The Network

The Network

.

..

.

Chapter One

                The Network was supposed to be fun. To its benefit, it was. At least, it was fun for those first several sessions when I wasn’t trying to escape the wrath of an online serial killer who happened to actually be someone I knew quite well. It’s his fault The Network turned out to be more of a nightmare than a fantasy game.

                Although, if we’re playing the blame game, I suppose this could be traced back to Piper. Piper was his infatuation, along with many others including myself.  How could she not be? She was as much of a mystery as the predesigned ones made by the Programmers.

                Your Avatar in The Network was indeed made to look like you. However, it was tough to distinguish a person’s identity when they wore Elven silks instead of the dull school uniform. Piper had chosen an Elf avatar, making herself shorter than she normally would be—though by how much, I had no idea. In a school of nearly three thousand, I wasn’t likely to find her, especially if she found herself in the shadows of the classrooms as I did.

                If that didn’t make things difficult enough, Piper wasn’t even her real name. She simply liked the way it sounded in the arena, as it made for an excellent catch phrase.

                Though I suppose the blame could stretch back to the government, for making the deal that allowed one class period a day for Knighthawk Games in exchange for funds.

                Then again, the fault might lie with the creators of Knighthawk Games for inventing a studio that made such highly addictive and wildly successful gaming experience.

                Blaming everyone else was far easier than blaming oneself for this mess, though. It was difficult to know that everyone in your school along with the surrounding ones—deserving or otherwise—could possibly die from a monster of a man that you’ve helped create. Yes, I inadvertently caused him to become like this.

                If I hadn’t become his rival, would he have become the power hungry mass he is now.

                I’ve forgotten to introduce myself; how rude of me. My name’s Aaron Blake and today’s the day I die.

                Yes, for real.

                Let’s go back a bit, before The Network was a mass of rage and hatred for your fellow players. Let’s go to the beginning of my story, back when The Network was full of optimistic and hard-working students. Okay, maybe we weren’t all optimistic and hard-working. At least we weren’t homicidal.

We’re going all the way back to Character Selection Day.

.

..

.

                I studied my new schedule with a critical eye. First, there was Gaming with Watson. That was easy enough. I had heard Knighthawk Games had come out with a new release that had been shipped into our school. The rest were normal, uninteresting subjects—Trigonometry with Jackson, American Literature with Henry, Chemistry with Bridges, and European History with Smith.

                I was a bit obsessive when it came to Knighthawk Games’ amazingly realistic virtual reality simulation technology. When I become older, I’d like to work there as an administrator.