to Roger’s pencil. While Roger did everything he could, and that was a lot, to help people. Colonel was the one on the front lines of the duster conflict killing Dusters before they could become a threat to the rest of humanity. Unfortunately, Clyde and his brother clashed on these ideologies. Not because they didn’t believe in the same destination, but because they didn’t like the path the other was taking. Colonel was practical, he knew that unchecked power would always test their boundaries, and he felt it was his duty to make sure they knew them. Usual with brute, and overwhelming force.

At the beginning Colonel’s path was needed more than Roger’s. It was a good thing Roger’s path eventually succeeded because Colonel’s had failed. They were fighting Duster gangs, tribes, and sects, for over a decade with no end in sight until last year’s clinical trials being a major success. The world took a collective sigh of relief. The duster crimes started to come less frequently, and it was time for the Colonel to hang up his rifle and move on to something more fulfilling. Clyde frowned at the memories. His mind was wandering a lot today for some reason.

Soto looked up at the screen awestruck, not noticing Clyde’s changes in his facial expressions at all. “Wait, when was your brother KNIGHTED?” He finally looked back at Clyde “And what for?”

Clyde flipped through the pamphlet to Roger’s page. Then sheepishly put on his PAR, There was a UPC code on the back “Two years ago it would seem. Wow, we really haven’t seen each other in that long.” He thought out loud as he continued reading “Well as you already know he discovered the theory behind identifying and manipulating gravitons.”

“Well duh.” Soto hit himself in the forehead. “He did get a Nobel Peace Prize for it. He always just sat in the corner reading some random book whenever we were around each other. At least all our kids got along.”

“Yeah, well that's part of it, well the peace prizes part. The shield tech that we used for a few years, The anti-gravity tech that the space program uses as well. I guess he was also directly responsible for all of the original VR AI programming. Apparently, all subsequent AIs were based on his design. I guess finding a way to end the pandemic justified a Knighthood from all nobility on the planet and an honorary title of ‘Hero of the mortal realm’.” Clyde reread confused. “Oh, the last part was fairly recent. It seems like he needed to have gotten all of the knighthoods to get it, good for him.”

“That feels like he is the main villain in a B action movie bro. My dude out here doing a side quest, while I am struggling to get my pension right.” Soto said without thinking “My hood senses are really tingling now.”

“I don’t ever doubt the hood senses of a guy from the south Bronx, but I told you that a person is universally loved by every royal family, and religious organization in the world, and you automatically jump to the villain conclusion... You know what? I see it now actually.” Clyde said shaking his head at the end. ‘Roger, what are you getting into big brother.’ He pondered looking at the PAR vision of the pamphlet. The information was much more thorough.

Soto turned to Yayoi’s page. “Looks like Yayoi used the gravitons to manipulate local time and...

Cameka stepped up to a podium that raised from the floor, the loud annoying microphone feedback sound cut off any talking, or thinking for that matter. The former soldiers’ tinnitus started acting up.

“OUCH!” They both yelp.

Everyone sat down quickly like they were playing musical chairs, and the music stopped. Of course, there were a few people who embarrassedly walked back to their chairs. They were all hurrying knowing the world-changing conference was about to start. The quiet built as they found their seats one by one until the last ‘mobster’ sat down.

Cameka smiled at the palpable excitement in the room and her command over it. It was intoxicating. She took in a deep breath, “Hello investors, streamers, and veteran--gamers!” She looked directly at Clyde, and Soto paused and then looked away seemingly unaware of them. “Thank you for taking your seats so quickly, We will be starting... now.” All of the doors slammed shut. The action caused the air to rush through the room, leaving it dead quiet. Cameka smiled at her people’s work ethic and timing.

Clyde rolled his eyes at the theatrics.

“A little dramatic isn’t it?” Soto mocked.

“The game will be going live globally at every convention powered by PAR in forty-five minutes. On the dot.” She paused for dramatic effect, which she got when everyone in the room slowly realized, it was New Year’s Eve. The coordination this would take on a regular Tuesday would have been astronomical. But on the largest streaming day of the year, how would there be enough bandwidth? Their wide eyes of recognition looked back at her. She smiled, she loved this part.

“So needless to say we have a lot of moving parts.” She continued getting a little chuckle from the recovering crowd. “But so does reality.” The microphone slowly descended to the floor, and Cameka winked her left eye twice. The next time she spoke she was as loud and clear as if she still had the microphone. “It’s why MG Corp sponsored PAR three years ago. VR was just... too limiting.”

‘That was new.’ Clyde thought he believed they had barely scratched the surface of VR with entire worlds to be made and explored. Not even for just games, you could travel to places you could never get to in your regular life. Like Ancient Greece, or a journey with the richest man ever from the Mali Empire on his pilgrimage to Mecca. So how was something like that limiting?

“Once you leave your home you can’t play anymore. It's not that you can walk around with a bulky old headset on.”

‘Oh, fair point.’ He thought.

“You need bulky equipment. But worst you are in some silly fantasy thorps, that has you running around in suits of armor, or suits of power armor, or even worst if you dare to play a female character damn near nothing.” She smiled at the mostly male crowd looking back at her.

Everyone chuckled nervously at the comical truth behind the statements.

