1.11 – World Martial Arts Tournament


The Mississippi Canyon is not exactly a canyon. Technically it’s a deep and narrow valley, it just isn’t nearly as deep as something like The Grand Canyon, in fact we can just drive through it. Kay really undersold the vastness of this thing. It’s wider than it is deep and we still haven’t come across any hidden pieces of code as we’re driving through but she assures us we can’t miss it.

“Hey, there’s an arena or something up ahead,” Daamin calls calls over the group chat.

“I see it,” Kai responds.

“It’s an amphitheater, you uncultured lunatics, and you may want to stop there,” Kay seems excited.

As we approach the amphitheater massive stone columns come into view. It’s more Roman Coliseum than anything else. The sound of our cars is drowned out by shouting people inside. The only obvious thing to do is enter and see why there are hundreds of people shouting in the middle of nowhere. Inside there’s a square made of stones where two people are fighting. A woman with long black hair and purple tights dodges swings from a large man with blue colored tribal tattoos covering his pasty chest, reminding me of every roided out gym guy I’ve ever seen. The only thing missing is the backwards hat.

“I always wonder what tribe white guys belong to when they have tribal tattoos, or even Mike Tyson,” Kai can’t help but voice his displeasure. “I mean, why not get a tattoo of your own culture? The Cracker Barrel logo, a casserole dish, a propane tank, an AR-15, Calvin pissing on a Ford logo, or even a Confederate Flag.”

“Now who’s doing the ranting,” Daamin whispers in my ear, causing me to stifle a giggle.

“So how do we get the code,” I cut Kai off to get back on topic.

“Easy, you win the tournament, just make it through three rounds. They get harder as you move on. No other players just NPCs” Kay acts as if we’ve done this before.

“A tournament,” Daamin seems both shocked and disgusted.

“Yes, a tournament,” Kay puts her hands on her hips.

“You really are a fraud. You said you worked hard on this game. But the first piece to winning is a tournament.”

“What’s wrong with a tournament?”

“There’s always a tournament,” Daamin throws his hands in the air.

“No there isn’t,” Kay argues.

“Actually, he might be right on this one,” Kai interrupts.

“It’s a unique idea,” Kay refuses to back down.

“You want me to name them? Because I can,” Daamin offers.

“You actually don’t have to do that,” I interrupt.

“Oh no, I have to do this,” Daamin puts a hand up to silence me.

“Kai, stop this. You hate his nerd rants,” I plead as Daamin takes a deep breath.

“No, I want to hear this one,” Kai smiles.

“Yu Yu Hakusho,” Daamin gets started.

“Never heard of it,” Kay stares at him stone faced.

“Dragon Ball, Pokémon, Mortal Kombat, Harry Potter, Sword Art Online, Final Fantasy IX, The Boy Who Fell, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Fairy Tail, Yu-Gi-Oh, Ultimate Muscle, Bobobo-bo Bo-bo, One Piece, Naruto,” Daamin pauses to catch his breath.  

“Don’t forget Kirby,” Kai adds fuel to the fire.

“Motherfucking Kirby had a tournament arc and you’re telling me you came up with this idea all by yourself,” Daamin asks as Kay stands shocked.

“How did you know Kirby had a tournament arc,” I whisper to Kai.

“Saw it on Twitter once,” he laughs.

“You’re an asshole,” Kay looks at me.

“I didn’t even do anything,” I argue.

Kai puts a hand on my shoulder, “just let it go.”

“But, it was Daamin.”

“I know,” Kai nods his head. “Just go win the tournament.”

“Alright, I got it.”

I head down to the ring and spot the tunnel that says competitors. We could sit and watch different NPCs fight forever but of course there’s no line for players. I wonder just how many people have competed in this tournament or even know it’s here. I step through and I’m placed in the ring instantly. I’m suddenly shirtless wearing a pair of Indiana Pacers basketball shorts and my same high-top sneakers. I expected to have some super good-looking abs like every video game and anime protagonist. Instead, I look like Daniel Cormier when he went up the heavyweight division. The skill, stamina and strength are there, but so is all the fat. I could have stayed in the real world for this. Just go to the pool shirtless when teenagers are out and give myself a complex, didn’t need to do it in front of my internet friends. They don’t know about your crash diets or emotional binge eating. C’mon, you’ve lost a lot of weight, be proud of yourself. This is the ideal male body; you may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks.

“Wooo, take it off big daddy,” Kai shouts from the crowd.

“What the fuck,” I mumble under my breath.  

Leave it to Kai to think trying to make me blush at a time like this would be a good idea. I don’t get to shout back at him before I’m sent flying by a boot to the face. Correction, a barefoot to the face. Standing before me is Ryu from Street Fighter even I recognize him. No, this is off. His gi is a cream color not white. He’s got skull tattoos on his arms, the hand wraps are blue instead of red. He’s also got brown hair instead of black. This isn’t Ryu, this must be legally distinct Uyr. Daamin might be onto something about Kay being a hack and a fraud. No, he’s absolutely right about it. Uyr brings a foot down towards me and I roll out of the way, the stone where I had just been sitting cracks under the pressure of his foot. This is insane. I’m supposed to be shooting people and hacking robots not participating in death matches, because that’s what this is.

