《Good Game》 Chapter One Often I wonder how long I¡¯ll be doing this. ¡°Two tickets to Germinator please.¡± The lady in front of me held out her phone over a scanner. Beep The classic audio que signified the transaction was a success. A couple of tickets printed out on the side of the desk I was standing at and I held them out. ¡°Thank you. Enjoy the movie.¡± I flashed the man and woman in front of me a smile. They said ¡°thanks¡± in unison, grabbed their tickets, and left. The next person in que stepped up and the process started again. Don¡¯t get the wrong idea, I¡¯m grateful for my job, but damn would I be lying if I tried to call it mentally stimulating. Bills gotta get paid somehow though. After a couple more hours working I swapped places with another employee and retired to the staff room for my break. There were a couple other people in the room but I paid them no mind. My break only lasted 15 minutes so I wanted to relax. Time: 2:47. I had 13 minutes till I was back up. I grabbed a coffee, muffin, and took a seat in the corner. The coffee was warm, just how I liked it, the muffin, blueberry. Not my favourite but it was free. A television sat on one of the walls which I glued my eyes to as I ate. ¡°Newly released statistics show that the FAR network has reached a gross coverage of 82% in committing nations. What do you have to say to this?¡± The lady speaking was dressed in formal attire and facing the camera. The screen flicked to a man sitting in an office. ¡°Well we can definitely attribute this achievement to the unbounded assistance of each nation''s government, not to mention the people using the system who make it all so worthwhile.¡± The woman smiled and nodded her head, pleased with the man''s answer. ¡°Of course, but I think what everyone wants to know is what the overall goal of the FAR network and its owners is? I mean, it¡¯s been less than five years and people are already claiming the market has become a monopoly.¡± The man returned the woman''s smile. ¡°There is no crime in having a monopoly Susan. Infact, I like to think that the fact people are making such claims is a testament to how successful the system is.¡± ¡°And your goal?¡± ¡°Our current goal is to continue expanding. At the moment those statistics only apply to developed nations where the infrastructure is already there, but to achieve complete coverage we¡¯ve still got a long way to go.¡± Susan smiled again and I wondered how much she was paid to pretend to care. One thousands dollars per smile? ¡°Well, there you have it everyone. Thank you for answering our questions Tim.¡± ¡°My pleasure. Sadly that¡¯s all I have time to answer.¡± The screen cut back to Susan staring at the camera. ¡°Next up we have a story on sheep and the growing food¡­¡± Ding My watches alarm triggered. Time? 2:59. I always set my alarm early so I won¡¯t be late. I threw my cup and that thing muffins always come in into the trash and headed back to work. Today I was working late. Some many hours later I was still standing behind the counter at the cinema I worked at. There were no more movies scheduled for showing at this time, so there was no one to serve. I was mostly here for show. Security wasn¡¯t much of a concern, no one in their right mind would try rob this place with all the sensors watching. Facial recognition software was so accurate that the name had actually become dated- it didn¡¯t actually need to see your face to know what you looked like. The internet or more specifically social media definitely contributed. With so many images being posted every day it was practically impossible there wasn¡¯t at least one image of someone that could be used as a reference. I turned my head side to side to see if anyone was in sight. Sigh. The place was empty so I would be waiting for the final movie to finish and standing here to make the place look like it was staffed. I waved my hand and a monitor projected itself in front of me. Multiple unseen sensors continued tracking my body to detect my interactions with the display. I swiped a couple times until I was looking at the movies currently playing. Germinator 3 would finish playing at 11:45 pm. I clocked 11:44 into my watch and set it to vibrate. There were 55 more minutes of standing here for me to do, so I just stared at the doorway and zoned out. Bzzzz Fifty five minutes later I felt my watch vibrating on my left wrist and tapped it to stop. Show time. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. I¡¯m not a very good actor, but a couple years in customer service taught me how to be a damn good suck up. ¡°The customer is always right.¡± Whoever the hell thought that up clearly had never worked a day in customer service. I straightened my back and checked my clothes were tidy. All clear. People started coming through with a couple sparing me a glance as they walked out the door. A young man, probably around the age of 19 stopped by the door. He got out his phone and absorbed himself into it. ¡°Probably waiting for someone.¡± I mumbled. Bingo. A young woman around the same age as the boy walked up to him and smiled. This cinema was quite small so there was only around ten metres between me and them. ¡°Heya, enjoy the movie?¡± The boy put a smile on his face and put away his phone. ¡°Yeah, it was cool. Wanna meet up after this?