Orion was unceremoniously spat out the other size of the portal like a speck of food caught in someone’s molar. He spun ass over tea kettle for a moment before finally righting himself. He shook his head to clear it, rubbing at his eyes. As he pulled his hands away, he was startled to realize he was missing fingers. He looked down at his body but couldn’t see much past his chest. He was wearing what looked like a silver space suit from an old black and white sci-fi B-movie. There was a badge on the arm, a ten pointed star with an S in the center, a white comet encircling it.
‘Millennia ago-’
“Ahh!” Orion startled as a voice from everywhere and nowhere started narrating. The booming sound reverberated in his chest, gentle but all encompassing. It was like being at a movie theater with surround sound. It was a comforting feeling in the strangeness of his new surroundings.
‘-the galaxy was a chaotic nebulous cloud of stardust and energy.’
Orion noticed a yellow and orange nebula below him. It flashed in places, as if it were a living primordial creatures, full of life and potential.
‘The ancient peoples of the Genesis Nebula were brutish and warlike. Ten fledgling races rose above all others, conquering their Homeworlds and erecting great civilizations.’
The Nebula expanded around him, and Orion saw himself floating in the center of a ring of planets. As they passed him, he saw ghostly figures of the people that inhabited them. An earth-like world with one moon was home to neanderthal creature. A cluster of nine planets was inhabited by squat, brutish big-headed gray aliens. Each planet was different in color and size, with a variety of moons. He saw worlds with different biomes, one covered in ice, another with volcanoes, and yet another composed of mostly oceans. One was even pink and blue with three concentric rings around it. Every world depicted some kind of primitive version of the character creation races floating behind them.
Orion was impressed. As the planets orbited him, he watched cities grow and expand across the different landscapes. Orion’s forehead creased at the speed of their expansion. Something was wrong. They were progressing too fast. The worlds were being overtaken by the technological expansion, polluted and overpopulated. Several of the gray clusters suddenly went dark.
The Narrator continued, ‘Their own worlds were swiftly becoming unsustainable, so the Ten Prime Races sought salvation in the stars. A great war broke out as the dying worlds fought over resources. Billions of lives were lost.’
Orion watched as several planets launched tiny armadas into space. He watches as the ships collides, firing tiny beams of energy. Several ships were destroyed with tiny explosions. Several fleets converged in the heart of the Nebula, and the resulting explosion tore a hole in space.
‘This conflict brought forth an even greater danger,’ the Narrator continued. ‘The warring species drew the attention of the Void, a great black hole that threatened to swallow the Genesis Nebula.’
A black pit ringed in orange light grew from the center of the space debris, sucking it inside. A sliver of flame formed in the center and swept across the stars as if some great eye was seeking prey. The Genesis Nebular started to swirl, coalescing into five spiral arms as the Void bloated in size. The miniature warships attacked the yawning abyss, but were ultimate sucked into its gravity field and destroyed. Orion shuddered at the notion of a malevolent black hole bent on consuming all life in the universe.
The voice interrupted his gloomy thoughts, ‘But all hope was not lost. Help appeared from beyond our dimension. Ten benevolent aliens appeared above each Prime World to stave off their inevitable collapse.’
Ten wormholes opened behind each planet orbiting Orion. From each portal stepped an indistinct bipedal figure made of colored light, each dwarfing the world they hovered behind. Orion watched as light spiraled down from the godlike alien’s hands, weaving and reshaping the decaying civilizations. Newly enhanced ships launced from the surfaces to colonize nearby moons and asteroids.
The Narrator continued to exposit, ‘These beings, known only as The Sculptors, entered our universe and saw great potential in these burgeoning worlds. They evolved the dominant life forms of each world and reshaped them in their image. And with it, gave them unique abilities to help them survive.’
Leaning in to take a closer look, Orion noticed that the more primitive aliens now looked like their counterparts in the character select screen. “Oh, so this is kind of their explanation as to why all the races are basically humanoid bipeds,” Orion speculated.
Apus nodded, “Early alpha testing showed that making playable character bodies too alien played havoc on people’s perception, leading to disorientation when leaving the servers.”
‘The Sculptors also intervened to bestow the Prime Races with the means to defend themselves against the Void,’ said the Narrator. ‘As well as the secrets ways to control the Gates.’
Orion watched several portals, or more likely Gates, open in the stratosphere above the tiny worlds. The ruined cities were wiped clean, and new structures erected in their place. The polluted skies cleared, oceans refilled, and nature flourished. Each civilization had newly adapted technology that worked to harness power unique to their habitat.
