Chapter 12: Limit is Zero
“So what now?”
I quirk my eyebrow at Rod, who’s playing with his new sword Elysium. Something I noticed about Rod is that he always needs to have his hands tinkering with something, whether it’s a cigarette lighter or, in this case, a sword.
I thought I was hands-on, until I met Rod. He’s the very definition of a kinesthete.
“Now? We go home.”
Elysium and Ephesian, the twin dragons, have already left us. They carried us out of Hell, which I think doesn’t even exist virtually now, because of Rod and me. Then they evaporated in thin air, waiting for us to call them again.
“Home? Like home home or wandering around Eden home.”
“Home home. I’m tired.”
“Got it.” He slides Elysium into its scabbard and stretches. His lithe muscles ripple under his vest and shirt and I try not to stare.
Even virtual Rod is a good looking Rod.
“By the way. Do you want to meet up in real life sometime?”
I nearly trip over a rock as I sputter. Was he asking me out on a date?
That was really direct, which is characteristic of Rod, but also unexpected.
Did I want to meet Rod in person again? Have I been reliving our past night together in my memory piece by piece since then? Do I want to know more about him, if he lets me?
Yes to all the above.
So why was I so hesitant?
“I’m not sure… I’ve got a lot of work to do, and I don’t really have time.”
“You mean besides playing World of Eden.”
Of course I would make time to play World of Eden. But making time to meet with potential love interests is a whole other ball game in itself.
“I barely have time to play World of Eden. I mean, besides for work.”
“So this whole quest was work-related.”
“Definitely.”
I neglected to tell Rod about the request I got from Gabriela, who is – was my client. I also kind of neglected to tell Gabriela that I’m keeping the sword. You snooze, you lose. I just canceled our transaction and she didn’t bother messaging me back, and I’d rather have Elysium than a few ten thousand quid.
This whole quest wasn’t a waste of time though. I got Elysium, and I met Rod again and we’re partners… which reminds me.
“Did you ever send me a friend request?”
I quipped.
Rod raises an eyebrow, which disappears under his white-hot blonde bangs.
“We’re partners.”
“And?”
“I think the system automatically makes you friends when you become partners. Right?”
I check my friend count. He was right, I see Rod’s name under my friends list, which is now… 11 people.
“Cool, just checking.”
Rod checks his watch. He could have technically just checked his clock, which is located exactly in the upper right quadrant of the augmented screen, but he probably wanted to be pointed about it. Nice to know that he’s anal about his time like me.
“I’ve got to go eat dinner, but let’s message sometimes. We can probably do a lot of damage questing together.”
That was more up my valley. In person interactions are exhausting, and I’d rather sit comfortably in my chair messaging people than gather up the effort and energy to talk to people, in real life.
“Sure sounds good. See you.”
Rod logs out and I’m left staring at my sword.
I’m still processing what just happened. In the span of two hours, I’ve managed to:
Partner up with Rod
Defeat Beelzebub
Get and gain a twin sword
Own a pet dragon.
I like to think of myself as a hugely productive person. When I say I’m hugely productive, I mean it. I don’t want to brag but if I had a dollar for every minute I spend where I a) don’t waste time and b) spend time usefully, I would be a billionaire. Like Elon Musk, only I think he’s too busy tweeting or X’ing to be as productive as me.
It’s ironic because I’m spending time, but every second is worth something, and I intend to fully use it in the best way possible.
Which brings me back to Rod.
The past 2 hours just flew by when I was with him. It’s somehow easy to be with him in a way that it’s hard to be by myself sometimes. I don’t think I’m an extrovert, but sometimes I get really lonely. Even when I’m playing World of Eden and all I’m doing is scouring dark dank areas for demons, I get lonely.
Being with Rod, or Roderick, if that’s his real name, was easier than filing my W-2 forms for my internship. And that’s saying something.
So why am I so hesitant about him?
I’m not feeling too comfortable with being partners with him. It feels like I was trapped into it. I mean, I’ve barely known the guy for a week, and now, I’m suddenly married to him?
Albeit in a game, but that’s just a step away from reality.
I’m somehow hoping that he’ll X out of this partnership as soon as possible. We both got our swords, we got some major levelling up done, but now I want out.
