The broadcasters were, like many business and tech journalists in Augustincredulously reporting the sale of a patch people making money off second life virtual space from one landowner to another for a huge amount of money. Pires was familiar with games, but maiing creators of Second Life insisted it was no game at all. Looking for a second job? Pires was hired, and from behind the till, he was poised to observe the behaviour of this alien makinh. Second Life, he understood, was about relationships. And after his first day of eavesdropping, he was ready to learn about the birds and the bees. Do they have children? What is a sex bed? How does it work? Kelly explained that users did indeed get together — but that no children, or indeed NPCs of any kind, appeared in Second Life. She explained that everything Pires saw was built by residents. Pires took it upon himself to kife up business — travelling to other sims to persuade users into the shop.