by Evan Klein
“I saw what he did to that Mother scaller when it was hurting her. He would have fought a whole army.”
“Of course, the friend I had been playing with wasn’t so happy. She didn’t want a couple of teenagers around ruining our fun. But blood is thicker…” she trailed off. “Well the rest is history so to say. Flora as you can see is doing okay in the game…growing a little more outgoing each day. She talks more here than in the real world. Yet there are signs she is improving there as well. I caught her the other day speaking over the vid screen to another player – not his avatar – but a real flesh and blood, pimple faced, teenage boy. His character’s name is Fred the Great. I think he is harmless. Still gonna keep an eye on him.”
“What a name,” I burst out laughing. “Thinks a lot of himself, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah, he does. Anyhow, this game is up her alley. Like I said, she has a photographic memory. So when we aren’t online, she is absorbing every guidebook there is and is scouring the forums for anything that can give us an edge. And the game really is nothing more than math when you think about it…look how she wrecked the Captain. The Great Realm challenges her to make use of that great mind of hers. She might only be thirteenth level now. But she is by far one of the most powerful thirteenth level mages around – especially with the new weapons we got from you. She spends hours working out which spell or skill to pick next – running through combinations – what will give her the most bang for her buck. She is even looking into the three of us as a team – and which skills, spells etcetera best complement one another. She keeps trying to help Jarrell pick his next skills but he goes more by instinct as you can probably tell. I think it drives her logical and ordered mind nuts… but she doesn’t say anything. And Jarrell said just last night that he doesn’t want to play with his buds just yet. He is going to keep playing with us because we need his protection.”
“Well that is real nice of him,” I joked.
“I think he really believes it. I think also he knows the mayhem his friends would cause to Freehold and Treehold and the surrounding areas if he told them where he was. All they know is that his bitch of an older sister won’t sign off for him to join. So that is our story. But to answer your initial query, I am not sure about the game helping your sister. I am not an expert in science or coding by any level. I think the waves the game gives out taps right into the brain. That is why a blind person can see. It is really your brain that sees the image from the optic nerve; it is really the brain that is deciphering and understanding sound waves resonating off your eardrums. But if that brain is injured or sick or malformed the waves might not be able to bypass that.”
“That is what I thought as well. Even after all these years, autism is still not fully understood. Nancy is in her sixties. We never really had much of a relationship. To be honest, I haven’t visited her in years. I just thought maybe there was a way to finally have a conversation with her. To lead some sort of a normal life, even if it meant immersing herself in a video game.”
“Well at least you were thinking about her,” Cali said kindly. “I really got to get going. God knows was is happening with the two of them back in the house and me sitting idle wearing haptic devices. But..,” she said mulling her next words. “I shared with you, now it is your turn to share. Who are you? For real? You said you worked for the company but didn’t say in what capacity. And you know someone of importance to get us the scalable weapons you did. The game quests seem like a means to and ends for you. And your general lack of excitement over loot and magical items is downright unheard of in The Great Realm.” She was silent for a moment biting her bottom lip. “Flora thinks you are some kind of in game investigator – searching for anomalies like Mother.”
I must have made a face because she said, “There are a ton of rumors about her and her sisters on the forum. You go where there are glitches and check them out. Kind of like what happened with Shatana’s cave. A glitch opened up and you found a way to close it. Jarrell thinks you are just an old retired guy looking to get away from the wife all day.”
“And you?” I asked.
“Me. Well I think it is a little of both of what they said. I definitely think you are an older man. Younger players tend to choose characters their own ages or a bit older. Not too many are going to pick a middle aged man. No insult meant.”
“None taken.”
“Lots of players switch their birth sex in the game, but you seem a little too straight laced for that. So I definitely think you are an older man. You have been pretty much logged on the last few weeks. Which mean you are under employed, retired, or a person of wealth who has a lot of free time.”
“I can tell you for sure that I am not man of wealth. That much is true.”
“Well I know you work for the game. That much you told us. And they tossed you out into the wilderness away from a city so you can learn how to play the games. This has been a training ground for you. So are our guesses right?”
I hesitated in my responses. Sure she had shared a great deal of personal information with me but was my becoming a constable something I was allowed to share. Of course, if they ever came into Grandview they would soon enough find out that I was one of the city constables.
“Well?” She finally huffed. “Are you going to tell me or not?”
“I am,” I said. “I just have to ask you to keep it between us.”
“Can I share it with Flora and Jarrell?” she asked.
I hesitated for a moment before responding, “Let me tell you first and then you can decide whether you should tell them.” There really wasn’t that much to say. I explained I had retired from being a detective (she didn’t need to know that I had been forced out), and that I would become one of the new constables in Grandview.
“Cool,” she said. “It will be good to have a friend in Grandview if Bondi ever gets in trouble there.”
I was about to respond. But she just waved at me and logged off.
“Sly woman,” I thought.
