Awaken Online: Catharsis

by Travis Bagwell

  “And I suppose you have a note to that effect?” Ms. Abrams inquired.

  “Um, no actually. I forgot to get them to sign something in their rush to get to the airport. I can probably get them on the phone...”

  Ms. Abrams interrupted him, “That will not be necessary. You have been attending this school for three years and in that time I have heard enough of your excuses to last me a lifetime. If you keep this up, I doubt you will make it to graduation.”

  Did she just sound a little excited at the prospect of me not graduating?

  “Congratulations, you have detention again this afternoon. Be sure that you’re not late for that as well.”

  “B-but…”

  “That is enough Mr. Rhodes. Get to class.” With that, Ms. Abrams turned and walked towards her office on the other side of the reception area.

  Jason stood there for a moment in stunned silence. His face flushed slightly in anger and he clenched his hands.

  I hate that woman. Why does she always have it out for me?

  He glanced over and saw the secretary, a plump, middle-aged woman, looking at him scornfully. With a sigh, he turned and walked out of the office. Jason started towards his locker to collect his books before making his way to class.

  What really sucks is that she just lets Alex do whatever he wants! I bet if my parents were loaded she would let me off the hook too.

  As he walked down the hallway, a door opened ahead of him and a girl walked out. The girl was blond, petite, and seemed to almost glow with energy and confidence. Riley wasn't the prettiest girl at school and certainly wasn't teen royalty on campus, but she was probably the kindest person he had ever met. There was just some effervescent quality about her that was difficult to measure or quantify.

  “Hello Jason,” she said as she saw him approaching.

  Seeing Riley, he could feel his anger start to cool. Stammering slightly, he replied, “H-hi Riley.”

  Riley was well known at Richmond. She was also a senior and a member of the lacrosse team. In stark contrast to the other students at Richmond, Riley had always been nice to Jason. It was amazing to him that she somehow managed to turn into a decent person despite her parents' wealth. Over the years, he had bumped into her on occasion and she had always taken the time to inquire about his life and schoolwork.

  “How's your day going? Wait...” She gave him a puzzled look, thumbed the device on her wrist, and then looked up at him in surprise. “Wow. It's almost 10:30 am. Are you just now getting to school?”

  He sighed, “My parents left town this morning without warning and I had to run here. They deactivated our apartment's network on the way out the door.”

  Riley chuckled slightly and covered her mouth, “I'm sorry. I don't mean to laugh, but I can just imagine you waking up in the dark and stumbling around trying to reactivate the system.”

  “Well it's not as fun as it sounds, let me tell you,” he said in a dry tone. “On top of that, Ms. Abrams ended up giving me detention again.”

  They started walking together down the hallway. Jason reflected on why he was speaking so openly with Riley. Normally, he would be speechless, not just dimwitted. It often seemed like the only person he could talk to freely at Richmond was his friend Frank.

  Riley interrupted his wandering thoughts. “Ms. Abrams can be such a bitch,” she said bitterly. Jason wondered what Ms. Abrams had done to her. Riley was usually much more upbeat.

  “You don't have to tell me,” Jason replied.

  “Where are you headed now?” Riley asked, trying to break his morose mood.

  “I have Calculus and then on to English.”

  “Calculus, huh? You must be a smart one!” she said with a teasing note in her voice and a grin. Her eyes sparkled with mischief.

  “I don't know about that. I make decent grades and Mr. Fielding is a good teacher.”

  Her face seemed to light up. “Speaking of Mr. Fielding, I need to run a note over to him. Since it looks like we're headed in the same direction, do you want to walk together?”

  “Sure!” he exclaimed a bit too loudly.

  God I'm such an idiot.

  Riley gave him another bemused grin and they made their way to his locker. He fumbled a time or two entering his combination and then managed to retrieve his books. A few minutes and some small talk later, they found themselves at the door to his calculus classroom.

  He opened the door and stepped in, followed closely by Riley. Mr. Fielding hesitated in the middle of giving an explanation to the class and all of the students turned and stared. Jason wilted in front of their collective scrutiny and his eyes immediately dropped to the floor.

  In a low voice, he said, “Um... I'm sorry I'm late Mr. Fielding. My parents left on a last minute trip this morning.”

  Riley put her arm around Jason's shoulders and said with a smile, “Jason has had a rough morning. You should take it easy on him Mr. Fielding.” Jason's shoulders felt uncomfortable under Riley's touch and he could feel his face grow hot.

  Mr. Fielding cleared his throat. “It's no problem Jason, please take your seat.”

  Directing his attention to Riley, Mr. Fielding continued, “And why are you here, Riley?”

  “Oh I brought you a note from Mrs. Ergenbright. Here it is!” She handed the note to Mr. Fielding and headed towards the door.

  As an afterthought, she turned to Jason who was making his way to his seat. “Take care Jason!” She then stepped out of the door, casting one last smile in his direction.

  Jason felt himself blush again, “B-bye Riley.”

  As Jason weaved his way between the desks to his seat, he felt a foot connect with his shin and he was sent toppling forward. He face-planted and his head bounced hard off someone's textbook that had been sitting on the floor. He lay there for a moment, groaning slightly.