¡± The woman''s voice surprised me with how soft it was. ¡°Yeah sure should I give you my username?¡± Out came both their phones. Ah, I may be coming to an early assumption, but this was definitely a couple. I work in a cinema. All the young people come here for their first dates so it¡¯s easy to tell. After exchanging information the couple realised there was no one else around, well, excluding me. It must¡¯ve made them nervous because they were both quite happy to leave. ¡°Finally.¡± I flicked my hand over the desk again and navigated to the option to sign out. Before I confirmed I checked my pocket. One phone right where I left it. I signed out and left the cinema. The actual process of closing down was all automated which made my life pretty easy. I took a left towards the subway. My train arrives at 12 pm but the walk there only takes five minutes. Can¡¯t deny city convenience, it¡¯s pretty damn good. At night the city was a light show with cars blitzing past and screens advertising the latest thing you would die without. The sidewalk I was on was still pretty busy as well seeing as it headed into the city centre. Most of the people at this time were dressed in something provocative or eye catching as they headed to bars and clubs. It made me feel a bit conscious of my work uniform with the words ¡°Movie Maniacs¡± plastered on it. Lucky for me, I only had to walk for 5 minutes so I took at seat at the subway as I waited for the train. The station wasn¡¯t very busy, mostly people like me heading home for the night. The train arrived and I hopped in. I remember when Maglev was the shit, and it still is, kinda. The train I¡¯m in uses a vacumn tube to eliminate air resistance and achieve greater speeds. Yeah, it travels at speeds of up mach six. ¡°Attention passengers. Please ensure you are seated or holding onto something before this train begins accelerating. Thank you.¡± I heard a couple hisses as excess air in the tube was evacuated and soon after my back pressed into my seat. On one of the trains walls there was a counter that went from zero to six. My home wasn¡¯t far away so it never went beyond two. At 12:05 am I got off the train and was soon at my door step. I resisted the urge to check the time and stepped inside. Except for a lamp that gave the place a dim outlook the home was all lights out. Considering the time and I¡¯d done this practically every day for the past seven or so years I wasn¡¯t surprised. There was an average sized fridge in the kitchen to my right so I grabbed an apple and held it in my mouth, next up I picked a cup from a nearby cupboard and filled it with water from the sink. Ta-da. Dinner is served. I sat myself down in a chair facing the wall and relaxed as much as I could. Yeah the views weren¡¯t the best, but after a long day it was a godsend, and over time I¡¯d come to like my quiet ends to the day. I finished dining and decided to head to my room to get some sleep. Keeping my steps silent I pushed open the door, switched on a lamp, and grabbed some shorts and a shirt from the closet. Before undressing I checked the bed where there was a large bulge; the person I share this room with was asleep. To be honest, I could¡¯ve used the bathroom to dress, but I was too damn tired. Plus this was part of my usual routine. It¡¯s true, old habits die hard. I dropped my uniform into a basket and slowly slipped into bed, turning the lamp off in the process. I fell asleep minutes later. Chapter Two The following morning I was graced with the smell of coffee and the sound of the news on TV. I turned over to confirm a suspicion, and just as I thought, I was the only one in bed. I sat up so my legs were touching the ground and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Today was saturday. Along with sunday I had the day off. I stood up and headed for the door which was slightly open, allowing me to see flickers of movement. ¡°Morning.¡± I didn¡¯t bother looking at my sister seeing as her back was to me anyway. ¡°Morning.¡± My sister turned her head to give me a smile as I stepped into the kitchen beside her. Scooting behind her I grabbed a cup of coffee and took a seat in the living room facing the television. On the screen a male reporter was seated in an office with bookshelves behind him. ¡°With the escalating debate surrounding the Abashiri Islands the relationship between the United States, Russia, and China has been on the downhill since February. Just how long will this stalemate persist until the situation deteriorates once more? With me I have Professor Sue N. Aurora to discuss this topic.¡± The screen pulled back to include the professor who wore casual clothes and a pair of circular frame glasses. She smiled at the camera and looked at the reporter. ¡°So Sue, let''s get down to the questions everyone has on their mind. Is this going to turn into another Sanjaquh skirmish?¡± ¡°Well it¡¯s honestly very hard to say, but the possibility of a repeat from two years ago is definitely on the table at this point. What makes it so hard to predict this time though is we¡¯re no longer dealing with two average sized nations, we¡¯re talking about three major powers in-¡± Someone switched the channel and proceeded to tap me on the shoulder, making me almost spill my coffee. ¡°I was just trying to get your attention, don¡¯t murder me.