WELCOME TO OUTLIVE

Wow, you're that guy

"Ladies and gentleman my name is Lora and I will be your guide throughout your OutLive experience. Please allow me to introduce to you your players," Lora's voice said to the viewers and everyone worldwide couldn't contain themselves; they had been waiting for the game to drop for three months and finally it was here.

"Oh snap let's go," a girl watching on her laptop said.

"Player 1; name Reggie Bellman, occupation, Electrician," Lora's voice said and the cube in which Reggie was standing in lit up. He was wearing a silver and black skin hugging rubber high-tech body suit that covered him from the tip of his toes to the top of his neck; standing to himself and hearing nothing but the quiet as the small empty room lit up with a white light. “Player 2; name Emily Justice, occupation, Personal Trainer.” The room she was in lit up too and there she was standing in the same body suit as player 1. “Player 3; name Roy Sanders, occupation, Security Guard. Player 4; name Hannah Franklyn, occupation, Chef.”

“A chef,” a boy watching on his phone said and laughed. “She is so dead.”

“Player 5; name Grayson Gunther, occupation, Truck Driver. Player 6; name Wendy Charles, occupation, Nurse. Player 7; name Brian Smith, occupation, Fireman.”

“Hubba hubba,” a woman watching on her desktop said.

“Player 8; name Mandy Thurman, occupation, Police Officer. Player 9; name Den Mathers, occupation, Soldier.”

“Ooh he’s cute,” a girl watching with her friend said.

“So cute,” her friend agreed and they giggled.

“Player 10; name Sue Evans, occupation Amateur Boxer. Player 11; name Mark Fern, occupation, Construction Worker and last but not least player 12; name Bella Knight, occupation, Assassin.” The people of the world applauded all the players, already with their eyes set on who they were going to bet on, as the players just stood there in their cubes wondering how the whole thing was going to unfold.

“Ugh that’s my player, smoking hot like that, she’s definitely the one,” a boy watching on his tablet said. “Let’s go Bella Knight!”

"Wait, assassin as in kills people for money?" a man watching on a TV with his friend asked.

"I think so," his friend responded.

"Oh man that is so hot."

"So hot," he said and they laughed watching on.

The players stood on to themselves. They didn’t even know they were being watched, all they knew was that they were there to fight to stay alive so that they could walk away with the grand prize; a cash load of money that was going to change their lives forever. Except Bella; she wasn't doing it for money, she was doing it to save Shane’s life and she was going to give it her all to ensure it.

They all had no idea what to expect, all they were told was that things would come at them and if they wanted to stay alive they were going to have to work together, shoot to kill and keep moving forward. And because the game was probably the most dangerous thing any of them was ever going to do, the King Company had them sign liability waivers so that if any of them got hurt in the game, they would not be held responsible for it; waivers to show that the players entered the game and decided to play it on their own free will and at their own risk; except Bella who was forced to sign it, for Mr. Kingman threatened to kill Shane if she didn't, and so she did.

At the same time, the very Mr. Kingman was standing in the control room watching the whole thing. There were screens everywhere with over ten software engineers sitting by their high-tech sections working to make sure the game ran smoothly. It was their official launch and so they had to make sure everything went according to plan so that they could maintain the number of viewers that had logged onto the website to watch and gain even more; for more views meant higher ratings and higher ratings meant more money and that was what Mr. Kingman wanted, he wanted to make enough money so that he could build more OutLive studios worldwide and grow his empire.

“Players please choose your weapons,” Lora's voice said and from the ceiling of the cube rooms the players were standing in, a thin glass 75 inch screen descended and went on; a touch screen that had only three weapons on it. High-tech and looking like they were from a science fiction alien movie based in the future; the first was like a shot gun, the second like an assault rifle and the third a pair of hand guns.

Reggie, Grayson and Den chose the shot gun one, Emily, Roy, Sue, Hannah, Brian and Mark chose the assault riffle one and Wendy, Mandy and Bella chose the two hand guns. Each one choosing their weapon, the screen then went back into the ceiling and just then, a door opened in front of them; a door that had a shimmering blue Nano wall over it.

