Making Game: CH 152 – Warning and Preparation (Patreon)

The warm, ambient lighting of the spacious living room perfectly matched the festive mood of the evening. The Round Table Studio development team was gathered for a long-awaited housewarming party. 

Ross Dalle, their brilliant Zynar audio lead, was all smiles as he carried a heavy silver tray of colorful drinks to his guests. His newly purchased residence in Friton marked the final move among the five original department heads. The entire core team was finally grounded on the same planet.

Lin Liseli took a tall glass from the tray and let out a dramatic sigh of relief. "Yay, the morning commute is going to be so easy now, I swear."

Logan grabbed a drink for himself and pointed a thumb toward their lead programmer. "Don't tell that to Bem. His house is literally the nearest to the studio, yet he is still late twice a week."

Bem took a sip of his soda and shrugged playfully. "Hey, it just keeps happening, alright?"

Kasavin chimed in from the couch, shaking his head. "You just stare at the clock. Because you know you are incredibly close, you sit there and procrastinate until you only have a single minute left."

Bem flashed a wide, unrepentant smile. "You know me too well."

Arthur and the rest of the developers laughed along with the easy banter. The party was going incredibly well. The absolute highlight of the day was Dalle's massive, sprawling collection of rare musical instruments. Some of the physical pieces hanging on the walls were completely foreign, even to someone as well-traveled as Arthur.

They stopped to admire a beautiful, intricately carved piece of wood named Naralaika. Dalle enthusiastically explained it was a traditional multi-stringed acoustic instrument originating from the Nexus system.

The Zynar audio lead spoke about every single instrument in his collection as if he knew them personally, detailing their unique acoustic properties and historical origins. Even mentioning this particular instrument is being named in one of Percival's songs, while giving Arthur a wink.

Beyond the instruments, the living room shelves were lined with a massive collection of physical records. Many of the exotic formats required their own highly specific, customized players to function.

Logan picked up a smooth, heavy metallic sphere from a display table and turned it over in his hands. "How do we even use this ball?"

Dalle walked over and gently took the object from him. He showed the group exactly how it worked. With a precise motion, he split the metallic ball perfectly in half and twisted the two hemispheres in opposite directions. A crisp, hauntingly beautiful melodic song instantly resonated from the core of the sphere.

The other developers nodded in pure awe, completely mesmerized by the strange audio device. Ross Dalle was the ultimate music junkie and collector, a title that described him perfectly.

The group eventually moved on to a lavish dinner. Once the heavy plates were cleared, several developers stepped out onto the back patio to take a smoke break. Arthur, Liseli, and Dalle remained behind, lounging comfortably in the warm living room.

Arthur leaned back against the plush sofa. "This is a truly great house, Ross. Congratulations."

Dalle smirked, his face twisting into a humorous expression. "Hey, you are the one paying my salary. Are you just congratulating yourself?"

They all shared an easy, genuine laugh.

Liseli looked around the high ceilings. "I can't even believe you waited this long to officially move down here."

Arthur looked over at her. "Yeah, well, unlike you. You packed up and moved first."

"What can I say? I am entirely against doing long hyperlane commutes every single week," Liseli defended herself with a smile.

Dalle nodded in agreement. "At least you actually use your house, unlike Kasavin."

"Kas goes out a lot," Arthur explained. "He has a massive amount of meetings to handle with the planetary factories and production lines."

Before the conversation could continue, a junior developer standing near the wall suddenly turned the volume up on the massive holoscreen. A breaking news alert had interrupted the standard broadcast.

The bold text at the bottom of the screen indicated the feed was coming directly from Flecco, a neighboring system and Dalle's former place of residence.

"We are being slaughtered! It is my race today, and it is yours tomorrow!"

The horrifying broadcast was abruptly silenced. The live feed tore away into digital static. A sterile, deeply uncomfortable news anchor appeared on the screen a second later, hastily clearing his throat and claiming there was a technical error on their end.

