The Game -- Chapter 3

[Vicious88]

Chapter Three: Out of Place
By Vicious St. James

Davy was unsure exactly how much James wanted to throw at him his first day in-game, but he had also known and trusted him for more than a decade, so, as far as Davy could reason, if there was anyone in Dimension2 that he should trust, James was that person.

They gathered their few belongings and headed back out into the quiet streets of Pleasant Breeze. As they walked, Davy took note of man building what appeared to be a deck onto the side of his home and could not help but wonder if this was a fellow human, or just a diligent working piece of programming. He wanted to ask James if he knew, but he didn’t want to risk getting distracted from leaving Pleasant Breeze.

Davy had mixed feelings about Pleasant Breeze. It was easily the nicest neighborhood he had ever lived in, yet, on that thought; he had to re-assure himself that he’s not “living” here at all. This wasn’t life, no matter how much it felt like it. He feared that if he let himself forget that, he could become so involved with this reality that he might simply let the other slip away. He was about to ask what would happen to his body if he stayed in-game too long, but James’s voice broke the silence of Davy’s thoughts.

“RLH! RLH!!!”

Davy recognized this as James’s well-used code for “Run like Hell!” and as soon as he comprehended that James was running, he understood why. There, just under 50 yards away, a bus had pulled up to the bus stop. It seemed better to run than have to wait for another bus.

As they sprinted toward the bus, Davy took note of the vessel. It was large and metallic, much like a city bus in New York would be, even down to the advertisement banner on the side, though this particular one read “The Works – liquid pipe cleaner. Try it in D2, Buy it in RL.”

They reached the bus which opened its doors with a hiss to allow them entrance. James lead the way up the three oddly steep steps and greeted the bus driver, who returned the gesture. As Davy made his way up the steps the door behind him closed and the bus began to accelerate slowly. James had already seated himself in the third seat on the driver side, which Davy found to be odd considering that bus was completely empty excluding the two of them and the bus driver.

Davy sat himself across the isle from James just as the bus turned to the right. Looking out the window he saw that they were leaving the neighborhood of Pleasant Breeze and starting coarse down a heavily wooded road. The scenery that passed was breathtakingly beautiful. It had turned from a mostly level neighborhood to a woodland area with rolling hills and miles upon miles of trees and the occasional field, all of which were changing with the seasons. As the bus made another corner, they began up a hill, which allowed Davy to properly see what was around him.

Pleasant breeze was in a basin, formed by what were either impressive hills, or non-impressive mountains. James, like Davy, would have no set view to this matter since the area in which they had lived the majority of their lives had neither of the two.

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

Davy had not really expected the question so it took him a bit to devise an answer. The best response he could come up with for James was, “They did this all bit by bit – tree by tree?”

“I don’t know. I doubt it. It’s probably something like a ‘brush tool’ or a region setting. All I know is that there are thousands of neighborhoods out there like Pleasant Breeze. Each different in street layouts and people, but all surrounded by basically the same environment, though the hills do move around from time to time.”

Davy uttered an un-intentional “wow” of amazement and continued looking out the window. He understood why there was so much land in the Pleasant Breeze basin now – so that the neighborhood would have room to expand, perhaps even into a city someday if enough players lived in the same area. He could only imagine that there are neighborhoods for D2 based out of California and New York that would be cities, brimming with activity. Then a thought occurred to him. He had no idea where he was going.

He had neglected to read the destination sign on the bus as they were approaching it and from what he could tell there wasn’t anything around but woods. He asked James, and was told that it would ruin the surprise.

“And besides,” James continued, “When I first came to D2, no one told me where this bus went.”

“You didn’t read the sign? You just got on a bus, having no idea where it goes or if there’s even a return bus?”

“You didn’t read the sign either, and besides, it’s not the stupidest thing we’ve ever done.”

Davy knew that was true. He could recall more than a few instances of the two of them getting themselves into and out of trouble. Not to mention getting lost several miles away from home almost once a week as kids, and using things like railroad tracks and the sun to navigate back.

He could have pressed the issue further, but he knew that he was in good hands. Out of all the trouble the two of them had ever gotten in, there were only two instances where Davy could recall James being absolutely wrong. One of which being eleven years ago when James managed to convince him that they should bike six miles to the river to go swimming, only to find that it was flooded and too swift due to a storm earlier in the week. The only other instance was the same day, on the trip back home, when James figured that rather than follow the six miles worth of road which made one large u-turn, they could save time and take the rail road tracks. Davy couldn’t recall how many hours were spent walking that railroad track, but he did remember that it was that point in his life when he realized the shortest distance between two places is not always a straight line.

Davy realized his mind had drifted and he again took note of the scenery around him, just in time to notice that the bus was approaching the side of a steep cliff where the mouth of a stone tunnel engulfed them. For just a brief moment everything was black except the lights inside the bus, and those on the outside which reflected off of the tunnel walls. Davy could feel the road dip down and bow back up again, as though the tunnel had been intended to lead them beneath a body of water.

Before even twenty seconds of darkness could pass, Davy could see the light from the tunnel exit and very soon he could see a whole lot more. As the bus pulled out of the darkness, Davy took note that they were once again in a wooded area, though now the trees were sparser and many miles down the road he could see that there was a very large city.