The Rokaos dug into the heart of living volcanoes, using thermo pockets to power their cities. Kreeluxian castles drifted above great snowbanks, propelled by stone platforms with mounted hover jets. The Jrassk tamed dinosaurs to use as cattle and transportation. It reminded Orion of the seven Seas of Spiritus, which each represented a specific element.
‘Empowered by The Sculptors and united by a common enemy, an intergalactic accord was struck. Former enemies put aside their differences to defend all sapient life. And thus the Star Sentinels were born.’ The Narrator continued, ‘With the conclusion of this benevolent act, The Sculptors promptly vanished.’
As Orion was reminiscing, The Sculptors stepped back into their portals, which closed behind them. As he watched, a new armada of highly advanced ships rose from the ring of planets surrounding him. But instead of fighting each other, they came together to fly towards the terrible eye in the center of their broken nebula.
Orion followed the scene he ships converged on the Void and attacked as one. The circle of orange light shimmered and ruptured at the edges. Dark shapes unfurled from the black hole like a monstrous squid, grasping tentacles of darkness reaching for the Sentinel Homeworlds. Orion’s mouth gaped in horror as black tendrils passed through him, wrapping around the model planets. Even with their new defenses, cracks formed across the Homeworlds and enveloped them in oily darkness. The holographic globes shattered like glass, Orgæa seemingly consumed entirely. All but Terra and the Zeta Cluster survived, though large divots were scored from Terra’s mountains, and only two of Zeta’s seven dwarf worlds remained.
Orion watched as billions of tiny spaceships few away from the corrupting devastated planets. As they did, whole swaths of stars were shrouded in a pervasive darkness. However, the Void’s grip on the newly formed galaxy waned. Instead of being sucked into the eye of the cosmic storm, the rotating arms slowed and stabilized. Orion glanced at the center and noticed the Void was noticeably smaller. The Star Sentinels were winning!
The Narrator confirmed his suspicions, ‘The battle was hard fought, but the Star Sentinels were able to weaken the Void’s power. In a last ditch effort to rid the universe of this eldritch horror, the Sentinels focused their power to open a Gate large enough to banish the Void.”
Orion leaned forward as the eye shrank even further, becoming a fiery orange disc with a pinprick of darkness in the center. The Sentinel forces fired beams of light at the shrinking hole, creating a technicolor vortex light years wide. The Void broke apart, sucked into the rainbow Gate’s miasma. Rather than close the doorway in space, the Star Sentinels followed after the Void, leaving the broken galaxy behind. And there the Gate remained: a flashing, pulsing heart beating in the core of the Genesis Galaxy.
Orion couldn’t help but clap at the show of heroism. Former enemies came together to protect their collective peoples from a danger far greater than themselves. A stray thought crossed his mind and Orion tugged at his sleeve to look at the emblem sewn there. A star with ten points and an S in the center. Glancing at Apus, Orion asked, “Wait, am I a Sentinel?”
Apus nodded, “Excellent deduction, Sir.”
‘The Gate War, as it is commonly called, had ended,’ said the Narrator. ‘The battle was won, but the cost was great. Nearly every world had fallen to the Void. But The Sculptors left the Genesis Galaxy with one more gift.’
New Gates opened in the center of the fragmented Homeworlds, gathering up pieces of floating detritus. Orion narrowed his eyes and counted again, seeing only nine portals. A quick tally revealed that there was no Gate where Orgæa once was, possibly being drawn into a different dimension entirely. Once enough pieced were gathered, the Gates shut once more. A ring of them opened on one of the galaxy’s arms, and the image zoomed in for Orion to get a better look. The chunks of crust and mantle were assembled like building blocks, clicking into place with the help of Gate-Tech energy. After a few moments the energy limbs pilled away and vanished once more to their own dimensions. As the portals closed, Orion saw a new world cobbled together from pieces of the others. A patchwork sphere of contrasting biomes somehow working in perfect symbiosis.
‘The Sculptors built a new world to house the displaced refugees, built from the scraps of destroyed Prime Worlds. The surviving species emigrated to this newly constructed home and named it Sanctuary.’
Orion watched with his mouth open. Whoever wrote the history of the game deserved a raise. This was Gripping!
‘Many made a new home there, choosing to make a new life among the diverse population of surviving Prime Species. Others sought their fortune among the stars. For time, there was serenity among all sapient creatures. Over a millennia old feelings of greed, hatred, jealousy and despair wormed into the minds of many. Discord once again returned to haunt the assorted worlds of Genesis.’
