The End of the Road
It was 2023 and the point of life was to work.
At least, that’s what Warren’s parent believed and what Warren Geron lived by. They were always working, to the point that Warren all but lived by himself, only seeing them as they came and left the house. They rarely even had time to take him to school, usually hiring a driver. Even for his sixteenth birthday, Warren only received cash and a tie. He recognized the tie from his father wearing it the day before.
He was eighteen now. Sports and games were forbidden, he was only allowed books. He stayed in the house, a large two story building, and did his homework each day. Then, he would read any books he could get from the library around the corner. Warren knew that his parents' plan was to have him get a job as a lawyer after he went to college, where he would then marry a woman who had a high paying job, and live life like his parents did, but he tried not to think of it. He hid it behind his mask of icy calm like he parents had taught him to.
Their plan was shattered one day on the way to school. It was a rare occasion, where he and his parents had been leaving at the same time, them in a rush to get to a meeting and him on him to school, so they took the same car. The area was worked on by construction workers. One sharp turn, a popped wheel from some dropped nails, and a slide into the construction zone later, there was an explosion. It didn't really matter how it happened. There was only one thing that did.
He had died.
He was quite certain about it. Everything had gone dark and he had wondered what had happened, but now there was a light. He blinked and everything turned white. He was standing in a room, a white room, with a black table and man in a suit sitting across from him.
“Please, take a seat, Warren.” the man said, shifting in his seat.
Warren sat, staring at the man. A minute, two minutes passed in silence, before the man broke it.
“Well, don’t you have any questions?” the man asked, perturbed. He hadn't dealt with a kid like Warren before, who was as silent and pale as a ghost.
“Not particularly. I’m dead after all.” Warren replied, watching the man. He dressed alike to his father and that meant this was business. He wondered if it had to do with his soul or something else.
“Warren, you aren't dead. You’re alive and in the hospital, even as we speak.”
Warren blinked once at this, then returned to his cold expression.
“Then what’s this, then?” Warren asked, gesturing at the room, empty aside from them and the furniture.
“This,” the man replied “is the Loading Room. But first, let me explain the situation.”
The man in the suit took a deep breath, preparing to deliver some bad news.
“Warren, you were badly hurt in the accident. The most serious was 3rd and 4th degree burns, along with a leg and several ribs broken. There was a concussion and other various minor injuries, but they weren't as dangerous. Unfortunately, your parents died on the spot at the accident, while you lucky that nothing is permanent aside from scarring. I’m sorry…” the man said, speaking in the manner of someone trying to break it to him fast as possible, like ripping off a band aid.
Warren was silent, absorbing the news. He had a firm grip on his emotions, so nothing showed on his pale face at the man’s words.
“You've gotten treatment, but you haven’t woken up. It’s been several months. So we decided to try something different: we hooked you up to a VR pod.” The man continued, his face beginning to get worried at his continued silence
“VR pod? As in one of the up and coming virtual reality game, Shattered, made by Crescere?” interrupted Warren, his face lighting up despite himself. He had heard of it, boasting of a 97% realism and 33% pain conversion, with secret classes and secret jobs, on top of having a top-grade AI in charge of it. He had always wanted to play such a game, but he had never expected to actually be able to do so.
“Well, yes. I’m Mr. Yeorn, I work for Crescere. The construction site you crashed into was ours, a game center in the making. So, we felt this was the least we could do. You can take part as a player; we've given you a free life-time subscription.” The man said, surprised at Warren’s reaction. The cold faced boy had suddenly become a lively teenager. Realizing this, Warren’s face once more reverted back to its icy calm from before.
Warren had no friends, now no family, it was already paid for, and he didn't have anything else to do. His life had been dashed to pieces and he seriously doubted his parents had planned for anything like this. There was nothing to hold him here, while there he could be anything.
“When do I start?”
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Yeorn sighed in relief, he hadn’t known how this kid would answer. He began to explain things in more detail to him.
“Well, there are some conditions…”
The kid raised his eyes at that, an expression on his face that could freeze a man’s soul, but Yeorn plunged on, braving those eyes
“…mainly the starting races and that we get to monitor you as you go.”