“Clever isn’t it?” James asked, but upon seeing that Davy was without response, continued saying, “You know the saying all roads lead home? Well… It’s a lie. This road that we’re on leads to every neighborhood in D2 that is based out of Florida. The tunnel back there serves as a portal.”

“So what if you want to go to someone else’s neighborhood?”

“Well, from here all buses either lead to a different town or their destination reads ‘Home’ – so if you want to go to someone else’s neighborhood, you get on a ‘Home’ bus and tell the bus driver the name of the neighborhood you want to go to. Same thing with taxis, and the same thing goes if you own a car, you punch the neighborhood into your Navigation system and go. If you don’t do one of these things by time you’ve passed through the tunnel, you’ll end up in your neighborhood.”

Davy understood, or at least enough to require no further explanation momentarily. His primary interest now was the city they were quickly approaching.

“I’ve just got to warn you,” started James, “this is the first city anyone from Florida sees in D2, because it’s the closest to the neighborhoods, but this is also where most of your scammers and thieves hang out to pick on new players. So keep a good grip on your staff and if need be, use it. Most players won’t risk having the police and a bunch of vigilante players chasing after them, so you’re more or less safe, but if you go down any dark alleys, you’re likely to find trouble.
“There is a good bit of traffic here, so you might want to take care when crossing the street. If you die it’s not the end of the world, but most people will get pretty steamed if you damage their car. Apparently if you break a windshield, dent a bumper, whatever; it takes two weeks for the damage to mend itself.
“Also, there’s a lot of opportunity here to earn gold, but don’t go running head first into any job you can get because most aren’t worth the time. Do you got all that?”

Davy replied “yep” instinctively, but the truth of the matter is he had only understood about half of what was said and summarized it to himself as “Don’t leave stuff lying around” and “No playing Frogger with people’s cars.” He didn’t have the heart to ask James to repeat it, and even if he did repeat it, Davy couldn’t help but feel the result would be the same.

There was simply too much to be excited about. He’d only been in game for a few hours and here they were, approaching a city where there was a ton of activity going on. Even the muggings would be a step up from the dull nothing of the nearest city in real life.

As the bus rolled closer to the city, vehicles headed in the opposite direction passed by and Davy could see people inside talking on phones or with the person next to them. It seemed odd to him that someone would put so much money into something like transportation when it was provided free of charge.

Before he had time to contemplate this further, the bus approached a large metal sign with reflective paint which read “Welcome to Gateswood.” This welcome came none too soon, because it took the bus less than a minute to from they time it passed the sign to the time began passing buildings.

Everything around the bus was brimming with life. People were walking every which way, some running. Most could be seen with some form of a weapon, though Davy could not help but think it odd to see the occasional person with a sword or crossbow, knowing that there must also be modern weapons such as the pistol inside James’s coat.

All around them people were buying, selling, talking, and getting into cars, taxis, and buses. It was easily the most active city Davy had ever seen. It was so active in fact that Davy did not initially notice the details that surrounded him. How every single aspect of this city was as real as the life he left behind just hours ago when he entered his terminal…

As the bus began to slow down, James stood began walking towards the doors, Davy following close by. With a hiss the bus stopped, and with a second hiss, the doors opened. Beyond James, Davy could see a bus stop where twenty or so people were waiting to board the bus. After following James down the steps of the bus, Davy stepped onto the sidewalk and looked back at the bus. It was exactly as before, except now the destination read “Shield St.”

Davy’s staff made no noise that he could hear over the city ambiance as it tapped the ground with his steps. James was walking slower than his normal gate, but Davy could only suppose this was to avoid bumping into other people. He tried to keep his eye on James so as not to loose him in the crowd, but at the same time, he wanted so desperately to explore the city around him.

“Here we are.” Said James, turning to open a shop door and walk in.

Davy entered the small smoke filed shop. There was a man behind the counter with an expression of boredom on his face, seeing this; Davy wondered if this shop was run by a player or an NPC. There was a woman looking at something through a class display case, and a man gauging umbrellas over in the corner. The woman was young and in many ways fashionable with her taste in clothing. She posed quite a contrast to the middle aged man in blue jeans and a red coat with the umbrellas.

The shop wasn’t very big, which was perhaps what increased the density and smell of the cigarette smoke being slowly emitted from the man behind the counter. There were only a dozen or so shoulder-high rows of shelves, littered with various whatnots ranging from food products to lawn ornaments. It was, to the best that Davy could reason, a curio shop.

James led Davy down the left wall to a multi-tiered display shelf showcasing [reconsider word choice - it'll get you banned]. Below it was a shelf of cheaper watches with leather or clothe straps.

“Pick one out. I recommend a cheaper one – they all work the same, but a cheap one is less likely to get stolen if you get attacked, plus, if you break it, it’s not the end of the world.”

“Are you sure?” Asked Davy, knowing that James was about to put his gold into whatever watch he chose.

“Yeah, I’ve got one, and trust me it’s terribly helpful. There’s no need to set them either, they’re synced to the world. Much better than waiting blindly for a bus or something.”

Convinced, Davy picked out a black digital watch with a dark brown leather strap. As he handed it to James, he noticed the price “7gp” labeled in the corner. He wondered how long it would take him to learn the value of a dollar here in D2.

