I couldn't help but groan as I walked into my apartment. Caring heavy gear with me as I pushed the door open with a shoulder shove. It had been a long day of working private security alone in a guard shack with the sun beating down. Swearing these kinds of days makes me feel like I’m a pig that’s being turned into a smoked ham. Especially when the company you work for keeps losing people left and right for various reasons. I honestly don't mind working overtime, but to have me stationed at one sight for an entire day was a pain in the ass. Burning; frying pan hot during the day, and then a silent night where you begin to question your own sanity. I set down my bag and armored the vest against a wall before wandering into the kitchen. Reaching into the fridge I instinctively pulled out a large bag of tereso and eggs that I had mixed with some potato’s o'brien about three days ago. At this point, my body was automated to perform things without me thinking much about it. I made myself what I guess most would call breakfast since it was six in the morning and I haven't eaten yet.
After making a quick breakfast burrito I went to my room where I sat down at my desk. And began going through paperwork, honestly the twelve hour long shifts aren't what annoys me the most, it’s the confusing paperwork that seems to really get me aggravated. Mostly because I keep coming across the same problems with time sheets. I’ve brought it up to the workers before but for some reason they still keep making the same mistakes. I mean their good guys but like with every human there’s always a flaw. I had just finished the first layer of paperwork when a knock came to my door. Looking at the clock I noticed it was already seven in the morning. Though the leap in time wasn't what I focused on at the moment. What I was focusing on was the fact that I didn't have anything planned for this early today. It was my first day off in months and I wanted to rest and relax.
I pulled the spare pistol from the desk safe; and approached the door. I tried to keep myself calm as I walked up to it and looked through the peephole. What I saw on the other side wasn't all that surprising. It was a delivery guy holding a small box. Giving the delivery guy a quick look over I noticed both of his hands were busy holding what looked like a digital signing pad and the other holding the aforementioned box. I opened the door making sure to keep my pistol out of sight.
“Got a delivery here for Mr… O’Neal?” He said as he looked at me with a smile.
“I think you got the wrong address. I didn't order anything.” I said as I stood in my doorway trying to be as polite as possible.
He looked down at the address on the box for a moment before reading it out loud.
“415 Olive Boulevard apartment 353?” He said, which seemed to surprise me a little.
I ended up taking the package and gave the delivery guy a thank you before going to look at it. When I opened the box I noticed it was a blank CD case with a non-titled disk inside. I honestly thought about throwing it away then and there. After all I wasn't much of a computer guy and for all I know the CD could be a virus. But… something in me just seemed curious about all this. I mean someone went to the trouble of sending me this; so it’s either a scam or something else. I went and put the CD into my computer which was in my bedroom. Took me a minute to get the contents up and running. What appeared on the screen was a title card with the words ‘Ages of War’. A cinematic began to play; first showing a man of middle age standing in a room that seemed to be the inside of a large machine. The man turns to look at the screen and gives a smile.
“Hello lucky little soul. You’ve been selected to journey beyond your world and experience that which you can't normally. My name is Mechanus, and I welcome you to my world. Please… do try to live your life as best you can.” The video entry ends with the middle aged man giving a slight bow of his head.
A book then flies out and opens up in front of the screen revealing a rather strange character sheet. It first asks for a first and last name. I entered the last name first mostly because it just seemed to pop in at that moment. Dracus which was a made up name I got from Drake. The first name took me a bit of time to come up with. It wasn't until I looked back that I decided on what the name would be. I went with Mec’a’nus which easily guessed it was inspired by the narrator that first appeared.
After entering the name I saw the letters glow. The first name Mec’a’nus gave off a bright pure white glow. While Dracus seemed to give off a bluish silver glow. The pages turned and next came the state block. Which… again it was a little weird. Mostly because only three states were displayed when there are normally at least five or so.
{ Mind } ~ 20
{ Body } ~ 25
{ Soul } ~ 15
What added to the weirdness was when I tried to modify the states but they seemed to stay the same. I tried to take some points out of the body stat and add it to the soul stat so that way it’s twenty across the board. But the controls seemed to be locked. So seeing as there was nothing I could do I went to the next page. Which displayed a class or two classes along with their descriptions. My guess is that it was selected based on the states that were locked into place. Which is weird because it showed I had two classes.
{ Class 1# } ~ Paladin ~ level 1
{Paladin class is a class that allows for frontal combat. Having been chosen as a gods champion they stand at the forefront and answer their god's call to arms. Gaining powers that are said to rival armies.}
{ Class 2# } ~ Artificer ~ level 1
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
{A class that studies things beyond sight, sound, and touch. This class allows one to look at the fundamentals of the world they stand in and reach forth to manipulate those fundamentals.}
Weird… I used to play a bit of D&D back in high school with some friends. But that state block was different for that game. Compared to this it seems almost overly simplified. The classes were locked in as well so I couldn't change them out. The last page showed a large map area. Its color coated the different countries to make it easier to identify. At the top of the map it had the statement.