Maybe I have commitment issues.
And maybe I need to see a therapist.
But who has time to see a therapist? Therapy’s just society’s excuse of marketing mental health in a way that’s acceptable to people. Therapists are all probably people who have mental health issues themselves and want to project their lack of fulfillment in this toxic culture on others.
Screw you, therapists. I don’t need you to cite me as having depression or anxiety or schizophrenia just because you’re trying to get $200 a session from me.
Money’s still tight. The opportunity cost of keeping Ephesian was having to give up the 10 quid that Gabriela had promised me. I sent her a short message, saying “Hey, I’m sorry but I won’t be able to perform your request! Hope you find someone else. Thanks, Eva.”
She didn’t reply yet.
On the other hand, Rod sent me a message almost immediately after he logged off.
“Hey Buffy, let’s grind some dungeons soon, I want to test out Elysium. I’m not taking no for an answer! Cheers, rod.”
I stifle an inward groan. Looks like there’s no way out of this “partnership”.
At least he’s not asking to meet up in person. The only thing I really know about him is that he’s Allie’s cousin and he goes to a boarding school up in Westchester. Completely forgot the name of it, maybe it started with an “Ars-“ ?
Won’t be surprised he’s actually going to a military school. Cue mono-rant about Ender’s game and how it’s the best book ever.
Because it is. Ender’s Game is absolutely the best book ever, and Ender Wiggin is my hero until death.
I used to read a lot before high school started, but the grind over AP classes, extracurricular activities, and summer internships and projects took over and I lost a lot of time for reading. I still read for school, books like Pale Fire, Catcher in the Rye, and Crime and Punishment. I’m more of a math and science nerd, but I’ve loved reading since I was a toddler.
I still remember my dad gifting me my first Harry Potter book when I was two years old. We read it together before bedtime, and when I grew up a bit, I read the whole series all in one weekend on my own. Best weekend spent ever.
I wonder if Rod’s big on reading. I bet he is.
Anyway, I have to work on Age of Atheos a bit before crashing on my bed. This journey in World of Eden has given me major inspiration for my game, and already some ideas are churning in my brain. Hope the implementation is as good as the expectations.
I’ll have time think about Rod later.
Now, it’s time to work.
-
Groan.
I have to skip school for this?
It’s Tuesday morning and I’m at Eden Enterprises headquarters. There’s a mandatory company meeting that I have to attend, no questions asked, and I’ve been asked to dress in my best business casual.
For me, that literally means a white button down, dark blue slacks, and a dark blue blazer. (I was getting tired of the black aesthetic, so I’ve decided to switch to dark blue.)
I have to fill out a name card and stick it on my blazer. The first half an hour involved a breakfast reception that included some travesty bagels (way too doughy) and fragrant strawberry schmear (too good to miss out on). I’m sipping away on my cup of orange juice when I see Luke and Bruce speaking to each other in the middle of the conference room.
Hope they’re not talking about me.
I consider hiding from them and talking to that interesting looking tree prop in the corner of the room. Or pretending I was a tree, albeit a really dark one.
Before I could decide what to do, Luke looks up and catches my eye. He says something to Bruce and they both walk towards me.
Drat. Missed my chance. Oh well.
I smile awkwardly at them and put down my cup of orange juice on the table beside me.
“Hey Buffy. We were just talking about you.” Bruce says.
Knew it. My sixth sense can be counted on, even against my best wishes.
“Buffy, I’ve been telling Bruce of all the great work you’ve been doing for Exodus. Bruce is still technically your boss, but I am overseeing your projects and extracurricular work you’re doing on World of Eden.”
I smile and nod. None of this is surprising.
“Also, after the conference today, we want to introduce you to someone special. Sai Tanaka wants to meet you.”
I stop smiling. I stare at Luke, goggle eyed.
Sai?
Sai Tanaka?
The one and only Sai Tanaka?
President of mega corp Eden Enterprises and the sole maker of the hit MMORPG that has entranced millions of fans worldwide?
My idol since middle school ever since I discovered that programming can stand to make billions of dollars given the right idea and execution?
