Life Designer

IF NOT US THEN WHO?

2020, MIAMI, FLORIDA, USA

On a sunny Friday morning in Miami, Florida a thirty-eight-year-old Asian woman walked into the ASD Video Games Company’s game designer room. She strode in quickly, without knocking, and walked straight to the large hologram screen on the left side of the room.
“Nova, I got a secret invitation from the P&D community. Now, it’s kind of illegal to work with them. I’ve checked, and they do have some issues with international security, but this time they made something extraordinary, and I can’t say no.”
She brought the invitation up on the screen to share it with Nova.
“According to this information, they made a new video game machine that is a combination of virtual reality. It is used to show the environment of video games with a new machine that they call Lead, which allows for the player to move freely and actually touch things in video games.”
She put her hand under her chin, as she watched the hologram-generated introductory images of the machine. Suddenly she noticed that Nova hadn’t said anything at all, or maybe he was not even there. She hadn’t bothered to look around when she entered the room. Her complete focus was on the screen full of images.
She finally turned around to face Nova’s desk. Nova was there, but remained completely quiet.
She asked curiously, “Isn’t this wonderful, Nova?”
Nova’s workplace, which was like a small cave, was on the right side of his large office. He always claimed that the secluded design made it easy to concentrate on important things, but maybe he only said that because he had designed it himself. Actually, he had designed most of the decorations in his room during his free time. He really loved his job and always did something to surprise everyone.

When she looked back, she saw Nova’s surprised face; he was still standing beside his desk. His reaction was obvious in the smile that had suddenly spread across his face when he’d seen Emma burst into the room with her announcement.
He checked his tie before looking at the screen in front of him. Confidently, he said, “Alexander, did you hear that? This is the concept of our next video game story. Do you like it?”
Alexander answered joyfully with his thick British accent, “Yes, of course. This is the type of story that I love to work on.”
“Excellent. I’m very happy to say I have the same feelings about it.”
“Me too, Nova. I’m pretty sure that it will be a wonderful story to play, and I can’t wait to start it.”
“So I will write more details about it and send them to you. Please enjoy your new job, and give me your ideas during next week’s meeting, okay?”
“That’s great, but who could possibly wait until next week? I will finish it as soon as possible.”
“Even better. So we will talk about it again later. Have a good day.”
Alexander was a British story writer, who lived in London to take care of his aged parents. He was a lovely, intelligent person with a kind soul, that could be compared to those drawings of little plump angels. Every time Alexander and Nova met each other, they started to talk about fiction stories filled with crazy and funny imaginings. Although Nova was very good at creating stories, Alexander was the one with an unlimited imagination, which sometimes made people who didn’t know him think he was crazy.
Nova laughed loudly after he finished his conversation with Alexander, mostly because he saw Emma’s face, which was hilarious at that moment. Emma had obviously completely forgotten that Nova was in a meeting with Alexander, although she had arranged it herself; it was an amateur mistake.
Emma started to laugh with Nova, while Nova mimicked Emma, saying with his funny voice, “It’s better for a leader to make a mistake in forgiveness than to make a mistake in punishment.”
He walked out of his cave corner, and continued, “Do you remember you said that to me last month at our annual conference, Emma? And my only fault was that I spoke a little longer than my scheduled time, Mrs. Leader. Now you lost track of time due to your excitement over a new innovation. As you can see, when you are too proud of yourself, something will suddenly happen to show you a lesson and bring you back into balance.”
Nova joined Emma in front of the round hologram screen. He had to admit that he hadn’t had any interesting ideas to give Alexander until Emma had arrived just in time to save his ass.
They laughed even more when Emma said to Nova, “If I had a chance, I would think twice about my marriage with you, Miami boy.”
They sat on the sofa to watch that secret invitation together.
Nova took a closer look at the information about the video game machine, and said, “According to this information, the P&D community has created new method of movement in video games. This machine can render any object around the player while they are playing.”
He laughed again and said, “It seems they have developed a new generation of 3D printers with unlimited source of materials that makes objects while the player is playing.”
“Please don’t be ridiculous, Nova. You know exactly what it could be.”
“Okay. Okay, this machine has incredible graphic design and game story, too.”
They watched a video about that game machine. Most of that video was obviously made by computer effects, but it was effective enough. Nova raised his eyebrows as he looked at Emma to share his thought.
“So, if this is real, it’s wonderful. I mean, it could be another evolution, and it could change many aspects of mankind’s lifestyle. With this machine, we could make unlimited worlds in only a small space. And they want us to test it. Maybe this child has born into the wrong family. I guess they thought maybe we would be good adoptive parents for their child.”
Emma was surprise about what Nova said. “Please don’t make predictions about anything. I will go ahead with my positive thoughts, and you can follow me with your predicted scenarios. It will be easier and safer for both of us. Anyway, even if you are right about it, which you could be, what is wrong with it?”
“You mean that you think we should accept it?”
“I mean, I accept the invitation to see that game machine, and then we will see what happens next.”
While Emma and Nova were determining how to proceed, someone called from P&D. He introduced himself as Kash.
He explained that he was the designer and creator of the video game machine and that he had sent the invitation. He mentioned that he had made the machine in his personal factory in Bangkok, Thailand. He guaranteed that this project was not the property of the P&D community; rather, it was a separate and personal innovation. He asked them to proceed freely with any changes or examinations, without being concerned about P&D rights.
After he guaranteed their safety from the P&D community, he finally invited them to examine the machine in Thailand as professionals in their field.
Kash’s voice sounded very familiar to Emma. This whole idea of the game machine was something they once discussed with someone, but she couldn’t remember when or where it happened. That’s what made her trust Kash. His explanation was professional. It was completely logical to take the decision to go to Thailand. It was a very extraordinary invention in their field, and it was a great chance for them.
“If there is really no relation between this game machine and P&D, it’s our best chance. If not us, then who?” Emma questioned Nova.
Finally, they all agreed to travel to Thailand to meet Kash and see the amazing game machine. Obviously, it was one special event in their exciting lives, which made them feel that adrenaline rush in their blood. They packed their suitcases fast and got ready for a really long flight to the “Land of Smiles,” hoping to find out what was going on in that factory.
After a ten-hour direct flight over the Pacific Ocean, they arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport at noon. They were welcomed by the happiness and kindness of Thai people. It felt wonderful to be in that time and place. It was a sunny and hot day with a blue sky above the top of the buildings and white clouds all around.
They rented an auto-drive car at the airport and went to the Blue Sky Hotel where Kash had booked a room for them near the airport to rest. Kash’s factory was near the airport, and they had a meeting at six o’clock in the evening. It was enough time for Emma and Nova to rest and get ready for a big test day.