Orion frowned as he watched conflicts start to spark up again on the galactic map again. He sighed but shrugged. If there was no conflict, the game would get boring pretty quick.
‘One thousand years have passed since the Gate War raged. The Sculptors have been relegated to the realm of myths and legends, and the archaic technology of the Sentinels lost. But now you, Sentinel Recruit [Orion Starbeard]-’
The voice sounded choppy and robotic, like it was just reading his username and doing its best to approximate it.
‘-have been summoned back to Genesis to help quell the growing conflicts, uncover the mysteries of the past, and explore new Cosmic Horizons!’
Orion plunged forward again, being pulled towards the galaxy map. Stars, comets and even full solar systems flew past as he saw the Frankensteinian landscape of Sanctuary grow in size. His vertigo kicked in and he squeezed his eyes shut as his stomach flipped. The momentum suddenly stopped and Orion felt ground under his feet. He risked cracking open one eyelid.
Orion’s vision was filled with the sight of a could see was a Gate large enough for a tank to drive through, and the looming shape of a neon purple sphinx. The monument had an orc face with thick tusks, a glimmering gold and blue pharaoh crown and weirdest of all, shutter shades. The gate was nestled in the sphinx's chest, between two outstretched lion arms. The gate statue was attached to a massive pyramid made up of a blue energy grid.
His side the world looked unfinished. Indigo and violet colors mixed together to look like a starless night sky, except it was above and below. The ground beneath his feet was black sand that had a mirror finish, small prismatic rainbows flashing as he shifted his weight. A flat golden disk hung high in the sky, an Eye of Ra carved on the surface. He could see palm trees in the distance and to either side he noticed two mountain ranges, made up of similar blue grids. The whole effect made Orion feel like he was standing inside a retro synthwave album cover.
Through the gate he could see a busy lobby. There were more gates in the room, which was circular in shape. It looked like some kind of tourist trap, hundreds of people of varying alien species milled about. He even saw a family of Jrassks with a little girl on the dad’s shoulder peer into the gate, clearly oblivious to Orion’s presence. A popup window suddenly blocked his view.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
[
You are a new recruit to the Star Sentinels, and have been assigned to pass through the Genesis Central Gate. Born outside this dimension, you have never seen the homeland of your ancestors. Your new life begins here at Sanctuary Gate Plaza. Your mission, learn about the history of this world, help those who require it, and uncover the mystery of the Org’s disappearance from this plane of existence.]
[Do You Accept? Yes/No?]
Orion was startled, “Wait, what? There’s no Orgs in the game? I’m the only one?”
[
You are a new recruit to the Star Sentinels, and have-]
Orion groaned as the mission briefing restarted, “Yes, okay, I accept. This is all tutorial stuff right? I won’t find out what happened to the Orgs trapped here in limbo.”
The mission window closed and a little exclamation point in a yellow triangle appeared in the top right corner of his vision. Orion flicked his eyes towards it and his HUD window opened. A Mission Log tab was selected and he saw ‘Org You Out There?’ highlighted. He swiped it away and rubbed his hands eagerly as he walked toward the gate.
“Okay Apus, looks like it’s just you and me.” Orion took a steadying breath. He’d survived the upload, built a new body, and watched the history of the game world. Now he had to play, “An Org and his phoenix, up against the world. Worlds?”
“I look forward to working with you, Sir.” Apus chirped cheerfully, “Welcome to Sanctu-”
As Orion’s fingers touched the surface of the gate, Apus made a twitchy, high-pitched noise. The entire gate and surrounding lands began to pixelate and become staticky. Entire chunks of the world around him flipped off, leaving behind white panels with a broken photo icon in the center.
“What is happen-pen-pen-iiiin-” Orion’s digitally distorted voice shouted over the cacophonous noise as everything around him crumbled into chaos and then suddenly went dark.
Enrique was staring out the window of the car anxiously. The city flew by in a blur, grief and worry plagued him with dark thoughts so he couldn’t focus on anything else. The car turned down a stretch of road surrounded by trees, and the sudden absence of sunlight turned the window into a mirror.
Enrique frowned at his appearance. His eyes were the first thing he noticed, the steel gray eyes were dull and puffy from crying. His usually immaculate shoulder length chestnut colored hair was disheveled and pulled back in a messy ponytail. His usually vibrant olive skin had grown pale. His toned physique had lost definition as he’d struggled to eat in the past few weeks. Enrique had tried to hide it but Ryan’s illness had been hell on his mental and emotional health. Ryan had been supportive and tried to comfort him throughout the last few months. Comfort him! The damned fool was dying and all he cared about was making sure Enrique was going to be fine!
