“Last step, you get to pick your starting clothes. You can swap styles throughout the game, but you need to start somewhere,” Dustin said.
I scrolled through the outfits and disappointment sank in. “Really?”
“What?” Dustin’s hurt sounded real this time.
“I can either be super slutty or wear the dystopian version of a potato sack? You couldn’t give me a Members Only jacket and stonewash jeans?”
Phillip sighed. “No. Because this is the 2080’s, not the 1980’s, and you are not that old.”
“I’m mature for my age.” Which was funnier when I was sixteen instead of thirty-seven.
I didn’t necessarily have a problem with the outfits. They were gorgeously designed and detailed, and it was clear which bits were leather, cloth, and synthetic. But it was a little disappointing to see my Airmedic Nekokin—faith healer kitty-girl—dressed in an almost identical outfit to those I’d find in any other MMO—stomach bare, boobs barely covered, and ass not much better. “If I were playing the guy characters, what would my options be?”
“Exactly the same.” Phillip scooted to the next computer over, woke it up, and flew his fingers across the keyboard. A moment later, a similar screen to mine appeared, but this one with a tall, slender character. He had alabaster skin, pointed ears, and wore a leather harness and briefs that looked more like thin strips of electrical tape crossed over his chest and crotch.
“Huh.” I didn’t expect that. It really was the same outfit my nekokin had access to. “Yay equality?”
Dustin sighed. “There are genre expectations. We had to stick to some rules.”
“You think you could do better, I assume?” There was a challenge in Phillip’s voice.
Could I? “I could do differently. I’d rather be wearing what I would design.”
“You’ve done a lot of outfit design for games?” Dustin’s tone wasn’t condescending, but it did make me bristle.
As a matter of fact, I had. “We were raised in a strict, conservative household. My brother’s version of rebelling was to mod video games to be what he wanted. He let me play, and he let me make clothes for the characters. Final Fantasy Seven was my favorite, and Tifa never looked more awesome.”
“Sounds like she’s volunteering.” The fun was back in Dustin’s voice.
Phillip nodded. “Adrienne’s next task is to make better beginner outfits. And keep in mind, when we beta test, we’re supposed to find things for other teams to fix.”
Luna clapped. “Can we have wings?”
“Wings are for later in game,” Phillip said as if it were obvious. “You have to earn the right to fly.”
Luna stuck her tongue out at him. “Decorative wings. To hint at what’s to come.”
“Buy me coffee tomorrow morning, I’ll give you wings.” I wasn’t above bribery when the cause was good.
Phillip sighed. “We retain veto power.”
“Nope.” Luna shook her head. “Adrienne says I get wings on my beginner clothes. I get wings.”
Phillip, Dustin, and Luna gave me a brief tutorial on the controls, though it didn’t take much. At least on the surface, the functionality was the same as most games out there. I was an odd blend of disappointed and relieved. Catching on fast would be easy, but I wanted the revolutionary game I’d been promised.
Dustin held out his little finger in a hook shape. “It’s there. Pinkie swear.”
“I didn’t say anything.” Which wasn’t like me.
“Your expression said it all. And you’re not the first to react this way.” Dustin wiggled his finger. “Lincoln is top notch at intuitive user interface design.”
“Damn right I am.” A voice came from behind, and I realized people were joining us.
I hooked my pinkie through Dustin’s. “Okay. Trusting you that the game gets more innovative as it goes on.”
The groupings everyone sat in were similar to those I saw in the kick-off meeting. Dustin and Phillip took the spots on either side of me. Probably so we’d be in a team, but I liked being between them as a general idea.
Luna sat across from us, next to a woman with long, dark hair that cascaded in soft curls around her shoulders, and a slender man with dark hair and a sharp nose.
Dustin stood and whistled sharply. “I’ll make this quick, because you all know why we’re here. Dev is on speaker as well as wandering the room to take notes about any issues we find. You know how the game works. At least try to pretend we’re as new as all the other players. Any questions? Good. Going live in ten. Nine. Eight.”
I joined in the countdown with everyone else in the room, the collective excitement coursing through me. “Three. Two. One.”
I half expected the severs to crash the instant we hit the top of the hour. But we were in the character lobby and then in the opening part of the game, a vast, neon cityscape spread out before us.
“Wow.” I panned my camera around the landscape, and the reality of it all sank in. The men sitting next to me had built this visual. This entire look. The duo across from me, next to Luna, had given so many digital people stories. The guys on the phone had assembled all the pieces to make sure it flowed smoothly, it looked incredible...
It had never hit home before just what was required to build something like this, and my mind boggled as I absorbed it all. Dozens of other characters milled around mine. Aside from Phillip, I had no idea which were employees and which were beta testers.
“Come on, let’s explore,” Luna said.
Correction, I knew exactly who the blue-skinned, short, red headed elf was that stood across from my nekokin. Luna had picked the leather bandages outfit. The character snapped a metal hand, and a spark of blue flickered into sight before fading again.
“Sonya’s going to show us something, come on.” Luna’s character motioned for mine to follow.
The large orc next to her waved, and Sonya said, “hello.”
