The Player Blackout

by Lucas Flint

  Suddenly, the woman shouted, “Help! Someone help me! Someone save me from these thugs! Please, someone save—”

  The black thug rushed forward and slammed his hand over her mouth. He put his gun against her head and the woman’s eyes widened in fear.

  “Now, now, lady,” said the black thug in a far more dangerous voice than before, “we ain’t gonna have none of that, now. We’re going to handle this all by ourselves, see? No need to drag innocent bystanders into it.”

  As soon as the black thug finished speaking, two notifications suddenly popped up in my vision:

  MISSION: Save the woman

  An innocent woman was accosted on her way back home from work and is now at the mercy of three vicious thugs, who probably want more than her purse, if you catch my drift. Although you are an Unaligned Civilian and not a Hero like the caped crusaders you see on TV, you feel a powerful urge to help the woman, even if it means putting your own life at risk. Those thugs have guns, after all, and you definitely don’t.

  ALIGNMENT: Hero

  DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Easy

  RARITY: Common

  SUCCESS: Defeat the thugs and save the woman

  FAILURE: Continue walking on your way and ignore the woman. You’re just a Civilian, after all.

  REWARDS: Instant promotion to the Hero Alignment

  ACCEPT? Y/N

  I almost hit ‘Y,’ but I wanted to look at the other notification first:

  MISSION: Rob the woman

  A naive girl thought she could save a few minutes on her walk home from work by taking a shortcut in a dark alley, only to get ambushed by a trio of fine young enterprising men who know an opportunity to enrich themselves when they see it.

  But the hallmark of a Villain is knowing when to swoop in and get the rewards after others have done all the hard work. Are you brave enough to steal that woman’s purse right out from under the noses of the Three Stooges? Or are you going to let a perfect opportunity to enrich yourself go to waste?

  ALIGNMENT: Villain

  DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Easy

  RARITY: Common

  SUCCESS: Rob the woman before the thugs do

  FAILURE: Help the woman for free (like the sucker you are)

  REWARDS: Instant promotion to the Villain Alignment

  ACCEPT? Y/N

  What the heck? I was vaguely aware that Capes Online gave players the option of being a Hero or Villain, but I couldn’t see how anyone with a conscience could possibly accept the Villain mission. Even if this was just a game, that woman threatened with mugging and possibly even rape didn’t know that. And it didn’t change the fact that thugs are thugs, whether real or virtual.

  Before I made any final decisions, however, a third notification appeared in my vision:

  You have been given a choice. Depending on which mission you accept, you can become a Hero or a Villain. But be aware that neither status is permanent. Every action you make in-game will tip your Alignment toward one end of the spectrum or the other. Heroes can become Villains and even the worst Villains can find redemption. As always, choose wisely.

  I hesitated for a second. That was oddly realistic for a game. I would think most players would choose one way or another, but I guess the developers really wanted to go the whole hog with this game. I remembered that the original Capes Online locked you into whatever Alignment you chose at the beginning. Guess they were going for more realism in this version.

  But I didn’t care. I accepted the Hero mission and all three notifications vanished at once, only to be replaced by a new notification that read:

  You have accepted ‘MISSION: Save the woman’! You are now obligated to see the mission through to the end. If at any time you need a refresher on your mission objectives or any other details about your current mission, go to the ‘MISSIONS’ menu in your character menu. Good luck!

  I swiped the notification out of my view. I hoped I didn’t get notifications like that all the time, otherwise I was going to go crazy. I bet there was an option in the settings to change how often those darned things appeared.

  In any case, it was go-time now. I reached for my gun in my holster before I remembered I was not in my police uniform anymore. A quick check of my body showed me that I didn’t have any weapons on me at all, which meant I was at a severe disadvantage when it came to dealing with the thugs. This may have been a game, but I suspected that getting shot by a virtual gun hurt just as much as getting shot by a real one.

