The Clover City, one of the most important cities in the Country as well as its political and military center, after the great war and the world pact that ended it, the use of firearms or similar was prohibited throughout the planet, most of these being destroyed and reforged for other uses for the sake of world peace.
The world was in an era of prosperity and progress, where each day something newer and more beneficial than the previous one was discovered or invented, but the very foundations of society had not changed, class differences and injustice continued to exist alike. despite the government's best efforts, just another demonstration of true human nature.
The city center is one of the most exclusive and safe areas of the city was full of tall and exuberant buildings, despite the prominent technological advance the buildings were not much taller than those of 30 years ago, not because they were not able to make them taller, but due to the various restrictions placed on them, owning a building 1 story higher than the surrounding one was to some extent a demonstration of social status.
But even among them were a few larger and more advanced buildings, one of these being a 100-story all-black building with a metallic sheen very close to the center of the city, on top of which it bore a huge insignia showing that it belonged to the militia of the country, this was the main headquarters of the militia in the city, as well as in the whole country, and also the place where the best of the best of the army congregated.
It was 3 in the afternoon when a black car parked right in front of the building, it was a lower-range car compared to the other latest models that could be found in the city center, but it left nothing to be desired in terms of style. 4 men with special uniforms and insignia on their shoulders with the omega symbol got off it, which revealed their status as members of the omega neutralizer squad.
Without interruptions or obstacles, they entered the building and went directly to the elevator, no one stopped them while a chaperone left the building to park the car, the four men looked young between 20 and 30 years old, with serious attitudes they went through the entire entrance procedure and upon reaching the elevator they chose the 30th floor before speaking to each other.
"For what reason do you think they called us this time, maybe it's because of Cain's resignation?" asked a robust man with a beard who appeared to be the oldest in the group.
"I doubt it, the headquarters is too proud to do it, and also from the beginning there were several high commands who did not see it with good eyes, as well as most of us" replied a blond and handsome man, a little taller than him. previous.
"Tony's right, they didn't call us to question us about Cain, there will be some superiors happy about his resignation, also, this time we've been called by Lieutenant Evie, I really can't think of any reason why he did it" David said.
He was a boy of average height and black hair, had a calm expression, and seemed to be the leader in the group in the operations he was usually called No. 2. Anthony or also called Tony by everyone agreed as he thought about why they would have been summoned.
"Omar, what reason do you think it will be?" the robust man asked again, this time to the quiet Omar who was silent to one side.
" I don't know Cristian, and frankly I don't care, right now I'm seriously thinking about how to make Cain change his mind so that he comes back, but with how stubborn he could be, it will be a very arduous task" replied Omar, knowing him as a man of few words could tell his great anxiety by how he was willing to talk so much.
After that everyone was silent thinking, the elevator didn't take long to reach the selected floor before it opened when the 4 arrived they were a bit surprised by the scene, the whole floor seemed much more deserted than normal and hectic, and it seemed A complete remodel is underway.
Familiarly they continued as they made their way to Lieutenant Evie's office, noting that almost every other section on this floor had been vacated, so they seemed to be in the midst of a major makeover process.
Arriving at the family office David went ahead and knocked twice on the office door, shortly after a melodious young voice sounded from inside.
"Forward"
David gave everyone a look before opening the door and walking in while the others followed him, David noticed the familiar and beautiful figure of a young woman working in the office, she appeared to be a 16-year-old girl but her domineering and noble aura was typical of someone with power and status prevented anyone from looking down on her.
David got ready to bow down and give him a formal greeting when he noticed something that shocked him and made the words he was about to say choke in his throat, he stayed in that state for a few seconds until the others began to suspect what he was saying. passed.
With a feigned cough, David recovered and reformulated the sentence he was about to say.
"Congratulations on your promotion, Captain Evie," I congratulate with a half bow.
The other 3 were surprised by what David said before directing their gazes to the beautiful Evie, more specifically to the insignia that she proudly wore on her shoulder, which was no longer the lieutenant insignia they were familiar with from last time. The first time they saw it, it was the captain's insignia, a rank that would normally be impossible to achieve without many years in the military and many accomplishments.
Seeing this 21-year-old get such a promotion was a huge surprise to everyone, they had never heard of a captain under the age of 25, and the fact that she was a lieutenant at her age was already impressive enough, such a thing might not be known. She didn't even see it at the time of the third great war, it seems that the entire floor is being evicted since it was assigned entirely to her.