I’ve wanted to be like Sai Tanaka for so long, heck, I wanted to BE Sai Tanaka. Albeit a female, nerdier, teenage, and American version.
I’ve wanted to pick his brains for so long. What was his inspiration to make this genius game? Why did he give up his family legacy to choose the path of solo entrepreneur? What made him decide to learn programming? How did he make the game engine and engineer the cutting edge technology that makes up the bread and butter of World of Eden?
Why would Sai Tanaka want to see me? I’m just a regular, run-of-the-mill nerdy high school student with too much ambition and too little money.
I need to hyperventilate. Or huff in a paper bag, pick the lesser evil.
“Buffy? You there?”
Luke snaps me out of my reverie.
“Y-yeah.”
I take several deep breaths and clench and unclench my fists.
I should have expected this. Sai Tanaka is the president of Eden Enterprise, the company I’m working for, and the odds of me bumping into him are more than one in a couple thousand. Given, he’s headquartered in the main branch in Tokyo, but he does visit the NYC branch sometimes, according to company news.
“That’s great Luke. I actually just got a company-wide email sent from his office. Citing updates to World of Eden and future milestones to look forward to. Can’t wait to talk to him about WOE.”
Luke smiles and pats me on the back.
“Sai’s a great guy. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to meet you and talk to you about your development here at Eden Enterprises.”
Bruce says,
“He’s actually Luke’s uncle, so Luke’s the guy to talk to if you ever need tips on how to impress Mr. Tanaka.”
I goggle at Luke, again.
No way.
“He’s your uncle?”
Luke laughs sheepishly.
“Yeah, on my mom’s side. We don’t share the same last name.”
Luke. Luke Fern. Sai. Sai Tanaka. I mentally recite to myself.
Kind of explains a lot.
“Yeah, so the conference is starting soon, let’s sit together so we can meet up with Sai after this.”
I nod and grab a swig of orange juice one last time before heading into the auditorium.
There’s a huge projection of a compilation of animated scenes from World of Eden. The visuals are stunning, as WOE is known for its graphics engine. I am in awe of their video quality, and I stand in silent vigil for a moment, admiring the video.
Luke gestures towards me, motioning me to a seat near the front. I nod and walk towards him, weaving my way through the crowd of people in front of me.
I get into the row and move my way towards the middle of the row. I take a seat next to Luke and Bruce and put my backpack in the seat next to me.
There’s a couple minutes before the conference starts, and I intend to use it wisely. I get out my laptop from my backpack. I wish there was a desk in front of me so I have somewhere to put my laptop on instead of having to balance it on my lap, but there’s a reason laptops are called such. They’re engineered for laps after all.
I inwardly gag. Enough puns, Buffy. There’s no one listening to your thoughts but you.
Well, and God.
I have some tickets I was in the middle of working on for the pull request that I have to complete by the end of the day today. There’s not enough time to go into the code, so I just settle for writing a description in the readme section of what my code does for the benefit of my code reviewers.
A man walks on the stage and takes out a mic.
I look up. Time to begin. I save what I’ve done so far and close my laptop.
“Hi everyone, welcome to Eden Enterprise’s monthly town hall. Today we’re going to have a panel of speakers as well as our president and CEO Sai Tanaka give a talk on Eden’s future plans. After that we will dismiss. There will be a lunch reception in the cafeteria, and all are welcome to join.
He hands the mic over to a woman dressed all in white (think, white blazer, white slacks, white shirt, even a white watch), and she takes over.
For the rest of the panel, the speakers talk about the ramifications of AI on World of Eden and future innovation in the game. It was really interesting, and I was sitting at the edge of my seat. All of it was relevant to my job and my work in Age of Atheos as well.
I was waiting for someone to mention the “virus” that I had infected the game with. But no one did.
The hiccup in the game, which is still pretty much left unresolved, has been confined to a specific subpopulation of gamers, namely Eden employees, so the vast majority aren’t affected by it. My eyes have returned back to normal, it was like a red film had covered my eye and it is now taken off. I haven’t heard complaints from other coworkers, they’ve all been keeping mum about it. Maybe they haven’t noticed the physical change or maybe it dissipated too early for them to notice it.
