Matt opened his eyes, snorting awake and jolting upright. Cold, wet spittle clung to his left cheek and dangled a single strand which clung to a puddle of drool upon the table in front of him. Turning his face to wipe at it quickly, he noticed a door to his right with a pane of glass allowing a glimpse into a bare looking hallway with white walls and fluorescent lights. His own face was reflected in the glass, a confused expression growing on his own familiar features for a moment as he blinked away the fog from his mind. For the briefest of moments he thought that perhaps he’d only been dreaming, but that thought vanished when he saw two men in suits standing at the front of the room. One was short, bald, and extremely muscular. The other was taller, dressed in a black suit accented with a red tie.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you,” said the man with the red tie. “This little meeting has been a year in the making, in fact.” The man held his arms out wide as if the magnitude of the meeting should be obvious to Matt as well.

“I’m sorry, I... do we?...” Matt couldn’t think of anything coherent to say. He scanned the room again, more alert now, and saw the exit door was open just enough for a child to peek through the crack. Matt stared for a minute, trying to make sense of the smiling face in this unwelcoming office environment.

“Come on in, Ben,” the man with the red tie said. “If you’re gonna get caught eaves droppin’ you may as well just walk in and announces yourself proudly.”

The door flung open and in ran a small boy with freckles across his nose and a thick head of black hair. He was grinning ear to ear as he ran right up and hugged Matt. “I’ve been waiting a long time to see you again!”

Matt gave the kid a squeeze around the shoulders and smiled, but then he pushed Ben away. “But we only just saw each other, back at the dungeon in Falchor.”

“That was a year ago,” the man in the suit said.

“That’s my dad. After I told him how you helped me, he took that place down! The old bosses are in jail now, well most of them.”

“Jail was too good for some,” said the bald man. “A couple of them needed to be made examples of.”

Ben’s father held up his left hand and the bald man shut his mouth. “That’s enough Oleg. We don’t need to frighten our guest here.”

Matt reflexively swallowed a lump in his throat. Something about the men filled his veins with ice.

“My name is Gerald D. Denison,” Ben’s father said.

And there it was. Matt knew the name from some headlines a few years back. The Denison crime family was one of the largest in the country, with ties to Italy and Russia. Matt swallowed again, but this time found his mouth had dried up.

“Relax, you are our friend,” Gerald said. He smiled, revealing two gold teeth, and moved to sit at the table opposite Matt. “Like my kid says. We assumed control of E.M. Games. A business acquisition if you will. You see, I didn’t take kindly to what they did to my boy here. I mean, what kind of sick freaks would get their jollies by torturing a kid? Am I right?”

Matt nodded and glanced to Ben who was still nothing but innocent smiles at this point.

“So, we took care of it. A few of the higher ups, for example that compliance manager of yours, we helped them get lost... permanently. Other people we just helped find their way into prison.” Gerald held up a finger. “Now, a few people, like your little quality assurance lady, you knew her as Bethilda I think, we kept them on board for the new game.”

Matt perked up and let his guard down a bit. “The new game?”

“Oh yeah,” Gerald said. “Your stunt with that dragon shard left the game software in ruins. After assuming control of the company’s assets, we took what was left but essentially had to create a new game from the ground up. Ben here helped as a consultant!” He ruffled the little boy’s hair and nodded seriously. “Got rid of the super creepy stuff - none of that horror game show any more - but kept the good parts. Anyway, a lot of the staff at the company didn’t know about those darker inner workings. We kept those people on board to help with the new game design. We even found a purpose for your hacker friends. Needed a new brand of compliance managers.”

“Stoffel is still around?” Matt asked.

“Well, yeah. I mean we can’t let him go. He was instrumental in helping you rescue Ben here, so we made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”

Matt felt his blood drain as Gerald let that last sentence hang in the air a moment.

