Jordan
#9 of Incomplete Stories.
He logged into the online game's website, waited for the game to load fully, then logged in. His character, a small black panther morph excelling in magic, was just about to initiate an attack against a level three hundred and twelve boss monster when a chat window opened up at the bottom left of his screen.
Please Help! Someone, Anyone!
"What..?" Questioned the mage's player. His mage had already started to attack so in order to not be distracted, he used one of his personally made and crafted 'ultimate' spells. The boss he was fighting was encased in solid ice. A crystal ice prison that held it in place, slowly sapping it's energy, and giving it to the caster. The player smiled at his desk, then turned his attention to the chat window.
anyone...?
Yes. What's wrong? The player frowned at his screen as the game ....... flickered. He dismissed it as a minor glitch.
I need help. Someone's attacking me, he wont stop even though he knows I don't want to fight. He wont respond to chat at all.
Where are you? What's the player's name?
I don't know. It looks like the park near my house. It's bright green with an open field, and yellow and orange trees. There's a large blue boulder in the middle of the field. When I click on it, it says "Blue boulder, maybe if I used a stone of water on it .."
Stay where you are, I know where it is. Keep near the boulder and don't attack. The boulder will keep you alive if you're not attacking.
The other player acknowledged this, saying he was awaiting his help. The player grinned, then went through his collection of spells. Most of them he had personally crafted, spending hours, and even some days on particular spells. He selected a teleport spell, and linked it to the water boulder. He performed the teleport, making note of the amount of energy used in the casting. The screen darkened, then a pinpoint of white light quickly filled the screen, radiating from the middle of it outwards. Colours formed and the water glen appeared from the light. Excellent, he thought. So long as I don't move I can observe them for a moment. A bolt of darkness flashed from one player to the other, causing several points of damage. The one recieving the attack did nothing but hug the boulder as if it was his last hope at surviving in this world, which it probably was. The player zoomed in on the fight, taking note of the others' shapes, forms, and styles. The one that had fired the Bolt of Darkness was dressed entirely in black. Judging by his severe lack of taste, the character was a necromancer. Either that or a dark mage. The other one was ....... Well ....... The other one was a complete newbie. Level three combat and the basic equipment. He'd probably only just stepped through the portal from the tutorial. Both were human characters. Another bolt lashed out, followed by a draining spell of some kind. The other players health went down to one.
Where are you? I really really need help.
The other player cast another spell, this one doing nothing but covering its opponent with purple light. The mage's player recognised the spell for what it was though. The necromancer/dark mage was intending on stealing the newbie's soul. Everything the newbie had on him, along with everything in his bank not protected by a pet, would be transferred to the soul stealer, along with all of his strength, experience, and quest reward experience. Everything would be reset back to its most basic level, except for his personally crafted skills. Even then, it'd take a while for him to gain the levels needed in order to use them again. Especially seeing as when someone's soul is stolen it locks the player out of the game for an hour. There are many players who make it their one and only goal to attack other players and force them to stop playing because it's too hard. That had happened to him for three weeks untill he'd finally gained the experience to craft a certain skill.
He's gonna steal my soul again!
Again? He paused mid thought. If he was worried about what was about to happen, and he knew what was going to happen, maybe he's not really a newbie? He used another one of his crafted 'ultimate' spells. Cast, reverse soul steal, other. He clicked upon the level three human. The dark purple light he was covered in glowed slightly brighter. The other player took that moment to chat to his victim, and everyone else in the nearby area.
Looks like I finally win this time Jordan. When will you be moving in with me? I can't wait to feel your arse under me. Especially since you took the liberty upon yourself to ignore me. Maybe I'll punish you by fucking you every chance I get. I can't wait.
"Man, that is one seriously sick puppy. How come they can type so fast? I'm a fast typer, but Damn .... I'm not that fast." He quickly typed into the chat box, his fingers flying over the keys as he tryed to tell the other player that everything was going to be fine. He was just a little too late though..
I May be bound by my word, but I know for a fact that you're not. I will find a way to be rid of you again. Even if I have to sacrifice everything I have, and everything I am. I won't be your fuck buddy. Never .....
Tell him to finish it. I don't know what's going on, but maybe you can tell me when he's gone.
Why did he send that if he saw what I typed? It's almost like I sent it to him while he was talking, and he got distracted by it.
You heard that? That must mean you're close, where are you? I can't see you. Please, you have to help me. Nobody else understands.
Alright, tell me when he's gone.
The level one hundred player cast one more dark bolt. He smiled while sitting in front of his computer screen, sitting back to watch the show. The dark bolt hit, making the other player glow with bright purple light as the soul catch spell activated with his "death". He blinked as text scrolled accross the bottom left of the screen. The one he was protecting was saying AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH and the other was laughing. What in hells was going on here? He grinned, despite his confusion, as his spell took effect. The bright purple light expanded untill it touched the caster of the soul catch spell. When it found its caster, his spell really took effect. It switched current hit points momentarily. It only lasted for three seconds when activated, but it was more than enough time for its effect to truly activate. The dark mage's hit points reached zero, while the apparent newbie's were raised by several thousand.
