Another chapter. I wrote it one go, so there are probably some errors
Alex slumps down beside me
“We should prepare.”
He is talking about the game, again. I look up from my laptop
“Yes, we should.”
His eyes widen “Yes? Yes! Finally you are listening to me, mate.”
“We should prepare for the oral defence of my thesis.” I finish with a smirk.
“No, no, no!” He cries dramatically “Aren’t you already finished?”
“Almost, but a certain someone keeps interrupting me” I say, knowing that I won this case
“Ugh, alright. How much time do you need?” He sighs
Without saying anything I send him an email. He checks his phone to see the invitation for my presentation one week from now. He gets up again and shortly gets ready to leave.
“After I am done, we are first going to celebrate. Ok?”
“Of course, I am not so crazy that I would throw away this chance for a good party” He grins “Aight, I am off to chill with Sam and Eli. You have fun being boring!”
They all finished a few days ago. I wish I was already done. I steel myself and start changing the colours of some figures and tables.
That Friday I leave the aula as a graduate, well theoretically, because the paperwork is not finished yet. Finally I get my freedom back. Ha, it’s ironic since it is also the name of that new game. My parents are there to congratulate me. They invite me, my friends, and some more family members for diner at a local restaurant. In the evening, the old people retire at a nearby hotel, while we make our way to some nightclubs. On the way we stop by Gran to tell her the good news (and do some celebratory shots). The night was kinda embarrassing and hazy. The last thing I remember was Elisa pulling me somewhere because I ‘just had to see this...’
-
My head hurts as a ray of light finds its way past the curtain and on my closed eye. I shift in my bed, slowly waking up. As awareness sets in I feel sweaty. Soon I also smell the alcohol, and other unpleasant odours. Some vague memories return to me, but now I feel the strong urge to pee. I stumble out of bed, into the bathroom. It is hot in the apartment, summer has officially arrived and a glance at the alarm clock tells me it is well after noon.
Maybe Alex can tell me more, although somehow I doubt it. I plan on waking him up, since he should share my pain now that I am awake and suffering. I drum on his door, before entering
“Alex!” I yell “Get up, you lazy swine.”
Then I freeze, because instead of Alex, it is Elise who sits up from the bed. She looks absolutely terrible. Her eyes are half closed as she tries to look at me.
“Shut it, please” She mumbles, before falling back on the pillow.
“No-no-no-no-no-no-NO-NO!!” I shout “This can’t be happening! How can you do this to us? Why do you two try to ruin our group?!”
She just waves her hand above the sheets. Where is Alex?
“ALEXANDER!! I am going to kill you!”
Suddenly I hear scratching noises. I go back to the living and it comes from the front door. I open it and in falls Alex. He must have been slumped against the door before.
“What the-” Guess they didn’t sleep together. I poke him with my foot a bit. He rolls over and opens his eyes.
“Manny, is that you?” comes a hoarse whisper
I have relaxed and decided to sit on one of the couches. My headache is coming back, stronger this time.
“Yeah, you can come in now.”
He looks visibly relieved. “Thank god, I thought I was going to piss myself.” and he rushes to the loo
After a few minutes he comes back in, looking pale but awake.
“Man, what a night.” He says “Want some breakfast?”
My stomach feels unstable, but I take the gamble and nod. He starts to shuffle around in the kitchen, which is open towards the living.
“Why were you outside the door?”
“What do you think? I got thrown out by that monster.” He points towards his own room.
“Aha-ha” I snigger “Oh, can you make me some coffee?”
“Who do you call a monster?” Elisa appears in the door opening, looking annoyed.
Alex grimaces and I hold my laughter “You must have misheard, beautiful.”
She eyes us with suspicion, but eventually she relents. Instead she demands some clean clothes and a towel. I tell her that she can pick whatever she want from our closets. She gives another sharp glance, steals away a piece of bacon and shuts herself in the bathroom.
We eat breakfast, and then shower as well. We smell badly according to Eli. I call Sam over to our place. He apparently hooked up with someone. Man, I really should remember more.
Now we are sitting outside, sunglasses protecting our fragile eyes from the sun. Alex has opted for a beer to remedy the hangover. For me, the smell alone makes me nauseated. We fill each other in on the details of last night. I danced on the bar without my shirt. Elisa pulling me away to show me something was apparently to look at Alex dancing with a woman twice his age. After a while we just sit there in silence, until Alex opens his mouth again:
“Manfred, my man, it is time to fulfil your promise to all of us.”