¡± Honestly, sometimes I actually did want to murder my sister, but that¡¯s what family is there for right? Hating and loving someone in a way you can trust them like no one else. The couch I was on had space for three people so my sister took a seat to my right. ¡°Catherine, don¡¯t get me started on how vulnerable you are at night.¡± My sister held a cup of tea between both hands and raised an eyebrow at my reply. ¡°That¡¯s... honestly kinda scary. And since when did you use my full name?¡± Catherine¡¯s voice has always had this sophisticated feeling to it. Not an exact match to her personality though. ¡°Birth, and it¡¯s just a fact. We literally sleep together so it wouldn¡¯t be hard.¡± My sister laid back against the couch but kept her eyes on the television. On it was the news, but more tailored to the sports. ¡°Aaron Smith. I¡¯m pretty sure if we slept together it would be hard.¡± ¡°You honestly shouldn¡¯t make those kinds of jokes. Kelly could be awake.¡± I chided. ¡°So? She¡¯s old enough to understand, and she knows we¡¯re just joking.¡± ¡°I hope she does.¡± A creaking sound brought my attention to my right where I could see the door to the other bedroom opening. Perfect timing. ¡°Morning Kelly!¡± I shouted. My niece walked out the door and gave me a pathetic excuse for a smile as she went and checked the fridge. I turned my attention to the TV and sipped away at my coffee. Kelly plopped herself down to Catherine''s right with a bowl of cereal in hand a couple minutes later. I looked at my wrist and remembered I wasn¡¯t wearing my watch¡­ or really anything. I was still in my shorts and shirt since I¡¯d rushed out to get coffee. Suddenly a lot more clothing conscious I looked at my sister and niece for consolation. ¡°What?¡± Cat raised her eyebrow at me. ¡°Just seeing if anyone else was still in their PJs.¡± Cats lips curled up into a sly grin. ¡°Uh-huh. And your decision?¡± I rolled my eyes and stood up. My cup was empty and I had better things to do than deal with Cat¡¯s teasing. ¡°I wanna have a shower.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Cat pouted. Sometimes I feel like my sister forgets that even though I¡¯m her brother, I¡¯m still a man. The only reason she flirted and teased me every waking moment was because she thought it was fun. Plus she thought that just because I was her brother I¡¯d never do anything to her. I mean, she was right, I probably would never do anything, but I¡¯m no oracle so I can¡¯t predict the future. She¡¯d been pushing the boundary of flirting more and more over the last few years as well though, so things were getting hard. Pun not intended. I grabbed a towel from my slash my sisters bedroom and hopped in the shower. I don¡¯t need to explain how I shower so once I finished I dried myself off, wrapped the towel around my bottom half, and headed back to the bedroom. When I left the room I checked my watch. Time? 9:44 am. Not bad. ¡°Are you two just gonna walk around in your PJs all day?¡± I said as I grabbed a couple slices of bread and started to make myself a more proper breakfast. My niece, Kelly, got up and rinsed her bowl in the sink. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I was thinking of staying home today so does it really matter?¡± Kelly¡¯s voice was dead flat. Definitely not a morning person. ¡°Not really, just wash them after today. You only wore them last night right?¡± Clothing isn¡¯t my area of expertise, but there¡¯s nothing wrong wearing the same change of clothes for a couple days in my opinion. Heck, I do it at work sometimes and it¡¯s never caused me a problem. ¡°Holdddd up a second!¡± Cat¡¯s voice pierced the peaceful conversation between my niece and I, and she had on that same sly grin. ¡°Why are you so interested in knowing what she wears at night hmm?¡± ¡°It was nothing like what you¡¯re thinking Cat.¡± The toaster popped up and I put the pieces on a paper towel. I hate doing dishes so it¡¯s easier to just throw it away when I¡¯m done. I grabbed some jam and a knife as well. ¡°Mum Aaron was just answering a question I asked him.¡± Thank god, at least Kelly defends me whenever she¡¯s involved. ¡°Oh. Well that¡¯s nice of you Aaron.¡± Aaron one, Catherine zero. ¡°Just stay out of her pants.¡± I sighed and kept spreading the jam. Kelly put her bowl into a cupboard and headed towards the couch. ¡°I don¡¯t always wear pants to bed.¡± Kelly¡¯s voice raised itself a little but otherwise remained flat. I didn¡¯t read too much into what she said either. One thing to note is that Kelly¡¯s behaviour around me had certainly been influenced by her mother. 17 years of being with Catherine and however many years of me living with them easily made it such that she wasn¡¯t afraid of fooling around. At least it was with me and not some kid at her school though. God help me if I found out she talked like she did to me with others. I could control my actions, but others¡­ not so much. I put the knife and jam away and took a seat on the couch. My toast sat on my lap which I grabbed a piece and started eating. A few minutes passed in silence before lo and behold¡­ ¡°I¡¯m bored.¡± Of course my sister is the one to break the peace again. ¡°Then go do something.¡± My solution was clearly very useful going by the sigh that came out Cat''s mouth. ¡°Like?