by Shawn Kass
By this point, the tense situation had built to a crescendo, and violence seemed inevitable. Glancing down at the size of the man’s hands, Sam knew he didn’t stand a chance in a fair fight, but he also wasn’t sure what would happen if he started launching fireballs around the room either. With his luck, he figured the rest of the people there would gang up on him and that it would be game over, literally.
With all of this running through Sam’s head and most of the other patrons in the pub having quieted down to mere whispers, Sam spotted Tezukayoshi out of the corner of his eye, crouched on a windowsill ready to attack. Sure that the big man would kill him if given the chance, Sam sent his familiar a mental thought to stand down and stay safe. As he finished and saw that the lizard reluctantly eased back into the shadows, he became aware of a woman’s soft voice coming from somewhere behind the giant man. The volume and pitch of it was in such contrast to the surroundings that it sounded musical, and he wasn’t sure he actually heard it until he noticed the big brute before him suddenly take a step back and stand at attention.
“Mace, go sit down. I’ll handle things from here.”
Acknowledging the order without question, the big guy turned around and loped off back to the group’s table. Along the way, Sam thought he heard Mace snort, sounding like a bull giving up on a charge, but he refrained from saying anything about it. When Mace reached his table, he thought he heard him mutter something under his breath, but Sam wasn’t sure of what he heard. From this distance it could have just as easily been, “The itch kept me from some sun,” but Sam thought he heard something much worse.
Ignoring this, Sam took the opportunity to see who it was that had pulled the leash of the big guy and found that it was the brunette from the table, Kat. Now standing before him, he noticed that she, too, was taller than him and that her outfit was actually made up of several different colors of green which looked to be woven together in an overlapping pattern, which would provide excellent camouflage to anyone in a deep forest.
In what sounded like a Swedish accent, Kat said, “I’m not sure what you said to get him all riled up, but I’d suggest you take your meal home with you. Mace has a tendency towards violence on nights like this before we head into the Tower.”
Nodding, Sam said, “Sure thing, and thanks for your help.”
Taking a second look at him, Kat asked, “Aren’t you the new guy that saved the town boy today?”
“Yeah, sort of. I mean, Anna did her part there, too. My name is Sam.”
Taking a second to look over the two of them, Kat said, “Well, that was a really nice thing you two did, Sam,” and then, as if that was the most natural way to end a conversation, she spun on her heels and strode back across the pub to her table.
“That was a little intense and odd,” commented Anna in a whisper. “Perhaps we should take her advice and head out.”
“Agreed,” said Sam, as he reluctantly thought about the job board in the back that he hadn’t had a chance to check out. Then realizing that they also hadn’t gotten what they had come in for, he asked, “But what about our food? We haven’t even ordered yet.”
Looking down at the menus, Anna said, “That’s not a problem.” Then waving her hand towards the kitchen, she called out, “Hey, Nivek,” catching the attention of the man standing in front of a grill. “Can you cook us up a couple house specials in a hurry?”
Nodding at Anna, he waved and hollered back, “Sure thing, Anna,” and began throwing ingredients into a pan. After a few shakes over the hot flames of the stove, he withdrew the pan and scooped out what appeared to be two fully made up cheeseburgers with all the fixings, each on a sesame seed bun.
At first, Sam couldn’t believe his eyes, and he began to question Anna, wondering why this didn’t seem strange to her. When he turned to ask her about it, he found that she was all smiles as she held out her hands for the food. Paused there with the question on his lips, he suddenly remembered that this wasn’t the real world, it was a game, and unless he was playing one of those rhythm games like Cooking Mama, food was generally available as soon as a player ordered it in most games. It didn’t make any sense, just like how his clothes repaired themselves when he took a nap earlier, but rather than question it further, Sam simply shook his head and accepted the food from Anna before following her out of the pub.
Once outside, Sam found Tezukayoshi standing just outside the pool of light which spilled out from the pub’s doorway, and he asked him, “Shoulder or pocket?”
The lizard considered for a moment before he ran over to Sam’s leg and climbed all the way up to his shoulder. Once in place, he turned around and sat back, wrapping his tail around his feet, and waited for Sam to show him more of this strange new town.
With his familiar in place, Sam looked back towards Anna and found her beckoning him to follow her from just up the street. She didn’t tell him where they were headed, but at the moment he didn’t care so long as no one threated to kill him. It had been a long day already, and he really just wanted a quiet place to sit down and eat his meal.
As they walked, the loll in their conversation gave him time to think about things and consider some of the questions which he had set aside until now. The first thought to return, of course, was the worry about his real life. Here he was running around saving people from giant spiders and nearly getting himself into bar fights, while the fact was he had no idea how much time had passed since he had entered the game world. Worst of all, as far as he could tell, he was nowhere close to finding a way home yet. Then came the questions he had before about whether or not he had completely entered the game, or if he was in some sort of coma back home, and what would happen to him if he stayed here too long. On top of that, he worried about what Quinn was going through in each of the scenarios and how much he missed her.
