《Peaks of Power: Beginnings》


 A new Challenger Appears

    Chapter One: A New Challenger Appears


    Hello, my name is Ryan M Soluto and I¡¯m a professional gamer. Needless to say I¡¯m strappingly handsome, with the pecks of a god, an eight pack, and biceps that could crush cars with a single flex. Now that, that¡¯s established, I truly hope there isn¡¯t anyone in this world that believes that shit, ever. I¡¯m not saying I¡¯m this world¡¯s version of Jabba but I¡¯m not a swimsuit model...I haven¡¯t had a swim in years, the graphics are terribly unrealistic.


    However what I do is win, yes I know that¡¯s a catchy old song, that I may or may not play every. single. Day. I have gone through any of the popular, less popular, and terrible games this world has produced within my twenty-nine years of living on this earth. I¡¯ve done great in each one, I haven¡¯t won in each instance, but I¡¯ve always, and I mean always been in the top ten.


    Call me conceited, cocky, overconfident, but all that translates to me is a w-i-n. Like I said earlier, I¡¯m a professional gamer, and I take pride in the body that¡¯s attached to these hands, this guy. Oh, one other person I guess, my best friend Dimitri as well. We¡¯ve been through some tough times, tough demons, and even tougher lag times. So when I saw a post on social media about a alpha and beta testing of a new undisclosed HING (Hyper Interactive Neuro-Net Game) that would ¡®crush the perception of gamers, worldwide¡¯ I had to get him on the phone.


    ¡°Yo, D, you see this new ¡®mystery¡¯ game?¡¯ I said, excited.


    ¡°Yeah, I saw, I¡¯ve been raking over the net, but I¡¯ve got zero¡± Dimitri replied.


    ¡°Damn you too? I couldn¡¯t find a trace of anything, their research team must be top notch to keep everything under wraps.¡± I said, discouraged.


    ¡°I know, but looking at their website, it says ¡®The top 5% of gamers worldwide will be notified of private details, invitations, and upcoming developments.¡¯ So let¡¯s just wait I know you¡¯ll get in, I just hope I make the cut as well.¡± Dimitri explained.


    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that bullshit, you¡¯re way past top 5%. Don¡¯t you go fishing for compliments because it¡¯s raining outside and your depressed, loser.¡± I joked.


    ¡°Damn, you caught me!¡± Dimitri dramatically said.


    I wasn¡¯t joking either, Demitri could hold his own with any gamer in the world if he tried. The problem is, he really doesn¡¯t try most of the time unless it¡¯s against me or if someone gets under his skin. He was once called the ¡®False King¡¯ by Hei, the reigning top gamer in the world because it was obvious he was throwing a match due to boredom. Demitri got pissed and beat his ass five times until the crowd finally got tired and started to boo Demitri off stage. Until this day Hei has never lost any other match, well he¡¯s never challenged me, he knows better. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how much hype this new thing truly needs. I think it¡¯s because no one knows what the hell is going on, but once the mystery is gone it''s going to fall faster than an DLC pre order.¡± I said.


    As said our manly goodbyes, by which I mean insulting each other a couple more times and hung up. It wasn¡¯t until two days later when I received an cryptic email about this new game. The email text even read weird.


    ¡°Come one, come all, this is where gamers evolve beyond the normal and will either break all or be broken. Be ready for the test to help you decide. Meeting instructions are located at the bottom of each email, please be prompt. - The Beta Academy ¡±


    ¡°Yeah, like that sounds like something someone would ever want to be apart of.¡±


    Going back to my homescreen and proceeded to hit up Dimitri.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to this thing right?¡± I said without pause.


    ¡°Of course I am, break all or be broken? I mean I¡¯m not Zangief or anything but I¡¯m down for seeing how far down the rabbit hole this takes us.¡± Dimitri responded.


    ¡°What the hell is the beta academy anyway? ¡° I asked.


    ¡°Bro, I don¡¯t even know, all it says is that they are a research company on the west coast. They specialize in neural technology, brain scans, MRI, and the such.¡± Dimitri replied.


    ¡°Eh, that sounds, stupid and ominus at the same time.¡± I said, shrugging it off.


    As the week progressed, Friday finally got here, and for mostly everyone it¡¯s the last day of their work week, but for gamers, we don¡¯t take a day off. This day represented the first day of hell, dipped in a pool of hand baskets, if the beta academy had anything to say about it. I met up with Dimitri and we talked down to our town¡¯s library for this ¡®meeting¡¯. Once we arrived, there was no one on the computers, having hushed conversations, not even anyone manning the front door. There was however a very tall man dressed in all black at the front desk with a pocket watch waiting for us.


    ¡°Ah, right on time, Ryan M Soluto and Dimitri O Traverse, it¡¯s nice to meet you both, you can call me M.¡± M announced.


    ¡°Does the M have a mysterious meaning like Q in James Bond?¡± I said, smirking.


    ¡°No...It¡¯s just my nickname, my name is Martin. Anyway, come forth, we¡¯ve got a lot to cover and not a lot of time.¡± Martin replied.


    Feeling like a dumbass, I followed behind the laughing Dimitri as we were taken to the back of the library into a dark room. Once we were over the threshold the lights came on to the scene of a gigantic laboratory. This wasn¡¯t any research lab, but it was strapped to the gills with what looked like scientists, researchers, analytics, and some things I¡¯ve never even seen before.


    The hustle and bustle of this place shocked me to my core. It looked like willy wonka¡¯s factory but if Tony Stark bought it, there was chrome everyone. Eletro-microscopes, MRI machines, deep tissue brain scans, and some rooms with tinted glass I couldn¡¯t peer into.


    ¡°Gentlemen, as you can see before you, we take study very seriously here at the Academy.¡± Martin said, very proud of our expressions.


    ¡°Wait, so your academy is in the back of our library?¡± I said dumbfounded.


    ¡°One of the many, this is a multi-billion dollar undertaking. It wouldn''t do well to have a big building sticking out in the middle of a huge city yelling ¡®come crazy people, blow something up¡¯ now would it?¡± Martin finished.


    ¡°He does have a point Ry. It does look better to have something like this that almost no one has any idea about.¡± Dimitri said.


    ¡°Okay, but how did you get everyone out of the building and how in the hell does everyone not know this place is here? It sticks out like a sore thumb, or foot, or body, or damned space station.¡± I said, still looking dumbfounded.


    ¡°A lesson you¡¯ll soon learn Mr. Soluto is that power in most cases is absolute.¡± Martin said with finality.

 Chapter Two: Level Up by Injection

    Dimitri and I looked at each other, shurged and decided to shelve that question for another time, and place. We followed Martin through the long halls of lasers, gadgets, nerds and blacked out windows until we at last came to the end of the hallway. Beyond laid another black room, but just as previously happened, the room was illuminated as we stepped foot inside. The only thing I could think of once we entered the room was Cerebro from X-Men, the room had nothing in it but two chairs in the middle, that noticeably enough had metal cuffs attached to their sides which made me unconsciously rub my wrists.


    ¡°I guess we¡¯re entering bdsm, action rpg? Well slap my momma!¡± I said.


    ¡°Mr Soluto, let¡¯s see if you¡¯ll be slapping anyone¡¯s momma after today is over.¡± Martin retorted.


    ¡°Someone flicked on the ominous switch, I see.¡± Dimitri chimed in.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry gentlemen, I¡¯ve been a bit testy. There¡¯s a lot going on to get prepared for this.¡± Martin said, rubbing his eyes for emphasis.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright man, being kept in the dark makes me irritated. Let¡¯s just get this show on the road.¡± I said.


    As we walked closer and closer towards the chairs in the middle of Cerebro as I¡¯m now calling it, I started to get more and more nervous. Martin abruptly stopped in front of us and we followed suit.


    ¡°Gentlemen here¡¯s our stop. I know you must think I¡¯m going to throw you in these chairs and you¡¯ll never see the light of day again right?¡± Martin asked.


    ¡°The thought did cross my mind a time or ten.¡± I nervously answered.


    ¡°I would be worried if it didn¡¯t. You¡¯re going to sit in these chairs, however it¡¯s for the presentation and explanation of everything first and foremost. You do want to know what you¡¯re getting yourselves into, correct?¡± asked Martin.


    We both shook our heads vehemently as if we were answering questions in middle school. Could you really blame us? We were in somewhere new, for some damn game we barely know about with some creeper Sherlock Holmes looking dude that had bdsm chairs behind us, yeah call that stressful.


    ¡°Instead of increasing your fear, let¡¯s break down why you¡¯re actually here today, shall we?¡± A voice behind us said.


    We turned around quicker then a blond girl in a horror movie meeting Freddy Kruger.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to scare you, I¡¯m Dr. Karen, I¡¯ll be the one who¡¯ll explain everything, including this place to you guys.¡± Dr. Karen said sweeping her hand around the center.


    I heard everything she had to say, but my brain or lack thereof was checking out the stunning figure she was blessed with. She must of been about 5¡¯6, a good 130 lbs and had a figure I¡¯d shank a man for. I just hoped with the rate she was talking, she didn¡¯t feel me drooling, which by the smile on her she meant she had, great.


    ¡°My eyes are up here Mr. Soluto, and your chair is over there, I suggest you take it as we¡¯re about to begin.¡± Dr. Karen said.


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am¡± I stuttered.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am? You alright bro? You¡¯ve fallen that fast?¡± tested Dimitri.


    ¡°Shut up asshat, I¡¯m just being respectful is all.¡± I retorted, not making eye contact.


    Being the mature young man I claimed to be, I almost ignored Dimitri¡¯s snort, almost. It¡¯s something in this world that you really can¡¯t help yourself from reflexively responding to, so I did, by sticking my tongue out, real mature I know. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°*cough* Gentlemen, let¡¯s get down to the core of why we¡¯ve thrown both of you to the wolves so to say.¡± Dr. Karen Interrupted.


    We stopped our childish behavior, and our backs straightened up at the mention of why we were actually here.


    ¡°The ¡®game¡¯ we are developing is called Peaks of Power, or PoP for short. It¡¯s a game that is beyond ¡®fully submersive¡¯ in the terms you¡¯re use to. You are use to putting on helmets, throwing yourselves in capsules, and going for a ride right?¡± Dr Karen asked.


    ¡°Well, yeah, that¡¯s usually how the HING works right? It makes sense of our brain patterns, desires, reactions, etc from our brain waves through the helmet and haptic suit. At least that¡¯s how it¡¯s been explained to me.¡± Dimitri answered.