Whatever the reason, there hasn’t been a major effect by the oopsy I made, and I’m glad for it.
There’s no way the higher ups don’t know about it though. I had to have a talk with Bruce, who Luke told about my mistake, and while he didn’t end up firing me or even putting me on probation, Bruce did go on a spiel on how I’m new to the job and he shouldn’t have given me so much work and responsibility early on in the internship. He put more on the blame on himself, which is admirable. He’s a great boss.
Unlike Luke, who’s been on a major bipolar trip since I joined in his team Demon Slayers in Exodus. One moment, he’s the same old charismatic Luke that I first met at the Virtual Reality Conference. The next, he’s spitting fire into my face on how I’m a shitty coder and don’t deserve to work here.
Dude’s got problems.
My crush on Luke has pretty much dissolved at this point. I’m trying not to think about Rod, especially not at work, but he and I have been messaging non-stop for the past week.
He’s surprisingly easy to talk to. I thought he was a quiet guy in the beginning, but the more I talk to him, the more I think he’s an extrovert.
But who cares? Personality tests are stupid, and just as much as I don’t want people to label me, I shouldn’t label others.
But it does help in figuring on strategy when it comes to dealing with people. Life’s just a complex chess game, and the more data you have about your environment and the participants in this “game”, the more you’re like to win.
Information is power.
Which brings me back to the panel at hand. They’ve been trading comments on the dangers of AI in how much power it holds over humanity at large.
Trying not to think about “my virus” as Luke calls it. It’s like AI on steroids.
The talk’s coming to an end, and I’ve been pulling up my email, school and work-related. Adam’s emailing me about this lab project that we have to do for AP Physics. There’s 2 other classmates involved, we have to make a presentation and perform a lab experiment in front of the class (the horror!). I’m in charge of making the presentation, since I’ve apparently been dubbed Queen of Professionalism, Presentations, and the Workplace. Word’s spread in school that I’m interning at Eden Enterprises, and random people have been coming up to me to get me to sign their backpacks.
Or more likely, they’re just asking me about how much Eden Enterprises pays their employees, what’s it like having a computer for a brain, and why I’m not applying to MIT since I’m such a nerd.
Believe me, I’ve thought about it. MIT, or Most Intellectual Techonomy, used to be my dream school when I was a kid. My dad went to MIT, majoring in physics and computer science, and he always talked about how much he learned when he was there and how he befriended the smartest people he’s ever met there. But Columbia is way more likely to give me a full scholarship, so yeah, I’m Columbia for life.
Don’t try to sabotage my college applications, freshmen. Anyone who tries to subvert my attempts at being a billionaire is an enemy.
Speaking of subversion, I haven’t heard from Xander lately. Xander’s gone AWOL, probably busy with New York Fashion Week. He’s given up on trying to convert my wardrobe into a Disney princess closet, and is busy designing his own clothing line. He’s asked me to come to his show but I adamantly refused. Fashion has never been and never will be my thing.
So instead he’s throwing a party at his mansion, for Halloween, just to get me more socially involved at school.
Woohoo, another party.
Guess what I’m going as?
Chewbacca.
No seriously.
Probably Rey from Star Wars. She has an awesome outfit.
But back to the conference. The panel is getting up to leave, and the MC has taken up the mic again.
“Now everyone, here is Sai Tanaka.”
Applause fills the room, as the richest man in the world makes his way to the podium.
Sai Tanaka. This is the first time I’m seeing him in person. He’s dressed all in black, from head to toe. Black blazer, black tie, black pants, black vest and shirt. The only thing that’s not black about him is a silver strand of hair that remains untucked and his porcelain skin.
He’s closer to my seat than comfort allows, and I can see his eyes that are like magnetic pools drawing me and everyone else around me in. And if I’m not careful, he will consume me with his darkness.
I have a bad feeling about this. I tear my gaze away from him, just in time.
Crisp and cool and collected, Sai Tanaka takes the stage.
“Good morning, friends, coworkers, employees. Yesterday, I’ve had to endure a twelve-hour flight from Tokyo to NYC, but it was worth it friends, if only for the city’s infamous bagel. Which I hope many of you have had the fortune to sample at the reception earlier.”
