Trigger-Happy Potioneer

A New Day

I woke up to the pounding of a fist on my door. "Come out! We're getting ready for church!"

"I'm not going!"

"What?!"

"I'll be doing my own bible study at home. I'll drive out later, maybe."

"I'll be expecting a report!" He left. These are the only kinds of battles I win: the ones about going to church. The teen center is separated from the adult ministry. Me not going would mean that he has to lose less time with his beloved Father.

The car door slammed and a car peeled out of the driveway. Cortana released the locks, and I finally could wash up. I opened the Bible.

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

"Really? I understand honoring my mom, but Dad..." I closed the book and tossed it on the floor. It's only a book, anyways.

My phone buzzed. I picked it up. "What up?"

"We're going in. See you there!" Click. Beep.

... That was fast. I recognized the voice as Meg, but the excitement in her voice shot the pitch up an octave. "Well, I guess I'll plug in, then." I pulled the visor out of its hidey-hole, put it on, and laid down on my bed. "Now what?" I said. Suddenly, a window came into view. Connect to Ethernet. "Oh."

I plugged the wire into the nearest ethernet outlet and laid down again. Enter file. Wow, so clearly obvious. I tried to blink, but the moment my eyes closed my mind was whisked away and I found myself floating in some strange white space. I tried looking at my hands, and my head slowly turned towards my feet. I clenched my hands and watched them slowly curl into fists. So sluggish... I tried forcing them closed. My fingers sped up to my normal reaction speed. I looked up and a keyboard floated in front of me. A window floating above it read Please enter your name.

"Well, that's easy." I typed "Nio" into the box, putting as much intention as possible into every letter.

Is Nio okay? It read as I pressed ENTER on the keyboard. This time, the window had two buttons: YES, with a green circle drawn behind it, and NO, with a red X serving as the background. I clicked YES with my finger. I was getting more used to this movement process.

Welcome to Third Life. Some piece of leather covered my right eye, though I could still see through both sides. I felt equipment of some type settle over my body as the empty background made way for a vibrant, lively town. I closed my eyes as bright sunlight reflected off the unpaved ground. When I opened them, I was standing on a gray altar, surrounded by what seemed like hundreds of people and medieval-style buildings. Potion shops and merchant stands lined the sides of the main road, which was tan and rough with rocks. Dudes clad in armor with gigantic swords strapped to their backs chatted congenially with equally fearsome-looking mages and monks.

I felt strangely short. I mean, in real life, I'm like average height for most guys, and right now I had to look up to see the warriors and what else. I really can't explain... It's like I was in my body, but merged with someone else.

"Hey, Nio, you joined?" I heard Nic's voice in my head.

"Nic? Where are you?" I whipped my head around, and my hair slapped at my face. Why is my hair so long? I didn't have time to think about it.

"I'm messaging you through private chat. We asked the company to add our contacts to your file so that we didn't have to actually look for you in all this."

"Slacker." But I understood. Looking for me in a sea of newbies is like fishing for a particularly tiny minnow in the Pacific Ocean. "Where are you?"