“…and despite minor setbacks, I’m glad to announce that the flight of ‘Svarog’ will proceed as planned, in a month’s time on the anniversary of Commonwealth’s reformation. On that day, the tenth of May 2074, exactly fifty years ago, our three countries decided to forego their—”
Click.
He turned to his father who now held a remote, his intentions obvious, as channels changed one by one. “ Why did you change it? It was getting interesting,” he said with an irritated voice. Sure, president Kuzma could get overly…excited when talking about Commonwealth, but it was still important news! They finally will send their own space mission to Mars for God’s sake!
His father didn’t answer until on the TV was some new film he couldn’t recall the name of. A book adaptation if he remembered correctly.
“Dariusz,” he started, his tone surprisingly serious. “Do you really want to listen to that political babble rather than do…you know, something useful, like get wasted? Oh, woe is me! To think that I would raise my only son so poorly.” Dad finished with a melodramatic sigh, as if ashamed of himself for his parental failure.
It wasn’t funny after nth time, but Dariusz still chuckled. Probably after hearing similar ‘tirades’ so often it became a reflex. Or his sense of humour simply was terrible, could be too. “No, but it’s still important, Dad. Mars mission, we are one step closer to colonizing another planet!” Alright, he might be a little too enthusiastic, but still.
“And the reason you couldn’t simply search for that info on the net?”
Uh…
“Speaking of, what’d happened for you to even come down? It couldn’t be to watch the TV with me, could it?” And now Dad was suspicious of him. Great. C’mon Dariusz, you can salvage this.
“Is it so weird that I want to spend my time with you?” None of them looked convinced at that. Obviously. What the hell, man?
“I take it I don’t have to comment what I think about it, right?”
“Yeah, yeah. I just wanted to…you know, take a little break from the workshop.” Sure, it wasn’t anything big, but it still wasn’t an easy thing to ask his dad for. Dariusz knew Dad would agree without any problem, but an illogical part of him was afraid he would disappoint his father.
Plus, he technically was Dariusz employer. Still was stupid, though.
And so thought Dad judging by the face he made. “ That’s it?”
He nodded. “ Yeah, for around…two weeks? Maybe a little more? I’m not sure yet.” And what a glorious break it would be.
“Alright. I have to ask though, why now?” Dad looked genuinely curious, which shocked Dariusz. He…he couldn’t have forgotten, right? His father was the biggest roleplay junkie he has ever known, to forget about the release of possibly the most amazing VRMMO to ever exist?
So he waited for a few seconds, expecting some ‘just kidding’ moment, but to no avail. Alright, Dad is going to get seriously pissed at himself for this. “Project Revelations.”
Project Revelations. The most anticipated video game since…who knows, really. A state of the art, it was the first of its kind to use the recently released commercial version of Full Immersion Sarcophagus—usually abbreviated to either ‘FIS’ or ‘Sarc’—allowing a truly unique and, more importantly, realistic experience no game could before.
And by realistic he didn’t mean just amazing graphics; it was a whole new living and breathing world, with its own history, cultures, and languages. And the most important part to both Dariusz and his dad? The main philosophy of the team behind PR, DEM Entertainment, was to ‘remind players what RP stand for in RPG’. No endless grind, optimal classes and skills, the only one way to progress the story et cetera; every player would be the main character of their very own story, one that could lead anywhere depending on their actions. A game that rewarded first and foremost creativity…well, they both fell in love with the concept when they heard about it.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Which is Dariusz wasn’t surprised when he saw his father’s face slowly pale, and his eyes lose any lustre they had before as if he didn’t have any will to live anymore. “Fuck,” he finally murmured.
Overdramatic, but he could understand. “You took on a commission recently?” He wouldn’t be surprised; when Dad focuses and his work, he always gives his all, spending most of his time until an order is finished. Which can result in situations like this, unfortunately
He merely nodded.
“How important?” Maybe he could simply leave it to—ah, what was he saying/ There was no way it wasn’t a big deal judging from his reaction.
Dad closed his eyes, slowly inhaled through his nose and then sighed. After a moment he looked at Dariusz again. “Very. Wedding rings for an Italian corporate oligarch. Just stared in fact.” He smiled despite his resigned expression.
“I…well, fuck.” Really, what else was he supposed to say? It was huge, even more so since it was an order from goddamn Italy out of all places. His father was a great goldsmith—he had to if he wanted to stay in business considering all the mechanisation—but commisions from abroad were still rare, and one from Italy, one of the few places where goldsmiths still are popular, was even more surprising.
On the other hand, Dad is probably the best goldsmith in the entire Commonwealth—it’s time for him to finally get the respect he deserves.
Dad chuckled. “Yeah. Pretty unique pieces at that. Oh well.” He stood up and stretched for a second, before sending Dariusz a wry smile. “Pretty sure your mother also forgot ‘bout PR, so at least I won’t be alone in my suffering. Eh, I guess the faster I work the earlier I could play?”
“Just…don’t overwork yourself, Dad. We don’t want you to collapse from exhaustion again.” It’d happened, more times than he’d like in fact. Which would be zero times, but alas, his father was too invested in his work sometimes.
Dad’s expression lightened and he smiled warmly. “Don’t worry kid, I won’t. Too important. Heh, I just hope you’ll be ready to work doubly as hard as before to get back in shape. I wouldn’t want you to stop at being only a journeyman, you know?”
“Ha, as if. I’m a Zargar, goldsmithing is in our blood.” Literally. That’s how his family on Dad’s side got their surname, after all.
He heard the door open. Huh, Mum’s earlier than usual; it was only five p.m. Well, he won’t complain. After a short moment, she entered the living room.
He still couldn’t understand how his parents could be in their late forties and still look almost twenty years younger. Wait no, it could be some cosmetics now that he thought about it. Or magic, either of.
She was fairly short, pale complexion with green eyes and long, dark blonde hair cascading down her back, still in shape despite—though one could argue exactly because of—being a lawyer. Dad looked much more out of place, on the other hand—tall, almost two meters high, brown eyed with a darker skin befitting his ancestry, and short, black hair.
“Eliza.” Dad didn’t let Mum say anything, she only took one step into the room, and he instantly turned towards her with a grim expression. Looks like it’s the time for re—no, he would not make that pun. It was terrible.
“Y-yes? Something’s happened Kurosh?”
“Project Revelations.”
Time stopped. His parents both looked at each other with blank faces, neither allowing to show any emotion in front of the other. It started to feel awkward.
Then his mother sighed, clearly irritated. “And here I thought I would have a nice day…But no, of course not. Great. When is it going to launch?” They both looked at him then.
Oh. He thought they would remember at least that piece of information after getting reminded of PR. No big deal, it’s not like it’s anything important. He rolled his eyes at that. “Monday eight p.m, so two days from now.”
“And I’m going to get buried with work in the next week…Ah, whatever. Come here Dariusz,” she finished with arms wide open.
Hey, he may be twenty but you don’t say no to your mother’s hugs no matter the age.
“And before you start complaining, you too Kurosh.”
“Heh, you know me too well.”
Though small, his family was unique with a story befitting them; it’s not always that lovers meet at a cemetery, after all. ‘Romantic, if morbid’ his father often says.
“By the way Dariusz, I’ve met a really nice young lady that you would like.”
Why. God, why hath thou forsaken me?
Mom laughed and Dad soon joined here. “If we two have to suffer son, then you have too.”
Yes, he definitely loves his family.