  I did, however, see a stone lying on the ground not too far away, so I picked up the rock and held it behind my back. It wasn’t much, but maybe I could use it to nail the leader and make him drop his gun. It was better than nothing, at least.

  Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the alley and shouted, “Hey, thugs! Leave that woman alone!”

  The thugs—who had been in the process of trying to wrench the woman’s purse from her hands—suddenly looked over at me. They didn’t look terribly afraid of me, but they also didn’t aim their guns at me. That was good. As long as they didn’t think I was a threat, this would make everything much easier.

  “Hey, bud,” said the white guy with a sneer. “This ain’t none of your business, see? Unless you’re the lady’s boyfriend, that is.”

  “No, I’ve never seen this woman before in my life,” I replied, speaking as confidently as I could. “But I can’t stand seeing a defenseless woman like her being attacked by thugs like you. Cowards like you are exactly the kind of scum I hate the most.”

  “What are you, some kind of Hero wannabee?” said Rolando with a laugh. “You sound just like Lightbringer. Except Lightbringer is, you know, an actual Hero, not an overconfident Civilian like you.”

  I had no idea who Lightbringer was, so I simply said, “I may be just an ordinary Civilian, but that doesn’t mean I have to stand by and watch you manhandle such a beautiful woman. Let me repeat my order again: Leave her alone. Now. Or things will get ugly.”

  The black thug—whose name was apparently [THUG JIM], because I could suddenly see his name floating above his head for some reason—let go of the woman and turned to face me. The woman didn’t move, however. She just sunk onto the street, clutching her purse to her chest and looking from me to the thugs and back again with a terrified face.

  “Look what we have here, boys,” said Jim, a wicked grin crossing his ugly features. “A guy who wants to be a Hero. I wonder if he is aware of how often Heroes die.”

  I tensed, even though none of the thugs were pointing their weapons at me yet. “Giving up your life for another person’s is nothing to be ashamed of. Better than living like a coward who preys on weak women who can’t defend themselves.”

  Jim scowled. “Allow me to make a counteroffer: You run off and let us do what we will with the woman. In return, we won’t fill your body with lead and dump your corpse in a ditch somewhere to rot.”

  I shook my head. “Sorry, but I’m going to have to say no to your offer. I think I’d rather beat you three and save the woman.”

  Jim’s scowl deepened. He glanced at his comrades. “Ted, Ro, teach this guy a lesson while I finish our business with the nice lady. Don’t be too loud about it, though. Don’t want to attract the cops … or worse, a Hero.”

  Ted and Rolando nodded. They raised their guns, but I didn’t hesitate. I flung the rock out from behind my back and it smacked directly into Jim’s huge forehead. Jim cried out and fell over onto the street, clutching his bleeding forehead.

  “Boss!” said Ted as he and Rolando looked down at Jim. “You okay, boss?”

  Sensing my opportunity, I rushed forward and barreled into the two thugs. I managed to knock down Ted, but Roland had better balance and began grappling with me. Although I managed to knock his gun out of his hands, Rolando himself was surprisingly strong, forcing me down to the street and trying to choke me with his large hands. I struggled to hold him back, but found it hard until strength flooded my limbs all of a sudden and a notification appeared in the corne
r of my vision:

  Power unlocked: Super Strength [Level 1]. You now have the strength of two mighty men! Cost: None [Passive].

  Level up your Power further by increasing it with Power Points in your character menu.

  Although I didn’t quite understand what happened, I couldn’t deny the strength I felt flowing through me. I shoved Rolando off me hard enough to send him rolling into a trash can, which fell on him and spilled its disgusting contents all over him.

  Scrambling to my feet, I looked up in time to see Ted aiming his gun at me, his finger on the trigger. Knowing I needed to be fast, I rushed toward Ted and slapped the gun out of his hands. Ted yelled, but then I punched him in the face and he went flying. He slammed into the street a few feet away and went still.

