[Gaming Sector]
Alex sat in the chair before the PC and started the demo.
The monitor came alive with the Titan logo, followed by a dark screen filled with distant stars. A low orchestral note rolled through the speakers, deep enough to make the desk vibrate under his hands.
Behind him, Travis Owen stood with his arms folded, trying very hard to look calm while watching Alex touch the keyboard.
He had spent more than a year leading this project, and now is the moment of truth.
"Build 0.8.3 is loaded, Boss," Travis said as the title screen settled into view. "Two finished playable sections, dialogue systems, combat flow, squad behavior, and the first version of the decision tracking system are all active."
Alex moved the mouse through the menu while reading each option. "Any crashes since yesterday's test?"
"None that survived the overnight sweep," Travis replied, sounding proud despite himself. "We still have weird pathing in a few tight spaces."
Rachel sat on the edge of a nearby desk with her arms crossed, watching the screen.
Alex selected New Game, then paused when the class screen appeared.
Six class icons rotated slowly in the middle of the screen, but only one remained unlocked.
Vanguard.
The description appeared beside it, presenting Shepard as a frontline fighter with biotic abilities, a pistol, and a shotgun. Alex read it once, then selected the class.
"Only Vanguard for now?" Rachel asked as she leaned forward slightly.
Travis nodded. "The others exist in internal documentation, although we wanted one class fully functional before building six half-finished versions."
Alex looked over his shoulder with a small smile. "That's good. Finish the foundation before we start decorating the roof."
The demo loaded into Feros.
The screen faded in over Zhu's Hope, where the colony's ruined structures stood beneath an orange sky. The air looked poisoned by dust and smoke, while damaged walkways and abandoned machinery made the settlement feel like it had been left behind by the rest of the galaxy.
Ashley Williams stood on Shepard's right with her rifle raised, scanning the garage entrance ahead. Liara T'Soni stood to the left, her expression tense as blue biotic light flickered briefly around her hands.
Rachel watched the characters move into position. "The squad animations already look better than most games on the market."
Travis pulled a small notebook from his pocket. "The animation team rebuilt Ashley's combat stance three times. And we did our best to polish the characters for this demo."
The first Thorian Creeper unfolded from the ground near the garage doors.
Alex stopped moving for a moment. 'I wanna cry. I missed this game so much. But gotta control my emotions. Finally, one step toward creating my dream games. Hehehe. I'm gonna open two more studios and create more games. Humm... Wait a minute! Can I create a game using my universal editor? I mean, I can create movies and comics... What about games and software? I'm gonna try it tonight.'
The thing looked wrong in exactly the way it should have. Its body was twisted, its movement was uneven, and every step made it feel less like an enemy soldier and more like something that had grown out of a nightmare.
"Okay," Alex muttered as he drew Shepard's pistol. "Let's get started."
He fired twice.
The pistol shots struck cleanly, and the Creeper staggered backward before collapsing against the metal floor. Ashley shifted to cover the right side of the entrance while Liara lifted another creature into the air with a burst of biotic force.
Alex watched it float helplessly for a second before dropping hard against the ground.
"That feels good," he said, his attention fixed on the screen.
Travis's posture loosened slightly. "We adjusted the audio feedback last night. Before that, the powers looked impressive, although they did not feel like they had impact."
Alex moved Shepard closer to the garage and saw the colonists standing near the barricades. Some of them were infected.
A dialogue prompt appeared.
Tell your squad to protect the colonists.
Tell your squad to eliminate all threats.
For a few seconds, Alex did not select either option.
Rachel noticed the pause. "That is a better choice than it looks."
Alex nodded once. "It has to be. People should understand the cost before they pick an answer."
He selected the option to protect the colonists.
Ashley's stance changed immediately. Her targeting reticle shifted away from the civilians while Liara moved closer to Shepard, keeping the hostile Creepers trapped in biotic fields whenever they rushed forward.
The next prompt appeared in the lower corner.
Anti-Thorian Gas Grenades Available.
Alex gave a quiet laugh. "Now we're talking."
Travis stepped closer. "You can save them, Boss. It just gets harder when they come at you with the Creepers."
"I know," Alex said while equipping the grenades. "I created the story. So, shut up and let me play instead of interrupting every second."
The garage doors opened.
Three infected colonists rushed Shepard from the upper platform while more Creepers moved through the lower floor. Alex fired his pistol at the creatures, then threw an Anti-Thorian grenade toward the colonists.
The gas burst across the platform.
The civilians dropped unconscious instead of dying.