Seeing that Sam was lost in thought, Anna let him think and quietly ushered him through the streets of Anozira until, after nearly ten minutes, they finally came to a dead end. Pointing to the empty pier which jutted out over the water, she finally broke the silence and said, “These are the docks where I mentioned you might be able to get a ride home. It looks like all of the boats are out right now, but I’m sure one will be back in port in the next day or two.”
Looking out across the water, Sam could almost imagine that he was back in the real world standing on the shores of the Hudson River where his family used to vacation when he was a kid. Amazed by its realism, he said, “Wow, the water here is so clear.”
Lifting an eyebrow, Anna asked, “Isn’t it supposed to be?”
Not knowing exactly how best to recover, he said, “I just meant, it looks clean and unpolluted like this place, Stone Harbour, I used to visit. Some of the places I’ve traveled to, like Beachwood Beach in Ocean County, have some really dirty water.”
“Well, if you want, we can sit out there and eat our food before I walk you back to the inn.”
Pulling his eyes away from the water reluctantly, Sam turned to Anna and said, “I don’t want to keep you if you have something better to do. I’m sure I can find my way back.”
Smiling sympathetically, Anna said, “I’m free right now, but if you want to be alone, I understand. I’m sure you miss your home.”
Nodding as he looked back out to the small waves which found their way to the shore, Sam said, “Yeah, I guess I do. I mean, it hasn’t been that long since I left, but not knowing how or when I’ll get back is kind of eating at me.” Then after a sigh, he shrugged and added, “Then there was the whole giant spider thing earlier. I guess I just need a little bit of time to process it all.”
Placing an arm on his shoulder, Anna said, “It will be okay, Sam. I’m sure you’ll find your way home soon.” Then, to break the somberness of the moment, she finished with, “And if you don’t, then we’ll just put you to work around here.”
With a laugh, Sam said, “Yes, I’m sure you will. What will it be tomorrow? Are we to go clear out a giant rat’s nest so a local
farmer can use the land, or will the king be sending us on a quest to arrange peace talks with one of the neighboring countries?”
With a mask of seriousness which didn’t break until the end, Anna answered, “I’m afraid it’s going to have to be the rats. Farmer John needs to get that corn planted. Besides, Anozira doesn’t have a king.”
“Good one,” commented Sam.
“At least I got a smile out of you before I left.” Then turning to head back up the street, Anna waved without looking and said, “Good night, Sam.”
Calling back a quick, “Night, Anna,” Sam strode out onto the pier and sat down to eat his burger. Picking up the burger, he found that it looked exactly as it was pictured in the menu, and he felt grateful for at least that small part of the game’s programming.
As he ate, Sam occasionally paused to think about the game world he had been thrust into and contemplated some of the possibilities which might be open to him based on his previous experiences gaming. Each time he paused, he tore off a chunk of the cheeseburger and fed it to Tezukayoshi, and the small lizard greedily gobbled it down.
Making sure to get at least a few bites for himself, he found that it tasted like a reasonable facsimile of a
cheeseburger from back home, but it wasn’t great. It might have been just because how it was cooked, but he reckoned it also had something to do with his mood. Being in a funk about his situation was having an effect, but he also realized that he didn’t really feel hungry, not even after all of this time in the game. Considering this, Sam reckoned that it could very easily be just another part of the game logic. Programmers probably decided that having characters in a game constantly need to eat and drink could end up making things too realistic, and it would probably wind up hurting the gaming experience for players in the long run. At the same time, they let them heal by eating, and there didn’t seem to be any problems with a character eating extra if they chose to do so. Heck, there had been plenty of times he had accidentally used a potion or healing herb on a character while playing a game even though his character was already at full health, so eating a little extra wasn’t a problem.
Somewhere between being lost in thought and sharing his meal, he found that he had finished off the burger and was just staring out at the water with a sleepy, fat-bellied lizard curled up next to him on the pier. Smiling, he picked up Tezukayoshi, slid the little guy back into his pocket, and began to head back towards the inn.
The walk took him about twenty minutes, and he had no problems getting back to his room, especially since it was still daylight out, but once in the room, he began to tell himself it was time to go to bed for the night. As he did this, he noticed that outside his window the sun seemed to be setting, and by the time he placed Tezukayoshi on his pillow and sat down on the corner of the bed, it appeared to be full night. He chalked this oddity up to the screwiness of the game logic and let himself lie back and fall asleep.
Seconds later, or at least that’s how it felt to Sam, he was woken up by someone knocking on the door. Having déjà vu from his nap, he almost dreaded answering it, but then after hearing it for a second time as he slid out of bed, he recognized that this knocking seemed more urgent than angry. Stepping over to the door, he swung it open wide and found Anna standing in his doorway accompanied by Ms. Kirkland and an older man who looked to be dressed in a lab coat with a stethoscope hanging loosely around his neck.
Not waiting for a greeting, Anna stepped forward and said, “Sam, Peter still hasn’t woken from his coma. We have to help him.”
Chapter 9
After a day like today, all Quinn wanted to do was lie down on Sam’s couch with her head in his lap and take a nap. She felt exhausted, and driving any further to get home just seemed like too much to bother with. Besides that, she felt like it would be nice to just relax with him and figured it wouldn’t be too hard to convince him to order a pizza or some subs for dinner. Pulling up to the stoplight, her eyes glanced down to the crosswalk in front of her car, and images from earlier in the day flooded her mind along with the story she heard from the people on the scene.
