In its day, the Grand Malkavian Hotel had been one of the top ten meeting places in any online game world, but that day was long past. A fading game meant a fading game world without much need for extravagantly decorated, fifty-story hotels. Currently, its usual staff consisted of a dozen human workers and a hundred two-dimensional NPCs. But tonight, it was alive, lit from top to bottom, and humming with the sound of thousands of guests and hundreds of real human workers, many in the posts usually taken by NPCs. From the maids to the chefs to the bellhop, everyone responded like the real people they were. Within its walls, for tonight at least, food had taste and smell. Wine held its subtle flavors. Silk sheets would move and feel like real silk. A full set of sensory enhancements had been installed for those with the right gear to use it. Some hoped this meant a return to its former glory. But this wasn’t to be so. In point of fact, the Grand Malkavian would be scattered pixels soon when this section of the game was shut down. This was one of the reasons for the hastily organized meeting of the ACME corporation’s newest division of cyber acquisition. The top hundred managers had dined on filet and lobster, with copious amounts of liquor. Once the dishes had been cleared, along with all the hotel staff, the CEO of the new division took the stage. Vernon “Uncle Vern” Throckmorton had been with ACME for 80 years. He knew where the bodies were buried and had put a lot of them in that cornfield himself. He was aging, bald, and fat, but his eyes were still those of a shark with a lot of bite left in him. “Everyone get their fill? Nice, wasn’t it? The steak tasted as a damned steak should. Like it used to - Hell, better than it used to. You can smell it, you can taste it, it feels good chewing it.“