Watch in hand, James walked over to the counter and pulled a coin from his pocket. Davy observed the man behind the counter taking the coin and handing James six or seven coins in return. Davy could only suppose this meant that the man had made change for James, which would mean that coins with different values would have different markings or be made of different materials. James returned and handed Davy the watch as well as five coins. Each coin was a polished gold and emblazoned with the number ten, set over a symbol of a dragon circling a luxurious crown.

“That’s 50gp, and it’s not a bad sum to start off with. Keep it close by.”
“Are you sure you don’t need it?”

“Positive,” started James, “and besides, gold won’t be that hard to come by once we get you some gear.”

“Okay, where do we go from here?”

“Anywhere you want. There’s a bus stop every two blocks and bus schedules are posted on them. I wouldn’t suggest leaving Gateswood on your first day, but whenever you’re done you should check a bus schedule and see when the next bus home is.”

“Wait, what? Where are you going?” Davy asked with a deep sense of disappointment that he had been taken out to the middle of crowded a city and was expected to more or less figure it out from there.

“I hate to do it to you, but I’ve been playing for about…” James glanced at a metallic watch on his wrist, “five hours now… I really don’t need to get addicted to D2. Just give me a call whenever you log out, okay.”

“Alright.”

“Make sure to take some of that gold and spend it on a good knife or something of the sort, just in case you find yourself in a situation where you can’t use the staff very well.”

And with that, James let out a yawn, closed his eyes, and vanished. Davy had never witnessed anything like it before. This was apparently what all people did when they logged out, give or take the yawn. It was bazaar looking at the empty space where just seconds ago James stood, knowing full well that he hadn’t just walked out of the room. The though also occurred to Davy that in D2, there was no such thing as Object Permanence. James was not simply out of site, he was completely non-existent until he chose to log back in.

Davy put the gold James had given him into his pants pocket and approached the man behind the counter. As he approached, he could see the man gauging his staff, though Davy was unsure if the man was admiring it or wondering about Davy’s intentions. This was more than understandable, because Davy felt he would probably do the same if someone walked into a store he was in wielding a large staff.

“Do you have any knives?” Davy asked the man.

“Adventurer?” replied the man, cigarette smoke issuing from his mouth.

“Yeah, I guess so… Am I supposed to pick a class? ‘Hunter,’ ‘Warrior,’ or something of the sort?”

“Ah,” started the man, who pulled the cigarette from his mouth and put it in an ashtray to his right. “You’re new to Dimension2, I see. No, you don’t choose classes or anything like that, though before too long you’ll figure out what your good at, and most people tend to stick with what they’re good at. You pretty handy with a knife?”

Davy smirked slightly and gave a small shrug. He didn’t want to overplay his skills seeing as just a few hours ago he was learning how to walk. If he got cocky, he was setting himself up to get hurt.

“Well this might interest you…” Said the man as he put his cigarette back in the corner of his mouth and reached down behind the counter. When he arose he was holding a black leather sleeve from which emitted a wooden handle with bronze end trimming and fixtures. “This is one of the best buck knives on the market. Give it a try.”

The man held onto the leather sleeve but directed the handle towards Davy. The knife slid out easily. Davy held it in with his hand open, letting the knife lay on his palm. He then rolled it off of his fingers and flicked it into the air. It spun a full rotation before Davy grasped it firmly by the handle. It was weighted very nicely, despite having a compass embedded on the butt of the handle. Such a good weight was hard to find amongst knives this size.

Davy was sold, but he didn’t want to act too terribly interested because he had the unshakable feeling he was about to be scammed. With one final spin of the knife he grasped it by the back of the blade, and handed it back to the man behind the counter.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?”

“It’s got a good weight, but I don’t really know about the compass on the end.” Davy said.

“Oh you’re gonna need some sense of direction – it’s a big world.” smiled the cigarette man.

“I don’t doubt that,” sighed Davy, “I just don’t know how well it’s manufactured. I mean, sure, the blade is alright, but I don’t just don’t know about the compass, it seems sort of… Gimmicky.”

“Gimmicky? That’s a good knife.”

“So how much are you looking to sell it for?”

“Well I don’t want to rip anyone off, so I’ll let it go for 20gp.”

Davy could have sworn the smoke which issued from the mans mouth spelled out the word “sucker” for a brief moment.

“I’ll give you 8. That’s more than my friend paid for the watch.”

The man laughed slightly and cooed, “Not a chance, this is a good knife.”

“Well then I’m sure you won’t have any problems selling it.” Davy smiled as he leaned slightly against his staff. “Anyway,” started Davy as he headed towards the door, “My buddy only gave me 10 gold, so you’ll have to find a richer buyer. Maybe I can find a good cheap one some-“

“Now just hold on a minute there.” Called the cigarette man, to whom Davy had already turned his back. “Come here and we’ll talk about this.”

The man was obviously oblivious to the fact that Davy was smiling contentedly just seconds prior to turning around and walking back to the counter.

“I’ll tell you what…” The cigarette man leaned on the counter towards Davy. “I’ll let you have it at half price.”

“But that’s all the gold I have,” complained Davy, who was fighting a fierce internal battle to not burst into laughter. He’d never had such success in haggling.

“Yeah, but where else are you going to find a deal like this? I’ll level with you – business has been pretty good lately, so I don’t mind loosing profit if it means helping out a new player. What do you say? With a blade like this you can find ways to make more money.”