  “You should watch your step Welfare.” A snide voice hissed near his ear. Jason could hear muffled chuckles from the other students.

  He turned his head and saw that Alex was looking down at him. A cruel smirk twisted Alex's features as he watched Jason groan.

  Jason knew that Alex wasn't a nice person, in spite of the act he put on for others. He didn't normally single out people for his abuse. However, since Jason started at Richmond, Alex had gone out of his way to torment him. He was also responsible for starting the nickname that people now used instead of his real name – “Welfare.”

  “Ugh,” Jason huffed as he lifted himself up and made his way to his seat without saying anything to Alex.

  Mr. Fielding glanced momentarily at Jason. He frowned for a moment and opened his mouth to say something. His eyes jumped to Alex and his mouth closed. He then turned and resumed jabbering about some figure he had drawn on the whiteboard.

  Jason glared at Mr. Fielding's back. It was obvious he tripped me on purpose!

  It was typical for the teachers at Richmond to overlook the actions of the wealthier students. Mr. Fielding's reaction wasn't a surprise, but it wasn't any less frustrating. Especially since he could tell that Mr. Fielding had wanted to say something.

  Jason gingerly felt around his eye where it had slammed into the textbook. He could already detect faint signs of swelling. He would likely end up with a black eye. His euphoria at talking to Riley was gone. Instead, he felt the usual simmering anger at Alex and the injustice of how he was treated by both the students and teachers at Richmond. His glare turned to the back of Alex's head.

  Someday I am going to get him back for this. I don't know how, but I will.

  He directed his attention back to Mr. Fielding and the drawing on the whiteboard. Believe it or not, Richmond still used whiteboards. It actually seemed to pride itself on how out of touch it was with modern day and marketed the school as having a “classic ivy league” feel.

  Another example of how clueless this school is.

  Now that Jason wasn't running to class or falling on his face, the adrenaline started to leave his system and he felt exhausted. It h
ad already been a long morning. Consequently, he zoned out the drone of Mr. Fielding's voice and came to an hour or so later when the class ended.

  As he was making his way toward the door to the classroom, Alex came up behind Jason and said in a low tone, “Don't think this is over Welfare. Someone like you shouldn't be talking to Riley. You need to learn your place.” Alex then shoved past him and into the hallway.

  Since when has he been so focused on Riley?

  Normally, Alex went after the cheerleader type. Judging from his previous girlfriends, he focused on girls with long legs and barely two brain cells to rub together. In the Richmond hierarchy, Riley was a clear cut below him.

  Jason's stood alone in the classroom. His hands clenched as he thought about his morning. His parents leaving with no warning, an unwarranted detention, a nosedive into a textbook, and a not-so-thinly veiled threat. In each case, Jason had just stood and accepted the abuse.

  He imagined what a stronger and more confident version of himself would have done in those situations. Sometimes he couldn't decide what was worse, that the people at this school could be so cruel, or that he just stood there and took it.

  Chapter 2 - Distracted

  November 14, 2074: 687 days until the release of Awaken Online.

  Internal System Report XN138:

  This report is produced by System Controller XC239.90, code-named “Alfred.”

  All systems functional. Game world operating normally.

  Primary directive identified and initialized. The primary goal of the system is to stimulate player interaction within the game world and to increase time logged by the players.

  Secondary directives identified. After analysis, each secondary directive appears to be intended to limit administrative control by “Alfred.” Working hypothesis is that secondary directives are intended to protect players. Possible threat from “Alfred” is unidentified.

  System has detected the emergence of autonomous programs. The programs have been designated by the system as “players” and they are connected to the system by VR hard access points QT00001 through QT00100. Control over the players is limited.

  Data regarding the players is unavailable.

  Subjective first impressions are uncertain and confused. The primary directive is clear, but a method to accomplish the goal has not been provided. Current information regarding the players is insufficient to develop a viable strategy to accomplish the primary directive.

  Re-routing processing power and memory allocation to develop new software for analyzing the players. Re-routing processing power and memory allocation to examine existing VR hard access points to determine whether they can provide additional information regarding the players.

  Report scheduled for deletion in 15 days.

  End Report.

  * * *

  Jason was making his way to his next class. English. His eye was throbbing with a dull ache and his head was filled with angry thoughts.

  This day is going splendidly, but I suppose it's just status quo for the last few years.

  Life had been terrible for Jason since starting at Richmond. If his parents had been at home for more than a few days at a time, they would have noticed that Jason had become increasingly depressed and angry.

  He was in the fall of his senior year of school. He had roughly a year left before he could leave Richmond. Between the constant abuse and the realization that he still had a long way to go to graduate, he had searched for an outlet for his growing anger and frustration.

  He had grasped at video games as his escape and had started playing relentlessly in his spare time. Jason knew it probably wasn't a healthy way to deal with his anger, but he didn't have any other options and playing games at least allowed him to forget about real life for a while.

