SAVE POINT 88
Reloading Rosabella On the Ground...& A Shake-Up...100%
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1102021402707628096/1131047261065986068/15c0d075-3ab8-49f2-8f75-eb06bb1d9a42.png][https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1102021402707628096/1131047261426679980/b8e69479-6105-43b3-b3de-42b81179d689.png]
Joy
I watch Rosabella pass out, slumping to the ground. I reach for her, but I'm already too late. Her body is limp, her eyes way back in her head.
Is she serious right now? Leaving us to fend for ourselves, trapped in this swirling blackness? So, typical.
She's probably just fainted from the shock of everything, but it could be the darkness too. I hurry to feel for a pulse but can't catch any kind of heartbeat on her thin neck. I search repeatedly with two fingers, but...there's nothing. There's no—
That's when my stomach drops. I'm not holding a passed-out girl; I'm holding a dead one.
"Dormouse, Rosabella's not breathing—" I choke out, "She's—"
Damnit, she can't be dead. I put everything on the line for her—my life, my job. This world needs to stand. There needs to be something that stands between the overwhelming darkness of this place and us.
But there isn't anymore; I realize it with sinking clarity as I stare into the blood-red eyes of a black magic smoke hound.
The Game Maker is dead. Now, there's just evil.
Only despair.
Only darkness.
Now that the light has been snuffed out.
I failed her. I failed my position and this world. All that time spent searching for her on Earth and bringing her back to The Game... Somehow, I let something slip. I missed something—something important.
"No!" I scream, hating the situation—hating myself—"No!"
I shake her, but it's no use. She's gone, and we're defenseless against the pitch black moving closer and closer—
Beep.
Everything goes black. There's no smoke hounds. No swirling, rushing wind. No...
Anything...
—What? Am I dead too?
***Welcome GAME WARDEN JOY & GAME WARDEN DORMOUSE to Multiplayer Mode***
MISSION: Capture the Flag
Multiplayer—what?!
"No, that's—that's statistically improbable," Dormouse mutters from right at my shoulder. He is at my shoulder, mumbling to himself and his entwined hands. And he no longer wears his green robe. He's wearing white.
I look down.
Just like me.
We're both in white jumpsuits in a white-walled room.
Oh my God, we did die. Hella spectacular. I figured I'd be in a sour mood when the world finally pulled the plug.
"Get your head out of your statistical ass and tell me what's happening here," I demand.
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Rosabella
Loading Ten Minutes Earlier...
"Hello?"
I call it to the white-washed walled room, hearing my voice echo back at me. But the place is empty—this space is void of any movement or life. I look down and see that I'm clad in a white jumpsuit. Oh my God, Heavan sucks. I don't even get to choose my clothes? I frown, tugging the material away from my body.
I died.
I'm pretty sure of it. I watched my health bar bleed to empty.
But this is how the universe repays me for trying to save The Game world? Death? ...Maybe this is Purgatory, because I certainly don't feel like I can label it as Heaven. I walk forward hearing my footfalls reverberate on the white floor. There doesn't appear to be an exit or entrance. How'd I get in? I press my hand against a wall, feeling its rigid form.
Solid.
Great.
Grand Dragon? I whimper in my head. I'm almost afraid to ask—like knocking might have someone rapping my fingers with a ruler instead of opening up. But, something happens; a literal door does open. A blue glow appears, humming and tracing a rectangular piece out of the wall until...
Until it swirls, hand-level, creating a doorknob.
A door! No way.
I walk towards it, feeling unsure. Grand Dragon, is this you? I ask, still teetering forward and uncertain if I should reach for the door.
> Yes.
I hear the simple answer pulsing through my body—all the way down to my fingertips. A breeze blows back my hair, coming from under the door. Holy cow—
I reach forward, my fingertips pausing just above the doorknob, and, then—
Then, I grab it.
Then, I close my eyes and grab it like a lifeline.
And galaxies expand before my very eyes—complex swirls of stars and planets and their orbit lines, swishing...moving.
Zap.
The view zooms in so quickly that I nearly pitch forward. The Game map appears, then hones in on a spot above the Dragon's Sea Town. And, as the force barrels me forward, I see a circle of darkness.
