"So, what do you think?"
Akilah looked at Deniz, who was still chuckling after watching the twelfth person in row being scared by the Reaper Leviathan.
They didn't want the players going into Aurora for now, he and Deniz wanted it to be unreachable for some time, so they made the Reaper Leviathan a default enemy that would stop them from reaching it until it exploded.
When it exploded, the Reaper Leviathan would roam free, only unable to reach a few places, like the reef where the player starts their journey.
He watched as Deniz calmed down before hearing their opinion.
"I didn't expect them to do exactly as you said they'd do" They said.
A few things never change, even players' habits.
There were a few things most players do in games that one should be able to predict, such as swimming all the way to the giant spaceship buried in the sea or stacking your inventory with the first collectible you find.
Some things he could just let happen, but some not, but generally it was fun to watch them try.
"Feeling better now?"
He had thought that watching people playing the game would make Deniz's mood get better, and it seems he's right.
The Seed nodded, seeming much happier than before.
"Let 's go!" They said "I want to finish it quickly now that we have an income of mana!"
Akilah had promised Deniz that the Seed could use players' mana to supplement the needs of the game so that the pair could finish it faster.
Both had expected a slow income, but just the first two hours already brought enough for them to have a good start!
He and Deniz were about to return to work when they both noticed something interesting.
Someone had just finished the Demo!
It was their first player, a streamer girl.
Deniz became visibly excited by his side, and a little plan came to Akilah.
"Hey buddy, wanna do something interesting?"
***
Jayleen had been playing for some time now, about two hours, and her mana reserves (that were just pitiful 5 units) were about to exhaust, leaving her with just one unit left to allow her to leave the game manually and not be kicked out automatically.
She had managed to build the exencials she wanted and fix the pod (finally! No smoke!) and the radio was also back online, so now she had a few small exploration missions to take care off.
Although….
- It's so morbid…
- Reminds me of one of my missions…
- It really is a survival game…
She had encontered two pods just like the ine she started the game, but both were torn open, wth nothing but water, a few suplies and a PDA inside.
She knew that this was teh outcome of many crash surviviors, she new that this has happened three hours before the start of the game itself.
But still…
She was sitting in silence on top of her pod after her encounter with the second pod, watching the sunset with the aurora in the distance when a warning was given to her.
"Emergency: A quantum detonation has occurred in the Aurora's drive core"
She wasn't surprised, she had been receiving messages about Aurora's situation since she fixed the radio, and she was warned about the explosion that would occur, so she took some time to just… sit and watch the show.
"The reactor will reach a super critical state in T- 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 [repeated], 3 [repeated], 2 [repeated to fade], 1 [not said]–"
It started small, but surely, a big explosion that illuminated the orizont and completely destroyed the back of the Aurora.
It had a morbid beauty to it that made even the chat stay quiet.
She stayed there until the night came and her mana reserves started to get really low.
She was planning on getting out, but then everything around her became dark and a text appeared in front of her.
[Dear player, we from White Canvas are sorry to inform you that you have reached the end of our demo of Subnautica, but we would also like to inform you that the full game will be released soon, free of charge for those who already buyed and still on the same price those who didn't]
- That was a demo!?
- What kind of demo was that!
- Now the price makes sense! No way such a game would be this cheap!
- Wait upstairs, it says it will still be 30$ even after full release!
- What? Are the Devs crazy? Why so cheap?
She was surprised too, not expecting this kind of outcome from the game.
It was already awesome, a game that she would definitely buy again if she had to even if it was 200$ when the rest came out, but now the Devs were saying it was free of charge after buying the demo?
Aren't they too nice?
At that moment the notification changed again.
[As the first player to enter Subnautica and finalize the demo, we from White Canvas would like to invite you to a close Beta testing section of our second game in production that will happen tomorrow at 16:00!
Ten players will be invited to this event and will be chosen at random through our social media.
(Obs: A formal invitation was sent to your email, if you accept it, nine spots will be available)]
She stared blankly at the message, her chat became quiet.
They stayed like that for a full minute.
Than hell broke loose.
***
"Was that needed?"
They were back to production when Deniz asked this.
Akilah added the little bonus of the close Beta testing section in the message after getting their permission, obviously.
The human smiles at that.
"Well, not really" He admitted "We could have announced Amy's game after releasing yours, but I thought of making some hype first.
"Elaborate"
The human chuckled.
Deniz had always been the curious one, really interested in the world outside their Seed, so they asked as many questions as possible, most Developers didn't like that since it could result in a picky Seed.
But Akilah didn't seem to mind their questions.
"Subnautica is a wonderful game" Said the human "And since there's only the demo available, people are already hyped for your game, but Amy's game is still unknown and might not have much traffic since it's a casual game and people don't have a concept of this kind of game"
"So you want her to have the chance to show off" They asked.
