Esmond spent some time going around and chatting with everyone.
From everyone resting on the beach to those who came much later on from visiting Phuket city, Esmond spent time with the families of his recruits, learning a whole deal about them.
For instance, one French family had a son with cerebral palsy who'd thankfully had the right care facilities at the Villa, but it was difficult at times for the family.
Both parents loved their son, but it was difficult seeing life pass him without ever experiencing certain aspects of life.
Seeing the pain and grief in their eyes, Esmond assured both parents he would find a cure for their son.
The outpour of emotions from the two was more than Esmond could have imagined, but he understood while holding hugging the parents who cried their hearts out.
.
"Child… are you sure about what you've promised them…?"
"I have Gramps…
And I'll fulfill it, no matter what, Gramps…" Esmond replied to Rashids question while sitting beside the elderly man in the shelters shade.
Esmond was about to leave for his meeting with the former owners and main developers of Gloomy Shadow Games, but the room wasn't prepared just yet and the two developers also seemed to be currently on their way over from the airport.
Originally, their appointment with Esmond was tomorrow but he decided on moving things up since he got news from Carter to head over to the space.
Sitting beside Rashid, Esmond understood the old man needed to be treated as soon as possible, so he could be put to work.
It was quite obvious to Esmond that Rashid felt responsible for the order of Hassassins current state of disorder and chaos.
Knowing full well it could be left to Nedric and the Shadow Intelligence Agency to clean up, Esmond instead wanted Rashid to do it.
It'd be the only way for the old man to find some inner peace, while also creating a deeper connection between the two.
.
"Mm…
You seem far too sure of yourself child…
Have you ever thought about the possibility of failure in your life…?"
Esmond wanted to laugh when he heard Rashid questioning him about failure.
He wanted to scream to him that there wasn't anybody in existence who'd experienced failure like him.
Not even the God of Failure could complete.
But Esmond kept calm, only saying a few words as he sipped on his drink.
"More than you could possibly imagine, Gramps… more than you could imagine…" Esmond repeated his words as past memories flashed by his eyes.
He got up and left as staff of the Villa resort came over to inform him that the two developers had arrived and were sent over to the meeting room already.
Esmond didn't want to wait like last time, so he told the staff to make sure the two of them were first brought to the room and then to alert him.
Saying goodbye to Rashid for now, Esmond left along with the staffer as Anton raced over, having left earlier when Esmond told him to organise everyone to gather later at night with their luggage packed.
He wanted to take everyone over to the space by tonight and leave for Adelaide by early tomorrow morning but that was yet to be decided.
As he wandered away, Rashids eyes were tightly locked onto Esmonds back as he walked away.
Running through his mind, Rashid could only think about Esmonds words, wondering what kind of life he'd lived so far to say such words…
.
"F-Felix… are those what I think they are…?!"
Louis croaky and dry voice was trying to comprehend the helmets resting on the desk just in front of them.
They were out of reach for the Louis and Felix to grab onto.
Thankfully, Anton had asked some of the special force brothers in arms to take guard until Esmond arrived.
Not knowing the full extent of the helmets, Anton had some idea that they were connecting to gaming, but since he wasn't interested in such things, he didn't look further into them.
"Louis… please calm down.
We haven't even met Mr Manston yet and you are already jumping at his tech!"
"But Felix…"
"No!
Be quiet and shut up…"
Felix was the analytical type of person who could pick up on certain things.
He'd noticed quite early on, when they arrived in the room before Mr Manston, was gone purposely.
Probably because of Louis arriving horrendously late to their initial meeting in Paris.
They continued to sit in silence, though Louis had the urge several times to leap at the helmets, he stopped once he felt the glaring eyes of the two guards present in the room.
Thankfully, the unbearable wait ended soon after with Esmonds arrival.
.
"Sorry about the wait…" Esmond said with a slight grin of his face.
Felix thought he saw the grin flash by his eyes, but it wasn't important once Esmond sat down and the guards left, leaving only the three of them in the room with the helmets.
Obviously, Esmond saw Louis completely focused on the helmets with only Felix staring in his direction.
"Seems like you are interested in the helmets… Well, I won't say anything, other than it's best to put them on first."
Esmond handed the two of them the helmets and asked them to follow him to the side room with two beds ready for them.
