Video Game Recruiting (Corporate Marines Book 1) Read online

  The screen clicked and there was silence.

  The president paused. “Does anyone have any final points?” After a very short time he continued, “Very well, this meeting is adjourned, and the decisions made stand. All members involved will progress forward and keep working to improve our solar system. Good day to you all.”

  The president’s screen blinked off to a chorus of good days from all members in attendance in the real and virtual world.

  Chapter 5

  Almost everyone filed out of the different conference rooms around the world and the lights dimmed and doors were closed and locked. It seemed that the meeting was over with only the smell of stale cigar smoke and burnt coffee present. Across the solar system a few of those conference rooms were not fully shut down. Again coffee cups were topped up and fresh cigars were started. Every room was dark but not all were empty.

  The president’s screen lit up, as did the three other screens in the darkened room. “Our recruiting numbers are low. Too low. We must always remember that we must take the long view. We are not concerned about quarter or annual returns at this level. We are concerned about the survival of the human race and the Corporation. In that order.” The president’s voice paused and his sigh could be heard clearly. Only the three top vice presidents could actually see the image of the president on their screens.

  He continued. “I will make the final decision. After all, that is why I get paid the handsome sums I do.” Several of the vice presidents chuckled at the humour. “We will institute the new training plans that were put forward. We will take our current gaming centres and convert those that are in prime locations to the new gaming system. We are going to assign a young, aggressive mid-manager to supervise this. Pricing will NOT be as suggested. It will be low, as we need every person on this planet to go in for this gaming. The estimates indicate that we should do this for ten years for true numbers. That will be done. The first centre is to be running within thirty days. All other centres are to be running three months after that. Designated AIs will observe and report, and the admin will reviewed by Gerald.” The senior VP’s screen flashed confirmation.

  “We must always take the long view, as nothing can really be accomplished in less than years with the way the galaxy works. We are thrust back into the age of sailing ships traveling vast distances. Not only that, we are at the beginning of that development, as ships are few and expensive. Given the rapid and sudden changes that can happen, any current situation may be moot within a year or two. We will not gain the sudden knowledge as the old-time science fiction writers thought we would out from friendly alien contact. We must make those contacts ourselves. The isolation movement will continue to grow, so we must appease them and their followers. Work on the shield and sword projects will continue. Power generation will also improve the quality of life on the planet enough that we can undermine the basis of the isolation stance. Still, never forget that they will come back from this and be stronger, until we can give humanity the hope and dreams of exploration and the future.” He paused again.

  “If there is no other business at this time…?” The rest of the screens remained blank. “Very well, then this meeting is over. Everyone, get back to work.”

  Most of the Corporate members had never even seen the president in person. It was said that he was a hundred years old and still going. Others said that he would keep going as the heart and soul of the Corporation through all of time.

  There were many rumours, and no one knew the truth, except for the few at the top of the corporate ladder. No matter what, he was a very focused being that was driven to succeed, and he had singlehandedly pulled the Corporation to the top of the food chain. Nothing would stop the president.

  There were more chuckles as the screens faded. The three people sitting in the conference room stood up to go, and as they were walking toward the door, the regional manager grabbed and opened the door for the other two and let them pass. He appraised the sub-director’s rear as she walked toward the elevator and then started talking to his assistant. “Steve, do we have anyone on the books that fits what we need for the new project?”

  Steve nodded at his boss. “Yes, sir, we currently have three managers that are to be considered for eventual promotion. Of those three, the most aggressive and pro-Earth one that we have is Michael Smythe. He’s that hard-charger who sent the report up about increasing funding to the rail gun project a few weeks ago.”

  The sub-director entered the elevator as the doors opened, and held it for the two coming down the hall. She was a very attractive blonde woman and the grimace on her face looked wrong. “Tran, I know Smythe looks like the right candidate for this position. But I’ve met him and so has Steve. He is arrogant, a ladder climber, an isolationist, and more of a sexist pig than you are.”

  Tran’s eyebrows shot up and he affected a horrified look as he looked at Steve. Steve was desperately trying not to laugh at the antics of his boss and the sub-director. As they entered the elevator, Tran sobered up and then looked at Terry, one of his most effective sub-director’s, she never held back. She sighed. “I understand that every male, straight or gay or whatever, is hard-wired to look. That’s fine. In fact, it is a little flattering in my mind. Smythe will out and out ogle any attractive female. In his mind, women should be taking care of children and their husbands. No, he has never said that to me or any woman in the Corporation that I am aware of or he would have been written up. I think he is a mistake for this position. That is just my feedback on him.”

  Tran nodded and considered his options. “Yet he is the top candidate and has the seniority. It is correct to give him this project; after all, he is human first. This may be what he needs to expand his horizons so that he can look at the bigger picture with better understanding. We will put him in charge and promote as possible.” Tran looked at his assistant, Steve. “I have noticed some of his attitude toward the meaner sex. So for ease of control I want you to keep an eye on him, Steve. I want to know that this project will be carried out in the correct way for the betterment of the Glentol Corporation.”