“Daamin, what’s Ryu’s weakness,” I call out while trying to dodge punches.

“Spiders,” Daamin shouts back.

“Look a spider,” I point in the opposite direction.

Uyr panics, and gives me a chance to push him out of the ring. A horn plays symbolizing my win of the first round. Really glad I had Daamin on my side for that one. There’s no time to waste as my next opponent enters the ring. I’m left a little confused as a man wearing a yellow suit with way too many buttons enters the ring to challenge me. I don’t know why he let 2001 Steve Harvey dress him but I’m not going to waste time trying to figure. I connect with punches to his chest and head, but he doesn’t give me much pushback and it’s clear he’s taking a beating.

“I object,” my opponent shouts while jamming a sheet of paper in my face.

“Daamin, explain,” I call out to the crowd.

“He’s a Phoenix Wright rip off. An attorney who solves mysteries and shows up in the Marvel vs Capcom games but this guy’s hair and suit are off.”

“How do I beat him?”

“Just beat him up. He’s a lawyer, not a fighter.”

I take Daamin’s word and just start laying in punches on Fire Bird Wrong, it doesn’t take long for the horn to sound signifying another win. I’ve got one more to go. My next opponent doesn’t make themselves known leaving everyone including the NPCs confused. Slowly the temperature begins to rise and a red glow covers the ring as if the sun was crashing down on us from up above. A man made of flame floats in from the sky. As he gets closer, I have to shield my eyes from the glow. I can’t make out a face through the flames only pieces of armor that seem to be made of molten lava. There’s no chance for me to attack. When the flame shoots from the ground flings me into the sky I don’t feel the heat, I don’t feel any panic. Is this what they call an out of body experience? It almost feels like I’m watching someone else being throttled into the sky towards their death. Suddenly I’m free falling backwards towards the ground from I don’t even know how high. The red glow covers me again more flames shoot down on me from above this time. The flames slowly face away revealing only my opponent now, his hands burning the flesh on my chest with such heat that my body doesn’t comprehend it enough to feel the flame. I hear the cracking of concrete as my back hits the ground and everything starts to go black.

1.10 - The Big Dog


The first piece of code is about half a day’s drive according to Kay. It’s located in a place called the Mississippi Canyon. Game lore says it was previously the Mississippi River, but dried out due to global warming. We split into two cars with Kay and Kai riding together and me riding along with Daamin. We’re in agreement about beating the game, but not so much the reasons why. He’s been quiet the entire ride so far which is odd for him. I keep expecting him to tell me about SWAT Kats, Homies in Outer Space, or some other random piece of pop culture from our childhoods that I filed away in a section of things that don’t matter. There has to be something he wanted to say because he insisted I ride with him despite Kay wanting to. Despite calling her a hack and a fraud while threatening to eat her, she likes him. At least more than she likes me or Kai.

“How do you think we’ll get the code when we get here,” I try to make small talk.

“Probably something unoriginal from the movie Strange Days,” Daamin pauses. “Another cyberpunk classic.”

“I never asked, why do you know so much about movies and cartoons and everything else?”

“It’s how I learned English. My parents are immigrants from Nigeria and India. Neither speaks great English but it’s the only way the only language they both know,” Daamin goes quiet and doesn’t say more.

“I can sense you’re mad at me. Why don’t you go ahead and get it off your chest?”

“What do you know about me?”

“You’ve been playing games with us for the last three years; I know a lot about you.”

“No, you actually don’t. You know my personality. You know things I enjoy but do you really know about my life?”

“I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”

“What do you know about my real life?”

“I know you’re twenty-six, dropped out of college and want to be a streamer but haven’t given it a shot yet. Oh, and you just told me about your parents.”

“That’s it,” Daamin shrugs.

“The passive aggressive thing isn’t you. That’s Kai’s thing. Just say what you feel. I’m a big boy, I can take it.”

“You might want to go home but everyone doesn’t have a wonderful life at home. Some of us only have real freedom in this game.”

“I don’t have a wonderful life at home.”

“Do you have Leukemia?”

“What?”

“I have Leukemia. Not the Roman Reigns kind either. I’m not that lucky. I spent most of my adult life on and off disability. I can’t work, I didn’t get the chance to finish school. I’m fucked up. This game is freedom to me. Even a nap in this game is amazing because I don’t wake up in pain. I’m 26 and I’ve had a stroke. I don’t have to worry about if my eyes are going to be working perfectly when I play this game. I could live the rest of my life in this game no matter how short it may be. You want to go home, fine, but did you think about what would happen to the game when you went home? They’re going to shut this whole thing down. I can try to find another game I love as much. But I can do so much here that I haven’t been able to. I’ve been able to devote hours to learning a skill without putting it down for six months because things got bad. I can run a business; I can travel to places that look like the real world. This game is better than real life for me,” Daamin slams his fist on the steering wheel before speeding up.

“Is it terminal,” the words leave my life without me thinking about them.

“No, but it keeps coming back. I beat it, have a few good years and it comes back. I beat it again, and it’s right back. I’m tired of fighting. I don’t have to fight anything I don’t want to here.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t make me sick. There’s nothing to apologize for.”

