by Ramy Vance
Myrddin looked Suzuki over before muttering, “Mundane” and stepping away, evidently wanting to put some distance between them.
Suzuki couldn’t tell if the word was because Myrddin recognized him from the game or if he really meant that Suzuki’s reaction to him was average and boring. Either way, Suzuki was reeling with excitement. Myrddin had spoken to him.
Directly to him!
Stew put his hand on Suzuki’s shoulder and squeezed tight as he leaned in and whispered, “Dude, I know you have a hard-on for Beth, but you are embarrassing us right now. There is no amount of hand wipes to clean up the bukkake you just shot all over Myrddin.”
“Shut up. I’m just being grateful.”
Myrddin, now in the center of the room, gestured for them to follow as he floated back up the escalator. “Please, come with me.”
The players walked the same path, but they didn’t float. They took the escalator instead, their feet firmly planted on the metal stairs.
“Hologram or not, that’s some effect,” Sandy remarked as she lined up behind her party members.
At the top of the escalator were a series of floating surfaces. They looked as if there were entire floors of buildings condensed somehow so that they were two dimensional.
All around the room were holograms of different characters from the Middang3ard game, characters Suzuki had never seen before: elves riding horses through fields while firing arrows, an uncomfortably beautiful orc straddling her lover next to a fire, a dwarf fleeing from riders dressed in black, brandishing torches.
Suzuki couldn’t wrap his head around how he could look at an image as simple as an elf standing and watch it transform into near-pristine video quality of the same elf reaching toward him, slowly gyrating her hips, her daggers glinting enticingly.
Sandy walked past Stew, who was transfixed by the images of a raiding party of orcs eviscerating a village of halflings. “Sploosh.” Sandy’s face was scrunched up in a mock orgasm. “I think I’m so, so, sooo sploooooshing.”
“Oh, shut up,” Stew groused. “You can’t possibly think this is hot?”
Sandy’s face grew serious. “Only the entrails of my enemies arouse me. Splayed out, warming my hands. Nothing else moves my loins.” She had spoken in an ominous tone.
Stew looked down at Sandy with horror before the petite, fashionable girl burst out into giggles. “I’m just messing with you, Stew. Or maybe not? It’s all part of the mystery that is me.”
“I knew that,” he said, trying to pull off a laugh. Instead, all that came out was an awkward giggle. Turning to Suzuki, Stew mouthed, “She’s a freak.”
“You love it,” Suzuki mouthed back before looking up to see that Myrddin was slowly gliding through a few of the images. His suit shimmered in and out of existence and there appeared to be stained, time-worn crimson robes underneath.
Myrddin raised his hands. “By now, you have all heard of the Dark One.”
Suzuki felt his feet lift, and looking down, he saw that he was hovering a couple of inches above the ground. Looking around, he saw that it was happening to everyone. They were all floating up into the cascades of images overhead. When Suzuki looked at Beth, her smile was the widest that he had ever seen.
“Most of the world does not believe me. Even many of your leaders, who have been to Middang3ard, don’t believe me,” Myrddin continued. “They think that this is some sort of prank by a rich eccentric, but they will come around. Everyone will. Eventually. And when they do, the Earth will send an army like no universe has seen before to combat the Dark One. Until then, you are all my chosen champions. You understand the danger our worlds are in. The Gnomish world has fallen, the Dwarven world is near-ruined, and should Middang3ard fall, Earth will be next. Make no mistake, should the Dark One conquer us, all humans will either be slaves or dead. The time for action is now. It has never been more important.”
Suzuki looked down at the ground, which was at least twenty feet away. His heart was racing, and he almost couldn’t contain the giddy feeling welling up in him.
He was floating.
Really floating in the air, with at least two hundred other people. It was magic.
Honest-to-God magic.
“Yeah, but that shit is just game hype, right?” someone called.
How could anyone think that? Suzuki thought. They were literally floating in the air.