When Regina had told him about some revolutionary experiment that could possibly save Ryan’s life, if not his body, Enrique had a flutter of hope. He had flown out as soon as he heard Ryan was heading to Star-Lynx, but flight delays had increased his layover by eight hours. By the time he’d finally gotten to Michigan, Ryan had already needed to plug in due to his health crashing. Enrique knew it was coming, but he thought he had more time. He had hoped to see Ryan one last time before he passed. Enrique swiped at the tears that just couldn’t seem to stop flowing.
“I never even got a chance to say goodbye,” he whispered.
“You won’t have to,” the driver said. “Say goodbye, I mean.”
Enrique looked up at the frizzy haired driver. While she looked tidy in her orange turtleneck, the bun keeping her hair out of her face had fallen a bit giving her a frazzled look.
She sounded embarrassed, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I’m Willow. I spoke with Mr. Starbeard a bit when I drove him out here. I can see why you care about him so much Mr. Ironsides. He was…kind to me. And he didn’t have to be.”
Aurelio laughed damply, wiping his eyes. “Yes he did. It’s in his nature. He was a very sweet man.”
“Is.” Willow interjected, “He still is. His body may be gone but his mind is still with us. Miss Douglas has been giving me updates. He’s been in character creation for hours.”
Enrique burst out in loud and boisterous laughter, “That’s my Ryan all right. He always had to build his character before the stream, otherwise he’d never get to playing the game.”
Willow smiled and looked at the phone mounted to the dash, “Looks like he’s finishing up. We’re almost there, we should have time to see him take his first steps into the game. Especially if he doesn’t skip the intro.”
Enrique looked out the front window and saw the Star-Lynx building at the end of the long driveway. He pulled out his phone and texted ‘Almost there’ with a heart emoji to Reggie. It was sweet of her to fly him out to surprise Ryan. If only he’d gotten here faster!
As Willow pulled the car to a messy stop near the entrance, security guards were already pouring outside. They handed Enrique a VIP Pass lanyard and a clipboard with a NDA attached to it, explaining the paperwork and pointing to signature spots as they fast walked down the corridor. Worry gnawed at Enrique’s stomach and he didn’t even have time to enjoy the facility, the impressive tech blurring past unnoticed.
Willow, clearly run ragged herself but keeping pace with Enrique, was the first to burst into a door labeled ‘Sarcophagus Room’. She made a beeline for a monitor on one side and started reading over lines of code. Distracted momentarily by the oddity of the room, Enrique looked around for the first time. The room was filled with weird futuristic coffins with monitors hooked up to each one. He spotted Hassan on another monitor, manipulating a stat screen. The only screen that was lit up was in the center, showing a scene of a Galaxy and several strange looking aliens lined up.
“Aurelio!”
Enrique looked back as Regina yelled out his VTuber persona name. She looked as tired as the others, the stress of the momentous event taking a toll. She waved to Enrique and turned to the security guard, approving the clipboard paperwork. She tried to enter when a few more programmers rushed her, shoving paperwork in her face. She skimmed the pages and signed with a grunt of frustration, sending the programmers rushing back to their computer stations. Regina opened her arms and approached Enrique.
“Baby boy! You made it!” Regina scooped Enrique into a hug that he reciprocated, “I’m so sorry you missed him. We wanted to wait.”
“I’m sure you held out as long as you could.” Enrique leaned back from the hug, “I understand why he wouldn’t tell me. Or even couldn’t. Thank you for bringing me into this.”
“Oh honey, I wouldn’t dream of shutting you out.” Regina broke the hug, “I don’t have many people in my life I consider real friends but you two are part of that very exclusive list.”
Enrique sighed, “I’m sorry it took this to get the old gang back together.”
“Life happens. Lord knows I’ve been busy,” Regina said. “In fact, let me show you what I’ve been working on!”
Regina led Enrique over to the only occupied sarcophagus and waved a hand to the screen. The camera seemed to be in first person, overlooking a battle between a minuscule fleet of space ships and an enormous black hole. Enrique felt a wave of relief as the dark vortex started to shrink. Something about it felt sinister. The view changed and Enrique saw a red bird perched on the viewer’s shoulder, the red bird fastidiously preening.
