by Scott Kujawa
Table of Contents
Dedication
Legal
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
Dedication
To my mother, I finally did it. It took long enough
but I finished my first novel, finally. Life threw a lot
of curves but now, here's my first novel. Oh yeah,
the second song I wrote into the story for you,
I hope you enjoyed that surprise.
Legal
Dyalessia Games: Alex & Christie is a work of fiction.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Scott Kujawa. All Rights Reserved.
Version 4.0
Chapter One
The year 2000 was three years in the past when the idea of creating her own video game started with a doodle which took place one day during math class back when Alexandria and Melody were into their third year of high school in Pittsford, a suburb of Rochester, New York. Alex was the one that started that doodle because she was bored with the class, and she needed a way to look like she was paying attention to the teacher.
That doodle seemed to take on a life of its own. Four spires at the corners soon became connected by the four walls. The building soon took on the appearance of a well fortified and secured place. The walls were wide enough that they could be used as walkways, allowing the guardians to patrol the walls and look out at the landscape beyond the library. The stone walls were also thick that they caused anyone that wanted to attack the building to rethink that idea. Other defenses, like the magical wards, kept the place secure and added to the protections.
It was when she showed it to Melody that her sister took an interest in what her younger sister was doing and it was all the two would talk about when they were together. At first their parents found the ideas the two were working on as an amusement and a phase the two girls were going through but as the idea took further hold with the two, their parents came to realize that the girls would not give up on this idea and that their daughters had come up with the idea that drove the two more than anything had ever done so far.
Soon that one drawing became more, and Alex expanded the land outside of the library, adding more until the building became a map of the city that grew up around the library. Soon enough that city was further flushed out, and Alex knew the city itself was a place where artists and creators of art, science, magic, and other pursuits beyond war and killing could find a place where they could create, learn, and expand their knowledge without fear of being invaded.
That one city became the main basis of the game world that the two planned on creating once they had their own knowledge on how to do so and the funds to bring the world into creation. Throughout the rest of her years in high school and into college Alex kept that picture and added to it whenever she felt the drive to jot down more notes or work on more detailed drawings. Those drawings became better as she improved her ability to draw from the classes she took in high school and from the time she spent practicing and creating new artwork, which helped Alexandria to become better each time she drew a new piece of fantasy artwork.
“Who is that?” Alex asked in a soft surprised tone as she stopped in the middle of the hallway and stared at the girl that had caught her eye. Her hand reached up to play with the end of the blond ponytail that kept her thick hair out of her face. Sometimes she hated that Melody didn't have the same thick hair as Alex did. It seemed to be one more thing that Melody had easier compared to how much Alex seemed to struggle with her appearance and everything else.
“Oh, she's the new girl,” Melody said after a moment once she caught the words that her sister spoke.
“New girl?”
Melody gave a quick nod. “Yea. Haven't you heard the gossip about her?” Giving Alex a look, Melody shook her head before her grin spread over her face. “You haven't -”
“Of course not. You know how I am and that I hardly listen to the school gossip.”
“That's why you're usually the one that is being talked about, Alex! Maybe if you tried.”
Now it was Alex's turn to grin at her sister and shrug her shoulders. The two of them knew this was a conversation that has happened many times between them, and it would be a conversation that would continue over the rest of the years they had in high school together.
“So who is she?” Alex asked again before she swallowed because the girl in question was standing before the sisters.
“If you want to know, you should just ask me instead of standing in the hallway and blocking everyone from getting around you.”
Alex felt her blush spread as she stared at the girl. “Right... so... um... uh... hi? Um... what's -?”
Feeling her grin spread and a laugh come from her, Melody spoke up again. “Smooth, Alexandria, real smooth.”
“Shut up!” Alex said as she turned to her sister and smacked Melody on her upper arm, forgetting about who was standing there and how the two sisters were blocking the space in the hallway. At least until Melody returned the slap to Alex's upper arm and pulled her sister out of the hall and off to the side. At the same time she moved her sister, Melody's other hand grabbed onto the new girl's clothing, bringing her along with the two of blondes.
“I'm Melody, and the smooth talker here is Alex, my sister.”
“Bess. As you realized, I'm new here, and I just moved to Rochester and started in the district. I know that she speaks but can she make a complete sentence?” Bess asked, shooting her grin at Alex again and watching the blush spread over Alex's pale skin. “She looks pretty when her cheeks are all red. Like the chipmunks from back home.”
“Hey! That's a pretty mean thing to say! I am not a chipmunk!”
