Chapter 121
Squantum, Massachusetts - Earth
Brian and his roommate Kevin were both on the couch, bags of snacks in hand. The room wasn't large. Space required money, something that the two young men lacked for the most part. The couch was old but comfortable, a find the two had seen as they were driving to the movies over a year ago. Kevin had insisted they stop for it as it looked to be in great condition.
Brian, the more uptight of the two, had complained about the possibility of bugs, or mystery stains. Once they had gotten the couch on to their truck though Brian had to admit that the couch was in really good condition. Great even. It had sat on the back of their truck until the movie was over, then they brought it home with them.
That had been last year. Since then the couch had become their favorite spot, and the two spent most nights seated on its cushions while browsing the internet or watching television.
The screen in front of them was a 55 inch television, and one of the few things in the apartment that had cost any real money. Its picture was crisp, even at that moment the two room mates were watching their new favorite show Jay's Eden in glorious 4k clarity with UHD and a wide color spectrum, not to mention the silky smooth 120Hz refresh rate.
The two munched on their snacks as they watched Jay climb down a rope to join a waiting Dagg on the television screen.
“Is this the first episode?” Brian asked and Kevin nodded.
“Yea, I love this one. Dagg is such a jerk.” Kevin replied.
“I don't think he's a jerk. He just makes every word count.” Brian insisted.
“Shh. The part where he triggers his first trap is coming up!” Kevin hissed and Brian went quiet.
They watched the television for a time before it faded to black and the two knew there was a commercial break. Kevin ran for the bathroom before Brian could even move. There was only one bathroom and the toilet only occasionally worked. They made frequent use of their plunger.
Brian sighed as he was left alone. He really needed to use the bathroom. The next commercial began to play as he crossed his legs.
“Attention all fans of Jay's Eden! What if Eden weren't just a show, but a real game world you could play? Now that we have your attention we would like to introduce a new piece of gaming hardware unlike any you have ever experienced before.” The announcer wasn't visible on the screen, instead a tanning bed floated in a sea of black.
It wasn't actually a tanning bed Brian realized as it opened to show the helmet one would wear.
“A player merely wears this helmet over their heads, lies down in the bed with their neck against the support, and moments later their minds will be transported to Eden.”
The tanning bed opened and the helmet rose in to the air and rotated so that the viewer could inspect it from all angles.
“These Gaming Beds can not be just purchased however! Over the next few days we will be releasing more information on how you may enter to win an opportunity to qualify for one of these units. We will also be releasing more information about Eden. We know that there has been a lot of talk about whether or not Eden is a real game or not.”
The announcer paused for a moment. The screen changed to show a fly through of a dungeon. Brian recognized it as Peril House. He loved that episode. He loved all of the episodes. The screen switched to an overhead of K'tharkle City before the view swooped down to fly through its streets.
“Eden is very much real, exactly as you have viewed it, every episode. Jay in the Traveler's Dungeon, Jay running his first live dungeon, or eating his first meal – those all really happened exactly as you saw it.”
Another pause.
“Jay is real.”
The screen went black before three words appeared in gold on a black background.
“Eden is real.”
The screen faded to black and a moment later a commercial for a berry cereal began to play but Brian was already moving. He leapt up from the couch and ran the short distance to his bedroom to get his laptop. He narrowly avoided tripping over a pile of dirty laundry. He turned the computer on as he sat back on the couch and waited for it to boot up.
Finally he opened up a web browser and did a search for “Jay's Eden.”
The internet was already blowing up with discussions over the commercial and what it might mean. Was it a prank? A marketing scam? Was the commercial a fake commercial that was just part of the show?
Brian skimmed the posts but found them mostly useless. Thinking hard he tapped the surface of his laptop with one finger over and over again. Something about the end of the commercial stuck with him. Eden is real.
Moving his hands back to the keyboard Brian typed the phrase in and moved his mouse cursor to the search button. Anyone could have typed the phrase in, but Brian did type the phrase in. With one finger he clicked the mouse button and the search triggered.
The results were a mix of websites about ancient origins of humans as a species and wikipedia pages. Brian did something he almost never did, he clicked on to the second page of search results.
Halfway down to the bottom he saw it. It was another search result just like the others but with much simpler content. It was a single line of text.
“Eden is real. -Jay”
There was nothing else listed. He clicked the link and it brought him to edenisreal.com but the website was blank. Just a black background. He used a keyboard shortcut to select-all but nothing else showed on the webpage. Moments later his computer froze and stopped working entirely. Brian sighed and set his computer down on the floor. Stupid computer. He needed a new one probably. He had found something, but what?
Kevin appeared in the room again and Brian excitedly explained what had happened. At first Kevin thought that Brian was lying or joking but after Kevin got his own laptop he was able to find a copy of the commercial that had just aired and went quiet after watching it.
Once Kevin found the video Brian ran to the bathroom. He could only hold it for so long, no matter how exciting a real Eden might be.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“There's nothing here!” Kevin yelled from the living room.
Brian yelled back, “It was edenisreal.com – make sure you didn't misspell it.”
Kevin was quiet for a moment but then yelled back, “It says they're having trouble finding that site. I don't think that is a real website bro.”
