Fate Revealed
Page 4
Eric and Griffin slowly nodded. A 25 million dollar grand prize to the winning team of Fate’s first ever World Championship, to take place next year on the anniversary of its launch, announced a week and a half before the game even released. Hurricane really was going all in on this.
Eric slowly breathed out, “Have you told the other guys yet?”
“Yeah, you two were the last to hear, everyone else has already finished their exams. We were just waiting on you two when we got the news.”
“Alright, should we have a meeting to discuss our plans?”
“Gio has his part-time job today. And Jun needs to go pick up his sister. We’re going to be online at 8 though. Will you guys be there?” Mark looked at Griffin and Eric in turn.
Glancing at Griffin, Eric nodded. “I can make it.”
“Me too,” echoed Griffin.
“Alright cool. I’ve gotta go give Chris and Trina rides. I also promised Cassie I’d take her out later. Are you two good to get home?”
“Yeah I’ve got my bike.”
“My dad’s picking me up.”
Hearing that, Mark bid the two goodbye and walked off, moving markedly more slowly than he had on his arrival. Turning to Griffin, Eric stayed silent for a moment, searching for the words, “25 million," he managed.
Griffin nodded, “25 million. I doubt we can win it though.”
Eric laughed, “What’s the point of being young if we can’t dream? Come on we’ve always done well in local tournaments. Who’s to say we don’t have a shot?”
Griffin smiled wryly at this, “I suppose we’ll give it our best shot.”
“Haha yeah we will! Anyways, I’m off. Peace, mate,” Eric said, splitting ways from Griffin as he headed towards his locker. Already mostly cleaned out, there were only a few last memories of high school lingering behind the chipped paint on the door of his locker. Twirling the combination lock a few times, it gave way with a soft click. Opening the locker, Eric was just leaning in to grab the items littering the bottom of the locker when he felt a soft brush against his back.
“Yiiiiee!” He yelped, jumping away from the locker. Whirling around, he came face to face with Mirianne, looking shocked as she leaned away from him. Re-adjusting himself quickly, Eric tried to play it cool as he posed awkwardly next to his open locker.
“Mirianne! Uhhhh… What’s up?” he began, mentally kicking himself over how uncool he was.
“Nothing. Sorry, did I scare you?” Mirianne replied, having regained her composure.
“What? Scare me?” Eric laughed. “Nope, just thought you might be Kurt. He’s been pretty aggressive about trying to get me to give him my consent form for the graduation.”
Mirianne raised an eyebrow at this, “You still haven’t given him your consent form? Wasn’t it due last week?”
Eric raised his arms defensively at this, “I’ve been busy. Plus I’ve got it now.”
“Riiiiiiiight," she responded. “Anyways, I was meaning to ask you. What was it that Mark showed you and Griffin that had you guys looking so shocked?”
Eric was startled, “Oh that? You’ve heard of Fate right?”
Mirianne quickly waved her hand, “Of course I’ve heard of it. It’s a new video game right?”
“Yeah, well the developers of Fate have announced that starting early next year they’re going to be holding qualifying matches for teams to earn the chance to compete in a huge worldwide tournament, with the finals happening on the anniversary of Fate’s release date. Not only that but the prize pool is 50 million dollars. With 25 million going to the winner of the tournament and the rest being divided among the various qualifying tournaments. It’s incredible, especially for a game that hasn’t even been released yet,” Eric explained.
At this, Mirianne’s eyes widened, “25 million dollars? For a video game? No wonder you guys looked surprised.”
Eric grinned, “Yeah, it’s a lot of money. We’re gonna be making a team to try and compete.”
Mirianne smiled, “Well thanks for explaining. I wish you guys good luck. And have a good summer. I probably won’t be seeing you much from here on out.”
Hearing this, Eric’s grin dimmed, “You’re headed off to university in the Fall?”
Mirianne nodded, “I got into a really prestigious program at -”
“KINGSLEY” A voice thundered from down the hall causing both Mirianne and Eric to jump.
“Um. I’ll see you around," Mirianne muttered before fleeing the scene as Kurt stomped over towards Eric’s exposed position in front of his locker.
“Hey Kurt!” Eric piped up, with as much joviality in his voice as he could muster.
“The consent form. Last chance.” Kurt responded coldly.
“I actually have it right here," Eric replied as he drew a slightly crumpled sheet from his backpack, presenting it to Kurt. Observing the signatures on the sheet for a second, Kurt glared at him one last time before turning and disappearing back down the hallway.
Eric sighed, why did Kurt have to interrupt just as he was having a conversation with Mirianne? Sure she was about to say goodbye, but that wasn’t the point. It was about the principle of the matter. You don’t interrupt a man talking to one of the school’s cutest girls!
With yet another heavy sigh Eric gathered the rest of his supplies before turning to observe the hallway one last time.
“So long," he muttered, heaving his bag over his shoulder as he departed for the last time.
- Chapter Five -
Re-planning Session
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- Chapter Six -
VirtuNet Disconnect
Eric was frustrated. He’d been to every major retailer in town and heard the same story. VirtuNet game connectors and preorders for Fate were all sold out. There’d been a huge demand for the game even before the announcement of the Fate Championship Series. But the massive prizes for the tournament, combined with the game’s appeal and the relative cheapness of the system meant that there had been a massive rush to buy VirtuNet connectors the day of the announcement. As a result for the last week, he’d been hitting up retailers everywhere; he’d even persuaded his mother to drive him to the next city over in an attempt to purchase one there, only to be met with the same story. VirtuNet connectors were sold out everywhere.
“Am I really going to be unable to buy a VirtuNet connector?” Eric despaired. It wasn’t as if he was alone in his plight. Across the net, there were thousands of people lamenting their inability to purchase the connector. Even Hurricane seemed surprised by the popularity of the game, having released an announcement stating that they’d put in an order for three times the number of connectors from their manufacturer, but it would take another week for them to be available in stores. Four days after Fate released.
