Evan woke up to someone roughly shaking his shoulders. “Excuse me, Mr. Grey. We need you to wake up, we still have a few more questions to ask you.” Evan sat up rubbing the grit from his eyelids. He didn’t sleep well, just getting less than an hour of sleep since the police arrived. Evan struggled to form a coherent sentence but he was so tired and his throat was so parched he could barely even form an understandable word. “Kff… Kfee… Coffee…”. Wordlessly the man in uniform handed him a styrofoam cup filled with liquid gold. Evan slowly sipped the coffee and felt the exhaustion of the last 2 hours leave him. He still felt like shit though. Nothing was going to change that, not after discovering the half cooked body of his little brother just in the next room.

Tears welled up in Evan’s eyes as he once again recalled the traumatic event. He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but Evan knew that Riley was dead the moment he saw the body. He wanted to say he called the police right away, but once he got out of the room, all he could do was crumple to the floor in a sobbing mess. He could do nothing else for what seemed like an eternity but in reality was around 10 or so minutes. After some time he was coherent enough to dial the police department, but as soon as the number was dialed the memory of why he was calling them came crashing back into him and he broke down and started the whole process over again. The receptionist on the other end could only hear what was going on and sent two surveillance drones over to investigate. The drones had to cut the lock out of the door to enter and once inside found Evan crumpled in a heap in the hallway between Riley and Evan’s bedroom doors. When questioned all Evan could do was point to the closed door to his brother’s room and when they found the body, the drones reported the incident and stayed on the scene to keep an eye on Evan until the Police arrived.

“Excuse me Mr. Grey. Do you feel ready to answer a few questions?” The voice of the police officer sitting on the coffee table in front of him snapped him back to the present. Evan nodded meekly and sat up straighter in the couch he had slept on while slowly sipping more coffee. “Okay, can you tell me what exactly happened? We asked you before you passed out, but we are hoping that now that you had a bit of sleep, you could give us a few extra details.” The policeman brought out a recording device and held it up in front of Evan, ready to document the event.

Evan prepared himself and started going over the events that led up to Riley’s death. “Riley had recently gotten this Virtuo pod in order to play a game called Dreamscape Online. Up until now, he had been playing a lot. Tonight, I felt like spoiling him a bit with some of my cooking. I have a special recipe for some ribs and it has always been Riley’s favorite meal.” Tears once again started streaking down Evan’s face as he recalled the memory. “He had played a little while I was cooking the ribs but got out to eat dinner with me. After cleaning the dishes, I sat down and started watching the game on the Holo screen and Riley had gone back into the Virtuo pod to play some more. Some time goes by, maybe an hour? Hour and a half? Not quite sure exactly, but there had been a thunderstorm outside and right after my team scored a touchdown, there was a huge lightning strike and the power went out.”

At Evans words the Police officer interrupted him. “The power went out? Shouldn’t the lightning rods on the roof have conducted the electrical surge into the tower’s generators?” Evan shrugged. “I don’t know. We haven’t had a power outage before now, but the power DID go out. It took me a minute or two to find something to use as a flashlight and I got up to check our breaker panel at the end of the hallway. I… I smelled…” at this, Riley broke off his narration for a moment to collect himself and muster together his last reserves of willpower to finish. “I-I smelled cooked meat. Coming from Riley’s room. I thought Riley had brought some ribs from tonight’s dinner into his room. I went inside to get the plate and instead… I see the smoke. Coming from Riley’s pod. I panicked… I panicked and forced open the lid to the pod to find that… only… to find my brother dead.” At these last words Evan couldn’t go on anymore and broke down into whimpering and quietly crying to himself.

