Chapter 3

Seven seconds.

Exactly seven seconds after the declaration of war, the legendary warrior Herbalist420 had been engaged in a rather low stakes archery contest with his friend. Instead of the apple on his head, HopHopHop_Scotch’s arrow hit Herbalist420 right in the face. And thus the first casualty was claimed.

Not that we knew that at the time. It took significantly longer for the wider playerbase to learn of the heartbreaking tale. Because in that moment Herbalist420 had to do something that no gamer had had to do in over ten years.

He had to find a computer.

Once Herbalist420 found a computer, he posted a message of his own on the first online forum that he could find.

I think something’s wrong with my ARG? My bro and I were playing Vision Eaters Express just now and I died. Then I tried to log back onto the game, but my ARG weren’t responding. It was like the battery was dead. I tried taking them out and putting them in the case to charge, but when I put them back on still nothing. But they’re still powered on? Like they’re still yellow like they are whenever I’m wearing them. But I still can’t log on. I think it’s some kind of glitch. Has anyone else encountered anything like this? If so, please tell me there’s a way to fix it. I really don’t want to have to go buy a new set.

Herbalist420 may have been the first to report this issue, but he was by no means the last. Within those first few minutes alone hundreds if not thousands of messages were posted onto forums, shared amongst each other, and just all around sent around the world. The stories they told were different, but the outcome was the same. Always the same.

I turned a corner and got killed by a zombie. I can’t log back in.

My friends and I were destroyed by the enemy team. None of us can log back in.

I’m posting this for NewbieSlayer6. They say they fell in a pool of lava and can’t log back in.

“I found another one,” Yguzi reported, flicking through the pages of his menu. His eyes skimmed through the text. “ARG still turned back on, can’t log back in.”

“Donoghue says the same,” Juno added. “But on my friends list she’s still marked as logged in.”

Yguzi looked up from his menu. “What the hecknuggets is going on?” he asked.

“Every report of people being unable to log in started after that unknown message,” Melody muttered. “From what I can tell the message went to every player in the game. At least every player logged in at that moment. I think it contained some kind of virus.”

“Hang on, wouldn’t people have had to open the message in that case?” Yguzi asked. “I mean, some of these people definitely couldn’t have done that, and they’re not able to log in.”

“Not necessarily. Some virus could just automatically infect your device.”

Juno cleared her throat, drawing everyone’s attention to her. “The how isn’t what’s important right now,” she declared. Melody’s lips thinned, though she didn’t voice any disagreement. “Right now we need to be more concerned by what’s happening. And it seems to be pretty clear exactly what is happening. This virus is making it so that when a player’s avatar dies, they can’t log back in to their account. We’re gonna have to be careful until someone figures this out.”

“Are you not always careful?” I asked, finally looking up from the many windows and forums I had pulled up.

Juno nodded. “We are.”

“No one likes dying,” Yguzi muttered, shuddering slightly as he said the words.

“So we’ll just have to be extra careful,” Juno finished. “No dying.”

“Words to live by,” I said. I turned my attention back to the windows. The one at the center still had that first message pulled up.

“I think we should call it a day here,” Juno continued, though to be honest I was only listening with half an ear at most. Realistically more like a fifth of an ear. “I know it’s early, but we have to be extra careful. I say we call it here and reconvene at the usual place tomorrow? Say eleven? By that time this whole thing should be over anyway.”

My finger reached out to trace the end of the message. “Consider this a declaration of war. AI versus NG. What does that mean? Who are they?”

“Something to share with the rest of us?” Melody asked.

I hummed and yanked my hand away from the windows. They all closed, condensing in on each other and disappearing.

I took a moment to consider my words before coming up with just a simple response in the end. “I admire your optimism.”

“Thanks,” Yguzi said, his body bouncing at the compliment.

“Optimism?” Melody repeated. “How is any of that optimistic?”

“A declaration of war sent out to every player simultaneously? Accompanied with a virus that’s locking people out of their accounts? This was very definitely a coordinated and calculated attack. This wasn’t rushed and almost certainly wasn’t sloppy. I don’t think whoever did whatever this is would have done this if they weren’t absolutely certain it would stick. Definitely not if it could be undone in just a day.”

“You think this is gonna last,” Juno stated. Stated, not asked. I could tell she agreed with me. Or, if not, at least understood it was likely. I spent a moment to wonder why she had insisted that she was sure the war wouldn’t last very long, but in the end I suppose it didn’t really matter.

“I would be shocked if it didn’t.”

Juno stared at me for a moment longer, then turned her attention so she could address Melody and Yguzi as well. “That just makes it even more important that we be careful. Call it a day. Meet up tomorrow. And whatever you do, do not take any risks. I’d prefer if you don’t even log into a game.”

“Sounds good,” Yguzi said first.

“I was gonna call it a day after this anyway,” Melody said second.

“Alright, well, you guys have fun with that,” I declared last. I turned and began to walk away from the three of them.

