In the middle of nowhere, a large building stood that cut through the skies. A gem like sunset was behind in that made the world seem both abstruse and beautiful.
The building simply shimmered while Jeff and colleagues walked into it. A man in a blue suit led them inside and passed the security team. Quite a few people could be seen lounging in pods around the building with various Virtual Reality Gear on. One man even had a wire strapped into the back of his head. Not exactly the most usual equipment, but it seemed to be doing the trick. He seemed to be able to move both horizontally and vertically while playing a game. This made Jeff smile on the inside.
"That is nothing compared to what you guys are about to see." The person escorting them opened up a golden door. "Only those with level 3 clearance are allowed in this room. Angela, since you used to be the leader of the South Century team I'm assuming you'll still be the leader?"
"Well, Jeff here has experience as a Vice President. He might be better in business matters." Angela stepped back and gently nudged Jeff forward. "He's practically the CEO of the gaming company we used to play for. His boss is Terrance. And yes, that Terrance."
"I see, madam," One, two and then three more golden doors opened to a small council device that was on a counter. It was so small, but had an extremely bright shimmer. Quite a few seats were around with name tags on each seat. "You'll find your names on each seat in this room. In roughly one minute, a team will come speak with you. Do you mind sitting down?"
Jeff nodded his head and sat where he was asked to sit.
Angela kicked her feet up on the pedestal and smiled before a gentle murmur seemed to come from within it.
"I wouldn't pout me feet up there if I were you." A voice came out from the small mainframe. "You might get my boss mad. You wouldn't want to make him mad."
"I'm sorry, but did that damn thing just talk. What the hell? The box can talk?!"
Jeff smiled and nodded his head.
"It's probably a character that they're developing for a VR game. Don't worry about it too much. It probably has canned responses. Terrance told me they are trying out Artificial Intelligence for characters to make them more interesting."
Terrance shook his head and smacked Angela on the chest.
"Huh, AI huh. That's pretty fascinating! So what's your name, Mr. AI?"
Jeff turned and watched a clear glass door open in front of him before a man in golden armor walked into the room with a gilded sword in his hand.
"Hello, Hello! Thank you so much for coming to see my creation!"
The man with the golden sword spun once, and soon a blue fire ebbed out into reality. "Ha, this is a new invention of mine I call the flaming sword! I based it on Link's moves from Zelda!"
Jeff raised his brow and studied the man closely. He seemed to be wearing at least a 10,000 dollar suit judging by the material. "That's really cool. How long did you take me to make it?"
"I just spent a day." Doctor Sanmaskin sat down in front of Jeff and smiled. "However, what is in front of us took me almost 20 years to create. Right in front of us is my greatest creation. It is none other than the only person that I consider family in this crazy world. Do you mind introducing yourself Monarch?"
"Sure!"
A projector quickly dropped down from the ceiling and the next moment a handsome man in a black suit appeared.
"Hello, nice to meet you all. My name is Monarch. It's my greatest honor to be able to see you all in the flesh for the first time. Do you mind my outfit?"
"You look hot!" Angela smacked her hand into Jeff's chest. "Are you the Monarch we spoke to on the phone? Where is the AI?"
"Monarch, tell them your background story."
"I'm a man with roughly one million years of life behind me." Monarch leaned forward and looked directly into the camera. His blue eyes dilated and he seemed so real. He had golden hair and had a silver vest underneath his blue suit. "I've been inside this place playing different games what they call one million sectors in Doctor's laboratory. My master called you all here today because he wants me to be challenged. I was hoping you'd be able to face me in any game you want. If you win, my master will reward you handsomely. You'll also get paid for every single day you stay around."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Marcus joked. "You're going to pay us just to fight this man! That's great! But come on man. That isn't no AI! That's a man!"
A second later, the door opened and a woman walked inside the room in a simple yet elegant golden sleek dress.
"He isn't going to be easy to fight. He just competed against a million people by himself, and won."
"What do you mean a million people?" Angela said while raising her brow. "What kind of game is it?"
"It was a first person shooter game," Monarch said with a dullness in his voice. "I had to fight one million people by myself and I ended up winning. The only rule was that only one thousand people could attack me at once."
"One thousand…." Jeff shook his head. "Are you kidding me? Did you have any constraints?"
"I could only fire one bullet every microsecond." Monarch pointed at the professor. "Anyways, I heard from the Doctor that you're the only team to ever beat an AI with as much experience as me. A million years in here and I've been craving a challenge. I need to verse the best."
Jeff started to laugh, but then got handed a check. Suddenly, he gulped.
"I'm practically his father and I assure you he's worth your time. I will pay you 10,000 dollars a month to try and beat him. If you beat him once in the next year, I'll give you each a 10 million dollar bonus."
"…"
Marcus especially turned green in the face.
He needed money so bad because he'd been broke for practically ever! He could barely even afford to pay for his own food at Jeff's house with the money he made streaming his games.
"I'm fucking in! Jeff you better take this job! This is more money than I've ever been offered dude."
"I get paid more now," Jeff grabbed his hair and looked at Angela. "Is there anyway the two of them can do it without me?"
"I'll add 300,000 dollars to your annual salary, Jeff." The doctor took out a pen and scratched in another number on the check. "I assure you that no bank will decline this check. They will know my name and recognize the brand of my check."
Jeff nodded his head and grabbed the check.
"Wait… You're not going to give them a raise. Just me."
The doctor smiled and pointed over at three VR sets.
"Monarch would very much like to meet you. Please take some time to think about my offer, but before that… Go have a discussion with him in person. He'd very much like to meet humans. You three are the first ones I'm ever letting to see him in his natural state. You'll see what I mean when you go in there."
Jeff grabbed his hair and then gently placed down the check.
"I'll meet him, but after I talk to my boss. I'm not doing this until Terrance gives me approval. He needs me more now than ever."
"Then all three of you can leave until Jeff makes his decision. I will not only have two members of your team. I need all three of you."
The doctor took out another check and handed it to Marcus.
"This is for your trouble Marcus. I hope you can talk Jeff into being part of the team. You guys won't be alone versing him by the way. Sometimes, you may need help from others."
Jeff nodded his head and walked out the door.
Now was not the time for him to take a new job because so much was happening at the company.
A huge time of change.
If he wanted to take this opportunity, he needed to first make sure that Terrance was ready for him to do it. After all, 400,000 dollars wasn't nothing! It was 200,000 dollars more than he made right now!
"I'll try and breakthrough that hard shell of his." Angela said before she blew a kiss at Monarch. "See you later doctor."
The three of them left, but as they did a small boy walked into the room.
"Do you really think they can beat me."
The boy said with a strange expression on his face. "Do you really think they can win?"
"Yes, I believe they stand a chance, Monarch." The doctor patted the young man on the shoulder. "Now, what did I tell you about using this interface. It's not permitted when other people are in the building."
The light in the boy's eyes went out before he seemed to turned into a pillar made out of stone.