“You see,” the feminine voice continued, “the two of you are dead.”
“What do you mean, we’re dead?” Calista snapped. “We made it through this whole thing without dying. We’re not dead. We’re standing in a pool of water in some creepy room with a creepy burning doorway. So don’t give me some weird cryptic message about a second life, okay? We’ve been through hell to get here.”
“Yeah,” Lefty looked up at the ceiling, “I mean we can’t log out, we feel pain we shouldn’t feel, and we fight monsters who feel way too real to be in a game. This doesn’t feel like virtual reality anymore, so if you need us to step through this doorway, then you need to give us something a little more concrete.”
The voice cleared her throat. “If the two of you would just listen for a moment, that is exactly what I’m going to do.” This was followed by the sound of shuffling papers. “Alright, as I was saying … the two of you are dead. Very dead, in fact. Calista, your real-life body died of a stroke last night shortly after you logged back in. Don’t worry, your cat has been taken care of as your neighbor heard its incessant meowing at your doorway because it hadn’t been fed.”
Calista’s jaw fell open as more papers shuffled.
“Lefty, you’ve been dead for quite some time now as it seems that you … well, it doesn’t quite say. Cause of death unknown. Hrm … that’s quite unfortunate. Normally I’m able to provide at least some sort of explanation for our new arrivals. A sense of closure, if you will. I’m actually very sorry for that.”
Lefty was incredulous. “What do you mean we’re dead!?!”
“I mean that you’re dead. You’ve moved on. Your physical bodies have ceased functioning. You’ve kicked the bucket. You’ve passed on. Faded away. You’re feeding the worms … actually, I don’t know that either of you has been buried yet, but I’m sure that you will be soon. Closure for the loved ones and all that. Anyhow … where was I … Oh, yes. There. You’re pushing up daisies. You’ve passed on. You’ve left this mortal coil. You’ve bit the big one. You’ve cashed in your chips. You’re out of business. You’ve gone to a better place. Wait … that one’s up for debate, isn’t it? Well, anyway … have you gotten the point?”
“We died while playing a damned video game?” Lefty cried.
“Yes. Quite.” The voice said sharply. “As you may or may not have noticed by now, your memories of your past lives have faded from your mind. This is an unfortunate side affect of our long-range consciousness download system. As such, it cannot be avoided, so don’t waste your time worrying about it. As for your new lives, you should consider yourselves lucky. As a result of your being selected for our next class, you will find that your consciousnesses have been transferred into the game avatars that you are now inhabiting. I believe that if the two of you think about it, you’ll find that this is preferable to the alternative.”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Calista still could not talk. Her mouth hung open as she listened to the bodiless voice. As many strange things as she had encountered in this terrible place, she was in no way prepared for this.
Lefty, however, was a different story. “What the hell do you mean, we’ve been selected for the next class.”
“It means that your deaths were predicted by our super advanced algorithms which were developed by our super advanced developers for the largest gaming corporation in our entire super-advanced intergalactic civilization. You may be familiar with their name: Concept. You know Concept as a shady, greedy, money-grubbing, blood sucking corporation based in Seattle. They’re not. They’re actually a shady, greedy, money grubbing, blood sucking corporation based out of Ursa Minoris Nine and Three Quarters, which is a planet that they own outright. The company, which is owned by one Mister Gage, has been watching your planet for the last decade and during that time Concept has been carefully selecting certain players they felt were qualified to pass on to the next iteration of the real Sable Unlimited.”
Shocked, Lefty shouted, “So Concept killed us so we could play their stupid game?”
“Oh no, not at all,” the voice explained. “Our algorithms simply predicted your deaths and used our subliminal messaging within the game to make certain you were online when your deaths happened. You were selected, not killed. You should feel honored as only the most skilled and entertaining players are allowed to pass on to the next world.”
Calista finally found herself able to think. Something about all this didn’t quite add up to her yet. Something she hadn’t been able to put her finger on until now. “What do you mean by entertaining?”
The voice let out a tired sigh. “I mean that your involvement in Sable Unlimited will be monitored by any and all throughout the galaxy who wishes to watch your stream. I mean that you will be celebrities. You will be famous as Sable Unlimited is the most popular reality show in all of the Universe.” When neither of them answered, the voice continued. “So, after you pass through this door you will find the final gateway that will take you to the real world that is Wraath. Unfortunately, there are only a few items that you will be allowed to take with you, and no you do not get to pick. Miss Stricthaven, I believe you have the key.”
And she did. As she walked forward, she selected the bone key from her inventory. Reaching the door, she found it had a single keyhole made of darkness. She looked at Lefty and he looked at her. Neither of them said anything. Something very strange had happened. Something unexplainable. Something both terrible and wonderful. And now they were here. She pressed the key into the slot and turned.
In a flash of light, they were teleported. No longer were they underground, but were now standing on a mountaintop. Fields, forests, rivers, streams, and plains stretched out before them. It was a new world. And before them stood a black iron door.
The voice returned, polite and feminine. “Before you stands the last doorway. You may not think you have the key, but you do. There is only one secret here and that is the secret of a new life. Welcome to Wraath.”
This was followed by the sound of a microphone being turned off. Calista again looked to Lefty. The mage shuddered as he looked at the door.
“I never imagined I’d move on to any kind of afterlife,” he said.
“Neither did I.”
A warm moment passed between them then as they stood there looking out at the world below the mountain. Something large was flying over the treetops in the distance. Below, farmers were working a field. Down the largest river, a boat was sailing.
And on the horizon, the sun was setting.
Finally, Calista turned to the black iron door. No traditional keyhole greeted her here. There was just a slot about as tall as her hand and as wide as a … sword.
She drew her sword out slowly. The Emberblade gleamed golden in the fading sunlight. With a last glance at Lefty, she pressed the blade into the slot, and then all went dark.