by Mark Mulle
Chapter 2: A New Face
I'm halfway down the vines of my lookout tree, when I catch a flurry of movement out of the corner of my eye. Holding on to the vine, I carefully look out over the area. There seems to be a scurry of activity on the other side of the lake - it looks like a gang of mobs fighting another mob.
Weird. Mobs rarely attack other mobs. It's still morning, so a few monsters still linger about from last night. But from what I can see, this appears to be a little different...
I get a better view as the mobs draw closer to my shelter. It can't be a battle between mobs - one of the mobs is moving too fast. Is it a glitch?
My heart starts to race as the mob leaps into the lake and starts to swim straight towards my shelter. I shakily equip my sword as my eyes are drawn to one very important detail.
The mob has a player nametag hovering above it.
I hurriedly descend the rest of the tree, and I run towards the scene as soon as my feet hit the ground. I can't believe what I'm seeing. Is it a player? Or a stray NPC? This is an older Minecraft update I'm playing - glitches are bound to happen.
But still... glitches like this?
I sprint past my shelter to the edge of the lake, sword in hand, just as the figure reaches the edge of the shore. I grip my sword tightly, prepared for the worst, but to my surprise the figure darts straight past me and completely ignores me - making a beeline straight for my small shelter. They open the door, run inside, and close the door behind them.
My mouth hangs open in my confusion. I suddenly remember the group of other mobs following the figure, and I turn back to the lake just in time to see three zombies jump onto the shore. The zombies, now seeing me as the easier prey, start to move in my direction, their arms outstretched and groaning at the sight of me and my sword. In a few swift movements, they fall to the ground. I step over their remains and add them to my inventory.
I slowly turn to my shelter. The closed door stares back at me. A nametag glows through the wall. After a few moments, I take a deep breath, and speak my first words.
"OK. You can come out now," I say, out loud. To whom, I don't know.
A few seconds pass, and my heart races as the door opens, and the figure steps outside. The name tag read "Tesseract97". Tesseract97 had long, dark hair, dark eyes, and dark clothes. I assume the player is a girl, but anything is possible.
Tesseract97 stays silent, and continues to stare at me.
I'm starting to feel more and more uncomfortable by the second. Even though this is a virtual world, I feel awkward under the figure's gaze.
Once again, it's up to me to break the silence.
"Hi. Um, how did you get in here?" I tilt my head to one side. Tesseract97 stays still and doesn't respond.
I shoot a glance above their head. The transparent name tag that accompanied all players doesn't look strange in any way.
"Are you a glitch? An NPC? A mod?" I ask. The figure still doesn't reply.
I sigh, wearily. The day is getting on, and it will be dark soon. I have no idea what this thing is. Maybe I should Google it, and search the forums.
I walk up to the figure and stop when our faces almost touch. I jump in the air. They don't move.
"Well..." I thought out loud, for no particular reason. "You don't look like an NPC. Not that NPCs have ever been all that common in Minecraft. You're a bit too still to be an NPC. And why is an NPC in the middle of the jungle...?"
Still nothing.
A multitude of possibilities swirl around my head, and suddenly one seems to click.
"Oh!" I finally understand. "Are you AFK? Or do you know how to talk? Can you talk? All you have to do is press the’t’ key on your keyboard."
"Of course I can talk."
My heart jumps and I step backwards hurriedly. Their reaction was so unexpected.
"Oh. Sorry." I mumble. I'm becoming more and more baffled by the second.
Who is this?!
All I wanted was a calm session of mining and building, and now this very mysterious situation has come up in my world; and I'm not too sure what I should do about it. Should I message customer support? But then again, I am purposely playing an older version, so they probably won't want to answer my questions.
"Oh!" I step towards the figure again. "Can you speak English?" If this was a real player, maybe they need to consult an online translator before they can reply to me.
"Yes," came their immediate reply.
"... Ah. OK." This is very awkward. This is why I never venture onto multiplayer servers - my people skills left much to be desired. I was not looking forward to spending the night with this mysterious mod.
We're silent again for a few more seconds, and I take the time to arrange the questions at hand.
"So... Are you a Player?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Are you a hacker?"
"No!" Tesseract97 steps forward, indignantly.
"Okay. Well, that is strange, because I'm pretty sure I'm on single player mode right now."
Without a word, the stranger turns around and goes back inside my shelter, shutting the door behind them.
I stare at the closed door, blankly.
"... Rude," I mutter, before equipping my pickaxe and bounding away into the jungle.
I'm not the kind of person to give up on a world if it doesn't particularly suit me. I enjoy the challenges and fun that comes with each unique new world. If this player is to be another challenge, then I will deal with that challenge.