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Banners as high as the ceiling stood at various sections, advertising the latest line of VR games and other projects. The VR station took center stage, though, and even I had to admit that I was a little jealous of their setup.

“Who was in charge of the VR setup?” I asked Mia.

“Clara.” She chuckled. “When she’s not freaking out, she’s a force of nature.”

Obviously.

A screen the length of three cars and at least three cars high stretched out in front of the station, allowing everyone in attendance to see what was happening on screen.

“She’s really outdone the competition,” I said. “Where is she, anyway?”

“Uh.” Mia hummed and stood on the tips of her toes, looking around the arena to see if she could spot Clara. “She should be with Jean from Marketing. I think she was overseeing the signups.”

“Mia!” came a sudden shout. “Ms. Voss, hi!”

We turned around to see Clara jogging over, her long, dangly earrings swinging wildly.

“What do you think?” she asked breathlessly, clutching her iPad to her chest. A pen sat behind her ear and something told me she’d long since forgotten about it.

“It’s incredible!” Mia congratulated her. “I don’t know how you managed to get marketing haul ass, but well done.”

“Thanks,” she said with a genuinely bright smile. “I didn’t think it’d work out, but here we are!”

“The VR setup is incredible,” I added, my eyes drifting back to the arena. “Is that a battle station?”

Clara’s eyes brightened as she nodded fervently. “I thought it might be a great way to showcase the open world aspect by allowing people into 1v1 stages.”

“It’s brilliant, I love it.”

“Thank you, Ms. Voss!”

“Hey, Clara, can you help me with this?”

“I’ll be right there!”

With one last smile, at both of us, Clara jogged back.

“Should we go over the schedule?” Mia asked. “We have some time before it all starts and it looks like Clara pretty much has things under control.”

“No doubt she’ll come to find you if she needs help.” I chuckled. “Sure, why not?”

We quickly checked the schedule one last time before staff members of the convention came to find us.

“Ms. Voss,” one of them said. “You’ll be seated at the Technical Pioneer panel this morning. This way, please.”

“Mia, you’re on the showcasing panel,” the other one said with a kind smile.

Mia cast one last nervous glance at me before she was swept away to her panel, and I left for mine.

Attendees were quickly filling the convention, their excited chatter creating a heavy din. People dressed in elaborate versions of their favorite characters swirled around me, young and old alike, and it comforted a part of me, that this industry would always have a place for everyone to feel at home.

The Technical Pioneer panel had drawn a shocking amount of people, but I wasn’t nervous. Nor was I concerned for Mia. I knew she was more than capable of holding her own, even if she felt a little more anxious than necessary.

I trusted her for a reason.

The panel began and it was a blur of speeches and questions and the MC using every trick in the box to get the crowd to laugh and engage. I hadn’t experienced a panel that was this much fun in ages, and as the minutes seeped into hours, I found myself relaxing rather than tensing up.

“Right, so we’re at the end of our panel today,” the MC announced to the despair of the attendees. “Now, just a minute! We have one very important piece of business to attend to.”