"What is it that makes us real? Well, define 'real.'" -Anonymous

Seattle, Washington

United States

Thomas Malkin lounged back in his seat as another esteemed individual ascended the stairs leading up to the stage. This new person shook hands with the previous speaker, exchanged feigned pleasantries and made his way to the podium to deliver his own speech. He set down a stack of notecards and opened with a similar line that mirrored those previous.

Malkin already found himself lacking interest. The speaker's words were already muffled, and the prominent whispers of the audience contrasted to create an unpleasant hum of noise. He ran a hand over his buzzed, graying hair just for the sake of the movement. As the speech continued, he moved to his stubble of a beard instead. He had always been rather fidgety, but the sheer boredom was getting to him, and he found that the twitch of his leg was unsatisfactory as a distraction. The persistent headache that settled in from the early morning still remained no matter how many pills he forced down.

He took a sip of his wine and smacked his lips together to mask the lingering sweet taste. Wine had never been his beverage of choice, but he drank it slowly for the sake of appearance.

The droning sounds subsided as a young man in similar formal attire collapsed into the seat next to him. The two men may as well have been complete opposites when it came to appearance. The young man's hair was black and thick with brown eyes filled with energy. His shirt and tie were flattened and tied to perfection. Malkin didn't even bother wearing more than a light blue polo and jeans.

What brought them together was shared ambition and complimenting ideals. A fascination with the technological world and a constant strive for improvement. It also helped that they both worked in a massive collaboration for the lofty virtual project currently underway.

The young man sat there for a moment pretending to listen to the speech before he spoke.

“So, did I miss anything?” he asked simply, already knowing the answer.

Malkin shrugged. “Not sure. Think this guy works for virtual security.”

The young man smiled. “You don't seem too worried. They'll be the guys monitoring the AI you provided.”

The comment didn't pique Malkin's interest in the least. “That so? Doesn't matter really. As long as they took care of their end prior to Player entry, my AI won't be a problem.”

“How confident.”

“Lo is perfect. As long as the Gamemaster and his subordinates follow the guidelines I laid out, then I foresee no issues.”

"Well, if you say so." The man took a sip of his wine and a deep frown replaced his good-natured humor.

Malkin allowed himself a wry grin. Even though their difference in age spanned several decades, he found that this boy was someone he could get along with given their similar tastes.

The young man was Christopher Alsheimer, CEO of World Virtual Visions. One of those boy wonders who entered college when he should have been in his sophomore year of high school; the type of boy who corrected the computer science instructor on how to better organize programming code or how to amend any problems with the coding outright. He took daring actions for the sake of curiosity in his younger years, entering college campuses and sneaking into buildings so he could work on his projects. A middle-class kid like him wasn't going to have the advanced software needed on his home desktop to complete his ambitious goals. He probably could have developed a method to pirate the software off the internet, but sometimes it came through incomplete, and it was difficult to receive necessary updates with stolen software. Besides, he was the adventurous type and actually reveled in the excitement of potentially being caught.

Alsheimer founded World Virtual Visions at the age of twenty-four and developed the virtual gear necessary to operate Puzzle and Dragons World shortly after.

Malkin had to admire a kid who came from nothing; someone who built himself to where he was today in such a short time. He may have been a genius, but it wasn't as if he didn't work to reach his position.

The two men noticed that the next speech concluded and a familiar executive was now approaching the podium. The man adjusted his wide spectacles half-obscured by disheveled black hair. His tie was slightly crumpled and one of his secretaries had done a poor job of adjusting his collar. He shuffled some unseen papers.

Malkin sighed. “And here we go. Successor to the great Shinji Takamura. What a joke.”

He took another sip of his wine. He was not nearly buzzed enough for this speech.

Alsheimer mimicked his friend's exasperation and propped an elbow on the table. “Kurosaki isn't all that bad, I suppose. I mean, he isn't Takamura sure, but who is?”

Malkin admired his optimism, but the boy was green in this department. Alsheimer had been in the business world for only a few years where he had spent decades.

Alsheimer was aware of the kind of genius that Takamura had been. The kind of genius who rivaled or, more accurately, surpassed him. Kurosaki was another story. How he managed to attain Takamura's position was beyond Malkin's understanding. The guy was a joke. A complete sham. His position was a title, not a reflection of competence.