“I know that. I don’t know how you feel going through what you do. But I feel for you, because nobody should go through that. I feel sad for you because you’re my friend. I’m sorry, because I still want to beat the game.”

“Why? I’m still going to help you because you and Kai are my friends. But, I just need to know why.”

“Because people’s lives shouldn’t be altered on the whim of a psychopath game creator. Right now, nobody has a choice of if they want to be here or not. We’re just here. If we beat the game, people can go home, but if others want to stay I’ll fight for that right,” Daamin doesn’t respond to me. “But when we get to the real world, I promise I’ll come visit you. Call you every day if you want, and I’ll make Kai do it too. You know I will,” Daamin finally gives me a slight smile.

“If I stay in the game, will you still come visit me?”

“When the PTSD wears off.”

“Fair enough.”

1.09 - Ready Player Four


I take a seat across from The Creator with Kai and Daamin backing me up. We’re going to try this my way now. The Creator pouts and stares at me without saying anything this time, which is a good thing.  

“My name is Alexandre; you can call me Alex, Andre or Dre. I’m sorry I shot you earlier. I couldn’t keep up with you and it seemed like the best choice. These are my friends Kai and Daamin. We just need answers to get out of here. Can you help us with that?”

“Will you let me go if I answer your questions,” she’s bargaining, good.

“Of course,” Kai answers before I can.

“If we’re being held in the game for ransom, why did you say we can get out if we win,” my first question.

The Creator doesn’t answer, but Daamin speaks up. “Not only is she lying, she trapped us in here. I’ve seen a lot of anime, read a lot of manga, manhwa, even some LitRPG. She’s the villain here,” I try to calm Daamin but he keeps going, “She wanted people to play the game. That’s it, if more people played the game, it wouldn’t have to shut down because they’d make more money. She did it. You want to go home, she’s the reason you can’t. Look at her, I see it in her eyes.”

“Did you trap us in the game,” I ask but get no response. “Did you trap us here,” I ask louder.

Kai slaps the creator, “did you trap us or not!”

“I did it, I admit it. I did. The whole thing, I did it. It was all me.”

My head spins with ideas as to why someone would trap people in a game. A game where people have died and can’t come back. A game where people are fighting through actual sci-fi nonsense and she just did it without a care in the world. Nobody stops me when I blast her with my shotgun. I only stop when she’s lying on the ground and I’m out of rounds. I should have thought about it before I fired, but my body just moved by itself. Now we’ll be stuck in the game forever. Sure, I can survive but this isn’t how I want to live my life. I want to get married and have some kids. Be filthy rich in the real world.

“Good thing you had that set to stun,” Kai puts a hand on my shoulder.

“Yeah, good thing,” I laugh awkwardly.

“Thought you killed her,” Daamin asked.

“Yeah, good thing I didn't, "I force a smile.

“Wait,” Kai smiles, “you thought you killed her didn’t you.”

“No.”

“Yes you did,” he laughs.

“I did not.”

“You totally did,” he laughs harder.

“Finally did something unpredictable and instant regret,” Daamin shrugs.

I sit far away as Daamin takes a crack at questioning, “let’s start with your name and please remember I can just bite your head off.”

“My name is Kay, short for Kaeleigh,” she actually seems terrified.

“Great Kay, why did you trap everyone in the game?”

“I wanted people to play the game. Really play it.”

“There’s over two million unique players that log in every week. More during events.”

“Yes, but nobody really plays the game. They just screw around. I worked hard on the game. Nobody has ever seen the ending of the game. There’s so many side quests that I worked on but people just replay the same ones over and over again because they make the most money that way.”

“Why is it so important for you to have people play your game one way. Isn’t it enough that people enjoy it and get to live out some of their wildest dreams,” Daamin asks.

“But I worked really hard on those quests. I did research for them. I made sure things were scientifically accurate. I created hundreds of unique NPCs that can only be seen in quests. There’s quests that branch out in dozens of different directions and almost nobody ever sees them. Do you know what it’s like to pour your heart into a creation and have nobody appreciate it for anything more than a space filler? It’s like working on the greatest painting ever and nobody appreciates it for being a great painting, they just care that it matches the color scheme of the room.”

“I want you to think about all the people that have died and will die because of this.”

“They don’t really die,” Kay seems ashamed to say that.

“Then what happens?”

“They lose their memory of the last 48 hours and are dropped at a random location in the game world.”

“First Johnny Mnemonic then Log Horizon do you have a single unique idea in your brain?”

“I’ve never heard of Johnny Mnemonic.”

“But you’ve heard of Log Horizon right?”

“Not even once.”  

“Whatever. You sit here while I go talk to my friends.”

Bad cop, psycho cop and scary cop is way more effective than good cop bad cop. Daamin got some good information. I’m glad people aren’t actually dying but the who situation is still messed up.

“What do we do,” Kai asks.

“I vote we beat the game,” I cast the vote.

“Nobody is dying, not our business,” Daamin sticks to his opinion.

Kai takes a deep breath, “there will be other games we can play. Let’s beat it.”

Daamin throws his hands in the air but doesn’t argue. The three of us approach Kay, “we’re going to beat your game. Explain how or I’m going to start shooting again,” I hold up my gun.  

“Start talking,” Kai tells her when she doesn’t answer me.

