Henry taped the cardboard box shut and stood up, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. He looked at his apartment and admired his hard work. His small one-bedroom apartment was empty, except for boxes stacked near the front door. He was anxious to leave Charlottesville, but he was at the same time he was also excited. Virginia was where he was born, where his parents died, and where he went to school. He was ready to live somewhere new and leave behind his regret and pain.
“Are you excited? What does your new apartment look like?” Dustin asked thrilled about his friend’s success.
Buena Vista had taken care of the moving service and helped find an apartment. James his recruiter even paid his first two months’ rent.
“Yeah, I’m excited. The condo is nice, big too. It’s downtown with a river view. It’s close to work and the metro. It’s a two-bedroom apartment, so I’m thinking of looking for a roommate,” Henry replied.
“Promise me no female roommates,” Heather said anxiously over the phone.
“I promise,” Thaddeus said.
“Hey, I got an idea. I’ll be your roommate!” Dustin said having an epiphany.
“Listen I’m not paying your half of the rent!” Henry said right away.
“Come on dude, please let me come with you. I’ll get a job and pay half…or whatever I can,” Dustin said his sentence trailing off at the end.
“I heard that! And half means half,” Henry joked.
“C’mon you’re rich. Don’t be petty. Once I meet my Sugar Momma, I promise to pay you back,” Dustin begged.
“Fine, you can live with me,” Henry said.
“Thank you, I promise I’ll look for jobs as soon as we land. I’ll be right back. Hold on, I’ll ask my parents to buy me a plane ticket and then we can ride over to the airport together!” Dustin said excitedly running out the door.
“I applied for several jobs in Huston. I know Huston is two hours away, but we could see each other on the weekends. I also got offered a chemist job in a women’s cosmetic company. When I toured labs, I noticed all the other chemists were old men. It didn’t feel right so I turned it down. There aren’t a lot of chemistry jobs for undergraduates. Most employers are only hiring chemists with a Ph.D. So, I applied to UT Austin,” Heather explained.
“That makes sense. What program are you applying for at UT?” Henry asked curiously.
“Teaching. They have a STEM program. My mom suggested. She said because all the business was closing due to Heaven’s Gate, I should find a recession-proof profession. You know school districts are having a hard time finding science teachers. And a lot of school districts offer in-game trade and fighting classes in high school. I’ve reached out to Austin Independent School District and private schools who said they’re willing to emergency certify me to teach chemistry and basic alchemy. But I have to get my teaching certification in two years if I want to stay on,” Heather explained.
“I think you’d make a great teacher. You do such a good job explaining chemistry to me,” Henry complimented.
“So, I might be moving to Austin sooner than expected,” she said happily. “I’ve looked at a few apartments and they’re all so expensive. Thankfully my parents said they’d help me with moving expenses, and rent for two more months,” she said.
They continued to talk until the movers arrived. The moving truck was supposed to arrive at seven the next morning. Instead, they arrived over two hours late. Two guys of average build walked up the steps to his apartment. They slowed down when they he was standing next to the apartment listed on their clipboard.
“Henry?” as the slightly taller of the two.
“That’s me,” he replied jokingly.
“Good, sign here. All it says is that you permit us to load your items into the truck and that you’re not transporting any hazardous chemicals. Don’t worry about the insurance part, your company has already insured your items,” the mover explained in a dry robotic voice. He could tell he’d given that speech hundreds of times before.
As they loaded the boxes, Henry walked downstairs to the office. The leasing agent sat behind a small desk. He was a third-year student, whom he tried to avoid on campus. Henry dislike him because he was always so happy and was always smiling, it felt unnatural. Every conversation they had felt like a pep rally, and the leasing agent was the cheer captain.
“Are you all moved out?” asked the leasing agent with a smile, bubbling with happiness.
“The movers should be done soon,” Henry said wanting to punch his smiling face.
“All right, I’ll take the key, and let’s head up to do the final walkthrough,” the leasing agent said.
They quickly walked to the second floor and surveyed the apartment. Since Henry wasn’t a big party, his apartment pretty much looked the same as it did two years ago.
“Oh, this looks great. You did such a nice job maintaining this place,” the leasing agent said in a congratulatory voice.
“So do I get my deposit back?” Henry said cutting to the chase.
“Yes, let’s go back down to the office, and the Property Manager will cut you a check,” he said describing the process.
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A few minutes later, he left his apartment building $500 richer. He walked to his Chase Bank account on campus and deposited the check. His bike was already loaded on the back of the truck.
He realized this was his last walk through campus. This place was his home. He remembered where he was when he received news of his parent’s accident. There were fond memories too. Like where he met Dustin and Heather. The university was his haven from the world.
And soon he’d be stepping onto a plane heading far away. Virginia only reminded him of the family he lost, but in Texas, he had the chance to build a new one. He was sure living with Dustin would be interesting, and hopefully Heather might join him too.
He deposited the check, took on a final walk around campus, and called for a Lyft to the airport.
The Lyft met him at his apartment. He paused, taking in the view from his door one last time before putting his suitcase and backpack in the car’s trunk. His Aunt Susan told him to carry a week’s worth of clothes to wear until the movers arrived. He also had a picture of his parent in his luggage. In his backpack, he carried his electronics and chargers.