  The elevator door opened. Terry nodded to both men and was off toward her office at a fast pace. As the door was closing, they could both see several different staff converging on her with questions and problems.

  Steven just shook his head with a smile on his face. Tran noticed. “What is it, Steve? Come on, out with it.”

  Steve chuckled. “I know you are married to her, but I am amazed that she doesn’t kick your ass with the way you act. I mean, she is a black belt, right?”

  Tran nodded. “But I am her boss and her husband. As for her kicking my ass, I was the one who taught her, remember? I take it this is part of the wonder that everyone feels when they realize that a beautiful woman like that would marry a short, ugly Korean like myself?” Tran’s eyebrow was up as he looked at Steve.

  “Uh, no, sir. I mean, you married her and she’s a beautiful woman and you aren’t ugly. Well, not like that; I mean…” Steve stopped as he tried to get air.

  Tran smiled at Steve. “It’s all right, Steve, I appreciate a sense of twisted humour and so does my wife. A sense of humour kept humanity alive when we had been kicked, and it has kept us heading out there to find more. No one really knows this, but when we were working together on the minor Asian power receiving station, she asked me to marry her. It was quite inappropriate, and she was going to go much higher than I was in the Corporation so that was strange too. We had known each other for about a year when she asked. I asked my superiors and they said yes and didn’t seem concerned about conflicts of interest or favouritism. She asked me—a short, ugly, boring Korean—to marry her because she loved me. My family was shocked. You should have seen their faces when I accepted. She is a smart, caring and beautiful woman. I am blessed.”

  Tran’s face smoothed as they neared the basement. “Steve, you should really stop hanging out with those young
brainless things and find a nice woman to marry. I could ask my family for some references?”

  Steve was choking and turning red when the door opened. Both men stepped out and Steve held the door open for his boss, Tran Gangjuon, the regional director of North America for the Glentol Corporation. As the vehicle accelerated out of the parking garage taking the regional director back to his office across the city, all traces of the humour were gone from his face and body.

  He looked at Steve. “Steve, this project is more important than most people realize. Keep a close eye on the project leader on this. If the man cannot bend and adapt to this new position, he will have to be managed.”

  Steve nodded but made no notes on his pad. “Yes, sir, I will personally keep an eye on the results.”

  As the vehicle drove through the city, Tran Gangjuon looked out his window and murmured, “Everything for the Corporation.” The rain coming down had turned the day to night. There was much work to do.

  Chapter 6

  Elsewhere

  A communication line was open that was secured in the highest methods possible. No digital wireless transfer of data was used at all. Only landlines were in use, and the signal was encoded and skipped over several hundred different lines constantly. Given Earth’s current level of tech, the conversation was completely secure.

  The participants knew that others could still be listening in.

  There were only three participants, and they were having a short briefing after the main decisions had been made. The President of the Glentol Corporation was communicating with the two highest ranked senior VPs: recruiting/training and tech development.

  The president started. “Gentlemen, we don’t have much time. Tech, how goes the development of a ninth-level AI?”

  “Totally absolutely wrong. The one Level 9 that we have is stark raving mad and is still claiming to see smells. It is locked down and we will never pull it out. It can’t be fixed. We should destroy it because if it ever accesses any sort of comms, it will take systems over and could literally destroy us all.”

  The line was silent and then the president spoke quietly. “What if we connect a human brain to it?”

  “I am, sorry sir, that worked for an early Level 8 and it worked well, but this AI would eat any brain alive before they could bond. The Level 9 AIs are not just unstable. They are insane and, at least for now, appear to be psychotically insane for some reason. We will keep working on the problem. A single Level 9 AI would be able to finish all standing research projects for the Corporation within six months. As of now, using only Level 3 and at max Level 4 AIs for projects because they are stable and don’t ‘play’ with what they are given, it will take fifty to a hundred years for us to finish off the various research projects.”

  Again there was silence while this was digested. “Very well, Tech, thank you and keep working on it. Recruiting, do we have any real numbers? And give me some hope.”

  “Sorry, sir. We can actually field six full sections of Marines now, so a deployment of sixty Marines is possible and that is the best ever. But the estimates call for five hundred or more if we are to hold in the long term. With the new gaming system we are estimated to double that number within eight years and double again in another ten. If we factor in the gradual stepped improvements in tech, those numbers do accelerate and we could be at three hundred and fifty within twenty years—”

  The president interrupted him. “We are all aware of the forecasts. If we are lucky, we have twenty years. The reality is, we likely only have twelve to fifteen before we are revisited by the invaders. We do not know why the AIs push that date, but there you have it. We are against the clock and losing, it appears.” The president’s voice changed and his exhaustion could be heard plainly.

