The search for a headset was not an easy one for Ash, time ticked away, and he still couldn’t get his hands on one. With the launch now literally two weeks away he was beginning to get desperate. It was all made worse by the fact that Rose had managed to get one and he couldn’t come so close as to sniff one let alone hold one. Rose tried to keep the Sensync Dive to herself, intentionally avoiding the subject and not talking about Endoria at all to him but the excitement would inevitably well up inside her so much that she couldn’t help but talk about it. Occasionally letting slip what she had seen about character creation, the quest and magic system, the NPC’s. She’d then remember that Ash was without a headset and look downcast on the floor, apologising profusely.
“Hey, it’s fine, don’t worry!” Ash would say, “I love hearing about it and I’m happy that you are going to experience it first-hand. Just don’t hog all the good loot before I get in” He would grin, and she would smile back half-heartedly. She would also miss her friend in game, he’d been a part of so many gaming sessions now, going in without him would be a strange concept.
It even managed to permeate his teatime routine with his mum picking up that something wasn’t right when he started pushing his chips around his plate. His favourite food. “What’s up?” Her brow furrowed in concern, brown eyes surveying him intently for anything she could make out. “It’s not like you to leave your chips untouched, you’ve barely eaten anything. Are you unwell?” She caught his eyes as he looked up at her.
“No, I’m not unwell” He exclaimed and started shovelling the food into his mouth so as not to bring up what he thought was a silly conversation. How could he tell his mother that he was sad he wasn’t going to be getting a deep dive VR headset. It sounded ridiculous when he brought it up in his head. The truth was he was very sad. Gaming was a good escape from what was normally a lonely and uneventful life. Here was this revolutionary new technology that would effectively allow him to live a new life, he was so close, yet so far away. His mum and Rose were the only people Ash was close to and living with his mum was not a bad life at all. He hadn’t wanted for anything, and his mum always listened to him intently, trying hard to understand everything he was going through. Ash knew it was difficult for her over the last 7 years after losing his father. A memory he didn’t like to bring up.
He had just finished school and hopped off the bus, walking the short distance from the bus stop to the corner of his road when he spotted a police car outside his house. Curiosity soon gave way to dread when he realised this wasn’t normal practice for police to do, something had happened. He would never forget walking into his house and seeing his mum in a heap on the floor, being comforted by a female officer. It was a while before the story came out and he knew it was probably a lot worse than was made out to be to spare both he and his mother from the trauma and details of it. The police had said it was a road traffic collision between his father and a dustbin truck that had pulled out of the junction without looking. This meant his dad went straight into the truck at nearly 60 mph killing him instantly. Ash had nightmares for years after this. He would see accident after accident play over in his head, some with gruesome details, some with screaming and a burning car. He'd wake up shouting and sweating, odd occasions this would rouse his mum who would come into the bedroom in concern.
In truth this is what made Ash more reclusive. Hiding from his friends for years, he’d gradually have less and less people in his life and he reasoned the less people he had the less chance he had of being put in a position like that again. This was a good point; however, he was beginning to regret his decisions when he had no one around him. He had now left school, his friends now had families, girlfriends, houses, careers, some were travelling or at university, all moving on with their lives whilst Ash stood still. Now he had Rose though, the closest thing he had to a friend for many years, and he was sad that she’d be moving on too and there was nothing he could do about it but be left behind.
“Ash, I know when something is wrong” Her mum snapped him out of his daydream, “And you, my son, have something on your mind! Come on, whilst you wash up you can tell me all about it” Ahhhh the tactic had arrived. With everything that Ash and his mother had going on in their life when he was younger after what had happened, teatime was always the time when they talked. His mum would get him to do the washing up whilst she floated around behind him putting pots away and cleaning the kitchen/dining room back to a tidy standard. This way Ash was facing the sink, and wasn’t looking directly at his mum, something she knew always helped him talk. Sitting him down face to face would just mean he shut down and wouldn’t say anything. Talking whilst he was preoccupied with something and not facing his mother always had a better outcome.
And so it was he came out with his story.
“I know it sounds stupid, mum. I’m 21 years old and this shouldn’t be something that gets to me. God knows what dad would say” He genuinely felt disappointed in himself for something so trivial knocking him down.
“You listen here, young man!” His mum stopped what she was doing and her voice picking up a stern tone from behind him. He didn’t want to turn around as he knew when dad was mentioned mum’s eyes would tear up and things would end up in a mess so he kept on wringing out the dishcloth for the tenth time, “Your dad would do anything he could to make sure you weren’t feeling down. Making sure you and I always had someone to talk to was always something your dad made sure of. This problem would be no different. You might think it’s silly, but it’s been hard for you and I can understand why something like this would make you feel how you do. You might not make it for the launch, no, but it will come back into stock at some point and young Rose doesn’t seem like the type to let you down and just fall off without keeping in touch” She put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a little squeeze, he did feel a bit silly when his mum put it like that. He had got wrapped up in the negativity that he just didn’t see the wood for the trees “and I think you know that. She also lives next door; she’s not going far is she! Come on, finish up and we’ll have a little trip out for some of those ice cream tubs you like”.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
**********************************************************************************
Time rolled on and it was inevitable now that he was definitely not going to get in on launch day like Rose was but he had turned himself around after speaking to her. She knew about his father after tripping herself up one day and asking about him. After fighting many battles alongside Rose and talking pretty much everyday since hanging out of the window that time it was surprisingly easy to talk to her about it.