NNNOOOOOOOO NO NO NO NO NNNOOOOOOOOOOOooooo ............
The dark mage vanished in a flash of purple light, leaving behind a soul shard, an experience shard, and all of his current equipment. He made his character walk over and pick it up, making him entirely visible to the other one. There was a slight pause in the game as it loaded. Probably due to the amount of experience and items he'd just gained from the player hunter, he thought. When the screen skipped, his character was holding a soul and experience shard, along with a whole lot of equipment in his pack. His character was also being hugged by the player he'd just saved.
Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!
The other player bounced and jumped up and down while hugging his character, taking it along for the ride. This deffinately had to stop, he thought. His fingers flew over the keys again.
Jeeze, would you get off my character? I just saved you, I don't want to have to kill you so soon.
The other paused in his display of happiness. He frowned at his computer screen, even though he was probably thousands of miles away, he would have sworn that he felt the players sadness from here. He quickly typed in the chat box, hoping to repair any damage done before he lost another potential friend.
Look, I'm sorry. I'm not used to people suddenly hugging my character from nowhere. The last person that did that ended up dead. I've been very careful since then. I even took off my physical contact spell just in case anyone else decided to hug me. I'm also a real grouch first thing in the morning without my coffee, so if I've been a bit cold, I'm sorry.
The other player did nothing. Then he got a friend request, which he readily accepted. Information on his new friend suddenly flooded his screen. That's wierd, he thought. Normally you don't get this level of information untill the other person really trusts you. He closed the appropriate boxes, and only kept open what he needed. The person's name was Jordan, that was also his real life name. He opened recent history, his eyes bugging out. FUCK! He'd recently gone down from a combat level of one hundred plus, that he'd kept for eight months, before being soul captured barely an hour and a half ago! Titles earned, Witch Warrior, White Knight, Demon Slayer, Dragon Slayer, Zombie Slayer, Vampire Hunter, Werewolf Hunter, Wolf's Bane, Thieves Bane, Thief King. It just kept going on and on. Before he'd been captured he'd completed just about every type of quest there was in the game. He closed that box and opened another box. He searched guild and clan history, surprised to find out that he hadn't joined any. He closed that box off, and opened another. Current and Past Skills. He blinked rapidly as his eyes scanned the information there. Physical skills, almost every single one of them were physical skills. A few healing spells and prayers, but nothing major. A fighter then, he thought. Excellent, I haven't seen a good fighter in weeks.
Hello..?
Oh yeah, this is all his information, I haven't sent him mine yet. He opened the menu bar at the top right of the screen, selected send information to friend, then waited. What he'd sent was extremely basic, so it shouldn't take him too long before ..
WOW! You're really really good!
He frowned at the screen as it flickered again. Just about time for a new screen, damn. He smacked his fist into the desk, causing it to creak and groan in protest at this rough treatment. He paused, thinking about what the other player had just typed.
Why?
Well, you've only been playing for a few months, but you already know enough to take out someone that can destroy level five hundred bosses.
He quirked an eyebrow at the screen when he saw that information.
That, and the fact that you move and react fast enough to take on someone with a neuro net implant. Do you have your game speakers on?
A Neuro what..?
Yeah, I have my speakers on. I'm listening to Meteor Swarm by the Death Stars. Rather good actually. I don't listen to the game though, it's too loud. Plus it's always over crowded with people talking constantly, the sounds of battle, and just your average bird and animal sounds randomly appearing. Why do you even want my speakers on?
So I can talk to you.
The other player's character moved closer to his. It started moving in ways that shouldn't be possible for the game because it restricted movement so much. Then something wierd happened, his screen blew up. It literally blew up. If he hadn't been getting up to go to the toilet, and make a coffee, he would have shattered glass in his face, neck, and chest.
"FUCK!!" He reached over, and quickly shut down the old computer at the wall. "Just my fucking luck. I've got thrity minutes to go before I need to leave, and the fucking screen blows up. What Fucking Next?" The doorbell rang. "Fuckers United" He whispered harshly, walking towards the door. "Yeah?" He called through the wooden door.
"Sir, you have to sign for this." Said a man from the other side.
"Sure, sure." He opened the door, revealing a man dressed in a courier's uniform, van to the left of the front door. He signed for the package, placed it on the table inside, then closed the door. He heard the van start up, and the courier drive out slowly. He turned to the package. "Great, yet another present for dad. When the fuck's he gonna collect them all?" He looked it over. It wasn't too big, only ten inches by twelve by five. He shrugged, leaving it there. He went back to the main room, skirted the computer, and went through the door into his room, tripped on some thing hidden, and fell onto his bed. He got up after some light cursing, grabbed a pen from the night stand, and wrote a quick note. 'Computer screen blew up, mind the glass. New screen coming in a few days to a week' He walked out, stuck it to the door to the computer room. He went back inside his room and got dressed. Checking his watch he saw he only had ten minutes to go. He went to the toilet, then went out to the car. He started it up, and drove off to work, mind still processing that mornings events.
"Yo Mark!" I looked up from my desk frustrated at the interruption.
"Yeah what?" The guy paused a meter or so away from me, a stunned look on his face.
