by Drew Seren
She shook her head. “Nay, ye’re gett’en a hug.” She latched on to Alan, and for a moment, he was wondering if she was going to break a rib.
“We’re ready,” announced a tall slender suit Alan didn’t recognize.
“Just in time, Alan,” David said. “They’re set up and ready for us.”
Alan frowned and followed the others to the far side of the room where a bunch of VR goggles and gloves were set up waiting for occupants. At his side Red tucked in tight, like all the people in the room were making him nervous, an emotion Alan completely understood.
On a shimmering disk in the center of the room stood a tall man who looked like he spent more time on a surfboard and beach than he did in a boardroom with his sun-bleached blond hair. His suit looked impeccable and didn’t look anything like he did in game.
Alan paused and stared as the man shimmered and flickered. One of the other suits walked up and put his hand through the image.
Slasher frowned. “You know, that’ll probably be considered rude at some point in the near future.”
“Get used to it. You’re top-of-the-line tech at the moment,” the other suit replied.
“I guess I am.” Slasher frowned. “I only exist as part of programs now.” He paused and grinned. “Ah, Alan, you finally made it.”
“Sorry, nobody warned me about the big party.” Alan looked down at the holographic projector as Red sniffed it. “So this is how they’re bringing you out of the game for this.” He glanced back at David. “I thought there had been some hints about that.”
“Yeah, we were keeping it a surprise. My wife is having the projectors installed all over the house so I can continue to interact with her and the kids.” Slasher frowned. “The only problem is they take a ton of power and even with the company paying for them, they can only run so long before they drain the solar and wind batteries. We’re talking about getting back on the grid.”
A short wispy woman in an expensive suit with her black hair up in a no-nonsense bob walked up. “Mr. Gosling, we’ve been waiting for you. I don’t believe we’ve ever met. I’m Kim Pin, the new CEO of TES.”
Alan gave her a short bow. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Pin.” He’d heard about some changes at the top of the corporate pole in the wake of their adventures, but hadn’t bothered to find out all the details.
“You’ve helped us really understand what our technology can offer our users.” Ms. Pin smiled. “There are things you and I should discuss in the coming days.” She rubbed Red’s head without bending over. “You can even bring this precious puppy if you like. But now, it’s time for us to make our entrance.”
While they’d been talking, a quiet hush had fallen over the room.
Alan glanced around and most of the people there had gotten VR gear on, only his party was standing there quietly as if waiting for something to happen.
One of the waiters who’d been making sure people had champagne walked up to Alan. “Mr. Gosling, if you’d like, I can walk your dog while you do your duty.”
With a bit of reluctance, Alan handed over Red’s leash, then squatted down to scratch Red’s ears. "You be a good puppy, I’ll be back as fast as I can.” He hoped he wasn’t going to have to spend long in Halfworld. At least they were all using VR goggles and gloves and not pods. There wasn’t a chance of him getting stuck in the game again.
“I’ll take good care of him,” the waiter said as he started leading Red away.
Red glanced from the waiter to Alan and whined softly.
Alan wanted to do whatever the bigwigs wanted to do and get back to the real world and his puppy.
“Here.” Mike handed him a set of gear. “Let’s do this.”
“Yeah.” Alan slipped the gloves on, then pulled the goggles over his head.
His launch screen appeared almost instantly. He selected Horc, still his only toon in the game since he’d deleted Horc007, but Rick had made it possible for him to keep the level he’d gotten with 007. He knew Mike and some of the others had rolled up new toons to play when the First Responders didn’t have need of them. When he entered the game he wasn’t standing outside the guild house in Pyranoville where he’d been earlier when he logged out. He was in the center of Red Wind Terrace. There was a huge number of toons around him and the others where they stood on a huge wooden platform.
Then Pyranous appeared behind them. The Dragon reared back on his haunches and roared before sending a jet of flame into the air.
People screamed, then clapped as the flames died out harmlessly.
Ms. Pin, in game as a Gnome Mage, waved her hands around, creating a huge fireworks display around them before her voice boomed out. “Welcome to Halfworld, everyone!”
There was more applause and Pyranous sent another flaming display into the twilight sky.
Horc had to admit that if he was going to go to a big game release party, he liked the idea of it being in-game better than IRL any day. Somewhere nearby, a band started up and people started dancing. It was a far cry from the way things could’ve been. There was still a lot of the game Horc had to explore, but he had all the time in the world to do that. The fantasy world was much more than he ever expected it to be, and if what he’d been told by Rick, the designers were working on being able to get new content out as fast as possible. There would always be something new and interesting to explore. That made Horc feel good about the future.
Titanya and Greensleeves each grabbed one of his arms.
“Come on, you’re going to dance and enjoy this before the next emergency comes up,” Greensleeves said.
“Exactly.” Titanya patted him on the arm. “We’re the First Responders. We party hard, and we save the world.”
Horc hoped the world would go for a while without needing saving, but when it did again, he and his guild would be there, ready to give it their all.
The End…for now
Be sure to look for “The Return of Horc” in 2019
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Drew Seren Bio
Drew Seren was raised on a diet of science fiction, both in print and on the screen. He spent many nights watching Star Trek and Space 1999 with his father. Comic books were a main staple of his reading, and then when he was in high school he started reading Dragon Riders of Pern and quickly began devouring any science fiction he could, luckily his father had an extensive library at the time. He started writing soon after that, letting writing help him make it through class. During college and his corporate life, Drew spent a lot of time writing to help him endure the mundane things that gnawed at him. Through his twenties and thirties, comic books and science fiction helped him survive. To this day, he’s still reading as much or more than he’s writing. He’s also an avid gamer, playing first Dungeons and Dragons, and currently lots of World of Warcraft. He’s recently turned his attention to writing full time and exploring the vast galaxy through new and interesting eyes.
Stay in touch with Drew through his website
www.drewseren.com
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Feel free to drop me an email
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