    ¡°It¡¯s been the same to be, since we are connected through the suit and helmet, the lag time is reduced to something insufficient or at least something that our minds can¡¯t really replicate.¡± I said.


    ¡°Exactly, that doesn¡¯t sound ¡®advanced¡¯ to me. If you will excuse my language it sounds like some bullshit excuse for reality, overcooked, over thought, and over used if you ask me.¡± Dr Karen said passionately.


    I liked this Dr. Karen character more with every second that went by. You could tell she cared about what she was working on. The question that hasn¡¯t still been answered is exactly ¡®what¡¯ she was working on.


    ¡°What we are creating here is reality itself, mentally speaking. It¡¯s called the Portable Observation World Engine Receiver, or POWER for short.¡±


    ¡°Now that sounds like a major undertaking, but it still doesn¡¯t get to the main topic here. What does your ¡®POWER¡¯ have to do with us and this ¡®PoP¡¯ game?¡± I asked, irritated now.


    ¡°As impatient as you are, I like your objective and forward way of doing things Mr. Soluto.¡± Dr. Karen replied.


    ¡°PoP, is going to be the game we are testing the top 5% with. You will be our prized test run. However, you won¡¯t be hooked up to any barbaric rigs, or monkey suits or anything of that sort, no, your reactions, feelings, responses, emotions, triggers, etc will be served directly into our mainframes.¡±


    ¡°Wait, if we aren¡¯t wearing suits, helmets and the like, how are we going to be ¡®hooked into your mainframe¡¯?¡± Dimitiri asked, while using air quotes.


    Dr. Karen was taking all the time in the world knowing that besides our impatience we were at her mercy. It was quite obvious that the fear had taken a back seat to our gamer instinct. Every second passing felt like years, I could almost see the gears turning in her mind. Those dangerous gears that could spell heaven or hell for me and Dimitri, but honestly I couldn''t give a shit. I wanted this more than anything in the world and almost nothing (but that bdsm chair) would have a snowball''s chance in hell of stopping me.


    ¡°I¡¯ve kept you waiting for quite a while, I¡¯m done being dramatic. The keyword gentlemen is nanites.¡± Dr. Karen said, after a minute.


    ¡°Na-what?¡± I said, quite intelligently.


    ¡°Nanites Ry, nano sized robots, they can be used in an unlimited amount of ways, surgery, automotives, etc. There is really no limit, the only limit is your mind and how you can improve them. ¡° Dimitri replied.


    ¡°Mr. Graves, you would make a great salesman. If you¡¯re bored of gaming, please give us a call.¡± Dr. Karen replied, semi-serious.


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m cool with gaming, it lets me keep tabs on this guy, without him even knowing.¡± Dimitri said, pointing at me.


    ¡°Yeah, keep talking pal, i''ll have you be my sidekick power ranger forever!¡± I said.


    ¡°Well, as Mr. Graves stated, we are talking about nanites. With our research we¡¯ve broken them down almost to the cellular level, and this is what will be used within your experience. We will inject them into your bloodstream and they will replicate until they attach to every cell in your body.¡± Dr. Karen explained.


    ¡°I know my best friend is a great salesman, but you on the other hand, really, really, really, need to work on your pitch, explanation, and well damn everything¡­¡± I said, quite sick to my stomach.


    ¡°It¡¯s not nearly as dangerous as I¡¯ve made it seem, however I¡¯ve had to ¡®dumb it down¡¯ to make it much more explainable.¡± Dr. Karen replied.


    ¡°Yes, because you stating ¡®Don¡¯t worry, you''ll be turned into the borg¡¯ screams ¡®come join us!¡¯.¡± I said.


    ¡°No, they aren¡¯t trying becoming body snatchers, but think about it this way. Experiencing a game with no lag time, no slow down, nothing to hold you to a form of play styles. The nanites would learn anything and everything about your physical forms, and while your brain sends tremendous amounts of data to our servers it will learn everything non-materialistic or Idealistic about you through experiences.¡± Dr. Karen stated.


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that as we are playing, the game is learning more about us and how we operate? What about if we do something sporadic or random at some time?¡± Dimitri asked.


    ¡°If that happens then well nothing. The game isn¡¯t some simple code that will crash at some random event happening. It isn¡¯t scripted nor liner, the mainframe is almost at a quantum level and is approaching levels we¡¯ve never experienced from an outside perspective.¡± Dr. Karen said, clearly excited.


    ¡°Okay, we are dealing with a ¡®skynet¡¯ situation here? The way I see it, the more you explain the worse this is looking.¡± I said.


    ¡°Okay, let me try a different angle. In regular HING games, do you really feel the dirt between your feet?¡± Dr. Karen asked.


    ¡°Well, not really, maybe some vibration here and there.¡± Dimitri and I answered.


    ¡°Exactly! With this it won¡¯t be some stupid tingle or vibration, it will be honest dirt, or whatever you might be stepping on at the time. The realism isn¡¯t just a goal for us, it¡¯s the overall theme.¡± Dr. Karen said.


    ¡°Could you really produce something like that, without making it feel artificial?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll bet my life on it, because I¡¯ve felt it with my mind, body, and soul.¡± Dr Karen answered seriously.


    Now Dimitri and I were the ones who kept the power of suspense. This took some serious thought, letting someone inject us with machines, for a game sounded crazier the more I thought about it. However, that level of realism isn¡¯t something that could be bought for a console or VR rig. It brings out all the possibilities of ¡®What if¡¯ stirring inside of me. I looked at Dimitri for some sort of signal, and I got my answer in his stupid grin and raised eyebrow. Looking Dr. Karen in the eyes I only had one question left.


    ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± I said.

 Chapter Three: Bugging Out, Beyond

    Martin, who had been totally silent during this whole exchange, choose that point to speak up.


    ¡°Well Mr. Soluto, Mr. Graves, let¡¯s take a trip to your self titled ¡®bdsm chairs¡¯, shall we?¡± Martin said ruefully.


    ¡°Think about it this way Ry, at least this time around you¡¯ll get paid for it, instead of the other way around.¡± Dimitri laughed.


    ¡°Besides your stupid ass, within our conversation, I forgot to ask how much we were paid as well as the details of contracts, etc.¡± I stopped.


    ¡°Identical contracts will be drawn up for both of you. You will be paid a daily amount of five thousand dollars.¡± Dr. Karen said, not missing a step.


    I stopped dead in my tracks and grabbed Dimitri incase I passed out from the overwhelming amount of money I could cash in on. My inner child was just overjoyed with counting the vast amounts of stupid and needless shit I would buy just because I could. Dimitri looked at me as if he was having the same acid trip, and couldn¡¯t believe he wasn¡¯t going deaf.


    ¡°Wait, I must¡¯ve done partially deaf, did you say five thousand dollars, daily!?¡± I said, while counting on my fingers like an elementary student.


    ¡°Yes, Mr. Soluto, that¡¯s correct. You both will be putting in a tremendous amount of work and data within the game, and you need will need to be compensated for your struggles, work, and experience.¡± Dr. Karen stated.


    There¡¯s that ominous feeling coming back to bite me in the ass once again, but my greed kindly smothered it with a money pillow without warning. To put this in perspective, a gamer with my caliber might get paid five to seven thousand a month, not a day. So danger pay takes a front co-pilot seat like a hot girl in a early 2000¡¯s hip hop music video. Without warning, I hop into the chair and waited to be served, or serviced, or something.


    ¡°Well that makes up my mind, bring on the whips, chains, harem litrpg novels, whatever you¡¯d like.¡± I kindly said.


    ¡°Dear god, you¡¯re a whore aren¡¯t you.¡± Dimitri said, while strapping himself in beside me.


    ¡°Uh huh, I don¡¯t see you ¡®resisting arrest¡¯ over there. You¡¯re in there like swimwear, sir. You and me together Louise.¡± I said.


    ¡°Excuse me, I consider myself more of a Thelma type of gal thank you very much.¡±Dimitri replied.


    ¡°Well gentlemen as much as Dr. Karen and I love the friendly banter that¡¯s going on, we should really start the presentation.¡± Martin cut us off.


    ¡°Thank you Martin. I will explain everything within the purpose of the game, your roles, contract lengths, and of course questions will be asked at the end I¡¯m sure.¡± Dr. Karen said.


    As she was preparing her presentation, a holographic project displayed a model image of Dimitri and I standing in a copy of our current attire. The detail was well, impressive is the only word that currently comes to mind.


    ¡°As you can see, these presentations are, well you. The barbaric rigs, haptic suits and all are missing, this is because like I¡¯ve previously said, they aren¡¯t needed. Dr. Karen finished.


    The images changed to something resembling a cross between a bubble and a spider. It has a spherical shape but with legs along its sides. I might be describing it incorrectly, but think about those grade school projects, a balloon with straws on the side, and you¡¯d be almost right on the money. The circuitry wrapped around it¡¯s entire body, like constantly changing pathways, that were very similar to the device used in that old movie Contact. It seemed like parts of it body were in constant internal motion, transforming, shifting, analyzing.


    ¡°Here is our nanite, cleverly named Operational Replicational Bionic or ORB for short.¡± Dr. Karen said.


    ¡°You guys really like this naming stuff huh?¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, anyway. These little creatures will spread to every cell in your body and create a constant feedback loop to our mainframe of your chemical makeup. They will produce data for every cell, every brain synapse, and so on. While you are in Peaks, almost everything you experience within the game will be experienced by your body.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what do you mean by almost everything?¡± Dimitri asked, concerned.


    ¡°Questions at the end please Mr. Graves. There are three important things that might or might not happen to your physical body while you¡¯re within Peaks. First, there of course won¡¯t be any permanent death to your body. Secondly, any damage from monsters of players that you experience in the game won''t be transmitted as permanently to your body but the sensation still will be felt, trust me. Lastly, your body might undergo some...changes, while in the game.¡± Dr Karen, said finishing flatly.


    ¡°I guess by your pause, we can ask questions now. What do you mean changes? I¡¯m not trying to become a mutant or something.¡± I said.


    ¡°I mean that the orbs will ¡®clean¡¯ your body. In testing, the orbs have cleaned some subjects systems of harmful bacteria, clogged arteries etc.¡± Dr Karen repiled.


    ¡°Why do you seem some nonchalant about that? It¡¯s something that should be yelled beyond the rafters. If these orbs can do these things, why aren¡¯t they in medical technologies and such?¡± I questioned.


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of company red tape that has to be cut before any of that can be even thought of.¡± Dr. Karen said quickly.


