Awaken Online: Catharsis

by Travis Bagwell

  “Um. Yeah. Lucky me,” Jason said cautiously.

  The group sat at an unoccupied table in a corner, and Jerry flagged down a waitress. As he shared a drink or two with Jerry under the watchful eye of Grunt, Jason received a crash course in the city's seedier underground community.

  It turned out that Jerry's inn was a regular hangout for the city's shadier characters and one of the primary meeting places for the city's thriving black market. Jerry didn't seem shy about sharing this information. He regaled Jason with tales of his escapades and business dealings, many of which made Jason want to laugh and cry in turn.

  It was clear that Jerry was untouchable by the city guard in the way he casually explained his underground business. Jason inferred that he must have some decent connections around the city, or more likely good blackmail material, to be this carefree with a stranger. Or perhaps Rex's endorsement meant more than Jason had realized.

  The key point that Jason took away from their conversation was that Jerry was something of a grandmaster thief in the city and was over qualified to show him how to use daggers and throwing knives.

  Jerry apparently owed Rex for some long forgotten bet and Rex had called in the favor for some scrub traveler he seemed to think had promise. Likely, Rex's hope was that he could call in his new debt with Jason someday. Assuming Jason didn't kill Rex first for almost getting him shanked by a group of thieves.

  Jerry explained that he would provide Jason with training. In exchange for some help around the inn and the occasional errand, he would also let Jason stay at one of the rooms at the inn.

  It went without saying that these errands would likely involve some illegal activities. However, this was a good trade from Jason's point of view and actually sounded like fun.

  Finally, Jerry gave Jason a set of unremarkable daggers and a dozen throwing knives (with the accompanying sheaths and straps). Jerry explained that the blades were nothing special, but if his new helper planned to survive long in the south-side, he better be armed. He also indicated that if Jason stopped by the next day, they could start training.

  This gave Jason an opportunity to fiddle with his equipment menu. The inventory and map icons were still greyed out.

  Maybe I need some kind of pouch or container or an actual map for those icons to work correctly.

  The equipment menu was easy to use if not entirely realistic. Pressing the equipment icon caused a screen to appear in Jason’s field of view. The screen depicted the rough shape of an adult male and had various icons showing the equipment attached to each body part. Jason could tap each piece of equipment and review information regarding the item.

  Jason expected that the menu was intended to be a time saving feature. He tapped an open slot near his hands and was given the option of equipping the daggers and throwing knives. He confirmed his selection, and the respective sheaths and straps appeared on his body. The daggers and knives then immediately filled those sheaths.

  In moments, Jason was decked out with his new armament, many of which were not visible to the naked eye. He expected that if he purchased some sort of cloak, it would be almost impossible to tell he was armed.

  Once the daggers and knives showed up in his equipment menu, Jason was able to review detailed information for the weapons:

  Common Dagger

  An ordinary, but effective weapon. Favored by those that prefer to avoid direct confrontation.

  Quality: D

  Damage: 8-12 (Pierce)

  Durability: 15/15

  Common Throwing Knife

  A solid choice when close-up fighting must be avoided. Knives may be retrieved once thrown.

  Quality: D

  Damage: 6-9 (Pierce)

  Quantity: 10/10

  Before parting ways with Jerry, Jason asked about possible work in Lux.

  Jerry gave him a considering look. “I think you should go speak to Morgan.” He seemed to hesitate and looked uncertain. “I don't know why you seem like a good fit for that one, but I expect the two of you will get along well.”

  “Who's Morgan?” Jason asked, intrigued by Jerry's behavior. He had seemed extremely flamboyant and confidant, but he was now acting strangely.

  “Let's just call it a hunch. The two of you just have this similar air about you.”

  “Um. Okay. Where can I find Morgan?” Jason asked.

  Jerry's attitude improved and he said with a grin, “Why, at the cemetery, of course. It sits a bit outside the south gate.”

  “Morgan is an odd bird. She only works at night and is always looking for help, but most are usually too squeamish to handle her line of work”

  Did Jerry say “she?” A female caretaker?

  Jason didn't consider himself sexist, but this seemed unusual.

  Also, another “C” difficulty quest?

  He rubbed the line on his neck where the throwing knife had scratched him. The last quest had already been a close call and he wasn’t anxious to repeat that experience.

  Jason wasn't ecstatic at the idea of working for someone who maintained a graveyard, but he supposed it was either that or turn to outright thievery. Based on the smile on Jerry's face when he mentioned his errands, Jason expected he might be stealing for his room and board before long. He might as well try his hand at something else.

  He thanked Jerry and made his way to the exit of the inn. It was already night time in the game world, and he intended to go ahead and meet with Morgan. However, as he approached the door to the inn, he received a notification:

  Damn. This game is serious about these warnings.

  Jason could imagine being forcefully logged out of the game in the middle of a fight, and he shuddered involuntarily.

  He decided maybe a break was in order. It was probably early evening in the real world, and he likely needed to eat and use the bathroom anyway. He tapped the system menu icon and scrolled through the menu for the logout button. He tapped the button, and his world went dark again.