To the far side of the room, Carter had brought over a similar set up of a full dive gear set which would allow Esmond to head in around the same time as Louis and Felix.
Showing the two how they worked quickly, Esmond got them to lay down on the beds before activating the helmets.
After that, he left to jump in and join the two, however he knew it would take a little while before they met.
.
Esmond had them spawn within their own game, Stellar Wars, an online game that was supposed to give the player control over a simple starship which could only travel within the star system they arrived in.
Eventually they would come across random encounters through space or on planets and space stations which would improve the players strength and ship.
You could go to the library and learn how to customise your ship, improving the performance from the knowledge gathered, but the player would need to gain the class of engineer and so on to complete the task.
The sheer number of options available to the user expanded once Esmond got his hold on the game data and it was improved by the A.I Spirits.
While Kane and Vaazakra preferred playing combat missions and using the game to improve their skills as well as the Droid Profiles in the A.I World version of the game since it allowed them to develop the Profiles and themselves.
Rosie, Maverick, Gabriel, and the others loved interaction with the citizens of the game universe.
Trying out jobs like cleaners or merchants on space stations, even taking on roles within the political chaos of the pre-existing empires.
.
Louis and Felix both arrived at the opening stage of the game where they could customise their players or avatars.
The two of them were astonished by what they saw, having spawned within space, before a nebula.
It was a breathtaking view that occupied the two of them for a couple minutes.
After that, they both started focusing on creating their players, mostly focusing their design on their own appearance with some minor changes to make them more beautiful or muscular and fit.
Once they were finished, the game started to drag them through space, with their surroundings blurring at the speeds they were travelling.
The narration began, as the voice of Morgan Freeman started to explain the background and story of the universe.
"While mankind of Earth has always thought about leaving for deep space,
Other clusters of humankind have grown from their home world to colonise throughout the stars,
Hoping to grow and expand the influence of their people, Empire, and power…
But this is the story of your legend among the chaos of Stellar Wars…"
.
Immediately Felix and Louis were spawned in various points of space within the generated game.
They both were given a base class and a small starter pack which included their ship, some credits and other information to help them get started.
"This… is amazing!" both of them said, spawning on the opposite sides of one another within space.
However, that was the last similar thought or action they had, as Felix went on a slow walk around the space station to take in the sights, and Louis went straight for the port so he could fly his basic starship.
Not properly going over the information provided to him by the game that clearly stated he needed some training before flying was practical, Louis soon was stumped at the gate of the space port.
He was told that he needed a license which could be acquired at any of the Guilds in the space station.
The eager Louis unhappily moped away, complaining about the injustice he had experienced.
Felix on the other hand had a fortunate meeting and came across a merchant who'd noticed Felixs analytical side when he appeared in one of the merchants' shops.
Offering Felix, a position among his staff, the merchant had triggered the first mission for him, and it was rather simple, though there was a lot to gain from it.
They continued playing for several days, in game time, before they were swept away and brought over into Esmonds personal starship with help from Carter to the others.
Till now, they hadn't come across a starship's interior, including their own one since neither had gone and gotten a license.
Many ships had gone past their eyes while they lived their daily lives in the space stations, which left them wondering what it would be like within them.
.
Esmonds ship was astonishingly larger and advanced compared to anything they had seen or come across within their few days within the game.
Most likely they wouldn't come across his type of ship since Esmond had spent time and effort into creating his own custom starship with help from Carter.
The open corridors and rooms within the starship, including the fresh food and plenty of facilities which offered various activities was hard to believe as Felix and Louis stumbled around the ship until a droid came and found them.
Droids, well those in Esmonds starship, were designed like the PD-01As, giving them a human appearance than a plain steel appearance.
Their jobs were to find Louis and Felix who were scattered throughout the ship and bring them to Esmond who was currently waiting for them on the bridge of the ship.
He thought it would be some time before the droids would return with the two, but shortly that appeared at the bridge, with utter shock and awe written across their face.
.
"… Whatever you need us to do… we will do it… just let us… play…" Felix had tears in his eyes as he looked directly at Esmond, speaking up before Esmond could say anything.
Esmond just smiled while staring at the two who were obviously enticed by whatever Esmond had to offer them.