8-Bit Blades
By Nathaniel Chaffee
Chapter 1
Of course, everything happened in the blink of an eye. Not literally, but looking back, the whole incident seemed like a dream to him. Everyone in the town cheered as he returned, throwing ribbons and hanging banners in his name. Only to see him leave, never to return.
It was a sad time for every one of his kind, a once proud people, brought low by tragedy. The world around them turned grey, their previously happy lives dull and meaningless. Their politicians sat cold in their offices, pondering the hopeless plight of the time. They sat at their desks, freezing in the dark as their most dreaded nightmares seemingly came true. His people were leaderless and afraid, shying away from the dark once more.
As time passed, the wound never healed. the lives of the people cracked under this sickness of the mind, a terrible plague that knew no bounds.
That, my friend, is where I came in.
I was born. A dark star from the sky, shining bright as it fell to a meadow near a town. I emerged from the crater, my armor torn, my blades ready. This was new to me, though I was gifted with a rudimentary knowledge of the world that we live in. Back then, it wasn’t much of a world. The scenery flowed by, tearing apart as quickly as it reformed. It was chaos.
Looking into the distance, I began to see a town. It was an island in the storm, untouched by the endless rapids of reality. My pitch-black skull grinned darkly in the light of the moon as I entered the village. It was then that people began to stare.
Monsters of every shape and size gathered ‘round the town square as I drank thirstily from the fountain. I turned around, and it was then that I saw it.
A young girl held a picture which caused memories to flood back to me. My father, Skullatron the Reaper, was pictured crudely on this piece of paper. I was, and still am, Skullito the Grim. I came from the lands above, the Divide separating our two worlds. I was the successor of the hero these people had lost. I was their savior, I gave them hope and meaning. I was there to help them become who they were meant to be.
You see, my friend, we live in an uncertain world. A world which should not exist, yet still does to some extent. We live in Loose, the countryside, dangerous and untamed. By contrast, Implem, the great metropolis, was as beautiful as it was stable. It was where everyone worked, and some even lived. Yet, in Implem, there was a danger very unlike anything outside; Player Characters, or PCs, the murderers.
A little-known fact of our world is that it is not physically real. It is what the PCs call ‘virtual,’ a most curious word, if I do say so myself. Believe it or not, the world we all live in is made entirely of ones and zeros called ‘Binary,’ a strange substance that seems to be the fabric of our virtual reality. A most interesting theory, called rubbish by most of my fellow Non-PCs.
Our religion is one of fact. The way things are is determined by our gods, the Devs. A most interesting bunch, they sit around at small tables, just beyond our reach. There, they shape the Binary to their will, creating (or destroying, known to PCs as ‘nerfing’) anything they wish.
I’ve spoken with these beings, and they are rather friendly. “So, how you liked your time in Retro?” they asked, eagerly.
“Fine, just fine,” I answered, my layered voice booming through their communication device, “The NPCs here are very excited to see me. My father would be proud.”
They would mutter a few things and thank me before leaving. A strange bunch, though they meant well. They were huge, their faces fifty times larger than myself. It was always rather awe-inspiring.