To Eric, this was unacceptable. The difference four days could make at an MMO’s release was huge. Four days was the difference between being a frontrunner, who could monopolize resources and push around other players, and being a middle of the pack player who got bullied by higher level players. Even if Fate was a different experience, being four days behind was not a prospect Eric relished, especially since Jun would never let him live it down if he was the weakest member on the team.
With a sigh, Eric looked at the number on the screen and dialed it into his Smartwatch. Hearing the soft ring, he crossed his fingers and began to pray.
“Hello?” came a voice from the other end.
“Hi. I was wondering if you had any VirtuNet connectors in stock," Eric asked.
“Sorry, we’re all sold out. We’ll be getting some more in next week though,” the employee responded.
“Ah okay, thanks anyways," Eric replied as he hung up.
“F***!” he swore, hitting the wall with his fist.
“Eric?” It was at this moment that his Mother’s voice drifted up the stairs. “Can you come downstairs, honey? We have something to talk to you about.”
Eric groaned. His parents had been asking him almost daily about his plans for university. He still didn’t even have an acceptance letter from any of his serious choices, although he was sure one was coming. Mostly sure at least.
Making his way downstairs, Eric saw his parents sitting on the couch. On the coffee table in front of them was a large white envelope with a familiar crest emblazoned on the front. Eric’s heart caught in his chest; he took a peek at his father’s face and saw a familiar dark frown. Looking back at the floor quickly, he walked over to the leather recliner and took a seat. His father was a stern man in his mid 40’s; a career military officer, he was a man Eric both respected and feared. At 6’2 with a bald head and an imposing countenance, his father was the type of man one envisioned when the phrase, built like a bear was uttered. The slight scruff on his face after a weekend of not shaving did nothing to reduce the fear Eric felt upon realizing he was finally going to have to explain his choice in program to his father.
His mother sat opposite his father, more diminutive than his father, with graying hair and a kind face. Eric sincerely hoped that his mother would be supportive in his choice. Otherwise this was going to be a very long day.
“Yes? I was kind of busy you know," he started, trying to avoid looking at the envelope or his parents, a task made difficult by the lack of any other points of interest in the room. Despite this, Eric made a herculean effort to seem interested in the dust on the windowsill beside him as he spoke.
“A letter came. For you,” his father stated matter-of-factly, as if it was just any other letter. If Eric hadn’t seen the envelope, he might have even assumed it was a birthday letter, as his birthday was in two days.
“Oh?” Eric replied carefully.
His father pushed the letter on the table towards him, “It’s right there. Why don’t you open it?”
With trembling hands, Eric reached out to pick up the letter. While this was the University he wanted to go to, he had not applied to a program his parents would approve. A fact he had been avoiding by telling himself that maybe he would just be rejected.
Opening the letter, Eric read the contents to himself. As expected he had been accepted to a major in Game Design with a minor in Economics. He would start in the fall and the room he had requested had been reserved. Putting the letter down, he tried to smile at his parents.
“It looks like I’ve been accepted. I start in the fall.”
“Oh Eric! That’s great news! -”
“For what program?” his father interjected. Cutting his mother off mid-sentence.
“A Major in Game Design and a Minor in Economics - it’s an honours program," Eric replied, doing his best to make the program sound as prestigious as possible. It wasn’t a lie - the program was actually one of the highest rated game design programs in the country, and the University’s Business Faculty, which the Economics minor was a part of, was held in equal esteem. He just hoped his slightly more oldschool father would see it that way.
“Game design?” his father asked, furrowing his brow. “You applied for game design? I thought you told us you were going to apply for something that would give you a future.”
Eric swallowed dryly, this was exactly the reason he had been trying to avoid in this conversation. Nervously, he tried to formulate a response, “Well it’s a very highly regarded program you know. And games are becoming more popular every year. Just look at how well Fate is doing and that hasn’t even been released yet!”
“How many game designers get to work on a game like Fate, rather than pumping out awful mobile game after mobile game as quick money grabs? Do you really think you’ll be able to get a job at a place like Hurricane if you go through this program?” his father countered.
Eric faltered. It was true that the odds of him getting a good job in the industry were low, but did his father have to crush his hopes like that? Stealing a glance at his mother, he looked over at her for support, only to notice her doing her share of studying the upholstery as if it contained untold secrets and she was determined to uncover them. The odd thing was that she seemed to enjoy this act as the phantom of a smile could be seen on her face.
“What’s so funny, Mummy?” Eric asked, attempting to divert the flow of the conversation.
“Don’t change the subject, Eric!” his father said sternly, but his own mask was starting to crack, with a grin slowly spreading across his face.
“What? What’s going on? Why are both of smi
ling like that?” Eric asked, suddenly unsure of the situation.
“Oh Eric! I’m so proud of you! XX University is a great school! Why didn’t you tell us you’d applied?” his mother suddenly burst out, jumping up and running over to give him a hug.
Eric was now totally lost. The conversation had gone from him being yelled at to him being congratulated and hugged, all within less than a minute.
His father grinned, “You left yourself logged in on the VirtuNet console. We received the email that your application had been received over a month ago, naturally along with the details about the programs you applied for. At first I was a little disappointed, but after we looked into it, we found out that this is actually a great program. It has a high graduate placement rate and the faculty is very highly rated internationally.”
Eric breathed out, relief written on his face, “I was really unsure if you guys would approve of it.”
“Well the Economics minor definitely helps. You’ll still have useful real world skills even if you can’t get a job as a game designer after graduation. Do you have a plan for where to stay when you go off in the fall?” his mother asked, finally participating in the conversation.