A few seconds later Gerald chuckled and motioned for Ben to leave the room. “Go outside a moment son, I’ll bring your friend out in a minute.” Gerald then turned to the other man and gave a gesture toward the door. The muscular man responded with a nod and followed Ben, shutting the door behind him. Matt watched then turned back to Gerald with a confused frown. Gerald held up a hand and smiled. “Listen, I won’t pretend that the acquisition of E.M. Games wasn’t a hostile takeover in every sense of the word, but I’ll level with you. The way you saved my son from those monsters, I would have given you anything you wanted.”

“What do you mean would have?” Matt asked.

Gerald’s easy smile faltered and he shook his head. “Hear me out kid, cuz this ain’t easy for me to tell you.”

Matt shifted in his seat and swallowed down yet another lump in his throat. Did Gerald think he was responsible for Ben’s torture? Did he blame him for getting him involved in chasing after dragon shards? Or worse, did he blame him because he was an E.M. Games employee?

“You’re dead, kid,” Gerald said.

“Oh man, come on, it wasn’t my fault!” Matt said. “I had no idea that going to the cave would get us into trouble--”

Gerald arched a brow and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. “No, Matt, I mean your body is dead. E.M. Games killed you before we could reach the corporate headquarters.”

Matt’s mouth hung open for a moment and then he started laughing. “That’s a good one,” he said. “You had me going there for a minute. Hazing the new guy and all.” Matt shook his head and slapped the table.

“Matt, I’m not kidding,” Gerald said. “Look, we hit the office as soon as Ben told me what had been going on in the game, but by then security was already deleting evidence virtually and shredding it physically. That includes you. The only thing that saved you was the fact that Stoffel built a firewall between your brain and the network, so when you set off that bomb in-game it didn’t simply send you back through the normal Pathways to restart your original character. Instead it held your consciousness in a matrix of Stoffel’s design.”

“What? No, that can’t be true,” Matt said. He slapped his chest a couple of times. “Look at me, I’m as real as ever, sitting right here with you. Stoffel didn’t know what I looked like, so this can’t be an avatar he created for me.”

“Listen, kid, I know this ain’t easy, okay, but we recreated your avatar based on the body we found in a morgue beneath the office complex. You and several others were disconnected once the company knew they were in trouble. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth. Me, my friend out there, and Ben are all just virtual representations of our real selves. We wanted you to see the real us, have a formal connection so to speak so I could offer you my solution.”

Matt rose to his feet and started for the door. “This is ludicrous,” he said.

“Stoffel said you wanted out,” Gerald said. “Said that was the only thing you wanted. You wanted out of the game so badly you’d do anything to get out, and that’s why you joined up with him.”

Matt nodded, a tear coming to his eye.

“Listen, if you hadn’t risked everything, it could have been my Ben who died instead of you. The family doctor said something about neuro feedback hitting a critical stage if they’d been allowed to continue much longer. I don’t understand the science behind it, but my Ben could have died as literally as if they’d unplugged his brain from the system and tossed it into a garbage bin.” Gerald gestured for Matt to sit down. “You saved him, quite literally, Matt. you saved my Ben. I owe you the world, but all I can do is give you this one.”

Matt shook his head. “Are you sure I’m...”

Gerald nodded once more. “Your body was dead when my men got here. They tried to revive you, and the others, but the company was efficient. They shot air into your veins with a needle. If we hadn’t coerced them into talking, it might have been impossible to prove too. But let’s just say that my employees are... persuasive.”

Matt grimaced, imagining a squad of mafia goons and the types of very real torture they may have employed on the company personnel. Not that the company was innocent, but it still sent shivers down Matt’s spine.

“I’m no angel,” Gerald said. “But you don’t mess with children.” Gerald then pointed at the door. “Outside this room is the same desk you once went to to pick your avatar and in-game profession. Beyond that there are two more sets of doors. One leads you to a kind of employee breakroom of sorts where you and others whom I have hired can go for weekly and monthly meetings. Ben will sometimes come along, and I’ll attend the monthly meetings. You can also go there anytime you need to report something. Unlike the old E.M. Games, we’re going to value our employees and help ensure the players out there get the kinds of experiences they’re actually looking for.

