“Get going?” I asked in a panic.

“What do you mean?” Jeremy asked.

“Our time slots up in two minutes,” Al said. “And trust me, you guys don’t wanna be here when the next block of iterations rolls through.”

My chest tightened. “You’re coming with us, right?”

He gave me a condescending smile. “Sorry, Ray-bae, no can do. Daddy needs a little R&R, too. Saving your life has puckered me out!”

“We haven’t even figured out what skills I’m going to pick!” I shouted in disbelief. “And I’m not entirely sure about the rest of my stat point allocation and-”

Al stood up, interrupting my concerns. “You’re gonna be fine, okay? Just get your endurance and vitality to 200,” he said, waving his hand like he was casting a spell. My Skills tab started flashing. I opened it and the 200 points were already pre-allocated across the two stats. A little confirmation button flashed.

“Are we sure about this?” I asked, looking between the two of them. “There’s no going back.”

Jeremy and Al shared a look, then Jeremy said, “Yeah, we’re sure. It’s pretty much the only thing we managed to agree on.”

“That - and the existence of lizard people,” Al added.

Jeremy looked at Al and nodded. “Oh yeah, for sure. Now, I don’t know what their endgame is, but they definitely exist.”

My mouth was hanging open as I looked at Jeremy, then Al. I was so thrown off that my annoyance took a backseat to my confusion. “Huh?” I finally managed after a moment.

“What we’re trying to say, Ray, is confirm that stat change,” Al said. “It’s the right choice.” I was too numb to argue. I hit confirm, and my endurance and vitality jumped to 200 each. I immediately felt a rush of energy, my body noticeably hardening. “Good. Now, just don’t pick any fights and you should be good.” He started walking towards the exit, but turned back as he noticed neither Jeremy or I had followed. “The level on your nameplate is gonna show as a question mark to all hostiles, even max-level players, you see? You’ll have a literal red skull next to your name wherever you go. And nobody fucks with red skulls.”

I saw his point, but wasn’t totally mollified. “Yeah, but I look like a damsel. People always fuck with damsels.”

“Ray,” Al said, grabbing my arm and physically pulling me towards the exit. “No one is gonna mess with you, man. Trust me.”

“Dude, please don’t kick us out,” Jeremy implored. “I finally found heaven, and you’re gonna boot me out?”

“Will you relax?” Al asked. “You’ll have plenty of time to jerk off all over my couch later. For right now, I have to get the other iterations used to the idea of interlopers in our private space.”

I really didn’t feel good about leaving Null Space right now, but who was I to argue? Here was the man - well, not the man - but here was the entity responsible for saving my life. Could I really impose upon him?

“When can we come back?” I asked.

“Give me a couple days,” he replied. “I need to work on some of the more obstinate its’. I know I’m pretty level-headed, but a lot of my iterations hit the low end of the bell curve, if you know what I mean.”

Jeremy stage whispered to me, “He’s the level-headed one?”

“Watch it, bud,” Al said. “You’re only here because you’re Ray’s only friend-” I thought about arguing that point, but decided it wasn’t worth it “-But that doesn’t mean much to me. You wanna deep throat any hot pockets in the future, I better see less sass and more ass kissing from you.”

Jeremy held his hands up in surrender. “Ok, ok, Jesus…” To me, he added, “Not exactly proving me wrong.”

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Al ignored him and started ushering us to the exit. “No, really. You guys gotta get going.”

“You’re treating us like a dirty secret,” I said.

He sighed in annoyance. “I’m trying to protect you guys. You really want to get swarmed by a thousand versions of me. I’m one of the less handsy iterations, if you know what I mean, Ray.”

“Okay, say no more, we’re going.” Jeremy turned to me to protest, but I gave him a pointed look that shut him up. “How will we stay in contact?”

“I’ll be keeping my eye on you,” he said with a wink. Jeremy’s face scrunched at that, but I was starting to get used to his weird mannerisms. “We still have the achievement and quest system, but that’s one way. If you really get into hot water, just flail your arms around and scream my name over and over again. But only if you really need me, okay?” His voice turned serious with that statement.

“Uh, okay,” I replied.

He pursed his lips. “No, really, Ray. It’s like a kid running around their mom, pulling on her shirt, saying, ‘Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy,’” he repeated in an annoying high-pitched squeak. “I’ll be really fuckin’ pissed if it’s not life-or-death.”

