The Seeds of Evermore

by Andrew Haines

  The Seeds of Evermore

  Book 1 of the Evermore Trilogy

  By Andrew Haines

  This is a work of fiction. Names, Characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Copyright © 2019 by Andrew Haines

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, address:

  First paperback and e-book edition December 2019

  ISBN: 9781708935344 (Paperback)

  Contents

  Title Page

  Acknowledgements

  1:

  2:

  3:

  4:

  5:

  6:

  7:

  8:

  9:

  10:

  11:

  12:

  13:

  14:

  15:

  16:

  17:

  18:

  19:

  20:

  21:

  22:

  23:

  24:

  25:

  26:

  27:

  28:

  29:

  30:

  31:

  End Notes

  Acknowledgements

  I would like to thank all of my friends who had supported me through this journey. All the countless vent sessions of how I wasn’t sure that this novel would ever exist. I would like to thank Emily and Nick for beta reading this novel and giving me feedback about the story and the characters.

  I hope you enjoy this novel as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  1:

  The rustling of keys rang in Scott’s ear as he dug through his right pocket, pulling them out. A sharp clang rang out as he dropped them on the concrete ground. He frowned at the sight. Crouching down, he snickered sarcastically at himself. He inhaled sharply and stood up, trying to put a smile on his face. Scott felt awful.

  The interview he had with the business firm did not go as well as he had hoped. His words stumbled from excitement of making it to the final rounds of interviews overwhelmed him. He placed a hand over his eyes and let out another breath. He ran his hand through his matte black hair. Inserting his keys into the lock at his apartment door he thought about how he could have done better. The sound of the lock filled the emptiness of his apartment hallway as he turned the key. Scott pushed his room door open and scuttled inside. He slipped off his shoes behind the door and stared down the small hallway that led into the shallowness that was his small apartment. He took three paces to get down his room’s small corridor to the one large room that was all he could afford working odd jobs. He could barely keep food in the fridge on top of that.

  He shot a glance at his IVR nerve gear sitting on the shelf. His old ways of gaming were virtually dead, and he had no time to keep them going. Time was no longer his friend. He looked at the holographic panel on his watch. His chat box was empty and had been for many weeks, but he always came back to it hoping there was something there. He thought of those that he had made it home with, those who he was hoping would have left him a message letting him and the others that they were doing okay. He shivered at the lingering thought of death. The echoes of a game that he had once played, one that he had been trapped in for years overcame him once more. His brother’s face entered his mind, bloody, ragged, and lifeless. Scott took a deep breath to help him prevent worse thoughts from entering his mind. He rubbed his temples and let out a sigh of pain. Happy places, happy places.

  Scott decided to put a simple message into the chat box. “I’m still here.”

  His stomach grumbled at him. Scott decided that a hot meal and a cold drink would help him relax from what poor luck the day had given him. As he flipped the light switch by his counter to turn on the kitchen light, his smart watch buzzed. He checked for which app notification had buzzed him. A small holographic projection illuminated from the watch. Scott fiddled with the interface and navigated to the main screen.

  To his surprise, there was an email in his inbox with a red exclamation point signaling importance. Scott tapped the pulsing icon, and a letter opened. Another small holographic screen projected from the watch, making the text large enough to read and navigate in a three-dimensional space. Scott glanced at the sender box. The email was from Virtual Industry. Trying to jog his memory, Scott attempted to remember if he had applied to the company. He knew that Virtual Industry was a very large and prestigious umbrella tech company in the county. They were one of the two largest technical companies that was competing in the market. Landing an interview with them was like looking for a piece of hay in a needle stack. His thoughts were still clouded as he began to skim the letter. The letter was filled with small notions and remedial questions, Scott scratched his head looking at the text floating in front of him. His analysis degree kicked in as he looked over the document two more times.

  It seems too much like a pattern as much as a message.

  There were certain words and sentence styles that repeated often and seemed to be filler behind the real message. There were too many repeated common terms in a row. If he had not known any better, Scott would have guess that this was a spam message. One sentence had the word ‘take’ three times in a row next to two ‘me’. As if the author hit the paste key too many times and did not take the moment to reread their work. After another scan, he found a message hidden within the text. He brought up another screen from his watch and went to his common search engine. He typed in “Worded Morse Code.” A definition and a box to translate appeared underneath of it. Scott copied the original text from the email and pasted it into the translation box. A few moments later it spit out a translation of a formal letter:

  Dear Mr. Scott Halforld,

  I would like to extend the offer of an interview within our company as a virtual game tester and analyzer for our newest project. If you are interested, please respond to the email with confirmation, and you will receive a return email of your interview date. Upon interview, terms will be discussed of all manner of items. Please respond in a timely manner.