    Something was off about this whole thing but I could tell by her nervous stance and her rapid fire answers that we might get too many straight answers from her at the moment.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    ¡°Anyway, you won¡¯t have to be stuck in a rig as each orb has visible circuitry that can sustain your body and requires very little from the outside in terms of sustenance. The human body can only go three days without hydration before dying but with the orbs that limit can be pushed to 10 days.¡± Dr Karen said proudly.


    ¡°How¡¯s that even possible? Your body burns through hydration due to each personals metabolic rate.¡± I said.


    The room went silent.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m not completely brain dead, carry on.¡± I said frustrated.


    ¡°That¡¯s the point, the orbs would slow down your metabolic levels to acceptable levels, in this way the hydration used would also be slowed down and from this side we of course will provide all nutrients that you¡¯ll need for your contract time restrains.¡± Dr Karen.


    ¡°Define ¡®acceptable levels¡¯ for me,¡± I said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll simplify it for you, we¡¯ll keep you alive, you won¡¯t get abducted by aliens, zombies, bob ross, or anyone else. You won¡¯t fall into a coma never to wake up again like a terrible hospital drama show, or anything else ridiculous.¡± Dr Karen said, clearly agitated.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s good enough for me, what about you Dimitri?¡± I asked, looking to my best friend.


    ¡°I have ton¡¯s more questions about the inner workings of everything they might have to wait¡­¡± Dimitri said, catching on to Dr. Karen¡¯s growing anger.


    ¡°I don¡¯t blame both of you for the millions of questions you might have, however we are professionals, we wouldn¡¯t let anything happen to you. You¡¯ll be within our care for year after all.¡±


    ¡°A year!?¡± Dimitri and I said in unison.


    ¡°Yes, that was going to be my next section of the presentation. A year contract will be required for game. In this way we can study how you adapt to whatever you come across within the game and any other effects that you might experience¡­¡± Dr Karen said cryptically.


    ¡°Wow, a whole year within the game, that seems, quite long.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, it does seem long, but within the same time runs differently. A year here would equate to six months inside PoP. Inside the game you won¡¯t feel the experience and in your mindset and processing it will feel like an entire year for experience sake. This way you won¡¯t feel cheated nor will you feel like this is a elongated process, trust me when I say that.¡± Dr Karen explained.


    ¡°Okay, now that I am properly confused, freaked out, and overall mental tired from all the intelligence being sucked up, what''s the next step?¡± I said sarcastically.


    Dr. Karen walked over to our chairs and pushed a blue button on each left side of the chairs and they automatically laid back. Martin came over and placed our arms in the stirrups and the clamps closed over our wrists.  At this point, we knew shit just got quite real to say the least.


    ¡°Can I have a smoke after this is all done? One of those candy ones, that¡¯ll make it feel real?¡± I asked, smiling nervously.


    ¡°Sure, you can all the candy cigarettes you can handle after this journey I promise you.¡± Dr Karen replied.


    Once we were strapped in, two nurses came into with metal traps with more tools then I could count and most like pronounce as well. I thought we were in too deep and were going to be missing our kidneys tomorrow but the only thing they did were pick up a syringe and turned to Dr. Karen for a signal.


    ¡°All of these tools displayed here are for making everything is working at optimal levels. The syringes are how the orbs are placed in your body.¡± Dr Karen said.


    ¡°It looks like you¡¯re about to push some of that good ol¡¯ fashion mercury into us.¡± I said.


    ¡°That¡¯s saline, the reason it¡¯s silver is because of the abundant amount of orbs within. I assure you, there¡¯s no mercury or other toxic substances around at any time. Let''s get this started gentlemen, I want you to experience this as soon as possible. Oh, I almost forgotten!¡± Dr. Karen said in surprise.


    She walked over to the nearby desk and pulled out two identical stacks of papers, seemingly our contracts. Once she was in within six feet, our clamps retracted and pens were held out to use for our john hancock''s.


    ¡°Wait, you were going to inject us with nanites for a year long ¡®game¡¯ with some very, very vague explanations, and you¡¯re worried about us signing some contracts?¡± I said, quite skeptical.


    ¡°Of course! Without these signed, this would seem like torture in that so called ¡®bdsm chair¡¯ you¡¯re strapped into.¡± Dr Karen replied.


    ¡°Very funny¡­¡± I sarcastically said.


    ¡°I thought it was funny, but maybe that¡¯s just because I love watching smarter people smashing down big words for you.¡± Dimitri jabbed.


    ¡°Enough of the banter, do either one of you have any other questions?¡± Martin interrupted.


    ¡°Yes. How will our families know what¡¯s happening to us?¡± I asked seriously.


    I really don¡¯t talk to my mother and family too often, too much bad blood. That being said, they are still my family, as demonic are they are, they still might show a little interest in where I¡¯ll be for a whole year.


    ¡°We will be notifying them, and they will always have the chance to see your journeys at any time.¡± Dr. Karen answered.


    ¡°Wait, this is going to be televised, publicially?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Not for the first month, but family members of each participant will be allowed 24/7 access to the stream, as well as communication through our mainframe when needed or permitted. I say permitted because the point of this isn¡¯t to talk, but to submerge yourselves in this and raise to the top.¡± Dr Karen finished.


    ¡°Wait, so they¡¯ll be able to see, everything¡­?¡± I asked nervously.


    ¡°Yes, whenever they are tuning in, you¡¯ll get a notification on your screen, however you have the ability to ¡°black out¡± at times, so that they will only be seeing a black screen or replays of events.¡± Dr. Karen answered.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s, unsettling...¡± I said gravely.


    ¡°Why? It¡¯s just as if an audience was watching you play another game from their homes or live. It is because you¡¯ll be within the game and can¡¯t control the viewership?¡± Dr. Karen questioned.


    ¡°Well, yes, I can¡¯t control what they see, how they perceive the things they¡¯re viewing.¡± I responded.


    ¡°Control issues eh? Well, that¡¯ll change quite quickly.¡± Dr. Karen said, with a grin.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s a good thing, honestly. Our family can see how we handle things, develop, grow, etc. It might change their perspectives of us and others.¡± Dimitri said.


    Dimitri just said that for my benefit. He knows that my family doesn¡¯t agree with me being a gamer, stating it¡¯s ¡°unproductive¡± even though I make more than their entire household salary combined. Once brought up, they called me arrogant, undeserving, and lazy. This is when the discussion turned into an argument and I stormed out of the house. It¡¯s been two years, and we still haven¡¯t said a word to each other. I mean the nerve, to talk that way, and call me lazy atop of all things, they¡¯ve got no idea.


    ¡°Just speak for yourself, anyway let''s get this thing on the road, if we could.¡± I said, ready to change the subject.


    Dr. Karen must have sensed the tension coming off of me because after that she refused to make eye contact. She went through the paperwork with us, giving us the standard ¡®NDA Agreement¡¯ basically saying if we said anything, to anyone, all our family, goats, cats, second cousins and hamsters would die, I¡¯m paraphrasing here. Once that was said and done and our papers were signed with our own blood and we basically didn¡¯t ask questions that would take decades to go through, we were ready for the next step.


    ¡°I know this sounds entirely too cliche, but you¡¯ll feel a slight prick.¡± Dr. Karen said.


    ¡°I know, he¡¯s sitting right next to me, I just don¡¯t feel him though,¡± Dimitri said.


    Before I had a chance to narrow my eyes, bring down my eyebrows and say something truly vile, our clamps were strapped back on and I felt a sharp painfully focused pain travel deep into my bicep. This pain could only be caused by a big ass needle, I think that¡¯s the scientific name for it.


    ¡°Jesus Christ! That hurt like hell!¡± I said, shaking my restraints.


    ¡°And you wonder why we have these restraints, it¡¯s for this exact reaction.¡± Dr. Karen said.


    As I laid there being bandaged up, fuming, Dr. Karen showed no signs of surprise or even alarm. It was almost like she has seen this kind of reaction many times before, or something close to that.


    ¡°You might start to feel a little funny, like there is something crawling along your skin. It is just the orbs going to work, doing their jobs nothing to worry about.¡± Dr. Karen said.


    ¡°Oh goodie, it feels like fire ants are having a birthday party on my skin, and you think there¡¯s nothing to worry about!?¡± I said angrily.


    ¡°Yes, this is normal, they are replicating, mapping your body, functions, reactions, synapses, etc, everything we¡¯ve already gone over.¡± Dr. Karen said, almost bored.


    At this point I had to re-evaluate her, she was much more than I had given her credit for, even in my dazed state. I don¡¯t even know when I became dazed, a moment ago my mind was crystal clear and she surely wasn¡¯t dancing in her chair, bending the air around her like an airbender. Right before the world around me collapsed into that dark abyss, I caught the tail end of a couple words uttered by the mysterious doctor.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope these two are strong enough.¡± Dr. Karen mumbled.

 Chapter Four: Dropped by Destiny

    Falling, falling is all I felt at first. The wind rushing past my body, past my face felt as if I was an angel descending from heaven, losing my grace, becoming one with the elements. The wind was so intense I thought I had the stroke of bad luck to be kissed by a hurricane, or thrown into the soul of a tornado. I was afraid to open my eyes, for fear the god of wind would take my sight as payment for looking into his kingdom. It might of been because I knew the ground was coming to embrace me and I just didn¡¯t want my last sight to be some shitty looking rocks before I went splat.


    ¡°Well, shit. This is the first thing that happens once I get in the game? Oh boy don¡¯t I just love respawns.¡± I said, mentally.


    ¡°No, I just wanted to give you a ¡®skyline¡¯ view. You¡¯ll be slowing down.¡± A new voice said.


    Those little machines must have done more than just studied my body. It¡¯s given me schizophrenia as a bonus, that just makes live grand.


    ¡°No you aren¡¯t crazy, yes I am real, enough and you don¡¯t have schizophrenia, as far as I¡¯m seeing.¡± the disembodied voice read my mind.


    As I continued my descent to a glorious and most likely painful death I was exposed to a birds eye view of everything. If my heart, mind and soul could have stopped at the moment it would have. The twin suns, yes I said twin, were rising above the horizon, lighting the ground below it ablaze with it¡¯s everlasting image. Passing through the atmosphere, I now felt not just the wind, but the warmth covering my exposed body like gentle embrace.


    ¡°It¡¯s beautiful, isn¡¯t it?¡± asked the voice.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s just so, so real. I am feeling everything at once.¡± I replied.