“Have fun with what?” Melody asked.

“And where are you going?” Juno added.

“Have fun running and hiding,” I elaborated. “Putting your head in the sand. Hiding under your bed. Finding a rock to live under. Things like that. Have fun with that.”

Melody snorted out a disbelieving laugh. “You really think that’s what we’re doing?”

“Kinda sounds like it, yeah. You have fun with that.”

“Where are you going?” Juno repeated.

“Well, I was invited to join you for the Frozen Sundrops. You got them. So I’ll be on my way now.” I took a few more steps before stopping. I looked back over my shoulder. “The war of AI versus NG. I don’t think you’ll be able to just hide and ignore it until this whole thing blows over. It’s too big. It’s the moment of truth and the moment to lie. The moment to live and the moment to die. The moment to fight.”

———————————————————————

That night when I crawled back through the window the very first thing I did was to take a shower. While technically ARGs waterproof, I don’t think I need to explain why I took them off and put them away first. I paused just before opening my bedroom door to make sure that I couldn’t hear anyone walking around the apartment. Only once I was sure did I walk across the hall and into the bathroom.

I like to think that I have several traits that, while not unique to me, work together to make me a pretty unique person. However, one trait that in no way makes me unique is that my mind tends to wander when I’m taking a shower. Don’t ask how or why, it just happens. And I’m sure you know what I mean. If not, good for you. And I’m so sorry. This trait has its ups and downs to be honest.

Anyway, mind wandering. I couldn’t help but reflect on what I’d seen on the walk home. It had only been a few hours since the war began, but it had already been having some pretty visible effects. There were less people on the streets. Less gray ghosts representing people logged in to other games. Less people playing games in general. Not drastically less, but definitely noticeable.

What once would’ve been a sea of people milling around and fighting mobs or each other, each pursuing their own quests, was a slightly smaller sea. It was at low tide. And I had a feeling it would only get lower.

I meant what I said earlier. I truly did admire Juno’s optimism. I’d have loved it if this whole issue was resolved by the people in charge. Most likely the technicians and programmers at Virtually Real, the company that created the ARG, ran the servers, and just took care of general upkeep for all of virtual reality in general. This whole war seemed serious enough that I could even see the original creator of the ARG Akira Ito himself to step in. Yeah, I would have loved to have them resolve everything. Or, even better, to have everything resolve itself.

But it hadn’t happened yet. Something of this scale, this magnitude, if it wasn’t fixed immediately then that wasn’t a good sign. The longer this war, this violent attack on everyone’s divine right to play video games, this completely mad event, went unresolved the less likely it was to ever be resolved. It would become a storm that wouldn’t stop raging. The best that anyone could hope was to weather it.

Throughout these thoughts I had been in a constant state of having heated water gently poured all over me. Like being in the center of a warm hug. But then all at once the hot water ran out and I was instead being pelted by nearly-ice cold water. Like being the stick frozen inside of a popsicle. The sudden shift brought my thoughts to a screeching halt.

I scrambled to turn the water off and get dressed again. I had just grabbed the doorknob to leave when I heard them. Soft footsteps padding along the wooden floor of the hallway. Yet again I froze.

The footsteps continued moving down the hallway. I took a moment to listen to the sound of them. They were relatively light. Not as light as my own, but far from the heaviest they could’ve been. Even still they were loud and… not aggressive, per se, but brash. I knew exactly who they belonged to, of course. My sister, Sierra O’Neil.

Sierra slowed to a halt just on the other side of the bathroom door. I stared at the door, keeping my hand on the doorknob. The footsteps started up again and Sierra left. I waited until I’d heard the sound of her bedroom door closing, and a few minutes to be sure, before slowly pulling the door open. I made sure the hallway was empty and stepped out.

Instead of retreating back to my room I made a beeline for the closet just off the kitchen. I pulled a box off the top shelf and carefully balanced it on my arm as I went through it. There wasn’t much in the box. A green sweater with the name tag still pinned onto it, a jewelry box, a headband, a few data cards, and an old music player and headphones. A random assortment of items that had once belonged to my mother. I extracted the music player and put the box back into the closet.

Back in my bedroom I put the headphones on and turned on the music player. It was a rather small thing. Thin and light, easy enough to fit in the palm of my hand. Of course, compared to something like an ARG it was downright gigantic. I pressed play and put the player down.

I leaned back and let my head rest against the wall. My eyes drifted shut. I sat there for a few minutes, just listening to music. After the first song ended I let out a soft groan and sat up again. I grabbed the ARG case off my dresser and put them back in. I left the headphones off, however. As soon as they powered on my body glowed in my vision. The sweatpants and plain t-shirt were replaced by my Junai outfit. Mark appeared on my shoulder. My ARG were on but I wasn’t logged into a game, so Mark dropped his guard. Instead of acting like a sentry he hopped off my shoulder and began to fly around the room, taking the opportunity to stretch his wings.

