Tami sat on her old couch wiping Cheeto dust into her unwashed shorts. Black hair hung in strands from not being washed in days. Baby blue eyes nearly colorless in their brightness. Her pale skin was sheen in a light layer of unwashed grease. Full hips and broad shoulders matched perfectly with her average weight. She wouldn't be running a 4k anytime soon, but she was healthy enough.
She blew a sigh and sat back. The game over on the screen for the hundredth time was gearing on her nerves. Her phone rang an alarm for her to go to bed, but she pressed the buttons hard and growled out. She wasn't going to bed. At least not until she beat this damn boss once and for all.
Discomfort raced through her body and made her shift her stance. Well, it could wait until she had a proper break. At the speed of light, she ran to the bathroom, taking her phone with her.
Her constant connection to the internet already had her browsing a few sites in her boredom. What she saw made her jaw drop.
Rockstar was offering a paid testing trial for a new console design. A giddy spike raced through her veins as she answered every question and sent her application away. Tami knew it was near impossible to get into these types of things, but she hoped. She would be able to test a new console and get paid on top of that. With a grin she already started to wonder what it could be that there needed to be testing.
"Is this the right line?"
A tall man with a black beard and shaved head turned to look at the short woman next to him. He smiled in a friendly way but shook his head.
"Line for the women is just over there." He offered while pointing behind himself. Tami gave a short thanks and walked through the amazingly long line to see a shorter line behind it.
The women were already chatting away in line when Tami approached the back. Her fingers digging into her phone in anticipation as she read over the email again.
Rockstar wants to thank you for your application. Due to the incredible wave of positive feedback and applications we will be hosting live interviews in a town near you. We will require a valid id, social, and a note from your doctor to inform us that you are in good physical shape upon arrival.
Please understand that your health is important to us. Because of this we must turn away any applicant that is pregnant...
Tami locked her phone and shoved it in her pocket. Her mind ran wild with what this could mean. The leather strap of her purse dug into her shoulder as she fiddled with the metal zipper on it. Everyone was either looking at their phones or chatting away. The line moved relatively quickly, and after an hour people started leaving looking relatively pissed.
"Hey that woman was behind my cousin. Maybe she got in?" Tami turned around to see a slender black woman. Her deep brown eyes sparkled with excitement, as full move star lips turned upward in a great smile.
"Eh, the woman?" Tami stuttered a bit awkwardly.
"No, my cousin... I got here a bit late so she went ahead of me. My names Jenna." The woman offered a well-manicured hand to shake. Tami took it in her own and smiled.
"I'm Tami. I didn't expect so many gamers here." Tami looked back to the line. While their line was shorter than the men's, there was still at least thirty women in front of her.
"Me neither. Every time I meet another woman online it's like a freaking unicorn." Jenna smirked.
"Maybe they don't want to turn on the mic. We all know how that is." Tami replied with a snicker. Jenna gave a soft laugh in response. The two started a short conversation about which games they enjoyed and how they came across this opening.
"Yeah, I had a lot of paid time off stored away so I thought why not go for it. I get time off from my job to test games, and I'll get paid double." Jenna spoke excitedly.
"I do freelance work, so it was a little easier for me to just drop ship." Tami explained with a shrug, "It's usually slow this time of year with Christmas coming up anyway. Everyone wants to save up to get gifts." Jenna nodded with understanding.
"At least people like you. I work in a call center for a loan company. No one likes me." Jenna flashed her pearly whites in a deep smile. Tami let out a low laugh.
"You'd be surprised. I'd have a contract drawn up and everything and they'll be all like, 'I didn't agree to this much' or 'Can't you just give me a break?' I've got bills to pay too. I wish I could but you called me and signed on the dotted line so..." Tami gave a shrug and rubbed her chin.
"What kind of freelance work do you do?" Jenna asked while looking up the line. There was just two more women in front of them, but a few dozen behind them now.
"Repair work mostly. Electronics, pluming, and even car repair. You name it I can most likely do it. Went to tech school instead of collage so I got my hands into everything I could." Tami explained softly. Another women was lead inside.
"That's cool, you don't have to call anyone when something breaks." Jenna laughed and shook her head, "I can check my oil in my car and install anti-virus on my laptop but that's about it."
"Oh, it's really easy to learn with google and YouTube these days. Honestly I have to look up a majority of what I work on though I've been to school for it." Tami gave a soft laugh. She was interrupted by a middle-aged blond man at the front.
"Next please!" He shouted. He looked irritated and tired. Bright blue eyes stained down at Tami with discomfort. He shifted from foot to food as she quickly accented the few steps to him. He turned quickly and began walking without another word.
The lobby was small and cramped with a handful of people wearing Rockstar shirts and lanyards. Many of them chatted amongst themselves while looking over their clipboards. A few of them looked up at her and eyed the new face.
The furniture was sparse yet clean: walls a painful white, and the red tile looked like fresh blood. The blond man paused at a desk to the front and talked in a low voice. Tami looked to the walls. Posters she hadn't noticed before stood erect. Different game posters clung to the walls. Each one proudly displaying the Rockstar brand.
"This is Fern, she is going to get you started." The man said roughly. Tami stood up straight and nodded. His brisk pace and bad attitude didn't go unnoticed.
Fern gave a sigh and pushed her curly red hair behind her shoulder, "Never mind him." She spoke with a smooth Welsh accent, "I'll need your Identification and Social to get started here. Once I have you in the computer, you'll either have to fill out a form, or will be bumped up the list if you filled out the online form before coming."
Tami quickly dig through her wallet, "I filled it out a week ago." She said while handing over her cards. The woman smiled sweetly.
