Chapter 43

We all ate while we waited for Mason to get out of the med chamber, and then sat around and chatted while he ate as well. He took a moment to jump up and down to see how his leg felt and found that it was good as new. The area where the bone had broken through his skin was a little lighter than the rest of his ebony skin, but there was no sign that he had been injured a little more than an hour beforehand. When he was done and everyone was gathered, my mom opened up a portal and beckoned us through. I wasn’t expecting what was on the other side.

We were in a massive room that contained row upon row of some sort machines as far as the eye could see. They looked similar to the med chambers, though there weren’t any small mechanical arms present. As I looked around the room, I could see hundreds of people were hard at work. Some were using forklifts to move the machines into place, while others immediately hooked them up.

“What is this place?” Ben asked.

“One of a few facilities containing simulators,” my mom answered. “We knew that we would need to train humans to man our ships so we could deal with Kaldrus Dhir, but we weren’t expecting to have so many ships at our disposal. We’ve been scrambling to get these facilities up and running in time.”

“So why are we here?” I asked, confused.

My mom turned to me, a smile on her face. “Well, video game technology is much further ahead on other planets, such that console and computer gaming is a thing of the past. Nowadays pods like this are the norm and are used to enter into a variety of virtual reality games.”

“VR? Really?”

“That’s right,” she said, looking at Ben. “The pods around us have been installed and tested. Each of you hop inside of one and we’ll get started.”

I turned to the pod closest to me and walked over to it. There was a canopy that was currently open, allowing me to see inside. There wasn’t much to it. The interior was smooth with a cushioned area on the bottom and a few holes scattered around, likely for air ventilation. After climbing inside and laying down, the canopy above slid into place, closing me inside. Nothing happened for a moment, but then I got drowsy quickly and everything went dark.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a bright white room. It was largely featureless, making it impossible to tell how large the room actually was. My mom, sisters and Tessa were all sitting on white couches nearby while they waited, so I moved over to join them. As I did, my friends popped into existence.

“Whoa!” Ben said from behind me. “This is a lobby, right?”

“It is. There are a large number of games available and they all connect back to Pygmaean space thanks to the transmitters that Abi had placed between here and there. That allows us to play with hundreds of billions of players of many different races in real time. How about we take a quick look at some games and you can pick what you would like to play?”

Ben quickly nodded and my mom reached up, snapping her fingers. As she did, the scene changed. It was no longer the endless white expanse. Instead, a village popped up around us, almost looking like a scene out of a fantasy novel. There were people of many different races coming and going, some dressed in armor and carrying weapons, while others were wearing regular everyday clothing. For the time period, at least. Looking around, it seemed that all the buildings were made out of wood; there wasn’t any stone in sight. Which was odd, considering the two large mountains that flanked the village.

“This is Everus Online, one of the most popular games.” my mom said. “It’s an MMORPG that offers a wide selection of races and classes to choose from. There are eight massive continents, and the one you start on is dependent on the race you choose. Alternatively, you can start in the ocean if you choose one of the aquatic races. It’s very similar to the real world, with the majority of the races being based on real ones.”

I thought it looked interesting, but Ben was already shaking his head. Seeing the reaction, my mom snapped her fingers again. We now stood in front of a large window that looked out into space. On the other side of the window, a massive space battle was going on, with ships firing back and forth as small fighters darted around them.

“Don’t let this one fool you, it’s not all space battles like you see before you. Battlestate is another MMORPG, though it is quite different from Everus Online. Rather than being stuck on one planet, in Battlestate you have a massive galaxy to explore. There also isn’t any magic in the game, but there are levels. As you level, you can spend attribute points to increase your stats, be that strength, agility or psionics, among others. Leveling up gives you access to better armor and weapons, as well as the ability to upgrade your ship or buy new ones.”

Now this one was cool. It would be weird going from a world where magic is a part of everyday life to one where it didn’t exist. Psionics sounded pretty interesting as well. I looked over to Mason to see a big smile on his face, and Ben was nodding as well. The twins didn’t seem very interested, however. Snapping her fingers again, we were transported again.

We stood atop a large skyscraper. Below us, there was a cordoned off area that spanned a few blocks. Inside, we could see a pitched battle going on, with explosions destroying buildings and tracer fire going back and forth.

“This is Warborne, and is probably something that you are more familiar with. It’s a first-person shooter with a bunch of different game modes. There are no spells or levels in this one. Instead, you need to rely on your skill and equipment to survive. It’s a pretty difficult game to play, and various militaries and navies often use it to develop tactics without the risk of loss of life.”

This one was pretty ... meh. There were plenty of first person shooters around, having played many of them while I was growing up. While it would be cool to actually play the character, I didn’t have any training with firearms or tactics. It seemed like there would be a massive learning curve involved. Mason was the only one who seemed enthused about the game, so my mom snapped her fingers.

This time we stood in the middle of a virtual space. All around us were platforms that looked like boxing rings, though were a few times bigger. Each of them had two people inside who were locked in combat. There were various different fighting styles and not a weapon in sight. I knew that the twins were trained in martial arts growing up, so this would be a game they would be interested in. Sure enough, both of them had smiles on their faces and were looking around watching the different fights.

