Dusk had fallen at the Axion research facility, the building empty and dark as the midnight hour drew close.  A cluster of monitors came to life, illuminating a small room in blue.  At the center of the room stood a man, his suit well fitted and neatly pressed, his arms crossed tightly across his chest.  Images form the monitors reflected onto his glasses.  Numbers scrolled haphazardly across the screen.  Information to be processed.  Data.

Another man entered the room, his posture slumped.  He wore his weariness like a cheap suit.  “Sir, are you sure about this?”  he asked.  “The amount of lives this will affect is going to be catastrophic.”

The first remained silent for a moment before answering.  “Do you find satisfaction in this world, Wesley?”

“Well, n-no sir.”

The man turned to look at Wesley.  He removed his dark glasses to reveal eyes both intense and resolute.

“Exactly.  Just look around you.  We were born into a world wrought with pain, a world that decays from the pollution left behind by our ancestors… a world where corruption inches its way into every facet of our lives...  No more!  The sun has set on this world, but tomorrow it will rise on a new one… a world where those that are truly worthy will rise to the top.”

“And what of you, sir?”  Wesley asked, wiping the sweat from his brow.

“What of me?”  The man leaned in close, causing Wesley to flinch.  “I will be its god.”

1

September 7th, 2099

The clang of swords was like music to my ears, even if it was just virtual reality.

            “Watch my back!”  I yelled as two brutish orcs made their approach, a pair of longswords grasped tightly in their thick, green mitts.  I drew a blade of my own and pointed it at the beasts, prepared to strike them down at the first opportunity.

            “Chill out, Adam.”  Max replied, leisurely swinging a Warhammer around in his hands.  “These mobs are trash.”

            “Yeah.”   I conceited.  “But I heard an elite spawned in this area yesterday.”  I paused our conversation as the first of the orcs made its move, charging in with the tip of its sword aimed directly at my heart.  I easily side-stepped the strike and drove my blade into the creature’s neck.  The HP bar above its head immediately depleted, and the creature faded from view.

            “Damn, this game’s gotten boring.”  Max said with a sigh as he turned and slammed his Warhammer through the second creature’s skull. 

            “We only have to hold out for one more night.” I reasoned.   Max was right, though.  The VRMMO’s out on the market had gotten rather dull, especially with how much Max and I had played them.  Soon, that was about to change.  Tomorrow night was the launch of Aether Gate Online, the most anticipated game release in the 21st century.  The game had promised an immersive experience like nothing that came before it.  From what I had read it boasted dozens of playable classes, a fully realized fantasy world with several different factions, high level raiding events and I quote… “the best PVP experience a game could offer.”  The thought of some solid PVP had me stoked!

            A notification blinked in the air above us.

Elite monster approaching

            “Here we go!”  I said, readying my blade.  The soil shifted as a pair of bony fingers began to emerge from the ground.

            Suddenly, a series of loud bangs on my bedroom door quickly eliminated any immersion I had in the game.  “I gotta go Max.”  I said with a sigh as I pulled up the main menu and selected EXIT GAME.

            “Its all good man.”  Max replied.  “I’ll catch you tomorrow.”

            “See ya later.”  I replied as the game disconnected.  I removed the soulink VR device from my head as another round of banging echoed through my room.  There were many reasons I loved escaping to the virtual world, but one of the biggest had to be my father.

            “Open the damn door!” he hollered, his words slurred from all the beers he’d drank this evening.  Reluctantly, I popped the lock off.  The door swung open and my father stumbled in.  He was no more disheveled than usual, and his eyes had this glazed over look about them.  Sometimes, on his way to the bathroom he would make little detours to my room just to give me hell.  He staggered so close that his breath made my eyes water.  “What the hell are you doin in here?” 

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            “Nothing dad.  J-just playing a game.”  I replied, avoiding eye contact with him.  He was bigger than me, though not by much.  Nevertheless, he was my father and a confrontation with him was never going to end well for me.  He stood there, staring for what seemed like an eternity.  My stomach started to twist into knots.  Finally, he turned to leave the room but not before giving me a stiff shove out of the way.

            “Always on that goddamn game… you’re wasting your damn life.”  he mumbled.  I stood and watched as he made his way to the door.  Of course, he had to stop and get one last jab at me.  “Oh, and next time, open the goddamn door when I knock!”  He slammed the door as he exited the room, leaving me to my thoughts.  Deep down, I knew he was wrong about that whole ‘wasting your life’ schtick.  The world had gone to shit, I knew it had and so did he… he’d just chosen a different way to escape.  The question was, why did he have to drag me down with him?

