by Dan Thomas
The vibrant jungle and the rugged faces of his friends disappeared, going to black. The heat of the sun beating on his back disappeared, the feel of dust on his hands being replaced by the silky feel of the sofa.
Ignoring the ten second log-out timer, Max reached up and pulled the helmet-like headset from his face. Blinking as his eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room of his apartment, he tossed the headset down onto the sofa.
Max held his head in his hands, trying to rub away the quickly forming migraine.
“Holic, come on, let’s at least get home.” He heard Pez’s voice in his ear.
“No, you guys get back to base, I’m heading off,” he said quietly.
“Holic...” Ticket’s voice was cut off as Max pulled his earpiece out, placing it down on the glass coffee table, next to the plated leftovers of tonight’s risotto.
He sighed heavily and summoned the energy to get to his feet, his back clicking as he stretched.
Max grabbed the two dirty plates and shimmied out from in between the sofa and the table, tripping over a soda can.
“Shit.” He looked down to see that it was empty and breathed a sigh of relief when nothing spilled out.
Max shuffled over the carpet onto the laminate of the kitchen, placing the plates next to the rest of the dirty cutlery by the sink, then turned and opened the fridge, grabbing another can of soda and the jar of jam.
Shoving his hand in the bread bin, he pulled out the half a loaf they had left, dropped a couple of slices into the toaster, and sat at the counter brooding while he waited for the toast to pop out.
Max wracked his brain, trying to think of who they knew that could be sabotaging them in Primeva. Was it Amy from work? Max knew she had an account, but why would they target his Crew? Or maybe it was Ticket’s old roommate, they didn’t exactly part on good terms.
Not that it matters anyway, Max thought to himself as the toast sprang out of the toaster. He wasn’t putting any more time or money into Terra Verse, hoping to make any decent returns. He was going to focus on getting a career going as well as improving his health and resurrecting his social life.
Getting a butter knife and small plate from the cupboard, Max slapped some jam on the toast and sat chewing his way through it in silence.
“So that’s it, you’re quitting then?” Roderick stepped into the kitchen, stretching out his arms above his head. Max jumped at the voice, he hadn’t expected Pez to exit the game so quickly.
“Yep.” Max finished his toast and took the plate to the sink. Turning on the faucet, he ran the hot water and added dish soap.
“Okay, I know today was brutal, but we’ll pull it back.” Roderick grabbed the coffee pot. “I’ll make coffee and we can come up with a plan to get the stuff back.”
“No, I mean it, I’m quitting.” Max plunged his hands into the hot water and scrubbed the plates angrily.
“For good?” The surprise in Roderick’s voice was mirrored in his expression as Max looked over his shoulder and nodded. Roderick leaned back against the counter with his arms folded across his body, thinking quietly.
“I know it’s not what you want to hear, and I don’t want anything for my stuff, you can split it between you. But I’m done. I’m done thinking that playing Terra Verse is going to somehow change my life. I work in a crappy job, in a crappy office—we work a crappy job, and it’s time I grew up and made a career for myself. We’re never going to hit it big with Terra Verse, we keep looking at all these big Crews, or random people who pull off these crazy raids or win the events, but that’s never going to be us.” Max took a deep breath, his hands shaking beneath the soapy water.
“Wow, since when did you grow up and become my dad?” Roderick asked.
“Maybe there’s a reason why parents all sound the same. Because they have been here right where we are and sooner or later, they realized that dreams are just that...dreams.” Was that really what he believed? Max needed time to calm down and work through his emotions.
“You know, I never thought you would be the one to quit. I always figured it would be me. That I’d get sick of putting up with Chopsticks and move on. Even Jag’s still going. And Chopsticks still persuades Sienna to join us occasionally.” Roderick ran a hand through his hair that was stuck to his head after wearing the headset for so long.
“We’ve already pretty much lost Jaguwar, he’s doing his own thing. And Sienna’s making something of her life at college, and barely plays. Maybe she’s got the right idea.” He left the dishes in the sink, dried his hands, and left the kitchen.