  Two more notifications appeared in my vision:

  [Thug Rolando] and [Thug Ted] have been defeated! Thugs remaining: 1/3.

  My eyes fixated on the number of remaining thugs. I thought I defeated Jim, but if this notification was correct—

  A gunshot exploded in the alley and I fell down to my hands and knees. Gasping for breath, I felt awful pain in my lower back and received another notification:

  You were shot! -3 Health!

  Status inflicted: Gunshot wound. Lose -1 Health/every 3 seconds until you die.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Just like I thought, getting shot hurt just as much in-game as it did in real life. I had never been shot before, of course, but I imagined this was probably what it felt like. I could barely think through the pain and the decreasing Health certainly didn’t help matters, especially since I didn’t even know how much Health I had left.

  A kick in the side knocked me over and I found myself lying flat on my back on the street in an increasingly large pool of my own blood. That kick took another point or two off my Health and sent pain rushing through my body again. Even though this was a game, the pain felt as real as any pain I’d felt in real life, if not even worse.

  Then Jim appeared above me. Although his forehead was still bleeding from where my rock had hit him, he seemed to be fine otherwise. A murderous scowl appeared on his features as he aimed his gun at me.

  “You’re no Hero, but you’re every bit as annoying as those masked freaks,” said Jim. “Better take you out before you start getting ideas. We got enough Heroes as is. Don’t need another caped do-gooder running around acting like he owns the place.”

  I wanted to get up, but my body wouldn’t respond. My Health was dropping every couple of seconds and the pain I felt was paralyzing. All I could do was hope maybe death in-game wouldn’t be permanent and that maybe I would get to try the mission again next time.

  But I couldn’t accept that. Even though I knew this was just a game, I didn’t want to let these guys have their way with that woman. The idea that I failed to protect an innocent person from criminal scum sent anger shooting through my veins.

  With a grunt, I grabbed Jim’s ankle and pulled. With a surprised shout, Jim fell down onto the pavement by me. I scrambled back to my feet, ignoring the pain in my lower back, and looked over just in time to see Jim rising back to his feet. He was rubbing his head and pointing his gun at me, but I lunged forward and slapped his gun out of his hands. Jim’s gun flew out of his hands and landed several feet away from us out of his reach.

  Then I kicked Jim in the groin and he fell down. I stomped my foot on his chest, making Jim gasp for breath before I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up. I pulled back my fist, preparing a punch that would knock him out in one blow.

  “Hey, man,” said Jim in a terrified voice. “We thought you were just a joker, okay? If you let us go, we’ll leave that lady alone and never bother her again. Honest.”

  I snorted. “Do you think I’m that naive? Or just stupid? Because I’m not either. Good night.”

  With that, I slammed my fist into the side of his face and Jim went unconscious. A notification appeared out of the corner of my eye:

  [Thug Jim] has been defeated! Remaining Thugs: 0/3.

  I dropped Jim’s unconscious body onto the ground, feeling relieved that the fight was over, but before I could celebrate, intense pain flowed through me and I fell to the street. Landing on my hands and knees, I saw another notification appear in my vision:

  Your Health is now >10%!

  Debuff: Crippling pain. Movement -50% and consciousness +50% harder to maintain!

  Darn it. Even though I beat the thugs, it looked like I was going to die anyway. That meant I was going to fail the mission regardless of what I did. What a great start to my new ‘life,’ if it could even be called that.

  “Hey, are you okay?” said a female voice above me.

  I looked up to see the frightened woman from before standing above me. She no longer clutched her purse quite as tightly as before, but she had her hand over her mouth and was looking at me as if I was a corpse. Given how much I was bleeding, that wasn’t exactly inaccurate.

  “No,” I grunted, “but don’t worry about me. Are you okay?’

  “Yes,” said the woman, nodding. She looked at the unconscious Jim and shuddered. “For a moment there I really thought I was going to die. First time I’ve ever been mugged. It’s not an experience I ever want to go through again.”