    As I looked back down towards the ground, our meeting looked like it was coming much sooner than I wanted, so I did what anyone else in this situation would do. I closed my eyes and screamed like a little girl, hoping my screams would cause gravity to feel guilty and have pity on my poor body.


    ¡°Relax and enjoy the ride. I¡¯m not going to let you die, you got arrived, that would be entirely too rude, and it wouldn¡¯t give me the chance to introduce myself and talk about my favorite subject, which is me.¡± the voice said.


    ¡°Oh great so aside of going crazy, I¡¯m having mercy set upon me by my own mind? That¡¯s just a fresh load is bullshit.¡± I said, rolling my eyes.


    As promised, once the ground became a little too close for comfort I rapidly slowed down until I was floating above the ground like a handsome, male Marry Poppins. Catching my breath I needed to slow down before I passed out as I was getting my bearings.


    ¡°See I told you I wouldn¡¯t let you die.¡± the voice said.


    ¡°Yeah, thanks for that, it would have been terrible to go through all that just to respawn god knows where.¡± I replied.


    I felt something on my right side, like a person but just out of reach of my vision.


    ¡°What you¡¯re feeling right now is me, I will display a body for you so that you¡¯ll feel better with communicating with me.¡± the voice said, as he appeared slowly from thin air.


    ¡°Hello, my name is Alpha, I¡¯m your A.I. It¡¯s nice to meet you Ryan Soluto.¡± Alpha said, smiling.


    ¡°An A.I huh? What do I need an A.I for?¡± I questioned.


    ¡°Well for starters, do you know where you are? What you¡¯re supposed to do? How to interact with the game? Find your friend Dimitri? If so I¡¯d love to know.¡± Alpha said, smiling.


    He had a point, with his help I didn¡¯t kiss the ground, also, I was 100% clueless on what to do, and how do anything. Looking down at myself, all I had on was a cloth, no armor, no weapon, no well, anything actually. What gives? I thought games would give you something to start at least.


    ¡°You got me there, I¡¯m quite...under-prepared for well, everything it seems.¡± I said, looking at my almost naked body.


    ¡°Of course you are...Let¡¯s start at the very beginning and hopefully you¡¯ll catch up or die, it all depends on how strong you are.¡± Alpha said condescendingly.


    ¡°Okay, all mighty one, let¡¯s see exactly what you¡¯ve been tasked to show me.¡± I said, giving a mocking bow.


    At this point as serious as he looked, he also looked quite amused, like a adult glaring down at a clueless child heading into the real world for the first time.


    ¡°First, this world moves as fast as your mind can comprehend and your muscles can respond to those thoughts. For example go ahead and think inventory and see what happens.¡± Alpha dared.


    Doing as he said, I thought inventory and before I mentally finished pronouncing the word, an inventory window popped up in the middle of my vision. It was jarring to say the least, my vision was filled with an empty grey grid with sections, tabs, and something that looked like a specialities area, whatever that meant.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°Well that was quite quicker then I had thought! It looks like your synapses connections aren¡¯t half bad.¡± Alpha said, pleased.


    ¡°Connections? Do you mean mental thought commands? Those happen in other games as well.¡± I replied.


    ¡°Yes, but think about it, how much easier was it to pull up the inventory just now, compared to other games where you aren¡¯t even fully integrated or have proper mental control of your surroundings or utilities?¡± Alpha pushed.


    He was onto something. I didn¡¯t really even have to think about an inventory, just the simple phrase brought it right in front of me, but that also presented a problem.


    ¡°That¡¯s great and all, but if I¡¯m in the middle of a fight and this thing pops up in front of my face, I might be stabbed through, burned, or something worse like listen to country music, until I died.¡± I said, worried.


    ¡°Stop being so dramatic, you can ¡®think¡¯ the window smaller. Remember, in this world knowledge and know-how is power, yes those shitty 90¡¯s posters were right all along.¡± Alpha said.


    So as I continued to stare at the inventory window in front of my face, it gradually became smaller and maneuvered to the bottom of my eyesight. It was much easier and smoother than in other games, it just was well...natural for lack of a better term.


    ¡°There you go, and yes before you ask, I can view everything you observe. It is part of having an A.I. Now let''s move onto our next lessons.¡± Alpha said, in a teaching form.


    The world slightly shifted, as if I was moving a thousand miles an hour and I was standing still. I was rapidly displaced from a desert landscape to a tropical climate and based on the raindrops falling I could feel plaiting my head, it was the rain season. Moments after our arrival I began to shiver along with take in my surroundings.


    ¡°We will only be here for a moment, but I wanted you to see what you¡¯ll actually go through. I protected you from the weather conditions so far because I wanted this to be your first experience in the realism of this world. This is a game yes, however your experiences here will be anything but such.¡± Alpha said, with finality.


    ¡°I...I...I understand, can we please go now?¡± I shakily asked.


    Alpha nodded and we were off once again to somewhere that looked like a savannah, an open plain straight out of the Lion King movies. The first thing I noticed once the world stopped spinning was the heat. I could feel my skin tightening, could see heat waves rising from the ground, and began to feel my body¡¯s tenacity break down.


    ¡°I just wanted you to have another example of the impact each environment will have on you. It¡¯s cruel I know but you need to know this and much more to help you not only survive here but thrive. I will of course be with you every step of the way but I cannot and will not babysit you.¡± Alpha stated.


    ¡°Who do you think I am? You think just because you¡¯ve warped me around this what world whatever it¡¯s called.¡±


    ¡°Paradose Dolore¡±


    ¡°What, para, something. Let me tell you, I¡¯m one of the best gamers, not just in the United States, but in the world. I don¡¯t break easy, never have so don¡¯t give me that ¡®babysit¡¯ bullshit, I¡¯m made of steel, not tin, asshole.¡± I stood defiant.


    ¡°Well ¡®gamer¡¯ how about you show me your combat skills, since you¡¯re so full of vigor.¡± Alpha said, pointing to what seemed to look like a small fox.


    I¡¯m sure as hell not one to be made fun of, or out matched, so of course I was a man about it. I went over there and squared¡¯ up with that little animal. At my approach it went on high alert, and looked at me quizzically. I bent down to give it a right cross, until I greatly unestimated it¡¯s speed and it clawed at my cheek. The pain, well, the pain was everything I¡¯d expect real life to be, unfiltered, unaltered, and extremely intense. I stepped back, grasped my face, and cried out.


    ¡°What the hell was that! That shit hurts like hell, this is a damn game.¡± I said, blood seeping through my hand.


    ¡°The longer you keep spouting stupid stuff like that, the shorter your continued lifespan will be. You¡¯ll keep getting killed, most likely in a painful fashion, while asking yourself, ¡®why me?¡¯¡± Alpha responded.


    I took a pause at this. Was this really a game? The pain in my cheek is as real as the sunlight on my face feels. This wasn¡¯t some illusion or a mind trick, but was I actually experiencing this? The longer I thought about it, the more confused I felt. To hell with this, I want to go beat that fox ass, i''ll deal with the details later on.


    ¡°Fine, i¡¯ll play your game for right now, i''ll see you in a moment after the fox and I have a conversation.¡± I said, picking up a branch from the grass.


    The branch glowed for a quick second as I guess I ¡®equipped¡¯ it, and then it felt like an extension of myself, while I walked over to the sleepy fox with the smile of a grim reaper on my face. The fox heard me coming from a mile away, and instead of running, it¡¯s previous victory made it confident, as it was up and ready in a blink of an eye, waiting to take another chunk out of me.


    ¡°Round two, little bitch, I¡¯ve got something special for you.¡± I said, killing intent in my eyes.


    I took a swipe at the fox, but being as it was so much smaller than me, I missed by miles. The fox darted in and out of my vision, taking swipes at my legs, and biting at my arm when my lunge was too slow. I was tiring far too quickly for my own good, and the hits kept coming. As the fight went on for a good two minutes I decided to feign stumbling and using my left hand I swung across my body to hit the fox on the head as it was ready to bite my outstretched right elbow.


    The crunch of the fox¡¯s head was quite audible and made me cringe a little inside. Once the branch impacted it¡¯s head all life had left it¡¯s body almost immediately and the fox fell limp. If it wasn¡¯t a little bastard I would have felt pity, but my aching body felt differently about it. Still in a battle trace, I heard a slow ¡®golf clap¡¯ coming from behind me. Turning around, I saw Alpha, now confusingly in a 3 piece suit, slowing with a stupid ass smirk on his face.


    ¡°Good job, you look pissed off but at least you took 2 minutes less than I thought you would. This brings us to a couple very important parts of the experience: Combat aspects, Stats allocation, and environmental conditions.¡± Alpha said, listing everything on his fingers.


    ¡°As you could personally see, the fighting here, is just like any real situation, it hurts. There is real pain, not filtered, certainly not heightened, just genuine. You are in a ¡®actual¡¯ fight. You have to think about your next move, their next move and if you are within a party, everyone¡¯s cooperation, roles, counter attacks, and everything else you didn¡¯t think you would ever think of.¡± Alpha explained.


    I sat there still recovering, but wondering for that 1000th time, what I had gotten myself into. This was like the sims, mixed with Dante¡¯s Inferno, sprinkled with D&D, dripped in a pool of ¡®wtf¡¯. I really thought I¡¯d slide through this game with no issues and poof a year would be gone just like that, I¡¯m come out with a assload of money and continue along my way. I haven¡¯t been here, more than what? A couple hours at most and I¡¯ve already had my ass kicked by a fox, taken to three climates, been told I¡¯m stupid by my A.I more times than I¡¯d like to count and am now getting schooled at how I¡¯m not taking this ¡®real life¡¯ seriously enough. Let¡¯s go back to that part where I asked myself, what have I gotten into.


    ¡°I hope you¡¯re keeping up because we¡¯ve just gotten started. The next thing you need to do is to open up your status window, and we¡¯ll go from there,¡± Alpha said.


    Just as the inventory, I thought about it and the window popped up, however I made it shrink in size and slightly transparent in order not to completely block my vision.


    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re learning, good.¡± Alpha said, honestly, proud.


    ¡°Yes, I do have a brain, even if it¡¯s a little rattled right now. Before we continue, is there anything we can do about these cuts, bleeding, bruises, etc?¡± I asked, clearly in pain.


    Alpha looked like he was going to decline, but took pity on me, snapped his fingers and all my aches, pains, and bleeding was gone.


    ¡°Wow¡­.That¡¯s, great!¡± I exclaimed,


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s because we are within the development territory that I can do this, it won¡¯t happen after we are done here.¡± Alpha said.