“Okay, so the first thing you need to do is collect the four pieces of code fragments hidden in the game,” Kay starts.

“That’s Ready Player One, but let me guess. You’ve never seen that either,” Daamin says sarcastically.

“Ready Player One had three Easter Eggs, and I have four code fragments,” Kay smiles.

“Oh, so now you’re a movie expert. You’re a hack, a hack, a hack and a fraud,” Daamin starts.

“If I was a hack why do you keep playing my game? You love it don’t you,” Kay argues but stops talking when Daamin lets out a growl and shows his teeth.

“Kay,” Kai starts. “We get the code fragments then what?”

“You need someone with a high enough hacking and engineering skills to combine them into a cure that can be dispersed to everyone,” Kay continues.

“Alright, how do we disperse it,” I ask.

Kay smiles and evil smile that lets me know she has too many dark thoughts, “you have to defeat 300 floors of security at AutoSoft. From the top floor, you’ll need to upload the cure to a satellite.”

AutoSoft is a corporation located in the center of downtown. It’s a massive building that towers over everything else. They’re also one of the main security providers for the businesses in the city. Soldiers, drones, robots, and everything else that shoots. It’ll be a pain to get up there. Then there’s the need for someone with a high enough skill. This is going to be a pain.

“Can I go now,” Kay asks.

“Why would you think you can go now,” I ask.

“Because you guys said I can leave if I told you how to beat the game.”

“Then you started talking about hidden keys.”

“Code fragments asshole,” Kay shouts.

“You really have to stop calling me an asshole.”

I get a notification that Kay has been added to our party, “now you’re in the group and can’t leave unless we all vote to kick you out,” Kai smiles.

“Where’s the first key,” Daamin asks.

1.08 – Johnny Mnemonic


“Alexandre, you’re a classic man. I didn’t think you had it in you. I mean, you’re way too predictable and by the book. I thought maybe you’d go crazy and do something like, join a cybernetic boxing league with no implants. But when you snap, boy do you snap,” Daamin looks at my tied-up hostage in a combination of pride and surprise. He slams the back door of his van where we’re storing her for now.

“I just wanted to talk and one thing led to another,” I’m not exactly proud of what I did.

“Yeah but now you’ve got the creator in your control. Do you know how much power that gives you?”

“I’m not really out for power, I just want to go home.”

“Home,” Daamin seems confused. “Why do you want to go home?”

“Because that’s where I live, and all my stuff is there.”

“But you can live however you want here, have anything you want. What’s out there?”

“Can’t live in a game forever, there are real people out there.”

“Kai and I are real people.”

“The three of us could just meet in the real world if we really wanted to.”

“Things aren’t always that simple,” Daamin seems annoyed.

There’s a long silence, and it’s obvious neither of a us sees a point to debating the issue. Kai will have to be the tie breaker because neither of us have any intentions of changing our opinion. When Kai finally gets back to camp he nearly faints after realizing that I’ve kidnapped the creator of the game. He panics sometimes and it’s always a joy for me to see. Sometimes I do things just to make him panic. We bring him up to speed on our debate about ruling the game or going home.

Kai thinks for a moment, “there’s no reason we can’t do both. But before that, we need answers.”

“So who’s going to do the interrogation,” Daamin asks.

“Well, you’re the scariest Daamin, but you can’t ask straight questions without being distracted. Dre can ask straight questions but he doesn’t get angry, just disappointed so I’ll do it.”

We take seats on the ground as Kai prepares his tools of interrogation. The whole thing is kind of funny. He said interrogation but it’s clear that he meant torture. He’s nearly floating and gathering tools and weapons as well as making a list of questions.

“Alright, Daamin, bring our hostage here,” Kai points to a chair. “Make sure to just growl and sound like a scary crocodile man.”

“Got it,” Daamin heads towards the van.

“Dre, go sit in your car, turn the high beams on and stay out of the way.”

“I feel like I could be of some help.”

“Keeping them blinded with your high beams is a big help.”

“How does that help?”

“Look, this isn’t your strong point. You can’t give off anger. You’re too repressed. Get lost, watch from your car.”

“Really Kai?”

“Really Dre.”

I take a seat in my car and turn on the high beams. Kai squints through the light and gives me a thumbs up. Daamin sits the creator down and Kai walks around her in circles, trying to make a point as Daamin stands like a menacing body guard, snarling and snapping his jaw as the creator cowers. Maybe I’m not scary, because I shot her and she’s more afraid of them than she was me.

“Who do you work for,” Kai starts the interrogation.

“Nobody,” The Creator answers.

“Did you make this game?”

“Yes.”

I’m annoyed as she refuses to give Kai any pushback. I’m way more intimidating than Kai. Especially short and skinny Kai. He’s still wearing a skirt and is getting better results than I am. Every so often Kai will turn around and give me a smile, he’s just showing off.  

“Why did you trap us in the game,” Kai asks.

“I didn’t I was going to shut the game down. I started getting extortion letters,” The Creator starts.

“From who,” Kai doesn’t pause, completely unphased.

“I don’t know but I couldn’t afford to pay them, so I decided to shut the game down, so they trapped us all here until the game is beaten.”