The smoke hounds! Spinning around three figures...well, two. One is passed out on the ground—
Shock runs through me. Me! That's me when I died and, there's Joy and Dormouse, defenseless inside of the circle of darkness which moves in on them. My heartbeat races in my ears.
"Do something!" I cry, "They're my friends!"
> I already have.
Comes the calm answer—the Grand Dragon's soothing voice.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
> I saw your anguish, and I transferred your game into multiplayer mode for you, your friends and your enemy. Capture the flag and you capture your deepest will.
My deepest will?
I ponder that. "What is my deepest will?" I ask tentatively.
The beast sighs; I feel it.
> All this time and you do not know yourself? You wish to live, Rosabella. To live without the darkness. To live without the sickness the darkness brings in you. You simply want life.
And the creature's booming words make sense—they fill a hole in my core, that I hadn't noticed, with a warm honey. Like I'm truly seen. Like the beast understands me on a level I can barely comprehend.
Yes.
Yes, I want life. More than anything, I want life.
> Be aware, child, that the enemy, also, has the ability to win their deepest will. Complete the multiplayer mission and you will be victorious, but, fail to, and I will not be able to protect you any longer from death. Not many are given a second chance. This is yours.
It warns.
> Don't squander it. Lean on your friends for aid for they wish life for you as well.
And, just like that, the picture zooms outward, expanding. Till I'm in that white room again, one with no door. Till—
Beep.
Two, squabbling figures appear.
And my mouth stretches wide in a smile, because it's Dormouse and Joy. They gape at me, whatever argument they were having dying on their tongues.
"What the—" Joy starts.
"I told you," Dormouse finishes proudly, "Multiplayer mode must have been initiated right before Rosabella passed out. But it can't be done manually in or outside of the game—it's impossible. The code forbids it; there's like five thousand internal checks. It had to be done by—"
"By the creator," I finish.
They both stare at me.
Dormouse looks more than uncomfortable as he massages his right shoulder. "Yeah," he admits.
"So, we're playing capture the flag for our lives?" Joy spouts, her frown deepening.
"Something like that," Dormouse seems engrossed in looking around the place, "Oh—this is mega cool. This entire holding space is created from a substance which literally bends to your conditions—"
"English, Goddamnit!" Joy yells, throwing down her hands.
"Watch," Dormouse says instead. He brings up two fingers, swiping in the air, and a huge screen pops into view with a neon title floating above it:
***Select Your Surroundings***
The nerd rubs his hands together excitedly, "Oh, this is gonna be good!"
"Get to the point," Joy snarls.
And the boy swipes his fingers again in the air. Each swipe shows a different room. Different layouts, different furniture. Some with plush couches, others with modern, metal chairs. He moves through them quickly, barely allowing me time to register what I'm looking at.
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1102021402707628096/1131047781453287424/0b06b388-e70b-4dc1-a86c-38e2046b4f15.png][https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1102021402707628096/1131047781797204018/87d42a64-1f1a-4ba1-a66f-9f3bc4cebf24.png][https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1102021402707628096/1131047782090817667/a9e7c76b-064d-484c-b259-24591a3827a8.png][https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1102021402707628096/1131047782522835106/fe891a44-f35a-4f35-b911-bbee72789832.png][https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1102021402707628096/1131047782988386405/8a0b2036-9d30-4f7d-a138-ef6ea23e9bbe.png][https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1102021402707628096/1131047783378473000/1da02f9b-d8b9-497c-88ae-e85bdd0e2e25.png]
"Any input, folks?" he urges.
"That one," I squeak as he stops on a particularly cozy-looking theatre room. Plus chairs and a sofa circle a coffee table with a big screen tv looming above, enormous speakers framing it on either side. It looks like somewhere I'd like to binge The Walking Dead or the Marvel movies.
The boy locks it in with an extra click and—
Beep.
The white room transforms into the image from the screen. Oh my God. I marvel at the gray velvet-like material of the nearest couch, running my fingers over its silken material. Without hesitation, I plop onto the cushion, propping my feet up on the coffee table and...well, it's as comfortable as it all looks. My back eases against the warm, soft contours.
"This is insane," I admit. I can barely believe my eyes.
"Just wait till we're in the multiplayer game," Dormouse chats eagerly.
