by N H Paxton
I headed toward a small forest in the distance, but it wasn’t any forest I was familiar with—the trees were all burned down, scorched, destroyed, as though annihilated by a great, raging fire. There were small buds in the ash and dust on the ground, like little trees coming to growth. They gave me a feeling of both peace and terrible fear.
The voice rose to an unbearable volume as the dust started swirling like a cyclone, kicking up ash. Within began to form a pair of people: both were Ina, but they were separate. I instantly recognized small differences, and I knew I was staring at Earth Ina and V.G.O. Ina, side by side.
“Come with me, Vlad.” Earth Ina’s voice was broken, but within it I heard all the sweetness the world could offer.
She extended her hand, and I was immediately transported to another place, high above the plain below us. I could see for hundreds of miles, a scorching inferno spread out from a single point, an impact crater of some kind. Everything was running in slow motion, and I was surprised to see a massive meteor striking the ground in another location, far outside what I should have been able to see.
“This is Astraea?” My words came out in pure Russian, the broken English gone. I was relieved, but terrified at the same time.
“This is the end, Vlad. I’m here, one last time, to tell you I love you. Behold, our stricken world, destroyed by our great impudence to the gods above.”
With that terrible and cryptic message, her mouth opened, a silent scream frozen on her lips as she turned to dust and blew away.
I blinked, not knowing what else to do, and I was back, standing at the edge of the wasteland. I saw V.G.O. Ina standing there again, her body wrapped in a cloak I had never seen. It looked to be made of some kind of magic; the way it glowed gave off a warm and soothing sensation.
“Vlad, this is the end of everything.” She turned to me and reached out her hand. I reached to take it, like the last time, but before I could, her body shook and her face became a mask of agony and pain. She leaned over and held her gut, coughing as blood poured from her mouth.
“Ina, Ina! What is problem, how can help?” I was back to the idiotic broken English again, but I didn’t care as much as usual. I needed to help her.
“You can’t, Vlad. This is fate...” Her voice faded as she fell to her knees. Her body turned to ash and blew away, just the same as Earth Ina’s had done.
My fingernails dug into my palms, my fists clenching tightly before I shouted with everything I could muster. My body was wracked with pain and agony. I looked down and saw my hands were starting to crack and split. My legs were beginning to do the same.
I looked about in panic. I was standing at the epicenter of the crater, which was now deep beyond knowing. I screamed, I shouted, I tried to run, but nothing would stop the agony.
Fate is Fickle Bitch
Timeline: Day of Astraea - 15 minutes before impact
I AWOKE TO A NEW KIND of sound blaring in my skull, but there wasn’t any kind of pain involved this morning, which was a surprise. So far, every single day I had awoken in V.G.O., my body was filled with agony. The lack of pain was a blessing, since the new alarm was obnoxiously loud. I finally opened my eyes and saw a bright red message icon flashing in the corner of my vision, along with the normal white one. I chose to ignore the white one for the time being, and I opened the red one. It wasn’t a video message, but an emergency notice.
“The Extinction-level asteroid, known as Astraea, is set to impact within the hour. Please stay aware of your message box for further information.”
That was the extent of the message. I had thought they had calculated it to be later in the day. The door to the inn room creaked open, and Ina walked in, her face a dual measure of panic and fear.
“Vlad, everyone in the common room is freaking out, saying it’s the end of the world or some such nonsense. Some of them are really upset.” She walked over to the bedside and sat down next to me. “Do you want to go downstairs and see what’s going on?”
“Yes, need to know.” I stood slowly and stretched my hands, remembering the agony from my nightmare.
After finding that they worked fine, I quickly equipped my gear and headed downstairs for more information.
Timeline: Day of Astraea: 8 minutes before impact.
I found the people in the common room to be just as animated as I had expected, if not worse. There were a few people, whom I assumed were players like myself, who were sobbing. As I made the last step of the stairs, an individual in dark robes to the side of the bannister nodded at me.
“Hey man, check the audio chat channel, they’re broadcasting the news report live. You know, if you wanna hear what’s up.” He put his hand up to his ear and went back to listening to whatever he was listening to.
“Many thanks.” I pulled up the chat interface with a thought as Ina came down the steps behind me. I told her about the audio channel, and she looked at me, confused.
“What do you mean, ‘broadcast’?” Her eyes glazed over for a moment before she snapped back to reality. “Oh, oh I see. That’s... unique.” I stepped over to a wall, leaned against it, and tuned into the chat channel. I had a feeling this was going to be a real day ruiner.
As the broadcast began, the room fell silent, aside from the periodic clinking of metal as people moved, shifting in their chairs or stepping outside.
Sounds of static blurred through the chat channel as I listened in, and shouting and panicked voices filtered through the background. A man cleared his throat before beginning to speak. “It is with a [static] have reached the end, ladies an—[static].
Damnit, the static was such an issue, I could hardly understand what they were saying, but I got the gist of it. There was the sound of shuffling papers, and someone yelled something unintelligible.
“Despite the admir—[static] minds, we have failed to split or [static] asteroid. And so, we find ourselves on the verge of a catas—[static] extinction of the dinosaurs.”