Soon he was sitting in the back as the car raced to the airport. The airport was small, and the security line was nonexistent. He walked to the ticket counter and showed the receptionist the email from Buena Vista’s Human Resources. The woman weighed his luggage and then placed it on the conveyor belt behind her. Then printed his ticket and wished him well.
As soon as he was through security, he walked to the gate on his ticket. He was two hours early and the gate attended, nor the plane had arrived.
He found a seat near an outlet, plugged in his phone, and read the Heaven’s Gates forum. To his surprise, the biggest news was the announcement from Mythical Guild, Golden Knights, and three more that they located an undisclosed gem mine. The page was filled with people speculating about his mine. Moreover, it also set off a literal gold rush in Heaven’s Gate.
A new sub-forum was created about prospecting. Miner was not yet class in Heaven’s Gate, only a skill. People could mine, but not be miners, and only a rare few people had the prospecting skill. But people suspected they might change as the game did with settlements.
Other people were philosophizing about owning a cryptocurrency mine and how that unbalanced the game. Others were paying people hundreds of dollars for tips on mountain cave locations. And reporters were asked to interview the person who found the mine.
But what Thaddeus found funny, was a small tucked-away article at the very bottom of the front page, about a random lord’s empire-wide recruit notice for NPCs. And the only comment was a criticism of guild settlements.
If only people knew the truth, the mining article at the top getting all the attention was related to the small article at the bottom getting no attention. Players would migrate to his settlement.
The other top news discussed the pause in religious persecution and purge in the Rhine Theocracy, tensions rising of a possible civil war in the Akkadian Empire, and the upcoming auction.
The theocracy declared a cease-fire allowing heretics a humane chance to leave on their own and never return. Heretics had 60 days to leave before the inquisition restarted.
Rumors were spreading in the Akkadian Empire that the emperor’s older brother had returned for revenge. Tensions were rising in the capital, as talks of civil war became increasingly common. There was also an exodus of people trying to escape before the war started.
The auction would be held on July 1st. People had been desperately saving coins just to afford the entrance fee.
The Heaven’s Gate forum was almost as large as the game world. He only stopped reading when he realized it was time to board the plane. Two hours went by in what seemed like minutes. As he was waiting in line to board, he heard an exhausted person running and yelling to wait.
Dustin ran up to Henry and grabbed his shoulder taking deep breaths. But he had a smile on his face and said, “I made it!”
“That was close!” Henry said as they boarded the plane.
The first plane they rode was a commuter and they were able to sit next to each other. The plane flew north to Baltimore-Washington Airport before catching another larger plane to Austin where Henry sat in the front and Dustin sat in the very last seat.
Four hours later Henry touched down in Austin. He and Dustin marveled at the signs welcoming them to Austin and to Keep Austin Weird. Neither understood the last sign but thought it was unique and funny.
They walked to the baggage claim downstairs. As they descended the escalator, they saw a man holding up a Mr. Henry Brown sign.
Brown was both his last name reality and virtual reality.
Henry walked up to the man and holding and said, “I’m Henry Brown.”
“Good afternoon Mr. Brown, I’m Dwight, and I’ll be your driver. Your company hired me to give you a tour and take you to your condo,” he explained.
“Oh man, I knew following you was the best. H—” Dustin squealed before Dwight shushed him.
“We just say the company. Please try not to use company the name in public,” Dwight suggested.
After they got their bags from the baggage claim carousel, Dwight loaded the luggage into the Lincoln Navigator.
Dwight gave them a tour guide of the regions and popular spots. They saw downtown, Central Austin, North Austin, South Austin, East Austin, and West Austin. There were so many interesting bars, restaurants, live music, and hipster joints.
Henry likes the downtown district with its eclectic mix of cultures and genres. He especially likes 2nd Street, Rainey Street, 6th Street, and the Red River District.
Dusting on the other loved North Austin’s domain NORTHSIDE. Which was a mix of trendy residential and commercial stores.
“We have to get cowboys like today!” Dustin said after observing people walking around outside.
Finally, after a four-hour flight and two-hour tour, Dwight brought them to the condo. The condo was located in a tall skyscraper near the red river. Outside the door was a security guard and inside behind a small desk was a cherry Community Manager.
“Welcome, Mr. Brown. Your company took care of everything. You are the last of your group to arrive. Your key card is in the welcome packet. Please follow me,” she had to hand him a bulky manila envelope.
He followed her and they took the elevator up to the 10 floors.
“Each floor has two four condos. Yours is the only condo that faces the river. You must be pretty important. All the Heaven’s Gate employees with river view are. I look forward to reading your name in the paper one day,” she said opening the door and letting Henry and Dustin inside.
“This is amazing!” Dustin said running around the apartment. Your bathroom has a tub and shower. Oh, look at that view! This is amazing. This is better than I imagined it!” he exclaimed.
“I’m glad your partners are happy,” she said smiling.
“He’s not me—we’re just friends,” Henry said tripping over himself.
“Thank you. We’re very happy!” Dustin said unaware of what the Community Manager said.
“Yes. Thank you,” Henry said closing the condo door.
He was here, he made. He is ready for his new start. He put his things away and opened the welcome packet. The first words he read were: New Employee Orientation schedule. He was ready for a fresh start!