  The senior VP of tech development interrupted him. “Sir, we have numerous projects coming along. They will not be at optimal performance within the time frame, but they will be deployable and that means that they can destroy the enemy until they are destroyed or malfunction.”

  The laughter broke the depressing state of the meeting, but the president, when he spoke aloud, was not speaking to his assistants but to himself. “So one of them goes up, taking a few million humans with it, hmm? Better than the alternative, though. Gentlemen, good enough. We will take the long view and proceed to save everything we can. Tech, send me those reports on the space lab’s destruction, and if the technology is still too dangerous or if we can build a larger model without destroying more of our assets. How long to get the replacement station built and fully deployed?”

  The VP answered, “Eighteen months, sir. We are going to deploy more passive sensors and even some stealthed AIs to evaluate every element of the progress this time.”

  “Very well. Back to work, then.” The line clicked off and the Corporation continued working to prepare for what was to come.

  Chapter 7

  New Gaming Centres

  The first announcements of the new gaming centres went out the next day. The first announcement was on a local station right after the latest percentage decrease in the use of hard drugs and right before the additional good news on the decreased use of the post-invasion Projects. Estimates were that the Projects would be shut down within the next eight years.

  The new gaming centre announcement disappeared without anyone noticing.

  The day after that, the first ads hit the feeds and people went nuts. Soldiers in robotic power suits were gunning down horrific aliens that had robotic assistants that looked familiar to most of the people on Earth. The fact that the two “players” were world-renowned male and female heartthrobs Sammy O and Tina Critta pushed the feeds viral. Any commentary on Tina’s armour being more a thought than any real substance that would stop a bullet meant nothing. Poster sales went through the roof, and footage was viewed billions of times.

  Five days later, the Corporation announced that Net personality Billy Banger would be the first gamer, along with Sammy and Tina and one other contest winner. The news sent North Am crazy. There were entrants from across the world, and Tina had more marriage proposals than the servers could handle.

  The winner was announced three days before the first centre was to open. Janice Harder from Canada won.

  The day the centre opened, the four walked in to play a game. When they came out, they were famous. Janice had multiple offers for a movie trilogy based on the game. Billy, Sammy, Tina and Janice were bailed out by the Corporation after a three-day binge across the U.S. Billy was famous for wearing an orange tuxedo in every photo during that binge.

  As a Net personality, Billy had passed success and become a superstar. He was the new announcer of all things gaming for the Corporation. The kids loved him, and he was only fifteen.

  Three months later, the rest of the gaming centres opened around the globe to positive reception. It was a cheap game to play compared to other virtual games out there, and the side effect of the new systems was that you had to be fit to carry all the gear and succeed.

  Within six months of the first gaming centre opening, there was a 3 percent drop in obesity rates across North Am. Gym memberships were increasing and there were competitions announced to create a global ranking system for one of the best games ever created.

  All during this time, dedicated AIs were running search and evaluation programs and improving the performance of the game. Other gamer data was collected and profiles were created on new gamers.

  It was estimated that 60 percent of the youth in the world would be playing this game within five years. The other 40 percent had no access to the gaming centres.

  The AIs collected their data and created at database, which grew exponentially. Potential candidates were identified, but the data was not yet sufficient to submit.

  Chapter 8

  Game 1

  Processing data. The subjects are working well together and are aware of what is going on.
Subjects have clearly been through previous missions and are not new. This is evidenced by the rapid assault and immediate shifting to a spearhead position on the advance. The few defenders that were on guard are down, and other forces are being reorganized for more effective counter of the assault. Automated defences will be activated as an additional hindrance.

  Data will continue to be gathered and evaluated.

  My weapon is up and I’m covering my arc. I’ve got Jeff on the left and Steve on the right. Tina is covering our six and we are moving fast. The corridor is wide and gives us lots of space to move, but not a lot of room for dodging. The timer is running down and if we don’t move fast, the device will trigger and it’s game over. We started fast and took the enemy by surprise.

  The second we hit the ground from the assault shuttle right outside the massive alien command centre, we were moving. We all ducked and Tina launched six short-range missiles, blowing a large hole next to the front door and popping their defenses. She also blew the security force that was on duty there to bits.

  We still have over eight minutes to get to the objective and destroy it, taking out as many of the enemy as possible so that the main planetary invasion can come in. If we succeed, the alien defences will be down. If we do not succeed, then we die and the invasion force behind us dies as well when the surface-to-air missiles and lasers sweep the assault shuttles out of the sky.

  A recessed door ahead opens and two security guards in medium armour pop out from the left. Jeff pops six rounds into the two guards and they literally explode. He has to practice better trigger control. We have no idea how heavy the defences are going to be in this facility. It’s a primary planetary defence node for the entire continent. They should have an army here.