The Avalanche Company Headquarters was a large building made of glass and steel. It was designed like a dome, with a large ‘A’, the logo of the company, hanging above.
The gaming company boasted to be one of — if not the best — gaming companies in the world. Dagwood’s dad, Harrison Ackley, was one of the board of CEO’s as the company didn’t have a direct owner
Men and women in suits walked around, everywhere was white, intense, straightforward, and everyone minded their business.
Soon, Dagwood was in the large conference office where the meeting on their next big game to produce was being held. As fascinated as Dagwood was when he first arrived, now the only thing he wanted to do was leave. He had the disease called ‘tik tok brain’, one that so many teenagers his age were suffering as well, causing him not to be able to concentrate at one thing for a long time.
And in a place like this, concentration was very necessary. The office was pure white, with a whiter, large round table and chairs placed around this table. On these chairs were men and women who all looked like carbon copies of each other with very stern faces on top of their very expensive suits yapping things about business and profit that Dagwood couldn’t even begin to understand.
The air was thick with the scent of expensive cologne and his father anchored most of the conversation. Dagwood wanted to take out his phone and play some games or watch a movie, but he knew his father would kill him for it. So he just entertained himself by imagining action scenes in movies while he waited for something interesting to happen.
And it did!
Suddenly, the door burst open and a tall man with long, unruly hair and a wild look in his eyes entered into the office. His clothes were old, worn, and out of place in the pristine conference room. Everyone fell silent and turned to the strange man.
Then guards bursted into the scene. “I’m sorry sirs, madams. We tried to stop him.”
Dagwood frowned, noticing the suitcase in the man’s hand. ‘Hold up. He’s not a suicide bomber, is he? Cause I’m going to be really mad if I die without smashing Livvy Donne.’
“CEOs of Avalanche Games!” the man’s raspy voice cried. “You must hear me out on this, please! This game is the next big thing!”
Harrison narrowed his eyes at the man with a mixture of disdain and anger. “You!”
One of the CEO’s looked at him. “Do you know this man, Mr. Ackley?”
“Yes,” Dagwood’s father replied. “Jared Whitlock is his name. He is notoriously known for his.. unethical games.”
“I promise! There is nothing unethical about my game. No, no, no.” The strange Jared Whitlock shook his head. “This game is going to be a full on experience, an adventure, fantasy like it has never been seen before! I call it; ‘The Daughters of Eros.'”
Everyone was silent with irritated expressions on their faces. Dagwood on the other hand, was genuinely intrigued. ‘The Daughters of Eros?’ he thought. ‘Isn’t Eros like the God of Sex? Wait, is this a porn game?!’
“Eros?!” one of the CEO’s thundered. “The God of Desire and Sex? Are you here to pitch another Adult Game? Didn’t you hear that Avalanche Games are moving away from adult content? Leave here at once!”
“No! Please!!” Whitlock fell on his knees. “You have to give me a chance! You must let people experience my creation. The Daughters of Eros will be a world phenomenon! You can take all the money, I don’t care!”
Harrison, however, was not impressed. “We all know who you are, Whitlock!” he said coldly. “A madman who thinks he can use voodoo to sell his games. You’ve been blacklisted by every major company. Get out before I have you thrown out.”
Dagwood frowned. ‘Did Dad just say voodoo?’
Whitlock’s face twisted with frustration, but he didn’t back down. Instead, he turned to Dagwood, his wild eyes locking onto him. “You!” he said urgently, catching Dagwood off guard. “You’re different. I can see it in your eyes. You want a change in your life!
You want to do better! This game — it’s meant for you.”
“Don’t you dare speak to my son!” Harrison thundered. “Guards!”
Dagwood blinked, still taken aback. No one had ever looked at him like that, with such intensity, such belief. Before he could respond, the company’s guards grabbed the man and began dragging him away.
“You’re making a mistake!” Whitlock shouted as he was hauled out the door. “The Daughters of Eros — it’s a life changer! All you want to be in your life you can become in my world! It’s the key! The key!”
The briefcase the man had with him fell to the ground and opened, a package fell off, displaying the image of a beautiful voluptuous woman with demon horns and bare clothing, sitting on a throne. The words: ‘The Daughters of Eros,’ were written beneath. It was the game’s disc!
The conference room buzzed with murmurs, but Harrison dismissed the event with a wave of his hand, turning back to the table as if nothing had happened to continue with the meeting. Dagwood, however, couldn’t shake the words of the strange man out of his mind.
‘All you want to be in your life, you can become in my world.’
What kind of game was this? What experience was it offering?
That was what Dagwood was thinking as he watched one of the guards pick up the game’s pack and throw it into the waste bin.
°°°°°
That night, after everyone had gone to bed, Dagwood was staring at the monitor of his computer, heart pounding in his chest, the light from the monitor glowing on his face.
Then, he pulled it out and stared at it. The package was made out of cardboard, as though it had been rushed. But the image of the woman in front certainly took a good amount of time to create.
Her large breasts, her thick thighs, her pristine pale skin. Just the sight of her was already making his cock hard.
He took out the disc and stared at it for a while too. The same image was on it. Dagwood sighed. He knew he shouldn’t — his father would be furious if he found out. But the allure was too strong.
Dagwood knew he was a failure, no matter how he tried to lie to himself that he would change soon.
But how could he? He was lazy. A cheeseburger away from being fat and all he did was wank all day.
If this game could grant him an escape—a world where his dreams came to life and he could retreat whenever reality became too heavy—then he had to take the chance!
So, with a deep breath, he inserted the disc into his drive.
The screen flickered to life, displaying a woman in a tight fitted fantasy gear. Her huge tits bounced as she approached the screen from the distance, her hips were like the bracket signs on his keyboard.
When she got closer, she peered into the screen and laughed seductively.
“Welcome,” her feminine voice said, “to The Daughters of Eros.”
The game’s title appeared on the screen at the same time, causing a shiver to run down Dagwood’s spine. The game felt alive, that woman felt alive, almost as if she was watching him, waiting for him.
He hesitated, his finger hovering over the mouse. Then he pressed enter.
An interface appeared. “Welcome, Player,” the woman’s voice whispered through his speakers again, smooth and seductive. “Come on! Enter your name, and let your destiny unfold.”
Dagwood thought for a moment, he couldn’t use his real name to avoid anyone from knowing that he was the one who tried the game. So he typed the name; “Aeric,” with trembling fingers, barely aware of what he was doing.
Then, with one final breath, he hit “Enter.”
And that indeed was his final breath. The world around him suddenly stood still, then it tilted.
A torrent of colors smacked his face and his visions blurred, a stinging pain pierced his heart, gripped his chest, and pounded against his brain.
Dagwood cried out in pain, and panic surged through him as he clutched at his heart, gasping for breath.
“The first thing you should know,” that female voice spoke to him once again, “is that this is not a game… anymore.”
Everything went dark. The last thing Dagwood Ackley felt was the sensation of falling, crashing, and then — the sensation of nothing.