True Hero

I was standing in the office of Pantheon, filling out a form. For those of you not in the know, Pantheon's in the business of almost everything: weapons, food, cars, goods for children, et cetera. In general, they made over half of everything you'd want to buy in any supermarket. What was I doing in this place? To be honest, I wanted a job. My plan was quite simple, considering that I didn't know much about this world. At some point, I had appeared here without any useful skills, and now I wanted to try and get a job in the largest company.

"My name is Dan Kornev," I said, my tone hesitant. I was only becoming more nervous as the delay stretched. Then the moment came when my fate didn't depend on me anymore. The door suddenly opened and I overheard a fragment of the conversation being had with another candidate.

"The information about your skills, that you tried to conceal, will be included in your work file." Judging by the scared look on the face of the short, bald man who nearly ran into me, it was not a good sign. Probably, when he had filled out his form, he had written about false accomplishments and this was the logical result of him lying. Considering the widespread use of information technologies, and retention of any information in the databases, it was not only cheating but also a sign of low intellect. As for me, I filled up all sixty sheets of paper absolutely honestly, carefully writing the phrase "I don't have any" under every question that described my professional skills and experience.

Honestly, I was afraid of more tests and additional questions—I thought I had a great chance to become a laughingstock afterward—but everything turned out quite differently. Some lady just gave me a chip with an access code for the first task. They probably searched the files for omissions, but my lie had been so big that nobody had foreseen it. The people of the future seemed to be quite naive in certain regards.

I guess I should point out the fact that the date on my calendar was fifty years ago only two days prior.

"Welcome, Dan. Go to the gravity platform, and you will be taken to your area."

As expected, I met nobody in the corridor. The company did not give us even a small chance to make any agreements in advance. However, I didn't mind; after all, I had nothing to say to my opponents.

Sitting in the cabin, I could finally enjoy a comfortable chair, some tasty food, and natural alcohol. I hadn't eaten for what seemed like a week. In the old world, my life hadn't been much easier. It was not only that I had been a student who had just finished university, but everything was more straightforward, and more difficult, at the same time—Doomsday arrived. Without any special effects or warning, it just happened. One day people began to die. I am not quite sure about this part, but I hadn't met anyone for two days and had started to think that there were no people left alive, except for me, in the whole city. Then, one day, after going down to the first floor of the hotel where I was living, I found that all of the corpses had disappeared. Considering that the floor was covered with chunks of dead flesh and fragments of bone, I assumed that someone, or some thing, had devoured them. Something that was very angry, with big claws. After that, I moved to an apartment with the thickest and most durable door that I could find. Unfortunately, it didn't help—I was visited in the morning. Have you ever seen a metal door bending due to blows? It was not a pleasant sight, and I would not recommend it to anyone. I had made peace with death as something unexpected suddenly happened, and I appeared in the center of a big city, amid its noise and bustle.

To be honest, I was stunned. I stood still for an hour, without moving even once. I was just starting to realize what had happened and, as I understood later, it had been my salvation. When I appeared from out of nowhere on city cameras, I received a yellow status, which included the full verification and control of any of my movements. If I had taken a step or showed at least one unusual reaction, I would have been captured and spent my whole life in a laboratory, surrounded by people in white coats.

However, no deviations from the norm were revealed during the standard time, and I was given back a green status. If someone had tried to find out any information about me, they would have revealed a secret for certain. On the other hand, they would have had to do it in the first place.

While I was lost in my reverie, the platform arrived at its destination. It had taken a little more than an hour, so I was about 600 miles or so away from the city. It was true that I had gradually begun to comprehend the world surrounding me thanks to advertis.e.m.e.nts. About twenty years ago, one remarkable man had passed a bill that every leaflet, video, or any other promotional material should include useful information. Now you could not just write "Buy pineapples." You had to add, for example, that Russia's largest supplier of pineapples is the US, which sends a certain number of tons per week. Thanks to this, I learned about the cameras, security system, and, luckily, about "Pantheon." It helped me come up with my plan.

"Dan, please follow the highlighted yellow path, it will take you to your room," said a soft voice coming from nowhere. A yellow line appeared on the unknown material of the floor. If I had to take a walk, I didn't mind; especially since I had refreshed myself with breakfast a short time ago.

I was walking slowly, deep in thought, remembering how after a few hours of wandering the city I had seen a poster. It showed two armies of knights with the support of angels, unicorns, and a bunch of other magical races, colliding on the field of battle. A modest inscription under the picture read, The final battle of the last qualifying competition of Pantheon. I had almost given up by that point. I had lost one world and was thrown into a new one where I didn't know anything and no one would help me. The point was, I could not even make money. As I shook it off, my first thought was to get a job as a loader and slowly sort it all out, but alas, there was no such profession anymore. In general, machines had replaced all unskilled labor. They said that if you want to earn, learn to do something useful, but you also needed money for any sort of education. It was a vicious cycle. I had been planning to surrender to the government for experiments, but this poster attracted my attention. Playing a game was a good idea; even if I didn't succeed, I would always have the ability to go with my fallback option.

Maybe there was a chance that I was wrong, and this plan was a big mistake. However, I could not just give up after receiving a vision of my life to come. Virtual reality had been nothing more than a fairy tale fifty years ago.

Suddenly, a red line crossed the yellow one that I was following. A blonde girl in strict business clothes walked past, looking at me with barely veiled contempt. I had seen the elite of this world before, on the streets, and in the halls of the company. These people were so used to living by the rules. They were used to knowing what to do, predicting the result in advance. However, I was also here, now, and had a chance to compete with them.

It was not an empty boast. Someone could think that it was pure luck that I had become a candidate for the job; however, this was the first of my twenty-three applications that was accepted, the other ones using fake names. If any of my other personalities had passed, it would've probably been the first time in history where a candidate for the game wouldn't have come. I figured I could become a part of local history just with that.

It was kind of funny that, if I had tried to get settled in at any other place, nothing would have come of it since everything was checked by computers. But it was the big leagues, and many things were based on trust. And the final prize was gorgeous: an annual contract with Pantheon—a salary high enough for several lives over. The fact that I would not be able to do anything at this job was not my problem. Who would've guessed that such an unreasoned selection could happen?

I walked up to the door of my living quarters. They looked chic; several rooms, intelligent management, furniture that looked not only expensive but also comfortable. Behind one of the two remaining doors was a bathroom, and behind the next one was a capsule. How is it possible that I got into this place? I thought. Perhaps this was my paradise, or maybe it was my hell. I suppose I would find out.

I inserted my key in the capsule's activation panel.

3 minutes 14 seconds left before the start of the Great Game

People in the future were not inclined to waste time, and I had no chance of rivaling their planning. However, games weren't only about that. And being a champion was a state of mind.