Location: Mizushima Gaming Corporation, Tokyo, Japan
“Should we tell them?”
There was a quiet unease that could be felt in the server room, a long pause emanating between the towering shadows of the computer servers and the administrators who had been sent in to investigate the anomalies in the system—anomalies that would have far-reaching consequences that the company at large was not prepared for. In short, the company that provided a unique virtual reality experience for the general public for a whole year without any major issues had suddenly run into an error that could’ve brought attention to them in the form of litigation and financial ruin. This concern being that the players that were currently logged into Pariah Online were at serious risk in that the integrity of their safety had been compromised; compromised to the point of actual risk of death beyond the simulation.
It was every virtual reality designer’s worst nightmare.
“They deserve to know.”
The other administrator looked to his ‘partner’, a scowl forming on his lips. “Do you want to cause a panic?”
The idea to inform the active playerbase that they could lose their lives if they perished in the game was a double-edged sword; but really, both administrators knew that even if they didn’t tell them they would find out as soon as their healing wards no longer worked on reviving their comrades. It was the kind of scenario that was a legitimate horror movie to the people inside the company and those who had invested into the innovative experiment in the first place. Pariah couldn’t fail—too much money had been put into it and not enough money had been made off it. If the efforts of the administrative team failed to locate an issue and solve it, both of the two people in the server room knew it would be them, not the board, who would be the fall guy for the colossal breach in public safety and trust. It would be them who would be offered up to the proverbial guillotine.
Maybe even the
actual guillotine.
“We’re going to have a panic if we don’t.”
There was another pause.
“I am aware.”
The older Japanese man sighed as he went over the data again. He’d have to compose a proper message and have one of the attendants carry it out. But what kind of words wouldn’t result in the game world being at risk? If he said the wrong thing people would
die. If he didn’t say anything at all? Well, it would be almost as bad. They didn’t train you for these kind of perils, but he supposed that was the problem with building a game around the technology they had gotten their hands on. He still didn’t completely understand it. Only the creator of the technology did and he had disappeared months ago; a disappearance that made him wonder if it was connected to the glitch infecting the system. But what reason could Toshiro Mizushima have to destroy his life's work?
It was a question he would have to ponder at a later date, at least.
He just hoped that the gamers inside the virtual world would be able to survive long enough for there to be a plan in place...
SECOND HALF POST COMING REAL SOON
