He woke up to the sound of a very annoying alarm clock. "Why now?" he mumbled, still half asleep. Eventually Max turned off the alarm, got up, and got ready for work. As he did this, he thought about all the other jobs he could have taken, like that office job over at the industrial plant that produced high-tech electronic games. It probably would have been better than the one he chose. This job always puts him on the move, never having time to stop and enjoy life. Why did he take this job? Money, always the money. "Come work for us," they said, "and we'll make it worth your while." He believed them. Now Max doesn't know what to think. Should he quit and find a better job, or can he live without the money?
He puts off the question yet again as he drives off to work. Now he ponders over the day's activities. There's the meeting in Chicago to discuss a contract with a company that deals with robotics research. Then it's off to New York to oversee development of the new software his employers invested in. After that, who knows what? The guys at the top always try to keep him on his toes, giving him surprise assignments that take him halfway across the world. It can get really hectic sometimes.
As Max arrives at his work station, he notices something different about the place. It isn't the way it looks, but more in the way it makes him feel. There's a sense of a cold, hard, and impenetrable force that looms over the building. Why would he feel this way? Max tries not to think about it as he goes in and sets up his office. He prepares the Virtual Traveler to put him in Chicago, then he's on his way.
The Virtual Traveler is a relatively new technology, still in the experimental stages. Max doesn't quite understand the concepts behind it, but he enjoys using it. It's like an escape for him, especially on his spare time. It's then that he can travel anywhere and escape the prison of his office. He's even been able to modify it to create fantasy worlds that he can escape to. Endline is his favorite world, one that he controls and manipulates to his every whim. It is constantly changing, evolving as Max learns more about the Traveler. It is his second home.
The meeting in Chicago went off without a hitch, and now it's off to New York. This software that the company wants has become very important to them. Max wonders what could be so important about it, since it seems to be so commonplace, almost obsolete. In New York, they have finished development and are ready to test the software. Max has been told that anytime they are ready to test the software to have it transferred to his computer and sent directly to the president's office. Seems the head honcho wants to test out his investment personally.
The transfer begins. Everything is normal until an error is recorded in the Traveler. All of a sudden, Max is no longer in New York. He isn't anywhere, not even in his office. Max tries to shut down the Traveler, but nothing responds; he's trapped. Max is terrified, wondering whether he can escape or not. He knows that staying in the machine would mean his death because the device sends signals directly to his brain, and any malfunction could kill him.
All of a sudden, a familiar landscape appears. Max feels a sudden comfort that he has not felt in a very long time. He has come home, back to his kingdom, back to Endline. As he travels his world, Max finally comes to a decision. This is his life, the Endline. There is no need to go back, not to that company, not to the hustle and bustle of a job that wears him out. Everything Max needs is right here for him to have. He is in control, not confined by greed or hate or any other force that controlled him in his old life.
Back at his office, Max's employers take note of the success of their software. The virus that they had developed worked perfectly, destroying the Traveler. The loss of this employee, they reason, was necessary for company's advancement. With this virus they can now eliminate all competition and monopolize the computer and technology industry. Now plans are made to mass produce this virus to be placed into the computer systems of all their competitors.
In the want ads of tomorrow's paper there will be an ad for a position that just opened at a computer software plant.