“Harrison, what’s going on?” Juliet asked as she and Callie caught up to him.
“Probably nothing,” he said as he reached for the door knob. “Coming in,” he warned his son and opened the door. It swung inward silently and Harrison had a flash back to all those dungeons he had run with his guild. The trepidation was just as intense as he took a step into his son’s bedroom and looked around. William lay on the bed, the headgear on and the light blinking signaling he was in game. “Damn it!”
The case to the game was on William’s desk and he picked it up.
“It’s the same game,” he whispered, and Callie took the case from him, her hand covering her mouth. “They released the same damn game!”
“Harrison, look,” she muttered and pointed to the three faces on the back of the game. “You don’t think she’s still in there, do you?”
“Will one of you please tell me what’s going on?” Juliet snapped.
“This game is the one we were beta testing,” he explained, and his ex-wife’s face paled.
“Get him out of it,” she said, reaching for the gear, but Harrison stopped her.
“Don’t. It could harm him, just…it’ll be fine. I’m sure it’s fine. It’s been ten years. They probably fixed all the bad parts and released it,” he said, but even he heard the doubt in his words. “Everything will be fine.”
The three adults stared down at William, each waiting anxiously to see if he would open his eyes.
***
Happy with his new character, William, or rather Bishop in this world, stepped outside and into Harborage, the starting town for half-demons. “Woah,” he whispered as he held out his hands before him and spun around, taking in the sights. “This is amazing!”
He only had one VR game a while back and it wasn’t as cool as this one promised to be.
“Are you lost?” a woman asked as she approached, a man by her side dressed in long trailing robes of dark blues and greens.
“What? Oh, no. I’m new here though,” he said, wondering how the NPC would react.
“Allow us to show you around, traveler.” She spread her arms wide, encompassing the bustling port city. “This is Harborage. There are many here who would benefit from your aid, hero.”
“Oh, I’m not really a hero.”
The woman smiled politely and the man laughed kindly. “Not yet perhaps,” he stated. “But soon.”
A white wolf trotted towards them and William worried he was going to have to attack something right off the bat, but it sat at the woman’s feet and sniffed at him curiously, nuzzling his jerkin and cloak.
“This is my companion and perhaps, one day, he will be yours.”
“That’d be neat,” he agreed and scratched the white wolf behind the ears. “Hey, boy.”
“Are you ready to embark on your first quest?” She offered him her hand and William nodded eagerly as he took it.
He glanced over her head and saw the name. “Pleasure to meet you, Tavin.”
The woman’s grin widened as Willy shook the man’s hand as well. Daemyn he was called. William thought for a moment their eyes glimmered green, but it had to be a trick of the light. “Likewise, Bishop,” Tavin said. “Now then, shall we begin?”
The Final Chapter Page 22