“Yeah, probably, but it’s still all the gold I have.”

“Well I’ll tell you what. I’ll make sure it’s the last knife you ever need to buy by giving you a sharpening stone with it – how’s that sound?” The man seemed to play this generous role very well, but Davy knew that he was still making a profit or else he wouldn’t be doing it.”

“I don’t know…” said Davy, “I wouldn’t want to feel like I’m getting the best of you.”

“Well, I won’t lie, this isn’t a bargain any more – it’s a steal, but what can I do? I’ve gotta help out new players.” The man exhausted his cigarette and pressed the butt into the dust of the ashtray… “Look, it’d do my heart good to help you out. You might knock someone out with that staff there, but if it comes down to the kill, you’re gonna have a hard time. And heaven forbid you have to cut a rope.”

“Well alright then, if you’re sure.” Davy reached into his pocket making careful movements so as not to let the sound of coins hitting each other issue from his pocket. He pulled out a coin and placed it on the counter. The man then reached under the counter a second time and pulled forth a small sharpening stone and handed it to Davy, who was already holding his new knife.

Davy forced a look of calm across his face as he left the store, but as soon as he got out onto the street and the door closed behind him, he could not help but laugh, as he was sure the shop owner was doing on the other side of the wall.

He pocketed the knife and considered briefly spending the remaining 40gp, but he couldn’t for the life of him find what he wanted to spend it on. He checked his watch. He wasn’t sure what time exactly he had entered the game, but he knew that he should really consider logging out. If James hadn’t stressed taking a bus back to Pleasant Breeze prior to logging out, he would have attempted it where he stood, but instead he figured he should heed James’s advice and head home before hand…

Part of him really wanted to explore the amazing city before him, but a larger part wanted to stop for a while, return to reality and reflect on everything that had happened to him in the past few hours.

He was headed back to the bus stop from which he had come when two buses pulled in. The first had a destination that read, “Miswal, North” while the second read simply, “Home.” Davy was pleased at the convenient timing, but made a note to grab a bus schedule before boarding the second bus.

The Bus was crammed with people, a direct contrast to the bus in which he had arrived. He found a seat next to an elderly lady, who smiled warmly at him.

“My grandson bought me a terminal for my birthday.” She said. “I can’t walk anymore in real life… I never thought I’d live to see something like this. It all feels so real.”

Davy was oddly touched by this, but lacked a suitable response. Seeing this, she continued with a lighter greeting.

“What neighborhood do you live in?”

“Pleasant Breeze,” Said Davy. “It’s just down the road there.” These last words slipped out in an instinctual attempt to do more than just directly answer a question. Of course it was down the road, all the neighborhoods are down the road. But the elderly lady didn’t seem to notice. Instead, she simply continued to smile up at him.

“I live in Vailmont.” She said, “Though a friend of mine lives in Pleasant Breeze… Maybe you know him… His name is Richard Kohl. He and I used to go to church together.”

“I’m afraid I haven’t met him… Today’s my first day in game.”

“Oh, well that’s nice. Welcome to you, then.” She again smiled warmly and began looking out the window. The bus was moving now and Davy saw that they had already passed the “Now leaving Gateswood” sign. He couldn’t help but feel that this exit trip was some how quicker than the one proceeding it.

“Well,” started the elderly lady as she turned again to face Davy, “I guess this is goodbye. Good luck to you.”

Davy wanted to say something, but didn’t exactly have the chance. The bus passed into the tunnel and Davy found himself alone on the bus. Across the bus Davy could hear a faint gasping noise as cushions where people had been seated previously expanded as air entered into them. He gave a glance around the bus and realized that he was not in fact alone. There, about three seats from the back of the bus, sat a man who looked as though had fallen asleep… Davy stood and walked towards the back of the bus to wake the man, so as not to miss the next stop in Pleasant Breeze.

The man awoke and thanked him, saying that he’d been going from bus to bus all the way from some place called “Millstead.” Beyond that the man didn’t say very much, just a “Thanks for not letting me miss the stop. The bus driver doesn’t always wake people up.”

The bus pulled to a slow stop in Pleasant Breeze, and Davy and the stranger exited and headed in their separate directions. It took Davy a total of 12 minutes to walk home, according to his watch. He opened the door to his home, and looked around. It was exactly as he had left it, down to every spectacular detail that made him almost disbelieve he was in a game at all.

The proof would be his ability to leave. He considered logging out standing up as James had, but figured it might be a safer experience logging back in if he were to reappear lying down. He settled himself comfortably on the couch and closed his eyes. Then, he made a strong mental effort to open them. His eyes opened, but he was still looking at his ceiling. Wrong eyes, he thought… He closed them again and made a strong effort to see the blue light emitted onto him from the terminal.

He felt an odd rush of sensation, and a straightening of his back. Before long his eyes opened to see the blue lights fading down. With a push of his hand, the top of the terminal flipped open.

He was back…
_________________

Ah, Signature Changes...

[Vicious88]

Chapter Three: Out of Place
By Vicious St. James

Davy was unsure exactly how much James wanted to throw at him his first day in-game, but he had also known and trusted him for more than a decade, so, as far as Davy could reason, if there was anyone in Dimension2 that he should trust, James was that person.

