Clocked In

CH. 1

After years of playing as a character, you get to know them well. Very well. Its just the way things are- you create them, play them, become them. You feel what they feel, do what they do...

And thats ok. Nobody has ever been condemned for something like that... but what if they were?

-=-=-=-=-=-

From the beginning, we should have realized what would happen if we dedicated too much time to our fantasy world. What kind of consequences there could be. But why would we? What could ever go wrong. It was all fun and games- just make believe.

That was what we all thought, until the first shift took place. The first... change. At least, thats what Jackson decided to call it. Him and Dan were undeniably the best of us, so their words were law. Most of the time.

You see, our group chat was meeting that night to have a RP. Not just any RP- the same one we had been progressing upon for years. As I'm sure you can guess, it took a lot of time and dedication to maintain such a feat for so long. And dedicated we were... too much so. But we kept telling ourselves- could dedication to something we loved really be a bad thing? Deciding the answer was no, we continued on with our games. Every day after school we all got online to talk, using skype and discord... and every night, we plunged further into the fantasy we created ourselves, with characters we sculpted with our words to fill our every desire.

And fill our every desire they did... we all loved our little world, our characters. Ours bonds, fights, trials and errors... we loved it too much. 

-=-=-=-=-=-

It was the final day of school, at last. I made it- I was no longer a sophomore. 

As soon as I walked in the door of my house, I dropped onto the couch with a relieved sigh. I rest my eyes for only a moment though, before sitting back up and opening my phone. I check my notifications- 1000+ unread from Calamity Revolution. Typical! There was already a call going, so I clicked the join icon. Immediately, I was bombarded by voices. 

" -erefore, I must conclude... Crona is the superior being! " 

Ah, Dan. Always arguing about Crona. Jackson was about to reply to his statement, so I quickly butted in. " Hey guys! I survived my last day of school. " I said, smiling as I switched on my facecam. Everyone else already had theirs on, so, why not?

Mo beamed at me through the screen, " Bri! So glad you're out. We are just waiting on Ethan and Sav, then we can start. ". I nodded, still grinning. " Awesome. So, Dan... what are we working on tonight? "

Dan looked up from his art upon being addressed, thinking for a moment before he spoke. 

" It's a... secret. At least, until Sav and Ethan get here. "

Everyone else went a bit... quiet, and I suppose we were all trying to figure out his words. It wasn't like Dan to be so cryptic- usually, that was Jackson's job. 

-=-=-=-=-=-

It was midnight now, and everyone was ready for some action. Even after Sav and Ethan showed up, Dan wouldn't tell us what was going on. He said 'after midnight'... the call was silent, and nobody spoke. We were waiting.

As soon as it hit 12:01, he spoke. 

" Jackson and I... discovered something. Now everyone... I want you to close your eyes. Don't say anything- just do it. " 

His voice was calm, but firm. We all did what he asked- even Caleb didn't question him.

I heard him take a deep breath, before exhaling slowly. " Now... picture your character. Not just any, but your main character. Mo, imagine Jackie. Caleb- hell, I don't even know. Ethan... you play the brothers, no? Just... imagine them, the way you see them when we play. Let thoughts of them fill your mind. "

I frowned slightly, confused as to where this was going. What could be gained from this? We left off on quite the cliffhanger last night, and I knew we were all anxious to continue.

Dan took another deep breath, and when he next spoke, there was a smile in his voice. 

" You'll thank me for this later. "