Andrew flopped on the couch. He reached down and grabbed his controller and powered on his console. He heard his wife sigh. “It’s been a hard day,” he told her.

“That’s your excuse every day,” Ilene told him.

“You don’t work. You wouldn’t understand.” Andrew pulled on his visor and tuned his wife out. He heard her stalk off.

She really didn’t understand. He worked twelve hour days building robots that were likely going to take his job in the next five years. That was incredibly depressing. What was he going to do for a job when he’d spent the last ten years replacing everyone like him in the job market? There was no place for factory workers anymore.

The VR visor flared to life and he buried himself in his video games for a few hours before logging off. As he was about to head to bed, and probably a pissed off wife, he realized he had a v-mail waiting for him. Expecting it to be another game offer, he opened it.

Mr. Kendal,

We are aware of the predicament you find yourself in. Your scores in certain games give us hope that we may be able to offer you employment with our company. We hire excellent gamers such as yourself to play test new games as they come out for market research and player appeal. The work is consistent and pays well. It also takes up less time than your current job, leaving you more time with your family. We hope you will consider our offer.

Sincerely,
Donevon Michaels
Market Lead, Halcyon Gaming

Andrew knew about the Halcyon Gaming playtesting jobs. Gamers dreamed of getting one of those. It appeared he was being headhunted for the position. Playing video games for a living and spending more time with Ilene – that would be perfect for both of them.

He went to bed. “I got a new job offer.”

“Doing what?” Ilene asked.

“Before you blow a gasket, hear me out. It’s playing video games. But it’s for limited time every day, and it would actually mean less time spent at work and more time spent with you,” he told her.

“Playing video games would mean you spend more time with me?” Ilene asked. Andrew explained about the playtesting job. “You’d make the same amount of money just for testing some games before they came out and giving your opinion on them.”

“It’s also checking for bugs, doing some technical stuff, all things I know how to do because I do it as a beta tester,” Andrew explained. “But pretty much, yeah.”

“And I get more time with you.” Ilene sounded skeptical.

“Playtesters work six hours a day. I’m not going to want to play video games after focusing on them for work for six hours, Ilene. I work twelve hour days now and play video games to unwind. If I’m only busy for six hours, that’s a lot of time to spend together,” Andrew told her.

A smile slowly spread across Ilene’s face. “Take the job, Andrew. I think it’ll be good for us.”

“Tomorrow’s my day off. I’ll reach out first thing in the morning.” Andrew kissed his wife and they curled up together, each dreaming of what more free time together could mean.