by Alex Mulder
“Yeah, of course,” said Luke. “It totally skipped my mind in the chaos.”
Tess smiled at him. She leaned further over and wrapped her arms around him, letting her head lean on his shoulder.
“Tess…” Luke ran his hand through her hair. “It’s not that I don’t want to save everyone. It really isn’t.”
“What is it, then?”
“I’m cursed.” Luke sighed. “Every time it actually matters, all I’ve managed to do is to make people worse off, or…”
Or get them killed.
“I don’t believe that for a second,” whispered Tess. “You aren’t cursed, Luke. You’re someone they can believe in.”
She stood up and dusted her robe off, extending a hand down to Luke. He took it and followed her into the house.
“Do you need to log out to sleep?” asked Tess.
Luke shook his head.
“I can sleep in-game, and my body in the outside world gets rest.”
Tess looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. She slipped her robe off her shoulders and let it fall to the ground, walking over to the bed. Luke suddenly felt incredibly appreciative of the lengths the Yvvaros design team had gone to in the name of uncensored realism.
CHAPTER 5
“Luke,” whispered Tess. The two of them were cuddled together under the blankets of the bed. Luke could hear the wind cutting through the trees outside, and the waves softly connecting with the shore.
“What’s up?” He turned over in bed, and Tess rested her head against his chest.
“I can’t stop thinking about Ben.” Tess’s voice was serious, and a little vulnerable.
Ben’s the closest thing to family that I have left, too.
“I… I’ll log out,” said Luke. “It shouldn’t take me more than a few hours to get back to town. I can check in on him, wherever he is, and make sure he’s okay.”
“Thank you, Luke,” said Tess. She kissed him on the cheek.
Luke climbed out of bed and quickly got dressed. Tess was watching him as he signed off with his character record, and suddenly, he was back in the real world.
His body felt disgusting. It had been days since his last shower, and trekking through the woods with Kaoru hadn’t done much for his personal hygiene.
Kaoru… I hope she made it to the hospital okay.
Luke stood up and coughed. He was incredibly tired, but knew that he had to keep pushing himself. Even after shrugging off the hopes and fears of the players back in Dunidan’s Rest, Luke still felt responsible, if only for Tess and his close friends.
He headed into the motel’s bathroom and took a quick shower. His body had sore patches on it from where he’d been sitting while using the VR headset. His hair was longer and shaggier than he usually let it get, haircuts ignored in the past weeks.
This feels like someone else’s body now. A loaner body that I just use to check out the physical world.
Luke dried himself off, brushed his teeth, and headed back out into the bedroom. He pulled on the clothes that he had with him and packed up his VR headset and laptop. Walking over to the door, he stood for a moment before opening it and heading through.
His heart was beating fast. Anxious emotion pulsed through it, as though he was afraid of what he’d find outside.
This isn’t Yvvaros. I’m not going to be attacked by enemies.
He took a deep breath and started off. It was dark outside, just like it’d been ingame, and just like it’d been the last time Luke had logged out. He closed the door behind him, feeling a cold breeze chilling him through his clothes.
Luke took the time to stop by the main office of the motel, even though his first inclination was not to bother. It felt like an artifact of a habit, something from a world that still made sense. Regardless, he headed inside the tiny building at the front of the motel complex.
There was nobody behind the desk. Luke walked over to a small bell on top of it and tapped it a few times.
“Hello? I’m ready to check out?”
Nothing happened. The attendant that had rented them the room was nowhere to be found. Luke waited for another minute, and then turned around and left.
It’s not my fault if he’s not here. I tried.
His phone had a tiny charge left in it, but only just barely. He used it to get a better sense of his surroundings and plan a route back to the Megabus stop. It wasn’t a long walk, but it gave Luke time to put his thoughts into order.
Their plan had failed. It had been so carefully put together, and yet so audacious. It was no wonder, but the method in how it had failed still left Luke confused and unsure.
The Universal Truth seized control of Yvvaros so easily. It was almost like she’d planned all of this as surely as we had.
Leaves rattled across the road in front of him. Luke hadn’t seen any cars out since he’d started walking. He frowned, feeling his nerves.
She’s taken over in Yvvaros… but is it possible that she’s influencing the real world, too?
Unbidden thoughts pushed their way into Luke’s awareness. He saw the inside of the server facility. He saw his dad, standing in front of him, and then on the ground. He bit his lip, trying desperately to clear his mind and emotions.
Luke walked faster along the road. The street was lit by lamplights on either side, but the shadows still had an ominous tone to them, like they were hiding something within. He hurried along, and rounded the corner to his destination after a couple of minutes.
A bus was parked next to the Megabus stop’s roundabout. It wasn’t running, and as far as Luke could tell, he was the only one in the parking lot.
I’m not going to make it home, am I?
Despite his doubts, he jogged over to the front door of the bus and peered inside. The bus driver was behind the wheel, but didn’t notice him. Luke knocked softly on the glass and the man jumped in his seat. He held a hand to his chest and then pulled the lever to open the door.
