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3.78% New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live / Chapter 42: The Company, Part 2

Chapitre 42: The Company, Part 2

Once everyone was seated, the woman at the tip of the table rose and straightened her blouse.

"Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen. I think we need here no presentations, so let us get to the matter at hand." The woman said in a confident voice.

"In this meeting, we will discuss the latest developments on New Eden and what needs to be done to further assure our success with the title." She added.

She then used a small remote to dim the lights in the meeting room. Simultaneously to that, some blinds descended over the large windows, blocking most of the light.

With another tap of her remote, a projector lowered from the ceiling and hummed to life. A chart then projected on the wall behind the woman.

On the chart, one could see a line going up and down while traveling from left to right. To the left of the chart the word 'Popularity' was written, and under the chart, one could see dates.

From the start to the middle of the chart the line zig-zagged up and down, but from the middle to the end it just rose.

Everyone present showed smiles at the chart. For most of them, that meant more money in their pockets.

The woman next to the chart let them all look at it for a few more seconds before clicking her remote again.

The chart that was present, shrunk and then elongated. The word predictions appeared over it too.

This chart was a lot less flattering. Where the line originally stopped, it rose a bit more, then fell off.

It oscillated up and down a few times, always going lower and lower. The investors and shareholders started frowning at the sight.

"What is this farce, Chairwoman Constantine?" An old man with a baritone voice said.

Dan recognized the old man. He was a powerful and rich land tycoon.

The man possessed half the city if you believed the words on the street. His name was Jack Boudreau.

He was a hunk of a man like he had trained all his life. The man was an ex-military and had used his pension to launch his real estate empire.

One could tell by looking at him he was from the army. His shoulders were square, his back straight, and an aura of authority permeated off of him.

He also had a large gash on his right cheek, apparently from being shot at.

"This is not a farce, Mr. Boudreau. These are the projections for the coming weeks." The chairwoman replied, keeping a straight face.

"Have you heard of the recent events happening with our title?" She then asked.

"Enlighten us, chairwoman." Jack said, leaning on the table and joining his hands together.

The woman smiled and clicked her remote again. On the wall behind her, the image changed to an article.

The article's image was a man in the ER, tubed up and comatose. The title was 'New-Eden, a game, or a danger to our kids?'.

She then clicked again a few times, showing many similar articles with different photos of young adults in the hospital, with different degrees of sickness.

"There are many cases like these being reported. Kids log in to our game and forget it's not real life. They forget to log out of the game for extensive durations, prompting the emergency log outs and calls." The woman said, before laying the remote down on the table.

"This is becoming increasingly problematic for our scores. Parents and family members are asking us to restrain the game time. Others are asking for compensation for their children or siblings ending up in the hospital." She continued, crossing her arms behind her back.

The old men around the table started talking to each other, all at the same time. The room became a jumbled mess of voices.

The woman didn't let it devolve into chaos for too long and eventually clapped her hands together.

"Gentlemen! Please show some restraint. EG already has a solution." She said, her voice not accepting talk back.

After letting the men all calm down, she nodded slightly and kept talking.

"That is the reason there is a less known face among us today." The woman stated.

Dan knew who she was referring to and his blood drained from his face. She then immediately pointed his way.

"This man there, is Dan Bergeron, our Technology Safety Manager. He is the one that makes sure our products don't kill anyone." Chairwoman Constantine presented him.

Dan got up from his chair, white as a piece of chalk. He did a slight bow and sat back down.

"He is here today to announce something good." She continued after he sat down.

"I am?" Dan asked, confused.

"Oh, don't be modest, Dan. Tell them how you have finally made the pod safe for use." The woman said, gazing at him.

At that moment, Dan felt like he was being watched by a predator. He gulped audibly.

Unfortunately, he couldn't talk, since he despised lying, and he didn't want to go against his boss either.

Dan kept his mouth shut. Seeing this, Constantine chuckled.

"Excuse his shyness, I believe he has never been in the spotlight. What he is here to announce is that the techies have finally secured the use of our primary tool for New Eden." She announced.

"The pod has finally cleared all the tests for distribution, which will stop this trend from continuing. The hardcore customers will now be able to stay longer in the game, without negatively affecting their health." She said, pacing.

"With this tech released, our bad press will instantly disappear, making us go back up in the goodwill of our clients." She continued, still walking around the table.

"We will also price the pod at different ranges for different models, assuring we cover most wealth ranges." She finished, as she came back to the front after a full circle.