The lower left corner of my vision lit up and an envelope flashed in front of my eye. It had a little number three on the corner. Three unread messages. I tapped the envelope and my menu popped open, skipping straight to the messages. A trash can appeared at the bottom of my vision, a copy of my friends list on the side, and the inbox in the center.

There were indeed three messages there. One from Yguzi, one from Melody, and one from Juno. That was weird. In some ways even weirder than the mass message we’d all received earlier.

I keep my character profile set to private, so I shouldn’t be able to receive messages from people who aren’t on my friends list. And those three were not on my friends list. Or at least they shouldn’t have been. But a quick look showed that, sure enough, their names had been added. I can accept that being bypassed by a message going to everyone, but this? Like I said: weird.

I opened Yguzi’s message first.

Hey Junai!

Just wanted to thank you for all your help the last few days. Man, that Sundrop quest seemed to get tougher and tougher each day, didn’t it? I swear I fought so many more mobs yesterday than the first five combined!

Anyway, I know that things got crazy today, but that’s still no excuse not to thank you. So, thank you! It was a lot of fun! If you ever need help with a quest of your own, well, I owe you one. Consider this a voucher for One Free Quest!

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!

For the record, I heavily edited that message for you. I kept the content the same, but… let’s just say Yguzi’s not one for spelling. Or grammar. Ever. I didn’t want to have to subject you to reading what he originally wrote, so you’re welcome.

Next was Melody’s message.

Sup Jock

I took the liberty of accepting the friend requests from the three of us on your behalf. Your welcome, saved you the effort of accepting them.

Juno said we should all message you so you feel welcome to join us tomorrow. Well, here you go.

PS: I can’t help but notice that you’re still using the standard security all ARG have. Let me tell you, that stuff is awful. Holes so large an Elephino could charge right through them. Attached below you’ll find an employment contract for updated and personalized security. I think you’ll find my rates to be very reasonable.

Melody’s message definitely left me with a lot of questions and, frankly, held many uncomfortable implications. About what I’d expect from her, to be honest. Other than that, not much to say.

Onto Juno’s.

Hello, Junai.

It occurred to me after you left that you don’t actually know where our usual place to meet is. It’s at the Burger-Maynia on Sunflower Road. We’ll all be meeting at eleven. I hope to see you there.

Thank you, Juno.

Once I finished reading the three messages there was really only one thing I could do. I swiped my hand three times and threw them all into the trash. I started to lean back again when a flash of red crossed my vision.

Mark landed on my knee.

“What?”

Mark didn’t respond to my question. Not verbally, at least. He just stared down at me.

“What?” I asked again. Still no response. I sighed and let my head fall back against the wall once more. “Don’t try to change my mind. You know I shouldn’t actually go.”

Mark hopped off my knee and fluttered over to my shoulder instead. I turned my head to keep him in my sight. He started gently grooming the purple hair of Junai. He grabbed a few purple strands hanging in front of my face and settled them behind my ear. He couldn’t reach the black hair I had as Olivia, but that doesn’t change anything about the gesture.

“Look, I appreciate it, but I barely even know those guys!” I pointed out. “I mean, I met them like a week ago. I’ve spent a grand total of four hours with them. I didn’t even go out looking for them! They just showed up and burst into my game. They’re just a bunch of… intruders? No, not intruders. I don’t think they’re quite that malicious.” My eyes flickered down to the blinking symbol of the trash can. I couldn’t help but dwell on Melody’s message for a moment. “I think,” I amended.

“But you still get the point. They’re just a bunch of… ugh, what? Not interlopers. Encroachers? Ew, I don’t like the sound of that. Invaders? Eh… no. They’re… they’re… renegades! They’re just a bunch of renegades who burst into my game and for some reason act like they want me to stick around.” Despite my outburst I kept my head perfectly still for Mark to keep working.

Mark finished working on my hair and hopped off my shoulder. He started flying around the room again. I sighed and had to nod, conceding his point. “Yeah, I know, it’s a miracle they put up with me as long as they did.” I glanced at the trash can again. “You know they don’t actually want me to join them, right? They’re just being nice.”

Mark dove down and pulled up just moments before he hit the floor.

“You think I should give them more credit? Maybe you give them too much credit, you ever think of that?”

Mark kept flying around.

“You always do think of everything.”

Mark dropped down and landed on the bedpost. He bent his head down to start straightening his feathers.

“I know you’re a wise and clever little bird, and I don’t mean to devalue that, but are you sure about this?” I asked. I offered my hand to Mark, holding it just in front of his head. “I mean, what if…” I trailed off, not bothering to finish the thought. To be honest, I’m not sure how I would have finished the thought. There were too many what ifs for me to consider, let alone actually voice. “What if,” I settled on.

Mark tilted his body forward and nipped my fingers.

I chuckled fondly. “Yeah, yeah, love you too.”

I kept the one hand out for Mark. With the other I tapped the trash can icon, opening it up. I grabbed the deleted messages and slid them back out.