Load Custom Character

by Tyler R Lee

  When the roar of energy died down, the silence was deafening. Ariel had covered her eyes, and was now incredibly aware of the intense ringing in her ears. As she opened her eyes, they went wide at what she saw. Where there had once been a mountain side, there was now simply dust among the sky. Peter's blast had completely blown away that part of the arena.

  Ariel led her eyes to Peter, standing in the same stance he had been when he released the attack. In front of him was Yoshitsune, mouth agape. Then, she watched as shadow sprayed from the massive hole in the creator's back as his body twitched.

  "I guess...I guess I was wrong about...you, Peter." Yoshitsune's smile had returned, but his face was full of fatigue. "Looks like...you didn't fail here. But...that's okay. Being wrong...isn't such a bad thing." His head fell back as his body tipped backward. Before he fell off the brand new cliffside created from the recent attack, he added, "You did so good, Peter. Good for you." Then, his body fell, dissipating into fading shadows upon the clouds and the wind on the mountainside.

  ***

  Ariel watched, wide eyed, as Yoshitsune disappeared. For several heartbeats she found that she couldn’t move. “Is this...is this really it? Did we...did we do it?” Slowly, a smile made its way onto her face as she turned to regard Peter. Then, the smile faded as Peter’s eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to his knees.

  “Peter, no!” Ariel rushed forward and caught him before he fell all the way forward. “Pete! Peter, can you hear me?!” She asked this several times as she sat on the ground, holding her friend in her arms.

  “I...I can hear you.” His voice was barely a whisper.

  “Oh, thank god.” She pressed her lips to his forehead as a tear slid down her cheek.

  “Did we win?”

  Ariel laughed as more tears fell. “I think so. You did it. You killed him, Peter.”

  “Please.” Peter barely managed a chuckle. “You cut his damn...his damn arms off. I’d have been dead if it hadn’t been for you.”

  It was then that Ariel noticed Peter’s HP bar slowly falling. He had used his life for that final attack, which dropped him below zero. “Hold on, Peter,” she said, a small panic to her voice. “The game should end soon. That was the rule, right? We killed him. Now we can get out.” She checked to see if the log out feature was available, but it was not.

  “So, I got something...I want to say to you...Ariel. In case the game doesn’t end before I die.”

  “Don’t be stupid. Of course it is. Any second now.”

  “Sure, but...if it doesn’t. I just wanted to say that...without you, I never would have made it this far. I never would have had the will to get through this game.”

  Ariel had closed her eyes tight to stop the tears, but it wasn’t working.

  “And that’s not even taking...taking into account...the amount of times you saved my ass. But...but...what I really want to say is...Ariel...I think I...I think I love you.”

  Ariel pulled Peter’s head into hers and felt the tears on his cheeks. “Peter. I love--”

  ***

  Peter was only aware of darkness. There was no sound, no feeling, and nothing but darkness that he could see. He tried to look around, but it was useless. Then, he heard a sound, low at first, but slowly getting stronger each time he heard it. It was a beep. A short, high pitched beep. The sound became clear and steady. About once every second or so he heard the beep. But, he could still only see darkness. Feeling was returning, however. He felt a heavy sensation where his legs would be. But, he couldn’t see anything. Was he blind?

  Doing the best that he could, Peter sat up. He then reached for his head and felt the large plastic helmet. Carefully, he removed the Emerser from his head. The bright light nearly blinded him. When his eyes adjusted, he saw the bright white walls of a hospital. He saw the IV in his arm and the monitor he was hooked up to.

  “What…” His voice trailed off as he saw what was so heavy on his leg. It was his father, sleeping while leaned over onto his bed. His mother, also asleep, was leaned over onto his father. “Mom? Dad?”

  His dad stirred, slowly at first, until he saw that Peter was sitting up. “Oh my...Amanda, wake up!” He shook Peter’s mother awake

  “What is it, Griffin,” his mother asked, wiping the exhaustion from her eyes. When she opened her eyes, they immediately filled with tears as she clasped both hands over her mouth.

  Looks of joy and relief flooded both of their faces along with the tears. They both wrapped their son in a hug while talking far too much and far too fast for the still delirious Peter to fully understand. He heard words and phrases like “so worried,” “thought we’d lost you,” “love you so much,” and more.

  “God, are you okay, son?” His dad’s gruff voice asked as he moved back to hold Peter at arm’s length. His mother kept holding him close and sobbing.

  “I...I think so.” The confusion was apparent on Peter’s face, but his father paid it no mind.

  “Oh, thank god.” His dad came back in and hugged him.

  “Were...were you two...worried about me?” Peter felt the tears well up in his eyes.

  Both his parents leaned away from him, looked to each other, than back to Peter. The look of confusion and more than a little pain made Peter flinch.

  “Oh, Peter. Of course we did.” His mother, again, wrapped him in a tight embrace.

  “It’s so good to have you back son,” his father added as he wrapped his arms around both.

  “Yeah,” Peter said, closing his eyes and smiling through the tears. “It’s good to be back.”