“No,” Myrddin snapped. “This is not hype, adventurer. We need recruits. We need heroes. The world governments have their thumbs up their asses, so we need you. Professor Grimpston, please enlighten the children of this world.” He gestured to his left, which had just been empty space, and a short figure with pointy ears wearing a tweed jacket, a tilted red cap, and rimless glasses appeared.
That wasn’t right. He manifested.
“Whoa!” Sandy spoke with unhidden awe and respect. “Is that Professor Grimpston? From in-game?”
A few players yelped at the surprise, and others cheered and laughed. Everyone was pleased to see one of the legendary NPCs of the Middang3ard. There wasn’t a player in existence who didn’t know the gnomish mage. He was the game construct who welcomed all to Middang3ard, walking new players through the game’s tutorial and set-up.
Professor Grimpston swatted at one of the prancing unicorn images that floated in front of his face before shouting, “Oh, my! You must warn me when you teleport me during one of your ‘The world is ending and we need heroes’ speeches.”
“Please, Professor. Explain the direness of the situation.”
“Okay, okay, we get it,” someone shouted. “You have a makeup and special effects department. Big deal. If you’re expecting me to shell out any more cash for an update, all you had to do was email me. This is a little over the top.”
“How far the children of dust have fallen.” Grimpston sighed. “Not even magic seems to interest them anymore.”
“It’s the video games I designed,” Myrddin lamented. “They dull the imagination in some. How about we impress them? Dazzle them with magic that cannot be ignored?”
“Must we?”
“When a crowd demands a spectacle…”
Grimpston’s beady eyes lit up. “Fine. A spectacle is what they need? Then a spectacle is what they shall have.”
Grimpston attempted to straighten himself while he was floating, but the distorted gravity only made him spin a bit. He huffed and grabbed his hat before it fell off his head.
“Impressive,” a player murmured as muffled chuckles echoed in the room.
Grimpston took off his hat and held it close to his chest. “Hold onto something if you can.” Then he stroked his long white beard three times before waving his hand. As soon as he did, the world turned upside-down.
As in, literally.
Suzuki felt something hook into his stomach—a sharp pain that quickly vanished, followed by a tug, as if someone had reached into his chest, grabbed his lungs with both hands, and yanked him forward. Suzuki’s body started vibrating, his teeth chattering so violently that he thought they might shake out of his mouth.
The images of fantasy creatures that had been floating in the room melted into giant pools of color and began swirling together.
Suzuki searched for the gnome’s face in the crowd, and when he found it, he could see the color dripping from Grimpston’s face as if he were a fresh oil painting being held outside a speeding car’s window. Suzuki touched his face and looked at his fingers, which were covered with a wet-paint-like substance that was eerily the same color as his skin. Suzuki wondered if he was melting.
The world jerked forward, and even though Suzuki wasn’t standing, he felt the ground drop out from under him. The structure of the building tore itself apart, splitting every which way and out into space as the players rose, yet stayed stationary.
New York was falling apart around them. Buildings shot up from the ground, bridges unraveled themselves, and girders flew around in a vortex of steel, screeching as grass uprooted itself and
the world as they knew it fell apart. They were all suddenly in the deep of space and stars zoomed past them.
“Warp speed,” someone said, and Suzuki agreed. This was exactly like the visual effect on Star Trek. The only difference was that on the tv show, you experienced it from the safety of your living room couch. Here, you were experiencing it for real. Without a spaceship—or a couch, for that matter.
Suzuki clutched his chest, terrified that he was going to suffocate, but before he could lose his breath, he was on firm ground. He fell forward and stifled the urge to vomit. That was when he noticed he was looking at grass. Grass greener than anything he had seen his entire life.
It took him a moment for him to find his feet before he realized that they were all standing in a plain that stretched as far as they could see.
Myrddin was floating down from the sky, and in a moment, his feet daintily touched the ground.
Grimpston was picking himself up off the ground like the rest of the players, knocking grass out of his beard as he cleared his throat. “Impressed,” the gnome more declared than asked.