Brian shook his head as he finished his business. “I'm telling you, there was a website there. I saw it and then my computer crashed.”
“Sounds spooky.” Kevin joked from the living room.
Brian washed his hands as Kevin continued to tease him from the living room.
“You probably clicked on the wrong link or something.” Kevin yelled.
An old Michael Jackson song began to play and Kevin sighed. “Dude. Can't you change your ring tone?”
Brian shrugged, “I've tried. This thing is a piece of crap, it always changes back to this song.”
Brian accepted the call. “Hello?”
“Yes, Brian?” asked a kind sounding female voice.
“Yes?” Brian answered while giving Kevin a confused look.
The call disconnected. Brian looked at his cellphone in confusion and ended the call.
“That was weird.” Brian said.
“Who was it from?” Kevin asked.
Brian looked at the cell phone. “000-000-0000”
“Oh well that isn't spooky at all.” Kevin said and laughed.
They watched one more episode that night. It was Jay's first day at the Adventurer's Guild. Kevin hooted in appreciation when Jay was introduced to Aiden. Aiden was Kevin's favorite character.
After the show ended the two went to their separate rooms and passed out cold. It was past midnight and the two fell asleep almost instantly.
----
“How many?” asked a man wearing a pristine black suit with a green tie.
They were in a bunker of sorts cluttered with computer screens and terminals. Not a real bunker, but the room had the feel of one due to the low ceilings and raised flooring which allowed more wiring to be routed around the room without it being in the way.
“Sixty four unique users visited the site before Alice brought it offline.” answered a young blond haired woman wearing a gray skirt and white blouse.
“That's a lot of contestants.” the man answered.
The blonde haired woman shrugged and adjusted her skirt. “They won't all make it. Some will quit on their own, some will be disqualified for their personalities, and others will have commitments they can't ignore. Not to mention the medical drops.”
The man made a hrmm sound and nodded, “What's our compatibility percentage at right now?”
The woman shook her head, “Sixty three.”
The man sighed, “Not great. Hopefully with these new users we can fine tune things enough to raise that number. I'd be happier with something in the 90's.”
“Do we have confirmations on any of the sixty four?” the man asked.
The woman tapped a screen before hammering away at a nearby keyboard.
“Out of 64 respondents only 12 answered the follow up cellphone call test.” she answered.
“No one wants to answer a call from a strange all zeros phone number.” The man said with a smile.
The woman shook her head, “Only the adventurous would answer you mean.”
The man smiled, “Exactly. Those are our adventurers, seekers, the ones who aren't put off by the unknown.”
“It seems silly – using a phone call as a test.” the woman said carefully.
“It's only one test. There will be many more don't worry.” the man admitted with a smile. “You should go get some sleep. We only have hours before on-boarding begins.”
The woman smiled and nodded and excused herself and walked off to her office. It wouldn't be the first time she had slept there.
----
A hammering at the apartment door woke Brian out of a sound sleep. Staggering a bit he wandered to the front door in his underwear and white socks and opened it.
“Yes?” he asked confidently. A bit too confidently for someone standing in nothing but his underwear and socks.
A moment later he realized what he was wearing and hid his body behind the half opened door.
“Is Brian here?” asked the man in front of him. The man wore a red vest over a white shirt along with black dress pants and shoes that were so polished they shined.
Brian had begun to become wary but was too tired to be cagey. “I'm Brian.”
The man nodded, “Brian, I am going to tell you something once and only once. After I tell you that something I am going to leave and you will either come with me or not. You will not be allowed to pack or bring anything, nor will you be allowed time to make any arrangements of any kind. You will have to decide in the moment. Are you ready?”
Brian wasn't sure if was still dreaming or not things had gotten so weird and Brian pinched himself just to be sure. It hurt, a lot. Yup. He was awake, he thought to himself. “I'm ready?” he asked more than stated to the man in front of him.
The man shrugged, delivery didn't count as long as Brian said he was ready. “You have been chosen by The Company to be one of the first to be allowed in to our new world. Come with me if you want to visit Eden.”
That was all. He refused to answer any of Brian's questions. The conversation had gotten a bit loud and Kevin woke up and wandered over to find out what the commotion was all about.
“What the hell is going on?” Kevin demanded.
“I am leaving. Whether you come with me or not will be your answer.” the man said simply, turned, and walked away from the apartment door.
Brian looked at Kevin who looked completely confused. Brian thought about his life. His dead-end job. His manager that forced him to do the job of three people. His dingy apartment. What was he staying for?
Finally Brian made his decision. “I have to go Kevin. I'll tell you more when I can!”
Brian ran out of the apartment in his underwear. As he ran he was thankful for his socks. As he left the apartment complex he finally caught up to the man in the red vest who had stopped in front of a limousine. The man was holding the back door open and motioned Brian to get in.
Thinking that this must be either one of the stupidest things he'd ever done or one of the most brilliant he shrugged it off and got in the limo. The man in the red vest followed him in to the vehicle and the door shut with a click. Almost soundlessly the vehicle pulled smoothly in to traffic and quickly disappeared in to the distance.