The common room of the inn was deadly silent as people strained their ears to hear the words. The expectant pause in the broadcast did nothing to eschew those concerns.
“A disaster the likes of which mank—[static] less than ten minutes to go, there is nothin—[static] those we love, and brace for impact.”
Another pause, this one punctuated with the sounds of hammering or metal of some kind, within the intense static. The attention was brought back to the announcer with a loud clearing of his throat, a nervous tic if I had to guess. He was doing it frequently.
“In preparation for the com—[static] run through a rough simulation of what we can expect over the next minutes, hours, and days. Lydia?”
I heard the heavy sound of metal being stabbed into wood as a person on the other end of the common room jammed a dagger into the table, his face the definition of anger.
“Oi, yer gonna pay fer that table, lad!” The Dwarf’s voice was loud and stern, but the table stabber didn’t seem to care. He sat back down in his seat and put a hand against his ear like we all were doing. There was a new, jarring voice on the line. It must have been Lydia.
“Thank you, John. [static] collected from the radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, we believe [static] Central America of the Gulf of Mexico.”
There was more metal crashing, and someone shouted about evacuations in the background. The yelling was starting to fight for power with the the static.
“Though the asteroid will likely land in water”—there was a smoothness to her voice that would have been perfectly suited to a CEO of a massive company or organization facing bankruptcy—“our experts have sa— [static] Earth’s atmosphere will have negligible effect on its incredible velocity.” [static] “the equivalent force of one hundred million megatons of TNT.”
“That is huge bomb. Vlad has made big ones before, but is unbelievable.” I was doing it again, looking at the situation like it was a data stream or a simulation as opposed to life and death.
I was brought back from m
y internal monologue by the sound of a demonstrated explosion coming through the audio channel. Then there were voices again, bleeding through the near-constant static. The reception was getting worse.
“Two thousand five hundred kilometers, or one thousand five hundred miles, will likely be killed within seconds [static] electromagnetic pulse will erupt, destroying all technology not properly protected and causing world-wide blackouts. At that time, our station will likely go off-air.”
There was a pause, harsh to the ears. The shouting previously heard was gone, now replaced by the sound of shuddery breathing.
“Now, if you live on the other side of the globe”—she had rebuilt her courage; her voice was strong again, but already starting to waver—“you will likely [static] as long as possible. Within twelve hours, the colossal amount of debris from the initial impact will start falling back throu— [static] rain down in a barrage of fiery hail that will destroy many major urban centers.”
The sound of thousands of tiny rocks landing on a hard surface punctuated the deep static. It was quickly drowned out by someone shouting loudly again, this time something about “only minutes left,” and “get to shelter.”
I almost turned off the chat channel, but the same player from earlier shook his head and pointed to his ear. Ina came up behind me and laid her head on my shoulder, her face pained and terrified. I’m sure I looked no better. I could feel the red burning into my cheeks.
“Moreover”—the all-business voice was gone; she was now a scared child in a world of terrible things—“the finer particulates will create a burning, suffocating cloud, which will cho— [static] will hang overhead for a long time—perhaps as long as a week—and as a result, the surface temperature will swell to well over one hundred and ten degrees Celsius.”
“Entire earth will be scorched to dirt and dust...” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Being a high-ranking employee of Almaz-Antev had offered me a considerable amount of information regarding the potential cataclysmic result of the asteroid’s impact, but a lot of this was finally hitting home. I had seen the numbers, I had heard the data. But this was unbelievable.
Someone across the room started bawling loudly. There were no complaints or irritated remarks. I was sure many others wanted to do the same. The voice continued, this time shockingly clear, as though divine intervention had stepped in to take over.
“At such extreme temperatures, many forests and homes will spontaneously ignite, and even exposed water will begin to boil. It is imperative you stay in shelter for at least a week, or longer if you are able.”
There was sudden, heavy sobbing in the background as the male anchor started speaking again.
“Well, we’ve just received confirmation from NASA—one minute and counting until impact.” The woman’s crying in the background could be heard over the stunned silence, then there was chaos in the channel as people were shouting, “Get to the shelter!”
“Good luck and Godspeed,” said the male anchor, punctuated with a muttered prayer. “It’s truly been a pleasure and an honor to bring you the news.”
There was a brief pause, then a chirp signaling that the channel had been closed.
So, that was it. The world, everything I had ever known, was gone.
I stood there, completely numb. Everything inside me wanted to shout, wanted to rage at the gods above for their carelessness. I wanted to tear the world apart and start over. I wanted to cry, I wanted to sob, I wanted to curl up into the smallest ball I could and just disappear forever. I stood stock-still for a moment, before a universal alert flashed onto my interface.
<<<>>>
Viridian Gate Online Universal Alert!
Notice: Traveler Robert Osmark has founded a faction in Viridian Gate Online! Any traveler of the Viridian Empire may now request to join Robert Osmark’s faction, the Ever-Victorious Empire, bound to the Imperial City of New Viridia, the seat of power of the Viridian Empire in Eldgard.
Notice: Traveler Robert Osmark has been crowned Emperor of the Viridian Empire!