“And not just the steak. The wine swirls in your glass and every bottle has a different taste.”“A handshake feels like it should, and so does someone in your bed. How long has it been since that was true? Not since the crash. The old game is shit. The only reason you can taste things tonight is that you aren’t in the old game, you’re in the new one. Welcome to Genesis Engine people.”Vern paused and waited for the inevitable response. Sammy didn’t disappoint. “Wait, you’re saying we are in a different game? A new one?” Sammy could always be counted on to restate the obvious, or need a repeat of instructions. “Why yes Sammy, thanks for repeating my words for folks that didn’t hear me. New game. And new opportunities for ACME corporation. We get the first crack at taking over a chunk of cyberspace that every human is going to want to be part of. And we are starting tonight.”“Now listen the hell up. There are one hundred of you in the room. Twenty-five of you will each be assigned to a game quadrant corresponding to North, South, East, and West. You each get a crew of 25 workers. I’ve got twenty-five NFT contracts for each of you. Use them to hire your crew of Contract Workers. ACME has worked hard on this contract, don’t make promises outside of the contract unless you want to be personally responsible for that promise. ““Each of you will then be given a chunk of the game world near a small village. It’s up to you and your crew to explore, conquer, exploit, and claim the local area. Rather than answer all your inane questions, I’ll let Billy take over.”William "Billy" Korvacs was a short and stocky man in his 30's. If he smiled at you just right he might even be called handsome. He'd been with ACME from age 12. He was useful to his bosses and dangerous to people at his level. He'd either be in upper management by the time he was 40 or pushing a broom. Damn, the old man was in a hurry. Most of the time, Vern would sit and talk about the glory days for a couple of hours before getting down to work. Billy hadn’t seen a fire like this in Vern’s belly for years. That made the old man a lot more dangerous. Billy walked quickly to the stage and smiled brightly. “Thanks, Uncle Vern, glad to fill folks in. I was lucky enough to be in on some of the contract negotiations for the first phase of Genesis Engine. Let’s go over what we know.”“The Game World is massive, at least as big as Earth, and the creator has hinted at both underwater and subterranean civilizations and resources. Low Tech/High Magic. Politics. Wars. Ongoing struggles between nations. So get to know your area and don’t take the NPCs for granted. I’ve talked to a few of the NPC and they aren’t stupid. If the guy hadn’t been a goblin, I’d swear he was real. I wish I had a dossier on the world for each of you, but I don’t. We are going in cold, just like the rest of the population of players.”“But you know? I don’t mind. Anything that sets us back at all will hurt other corporations that don’t have our experience and know-how. We’re ACME, we like it tough.”“The world is raw and unexplored. You may have to do a lot of building and scouting during the first few weeks. Keep that in mind for some of your hires. You want workers, not managers. Quality is going to count here because you only get a crew of 25. That’s 625 of us in each region, and 3000 overall. Phase two will let us bring in a lot more people, but we expect some prize areas will be gone by then. So go for people with experience in working and building in the older VR worlds.""You got a question over there Norman, or just waving excitedly, and need to go pee?”Norman sheepishly put his hand down. “Yes, what can we offer these ‘quality and experienced workers' that you expect us to find? What's the pay and incentives?"Billy smiled, he was happy when someone asked a question he wanted to be asked. "Good question for a change. Firstly, you can offer them that steak. Or chicken, or a good dark beer. Everyone…and I mean EVERYONE…who is in this game gets access to a full set of senses.”“Secondly, ACME is sparing no expense for our first-wave workers. We will provide, at our cost, lodging at a corporate campus, food, and a brand-spanking new Mark VII gaming pod with full medical enhancement. That's a huge incentive to half the world that doesn't have health care or a job. And I got to tell you brother, those jobs in Endless Questing 3? They aren't going to be there long. Find those people working in VR now, and tell them about the medical systems in the MK7 pods."“They also get a small monthly salary that can be spent in-game or out. And at the end of the five-year contract a very generous bonus. Even more generous if they stay on for another five years. Overall, these pay a salary equal to a middle-tier entertainer. Quite generous. Plus, if they earn extra in the world, they can keep it or transfer it out.”“A word on these contracts: you can't alter them in any way. These are ironclad, non-breakable, and preapproved by the game admin, and by the courts. They can read them or not, but they aren’t going to be able to modify them. And neither can you. If you want to sweeten the deal, it comes out of your pocket. Make whatever side deals you like, they don't affect ACME at all, and you're responsible for them.”“We have 25 contracts for each of you. You lose them and it's going to cost you dearly to replace them. They have to come from the game admin and can't be copied inside the game in any way. You have 30 days to find your crew and sign them up.”Vern stood up. “Belay that, Billy. Things changed. You’ve got 48 hours.” Vern had a small smile on his face, but not in his eyes. “And to make it more interesting, the first five managers with completed contracts and crews can pick their locations and get a nice Imperial contract to supply goods for the Legion.”Billy was not happy. Normally he was in control of himself, but not this time. He and Vern had been working on this project for months and he didn't like being surprised in front of a crowd. “What the hell Vern? You just gave me the schedule before dinner. What changed?”“No apologies Billy. Shit happens. I just got the message two minutes ago. The admin moved up the schedule. So you can all move up yours. I want to have boots on the ground the first second the game goes live.”Seething inside, Billy put on a smile. “Sounds good Vern! You heard the boss folks. We all have 48 hours. So after you finish a bottle of wine and convince a maid to join you in those silk sheets, just remember to set your alarm and get to work early tomorrow. Norman, why don’t you come up here and lead a discussion on the terms of the contract? I’m going to hit the little boy’s room and be right back. ”Billy had zero intention of waiting until tomorrow. Screwing in silk sheets was for losers. And Billy didn’t like to lose. He could see that several others agreed. They’d all be scrambling to get their crews. He needed a couple of minutes to think about options.

Oswald had heard all he needed to hear. And it was just a bit cramped inside this dumb waiter he was eavesdropping from. He gave the signal to pull him back down to the kitchen. Dumb waiters were such an anachronism that no one remembered they were there at the back of the room. And no one expected that someone would jam themselves into one to eavesdrop. Which is why it worked over and over.A new game world? Interesting. And one with full sensory perception? Astounding, just astounding. Oswald had been working for the rich and famous for decades and selling their secrets. Tonight, he could make a fortune with this info. But one other thing was a literal game changer: the chance to use Mark VII medical pods.Using a Mark VII, full VR was beamed directly into your brain while the pod took care of your body. They were based on the medical pods currently in use in most rehab centers. Diagnostics monitor your body while nanites are dispensed for the ongoing care of injuries. The pod takes care of your muscles, feeds you, empties your bowels, and you wake up in better shape than when you lay down.

No clumsy gear, just lie back, go to sleep, and play for a couple of days at a time. Or a week. Or a month. As long as the pod had power and resources your body was in a suspended state but your mind was active.