“Don’t get me wrong, Dungeons & Dragons was where it all started for most of us role players, RPGs brought our imagination to life, and even gave some of us moral compasses. Chaotic good anyone? Are you Link, or Cloud, Are you alliance, or are you horde?”

“For the HORDE!.” Soto and most of the room echoed back at her.

“For the Horde.” She repeated cooly.

“She got some really good points about how stale the genre has been for years.” Soto agreed.

“Whether you know it, or not we owe tabletop roleplaying games their due. They introduced us to elves, titans, dragons, and dungeons. We seek loot, justice, revenge, and most of all power. But we aren’t at a table now, are we ladies?” She yelled with energy

A chorus of cheers.

“No where not!”

“Hell no!”

“Shit yeah!

The energy rose in the room with every new word.

“You damn right sister, we own the tables now,” Soto said getting hyped with the crowd. Clyde looked around the room calmly. He can feel the energy in the air. Cameka had some really high charisma, and a presence that was so big one couldn’t avoid it, she had everyone in her well-mannered hands. He immediately knew she was a Duster, and that put him on edge, Most Duster enhancements were below the surface, but some had an effect on their environment that could never be explained. Colonel had dealt with all kinds in his time as leader of the JTF.

“No. We destroy tables, and take handsfree to another level.”

‘And that confirmed it.’ Dusters in the late stages before overdosing were violent and erratic. Ones like Cameka had to know her limits by now though, so he wasn’t too worried about her head exploding, but Clyde would make a phone call about having her checked out. It was everyone’s job to keep everyone safe including the Enlightened.

“Okay? But I like my table.” Soto said a little confused. He and Clyde were the only ones, everyone else was cheering along. He looked to Clyde. “Ahhh...Are you getting this? Cause I am a little lost currently.”

“I have been lost since we left my house so no not at all homie,” Colonel smirked.

“Is she power hungry, or just a really good CEO because sometimes it's a thin line, you feel me? You feel me? Please, tell me I’m not crazy. Also, I think she may be an Enlightened.” He said the last part under his breath, though Clyde didn’t know why, the crowd was not paying any attention to anything but Cameka.

A map of the globe appeared on the screen making the faces become thumbnail-sized in the corner of the screen. A countdown clock showing the remaining forty minutes before it all goes live popped up and then faded into the background. The boundaries of countries of the world were clearly delineated. Cameka turned her back to the crowd and looked at the globe.

Her accent is a little thicker. “PAR is revolutionizing the way businesses, governments, and even clergy communicate, operate, and consolidate all aspects of their respective communities. But let's get real, we didn’t build it to give the powerful more power. We built it so we can take that power for ourselves.”

A thunderous applause followed that statement, Clyde, Soto, and to a lesser extent Sugar, looked confused at the fanaticism. The room seemed to be filled with gamers, but it felt more like a political rally than a game launch. They felt like they were missing something.

“Huh?” Soto started to relook through the pamphlet, something was off.

“Your hood senses tingling?” Clyde asked as Soto flipped through quickly scanning for pertinent information.

“No doubt,” Soto replied.

“But that's reality... How about we augment it a little, and give you all the head start you paid for, the one that will change it all...”

“They still don’t have a game name they just refer to it as...” Soto started.

Cameka raised her voice. “The Greatest Game, and the LAST game, any of us will ever play, this we promise you. PAR presents. For the first time in the world, or should I say the universe.” She magnanimously spread her arms to the screen. The lights in the massive room dim quickly with her arm movement, and a video starts to play, then goes to full screen.

“Welcome to THE GREAT GAME!” She smiled and walked off the stage to the left, an aid handed her a steaming hot cup of tea and some pills. No one saw what she did after that as the music from the video drew all of their attention.

On the screen, there was a person's point of view, with a semitransparent Heads up Display(HUD) as they read through their stats, powers, and equipment. It was pretty standard in VR games by now. The player looked up at the Empire State Building from the street level. It wasn’t just a model of the massive building it was the Empire State building. A red wyvern breathes fire on multiple figures fighting it above the peak of the building.

One of the figures was hit with a fireball, and started to plummet uncontrollably from the sky down to the New York City streets. The character looked up at the falling figure. Then they closed their HUD and chanted an incantation before they jumped straight into the air catching a beautiful native American woman with long black hair and a determined look on her face.

She righted herself, “Can you fly player?” The screen shook its head in the negative as they reached the apex of the player's jumping power. “You are in for a treat then player, You will get to travel in style. The woman flipped in mid-air and held her hand out to the Avatar with a bright smile. The player grabbed her hand as he was about to fall, and she easily held him in place. He looked down and saw that they were about twenty stories up.

The women followed the eyes of the player. “Don’t worry, I got you.” They fly from there location to the top of the massive building in blinding, but controlled speed. The player’s fist started to crackle with lightning just as the Wyvern turned to this new threat, and roared its indignant anger. It tried to spit fire, but it winked out as another figure cast a silence spell on it.

“Now is your chance player. Do what you came here for, win the GREAT GAME.” She yelled, Just as the player jumped at the dragon their whole body turned to electricity.

The crowd was at the edge of their seats as the Player got closer to the massive vicious beast.