    ¡°Oh, so we are in the tutorial zone? I couldn¡¯t even tell¡­.¡± I said, embarrassed.


    ¡°Of course we are...That¡¯s good you couldn¡¯t tell, because besides these healing and dying structions, there isn¡¯t anything different between here and anywhere else.¡± Alpha said.

 Chapter Five: Real Life, Reality Cometh

    ¡°Next we will talk about the stats, including the six different attributes that accompany every other important aspect in the menu.¡± Alpha said.


    I mentally scolded myself for being excited at opening up a simple status window. I mean it was just a window, nothing to be excited about, I¡¯ve done it a number of times already, and besides this was all just part of the game...yeah, the game.


    ¡°As you can see on the farthest left side of the window lay your six main attributes. Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, and lastly, Charisma. The importance of these aren¡¯t measured in numbers but in how they will affect your body, items, and overall experience in almost everything you do. I will give you ten points, which we will use in a moment, until then I want you to run from that tree, fifty meters away, and back here as fast as you can.¡± Alpha finished.


    I¡¯m not the best running, I mean I don¡¯t have coke bottle glasses and an inhaler attracted to my hip, but I¡¯m not Usain Bolt either. A light jog might get me winded as hell, but remember I¡¯m a prized pony in the gaming world. So I did what he asked, I ran my ass off to the tree and back, while my lungs cursed my entire being.


    ¡°Oh my god, that was terrible, I bet if I held a GPU in front of your face like a carrot, you would have been back in a flash¡­¡± Alpha said, disappointed.


    ¡°Yeah, talk shit all you want, I can¡¯t be great at everything¡­¡± I replied, irritated.


    ¡°No you can¡¯t and you won¡¯t but try putting those ten points into dexterity and do the running one more time.¡±


    Having no other choice and a little curious myself, I mentally put all ten points into dexterity and started to feel something strange in my legs. They felt more powerful, flexible, toned, and gave me the feeling I had just become half jack-rabbit. I started bouncing all around the place, like a awestruck trampoline.


    ¡°Now, stop jumping around before I get whiplash and do the run again.¡± Alpha said, watching me bounce up and down.


    With a big ass smile, I took off full speed, the environment around me blurred a little like I was jumping to warp speed in an X-wing. Before I had a chance to blink more than five times I was back next to a grinning Alpha. I have to admit I was smiling from ear to ear myself, despite him being an asshole.


    ¡°Do you notice anything different besides the speed?¡± Alpha asked, waiting obviously for me to catch up.


    ¡°No, not really? Everything just went crazy as hell and next thing I know I¡¯m right next to ugly.¡± I said, grinning.


    ¡°Jesus, isn¡¯t your breathing, normal?¡± Alpha asked, rolling his eyes.


    Now that he said something, I wasn¡¯t gasping for breath like a fat kid running after chocolate cake, I mean I don¡¯t even like cake, I¡¯m getting distracted again...I felt, for lack of a better term, normal, as normal as can be felt? Fuck it.


    ¡°Yeah! So I guess dexterity is directly related to the amount of stamina you have as well?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No! That¡¯s next, but your faster moment, gave your body less time to react to the overexertion. So the more you have, the faster you¡¯ll move and more importantly the faster your weapon will move.¡± Alpha answered.


    In games this is a basic mechanic, used almost everywhere but never, even within nuero-net games have I ever experienced something like that. It felt as if I was changing on a fundamental level, as if I was progressively at the gym on leg day for weeks at a time, non-stop. In other words it felt incredible.


    ¡°So now that, that little experiment is completed, we will move on and do the same thing in each attribute.¡±Alpha said, taking the ten points back.


    I felt deflated after those ten points were gone, as if my legs turned to jelly, I hated it. However, once the points were put into Strength, I could punch harder, had a great impact, and felt like I could carry the weight of the world of the shoulders. Of course I know this is because I¡¯m feeling this for the free time, and I¡¯d be damned if it didn¡¯t feel great. Constitution was interesting, I didn¡¯t really feel anything at first.


    ¡°What gives? I don¡¯t feel anything at all, just normal.¡± I said, pissed.


    ¡°Calm down, you¡¯re acting like a child who just had their lollipop taken. Breath in, try to look farther distances, close your eyes and try to feel your heartbeat, the breath in your lungs, etc.¡± Alpha recitied.


    This felt like a kungfu montage but nevertheless I sat down, indian style, closed my eyes and breathed deeply. I opened my eyes quickly and looked up at Alpha.


    ¡°What the hell was that?¡± I said, surprised.


    ¡°Ah got a good whiff of the world huh? Try again and tell me what your mind takes in about the surroundings.¡± Alpha said with a hint of a smile on his lips.


    ¡°It¡¯s unreal, hard to put into words but it¡¯s like I¡¯m getting a introduction of what everything around me is made up of. I can¡¯t quite place the scents yet, and what they are composed up, but with a little more I feel like I could start.¡± I said, deep in thought.


    ¡°This is because with Constitution comes health and the stamina we talked about minutes ago. The reason why your sensing more now isn¡¯t some extra worldly ability but it¡¯s simply because your health and thus your senses have improved.¡± Alpha explained.


    It made sense, I wasn¡¯t smelling things that weren¡¯t there, or aliens or some other bullshit, just details of my surroundings. Following the next steps, I closed me eyes again and listened to my heart or attempted to. For a couple seconds I felt like I couldn¡¯t locate it, maybe because I didn¡¯t have one? Stupid I know but, boy the things you think of while your bored, with your eyes closed, trying to find your heart. I felt a pulse within my chest after a full minute and had a feeling that, it was my heart. It was strong, rapid, and if I slowed down my breathing my heart beat slower as well. If I did the reverse, so did it, that shit was crazy as hell.


    ¡°Next is Intelligence and Wisdom, which are done in tandem of each other.¡± Alpha said.


    ¡°Why are we doing both at the same time? I thought the goal of all this was understanding of each one individually?¡± I replied.


    ¡°Usually that would be the best course of action, but these two are almost two parts of the same coin.¡± Alpha answered.


    ¡°Okay? I can¡¯t help the irony here of not knowing what the hell you¡¯re talking about and the topics being Intelligence and Wisdom, so spare me the shitty joke.¡± I deadpanned.


    ¡°Well...if you insist¡­¡± Alpha said, defeated.


    ¡°Anyway, as we come to the next part, we¡¯ll need to give you a spell. Let¡¯s start with a very basic offensive spell for teaching reasons.¡± Alpha says.


    He strolls over to me with seemingly all the time in the world and taps two fingers to my forehead like we¡¯re in some manga. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Spark.¡± Alpha said.


    I¡¯m suddenly lightheaded, and fall flat on my ass. A flood of knowledge sweeps past my vision so fast I can¡¯t keep track, and feel like I¡¯m going to into a seizure if it doesn¡¯t stop.


    ¡°What the hell did you do to me now?¡± I said from the ground, dazed and confused.


    ¡°I gave you the spell you needed, only thing was I streamlined the learn process. What should take maybe days to a week to grasp I¡¯ve done in two seconds. This is where the rush your feeling right now is coming from. As we¡¯ve done in the past, but all ten points into Intelligence. ¡± Alpha answered.


    I placed all ten points into Intelligence like he asked. As I gained control of my facilities I felt that something was different, off in some way but as Alpha was talking I still felt something foreign in the back of my mind.


    ¡°So I¡¯ve got a spell in the back of my head now?¡± I asked, semi disgusted.


    ¡°Yes, I know it feels like something doesn¡¯t belong but that¡¯s because it¡¯s the first time you¡¯ve felt such a sensation before. Let''s try this out, hold your hand out anywhere and say the word ¡®Spark¡¯ either to yourself or yell it. Remember for this just point and shoot don¡¯t think.¡± Alpha stated.


    I wanted to hold my hand to his face and give him a first person perspective of the inside of a toaster, but for all I know he might not even feel it, and slap the shit out of me. From the look on his face I think I¡¯m one hundred percent right, so with that thought blown to hell I pointed straight at a tree, and took aim.


    ¡°Spark!¡± I yelled.


    As I finished yelling, sparks similar to the ones that fly off during welding came soaring out from my palm like a fire hose creating flames rather than putting them out. The flames shot everywhere but the tree in fact. I felt weaker and weaker as the seconds flashed by, without knowing anything else to do I closed my hand hoping the flames wouldn¡¯t turn my hand to ash. I wouldn¡¯t want to go from gamer to cigarette, just yet.


    ¡°As you can see, magic uses energy, your energy in fact to manifest itself. However this lightheaded feeling you¡¯re feeling right now goes away from doing two things. Increasing your intelligence and increasing your wisdom. Now let¡¯s place five points in intelligence, and five in wisdom and try once again.¡± Alpha finished.


    As I lined up my shot I felt focus, like my hand was guided to the tree like a gravitational pull almost. I could resist it, but my gut pulled everytime I battled against it, so I decided to just go with the feeling and once my hand was spread up wide in front of the tree, I let loose.


    ¡°Spark!¡± I yelled.


    The tree went up in flames as if my name was Moses and this was a burning bush. The only damage aside from the tree seemed to be the grass at the base of the tree but nothing else was damaged unlike last time where it just went wild with no control.


    ¡°Intelligence maintains the power, however Wisdom gives you the understanding and control. Without Intelligence you have no power, and without wisdom you have no control.¡±


    I stood there looking at my hand, finally clicking together everything together as if I was lost in a fog for so long. Each attribute has a vital role in the development of well...me. Staring down, dumbfounded, I began to realize how little I knew about this ¡®game¡¯ and how visceral this feeling was, down to my very core, and this was still just the tutorial, the; little fish, big pond¡¯ didn¡¯t do this world justice.


    ¡°Ah, judging from your stance and the look in your eyes, you¡¯re beginning to learn how possibly big this world really is, aren''t you?¡± Alpha asked me.


    ¡°I guess so, the feeling is just so overwhelming at this moment. Hell, it¡¯s hard to speak about it because as much as I resist, this ¡®reality¡¯ pushes back.¡± I replied, using quotes.


    Alpha rolled his eyes at the sight of my quotes but knew what I meant and continued on with the lesson either way. I just think he was happy that I¡¯d stop using the word game, and used the word reality, but he ain¡¯t shifting me over to his cult just yet, no Kool-Aid for this guy here.