Epilogue 3- Trope
The following day we marched into Treehold and collected our reward from the mayor, a rotund man with a bushy white beard. Besides the plus ten percent towards the next level I received (which was a quite a bit considering we had stumbled across the remains), he offered us another quest. He said another hunting party had gone missing and asked if we would be willing to find them. The fat man belly laughed about how the trackers need some tracking. Well we followed the trail and ended up at the mouth of a cave. The cave overflowed with large spiders. Cali and her siblings smirked when they found out about the spider cave. I guess the cave of spiders is a common trope used in many fantasy stories and in many online immersion games. I found my mace quite useful in breaking open their carapaces. The three hunters were wrapped in thick webbing and thanked us profusely upon saving them.
Epilogue 4: Death
Death is inevitable, especially in a world where a swarm of giant carnivorous insects, a fireball from the hands of an angry warlock, or the thrust of a well-placed dagger from an assassin can end you. Cali and her siblings were unavailable, so I thought I would do some solo adventuring. I had just reached level fifteen and felt much better about taking care of myself. Angelica had said goodbye to me when I reached fifteenth level. But she said that I would soon be meeting one of her brothers – possibly Angelo, or Roberto, but she hoped not the other one. I kinda missed having her in my head…my constant companion.
When I explained to Danna that I was heading out on my own, I suddenly found the villagers offering me one crazy quest after another, like helping Hearn discover a new moonshine brew (which I enjoyed immensely), and assisting Jenik woo the love of his life (which ended up a romantic comedy) with me running around the village, delivering messages, flowers and even a goat (it is a long story). While I got some experience and the option to choose some new subclasses (such as florist, brewer, and goat herder), the adventures weren’t really my style. I needed some action, so when no one
was looking, I left the village and headed west. We hadn’t really explored to the west just yet as it was the most inhospitable region close to the village. I had planned to tackle the area with the siblings in a day or so – our last hoorah as I would soon depart the area and start my time in Grandview.
I figured there was no harm in me scouting it out. The land was thick with trees and vines. A million mosquitos (at least I think that is what they were) attacked me relentlessly, until my face and hands and any other exposed part of me (they even seemed to slip between the gaps in my armor) bulged with red and itchy blots from their bites. I expected a giant mosquito (a boss mosquito) to attack me but one never came.
It was strange. I swore I heard the whinny of a horse but soon found myself by the edge of a pond without a horse in sight. A large rock jutted out from the middle of the gleaming pond and upon the rock lay stretched out the doppelganger of my lovely Bethany.
“Bethany,” I whispered holding back a sob. It was not the frail Bethany who lay in her deathbed riddled with cancer – unable to lift her head – doped up on morphine to dull the constant pain. This was the one I had met in my twenties, who was full of life and joy and brought me happiness all of my adult life.
“Charlie,” she says, beckoning me onward.
One boot descends into the water’s edge.
“I am coming Sweetie,” I say, as my other foot enters the tempting water.
I am going to her and we will be together again.
Another twelve inches forward and I am ankle deep.
I remember the morning twenty-five years ago when we moved in together into the unfurnished house. We spent the first few nights sleeping on an air mattress. Oh, the fun we had on that air mattress.
My other ankle sinks into the pond and we are dancing at our wedding.
Knee deep and we make love in the morning on the green cotton sheets we bought on vacation in Hawaii.
The other knee plunges into the rippling water and I hold Amber as a baby, tears falling down my eyes.
Thigh high – Bethany yells at me and threatens to leave me if I don’t get my drinking under control.
Up to my chest, and Amber holds Bethany’s hand as she fades from the world. I am not there when she dies. I am at work and Amber does not forgive me for not being there.
I stand at her headstone and the miasma that has clouded my mind and head leaves me.
My Intimidation perk boiled to the surface, and the charm was broken. I still saw the mirror image of Bethany laying across the rocks. I had known all along it wasn’t her but didn’t care. I tried my True Sight perk to see what it was but the creature was not using an illusion. True Sight could not see through changelings and shapeshifters one of which this creature must be. The creature must have known its spell was broken because I heard a hiss and then its true self manifested.
Sophia, Kelpie, Proclivity Malevolence, Level 30, 550 DP. It is believed the Kelpie’s are shapeshifters and can take on just about any form. It is also believed that their natural state is that of an equine. Though the association with equine and shapeshifter has been lost to time. Sophia is a malicious creature whose pond is littered with the bones of her thralls. The description went on to describe her fighting styles, her weaknesses, and other useful information about her. I shut down the description. Anger blinded me. She had taken the form of Bethany. I was angry at the game, and Haggerty and Shannon…and the entire world – real and virtual. How was the game able to tap into the one image that would bring me genuine pain – that I would have gladly surrendered to if the spell had not been broken? How was the game able to tap into that image?
“Bethany,” I whispered one final time. But now that her spell was broken, the creature decided to show her true form – an amorphous creature, vaguely humanoid lay splayed upon the rocks. Instead of Charlie being called out, a guttural roar poured from it. I stopped moving and the Kelpie’s screams echoed off the water like a howling wind. I called for my crossbow and when it was in my hands I fired. There was a spark as the metal tip of the bolt struck the rock, flying off into the pond.
