It took a moment for Rachael's words to sink in: "I want to see the look on the debutants faces when they realize that the most expensive pod is going to the guy in the hoodie." My first thought was to wonder what Greg was thinking to buy such an expensive piece of equipment on my behalf. If several hundred thousand was out of my price range than I had no idea what this would cost. The two from earlier were facing off around it and I was not looking forward to coming between them.

"So, uh hypothetically, what would be the difference between between the basic pods and the more expensive ones?" I asked. "Pretend like I only signed up for this a week ago and have been spending that time focused on more immediate concerns."

The two turned to stare at me, even pulling away from their 'disaffected teenager' wall lean to do it.

Steven spoke first with a disbelieving tone, before being cut off. "You can't possibly expect me to believe..."

"Holy shit, how did that happen?" Her outburst drew a few eyes but things settled down when she moved back toward the wall, despite her manic grin.

"I wasn't kidding about getting signed up a week ago and there is a surprising amount you need to do when you expect to disappear for months at a time. I had to make sure that people didn't think I had died; like my family, friends, and my landlord. I had to quit my job, deal with irate teammates, and end some of my side projects. And when I wasn't doing all of that I figured my time was best spent figuring out how the laws and such would differ with me becoming a Player. I had literally zero time to look up stuff like comparative pod characteristics and just left those details to my friend who is already a Player."

Steven spoke up before his more excited friend could run off with the conversation. I got the feeling like he was just happy for the change of subject. "The difference is in the degree of connectivity between here and the virtual world, or whatever it is. The basic pods will get you in and out, but that's about it while the ones the military uses can transfer enough data to simulate a telephone or text message system. Those are arranged at the far side of the room and the middle while the more expensive ones are farther to the left. The cheapest ones on our side of the room have enough extra bandwidth to keep more of a constant watch over what is happening on the other side. It is a persistent world, and all that."

The near goth girl decided this would be a good time to chime in. "Yeah, you don't want to hop in your pod, go unconscious on this side, only to have someone gank your insensate body. Uh, for some of us here that is more of a concern than for others." She looked around the room pointedly.

The other teenager nodded. "Right, it is an issue. But that only accounts for so much. Once you have enough bandwidth for a full security system, including cameras, that utility is pretty much expended. The other thing it supposedly does is allow for you to bring back certain advantages from in game. You know, super strength and magic and such. Apparently you still need to earn it and pay for it in game, but your pod sets the limits on your maximums."

I listened to his explanation before asking my next question. "I'm not sure I need all that. Even the basic model that you rich people use is more than enough. How worried should I be that my friend is trying to set me up with a debt I can't pay off?"

Steven seemed to be considering my question but Rachael answered first. "Oh, you should be worried all right, but not because of that. Those two people up there in the front, the ones you talked to before, they come from some of the richest families on the planet. I guarantee you that they got the best equipment that human money could buy. The fact that yours is so much better means that it is alien manufactured, and that means that some E.T. is trying to make something happen." She gave a manic grin. "I'm not even in The Game yet and I've uncovered my first alien conspiracy!"

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The other teenager eyed both of us dubiously. "Is this safe? Should we be worried about being caught in the crossfire of whatever is happening."

"Oh, lighten up. You wanted to make a name for yourself, what better way than to get involved with something really big like this?"

"Yeah, but..." He didn't finish but just trailed off.

I sighed, rubbing my left temple to ease the oncoming headache. "Look, I don't know about all this. I just wanted to play The Game, maybe get some superpowers. The end of my plans were to participate in the Players League for some online games. I never considered joining The Game before because everyone who did just disappeared inside it and was barely ever seen again. I like gaming, but one game always and forever sounds boring. And whatever this is?" I nodded toward the capsule at the front of the room, "it basically requires me to stay in the game for an extremely long time and do extremely well for it to be a meaningful investment. And I don't even know why. So excuse me if I'm freaking out a little bit here."

The two of them went quiet for the moment. I took a deep breath and watched the technicians start moving around in a way that made me think we would be starting soon.

Steven broke the silence. "Look guy, I know what pressure is like. You've just got to keep going and tell yourself that it will all be worth it in the end. Just try not to loose yourself while doing it."

"Well you both already know what my advice would be." Rachael spoke with conviction. "Just fuck 'em. Do what you want to do and if that works out, great! But if not, well it isn't like they ever asked your opinion on things so what does it matter?"

I barely kept myself from laughing in response. I was almost half again their ages, and here they were trying to comfort me about something that was probably a good thing. The point at which my 'worry' starts to turn into 'angst', enough that teenagers try to help calm me down, that is the point when I have to seriously reevaluate how I'm approaching things. I smiled at my own childishness and started focusing on what I needed to do next. The smile turned dangerous.

Afterall, what other choice did I have? Was I going to just decide to not enter the game? There was no way that I would run from a challenge like this.

The girl beside me noticed my face and dropped her nonchalance for the first time since I had met her. "What is it?" she asked, somewhat quietly.

I glanced at both of the kids beside me before answering. "Watch this."

The technicians were visibly trying to get people's attention and they were standing next to my pod. Start with the richest person and move their way down seemed like a good way of keeping spoiled kids happy. Still, I had a place to be and it wasn't next to these kids watching from the sideline. I took several steps forward, straightened my back and squared my shoulders, and stopped only moments before running into the first person standing between me and my destiny.

"MOVE." I commanded, and the younger person jumped aside like they had been stung. Only then did they turn to look at me with a confused look. His suit was well pressed and well fitted, even if it was one of the cheaper ones in the room; but it made my casual clothes look dumpy in comparison.

The lead technician, a balding man who may have been the shortest person in the room, chose that moment to call out my name in a surprisingly strong voice. "Johnny Max Riker, could you please step forward." There was a moment of confusion in the crowd as everyone was looking around for who that mystery person could be. My name, mentioned before, had been completely forgotten.

I stared straight into the eyes of the child standing before me, raised my hand high, and called out. "Here!" The look on his face as he glanced at the stage and then myself was priceless. His demeanor went from confusion sprouting into anger and immediately flipped to embarrassed fear slipping into a completely different type of confusion. An isle opened up for me and I walked forward with purpose.

Almost as entertaining were the looks on the two rich kids up front. Granted, they were both older than me, but their immaturity before had left an impression on me about their mental ages. Maggie, whose last name I never got, stood there slack jawed as her hands frantically tried to smooth down her already flawless attire. Ralph Balderson had a look of baffled confusion on his face that only morphed into victory as I approached the technicians to receive any last minute instructions. "See, I told you so." I heard him whisper to his counterpart.

The pod opened up at the center to reveal a strange ergonomic chair that I found molded to my body when I sat in it. The last thing I saw as it closed around me were the eyes of every person in the room who had line of sight. Immediately I let out a silent groan and collapsed bonelessly into the chair.

Even since my very first professional game, nothing had changed. Fake it till you make it works, but I still hate publicity stunts.