They gathered their few belongings and headed back out into the quiet streets of Pleasant Breeze. As they walked, Davy took note of man building what appeared to be a deck onto the side of his home and could not help but wonder if this was a fellow human, or just a diligent working piece of programming. He wanted to ask James if he knew, but he didn’t want to risk getting distracted from leaving Pleasant Breeze.

Davy had mixed feelings about Pleasant Breeze. It was easily the nicest neighborhood he had ever lived in, yet, on that thought; he had to re-assure himself that he’s not “living” here at all. This wasn’t life, no matter how much it felt like it. He feared that if he let himself forget that, he could become so involved with this reality that he might simply let the other slip away. He was about to ask what would happen to his body if he stayed in-game too long, but James’s voice broke the silence of Davy’s thoughts.

“RLH! RLH!!!”

Davy recognized this as James’s well-used code for “Run like Hell!” and as soon as he comprehended that James was running, he understood why. There, just under 50 yards away, a bus had pulled up to the bus stop. It seemed better to run than have to wait for another bus.

As they sprinted toward the bus, Davy took note of the vessel. It was large and metallic, much like a city bus in New York would be, even down to the advertisement banner on the side, though this particular one read “The Works – liquid pipe cleaner. Try it in D2, Buy it in RL.”

They reached the bus which opened its doors with a hiss to allow them entrance. James lead the way up the three oddly steep steps and greeted the bus driver, who returned the gesture. As Davy made his way up the steps the door behind him closed and the bus began to accelerate slowly. James had already seated himself in the third seat on the driver side, which Davy found to be odd considering that bus was completely empty excluding the two of them and the bus driver.

Davy sat himself across the isle from James just as the bus turned to the right. Looking out the window he saw that they were leaving the neighborhood of Pleasant Breeze and starting coarse down a heavily wooded road. The scenery that passed was breathtakingly beautiful. It had turned from a mostly level neighborhood to a woodland area with rolling hills and miles upon miles of trees and the occasional field, all of which were changing with the seasons. As the bus made another corner, they began up a hill, which allowed Davy to properly see what was around him.

Pleasant breeze was in a basin, formed by what were either impressive hills, or non-impressive mountains. James, like Davy, would have no set view to this matter since the area in which they had lived the majority of their lives had neither of the two.

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

Davy had not really expected the question so it took him a bit to devise an answer. The best response he could come up with for James was, “They did this all bit by bit – tree by tree?”

“I don’t know. I doubt it. It’s probably something like a ‘brush tool’ or a region setting. All I know is that there are thousands of neighborhoods out there like Pleasant Breeze. Each different in street layouts and people, but all surrounded by basically the same environment, though the hills do move around from time to time.”

Davy uttered an un-intentional “wow” of amazement and continued looking out the window. He understood why there was so much land in the Pleasant Breeze basin now – so that the neighborhood would have room to expand, perhaps even into a city someday if enough players lived in the same area. He could only imagine that there are neighborhoods for D2 based out of California and New York that would be cities, brimming with activity. Then a thought occurred to him. He had no idea where he was going.

He had neglected to read the destination sign on the bus as they were approaching it and from what he could tell there wasn’t anything around but woods. He asked James, and was told that it would ruin the surprise.

“And besides,” James continued, “When I first came to D2, no one told me where this bus went.”

“You didn’t read the sign? You just got on a bus, having no idea where it goes or if there’s even a return bus?”

“You didn’t read the sign either, and besides, it’s not the stupidest thing we’ve ever done.”

Davy knew that was true. He could recall more than a few instances of the two of them getting themselves into and out of trouble. Not to mention getting lost several miles away from home almost once a week as kids, and using things like railroad tracks and the sun to navigate back.

He could have pressed the issue further, but he knew that he was in good hands. Out of all the trouble the two of them had ever gotten in, there were only two instances where Davy could recall James being absolutely wrong. One of which being eleven years ago when James managed to convince him that they should bike six miles to the river to go swimming, only to find that it was flooded and too swift due to a storm earlier in the week. The only other instance was the same day, on the trip back home, when James figured that rather than follow the six miles worth of road which made one large u-turn, they could save time and take the rail road tracks. Davy couldn’t recall how many hours were spent walking that railroad track, but he did remember that it was that point in his life when he realized the shortest distance between two places is not always a straight line.

Davy realized his mind had drifted and he again took note of the scenery around him, just in time to notice that the bus was approaching the side of a steep cliff where the mouth of a stone tunnel engulfed them. For just a brief moment everything was black except the lights inside the bus, and those on the outside which reflected off of the tunnel walls. Davy could feel the road dip down and bow back up again, as though the tunnel had been intended to lead them beneath a body of water.

Before even twenty seconds of darkness could pass, Davy could see the light from the tunnel exit and very soon he could see a whole lot more. As the bus pulled out of the darkness, Davy took note that they were once again in a wooded area, though now the trees were sparser and many miles down the road he could see that there was a very large city.

“Clever isn’t it?” James asked, but upon seeing that Davy was without response, continued saying, “You know the saying all roads lead home? Well… It’s a lie. This road that we’re on leads to every neighborhood in D2 that is based out of Florida. The tunnel back there serves as a portal.”

“So what if you want to go to someone else’s neighborhood?”