“I knew it,” Beth cried with abandoned joy. “I fucking knew it.”
“Yeah, you did.” Suzuki was glad he hadn’t talked more to Beth about the Middang3ard conspiracies. He doubted he could have helped thinking she was a little crazy or avoided her thinking that he was a tool. At least now he knew they both knew the truth of it all.
Grimpston and Myrddin stepped away from the players so they could be seen better. Most of the players wouldn’t have noticed. They were enamored with the world around them. The trees were larger, the air crisper, and the sun was beaming down with a heat that many had never experienced before.
It took the combined effort of Myrddin and Grimpston to catch their attention again.
Myrddin clapped his hands twice, the palm-strikes sounding like thunder, while Grimpston spoke in a voice that seemed to both echo in- and outside the spectators’ heads. “As you can see, this is not a game. This is reality. Another plane of reality, but reality nonetheless.”
Grimpston waved his hand, and a globe that looked very much like Earth appeared. “This looks like your home planet, right? But it is not. That is Middang3ard.” He gestured as if pulling at an invisible string and zoomed out until they saw Middang3ard at the center, being orbited by nine similar-looking planets.
The gnomish mage touched the planet that seemed to be farthest away and it glowed bright blue. “That is Earth, and these planets are the eight other known realms of each of the races: Elf, Gnome, Goliath, Ratfolk, and Catfolk worlds. And before you ask, Ratfolk and Catfolk are the strongest of allies.” Each planet lit up the same bright blue as he spoke its name. “Middang3ard is the planet in the center. The tenth planet, if you will. And as for these three, they are the Gnomish, Dwarven, and Dracon. All three worlds have already fallen to the Dark One.” The last three worlds named were colored in blood red.
“The Dark One will not stop until all nine worlds have been conquered. This is an ancient war that has been raging for over two thousand years, and it was only in the last eight years that the Dark One managed to conquer all three. How? We do not know. What we do know is that the Dark One is moving fast, and this is why we opened the expansion set and brought you all here.”
Myrddin zoomed out until a giant black moon was visible, orbiting the nine planets. “I designed the VR game to prepare you. Train you. But limits on technology can only allow me to do so much. I had hoped that this moment would come later, when the game had evolved to be more real. However, we must make do with what we have, and the rest of your preparation and training will be conducted here on Middang3ard.” Myrddin scanned the crowd, and even though he was speaking to dozens of people, everyone there felt he was looking directly at them. “Those of you who pass the coming tests, that is,” he added.
Then, sighing deeply, Grimpston chimed in with, “We have prepared you as best we could. Here on Middang3ard, we will make our stand. You and your party members are our latest batch of recruits. We have been searching for the best warriors your world has to offer for years, and you are this season’s candidates. The Dark One is coming for all our worlds.”
Grimpston sighed again and hung his head. There were tears in his eyes, and his beard caught them as they fell down his cheek.
“Some of our worlds have already fallen, and he is still coming. You are the hope of Middang3ard and the remaining realms that circle it. One of those realms, let me remind you, is your own.”
Stew leaned over to whisper to Suzuki, “I don’t know about this. This is freaking me out, and I’m sure I didn’t sign up for this part when I downloaded the update.”
Suzuki glanced around at the new world, which looked close enough to Earth, but just a few minutes ago, they had been in New York, surrounded by buildings and skyscrapers. This? Just plains and woods in the middle of nowhere, with a gnome and an old man wearing robes? This was something new. Whatever was happening seemed important.
And it was very real.
Beth stepped forward and the Mundanes gathered around her. She put her hand out in the middle. “For glory,” she said.
Sandy put her hand on top of Beth’s. “For honor.”
Suzuki put his hand on top of Sandy’s. They were really going for it. “For XP,” he said.
They all looked at Stew, who was standing with his arms crossed. He was clearly still freaked out by everything that was happening. Still, he wasn’t about to split the party.
With a heavy sigh, he put his hand on top of Suzuki’s. “I know we keep saying for XP, but the game doesn’t give us XP,” Stew grumbled.