  Epilogue

  Even in San Francisco, it was unusually cool on the September morning that found Peter Robinson at the Parson’s Hill Cemetery standing in front of a gravestone. It was marked for Andrew Locksus. Just as he had every year for the past six years, Peter placed an assortment of flowers upon his old friend’s grave, awkwardly adjusted his blue tie, and listened to the wind for several minutes.

  “Hey, Shield,” he finally said, his voice not loud enough to carry over the light wind. “I almost didn’t make it this year. A lot going on. Life. You know how it is, sometimes.” Several more moments passed in silence. “Goddammit,” Peter said as he grinned through his annoyance at the lump growing in the back of his throat. “Seven years since you died; you’d think I’d have learned to talk about it by now.”

  After another minute or two, Peter cleared his throat and straightened his tie before starting again. “Anyways, lots going on. Finally got that book published I was telling you about last year. Yeah...decided to call it ‘My Time in Our World.’ I know, kinda lame. I thought about calling it ‘Load Custom Character,’ but that just sounded stupid.

  “Also,” he continued as he sat down on the ground and crossed his legs, “Ariel’s moved up. Well, moved up even further. Remember how she got that big reporting position after writing those articles on how video games and virtual reality are still important tools for education, interaction, and mental health despite our less than healthy experience? Well the Interactive Entertainment Media Board asked her to come on and head their new, revamped ratings and quality control division. Now, it’s her job to make sure Our World never happens again, and that similar tech is able to be used for education and what not.”

  A smile had found its way onto Peter’s face. “Man, it was sketchy for interactive gaming, even just simple console and PC gaming for those first couple of years after…” Peter reached for his shoulder, a bit of phantom pain flaring up, as it had ever since his battle with Yoshitsune. “Virtual reality was basically dead, especially after New Wind Entertainment went under from all the lawsuits. If it wasn’t for us...mostly Ariel, video gaming might have died altogether.

  “Don’t be so modest,” called a voice from behind Peter. He turned around, recognizing the voice and already smiling as Ariel made her way to the gravestone. Deep purple of the dark elf, or her deep honey complexion in the real world, Peter still thought she was gorgeous with her raven h
air and green eyes. He stood up to greet her with a kiss and noticed she had decided on a green dress for the occasion. He loved the way that shade matched her eyes.

  “His testimonies, Andrew,” Ariel added, “were instrumental in keeping the industry alive. People thought that, if anyone should hate video games, it should be us, but we didn’t.”

  “I helped a bit,” Peter conceded. “As did Scott and Manahil.” He felt Ariel put her arm around his waist and pull him close, and he did the same to her. She knew how hard this still was for him to remember his first true friend and what had happened all those years ago.

  “Did you tell him about where we are headed after this?” Ariel pushed.

  “I hadn’t yet. Why don’t you tell him. I’m a bit talked out.”

  “Well, Shield, today is the day they are finally opening up the Our World Memorial to the public. They finished construction a few days ago and they are holding a big ceremony for the public. Peter was asked to come by, personally, by the committee.”

  “So were you,” Peter smiled and playfully gave Ariel a gentle shove, but never let go of her.

  “Pretty sure Scott had something to do with that. Being head of the committee, lead for the construction of the memorial, and a professor of history at NYU gives him some pull, I assume. Manahil should be there, or she better be there.”

  “She works for you, so I assume she can find the time,” Peter laughed.

  “She works with me,” Ariel corrected. “I couldn’t get half the shit done that is needed without her.”

  Once more, several minutes passed with no one saying a word. Finally, Peter broke the silence as a tear escaped down his cheek. “I think about what happened to you every day, Shield. I think about how you didn’t need to be there, how I could have helped you. Not a day goes by that I don’t blame myself for what happened to you. And...I’m sorry.” Peter pulled Ariel closer as he heard her sniffle beside him. “But, it was because of you and your friendship that we were able to make it out of there, Shield. Your positive attitude, your friendship, all of that gave us hope that we could survive. And then your memory gave us the strength to fight through everything. You, Gunner, Streak, Val, Tony, Amaterasu, you all gave your lives so that your friends could push forward. And for that, we will never, ever forget you.”

  “You made an impact on us all,” Ariel added, wiping her eyes dry. “One that helped us survive. Thank you, Andrew. We love you.”

  The two stood there for a few more minutes. Then, they turned and headed to their car, off for the memorial ceremony.

  ***

  The Our World Memorial was as amazing as the initial plans had made them out to be. When Scott had first pitched the idea to them, Ariel and Peter had been all for it. However, this was more than they could have imagined.

  As they entered through the grove of small trees at the south entrance, they were greeted by Scott, dressed in a black suit and a blue tie that Peter thought matched his former wizard robes from the game. He held out his arms and wrapped them both in a hug. “It’s so good to see you both.”

  “Same to you,” Peter said, squeezing his old friend, tightly.

  “We’ve missed you,” Ariel added.

  “Yeah, we’ve all been busy the past couple of years.”

  “Uh, yeah, I’d say you’ve been pretty busy,” Peter said, admiring the memorial.