The men and women in the room clapped. Most were back to being happy.

Dan had his head down the whole time. He was torn between stopping her lies and keeping his job.

He eventually waited for the end of the meeting before bringing up his qualms to the chairwoman.

The meeting lasted for another hour before the men eventually left one after another.

Dan stayed seated until everyone had left. Chairwoman Constantine had seen him so she also stayed with her assistant.

Once everyone was gone, she walked towards him and sat next to him, cross-legged.

"What is wrong, Mr. Bergeron?" The woman asked, smiling gently.

"Ma'am, if I may. The product is not ready yet. We still have weeks of testing before we are certain it is secure." Dan eventually said, after gathering his courage.

The woman next to him never stopped smiling.

"Oh but Dan, your supervisor assured me it was safe. Are you saying he is wrong?" She said, almost tauntingly.

"No ma'am, the product is theoretically safe. But we still have many minor issues that need resolving. The safety is not one hundred percent yet." He replied, clenching his fists.

"Don't worry about those details, Dan. We can still do program hot fixes after the release, so there is nothing to worry about." She said, leaning on her hand, which was propped on the table with her elbow.

"But ma'am…" Dan tried insisting.

"Don't worry. We have the situation under control. You should go home. Take the day off, paid of course. Go rest." The woman said, smiling warmly.

"... Okay…" Dan said, giving up.

The man got up, with crumpled shoulders, and left the meeting room. He walked towards the elevator and went down, heading back home.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, the smile left Constantine's face.

"Get rid of him. Make it look clean." She said, getting up and taking a private elevator up to her penthouse.

She owned the building so her home was in it, to reduce travel.

Her assistant nodded silently before leaving the room separately.

That day, Dan Bergeron never made it home. He lost control of his car near the St-Lawrence and dove into it, drowning before rescues made it to the scene.


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Chapitre 43: Pandora's Box: Fear

*** Astaroth's POV ***

It had been close to a week in 'New Eden' since his *training* had begun, and Astaroth had become good at zoning out. But he was worrying about the tournament more and more.

He looked at the attendance board every day and it was filling quickly. This morning it had passed the nine-hundred mark.

Astaroth knew he would never have enough time to reach level thirty before it filled up. He had mostly given up.

He tuned that thought out of his mind and focused on his mental training.

'Might as well become good at this faster, so I can shoot past the masses after.' He thought to himself.

He focused on himself, trying to picture the world around him as inexistent. He could imagine the world around him becoming black, like the deepest parts of space.

He sat there, cross-legged, in the middle of nothing, focused on his breathing. He could stay in this state for hours now, due to all the practice.

He had tuned out every physical stimulus from around him. Sound, smells, vibrations, nothing could reach his mind at the moment.

It was like he was no longer physically in the cave with Aberon. In this state, Astaroth didn't hear the notifications that rang in his ears.

*Ding*

*Your mind has reached a level of peace required. You have learned the Passive skill 'Mind over Body'*

*Ding*

*Your thought process has evolved. You have learned the skill 'Thousand Thoughts'*

Aberon from the side could see the trance-like state Astaroth had gone into. He could also see the mana particles around his head go into a frenzy, like bees around their hive being attacked.

From those signs, he deduced Astaroth had reached the point in training he wanted him to reach.

He rose to his feet and walked closer to Astaroth and leaned in. Once his face was near the boy's, he whispered into his ear.

"Illusory Domain: Pandora's Box" He chanted low, wisps of mana mingling with his voice.

"Now let's see if you pass the test." Aberon said, getting back up and standing to the side.

From Astaroth's perspective, his surroundings changed. He went from sitting cross-legged in the void to lying down in his pod, awake.

He felt the change in pressure on his back and opened his eyes. He saw the inside of the pod with its lights flickering.

'Did I get forcefully logged out?' He wondered.

He opened up the pod, deciding to go eat and sleep since he wasn't in the game anymore.

As he lifted himself out of the contraption, he heard some clicking noises come from his apartment door.

Was someone trying to break into his home?

He was still woozy from his many days in semi-stasis, so he couldn't move too fast, but he raced to his kitchen counter and grabbed a knife.

He stood before the door, clenching the knife handle with both hands. Then he yelled.

"Whoever you are, leave! I have called the cops and I'm armed. Leave now!"

The clicking noises stopped. He sighed in relief, but it was short-lived.