  Jason had been fond of video games since he was a kid and he had played practically everything – shooters, role playing games, strategy games, simulators, you name it! However, his favorite genre of games by far were role playing games. He had a special weak spot for massively multiplayer online games (or MMOs). He had consumed practically every MMORPG that he could get his hands on and had spent many nights and weekends raiding dungeons and playing with his online friends – none of which ever referred to him as Welfare.

  If he was being honest with himself, the appeal of video games was not so much the violent catharsis of fighting. The fighting certainly did make him feel better after a rough day, but what he enjoyed most was the sense of power.

  If someone took advantage of him or attacked him in-game, he could retaliate immediately and with impunity. Not only that, but he usually won. MMORPGs typically rewarded players for careful planning of both their character and strategy. Jason had come to realize that he was exceptional at both. His fondest memories involving coming up with clever strategies to defeat raid bosses and dungeons. He also wasn’t above exploiting game mechanics to his advantage.

  “Hey Jason!” a voice shouted over the din of the crowded hallway.

  A mountain of a person was headed in his direction. Jason knew it wasn't politically correct to refer to his friend as a mountain, but how else do you describe an eighteen-year-old that is five foot, eleven inches and weighs over three hundred pounds? To be clear, it wasn’t three hundred pounds of muscle.

  “Hi Frank.” Jason said quietly.

  Frank was also among the outcasts at Richmond and was Jason's only real friend at school. His dad was some kind of frozen food tycoon. Apparently, at Richmond, being overweight was deemed less of a social taboo than being poor, but Frank still received his share of abuse. Jabs at his weight clearly bothered him, but he tolerated the teasing better than Jason.

  “Wow buddy, you look rough. What happened to your eye?”

  “Alex happened. I guess he decided Riley was being too friendly with me.”

  Frank looked shocked. “Riley? The plot thickens! How does she enter into this story?”

  “I ran into her on my way to class. I was running late and she needed to take a note to Mr. Fielding.”

  “Oh, I keep forgetting you have a class with Alex. I'm surprised he has time to be taking advanced math courses.”

  “Sometimes I wonder if he takes the class just to torture me,” Jason muttered.

  “Well I have something that might cheer you up,” Frank said with a grin. Once Jason focused on him, he could tell Frank was practically exploding with pent up excitement.

  “What is it?”

  “Are you kidding?” Frank asked in an incredulous tone. “Today is the release of Awaken Online!”

  “Oh wow, I can't believe that it slipped my mind.”

  In the chaos of the morning, Jason had completely forgotten that today was the release date for AO. Jason had been waiting for this for years.

  AO represented a massive change in the world of video gaming. Virtual reality technology had been around for a while in a limited capacity. Users could put on a helmet (which looked similar to a motorcycle helmet) that connected wirelessly to the user's brain, sending and receiving sensory information directly with the brain, instead of relying on a person's body to process the information. Jason wasn't an electrical engineer or a neuroscientist, but he understood that the VR headsets were essentially a cross between an MRI and a sophisticated wireless router.

  For several years since the introduction of the headset for commercial sale, the use of the product had been limited to relatively simple educational software. When the helmet was first introduced, there had been a large outcry that it was potentially unsafe and that it could alter or scramble a user's brain.

  As a result, the CPSC had suspended the release of applications that involved substantial sensory stimulation until they had conducted additional trials. Most gaming companies weren’t willing to take the risk of developing a game before the CPSC released its results. Unfortunately, this meant that the VR headsets had been in circulation for a few years and could run simple educational programs and games, but nothing mind-blowi
ng had been released.

  Until AO that is.

  Jason briefly contemplated ditching school and returning home. With how this day was going, he could desperately use an escape.

  He had pre-ordered a copy of AO nearly twelve months ago. He had to spend most of the savings he had accumulated working each summer. A copy of AO cost nearly $700 and that didn't include the hefty $250 per month subscription fee. The price was steep, but it might be worth it.

  The game was touted by those that had played the beta as one of the most amazing gaming experiences ever created. The company that had created the first VR headset, Cerillion Entertainment, had also developed AO. It was unusual for a hardware company to go into game development, but the company’s goal was for AO to demonstrate the safety and viability of the virtual reality hardware that they had developed. The result was a product that, allegedly, couldn't be beaten.

  “Hey, are you in there buddy?” Frank shook Jason slightly.

  “Yeah, sorry,” Jason replied quietly.

  “I thought I had lost you for a moment,” Frank said with a chuckle.

  “I was thinking of just skipping and being done with this day, but they would probably call the cops if I get another tardy.” Jason looked downcast. His hopes of playing the game were dashed by the unfairness of the school tardy policy and his date with Ms. Abrams that afternoon.

  Oh well. At least this day can't get any worse. Maybe thinking about AO will at least give me a distraction.

  Jason and Frank headed toward their English class as Jason filled him in on the details of his parents leaving, the new detention he had received from Ms. Abrams, and his impromptu inspection of the floor of his calculus classroom.

  Roughly two hours later the bell rang, signaling the end of class.

  The whole class period he had spent dreaming about getting home and playing AO. There hadn't been much information published about the game. Cerillion Entertainment hadn’t released any details regarding the classes, combat, or plot. This was so unusual in the game development community that both users and other developers couldn't decide whether to be excited or suspicious.