Hell's Glitch (initial draft)

I_K 1.5 Geoff Skeeverson

Chapter 5

Working at Funderdome for the past six months proved to be as fun as I thought it'd be. Spoiler, it wasn't very fun at all, though it wasn't entirely the company's fault. Funderdome wasn't an incredibly large company. As a matter of fact, they bordered on being an indie company. They had a few hundred workers, but we were all freelancers technically and due to the competitiveness of the work, contracts went fast. As long as I've been here, the games in our bid pool haven't been very good. It's mostly cheap hologram games that some upstart game company rapidly releases that are of dubious quality that they thought would probably get them some viral recognition. Not that I'm complaining. Work is work and though it doesn't pay well, it pays, which is enough to keep me and my sister in our house, the house that our parents made into a home all those years ago.

For me, getting first dibs on the projects in the pool was never difficult because I had an uncanny sense of time and when that was combined with the to the minute punctuality that my parents, the academy, and the airforce had beaten into me, it meant that I was usually first, second, or third to bid. Today I'd bid and gotten the number two spot on the most interesting game to date. It was said that the game would be utilizing an experimental VR system and even more interesting, it was a dark fantasy role playing game, a genre that had all but disappeared in recent times thanks to the multitude of failed Death Planes clones. As always, Tina drove me to this new facility in San Francisco. Because I was disabled, I was given the go ahead to proceed directly to the testing facility, which included special set of instructions for Tina. First stop was the medical facility.

We rode to the medical facility, with Tina asking me all sorts of questions about the test, questions that I honestly didn't know due to the secrecy of the project. They hadn't even told me anything else about the game, including its developer. Tina left me with the project's medical staff who explained to her that they would transport me to the main facility themselves after a brief physical. Tina traded information with them and reluctantly let them usher her out of the front doors of the medical facility.

The examiner performed a basic exam and told me that I was good to go. My temporary caretaker wheeled me out to the parking lot into a handi-capable white van much more advanced than any I'd been in before and we were on the road and soon at the underground parking lot of the testing facility. I was wheeled over into the underground facility which was directly connected to the parking structure. I was greeted by an odd group as soon as I made it through the doors.

In the front, with a calm smile on his face, was a tall skinny man in a white lab coat. Immediately to his side was an imposing gray-haired man in green body armor. He had the look of military to him. Behind both of them were two women, one in a suit and the other in a lab coat. The dark haired man stepped towards me and offered his hand. While he smiled, I saw a look of pity in his eyes, no, really it was revulsion. I probably wasn't the ideal candidate to test his game and would probably cause some complications during the test, but he'd be hard pressed to find me giving a damn about any of that.

Still smiling, he said, "Welcome to Full Core's testing facility. My name is Fulton Milner and I'm the lead designer for this project."

Not wanting to be rude, I shook his hand and introduced myself as well.

"I'm Ximana, Quality Assurance Agent and I look forward to playing your game."

Though it appears you don't feel the same.

"I know full well who you are, my dear. Your accomplishments precede you, though I must confess, seeing that you don't have the use of your legs comes as a shock."

I was initially caught off guard by his direct speech, but the shock quickly faded. I clenched my teeth before saying, "As long as your game isn't a skateboard simulator or Track and Field 2K33, I think I should be fine."