Novels2Search
The Enders' Beginning: A Gaming-ish LITRPG
Chapter 2 – An Opportunity to Die for!

Chapter 2 – An Opportunity to Die for!

I think back to just a week ago, and how much my life has changed in that short a period of time.

As I pulled into the parking garage at Manchester-Boston International Airport, my mind was running in multiple directions at once. Part of my brain was on autopilot as I maneuvered up the garage’s ramp, trying to find a parking spot while the rest of my brain had multiple thoughts going at the same time. Did I pass all my finals? Will my old job take me back over winter break? How is Yena doing? Will Mom and Dad mind me being back at the house for a couple of weeks? Has Yena thought about me at all? Did I put all my notes in order for the D&D Campaign? How is Yena doing??

Snorting at my brain’s stream of consciousness, I finally found a spot on the highest parking deck, sliding my 1993 Plymouth Voyager minivan into a spot before putting it in park, turning the ignition off, and waiting the ten to fifteen seconds before the engine truly shut off. Man, I really need to get that fixed, I thought for at least the tenth time that day. Getting out of the car, he lovingly patted the van, white with wood paneling that he got for $500 from a neighbor, trying to ignore the smell of burning oil in the exhaust, like he always did. Need to get that fixed as well! He thought to himself, knowing he couldn’t afford a new car, not for years at least, unless he found a much better job than what he currently had, or managed to win the lottery. Between commuting to school, taking a bunch of extra classes to try and graduate sooner, and getting a few hours of work in a week, just to afford the gas to get around, money was tight, and he didn’t want to ask his parents for any more money. They were already helping so much, he didn’t want to put any more strain on them. Feeling his pocket buzz, he reached down and pulled out his phone, an Android knockoff that was about four generations behind the current model, but it worked. Barely.

Just landed, taxiing to the gate. No luggage, just overhead bags. Will be outside ASAP. Have BIG news!

<3 Yena

I smiled, like I always did when he got a text from Yena. We’ve been best friends since fourth grade, when my attempt to break up a fight between her and another boy and resulted in ME getting his ass kicked, her kicking the bully’s ass in response, and both of us being suspended for three days for fighting, while the bully just got detention. Typical. However, during those three days Yena ended up spending most of that time over at my house, as her dad had to work as the sole breadwinner. Out of boredom, I introduced her to the world of tabletop gaming, showing her the basics of creating a character, and running a very simple campaign for her to get her hooked. She took to it like a fish to water. From then on, every Friday night (and sometimes going into Saturday morning) we’d be playing D&D along with our other friend, Ezekiel Prowse (though God forbid you used his actual name!). Xander Willams, Yena, and Zeke Prowse; known in their class as XYZ, or “The Enders” because they we were at the end of the alphabet. Inseparable friends, we endured the highs and lows of high school together, all graduating as members of the National Honor Society. At least, we were inseparable until college started. I ended up staying local, going to UMass Lowell, Yena ended up going to Rutgers on a partial Taekwondo scholarship, and Zeke ended up being recruited by Penn State University to play basketball. Text messages and sporadic calls here and there kept us in touch, but the separation felt like something had changed notably in our friendship, as the adult world took away a bit of the closeness they had enjoyed for the past eight years.

All these memories were running through my head while I walked from the parking garage to the main terminal of the building through the covered bridge, glad I didn’t have to walk outside, where it was ass-bitingly cold at the moment. It may be just before Christmas, but Old Man Winter was already in a foul mood this year, for sure. It was going to be one of those winters where you really wouldn’t want to get out of bed in the morning, because it was so much warmer than outside. Just before he got to the automatic doors, I pulled out my phone and texted a quick message back to Yena:

Okay, see you when you get out. Going to grab a quick bite while I wait for you. I’ll let you know where I am.

- X

Before he was able to put his phone back, the buzz of a text had him bringing his phone back up to look.

That’s easy! It’s the Dunk’s, that’s the only thing before security! See you there!

<3 Yena

Damn she types fast! I thought with a chuckle, as I knew she was right. Only the Dunkin Donuts was before security, so I grabbed a hot chocolate and two Boston Crème donuts, clearing out most of the cash I had left in my wallet. I sat down at a nearby table and did some people watching, waiting for Yena to show up. While I waited for the lava hot cocoa to cool, the same internal argument I was having before I got to the airport started back up.

Man, just tell her. Don’t be a wuss!

But what if she doesn’t think of me that way?

Then at least you’ll know! Better to know, than to forever play “what if”!

I know but…

NO BUT!

Heh heh. I said butt!

God, I hate talking to myself. Grow a pair, and tell her.

Sighing, I admitted that juvenile as I was, I was right. I needed to just man up, and tell her how I felt. Whatever happened from there, happened, and I’d deal with it. Finishing my ‘meal’, I got up to throw everything in the nearby trash can; my back was turned to the concourse, and so I’ll admit I jumped a bit when I heard the voice.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“Hey, Xander!”

I turned around, smile on my face, and my heart froze.

There she was, walking towards me, looking radiant as always. 5’6” tall, maybe 140 pounds, and amazingly fit! (Fourteen years of continuous Taekwondo training will tend to do that for you.) Her steps were light and balanced like a gymnast, but I can see the bounce there as well, a sure sign that she was excited. She waved at me excitedly, and I could see that her other hand was occupied… holding our friend Zeke’s hand. I was shocked; last I had heard, Zeke was at Penn State, and Yu was at Rutgers. Those two weren’t exactly right next to each other. Why was he here now?