Notice: Joining the Ever-Victorious Empire instantly lowers the player’s relationship with all Rebel-aligned factions to Unfriendly. Joining the Ever-Victorious Empire instantly raises a player’s relationship with all Imperial-aligned factions to Friendly. Joining the Ever-Victorious Empire entitles members to all Ever-Victorious Empire faction buffs.
Notice: Emperor Robert Osmark is now an exalted enemy of the Eldgard Rebellion!
<<<>>>
“He dares?” My words were ripped from my lips as my fists trembled by my sides. “He dares take moment of sorrow and crown emperor on his head!?” I was outright shouting at this point, and I wasn’t alone. There was a lot of swearing going around the common room at the inn. “Filthy bastard, would be killed where stands in Russia.”
I punched the wall so hard that I left a large indentation and received a debuff for my efforts. The pain didn’t last but a second, but my rage burned inside me like a cauldron of coal.
Then, as if to crown the moment, another notification flashed across my interface.
<<<>>>
Universal Message from the Viridian Emperor
Today is a tragic day, one that will be scorched into our collective memory for as long as we live. All of us have suffered great loss: friends, family members, coworkers, our way of life. No one is unaffected by this awful and unavoidable catastrophe—everyone watching this has my deepest condolences. Now, as you have already seen, I’ve crowned myself emperor, and though many of you may think such an act is callous or coldhearted, I’m here to tell you that I’m doing it with a heavy heart and with the best of intentions.
In the face of such terrible grief, rage and anger are common responses. In the face of this type of tragedy, people often react violently, as we all experienced firsthand from the riots and looting which have plagued our cities and streets over the past several weeks. In order to avoid a similar situation here, we need to have a strong, stable hand at the helm of the ship, guiding us into the calm, clear waters of prosperity and peace. I intend to be that hand.
Now is not the time for fighting or squabbling. Now is a time for rationality and unity to prevail despite overwhelming grief. So, for the sake of us all, my word is now law, and any acts of rioting or lawlessness—including defection to the Eldgard Rebellion and overt disobedience—will be dealt with swiftly and harshly. Please know I don’t relish this, but it is a necessary stopgap measure until we can come up with a better system.
With sincerest condolences,
—Robert Osmark, High Emperor of the Viridian Empire.
<<<>>>
“Best... intentions?” I read the message once, then read it again, then a third time. I was dumbfounded. I literally could not believe what I was reading. There were a thousand feelings going through my mind, and not the least of them was rage. I was furious, struck with hatred for the man.
While struggling with keeping my anger under control, a third message forced its way onto my interface.
<<<>>>
Personal Message - AA Missive 001
Vlad, you’ve done well to see yourself through the three-day period to be fully transitioned. It is time for your activation as a cell for the Viridian Empire. Please be aware that you will be receiving missives from here on out via the personal messaging system. These orders are absolute. Failing to follow through will result in negative repercussions.
Be wise, be vigilant, be superior.
—Almaz-Antev Weaponeers
<<<>>>
“So much going on...” My words slipped out of my mouth with a slur as I fought to keep my feet. Ina caught me before I fell.
“Come on, love. Let’s go have a seat, eh?” Ina escorted me to our inn room, where I collapsed on the bed.
I turned my body and shoved my face into the unnecessarily soft pillow, where I shouted obscenities for ten solid minutes, in three different languages. Ina just sat and listened, rubbing my back gentl
y.
When I had finally finished being angry, I sat up. She threw her arms around my neck and just hugged me.
“Bad day, huh?” Her sad smile was comforting in so many different ways, but it reminded me of so many things I had lost.
“I’ve lost much, but have you. Is good price I’ve paid.” I returned her smile, trying everything within my power to make it seem convincing. I failed, but she didn’t tell me that. She continued to be supportive.
“I heard, it sounded absolutely terrible. How does one even accept such?” Her brow furrowed as she legitimately tried to understand the situation. “I don’t know where you would even begin, or what kind of emotions you’re going through.”
“Is not easy, will take time. But having you, here, with me. Is good start.” I leaned into her and gave her a gentle kiss.
“And what’s with that Osmark asshat crowning himself emperor right after it happened? Making it illegal to not be aligned with the Empire?” She shook her head at the thought. “My family would roll in their graves if I aligned with those fools.” She chuckled a little as she stiffened her shoulders somewhat. “So, want to get something to eat? I could use some breakfast after that.”
“Vlad could eat.” I had to admit, the thought of breakfast sounded wonderful, and I wanted everything to just go away. I wanted to think nothing about the last thirty minutes, and I had a feeling that food would help.
In Days Gone By...
INA AND I SAT AT THE bar, working on our breakfast. Given the circumstances of the last hour, the barkeep had offered everyone breakfast on the house, which got cheers from the populace. Between bites of eggs covered in a dairy product of some kind that strongly resembled cheese, panfried potatoes, and a few slices of buttered bread, Ina and I discussed our class quests.
“Mine is very simple,” she said as she shoved a forkful of egg into her mouth. “Juft neet to go to duh barrath uf duh ordens an do a teft.”