"Nothin'. I just wanted to say hello. You've been sitting there working non stop for the past seven and a half hours. It's almost time to go. Are you going to go into the net lottery this time?" Net lottery?
"What are you on? Cause whatever it is, it has to be illegal. What net lottery, what is it?" I questioned him. I seriously wanted to know.
The man, if it was even possible, looked even more stunned. "You don't know what the net lottery is?!?" I shook my head. "It's only the best thing ever invented. Jesus man, I can't believe you've never heard of it. Where've you been living, the stone age?" He waved his hands in a dismissive motion. "Never mind. Well, there's this thing right, and it allows you to access the net using your mind only, and a nearby net connection. No computers, no screens, nothing. Just you and any port you can find. It's only been invented recently, and in order to push sales, they're giving out specially modified Neuro Net Processors in a type of lottery. If you win the lottery, you get a free processor, including the surgery needed to implant it. Isn't that cool?" He looked at me as though he were expecting me to scream out in agony if I didn't have it now.
"No." His face fell. I got up, closed down the computer I'd been working on, grabbed my stuff, and headed out. I stopped, and turned around. That guy I'd helped today, he'd said something about a neuro something, maybe this is what he was talking about? "How do you enter this .... lottery?"
"I knew you'd want one!" He ran at me, almost jumping me. I managed to put up a hand to stop him in time. Jeeze, I knew he was the boss' son and everything, but did he have to be so ......Gay..? "Seriously now, How do you enter the lottery?"
His eyes brightened considerably. "Oh it's very easy. You give them all the information available on you, what games you play, where you live, phone number. That kind of stuff, nothing too invasive. And then when you've done all that, they give you a ticket, and if your number's called they send a notice to you immediately. They schedule an appointment at the nearest possible time and location to have your processor installed. After a bit of therapy, you're all set!" He grinned, as though it were some type of party commodity, which, thinking about it, it probably was.
"So what does it do exactly?" I swear I felt like an idiot, he looked like he was about to beat the living shite outta me for not knowing.
"It allows instant acess to the net. Think about all the porn you could download into your brain, to review in perfect clarity whenever you wanted. In certain games, you can actually Be the character. You can feel and experience everything from the characters point of view. Also, everything is much much faster." He smiled brilliantly, obviously impressed at knowing so much. He hugged me, putting his arms around my neck, leaning close. That's it, too far. I lifted him up by putting my hands to his sides, then ducked under his arms.
"Jeeze, what are you, gay?" His eyes flashed sadness as he looked down at me, he quickly covered it though. "Fuck, you are too." I said in a stunned whisper. I dropped him, my view of the world focusing to a small pinpoint.
"Mark? Mark!" Someone said in distress. That sounded like Jordan. Huh. I fell backwards. It was hard to breathe for some reason. "MARK!" Fucker was gay .......... no wonder he had such a nice voice ............ The carpeting of the office rushed up to hit me, but I fully passed out before it did.
"It's been days"
"I know, but he's been under a lot of stress to get his project done. I wouldn't be surprised to hear the test results saying he's been up for the last week without sleep. He's the best man we've got, even if he is human. Don't take off your shield, not even when you think he's asleep. Gods' know what'd happen if he found out what we are. Once he knew, it wouldn't be too long untill the rest of the population found out."
"But Dad.."
"Don't 'but dad' me. If it weren't for him being so imaginative when creating abilities and creatures for Karanavas we would've dropped his application, even if you had've liked him then. As it is you should simply let him rest. Don't bother him untill he's actually conscious."
Footsteps rushed down a metal corridor, heading quickly to the two speakers.
"Sir."
"What is it?"
"The medical test report Sir, you said you wanted it when it was finally completed." There was a shuffling of paper, and a scraping sound.
"Hmmmm. Well this is certainly interresting."
"What?"
"Well Jordan, it says here that even though he was unconscious, he reacted so strongly to certain levels of sonic background noise that they had to turn off certain equipment. Deciding to persue it as much as possible, they did a hearing test."
Jordan snorted.
"A hearing test for one of our kind."
"Ohh.."
"Yes, oh. He rated extraordinarily high for a human. However they couldn't fully test him, seeing as he only moved when the levels became discomforting. They've left suggestions that he be fully tested as soon as medically possible. Brainwave functions are sporadic. His body's healing, but something happened to cause a complete restart of his entire system."
There was a hissing roar as Jordan made his frustration known. "That was my fault. I kinda tried to kiss him. It didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. This is all my fault. If I hadn't tried to kiss him, then he'd be fine now."
"Now Jordan, that's just not true. According to this he's been close to shutting down for a week. All he needed was one good shock. A trusted friend shouting at him would've done it. He's actually lucky you caught him before his head hit the floor. Were it not for you being there, and acting so quickly, the damage would have been far worse." More paper shuffled, the shuffler making small hmm noises. "No implant though. Tox is negative, but there are faint traces of krypton on his clothes. Did his computer blow?"
"Computer?" Asked the other, slightly confused.
"Jordan, don't act so surprised, you know what a computer is, and even if you don't, your implant will allow you to acces that information."