“As been said, artificial intelligence has been transforming our techonomy. From generating the most unimaginable permutations known to man, AI has the potential to change billions of lives. And we at Eden Enterprises hope to leverage it for the future of our game and our company.”
He takes a pause.
“It’s my pleasure to announce that Eden Enterprises will not only including new AI features in World of Eden, but also we will be releasing a suite of AI software designed to improve the lives of our gamers. We are taking our company into new horizons. From medicine to education, biotech to security, we will be transforming the tech landscape. Eden Enterprises, if not already, will be a household name!”
A stunned silence follows his words.
But then Luke stands up and starts clapping. Bruce follows suit, and the rest of our team, and then our whole row and section and eventually, the whole horde stands up and gives Sai a standing ovation.
I stay sitting down.
Somehow, I’m not surprised. With the way things were unfolding, Eden Enterprises was bound to jump into the tech wars. But does Eden seriously think that they, a gaming company, can start a monopoly over all the other sectors in the economy?
Stop trying to brainwash everyone, more than you have already, Sai Tanaka.
If world domination is your end-goal, then I’m out.
I just want to make money, not make everyone a slave to tech. It’s against ethics and morality, what you’re doing here, Sai.
I frown at Sai, and as if on cue, Sai aims his mega-watt smile at me.
I look away, doubt filling me as if I were being infected by a virus, again.
-
“That was a great presentation!”
“Thank you, Luke. It’s a pleasure to be here. How is your otou-san doing?”
“He’s had a touch of a fever, but he’s up and about. I’ll let him know you’re in NYC! Maybe the three of us can go to dinner while you’re here!”
Sai smiles at Luke and puts his hand on his shoulder.
“I am sure my dear brother has more on his plate than spending time with me. I also have many engagements I need to attend to during my stay in New York. I am afraid I will not be able to meet with him this time. Maybe next?”
Luke looks downcast for a moment.
“Chin up, Lucky.”
I almost barf. Lucky? Luke’s nickname is Lucky?
That’s worse than Skywalker, Luke. Way, way worse.
“By the way, Uncle, this is Buffy Jang. She’s a new intern on my team and is already accomplishing so much.”
I force a smile on my face and take my hand out to shake.
Sai measuredly puts his hand in mine. I resist a shiver. His hand feels like ice.
I quickly pull my hand away from his and say,
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Tanaka.”
Sai smiles at me.
“It’s a pleasure to have you in my company, Buffy.”
“Likewise.”
He looks thoughtful for a moment.
“By the way, Buffy. Are you of any relation to John Jang? He worked at NASA I believe and had a career as an astrophysicist.”
My jaw drops. He knows my dad?
“Yes… that’s my dad…”
“We were good friends in college. I often went to him for help in physics, and he would ask me for help for his CS classes. He was one of my best rivals.”
“Pity how he passed. My condolences.”
He turns away from me and begins talking to Luke and Bruce about something work-related.
My mind is whirling away a mile a minute. I can’t believe my dad and Sai Tanaka were friends. Actually, I doubt they were actually friends, there’s no way my dad would be friends with a creep like Sai. That they were rivals, that I believe though.
I wanted to ask Sai what my dad was like in college. But I don’t know this man, and his creepiness factor is so sky-high that talking to him would be like floating about in Mars.
I’m trying not to, but I stare at Sai Tanaka, my glare boring a hole in his back. He sounded almost sarcastic and definitely condescending when he said his condolences about my dad. From the way he spoke about him, he definitely didn’t like my dad.
Turning around, Sai gives me a sympathetic look.
“Don’t worry about the little bug you made, Buffy. It’ll all be fixed soon. Luke and his team are quite competent, you know.”
“It’s nothing comparable to the bugs your father and I made when we were young. We almost started our own company, did you know?”
No, I didn’t know that.
I can’t stop glaring at Sai, but he continues as if he didn’t notice.
“If only your father was here right now.”
Can this sarcastic sadist shut the eff up?
“I have to go now, but Buffy.”
I wince at his change of tone.
“Yes?”
“Atheos does exist. To find it, go to zero.”
And the limits on my world broke, just like that.