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know... go make yourself breakfast?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t be stuffed. Kelly make me something.¡± Kelly didn¡¯t even respond and kept watching the TV. I let out a laugh. The eyes of the devil set themselves upon me, and then my lap. That familiar grin that was starting to piss me off also returned. ¡°You can¡¯t have it.¡± I took the pre-emptive strike route. The grin vanished replaced by a mocking pout. ¡°Aww.¡± Cat looked me in the eye and put her hand on my thigh, bringing it dangerously close to my groin. Slowly and in a whisper she spoke. ¡°I can have it whenever I want.¡± My eyes stayed locked onto hers before she pulled back and that grin returned. I looked down. Fuck me right up the ass. Half my breakfast was now the property of my sister''s stomach. She¡¯d left her hand on my thigh as well, grazing on the bulge that was rapidly forming. ¡°Well I¡¯m gonna go.¡± The degree of awkwardness had gone up in more ways than one, ways of which I didn¡¯t like. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Where?¡± Kelly pitched her question at me in a totally ineffective monotone voice. It almost sounded like she really did care where I was going. ¡°Out.¡± ¡°Kay.¡± Yeah, the TV was clearly more interesting to her than me. I grabbed my phone and was out the door in less than a minute. So¡­ where to? Gentlemen''s club to let off some stress? No, never and nada. Gym to try get that six pack I always wanted? I could wait a bit longer. Maybe an internet cafe? Yeah I could jam a game for a couple hours, I¡¯d played games as a kid so there was a bit of a nostalgia factor going on as well. Plus it¡¯d get me away from Cat and my niece. I took the train to the city and did a search for nearby arcades or cafes. Eh? Normally there would be some suggestions but there was nil. Only the classic words of, ¡°Did you mean: nearby public portals?¡±. No I did not mean nearby public portals, but it was more than likely the internet knew what I wanted more than I did so I clicked the link anyway. Bingo. They were practically everywhere. I chose the nearest one that was up the road and stopped outside. The position I was in felt very similar to the one I would have when trying to pick the right restroom. If I made the wrong choice I could very well be stepping into rows of lawsuits, labels, and slaps. Yeah that feeling faded in less than a tenth of a second and I walked in. I¡¯m not that paranoid. The room was a little dim like internet cafes were and the layout pretty much the same, except missing the computers. Instead the place was full of people sitting in chairs with what looked like neck braces crossed over with dog collars. Uh, kinky? They all had their eyes closed as well and some had on glasses, I take it those were optional for whatever they were doing. ¡°Hey.¡± I looked to my left where a young dude dressed casually was sitting behind a counter and walked over. ¡°Hi, is this a public portal?¡± The guy behind the counter gave me a nod. ¡°You new to alternate reality?¡± I could tell this person loved his job. I know that feeling very well. ¡°Yeah, uh, I was just looking to play some games for a couple hours.¡± I felt like I was making a confession to this boy. ¡°Yeah you¡¯re at the right place, follow me and I¡¯ll show you how to get running.¡± The boy who will go unnamed because he didn¡¯t have on a nametag led me to a chair with one of those neck-collar things sitting on it. He picked it up and told me to take a seat. ¡°Alright so I guess all you need to do is make sure you put this on right. Like, you won¡¯t get injured or anything if you don¡¯t, but the connection will be better if you do it right.¡± ¡°Ah, what is it?¡± ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know the actual name ¡®cause it¡¯s like this really long technical thing, but we just call it a portal. So yeah, you use to to connect to the FAR network.¡± My eyebrow raised itself without me thinking and it prompted the boy to go into more detail. ¡°Well, I think you can connect to other networks but like everyone plays on FAR. Actually I don¡¯t even think there are any other networks.¡± ¡°Cool. What¡¯s the FAR network?¡± I could just look up all this stuff and probably get a much better explanation than this kid in front of me, but it was kind of cool seeing him get a lot more enthusiastic when discussing the topic. ¡°Um, Free Alternate Reality.¡± Seriously? Free Alternate Reality? I want to speak to whoever names games nowadays. Oh, wait. ¡°Is that-¡± ¡°Nah, it¡¯s not a game. It¡¯s hard to explain but everything''s explained when you login.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± The boy must¡¯ve decided that he was tired of explaining everything to my feeble mind, because he quickly ran me through putting the portal on and left. On the bright side, I didn¡¯t have to pay for anything. Free definitely had its perks. The portal attached in a rather simple fashion. I touched a button at the front and it unlocked on the side, then I put it around my neck, closed it, and touched another button. Bzzz. Motors fastened the portal around my neck and I laid back in my seat. The most important thing the boy had told me was to ensure the back of the portal touched the top-back area of my neck, which I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯d done. One more step, I touched another button to initialise the connection. Nothing happened. Was the thing faulty? Slow? I got no clue. Maybe I¡¯d go ask that boy¡­ Shit. Okay. I can¡¯t move. That¡¯s¡­ definitely concerning. I tried to call out but that was no good as well. My eyes were gradually closing as well and my hearing fading, eventually replaced with darkness and dead silence. ¡°Welcome to the FAR network. As part of the registration process you will be guided through an interactive explanation to help you get acquainted with alternate reality.