“Players, are you ready?" Lora's voice asked and each player calmed themselves with a deep breath. They knew it wasn't going to be easy but they had absolutely no idea what was installed for them. The game was designed to make them lose at all costs and so whatever it was they were going to face, it was without a doubt going to be the greatest challenge of their lives. "You may enter OutLive," her voice then said and the players walked up to the Nano wall and disappeared behind it.

“Here we go,” Mr. Kingman said with a smirk on his face and the game was on.

The players walked through the Nano wall and coming out the other side they found themselves in the street; standing at the entrance of a massive night club that sounded like it was popping. There was a line of young people waiting to get in with three large bouncers manning the front door.

Standing there, they were dressed in dark blue uniforms with the weapons they had chosen on their belts, for those that had chosen the hand guns, and around their shoulders, for those that had chosen the other guns.

"Players of OutLive welcome to level 1," Lora's voice said; to the viewers and the players, who listened to her via their ear pieces. "In this level you are a personal security team and your mission is to enter the night club, go to the main back room where your client, musician and actress Ms. Peach Larson is and escort her out of the building safely. You are to escort her from the back to the front where you will find a limo parked on the very street on which you stand waiting to pick her up and only when she is safely inside will one of you light your flare and signal the end the level. Any players that die will be eliminated and the players that survive will move on to the next level. Should you fail to escort Ms. Peach Larson to the limo safely and she loses her life, then the mission would have been failed and none of you will make it to the next round. Players the stakes are high so you must make sure to work as a team or else you will not make it. Your mission starts now."

"Alright let's do this, let's go," a boy watching on his laptop said.

The players stood there for a while looking at each other; so much of strangers they didn't even know each other's name.

"O.k. so how are we going to do this?" Emily asked.

"We go in, get the brod and get out," Brain said.

"Just like that?"

"Yeah."

"Shouldn't we at least know each other?" Roy asked. "At least each other's names."

"I agree," Sue said. "How are we effectively going to communicate to each other if we don't even know each other's names."

"Is that really important though?" Den asked.

"Absolutely, how are we going to talk to each other if we don't know each other's names?" Bella asked.

"Exactly," Sue agreed.

"I agree with that," Mark said.

"Alright whatever, let's do a quick introduction so that we can get in there, get the mission over and done with and move on," Den said.

"Well since we can already tell that you like the sound of your own voice, why don't you go first," Bella said.

"I'm not here to make friends."

"Neither are we but if we're going survive this thing till the very end we're going to have to work together, name now."

"Den. My name is Den," he said.

"Den as in a den of lions?" Mandy asked.

"Yeah."

"Why would your parents name you that?"

"I don't know, why did your parents name you whatever the heck they named you," Den said.

"O.k. calm down," Bella said. "We're on the same side. Fighting among each other is not only a waste of time, it is also stupid."

"That's right girlfriend you tell them," a girl watching on her phone said.

"Ugh man she is so hot," a boy watching with his friend said.

"So smoking hot," his friend agreed and they watched on.

"Absolutely," Wendy agreed. "I'm Wendy," she then said and each one introduced himself and herself.

"And I'm Bella," she said.

"Alright awesome," Hannah said.

"So what next, we pick team captain," Den sarcastically said.

"Wow, you're that guy," Bella said.

"Which guy?"

"The a-hole. Studies show that one in every ten people is an a-hole so I guess that's you."

"I don't like you very much," Den said.

"Perfect, we don't have to like each other to do this we just have to not want to die, and as long as we have that in common I could care less whether you like me or not."

"Alright mom and dad if you're done arguing can we please get inside and get this mission going," Roy said.

"Yeah isn't there a time limit on this?" Grayson asked.

"The woman didn't say anything about a time limit," Roy said.

"Yeah but maybe we should just go and get the mission going, you know just in case," Reggie said.

"Alright let's go," Den said and walked off as the others followed behind him. Except Bella and Sue who stood back for a bit watching them go.

"He's a peach that one huh," Sue said.

"Oh yeah," Bella said.

"Something tells me we're going to have to keep a close watch on him."

"And that something might just be right," she said as Den walked up to the front door to talk to the two bouncers that were standing there. He told them what they were there to do and they stood aside and allowed them entry.

"Alright guys let's go," Den said and the players made their way inside and just like that, level 1 was underway.