Chapter 03 [arc zero]

Karilyn felt like she was going to scream. The twenty-two-year-old shook as she looked at the display case. She had, against her better judgment, camped outside the store with hundreds of others. The pale-skinned woman bounced up and down excitedly as she ran. After years of waiting for its official release, it was here. She pushed past another shopper, giving a fast-paced apology as she opened the case. Before anyone could tackle her, the woman grabbed a copy of the game inside. Like a baby, she cradled it to her chest and made her way to the checkout line. Behind the brunette, she heard other shoppers tripping over themselves to do the same. She smiled uncontrollably.

"Death Becomes Her" had been in development hell for twenty-five years. They had released ten different teaser trailers over time, with the graphics improving with each one. Character names changed, and the setting went from urban fantasy with light sci-fi to a full-blown dystopia. The twenty-two-year-old heard about the game from her roommate, who was watching a game released on the live stream. The first official trailer for the current version of the game dropped and her house was filled with screaming. When she came out of the shower, dripping wet and angry to ask what was happening, she saw it.

'Finally, I have it.' While her wait hadn't been as long as others, she was still excited. Her legs were trembling as the line slowly moved.

When the game's release date was announced, she planned to buy it with her roommate. The older woman had to change plans at the last minute, so she came alone. But the dark-haired shut swore to come to play when she got off work. They would both have copied, so Karilyn wasn't worried. She grinned the entire wait and slept in a tent-like everyone else. Now that she was in the checkout line, her chest felt tight. The anxiety of wanting to play mixed with the excitement. It made her stomach feel extremely queasy. If she didn't check out and get home soon, she'd lose it.

The chaos of people fighting over the remaining copies was ignored as she moved up. Someone cursed as their bag ripped and they took it out on the staff. Seeing it made her bite her tongue, she wanted to tell the customer to fuck off. But she knew it was better to stay out of it. The cashier whose line she was in looked sweaty as she watched the ordeal, too. The poor, overworked teenager had been under pressure from tons of hyped-up gamers. Seeing this, Karilyn tried to calm herself, to not scare the woman further. This made the brunette give her the copy with a hello.

"How are you doing today?" The teenager's voice was wobbly as she took the copy. With a poor grip, she swiped and bagged it.

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Karilyn watched her start to ring up the rest of her things. She had brought some snack items to hold her over till grocery shopping day. "I guess I'm doing pretty great. How are you handling this?"

A humorless laugh left the cashier's mouth. "I'm taking it all in. It's my first day working, so it's a lot, but not too much." She doubled the bag before being handed over to her.

When the twenty-two-year-old grabbed the bag from her, she noticed something weird. The teen who previously was shaking in her boots suddenly froze. Her eyes became weirdly spaced out, and she sluggishly started to ring up the person behind her things. The behavior made the brunette stressed, and she hesitated when walking away. The woman wondered if the teenager was having some sort of seizure or anxiety attack. Her lips pursed together as she debated saying anything. She was forced to move when the next customer yelled at her to get out of the way.

Suddenly, the cashier dropped the jar of food she was holding. It tumbled to the ground and shattered into thousands of pieces as she shook. Her eyes rolled back into her head as the man she was ringing up screamed. Karylin covered her mouth with her hand as she watched in terror. The teenager was having a full-blown seizure, her body collapsing to the ground as she groaned. It got worse when she went on her back. People began to scream for help and someone said that they were going to call the paramedics.

By now, the rest of the store had heard the commotion that was happening up front. They all were terrified. Shoppers stared in complete shock, abandoning their carts to try to figure out what was wrong. The other workers, who looked around the same age as the cashier, ran over. They tried to lift her off the ground and one stupidly tried CPR until someone screamed at them to stop. Foamed-up spit was coming from her mouth and spilled onto her shirt.

A mother covered the eyes of her children and turned them away, screaming. “Somebody help her, for god's sake!”

The cash registers started flickering, their screens crashing and rebooting repeatedly. "What's going on with the registers—AH FUCK!" One of the other cashiers screamed, holding their hand close.

At this, the brunette stumbled backward. Her stomach was turning as she realized the power cashier was bleeding. The cash register had electrocuted them and she could smell smoke. It was sparking to the point she thought it might explode. Her adrenaline kicked in and she left, the chaos unfolding into madness. Whatever was happening was insanity, and she had to get away. She hoped that someone called 911 and got the seizing girl some help. But for now, she had to leave.

Hurrying away, she waited for a bus to come. She tried to get the image of the girl out of her head and rubbed at her eyes. The twenty two-year-old’s legs jumped up and down as she sat on the bus stop bench, feeling ill. Her mind kept going back to the switch that happened when the bag was handed over. A wave of guilt overcame her mind, and she wished she could have done something to stop it.