The boss scanned the room to verify that all the changes were complete, and nodded his head with approval. The enormous room looked like a vast white wonderland with small colored dots distributed throughout.
This is what success looks like, he thought to himself, quite proud of his accomplishment, tomorrow will mark the first time in history that Nintendo sends its players into virtual reality.
The boss left the room, grinning like a proud father.
That night, Robert told all of his friends about the contest he had heard about and showed them the flyer. They all sounded quite enthusiastic about the idea of playing a game to make money. The flyer said to come with a group of 2-4, so the women constituted one team, and the men made up the other. They were all too excited to sleep and imagined all the possibilities with the money they would make, and wondered just what the game would be. As soon as the sun rose, the group headed out to the contest, still ceaselessly babbling. Once they arrived and entered the strange tent, they all gasped, and looked around with starry eyes.
"Hey!" Will shouted as he walked in, "I can't believe you guys didn't tell me you'd be here…"
"Oh, sorry, Will," Robert responded, "We thought you were sick."
As was the custom, Robert was the only one who even noticed Will's presence for some time. The rest of the group was busy exploring the plethora of arcade games and enjoying each others' company. Wesley and Sarah held hands as they explored this wonderland together, until a large, booming voice sounded over a speaker, ringing throughout the tent.
"Attention, contestants!" the voice shouted, "Please meet in the back if you are participating in the Nintendo Challenge!"
There was a sudden rush of people to the back of the tent, where the boss stood on a tall pedestal to speak to everyone.
"Welcome, all," the boss began, "To Nintendo's first-ever virtual reality competition! In fact, the world's first-ever virtual reality competition!" the boss spoke quickly, as he was very excited and anxious to begin, "If you will all stay back here, I will call up one group at a time to give me your pertinent information and sign a release waver."
Group by group, excited people rushed up to the boss, and jabbered on and on about their devotion to Nintendo. Eventually, it was time for the last group: Wesley's.
"Who will be your team captain?"
"Wesley," John answered before anyone else had a chance to speak.
"And what will be your group emblem?"
The team looked around at each other for a moment, confused.
"What item would you like to represent you?"
"Oh!" Wesley exclaimed, although he still had no idea what item he should use. He glanced around at his team, and saw that Will was wearing a shirt reading "Fun Guy!" with a picture of a mushroom above the caption, and blurted out, "Mushroom?"
His teammates just stared at him for a moment, confused by his decision.
"Favorite food?"
The men's eyes all met, and they answered in unison, "Pizza."
"Alright. Now, if you'll just sign these wavers, you'll be good to go and we can begin our contest," handing them their wavers, he explained, "All this says is that if you get hurt playing the game, we are not responsible for the damage."
They all signed their names, and retreated back to the women. They spoke for a moment, but were quickly interrupted by that booming voice again, "Allllright, ladies and gentlemen! The contest will begin momentarily! If you'll all just gather around this pedestal, we will descend into the game room momentarily.
Descend? Robert wondered as he shoved through the crowd to catch up with his brother, What does he mean "Descend?"
Once everyone had gathered around the pedestal, the boss shouted, "Alright! Who's ready to play Super Mario Brothers!?"
As he said this, the ground began to shake, and the crowd roared. The floor around the pedestal began to sink, like an elevator with no walls.
"Everyone, take a pair of these glasses and pass the rest down. They will allow you to see inside the world of the game," the boss explained, "If you take them off at any point, it will result in immediate disqualification."
Once the "elevator" had landed, the boss signaled for everyone to step off, and it rose back above their heads. Everyone stared up at it in awe as the boss resumed his opening speech.
"My co-designer and programmers will all be in that room," he motioned toward a small room away from the game room with two small screens, "We will watch you all through the screens to make sure that no one gets hurt of breaks any rules. You may all put your glasses on now."
He retreated back into the room as all the players put on the spectacular glasses.
His voice sounded over a speaker system, echoing throughout the seemingly endless room, as the images on the players' glasses materialized, "You may begin."