Without Takamura, the advanced virtual world wouldn't have existed in the first place. He was the creator of the universal code that allowed the world to operate itself without any interference from the outside. And the denizens of the virtual world operated separately from this system. That was Takamura's crowning achievement: a programmed world that operated just as the real world did with individuals that could forge their own destinies and shape it. Infinite possibilities.

The virtual world project functioned with three crucial components. Takamura developed the code that runs within the virtual world and supports its denizens. Alsheimer's virtual technology provides Players with the access to Puzzle and Dragons World. Malkin's AI regulates, protects Players from hazards and implements necessary adjustments with any potential discrepancies along with data collection. They were The Big Three corporations of the virtual world: Takamura Programming Development (TPD), World Virtual Visions (WVV), and Future Artificial Networking (FAN).

They were like the three musketeers, but now one of the musketeers was gone.

“Lung cancer, right?” Alsheimer asked.

Malkin nodded. “Yeah. Docs said he had six months to live. And what happens? He dies in three weeks. In this day and age how in the hell do you mess that up?”

“I'm sure Takamura would've appointed a more competent successor if he'd known that.”

“Who knows? Takamura was so absorbed in his work that I guess he didn't really think about it. After all, he was expecting to see his world before he went.”

Alsheimer nodded at this with sympathy for Takamura. “A damn shame.”

Kurosaki concluded his speech and stepped down to allow yet another individual to take the stand. It was the Gamemaster. His appearance was the indication that the corporate opening ceremony was now reaching its end.

“I am pleased to announce, ladies and gentleman, that all Players have entered the virtual world. Each entry went smoothly and there are no issues to report.”

The crowd erupted into huge applause, and even Malkin and Alsheimer joined in.

“The developers and designers who created the game's combat system and character appearances would like to especially thank Thomas Malkin of Future Artificial Networking and Christopher Alsheimer of World Virtual Visions for providing the AI and virtual gear that made this world possible. Thank you for your contributions to this technological breakthrough.”

More applause followed. Malkin and Alsheimer gave a quick wave as all eyes shifted in their direction. Malkin glanced at Alsheimer, who shifted uneasily in his chair.

As the Gamemaster continued his speech, the man named Kurosaki approached Malkin and Alsheimer's table and greeted them with a deep bow. He gestured to one of the seats politely.

“May I have a seat?” he asked.

Malkin nodded. “By all means.” He did well to hide the irritation from his curt response.

Kurosaki took a chair and nodded to each of them in turn. He seemed to have just noticed that his collar was popped up and readjusted it before speaking.

“I just wanted to thank both of you gentleman for agreeing to provide your assistance for this massive undertaking.”

He gave another quick bow from his seat before continuing. “As I'm sure you are both fully aware, I am not Takamura, and never will be Takamura. But I assure you that the company's ambitions have not wavered in the slightest. I owe him at least that much for how well he's treated me.”

Alsheimer and Malkin glanced at each other, but made no indication of replying to this statement.

Kurosaki took this as a sign to continue. “That being said, there has been a rather sizable hiccup in the PADW project. I would like to discuss this with you gentleman at the earliest possible convenience.”

Alsheimer spoke first, “Why don't we discuss it now if it is such a problem?”

Kurosaki glanced around the room and analyzed the many faces. “To put it simply, this information is above nearly everyone's pay grade. We do not need to necessarily deal with this issue immediately, but I would prefer we address it when possible.”

Malkin cocked an eyebrow at this. “Keeping this all on the hush-hush? Yes, must be pretty serious.” He took another sip of his wine out of habit. “I need to provide a few more last-minute instructions to the game operators concerning the handling of my AI. Other than that, I am pretty much free.”

Alsheimer added, “I have to get my guys set up on the data link with Malkin's AI before the game officially takes off after the tutorials. I will be free as well afterward.”

“That is absolutely fine,” Kurosaki said with relief.

He thanked the two men once more and headed off to speak with another group of individuals at a different table.

Malkin and Alsheimer exchanged a concerned look that they didn't want to make apparent in Kurosaki's presence.