I open one eye “What may that be?”
“Preparation! We are going to prepare ourselves for this game.”
“Ok, ok, but not now please.”
Sam and Eli agree, but only several days later the four of us are sitting in our living again. Alex has somehow procured a whiteboard and is standing in front of us. We have gotten some snacks and drinks and are sitting down on the opposite couch, waiting for him to start. He paces in front of us, hands on his back, like a military commander of some sort.
“Silence” He barks “Stop that! Stop sniggering!”
He acts ridiculous and we laugh harder and harder, as he shouts for order. Finally he laughs as well.
“Fine, have it your way.” and he sits down, faking his dismay.
Elisa grins “Aye, captain. Why do we need to prepare anyways? I thought they said that we had to figure everything out when we get there.”
Alex explains “We do know something important. That is that we do not start with anything. We have to build everything on our own.”
“So? How is that different from what Eli said?” Sam asks
“What I think he means to say is that we should look for ways to survive when you have nothing. We can think about the essentials we need and how to get those. We don’t know what situation we end up in, but there is general tactics.”
“Exactly” Alex says, already cheerful again “I knew it was a good idea to invite you guys. It would be stupid to improve your strength or try to get that mana thing working, before we have a solid supply of food and safe shelter. Fortunately our history nerd can exactly tell us what the order of business was for surviving in the Stone Age. Once we reach that objective, then we can look again for ways to improve our situation effectively. Before long we will build a small airplane or ship and explore the world!”
We laugh and Sam says “Haha, idiot. You don’t know anything about flying or sailing.”
“Ok, fair enough. So, what should we start with? We would need food and water, if we are anything like humans at least. What else is a primary necessity? Shelter is important.”
“Yes, shelter and protection from predators, although we have no idea what those may be.” I think a bit more and grin “For species reproduction is also important.”
“Yeah, don’t think we should concern ourselves with that.”
“No, but maybe we should think about whether we let others into our group. Can we trust others? Should they be capable and provide their own water and food? We should also consider some foods to be poisonous and how to deal with injuries...” I continue to lecture them about survival techniques from different tribes and environments. After 20 minutes Sam is snoring, while Elisa is looking out the window. Only Alex is still paying attention, sometimes writing on the whiteboard.
He claps his hands. With a shock Sam sits up straight.
“Are we done?” He asks.
Alex scowls “We were, but you were sleeping. So Manny is going retell everything.”
“C’mon! Isn’t it enough that you two know the plan?”
“Just kidding, mate. Check out this plan we made for when arrive.”
Eli looks at the board again and says “We are basically stealing what others were doing. I was thinking we can also use the players around us to see what works and what doesn’t.”
“Good idea! To summarize what Manfred just said, we first have to...”
We discuss it some more, until Alex is satisfied. He grins and tells us he got us a present for putting up with him.
“Presents? Super Alex! I thought this afternoon would be a waste, hehe.” Elisa says happily “What is it? Gimme, gimme!”
He hands us all a wrapped book. Eli is the first to tear off the paper and looks shocked. I open my own present and see the title
‘The Complete Survival Guide’
‘Indispensable for Anyone Exploring the Unknown’
‘by dr. B. Öring’
“You should all read up before the game starts next week.” He dodges the book that Eli throws at his head and continues “Also, I talked to our new landlord and we can move in the day after tomorrow. I have the contract here, so sign it and don’t forget to go to the municipality befow- Eli, stop that! Stop kicking me!”
Two days later we move our stuff in. The place was bought by Alex’ parents, but we all have to pay rent, including Alex himself. The bedrooms are quite small, and Elisa claims the biggest room. We have two bathrooms, a living and a kitchen. In addition we have a small balcony and an extra room that we can use as study area and where the new VR machines are standing. Sam and I also bought a gaming console for in the living room, while Eli insisted on having some karaoke program as well. All in all, we have found ourselves a very nice place. I am just worried that job hunting will suffer.
I had made a flimsy plan that I handed in to my professor, and got some suggestions back. Haven’t looked at them since, really. In the next days I do look at the suggestions and I find a few job openings that are relatively interesting and one that I quite like which is a job as research assistant. I take my time to write some well-balanced application letters and email them. Fingers crossed!
