Chapter 19 - Autumn’s Arrival
Gray saw leaves circling the asphalt and smelled an air that foreshadowed rain. All part of the autumn’s returning presence. Summer was ending. The air was getting colder. The sky was cloudy. In this worldly state, he felt a melancholy start to creep in. Like rotten air seeping in through a broken window.
Did he deserve that fleeting happiness?
No choice, but to shiver.
There was a place. There was some place. A place where chained prisoners were fettered to steel walls. Arms bruised from thrashing against their fetters. Craved with circlet of wounds, a single drop of sweat fell.
Gray put a hand on his chest. He tricked himself into believing that it was gone. The summer was gone and now there was no artificial light to draw. He had to make it himself. Then in winter. Then in spring rains. Then back to Summer. All repeating.
How much longer?
It’s not that summer saved him. It was just easier to shave this shadow.
Gray reached for his headset and put it on.
***
Why was he still like this? He was happy.
Right?
How could he not be?
Entering the guild house gave him a minor comfort. Losing all feeling in his body as he just wandered with his cerebral avatar. He wanted the sanitized senses.
His fingers felt no texture in this world. The wind billowed his cloak, but it did not graze his face. The house had no smell. Sometimes even the lack of strong smells was an odor in itself, but not here.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
He drifted around the house as if he was trying to fill every empty space. He was relieved that no one else was in the house. That he was free to hover in this second home.
But it wasn’t his home. Just like he didn’t have the last name Espirit.
He appeared on the fourth floor by the running river and sat near it. He listened to the sound of the running water. Sight and Sound. That was all one could afford in this world. Elrin was vibrant and colorful precisely for this reason.
Hear a babbling brook and toss a pebble to see the ripple.
“What a weird, guild house.” Rachel spoke.
“Why are you here?” Gray jumped.
“I just happened to be playing and saw that you were online,” Rachel answered. “The co-founder of the Daybreak Guild.”
Gray didn’t even have her on his friends list.
“You’re a moderator, right?” Gray crossed his arms. It was something that he discussed with Kelsy when they saw the no-no word incident as Madame Cheddar called. She clearly had similar tools to the things that moderators had.
“I do a little bit of everything, but my main role is that of a director.”
“Director!?”
The director of the game that he had been playing religiously for several months was just casually hanging out in his guild house. They could have been doing so many other things. Gray had heard of developers that streamed themselves playing the game, but to just randomly hang out in some player’s house was a different story.
“Yes, the director, and main writer, and I help with production.”
“And you still have time to play the game?” Gray asked.
“Now that the game has been released, the schedule has loosened up. Of course, with big content updates, I’ll have less free time. But for now, I can see the denizens of the world that I created.”
“What made you hang out with us?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m just curious. I mean you could see other high-level raiders or PVP to get an idea for balance patches and quality of life changes. Why hang out with our guild specifically? And what is up with this orb?”
“Because you treat Elrin like it’s the real world. The raiders see it as a video game to test their limits, the RPers act out a fantasy within a fantasy for fun and community. They are the closest, but you and me. We carry our dark clouds to this world and try to live here despite them. This is our home.”
“I…” Gray trailed off. His voice fell dead. “I’m not addicted to this game.”
“You logged in 120 hours in the last weeks. Don’t try it, kid.” For a moment, Rachel seemed to have dropped an air of mysticism.
“I just…”
“Just keep that legendary item close as you enjoy this world,” Rachel patted him on the arm. “Oh, and I’ve heard from your guildmates that you’ve been using a GECKO II. Do yourself a favor and get rid of that old thing. It barely made the cut for the minimum requirements.”
With a snap. Rachel disappeared into light and Gray was left alongside the river. Standing there in the guild house. Gray took off his headset and put it to his bedside. He stared out the window.