“Ash, I get that” She placed a hand on his knee to show she was close and understood him. They found themselves once again on his bed, “You know I will always be here for you. Endoria or no Endoria, Sensync or no Sensync, you are my best friend and no game is going to come before that” Her ginger hair was straight today, back in her standard ponytail and she wore a gentle smile. “I tell you what, I will make sure I am around here every night after launch, I’ll get all the equipment you want and need for when you can come into the game and I’ll keep you up to speed with everything that’s going on so when you get into game you’ll have the best guide anyone ever can….me” She let her smile spread into a grin and gripped her hand in his, giving his a reassuring squeeze. His appreciation for her grew upon learning this, only cementing their relationship together. She would always be there for him, and he truly believed it. He felt a little childish now but a lot more at ease, it was just a game, he would get it as soon as it came back into stock. He was already on the waiting list and would get an automatic order as soon as one came available. After speaking to his mum and reaffirming things with Rose he felt a lot better, he felt positive and as much as he felt silly for his insecurities, he was thankful he had people close that understood he wasn’t without feelings, however silly they came across.
The day before launch he had told Rose to come over that evening. His mum had suggested it and he thought with the game coming out the next day it would be a great time to spend some time with his friend before things started getting a little hectic. He told her that didn’t expect her to come around every evening and wanted her to enjoy herself as much as she could, so now assumed he wouldn’t see her as much until he could get his hands on one. She had received her Sensync Dive that day and it was on charge at her house ready and waiting for the servers to let people on for set up at midday the following day. Take away pizza was on the menu and Rose was not about to let that offer go to waste in the meantime. So here they were, lager, rose wine, pizza and a horror film which largely went unwatched as they ate and chatted away between themselves.
Rose and Ash’s mum got on really well together, Ash often catching the two of them in full blown conversation on the front lawn on odd occasions when Rose would be coming over to see Ash and got caught in conversation.
“I hear that game is coming out tomorrow,” Ash’s mum approached the conversation cautiously, “Is it really everything that Ash says it is?”
“Honestly, Grace. If you mean, is it the best game that’s ever to enter this world, I’d say that’s probably a yes” Her ginger hair, once again straight and in her usual ponytail, was bouncing animatedly as she continued to speak excitedly about the system and the hardware to his mother. Most of it Ash could see was going in one ear and out of the other but his mum held the conversation well regardless, feeding off Rose’s energy.
“This AI is really going to change gaming in such a way?” Grace’s eyes were wide after Rose had explained all the game had to offer and what had happened during the conference. She looked genuinely shocked. “I mean, I still remember a little yellow pie shape going around a maze and eating little blobs. Gaming sure has come a long way now, it sounds exciting. Room for a little one when you get your headset Ash?” She laughed taking a sip of her wine.
“We should do that Ash! Get your mum a set and she can join us! Imagine how great that would be!” Rose squirmed in her seat and started bouncing excitedly. “I can imagine your mum being a badass healer to be honest! Long white dress, bright blonde hair, flying around and healing everyone”.
“Oooo I’m not sure I could handle flying” She grimaced and shook her head fiercely, “I wouldn’t do well in the air” Rose laughed.
“Not literally flying! I just meant moving around between everyone really quickly. Oh, I wonder if there will be flying in the game?” Rose pondered quickly, briefly looking up at the ceiling whilst the image formed in her head. “But your mum should definitely join us!” and with that sudden exclamation Rose put her glass of wine in the air, “To Healers and flyers, and your mum Ash. The best healer in Endoria!” She then laughed and both Grace and Ash shook their heads whilst also chuckling away to themselves. Life was certainly more exciting with this bundle of energy in it.
“Oh that reminds me, talking about healing, hold up” Grace placed her wine glass on the coffee table and went off into the kitchen coming back with a small cardboard box. “I found this whilst I was in the attic the other day, I thought you could make some use of it, Ash” She placed it on the coffee table and recovered her wine glass and place on the sofa, “Go ahead, it’s not going to bite you I promise. I took all the spiders off it”. It didn’t look like it came from the attic, the box was relatively unassuming but looked pretty new.
“Mum, I’ve told you about going into the attic,” He began as he started opening the plain cardboard box, not really knowing what to expect. “Those ladders are really steep and you shouldn’t be…..”
He stopped mid-sentence as he opened the box. Rose screamed and his mother could be heard laughing but he was in a different world. In front of him was an opened plain cardboard box and inside a gleaming white box with The Chaos Council’s Logo printed on the front. He was truly in another world, his foot already one step in Endoria.