Fantalia Online

by Jason Krew

  Roger couldn't sit still, and more than once, his homeroom teacher Ms. Xin cast him venomous glances. He didn't care. He was watching the clock, counting down the minutes and seconds until the bell rang.

  It was finally here. At 5pm sharp, the servers were going live. Three hundred people from his city had been selected, and twenty thousand of them worldwide. School? There was nothing further down his list of priorities.

  He had told no one, of course, not even his friends. He'd been shoved into enough lockers to know what was coming if anyone found out he was invited to the most famous MMORPG in the world. It made him squirm just thinking about it.

  Twenty minutes? It had been thirty minutes half an hour ago! Why was time moving so slow?

  'Roger,' came Ms. Xin's warning voice. 'Pick up your pen.'

  With a scowl, he grabbed his pen, glanced down at the worksheet in front of him. Who cares when Tiberius Gracchus was elected as Tribune? He certainly didn't. Names and dates swam in front of his face, and he quickly zoned out and off into another world.

  'Roger.' He started, and a murmur of chuckles rippled across the room.

  'I'm doing it,' he said.

  'No you're not.' She rose from her seat, began weaving her way through the desks towards him. 'You've done nothing all lesson.'

  'So?' he mumbled under his breath.

  'What are you going to do when it's time to enter the workforce?' Her voice was raised now, and Roger's hands tightened around his pen.

  'I'm already in the workforce,' he muttered. He'd been working since he was ten. Eyes swiveled towards him. He could feel them boring into him.

  'I mean a career,' said Ms. Xin.

  He squeezed the pen under his thumb and forefinger. 'What if I don't want a career?'

  Her presence now loomed large over his shoulder, though he refused to meet her gaze.

  'Then why even come to school? Just drop out and stop wasting everyone's time.' Whispers accompanied her words. This was about as far as she'd ever gone. Roger kept his gaze downward.

  'If I don't want to do my work its none of your business.'

  She had never liked him, and he had never liked her class. It seemed that every lesson was a chance for her to get upset at him. For staring out of the window. For not doing the homework.

  'Get out then, Roger. Get out, get out, get out!'

  He looked up at her now, could see the whites of her eyes. He'd really gone and done it now, but he was too angry to care. He took a hold of his half opened pencil case and shoved it into his bag, before slinging it over his shoulder and bumping his desk out of the way.

  The attention of the class made him feel light headed, but he managed to wind his way through the rows of desks and make it to the door. He didn't look back, and the door slammed with a loud thud behind him. For some reason he knew it was the last time he would ever go through that doorway.

  He looked around at the courtyard. A few crows picked at discarded food scraps. A sheet of paper tumbled past in the wind. The overcast day made the whole place look deserted, and for a moment he imagined that he was the only one left in the whole world.

  Chapter I - Part 2

  His hands were trembling. He left the Humanities department, passed the library and walked straight on out of the school gates. The nerves began to settle as he reached the station, and it wasn't long before he'd all but forgotten about Ms. Xin, and school entirely.

  He bought a soft drink from the chip shop, and for the first time it seemed like Frank was happy to see him.

  'Early finish, eh?' said the man. Roger nodded, feeling giddy.

  He caught the 3 o'clock train for the first time in his life, and even managed to snag a double seat all to himself. The dirty sprawl of suburbia whisked by at a leisurely pace, though somehow the colours seemed brighter this afternoon.

  The train began to slow down, and the LED board read Heathrow Station, his usual stop. Not today. There were high pitched voices at the doors, and as they opened footsteps bounced into the carriage. He could hear the group settle into the seats below, voicing streams of gibberish. He wondered if they were talking about Fantalia.

  In fact, how many people on this train are headed there right now?

  Not many, probably. Most players would already be lined up and waiting to go in. That thought had Roger aflutter with anticipation.

  He looked at the woman sat furthest from him. She looked tired, stray strands of hair had slipped from her tight ponytail, and the gentle side to side rocking of the train was lulling her to sleep. Not her.

  There was a man in front of her, white whiskers clung to a bald pate. He was immersed in a worn old book. Roger doubted he knew much about games.

  Eventually his eyes settled on a young woman with a toddler squirming in her lap. She looked out the window with a wistful expression. Roger couldn't quite understand how someone could be sad when he was feeling so excited.

  The next station was St Clare, and the first of many high rise buildings slid into view. He saw the giant State Bank logo, atop a giant tower of shimmering black glass. A hefty pack of people were lined up here, and they scurried into the carriage like a press of ants.

  He was soon sharing his double seat now, but he wasn't really bothered. The city had become unusually interesting today, and he found himself fascinated by the mix of folk in professional clothing, the bustle of cars, taxis and trucks, the occasional whirring of the light rail.

  The carriage was abuzz, and some of the folk looked like they were dressed for an event.