  -Tuomas Fidlin

  Co-founder of Virtual Industry

  A smile grew over Scott’s face. He had a chance to finally do something that he wanted to do other than having to get a job at his father’s business, which Scott had no desire to do. He tapped the holographic respond icon. Tapping on a microphone button, Scott cleared his throat, “I accept the offer to an interview at Virtual Industry. Please let me know when the interview shall be.” The text appeared on the holo-screen. He continued, “Thank you, Scott Halforld.”

  When he was satisfied, Scott tapped the send icon. The message folded up and the holo-projection disappeared from his watch. Putting his arm back down to his side, a yawn came from him, it had been a long day for him.

  Still standing at the kitchen counter, Scott pulled down on the loose tie and tossed it onto the counter. The hate of wearing it grew with each passing interview. He never wanted to be a white-collar businessman like his father, but it was the only choice to pursue in the growing technological world. There was a need for mediators, but Scott always dreamed of just playing games and earning his way doing that. Now he had the chance to see if working at Virtual Industry would let him fulfill his dream.

  Skepticism kept him looking down. His past saw to that. He shivered at the sounds of gunfire and smell of poison gas.

  Scott noticed he had not shut his door behind him. Damn these old buildings. With all of this technology, you would think they woul
d upgrade to fingerprint access and sliding doors that close behind us. At least I can afford the rent.

  He walked back to the door and stuck his head out the room to see if there was anything down the hall. To his expectations, there was nothing as usual, nice and quiet just like he was used too. He shuffled back and closed the door behind him.

  His watch buzzed again. Glaring down at the interruption, he saw a response from Virtual Industry.

  His face lit up and his heart rate increased. He was now hopeful at having a chance of moving on. He grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and laughed in good spirits.

  ***

  It had been three days since he had received the email confirming his interview, and Scott looked upon the skyscraper that was the headquarters to Virtual Industry. He smiled.

  Well I don’t have anything left to lose. This could be the chance of a lifetime.

  He ran his hand though his recently trimmed hair. He decided that he should at least try to look like he wanted this position. He was dressed in a black business suit and white shirt and accented it all with a dark blue tie. He was trying to be as professional as possible. He wore sunglasses to shade his green eyes from the summer sun. The air was dry and hot as he strolled up to the building. The city noise bustling around him with people moving in all directions. The sight reminded him of school and the crowded hallways getting to class. The humming of the electric cars that passed by were slightly muffled from all of the people talking on their phones or to those they were walking with down the sidewalk. The Virtual Industry building was similar height of most of the other buildings in the area. Towering upwards of thirty stories. Scott took a closer look at the skyscraper.

  To his surprise, there were not many windows along the building’s structure until the fourth story. Scott had to cover the top of his eyes from the sun above him to see farther up the side of the building. The building was a grey and white combination of colors in a horizontal stripe pattern. Looking back down to normal eye level, he glanced at the holo-projected clock that appeared. He was early, but he knew he should scout a bit around the building and figure out where he was going to be meeting the interviewer.

  The area around the building was busy with people in casual wear moving across the sidewalk, however none of them were heading towards Virtual Industry. Scott took the moment to look at some of the other businesses around where he was. He spotted a coffee shop, which had a line out the door. He made a mental note to try it out sometime in the future. Making his way closer to the Virtual Industry building, Scott had to shoulder between some people, so he could get to the door. The sounds of a busy city made it hard to think without using headphones. Scott made it to the door and put weight onto the rotating door to get it to turn.

  The rotating door screeched up against the metal flooring as Scott pushed into the building. When he stepped into the main area, he looked around. There was a single desk in the middle of the room. On each side was an elevator and a small deli behind it. It was much more tranquil than he thought it would be.

  Everyone must be busy, or no one is here yet? No maybe lunch hour? It is a bit after noon.

  He pulled off his sunglasses and placed them in his shirt pocket. The room had a black marble floor, polished to a shine. The smell of coffee brewing came from the deli. Scott took a deep breath of the smell. It made him feel more relaxed. His shoulders loosened and he stood up straighter to the familiar smells.

  Scott took a few steps forward before the woman at the desk waved him over. He nodded and picked up his pace over to her.

  She was a brunette with some blonde highlights and had a fair complexion. Her eyes were a sky blue with a hint of grey. There were small patches of freckles on her face that contrasted her dress that she was wearing. It was a blue and green combination sun dress, but it left nothing to the imagination. “Hello there.” The woman smiled at him. “What can I help you with, sir?”

  “Hi, I received an interview request from here a few days ago set for today, and I have no idea where I need to be right now,” Scott responded. His voice carried slightly in the empty atrium.

  She nodded to him. “May I please see the email confirmation?”

  Scott accessed his watch and searched for the email that he had received. The woman watched with a smile as he fiddled with the holographic screen, “Where did the bloody thing… Ah here it is.” Scott turned his arm and shifted the view so the receptionist could see the message. She was surprised at the tech that he was wearing.