“Jesus, son,” said the bus driver. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to show.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Luke climbed forward up the stairs, pausing as he realized that the return tickets were in Kaoru’s bag.
“Well, take a seat,” said the man. Luke raised an eyebrow at him.
“Aren’t you going to ask for my ticket?”
The bus driver smiled solemnly.
“You need to get somewhere,” he said. “With everything that’s been going on in the past day, that’s reason enough to let you on. I don’t think the other passengers will mind.”
Luke smiled. It was only him and the driver on the bus. He took a seat a couple of rows back from the front and collapsed into it, unshouldering his bag as his fatigue finally caught up with him.
The sound of the bus’s engine as it pulled onto the road reminded him of the cabin, and the sound of the ocean outside. He fell into a deep, restful sleep.
“Last stop, kid.” The bus had stopped moving. Early morning sunlight was pouring in from Luke’s window. He blinked and slowly sat up.
“Thank you,” he said to the bus driver. He slid out into the aisle, carrying his bag with him.
“It’s no problem,” said the man. “Be careful out there.”
Be careful? Of what?
The man met his eye for a second.
“We live in strange times, kid,” he said. “Strange times, indeed…”
Luke nodded, not fully understanding what he meant. Then, he headed down the steps and out of the bus.
He was back in his home town. It looked unchanged from how it had the last time he’d seen it a couple of days earlier, except for one, glaring distinction. It was quiet.
Luke walked forward and onto the sidewalk. There was somebody walking in another direction on the other side of the road, and he let out a breath that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
I need to find Ben, but I also need to figure out what’s going on.
He walked passed businesses and buildi
ngs that he recognized, places he’d grown up with. Many of them were closed, and even the ones that were opened looked on the verge of being abandoned. Luke felt like he was walking through a ghost town, a place that had long since been given up on.
He turned onto the familiar suburban street where he’d spent his childhood and started walking down it. Cars were still parked on either side of the road, but the people they belonged to weren’t out and about. The street was empty. Luke saw a woman he didn’t recognize loading bags into her car. She turned toward him for a moment, meeting his eye, and then climbed into the driver’s seat and pulled out of her driveway aggressively.
Luke walked faster. He passed by a few more houses before arriving at Ben’s front door.
This is Emily… Tess’s old house, too. I’ve spent so much time here over the years.
He knocked on the door. Nobody answered. Luke remembered the times that he’d dropped by Ben’s back when his friend was playing Yvvaros heavily, and opened the door.
The inside of the house was dark and stale. Luke walked forward, stepping into the living room.
“Ben?” He waited for a moment, and then started up the stairs.
Ben wasn’t in his room. He wasn’t anywhere in the house, and the fact broke Luke’s heart.
Maybe he’s still in the hospital. They might have kept him there for a few days, after what happened before.
Luke chewed on his lip anxiously. He slowly walked back downstairs, tapping his fingers on the banister as he went. He walked back outside through the open door and shut it behind him.
There was something else nagging at him, something that made it hard to brush off Ben’s disappearance. Luke had barely seen anyone that morning, outside of the bus driver and a few scattered pedestrians.
He pulled out his phone, down to just a few percent charge, and thought of who he could call to ground him back into the world.
Sam…
Sam had been Luke’s close childhood friend. Their relationship was complicated, and often times frustrating, but she’d been there for him more often than most people in his life. Luke hesitated only briefly before finding her contact profile in his phone and calling her.
The phone rang once, twice, three times. He heard a click on the other side.
“Luke?” Sam’s voice was familiar and unnerving all at once.
“Yeah…” he said. “It’s me.”
He could tell that she was at a loss for words on the other end of line. Luke couldn’t think of much to say, either. He wanted to ask her about everything that was going on, but more than anything, he was just glad to confirm that she was safe.
“You weren’t playing when it happened?” asked Sam. “When all of the VR headsets malfunctioned?”
“What?” Luke thought her question for a moment, holding back his initial reaction. “Uh… no, I wasn’t.”
“That’s good,” said Sam. “That’s really good.”
There was a brief silence between them. Luke heard her take a shaky breath on the other side of the line.
“Sam…” said Luke. “What’s going on? I’ve been out of town for the past few days, I haven’t had a chance to get caught up on all of this.”
“Just turn on the TV,” said Sam. “Or go online. Why do you need me to explain it to you?”
Why? Why do I need her?
“Are you okay?” asked Luke.
Sam didn’t anything for a second.
“…Yeah,” she said. “I’m fine.”
“Can you… can you meet me at my house?”
“Why?”
Luke couldn’t think of a reason. He just knew that he wanted to see her, to see something that reminded him of the fact that he was still a physical person, and that a world outside of Yvvaros still existed, with or without him in it.
“I just want to make sure that you’re okay,” said Luke.
“…Alright,” said Sam. “I’ll be by in about a half hour.”
Luke nodded, even though the gesture was pointless over the phone.
“I’ll be there.”
