In the end I chose the coming weekend for the delivery to be ready. Since the store was on the other side of the city, I wasn’t feeling terribly confident about being able to make the trip without exhausting myself beyond what I should.
Thankfully, that meant I would have time to research exactly what I just bought.
The helmet was a relatively recent invention. Well, I say recent but it's been ten years since it first came out and actual projects and games have been in development. There’s been a lot of Fantasy genres surging as a result, people did always like to play as something non-human when given the chance after all. And in a full-dive environment? I could totally get the hype behind going for a fantasy setting.
Meanwhile the game I just bought was called STIGMA Protocol. The setting was a post-apocalyptic dystopia where the world had been consumed by anomalies, mutants, evolved beasts and horrors beyond human comprehension during the early 2000s going by the publicly available lore.
All governments were gone, the “Old World” left remnants behind however. Several different factions fighting for power and survival within the irradiated planet. Within these battlefields something called the “Zone” was spreading, an imaginary limitation where the most powerful and useful artefacts appeared, as well as the strongest mutants and whatnot.
The Zone was the main selling point of the game. An enormous battleground encompassing the size of a small country were players were free to roam around, hunt for artefacts, kill mutants, fulfil quests for the different factions and maybe join them to spread their influence and territory in open conflicts.
Now, I was never much of a player, but I learned from dad that these types of games are often populated by people that really enjoy PvP so that meant I should be ready to actually compete with other people. Not having touched a single game since my early childhood, this was a bit of my most immediate worry. Losing out on the fun of the atmosphere because a bunch of lunatics decided to run around the rookie areas to kill new players was something I could already see happening after all.
I thought about maybe trying a few games on the old PC but to be honest I hadn’t cleaned it since dad passed and that machine was better off resting for now.
“So it should be today right?” I reminded myself as I sat at the dinner table, sipping a cup of warm coffee.
The days had passed without much happening really. Some of my coworkers sent me a few emails telling me that the new boss was way better than the previous fucker, and that they would gladly do me a few favors when I came back to the office. It was….A little odd to be thanked for being hit by a car, but I would take my blessings where I could.
I was actually typing out a response to the last of them when a ring called my attention. Either a neighbour was waiting outside, or the package had arrived. With a grunt and some difficulty, I dragged myself from the wooden furniture down to my wheelchair and rolled over to the entrance, opening the door.
The delivery guy looked a little worried for a second but decided against asking any questions, and instead just handed me the hefty package and a piece of paper.
“I believe this is for you, ma’am. Please sign here and here.” He pointed to two empty spaces on the paper for me.
It was a little hard to sign without dropping the box, but when I handed the paper back to the man he smiled and tipped his hat before walking away. Maybe I should’ve asked him to help with the box? He did seem a little concerned at how uncomfortable I looked trying to write with half my body covered by the package.
I chuckled and just closed the door, wheeling myself back to the dinner table to finish my coffee.
With my daily dose of caffeine ingested, I made sure to leave some water in the mug and left it on the sink to properly rinse it and dry it later. Right now I had a game to play and a helmet to set-up. Moving into my room was a little complex for me since the doorway was a little narrow for the wheels to pass comfortably but I managed and sat on my bed with a knife I took from the kitchen.
Cutting the box open, the proper packaging of the helmet and a small envelope were inside. I took the envelope and left in on my desk before pulling the white package out. There was no real text….Well, the delivery was from a real store I had gone to before, so maybe the box was just weird? Not seeing any signs or names on the outside was a little suspicious, but I shrugged.
Worst comes to pass, I just needed to return the delivery and get another one, no problem.
“Woah….That’s exactly what a rich kid would say….” I surprised myself with that comment, really.
Never expected to hear myself think something like that to be honest, but there’s always a first for everything I guess.
Anyways, I opened the second box and pulled out the helmet itself. It looked like something a biker would use, but somehow more futuristic? The design was a little reliant on sharp angles, but the mix between black and purple tones made the whole thing look like a mecha pilot’s visor or something. Pretty cool.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Inside the package I found some instructions as well.
“All you need to do is put the helmet on and begin start-up….Then wait for calibration and make sure to plug the charger in case the internal battery is dry. Pretty simple. Like a new phone basically.”
I did as the instructions said, but before I put on the helmet, I grabbed the envelope and opened it. Inside was a small plastic box with a familiar cover plastered on the outside of it. In the end I had decided to buy the regular edition since there wasn’t any limited stuff on sale in the store’s website. I did manage to get a look at what it offered on release though.
“Gas masks are so cool….” I couldn’t help my words as I stared into the cover.
The aesthetic was pretty damn cozy not gonna lie.
But alright, enough setbacks. I put on the helmet and laid down on the bed. The charger was plugged in and I set an alarm on my phone for three hours from now so I can still make dinner and go to bed at a relatively healthy time.
“Here we go….”
And with the press of a button, the world around me disappeared. Not all of a sudden, but gradually, as if I was slowly drifting into sleep. It was a weird sensation at first, but then it felt nice. Warm. Comfortable. I guess that was the calibration taking place, letting my brain feel at peace with what was going on.