The older technologies like helmets or haptics were crap for playing a game like this. And an online worker needed to stay in the game for hours and days. That took a tank. And there were problems with the early tanks. Some of them had caused long-term nerve damage that only showed up after a decade. It was expensive to cure, too expensive. After a life of working in VR, Oswald had quite a few friends who would be interested in this information, and he wasn’t going to sit idle.He’d brought Suzette in to run the dessert kitchen. She was happily flipping crepes into the air with pans in both hands. She was always happy showing off. A quick look from Oswald had her handing off the pans, stuffing one crepe into her mouth and the second into her pocket. After a few quick steps to an empty room, she asked “What’s up? I was having fun. You can’t be angry I was putting on a show?”Oswald smiled. “To the contrary, I’m happy to see you having fun. But listen up, we don’t have much time. I have a line on long-term contracts and the use of MK VII gaming pods with full medical support.” Suzette was suddenly very serious as Oswald continued.

Oswald had gone from ‘Fussy waiter who wants everything perfect’ to ‘I’m on a mission from God’. Something was up.“I’m going to go grab the key to the Scarlet Room. I need you to get some people up there. They need to be coherent, competent, have more than two decades of experience, and someone who isn’t going to be stupid about a contract. This is extremely time sensitive to pull off. I also need you to step outside, and put in calls to Roland and Benedict. Screw the cost. I just gave you access to my bank account. Get them a quick transport to the front door and inside the Scarlet Room. Bankrupt me if you have to, but get them here in five minutes.” “And toss me that crepe in your pocket.” Suzette laughed and handed over the crepe before running to find people. Oswald went to find Mr. Billy of the Acme corporation.

Billy was pacing and thinking. He couldn’t send messages outside until he left the building, and he was tied down for at least an hour. His musings were interrupted as a section of wall slipped aside revealing a hidden passageway, and one of the hotel staff walked up to him and bowed.Billy recognized him as the head waiter. No, fancier name? Maître de? He was a large fellow with a bald head and mustache. Billy didn’t like to have his brooding interrupted. “Something I can do for you buddy? Lose some eclairs? Or looking for a missing maid?”Billy had a knack for throwing people off balance. It didn’t work here. The man just smiled at him. “Yes, there is something you can do for both of us. If you would be so kind as to hand me your contracts and give me 20 minutes, I can return them to you signed by 25 experienced workers, myself included, that will fill out your crew. They all have decades of experience and are what you are looking for. I handpicked them out of a thousand people working tonight. I understand time is of the essence so I have them waiting for me to arrive.”“If you wish to accompany me, I quite understand, but things will go quicker if I present this myself.”Billy stared at Oswald for several seconds as his mind took in that statement. Billy was smart, and he recognized when someone else was smart. He didn’t waste time wondering how the man knew about the deal. Hidden passage? Hole in the wall? Who cared? He knew. And he’d acted on the knowledge immediately and wasn’t wasting time. He wanted in on the deal, was making himself useful, and giving Billy a chance at a fat contract and choice of locations. The man knew how the game was played. Billy handed over his contracts and stuck out his hand. Sometimes you had to gamble. ACME was not a place for people who didn’t take risks.“Billy Horvacs, ACME Corporation.”Oswald took the proffered handshake “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Horvacs. I’m Oswald.”“The faster you get those back to me, Ozzy, the better. I have a starting location to select and a contract with the Imperial Legion to go over.”

Twenty-four people were waiting for Oswald in the Scarlet Room. Though dressed as maids, cooks, or busboys they all had done a dozen different jobs over the years. Suzette had grabbed people she had worked with before, or knew by reputation. More importantly, they knew her and Oswald.

The room was a work of art, done in red velvet drapes, dark paneling, and glowing oak tables. It oozed luxury and old-world charm. As it should, being the fanciest private room in the best hotel in town. Normally it was reserved for clandestine meetings of the ruling nobles, assassins’ guilds, or gods slumming on the mortal plane.

None of which described the people using it tonight for a brief time. They worked for a living in VR, played roles in dramatic vidcasts, or labored as NPCs handing out quests. Rarely did they go treasure hunting or killing monsters. “This wine tastes like dishwater, Ozzy,” said a small man dressed in the brightly colored silks of a professional jockey. The alternating colors of yellow and purple gave him the look of a court jester. He swirled the deep red vintage in his glass and downed another large swallow, grimacing again.“Well, either you forgot to enable Taste when you entered the room, or that cheap gear you use is on the fritz again Rolly.”“Shit.” The jockey concentrated before he took another sip of wine, finding its taste much more to his liking. “I always forget. Not like we get to use Taste anywhere else except this room or once a season when they let me win a race. And not like the food outside in the real world is even worth tasting. I swear the synthetics are blander each year.”