“She is chipper like one though, and she chitters like one all the time. Plus she seems to store her food, at least that's how it seems because of all the food I keep finding stashed around her bedroom.” Melody grunted this time as Alex's fist landed on her sister's arm for the second time. “That hurt, Alex!”
“Good! Now stop calling me a chipmunk!” She looked at Bess and shook her finger back and forth at the new girl. “And don't you keep doing that either! Rude much!”
“Okay, I won't call you a chipmunk from now on, Chitter.”
“Hey!”
As Alex continued to glare at the two, she tried to keep up her mock anger, but it was only a few moments before the sound of her laughter joined Melody's and Bess's laughter, leaving the three of them in stitches as they stood in the hallway and their little world.
That was how the three of them became friends, and that was how the group of two expanded into a group of three even if Alex and Bess had a different relationship with each other compared to the relationship between Melody and Bess.
If it wasn't for Bess, the idea of creating Alex's fantasy world and getting it coded might never have happened. Bess had been a transfer student from California because her father had agreed to be one of the new professors at the computer
building that opened at the Rochester Institute of Technology. From the moment that Alexandria first met Bess, Alex knew she had fallen in love with the transfer student. It took Alex a few days to build up the nerve to talk to the new girl only because Alex was crushing on Bess so much. It was also then that Alex knew she was different and that she had feelings for someone of her gender instead of all the feelings that all of her friends were feeling when it came to boys.
As for Bess herself, she was someone that stood out among everyone because of just who she was, how she dressed and her appearance. Black hair that was bobbed just above her shoulders. That black color also came from a bottle since Bess hated her original color, which was drab brown. T-shirts that were black or other dark colors, but they always had some saying, image, or design on them that had something to do with technology, reading, science, or other geeky pursuits. Of course, there was also Bess's interest in tight jeans that had slashes, and other holes ripped into them, and her outfits were finished with combat boots. The way those hit the floor was one of Bess's signature sounds and hearing that heavy thread made it clear who was walking down the hallways or into a room.
Alex couldn't help herself, she fell for Bess, and it didn't take long before the two were spending their free time together. It was Bess that first found the notes and maps that Alex had created and after teasing Alex a little about them, the gothic geek girl grew interested in the world that Alex was creating. Using her talents in drawing and artwork, Bess soon added her ideas to the world, which would later become some of the dungeons, ruins, and other dangerous places that the people who played the game could explore, find monsters, find treasure, and maybe find their deaths.
It was also because of Bess that Alex first learned some of her early understanding of how to code. It was Bess's father that helped Alex build her first computer because he worked with computers out west, but he wanted to spread his knowledge to some of the younger students that were interested in going to college, and once the offer from RIT was offered to him, he agreed to take the teaching position at the college even if the campus was in upstate New York. Seeing that Alex was an eager student, Henry didn't mind all the time that the two girls spent with him or the endless questions they asked about during the weekends where the three of them working on building their computers, getting them set up, and learning how code programs with them.
*****
Even all these years later, Bess was still involved in the creation of the world, and her drawings and ideas made it into the game every time there was a new patch or expansion. However, Bess was also a known artist that had made a name for herself once everyone graduated from high school and the colleges they went off too.
Although Bess lived downstate, having moved to New York City, the two were still friends, and they got together during the year to catch up with each other, gossip with each other, or just to spend time together as two good friends would do. The idea of them being lovers again? That was long past. Especially since Bess met Mira, her wife, during one of the showings of Bess's artwork at one of the galleries in New York City
It was the summer leading up to the last year of high school when Alex found the courage to ask Bess out on a date, which led to a summer romance that lasted throughout the rest of their senior year together. That first date ended up with Alex and Bess meeting up to spend time together shopping, or going to the movies, or playing video games, or just spending time together with the way two teenagers would when it was summer or when they had to get through the last year of high school.
Alex and Bess even went to their senior prom together, which was also the night that the two of them slept together even if they knew their lives would take different paths once they graduated from high school. Alex had her plans to take classes at Monroe Community College and then transfer to RIT after two years, giving her a chance to learn from Bess's father while getting a better understanding of how to code and build programs. Bess dreamed of taking art classes, which she did once she received admittance to the Cooper Union in New York City.
Melody and Alexandria started the video game company right after they graduated from the two years of classes they took together at MCC even though Alex's education continued once she went to RIT. All of her time was spent in her college classes and the game company that the sisters created together. Even though Melody could create and code for the game world just like Alexandria could, Mel also took business classes, and she was the one that took care of the companies expenses, books, accounts, payments, and all that was needed on the financial side of the business.