“It’s an MMORPG they aren’t meant to be beaten just suck money from the players for all eternity,” Daamin can’t help but get involved.

“Oh my God it talks,” The Creator panics.

“Focus,” Kai slaps The Creator sending the mask tumbling to ground.

We’re the first ones to get a look at The Creator’s face. Chubby cheeks, ghostly pale with blue lipstick. Blonde hair with shaved sides, a red slim braid above each shaved patch and a full pony tail of platinum blonde hair. A red star tattoo covers her right eye. She’s clearly got a rock and roll look she’s going for but honestly, she’s not exactly pulling it off. It looks more like she’s trying to copy an older sibling.

“Why did you choose a twelve-year-old as your avatar,” Kai asks in his normal voice.

“I’m 48, this is my face,” the creator seems offended.

“Yeah, and this is my body,” Kai responds sarcastically.

“Will you just let me go? Where’s the asshole who shot me,” she starts to shout again.

“Tell us how to beat the game,” Kai demands.

“Okay, there’s a virus in the game. It infects players with tech implants. It causes psychosis and eventually death. It’s been spreading since the start but it’s got a low infection rate. However, since we’ve been stuck in the game it’s been spreading a lot faster. Players are getting more violent towards each other and NPCs. Eventually the whole thing will just evolve into a free for all,” The Creator seems upset.

“Stop,” Daamin shouts and puts a hand up.

“What?”

“You sure you made this game,” Daamin puts a hand on his chin.

“Yeah.”

“Then why did you just give us the plot to Johnny Mnemonic,” he asks.

“What is Johnny Mnemonic,” Kai asks.

“Why don’t you ask our guest,” Daamin responds.

“I don’t know what that is,” The Creator argues.

“Johnny Mnemonic is a 1995 movie starring Keanu Reeves, Ivan Drago and Ice-T. Johnny is played by Keanu and works as a transporter. He’s secretly carrying the cure to a disease called Nerve Attenuation Syndrome that’s spreading around the word. Different tech companies want the cure so they can use it to make money but he manages to spread it through electronic signals,” Daamin pauses. “So you’re going to tell me you created a Cyberpunk game where the goal is to cure a virus and you never heard of Johnny Mnemonic?”

“I never heard of it,” The Creator stares at Daamin.

“Don’t lie to me,” Daamin is clearly getting frustrated.

“I never heard of it!”

“Kai, get her before I beat her ass. I believe in equal rights and lefts,” Daamin is right in front of The Creator now.

“Daamin, go somewhere and chill out,” Kai pulls him away.  

“No, she’s playing with us,” Daamin shoves Kai.

I’m forced to leave the truck to stop the two from bickering and leading to a full blown fist fight. The creator starts yelling about how I shot her again and the whole thing is off the rails.

“Guys, stop,” I separate the two. “We need to regroup.”

“We need to beat her copyright infringing ass,” Daamin shouts.

“I’m running this interrogation,” Kai argues.

“Team meeting, in the van, right now,” I start to pull them away.

“What if I run again,” The Creator shouts after us.

“Then I’ll shoot you again,” I respond.

“Asshole!”

“That’s exactly where I’ll aim.” 

1.07 - How to Get Away with Murder (and kidnapping)



The desert town is filled with beggars made up of players and NPCs. One thing about this whole situation is it turns out cyberpunk isn’t so fun when everyone suddenly has to live it for real. NPCs envy the players who have more money than they do; it only makes sense the game is built to make us rich. But the players aren’t all rich. Some who just started new characters don’t have anything, there are people who chose to have characters without a lot of money. Players envy NPCs because they seem to have all the connections and unlimited supplies. Trucks show up to deliver goods to restaurants on schedule with no contracts. It was all background ambiance before but now it’s a meaningful element of the game. Clothing and ammunition stores now have to wait for the inventory to restock. Most people like me didn’t think to put any skill towards crafting when everything could be bought so easily. Guys like Daamin did it because they were really into the role-playing element and wanted to impress other people like them.

It’s a real world that we all have to adapt to now, but everyone isn’t great at bartering, and it doesn’t help the NPCs aren’t idiots. They’re out to get the best results for themselves not the players. A few players have built their own shops out here in the badlands, but some have tried to take the NPC shops. Things aren’t any better in the city so there’s no real place to run and hide until everything is over. No matter how far you go, it’s always the wild west.

“No! Stop,” someone shouts from an alleyway.  

I don’t want to play the hero. That’s Daamin’s thing, but the shouting keeps getting louder and nobody else seems to be doing anything. Another shout and I realize that I’m going to have to do something. I head toward the shouting and find myself in the middle of a standoff. An NPC man on the ground surrounded by three players. It’s a robbery.  

“Let him go,” I make myself known.

The three turn to face me and laugh, they’re looking for a fight. I’m outnumbered but I’ve got a higher level so maybe I can get out of this. The NPC starts to crawl away only for one of the players to fire off a quick shot and put an end to him.

“What the fuck,” the words fall out of my mouth.

“It’s fine, he wasn’t real anyway,” one of the players responds to me.