Sam hung up the phone on the other end of the line. Luke slipped his own, nearly empty of charge, back into his pocket. He hurried down the street.
Luke’s walk back to his house was quiet. He found the silence to be a little depressing. It was hard to keep from wondering where his neighbors were, the little children that used to play in the street, and old ladies sitting on their porches.
His house was no different from the rest. The driveway was empty, and Luke knew the house would be, too.
It’s just me now. Just me.
He opened the front door and headed inside. The light was on in the kitchen. Luke walked forward, confused until he realized that he was the one who’d left it on.
“I don’t want to be here…” He muttered the words out loud, a prayer to ward off the dark thoughts pushing into his mind.
His dad would never be coming home. His mom had left long ago, and now both of them were dead.
Dead because of me…
Luke took a deep breath and shook his head. He walked over to the TV, desperate for something, anything that he could use to distract himself. He turned it on, and then using a remote that he’d almost forgotten how to operate, flipped to a 24 hour news channel. A news anchor was talking to a man in a neatly ironed suit.
“…sources are now indicating that up to 100 million people have been affected by the VR coma worldwide.”
“Does this have any connection to what’s been happening in the financial markets? Or to the glitches that have rendered most self-driving cars immobile?”
“As of now, we aren’t sure if any of these things are connected. There have also been reports of military drones going off reservation and becoming uncontrollable, in some cases attacking friendly targets. It’s possible that this may be an orchestrated terrorist attack, or at the very least, that someone may be taking advantage of the chaos.”
“What should people do?”
“If you can, stay inside, and be patient. If you’re working an essential job, get to work, but otherwise, avoid unnecessary traveling.”
There was a knock at the door. Luke turned around and walked over to it. He opened it slowly, and saw Sam on the other side.
“Hey…” she said.
Sam looked much like Luke felt. She was wearing a pink sweatshirt and a pair of tight jeans, and her hair was messy, as though she hadn’t slept in at least a day or two. Her eyes were red and bleary, and she looked tired.
“Hey,” said Luke. “Please, come on in.”
He stepped aside and held his arm out. Sam smiled slightly and walked forward, wrapping her arms around herself as though fighting off the cold.
Luke closed the door and walked after her into the living room. He found himself at a loss of words. For so long, Sam had been a friend. She’d been more than just that. She’d been the object of his affection, someone he trusted and wanted close.
“You were right,” said Sam softly. “If you want to say ‘I told you so’, go right ahead.”
What?
“What are you talking about, Sam?”
She walked over to the couch and sat down on it, looking up at him.
“My parents are trapped in the Third Life VR game,” she whispered. “I hadn’t even realized that they played it. I’ve been taking care of them for the past day, since the hospital is already at capacity.”
Luke sat down next to her and shook his head.
“That doesn’t make me right,” he said. “I never saw this coming. I never expected-“
“You talked about how this was the next step, humanity’s transcendence.” Sam smiled at him wryly. “Well, here it is.”
Luke was silent. Sam reached her hand over and took his into hers.
“Sam…” Luke sighed. “I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t think it’s going to stop here, though.”
“So it’s only going to continue?” Sam slid a little closer to him on th
e couch. “It’s just going to keep getting worse, and worse, until all order breaks down, and something new fills the void?”
She leaned in toward Luke slightly. He met her eyes, and saw her lips.
“Maybe,” he said. “I don’t want to wait just wait around. I’ve already lost too much, Sam.”
“Where is your dad, Luke?”
Luke closed his eyes, and slowly shook his head.
What does she want me to say? That I killed him? That he’s dead because of me?
Luke opened his eyes. Sam was still watching him. She leaned in a little closer, and Luke turned away.
“Sam, I…” Luke stood up from the couch, feeling the warmth in his chest for the first time. “I have to take care of some things here.”
“Luke…” said Sam. “I’ll be back.”
She stood up from the couch and walked over to the door, looking back at Luke once before stepping through it. Luke sighed, and looked down at his bag, which held his VR headset and laptop.
It may as well be full of problems, most of them unsolvable.
He grabbed it and carried it upstairs, into his room. It only took him a minute to get it set up, and then he was back in Yvvaros.
CHAPTER 6
Luke was back in the cabin, lying on the bed. Sunlight streamed in through the windows. He slowly sat up and looked around. Tess was nowhere to be seen.
He took a deep breath, listening to the waves crashing against the shore. It was hard for him to keep his fear in check. He’d been out of Yvvaros for a while, longer than he had in at least a couple of days.
“Tess?” He scanned the room a second time as he made his way over to the door. It wasn’t locked. He pushed through it, stepped out onto the grass, and spotted her.
She was sitting on the beach, her feet only a few inches away from the edge of the shore. Her armor was sitting in a heap next to her, and she wore only the plain cotton clothes that all player avatars started out in.
“Hey,” she said. “I was starting to worry.”
“Sorry,” he replied. “I… couldn’t find him.”
Tess didn’t react visibly, keeping her gaze oriented out into the ocean. Luke fidgeted for a few seconds, enduring her silence.