Chapter 37: The Communications Hub

Helping Frankie get on his feet was the easiest hour Hugh had ever spent mentoring another player. The doctor adapted surprisingly well to gameplay once Hugh directed him to the right menus. By the time the subway delivered them near the Transfiguration Facility on the Public Offices Level, the man was able to walk inside and buy the very first open space inside. Hugh whistled in appreciation, seeing the Facility's interior. It was very similar to a shopping mall, complete with a mezzanine, except all the shops came with lobby space and a reception desk.

The clinic Frankie purchased was small at first, offering only a single patient room, a consulting office, and a basic surgery room. Hugh showed him how to upgrade the place using the shop management page and, within ten minutes, the tiny clinic transformed into a warren of a six consulting offices, a dozen patient rooms, and three major surgery theaters. Hugh was impressed, even if everything had the same white walls, white doors, and white tile floors.

Yet, when Frankie finished, all he said was, "I can upgrade more when everyone else gets here."

Hugh loaned Frankie the camera from his starter chest so the doctor could take pictures to show the Medical Board what he'd purchased on their behalf. The doctor continued taking pictures, even once they went back outside and decided to walk over to the nearby Communications Hub. Along the way, they passed the Earth Research Center, Security Central, Thrive Broadcasting Tower, and the Currency Exchange.

Dex proved to be an unparalleled resource, explaining each building's features and current level of operation. Some, like the Currency Exchange wouldn't be fully operational for a month at the minimum since people would need time to build up the worth of their world currencies before they were allowed on the open market. Others, like Security Central, were functional in the sense drones and bots were running the show until human operatives joined the city's police force and took control.

The Communications Hub was located in a skyscraper made to imitate a shining steel beam sticking out of the ground. It was the only building he'd seen so far with no visible windows. Even the door at the bottom would have been invisible, if not for the black outline and the black pressure plate in front of it.

The doors slid open as soon as they stepped on the plate, retreating into the walls with fast precision. Shrugging at the display, Hugh walked inside to find the reason the building didn't seem like it had any windows—the walls themselves were floor to ceiling windows with no breaks between them. The floors inside, if the suspended platforms could be called such, were recessed so Hugh could see all the way up to the roof.

On the main floor, computer stations were arranged neatly in a grid of glass cubicles, offering enough access points for two hundred people to link into the Net at the same time. If he didn't want to use one down there, glass walled elevators could take him up to another level where he assumed more cubicles were waiting.

"We'll want a teleconferencing room," Dex said, ushering them over to an unmanned reception desk. As soon as they stepped close, a ghostly hologram of a busty librarian appeared, her entire body outlined in blue lasers emitted from nowhere, making it clear she wasn't a fellow player or even human.

"Hello," she said enthusiastically. "Welcome to Communications Hub B-8. My apologies for not having a human liaison available, but as you can see we're short-staffed at the moment. My name is Aimlee and I'll do my best to assist you today."

"We'd like to reserve a teleconferencing room for an hour," Dex said. "Preferably one with a view of Nexus as a backdrop. Doctor Frankie will need to impress his Bosses and it won't be easy considering what he's wearing."

Frankie flushed, making him seem a lot younger than he was, but the hologram didn't bat an eye. "Sure thing. We have one available for immediate use in Instance One. If you'll please follow me, we'll need to take the elevator up to the ninth floor."

The elevator ride barely lasted long enough for the hologram attendant to communicate how the button panel could not only be used to access different floors, but he could key in different instances of the same building by hitting the 'I' button first.

"This room will provide the best view of Nexus," she said, leading them to a glass-walled room near a railed balcony. Hugh craned his neck to look over the side and found he could see the cubicles on the first floor below.

"Lots of light in this place," Hugh commented, glancing out the window set twenty feet away.

"Light was one of the primary concerns when designing this building as the lack of natural light can lead to mental health risks in humans," the holographic woman said as she escorted them through the room's glass door.

Hugh wanted to reply that all the light was artificial inside a game, but knew it'd lead to a pointless conversation. As she said, it was all about mentality. If the game designers thought people needed to perceive the light as natural to stay healthy, he supposed this was a good way to ensure Net addicts didn't get sick.

"The general rules of conduct are posted next to the keyboard," she continued. "Net access is free, but privacy mode for the cubicles costs three Zettabit an hour. If you wish to enter privacy mode, you can trigger it with a simple voice command. When you do so, a timer will appear over the door and automatically deduct the cost on a minute by minute basis from the Banking account of the triggering player. This can not be done until you've logged into the Net under a specific player account. You can do that manually through the typical Net access screen or you can simply place your hand on the attached scanner and the system will connect you automatically. Do you have any questions?"

"I think we'll be okay," Hugh replied when no one spoke up. "Thank you."

"No, thank you for your patronage of Communcations Hub B-8. If you need any further assistance, you can summon me back by pressing the intercom next to the door. Have a nice day."

She disappeared.