* * * While at the store, the little boy had pleaded with his mother to let him have a quarter for the machines next to the door, and after she paid for the necessities like bread, milk, and cheese, she found that she did have forty-nine cents remaining. Knowing full well that none of the cheap little plastic toys or stuff which came out of those little machines was worth their cost but that the smile on his face would be, she reluctantly gave her son the quarter and watched him race over towards the door to receive his prize.
She had brought two small canvas sacks with her so that she could avoid the surcharge of using the store’s plastic bags, and it took her a second to finish bagging up her purchases since places like this were too cheap to have baggers on staff. When she turned around, she expected to find her son returning with whatever plastic ring or temporary tattoo he had gotten, but instead she found that he was still standing next to the machines at the door.
Carrying her bags over, she asked him if he was ready to go, but he said that the machine ate his quarter and that he got nothing for it when he spun the fat metal handle. Looking down at the machine with its colorful trinkets all locked away inside their little plastic eggs for the first time, she saw the reason why. The machine he had pointed at was marked fifty cents where most of the others were labeled twenty-five. With a sigh, the mother told her son that there was nothing she could do and that she didn’t have any more quarters.
Looking down at his shoes, the boy turned and began to walk towards the doors, knowing that there was no use in making a scene, but to his surprise, he almost walked into an old man who was sitting on one of the store’s beat up old electric scooters. Looking up, the boy began to apologize but stopped short when he found that the old man was holding out his hand to him and that in his palm sat a quarter. Smiling once again, the boy took the quarter and raced back to the machine while his mother somewhere behind him thanked the old man.
Sticking the quarter into the same machine, he rotated the handle a full three hundred and sixty degrees, and then heard the familiar click of the plastic egg dropping and rolling down the chute. Lifting the flap with one hand while he held his other hand beneath it, he caught the egg and found that inside it was a bright blue super bouncy ball with glitter which he had hoped to get.
Ecstatic, he ran back to his mother who now stood just outside the doors and held it up to show her his prize. Smiling, she told him to put it in his pocket so that he wouldn’t lose it on the way home.
Instead, while his mother held his right wrist as they walked along the sidewalk, he used his free hand to dig around in his pocket and finger at the plastic egg. Somewhere about halfway home, his persistence won out, and he was able to crack open the case, freeing the rubber ball.
Unable to wait any longer, he withdrew his prize and tried to bounce it just in front of him, intent on catching it before his mother noticed. The ball, however, hit a small pebble and bounced to the side just out of his reach and headed for the street. Twisting his arm, he broke free of his mother’s grip and raced after it, focused solely on catching the shiny blue sphere before it was lost forever and not on the traffic which was headed his way.
The child was alive when the officers arrived a couple minutes later, and they radioed back to dispatch that the boy, ten-years old, was code ten-forty, a victim of a car accident. From there, the dispatcher found that Quinn’s team was the closest and radioed them the location.
It only took thirty seconds for Quinn to arrive on scene, and the two guys with her exploded out of the back of her EMS rig even before she had set the vehicle’s parking brake. Following them, Quinn jumped from the truck, slid on her gloves, and raced over.
As she approached, she saw the three officers kneeling on the street, one doing chest compressions, one holding Cspine, while the other breathed air into the small body using a face mask. The two doing CPR slid out of the way for h
er team to take over, while the other officer continued to hold the child’s head.
The officer who had been doing compressions on the boy said, “He was breathing when we arrived, but then he stopped, and we lost his pulse.”
“Okay, Mark, continue chest compressions while I bag him. Damien, get him on the monitor. Officers, does he have any family here? Do we know anything about his medical history?”
One of the officers who had been doing CPR pointed off to the side where a crying woman surrounded by abandoned groceries was being held back by another officer, he said, “His mother is over there. They were walking home when he got hit.”
From off to the side, a teenager in handcuffs was standing next to another officer and called out, “It’s not my fault! The kid ran out in front of me!” Glancing his way, Quinn took in his injuries, a bloody nose and scratch marks on his face, and deemed them to be non-life threatening and most likely inflicted during an assault and battery with the child’s mother.
As if to confirm this assessment, the mother, infuriated to the point that the officer had to hold on to her even tighter, yelled back at the teenager, “If you weren’t playing on your phone, you would have seen him! I saw you! You could have stopped!”
Looking back at Quinn, the officer said, “You better ask her whatever you need to before this turns into an episode of Jerry Springer out here.”
“Damien, take over here for me. I need to collect the history on this boy.”
Stepping over to the boy’s mother, Quinn found that she had to ask her twice, losing precious seconds along the way, “Does your son have any medical problems or allergies?”
Thinking for a second, the mother said, “I…uh…I can’t think of it. It’s an antibiotic of some sort.”
Knowing that they wouldn’t be administering anything like that, she asked, “Okay, anything else?”
Her eyes locked on the two EMTs behind Quinn, the mother said, “No, he’s a healthy boy.”