*Bang!*

There was a gunshot outside his door, and something punched through the locking mechanism. Then the door flew open.

In came three people, all of which Alexander recognized. They were the three men that had tried to beat him up and take his IV bags.

The two big thugs had guns in their hands, and the last one just walked into the apartment, a look of disdain on his face.

"What a shit hole!" One thug blurted out.

"Boys, let's get what we came for and leave." The tall man in the back said.

"Yes, sir!" Both goons responded.

When they made their way toward Alexander's pod, he walked in between it and them.

"That belongs to me! Leave now, before the cops get here and I won't tell anyone what happened." He said, his voice trembling a little.

Both men looked at each other, before laughing loudly. The one on the left then pointed his gun at Alexander's knee and shot.

*Bang!*

The bullet tore through his knee and leg, bursting out on the other side like it was a hot knife through butter.

Alexander collapsed to the ground, his weight suddenly becoming too much for that leg to bear.

"AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!" He yelled in pain.

He let go of the knife and grabbed his knee with both hands, tears welling up in his eyes.

The two men then walked over his crumpled body and walked to the pod, opening up the back compartment.

They yanked out the remaining bags from the pod, which Alexander found weird. Had he not been disconnected because he ran out of IV?

He didn't have time or capacity to think about that, as the pain in his leg was sapping much of his concentration.

Because of that, he never noticed the man walk towards him. Alexander felt his hair being grabbed and yanked back.

This brought him face-to-face with the third man. Alexander could now see him properly.

The man had long black hair, tied in a ponytail. He was wearing a branded butler outfit and black gloves.

His eyes were a deep shade of blue and looked at him with a haughty stare.

"You have been a pain to find, young man." The man said, picking up the knife from the ground next to Alexander.

He then slid his gloved finger across the blade, smiling slightly. He took the knife and pressed it against Alexander's throat.

"Now. This can go one of two ways." The man stated.

"Either you give us what we want without resisting, and you live. We might even drop you off at the hospital if I feel generous enough." He said, lifting one finger in the air.

"Or. You can keep resisting like you are now, and I slash your throat open. Either way, we are leaving with those IV bags." The man added, lifting a second finger, smiling devilishly.

Alexander was too scared to answer. His whole body was trembling, and he was close to fainting of sheer terror.

He looked into the man's eyes and couldn't see an ounce of sympathy. He could already guess that the man was going to kill him either way.

He had seen their faces already. There was no way they let him live after this.

He tried to think of a way out of his predicament, but he couldn't think over the sound of his heart pounding in his chest.

His heart was beating at over two hundred BPM. He felt like it was on the verge of exploding.

That's when he noticed something from the corner of his eye. On the inside part of the pod's hatch, a red light was flashing.

He could make out writing from this distance, and it read 'Caution! Heart rate elevated!'

His brain did a double take on that. How could it show his vitals if he wasn't inside it?

That's when he clicked. He was still inside it!

This was all just an illusion. It had to be!

That was the only rational explanation.

Time seemed to slow down around him. His heartbeat slowed down drastically, as he realized he wasn't in any real danger.

That's when he noticed them. The mana particles that were floating around him.

He was still inside the game, now he was sure!

He immediately tamed his fear and started thinking. Everything around him was moving slowly like time had slowed down.

But then he understood it was only his thoughts that were going at super speed when he tried moving and was going so slowly too.

He took in the situation and fought back. When he realized he was in an illusion, the pain from his wound faded away.

He looked back at the eyes of the man in front of him.

As time seemed to re-accelerate to normal speed, Alexander grabbed the hand with the knife in it, pushing it towards his assailant. He grabbed the inside of his elbow forcing it to bend.

The whole movement took only a second, and the result was a complete turn of the tables. The man ended up with the knife in his hand planted into his own throat.

He looked at Alexander with surprised eyes, as he choked on his blood.

A second ago, the boy had been shaking and close to pissing himself. Now he had a knife in his throat and was dying fast.

When all this happened, both thugs had been turning around. They saw the whole thing go down and couldn't react.

When their boss fell back, his eyes still open, bleeding out, they finally reacted.

They both pointed their guns at Alexander and fired. But as the guns fired, the entire scene faded away.

The ground under Alexander disappeared and made way for darkness, the same as the walls and ceiling. He was back in a sitting position, his eyes closed.

Alexander did not see this change happen, as the illusion made the transfer seamless.


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