And the game of Terra Verse behind.
Chapter Five
However, leaving Terra Verse behind wasn’t as easy as Max would like the others to think.
“Want to go for a drink tonight?” Roderick’s voice called down the hallway.
Max paused to look at him before shutting the door to the office behind him, which rattled as it latched close. “Can’t, I have plans.” Max walked with his head down to the elevator at the end of the hallway. Roderick followed and stood beside him as he pressed the button for the elevator. The two friends stood in unusual silence as the numbers counted down.
“Since when do you have plans on a Friday evening?” Roderick asked at last as they stepped into the elevator, joining half a dozen of their work colleagues who watched quietly, anticipating drama.
“Thanks, man.” Max rolled his eyes as the doors slid together.
Roderick leaned closer and said, “And since when did you care about what other people thought of you?”
“Since I decided to live in the real world,” Max retorted hotly.
Someone behind them sniggered. Roderick was right, he really didn’t care what most people in the office thought of him. He barely knew a few of them anyway.
“Well, the real world sucks.” Roderick’s voice silenced everyone in the elevator.
“Nice,” Max said as the doors pinged open and everyone spilled out into the lobby area of the office building.
“Are you saying I’m wrong?” Roderick asked as they strode toward the exit. “Because only last week you were the one telling me to put my plans on hold and come dig a mine with you and the others.” He tapped his head as they came to the door. “Remember?”
“I remember. And what can I say? I was wrong.” Max shrugged as he walked off, leaving Roderick staring after him. As he exited the building, he hesitated, looking right and left, not knowing which way to turn.
Back. He should turn back and tell Roderick he was being an ass, and sure, he’d like to go for that drink.
That’s what the old Max would have done. The new Max had a date with a computer. Tonight, he was going to sit down and plan a way out of this crummy office.
Sure, it would take hard work and sacrifice, but hadn’t he worked hard and sacrificed enough of his time over the last couple of years in an attempt to earn a stable wage from a game? Albeit a game that actually influenced the stock market.
Crossing the street, he ran for the bus and jumped on. As the bus started to move, he made his way to the back. He and Roderick usually made the journey home together. Sitting at the back, they would watch the other people get on and get off and feel sorry for their humdrum lives when they had an evening or weekend of crusading across a prehistoric world ahead of them.
Max sat down on his own and stared out of the window, watching the world go by. Shops, stores, traffic. This was the real world, this was the world he had to learn to live in.
As the sound of wheels turning faded into the background, his mind began to wander, thinking about his week. Was it the end of the week again already? What would he do for food tonight?
He wondered how the Crew was doing feeding the Mononykus, it must be a pain in the ass to keep an insectivore fed with their current setup.
He jumped as he caught hold of his traitorous train of thought. No matter what he did, his thoughts always followed the same track, back to Primeva.
Addicted. That’s
what he was. An addict. Another week or two and it would be out of his system.
Max got off the bus a stop early and walked the rest of the way home. He told himself it was because he was trying to improve his fitness, but really, he wanted some time and space to think. What did he want to do with his life?
The question had rattled around his brain all week and he was no closer to an answer. A vibration in his pocket alerted him to a text. Welcoming the excuse not to think about his future, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and swiped the screen.
R U in? The message was from Chopsticks.
I’m busy, Max messaged back. If he was going to get over his addiction, he needed some distance from his fellow addicts. He’d avoided video chatting with Chopsticks, the desire to talk about the game would be too much for either of them to ignore.
In town. Thought we could meet. Chopsticks lived a couple of hours’ drive away. Why was he here?
I can meet u tomorrow. If Max gave in now, if he dropped his plans for the evening, his resolve would crumble like a termite mound crumbled under the massive foot of a Brontosaurus. No, if he planned to avoid the game on a Friday evening for the first time in months, he would have to avoid his friend.
Just want to talk.