  She skimmed it and sighed. “Ah Tuomas going around Drake again.”

  “Excuse me?” Scott asked, coming back to focus on her words.

  “Oh, don’t worry about it. You need to go up to level sixteen and head to room sixteen dash twelve.”

  Scott thanked her and moved to the elevator on his right.

  “Wait.” the receptionist waved him back. “Wrong elevator that one only goes down, while that one,” she pointed to the one on his left, “goes up.”

  “Ah, well thank you.” Scott nodded and turned to walk to the other elevator.

  “Well it was my fault for not telling you, sorry.” She frowned.

  “It’s cool, don’t worry, you put me on the right path anyway, so thank you.” His smile showed everything he said was truth.

  He made his way over to the elevator. The tapping of a pen from the receptionist desk soon filled the silence of the room as he pressed the button to call up the elevator. He thought about basic interview questions as he waited for the elevator to arrive. He kept trying to find the best wording for his answers to make it so he was not over doing it, but so he did not seem completely idiotic or nervous. He was worried that he would trip up like he had at his last interview. Keeping his mind busy with the questions was helping him sort the feelings of uneasiness.

  A low tone played when the elevator reached the main floor. The doors slid open and Scott stepped into the confined space and looked to see the floor selection upon the wall. The button illuminated as he pressed the button labeled ‘16’. The doors slowly shut; the elevator began to move upwards to the determined destination. Scott speculated what the interviewer was going to be like. If they were going to be a man or woman. Their skin tone, the type of voice they were going to have. He took a deep breath and cleared out his mind to help him focus on the interview.

  The elevator slowed to a halt and the door pinged as they slid open on the sixteenth floor. Scott poked his head out of the elevator to see where he was. He could see out of the window that was located ten feet in front of him on the other side of the hallway. There was another skyscraper blocking the view, but it didn’t stop the sun from illuminating the hallway with natural light.

  He looked left, then quickly to the right, then took a step out of the elevator before the doors closed on him. The smell of a generic office building filled his nose. It had a slightly stale scent to it with a hint of a reheated breakfast sandwich in it. Scott’s eyes wandered around the hallway to see if he could spot the room 16-12. His search did not find the room, though it did put him on the path towards it. The floor was quiet. There were no sounds of keyboards or monitors humming. He kept moving and finally came upon the door labeled 16-12. His hand was heavy when he knocked on the door.

  “Enter,” A voice said from behind the door.

  The door did not make a sound as Scott turned the handle and pushed it open. Two twin-sized beds on either side of the room. Both with no covers except for a generic white sheet on top of each one. The sheets were tucked in like the rest of the linens were in the laundry.

  “Welcome. You must be Scott. Am I right?” A man asked in a Scandinavian accent. He sat in a large leather lounge chair with no desk in sight. Scott examined the man in front of him. He was roughly six feet tall. His hair was brown with a clean cut to match the rest of his symmetrical features, and he had dark stubble on his face.

  “Yes,” Scott answered with some suspicion in his voice. “Uh, is there a reason there is no de
sk but two beds in the room?”

  The man didn’t move from his position in the chair.

  The man gave a sharp smile. “Yes because your interview will be done while in a virtual world. Come lie down and put on the nerve gear and link into the world. I shall meet you there.” The man gestured over to the bed on his right. He stood up and made his way to the bed on his left. He gestured for Scott to follow his lead.

  Scott felt skeptical about what he was hearing, and his heartrate started increasing, “Okay then.” He stepped over to the bed and picked up the helmet looking piece of equipment. It was an IVR nerve gear headset. He looked at the cables that were protruding from the top of the headgear. The headgear was heavy and looked like an older style. It’s been a while since I used one of the old variants. Wait. What generation is this… is this new equipment with a retro look? Scott looked back at the man, who was lying down with his set on.

  The man said, “Hurry up. We need to get a move on.”

  Scott sighed. OK, here we go. He laid down on the bed and put the helmet on with the cables running down the back of his neck. The humming of the equipment filled his ears as the booting menu appeared in front of his eyes. With a calm, level voice, Scott said, “Link start.” His body went limp and his mind leapt into a virtual world.

  A small screen appeared in front of him for choosing an avatar. They all looked plain, except for one, which he thought resembled himself. He lifted his arm and tapped the holographic screen. A quiet tone clicked as he pressed it. The world around him pixilated into existence and he saw the man standing there in front of him.

  “Wonderful, isn’t it?” the man asked.

  Taking a moment to look around, Scott was now wearing clothing one would see in a fantasy game. He looked like an adventurer who was just getting past the starting zone. A green and brown tunic with a matte brown set of pants. The black boots felt a little tight for his avatar. Scott glanced over at the man, who was dressed similarly to him. The biggest difference was that his avatar looked identical to what he looked like in the real world.