Connor Drake threw a strip of kindling into the hearth. The fire was small but he kept feeding it little bites. The others hadn’t even wanted a fire, it being late summer after all. But you don’t move into a timber house in a fantasy world and NOT start a fire while chilling by the… hearth?

  The heat radiated just enough to be pleasant without tipping over into sweaty and it looked great. It was the sort of set dressing producers loved to cut to between confessionals and action shots on Dungeon Inc.

  He tipped his chair back on two legs and let the firelight frame him; picturing the armour he’d wear once training was done. Did they even get to choose their outfits? He hoped so.

  He leaned back and practiced a pose he’d use once he had his armor on… shield propped at an angle to catch the glow of the fire, boots planted just so. Not posing – never posing – just present. Ready. They’d probably put some slow violin under it, or whatever instrument is right for this world – the “leader moment” before the cameras cut to some chaotic battle scene. Maybe they’d even give him a voice-over. He smiled to himself. Not that he cared about the edit, of course, but it didn’t hurt to make it easy for the producers.

  Victor, another Class B recruit, was spinning a wooden practice knife between his fingers with the calm of somebody who wanted you to notice he was calm. Brandon was sitting quietly, staring into the flames – he was a bit of a weird one. Intense. Apparently hired to play some sort of mage class, although he kept talking about how excited he was to learn how to use a sword.

  His team wasn’t bad over all. Not great either, unfortunately. Half of them were treating this like summer camp. He really hoped that was going to wear off soon. He got it though. A whole new world lay just outside the windows and everyone wanted to go and play in it.

  And all the shit on Dungeon Inc.? Real apparently. Real swords, real monsters. Real blood. It was hard to know what to think about the whole thing, so for now most of them were ignoring it.

  He wasn’t here for a simple thrill or for some larping fantasy op like most of them. For Connor this was the clear next step in a life that was going to mean something bigger. Back home you could be perfect and still disappear under a thousand other feeds. Out here the talent pool was small and the show was huge. Taking the lead role was his ticket to world fame.

  He looked around at his two teammates. He was going to have to make this team work somehow.

  Everyone else had gone upstairs to get settled in their rooms before someone came to take them to the cafeteria for dinner. Connor had been up and down a few times already and was ready to get to the training part of the weekend. He’d already memorized every crack in the ceiling since arriving earlier in the day.

  The hidden door near the far wall clicked and started to swing open, catching everyone's attention. It was the access door leading to the tunnel system they had all entered through. Connor frowned. It had been locked, trapping them all here for the past few hours which kind of sucked. Behind the door he could hear footsteps climbing the metal staircase and Valentina’s voice giving the same speech he’d heard when he had arrived.

  He let the front two legs of his chair hit the floor and folded his arms. These would be the last dregs of Class A. He didn’t rise to meet them but he did straighten a little, instinctively sliding into the kind of posture that read well on camera: open chest, chin angled just right. No point wasting a first impression.

  Valentina led the newcomers in; five kids in the same rough brown training cottons that somehow managed to look like costumes on most of them, instead of the uniforms they were supposed to be.

  Connor’s gaze went first to the tall guy with gym-bro shoulders and a grin that said he knew it. Tall was an understatement. He narrowed his eyes. There was his real competition for screentime in this group.

  The rest of them were jokes. Filler characters. A small Asian guy with soft eyes that darted around the room and made him look like he wouldn’t be comfortable anywhere, and a red head who practically vibrated with the need to introduce herself to everyone. He tried to not make eye contact with her. He didn’t want any part of that kind of energy.

  Last came a real piece of work. Pale. Sweaty. He looked unwell really, or super anxious. His eyes were a little too bright, but never rested on anything for more than a second or two. He was tall too, but skinny. Squishy.

  Valentina stepped into the center of one of the rugs like it was a lectern that had been placed there just for her. “Class B, this is Class A. You’ll see plenty of each other as you train, but you will be on your own separate journeys here on Earth 3.” She looked around at everyone. “Let’s set the table shall we? First names. Intended field roles.”

  Connor didn’t stand, but he did plant his forearms on his knees, listening. He was going to be the Class B team leader and needed to look the part at all times. Producers ate that up.

  “The broody one leaning forward there is Connor. Knight, or Paladin if we can make it work but we’re still finagling the details on that one.”

  Connor glanced over at Valentina. Broody? He wasn’t Broody. Or was broody a good thing for a knight? He’d have to think about that one.

  “To his left is Victor who comes to us preloaded with martial arts training, which gives us our second monk class on Dungeon Inc.!” Connor rolled his eyes as Victor waved to the newcomers.

  He leaned over and whispered “Come on man, don’t feed the animals.” Victor only looked confused.

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  “And on his other side is Brandon. Sorcerer supreme… no wait, that title’s taken.” She laughed at her little joke. Connor just shook his head. Some adults try too hard to be cool. “Just sorcerer then.”

  “And on this side,” she continued, “Jason – or Jay, right?” She continued on before he could even respond. “Projected frontline bruiser. Barbarian! We’re all excited to see how you do, Jay.” Jay flashed Connor a grin that said let’s be friends; Connor gave him the polite upward nod that said you’re fine, but not my team.

  “Ravenna – or Rae. Team Rogue.” Connor sat up in surprise. He hadn’t even seen this one yet. Where had she been hiding? Behind the big guy?

  “Daniel - ranged support. Ranger.” Conner noticed the baseline anxiety, but also the way he positioned himself in the room. He slid sideways and kept to the back of the group so everyone was always in front of him. He clearly had some sort of skills. Or was paranoid. Either way: noted.