¡± This voice I could hear... it was weird. Neither male or female. Simply in between. What would the owner of such a voice look like? I could only wonder. ¡°To begin, you must consent to information about you being collected and stored on the FAR network for the purposes of providing you with an alternate reality service. Do you consent?¡± I was expecting a box to pop up with two options, ¡°I agree¡± and the obvious opposite. However, the continuing darkness and silence was telling me I wasn¡¯t meant to press anything. This was very much different to all those VR games I¡¯d tried as a child. Well, I suppose there¡¯s only one other way for me to reply this question. ¡°Yes I consent- Argh!¡± Without a moment''s delay my mind was assaulted by sensory data, making me clutch my forehead and collapse to my knees. Wait, what? My arms, legs, and a few other rather important things had all come back to me, and now I was left on the ground clutching my head, which now that a few seconds had passed didn¡¯t actually hurt at all. I took note of the fact all I could see was a white floor and an endlessly black void above me. The source of the voice, which was probably just being played directly into my ear, couldn¡¯t be seen. ¡°Thank you Aaron, and once again, welcome to the FAR network. Information collated from various sources has been used to form a profile on you and render your body. The tutorial will now begin.¡± Prompt and to the point. I suppose the company that made this figured out people hated tutorials and just wanted to get into the game. Ding The area around me started to change. Things popped into existence and before I knew it I was standing at the beginning of an obstacle course. A box also appeared in the top right of my vision with the word ¡°Calibrating: 0%¡±. I don¡¯t need to be a genius to know where this is going. For the following twenty minutes I repeated a simple routine. Run through the course, check my calibration progress, run through the course¡­ It was fun. A simple task that kept me on my toes every second helped get my mind off everything. For 20 minutes I wasn¡¯t living paycheck to paycheck. I felt free. ¡°Thank you for completing the tutorial. We hope you are now acquainted with operating your body in an alternate reality.¡± The obstacle course vanished as fast as it¡¯d appeared, and the ground turned white and the sky black once more. ¡°This area is now yours to use and you are free to join any worlds on the FAR network from here.¡± Finally. Even though I enjoyed the tutorial, I want to get into the game already. As I was doing the tutorial I¡¯d actually been fed a little info on the network. The creators of the FAR network were an international research group with participants from all over the globe, and alongside this network that could link me up to several million people at the same time, they¡¯d made one game. The only game released thus far due to the sheer difficulty in programming a whole world. Ok, it wasn¡¯t even a game. It was a simulation. A simulated reality that conveniently worked as a game as well. I suppose that was how they¡¯d got the funding? After all, the video game industry had been on the boom since before I was born and it never died down. ¡°Connect me to Alternate Earth.¡± Chapter Three If only it really took five words to change the world. Around me everything fell away and assembled itself into all new shapes and sizes. Some moved, some didn¡¯t. Colours rapidly filled my vision, sounds flowed into my ears, and my skin could feel the cold touch of the wind. In but a few seconds I was standing in the middle of a town full of life, and as a vivid as any other. ¡°Healer looking for group!¡± ¡°Selling stuff cheap!¡± ¡°Need money please!¡± ¡°Looking for girlfriend! Paying big bucks!¡± Ah, the sweet melody of a thousand lonely souls. Beautiful. This game, titled Alternate Earth, took on a fantasy medieval theme. Yes, very original. Thus the scenery was comprised of stone footpaths and suitable structures. Not far from here I could see the top of a stone wall and a castle with its many towers behind it. Picture perfect. The sheer magnitude of the castle made me wonder how anyone could build such a thing, and even more, it made me wonder what the people who lived inside were like. Ah, people. Those moving shapes from before? They were people, all around me, and dressed in a way that would raise more than a few eyebrows. Armor that exposed more flesh than it covered? Check. Swords so large I wondered if there was some compensating going on? Check. Oh, and of course for reasons there was also the array of clothing that had real thematic value. School uniforms, bunny suits, and santa clauses? Sure why not. Admittedly, most of the people around me were dressed fairly normally for a medieval fantasy game. It was simply the more out there outfits which caught my attention in the crowd. My clothing was rather pathetic, a colourless t-shirt and pants. ¡°Well, where to.