Arthur stared at the holoscreen. The sterile news anchor had completely ignored the terrifying outburst, transitioning seamlessly back into the regular scheduled programming as if absolutely nothing had happened.

"Rewind that," Arthur commanded, his voice tight.

The junior developer quickly tapped the media remote. The footage skipped backward a full minute. It started as a perfectly mundane broadcast. The studio anchor smiled professionally. "We now go to Kiluu on the scene."

The feed switched to Kiluu, a Zynar field reporter. He stood in front of a smoking, ruined city block. "Good afternoon, Flecco," Kiluu began, his voice shaking. He detailed a recent wave of violent separatist attacks that had claimed several victims in the district. The disturbing detail was the casualty list. Almost every single victim was a Zynar.

Kiluu gripped his microphone tightly. His three-jointed hands, the only distinct physical trait that separated his race from regular humans, trembled visibly. He was slowly breaking down on live television, desperately trying to hold back his tears. The blatant injustice was entirely too much to bear.

He suddenly went completely off script. Kiluu reached forward and grabbed the edge of the camera lens. "This is a blatant clean up! They are intentionally using us to kill each other!"

A chaotic commotion erupted behind the lens. The cameraman yelled, violently trying to cut the feed and wrestle his equipment back. Two local security officers rushed into the frame and forcefully grabbed Kiluu by the shoulders. "Help us!!"

As he was dragged away, Kiluu screamed his final, desperate warning. "We are being slaughtered! It is my race today, and it is yours tomorrow!"

The broadcast glitched violently into static, snapping back to the current live feed of the smiling studio anchor.

It was only ten seconds of raw footage, yet it completely silenced the living room.

The sliding glass door rattled open. Kasavin, Logan, Bem, and several other developers walked back inside from their smoke break. Logan rubbed his arms to shake off the chill. "What happened here? You guys are awfully quiet."

The junior developer frantically pressed the remote to replay the clip again. The holoscreen flickered, displaying a cold, digital error message stating there was no footage available. The broadcast had already been entirely scrubbed from the planetary archives.

The developers who had witnessed the clip could not even find the words to explain it.

Arthur turned his attention away from the screen. "Are you okay, Ross?"

Ross Dalle stood up slowly. He forced a highly unnatural, painful smile. "We are all incredibly tired right now. I am so sorry, guys, I think we should officially call it a night."

Lin Liseli immediately stood up from the couch, walked over, and wrapped the Zynar in a tight, comforting hug. Arthur quickly stepped in and added to the embrace, followed closely by the other developers who had seen the broadcast.

Kasavin, Logan, and Bem exchanged thoroughly confused looks. Despite lacking the context, they instantly felt the heavy emotional weight in the room. Without asking any further questions, they walked over and joined the group hug to support their friend.

After a long moment, the group slowly let go.

"You are alright," Arthur said softly.

Dalle looked down at his three-jointed hands, still in a state of deep shock. "I actually do not know. I think I am still processing this too."

Dalle looked across the room and called out to the other two Zynar developers on the staff, neither of whom had been inside to see the rewound news feed. "You two should stay in my house for tonight. Let us just be safe and avoid going back to your residing planet until tomorrow."

The two junior developers did not know exactly what had happened, yet the sheer gravity in their boss's voice made them nod in immediate agreement.

One by one, the guests gathered their coats and said their quiet goodbyes. Liseli made sure to give each of the three Zynars a long, tight hug before she walked out the front door.

Arthur turned around on the porch. "Call me if you need absolutely anything. I just bought a fast corvette type ship. I can get here in a minute tops."

Dalle offered a weak, exhausted smile and gave a small nod of appreciation.

The housewarming party officially ended, leaving behind a weird, suffocating atmosphere that lingered heavily in the minds of everyone who saw the truth.

