Alterlife

by Matt Moss

  Not good.

  He turns around and swings his blade, catching nothing but air. “What kind of magic is this? Show yourself.”

  I move out of range as he goes wild, slashing and swinging about. His back presents itself to me and I attack again, this time using a flurry of strikes which depletes most of my stamina. I move away and watch the green bar on my HUD slowly replenish. His hitpoints drop again and, this time, I can see the red bar move. Maybe twenty more times and he’ll fall.

  “Bastard. Demon, bastard. I hate sorcery!” he curses and takes off running past the girl. She cringes to the wall as he blows by her.

  After he’s gone, I remove my cloak and walk to the girl. “Are you alright?” She turns to me and I see it’s the woman from the bar.

  “You,” she says in revelation, still shaken.

  I can’t believe it’s the woman from the bar. What are the odds? “Did he hurt you?”

  “No. I’m fine.” She looks down and pulls the hood tight over her head. “Thank you.”

  “I never caught your name earlier.”

  “Deana.”

  “Ace.”

  She giggles. “What are you, ten?”

  It’s nice to see her smile after such an ordeal. “Don’t judge me. I’m eleven as a matter of fact.”

  “Seriously?”

  “No.” I smile and take her hand, leading her back to the safety of the street. “I have something to show you.”

  “We just met, Ace.”

  Again with her innuendos.

  I ignore her flirts. “Come with me. I have something to show you.”

  “Oh, now you’re speaking my language.”

  She follows me to the bank, and on the way there, I understand how far twenty thousand dollars could go in the real world. It would be a big help to my family. But it’s not enough to give them the life I have dreamed for them.

  I’m going to lay it all on the line this time. I’m betting on Alterlife.

  I take the gold from my account, show her the money, and her eyes go wide. “So, when do you want to go?” I ask.

  “How did you come by that much gold so fast?” She looks around nervously, and pulls me to the side. “Nevermind that. I don’t care. When do you want to go?”

  “Now.”

  We go to the bank and I give her the gold so she can place it in her account. My guilty conscience hits me as the gold leaves my possession and I think of how I’m letting Deakins down. And Eldra.

  I’ll have you the money and then some in no time, Eldra. I promise.

  We hit the road and I follow her out of town on foot. “Why not purchase mounts? How far is it?”

  “Eight hours. Easier to be seen or tracked on horseback. We need to be stealthy in the northern lands. Too many eyes and ears, all loyal to the Black Knights in that part of the world. We’ll stay off the roads. It’s the summer season, so we won’t need a fire at night, and I’ve brought plenty of food for both of us.”

  “I think I have about three more hours before I get logged off.”

  “Me too. We’ll make camp by then.” We walk in silence for awhile and I take in the tranquil beauty of the world. I’ve always liked the woods; the smell, the sounds, the feel. I’m at home in nature. It’s the only place I feel free. We stop at a brook to eat and drink to replenish our stamina. It’s not that food and water are a necessity to survive like in real life, it just makes journeying much faster. Speed of travel is cut in half if the stamina bar is empty.

  Sitting on the ground and enjoying a cooked chicken leg, she speaks to me between bites. “How new are you?” she asks.

  “Day two.”

  She smiles and shakes her head. “Damn, that’s new. Inventory.” She checks her gear for a moment. “And somehow, on day two, you’ve managed to get ahold of twenty thousand gold, gain knowledge of the most powerful guild in Alterlife, and are now on a quest to do whatever the hell it is you want to do when you get there. Oh, and you have a cloak of invisibility. I’ve never even heard of one. Didn’t even know something like that existed due to invisibility being forbidden and all.”

  I finish off a meat pie. “I’m just lucky, I guess.”

  She grins and meets my eye. “Suppose that you are.” Something about her eyes is truly… enchanting.

  I look away. “What do you mean, forbidden? Invisibility is common among many games.”

  “Not this one,” she says and throws a rock into the stream. “The Gamemasters deemed it too powerful, banning all invisibility items and spells from the game. Not even a Grandmaster Mage can cast it. No Alchemist can make a potion.”