"Stop talking about it and just do it," Joy complains, looking far more on edge than the boy, "I don't want to have to be here longer than we need to. In the real Game, we're all surrounded by those God-awful dogs about to get our asses chewed out—"
"Point taken," Dormouse whispers, nodding, "I'll try to put a cap on the nerding out." But his shy smile up at me from underneath his wave of dark hair tells me there's little chance of that.
"Okay, so, next, we'll have to select our avatars for multiplayer mode," the kid begins seriously, wiping his hands on the legs of his white jumpsuit.
"Avatars?" I squint at him.
"Character skins—like a video game," he clarifies, "It'll be the character you play as. I think they already have us set up as teams—yeah, okay—I'll choose first, so I can show you."
He presses a button and a glowing title pops into view again:
***Choose Your Avatar***
He swipes, his bony fingers moving quickly.
And my jaw drops. These aren't just outfits, these are people—people I know. Images of Dormouse, Sparo, me, Joy, Callen, Rainer, Fanboi...even Prickgada pixelate into view as the kid swipes through them, displaying their stats bars and advantages on a righthand menu. I laugh when I see that Joy has 'intimidate enemies' under her list of strengths.
"I was thinking I'd go Rainer for brawn but..." Dormouse hedges, his finger swiping rapidly, "I'm honestly thinking I'll go with Mimi."
I can see why in his face as he stares at her bobbing image on the screen. He's like a puppy dog. His mouth twinges down in the smallest frown as his dark eyes roam over her figure, lighting with...damn, I'd say he's in love.
"She's most efficient in her Portal Guard uniform and has the ability to make portals to transport to different spots within the level. I'll take it," he selects the option as Joy gawks.
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1102021402707628096/1131180318087467038/Atherall_18.jpg]
"Seriously?" the pink-haired girl gripes, "You school-crush boy. What are you going to do, sit on that green-haired bitch with Mimi's 4.0 GPA?" Disgusted, she leans across the screen, easily swiping through the prompts to Dormouse's surprise.
"I choose my own avatar," she blurts, hitting 'select'.
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1102021402707628096/1131180318968266782/Atherall_3.jpg]
"Skilled warrior. I earned every point of that." Her voice is a low growl laced with very little patience as she slumps down to sit on the arm of a nearby chair.
"Yes you did," Dormouse agrees far too readily. It makes me wonder if the kid's not-so-secretly afraid of the girl. "You're next, Rosabella," Dormouse quips, pulling up my screen. And, for some reason, my stomach flutters with the fear of having to decide. I'm not sure I can make the quick, confident choice, like Joy, and pick myself. I'm not sure that, given all of us, choosing myself is even a smart choice.
I'm not strongest.
Fastest.
Most intelligent.
Most of my skill levels are still in the toilet.
I just happen to be Game Maker—like someone slapped me with that tile a long time ago hoping I'd grow into it and the shoes are still too big. I chew on my lip as I swipe through the profiles.
I do take a hurried minute to look at my stats, pretending not to (of course):
'Ability to influence others.'
'Connection with advice and direction from a higher level.'
I quickly swipe away when I see Joy's noticing my sideways glance.
Maude.
Callen.
Dormouse.
It's weird flipping through my friends, like shopping online—like we're all sweaters.
I even see Goran. 'Ability to lie' is listed under his strengths.
You can say that again.
One of the avatars makes me pause though—stop dead in my tracks for a good reason. Sparo stares back at me—egotistical and sporty, shirtless with a pair of dark shades over his eyes. And I wonder what it would be like to be him for a minute.
[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1102021402707628096/1131180318641107074/Atherall_16.jpg]
'Able to negotiate trades smoothly.'
'Experience with firepower.'
'Can transform into dragon at will.'
What would it be like to have the man's easy swagger? It wouldn't be terrible having to look at his cute butt if this works like a regular video game and the POV is right behind the character. I make the decision.
"Sparo," I say. I let Dormouse select it for me.
And I look at all of our characters, lined up there on the enormous, wide screen, side by side: Mimi, Joy, Sparo.
And I smile a little even though my entire body is tenser than I'd ever admit.
"Okay, how do we do this, Dormouse?" I ask.
And the kid raises an eyebrow at me, "Ever played a video game?"
Is he kidding???