“This one is simply called ‘The Tournament’. Once a week, a massive tournament takes place where people fight in one-on-one contests until the winner is crowned. It’s all hand-to-hand combat, with weapons being unavailable outside of the rare special tournament. Each tournament has a buy-in of 100 credits, with payouts going to the top one hundred participants. It seems that we’re in the middle of a tournament, though that doesn’t stop people from challenging others to fights while they wait for the next one.”

The girls got even more excited as my mom explained the game to them, even hopping up and down at one point. I knew that they would definitely start spending some time playing the game whenever they could. Hell, they’d probably get their father involved as well, assuming each person could modify their character, somewhat.

After waiting for a moment, my mom snapped her fingers and the scene changed again. This time we weren’t standing somewhere watching. Instead, it was as if we were a camera following someone around. The person we were following was equipped in modern armor and carried an assault rifle in his hand. He was slowly walking through what looked like an abandoned building, scanning the room as if looking for something. Or someone.

He seemed to spot a chest in the corner of the room, so he cautiously made his way over. As he reached it, he turned and scanned the room. Satisfied he was alone, he released his weapon, letting it fall a few inches before being held up by the quick-release sling he had it fastened to. Bending down, he flipped the latch and opened up the chest. I could see his eyes go wide as he saw what was inside of it, and he quickly took his backpack off and spun it around until it was in front of him. After unzipping the backpack, he reached inside and grabbed the item. Just as he did, there was the sound of glass shattering before a series of impacts sent him falling backwards. He groaned in pain before remaining still, and I could have sworn I heard him say ‘Damn it!’ as his blood began to pool around him.

There was silence for a moment, before I heard footsteps a short distance away. Looking over, I saw a woman slowly walk inside the room, cautiously scanning her surroundings while making her way over to the man that she had presumably killed. She smiled as she saw the item that was in his hand, quickly kneeling down and removing her own backpack while reaching for it. After storing it inside, she quickly went through the man’s backpack and rig. She took everything of value, even going as far as removing the man’s vest and helmet and storing them as well, somehow.

Before she got back up, she grabbed the man’s assault rifle and attached it to the side of her backpack. When she had everything, she put the backpack back on and grabbed her own weapon. But not before giving the man a little salute. The camera then snapped over to her, following her as she cautiously made her way out of the building.

“This is one of the biggest games, having been released a few months ago. The Escape is a first-person shooter with survival and looting components. The goal is to get in, gather as much loot and equipment as possible, and get out. There are computer-generated enemies, as well as other players who are all trying to stop you from doing so. If you do manage to escape, you keep everything that you gathered to do with as you will. If you die, you lose all the equipment you were wearing and have to equip yourself before going back out.”

It sounded and looked like another cool game, but I didn’t have the proper skills to play it well. Maybe when I had some experience I’d come back and try it out. It seemed like a game right up Mason’s alley, but he seemed indifferent about it.

“There are many other games available, but I’ve shown you some of the more popular ones. You can take some time to look over some of the other games if you wish, or you can choose one of the ones you’ve seen. It’s up to you,” she said, looking at each of us.

“Do we need to pick the same game?” Anja asked.

My mom immediately shook her head. “You can choose whichever game you like. I assume the two of you would like to play The Tournament?”

“Definitely,” the twins replied.

My mom laughed, snapping her fingers causing a door to appear off to the side. Floating in the air above it was a sign that read ‘The Tournament’. “Head on through. Once you’re on the other side, there will be a computer-generated guide that will help you get started.”

Thanking her, the twins ran through the doorway which disappeared soon after.

“Now, what about the rest of you?” she asked.

“I don’t know about anyone else, but I think I’m going to check out Battlestate,” I said, with Mason and Ben choosing the same.

That left my sisters and Tessa, who decided to play Everus Online. My mom raised both hands up and snapped her fingers. Two doors appeared on either side of her, one leading to Battlestate while the other led to Everus Online. The girls quickly made their way through their door, while my friends did the same.

“What are you going to do?” I asked, staying behind for a moment.

“I think I’m going to go join up with the twins. I really want to see what they can do.”

Battlestate

14:40 EDT

I nodded and stepped through, joining my friends as they stood in front of a tall alien man, who seemed to be waiting for me. I walked over, noticing that the green skinned alien looked like he was a soldier, wearing a combat uniform and black combat boots. He was a bit taller than both Mason and I, though he was much more muscular than we were. He had dark hair and a few short tusks sprouting from his lower jaw, but other than that and the skin color, he didn’t look all that different from a human.

“Just you three?” the alien man asked.

“Yes,” Ben replied.

“Alright, let’s get started then,” he said, waving his hand in the air, causing the area behind him to change into a large screen. There wasn’t any sound, but he began explaining the game further as a sort of trailer played. “My name is Bazuth and I’ll be your guide. Battlestate is an MMORPG with ships and ship combat as the primary focus. Based on the current knowledge of the Milky Way Galaxy, Battlestate offers over a hundred different spacefaring species to choose from. The level of technology varies between them, though that will not prevent you from acquiring the most powerful ships; it might just take you longer than someone who chooses a more technologically advanced race when they make their character.”