They don’t even try to fight me, they laugh and walk away, stepping over the corpse. They don’t even loot the body of the man they were trying to rob. They killed him, just because they could. I lean against a wall and slide down until I’m sitting, staring at the NPCs body. I keep expecting it to fade from existence as it should, but it doesn’t. The body stays there, unmoving as if it were a real corpse. I know it’s a game, but they’re just killing for no reason. It isn’t like before; these NPCs don’t come back. In some ways, they’re more human than we are now.

A few quick zapping sounds draw my attention to the corpse. There’s now a person draped in a dark cloth with a white smiling cat mask. They’re working, performing surgery. I can’t see their face, but they look like they’re working hard. I stand to see what they’re doing, and it’s surgery for sure. They’re adding pieces of metal pulled from their inventory. Eventually they stop, admire their work and take a step back. A few moments later the man sits up and looks around.  

“Thank you both,” the man thanks us. “There are still good players.” The man stands up and begins to run as if nothing happened to him.  

“What did you do,” I ask the person.

“Nothing that a person with enough skill couldn’t,” they answer, and I recognize the voice.

“Hey, do I know you from somewhere?”

“It’s a big game, I don’t think we’ve met.”

“No, I really know you.”

“You must be mistaken,” they start to walk.

“Let’s talk for a second.”

“No,” the person takes off into a sprint.

I wouldn’t usually chase a person who didn’t want to talk but none of this is usual. I keep trying to figure out where I’ve heard that voice. Then it hits me, I heard the voice in the same place I saw those robes. I’m chasing the creator. They’re just wandering around the world healing NPCs when they could be helping us get home. I run harder when I realize who I’m chasing, but they’ve clearly got some bonus stats in parkour. I can’t seem to catch up no matter how hard I run. At a few points it seems like they flicker and almost vanish before returning further up ahead.

As we reach the outskirts of town, I’m tired, I never had to run so long in the game before. Part of me feels bad for what I’m about to do, but I know this is my only chance. I stop running and equip a sniper rifle that’s set to stun. I line up my shot and squeeze the trigger. There’s a flash of light and a scream before they roll to the ground in pain.

I finally catch up and stand over the person, “sorry I had to shoot you.”

“You dickhead,” they fling sand at my face but come up short.

“I know, but you could have just talked to me.”

“You shouldn’t go chasing women around you nincompoop, you caveman brute.”

“You’re not very good at insults.”

“You shot me!”

“It’s not even a flesh wound. Just a stun wound.”

“You shot me! You jackass!”

“I feel like you’re being a little dramatic here.”

“You hillbilly asshole!”

“Alright, now you’re just being mean. I think it’s cool you created the game, but you really need to chill out. I’ve been shot before, it doesn’t really hurt much, especially on a stun. That was just a grazing wound anyway.”

“You know I’m the creator?”

“Yeah, you’re kind of wearing the same robe you were wearing when we all got trapped here. Unique robe, pretty obvious.”

“I killed the creator and took it.”

“You just admitted you were the creator.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Wow, okay,” I’m in shock. I didn’t expect someone who made this massive game world to act like a kid. “I was just thinking we could help each other. You don’t need to try gaslighting me. Everyone can go home and it’ll be all good.”

“Why would I help you? You shot me!”

“Well if you’re going to keep crying, I guess we’ll just do it the hard way.”

“We’re not doing anything.”

“Sorry about shooting you twice.”

“You only shot me once.”

A quick pistol shot from the hip puts them to sleep. I want to look behind the mask but leaving it alone might gain me some trust. A snap of my fingers and a few moments later my El Camino starts to head to me. I roll the creator into the bed of the truck and start to head back to our campsite outside of town. 

1.06 - Follow The Buzzards


We made it through the sand screamers unscathed, well Kai and I did. Besides his panic attack and me staring into the face of the geriatric death that awaits us all, nothing bad happened. After the sandstorm I fell asleep and woke up refreshed. Daamin however, had some issues. He basically trashed his van arguing and fighting with things that weren’t there. Unfortunately, he either destroyed or ate a good portion of our food supply. We were close to another small desert community so we all decided to split up and see what we could buy or trade for.  

I haven’t had much luck; I was never into hunting for rare items or saving as much money as possible, so I don’t have much that people want anymore. I’m actually pretty useless outside of quests, especially quests that don’t involve shooting things. The one thing I’ve managed to get is information. NPCs talk just like players do. Each has their own personalities, traits and relationships with other NPCs. They’re nervous when dealing with players now. They weren’t always like this, but I hear the whispers in every community we visit. Stories of players killing NPCs in hopes of getting the infinite items they seem to have access too. But that wasn’t working, so they resorted to robbing them. The entire thing has gotten really messy with entire NPC families being wiped off the map. Their homes taken from them and occupied by players who don’t know any way to survive other than force. We’re stuck here as players, and that’s unfair and traumatic. The solution isn’t to inflict all kinds of horrors on NPCs just because they’re here. I know they’re just clusters of data but it’s disheartening how others can’t see them as people.

I give up on trading for the day and settle into a seat at a run-down restaurant attached to an even more run-down bar. There’s an old empty stage with a single microphone stand and a keyboard in front of a tattered yellow curtain. I’m drawn to it as I order a cheap meal.

“What’s with the stage,” I ask the waitress as she brings my lunch.

“That’s where Scrappy Davis Jr used to perform,” she sighs.