“The other set of doors will take you to a chamber with several portals. Each portal goes to a particular region of the new game world. We’ve spent the last year fully revamping everything, with Stoffel’s help of course.”

“So, I’m still in the game?” Matt asked. His soul felt cold and flat. If he was truly dead, then why didn’t he move on from the digital world? Was Gerald denying him some sort of heaven by keeping him prisoner? Was Gerald going to force him to work just like the old E.M. Games?

“Matt, look at me,” Gerald said. Matt raised his eyes to meet Gerald’s. “If you have questions for me, just ask. This isn’t forced. If you want me to delete you from the system I will, but I can’t guarantee there’s any sort of afterlife for the real world. What I am offering here is at least a second chance for you. We can set you up to be whatever kind of character you want. The world will be brand new, with adventures and fun to be had. Who knows, maybe you’ll even find a girlfriend or something out there.”

“What about my family?” Matt asked.

“Oh sure,” Gerald said. “Of course you’d ask about that.” Gerald slapped his forehead. “Sorry kid, I spaced it. But yeah, your family is going to come in tomorrow. Their avatars weren’t started until today on account of us not knowing if we could ever get you rebooted so to speak. They’ve held out in hopes of seeing you again though, and they can come visit regularly.”

“But I can’t leave here to see them,” Matt said.

“Maybe someday,” Gerald said. “So far though the technology only lets people come into the game, not the other way around. But, we’re getting your family avatars set up and they’ll come in and visit. Of course they can play the game too, but you’ll always have access to family visits in the employee lounge. It’s the least I can do for you after saving my Ben.”

Matt nodded. “And what do you want me to do for the company?”

Gerald smiled, his gold tooth shining bright. “Nothing,” Gerald said.

“What?”

“Not a single thing.” Gerald stood up and motioned for the door. “The only thing I want from you is for you to live this second life to the best of your ability. Make it fun, make it what you want. The employee meetings are for you to feel connected with the outside world, but you won’t have any managers, time clocks, or assignments.” Gerald held up a finger. “Except for one.” He grinned slyly and offered a wink. “You’ll need to hang out with Ben from time to time.”

Matt laughed, feeling his spirit lifted for the first time since the reality of the situation had settled on him. “I can do that.”

“Good, let’s go see what kind of adventurer you’re going to become.” Gerald led Matt out into the lobby.

There was the same desk where the bearded man had once sat insulting Matt, only this time there was no man behind it. An imp with leathery wings stood atop it with a pen in one hand and a book in the other. Beside the desk stood Ben and Gerald’s bodyguard.

“About time,” Stoffel said with a grin. “I’ve been thinking of all the different kind of characters you could be.”

“And I have an idea for our first area to conquer!” Ben shouted.

Matt laughed and stepped forward. Ben rushed up and hugged him one more time, and Stoffel stood upon the desk watching on expectantly.

“Thanks again,” Ben said. “Thanks for saving me!”

Matt squeezed him and then pushed him back to arm’s length. “Any time, Ben, any time.”

“The name is Garfumel!” Ben shouted. Then and there the young boy transformed into a tall, bearded wizard complete with flowing gray robes and a staff topped with a crystal scarab. “Hurry, pick your character so we can get moving. We only have a few days of exclusive access before the full re-launch goes public. We need to get our levels up.”

“You could just start at the top,” Stoffel said.

Garfumel shook his head. “Nope, we work our way up from the bottom. It’s more fun that way.” He then turned to Matt. “But you’ll be happy to see Filbug back at the house. He’s been waiting for you!”

“You sure you want to start at level one?” Stoffel asked. “I know I won’t be nerfing myself.”

Matt laughed and nodded his agreement. “It’s all right. Garfumel here will show me the ropes this time. We’ll be all right.”

“Well?” Stoffel asked. “What do you want to play as this time?”

Matt looked to Ben and then back to Stoffel and smiled. “Call me Gryl the Enchanter,” he said. Garfumel stamped his staff on the floor and pumped an old fist into the air.

“YES! The adventures of Garfumel and Gryl! Death to all juice pouches!”