Chapter One: Booting Up

I’ve always led a bit of a double life.

In one, I am Adam Geoffrey, a programmer for a software firm. We develop programs that help businesses organize things.

In the other, I am “0verlord Maximus” (Yes, the zero is intentional, wow am I tired of that question), widely renowned as the ultimate in micro-management games. I’ve never been too comfortable with direct combat games, or FPS games, but when it comes to maximizing resource production, I am second to none. Not that that means much to many, after all, there aren’t that many tournaments where people are excited to watch people min-max all they can out of a lumberjack company, or efficiently run a fishery.

Despite that minor issue, those sorts of games are my haven. When I’m bogged down by the tediousness of my work, I come home, flop into my chair, and begin to manipulate the numbers with unerring efficiency. Man, I wish that this could be my job. I knew that I was good at it. Or at least, I thought I would be. If I were actually running a lumberjack company, or a fishery, there would doubtless be many outside factors that couldn’t be simulated accurately in games such as these. But still, if only I could just get the opportunity to try…

All of a sudden, I received a notification.

You have (1) message pending.

Hmm? Not many people message me. Who could this be?

Message from: SuspiciousDealer

Content: Hello again, my friend. Do you recall our earlier conversation? I’ve been looking into things on my end, and I believe I may have found an incredible opportunity for you! A trial run, you might say, where you’ll get to manage a facility for a time! What do you think? Reply when you’ve thought about it a little.

What? SuspiciousDealer? I had spoken with this user a few times before. He had expressed how impressed he was at several videos I had made of my playthroughs of some time management games, and a few weeks ago, he had told me that he would try to find me a job where I could unleash my “true talent” as he put it. He claimed that he had many powerful and highly placed connections in “places I wouldn’t even believe!” Since a bit of time had passed, I had assumed he was either exaggerating, or outright lying. It was too good to be true anyways. But still… I had a great deal of vacation time saved up. Would it hurt to try? If it panned out, I could get out of my dull life! Managing a facility… what kind of facility? I was pretty interested, actually.

I sent a message back.

Message from: 0verlordMaximus

Content: Oh? That’s pretty exciting news! What sort of facility is it? I’m very interested in hearing more about this, you mentioned that you lived in the same city as me, have you heard of the cafe CoffeeToffee? I have some time this afternoon, if you have some as well, I’d like to meet with you there to discuss this further. How does 6:00 sound to you?

After sending the message back, I scoffed to myself a little. Wow, what was I doing? The first hint of this possibility was enough to get me to start planning how I could use up my days off and meeting someone literally named “Suspicious” at a coffee shop.

And what else did it say about me, that I was definitely going to go if he told me that he would be there to discuss it with me?

You have (1) message pending.

Well, here we go.

Message from: SuspiciousDealerContent: Sounds perfect to me! I know the place, I’ll see you there, my friend!

Well, I’ve achieved a new level of pathetic desperation. Might as well go, I guess. I checked the time. 5:30? I’d better get going, if I wanted to make it there by 6:00.

----

As I stepped out of the subway, I looked around. The streets were less busy than normal, which wasn’t saying much, as there were still dozens of people passing by every moment. I lightly jostled my way through the crowds of people towards CoffeeToffee. As the door jingled to notify someone behind the counter that a customer had arrived, I passed my gaze around the cafe. My eyes landed on someone in a dark trenchcoat and hat. I groaned inwardly. That looked exactly like Suspicious Dealer’s avatar. What on earth sort of vibe was he trying to give people. I began to walk towards his table. Just as I got within a meter of the man, someone tugged on my jacket.

I looked over to see a young man with light blonde hair and mismatched eyes - brown and yellow ones, to be exact, - and a huge grin.

“Hello my friend! I’m glad you could make it!” The young man said.

Oh. Wow, I was about to embarrass myself by making an assumption. Well, I knew what they said about people that made assumptions, and I had been about to prove it true. I slid into the booth across from… I really needed to get Suspicious Dealer’s actual name, because I couldn’t just keep calling him that, even in my head.

“Oh, uh, hello Mr…” I attempted to aim a pointed silence at him, prompting him to fill the gap.

“My name’s Raz Amun, but call me Raz, please!” He stated excitedly. Raz Amun? His taste in internet pen-names was just as strange as his actual name, I guess. But whatever, as I finally had something other than ‘Suspicious Dealer’ to refer to him as.

“So… you had something about an opportunity to tell me about?” I said, hoping to get this conversation rolling. I was beginning to get nervous, as I didn’t like going about in public much. Wow, I really had turned into a shut-in, hadn’t I? Had I always been this introverted?

“Indeed! Indeed! I’ve been talking to some friends of mine recently, and they have been trying to come up with a way to streamline their academy. You see, they are starting up a school for talented kids with special needs, and they don’t have much by way of plans on how to get the whole ball rolling! If you were to accept this job, you would be managing many different things about this academy, including its construction, staffing, and even applicants. Now I know this might sound like a fairly heavy workload, but you would not, of course, be working alone on this. My friends would be there with you every step of the way, and their advice and assistance should make this whole project quite doable.” He managed to say all of this without giving me much, or any, openings to interject.

I was about to respond with some incredulous statement - but then I stopped, the Strategy Gamer within me awakening. A school? I hadn’t considered the possibility, but it actually sounded interesting and, dare I say, fun. It would be a new mental exercise, something that I was sorely lacking in, having dominated all the complex Time Management Games of the past several years. Perhaps a real-life business such as this would provide me with that challenge that I’ve been seeking? I may not have much experience in the educational industry, but I was - literally - game to give it a try.

“That sounds… pretty good actually. I’d like to hear more. Would it be possible for me to meet these friends of yours?” I asked. After all, I wouldn’t want to jump into this without meeting the people that I would be working with throughout it.

“Certainly! In fact, I can bring you to them right now!” He said, enthusiasm never failing. He quickly slid out of the booth, and extended a hand to me. A waitress that had been approaching looked crestfallen at our impending departure. Pity, I had actually been looking forward to some sort of drink, but I assumed that I would be able to get something at… wherever I would be meeting Raz’s friends.

I should have gotten that drink before we left, as I didn’t know at the time, but that would be my last opportunity to get ANY sort of drink for quite some time.

I took Raz’s outstretched hand… and then everything faded to black. Advertisement Previous

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