“Well, from here all buses either lead to a different town or their destination reads ‘Home’ – so if you want to go to someone else’s neighborhood, you get on a ‘Home’ bus and tell the bus driver the name of the neighborhood you want to go to. Same thing with taxis, and the same thing goes if you own a car, you punch the neighborhood into your Navigation system and go. If you don’t do one of these things by time you’ve passed through the tunnel, you’ll end up in your neighborhood.”

Davy understood, or at least enough to require no further explanation momentarily. His primary interest now was the city they were quickly approaching.

“I’ve just got to warn you,” started James, “this is the first city anyone from Florida sees in D2, because it’s the closest to the neighborhoods, but this is also where most of your scammers and thieves hang out to pick on new players. So keep a good grip on your staff and if need be, use it. Most players won’t risk having the police and a bunch of vigilante players chasing after them, so you’re more or less safe, but if you go down any dark alleys, you’re likely to find trouble.
“There is a good bit of traffic here, so you might want to take care when crossing the street. If you die it’s not the end of the world, but most people will get pretty steamed if you damage their car. Apparently if you break a windshield, dent a bumper, whatever; it takes two weeks for the damage to mend itself.
“Also, there’s a lot of opportunity here to earn gold, but don’t go running head first into any job you can get because most aren’t worth the time. Do you got all that?”

Davy replied “yep” instinctively, but the truth of the matter is he had only understood about half of what was said and summarized it to himself as “Don’t leave stuff lying around” and “No playing Frogger with people’s cars.” He didn’t have the heart to ask James to repeat it, and even if he did repeat it, Davy couldn’t help but feel the result would be the same.

There was simply too much to be excited about. He’d only been in game for a few hours and here they were, approaching a city where there was a ton of activity going on. Even the muggings would be a step up from the dull nothing of the nearest city in real life.

As the bus rolled closer to the city, vehicles headed in the opposite direction passed by and Davy could see people inside talking on phones or with the person next to them. It seemed odd to him that someone would put so much money into something like transportation when it was provided free of charge.

Before he had time to contemplate this further, the bus approached a large metal sign with reflective paint which read “Welcome to Gateswood.” This welcome came none too soon, because it took the bus less than a minute to from they time it passed the sign to the time began passing buildings.

Everything around the bus was brimming with life. People were walking every which way, some running. Most could be seen with some form of a weapon, though Davy could not help but think it odd to see the occasional person with a sword or crossbow, knowing that there must also be modern weapons such as the pistol inside James’s coat.

All around them people were buying, selling, talking, and getting into cars, taxis, and buses. It was easily the most active city Davy had ever seen. It was so active in fact that Davy did not initially notice the details that surrounded him. How every single aspect of this city was as real as the life he left behind just hours ago when he entered his terminal…

As the bus began to slow down, James stood began walking towards the doors, Davy following close by. With a hiss the bus stopped, and with a second hiss, the doors opened. Beyond James, Davy could see a bus stop where twenty or so people were waiting to board the bus. After following James down the steps of the bus, Davy stepped onto the sidewalk and looked back at the bus. It was exactly as before, except now the destination read “Shield St.”

Davy’s staff made no noise that he could hear over the city ambiance as it tapped the ground with his steps. James was walking slower than his normal gate, but Davy could only suppose this was to avoid bumping into other people. He tried to keep his eye on James so as not to loose him in the crowd, but at the same time, he wanted so desperately to explore the city around him.

“Here we are.” Said James, turning to open a shop door and walk in.

Davy entered the small smoke filed shop. There was a man behind the counter with an expression of boredom on his face, seeing this; Davy wondered if this shop was run by a player or an NPC. There was a woman looking at something through a class display case, and a man gauging umbrellas over in the corner. The woman was young and in many ways fashionable with her taste in clothing. She posed quite a contrast to the middle aged man in blue jeans and a red coat with the umbrellas.

The shop wasn’t very big, which was perhaps what increased the density and smell of the cigarette smoke being slowly emitted from the man behind the counter. There were only a dozen or so shoulder-high rows of shelves, littered with various whatnots ranging from food products to lawn ornaments. It was, to the best that Davy could reason, a curio shop.

James led Davy down the left wall to a multi-tiered display shelf showcasing [reconsider word choice - it'll get you banned]. Below it was a shelf of cheaper watches with leather or clothe straps.

“Pick one out. I recommend a cheaper one – they all work the same, but a cheap one is less likely to get stolen if you get attacked, plus, if you break it, it’s not the end of the world.”

“Are you sure?” Asked Davy, knowing that James was about to put his gold into whatever watch he chose.

“Yeah, I’ve got one, and trust me it’s terribly helpful. There’s no need to set them either, they’re synced to the world. Much better than waiting blindly for a bus or something.”

Convinced, Davy picked out a black digital watch with a dark brown leather strap. As he handed it to James, he noticed the price “7gp” labeled in the corner. He wondered how long it would take him to learn the value of a dollar here in D2.

Watch in hand, James walked over to the counter and pulled a coin from his pocket. Davy observed the man behind the counter taking the coin and handing James six or seven coins in return. Davy could only suppose this meant that the man had made change for James, which would mean that coins with different values would have different markings or be made of different materials. James returned and handed Davy the watch as well as five coins. Each coin was a polished gold and emblazoned with the number ten, set over a symbol of a dragon circling a luxurious crown.

“That’s 50gp, and it’s not a bad sum to start off with. Keep it close by.”
“Are you sure you don’t need it?”