  '...news reporters...'

  'Entry at 5...'

  '...applied 8 times...'

  'All stations to Central Park,' blared the speakers. Roger downed the rest of his drink, and flipped the bottle over in his hands. He hummed a tune, and his sideways glance caught the gaze of a small group of colourful girls.

  'Are you going to the grand opening, too?' asked a girl with purple highlights.

  Dammit. Roger nodded and scratched the back of his head, painfully self conscious. He heard her friends giggle, and the sound chafed at him. He looked anywhere but at them.

  Purple hair continued, 'I thought you looked like a gamer'

  People were shuffling off the train now, and Roger waited for a gap.

  'Yeah.'

  'Let's go together', she said, falling in behind him. 'Do you know anyone who made it in?'

  'Uh, no. No one.' Descending the steps, he could see dandruff on the scalp in front of him.

  'Neither', said the girl. 'It's really sad.'

  He stepped onto the platform, and followed the press to the station exit. He tapped out on his transit card, and set off down the street towards the Fantalia Online headquarters.

  Chapter I - Part 3

  He could hear the heavy tread of the other girls behind him, and he chanced a glance back at them. They were all around his age, perhaps a year or two older.

  'We jigged school,' said purple hair with a giggle, as if reading Roger's mind. 'The opening is gonna be huge.'

  He could see her eyes appraising him, and her brows narrowed. 'Do you go to Cranbrook?'

  That's weird.

  'Yeah.'

  She gave him a dark smile. 'Oooh, so you're a rich kid, huh?'

  'No', he said, shaking his head.

  She drew up beside him, and serious eyes studied his face. Despite being a couple of inches taller than her, even in her platformed shoes, he began to wilt under her gaze.

  'You're so quiet.'

  'Sorry.'

  'Don't be sorry. It's nice.'

  An awkward silence. One in which Roger was torn between the desire to make conversation and just be left alone.

  'Katelyn, by the way.'

  He mumbled his name.

  '
Nice to meet you, Roger.' She sighed, and glanced back at her friends. 'I really hope they do another round of selections, don't you.'

  'Yeah, true.'

  'Don't you think it's kind of scary, though?'

  Roger raised an eyebrow. 'How come?'

  'Well, it's supposed to be like living in a totally different world, right? With like, a whole new body. Don't you think that would feel weird?'

  'I guess so.' He lapsed into thought. In truth, it had troubled him. He was no stranger to virtual reality. He could play them for hours at a time, sometimes to the point of feeling disoriented upon returning to the real world. But none of them gave you total immersion. You always knew in the back of your mind that if you just took off the headset you'd be back in your room, on the couch or in the arcade. But this was different.

  Like stepping into another dimension. He'd watched the trailer a million times. Total immersive VR experience. There would be no taking off the goggles. From log in to log out, the developers promised that you would be in another world entirely. Well, that's what the website said, anyway. No one knew who the developers were.

  The streets were filled with traffic, and horns sounded off every three seconds. He didn't come to the city too often, but the traffic had never been this bad.

  Lights and 3D renderings jumped out at him, each of them clamouring for his attention. Cafes, taverns, clothing stores, tobacconists, restaurants, a cacophony of sights and sounds and smells, all trying to wrangle his interest and take his money. Not today. He passed his favourite game store, and for the first time in his life had no desire to go in.

  'Can you hear the crowd?' said Katelyn.

  He could. There was quite a commotion coming from up ahead. He passed the glowing blue entrance of the Chinese embassy and rounded the corner onto Main street. Katelyn gasped.

  Hundreds crammed the street, a writhing throng of signs and costumes and waving arms. Officials were dotted about in fluorescent jackets, maintaining the line of barricades that cordoned off the street. A woman in a white hardhat was waving pedestrians through with a long glowing rod. And there, behind glowing orange barriers, was a long line leading all the way up to headquarters, where an unlit sign spelled the word Fantalia.

  'Oh my god, there they are,' said Katelyn.

  He was already making his way over, drawn to the spectacle like a moth to classroom light fixtures. He drew his phone from his pocket, fumbled in his pin and pulled up his selection email.

  'Roger,' Katelyn was calling him. 'Roger where are you going?' She shoved through the press, and her friends were lost in the crowd. 'Why didn't you say?'

  Roger shrugged, but he was grinning from ear to ear. A security guard stopped him, and he held up his phone like an FBI agent's badge. The man gave him a curt nod and put a hand in the small of his back, leading him up the stairs and towards the line.

  'Good luck!' Katelyn shouted, but whatever else she had to say was swallowed up by the chaos.

  Chapter I - Part 4

  The crowd was chanting. 'Let, them, in. Let, them, in. Let, them, in.'