Before officially leaving the neighborhood, Arthur secretly released several Ghost-type Pokemon from his roster. He instructed them to sink into the shadows and strictly watch over Dalle's house. He also discreetly assigned a few invisible guards to follow the other developers home. Was it entirely over the top? Perhaps. However, for the time being, the hidden security detail eased his racing mind just a bit.

He was truly exhausted by the time he arrived back at his house. He slumped heavily onto his mattress, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"How could a ten-second news broadcast completely suck the life out of me?" he whispered to the empty room. He lacked the energy to even take off his jacket.

He simply closed his eyes. There was entirely too much to worry about right now. On top of the looming social threat against the Zynar, the Stellar Tech Expo was right around the corner, bringing its own massive mountain of stress.

A moment later, he felt a gentle tug at his feet. Someone was carefully unlacing and removing his heavy boots. He opened his eyes and looked down at the foot of the bed.

"Levi," Dorian said softly. "You haven't slept yet?"

Levi let out a quiet meow, his large feline eyes staring back as if stating he was waiting up for him.

Dorian sat up and let out a long, heavy sigh. "Come here."

The Palico hopped up the mattress and wrapped his furry arms around Dorian in a tight, comforting hug. Dorian closed his eyes and immediately felt more at ease. He finally understood exactly what people meant when they talked about emotional support animals. It genuinely worked wonders to ground his thoughts.

After a quiet moment, Dorian let go and gently patted the Palico's head. "It's late. Let us get some sleep."

Levi hopped down from the mattress and walked over to his designated sleeping spot, curling up right beside the resting forms of Shiny Metagross, Charizard, and Articuno. Feeling a bit more human, Dorian stood up, changed into his comfortable sleepwear, brushed his teeth, and finally went to bed.

…

Time moved incredibly fast after that night. A lingering sense of worry remained thick in the air, yet the upcoming tech expo demanded their absolute focus. 

The sheer scale of the preparation was staggering. Everything from the physical booth components to the highly sensitive trial devices needed to be securely locked and loaded before being shipped out.

These massive crates were bound directly for the academic planet of Luprime, the prestigious core world where all the advanced knowledge and research of the Stellar Accord flourished. 

Furthermore, the planet's orbit featured a massive moon that housed the most elite Ivy League academies in the galaxy, including institutions like Astra Nova, Aethelgard, Tsiolkovsky, and others.

Inside the RTS headquarters, the development floor was a chaotic hive of activity. Junior developers frantically ran diagnostic checks on the physical Caliburn VR seats, ensuring the haptic feedback systems were perfectly calibrated. 

Logan barked out orders from the center of the room, organizing thick bundles of fiber-optic cables and heavy backup servers. 

Bem was elbow-deep in a disassembled prototype chassis, double-checking the internal cooling fans to guarantee they would survive the intense thermal load of a crowded expo floor. 

Kasavin furiously tapped his datapad near the loading bays, meticulously managing the massive inventory of promotional Pokemon cards, plushies, and physical merchandise that would decorate their booth space.

By the end of the month, every single crate was sealed and perfectly staged on the loading dock.

Raja stood by the massive cargo doors, overseeing the final shipping manifest. He looked up from his glowing screen. "Is that all of it?"

Logan wiped grease from his hands and nodded firmly. "That's all of it."

Raja closed his datapad and slipped it into his tailored jacket. "I will see you all in Luprime."

Bem cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted over the roaring transport engines. "Make absolutely sure the physical layout is exactly the same as the diagram we sent you!"

Raja offered a confident salute from the ramp. "I'll make sure of it."

The heavy boarding ramp sealed shut with a hydraulic hiss. The massive transport ship slowly lifted off the tarmac, kicking up a strong breeze across the landing pad. The core team, the five department heads alongside Arthur, stood together and watched the vessel ascend into the sky.

This was it. They had exactly one week left until the expo officially opened its doors. When the countdown reached forty-eight hours, the entire team would board a passenger cruiser to Luprime to show the galaxy their revolutionary technology.