    ¡°Well at least your primate brain gets a little piece. Something is better than nothing I suppose. We are onward to the last leg of this part of our journey, Charisma. This is the attribute that isn¡¯t just about how good you look to all those girls, but how much of a leader the public will see you as. Beyond the hill to our right is a pack of wild horses, put ten points into Charisma and go over to them and round them up.¡± Alpha said, completely serious.


    ¡°Umm besides that being a batshit crazy idea, how about no.¡± I proclaimed.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t going anywhere until you do this, so you wish to spend your entire right here being an ass, suit yourself.¡± Alpha resisted.


    This dude was out of his mind, insane like I¡¯ve never experienced and I hang out with civil war reenactors. However, if I wanted to learn something, I¡¯ve learned I have to be open minded, even if it means I get my ass kicked by ponyta beyond the hill. As I started to walk towards the hill without even one smart ass remark Alpha made another suggestion.


    ¡°Once you get there, command the horses to gallup around you, don¡¯t ask, or suggest, but command. This is where your Charisma triggers, it brings your ¡®aura¡¯ to the forefront of the target¡¯s attention, if it¡¯s strong enough they will follow you not out of mind control, but because their faith, fear, or guidance will empower them to do so.¡± Alpha finished.


    I didn¡¯t know that leadership had that kind of, well not control but influence would be a better term. I always thought it was the way a leader stood, what they wore, or something else, but not Charisma, I always thought that was a myth. Anyway, I started my trek up the hill to where horseshoes were in my immediate future. As I crested over the hill I could see horses grazing all over the place, so of course I picked the three grouped together nearest to me because...laziness thats why.


    As I walked closer to the herd they sensed my presence, either by my movements, smell or a mixture of both and began to stir. Slowly all turned towards me and began to stomp their hooves in challenge.


    ¡°So this is what the deep end of the shit pool looks like...interesting.¡± I said, cussing Alpha¡¯s name.


    Without warning, they rushed, anger embedded deep in their eyes towards me. I only had a slight chance to dive out the way but took a grazing hit in my shoulder by a back kick that felt like a tow truck saying hello. Once I felt the impact and my shoulder felt out of place, all the weight I placed on my shoulder felt like I was struck my lighting and I cried out. The horses couldn¡¯t give a damn about my bitching and proceeded for round two. With great effort I managed to roll out of the way of a hoove and the dirt.


    ¡°Stop!¡± I yelled out.


    The colt hesitated for a moment before continuing it¡¯s downward hammering. It looked, well confused at first, like this was the first time it¡¯s independence was questioned or threatened. Of course I had to pick the herd with the alpha male in it, luck loves a dumbass with time on his hands. I worked myself to my feet with my good arm and looked the ringleader in the eyes. With all the willpower I knew I didn¡¯t have but forced anyway, I commanded.


    ¡°I said, stop!¡± I commanded.


    The colt came to a dead stop and sized me up. I stood there, in magnitudes of pain, with one useless arm, cuts, bleeding and god knows broke inside but outwardly I just hoped I looked like a commander of an army. The other two horses came up the rest on the sides of the colt and looked at me as well. At this point it was now or never, so let¡¯s roll for initiative shall we?


    ¡°Take three steps back, now.¡± I calmly but firmly said.


    All three had anger in their eyes, so I tried my hardest to match their fury, for the first time it looked like I did, because they started to move backwards. The only took one step back, but it was a step in the right direction, away from me.


    ¡°It¡¯s about time I¡¯ve gotten some respect around here!¡± I said proudly.


    The leader takes a step forward.


    ¡°I was just joking¡­.¡± I said nervously.


    He takes a step back.


    ¡°Gallup around me...Please.¡± I said meekly.


    The horses much more time then was comfortable for my liking, they started slowly to approach but at a non-threatening speed. Once again I am stunned at how hard every step I take has been. It wasn¡¯t taking a step back, but each step had weights attached to them and dropped in the bottom of the ocean, and then I stepped on them. Nevertheless the struggle is oh so real here. As the horses slowly started walking around me, I felt my shoulders relax, well one shoulder relaxed the other one was dislocated and I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s sporting a hoof shaped tattoo now.


    I let the horses go on a couple more laps, while I stood there looking like an idiot but safe from being kicked, bitten, headbutted, or something help remotely as violent as long as I made no sudden moves.


    ¡°You can stop now, thank you.¡± I said, and bowed my head slightly.


    I don¡¯t know if it was the right thing to do, but I¡¯ve watched a shit ton of kungfu movies and the guys do it after a battle. This wasn¡¯t a battle so much as me almost dying a couple of times until I got the point. I walked, well let¡¯s be honest, limped over the hill back to Alpha who was relaxing in a chair. Once I was close enough, just out of curiosity sake I tried something.


    ¡°Stand up!¡± I bellowed.


    Alpha looked over at my general direction, waved, and continued relaxing.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you an A for effort, but my Charisma is just a tiny bit higher than yours.¡± Alpha said with his eyes closed.


    ¡°Oh yeah? About how much higher than me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°At this moment, it¡¯s staying at 200. How do you think you wanted to listen to my commands so easily?¡± Alpha said with a ghost of a grin.


    ¡°What the hell? I resisted some...but now that I think about it, I¡¯ve done almost everything you¡¯ve asked and didn¡¯t really have a problem with it¡­¡± I said, realization written plainly on my face.


    ¡°Yes, but it was because deep in your cortex you¡¯ve realized I wasn¡¯t guiding you down the wrong path. If I had be deceiving you, your flight or fight instincts would have kicked it and the mental battle would have been much longer until I eventually won or we just stood there until you became a mummy.¡± Alpha said, matter-a-factly.


    ¡°Eh I think the odds might¡¯ve been a little closer to 50/50 then you think. I¡¯m not a mental push over.¡± I said.


    I held out my hand and made the universal sign for ¡®eh it¡¯s alright, or so-so¡¯. That is before I gave him the finger, you know, like an adult.


    ¡°Oh yes, like that¡¯s going to hurt me...Ow! Ten thousand points of damage!¡± Alpha said, feigning death.


    ¡°Laugh it up! You¡¯re having entirely too much fun with this¡­¡± I said, pissed off.


    ¡°No my boy, I¡¯m just having fun until the very last moment¡­¡± Alpha said cryptically.


    Is it me, or did that sound like some next level, end of the world type shit? I might be losing it, but I¡¯m not nearly that far gone.


    ¡°Wait, what do you mean, the last moment?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Nevermind that stuff. The last part of this leg of the journey is something that isn¡¯t welcomed at all but is certainly needed¡­¡± Alpha trailed off.


    ¡°What do you mean¡­.once again? I can handle anything you throw at me.¡± I said proudly.


    ¡°I have no doubt about that in time but you won¡¯t like this part, I need to give you a taste of what dying feels like. Of course you won¡¯t lose anything I¡¯ve given you, because I will be taking it all back minus some clothes anyway, but the experience won¡¯t be a tickle on the pickle either.¡± Alpha explained.


    I couldn¡¯t believe what I was hearing. What kind of bullshit is that? I have to die to know what dying feels like? Last time I checked my name wasn¡¯t Jesus and I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be coming back like him either. I think by the look on that bastard¡¯s face, it might be just a little too late to start gambling my life.


    ¡°It¡¯s about that time¡­¡± Alpha said with his hand outstretched.


    ¡°Well isn¡¯t this a damned good tim-¡± I said.

 Chapter Six: Simple Times, Simple Ways

    Cut off, I felt myself being blasted into a trillion particles, and pushed rapidly back together again. When I could form an actual through from the nothingness my first word was ¡®cold¡¯. That was all I could think of until the word ¡®dark¡¯ came, and so forth. It was like rebooting a 10 year old computer, however instead of minutes, it most likely was seconds and for me felt like decades.


    I honestly don¡¯t know a thing about torture, nor imprisonment, or anything devious like that but I could believe that¡¯s the closest thing I¡¯ll ever get. I felt like I was in a space where time was a simple ball and you were the hamster in the middle just running around and around and around.


    Once I could open my eyes, it was like they had been closed for 2 weeks, everything was piercing.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± Alpha said beside me.


    ¡°Good, good morning my ass you bastard.¡± I said, trying to sit up.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s because you¡¯re still alive. Never forget that warping feeling. Not only will it keep you alive and going, it will always give you empathy for those whose lives you might have to extinguish even for those couple respawn minutes.¡± Alpha scolded me.


    For once in my life I was speechless. I wanted to be mad as hell at him, whoop his ass back and forth what for he made me experience, but at the same time, he was right. This reality isn¡¯t going to be roses and sunshine, at times it''s going to be brutal, dangerous and most importantly unforgiving. If I wanted to play the pope, I could of course, however if I wanted to play the warlord I would have to come to terms what I would be putting each and every person I killed, through.


    ¡°Alright I get it!¡± I said, having enough.


    ¡°Okay, well, don¡¯t just sit there, have a look around you.¡± Alpha said, holding his arm out like a presenter.


    In the middle of my rage against the machine, I almost missed the splendor that was around me. The landscape was straight out of green acres, I swear if you around long enough you¡¯d swear the land went on infinitely. The pastures were long, the blades of grass were deep with texture and stood with grandeur. I couldn¡¯t truly example the peace of the environment with words, only emotions. Alpha took advantage of my momentary silence and awe to proceed with the teachings.


    ¡°I take it you like you are quite struck with the scenery?¡± Alpha asked with a smile on his face.


    ¡°Ye, Yes. It¡¯s quite...expansive and detailed.¡± I replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to capitalize on this moment of speechlessness. This is the ¡°starting¡± pasture; meaning this is the land you¡¯ll start out at after our intense ¡®learning¡¯ session. Behind you is the capital of Paradose, Gigia: The Morning Star.¡± Alpha finished.


    Once I actually decided to turn around I could see why the capital was named the morning star. Every point in my vision looked as if it either reflected light or was made to resemble being built out of light. Meaning the buildings were almost purely white in color, and shone like diamonds in the sun. To look directly at it felt like I was being blinded either by it¡¯s reflective properties or something I had no idea about. I had to shade my eyes from fear of going blind within the next minute.


    ¡°How the hell can I even step in that place when I can¡¯t stand looking at it for more then a few seconds?!¡± I said.


    ¡°That¡¯s because your eyes need to adjust to the magic you¡¯re being shown. Look down at the dirt trail and then back to the town about ten times and you¡¯ll see what I mean.¡± Alpha replied.


    So my eyes bounced back and forth between the city of the undying eye destroying sun...I¡¯m paraphrasing, and the dirt trail leading to the main entrance. As stupid as this is and how I must of looked like a whiplash victim, my eyes started to adjust. The capital didn¡¯t lose any of it¡¯s outwardly wonder and awe, but it¡¯s blinding light started to dim to the point below visibility annihilation.


