Chapter 1: The Art of the Kneel
Eric tossed the report he had been reading onto his desk, squinted, and rubbed the corners of his eyes. For the third time that night he had read an entire paragraph while his brain had wandered to wherever thoughts get lost - the space between worlds, Eric guessed. He grabbed a grapefruit-sized glass orb off of its stand and leaned back in his cushy chair, fondling the orb absentmindedly. It was a standard gift that the past three CEOs had been given when they took the reins of SoftTech. But nothing about Eric's rise to power had been standard. He directed his thousand yard stare outside the floor-to-ceiling windows and thought back on all the sleepless nights. All the backstabbed friends. All the pieces of his soul he had sold to various devils. Outside, the fading sun was turning the New York skyline into a scene you'd find on a postcard from those home-away-from-home souvenir shops they had for American tourists in Spain or wherever. At least he hoped it was dusk that he was seeing and not dawn. But no, he hadn't slipped that far yet, and he had burned the candle from both ends enough in this office to tell the difference.
"Mr Slater, your 7pm is here to see you." The declaration furrowed Eric's brow and his chair slowly returned to its upright position. He leaned over and pressed a button on his intercom before he realized that he was too confused to even formulate a coherent question.
"Laura uh...Laura, why the fuck did you schedule a meeting for seven goddamn pee em on a goddamn Friday? And why the hell are you even still here?"
"Kelly needs braces so I'm just putting in some overtime, sir. And it was Mr Posetto that had me schedule this. He said 'not like the bastard has a life to interrupt anyway'"
"Of course it was Joe Motherfucking Posetto. Go the hell home, Laura. And tell Kelly I love her and her teeth are beautiful. Oh and make a note to send two dozen roses to Joe. But Laura, make sure they're all dead and wilting, will you?"
"Absolutely, Mr Slater. Have a good night."
Eric straightened a few files on his desk and redid the top button of his dress shirt. Ran a hand through his unkempt hair and then tried to look relaxed as his 7pm walked through the large glass doors at the other end of his office. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to see, but whatever it was, it didn't at all resemble the figure that approached him now. She couldn't have been more than five feet tall, even in the high glossy black heels she was sauntering towards him in. And the pencil skirt and dress shirt did little to hide the incredible curves moving just below the fabric. And her face, Gods she barely looked old enough to pay taxes, much less be swaggering into his office like her name was on the building. She held out a hand as she approached, heels clacking away on the tile floor.
"Mr Slater, I'm Evie Noxx. It's a pleasure to meet you." Her introduction was accompanied by a thousand watt gaze and a Cheshire cat-like smile. The rest of her was incredible, but the smile was a work of art. It should be hanging next to the Mona Lisa, or greeting foreign dignitaries at the UN. Eric reeled his thoughts back in from global politics to the task at hand. She was not the first to try to flirt her way into a business deal with Eric, but once he had eviscerated Joe, she might blessedly be the last. He gave her his boilerplate greeting and asked her to have a seat.
"So, Miss Noxx, what brings you to my ramshackle corner of the world?" he inquired jovially, as they were settling in their chairs, his behind the desk and her's in front of it.
"Hah, I don't think I've ever been in a less 'ramshackle' office in my life, sir. And I was in Zuck's last week. Giving him a similar pitch, in fact."
"Well I'm not sure I like instantly being put into competition with Mark, but if you got Joe to wag his tail, then I'll hear it out."
"I don't like to beat around the bush, Mr Slater. I think we've developed something phenomenal, and I've approached others with it. SoftTech wasn't my first meeting, but it was absolutely my first choice - just a little difficult to arrange. But I shouldn't get ahead of myself. Let me make the pitch first and then we can talk about exclusivity."
"Sure, let's hear it. If Mark's taking a look, it must be a doozie."
"We at MayTree certainly think so. We've developed a virtual office simulator, the Arc Key -" as she spoke Evie reached into a plastic case she had been carrying and withdrew what looked like a band made of smooth hardened plastic with foam pads suspended in a spherical pattern on one side. "- that will be a replacement for in-person office spaces. Within the next decade, we predict. It's a perfect blend of hardware, software, and science, that creates a more realistic digital meeting space than anything else that's available, or in development for that matter."
Evie leaned over the desk to hand it to Eric, who looked at the device with a furrowed brow as he accepted it. "Is this a prototype? It looks like it's ready to go on the shelves at Best Buy."
"On the shelves or sold in bulk to enterprise clients."
"Ah, and forgive me but did you guys at...MayTree was it? Did you guys really do all this in-house? Usually dev shops specialize in just software or hardware and contract out for the rest."
"We actually specialized in neither of those to begin with. MayTree began in research and when the breakthrough had been made that allowed the Arc Key to be built, we transitioned to a tech startup and went all-in. I'm glad you asked, though, as it's a perfect segue to the first point about Arc Key, which is the principle of audio-interpolation. No matter how good the digital space or the sounds you give it, subjects always know that they are in a simulation. However, audio-interpolation has shown us that there are sub and hyper-audible auditory frequencies that can create complete immersion. It can fool you at every conscious and subconscious level into believing you are actually inside the simulation."
Eric had looked the device over and found no ports or buttons of any kind. But the band widened into cups that pretty clearly fit over the ears, so he slipped it on as she finished her speech. He was immediately greeted by...his office. In exactly the same state it was when he put on the visor. He could even see Evie sitting in the seat across the desk from him.
"The software begins when it detects you've put on the device and ends when you take it off. It's charged by the heat and movements of your head, and will function indefinitely as long as the device is worn properly. What you're seeing now is the pass-through mode. Outward facing cameras recreate your surroundings with as many or as few digital enhancements as you'd like to have. It excels at augmented reality as much as virtual reality. If you look up and to the left without moving your head, you will see readouts of your time, date, and ambient temperature come into focus. And when you sign in, the location, weather, and itinerary for your day."
"This is...impressive, Miss Noxx. How long have you been with MayTree?"
"Since the very beginning." Eric was too busy exploring his digital surroundings to notice the non-answer.
"Uh huh. And how long has MayTree been developing Arc Key?"