Can’t tonight. Max stuck his phone back in his pocket, crossed the street, and entered his apartment building. He took the stairs, ignoring the vibration of his phone in his pocket.
Breathless and hungry, he opened the door of the apartment he shared with Roderick and went inside.
He stepped into the small hallway. The lights were all off. Roderick must have found someone else to go out with tonight or perhaps he was just taking a long time to make it home.
Going to the kitchen, Max grabbed a boxed meal from the refrigerator, stripped off the package, and bundled it into the microwave. He didn’t care what it was or what it tasted like, it was fast and filling.
While he waited for the ping of the microwave, he headed to his bedroom. Max pushed his door open and stooped to scoop up the laundry on the floor, piling it into the laundry basket. He walked around his bed to the corner where his old PC lived on a desk. Unused, unless he was doing late-night research for Terra Verse.
Well, tonight he planned to use it to research a new career. Then he would make a mind map as he figured out how to sidestep out of this life and into a new one. One filled with more promise than a mystery dinosaur egg Chopsticks brought home.
Max sighed again as he looked at the map hung on his wall, detailing their slice of Primeva. Central was the little stretch of jungle they called home—north of the Tannika Plains in a little ridge below the Merride Peaks, with the Termite mounds of the Kaolin Lowlands to the east where many of the local Crews harvested Mortar for building.
Adorning the rest of the wall space were posters of a few of his favorite creatures in the game. These were the monsters of the Primeva world, high-end Tier-four dinosaurs. For Max, you could not go wrong with the classic dinos like the unshakeable Ankylosaur, the fearsome Spinosaurus, and the all-dominating Rex.
He sighed. There was almost another whole level to Primeva that he had never experienced. Only the most-established crews were able to take on or even tame the larger and better-known dinos. It was something he and Chopsticks had always dreamed of doing.
With the PC starting up, the ping of the microwave summoned him back to the kitchen.
Pulling the handle, he opened the microwave door and was enveloped in a cloud of steam. Trying not to burn his fingers, he took the piping hot plastic container from the microwave and placed it on a plate.
“Mmmm, yummy.” He wrinkled his nose and tried not to think about the pizza parties he and Roderick often had during long gaming sessions.
His gaze lingered on his VR kit on the table as he walked through the living room. Maybe he should sell it. The kit wasn’t top-of-the-line, but it was a good solid setup that had cost him around three months’ salary over the years. He couldn’t afford to just let it sit in the corner and get dusty. He’d kind of been banking on the money from all the mining and grinding to help pay toward moving out of the city, but since that was now gone, he could use the extra cash from selling his gear.
He reached his bedroom again and unclenched his teeth. Ever since the last run-in with the Ravagers, he’d been grinding his teeth. If he didn’t let go of the seething anger and wish to rain certain death down on their heads, he was going to need the cash for dental implants because his back molars would be ground to dust.
Just as he’d like to grind their faces into dust.
Plonking his miserable meal down onto his computer desk, Max sat down in the seat, staring glumly at the screen. The computer had automatically reopened what he had last been doing—surfing the Terra Verse community forums.
He had to force himself not to click on any of the headlining articles as he read the titles.
Apex Predators—Why Primeva’s dinos are the most difficult, but worthwhile tames.
10 ways to improve productivity around the base—number 6 will shock you!
We spent a MONTH investigating this MISSING player, here’s what we found out!
Max moved the mouse to click onto the search bar and flexed his fingers, the tips hovering over the keyboard when a loud bang reverberated through the room.
“What the hell!” Max swung around at the sound of the apartment door swinging open and banging on the wall of the hallway. He got up and rushed to his bedroom door, peering through to see who was breaking in. “Chopsticks.”
Chopsticks caught his eye from the hallway and threw him a gang sign. “Waddup, homie?”