  I nodded in return, despite my pain. “Yeah, most people don’t. But you’re safe now, although I would suggest calling the cops.”

  “Sure,” said the woman, nodding again. Then she hesitated. “Thanks for saving me, by the way. Even though you’re not a Hero, you sure acted like one. Most people in your situation would have just kept walking.”

  “No problem,” I said. I grunted in pain. “You wouldn’t happen to have some kind of healing item or something, would you?”

  The woman shook her head. “Sorry, but I’m not a doctor or a nurse, so I can’t heal you. But I can call an ambulance to come pick you up and take you to the hospital. Do you think you will be able to remain conscious for that long?”

  “I … I think so …” I said. I put a hand on my head. “Oh … man …”

  Darkness was gathering in the corners of my eyes and I could feel my consciousness slowly slipping through my fingers like grains of sand. Another notification informed me that I had less than five percent Health left and dropping. I figured I had just a few seconds left before I died, and once I did, all of my progress would be lost.

  I looked up at the woman with pleading eyes. “Please, tell me what your name is.”

  “Rebecca,” said the woman. “Rebecca Connor. What’s yours?”

  I took a deep, shuddering breath and said, “My name is—”

  I didn’t get a chance to finish speaking, because I fell onto the street and everything went black. A notification appeared in my vision:

  You have died!

  CHAPTER SIX

  Although the notification was just three words long, I could not stop reading it over and over again. The message never changed, but the emotions I felt sure did.

  At first, I was angry at myself for failing so epically. Yes, it had been a long time since I last played a video game of any sort, but dying in what was basically the tutorial was such an amateurish move, especially since the mission really hadn’t even been that hard. I wondered how many first-time players died in the tutorial. Very few, I could imagine. I wondered if I would have to try it again, or maybe I would have to try another, even easier tutorial. Assuming I got a second chance at all, that is.

  But then, as I thought about it, I began to calm down a little. Hey, at least I saved that woman, Rebecca, from becoming a victim of theft and possibly even rape. Then I felt sad when I realized that none of that was even very real, despite how realistic everything was. Rebecca was no more a potential victim of theft and rape than I was a superhero. It was all just ones and zeroes. None of it really mattered when you thought that. Not like real life, although I guess this was going to be my ‘life’ now, courtesy of the asshole in the government who somehow got me si
gned up for this Project Second Life crud. I really did want to punch whoever did this to me.

  That was when yet another notification—which I was starting to become less and less patient with—popped up in my vision that read thusly:

  MISSION: Save the woman

  STATUS: Completed

  Congratulations! Although you may have succumbed to the wounds that you received during your brief scuffle with the street scum of Adventure City, you sacrificed yourself to save an innocent person like a true Hero. You even unlocked a Power in the process, proving once and for all that you have what it takes to be the Hero you were born to be!

  REWARDS: Instant promotion to the Hero Alignment! NPCs will now Trust you more and begin to look to you for help with their problems, although you will have to build your Trust stat higher in order to be seen by the general public as the Hero you really are.

  Whoa. I thought that dying would have counted as failing the mission. I checked the objectives for the mission again just to be sure and saw that it didn’t say anything about dying. All I needed to do to complete the mission was defeat the thugs and save the woman. It didn’t say dying would cause me to fail. Interesting. That meant I would need to be more careful about reading each mission’s victory requirements before I accepted them. I had a feeling I would be able to use this knowledge to help me in the future.

  I dismissed the notification, only for another to pop up almost immediately afterward:

  Congratulations! You have reached the Hero Alignment! That means you will now have access to all Hero classes, equipment, Powers, and Stats!

  Congratulations! You completed your Origin Story. You are now ready to enter the world of Capes Online as a Hero, albeit as a newbie at the bottom of the totem pole. Never worry, however. All Heroes start out at the bottom, and if you work hard enough, you will eventually achieve recognition for your heroic efforts!