Jayden struggled to sleep. Throughout the night, he would pack everything important or useful to what his assignment would be. As the artificial sun rose from the borders of the realm and the clock struck exactly six, he left his home place that didn’t have an address except for vague directions. He had to traverse to the industrial section of Olympus, a place covered in soot and pollution generated from the construction of materials the Order couldn’t get from anywhere else. Yet despite its pollution, anyone outside of the realm would mistake it as a form of organised mess. The Order was like that; it preferred to organise everything down to the milligram of smoke produced from every chimney. It had to control every aspect of production, every node of mobility and industrialisation so it could supply the men and women with the means to defend humanity. If there was a silver lining for Jayden, it was that the temporary home was relatively close by.
The small home was a platform connected to the mainland by a bridge near a broken-down jetty. This looks new, Jayden observed the materials. To him it looked like the house came straight from the assembly line and carried with it the newly made smell. The building was tiny, being around 60 square feet of floor area. It was a single-story building, and from what he could tell, it had its own power system that was separate from the realm’s power grid.
Jayden pushed open the door to see three men sitting around the small kitchen. ‘Hello,’ Jayden awkwardly waved at them, trying to introduce himself.
They all blankly looked at him. It was clear to all of Jayden that none of them wanted to be there. One man approached Jayden to give him a handshake. He was muscular, clean shaven and well-groomed, with a large burn scar above his left eye which made his tanned skin look almost like melted chocolate. ‘Names Hank, I was from the Disposal Unit, Order Horrifica.’ He pointed to a large man with sunglasses and a blond bushy beard before he pointed at a skinny man wearing a black AC/DC shirt. ‘This is Gorgie, he’s a technician, Order Discovery. The skinny guy is Dameo, he came from the Spiritual Science Department, Order Magica. You must be Jayden, right?’
Jayden gave Hank a smile and a nod, ‘One and only. I suppose you are all part of this new unit as well?’
‘Aren’t you a fast one?’ A short woman with red hair walked into the building. Everyone stepped out of the way as she made her way to the other side of the complex. She was the Order Horrifica’s representative, or as Jayden knew her as Gloria. Gloria eyed everyone and examined their equipment and clothing before she scoffed at them. ‘I wouldn’t want to gather any of you for this mission or revive a unit of the Butterfly Legion after it was declared extinct.’
‘Ma’am we…’
Before Hank could finish, Gloria raised a single hand to shut him up. ‘I want to make this clear. You are all a disgrace to those who came before you. I loathe the thought that some of the laziest and unfit members of the Order are tasked with something this sensitive. But for some reason, the council deemed all of you necessary due to your skills and… hobbies. I just hope they got the right people for the job.’
She pulled out a key and unlocked the door next to her to what was supposed to be the living room. Inside was an old couch with boxes of files and documents on top, a small TV that was connected to nothing except to a white Xbox 360, and on the console were stickers of Disney characters like Mickey, Buzz, and Wall-E. ‘Before I start, Gloria continued. ‘I want to preface that you will stay in this building until you complete the task, or you are all dead. Only one device will be connected to the internet, and it will be the authorised located computer in your shared bedroom. If you leave without my permission, you will be charged with desertion and executed.’
Hank gulped at the sight of the console after he placed two fingers by his temple. ‘Is that the threat?’
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Gloria nodded in response, ‘the game inside the gaming console is the monster you have to deal with. We captured it after it killed its recent victim.’ She gestured to the box of documents on the couch. ‘The rest of the details are in those boxes. I don’t know the exact details about the monster since the knowledge of the creature is deemed to be dangerous by the people who captured the monster. All I know is the game the monster is pretending to be is a copy of Fallout: New Vegas.’
Dameo raised his hand like he was a high school student before he asked a question. ‘Why are we needed? Would it be easier to just destroy the game or console?’
Gloria frowned, ‘if it was that easy, we wouldn’t be talking.’ Jayden could’ve heard her call Dameo a “fuck-wit” when she mumbled under her breath. ‘Destroying the disk or the console does nothing. All it will achieve is the monster would transport itself into a different physical copy of the game. Exorcism doesn’t work either, all that would do is waste valuable resources and time. However, if I can guess without risking myself, the previous members of the unit decided the creature was a potential threat to humanity and needs to be exterminated. Normally I would have the best magic users to deal with this, but the notes by your forbearers of the VHS Readers requested gamers to do the job.’
Jayden crossed his arms and raised a brow. ‘Will we have any additional resources?’
‘Everything you need is in those boxes. If you need additional supplies, we’ll have someone pick up your mail,’ Gloria replied before she pointed to Hank. ‘If the threat is a physical entity, he has access to a gun.’
‘Should we all have access to some sort of weapons?’ Gorgie asked, his high pitch voice that was almost feminine caught Jayden by surprise.
‘No offence, but I wouldn’t trust anyone from the Order Magica or the Order Discovery to hold a gun safely when they spent most of their time inside an office building.’ Gloria examined Gorgie, ‘and it is clear that you and everyone else besides Hank could pass the fitness exam.’
‘What’s with the sudden hostility? You need us, but what I have gathered is you hate our guts.’ Jayden foolishly asked, wanting to understand why he was brought there even though.
Gloria approached him, standing near his face. ‘I lost three competent operators trying to defeat this creature. I have a list of far more capable men, women, and non-binary folk competent enough to complete the task, but are all over the world fighting horrors that you only have the luxury of knowing from the weekly reports we post in the newsletter. My issue, Walker, is I have to put my trust in people I barely have faith in on something this sensitive. Don’t think that our first interaction resolves you from my frustration.’ Gloria took a step back and examined everyone else in the room. ‘You are all just desperate measures, even Hank here is.’
‘I fought…’
‘You are a washout, and an idiot compared to everyone else in this room.’ Gloria hissed at Hank. ‘The only reason you are here is because we are part of the same Order, and I trust you more compared to everyone else here. But I dare not waste my time here any more than I need to. The moment I leave this building and remove the bridge connecting you to the mainland, better be the moment you get working. Am I clear?’
Everyone gave her a nod of acknowledgement and a “yes ma’am,” from Hank. Without saying a word, she marched out of the room and slammed the door behind her. Despite the building having no windows, they all could hear the bridge being pulled away from them. Well, that is some kind of bitch. Jayden thought to himself.