    ¡°Now that¡¯s much better!¡± I said, breathing out.


    ¡°Yes, and before you go heading into there, not knowing what the hell your doing, it''s time to unlock all your social abilities so you aren¡¯t a hermit.¡±Alpha said.


    ¡°Social abilities? What do you mean? Do you have a Facebook here or something?¡± I said, dumbfounded.


    ¡°Eh, I could call you an idiot, but I was talking about friend¡¯s list, communications, party/guild chat, etc. Let¡¯s just say you were close enough.¡± Alpha said.


    As Alpha finished, there was system messages popping up everywhere.


    *System: Friend¡¯s List Unlocked!*


    *System: Party/Guild/Friend Chat Unlocked!*


    *System: Combat/Raid Chat Unlocked!*


    I felt like now that I know that these things were held back that I didn¡¯t miss them, until now. At least now I feel a little more complete, I can walk around, talk to people and start climbing this world and making it bow down.


    ¡°You¡¯re smiling strangely, if you think things are going to be that easy or that ¡®normal¡¯ you¡¯ll have a tough road ahead of you.¡± Alpha stated.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, anything else I need Yoda, before I head inside?¡± I said, shrugging off his advice.


    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s get you some shoes and a shirt. You look like a homeless vagabond.¡± Alpha said, waving his hand.


    Just like that, shoes and a shirt appeared in front of me, and not for the first time I started to question if Alpha was more than an A.I. Putting on the ¡®gifts¡¯ I was full of confidence and cockiness but his warning of it not being easy stuck inside my mind, and it was annoying as shit. It wasn¡¯t because I was scared, but it was because I was two parts excited and one part cautious.


    ¡°Well...I guess this is goodbye?¡± I asked awkwardly.


    ¡°What are you talking about? I¡¯m your A.I. I¡¯m going to be around everywhere. You aren¡¯t going anywhere without me however creepy that sounds.¡± Alpha said.


    ¡°That sounds creepy as shit. But if I can¡¯t get rid of you, just don¡¯t get in the way of my greatness.¡± I said, putting on my shirt and shoes.


    ¡°Oh holy one, I¡¯ll be sure not to get in your way of greatness¡­¡± Alpha, faking a bow.


    Once I was turning around to throw a right cross at Alpha¡¯s pride, he was just gone. I¡¯m not talking about walking away, but David Copperfield gone. I would never admit this to his face but at that moment I missed that little bitch. Anyway, as everything was unlocked the first thing I did was mentally pull up a window and send a message to Dimitri.


    ¡°Hey assface, are you here?¡± I said, sending the message.


    I waited a couple of moments before I approached the front gate guards when a window popped up.


    ¡°Yes, nice to hear from you too¡­¡± Dimitri replied.


    ¡°Well, it''s my calling card, what do you expect?¡± I answered.


    As our banter went back and forth I felt a hand placed on my shoulder, stopping me dead cold.


    ¡°Sir, where are you coming from, and what is your intent within our capital?¡± The guard asked sternly.


    Now, at this point I would usually have some smart ass answer at the ready like a loaded gun, however based on his muscle tone I had to second guess my road to ass beating town. The dude had muscles on top of muscles who made the Juggernaut look like skeeter from that old cartoon Doug. That being said, I went along with everything he said, did, or needed me to do.


    ¡°I honestly just came from the tutorial and wanted to explore the world...sir?¡± I said meekly.


    His gaze felt as if he was looking deep into my soul and went for a full two minutes while a shifted back and forth, and side to side. Needless to say I thought I was going to be hamburger meat until he began to talk.


    ¡°Okay sir, I believe you check out just find. Welcome to Gigia, Mr Soluto. My name is Daniel.¡± Daniel stated.


    ¡°Well, thanks...Daniel, I¡¯m sure i''ll enjoy my stay here,¡± I said quietly as I walked as fast as possible past him.


    I never, ever want to see that guy up close and personal, ever again. I think my balls shrunk three sizes after he was finished staring at me. Yeah, I made a pseudo Grinch reference, fight me.


    ¡°What where you¡¯re going!¡± I female yelled as I ran into her.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry¡­?¡± I said, turning around confused.


    I was in mid apology when I locked eyes on this little cute doll looking girl. She looked as if little orphan Annie was crossed with a white mage, just well¡­.cute.


    ¡°You¡¯re damn right your sorry, don¡¯t let it ever happen again!¡± She yelled, seeing my awed expression, which made her rage grow.


    ¡°Okay, okay, it won¡¯t hap-..ow! Shit!¡± I bellowed as I was kicked right in the shin.


    Yeah, that sneaky asshole waited until I was distracted and threw a right kick directly at my shin. She smiled like a cheshire cat the whole time I was bouncing around looking stupid. Now, I was pissed, and as soon as I was going to open a can of one hundred percent ¡®whoop ass¡¯ I saw Daniel look over at me and causally looked at something, anything in the sky. I wanted no parts of that stripper guard. The corner of my vision captured my attention as a window was blinking, I opened the window to a message from Dimitri. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Where are you? What entrance did you come in from?¡± Dimitri asked.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t even know there was multiple entrances. How long have you been here? I couldn¡¯t tell time in that damn torture zone. Some little asshat of a girl kicked me in the shin when I accidently bumped into her.¡± I rattled off.


    ¡°Only you would get into some crazy shit. There are two entrances, I¡¯ve been here about an hour or so. What the hell happened in your tutorial? Mine was easy as hell, taught everything and then was thrown here.¡± Dimitri said nonchalantly.


    ¡°Let''s go back to the little goblin that kicked me! She ran away to the stripper guard before I had a chance to whoop her tiny ass.¡± I angrly stated.


    ¡°Wait...what...how? You¡¯ll have to tell me in person, lets meet up. Once again, where the hell are you?¡± Dimitri repeated himself.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know I just strolled in town, I was just going to wander around until I started seeing things over and over again. You know, like the twilight zone.¡± I said sarcastically.


    ¡°Okay smart ass, lets ignore the fact that I know you¡¯d most likely actually do this, and pop up the map.¡± Dimitri said.


    I grinned, my best friend knows me entirely too well, however I didn¡¯t know I had a map as well, Alpha cleverly forgot to tell me about that. A transparent map of the capital overlaid my vision and I saw a small golden dot with the little ¡®you are here¡¯ above it. Somehow I think this map was edited as a lovely going away present by Alpha.


    As I heading towards our meeting spot which seemed to the middle of the capital near a fountain, I started to see a developing pattern, The houses, offices, weaponsmiths, armorsmiths, etc were color coded, sometimes solid colors as yellow to those colored in red and blue in a checkered pattern. I wasn¡¯t crazy or anything but just..well...strange as hell.


    As I kept looking around like a tourist in New York City in the afternoon, I noticed, no one on the street had the bright eyed bushy tailed look like me, so of course I felt like a asshole newbie  running my eyeballs all over the place. My attention was caught up with gazing around until Dimitri caught my eye waving his hands around stupidly, so I shaded my eyes and walked over to my embarassing friend.


    ¡°Put your hands down, Mr. Mom¡­¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh god, shut up. How was everything for you? Mine was simple and quick, learned a lot and brought here.¡± Dimitri said.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯ve gotten the luxury tour¡­.¡± I said, angrily.


    ¡°What are you talking about? What happened during your tutorial?¡± Dimitri asked.


    As I told him, well...everything. I left nothing out besides I might¡¯ve made myself look a little better than I remembered when talking about the horses...Okay I told him I punched then in the face when they didn¡¯t obey so set them straight, he actually believed it. What the hell do people think of me? I go around punching ponies and shaking babies? I mean, babies move entirely too much to shake like that...bad joke.


    Once I get to that part he was enthralled with my storytelling so I finished the story where that part of my story actually ended.


    ¡°So that¡¯s when I met that rude ass little girl.¡± I said.


    ¡°Did she kick you in the shin and run towards the guard after you bumped into her or after?¡± Dimitir asked.


    ¡°After of course, why would she do it to me beforehand?¡± I asked back.


    ¡°I ask because for the past hour she''s been doing that to a lot of people around here. No one knows if she''s a real person or an non player character. She keeps doing repetitive things like that, however she acts like a player besides that, going about her business.¡± Dimitri explained.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care, the next time I see her, i''ll make sure everyone finds out if she can respawn or not.¡± I said with annoyance.


    While I was in my own mental torture room with the shin kicker, a lingering thought came to mind that I just had to ask about.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got to know, what the hell is with almost everything in this city being different colors? It¡¯s like I¡¯m on an acid trip once I turn my neck around to see something different.¡± I said.


    ¡°I know what you mean, everything is just so colorful and wild! The colors represent the guild factions here in the capital.¡± Dimitri answered.


    Now we were getting somewhere, back to feeling like a game again. I thought I was losing myself to Alpha¡¯s sweet talk but here comes another game mechanic to bring me back into focus. Side note, I still can¡¯t believe I¡¯ve only been in this damned place for about two hours, it¡¯s felt like a lifetime already.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t know why you were kept in that space for so long.¡± Dimitri said, puzzled.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either, that stupid A.I, i''ll beat his ass if I ever see him again¡­¡± I said, annoyed.


    ¡°You had a A.I too?! I had one, but when I tried to talk to anyone else about it, they thought I was crazy.¡± Dimitri exclaimed.


    ¡°Wait, no one else had one? I assumed everyone came with one to complete the tutorial.¡± I replied, surprised.


    ¡°No, everyone I¡¯ve talked to went through the basic ¡®prompt, command, repeat¡¯ steps like any normal game.¡± Dimitri answered.


    At this point I had a million thoughts going through my brain. Some included: What was wrong with our starting points? Where we given A.I¡¯s as a handicap, or a gift or penalty or some sort we weren¡¯t aware of? Besides the basics, what was different about everyone else''s starting tasks and learning? I needed answers to this questions before my mind ran away with itself and I started yelling ¡®What''s in the box!?¡¯ or something similarly crazy.


    ¡°Wait! What was your A.I¡¯s name?¡± I said, a feeling forming.


    ¡°His name was Beta. What was yours?¡± Dimitri asked.


    ¡°Mine was Alpha, that''s interesting...I wonder what it means¡­¡± I answered, thinking to myself.