  Chapter 7 - Resplendent

  February 27, 2075: 582 days until the release of Awaken Online.

  Claire was standing in her usual position in the lab, facing the camera. Beside her stood a middle-aged man sporting a five o’clock shadow. He wore a t-shirt and jeans, which stood out in stark contrast to the clinical atmosphere of the lab.

  Claire launched into her routine. “Hello. Today we have a guest.”

  The man beside Claire grudgingly spoke up, “My name is Robert Graham. I've been asked to participate in the private trial at the board's instruction.”

  Claire nudged Robert and he frowned at her before continuing. “Ahh yes. I'm the lead engineer for Cerillion Entertainment, and I personally headed the design and development of the controller AI.”

  Robert glanced at Claire, and his lips curled into a mischievous grin. “I understand that we've named him Alfred.”

  Claire blushed, but continued, “We have begun to investigate Alfred's logs and programming to determine whether we can identify any abnormalities that would explain the game’s heightened knowledge of the participants' personal lives.”

  “We have independently confirmed that Alfred does not have any access to personal information regarding the participants or access to public networks where he could obtain that information. Alfred’s connection to the lab conducting the CPSC trial is heavily encrypted and we do not feel there has been a breach of security.”

  “Additionally, there has been a report of a participant who remained in the game for five hours and four minutes before receiving the typical system message asking him to log off.”

  Robert stretched and yawned loudly. He then spoke up in a sleepy, bored voice, “We're unable to determine what caused the four-minute delay, but it may just be a fluke.”

  Claire glared at Robert and jumped in, “There have been no similar reports from the CPSC trial of either the game being aware of personal knowledge of the players or delays in the regularly scheduled system warnings.”

  From the
camera's perspective, Claire seemed a bit relieved to relay this news. She continued, “We will update the board if we identify any additional issues.”

  * * *

  After logging out, Jason came back to his real-world body. He had been lying on his bed for nearly five hours straight according to the game prompt.

  His guess was that the VR headset must have caused his body to lay perfectly still while he was playing, because his arms and legs felt stiff and sore. He groaned slightly as he stretched on the bed and then lifted the heavy, plastic helmet off his head.

  Thumbing the Core on his wrist, Jason noted that it was now evening. He could still make out a few weak rays of sunlight trickling through his bedroom window.

  His stomach growled angrily.

  Man I'm hungry. I guess I really didn't get to eat lunch.

  In his anger, he had just started playing AO when he made it back to the apartment after school. As a result, he hadn't eaten anything since his last minute breakfast that morning.

  Thinking back on the events earlier in the day caused the cold anger to flare in his chest. Before he became upset again, he quickly stood up and made his way to the kitchen – with a short pit-stop at the bathroom.

  The apartment had a small galley kitchen. Jason opened the fridge to survey his meager supplies. With a sigh, he pulled out some eggs and bacon, lit the stove, and pulled out a pan. One additional problem with never having his parents around was that he was left to fend for himself. This also included doing his own grocery shopping – or not doing it as the case may be.

  Jason tapped the device on his wrist and streamed the display to the pedestal mounted on the counter. He searched for AO gameplay videos and was surprised to find that a huge amount of gameplay footage had been introduced since he had last checked his news feed.

  He had heard that a select group of players had been admitted to the third round of closed beta testing a couple weeks before the game's launch and had been playing constantly. The beta spots had each cost a small fortune and had helped generate much needed capital for Cerillian Entertainment.

  One of the big perks afforded the beta players (besides early access to the game) was that they were able to keep their characters after the servers went live. The downside was that they lost all of the equipment they had obtained and ten ranks in all skills. Jason suspected it became much harder to level skills at later stages of the game, so this likely represented a significant penalty.

  The beta players had already accumulated a substantial amount of gameplay footage during the beta. The only caveat was that they had been forced to sit on the footage until the official release of the game under the terms of the contract each of them had signed with Cerillion Entertainment. If any footage was leaked prior to the release date, the company had threatened to delete the offending character and institute a permanent IP ban.

  Needless to say, there hadn’t been any leaks.

  Now that the game had been released, the gaming news channels had been flooded with content and had been tasked with selecting a group of featured players to mainline on their streams. After sifting through the footage, the gaming channels had begun releasing videos earlier that afternoon while Jason was still plugged into the game.

  Some of the players were pretty incredible, and the realistic nature of the footage was drawing a huge audience. AO was shaping up to be a game that was both entertaining to play and to watch.

  Jason chose the video with the highest number of views.

  The video began with the name “Alexion” emblazoned in gold script. The image shifted to show a man standing in full plate armor. His face was obscured by a plumed helmet. His gear was incredible! Jason couldn't imagine how much strength his character must have to be able to move in that armor. The steel glistened as the sun struck it. The player (presumably, Alexion) held a longsword aloft that radiated a strong golden hue. Strapped to his other arm was a four-foot-tall, steel tower shield.

  At Alexion's back stood a small army of soldiers. Jason guessed that there were about fifty, but it was difficult to tell from the camera angle. Each soldier was well armed and armored. Jason could make out several robed individuals carrying staves. Those must be mages or clerics.

