"Nia!!Hi! ," a hyper cute greeting came as soon as Nia entered the classroom. she had timed perfectly as usual because Professor Andrews entered the classroom along with his usual entourage as soon as she sat down. this did not faze the girl sitting next to her. she grinned and shared her breakfast box and like a Pro, she closed it off and the box vanished into her bag without Professor noticing that someone was doing something other than studying.
Dr Andrews was Professor and leading figure in AI and Robotics. It was luck(a HUGE BRIBE) that he was ready to teach in SVU- Sahara Valley University. He taught only few classes but all of them very core topics and cutting edge technologies were explained.
Then it was the usual end of the class test which was speedily corrected by Dr Andrews' entourage. the highest scorer- Ms Nia was exempted from next assignment but the worst scorer- Mr Rich, oops!, Mr Richardson had to do extra work. Nia grinned. it looked like she could eat her fill this week. Mr Rich paid well to finish off the assignments.
today's class unfortunately did not end there. the Professor started talking, "I assume all of you will be playing in the latest VR game- JINH online(Journey Into Numerous Heavens Online ). but what i want to know is how many of you will play from the date it opens? Everyone!!!! Excellent, this will make my work easier. i want to know about your transactions with atleast 10 NPCs(Non Player Character) in the 1st week you play the game. i want to know what those NPCs were feeling at that time. how much of expression did you perceive from them. Yes, you guessed right. JIN HO's NPCs were perceptive and advanced AIs. if you finish this assignment, then you get passing marks in my subject. but beware, i WILL KNOW if you cheat. i have friends in that game who can cross verify the data-"
"But sir," interrupted Mr Playboy, Harry," I heard this game will be managed by a bunch of supercomputers!!!"
"You heard right. the game itself will be managed by a group of supercomputers. but monitoring is still done by gaming company people and i know quite a lot of them who owe me few favors. so guess if i can cross check your character details or not." no one said anything to it. Obviously, it would happen as Dr Andrews wished.
The class ended ...finally. Soon, everyone was talking about JIN HO, about the type of gaming consoles they had ordered(eye gear, helmet, body suit or even a pod), whether it was already delivered or not(express delivery only for costlier models), would the game be more fun than other VR games, whether they can make names in the game, will the dream of becoming superstar will become true through this game (Mr Football Captain, everyone knows about your dream of becoming e-sports athlete, no need to harp about it).
"Nia, you will start playing from 1st day itself, right?" Jayna asked. Jayna's gold edition pod had been delivered two days back. she had done the preliminary testing too. the pods were the way to go in her opinion. of course hers was just gold edition as her parents were in good position in government. Not like, Mr Rich who had Platinum version(SHE IS NOT JEALOUS, not at all).
Jayna's question hit the bull's eye of the trouble Nia was facing. Starting from 1st day meant there was chance of making name, getting goodies for being first. starting later meant there was already a path made, so no chance of error. As she was planning to earn money/credits from the game, this question was haunting her.
"Maaya to the rescue, my love" came a voice from behind. Ms Maaya Sachdev, Ms Nouveau riche, with her platinum curls and lazy manner joined the conversation. Jayna had hot and cold relationship with Maaya(Mr Football Captain, why are you playing with these kids' hearts), so she was not happy that Maaya joined the talk.
"Humph! empty talk."(Jayna)
Maaya behaved as if she did not hear it. "Nia,I promised you a big favor if you allowed me to be first in the monthly test. so here is the favor. i have ordered gaming console using your citizen number. it was delivered today morning, so i brought it with me. just let me know when you can take it with you-"
"You brought it to college? what did you order? that heavy VR eye gear? or that bulky helmet? why are you giving her such a cheap option? Aren't you rich? why don't you spend more and get her a good pod?"
Maaya is intelligent girl. unlike her classmates, she was working and earning her money. that's the reason why she liked Nia, who worked more than her. she could understand enough of Nia's situation that she would not give her extra burden. for example, she knew Nia was not in capacity to keep a pod in her place. she did not tell this to Jayna though.
"Yes, i am rich. that's why i ordered Unique starter package for her. that will help Nia more."(Maaya)
"UNIQUE PACKAGE!!!!"