Colonists Alive: 16.
Alex kept his focus on the screen as another Creeper lunged toward Shepard. He swapped to the shotgun when the creature came too close.
"Boom!"
The blast sent it back across the garage floor, and Ashley immediately moved into a new firing angle while Liara lifted another enemy before it could reach the colonists.
For the next several minutes, Alex barely spoke.
He moved through the garage carefully, using the pistol at range and saving the shotgun for enemies that got close. He used biotics when the crowd became too tight, threw gas grenades whenever a colonist broke from cover, and kept glancing at the survival counter like it was more important than the mission objective.
When the last Creeper collapsed, the counter remained intact.
Colonists Alive: 16.
Alex leaned back in the chair.
"That works," he said quietly.
Travis wrote something down immediately. "Anything you want changed, Boss?"
Alex pointed toward the screen. "The combat works. Ashley feels useful, Liara feels dangerous, and the player understands why the choice matters. Slow the Creepers down by maybe five percent, though. Right now they move like they drank six cans of Titan energy drink before breakfast."
Rachel looked toward Travis with a faint smirk. "That sounds like a real health concern for the marketing department."
Travis laughed while writing another note. "Five percent slower."
Alex opened the pause menu and selected the second completed section.
The screen shifted from Feros's ruined colony to Noveria's frozen corporate port.
Port Hanshan appeared beneath white snow and steel-gray skies, its clean buildings, security checkpoints, and polished interior halls creating a completely different kind of tension. Feros had felt dangerous because everything had fallen apart.
Noveria felt dangerous because everything looked organized.
"Shepard is here to reach Peak 15 and investigate Matriarch Benezia," Travis explained as the mission loaded. "The demo section covers the Port Hanshan investigation, the garage-pass problem, Lorik Qui'in, Gianna Parasini, and the Synthetic Insights office."
Alex nodded as Shepard entered the main administrative area with Ashley and Liara walking behind him.
The dialogue tree appeared when Administrator Anoleis blocked access to the garage.
Several responses appeared on screen.
One was blunt. One was professional. One pushed harder.
Alex read each option before selecting the calmest answer.
Rachel glanced at him. "You are playing nice?"
"Paragon has more merits in the game than Renegade," Alex said as Shepard continued the conversation.
The dialogue moved forward, and the route toward Lorik Qui'in opened.
Ashley's reaction appeared in a short squad moment as she expressed clear distrust toward the corporate mess surrounding the port. Liara's response focused on the larger problem, since Benezia's connection to Saren made every delay feel dangerous.
Alex watched the exchange carefully.
"Nice job with the banter," He said.
Travis looked relieved. "Thanks, boss."
Shepard found Lorik Qui'in in the mezzanine lounge.
The Turian offered access to the garage in exchange for evidence hidden inside the Synthetic Insights offices. The situation was simple on paper, though the dialogue tree made it clear that everyone involved had their own version of the truth.
Alex moved Shepard toward the security office.
Two guards stood outside the entrance.
Another dialogue tree appeared.
Convince the guards to leave.
Threaten the guards.
Attack the guards.
Alex hovered over the options for a few seconds before selecting the first one.
Shepard convinced the guards to stand down.
The doors opened without a shot being fired.
Inside Synthetic Insights, Shepard retrieved the evidence against Anoleis.
The mission then shifted toward Gianna Parasini, who revealed her own interest in exposing the corruption inside Port Hanshan. The final dialogue tree appeared with the choice of helping her investigation, protecting Lorik, or handing the evidence toward a different outcome.
Alex read every option slowly.
"This is where people decide who Shepard is," he said.
Travis whispered to Rachel. "The choice changes future conversations, how certain characters respond, and how the player receives the garage pass."
Alex selected the path that backed Parasini's investigation and convinced Lorik to testify against Anoleis.
The mission ended with Shepard receiving the garage pass, opening the way toward Peak 15 and the larger search for Benezia.
The screen faded to black.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Alex leaned back, crossed one ankle over his knee, and looked at Travis.
"You have something here," he said.
Travis's expression shifted, and the relief hit him so quickly that Rachel almost smiled.
"Keep up the good work and create an early teaser and gameplay footage. You got a week," Alex said as he stood up. "Great job so far."
==[Note: I'll see you on 12/7/2026.]
--[POWERSTONES & REVIEWS]--
Support link: www.patr eon.com/UnknownMaster
[4 advance chs] [All chs available for all tiers] + [Streamer in Modern Family> 15 chs]