“Who is Scrappy Davis Jr,” a small ping lets me know I just activated a quest.

“He’s an old man with some crappy implants. A bad optic implant made him think he was Sammy Davis Jr.”

I ask the question I know I’m supposed to ask, “where’s he at now?”

“A few miles up the road, The Buzzards have him in their camp. He spilled a drink on their leader so they’ve kept him there for entertainment. There’s only four of them, but they’re really scary.”

I finish my meal knowing what I have to do. I stop at my car to read up on The Buzzards. They’re a cult of NPCs. Big guys with big beards, most of the speaking is done by one guy, the others follow orders. Lot of HP and DPS but they’re known for physical attacks instead of any weapons. Shotgun should take care of them no problem, but I’ll take a few healing items just in case. I hop in and start to head to the coordinates for The Buzzards ranch. It’s a quick drive and the place is unmissable. A run-down farmhouse on the hill with an old windmill next to it and remnants of what used to be a fence. I drive up to the house and come to a stop when I spot a giant man wearing a panda mask.

I hop out of my car to speak with him, “I’m looking for Scrappy Davis Jr.”

The man doesn’t speak, instead he takes a huge swing for my head. I fall to the ground and stumble to equip my shotgun when he lands a massive kick to my stomach. My vision blurs for a moment after his big kick. These guys are ridiculously strong. He starts to run towards me as I finally equip my shot gun. I fire two shots that land but don’t seem to do much. The third drops him to his knees. I catch my breath and get to my feet. The last shot is straight to his head, a killing blow. But he’s a quest NPC so he’ll just respawn when I leave. I reload and head for the house.

Outside the front door I hear shouting, one man preaching. “Our brother has left us, claiming that he is the exalted one. Claiming he knows better than our dear sister. I wish him luck, but he is lost to think he can find the truth beyond these walls. Sister has told us to follow the buzzards to our glory and that’s what we shall do.”  

Another quest is added to my journal titled, “Find the Exalted One,” oh this is a series of cult missions I will not be following. At least I only have two of these monsters to fight. I slide the door open just enough to get a peak. One man with a fedora and Hawaiian shirt stands arms out reached shouting as a bald man with a red beard kneels listening to his words, but no Scrappy. I can play this wild then. I call it my star sixty-nine. A flashbang, a smoke grenade and two shrapnel grenades back to back. The enemy is hurt and confused. I wait for the fourth explosion and rush through the door. Three quick shots and both of them can follow the buzzards forever.

“Wow, thanks,” I jump as Scrappy appears behind me. “You got me out of a real jam.”

Game goes rogue and the companion AI is still trash. Scrappy is almost the splitting image of Sammy Davis Jr. The exception being a few stray screws and bolts, a metal hand and an eye that keeps switching colors. I make my way to my truck; he follows, occasionally stopping because I’ve moved too fast. The ride back isn’t eventful. Occasionally Scrappy spouts off some trivia about Sammy Davis Jr as if that’s who he was.

“I was nominated for an Emmy because I kissed Archie Bunker on All in The Family. He wasn’t a great kisser,” Scrappy laughs.

If anything, it’s interesting how some of the NPCs have moved on and changed with the world while others have no clue what’s going on.  

Back at the restaurant Scrappy instantly heads for the stage as the waitress approaches me, “you’ve saved our restaurant,” she goes into detail about how her family was losing business with no entertainment. She rewards me with a small amount of cash, but more than I paid for lunch. “Not a lot of players are willing to still help NPCs,” is the one thing she said that stuck with me. That part wasn’t quest dialogue, it was a conscience choice. Just data clusters, but very much people.

Scrappy starts to play on the keyboard before setting it to repeat and stepping away. Lighting focuses on him as he begins to hum a little tune. Slowly he starts to sing, “Mr. Bojangles,” getting better the longer he goes. By the second verse NPCs start to enter the restaurant alongside a few actual players. A quick bubble popping sound lets me know I finished the quest. It feels good to finally get a win again.

Author's Note: When I wrote this, I was just really hoping for a Wyatt Family reunion. Since then we've lost both Brodie Lee (Luke Harper) and Bray Wyatt. Both were really good people outside of the ring from all accounts, losing them, it kind of sucks.

1.05 - No Hotel for Young Men


“We’re almost out of food,” Kai sighs adding the last of the potatoes to the stew.

“Who would have thought we’d be hunting and preparing food in a game,” Daamin responds. “I can’t believe there are actually people who grow food in this world. Glad we can get it from NPCs too. Players wouldn’t know how to grow enough.”

“I mean, they were optional skills, but nobody ever used them unless they wanted to open a restaurant or something. If I had known all this would happen, I would have put more into non-combat stats. They’re easy to level up, but having a few points is a great head start.”

“So, with you being a femboy now, how do your stats work?”

“Please, do not call me a femboy. It’s been weeks and you keep doing it,” Kai gets annoyed at Daamin.