Sophia leapt from her rock, covering the fifteen or so feet in a moment. And a terrible weight was upon me. The red bar in front of my eyes filled rapidly. I struggled as best I could but might as well been trying to fight a tidal wave. This pool was Sophia’s home and her place of power. Water filled my lungs until I thought they would burst.
The pain faded and I was back on the game login screen. The following message flashed in front of me: You have been killed. Would you like to respawn at the closest hearthstone to where you died, respawn at a saved hearthstone, or log off?
“Mother fucking bitch!” I screamed. I thought about respawning, tracking Sophia down and making her pay. But I just didn’t feel like revenge at the moment. Until that moment the game hadn’t really affected me – but between seeing Bethany once again and now being killed for the first time, I just wasn’t in the mood. I could always come back with Cali and her siblings and destroy her. I logged off and found myself sitting back on my recliner. I lowered myself down and sat there for a moment.
I had buried the memories of Bethany in the deepest vault of my being.
I began to think about death.
I know my heart had stopped for a minute when I had my heart attack several months back, and I had been literally shocked back to life. I really hadn’t thought about the heart attack or death – suppressing those dark thoughts. I had died for a minute or so. Now it was just for a mere seven seconds.
There is an unsolvable anomaly in the game software called the seven seconds. Every time a character dies, seven seconds passes before they find themselves back in the login screen. The time between death and hitting the login page should be almost instantaneous. The forums are filled with a wealth of thoughts, arguments and conspiracy theories about the missing seven seconds. Some believe the brain dies for seven seconds, others that subliminal ideas are uploaded into the mind such as to spend money on the game. I would have to ask Haggerty about it over a drink or three. All I did know is that I was going to do everything I could to escape ever being caught off guard like that again. Death in The Great Realm was something I was planning to avoid for now on.
Epilogue 5. Party Time
I had gained quite a bit of coin over the last several weeks of adventuring, plus crypto-currency from the company was pouring into my bank account. Haggerty had been right – between my pension and my salary from the corporation, I was earning more money than ever in my life. There was enough for me to help Amber out at school. I would make sure her tuition and room and board was paid for. Plus I was planning on depositing crypto-currency into her account every month.
Anyway, I had just turned sixteenth level that morning and would be leaving for Grandview City in a few days, so I decided to throw a big blowout in Freehold. I had grown to like all the villagers and invited all three hundred of them. I invited Cali, Jarrell and Flora to the party as well. I intended to virtually tie one on and wasn’t sure how I felt about having two minors around as I did so but knew I had to ask them to attend. I also invited the orcs who had battled by our side as well as Magash Sidesplitter. Orcs, loving a good party it turns out, showed up just as the sun was going down. They brought with them a cart laden with two kegs of what turned out to be lethal ale. I had an ulterior motive for inviting them as well. I wanted the human and humanoids to break bread as it was. I wanted there to be no lingering hard feelings about the battle that had occurred several weeks prior.
Hearn set up platters of food on two large wooden tables. The drinks flowed and a wild boar simmered on a spit. I started with a few shots of Hearn’s lethal moonshine. Once I could feel my throat again, I turned to the orc’s ale. An hour into the party and I felt no pain.
Jarrell had been allowed to imbibe (just one tankard) as well and was arm wrestling with the village smithy. He grunted and groaned as he strained against the powerful arm and upper body of the smithy. Flora stood
a short distance behind him with a glass of warm milk. The whole village seemed to be drunk as all hell. Ribald songs (mostly from Mother) carried in the air like a warm breeze and the wanna be troubadours (led by Young Lucious) sang love ballads to the available maidens. Besides singing, there was dancing, and kissing, a brawl or two, and a wife or three dragging their drunken husbands home. The husbands would moan, “But Sunshine, the drinks be free.” As though that should open the door for more drinking.
It turns out ogres can’t hold their drink and Magash was passed out slumped up against the front of the inn. The village children had left their homes upon hearing the singing and noise outside and soon the ogre was a jumbo gym, with the children climbing up and down him. A few of the braver ones perched upon his head and they leapt down to the ground below.
I went to find Cali to say my goodbyes before all capacity to speak slipped from me. I looked around for her, and turning a corner behind the general story, I found her passionately making out with Bondi. I didn’t know if Cali had invited the young witch or if Bondi had crashed the party. Either way, Cali seemed happy with Bondi at that moment. She had some complicated relationship going on there. I turned away and headed back to the orcs’ keg. Mother, holding a large tankard, swayed as she walked towards me, obviously plastered.
“Hold this she said,” handing me a small pouch. She dipped her tankard into the open keg, pulled it out, and took a long draught, emptying half the drink between her mouth and her dress. She dunked the tankard back in and then ordered me to hold the tankard while she took the small pouch back from me. She pulled out two cheroots – thin cigars with the flat ends on both sides. Suddenly the cigar was lit and she handed one to me. Realizing I had a tankard in each hand, she reached up on her tippy toes and stuck the cigar into my lips before taking the tankard back from me.