Another night of grinding bounties in the wonderful world of Destiny 2. It was a longer day than normal, working in a dark musky warehouse, I had to cover for coworkers who took off for the holidays. I suppose it is my own fault for not keeping in great contact with my family, and not saving money to go home for the holidays, so I usually keep working over the weeks and play games until I fall asleep at my keyboard each night. Today was no different, 12 hour day, made it home to shower and eat some frozen food. Anything that lets me get to my computer faster, my escape from the mundane.
I am a 32 year old, lazy, bald, and certainly out of shape gamer. I usually try to get 5 hours or so of gaming in each night, and usually the game doesn't matter. But, I have a special love for Destiny, and I usually play at least an hour or 2 a night. Tonight I was on a roll, and had a real Destiny kick going on. I just unlocked a bow that I have been craving for a while called the Wish-Ender. It is absolutely gorgeous, with it being nearly as tall as my character and had the ability to pierce through multiple targets. The Wish-Ender was a longbow, that had a supremely annoying quest line to obtain it. It just happened to fit perfectly with my character's style and looks. Sorry, I love nerding out and talking about the aesthetics, powers, combat styles, and pretty much anything about the games that I am in.
Speaking of which, after first seeing Zavala I had a love for the look of the Awoken, especially the way the light seemed to crawl across their skin. I knew I had to make an Awoken Warlock. So I made a gorgeous female with piercing white glowing eyes, and beautiful light blue skin. There was the very subtle glowing white patterns which resembled the pattern that light reflects through water when it is wavy. She had a small intricate tattoo on her forehead that just accentuated the piercing white of her eyes, I also had her lips painted black...It was hot. She wore some very regal blue and silver robes with a silver helmet that fully covered the face with a half moon cresent over the back of the helm. Just looking at it was rather intimidating as you cannot see her face through it, but rather a dark abyss where the center of the helm comes together. All together, my character looked like a badass queen of destruction....it was amazing.
Back to the present, I was powering through bounties, and getting pretty tired from the long day and the light from my computer screen seemed to put me in more of a trance than anything resembling conciousness. I would go through the motions, completing my daily bounties and when I finally made it back to the tower and turned it all in, and I finally drifted off to sleep at my desk with the music of the tower playing in my mind.
My dreams that night were so weird, it was as if I was playing through the story line...but it was as if it was a real memory. It was like I was actually staring into my own past. I remember the total horror and confusion of waking up to find a weird, angular floating thing talking to me, telling me that he just brought me back to life to fight for humanity. I felt the desperation when the Red Legion cut off our light from the traveler. I remember being tossed off the ship by that brute of a Cabal, and falling to what should have been my death. Walking through the currently occupied city was so surreal, I have played the story so many times and going through them with the full 360 degrees of memories, smells, emotions...this is the most intense dream I have ever had. I always thought that I could tell if I was dreaming by being able to realize the moment I am in, and in this dream, that does not help.
I fight and fight, all the way through the expansions (after the red war)....I remember Cayde 6's death and it hurt horribly, like some actual friend that I lost. The dream goes on until I make it throught the entire story line. I remember strikes, but they weren't like just pressing a button and joining. I have weird dialogue memories between my character and the NPCs like it is a real situation. I must have one hell of an imagination...that is obsessed with Destiny. I have had a lot of video game dreams before, but nothing so long and intense. I finally remember physically holding the Wish-Ender, like I did earlier that afternoon. I feel its smooth marble looking surface and enjoy the feel of perfectly pulling it back each time. When you draw the bow a part of it lights up like a charge bar, and if you release when its at the perfect top point it does extra damage and pretty much goes on as far as you can see perfectly straight. It is mesmerizing actually holding it.
I am now talking to Zavala about my bounties and then... I "wake up."
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"What The Fuck." I think that was all that went through my mind at first as I take in these new sensations. I am still holding the bow, and looking beyond my direct surroundings seems impossible with the weight of what just happened slowly seeming to make sense.
I am standing on the tower looking over the edge of the railing while Zavalas deep and passionate voice rumbles on next to me about something I couldn't be bothered to listen to. The incredible sunset and colors seems so real. I am blank right now, the dreams I just had felt real, but now that I woke up....I AM IN DESTINY 2. I look down and see my characters body, like it is mine, I can feel the comfortable armored robes I am wearing. Well I guess it's a dress. My helmet was off, since I am at the tower and as I look down I feel the soft tickle of impossibly soft silky hair fall forward around my face. Also, I feel lighter, and almost...yup, stronger, as I jump and fly way higher than my old body could ever reach.
As I land, Zavala looks at me with a raised eyebrowl. "Are you alright, Guardian?"
His eye contact kind blows my mind since, while he does look into the camera when I am sitting at my desk this is totally more mind blowing than anything I have seen before...It is personal, he is standing infront of me. My mouth hangs open a bit and nothing comes out of my mouth.
As he was about to speak again, a sudden explosion sounds and gusts of wind seem to come from the center of the city.
It is the Traveler.
A massive energy spike of pure white light blows another piece of the external shell off of the traveler, it doesn't hit the ground instead floats off to the side with many other pieces from previous wars. Lightning, rain, and thunder start crashing form the sky seeming to originate from the top of the Traveller.
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"What is happening?" My ghost asks as he forms from light over my left shoulder. "This can't be good."
My Ghost has such a distinct voice that I almost smile just to hear something familiar, not that it was from my time, but he has always made these kind of forshadowing comments and that kind of makes me chuckle internally.