¡± I mumbled. The initial wow factor of loading in had passed by for me now. ¡°Um¡­ open inventory?¡± Nope. ¡°Open backpack?¡± Nada. ¡°What the fuc-¡± [Please watch your language.] A box fixed itself into the top right of my vision and faded once I¡¯d read over it. Sigh. What was I meant to do? I was hoping to log in and get to killing shit asap, but the game didn¡¯t provide much of a guide. However, I looked around and was happy to see there were plenty of sources of information for me to use. ¡°Hi.¡± I decided to reach out to one of the many people in the area. This person was sitting alone on the edge of a large fountain so they looked like a good choice. ¡°Hi, whatcha need?¡± The man speaking sounded fairly young. ¡°Just started so looking for sh- stuff to kill. Know any places?¡± The man, no, make that boy once I got a good look of his face, smiled. ¡°Oh yeah, starters can¡¯t leave town for two weeks so you gotta do chores till then. Loads of mobs in the fields outside of town though.¡± ¡°What.¡± My goal of blowing off steam was gonna involve me mopping floors?! ¡°Are you serious?¡± ¡°Lol. I¡¯m just screwing with you bro, you can leave whenever you want. Be a crap game if you were stuck here for two weeks.¡± ¡°Ah, thanks.¡± ¡°No worries, and don¡¯t worry about dieing. There¡¯s no penalties till you finish the starter period.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°First 4 hours of gameplay, after that you choose your starter class.¡± ¡°Sweet, thanks again.¡± ¡°No worries, cya bro.¡± Cool guy. He pointed me in the direction of the towns exit and I headed off. I could see a ton more people dressed like me on the way, which was a good sign. Some people had weapons, most like me didn¡¯t. The towns exit was a large gate in a wall with a number of guards stationed in the area. I stepped by without any issues. Urgh! Arghhh! The song of a thousand men and women''s fight or flight responses became the background music for me as I marched into the sea of despair before me. This is where legends begin. Where people either step up and die, or don¡¯t and still die. Wait a second, something seems wrong there. Ah fuck it. In my head I screamed ¡°For Narnia!¡± and charged at the first thing I could see which wasn¡¯t a human. A couple other newbies did the same from what I could tell, and before I knew it I was leading a small army at whatever poor mob got in our way. My eyes locked with the eyes of a short green thing carrying a dagger. Silently the challenge was made, and it brought its dagger forward to prepare for my charge. Twenty minutes of running that obstacle course paid off, as I ducked towards the goblins left and elbowed it in the back. Next, I spun round on my heel and raised my right hand into a fist. ¡°Waddup scrub.¡± I said, as I threw my first punch into the back of the goblin''s head. Note to self, bare fist versus skull equals pain, for both parties. Considering the goblin stumbled around in a daze from the hit it was worth it. But I still felt my fingers flare up the moment I¡¯d made contact. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. My small army had vanished as well, so much for camaraderie, especially after all the time we¡¯d spent together. Now how do I kill something while unarmed? Pft, this is a game. Naturally I just keep hitting it till it runs out of HP. I tackled the goblin to the ground from behind and initiated a flurry of punches into the back of its head. Below me it squirmed and shouted to try turn the situation around, but my superior size and weight left it no chance. There was a feeling of ¡°is this okay?¡± in the back of my head, but after enduring ten seconds of my barrage the goblins body went limp and vanished, leaving behind a few bits of cloth in its place. Loot answered my question. Of course it was okay! This goblin was made to die. Other than a few pre programmed responses to make it look real, in the backend it was just data. I picked up the piece of cloth. It was a little dirty and smelled, but I¡¯m guessing it could be sold for currency. Money bought items, items equaled more money. The standard curve of progression which existed in every game regardless of the form. Now how many of these would I need to get a weapon? This game''s pain feedback is spot on, so using my fists to kill stuff is only a short term solution. Even now my fingers still ached a little and the skin had gone red. I checked my left wrist and silently cursed to myself. ¡°Time.¡± Sigh, it was worth a shot. If I could find the guy who¡¯d helped me before that¡¯d be great. I spotted a newbie nearby and walked over to them. ¡°Hey, do you know how to check the time?¡± The guy looked at me for a moment and I could see his eyes darting around. The boy focused his eyes back on me. ¡°Uh, game time or IRL?¡± ¡°IRL.¡± ¡°Focus on, like, bringing up a menu, and one will pop up.¡± ¡°Cheers.¡± ¡°No worries, cya.