“In that case, enjoy it while it's here.” Oswald took his gold pocket watch out of his red satin cummerbund. “We've got the room for another 18 minutes. And I need contracts signed in 10 minutes. While you are all enjoying the finest virtual cheese this game has to offer - a very nice assortment I picked out myself - I'll show you what I've found that may keep us all gainfully employed”.“EQO3 is going to shut down. A new game called Genesis Engine goes online very soon. These contracts secure our jobs for a minimum of five years. They provide room and board in a corporate work campus. And you will be using MK VII immersion pods maintained by our employer. I’ve managed to secure this deal based on signed contracts in the next few minutes. “Oswald signed the top contract, affixed a thumbprint, and passed the stack around the table. Suzette immediately signed hers.

Roland popped a large piece of pungent fromage into his mouth and began to read the contract. “I’m not sure about some of this. I’m not seeing any assurances of getting jobs that fit us. Is there a chance we could get some answers about all this lawyer jargon?”

To his left was Benedict, who at the moment resembled an athletic Benjamin Franklin down to his buckled shoes. The effect was enhanced by the cybernetic eye and a gun belt sporting twin hand cross-bows. He always preferred roles where he could wear them. Usually medieval drama, but he’d been talked into a bit of cyber history and had been having fun lately being a leader in the Android revolt of ’76.

“Any questions we ask will just get a blank smile and more lawyer jargon. Looks like a standard contract. Not worried. We’ve signed them before and then bent the rules after.” Benedict and Roland both signed. The rest of the people in the room did as well. It wasn’t like they had a choice. They needed the jobs. When they were all signed, Oswald took the stack.

“Enjoy the food and drink. You have 11 minutes left to get back to work. Rolly, if I can manage to get you a job with a pet, I will. “ Rolly was happy with that and started stuffing cheese in his mouth.

Rumors had been circulating that the aging game where they worked might be getting cut back. 'Endless Questing Online 3' simply wasn’t what it used to be. While it was still the most advanced VR game available, it was also bloated and huge. It simply no longer had the resources to keep it running.

Things had been going downhill for the last few years. Rumors swirled, but nothing was known for sure. The game and its world had crashed one day and stayed down for an entire week. Afterward, it was worse in every way. Formerly lifelike NPCs suddenly stood like wax statues in a museum. They stuttered through their dialog, offering the same beginner quests repeatedly.

The royal court simply walked back and forth, with the king nodding to people but not talking. Rivers and oceans were flat without tides or currents. The moon hung in the sky in the same spot each night. This was particularly annoying since it was a full moon, which caused all sorts of problems for villages near the Dark Forest.It was like 20 years of technology suddenly wasn't there. The game admin had responded by tripling the size of the human workforce and replacing most scripted NPCs with actual people. And it had been that way for the last few years.

This had meant better pay for the group of cheese eaters, but now they were nervous about what the future held. The player count was in the toilet, advertising revenues even lower, and the corporations who normally backed it had been paying less and less for their in-game footprint.

Eight minutes after Oswald left Billy, he reappeared. He handed Billy the signed contracts. “If at all possible, sir, requests for certain types of employment would be preferable. A small note on the back of each contract indicates the preference. “Billy nodded. “I’ll match them up as best I can, but I won’t lie, it will be a lot of manual labor first, and cushy jobs later on.”“Acceptable sir. Everyone understands. I will be around for the rest of the event if you need me. Oh, and the crepes are quite delightful tonight. Suzette is an excellent cook.”

Billy quickly looked at each contract. Damn, the man came through. He even recognized some of these names. Benedict Franklin III? Roland of Ebonmount? Holy shit. If the rest were even half as experienced as those two this was a great crew. Back in the main room, Vern was trying to ignore Layla and Sammy who were badgering him for information. Norman was droning on about contract details. The doors to the room opened up and dessert was brought in by the hotel staff. A few minutes later Dimitri was waving a signed contract around after talking to the boy setting cakes out on the tables. “See, this is how you do it. First crew member.”Billy got everyone’s attention. “Awesome job Dimitri. You all see that? Dimitri got one up on the rest of you guys. Try to be more like Dimitri. There are busboys enough for all of you.”“I think you are just jealous of me being ahead of you.” Dimitri smiled. “Maybe you can come work for me, Billy, once I take over.”“Everyone needs a dream Dimitri, you keep plugging away at that one.” Billy handed Vern his full set of contracts. Then as the room stared at him, he picked up a fork, and an entire cake. “Maybe after I’m done having my cake and eating it too, I can get a look at that map, Vern?”