There seems to be some sort of movement at the center of the explosion site, it seems like some metal and debris from the shell is coalescing into a platform that seems to be level with the ground. After a few minutes of watching this intricate platform construct itself, a white portal of pure light opens under an arch that seems to be up against the next part of the inner shell. I feel a tug in my heart, pulling me towards that. I feel like I could just jump off and it will send me flying at the portal. It was disturbing in a distracted way.
At this point, I have had less than 10 minutes of time to gather my bearings, and I think the only thing that is keeping me from freaking out is the constant attention. But I still am noticing some changes. I have the memories of my character in Destiny. All the interactions, all the fighting, all the dancing. Dancing? What the hell? I remember much more too, and the problem with it is that I feel that my mind has taken on this personality as a part of me. I am shorter by the way. I think my mind bouncing around to the most random thoughts is also helping me keep from losing my shit right now.
"Guardian, I want you to go check this out." Zavalas voice breaks through my ranbom thoughts to startle me. His eyes were locked on the portal.
I don't respond, I was in shock more or less, and my ghost (admittedly ghost is the name for all of them, but mine is still Ghost) answers for me. "Alright, I am bringing down the ship, we will go right now."
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My goofy looking space ship that I have selected as a joke, (it's like a weird looking sputnik satilite looking thing with a horrible color scheme) comes out of the sky and stops for a quick second above me and my vision goes white. I am then sitting in my ship cockpit comfortably strapped in. "Oh, so that is what it feels like." I have always wondered what it would be like, all of the ships in destiny dont have doors, our ghosts literally turn us into light and we get teleported into it. It is easy to over look in the game, but experiencing it made me giddy for some reason. I was lightly chuckling after I said that when my Ghosts responds.
"What, what feels like?"
"Well..." How do I explain what just happened and is currently happening to me to an NPC...wait hes not an NPC hes my voice, and the one who has been there for me for these last years of fighting. Whoah, that was not my thought process.
Wow, I am becoming my guardian, or she is becoming me. I have boobs even, this is insane!
A thunder crack explodes through my mind once again, and my thoughts scattered, leaving Ghosts question unanswered. I look through the cockpit window and see that my ship is now flying almost at an angle. Not really flying, a massive looking lightning bolt of pure white is coming from the newly formed portal on the Traveller, and its fixed to the top right of my cockpit window pulling us in like a tractor beam, but it feels a little more aggressive....weren't we already headed there?
"Okay the ship is not responding and this spike of light energy from the Traveler is pulling us at its own pace. I guess we get to meet the Traveller finally?"
I shrug and still don't say anything. I wonder if my reason for not speaking has something to do with the lack of lines the main character had in the game. Like under 10 total. I don't know but as I sort of analyze it, I have this welling of emptyness that sort of makes my words meaningless...Where are these feelings coming from???
"I have no response from any controls and the tower isn't responding to any connection attempts."
As we finally are pulled towards the portal it looks like we are not longer moving towards the Traveller, but the portal is growing to swallow us. I have the real fear of somene about to be sucked into a wormhole...Yeah thats normal. My body feels as though it is being stretched, pulled, and smashed all at the same time.
"Oh no, this isn't good." Ghost says, as his different parts are being pulled in different directions, he always says the most obvious thoughts, it's kind of enduring. He equips my helmet for me with a swirl of light my head is now comfortably covered inside a helmet that allows me a good wide view of my surroundings, along with a basic Destiny 2 HUD. Showing skills, shields status, ammo, and a motion tracker just like the game.
The gravity flucuations are extremely uncomfortable but it doesn't outright hurt. It seems as though the portal is closing around my ship entirely, and it was at that point that only light was visible, as in you can see nothing but pure white outside of the ship.
"HERE IT COMES." Ghosts terrified voice screams next to me and we hit.
The impact is as violent as being hit by an asteroid at high speed, sends my vision spinning and my mind feels as though it is consumed by light, almost a more intense version of being transported into and out of the ship.
The white fades to the black of space, I couldnt tell you how long it has been but we are floating in space, and there is no power, and Ghost seems to be knocked out...if that is possible. I hope he is not dead. My head was hurting something fierce, and I tried to relax and maybe slow my breathing incase there is a limited amount of oxygen. I don't know how I am still not freaking out, but I drift off into a meditative state where my mind is clear but I am focusing on just the feeling of warmth in my chest.
After, a while I feel a rumbling. It becomes a roar and I realize that there is light. I open my eyes and see that my ship is falling nose first into the atmosphere of a blue and green planet. My ghost is still unconcious, or dead, but and my head is still killing me. this fall is going to hurt. My ship doesn't have power and I have as much flying experience as a bunch of video games can give you. The joy stick still works however it's manual, and extremely tough to use. I was pulling up with all my might just so I didn't splat on the surface of the planet.
I couldn't tell you how long it felt like to slowly watch the surface of this planet coming at me, it definitely wasn't Earth, or any planet from destiny. the contintent that I was aimed at was massive. Some pangea stuff happening? There was crazy amounts of what looks to be very dark greenery, like forrested areas, and wait....is that a city??? I should definitely not land too close to that, and I hope to hell this species isn't hostile, I am not ready to fight right now...wait I feel like I could if I needed to...well that's new.
Slowly the surface is coming near I saw a lake looking thing that seemed to be long enough to stop my ship...hopefully. I keep pulling as hard as I can and smash into the water and bounce many times, I immediately blackout and feel the spinning of the crashing ship as my consiousness fades.
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There was another smash as the ship hit the shore and splintered through some trees into a small clearing just off the edge of the lake. The sound of the crashing ship is incredibly loud and heard for miles around. The light it gave off on entry into the atmosphere was visible during the bright morning sky, and was bright enough to illuminate a large area of a few hundred miles as the ship seemed to slow somehow and disappear 10-15 miles east of a city called The Gift....