    Like it was clockwork, my mind started spiraling into different situations, scenarios, problems, and anything else that might even be conceivable but still, ¡®prepare for the unexpected and expect your preparation to destroyed¡¯. As I continued my mental trip through endless planning, I heard a far away snapping, that was slowly grabbing my attention.


    ¡°Hey, Ryan! You¡¯re doing it again, let¡¯s focus on what¡¯s important, Carmen Sandiego.¡± Dimitri said, snapping his fingers in front of my face.


    ¡°Yeah, sorry, got a little caught up there. It¡¯s like I can think faster, process everything at a much faster rate, it¡¯s strange.¡± I said, still partially in thought.


    ¡°I know what you mean, everything just feels...more efficient. I think it¡¯s because of our stats.¡± Dimitri said.


    ¡°Wait, say that again..¡± I said, stopping in mid-step.


    ¡°What? About feeling efficient because of our stats?¡± Dimitri summarized.


    After everything that¡¯s happened my dumbass had forgotten to check my stats. That bastard, Alpha didn¡¯t even give me a choice of point allocations, or heard me out about what I wanted within my attributes. At that thought I brought up my statistics window and my eyes were wider than a full moon.


    ¡°What happened? Stats aren''t as you¡¯ve wanted them to be? Beta guided me based on what my desires were. I don¡¯t know how he knew, he might¡¯ve been a mind reader because he knew what I was going to say before I even said it.¡± Dimitri recounted.


    ¡°No¡­¡± I answered.


    ¡°Oh good! Mine weren¡¯t too shabby if I¡¯d say so myself, however I didn¡¯t even put them against anyone else. Strength is at 20, Dexterity is at 17, Intelligence and Wisdom are at 20 and Charisma is at 19. He said communicated well, and had a good brain in my big head...asshat. However he said I could use some weights and jog a little more. Wait, what do you mean no?¡± Dimitri said.


    ¡°I mean that my stats seem quite high for a Level one player, all but one that is¡­¡± I grumbled.


    ¡°You can¡¯t keep me hanging on by a thread here..¡± Dimitri demanded.


    ¡°I¡¯m not, just in disbelief is all. I thought all the tests I did, I failed. I honestly thought I was going to start with points I chose myself, so I at least had a chance to skew the chances a bit, but didn¡¯t expect him to pick them for me. My Strength is 17, Dexterity is 18, Intelligence and Wisdom are both at 17, but my Charisma is at 12.¡± I said, disgusted.


    I think I went over the edge once Dimitri started laughing his stupid ass off in the middle of me being pissed off. He was laughing from his stupid belly, on his stupid ass on the stupid ground. Yes I know I¡¯m being a child but I don¡¯t give a shit, I¡¯m damned charismatic¡­.


    ¡°Laugh it up, the second a slime drown¡¯s your ass you¡¯ll be ¡®Ryan help me! I¡¯m so sorry I laughed at your greatness¡¯ mmhmm.¡± I said, sticking my tongue out.


    ¡°Oh god, okay, okay I¡¯ll stop, besides you need to be caught up to speed.¡± Dimitri said, wiping his eyes.


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s get the obvious out of the way, what''s with all the colors, solid and mixed together. It¡¯s been bothering me, as if two plus two was put in front of my face and I had no clue how to solve it.¡± I said, vixed.


    ¡°The capital let alone this entire world has a universal guild system in place that kind of governs the everyday goings on.¡± Dimitri explained.


    ¡°Oh like in other games? Simple groups of people, raids, etc?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, the guild system is complex in the way that each are color coded, have exchange programs with other groups, have hybrid members, quests, raids, ranking levels, promotions, etc.¡± Dimitri said, listing each off in his fingers.


    ¡°Oh...That sounds as if I¡¯m going to be in for quite the learning¡­¡± I said, sorrowful.


    ¡°Well you better listen up and learn, the first place we¡¯ve got to go in the CC, or Cortex Center. This is where everything takes place, from the beginning of the guild¡¯s history, to testing, missions, etc.¡± Dimitri explained.


    ¡°Wait, testing? What kind of testing?¡± I asked nervously, thinking of Alpha.


    ¡°Testing to see which traits can pull you into which guild. You don¡¯t have to join the guild you¡¯ve tested into, however you might do better and have a easier time within that guild. For example the combat guild known as the Falcons might be easy if you are prone to fighting, however for someone who likes magic it would be like climbing a mountain. It depends on your physical, mindset, resolve, and innate talent as well. This is what¡¯s tested within the center.¡±  Dimitri taught me.


    ¡°Well, just, shit. I mean that¡¯s kind of a lot of information, and stuff that goes into all I¡¯m sure. Wait, did you just learn all this stuff or have you already been over and been tested?¡± I asked, curious.


    Dimitri just smirked at me and proceeded to walk towards the giant pillar in front of us which I could only believe was the Cortex Center. The center looked like a bigger version of Stonehenge. Within its block frame there were multiple windows, levels, and busy people running in and out of the center like New York, New York. There was no one looking up from their individual studies, just kept walking up and down their seemingly automated paths.


    ¡°Some things just don¡¯t change, no matter which world you¡¯re in.¡± I said, shaking my head.


    ¡°No, they don¡¯t my friend, it¡¯s just like anywhere else, some people aren¡¯t looking ahead at the path their making, but at the ground where they are presently.¡± Dimitri replied.


    ¡°Whoa, slow down kung fu, I can¡¯t keep up with all the lessons.¡± I said, making ¡®high ya!¡¯ sounds.


    ¡°Excuse me sir, Martial Art lessons are in the building behind you, excuse me.¡± A nerdy looking boy said while passing me into the center.


    ¡°Yeah, thanks...I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± I shouted after him.


    As Dimitri snickered, we entered the revolving doors of the center. As soon as I stepped inside the entrance, I automatically thought of the Library of Congress. The internal view of the building was miles beyond its outside appearance. It looked like it was carved out of the deepest, richest onyx known to man. The stairs, pillars, railing, and everything else looked like night was captured within the center¡¯s domain and used as a beacon for its glory. I stood there, while rivers of bystanders flowed around me like a rapid river, marveling at the spectacle.


    ¡°I know right? I felt the same way the first time I came here.¡± Dimitri said.


    ¡°So you have been here! I knew it! You¡¯ll have to tell me what¡¯s going to happen!¡± I said accusingly.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to see for yourself bro, its...an experience that¡¯s for sure.¡± Dimitri said, turning away and leading the way.


    I might be thinking far too into this but the way Dimitri said that last sentence, seemed, well...ominous. It was like he saw something that stayed with him over time, granted it¡¯s only been two freaking hours. However, I¡¯ve learned through family interactions that trauma only takes second to happen and time to really settle in, like cancer. As we walked along the sea of busy people, we land in front of a huge ass desk with a tall gentleman with a perfectly tailored suit, who strangely looks familiar.


    ¡°It took you quite a long time, I knew you were slow, but not that slow Ryan.¡± the gentleman said.


    ¡°Well! I never thought I¡¯d see your ugly mug again Martin!¡± I said, smiling.


    It felt like such a long time since I¡¯d seen him. I know it¡¯s been a couple hours, but in here time is seemingly getting away from me, second by second. It could be chalked up to the dilation but still, something in the back of my mind points to something else, I just can¡¯t put my finger on it.


    ¡°You are oh so funny, Mr. Soluto¡­¡± Martin said, with the shadow of a smile.


    ¡°Are you the only one in here? Or is Dr. Karen in here as well? I¡¯m just curious¡­¡± I said, innocently.


    ¡°Oh I bet you are, keep your curiosity in your pants, no she isn¡¯t here.¡± Martin replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you are just wondering¡­.¡± Dimitri chimed in.


    ¡°Anyway, what¡¯s the next steps from here?¡± I asked, quickly changing the subject.


    Martin came out from behind his big ass desk, and yes I¡¯m going to keep calling it that. He walked past us from where we came and made a sharp right towards a corridor I didn¡¯t take notice of before.


    ¡°Was this here before? I didn¡¯t see it.¡± I asked, confused.


    ¡°Yes, but you were made not to see it by a masking spell. You most likely are having a feeling of dejavu because your mind has mapped out this place, but the masking spell distorts things in this place.¡± Martin explained.


    I will have to remember that ¡®masking spell¡¯ for later on. We talked down the hallway, as if we were wading through a rushing river and landed on the other side. Once the flow of people stopped, we were left alone, traveling through with no one saying anything, so of course I had to be the one to say something...anything¡­


    ¡°Well, this is cozy...Let¡¯s not all talk at once.¡± I said jokingly.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, just focused on what lies ahead of us.¡± Dimitri said pointedly.


    ¡°You keep saying crazy shit like this, like you¡¯re a character from manga or something. I want to know where we¡¯re going and why you¡¯re so freaked the fuck out.¡± I demanded.


    ¡°Wonder no longer, we are here Mr. Soluto.¡± Martin said, as we stopped in front of a door.


    The door looked like it was crafted from reinforced steel, and the wood had decorations. I think even Superman would have a hard time knocking this thing down. There was a quote in gold lettering in front of the door, it read: ¡®The truth will expose the lies told by oneself¡±. That¡¯s just want I need, a damn in-game lie detector or some other crazy off the wall type shit. Martian pushed the door open and the room was almost empty.


    There were five chairs lined up against the wall in the colors of red, blue, white, black, and yellow. Before I had a chance to ask about them I was being pushed towards the middle of the room. On a small pedestal lay a softball sized metallic orb. Being near the thing felt, uncomfortable, like something you had to do or say but you knew it was going to come back and bite you in the ass type of deal.


    ¡°All you have to do it place your hand on the orb and we¡¯ll start the testing.¡± Martin said.


    ¡°Wait, what kind of testing will this be? I¡¯m not just going to take your word for it and just stick my hand somewhere I¡¯m not sure it¡¯ll come back from, sorry.¡± I said, with no remorse.


    ¡°I understand, you¡¯ve been informed by Dimitri I take it? It tests what ¡®affinity¡¯ you have with each of the five guilds, gives your abilities, positive and negative attributes about your personality, and many other kinds of information.¡± finished Martin.


    ¡°Will this harm me in anyway?¡± I asked, experiencing death once already.


    ¡°No this won¡¯t do any physical harm to you at all.¡± Martin said pointedly.


    I noticed he said ¡®physical harm¡¯ but chose to keep that can of worms closed until the proper time, later down the line. Instead of playing the game twenty-one questions, I walked up to the orb and stared it down like it was the worse thing in the world.


    ¡°Just what the hell did you do to my best friend?¡± I whispered angrily, and raised my hand.