“Positive,” started James, “and besides, gold won’t be that hard to come by once we get you some gear.”

“Okay, where do we go from here?”

“Anywhere you want. There’s a bus stop every two blocks and bus schedules are posted on them. I wouldn’t suggest leaving Gateswood on your first day, but whenever you’re done you should check a bus schedule and see when the next bus home is.”

“Wait, what? Where are you going?” Davy asked with a deep sense of disappointment that he had been taken out to the middle of crowded a city and was expected to more or less figure it out from there.

“I hate to do it to you, but I’ve been playing for about…” James glanced at a metallic watch on his wrist, “five hours now… I really don’t need to get addicted to D2. Just give me a call whenever you log out, okay.”

“Alright.”

“Make sure to take some of that gold and spend it on a good knife or something of the sort, just in case you find yourself in a situation where you can’t use the staff very well.”

And with that, James let out a yawn, closed his eyes, and vanished. Davy had never witnessed anything like it before. This was apparently what all people did when they logged out, give or take the yawn. It was bazaar looking at the empty space where just seconds ago James stood, knowing full well that he hadn’t just walked out of the room. The though also occurred to Davy that in D2, there was no such thing as Object Permanence. James was not simply out of site, he was completely non-existent until he chose to log back in.

Davy put the gold James had given him into his pants pocket and approached the man behind the counter. As he approached, he could see the man gauging his staff, though Davy was unsure if the man was admiring it or wondering about Davy’s intentions. This was more than understandable, because Davy felt he would probably do the same if someone walked into a store he was in wielding a large staff.

“Do you have any knives?” Davy asked the man.

“Adventurer?” replied the man, cigarette smoke issuing from his mouth.

“Yeah, I guess so… Am I supposed to pick a class? ‘Hunter,’ ‘Warrior,’ or something of the sort?”

“Ah,” started the man, who pulled the cigarette from his mouth and put it in an ashtray to his right. “You’re new to Dimension2, I see. No, you don’t choose classes or anything like that, though before too long you’ll figure out what your good at, and most people tend to stick with what they’re good at. You pretty handy with a knife?”

Davy smirked slightly and gave a small shrug. He didn’t want to overplay his skills seeing as just a few hours ago he was learning how to walk. If he got cocky, he was setting himself up to get hurt.

“Well this might interest you…” Said the man as he put his cigarette back in the corner of his mouth and reached down behind the counter. When he arose he was holding a black leather sleeve from which emitted a wooden handle with bronze end trimming and fixtures. “This is one of the best buck knives on the market. Give it a try.”

The man held onto the leather sleeve but directed the handle towards Davy. The knife slid out easily. Davy held it in with his hand open, letting the knife lay on his palm. He then rolled it off of his fingers and flicked it into the air. It spun a full rotation before Davy grasped it firmly by the handle. It was weighted very nicely, despite having a compass embedded on the butt of the handle. Such a good weight was hard to find amongst knives this size.

Davy was sold, but he didn’t want to act too terribly interested because he had the unshakable feeling he was about to be scammed. With one final spin of the knife he grasped it by the back of the blade, and handed it back to the man behind the counter.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?”

“It’s got a good weight, but I don’t really know about the compass on the end.” Davy said.

“Oh you’re gonna need some sense of direction – it’s a big world.” smiled the cigarette man.

“I don’t doubt that,” sighed Davy, “I just don’t know how well it’s manufactured. I mean, sure, the blade is alright, but I don’t just don’t know about the compass, it seems sort of… Gimmicky.”

“Gimmicky? That’s a good knife.”

“So how much are you looking to sell it for?”

“Well I don’t want to rip anyone off, so I’ll let it go for 20gp.”

Davy could have sworn the smoke which issued from the mans mouth spelled out the word “sucker” for a brief moment.

“I’ll give you 8. That’s more than my friend paid for the watch.”

The man laughed slightly and cooed, “Not a chance, this is a good knife.”

“Well then I’m sure you won’t have any problems selling it.” Davy smiled as he leaned slightly against his staff. “Anyway,” started Davy as he headed towards the door, “My buddy only gave me 10 gold, so you’ll have to find a richer buyer. Maybe I can find a good cheap one some-“

“Now just hold on a minute there.” Called the cigarette man, to whom Davy had already turned his back. “Come here and we’ll talk about this.”

The man was obviously oblivious to the fact that Davy was smiling contentedly just seconds prior to turning around and walking back to the counter.

“I’ll tell you what…” The cigarette man leaned on the counter towards Davy. “I’ll let you have it at half price.”

“But that’s all the gold I have,” complained Davy, who was fighting a fierce internal battle to not burst into laughter. He’d never had such success in haggling.

“Yeah, but where else are you going to find a deal like this? I’ll level with you – business has been pretty good lately, so I don’t mind loosing profit if it means helping out a new player. What do you say? With a blade like this you can find ways to make more money.”

“Yeah, probably, but it’s still all the gold I have.”

“Well I’ll tell you what. I’ll make sure it’s the last knife you ever need to buy by giving you a sharpening stone with it – how’s that sound?” The man seemed to play this generous role very well, but Davy knew that he was still making a profit or else he wouldn’t be doing it.”

“I don’t know…” said Davy, “I wouldn’t want to feel like I’m getting the best of you.”