  “Melissa – or Mel. Crowd control and social leverage. Bard.”

  Melissa bowed to the room and said “Bard extraordinaire!” Connor rolled his eyes. They nailed this one. Too much energy. Too much… Perk and Glitter. She’ll be a producer favorite, unfortunately. Bard types monopolized screentime if you weren’t careful.

  Valentina’s gaze cut to the last new arrival. The pale, shaky one. “And Alex. Wizard.” The guys' knuckles were standing out white on the back of that chair.

  That was all. No flourish. The word dropped like a neat little stamp.

  Connor snorted before the room had time to breathe. It wasn’t loud but it did find one of those moments between every other sound and reverberated around the room. He didn’t care. That’s what he thought of the newcomer.

  “Well, that tracks,” he said, everyone was looking at him now. He scowled as he let his gaze run across Alex’s face. “I just mean, he looks like the squishiest one here.”

  A tiny wince flickered across the ginger’s face – was her name Mel? – like she’d been stung on someone else’s behalf. Jay bristled and took a step forward but Valentina cut the moment short.

  “Excellent! I see we are all settling into our roles, but let’s keep it civil in the house, yes? During training you’ll get to spar, and after training you get to move into your own spaces. Until then, reserve the friction for the training field.”

  She looked around the room at everyone, just to make sure there would be no insubordination, then, just as quickly she was smiling again. “I simply cannot wait until tomorrow. I will be watching your training with great interest.”

  Connor leaned back, arms crossed, and smiled at Jay who, for the first time since he had stepped into the room, wasn’t smiling back.

  Valentina inclined her head toward the front door. “Just a reminder, but until your ANIP installs are complete tomorrow, doors remain locked and permissions are restricted. You should have everything you need in here. I recommend everyone gets to sleep early – it’s going to be an early day tomorrow.”

  Connor listened but continued to stare down the other team. He didn’t really care about them, but it was important to let them know who the top dog in this cohort was going to be and which class was going to take the lead. It wasn’t going to be hard by the looks of it. He tried not to smirk – smirks were never a good look on camera – as he watched their mage, Alex. The guy was blinking way too much and looked like he needed a bed, or a doctor. Apparently this new world was just too much for him. Kind of pathetic.

  When Valentina finished her speech the room fell silent. A little awkward. A little tense. Jay tried for a bridge. “So, uh… a practice session tomorrow?” He tried that grin again as he looked at Connor. Some may have found the persistence charming, but Connor wasn’t here to make friends. He was here to get famous.

  “I guess we’ll see,” was his only reply.

  Valentina ignored the tension and asked, “Questions before I go?” The way she said questions warned them that questions were a resource to spend wisely.

  Mel half-raised a hand, then lowered it again and shook her head. Jay looked like he had five questions but was having trouble deciding whether or not he should ask them.

  Alex’s hand was grabbing the back of a chair. Hard. Connor nodded. He had read the guy clearly the first moment he first saw him. Weak. Clearly, he didn’t belong here.

  “You good?” Jay had noticed too. Alex only nodded in response.

  Valentina tapped the door frame with two fingers. “Settle in,” she said. “Don’t try the exterior doors or windows – they are all locked for the night. Alex, the Doctor should be here momentarily.”

  She left. The tension in the room eased, just a degree. Sound came back – the soft scrape of chair legs, and shuffling feet.

  Connor stood then and rolled his shoulders. He looked over the new arrivals one more time and finally shook his head. They looked too fragile. Cameras loved fragile, but only to watch them burn out. He smiled, small and cruel. “None of you are even going to make it to week 2.”

  And with that he walked to the stairs leading up to the bedrooms, only to pause halfway up to glance back once. Class A had moved to talk to Victor and Brandon by the hearth. They all looked awkward in the firelight. The flicker painted them as ghosts – temporary, destined to fade.

  Tomorrow would prove it.

  Entertainment remains an efficient vector for sustaining our off-world presence. It normalizes exposure to risk, attracts voluntary participants, and converts operational losses into consumable narratives. Casualties become story beats. Setbacks become arcs. Viewership absorbs what traditional logistics cannot.

  The original proposal—advanced by Valentina R. during early funding deliberations, positioned entertainment as the interface to create legitimacy, mask infrastructure buildup, and provide a continuous influx of personnel willing to self-select into hazardous environments. The incredible popularity of the Dungeon Inc. brand has been unexpected and provided a massive influx of cash to expand initial operations.

  Ultimately, Earth-3 represents an untapped convergence of material, biological, and energetic resources. Preliminary surveys indicate harvestable lumber at scales considerably larger than pre-industrial terrestrial forests, freshwater systems uncontaminated by industrial runoff, and mineral concentrations exceeding modern Earth baselines. Precious metals appear in abundance.

  Initial extraction is intentionally modest. The objective is not immediate yield, but permanence. Supply depots, processing hubs, and defensible territory must be established before external awareness matures into competition. Under the Transnational Charter Framework, infrastructure constitutes governance. A beachhead, once operational, becomes self-justifying and will provide ownership over this new world.

  Leadership consensus acknowledges that the entertainment phase is temporary. Audience interest will plateau. Narrative novelty will decay. This is acceptable. By that stage, continued access will no longer depend on public attention.

  The show is a convenience—useful, deniable, and designed to be outgrown.

  Expansion Planning Document — Redacted

  Strategic Development Committee — Internal Distribution Only

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  Dungeon Inc. // RECRUIT DIV.

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