Cyber

Opening Day

The day I had been waiting for ever since I was born had finally arrived.

I stood eagerly waiting in the Field of Beginnings. The scent of hundreds of flowers from around the fountain in center of the field. The massive black walls surrounding the field stood imposing, gleaming with an obsidian shine. The doorways in the four cardinal directions felt like a suitable escape into the surrounding town. The field had been designed to intimidate the newcomers, make them feel small and alone. It worked.

Opening day had been the day I was waiting for since I had been put in the virtual world of Cyber so long ago. Finally I would get to see other real humans, instead of the NPC's that I had lived amongst. It was both the greatest moment of my life, and the scariest. It had been so long since I had seen real people, what if I couldn't fit in, what if I was just hated, what if-

The rumble of the new thunderheads high above cut off my train of thought. I watched the sky, waiting for any sign that the time had come.

A burst of brilliant red lightning flared and struck near the fountain in the middle of the field, and standing at the spot where the lightning exploded was a person. An actual person. A player.

There was a second lightning strike almost immediately. Then a third. A fourth. Until the field was filled to the absolute max and beyond with players. It was frightening to see so many people after so long, even though I knew most were playing as avatars.

I had been preparing for this day for years. And now that it was here, despite all my work, I felt woefully under-prepared. The massive crowd of well over 100,000 gamers crushing around me made me claustrophobic. The heat spike from the surrounding bodies made me sweat. The atmosphere had gone from calm to absolute chaos in an instant. It was almost too much for me. Almost.

Not three seconds had passed since the final lightning strike before someone spoke to me. I felt a light tap on my shoulder and turned to the figure, a young man, 20 at the oldest, with broad features to match the muscular broad body, obviously an avatar. His voice was a dead give away, when he asked with a 14 year-old British boy's accent, "do you know where we are?" He recoiled and cursed as he realized how horrible a mismatch his voice was.

I cracked a half smile and said, "just wait kid." Then I cracked a full smile. "I'll let the game start before I spoil it."

He just stared at me blankly and turned to the next person to chat. Most people weren't feeling chatty though. Most were shocked at the world around them, not sure how to act or respond. Another five minutes passed before someone else spoke to me. This time a girl, maybe 18, with pretty reddish hair and dark eyes, and also most likely an avatar.

"What's going on? Shouldn't we be somewhere less crowded?"

"We are where they game makers decided to put us. It's called the Field of Beginnings." I just let that hang in the air as she looked at me hoping for more explanation. Before I could continue, though, the announcement began.

The sky turned black and the only light seemed to come from the grass and flowers of the field. The wind picked up and whistled around us. There was a light tremble in the ground as the fountain began to glow blue. The water began to swirl and foam and then just seemed to explode into the vague form of a man. The form rose and stretched out his arms and examined us.

"WELCOME TO CYBER" the voice boomed across the field. "THE FIRST TRUE, TOTAL IMMERSION, MMO GAME! YOU ARE NO LONGER ON EARTH. YOU ARE PHYSICALLY IN THIS GAME!" The figure gave that a moment to sink in on the players. Assuming they hadn't realized it sooner that is. "THE OBJECTIVE OF THE GAME IS TO SURVIVE, BECOME MORE POWERFUL, AND EVENTUALLY ESCAPE THROUGH THE EXIT PORTAL!" It gave that a second to sink in too. "THE ONLY WAY OUT OF THE GAME IS THROUGH THE EXIT PORTAL! WHICH CAN ONLY BE OPENED AFTER SOMEONE DEFEATS THE FINAL BOSS IN THE CENTER OF THE MIDWORLD!" After another pause, he explained what everyone would have just been concluding. "YOU CANNOT LEAVE UNTIL THE BOSS HAS BEEN DEFEATED. YOU ARE TRAPPED HERE." There was a collective gasp and silence as the figure continued to speak. "HOWEVER, DO NOT FEAR DEATH! FOR DEATH WILL ONLY RESET YOUR PLAYER STATS TO THE LAST LEVEL!" There was a sigh of relief. "UNLESS DEATH OCCURS IN A BOSS ROOM. A DEATH IN A BOSS ROOM IS PERMANENT. YOU WILL REALLY DIE. YOU WILL CEASE TO EXIST IN THIS REALITY, AND MOVE ON TO THE NEXT. PLAY SAFE." The figure vanished, leaving a group of over 100,000 bewildered, scared, and lost gamers to their fate of being stuck inside a video game. As the news began to finally register with everyone, chaos erupted, and hell broke loose.

Yes I am aware that this is short, I promise it will get better. Please keep reading! I love feedback so send me some! Thanks to all of you, I love you!  -Brent