Hearing such simple things, the cold lessened in the kid’s eyes, but a hint remained, as if to hurry Yeorn along
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“Basically, you’re going to be testing out a new race. They’re pretty good, and if all goes well, they’ll be added, but you’ll be the first players to try them, though there’s a small chance to be set to one of the normal starting races.”
“Players?” the kid repeated
“Yes, players. They’ll each be doing a new race, like you, while we monitor them. But, there’s another catch: you don’t get to choose your race. It’s randomly selected by the AI, not even we know what you’ll start as or what skills and abilities you’ll get from it, aside what we know from NPCs. I’d advise you pay attention to whatever lore you can find, it can affect you a lot.”
“How so?”
“Like if you read books on dragons that say that have a weak spot behind their ears, then later you can strike there for a critical hit, while if you don’t read it wouldn’t count it even if you do hit it.” Yeorn explained
“Sounds reasonable. When do I start?” asked Warren
“Right now. You were the last to agree.” He said as he snapped his fingers, sending Warren to the larger Loading room, with the rest of the testers. With the boy gone, Yeorn sighed in relief and sagged in his chair.
“God, that boy will be something else in game.” Yeorn murmured
“Really?” a woman’s voice rang out in the empty room, causing him to jump
“Damn it, Marcy, don’t do that. You know I hate that. When’d you get here anyways?” Yeorn complained
“I came as soon as you finished. So, what’s different about him, anyways?” Marcy asked, ignoring Yeorn’s complaint
“He’s like a corpse, with that pale face and expressionless mask.” Yeorn replied, shuddering
“You scare too easy, Yeorn. Let’s get back to the group, so they can select their races.”
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Warren blinked as he suddenly appeared at the back of another room, one looking like a theater with four other people, who stared at him as he stared back. Nobody spoke to one another, an awkward silence in the air, before a short guy with brown hair stepped forward.
“Hi, I’m Carl, this is Eve, Layla, and Harold.” He said, pointing to each person in turn. Warren examined them. Carl was brown haired and was built like a bear. Eve was tiny, energetic, and black haired, looking like she was about to take off sprinting and bouncing off the walls. Layla looked like she’d join Eve in running, but to get away from everyone, she was slender and shy with black hair. Harold, though looked like a gift to girls everywhere, tall, muscular, tanned, with golden hair and blue eyes. Warren disliked him almost instantly, though he didn't know why.
“I’m Warren.” he replied
“So how were you selected? I won a race, Carl won a competition, and Harold was asked to join.” Layla asked, while Harold puffed up with pride.
“They asked if I’d join. I agreed to.” Warren replied shortly
“Hey, there’s no need to be rude! Apologize to Layla now!” Harold said, leaping on a chance to look like a good guy in front of the girls
“Why? She asked me a question, I answered it. If she dislikes how I answered, she can tell me herself, since she’d know better than anyone.” Warren pointed out, not willing to be a scapegoat for Harold, who searched for a reason, his actions starting to backfire on him.
“That’s beca-“
BANG
“Ok, welcome everyone! Time for your races to be selected! Stand next to a pedestal and you’ll be assigned a race!” Yeorn announced, as he appeared on the stage
Five pedestals began to emerge from the stage as they hurried up, taking positions next to one. There was a drumroll, then a bang. Carl’s pedestal lit up, showing a hulking man with stone protruding from him, like some sort of golem, on a rocky slope. Eve’s race was a tiny feminine figure, dark furred and with a tail, like a ratman, in a cave. A slender human with deer horns in the midst of a forest, with willow wisps spinning around her, was Layla’s selected race. Harold had a shining white-haired merman, except there was balls of light at the end of his hair and the merman floated in the skies. Warren’s pedestal lit up with a human, standing near a caravan.
“Ok, now that your race has been selected, say ‘Enter’ and you’ll start up! Good luck and enjoy!” Yeorn called
Instantly, the others entered the game, disappearing in a bright column of light, while Warren hesitated as he looked at his pedestal. After a moment of disappointment, he shrugged. After all, he had just been in a coma minutes before, now he was going to play Shattered. Being set as a human wasn’t that much of a loss.
“Enter!” Warren said, still staring at the human. The human winked, as nine tails emerged behind him and fox ear appeared on his head. Warren blinked in surprise, then white light surrounded him as he entered Shattered.
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