Max opened his mouth in bewilderment. How did he have keys? Surely Roderick wouldn’t have just handed them over, he was always complaining about Chopsticks shoving the door open too hard and damaging the plaster on the wall. But as Max stepped into the living room, he heard Roderick’s voice mingling with Chopsticks and…
“What are you all doing here?” Max asked as Roderick followed Chopsticks in, who was making himself comfortable on the sofa, next to Sam ‘Ticket’ Booth, who was probably once again acting as ringleader.
“Eating pizza and drinking beer.” Roderick held up a case of beer as evidence.
“I can see that, but why are you all here?” Max pointed at the floor of the apartment. “We never get together in real life on a Friday night.”
“Well, things change.” Sam picked up a slice of pizza from a box on the table and took a bite.
Max hovered in the doorway, perplexed at the sight before him. “You and Tatum never socialize outside of the game,” he pointed out to his roommate. “You hate each other.”
Chopsticks wrinkled his nose at the sound of his real name and cast a sideways look at Roderick.
“Hate is a strong word, my friend.” Roderick sat down heavily next to Chopsticks and put his arm around him. “Chopsticks and I have buried the hatchet for the sake of the common good of the Crew.”
“We have.” Chopsticks pushed his glasses back up his nose and smiled. “For the sake of the Crew.”
“Oh, I see what this is.” Max waved his finger at the three people on his sofa. “You think you can persuade me to come back. Well, it’s not going to work.”
“Wanna bet?” Sam asked through a mouthful of pizza.
Max’s shoulders sagged forward. “Please, guys. I appreciate it, but my mind is made up.”
“No, it’s not,” Roderick said. “Have you seen the way you drool over your headset like it’s some hot girl?”
“I do not.” Max’s eyes shifted upward as he recalled how Roderick had walked in on him staring at his headset a couple of days ago. Max had quickly averted his gaze, but not fast enough to fool his roommate.
“Whatever, denial is the first sign that you are not coping well.” Sam gestured at him with a half slice of Margherita pizza. “So, let’s just get to the point.”
“Which is?” Max asked, the smell of the pizza luring him into the
room. As if drawn by some invisible force, he grabbed a slice and slumped down onto the floor, his headset level with his eyes. Yeah, some invisible force. Only the pizza in his hands stopped him from reaching out and caressing the curved headset that was molded perfectly to the contours of his head.
“Hey!” Chopsticks clapped his hands together. “Head in the room, please.”
“So, what’s this plan?” Max asked.
“Who said we had a plan?” Roderick’s eyes flashed with humor as he glanced at his two allies. “We only said we had a point.”
“Stop messing around,” Chopsticks chastised Pez then he leaned forward, his eyes focused on Max. “We do have a plan. A really good plan.”
“To do what?” Max asked warily.
“Get back what’s ours and crush those Ravagers once and for all.” Sam’s expression clouded, a storm was growing. “Get back Charlie, Saturn, and Jupiter. We are not going to leave them to an unknown fate with those dickheads.”
“I’m not playing Terra Verse anymore,” Max said so weakly that he didn’t even believe it himself. “Holic is dead.”
“Yeah, whatever, we don’t need Holic anyway,” Chopsticks told him.
“So what? You want me to be the mastermind and not go in-game?” Holic asked.
Sam nearly choked on her pizza. “Mastermind.” She coughed again. “No, we have something much more devious than that.”
This piqued Max’s attention. “What?” He couldn’t stop himself. He knew he was doomed. He knew that whatever their plan was, it had to be good or they would not be here with their pizza and beer. “What’s the big scheme?”
“Okay.” Roderick had his game face on. “We were talking. And we thought, what if we could infiltrate the Ravagers?”
“Infiltrate the Ravagers?” Max repeated, a little deflated at their idea so far.
“Yes. We get someone on the inside,” Sam explained. “That someone relays all the information we need back to the rest of the Crew. Then, after the rest of the crew have sufficiently strengthened our own forces...we attack.”
“Simple version,” Chopsticks butted in. “We send someone in and then we attack and wipe them off the face of Primeva.”
