Gordon spent the whole of the next day checking out the game manual, and the new systems thoroughly, following all links to the relevant information pertinent to each and every one of them. At six o’clock that night he leaned back in his computer chair and stretched to remove the kinks that had developed by being seated in the one position for too long. He was confident that he had managed to chase down every scrap of information available. Twisting his neck from side to side, he heard the cracking of the bones as they released their stiffness. He was happy with the results of his examination of this new game system, and would be happy to join it anytime. Unfortunately his finances, depleted after he had updated his computer system a couple of months ago, were not up to the task of being able to purchase the system he felt he wanted.

It was the game pod for him, nothing less, but ten thousand dollars meant he would have to find a job and earn that money. Not only ten thousand, he realized after a moment, but even more if he wanted to get a good start in the game. A lot of good stuff could be purchased straight off, for real money, and he knew all the serious gameplayers would be sinking a lot of money into that at the beginning. Also, the prices were not that cheap, for he had scrolled down the list to the bottom and the prices there were in the tens of thousands for one item. Money purchased a great advantage, this he knew as fact, for he had sunk many hundreds of dollars into the original Dawnlands over the past couple of years, it was the only way to be able to hold on to his number one position.

He suddenly realized that he was about to lose his coveted position at number one, for by the time he managed to afford a new system the other players would have far surpassed him, making it virtually impossible to compete against them in the new game. He no longer desired to play the old version, for after studying the new game , it seemed insignificant to him. He knew this, for he already had that tingly butterfly feeling of desire that he always got when something new came out that he wanted. It was an irritation he couldn’t scratch and that made him feel frustrated.

His inbox dinged. Frowning, it reminded him of the message that he had got the other day, and had not yet checked out. He hated spam, and with all of the top level mail checking software he had installed, it was pretty rare anything made its way through to the inbox, yet here he was, two in a very short time span. Time to take out the garbage, he thought to himself.

He was surprised upon opening his inbox to see that neither of the messages were junk, but both from the same sender, Energetic Entertainment. Raising his eyes in amazement, for in all the time he had been playing he had never received a message from them before, he opened the first one that had been sent to him. The message was just about the same information that was on the forums, a message sent to all players informing them about the release of the new game. He didn’t bother reading through it for he already knew what it contained. He surmised the second was a similar one, again advertising the game but on opening it he realized it wasn’t, so read through it.

Sender: Energetic Entertainment

Receiver : [email protected]

Subject : Dawnlands, A new Beginning

Mr. Rammidge

As one of the few beta testers who remained faithful to Dawnlands, as well as our number one player, we are surprised to see that you have not yet decided to transfer across to the new game platform.

As one of our most prestigious players, we hope that this does not indicate you have reservations or concerns in regard to Dawnlands, A New Beginning and have decided to part company with us, and wish to remain with us.

Energetic Entertainment, therefore, is exited to offer you a rare job opportunity with our company. The length of employment will initially be for twelve months, with an opportunity to extend this at a later date. The employment position will be one you are most familiar with, this being a beta tester for an advanced gaming system not yet available to the normal players. Your task will be simple, to play the game with our new system and allow us to monitor your progress within the game.

If this offer interests you, please contact our customer service department and use the code BETATANK. A meet will be arranged for you to meet our HR department and have a tour of the facility, and the department, that you could be working in. Details regarding the employment conditions and remuneration will be discussed at that time.

Hector Alminez

Technical Development Dept

Energetic Entertainment

He had to read through this twice before he fully comprehended the meaning of the message, and afterwards just sat there, numb and thoughtless. It took at least three minutes before his wits returned to him. Looking down, he noticed that his hands were shaking. He couldn’t believe it, a job offer from Energetic Entertainment, the biggest gaming company in the world. Shaking his head, he went back to the message to read it a third time, just to make sure it wasn’t all a dream.

He thought about the offer seriously, knowing if he rejected it, it wouldn’t be offered again, then realized that until he received more information about what this offer entailed he was unable to make any proper decision. Quickly, he pulled up the company website and navigated to the contact page, then clicked on the Human Resources mail link and sent them a message indicating his interest in the job offer. It wasn’t long before his inbox dinged with a new incoming message, and seeing it was from Energetic Entertainment, he quickly opened it.

The message thanked him for his prompt reply, and informed him to be at their Glenvale facility tomorrow at noon, which luckily happened to be quite near to where he lived, where he was to ask to see a Miss Wolverley. He glanced at the time, seeing it was already about ten at night, wondered where the past three hours had disappeared to, then went to bed.

.....

The next day dawned, bright and sunny, but Gordon didn’t notice any of this, for everything was a blur to him through his excitement. It was only when he was seated on the train that would take him to Glenvale that mind and body finally caught up with each other. The train trip was going to take an hour, so he sat, looking sightlessly at the countryside passing by his window, his thoughts occupied elsewhere.