{ Select Starting Location } ~
I scrolled the mouse cursor over the different locations that were marked. They gave brief descriptions of each location. I ended up choosing the one that had been set in the northern region of the map. I thought it might make a good starting point.
{ You have selected Lurc village, is this correct? } ~ { Y/N ? }
After confirming the location I watched as text began scrolling across the screen in multiple directions. At first it appeared as the english alphabet but then the letters began to change into something else. My eyes never left the text as the letters both known and foreign passed by the screen. My body froze at that moment, but for some odd reason I wasn’t afraid, I wasn’t scared. The letters passing in front of me for who knows why seemed calming. As though there were gentle whispers that lulled one into an easy mind.
When the letters finished the screen went blank and I was brought back to my reality. I blinked my eyes a few times before rubbing them with my hand. My head felt heavy as though I just crammed for a college level test. When I looked at my computer screen I noticed it went to sleep mode. Seeing the opportunity I stood up and went to the bathroom. As I felt the hot water run down my back I kept trying to make sense of what I saw. I mean the first question I kept trying to answer was who would send that to me?
After stepping out of the shower I put some pants on and fell face first into bed. First working a dayshift and night shift on top of eachother, then dealing with frustrating paperwork; and lastly having a subliminal trigger planted in my head by a CD from who knows. All I know is that as I laid my head on the pillow and felt my body finally begin to relax I couldn’t stop my eyes from closing. As I slept I felt the hot air of the California summer day slowly leaking into my room; seeming to overwhelm as the heat soaked into everything. My head felt light even as my eyes tried to push away the daylight before a cool breeze blew over me.
Normally I don't remember my dreams; even some of the more crazy ones that make me question my sanity. But this dream… it still lingers in my mind to this day. In the dream I sat at a table; I had just taken a sip of something and set a cup down on a table before me. Not sure what it was, the taste was hard to describe; it was alcoholic; but the flavor was calm and soothing. All I knew is that after the sip my body felt lighter as though I was sitting in the air itself. Across the table from me were two others that seemed to be talking to each other. My mind seemed to zone in and out of the conversation they were having until I heard their attention shift to me. At which my own attention became much more focused.
As my mind cleared up I soon got a better picture of the two talking in front of me. One seemed like an older gentleman with long white hair. He wore a strange piece of clothing that seemed to have hints of chainmail that had small pieces of metal dotting it. He had the brightest blue eyes I had ever seen; like looking out to the ocean as the sun sets behind you. The second was the gentlemen from the computer screen that spoke during the little video intro. He seemed to be wearing a robe that seemed to favor function over others. Made of thick material that had seen better days but also with small hints of having been altered a few times through its history. With some sticht marks showing holes that had been patched and pockets and other attachments added off.
“What do you say boy?” The man in the white robe asked as he clasped his hands in front of himself.
“Come now Bahamut… at least allow the boy to gain his bearings before speaking. Otherwise we’ll be at a stand still for eons.” The other said as he raised his hands and rested them on the table.
My eyes felt groggy as I looked at them both. I reached a hand up to my face and tried to rub the tiredness out of my eyes. When I was finished I looked out at the two and asked.
“What’s going on?” That was all I could ask since I didn’t know the question.
“We’ve reached an impasse on what to do with you. Sense you’re using two names of origins.” The one in the more functional robe and with metal bronze pieces said as he looked at me.
“This rarely happens and the traditional sense is to have you choose between one of us. So please choose between us.” The one in the more refined robe said as he leaned back in his seat.
The last thing I remember in the dream was going to open my mouth before I woke back up. But where I expected to feel the drool from my open mouth that had stained my pillow. Or feel the cold stuffy air of my apartment’s air conditioner. What I felt was fresh cool air. My bedroom was littered with dirty laundry, and various items were scattered about. What I stood in now, was a large forest, the trees reaching many stories above me. I rubbed my eyes as I tried to make sense of what was going on. The first thought was that I was in one of those multi-layered dreams.
I slapped myself across the cheek, but when I expected to wake up; all I felt was the sting on my cheek. I then head butted one of the trees nearby; that only resulted in me falling back on my butt. Feeling the pain in multiple spots on my body was all the proof that I needed in order to know that this was all real. Even the slight trail of blood that leaked from where I struck my head against the large red wood type tree. I fell back as my mind seemed to race miles a minute trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
What I suspect to be half an hour passed before I finally got back up to my feet. I began looking around before I felt something on my chest. I had remembered I fell asleep with my glasses on; but here they were hanging from my shirt. When I put my glasses on I noticed I could see a lot better. I also noticed something else; there were markings on my arms. It looked like the stats that were displayed in the game.
{ Mind } ~ 20
{ Body } ~ 25
{ Soul } ~ 15