The two argue back and forth for a while before Kai explains he’s got some stats and equipment from both characters. I don’t really care. They haven’t noticed but stats aren’t super important if you can do something like cook in the real world, you can pull it off in the game. I don’t have any stats for hunting, but my dad was a marine, and we went to the gun range sometimes. I can shoot stuff pretty well; therefore I can hunt. We’ve been out in the badlands for two weeks, just having pointless arguments and never figuring out what to do. We don’t even have a place to stay because so many people fled to the badlands. We’ve been sleeping in our cars since we got out here. Every now and then we’ll head further and further away from the city to some place Daamin knows hoping that there’ll be somewhere we can stay. I’m starting to think we’ll reach the end of the map, but there’s always more sand.

Daamin would never admit it but he’s loving every second of this. It’s one of his fantasies to be stuck in a video game. We already knew he had more time in the game than Kai and I, we knew he preferred to live out here as a nomad. Still, it never ends with how much he has to show or tell us about the places. He’s like an encyclopedia of game knowledge. I’m almost ready to put a bullet in my head and see if I really die. Kai is just, Kai. Easily annoyed by everything, but never really letting anyone know what’s going on in his head. I’ve known Kai for over a decade now, and it bothers me that I can never tell what he’s thinking. Lately, it’s bothered me even more. I don’t think being on the run is good for any of us, but the thing is, we’re not really running from anyone specifically. We’re just afraid of dying, which is a good thing, I guess.

I open up one of the forums players visit just to get some news on what’s going on. The city is still in chaos, player gangs and corporations are literally at war with NPC gangs and corporations attempting to wipe them out and take control of portions of the servers. Some people are doing it because they believe we can get free by taking it back. Others just want to be in charge of it all. The more interesting thing to me is that there are cults that have popped up. Cults praying to the game creator to set us free or make life better. Others are worshipping an AI that supposedly trapped us here to be better people. Most people are just living, trying to survive. Scams promising to let people speak to the outside world are running rampant. A ring of slave runners got busted a few days ago. They were forcing low level players to get implants that would allow them to be controlled. It’s crazy how fast players dove headfirst into the stuff that was basically a backdrop for a massive sandbox game. It’s a real cyberpunk world now, aesthetics be damned.

I feel a pain in my side only to look up and see Kai standing over me, and really glad he’s wearing underwear, “why did you kick me,” I ask.

“Because I’ve been trying to get you to eat for five minutes and you’ve just been scrolling the web like you didn’t hear us.”

“Sorry, just thinking about our next move,” I sit up.

“Sorry Dre, there’s no next move. This is life now,” Kai hands me a bowl of stew and takes a seat beside me.

“What’s in it?”

“Mutant rabbits.”

“The white ones that walk on two feet?”

“Yeah, the only thing we can catch out here,” Kai rolls his eyes and looks to Daamin.

“Hey,” Daamin interjects with a mouth full of food. “My contacts say the city is still crazy right now. You should be glad I’m keeping you guys safe out here.”

“Oh, thank you, our precious savior,” I respond.  

“Hey, be quiet,” Kai holds up a hand. “Do you guys hear that?”

I listen closely. There’s nothing but the sound of wind and the occasional animal or car passing through out here. Today, right now, the wind sounds faster, almost angry. Every now and then there’s the sound of thunder mixing with the wind off in the distance.

“We should get in our cars,” Daamin quickly gulps down his bowl of stew and starts heading towards his van.

“Is there something wrong,” I ask.

“Yeah, you need to tell us what’s happening,” Kai argues.

“You need to get your ass to cover because the sand screamers are coming,” Daamin closes the door of his van on us.

“What are sand screamers,” Kai asks as the sounds grow closer.

I quickly search the web for answers, “sandstorm with hallucinogenic powder of a rare mountain flower.”

I’ve been driving a modified El Camino with a 4x4 kit and some modifications out here, I rush over and slam the door. Another door slams behind me, Kai has taken a seat next to me.

“What are you doing?”

“You do hallucinogenics with friends,” he shrugs. “Keep each other balanced.”

“We’re not doing hallucinogenic.”

“Oh, we’re going to get high. You can roll up the windows all you want, but pollen gets everywhere. Better to be with me than alone or with the giant crocodile man.”

“He’s a caiman.”

“Whatever.”

“Get out,” I unlock the door as wind and sand slam against the window in an instant.

“You want me to die,” Kai asks.

I close my eyes as sand keeps pounding the truck from all angles. Hoping not to get high enough that I start seeing ghosts like the internet said. Kai hums a song trying to pretend he isn’t afraid. Lightning lights up the storm and thunder makes the glass vibrate. Kai grips my arm with his arms tightly closed.

“What are you doing,” I try to pull away.

“I’m afraid of thunderstorms, there I said it,” he shouts.

“This isn’t a thunderstorm.”

“There’s thunder and lightning,” he doesn’t stop shouting.

“C’mon man, you’re an adult.”

“I had a bad accident when I was a kid, that stuff stays with you.”

I look at Kai’s face and there’s real terror there. I stop fighting and let him hold onto my arm as I stare through the window. A trio of old women walk in a line, pausing briefly to stare back at me. I know these are the sand screamers but I’ve been expecting them. I don’t scream, and I don’t make Kai look. I just stare back at their unmoving, unflinching faces. I close my eyes and lean my head back, hoping to fall asleep before this is over.  


Author Note: I thought about a longer hallucination scene, but I just wanted it to be simple. Sort of leave the fact that the sand screamers may be real. Less is more type of thing.