Chapter 51 - The Solution: Streamline

"Have you heard of the term, 'Urban Fantasy', Teslan?"

"No, Sorry. I'm not familiar with it."

"No need to apologize, I'll explain. Urban Fantasy is a sub-genre of Fantasy. The only difference is that the time and setting is in a modern day metropolis. Magical creatures and mythological beings are living in a quasi-peaceful state with humans. Under disguise, of course."

"I see… I think I'm starting to catch your drift, Josiah. Instead of buying a nature park reserve, we'll use the free concrete jungle that already exists!"

"Exactly. The urban setting will give more 'feel' or emphasis to A.V.R.'s Special Effects. Problem Number #01, Solved. :)"

(Teslan's thoughts: And just like that, we saved a hundred million pesos… Not that we have a hundred million bucks to begin with. But man… Josiah really knows what's he's talking about!)

"So from traditional, purist fantasy, you need to switch to urban fantasy, understood?"

"Got it."

"No vampires, werewolves, and zombies please. Gamers are tired of that stuff."

"I'm not a fan of those characters either."

"And instead of your usual hack and slash, spell-casting, class/job-based, epic adventure battle system, we're gonna shift to mystery."

Silence…

"Mystery…?"

"Yes, Mystery. The magical powers and special abilities of players will only be of secondary importance to our new game. The main theme will be solving mysteries. Now don't get me wrong. Mystery doesn't mean puzzle-solving, token-collecting, treasure-hunting, dungeon-crawling, monster-slaying, or platform-jumping kind of game. Far from it. Our new game system will be story-based and character-driven. When I said 'story-based', I do not mean reading a bunch of texts. No way. That's just too tedious and boring. Besides, a big majority of people don't read anymore. So, in order to solve this problem, we'll create a whole cast of virtual characters with near human facial expressions and dialogue scripts played by voice actors and actresses. We will make the player the star of his or her own movie. We're gonna make the gamers go outside their homes, walk, climb up and down the stores, and run from Location A to Location B to unlock the next clue or chapter. And also, most importantly, to generate electrical energy. The background music of the game, of course, will be their own playlist."

Silence…

(Teslan's thoughts: I'm really starting to like his ideas.)

"Long story short, will turn our players into detectives."

"Detective is so 16th century. I think 'Faerie-Agent' or 'Spirit Regulator' is much better. You can think of other names as you please. But again, the new Server of Iris will be a story-based and character-driven game. So you better create an interesting Urban Fantasy/Mystery Story, Teslan."

(Teslan's thoughts: Dude… I'm just an amateur writer! Don't set the bar way too high!)

"Problem Number #05, 50% solved. All you need to do now is write a new story based on those pointers I've given to you, okay?"

"O-kay… I think I got it."

(Teslan's thoughts: Sort of.)

"Now let's tackle Problem Number #02. As I have formerly stated, your Game Gear has major problems. Developing one is not cost effective so we need to do away with the full suit-type of gaming equipment. We also need to remove the weapons, swords, guns, staffs, etc. Even if it doesn't have a sharp point or a cutting edge, if it's deliberately used as blunt weapon to hurt someone, it will still certainly cause an injury. We can't have safety lawsuits filed against us. We're gonna get broke even before we can launch our game. So weapons are definitely out."

(Teslan's thoughts: Josiah surely sounds like a lawyer here!)

He opened a drawer on his right side and picked up an odd-looking gadget.

"As you already know, you're not the only one who thought of harnessing physical movement to generate electrical energy."

He gently placed the curious object on the table. It's a small, plastic black box with a Velcro band.

"What is it…?"

"On the year 2021, almost 6 years ago, a fledgling American company invented this, a Motion Charger. You simply strap this above your ankle, stick the USB cord to your gadget, and viola! It will charge any kind of device while you're walking, jogging, biking, or running. Sounds amazing, huh? But it has a serious flaw. It only gives a tiny amount of charge. You need to run a 5 kilometer marathon just to fully charge your phone!"

We both laughed.

"My point is this - the technology already exists. The only thing we need to do is to improve its performance, give it a slick, stylish design, and most importantly, make it wireless. Bluetooth technology will not do because of its short range and it consumes a lot of battery life."

He gave the Motion Charger to me.

"Instead of a full suit Game Gear, we'll use accessories - 2 anklets, 2 bracelets, a pair of gaming gloves with sensors, and a goggle frame for the glass phone - that people can use everyday without looking odd or suspicious."

"Absolutely."

"Research and development, experimentation, trial and error, are inevitable. But don't worry. I have all the necessary tools and resources I can lend to you."

He pointed at the gadget in my hands.

"That will be one of your main objectives: Reverse engineer that Motion Charger and make it as your reference to create our own wireless game accessories. Your goal is to produce at least 0.25% Electric Charge in each accessory for every step a gamer makes so that after a hundred steps, the player's glass phone is fully charged. The rest of the generated energy will then be transferred to the Iris Tower. You're an Electrical Engineer so I'm expecting you can do this."

(Teslan's thoughts: Dude… I didn't use anything I've learned from college for nine years! And now you're expecting me to redesign this gadget?! You're overestimating my skills! If I have any skills at all!)

"I'll handle the game development. I still have connections with several game companies partnered with Oogle so I'm positive I can assemble a team of programmers and make our Mystery AVR-MMORPG. You handle the hardware and story writing. Got it?"

Absolute and utter silence…

"You can count on me!"

(Teslan's thoughts: Am I really thinking straight?! Why on freaking earth did I say that?!!)

"That's what I wanted to hear! Problem Number #02, 50% Solved! Now, for the last two problems, Number #03 and Number #04!"

"Let's get on to it!" I said with an awkward, fake smile.

(Teslan's thoughts: Somebody… Anybody… SAVE ME!!! I BIT MORE THAN I CAN CHEW!!! Why can't I just be honest and tell him I'm not confident enough to do what he's asking me to do?! I'm not even sure if it's possible at all! Why couldn't I say 'No'…? I guess I'm really embarrassed… He went all the way here just to help me out, doing all he can to make the Server of Iris possible… And here I am… An incompetent fool who couldn't do anything… No… No, no, no… This wont do. He's counting on me, and I couldn't just let him down. I'll think of something, I'll improvise, I'll figure this out... I'm in too deep. There's no turning back now…)

"Problem Number #04 is a breeze. We'll just remove the Dating/Marriage Option from the game and let the players socialize with each other. Are we in agreement, Teslan?"

"Yes, of course!"

"Good. Problem Number #04, Solved. Now, to Problem Number #03: The Server of Iris Tower…"

He was quiet for a while.

"Well… There's really nothing we can do about it. As long as the formula is incomplete, we can't build it. Everything's on hold if you can't do a wireless transfer of electrical energy."

There was a long silence between us…

And then… Josiah revealed something.

"We must release the game in December 1, 2027, on the SEA (Southeast Asia) Games Expo."

"HA?!!!"

"We have 5 months."

"EH?!!!"