That left Alexandria as the main creator and coder of the game world and most of the buildings, landscape, creatures, and characters were her creations. She spent most of her work days in the game world, playing the female character she had named after herself. Melody also had a character she used when she felt the need to work on something or when she wanted to add something to the game world, but it was Alex that spent most of her time in the computer-generated world.
Slowly the two added others to the company when they felt like they needed further help on the projects they continued to add to the game world once the setting had gone live and open to the public. Now it was about four years later, and the small two-person company had grown into a group of about a dozen. All the team worked well together, and they had become close, almost like they were family.
Sure, sometimes everyone disagreed with each other, but those problems were worked out and settled pretty quickly and in a way that left everyone happy with how things were handled. Knowing the sisters wouldn't let any issues become bigger problems also helped ease any tensions that broke out between any of their employees. Problems also rarely cropped up because the sisters had hired no one that the rest of the employees felt wouldn't fit in with those that already worked for Melody and Alex.
Chapter Two
Christie's plans and life changed the day she stepped into her programming class about six months ago when she heard there would be a presentation by a guest speaker. That speaker turned out to be Bess, the artist that created all the images for Dyalessia Games, and the world of Dyalessia, which the three owners created by combining the letters of their three first names to make one word which they used both for the name of their company and for the game world that was their main video game. Christie began packing up her supplies to leave for the day once Bess's lecture was finished, but before she could leave, she looked up at Bess with a shocked look on her face.
“Hi. You're Christie, right? Your professor showed me some of your work before I started the lecture and I wanted to meet with you afterward. Anyhow, you're wondering why I wanted to do that, and that's because I wanted to offer you a chance to work with the team that creates Dyalessia.”
Christie's eyes went wider and wider as Bess's words sunk in. “Wait? What? Me? Work on Dyalessia? Are you serious? You can't be, right? I mean…”
Smiling at the way Christie stumbled her way through a reply, Bess showed her amusement by the way she reacted. “Yes you, and I'm serious. The only catch… well… there are two catches. The first one is you have to meet with the sister who hires everyone and the second is everyone but me lives upstate in Rochester.”
“Oh. Well. I don't mind moving upstate to do my internship with two people I admire so much.”
“Great. As for talking to Mellie, you could do a phone interview, and then she could give you a more personal meeting once you are settled in Rochester. Your professor also told me that all of your credits and everything would transfer over to Rochester Institute of Technology if you take the job. So, are you interested?”
“Hells yes, I am!” Christie blurted after it seemed like she had been silent for so long as she processed the opportunity she had been offered.
Christie breathed out a long tired sound; the last few days had drained her. Even though she knew the move from New York City to Rochester was planned, things still didn't come together as well as they should hav
e.
First it the moving company calling her to tell her that their normal movers were held up but the movers should arrive later in the day instead of the morning appointment, which would have allowed Christie to get on the road at least that evening. Then it was a problem with her friends and roommates not wanting Christie to leave the city, which led to more sessions of crying and other emotional breakdowns.
Now she was in Rochester where she would finish her classes in computer and video game programming at RIT.
Before Christie left NYC, Bess told Christie to say hello to Bess's father, once Christie met him because he would be one of Christie's professors at RIT. But first Christie had to find something to eat if the growling in her stomach was anything to go by and a place to live, which was something she handled once she arrived. Originally, the college offered her a dorm or a place on campus, but she didn't commit to that offer, she hadn't lived in a dorm since the first year of college and Christie hoped someone would offer a place that wasn't filled with people who were more interested in making noise, getting themselves drunk or drugged, or having sex instead of getting the education they should get while in college.
After the long drive from NYC, Christie wandered around the campus and the shops that were nearby, which catered to the college crowd. It was in another of those shops she pulled off the flier she had seen in other shops. She wasn't sure why the flier caught her interest in this shop, but it did, and now she was glad because she realized that it was an advertisement for a roommate.
“Hi. I found this flier posted almost in every coffee shop and other places. Is the room still available? I moved here, and I need to find a place to live.”
Christie was hopeful that the room was still available even if the woman who posted the flier looked like someone that had Christie concerned due to the clothing the stranger was wearing. As soon as the woman answered the front door, Christie was sure that the woman before her was poor and that was why she needed a roommate. Jeans that had their knees torn out, plus other holes in the same jeans. A shirt that was losing its threads and also had a few holes in it, even if they were smaller holes than the ones in the woman's jeans. And her brown hair was interesting because of the way it was braided into dozens of braids and the length of it.
