Owen came too slowly and groggily, eyes crusty and begging to stay closed. He rubbed his eyes and forced them open only to shut them quickly again. The room was blindingly bright with pure white walls.
--Wait? What room?--
Owen slowly opened his eyes and took in the sight. He seemed to be in an extremely clean room
Hospital room. It was sparsely decorated and smelled of sanitizer. There was a man in a sharp black suit sitting at the foot of his bed.
“Glad to see you awake Owen” “I am Mr. Park” “We were worried about you”
“What happened? Where am I? Where’s my friend?”…”Who’s we?”
The man face cracked a wry smile at the last question then his face became downcast.
“We are Unicorn Inc. creators of Royal Road, whom I am representing, and you are in the Sage Valley Hospital”
The man took a deep breath and continued
“There was an attack on the store you and Thomas were waiting at by the organization known as the OTW. They tried to bring down the game store was in when something went wrong and the bomb detonated before they reached the store”
“Unfortunately the explosion was still great and caused a great amount of damage to the surrounding area. A lot of people were killed. You and Thomas were the only survivors in the area of the explosion”
Owen grew impatient
“Where is Thomas?”
“Thomas was hurt much more extensively than you Owen. He’s currently in the intensive care wing of the hospital” “Once the doctor clears you I will take you to him”
Like he was summoned a doctor walked into the room and began to bombard Owen with medical lingo and jargon for a few minutes then walked out as quickly as he had barged in. Owen stunned stared at the door and then to Mr. Park. Park chuckled at the expression on Owen’s face.
“He said you’re good to go but to not do anything strenuous for a month or so until your side heals up” “Come on lets go check on Tommy”
Owen glared at Park
“Don’t call him that…he hates it”
Park was wheeling Owen down the hallway towards Thomas’s room and started up the conversation again.
“You getting away with only the light injury you did is nothing short of miraculous” “You have a great friend in Thomas”
They grew close to Thomas’s room as Owen replied
“What do you mean?”
“Oh”
Replied Park as he opened the door
“I thought you knew”
Owen looked at his friend lying there unresponsive. Thomas lay there his back, stomach and shoulder covered in bandages, connected to tubes and machines that breathed for him and wires that monitored his heart and brain. Owen couldn’t believe it. He turned to Park.
“What did you mean about him being a great friend?”
Park came to stand next to Owen and look over Thomas
“It was miraculous you survived with only one injury, and a relatively light one at that”
He handed a folded t-shirt to Owen. Upon the back was a large hand print in the dust caked surface.
“He protected you during the initial blast, and we assume he pushed you out of the way of the concrete that pinned him”
A tear fell from Owen’s eye onto the shirt.
“You asshole, always protecting people, never getting anything from it but you still kept at it”
Park stood silently, sadly looking on at Owen. He placed a hand on Owen’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry Owen”
Thomas’s funeral was arranged quickly and without much fanfare. Unicorn Inc. took care of everything, they said it was the least they could do. Owen stood at the back during the service. Ashamed of his survival he couldn't face Thomas’s family. However the family he had grown up knowing didn't think of it the same way and brought him into their arms. They promised him that there was no need for his guilt, that Thomas would have never wanted him to feel this way.
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The weeks following the attack by the OTW had become worldwide news and Owen had been asked for several interviews by local and national news agencies. He couldn't believe people were trying to profit off of this and turned them all down, each one hung up on. Owen’s guilt and shame turned into a rage, he was angry with the world for allowing Thomas to die, furious at the news stations, and an absolute blazing rage with the OTW.
Owen was working at home when he heard a large commotion outside his window. He tried to ignore it, but it grew louder and louder and Owen grew angrier at each loudly passing minute. As the doorbell rang Owen reached the tipping point. He ran to the door and flung it open.
“What the hell do you want?! Can’t you people be quiet?!”
The man standing on his porch looked at him with an unperturbed gaze.
“Are you Owen Jacobs?”
Owen sighed and gritted his teeth.
“Yes”
The man handed him a clipboard and an envelope.
”Sign this for proof of successful transport and installation please”
“Transport and installation of what!? I didn't order anything!”
The man sighed and looked at the order form
“Says here one second version Capsule to be delivered and installed to a one Mr. Owen Jacobs. That’s you, the envelope will explain the rest”
Owen quickly tore open the envelope and read its contents.
Dear Mr. Owen,
I hope you can accept this gift. I want you to see this capsule for what it can be, a way to escape that which is painful of this world. The world of Royal Road was something both you and Thomas looked forward to and from what I know of him, he would want you to play, even if it was without him. Do it for Thomas.
Good Luck,
Mr. Park
--Park…--
Mr. Park had become a large part of Owen’s life at first as a representative as Unicorn Inc. and later as a friend and well…drill sergeant. He had been the one to convince Owen to rejoin society in any way no matter how small. He encouraged him to work from home when he couldn't hold down one outside.
--Fine Park-- He thought to himself --I’ll try it--
After the capsule had been installed and everything was set up Owen found himself just staring at it. Just a couple months ago he would have been dancing around and hopping into the capsule ready to play. But that was when he wasn’t alone, when he had someone to share an adventure with. He looked over at his desk where a picture of him and Thomas were. It was a picture of when they were kids, Thomas had him in a headlock and they both had large smiles on. He cracked a smile, he knew exactly what Thomas would have said.
“Come on you asshole hurry up and play! You can’t wait forever!”
He turned back to the capsule and opened it up. He slid into it and eased the capsule door shut. For a second there was nothing but darkness but a white light appeared at his feet and slowly moved upwards before disappearing above his head. A voice spoke suddenly, sounding as if it came from everywhere inside the capsule.
Connect To Royal Road
YESNO
Owen thought for only second before answering
“Yes”
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