            I gripped the soulink headset in my hands, running my fingers across the smooth facemask and the slightly elevated logo that read ‘Axion Advanced Technologies’.  The worlds this device had taken me to were always so much simpler than my own.  They made sense, unlike my shitty reality.  I thought about throwing the headset on and knocking out a few quests or helping Max with that elite mob, but my heart just wasn’t in it tonight.  Instead, I tossed the device on my desk and went to bed.

><>< 

September 8th, 2099

            It was launch day!  Well, almost.  The game officially launched at midnight and almost everyone I knew was planning an all-nighter once the servers went live. 

School seemed to drag by so slowly.  It was senior year, so my schedule was packed with electives I could give two shits about.  I struggled to keep my eyes open through final period as the robotic instructor droned on.  Today’s lecture was ‘lessons that humanity can take from the third great world war.’

  Heh, like I needed to hear that.  The war had taken my mother from me, the one person in the world who understood me better than anyone.  Her death damaged me more than any physical pain ever could, it damaged all of us.  That’s probably why I spent so much time in virtual reality... why would I want to stay in a world that could destroy something so beautiful?

I dashed for the doors as soon as the final bell rang, eager to get home and get everything ready for launch.  The smell of toxicity and pollution hit my nose as soon as I stepped outside.  You see, my school was in the lower levels of a giant ‘megatropolis’ known as Sector 7. There were so many people packed into the giant sprawling city that the environment had taken a back seat to human need.  It was unfortunate, really.

            I waited patiently near the edge of the school grounds for the gravtrain to take me back to suburbia.  My mother might’ve been gone, but at least the money she left us kept dad and I out of the city.

I felt a firm hand on my shoulder.  I turned with a grin on my face, assuming it was Max.  Unfortunately, I was quite wrong.

            “Where’s my money, douchebag?”  Victor said, squeezing tightly on my shoulder until I winced.  Vic always had his eyes on me like homing missiles.  Was I that easy of a target?  I mean, I wasn’t particularly small, but perhaps his perceived dichotomy between us triggered something in his tiny brain.  After all, I was a socially awkward loner and he was a varsity linebacker at one of the largest high schools in the city.

            “Get the hell away from me, Vic.”  I said, trying wriggle out of his grasp.

            “You’ve been avoiding me all day, Adam.  Didn’t you think I’d find you sooner or later?”  He was right about one thing, I had been avoiding him.  You see, Vic was a tough guy, but he wasn’t too smart.  One day I made the mistake of showing him up in geometry, a mistake he’d never forgotten.  That was four years ago… and he had make sure to give me hell ever since.  Today, he was short on cash for lunch, but I foolishly stood my ground when he asked for it this morning.  Now I was going to pay.

  Vic looked around, checking to see if the coast was clear before blasting me in the stomach with a closed fist.  I dropped to my knees, sucking for air.  “Shoulda listened.”  Vic said as he got ready to hit me again.  Thankfully, Max had arrived.  Max was a pretty big guy, and though he certainly wasn’t an athlete, nobody ever really thought about messing with him. 

            Vic sized Max up for a second, trying to show some bravado, then walked off towards the parking garage.

            “Nice talkin to ya Vic.  Have a great day.”  I said in my most sarcastic of tones as Max hoisted me back to my feet.

            “Asshole.”  Max added, a scowl on usually cheery face.

            “Don’t worry about it man.  I’m fine.  Besides, nothing can ruin today.”

A smile returned on Max’s face.  “I can’t freakin wait!”

It was only a moment before the gravitrain arrived.  The large shuttle came to a stop in front of us, its sleek cabin hovering over two vertical steel beams.  We were giddy as we rode home, eagerly awaiting the game’s imminent launch.  We decided that Max would crash at my house.  If Max was there, then my dad would likely leave me alone...  and besides, launch day events were always way better with a friend. 

We arrived at my house shortly after.  My dad was sitting on the couch, waiting as Max and I entered.  Max gave me a look, but I gave him a nod and he made his way upstairs.

“Adam.” My dad said, his tone much more somber than last nights.

“Yeah, dad?”

His voice starts to crack.  “I-  I just wanted to say sorry…. About last night.  I-“

“It's fine, dad.” I interject.  I really didn't want to do this right then, especially with Max over.

We exchange looks and I could just tell he felt terrible.  That’s how these things usually went.  He would get drunk, give me a hard time then feel bad and apologize the next day.  I know my mom’s death hit him harder than anyone.  It was the reason he turned to the drink.  Still, that didn't mean he deserved a pass every time he lost it.

I turned and followed Max upstairs before the conversation could continue.  I know there was more that he wanted to say, but I'd reconcile with my him later.

It didn’t take long to get our rigs set up.  In fact, by five o’clock we were downright bored.  Max offered to jump into another game to pass time, but it just didn’t feel right.  With all the hype built up, the only thing I wanted to do was jump into Aether Gate Online.