¡± The boy ran off and I tried to do what he said. I closed my eyes and focused on the word ¡°menu¡± and nothing else. Menu. Menu. Menu. I repeated it in my head for at least five seconds and opened my eyes. I¡¯ll admit, there was a certain degree of ¡°holy shit it worked¡± going on in my head. In front of me, text floated in a box titled ¡°Menu¡± with a clock in the corner showing the time in the real world. I¡¯m guessing the lack of an in game time meant I had to use an actual game mechanic to figure that out. Well, nonetheless, the time was 11:42 AM. I was a grown man, I didn¡¯t have a curfew, but now that it was nearly lunch time heading home sounded rather nice. Catherine could be a bit difficult at times, but her cooking was unquestionably well made. That is, if she could be bothered cooking at all. Kelly was similar, though a bit of a hit or miss at times. The night I never left the toilet is still clear in my mind to this day. I had the time now though, and knew how to check it. The menu also had a disconnect option but otherwise was empty. I shifted my focus off the menu and it went away. Very convenient. Considering Cat looked like she was in CBF mode there wasn¡¯t much point in me going just yet, plus the train took no time at all anyway. I could stay for another 68 minutes. A goblin eyeballed me and I wrapped the cloth I¡¯d grabbed around my wrist. In my eyes it wasn¡¯t a short green person with a dagger, no, it was a punching bag. I put one foot behind me and lunged, the process was simple, tackle the goblin to the ground and beat the shit out of it. My lunge took the punching bag by surprise and we landed on the ground, me on top. I started my assault, but an idea occurred to me. I unwrapped the cloth and held the goblin still as I wrapped it around its neck. Okay, I don¡¯t know which is more cruel, this or a beating, but this was way easier on my hands. ¡°Argh!¡± The goblins gasps filled my ears, drowning out the sounds of the other fights going on around me. At first it felt like I was riding a bull in a rodeo, but over time the goblins strength faded until it went limp. The cloth cut straight through the goblin''s neck as it disintegrated into glowing particles. Another piece of cloth laid there in front of me which I wrapped around my wrist. I had no pockets so this would have to do. I also checked the time, 11:48. Killing one goblin took me six minutes, with 62 minutes remaining I could kill another ten. Game on. I located my next target, got into position, and shot off. For the next hour my ears heard one sound. ¡°Argh!¡± Chapter Four In the end I only managed to kill six goblins, though if not for the fierce competition I reckon I could¡¯ve done eight. ¡°Oh?¡± Cat¡¯s voice entered my ears the moment I stepped through the door to her apartment. ¡°You¡¯re back early. Where¡¯d you go?¡± ¡°Internet cafe slash public portal.¡± I said, while closing the door and removing my shoes. I received a raised eyebrow from Cat who was in the kitchen cooking something. ¡°That¡¯s what they¡¯re called now it seems.¡± Cat rolled her eyes. ¡°Yeah, I know, why¡¯d you go to one?¡± I¡¯d taken a seat in the lounge and switched on the TV, but I could see Cat¡¯s lips hold themselves in place. Oh, what ever did she have in store for me? ¡°Games.¡± There it was, her smile. This smile was the worst, it wasn¡¯t forced or fake, no, it was her genuine, god forbid, ¡°I¡¯ve got something up my sleeve¡± smile. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good.¡± C¡¯mon Catherine, don¡¯t disappoint me. At some point I¡¯d started to make predicting her behaviour a game. ¡°So, Aaron, I hear people use those portals for certain adult activities. You weren¡¯t screwing some digital model were you?¡± Cat¡¯s voice made her words sound serious, even though I was pretty sure she was trying to mess with me. ¡°No, why?¡± This was a whole new topic for Cat and I, and I may have just screwed myself over by introducing it to the mix. ¡°I¡¯m just worried about you.¡± It felt nice to hear those words come from her mouth, but the fact this was probably building up to some epic climax in her master plan wasn¡¯t. Cat stopped whatever she was doing and took a seat beside me. ¡°You know, if you¡¯re ever feeling that despe- stressed, you can always let me know.¡± ¡°Mhm.¡± I took note of her aborting from using the word ¡°desperate¡±. There was a chance she was genuinely worrying over me, but past experience told me it was too early to decide for sure. ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± ¡°I know I tease you a lot so I¡¯m probably to blame for this.¡± Oh c¡¯mon, one of the only times she¡¯s nice to me, and it¡¯s because of this? ¡°I didn¡¯t screw anything. Okay? I was just playing Alternate Earth.¡± Cat looked at me for a moment, then two. ¡°Oh... I thought you said yes.¡± Cat stood up and turned towards the kitchen. ¡°Well you heard what I said anyway. Mum''s not around anymore, so if you ever need to talk...¡± ¡°Yeah, I know. Can we move on?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Cat returned to making lunch. This side of Catherine was rare, but it did remind me that she was looking out for me, like all big sisters did. Though, at times, she had an odd way of showing it. I grabbed a cup of water and sat down in front of the TV again. ¡°Kelly in her room?¡± I said. ¡°Yup. Probably playing that game as well.¡± Cat¡¯s love for her daughter''s choice of hobby was very much apparent in her tone of voice. ¡°Ah, right, that¡¯s why she hardly ever leaves the house. She all good at school?