  “So how did I get this?” I ask, showing her the cloak.

  She eyes it greedily, then looks away. “I don’t know. If I were you, I wouldn’t get caught with it. They’ll ban you, for sure. Maybe worse.” She tosses the bone away.

  “Worse? How can it get worse than being banned from the game?”

  Her gaze turns to me. Her face, stern. “There are other ways to make you pay besides this game. Other forms of punishment. Catch my drift?”

  I do. But I don’t believe it. “Are you referring to real life consequences? Get out of here. It’s just a game.”

  “Fine,” she says and lies down on the cool grass, her face kissed by the sun in the clear blue sky overhead as she speaks. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you. There are powerful people that rule this game, and they rule the real world along with it.”

  I shake my head and disregard what she’s saying because it’s crazy. It’s just a game.

  “I’m going to get in trouble for this, I just know it,” she states in a low tone and closes her eyes.

  I think of Gamemaster Deakins, and her words hit me like a punch in the stomach. What if she’s right? What if he’s like a mob boss, or something like that, in real life—a man that can snap his fingers and make people disappear? And I just lied to him, stole his money, and gave it away.

  A sinking feeling takes hold and I lie down in an attempt to still my thoughts. I stare at the trees swaying in the breeze overhead and breathe.

  She props herself up. “Well, we’re not going to get there if we lay around here all day, are we? Ready to go?” she asks, not giving our minds a chance to relax.

  “Sure. Let’s keep going,” I reply and drag myself to stand.

  “Another hour and we’ll make camp.”

  I follow Deana’s lead.

  5

  A NEW FAMILY

  Good morning. Breakfast. Get ready for work. Kiss goodbye.

  This is the third day that I’ve lied to my family.

  I can barely take my mind off the game now. After leaving Deana yesterday and going offline, my brain felt heavy and slow. I stopped by the bar to grab a beer to take the edge off before going home, but it didn’t work. At the supper table, everyone at home noticed my distance even more than usual. It’s alright, though. I’m doing it for them.

  Driving down the interstate to my friend’s apartment in Johnson City, the white-dotted lines become a blur. The rumble strips save me from going off the road a couple of times, as my thoughts turn inside the world of Alterlife. I can’t stop thinking about the game, and can feel it becoming an issue with my health. I’m tired, distant, and my body feels sluggish from sitting in a chair for six hours at a time over the last few days. Not to mention, I don’t eat or drink while I’m plugged in. I think I’ve already lost five pounds. They should advertise the NueView as the new miracle diet.

  I go online and find Deana waiting on me at camp. “About time,” she says.

  “It’s barely nine in the morning. Did you even sleep? How long have you been here?”

  She smiles and checks her gear. “I’m just jerking your chain. Just got here myself. Ready for another long day of travel?”

  Not really. “Yep. We should arrive at the city in another five hours or so, yes?”

  “If we’re lucky, yeah. That’s the easy part. And that’s where we part ways.”

  �
��Wait, what?”

  She squares up to me. “You heard me. The payment was for me to get you to the Black Knights, and that’s what I’m going to do. You don’t have enough money to make me risk my own neck by sneaking you into Faldron’s Reach.”

  “Then why the hell did we even come? How am I supposed to know where to go or how to get in. Day three, remember,” I scold, holding up three fingers.

  She shrugs. “Use your illegal cloak and sneak yourself in or something. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” She turns and walks out of the woods and into a wheat field.

  Good point.

  I jog to catch up. “Fine. I’ll figure something out. But I’m not paying you the other twenty that I promised for sneaking me in.”

  “That’s fair,” she says and leaves it at that.

  “I didn’t take a Ranger like yourself to be the scared type,” I say, trying to pry something out of her.

  She speaks to me as she marches, her words like ice. “I’m not scared.”

  “Could have fooled me.”

