"Alright, I can help"
"What?"
Deniz turned to stare at him, voice full of disbelief.
Well, Akilah would be surprised in their place too.
Apparently, the Seed that originated Deniz came demanding for a game and they convinced said Seed to leave them alone by promising that Akilah could help by starting sketching a game for it.
Not that problematic, just some diversion on the timeline.
And he couldn't possibly refuse, poor Deniz was so desperate when Akilah came back from meditation, making the announcement of the closed Beta testing and answering a few emails.
"Can you really do it?" Deniz asked, unsure.
"I can try" He responded "I don't know how your Sire will want the game to be, but I can only pray it'll be something I can work with"
The seed nodded, but still seemed a bit rigid.
Good thing he has the best thing to help Deniz calm down.
"What about we go tell Amy the good news? I'm sure she'll want to make everything perfect for her guests, so she might need to stay on track"
That immediately brightened the mood and so he was being dragged away.
***
It would be a lie if it said it didn't like its games.
This S Rank Seed has had many games, most of them were of battles, and it liked them, it really did.
But they didn't give it any real thrill.
It soon became bored of their projects and started looking at its offsprings.
Most of them were on the same boat as it, having nothing interesting, some barely had anything at all.
That is, until it found one Seed.
It was F rank, too low for it to care, and it was actually the one it was trying to consume before it was found by humans.
It didn't really care for that Seed, but it's game was what caught its attention.
Bright, vivid, real.
The type of things it wanted, well, maybe not the bright part.
But all wasted on a F rank Seed.
It couldn't help but try getting the Game Developer for itself, yet, its offspring gave valid arguments, as frustrating as it might be.
The Game Developer was still too weak, it would take forever for him to make a game fonit if they started now.
So that's how it ended here, early in the morning, staring at the human boy.
"So you're Deniz's Sire?" He asked.
"Deniz?"
It never heard of such a designation, so it looked over its offspring.
"It's how he calls me" It said.
A Seed with a name?
Now that 's new.
But it soon left this aside as the human boy started asking questions.
"What kind of game would you want? Is there any setting you'd like to have? And gaming style? With or without fighting mechanics?"
Now these were good questions to make, unlike the stupidity it was used to.
"I want a game of survival, where actions and consequences don't matter and luck is needed at every moment, about the settings, I'de like a place that brings chills to the spike, a place that would make a player feel disturbed, and gaming style…"
It smiled, big and unsettling.
"I want fights" It said "Brutal bloody fights, I want it to be as realistic and graphical as possible"
Its offspring, 'Deniz', shrunk behind the human boy, but he didn't react much.
"I do have something in mind" He said simply "Unsettling, disturbing, lawless, wild, with a luck system that might not even allow you to save progress and a moral compass as straight as Amy's attention span, definitely not for minors, and definitely not for those of weak heart"
He gave a few more descriptions of what he had in store for it.
"Can't wait for us to start"
And it sounded like a paradise.
A very gory one.
He looked at it up and down with a strange look.
"With such a game" He said "I don't know if I should call you Carnage or Yellow Queen"
Its smile widened as it became giggly.
"Why not both?"
He gave it a stiff smile, the one humans had when trying to keep composure.
"Yeah, should have imagined that"
***
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
Keith was sitting away from his capsule, as if the monster from the game would jump from it and bite a piece of him.
He managed to play Subnautica for some time on the day before after the fiasco of him passing out when the giant sea monster jumped on him as he made his way to Aurora, but he was so scared that he had to bribed to keep playing.
Apparently, it wasn't him online who ended up in this situation.
He discovered that the game was still a demo and, after finding the social media of the company that made the game, also discovered that that monster, the Reaper Leviathan, was a way to stop players from approaching the Aurora ok the start, but it'll be accessible in the future.
He still didn't like the fact that the Reaper Leviathan would still be free to roam on the game, but it was a relief to know that it wouldn't immediately attack at the sight of the player.
It was also in this search that he also found out about the special event with the close Beta testing of White Canvas' side project.
He applied because the chat insisted, but he never would have thought that he would get a chance.
"You'll be good!" Mia said "It's just a game anyway, and I confirmed with the Devs that the game would be a complete 180° from Subnautica!"
That was reassuring, but he was still nervous.
This time he would not be streaming, as requested by White Canvas so as not to spoil the surprise, and he and the other guests signed a contract where they weren't allowed to share anything before the game was released, but he got permission to share a screen with Mia since she was also his manager.
It was just so she would know the reason for passing out again.
The three minors that winned a spot got a similar permission too, for their parents to keep an eye on them, and one of them even got permission for their parent to enter with their child since they were from a Player family.
He sighed and begrudgingly went to the capsule.
The demo would start soon, he should be ready for it.
With a deep breath, he activated the capsule and entered the game as the counter reached the 0.
He expected many things, but not the cute and soft little creature that jumped in his arms with a giggle.
Looking down, he found himself with a pink blorb on his arms giving him puppy eyes.
Oh well, seems like it's not that bad?
Although he would get a good scare later, he was the one who became the most eager player to buy the game, along with Mia, who swore on getting a Tabby slime after discovering that she could bring on to reality after the game was released.
***
Things have been quiet today.
Too quiet.
"Keith!"
There it is.
Galahad, the leader of the crew travelling on this ship, watched as the youngest member of this crew (and his cousin), Jayleen, darted out of her room at full speed, only stopping because Galahad grabbed and lifted her by the back of her clothes.
"Put me down!"
She struggled, trying to escape his grip, but it was in vain.
"Alright Birdy, what's with the comotion?"
That earned a glare from the girl.
"First of all" She snarled while pointing at him "Don't call me Birdy, and second of all, I was on my way to talk with Keith about the close Beta testing section we just finished"
Galahad raised a brow, curious.
"The what now?"
She gave him an offended glare.
"I told you about it yesterday! It's White Canvas' side project!"
Oh, now he remembered.
Yesterday Jayleen had found an interesting game, Subnautica, it was still a demo, but he was very satisfied with it after trying for some time, although, as an E rank Player with 27 units of mana, he didn't get that much feedback from it, but he still had fun and the moving the knife around did help with his own sword training.
He also vaguely remembers Jayleen saying something about a new game made simultaneously with Subnautica, but since she didn't have much information of the game other than it being a 'casual game', whatever it meant, he lost interest.
But to get her so hyped? Must be good.
"Was it good?"
The bright smile that appeared in her face made him wonder if she was possessed.
"It 's awesome! Like, super awesome! But I can't say much because of the no disclosure contract, that's why I wanted to talk to Keith! He participated too so we can actually have a conversation without worrying about spoilers!"
For the look of it, she wouldn't open her mouth.
As curious as he was, he knew better than anyone how stubborn this girl could be, so he just put her down, but didn't let go yet.
"Any news of when Subnautica will have a full release?" He asked.
"White Canvas' account on Jest post updates on it, go check yourself!"
He didn't know they had a Jest account, good to know.
"Don't run into some glass wall on your way" He said.
"That was one time!"
Satisfied, he let go of her as she darted away to pester Keith.
He still had to check out for Subnautica's updates anyway, why bother with the brat?
Unfortunately, he was met with a 'Scheduled for the end of the week, but might take more time' message.