¡± ¡°Grades wise? Yeah, she¡¯s killin it, but I¡¯m just worried she isn¡¯t enjoying her final year as much as she should be.¡± ¡°I never did anything in my final year.¡± ¡°Yeah but you¡¯re you. Uhh, I guess she might be like you, but I don¡¯t want her to regret not doing anything later on.¡± We both sighed in unison. ¡°Yeah¡­ that¡¯s true as well.¡± I still wish I¡¯d had the guts to ask out that girl I liked in high school. Probably not what Cat had in mind now that I think about it. Cat finished cooking lunch, toasted sandwiches for all, and Kelly came out of her room to eat. ¡°Sup,¡± I said, to my niece. Kelly looked at me blankly, took a seat, and initiated stuffing her mouth. ¡°In a rush to get back to that game?¡± Kelly stopped stuffing herself for a moment to reply. ¡°Yeah.¡± The stuffing resumed immediately after. I could at least empathize, Alternate Earth was a pretty wicked game from what I¡¯d seen. Sadly for her, I don¡¯t think Cat felt the same. ¡°Aaron played your game today by the way, why don¡¯t you give him some tips?¡± Catherine¡¯s voice had switched to her nice-but-serious tone, aka, her mothering voice. Kelly stopped, again, and took a deep breath. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Um, try not to die.¡± I swear, of all the things Kelly could¡¯ve said, that one took the least effort. Maybe I should commend her for being so efficient? ¡°You know that¡¯s kind¡¯ve true for everything?¡± I said. Kelly eyed the other half of her toasted sandwich and looked at me. ¡°Well how much have you played?¡± Said Kelly. Her voice had a sprinkle of¡­ I don¡¯t know, effort? I suppose I shouldn¡¯t be surprised. Compared to the morning though at least her voice was back to its youthful tone. ¡°About, two hours, I think.¡± ¡°That means you¡¯re still a starter.¡± Kelly had completely ceased feeding herself and actually had a glimmer in her eye I hadn¡¯t seen in awhile. ¡°If you play for a couple more hours you¡¯ll get to choose if you wanna be a hero or an empire. Pick hero.¡± ¡°Oh yeh¡­ why?¡± I was enjoying seeing Kelly like this this, and the information could be useful if I ever played AE again. It literally cost me nothing to play it though, so I can¡¯t see why not, especially so if playing that game got Kelly to talk to Cat and I. ¡°I heard it¡¯s really tough at the start. The bigger empires stomp anyone who''s starting off.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not very nice.¡± Said Catherine. ¡°I like a challenge.¡± Plus taking down a couple bullies sounded fun. ¡°It¡¯s not a challenge. It¡¯s just you getting wrecked.¡± I ignored that last past. ¡°So basically everyone picks hero because they¡¯re too scared of getting stomped by a bunch of bullies? That¡¯s sad. I¡¯m playing whatever I want.¡± Kelly had returned to stuffing herself as I spoke. She must¡¯ve been eating pretty fast because she finished eating the moment I stopped talking. ¡°I¡¯m done, thanks mum.¡± Kelly whizzed off to her room leaving Cat and I at the table. I took a bite into my lunch before it begun. ¡°Aaron do you like getting fucked up the ass that badly?¡± Said Cat. I put down my lunch. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°You know, fighting the power and all.¡± Cat held up a fist and shook it a bit. ¡°You¡¯re interested in this?¡± ¡°Of course I am. Kelly is.¡± It took a few seconds of silence for things to click, and oh it was all so obvious. ¡°Cause it gets her talking.¡± Catherine didn¡¯t have the personality to hide things. ¡°So? You should listen to her.¡± A sigh escaped my lips. ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Then pick hero.¡± Sorry Cat, right now the only thing I¡¯m picking is my toasted sandwich. ¡°It¡¯s just a game Cat, and you haven¡¯t even played it before so chill.¡± ¡°I¡¯m coming next time.¡± ¡°Go ahead. Now can we eat?¡± Cat shut up, which I found hard to believe, allowing me to finish my lunch. The time was 1:14 pm. It¡¯s surprising how fast time can pass. I spent most of my weekends either at home or out trying something new, like today. The ¡°at home¡± part of my weekend was about to commence. What activity would I indulge myself in today? Sleep. The other options are board games with Cat or TV, neither of which I¡¯m in the mood for. ¡°I¡¯m gonna take a nap, when¡¯s dinner?¡± ¡°Uhh, I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ll wake you up.¡± ¡°Kay.¡± A couple dozen seconds later and I was in bed, a couple minutes after that I was comfortably to sleep. *** In my slumber something poked my cheek. ¡°-uo should at least change your clothes if you¡¯re gonna take a nap.¡± Said the unmistakable voice of Cat. Even in a semi-conscious state I can recognize that voice. This kind of familiarity takes time to foster. I rubbed my eyes before sitting myself up. ¡°It was just a na-.¡± Wait. ¡°Did you change me?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± I definitely was not wearing my briefs and a t-shirt before my nap so I knew it was a lie. Leaning against the doorway and looking down on me, I could see Cat holding back a smile. Briefly the thought of tackling her to the ground and knocking her out popped into my mind. Perhaps games did make people more violent. My day ended with that thought. Oh, and a stomach full of curry.