  “I’m smart. There’s a difference. You’re just a noob and know nothing about this world. A noob that’s on the fastest route to destruction.” She pulls out a piece of straw and puts it in her mouth to chew on. “I’m not on that path.”

  I jump in front and walk backwards to face her. “Maybe I am. Or maybe I just want more than most people, and I’m not afraid to lay it all on the line. Blame me for that and condemn me all you want, I’m used to it. But this world is different. This world is mine.”

  She laughs out loud. “Ha! You might be the craziest son of a bitch I’ve ever met, Ace.”

  “Deana, you ain’t seen nothing yet.” I’ll show you. I’ll show everyone.

  We make small talk over the next few hours but don’t discuss personal life. It’s one of her rules, and one that makes sense to me. The less people know about you in the real world, the better. Here, you can be anyone you want to be.

  Our small talk passes the time and, before I know it, we reach the city.

  “The city of Condren. Faldron’s Reach, your destination, lies here.”

  Inside the city, it’s heavily populated, but we make our way through the streets with relative ease, as they’re as wide as an Atlanta freeway. Reaching the middle of the city square, I gaze up at the keep, at the massive set of towers carved into the stone face of a mountain. The structure is similar to a castle but much taller and not as broad.

  Deana pulls her hood tight. “That’s Faldron’s Reach. The home of the Black Knights,” she says, pointing above the steps that lead inside the rock keep. “And now, I take my leave. Good luck, Ace.”

  She doesn’t want to be seen here. I wonder why?

  Her exit breaks my gaze at the wondrous mountain. “Deana, wait. Will I see you again?”

  She winks in reply, turns, and quickly walks away.

  “Yeah, I’ll see you again,” I say, watching her blend into the crowd of people. I turn back to the long row of steps and make my way closer, sticking to the edge of the street. I pretend to browse the goods that the various shops have for sale, and keep my ear open for anything of note. Most of the noise comes from the shop owners, shouting at potential customers in attempt to sell their wares.

  I move closer to the keep, standing at the edge of the city street.

  A river runs below the keep, passing beneath the massive steps. I lean over the rail and watch the white water roll, thrilled by the potential drop. I’m close enough now to see that there’s a guard posted at the steps on both sides. More at the top. I gaze up high and am blown away by how tall this structure actually is. From the looks of it, there’s only one way in—through the front door.

  Three men dressed in fine clothes approach the steps and ascend, unobstructed. They go through the door at the top, and the guards close it behind them before returning to their post. Apparently, guild members.

  No better time than the present.

  I sneak behind a shop and, when no one is looking, equip my cloak. I walk into the street, towards the steps, making sure not to bump into anyone or knock any of the merchant tables over. I make it to the steps and hold my breath as I walk between the guards posted at the bottom. They don’t even know I’m there. Reaching the top of the steps, I sit and wait. There’s bound to be someone going in sooner or later, and when they do, I’ll just follow them in.

  Almost an hour later—much longer than I expected—the doors open and two men walk out. I sneak through before the door closes and quickly move to the side.

  Inside the keep, it’s like a whole other city. A city within a city. There are shops and merchants, tradesmen and taverns. There’s even an inn. The Black Knights have their own system setup, and don’t even need to deal with the rest of Condren if they don’t want to.

  I carefully make my way through the main street. There’s about fifty people by my guess, buying, selling, trading. Warriors, Mages, Alchemists, Smiths, Tailors, and many more classes that I don’t know yet. At the end of the street, far in the distance and set in the center, there’s a temple.

  Looks important enough. Guess that’s where I’m going.

  Nobody sees me as I walk by, and I see my sneak skill go up. Nice.

  Inside the temple, it looks like a place of worship; an altar in the rear of the main hall, pews for people to sit. There are corridors that lead to both sides of the interior, and multiple doors that lead to rooms from there. The entire place is empty, save for myself. I move closer to the altar for inspection.

  My foot begins to glitch and I can see it whenever I take a step.

  Shit. “Inventory,” I whisper.

