One hour later.
Two men sat together at a bar in a crowded restaurant, drinking beer and laughing together. The two were Louis, alias Azazel, and Enzo.
Louis said, "By the way, I saw your interview. Poor Kent! You didn't even leave him the crumbs."
Enzo replied, "That journalist only thinks about getting ratings. He doesn't care in the least about the consequences of his questions. Ha! If Augustus hadn't forced me to do it, we could've started drinking earlier."
The two men burst out laughing again. Then Louis's face grew more serious. "Have you heard the rumors?"
Enzo answered, "I suppose not. What rumors?"
Louis said, "ABC Games dropped a teaser about a new VRMMORPG. Apparently, it's focused on space exploration."
Enzo snorted and took another drink. "Who the hell cares? Fifty new VRMMORPGs are released every year. None of them last long, no matter how much hype there is. It's hard to keep a game going with only a few thousand players at most! WoW II will always be on top. That is its prize as the first champion who towers above all its competitors."
Louis replied, "This one actually seems like it'll be quite different from all the rest! It's supposed to use quantum computing technology to simulate almost infinite calculations in a few seconds. The developers claim it'll be like a full simulation of a universe, not just another video game!"
Enzo didn't look impressed. "Hmmm. I guess we'll see. Anyway, my contract with Renovatio won't be up for another twenty years. If this game really does become famous, I suppose they'll transfer me over to it from WoW. I don't exactly have a say in the matter, after all. Either I obey or I go back to prison."
Enzo then took another long sip of his pint of beer before continuing. "What about you? Whether it's a game or a universe simulator, or whatever? Are you planning to go exploring outer space?"
Louis gave a huge grin. "I started playing World of Warcraft II five years ago. I sacrificed five years of my life away from my wife and my children so I could devote myself full time to this game. In three days, when you renew the management sharing of the Dark Portal with SoulCalibure, I will announce my withdrawal from the E-sport scene. And my guild, for that matter. I'll sell everything in the auction house, from my gear to my gold. From that point on, I'll retire to spend my life with my wife and kids… Off-world. We've already signed the bill of sale for a comfortable house on Mars!"
Enzo was completely surprised. "...Oh. Wow. Does your guild know about this? How are they taking the news?"
Louis answered, "Yeah, they're already aware. I've found a replacement. They don't really care at this point. Considering the windfall of the portal's customs tax, they're getting way more money from passive income than most of their players were earning them, anyway. They're more concerned with how to spend their hard-won gold than what I'm doing with my life!"
Enzo felt sad at these words. He'd played alongside Azazel every day for the past four years. They'd become like brothers during this time, and now Louis was simply going to leave forever. He would go live on Mars, and they'd likely never even share a beer like this again.
But Enzo pulled himself together and summoned the courage to be happy for his friend. Raising his glass, Enzo said, "I wish you good luck, Louis! I hope you get through it with no headaches and have many happy years with your family!"
Louis looked relieved. It seemed that he'd expected a much more negative response. He happily raised his own glass. "Thank you! I hope we'll still be friends!"
Enzo answered, "Of course!" But when he drained his glass, the last of the beer hid a bitter sadness that crossed his face for a moment and which was gone when he set his glass down again.
***
Two days later.
Rome—Renovatio Imperii HQ
As Enzo got dressed for the important meeting he would soon attend, he reflected on the past four years of his career.
During that time, his status had grown quite a lot. Though he'd started as a mere criminal in the eyes of many, his education, noble personality, and incredible fighting skills had proved to be very attractive to his colleagues. Enzo was now a key player in Renovatio Imperii, considered by many to be a living icon of the guild.
His new, luxurious apartment now gave him an unobstructed view of Rome, and it came with a salary of several million credits per year. This was a level of wealth and success his parents never could have dreamed of, though they'd taught him always to compose himself as though he were worthy of such a life.
By this time, the whole guild overlooked Enzo's status as a former prisoner, even those who had never really gotten to know him. After all, it was partly thanks to him and his charisma that Renovatio Imperii was currently ranked so highly!
After dressing, Enzo took the elevator down to the main meeting room. All the senior guild staff were there: Augustus, the guild leader, Brutus, the recruitment manager, and Tiberius, the PvE/PvP roster selector.
In addition, of course, to over a dozen other people who had all major functions within the guild.
Edward, alias Augustus, stood up. "Hello, everyone! Thank you all for coming, despite the distance that separates us and the difficulty of traveling between the city domes. I have summoned you today to address a major issue: the selection of a new group of world-class tank players!"
Everyone in the room looked at each other with a bit of trepidation. This subject had always been hard to raise. Before this point, they'd had an understanding with the SoulCalibure guild: they would provide Renovatio Imperii with all the best tanks in the game. This was perhaps the most difficult role in the game, and excellent tanks were very difficult to come by. Up till this point, the shareholders had firmly refused to fund the expensive initiative to acquire and train world-class tanks… not until profits rose by a ridiculous degree.
Someone spoke up. "But Edward, what of our treaty with SoulCalibure?! Surely we're not just throwing that all away! Loyalty aside, we need them!"
Edward, as usual, maintained total control over his emotions as he responded. "I'm getting to that, don't worry! I've decided this alongside the shareholders. We've reached a level of independence where we can completely break off our relationship with SoulCalibure. From this time forth, we'll develop a roster of our own players!"
Silence fell over the room. The relationship between Renovatio Imperii and SoulCalibure had been tight for a very long time. Indeed, their two communities might as well have been one massive guild! They tackled every event, raid, and activity together, so that an outsider might have trouble figuring out whether any individual player belonged to one guild or the other.
Strangely, however, almost nobody objected to this announcement that the two long-standing allies would break apart from one another.
Not until Enzo stood up and said, "But Edward! We all know about the details of the agreement—our income mostly derives from our control of the Dark Portal, but it's nowhere near enough for the shareholders to fund a new initiative! The control of that portal is in a delicate balance between our two guilds, and we can't simply break away like this! Well, we have six months before control over the Dark Portal opens again, so I suppose we have that much time to discuss matters."
Edward, still incredibly calm, replied, "You don't know all the details, Ceasar, so don't believe that you do. Remember that SoulCalibure is not, as far as the game itself is concerned, a part of Renovatio Imperii. Their control over the Dark Portal is completely informal and contingent on our agreement.
"As the group leader who conquered the portal, Caesar, you possess full authority over it in the eyes of the game and can allocate control as you see fit. Tomorrow you will give 100% control to my character, Augustus. We will take full control over the portal and the will of our shareholders will be done."
A great silence fell over the room for several long seconds.
Then Enzo, shocked, growled, "This isn't a matter of claiming our independence from SoulCalibure at all. You want us to betray our allies!"
Edward replied without emotion, "Yes, precisely. Tomorrow, Renovatio Imperii will have created a hegemony ruling over this vital area of the game. On our own, we will be the second most powerful guild in World of Warcraft II!"
Enzo replied indignantly, "I refuse! I gave my word to Azazel! They invested hundreds of thousands of gold coins in scrolls and potions for the battle! In short, they were our close allies, and we trusted each other as brothers! To do this would be irredeemably vile of us! It will tarnish our honor forever, and rightly so!"
An atmosphere of tension rose in the room. To see the guild's star player clashing with the guild leader couldn't mean anything good. It was as though two titans were about to duel to the death!
After a new, even longer silence, Edward calmly said, "Everyone, if you please, leave the room. Except for you, Ceasar."