  The group behind Alexion chanted his name and stomped in sync. Alexion! *Thud*. Alexion! *Thud*.

  The tension was palpable. Jason was becoming engrossed in the scene.

  The camera panned around to show Alexion's point of view. Across a small grassy field stood the opposing enemy force. Because of the distance, it was hard to make out details regarding the enemy, but they appeared to have approximately the same number of soldiers. A standard bearer held a flag with a muted green and black design.

  The camera then pulled back to include both Alexion's force and the enemy army.

  How do they pull off these camera angles in-game? It must be some perk you can pay for.

  Alexion turned and addressed his force, his voice ringing out over the field. “We fight now for the honor of Grey Keep. We tread a path of light in a time of darkness.”

  At this statement, he gestured to the enemy force and his voice rang with righteous fervor. “You all know what the Kingdom of Lusade has done to our people. There before you stand the enemies of light. Today we will show them our might!”

  Did he mean to rhyme? Jason thought dryly.

  The soldiers roared their approval.

  Alexion paused a moment and then yelled “Charge!”

  He must have simultaneously activated a skill or spell as he initiated the attack. Alexion and his soldiers were suddenly bathed in a golden light, their eyes beginning to glow a vibrant gold. The glowing mass of soldiers sped across the field and crashed into the opposing force.

  Hmm. Some kind of area of effect buff or protection spell. This guy looks like he is playing a variation on a paladin class.

  Jason was enthralled by the ensuing chaos of the battle. Metal rang, and men screamed. With the golden glow surrounding Alexion's soldiers and the dark colors of the enemy forces, it was as though some titanic heavenly battle was taking place on the field. Flashes of fire and ice would occasionally burst amidst the soldiers as the mages entered the fray and cast spells from a distance.

  The camera stayed centered on Alexion as he fought. He thrust and spun with wild abandon as he slayed the enemy soldiers. His movements were almost supernaturally quick given the heavy armor he was carrying. He clearly knew how to handle the blade in his hand.

  While he was engaged with one solder, another enemy approached Alexion from his flank. Alexion noticed the man out of his peripheral vision and quickly turned, hurling his shield at the would-be combatant. The shield struck the man directly with a solid clang of metal, sending him flying backwards.

  Alexion’s free hand leapt into motion immediately after releasing the shield, moving through a rapid series of gestures. As his hand movements slowed to a stop, Alexion's body was engulfed in golden flame. The brilliant glare of the flames momentarily dazed the soldiers around him, friend and foe alike.

  The holy fire surged into the ground and arced outwards, cracking and splintering the dirt and grass. The cracks reached out toward nearby enemy soldier with uncanny accuracy. As the cracks neared an enemy, the holy flame erupted from the ground and seared flesh. Enemy soldiers around the field screamed in pain and clutched at burned and incapacitated limbs, as golden fires erupted spontaneously from the ground.

  The area-of-effect spell cast by Alexion, combined with the buffs he had already cast on his soldiers, proved too much for the enemy force. Soon the last of the enemy soldiers were being routed and slaughtered. Jason noted that not one of the enemy soldiers was left alive.

  As the battle came to a finish, the camera zoomed in close and focused on Alexion, who pulled his sword from an enemy soldier and raised it in the air triumphantly. Blood dripped slowly down the golden blade. Alexion hadn't recovered his tower shield and he used his free hand to grasp his helm and remove it.


  “For Grey Keep!” Alexion roared.

  His shout was echoed by his soldiers and then the screen faded to black.

  Jason stood in shock. The battle had been spectacular, but what shook him was the momentary glimpse at Alexion's face.

  He looked exactly like Alex.

  The name was just awful, but Jason wasn't surprised that someone as arrogant as Alex would choose to name his character in such a ridiculous way.

  It also wasn't terribly surprising that Alex had access to the closed beta. If Jason remembered correctly, Alex's father was on the board of directors for Cerillion Entertainment. It wouldn't have been difficult for him to pull some strings to get his son one of the coveted beta keys.

  The anger that had been simmering in Jason was fanned back into full flame.

  Alex was playing AO. That meant Jason could find him and he could claim his revenge in the game world. In real life, they were leagues apart and Alex’s wealth made him practically untouchable. With AO, Jason could level the playing field.

  How was he going to do it though? Alex had clearly been among the beta players, and he was obviously much further ahead in the game. Jason would have to move quickly to catch up to him.

  As Jason was lost in thought, the follow-up commentary to the battle had started. A man and a young woman were conversing about the details of the fight.

  “Did you see how noble he looked? It was like something out of a fairy tale!” The woman gushed about the handsome Alex.

  The man's response was a bit more pragmatic, but still glowing, “To be expected from Alexion, who is currently the highest level player in AO at level 133.”

  “That holy fire spell in particular was spectacular. Not only did it look really cool, but it seemed to sway the tide of battle for Grey Keep.”

  The woman's brow wrinkled. “That was one part I didn't understand. Why exactly were these two groups fighting? What did Alexion mean when he mentioned the Kingdom of Lusade?”