“Each of you will start with five thousand credits, enough to buy the smallest of ships and still have credits left over, or you can pool your credits together to purchase a larger ship. Do keep in mind that only one of you will be the owner of the ship, so make sure you trust the person who you are giving your credits to. Though ships and ship combat is the primary focus, it isn’t the only option available to you. If you aren’t interested in owning a ship, you can get a job or start your own business. Are the three of you ready to start creating your characters?”

When we said yes, a hologram sprung up in front of us showing our current forms wearing only our underwear. There was floating text on the left hand side, with Race and Clothing being the only options. There was also a Form Crew button down a bit lower. I was about to raise my hand up and select Race when the Bazuth spoke up.

“If the three of you would like to play together, then you need to make sure to select races that are close enough together. If one of you selects a race that lives on one side of the galaxy and another selects one that lives on the other, then you will have a very long trip ahead of you. To make sure that you can play together right away, make sure to press the ‘Form Crew’ button. With your crew formed, once one person selects a race any that are too far away will be greyed out, signifying that it would take one week to reach you, at minimum. Anything that isn’t greyed out will signify that they will be able to join you immediately.”

Each of us hit the ‘Form Crew’ button, though it appeared that I was the fastest. The button disappeared and text replaced it, naming me as captain and saying that we had three out of a maximum of five crew members. I looked up and was about to ask Bazuth about it, but he beat me to it.

“At the beginning, you can only have a maximum of five crew aboard your ship. As you level up and get bigger ships, that number will increase. There are some clans who have dozens of ships with thousands of crew.”

I nodded and turned back to the hologram in front of me. After tapping on Race, another menu appeared on the right hand side. There were a bunch of different races, listed in alphabetical order. The majority of them were entirely alien to me, though there were a few that looked familiar. Dvergr looked exactly as I would expect a dwarf to look, with long hair and impressive beards. Kobaloi also looked very similar to goblins, though they had more even-toned skin and their eyes held intelligence that goblins didn’t possess.

Each race had various perks associated with them; Kobaloi had higher than average intelligence, which made them more powerful than many other races when it came to psionics. Dvergr had a bonus to crafting and working with metals, though I wasn’t sure how practical that would be when dealing with massive ships.

There were also a bunch of races that I was familiar with. Humans made it into the game, somehow, as did dragons, with players being able to customize both how their human form and dragon form looked. Scyftans retained both their shape shifting and Mindspeak, though I didn’t give them much more than a cursory glance. I’m a Scyftan in real life, so why would I want to play one in-game?

The species that caught my eye were called the Straesse. They were taller than most species, standing at around seven feet tall and had a very pale blue skin tone. They were also rather thin, and I saw that was because they originated on a planet with low gravity. They weren’t very strong as a result of the low gravity, but they made up for it in psionic ability, having much larger craniums than any other species. They looked somewhat similar to humans, though the large eyes and lack of hair made them look more like the little green men that apparently liked to abduct humans and probe them.

“This is a real species?” I asked, looking over to Bazuth.

He quickly nodded. “They are a rather new addition to the game, having been discovered recently on the opposite side of our galaxy. Keep in mind that there are very few species bordering the Straesse, if you decide to choose that race.”

I thanked him and then turned to my friends. I saw that both of them had only a couple options to choose from. Mason was checking out a species with midnight black skin. It was about his height, though quite a bit wider and sported some impressive muscles. There were white bone spurs of varying length that grew along his jaw, as well as a few more swept back ones that grew on the outside of his forearms.

Ben, on the other hand, was looking at something very similar to the kobolds that we had been facing a few days beforehand in the dungeon. Clearly reptilian, Ben was cycling through a variety of skin tones. There was everything from red to green to blue, though he ended up settling on a brownish-orange color. There were a ton of different other customization options, including being able to change the length and shape of the maw, horns and tail.

Seeing that both of them seemed to have chosen a race, I started customizing the Straesse I would be playing. There weren’t very many options to choose from and I wondered if that was because they were so new. There were only a few similar skin tones to choose from and the only other options were two sliders; one for height, and another for cranium size. When I was happy with how my character looked, I clicked on the Clothing button and the interface changed.

The amount of clothing available was staggering, with there being thousands of different kinds of shirts, pants, footwear and even socks. It was entirely cosmetic, so I just selected a matte black outfit with somewhat-matching boots, and then clicked on the Finish button that had appeared at the bottom.

With my character done, I turned to look back over to Mason and Ben and saw that they were both finalizing their characters. Ben had already selected a shirt, and was now in the process of selecting a pair of pants. It seemed like it would be a pain in the ass playing as an Issuron as all of his clothing would need to be modified so his tail would fit through. That would be up to him to deal with.

Mason, on the other hand, was pretty much done finalizing his Serover. He had elected to go with black clothing that was similar to my own, though he went with a short sleeve shirt, presumably to show off his bone spurs. He was just cycling through all the footwear and then it looked like we would all be finished.