The merry hum of idle chatter filled the entire venue. Fans and creates alike conversed over worlds and ideas that would never be acted upon. Stalls setup all around the venue displayed eye-catching merchandise of popular mascots and gaming icons, famous game designers sat at stall greeting fans under the watchful gaze of a higher up from the company. The vibrant colours of cosplay and odd senses of fashion gave the event a vibrant and colourful look. Over the venues speakers a message blared.

"The showcase will be starting soon, could ticket holders please make your way to the black doors at the end of the venue and locate your seat, we hope you have a pleasant experience here at E3 2098"

It was if everyone in the venue had acted as one, upon the blare of the announcement escaping the the speakers the chatter of the once idle venue goers was silenced, and replaced with a tangible feeling of excitement. The once casual banter became gossip and whispers. And the aimless wondering became a purposeful march.

All were moving to one single place. The theatre doors.

Behind the jet black doors lay a gargantuan amphitheatre able to seat thousands of people. The mass of fans and journalists poured into the theatre, taking their seats and resuming their animated discussions.

Veterans of the culture reminisced over the old, simpler times where they still had their youth and events years gone by. Haggard journalists and reviewers sat at the back, dreading the disappointment they would feel if the event flopped and became a joke like so many that had come before.

The lights dimmed. Silence descended over the crowd. The world seemed to still.

From the corner of the stage a man dressed in formal attire stepped out onto the stage. He had an awkward air around him and seemed uncomfortable and unwilling to be there.

"Hello" he said in an unnerved tone "I am here today, representing dirty dog studios, to show you our latest game"

On and on the presentation went in its dull and unexciting way for 20 minutes. The initial excitement which grip the crowd so tightly to begin with was now slowly fading away.

10 more presentations threw themselves at the audience with varying success. It was clear that the audience was losing interest.

The last presenter left the stage to a smattering of applause, the audience was bored, nothing shown had been captivating. They wanted to see something interesting, something which will surprise them.

Suddenly the lights cut once more and some energetic techno music began to play. on a screen behind the stage a logo of an open book with characters from all genres jumping from the pages.

upon the appearance of the logo, the crowd erupted into cheers.

A man wearing a suit and tie stepped out onto the stage with a confident saunter.

"Hello our adoring fans" He said with a confident tone, "how are you, now I know we have been silent for ten years and you have been clamouring at us all that time, but we promise, it is worth it. Now we have come to show you the fruits of our labour".

The man began to pace the stage back and forth while speaking in an almost disconnected and daydreamy way.

"'So' I hear you ask 'what is it that took ten years to make', was it the story? No, we have shown before we can produce beautiful works of art in far tighter time constraints, is it the size of the game? While the overworld is big it only took around a year to complete, is it the mechanics? Once again no, it does have a more complex system than most but still not enough to justify ten years". He paused for a minute as if lost in thought "no, what we have spent 10 gruelling years developing was the AI! Yes we have brought together all the greatest minds from all AI firms and all the best triple A studios to create truly the greatest AI ever seen, so complex it can feel emotions beyond simple responses to basic stimuli, so advanced that they can hold conversation with a human being on a personal level, so advanced that we have placed them inside the crowd and none of you noticed"

the audience began to look around when 20 individuals stood up and all in unison removed their heads. The slight morbidity did nothing to dampen the audiences enthusiasm and shock.

"Yes, we at grand story entertainment have promised you greatness, and we shall deliver"