Enrique pressed a hand to his mouth, “Oh my god, Ryan has a little bird friend! It looks just like Apus.”
Regina beamed, “I had a feeling he’d find it. We added a few Easter eggs dedicated to Ryan in the game. There’s an Orion Starbeard statue in one of the major parks on Sanctuary.”
“‘Course it don’t look much like him anymore,” Hassan chuckled.
“Shut up Hassan!” Willow shouted over her shoulder, “The memorial isn’t for him. He’s still with us. It’s for his fans.”
Regina rubbed her temples, “They’re right of course, both of them. Orion got a little creative with his design, but it suits him. Honestly it feels more natural. But you’ll see for yourself.”
Enrique was startled, “I will?”
Regina laughs, “Of course! That’s why you’re here. Part of it anyway. The main reason was to give Ryan a proper send-off, but the second was to test out interactions between living Player Characters and a fully integrated consciousness. Once he gets through the tutorial a bit we can go in and visit him together! I figured he’d want you there.”
Enrique’s eyes welled up and he looked away. His watery gaze fell on the sarcophagus and he stepped up to it, peering into the glass. It was filled with a murky liquid, and there seemed to be thick cables wrapped around something inside. Some of them were moving.
“Is he…” Enrique swallowed heavily, “Is he in there?”
Regina gently pulled him back from the sarcophagus, putting a comforting arm around Enrique’s shoulders. She glanced at Willow and asked, “What’s his status?”
Willow spoke as her fingered danced quickly over the keyboard, “He’s stable, but just barely. The whole point of the sarcophagus it to keep the players in peak physical condition during gameplay. The download is progressing within expected levels, but I’ve called Dr. Gardener to help monitor the transfer.”
Enrique took a shaky breath, “If he’s stable, couldn’t we pull Ryan back out?”
Willow gave him a sympathetic look, “He’s on life support right now. We haven’t stopped the heart attack, the sarcophagus is the only thing keeping oxygen flowing to his brain. All we can do is keep him alive long enough for the transfer.”
“So that’s it, then. Ryan’s dead,” Enrique whispered miserably.
Regina tried to comfort him, “But not gone if this works. His physical body will expire, but his consciousness will be preserved within Cosmic Horizons.”
Enrique sniffled and scrubbed the palms of his hands across his face, wiping away tears. Quietly, he asked, “And what will happen to his body?”
Regina shook her head, “That’s between Ryan and the legal team. Not even I know the details. I promise you it will be taken care of according to his wishes. On my tab.”
“He’s in!” announced Willow as Orion’s perspective switched to some kind of synthwave poster scene.
With a loud tap of an enter button Hassan announced, “Experience Boost added! Gave him a few surprises to boot! Sending our boy to Valhalla in style!”
“Memory upload at seventy-six percent!” shouted a tech.
“Avatar compatibility within acceptable levels!” shouted another. “No obvious signs of rejection!”
The entire room turned to watch as Orion’s hand reached out to touch the portal to Sanctuary. The only sounds were the hum of computers as everyone collectively held their breath. One thick fingertip dipped into the wavering Gate.
The screen immediately began to glitch out. The image started to flicker across the screen, chunks of the scenery either multiplying or vanishing completely. Willow gasped and everyone turned back to their computers, frantically trying to figure out what went wrong.
“Something’s wrong.” Regina roared, “What is happening?”
“I don’t know!” One of the techs responded, “It must be a bug or, maybe something was coded incorrectly! We haven’t used the Org Gate before!”
Enrique’s chest tightened with panic. He rushed up and placed his hands on the sarcophagus’s lid. “Stay with me, baby!” Enrique shouted desperately, “You made it this far, you’re so close! Stay with me and we’ll be together soon, okay? Wake up!” Tears dripped on the glass dome separating them.
The image on the screen was becoming more warped. Regina rushed over to one of the tech’s computers and pushed him out of the way, typing furiously. After a few lines of code the screen froze, the keyboard clicking uselessly.
Regina shouted over her shoulder, “Where the hell is Gardener? This is his department, I need to know what’s going on!”
The lights flickered and then went dark. The constant humming in the room slowly went quiet. The last lights to go out were the faux futuristic LEDs illuminating the sarcophagus. The hum of cooling fans died the same moment the lights did, and the only sound left was the quiet sobs emanating from Enrique.
Still clinging to the lid, Enrique composed himself enough to lift his head and kiss the lid.“Goodbye, my Captain,” Enrique whispered. “I love you, Orion.”