My avatar waved back, and I followed when they took off. “Where are we going?” It was getting loud in here, with everyone shouting back and forth, and I loved it. Who needed voice chat when we could have a room full of excited gamers? The energy in the air was tangible and delicious.
“I want to play my favorite side quest,” Sonya said.
“Strip club,” Luna added.
Given the nature of the game and the promises made about content I couldn’t help but wonder, “Won’t the strip club be crowded?”
“Not this one. Not during beta.” Sonya’s soft voice barely carried over people shouting spells and directions and cheers.
When we arrived, I knew exactly why she’d said that. It was a male strip club with orcs. The lighting, textures, movement, and sound were all on point. It was incredible.
Sonya’s orc led us to a table in the back of the room, where another orc sat, head in his hands. He wore a leather thong, a studded collar, and nothing else.
“He looks so good,” Sonya said with awe.
“You described him perfectly.” Phillip’s reply was one of pride, and a glance showed his broad smile.
Luna nudged me under the table with her toes. “Talk to him.”
I struck up a conversation with the orc, who spun a sad tale of how his nekokin Dom was missing, and could we please help find him?
Of course I would. I clicked Accept and my game froze, flickered, and vanished, the desktop glaring back at me. I frowned and logged back in, only to have it happen again the instant I clicked Accept on the quest.
“Aww. This is one of my favorite early stories.” Sonya pouted. “Hey, Chris, your code is broken,” she hollered across the room.
Someone stepped up next to her. “Tell me everything that happened, step by step.” Chris looked at me. “You’re not supposed to break the game, noob.” His tone was light, but a hint of irritation lay underneath it.
Luna’s bristle matched mine.
“That’s exactly what she’s supposed to do, twink.” Dustin leaned in, arm pressing against mine.
&nb
sp; Twink could mean a lot of things. I assumed in this case it was a counter to noob. As in, a long-time player who creates a lower level character and gears them up to the max specifically to stomp on newbies.
Chris’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m giving her shit. Come on, we’re all family here.”
“Dude,” Elliot, the developer from the meeting yesterday, called. “I’ll take their feedback. Keep circling.”
Chris rolled his eyes and walked away.
Elliot spent the next ten or fifteen minutes asking us for step-by-step details about what we’d been doing, asking Sonya and Luna to mimic the steps I’d taken, and doing a lot of tapping on his screen.
With our current plan crashed, Luna, Sonya, and I agreed to a warehouse raid with Phillip, Dustin, and Brandon.
I was the healer. And Sonya with her heavy armor and defense skills, plus Dustin with speed, damage, and medium armor, promised to protect me. Phillip wielded a bio magic, similar to Luna’s, and Brandon got up close and personal with the baddies, fighting with his fists, and occasionally offering me healing backup, though his magic wasn’t as powerful as mine.
It was clear we all knew our classes, but we weren’t used to each other’s fighting patterns or rhythms. We got our asses kicked, but we pulled out a victory, with Phillip and me as the last characters standing.
It was a blast. I loved being surrounded by this feeling of excitement and an obvious passion for this creation of theirs.
When the pizza showed up around one, I was surprised so much time had passed. Later, when the game timer counted off the final thirty minutes, I was bummed to see it all coming to an end for the day.
The beta server went offline. Silence sank into the room, like the world was holding its breath, and then Dustin shouted, “That, was fucking epic.”
Cheers and yells of excitement erupted around me. I found myself on the receiving end of high fives from as many people as everyone else, and hugs from Luna, Sonya, and Phillip.
This was incredible. I had no idea what I’d done to land myself in the middle of such an amazing place, but I was so giddy to be a part of it.
Seven
Dustin
Three days of beta. Three days of seeing the world play the game we’d built. Three days of epicness.
I grinned like an idiot the entire time we were loading loaner computers back into my SUV. Phillip and Adrienne were cleaning up the conference room, while Brandon and Jeremy helped me fit everything in my vehicle.
The early reviews were fantastic—of course—but Brandon and Jeremy had opted not to read them. Brandon already knew people were going to love the music, and Jeremy said he didn’t read reviews. Any of them. Apparently he’d managed to avoid them most of his career.
It was a writer thing, he told me.
“That’s the last of it.” Brandon tossed a bundle of cables into a crate in the front seat. “Tonight?”
“Looking forward to it.” Watching Danny and Reese on stage was always fun, and it would be the perfect end to a perfect week.
“Dustin, a minute?” Judith joined us behind the building.
Never tell the boss no, especially when I was working to convince her I wanted that Director job. “Sure.”
“We’ll catch you later.” Brandon waved, and he and Jeremy headed back inside.
She waited until they were gone, before speaking again. “I sent the information to Legal that you gave me. It looks good, thanks.”
“Any time.” I knew where the balance lay between a casual tone and a professional one and I summoned it now. “I’m sorry this came down on us.”
“Not your fault. As long as the asshole backs off, it doesn’t matter. I’m hearing a lot of good things about the beta this week, both internally and from fans and streamers.”
I couldn’t help my grin. “Because this game is going to blow them out of the water. Everyone I’ve talked to loved the company-sanctioned gaming we did in the conference room. Thank you for permission to set that up.” I wasn’t above reminding her of the awesome things I’d done. Every conversation was a chance to push how good I’d be if she promoted me.