  “Aaaand what about you,” Scott chided. “Speaking of,” he added as he pulled out a book from his bag. The title read “My Time in Our World.” “Sign it, bitch.”

  “Well, since you asked so kindly,” Peter said in mock offense. “Also, I said I’d get you a copy. You didn’t have to buy it.”

  “Oh, same,” Ariel said, pulling a copy out of her purse.

  “Seriously?” Peter said, shooting her an annoyed but amused look. “We’re married, I could have gotten you a copy for free, as well.”

  “How would that help support you?”

  “We share a bank account? How does it matter?”

  “Would you just sign it and quit whining?” Ariel smiled as she extended the book.

  “Fine,” Peter said as he snatched the book. “And you know my social anxiety hates me signing books.”

  “You’re somewhat famous, man,” Scott said as he clasped him on the shoulder. “Get over it.”

  The group shared a laugh and then headed further into the memorial. Scott explained the layout to them as they walked.

  “Here’s how we laid it out. Once we decided to place the memorial here in Golden Gate Park, the rest kind of fell into place. We were able to acquire an entire city block. At the south entrance here, we planted a forest of small trees to symbolize the first leg of our journey through the Forest of Want.”

  Peter and Ariel listened with rapt attention. Scott had explained all of this to them before, but it was so much more magical as he took them through the real thing, now. “In the center of the memorial is a large fountain in the middle of a pool with the sculpture of an airship to show our trip across the Vast Sea.” Scott pointed to the large sculpture, visible as soon as they exited the first part of the memorial. He then directed their attention beyond. “Behind the fountain is a tall stone sculpture of a mountain to symbolize mount apex where our journey ended. The mountain is about forty feet tall.

  “As you can see, directly through the center of the mountain is a pillar. I wanted that to symbolize us breaking through to Yoshitsune, so I told them I needed something to look like a strike from the heavens. I came up with the idea of a simple pillar striking through the mountain.

  Scott led them up to the mountain, where they saw a large plaque that read:

  Amongst fear and tragedy, a few fought through for the sake of their fellow captives. They braved unspeakable horrors, grueling battles, and loss that they will never fully come to terms with. Because of them, 5,243,200 made it out alive. They are the heroes.

  “As you can see,” Scott continued, “about twenty feet from the center of the memorial are sections of wall that are about seven feet high. Each one is about fifteen feet wide, while the one at the very back is three times that long. Upon these walls we etched the names of every person that lost their life in the game.”

  The three of them walked to the back, eyeing the names as they moved. When they came to the large wall in the back, they noticed another plaque centered upon it. This one read:

  In the year 2023 over the course of April to October, one of the worst global tragedies occurred when 2,871,472 individuals lost their lives after being trapped in the virtual reality game Our World. This memorial is for them.

  Scott directed their attention directly around the memorial. “Taking up the rest of the space around the memorial are several buildings in which you can access a multitude of information about various things surrounding the whole ordeal, such as information on the construction of the memorial, where you can find yours truly.” Scott put on a cheesy grin that had both of his friends shaking their heads.

  “You know it’s cool. Anyway, you can also find interviews and biographies on various individuals that survived, like most of our group. Many of the survivors tend to refer to our group as ‘heroes,’ despite our denial of being such. Inside are also articles and books written about the subject or about virtual reality gaming in general, and much more. Peter, your book is featured prominently in there.” Peter noticeably blushed and turned to act like he was looking for someone in the crowd.

  As they walked around the memorial walls, looking for the names of each person they had met and lost, they spotted a familiar face. “Manahil,” Ariel called out. The former ninja NoScope turned and smiled at the group. Peter noticed, like Scott, her dress had similar coloring to her old ninja garb. She sported a not inexpensive pants suite of a gray that reflected her outfit from the game. She hugged all of them.

  “It’s great to see you all,” Manahil commented.

  “Literally saw you a few days ago,” Peter responded with a grin.

&nbs
p; “Not so much to see you,” she quipped, getting a laugh from everyone.

  Ariel looked to the names Manahil had been standing in front of and saw Christopher Stillbrim. “You found Gunner’s name.”

  “I did,” Manahil said as she lowered her head and wiped her eyes. “I found Streak’s as well,” she said as she motioned to Walter Lucas carved into the wall not far from Gunner’s.

  The group spent the next hour or so looking for everyone else’s name that they had known in the game. They shared stories from inside that they all knew, of course, but it helped to talk with each other about it. As they were walking, Manahil turned to Peter and said, “Oh, by the way,” and pulled a copy of his book from her bag. “Sign it.”

  “I said, like three days ago, that I would get you a copy,” Peter said, realizing his argument was falling on deaf ears.

  “How would that be supporting you?” She questioned.

  “I hate you all,” Peter said with an exhausted sigh to everyone’s laughter as he took the book and signed it.

  The former party members spent the rest of the day together. They left the memorial after the opening ceremony and grabbed lunch, then chatted until dinner. Like at the memorial, they shared stories, but of their lives this time. They joked, they laughed, they cried, and they laughed even more. As the night wore on, they all decided it was time to turn in.