Keeping my smile on my face, while my smug brain kept saying “I told you so…” I walked towards them both. Yu dropped Zeke’s hand to wrap me in a bone-crushing hug.

“Easy there, Wolverine!” I croaked. “Some us don’t have metal for skeletal systems.”

I felt an extra squeeze at the end, and I could’ve sworn I heard my ribs creak. She finally relented and stepped back to hold me at arm’s length, inspecting me.

“Damn Xander, you look like you haven’t changed at all!” Yu exclaimed.

“It’s only been what, four months since you last saw me?” I commented. “Summer wasn’t that long ago! Not much that can change in that short a timeframe.” I looked over at Zeke “Speaking of changes… Heya, Zeke! I didn’t expect to see you today; did something change for you?”

Zeke looked a bit awkward, rubbing at the back of his head, a gesture he always did when he was nervous. He noticed that he was doing it, and pulled his hand down, extending it for me to shake. Extricating myself from Yu with a bit of difficulty, I grabbed his hand, giving it a firm shake before pulling him into a hug. I may be a tall beanpole at 6’2”, but Zeke is a 6’6” tall wall of muscle, and has been taller than most of the people around him all of his life. Unlike Yu, he was a gentle giant, and didn’t try to test how well my ribs compressed, for which I was grateful.

“Hey, X” he said, his voice a gentle rumble. “I’m doing all right. It was a bit of a shock this semester, for sure. We can definitely discuss it on the ride home.”

“Yeah, no problem!” I said, extracting myself from the hug. “Seeing as you don’t need to grab your luggage, we can head out from here.”

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Yu exclaimed, diving into her backpack. She fumbled around in it for a moment, coming up with what looked like a FitBit made of some weird metal that looked vaguely metallic and also organic. I noticed that as she was handing it to me, she had one on her left wrist. A quick glance at Zeke showed he also had one on his left wrist, almost covered by his sweatshirt.

“Here, put this on!” She said, pushing it towards me.

“What… is it?” I asked, a bit apprehensive. It looked distinctly alien, and I was getting very ‘sci-fi’ vibes off it.

“It’s a datalogger. It’s a bit hard to explain, but you have to wear it, or the big news I have won’t work!”

“Right, you mentioned ‘big news’ in your text. What is it, exactly?”

Yu looked exasperated. “I can’t tell you until you put it on, there’s a big NDA around it!”

“Is it safe?” I asked, still wary as hell. I’d seen enough horror movies to know how they started. I didn’t want to end up the person you see right at the beginning of the movie; it never ended well for them.

“Of course it is!” Yu sounded indignant. “You think I’d want to harm either of you?”

I relaxed, slightly. “Well, no. You’ve always been like a mother hen to us.” That got me a punch on the arm.

“You ass!” she grumbled, but there was a smile buried in there. “Zeke’s been wearing it, and he’s fine, aren’t you Zeke?”

Zeke’s left hand went like it was going to go start rubbing his head, but he visibly stopped it and brought it back down to his side.

“Yeah, it’s cool. Feels a little weird, but it’s cool now.”

With a bit of trepidation, but with my inner brain using Han’s voice, saying “Fine, Fine, we’re all fine here. How are you?” I reached to take the ‘datalogger’, and put it around my left wrist. Once the two ends of the bands touched each other, they fused into a single continuous strap, morphing together into something with no obvious beginning or end. It tightened for a moment, squeezing my wrist like a blood pressure cuff, and I felt several sharp pinches from underneath the ‘watch’ part of this device, but I didn’t see any blood or other fluids come out from underneath it. After about five seconds, the screen started to slowly blink with a soft blue light, pulsing once every ten seconds or so. I looked at the device in shock, totally stunned as to what had just happened.

“Cool, hunh??” Yu exclaimed happily, watching me expectantly.

“Yeah, it sems cool I gues-“ I said, before stopping mid-word. Text was flowing by, in front of my eyes. With the font and everything, it legit looked like the slow crawl at the beginning of every Star Wars film.

Thank you for using the Galactic Neural Augmenting Transmitter! By attaching this device to your body, you have biologically consented to the Standard Galactic Non Disclosure Agreement (hereafter known as ‘The NDA”, as well as the Galactic User License Agreement (hereafter known as ‘The EULA’) You may view either of these agreements at any time, by saying or thinking the word ‘NDA’ or ‘EULA’. At last printing, this User License Agreement is 12,460 pages long. By attaching this receiver to your person, the unit will begin collecting all pertinent data necessary for the next step of the process. Please note that you may not discuss either the NDA or the EULA with anyone else who has not already accepted both. Failure to follow these directions will result in fines and penalties applied against the offending parties, up to and including death.

Yu grinned at my expression. I’m sure my mouth was hanging open, making me look like a slack-jawed idiot.

“Yu!” I hissed “What the hell is –“

She stopped me, the grin falling off her face. “Not now, not here. In the car.”

She grabbed my hand, and reached back to grab Zeke’s, like we did when we were younger.

“Now c’mon you two! Let’s get going!”

And with the inexorable determination of a World War II tank, we were dragged back towards my car.