As gradually as my reality crumbled, a new one materialised in front of me. A login screen. I went through the whole registration procedure, thankfully the helmet had connected to my phone’s systems and had already confirmed my identity, which was creepy and weird and worrying in several aspects but decided not to worry too much about it.
At least not yet, I still wanted to have some fun.
Not letting the clear invasion of my privacy bother me, I finally logged in and was transported into a small library. Wooden floors. Hard-cover books lined up one against each other on the very limited rows of the shelf. I imagined this was the reservoir where all the games were located in the helmet’s system. Very cool to have an actual instance for it.
“Hummm….let’s see….It should be around…..Here.” I went through the books one by one.
Ignoring the fantasy ones, the…Adult-themed ones and finally reaching the survival titles. Amongst the small selection I found the cover I was looking for, and tapped on it. A small screen appeared in front of me, and I smiled.
[ Would you like to enter The Zone? ]
“Hell yeah.” I tapped [Yes] and reality crumbled once again.
Though, instead of finding myself inside a comfortable library, the sounds of distant gunshots and the roars of mutated beasts welcomed my senses as I woke up in what seemed to be the ruins of an old apartment building. Half of the floor was gone, reduced to rubble, letting the full view of the Zone appear in front of me.
The cloudy skies, the dead architecture, the silhouettes of other players running from a monster in the distance…Yeah, this was it.
As I marvelled at the scenery, a small screen appeared in front of me once again.
[ Would you like to begin Character Creation? ]
I had forgotten that this was an actual MMO and I would need to come up with an actual character. Well, I already had almost everything in mind. Even the name, so the process was fairly straightforward. The character creator wasn’t as in-depth when compared to other big recent titles, but it was more than enough for me.
In the end I looked at the character and smiled, the familiar visage of an old friend looking back at me with sharp green eyes, dark auburn hair cut short for practicality, but still keeping a very tasteful sense of fashion. A scar running over the left side of her soft lips, and a totally neutral expression. This was it, this was the character me and dad played all those years ago.
Made to resemble what he thought I would look like when I grew up, she was a bit taller than me, standing at a respectable 176 centimetres. I had to slightly look up at her from my current position, but I was sure I had managed to include as much detail as I could.
And her name was….
[ Velka ]
Thankfully the name was not yet taken, and I managed to finish the physical aspect of character creation. Next came the choice of what faction I wanted to belong to, if any, at the start of the game. This would define my spawn point and starting area I guessed, so I took a good look at the options in front of me.
[ Bandit, Kraken Cultist, Foxhound Mercenary, Singularity Agent, Firefly Militia, Loner ]
Two familiar names instantly called out to me. Maybe if I was more confident in my PvP skills I would go for bandit, or if I was more interested in going into any niche playstyle I would choose any of the other factions, but my heart had already made the choice by the time all the names reached my brain.
Without hesitation I picked Loner. Though Firefly was a cool name, and Kraken sounded very interesting too…
“Well, I just need to encounter them in-game then.” I made up my mind and smiled as the scenery faded to black.
I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. This time, instead of the decaying yet captivating view of the Zone from above I had before, I found myself lying down in a hospital bed. It looked like my spawn was decided to be an abandoned hospital then? Nice.
‘Alright. Here’s when the fun begins.’ I thought to myself as I slipped down from the bed to check what I had on me.
Wool sweater. A pair of jeans. Some old sneakers and a parka. On my thigh there was an empty pistol holster, and the belt that kept my jeans in place had a half-empty canteen filled with what I think was water. Six rusted bolts inside the parka’s pocket, eight rounds of ammo on the right pocket of the jeans.
I looked around. On top of a nearby table there was a small bandolier and what looked like an old respirator that had seen better days. I moved closer, walking with my actual legs felt weird, but I was getting used to it with every step I took. Stumbling across the room, I opened the bag and put the respirator over my mouth and nose.
It clicked on contact, apparently sealing the area, and I felt a somewhat musky odor fill my lungs. I would really need to clean that thing later. For now however, I searched the bag and found an old Makarov pistol. Magazine still inside. I never knew much about guns beyond the basic rules, so I took a good look at it and followed at the character would do in-game when I played with dad.
Safety on, release the magazine, check for ammo….Full. Nice.
So I had two magazines worth of PM ammo to survive until I found a better gun or money to buy more. I would really need to count my shots very precisely, so it was no combat if I could manage it. Sneaky-breeki time!
I couldn’t help my smile as I started to feel more entrapped by the game. Just as I was having my small joyful remembrance though, I heard a very familiar ping. I searched the bandolier’s pockets and found a small tablet device. A PDA? No, there was an acronym in the case….
“PAD? Did they actually get the licence for the game or not….This feels a little like a copyright issue….”
No matter, I shook my head from those funny thoughts and just focused on the tablet. I had seen no HUD yet, so it probably acted as the player’s main information centre. Turning it on, a notification was clearly posted on system alerts. Apparently there was a nearby radio signal calling out to any nearby Loners? Yeah, it sounded like an introductory quest. Probably the tutorial.
“Alright. Let’s get this done and see if I can get lucky with an artefact or two.”
With that, I slung the bag over my shoulder and put the Makarov on the pistol holster on my thigh, moving towards the exit of the room and starting my new life as a Loner!
Wait, that sounded way better in my head….