Evie looked up from the papers she was completing on her desk and looked at the 4 men with her penetrating blue eyes, without reacting especially to David's congratulations, then with an ambiguous smile on her lips, she spoke.
"David Shields – Nicknamed #2, Cristian Cohen – Nicknamed #3, Omar Jones – Nicknamed #4, and Anthony Adamson – Nicknamed #6…looks like you guys have arrived but I remember calling 5 of you, So where is Cain Sykes #5?"
Faced with Captain Evie's question, everyone was silent as they looked at each other, finally, they all turned to look simultaneously at Omar as if they had planned it, noticing it, he made a bitter expression as if he had swallowed a fly before giving a step forward and answer.
"Captain Evie, a few hours ago Officer Cain Sykes resigned from the omega neutralization brigade to pursue his dreams" Swallowing all his bitterness Omar tried to sound as serious as possible trying not to affect his partner's reputation.
"Oh? And what kind of dreams is that guy chasing?" Evie asked with a slightly interested expression.
Omar's face soured several degrees more as he tried to think of a better way to put it, but in the end, he could only resign himself to being honest so as not to dig a deeper hole for his friend.
"playing video games!" I exclaim with a determined expression.
Pfff-
Several chuckles sounded from his companions behind him, as they tried to contain their laughter at the situation, Evie's interested expression also froze on the spot, Omar could even swear to see the corner of her mouth twitch as if trying to contain it. his laughter or anger.
"Is this game that Officer Caín wants to play Road of Destiny by any chance?" Evie asked once she regained her composure.
Omar was a bit surprised and thought about it for a moment before answering.
"I'm not too sure about that, but it should be, Cain told me to start with a very recent and popular game that's about to come out so it should be that…"
Omar wasn't too sure either as he was never very interested in gaming, although he found the army training on the special VR servers very unique and efficient he also didn't hold them in high esteem as he was always getting beat up by Cain or David.
*sigh*
With a sigh Evie got up from her seat and went to a corner of her office and took a few boxes from there, handing out one to each of the boys. Ignoring their doubtful expressions, she returned to her seat and spoke.
"My recent promotion was not without reason, the game that is about to be released called Road of Destiny has generated incredible worldwide interest both public and private, this game not only offers a permanent temporary conversion rate in a 1:2 ratio but would make one hour in real life the equivalent of two in-game and essentially doubling people's life expectancy.
In addition to that, he also seems to have many secrets that I am not even aware of and that call the attention of the highest officials in the country, that is why they decided to create a special division of the army that would focus and deepen on him, in the which I am now in charge, and for that reason guys I have chosen you as part of this new division, as of today you are no longer part of the omega neutralization brigade and you will be official members of the country's VR gaming security division "
The 4 of them were stunned for a long time after the revelation, all of the above was more than surprising and they weren't sure if they were happy or not with this apparent promotion, but more than all that had them surprised the most was a reason.
'Did this chick get promoted to captain just because of a virtual reality game?!'
As if she could hear their thoughts, Evie gave them a deathly glare as she spoke.
"You shouldn't underestimate me guys, within the exams carried out on the special virtual reality servers of the army I have the highest overall score, as well as the best curriculum among the candidates, instead of you... well you are lucky to be chosen"
They all felt internally bitter at Evie's obvious contempt, but they didn't dare show it on their faces since they were inferior to this young captain, seeing that it was time to fire them, Evie gave them one last piece of information.
"The game will officially start today at midnight, everyone must connect on time and start in the city that will be assigned to them by message. By the way, if you manage to contact that guy and convince him to come back, I could make an exception and accept him into our division as long as he asks properly."
Waving a hand to dismiss them after speaking, Evie returned her attention to the stack of documents on her desk, everyone was grateful to Evie for giving Cain another chance to join them, but they said nothing as they quietly left so as not to disturb her, they didn't know how much. , but it sure would be very busy and troublesome to be a newly promoted captain.
Also, there was something else weighing on Omar's mind, knowing Cain's stubbornness it was hard to say if they could convince him to come back even though his job would practically be to play, there was no doubt that difficult days were ahead...
And just at that moment, in one of the poorest areas of the city where the poorest and stragglers of the city gather, Cain was walking with a large bag through the crowded streets of the impoverished sector with a nostalgic expression.
