Page 15 of Imogen

In the tiny corner office they assigned me, I’m hidden away from prying eyes. Which is something I’m grateful for during this moment. I don’t want anyone seeing me practically pulling my hair out. Due to the Monday I took off last week, my work load has gone to shit. More work piled up on my desk in my absence because I wasn’t here to say I couldn’t fit it in. And I don’t want to let my boss down by returning it to the colleagues it belongs to. He might see me as difficult or unable to delegate. I don’t want him to think he made a mistake in hiring me.

The unsettling feeling I’ve had in the pit of my stomach since I found out about Ben hasn’t helped. It’s all I’ve been able to focus on. I only got to sneak into his room for a short time. And there he was, bruised and pale in his bed, unbeknownst to my presence. He was Ben, but he wasn’t. For those short moments, he was just a shell of the man I knew.

And it broke me.

He nearly died, and was still critical by that point, so I did the only thing I could think of. I took his hand and cried, pleading with the universe to save him.

I’ve always known my dad’s line of work could be dangerous. Aside from the security they provide to protect clients from outside evil, they can also be in danger doing basic surveillance or investigation. Harris—my dad’s friend and business partner—was investigating a spouse of a client who was stringing out their divorce. He uncovered more than he bargained for, and the spouse, thinking he got to Harris before the information was shared, cut the breaks to his car. Harris had been lucky to survive the crash and the spouse had been lucky no other civilians in the accident had died.

Growing up, they were super heroes to me. Nothing could touch them. But since Ben, it’s made me realise how easy it could be to lose Dad and those who work for him that have become family. And it’s a loss I’d never recover from.

Larry Carpenter, my boss and the CEO of Castle and Games, steps into my office, a smile plastered on his face. He is the man I assist, and his office sits beside mine. This visit isn’t a surprise. He comes in once a week to ask me if I’m settling in.

“Imogen, I hope you are settling in okay,” he greets, keeping to his pattern of questioning.

I’ve been in the job for close to a month now, and I’ve loved every second of it. “I am. I’m sorry I haven’t gotten chance to send the launch invitations out yet. I was wondering if there was any way I could take the list home with me and send them tonight.”

“You know the policy,” he tells me, like I’m worrying him.

“I know. I thought it was worth a mention as I wouldn’t have done it from a work computer but my own.”

“I appreciate your dedication but I’m sorry. This is something I can’t allow.”

“That’s okay. I’ll do it first thing when I come in tomorrow morning,” I reply, forcing a smile.

“If the pace is too much for you, I can have one of the others take some of your workload,” he offers, but I can tell by his tone that he won’t be happy about it. He’ll probably give me a strike for it.

You mean return it. I wasn’t the others’ assistant. I was Larry’s. Yet all of them piled work onto my desk, expecting me to complete it, using the fake explanation that it was for Larry.

And this morning was spent playing the demo, searching for any errors or loopholes in the content. I got so engrossed in Sanctuary: The Last Man, I completely lost track of time.

“No, I’ve got it. I just wanted to free up some time to compile a list for potential demo candidates. I know this is something you don’t do, but I really think the new release could benefit from it,” I begin, and continue when he doesn’t shut me down. “This new game, in the right hands, could soar your launch. The gaming community is a competitive world, but I’ve played the demo, and I can tell you, if this hits the right gaming influencers’ hands before the launch date, it will sell itself. You could cut the marketing budget by half and use it to promote the extras you have planned to add in a year after release.”

He takes a seat in front of me, straightening his jacket and tie. “You really think that would work?”

I nod, excitement bubbling in my chest. Finding new ways to market and promote is a dream of mine. “I do. I’ve taken it upon myself to draw up some plans for you. In recent studies, it has been proven that those who release without a demo tank their release within the first month or suffer a loss of half of the sales prediction. I can’t speak for those games in general as I haven’t played them personally, so I can’t tell you if it was the game itself, or whether it was the marketing strategy. That said, the same pattern kept happening over the past few years. Influencers are now the market, and they sell thirty percent more products than ads do.” I hand him the pamphlet I put together. “Read through the pamphlet and let me know what you think. I have influencers in mind. That community is huge, but I’m positive I can get the game to the right audience.”

“I appreciate you going to this much trouble.”

Remembering everything I learned in university, I speak up, using a softer tone. “It was actually you who gave me the idea during Monday’s morning meeting. You mentioned reaching the right audience, so I looked through your archives and found your first software release. Your numbers hit a record-breaking percentage, and I noticed you sent out demos to over twenty-thousand candidates all over the world.”

“Out of curiosity, do you think our marketing strategy is wrong?”

“Far from it. Your products have sold themselves, earning profits well above market predictions. But you have never released a game like this before. This isn’t an update on coexisting games. It’s new, and there are many more out there that market the same as this one. You just need to reach the audience who will promote that it’s better and bigger. You want it to stand out. You don’t just want to reach older generations. Most women and men above thirty have full-time jobs or a family to provide for. This needs to reach the younger generation too. A generation of gamers who play for a living. I already have twenty in mind because I not only play with them, but I know they do live streams, teaching others the tricks and the trades. They uncover the Easter eggs that, quite frankly, most gamers look past. They are the ones you want promoting this game,” I admit, shrugging, like it’s no big deal. “I’ve played this game, and I’m not just saying this because I work here, but it’s incredible. It’s different to any combat game I’ve played before, and I don’t think the current marketing plan will fulfil its potential to express that. I’m worried it will take months before we see the sales we are hoping for.”

“You’ve made good points, Imogen. Continue compiling that list and I will have a serious think about it.”

“That’s all I can ask for. This isn’t something you need to do, but I wouldn’t be the person you hired if I didn’t mention it. I really want this game to succeed, so if you say no, I will think of other ways to help market this.”

“No, it’s nice to see a talented young woman like yourself using their initiative. I’ve been too consumed with keeping it from our competitors. I guess I lost sight of the marketing.”

“Everyone here loves working for you, Mr Carpenter. No one here would dream of leaking all your hard work.” And I mean it. I was surprised by the atmosphere when I first started. It didn’t feel like work, it felt like a family.

He lets out a breath. “You’d be surprised by the number of people who would leak the software for a big payday. It’s happened to us before, which is why we are being extra cautious this time.”

“No, I understand, sir,” I respond, and glance at the work on my desk, wondering how I will get this done in time. “Is there something else you would like to talk about?”

“On Monday, you mentioned your friend was hurt, which is why you needed the time off.”

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