"Good for you, you won't have to wait long to get into the interview then. We haven't had many online forms here in Oklahoma." The woman began typing away and nodded to herself. She clicked her tongue a few times while she worked and returned the cards quickly, "Okay Tami, you can wait in the Red Dead room."
Before Tami could ask which room that was the blond man reappeared and tapped her shoulder lightly. Once again, his cool attitude lingered as he walked her through a small hallway. A blue room came up on their left. She was able to see a few people sitting on blue couches and a neon poster for the game 'Bully' on the back wall. To the right was another room brightly lit up in different colors. She looked in to see a much larger group of people laughing around. A few different posters for Grand Theft Auto lines the back wall. And finally, they reached a room bathed in red light.
The bright light hurt her eyes slightly, but she looked around all the same. Aside from the large poster of the newest Red Dead game on the wall, the room was fairly bare. No one else sat on either of the small red loveseats.
"Tami? Follow me please." A tall Hispanic man with bright blue eyes and a soft smile appeared in the doorway. His rich Latin accent was absolutely engrossing. Nerves bundled deep within Tami, and made her shake slightly as he led her even deeper into this unknown fortress. Here and there she saw other people sitting outside of doorways. Some wearing uniforms, and others dressed casually. A handful of them were storming back the way she came with pissed expressions.
"Don't expect to get in. The questions are rigged." An older woman snapped as she walked past. Tami jumped at her sudden sharpness, and looked to her guide with worry.
"Ah, everyone reacts a little differently. Don't worry, we treat everyone fairly." The guide spoke with a wink. Their footsteps echoed off of the white walls. Every so often a poster or artwork would be posted to add a splash of color. It was clear the environment was made hastily and with little thought, "Here we are, just answer the questions honestly. After the interview is over you will either get an invitation, or…" He fumbled a bit on his words as the door slammed open.
An easer looking young woman nearly pounced from the room, "Finally!" she nearly screeched, "I have been stuck in that room waiting for someone forever. You wouldn't believe the amount of people who don't want to fill out the online forms." Slender ivory fingers curled around Tami's arm firmly. Tami looked to her guide who looked at her in a bemused fashion.
"I'll be here when you're done." He offered before the door slammed shut. The woman turned around a stuck out her well-manicured hand. She was dressed differently than the outside employees. Her black dress was defiantly HR style professional. Small black heels, and deep brown hair tied back into a bun. She looked through her oval rimmed glasses to stair intently with blue green eyes.
"Welcome to your interview. I am Genna. We were supposed to have a lot more of you show up but surprise, surprise. They didn't show up. We've had so many walk-ins... I offered to take some of them on, but you know how the higher ups are. Always got to do it a certain way. Even if it takes longer am I right." Tami took the woman's hand slowly and watched as the young face light up as she spoke in a hurried fashion, "I mean how are we supposed to fill only ten slots for a whole state?" Her eyes opened wide and she put a hand to her mouth, "I didn't say that." Tami gave a soft grin.
"I didn't hear anything. But if I did, why are some of the others staying behind if its only ten slots." Tami asked softly. Gena made a show of looking around the room and wiggling a finger for Tami to get closer.
"Other states have higher population ratios, so we have more slots for them. Unfortunately, not enough people either passed the background check, or passed their interviews. Were outsourcing contestants, you could say. Also a few people are here for interviews to help intern during the trials. We just don't have enough resources here to separate everyone." Genna moved to expose the small room. There was no table or papers. In fact it just seemed to be the two of them with two plush chairs.
It wasn't until Genna moved to sit that Tami noticed she was holding a small tablet in her hands, "Please… Sit. First question, how many family members do you have? We need to know in case you get in. They receive free…"
Tami sighed softly, "None."
"Well they will… wait, what?" Genna asked growing pale in the face.
Tami gave a soft smile, "It's alright. I was an orphan. Aged out of the system when I was eighteen. Don't have any family. Had a foster mom once, and she was the most amazing woman I've ever known. But she had cancer and once I said goodbye her husband sent me back into the system. So here I am." Tami laughed softly and pushed her hands together.
"Okay… Uh… Huh." Genna pushed her glasses back onto her nose and smiled brightly again as if nothing had happened, "What's your favorite Rockstar game?"
Tami was shifting for what seemed to be the hundredth time as Genna finished taping away at her pad. It had nearly been two hours since she first sat down. A longer interview was a good sign wasn't it?
Genna prodded her lower lip with her finger and looked back at the tablet, "Just one minute." She stood up and left the room so quickly that her tablet lay unlocked in the seat. Tami looked down and felt shocked at what she saw.
Instead of a question sheet she expected, there was a chat box open. Someone had been sending her the questions and she typed out a reply. The last text was asking Genna to leave the room. A loud click filled the small room making Tami jump.
"Hello again!" the guide from earlier greeted her warmly, "My name is Mateo. I will be with you for the entire month. If you're ready, I'm supposed to have you meet the others. Well, after you fill out some paperwork for us." Tami gave a large grin.
"These straps here are to hold you in tight, those are to attach to your nerves, and this helmet here is to completely submerge you into the chosen game."
Tami was absolutely amazed at the care and thought put into the device before her.
"You see, this product won't ever be sold into homes unfortunately. What we are going to do is sell a vacation of sorts. Everyone would love to live in their favorite game for a few days. We are ready to achieve that goal."
Tami's mouth fell open at the thought. Being able to sit in a game. It was going to change the world. Possibly not in the best way.
"If you've all read your contracts, you already know we are planning to live stream each and every one of your separate experiences onto our website. That's where the payment aspect comes in. Since you are all officially apart of the Rockstar stream team, you will be paid according to your popularity and donations. Any questions?"
Tami watched as everyone shook their head. She lifted a hand slowly into the air. The female tech pointed at Tami with a smile,
"When do we get to start?"