“I got it!” I said, a little annoyed at the condescension.

His eyebrows raised and he held up his hands defensively. “Okay, Ray. If you say so. Training wheels are officially off.” He clapped his hands to punctuate the statement. “Time to get the fuck outta here,” he said with a shooing motion.

He rushed us through the cave. Past the consoles, arcade games, pinball machines, the snacks, the couches, and beanbags. All of it. And as we left the cavern and went up the stairs to the platform above, I looked back wistfully. How nice would it be to just stay here and avoid the drama out there. Avoid the S&S employees. The Game Masters. Holt. Goldman. But the thought of hundreds of Al’s invading my personal space was enough to spur me forward.

Al walked us through the tunnel, pushing us forward, but not following.

“I’ll reach out to you guys in a couple days,” Al said. “Ray, don’t you do anything stupid.” His expression was grave. “Remember what I said? I won’t be able to save you again.”

I found myself distinctly discomforted. “Okay…I’ll do my best.”

Al shot another pointed look at his imaginary watch. “30 seconds, boys. You better get moving.”

Jeremy and I gave one more longing look at Null Space before we headed through the exit.

When we were outside, the cliffside door melded back into the mountain. “I can’t believe he’s kicking us out,” Jeremy said. “Dangling Nirvana in front of us, then ripping it away…it’s just cruel.”

“Yeah, I’m trying not to be annoyed by it. I mean, the guy did save my life and all.” I looked around a moment before turning to Jeremy. “What now?”

Jeremy shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind a power level,” he said.

“Okay. Not sure how the party mechanics work, but let’s give it a try. I wouldn’t mind seeing what I can do, as well.” I looked around, but didn’t see any nearby mobs. I zoomed out my minimap and sure enough, there was a red dot only about a dozen meters into the nearby jungle. I led the way, Jeremy keeping a healthy distance behind to avoid getting jumped by whatever we came across. It wasn’t long before we came across the mob. It was a large gorilla-looking animal with black fur and a white patch on its chest. It’s nameplate read [Feral White Chest Jungle Gorilla, Lvl 43]. It seemed like the perfect place to start. Just high enough to be a challenge, but not so low that it would be trivial. I knew the level 20-somethings damn near exploded at my touch, but I didn’t know what to expect with a level 43. Would it fly backwards in an explosive show of strength like when I killed BigSword? Or would I have a life or death fight on my hands? I expected the former, but I needed to be ready for the latter.

I approached the gorilla slowly, waiting to see what kind of aggro window it had. At 30 feet, nothing. 20, 15, 10, and it still hadn’t looked up from its patrol. I was within five feet before it noticed my presence - presumably because of the vast level difference. But as soon as it noticed me, it bared its teeth and let out a wild yell that rocked the jungle. It raised up on its legs, its two hands forming into a joined fist above its head. I wasn’t sure about taking a direct hit from the enormous creature, so I dodged to the side as it brought its fists down. The blow crunched into the ground with impressive force, and regardless of the level difference, it sounded like a strong impact. Though I wasn’t keen to take a direct hit, I still wanted to do some experimentation. So I reach out and grabbed the gorilla around the arms, almost like a bear hug. I wanted to see how my strength would match against it. It immediately struggled against my grip, trying to break free, but to my delight, I found that it was powerless against me. It took almost no effort to hold the gorilla steadfast, and slowly I began to squeeze. It was like I was crushing a watermelon against my chest. The gorilla’s cries of anger turned into whimpers of pain and helplessness. I felt kind of bad, to be honest - I had never been one to enjoy hurting people or animals. But this was the game, and I’d have to kill a 100,000 animals like this gorilla if I wanted to survive and thrive in this world. So, with a grunt of exertion, I used all my strength and squished the gorilla like a rotten piece of fruit. It exploded in an eruption of gore, blood, and bone. I immediately gagged as bits of gorilla fur and blood shot into my mouth and onto my face. I threw its lifeless body away from me, clearing the canopy and launching it a hundred yards into the distance.

I futilely wiped bits of blood and fur from my eyes, using hands that were even more covered in gore. Behind me, Jeremy said, “Jesus, dude…that was fuckin’ metal.”

I turned to him, blinking through eyes gummed shut with gorilla blood. “I need a fucking shower…”