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Alex is still raving about the upcoming game, and it is getting to the rest of us. We looked online and the company only released a minimum amount of in-game footage. However, there are forums full with theories, guides(?!), and people trying to already start guilds and parties. Most of it was useless to us.
Eventually the day of release was there. We had all gone running in the morning, showered and had a healthy breakfast. Eli, Sam and I were standing up straight, while Alex marched in front of us. He got in my face, asking a question about our plan. Only after giving a long reply was he satisfied. What a drama queen. He yells again
“Oi, listen up. In a minute you will all man your machine. The time for bathroom breaks is over. Time in the game seems to pass three times faster. So if you maggots want diner at 7 tonight, then we have 18 in-game hours to get into a safe spot. We will be allowed to start together, but where we will end up is unknown. We look for each first. Got it?”
“”Yes, sir!”” We shout
“Alright, let’s get started then.” He says giddily
We sit in our machine. When I lie down, there is a quick scan of my body. I registered before, so it just recognizes me. When I close my eyes, it shows me the available option. I mentally select Games -> Freedom. It’s the only game I have on my account. Once selected, the logos of Endless Gaming and of the Freedom appear with underneath a timer. 40 seconds left. As the seconds pass by I become more and more excited. It really is like stepping in the unknown.
The last second ticks away, for a short lull the timer shows 00:00:00, then I am fast-forwarded through space, lights shooting past me. I slow down considerably and start to home in on a planet. It is distinctly a planet, but not quite like Earth. This must be the game world. The seas are generally blue, but I notice a pitch black sea somewhere. There is also land with bright red hues and some of the cloud formations do not seem natural in the slightest. I feel a tuck and get sucked closer to the planet.
Suddenly a large hole appears in the outer atmosphere and some figure shrouded in black smoke emerges. I can’t see whether it is a human figure, but it does seem to raise a gigantic arm before throwing it down towards the surface. Black stones are released from the black smoke and hurtle towards different points of a small continent it seems. Before I can look twice, the force sucks me down again and soon I see one of those stones again, standing tall on the border between beach and sea, waves crashing into it. Then I enter the black stone and everything becomes black
-
The next moment I feel the familiarity of having a body creeping back in, at the same time my newfound body is thrown around. I realise I am in the water, but not before gasping, allowing salty water to enter. It hurts, as I struggle to gain control of my limbs another wave smashing in on me, pushing me deeper. I open my eyes and feel the salt grit on my eyes. Noticing the area that is light I clumsily move my arms and legs trying to swim upwards. Soon I breach the waters’ surface throwing up the salty water and trying to inhale some air this time. Half a second later another wave crushes down on my head. I am pushed deeper, but now I feel calmer. When I get up this time around, I quickly look around and spot the beach. Behind me I see another wave approaching, so I dive to let it pass. Swimming carefully I get closer to shore. The currents try to pull you down when you don’t expect it. Additionally I try to help out some of the other players that are appearing around me. Feeling exhausted I crawl onto the beach, coughing up some more seawater before looking around.
Everywhere players appear. Some are lucky and materialize on the beach, while others struggle in the rough sea. I have no clue where the other three are. No player looks human. We have legs, arms and a head, with a body that has more or less human proportions. I think we are slightly taller than normal, but it hard to say because I can’t compare it to anything I know.
A closer look at the people nearby tells me that no one is wearing clothes. We are all white and pale beings, with maybe a black or grey spot here and there. On the head dark spikes are growing backwards, giving a false image of hair. The eyes are red with a black pupil. You can distinguish the women by a swell in the breast area and on average slightly wider hips. No one has anything between their legs, fortunately!
We are definitely not human, but I have no clue what we actually are. I remember the plan and start to move again. We knew that there would be tons of other players logging in at the same time, so we decided to group at a high point, wherever we would arrive. Alex would stand there, taking a body builder pose. We had some kind of standard conversation thought out beforehand to ensure we know it is us. We even had some hand signal thought out in case we couldn’t talk, you never know. Fortunately I hear people around me talking, although it sounds gritty. We probably have to get used to talking, similar like using our limbs.
The highest point I think. I doubt Alex would climb on top of the black stone.