Fifty five minutes later, the train pulled into the Glenvale station, and Gordon alighted onto the platform, looking about in interest. Glenvale was a town created around the facility he was heading for, and the residents of this town were mainly comprised of workers who were employed by Energetic Entertainment, or operated businesses that supported the workers families. He found nothing of exceptional note, for it looked like any other town he had passed through and mentally laughed at himself for daydreaming that this place would be wonderfully different.

Departing the station, he hailed a cab and instructed the driver to take him to the facility. As the cab pulled away from the gutter, he suddenly remembered that he had never returned that phone call to Tim.

Arriving at the facility, Gordon exited the cab and made his way through the front doors. The foyer he entered was rather small, considering the size of the building itself, and found himself facing a security counter manned by two uniformed workers. One of them looked up at his entrance, watching him carefully as he approached them. When he was within reaching distance to the counter, the guard spoke. “Can we help you, sir?”

Nervously Gordon asked “I was told to ask for a Miss Wolverley.”

The guard arched one eyebrow at this, which was a fascinating thing to watch as the guard sported one of the best unibrows that Gordon had ever seen. “Do you have an appointment with Miss Wolverley, sir?” Both of the guards were watching him at this point.

“Ummm… yes, I do. I was told to ask for her in an email from Hector Alminez.” Gordons nervousness became even worse at this point, and he could feel sweat start to appear on his palms.

“And your name would be…. “ came the request.

“Gordon Rammidge.”

While he stood there, the second guard picked up a telephone and spoke quietly into it, then paused, looked up at Gordon, and again spoke into the phone, again too soft for Gordon to make out what he was saying. His expressionless face gave Gordon no hint in response to whatever he was hearing from the other end of the line. ‘Mr. Rammidge,” he finally said to Gordon, “did this message have any reference, or code word, included in it?”

Gordon scrunched his eyebrows up in concentration, trying to recall the messages that had been sent to him. “Yes it did. The word in the message was BETATANK.” The guard muttered something into the phone then placed the handset back into its cradle, nodding at the first guard.

“Please take a seat,” The guard instructed, “Miss Wolverley….” He paused , glancing towards the second guard, who nodded an acknowledgement, then continued, “should be down to see you shortly.” Losing interest in Gordon, the guards returned to whatever they had been up to before he had arrived, so he made his way over to the indicated chairs situated against the far wall.

While he was waiting, he occupied himself by looking around the foyer, for he hadn’t really noticed much when he entered. Other than the security desk and the chairs for guests, the area was surprisingly bare of anything else. There were no pot plants at all, which most foyers usually had, and the walls were bare, except for the company logo emblazoned on the wall behind the security counter. A pretty boring entry to such an interesting place, though Gordon.

He wasn’t waiting that long when a young blond haired woman, about mid twenties of age and dressed in a casual business suit entered from the doorway that led further into the facility. She pushed the glasses she wore further up onto her nose. Looking about herself she noticed Gordon sitting by himself. She glanced at the security desk. “Jim.” Was all she said with a slight nod of greeting.

The guard to whom she was addressing smiled pleasantly at her, and directed her attention towards Gordon with a jerk of his chin . “He’s over there, Miss Wolverley.” and handed her a small laminated card. “Make sure he wears this guests pass at all times, we don’t want him setting off the alarms if you enter any restricted zones.”

Gordon pushed himself out of the chair and rose to his feet as the woman approached him. She would be rather pretty, if she wasn’t wearing those glasses, he thought. As she arrived to stand directly in front of him she held out her hand. Automatically, he reached for it and shook it while she said ‘Welcome to Energetic Entertainment, Mr. Rammidge. We have been waiting for you, you’re quite famous around here, you know.”

Gordon couldn’t help but blush as this, and stammered a response. “Ahhhh… thank you, Miss Wolverley. Just call me Gordon, everyone else does.” Then “Famous ? I’m not famous?”

She just smiled back at him. “Sure you are Gordon, your our oldest remaining player, and also the holder of the number one position for most of the last year. We keep track of those players who are exceptional in our games, and you have a lot of fans in this facility, as well as elsewhere, who follow your exploits avidly. That makes you famous to us. That’s why we contacted you. All players who are interested in porting over to the new platform has done so, or posted they would. You, on the other hand, stopped playing totally. No messages, no online access at all and we were concerned that you had decided that this new game was not for you and packed it all in.”

“No… No, definitely not. “ Gordon interjected. “I had done everything in the old game, and was still exploring all the available information about the new one. I wouldn’t have left, come one, what other game can hold a candle to Dawnlands. It’s the only way I can realistically, well as realistic as possible with Dawnlands, live that kind of life. I never want to log out.”

A big smile appeared on her lips when he said that. “I am extremely happy to hear that, Gordon, for that lets me know what we are offering you will suit you down to a tee.” She grasped him by one elbow and lead him inside the facility.