A quiet, unshakeable confidence burned in their eyes. Soon, very soon, the galaxy would see exactly what Round Table Studio had built. They all could wait.

…

Several hours later, Raja Farzir stood inside the sprawling exhibition hall of the Stellar Tech Expo. He was quietly overseeing the loading of their assigned booth space. The massive venue was highly organized, with each individual booth separated by thick, light-splitting holographic curtains. 

Raja looked down the long aisle. He could only see blurred figures and muted shifting colors moving around inside the adjacent booths, ensuring absolute privacy for every tech company setting up their secret reveals.

He finally found the designated Round Table Studio booth. He looked it up and down, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. He turned to the heavy lifter compadre drones hovering behind him.

"Take these crates inside and position them strictly based on their serial numbers," Raja instructed smoothly. "Only open them up based on that exact numerical sequence."

The floating compadres hummed in compliance. They moved forward, passing through the soft light of the curtain and instantly becoming blurred silhouettes. Raja followed suit, stepping through the holographic threshold to begin the long process of unloading and preparing their exhibition space.

Time moved rapidly as more massive tech conglomerates and small startups arrived to ready their respective booths.

Fast forward to exactly two days before the grand opening. Raja sat outside a bustling street cafe, quietly enjoying a warm cup of brewka to steal a brief moment of rest. 

The core development team would be landing very soon. The highly sensitive Caliburn hardware was currently secured in a private planetary safehouse, completely ready for the technical team to retrieve and set up for the final display.

Raja finished his drink and stepped out of the cafe. As he walked down the pristine, academic streets of Luprime, he noticed an amusing trend. More and more pedestrians were walking around the city holding their Pokégg devices out in front of them. 

It had become a massive viral trend recently. Middle and upper-class citizens were actively traveling out of their home systems just to walk around specific planets to see what unique digital accessories the Pokégg would generate for their virtual pets.

Players on the Avalon forums had recently discovered that the geolocation data on Luprime yielded highly academic rewards. If a user walked enough steps on this specific planet, they could unlock tiny graduation caps, miniature Pokémon Professor coats, and even little glass lab beakers for their companions to hold.

Raja watched a group of excited tourists crowding around a planetary monument to sync their devices, clearly taking full advantage of the system to farm the new accessories.

Raja chuckled softly to himself. "Better get those steps in then."

He hailed a passing automated speeder and directed it toward the primary landing harbor. Upon arrival, he waited near the edge of the private docking bay he had booked weeks in advance.

After a short wait, a highly familiar silhouette appeared on the distant horizon. The Millennium Falcon descended gracefully from the clouds, closely followed by a heavy transport freighter carrying the rest of the development team.

As the ships touched down and the landing gear locked into place, the heavy boarding ramp of the Falcon slowly lowered. Arthur walked down the metal grating. He had already equipped his Hades profile, fully stepping into the imposing, muscular form of Zagreus.

"Raja," Arthur called out with a relaxed grin. "I hope we are not late."

Raja chuckled and shook his hand. "Welcome to Luprime, Art." He leaned in closer, dropping his voice to a quiet whisper. "Are you going to stay in that specific form for the whole trip?"

Arthur gave a firm nod. "It would be bad if I go walking around with the official RTS development team in my true self. The chance of my fellow Aethelgard classmates spotting me down here is entirely too high. The academy is just a single moon away from this surface."

Raja nodded in complete understanding. "A better safe than sorry kind of deal."

"Exactly," Arthur agreed. He looked out toward the bustling planetary skyline. "So, let us go see our booth, shall we?"

Raja led the boss and the rapidly disembarking team to a waiting convoy of rented speeders. Some of the junior developers were completely exhausted from the space travel and opted to head directly to their booked hotel rooms. The rest of the core team piled into the speeders heading straight for the expo venue.

With only 48 hours left on the clock, the absolute revolution in galactic gaming was just hours away from opening its doors to the public eye.