“Keep it up,” Judith said. “I want to see more of this kind of teamwork.”
“You don’t even have to ask.”
“Go. Return this crap. Tell them I send my thanks.” She patted the back of my SUV, where the computer equipment sat.
I gave her a salute. “Yes, ma’am.”
She rolled her eyes and walked back into the building.
I did one last mental check, making sure everything I’d borrowed was going back, and I headed to Rinslet.
Was this part of my job? The hype? The build-up both internally and externally?
No.
Was I going to keep doing it anyway?
Damn right.
I’d flitted through a lot of jobs in my life, thanks to a knack for picking up new things and running with them. The art had been at my core for as long as I could remember, but it wasn’t my job until Rinslet. Like Adrienne, like so many of the people at Rinslet, I was hired for my talent rather than experience, and given a chance to step into a highly sought after job.
Unlike Phillip, Brandon, and most of the others at Aces, I was older when I was hired. I’d been doing the video game art for less than a decade, and some of my colleagues were going on twenty years. No one worked for the same company for twenty years in tech. Especially in the cutting-edge jobs. While it was true, Aces was a new company, they were really Rinslet 2.0. Aside from Adrienne and Luna, I was the new guy.
At Rinslet I’d found a group of people I wanted to work with, but it was still just a job.
When we all started talking about this game, when Judith said she could fund it, I was all in. This was a project I was fully behind, not specifically because of the extra options for characters to fuck, but it was new. It was groundbreaking. The game itself was brilliant. I wanted the world to love it as much as I did.
Maybe the world was asking for a bit much, but I was willing to push every limit to get our name out there. Aces didn’t have a marketing or client-facing group specifically—it wasn’t in our budget. Since everyone at Rinslet had media training, we’d decided we could handle spreading the word in other ways.
And I was God damn fucking determined to make that happen.
I’d hate to take the Director position from Phillip, who had become my closest friend over the past few years, but he’d been up front about not wanting a management job if it only involved bossing people around. He wanted to mentor.
Maybe it hadn’t made sense to put me in charge of a two person team, but Brandon was the only one in Music, and he had a director spot, while an office sat empty in the Art room, waiting for my name to be on it.
I pulled into the loading docks at Rinslet, and Chloe was waiting for me with a couple of younger guys I didn’t recognize. This company came from humble beginnings, just like Aces, and now they had their own eight story building in the middle of downtown, with their name in big bold letters on the glass.
We were going to hit this point, and it was going to happen long before I retired.
After I parked, I greeted her with a smile and a wave, opened the back of the truck, and grabbed a box of keyboards.
“Let them do the work.” Chloe jerked her thumb at the guys. “I wanna talk game.” She was a few years younger than me, probably about Adrienne’s age, but I wanted to be Chloe when I grew up. She’d started in writing when she was fresh out of high school, had created the core storyline for Rinslet’s most popular game, and now ran a large portion of the company.
I stepped aside and let her minions grab their first load of equipment. When they had disappeared inside, I asked, “What do you think?”
Her eyes grew wide with what I assumed was supposed to look like innocence. “I’m not supposed to have access to your beta. I’m the competition.”
“Uh-huh.” I chuckled. “Should I ask who gave you a key, or are we goin
g to play the I heard from a friend of a friend?” It was probably Judith who let her into the beta. Or Scott. He was a half owner of Rinslet, and a silent investor in Aces. He kept the latter quiet mostly to let us rise on our own merits, and not at all because he didn’t want his name associated with our game.
Chloe shrugged and her smile never faded. “Let’s just say Santa visited early, but my feedback is firsthand. Are you following the early reviews?”
“Duh.” The bad was exactly what I expected—people hated it either for the smut content or the diversity, and frequently both. But the good was really good. “But what did you think?”
“It’s incredible. Seriously. It’s visually stunning, the fight mechanics are spot-on, and Sonya and Jeremy did a bang-up job with the side quests. We get to see the main story soon, right?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
She raised her eyebrows. Yeah, we both knew I was full of it. She wasn’t going to tell anyone.
“As long as bug fixes go well this round and next, we’re opening up the first twenty levels in two weeks. Main story and all.”
Chloe grinned. “I have a huge favor to ask. Feel free to tell me no, but I will beg if it’ll help.”
“As long as it won’t get me fired, or arrested or killed I guess, ask away.”
“Santa only brought me one beta key. I don’t suppose next round I could get a second one for Jordan.”
Jordan was Chloe’s boyfriend, and someone else I had mad respect for. I’d been hired to replace Jordan when he was fired over a bullshit public scandal, so we’d never worked together, but the guy was wicked talented and a blast at parties. “Only because it’s you and him,” I said.
Her grin spread. “You’re the best. Seriously. I owe you.”
“I’m not keeping score, but if I were, right now we’re more than even.” I jerked my thumb at the computer equipment she’d helped me secure. “Tell him to check his email in a couple of days.”
We chatted a little longer as we helped her guys finish unloading the SUV, mostly gossip about who’d been promoted and who had moved on to other things, and I was on my way.
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