  Roger had a view of the entire street from up on the steps, could see clearly the assembled camera crews and their reporters. He slipped his bag off of his shoulder and dove a hand into the front pocket, searching for his beanie. His fingertips grasped the soft acrylic and he quickly pulled the hat over his head.

  If anyone from school recognised him his life was going to suck even worse. Who wanted to be on TV anyway? Especially if you weren't getting paid.

  He noticed others in school uniforms, and he wondered if they had told their schoolmates. One girl was clearly inner city by her look, short skirt and knee high white socks with a green blazer on top. She gave him a smile as he passed, but he looked away.

  The Fantalia Inc sign was unlit, and it gave the building a deserted feeling. Roger felt himself smile at the terrible thought that the whole thing had been one big practical joke. It would be just his luck.

  But it couldn't be. The process had been far too rigorous. Doctor's certificates, parental consent forms, MRI scans and extensive questionnaires. It had been official, and Roger had jumped through all the hoops.

  The excitement here was a palpable feeling, an electricity that made Roger's skin prickle. There were some tired faces among the lot, disheveled clothes and eyes with dark circles around them, but the energy was high. Roger let himself enjoy the moment, though he couldn't help but remain on the lookout for someone who might know him. He drew up to the back of the line, behind a business man with sweaty armpits and a days worth of body odour. Right now, it didn't bother him in the slightest.

  The time on his phone read 4:06. Just under an hour until doors opened. He was earlier than planned, but it was no matter. He just hoped the place had a bathroom. His bladder hung low and heavy on his abdomen.

  The sun was on it's way down, and the bright city lights and that of the crowd grew sharper as the sky darkened. It looked like there was a concert going on in the street, and he felt like he was on stage with the crowd waving their phones below. He'd only ever seen such a sight in video and never thought much of it until now. People everywhere, and all here for the same thing. It was rather invigorating, and he felt a stupid urge to wave. He stuffed it into the deepest recesses of his being.

  After a moment he was studying the man in front of him, and wondered what his life was like. What made him interested in something like Fantalia Online? He was old enough to be married. Have teenage children. He looked like the type of person that had a mortgage and drove a mid-range vehicle. His hair was a little greasy, and he wore no tie with his crinkled shirt.

  Was he trying to escape his wife and kids? Roger thought of his own father. He and his mother rarely spoke to each other, but his dad never played video games or anything like that. He thought they were a stupid waste of time. He never did anything outside of work, really. Just him and mother, in the shop all day.

  Maybe gaming was simply this man's hobby. If Roger had to guess, he would've been in college around the time when VR really started to take off. He would've seen the evolution of the technology, unlike Roger, who had been in nappies in his uncle's granny flat, already gazing around at the command centre of an alien starship.

  He wondered if the man's wife knew where he was. Did she even care? Maybe she was running the kids around while this man was lining up to play games. That didn't seem fair. Unless of course the guy was the sole income earner. Roger wondered what the man's kids thought about it.

  It was at that moment that the man turned around, and to Roger's dismay, their eyes met. The fellow flashed him a crooked and stained smile.

  'Nice to meet you', he said, eyes crinkling into half circles. 'Exciting, huh. Not long now.'

  Roger nodded, awash with guilt for his assumptions.

  'Yes, yes,' said the man, and he put his hands on his hips and stretched his back with a loud series of cracks. 'Yes, very exciting times. Very exciting indeed.'

  Roger felt particularly awkward in the light of this man's beaming face, and he quickly looked away to the steadily growing crowd.

  'I feel like a celebrity', said the man, and with a big belly laugh he jumped up and raised his hand in a triumphant peace sign. 'Yeah!' he shouted with a grin. A couple of heads turned, accompanied by awkward laughing, and Roger shuffled away ever so slightly.

  'We dreamed of stuff like this as kids', said the man. 'Well, those of us fortunate enough to be indoors while the other kids were outside.' He chuckled again to himself. 'Different now for you kids. though.'

  Roger had heard all this before from uncle Zed. How lucky kids were nowadays with all the technology. How they used to have to visit the library to do an assignment, how the only games on your phone were snake and tetris. Roger didn't really care then, and he didn't need to hear about the past now, but it was clear this man had no intentions of shutting up.

  'So, tank, healer or dee-pee-ess?' The man's eyes were intensely bright, firing well-intentione
d lasers into Roger's face.

  'Uh,' started Roger, 'I dunno, probably some kind of melee.'

  'Ah, I see, I see, so you're yet to decide. Wise, very wise.' He reached into his top pocket and pulled out a crumpled cigarette packet. 'I hope you don't mind you see. I'm addicted, very addicted.'

  Roger did mind, not that it mattered. His dad was a smoker too, and he hated it. He would hate when his dad would kiss him on the cheek after having one, or when the smoke would waft in through his bedroom window.

  'It's different for you kids now, very different. No warnings back in my day, no. It was very cool. Did it for the girls. Different times.'