Despite being from the poorest neighborhoods in the city, the housing conditions were not that deplorable, it could well be the same as the streets of a middle-class neighborhood 30 years ago, although quite dirty and disorganized, in general, it wasn't that terrible.
With barefoot children playing in the streets and old-fashioned vehicles cruising the tracks, plus the occasional scary-looking person hanging out everywhere, the atmosphere in this area was quite free and rustic, which was very reassuring for Cain. , was born and grew up in these neighborhoods that seemed to have changed nothing in all these years.
The houses with bad facades that he remembered continued to look deplorable except for a few that seemed to have been remodeled, although they did not change much, with that nostalgic and homely feeling in his heart, Cain arrived in front of an old and neglected house, about the same size as the around it with about 100 m 2 of land could become very expensive in a more central area of the city, although in this it did not represent much.
It had a small garden in front which was full of weeds, in addition, cobwebs could be seen in many places, revealing its years of abandonment, Cain looked at her lost in thought for a long time before moving and entering her.
Pulling out an old and rusty key, he managed to open the door that creaked all the way, nowadays most of the houses used electronic locks, but the mechanical ones were still quite common in this neighborhood, when he entered the sight of messy and dusty things blinded him. certain way.
Cobwebs could be seen everywhere and even dusty dishes on the table in the background, holding back the urge to cough due to the dust Cain continued inside before reaching one of the only rooms in the house, upon entering he found the room he left so many years ago still the same as before, except for the dust everywhere.
Putting his bags aside, Cain tapped a few times on his Gialock (multi-purpose touch wristwatch) before leaving the room and getting ready to do a deep clean on the house, he could have hired someone to do it for him sooner. to come, but he wanted to do at least this much with his own hands.
With some gloves that she had prepared in her bag, she began to slowly organize the house trying to avoid raising a lot of dust, only when the delivery of cleaning tools she requested arrived, she finally began to thoroughly clean all the dust with modern and efficient tools, but Even so, it takes me many hours to be able to clean the whole house thoroughly. Or at least almost all of it, even one of the rooms remained closed without Cain daring to enter, that was his late father's room.
Looking at him for what seemed like hours Cain finally sighed and walked away, doing so much physical work left him tired and hungry, plus the sun was already setting on the horizon so he decided to order some food at home since it was frankly terrible to cook.
Less than 15 minutes after placing the order, a sharp beep sounded at the door of the house. Cain, who was sitting on the furniture reading on a holographic screen projected by his Gialock, got up and went out to receive the order.
Outside the door a flying drone the size of a cat was holding a gray box while radiating a green light from its visor, familiarly Cain placed his finger on the bottom of the drone for it to release the request, shortly after his visor turned color red and flew away, nowadays ordering food at home was very convenient.
Returning this time to the dining room, Cain again projected the holographic screen from his Gialock before starting to eat, he was reading information about the game to which he would dedicate his future from now on, 'Road of Destiny' which was announced as the most revolutionary and realistic game ever created.
Nowadays, immersive virtual reality games were the general fashion and the most played, so to be called the most revolutionary and realistic of all, it should have something unique, according to the leaked news and information given by beta-testers. it was a game set in a medieval-industrial age.
With the typical fantasy world with magic and spells, but adding never-before-seen diversity and a complete technological system, so players could decide in which direction to develop either magic or technology.
It is set for all ages with the use of filters and restrictions, as well as boasting of being 100% realistic, allowing you to fully feel this new world with all your senses which was the main selling point of this game.
Its servers were scheduled to go online within a few hours, and the immersion helmets needed to play the game had to be pre-ordered in advance and delivered to your home a few hours before the official start of the game.
Cain continued to surf the internet, reading everything he could about the game and getting started tips for VR gaming newbies, now that he's resigned from the military his goal was to become a streamer and earn a living from it, though he was a complete newbie to VR gaming and more so to fantasy style games, he had an advantage that few others had.
Cain was a trained soldier, and thus someone with prominent fighting skills, which would be very beneficial in VR action and war games, this was the foundation of his confidence to become a streamer.
Time continued to flow while Cain read, he was immersed in this new world when another sharp beep from the door startled him before he got excited, he hadn't placed any order after ordering food so that could only mean one thing.
"Finally arrived!"