“Well, I won’t lie, this isn’t a bargain any more – it’s a steal, but what can I do? I’ve gotta help out new players.” The man exhausted his cigarette and pressed the butt into the dust of the ashtray… “Look, it’d do my heart good to help you out. You might knock someone out with that staff there, but if it comes down to the kill, you’re gonna have a hard time. And heaven forbid you have to cut a rope.”

“Well alright then, if you’re sure.” Davy reached into his pocket making careful movements so as not to let the sound of coins hitting each other issue from his pocket. He pulled out a coin and placed it on the counter. The man then reached under the counter a second time and pulled forth a small sharpening stone and handed it to Davy, who was already holding his new knife.

Davy forced a look of calm across his face as he left the store, but as soon as he got out onto the street and the door closed behind him, he could not help but laugh, as he was sure the shop owner was doing on the other side of the wall.

He pocketed the knife and considered briefly spending the remaining 40gp, but he couldn’t for the life of him find what he wanted to spend it on. He checked his watch. He wasn’t sure what time exactly he had entered the game, but he knew that he should really consider logging out. If James hadn’t stressed taking a bus back to Pleasant Breeze prior to logging out, he would have attempted it where he stood, but instead he figured he should heed James’s advice and head home before hand…

Part of him really wanted to explore the amazing city before him, but a larger part wanted to stop for a while, return to reality and reflect on everything that had happened to him in the past few hours.

He was headed back to the bus stop from which he had come when two buses pulled in. The first had a destination that read, “Miswal, North” while the second read simply, “Home.” Davy was pleased at the convenient timing, but made a note to grab a bus schedule before boarding the second bus.

The Bus was crammed with people, a direct contrast to the bus in which he had arrived. He found a seat next to an elderly lady, who smiled warmly at him.

“My grandson bought me a terminal for my birthday.” She said. “I can’t walk anymore in real life… I never thought I’d live to see something like this. It all feels so real.”

Davy was oddly touched by this, but lacked a suitable response. Seeing this, she continued with a lighter greeting.

“What neighborhood do you live in?”

“Pleasant Breeze,” Said Davy. “It’s just down the road there.” These last words slipped out in an instinctual attempt to do more than just directly answer a question. Of course it was down the road, all the neighborhoods are down the road. But the elderly lady didn’t seem to notice. Instead, she simply continued to smile up at him.

“I live in Vailmont.” She said, “Though a friend of mine lives in Pleasant Breeze… Maybe you know him… His name is Richard Kohl. He and I used to go to church together.”

“I’m afraid I haven’t met him… Today’s my first day in game.”

“Oh, well that’s nice. Welcome to you, then.” She again smiled warmly and began looking out the window. The bus was moving now and Davy saw that they had already passed the “Now leaving Gateswood” sign. He couldn’t help but feel that this exit trip was some how quicker than the one proceeding it.

“Well,” started the elderly lady as she turned again to face Davy, “I guess this is goodbye. Good luck to you.”

Davy wanted to say something, but didn’t exactly have the chance. The bus passed into the tunnel and Davy found himself alone on the bus. Across the bus Davy could hear a faint gasping noise as cushions where people had been seated previously expanded as air entered into them. He gave a glance around the bus and realized that he was not in fact alone. There, about three seats from the back of the bus, sat a man who looked as though had fallen asleep… Davy stood and walked towards the back of the bus to wake the man, so as not to miss the next stop in Pleasant Breeze.

The man awoke and thanked him, saying that he’d been going from bus to bus all the way from some place called “Millstead.” Beyond that the man didn’t say very much, just a “Thanks for not letting me miss the stop. The bus driver doesn’t always wake people up.”

The bus pulled to a slow stop in Pleasant Breeze, and Davy and the stranger exited and headed in their separate directions. It took Davy a total of 12 minutes to walk home, according to his watch. He opened the door to his home, and looked around. It was exactly as he had left it, down to every spectacular detail that made him almost disbelieve he was in a game at all.

The proof would be his ability to leave. He considered logging out standing up as James had, but figured it might be a safer experience logging back in if he were to reappear lying down. He settled himself comfortably on the couch and closed his eyes. Then, he made a strong mental effort to open them. His eyes opened, but he was still looking at his ceiling. Wrong eyes, he thought… He closed them again and made a strong effort to see the blue light emitted onto him from the terminal.

He felt an odd rush of sensation, and a straightening of his back. Before long his eyes opened to see the blue lights fading down. With a push of his hand, the top of the terminal flipped open.

He was back…
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Ah, Signature Changes...

[flozz]

if that does come out that woud be so good

and congratulation on chapter 3 how many are there going to be
_________________

[flozz]

if that does come out that woud be so good

and congratulation on chapter 3 how many are there going to be
_________________

[flozz]

if that does come out that woud be so good

and congratulation on chapter 3 how many are there going to be
_________________

[RobC1907]

I can't wait for the next chapter

[RobC1907]

I can't wait for the next chapter

[sweetie79]

wow... keeps getting better, i can't wait for the next chapter
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Never fear what others think, because the people who mind don't matter and the people who matter don't mind. True friends stick with you no matter what.

[sweetie79]

wow... keeps getting better, i can't wait for the next chapter
_________________
Never fear what others think, because the people who mind don't matter and the people who matter don't mind. True friends stick with you no matter what.