“Come on, you big lug,” Sandy grinned.
“Fine,” Stew muttered before growling, “For glory, for honor, for XP!”
The Mundanes were united, and they were in Middang3ard.
Chapter Six
Myrddin and Grimpston led the group of a dozen or so parties through the plains. Grass grew wild, and many of the new recruits were too awestruck to speak. In the distance was a forest, and in front of it stood some sort of construction.
A barracks, perhaps?
As they trudged forward, Myrddin and Grimpston spoke among themselves, mostly ignoring the recruits. It wasn’t an easy trek; the plains turned to hills and the grass was wilder the farther they went. Still, the Mundanes stuck together.
They always stuck together.
None of them spoke to any of the other parties, and none of the others attempted to speak to them. A sharp breeze blew through the plains, and it carried fragrances that Suzuki had never smelled before. He wondered if there were different plants here than at home.
There must be, but then again, where was “here” exactly?
Neither Grimpston nor Myrddin had been very specific as to where they were, other than stating it was Middang3ard. True Middang3ard. Suzuki had seen his world melt before his eyes and the cosmos spread out before him. This couldn’t just be another place on Earth. He wondered if it were an entirely other plane of existence. Perhaps a place folded on top of a place? It must be. Suzuki had never seen anything like this in either the game or the real world.
Beth walked close to Suzuki. She bit her lower lip and stared at her feet as her hands mechanically parted the grass in front of her.
“Was this what you were expecting?” Suzuki resisted the urge to reach for her hand, fearing rejection. Maybe he’d try later.
Then again, maybe not. Given the way he usually operated, he’d probably find an excuse not to do anything, now or later.
Beth shrugged, and when she spoke, Suzuki noted tiny indents in her lip from biting so hard. “You feel that? Even the air feels different.”
“Yeah. Feels lighter. Easier to breathe.”
“Might just be because I’m not inhaling so much smog.”
Suzuki laughed and took a deep breath. “True. Might just be that we’re breathing fresh air for the first time.”
“Hey, Suzuki. Where are you
from?”
Suzuki almost stopped walking as he stumbled over his words. They’d been playing together for nearly two years, and he still had no idea where Beth was from. Same with Sandy and Stew. They’d spent hours and hours together every day, and he had never thought to ask where they lived.
Or maybe they had mentioned it at some point, and the information got lost in the daily raids. It was an odd feeling to be so connected with other people and yet know nothing about who they really were. The sheer oddness of seeing Sandy wearing makeup still hadn’t worn off.
“A smallish town in Orange County called Brea. You’ve probably never heard of it. No one has. How about you?”
“Like you, a small town about forty minutes outside of New York City.” She chuckled at some joke that probably only New Yorkers would get. “But because New York City is the biggest, closest place, everyone in town just says they’re from there. I wonder where they’re from.” She nodded in Sandy’s and Stew’s direction. “Are they enjoying the smog-free air as much as I am?”
Stew and Sandy were walking close together. Their hands brushed as they spoke in soft whispers, Stew occasionally looking around or picking at his face. Sandy did not look at Stew much, but her fingertips continued to touch his.
Beth pointed at their hands. “You know, I thought all that in-game flirting they were doing was just a joke. It’s kinda cute to see that it wasn’t all roleplaying.”
“Yeah. Guess we’re all real people in a real world.”
“Real people in a real world?” Did I just say that? Real smooth, Suzuki. Smooth like sandpaper, he thought, wishing he were alone so he could bang his fist against his forehead.
But if Beth thought he was stupid, she gave no sign of it. “You guys were more real to me back then than most people I know in real life. And seeing you in the flesh only makes it more so.”
Suzuki wasn’t sure if it was this place or the air or the excitement of being on Middang3ard. Whatever it was, he suddenly felt an urge to tell Beth how he felt, like it was now or never. “Hey, Beth,” Suzuki stammered as he slowed down and contemplated his next words.