The other option would be to head away from the sea, towards some kind of forest. The forest perimeter looked to be far away. Some people are already moving that way, while other stick around the sea side.
It is quite peaceful once you are no longer in danger of drowning. Some players are now helping other get out of the water. The sand is pleasantly warm and the sun is shining overhead, so it seems to be the afternoon. I make my way towards the forest, walking through the crowd of people on the beach. Exiting the crowd I see an odd sight. One of the players is hastily gathering sand, trying to build a hill of sand. I stand for a while in wonder, as after a while I see the guy standing on top of his tiny hill. I see his feet sink so far in, that he is practically barely higher. I laugh quietly as I walk towards him. He seems frustrated and starts scoping up more sand. While walking I practiced my voice a bit, but it still resulted in a crackling whisper
“Hahaha, the idea is good, Alex. Too bad it sucks in practice.”
His head whips around and he inspects me.
“Manny? That you?”
“You guessed correctly. Do you want to exchange the secret greetings?” I ask him grinning. What luck to find one of our group so quickly! The developers of this game sure one upped the people coming with friends unprepared.
“Nah, I can recognize your miserable attitude no matter what you look like.” He says “Besides, the greetings are a bit embarrassing.”
He looks at his useless sand hill. Some guys came running through and now it looked it even more pitiful.
“I am going to propose something, and I want you to know that is only because you don’t have your ding-a-ling.” I say “You can sit on my shoulders and strike the pose.”
It takes some time, but eventually I can stabilise myself with Alex sitting on my shoulders. As more players arrive, we move further up the beach, staying out of the crowd. We garner some curious looks and some people approach us to chat, before continuing. My shoulder are becoming sore, the sun light feels uncomfortably hot and my throat aches for fresh water. Finally I hear Alex speak
“I think I see Sam heading our way.”
Surely a lanky, extra tall, guy pushes towards us. Within moments he stand before us smiling. Alex keeps to his pose and inquires
“Do you have something to say, stranger?”
The guy, Sam, grumbles and clears his throat “My, what big eyes do you have!”
Alex replies with a straight face “All the better to see you with, my child.”
We all start laughing, and I decide to fall over, which elicits an indignant cry from Alex. Sam asks us about Elisa, but obviously we hadn’t found her yet. Sam and Alex both had appeared on the beach, but it is possible that she was swallowed by the waves. That would mean she would have to wait another day in real life before logging in again. That’s three precious in-game days as Alex repeatedly drilled into our heads.
We hear a loud voice calling out. The crowd is in the way and this time Alex sits on the shoulders of Sam, rising to new heights. It seems one of the players tries to pray to the black stone
“... Almighty Lord, bless me with your power, so that I can serve you better...”
We keep watch for a while. You never know what will happen, and we still hadn’t found Elisa. The guy calling out to the black stone seemed to get no response and people started dispersing further. Alex is peering over the crowd, when he says
“Hey guys, isn’t that an island over there?”
I jump to see a black shape on the horizon. After a few moments, Sam says
“Alex, I don’t think that is an island. It looks more like a storm heading our way.”
“Crap” He swears “Alright, let’s start moving towards the forest line for now. We will need shelter or we might not survive. We will keep looking for Elisa, but she knows the plan. She will move on her own if necessary and via real life we can eventually meet up somewhere.”
Sam answers “Yeah... I don’t think she read the plan.”
Alex begins swearing, cursing Eli and her insubordination. We reach the edge of the forest and look back towards the sea. The wind increased in power, and the first clouds covered the beach in darkness, waves leaping even higher than before. The people on the beach had already noticed the incoming clouds and were now rushing towards the forest as well. Rain and hail start pouring down; all the while new players keep on spawning near the black stone. Their chance of survival being next to nothing.
We peer onto the beach, trying to look for Elisa. However the incoming stampede drowns our voices. Next thing we know a clump of ice the size of a cannon ball smashes into a tree next to us, almost destroying the thick trunk.
“Damn” Sam says dryly. The hail takes its toll on the fleeing mass. Every person hit, soon disappears in a shower of light, which seems to return to the black stone.
“Where is that cursed girl?! Damn her! And damn this hailstorm!” Alex shouts angrily, before proceeding to kick the gigantic tree that indicates the frontier of an endless forest.