Orc Wars 2 : Lazarus

Chapter 93 - GameMaster

The bright-eyed Asian man sat quietly at his corner table. Nothing betrayed how nervous and anxious he actually was. Outwardly, he seemed collected and calm. Since it was after 'office hours', he was casually dressed in an open collared shirt and slacks.

It was his usual table when he came to this establishment. The space was strategically positioned so that it was partially hidden by the restaurant's décor yet had the best view of the whole room. It was perfect and would provide enough privacy for tonight's meeting.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly when he spotted his three guests. They actually came, he thought jubilantly. Stop, be calm, control yourself. They may be here but they have not yet heard nor agreed to his proposal.

Zen, GameMaster of the Orc Wars project smiled and waved his three guests over to his table.

"Welcome, Adam (Head of Editing), Damon (Head of Creative Team) and ...umm?"

"This is Kyra, Creative Team Nine," Damon introduced his staff. The young girl blinked nervously, amazed that she was included in this dinner. She was just an ordinary team member. Why wasn't her immediate supervisor here? Kyra wondered why Damon would want her along and not Team Leader Lori.

"Is she the one?"

"Yes."

Zen nodded and gave a small satisfied smile. "Please, sit."

"Thank you, Mr.Zen. I am honoured to be here."

Zen signalled the waiter to take their orders.

"Please, order whatever you like. It's on me."

Adam laughed good-naturedly. "A little bribery, eh, Zen?"

"You could call it that," the GameMaster smiled. "I would prefer you eat first before I tell you what I have in mind. You may not be able to enjoy your dinner with a clear conscience otherwise."

"This is not like you Zen. What's up?" Adam folded his arms and sat back in his chair after they had ordered. "Tell us while the food is being prepared. I don't like surprises."

"Me too. We have had enough of that with unannounced changes in the Game." Damon was referring to their Director, Nadine's abrupt changes in Orc Wars. With every change, they had to redo maps, characters, NPC script and storyline. Timelines and schedules were messed up. It was incredible how a simple order from her part could create such havoc.

The butterfly effect, like ripples in a pond, though Zen randomly. There was a slow but definite unrest amongst the Simtrixx employees, especially in Creative and Editing since they were the most affected. The growing tension and resentment was fast reaching the breaking point. If the Director did not stop meddling ingame, there would be a very messy and public protest soon.

Creative was upset because Nadine's sudden changes especially to the Player 'Lazarus' health condition had unintentionally speeded up the players' push to the orc realm. They had scrambled for weeks to complete it in time, at least the urgent parts. Damon shuddered, they had barely made it. Creative had managed to complete the main areas, the rest was left to be perfected and touched up later. Despite that, the gatekeepers had to be allowed through. Nadine's meddling had made the Assassin crazed and desperate for a cure. Lazarus had pushed to acquire the portal orbs and level up according to the requirements. Simtrixx had no reason to disallow the Gatekeeper entrance.

Even now, his teams were scrambling with the new maps in the orc realm. Lazarus had split his team into two, making things worse for them. Team Six had worked on the Overlord's Stronghold whilst Team Seven had laboured round the clock on Sharak's cave home and that was after they dealt with the initial mountain, orc village and Imperial warriors' camp. Surrounding scenery including alien flora and fauna was left to Team Eight, NPCs to Teams Nine and Ten.