"Bingo"
They accepted the answer and returned to work
They both kept working and talking, Akilah giving new ideas as Deniz also added on with their own touch.
This… was new, in a good way.
Before, Deniz never thought he would ever get to make a game with how focused on their own idea developers were.
But now? They were having fun while discussing what to add to the game with their Game Developer.
Quite astonishing, if you ask them.
After a few more hours of work, he heard Akilah cursing, which meant that his mana must be running low.
"I'll get back to you in a few hours!" The human said before leaving.
There was a beat of silence, one that Deniz started to hate, before a new voice echoed.
"How interesting"
Deniz froze for a second, the voice bringing a chill to them as they felt their Seed getting colder.
With some hesitation, they turned around, meeting eyes with a tall female looking figure covered in a strange shade of yellow.
"So you managed to get something done" It said, not an ounce of emotion in its voice.
"Sire" They said simply with a nod.
Seeds tend to divide themselves as they reach a higher rank, usually B or A.
But this one was a S rank Seed, making this a whole different situation.
S rank Seeds had a high consumption of mana, and the involuntary division only makes more problems, which bring the simpler and faster solution.
Eating the weaker ones, which are made in great quantities.
Deniz was one of those, but managed to escape when the Vein where their creator lived was discovered by humans and all seeds were separated.
Their Sire received a game to replenish its mana and was replaced in an artificial vein where it could endlessly produce more seeds for human use.
While this, Deniz was put on the marquet, where it was passed from store to store, unable to find a Developer capable of making a game they liked.
They were a bit desperate since most Seeds like them, hard to convince into cooperating, were used as Fertilizer.
If Akilah didn't manage to help them out and returned them to the store, they would end up in the same situation they were saved from.
They were planning on swallowing the stupid pride they inherited from their sire and let the developer use them as he pleased after the first fiasco with the domination attempt, but then Akilah came up with Subnautica.
They were safe now.
Or at least was what they thought.
Unfortunately, they are still connected to their Sire, so it can always come to them whenever it wants.
It looked around the world of sea, both Deniz and their Sire standing in the rarer land that could be found there
"I'm quite surprised you managed to make this much" It said before looking them up and down "And that's quite the look too"
They didn't say anything, just stayed quiet.
But it didn't seem to like being ignored.
"Won't you speak to me?" It asked, annoyance on its tone "I came here just to see you"
"Is there anything to say?" They asked back "You never cared before, why would you now?"
It didn't seem like being questioned, but didn't respond either, continuing to talk about what it wanted.
"Give me your Game Developer"
It wasn't a request, they knew it.
But they wouldn't cave in so easily.
"Why? It's not like you don't have enough S Rank Developers yourself, why would you even need a F rank Game Developer?"
"You and I know that you know the reason"
Their Sire always bragged about how many developers worked together to make a satisfying game for it when they were still attached to its roots.
For most, it would make no sense for it to demand a game made by a F rank Game Developer, but they knew better.
Their Sire liked violence and struggle, the sight of suffering was what brought most joy to it, but bringing this concept to the Seed was hard, and most would say it was impossible.
That is, until Akilah made Subnautica.
Deniz more than one got startled at how vivid everything was, the fish, the sky, the sea.
It was like the outside of their Seed, but with colors.
A Seed can sense the world outside their shell, but just a glimpse, a world of black and white with vage forms.
Even they can tell how unrealistic their games are, but Akilah just gave them a passage to understand how the world outside their shell was.
That's why their Sire was there, to get the bloodbath it always wanted.
But it's not like Deniz would let it take their Game Developer so easily.
"I can't let you have him" They said.
Their Sire's for contorted woth dissatisfaction, But Deniz interrupted it before it could say anything else.
"You're an S Rank Seed, he won't have enough mana to help you even if I convinced him to do so, and with how things are going with Subnautica, you might need to use your own mana to help develop it, and he's not even close to the capital right now to even start it, you'd have to do so alone"
Their Sire froze, form slowly returning to normal as its eyes showed an thoughtful look.
"That's true" It said.
Great, that was a good start, now release the bait
"If you really want him to make you something, why not come here tomorrow? He'll be here to continue Subnautica and you can tell him what you want for your game, he can start planning your game while also raising his rank and you can check on the project during that time to make sure it's how you want it to be"
They saw a gleam in their Sire's eyes.
They managed to get its full attention.
"That'll suffice" It said "Then I'll be back tomorrow"
They nodded as it left.
Deniz stood there for sometime, staring at where their Sire was moments ago, then collapsed on the ground, body shaking.
Well? They managed to divert its attention, now they only have to convince Akilah to help with this desperate plan.