  The cloak is in need of repair—it’s durability rating is five out of one-hundred. Apparently equipped items need repairing in Alterlife or else they are rendered useless. I remove the cloak.

  Great. I’ll be caught for sure now.

  I stand there and think about what my next move is.

  “Come to repent? Or to ask for favor?” A man says from behind and walks to meet me. “Oh. I don’t recall ever seeing you here before. Are you a new recruit?”

  I turn to find an older man with long, black hair and glasses, dressed in a white robe. I reply without hesitation. “Yeah. I got a cousin who let me join the clan. I’m still new to this place, so I’m just checking it out.”

  “Faldron’s Reach is a grand place. I assume it will take quite some time to get familiar with the city of Condren, let alone the guild. I’ve been here for over a year now and still don’t know every member’s name. Who did you say your cousin was?”

  Think of another popular name. Think, stupid.

  I HATE COMING UP WITH NAMES.

  “Big Daddy P.”

  He narrows his eyes. “I… haven’t heard of him before.”

  “It’s just what family and friends call him. So, this is an altar, huh?” I say to change the subject and turn to the stone statue.

  The man folds his hands and walks to the half-naked statue, then stands beside me. “Thal, the God of War. He blesses us with strength and courage.

  “Sounds good to me. I could use some of both.”

  He inclines me to pray. “Ask, and ye shall receive.”

  I can’t tell if he’s serious or not. Screw it. I look up to the statue and get down on both knees. “Oh, Thal, God of War, bless me with strength and courage. I am unworthy, but humbly beg for your blessing. Amen.”

  The man chuckles as I get to my feet. “Now that’s a good and honest prayer. So many people ask for riches, or fame and fortune. You keep it simple. I like that.”

  I stand and shrug. “What can I say, I’m a simple man.”

  “Have you seen the rest of the temple?”

  “No. But I have a feeling you can show me.”

  He extends his hand and invites me to walk with him. “Indeed, I can. Oh, by the way, welcome to the Black Knights. I am Cervial.”

  “Ace. Remember it.”

  He laughs. “Noted. Come.”
r />   I follow him out of the temple and down the west hall. The place is adorned with expensive-looking pieces of furniture and art, sculptures and plants. “Nice place you got here, Cervial. By the looks of it, the guild must fare well in the money department.”

  A smug grin creeps across his face. “We do fairly well. Every Friday, there’s a massive raid with nearly every member of the guild participating. With so many participants, we haven’t found a dungeon or beast that we couldn’t beat.” He admires the decorations as well. “You should come tomorrow. It would amount to some good experience points for you, not to mention a cut of whatever we take.” He casts a sideways glance at me. “A small cut, but something nonetheless.”

  Now we’re talking. I’ve been wanting to go on a big hunt. “Sounds good to me.”

  Cervial takes us down another hall with windows that open to the city. An assortment of Master-crafted weapons hang from the walls on both sides of the hall, along with statues with full armor every twenty paces or so. I can only imagine how much these items might bring at the market.

  Cervial points. “The first room on the right is the Guildmaster’s quarters. Beyond that, you will find the library, our next stop.” We approach the door and he opens it without the use of a key. “And here we are. This is the largest known library in Alterlife. Whatever you might be searching for in this world, the answer probably lies in this room.”

  “Wow,” I say, looking all around the room in amazement. It’s the size of an auditorium and stacked from floor to ceiling with books. Tall ladders to reach the top shelves. “I didn’t know there were this many books written about the game.”

  Cervial is pleased in showing me this place, clearly a well-read man and a seeker of knowledge. “You’d be surprised about a lot of things in Alterlife. Come. There’s more.”

  Back outside the library, he leads us further down the hall. It opens into a large room, the rock ceiling higher than I can see. Light streams in from the hall and from various holes, or tunnels, in the walls of the cavernous room. A small temple is on the right side near the back, and straight ahead is an opening to another cave. Six highly skilled NPC guards stand at the entrance with spear and shield, guarding whatever it is inside. Upon seeing Cervial, they step aside and let us through.