The man pocketed the recording device and stood up. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Grey, and I’m sorry for your loss.” The man was about to turn away when two men in business suits stepped out of Riley’s room. The taller one stepped forward. “Excuse me officer, we finished checking the Virtuo pod and we found something interesting you might want to have a look at.” The policeman followed the two men into the room. There were people all over the room, taking pictures and bagging random objects to file away for evidence. The police officer ignored them and followed the two men towards the Virtuo pod. “What did you find?” The shorter one got down on one knee and pulled the cover off a black box near the bottom of the pod near the wall. Inside was a mess of blackened wire and circuitry. “This box right here is a failsafe installed in every Virtuo pod we make. I could use a bunch of big words and complicated theory to explain it, but essentially, this box is made specificly to protect the pod and the user from exceptionally powerful electrical surges. If you look right here-” the man points to the outside of the box where a thick cable could be seen entering the box. “When electrical power reaches a certain critical point, it is redirected into this wire and into the box where it is supposed to circulate inside until the surge is reduced enough for the machine to safely use.” The man moves his finger along the wires until he gets to the other side of the box and points to another wire exiting the box. “This is where the electricity reenters the pod’s system to be used up. That is how things are supposed to work at least. But if you look at this right here-” he points to a conspicuous looking cable that is connected to the two cables coming into and going out of the box. “This wire shouldn’t be here. This allows an electrical surge to bypass the entire failsafe with no reduction in power. If the Virtuo pod received a powerful enough surge, that could easily do irreparable damage to, not only the Virtuo pod, but anyone unfortunate enough to be using it at the time of the surge.” The police officer frowned at the short man’s words. “Are you saying…” The tall man nodded at the officer’s words. “Yes. This machine was tampered with. There is no way our machines could be made with such a blatant design flaw. I’m willing to bet that, not only has someone tampered with this pod in this very room, but they also tampered with the electrical lines in the building to bypass it’s built in surge protection and directed everything into this very apartment. That would explain why the entire apartment lost power and not JUST the Virtuo pod.”

The police officer’s frown deepened even more. He beckoned for the two men to follow and stepped out of the bedroom and into the living room. Evan was still sitting down on the couch, but it seemed he had calmed down a bit. Evan looked up to see the police officer once again standing in front of him with two strange looking men in business suits standing behind him. One stood at about 6 foot 2 with a closely trimmed beard and hair. As if to contradict the tall man’s well groomed features was the second man. He stood at a slightly shorter 5 foot 5 inches and, while he did wear a business suit, he had a more casual air about him. His hair was a thick mess and he left his shirt untucked. Evan wouldn’t have been surprised if the guy had worn sneakers instead of the dress shoes he wore right now.

The Police officer cleared his throat “Mr. Grey, I would like to introduce you to Mr. Anthoney Dullard” He pointed to the tall man. “And Andrew Palateal” the short man. Andrew raised his hand in greeting. “Hey, just call me Andy. everyone else does.” The officer nodded and continued. “I am Sheriff Grahl. I was hoping you could tell me if you knew if Riley had anyone that might have wanted to hurt him in some way. Maybe someone that didn’t really get along with him?”

Evan shook his head. “No. Well, not with anyone close to him. Riley was a nice brother. He always went out of his way to help people. Usually when people see an argument or some other uncomfortable situation, they would avoid it, or if that wasn’t possible pretend it didn’t exist. Riley was the opposite. He would jump into the middle of it and help everyone work out their problems. He was well liked by everyone… Wait! Are you saying that what happened might not have been an accident?!”

Sheriff Grahl nodded his head. “Yea. that’s exactly what I’m saying. Someone tampered with the pod in such a way that if it got hit with a strong enough jolt of power, it was guaranteed to fry the pod and anyone inside it. I don’t mean to sound like I’m accusing one of your best friends, but it would have had to have been someone who was close friends with you or Riley to be able to get access to the apartment to tamper with the pod. Did you perhaps give a spare key to someone you kno-” Sherif Grahl broke off his sentence when he saw Evan’s face. There was a fresh trail of tears tracing down his face, but it wasn’t a look of grief. It was anger. “That. Disgusting. Piece. Of. Shit.” Evan clenched his fists. The cup of coffee he was still holding boiled out the top and flooded over his hands. Steam poured off his hands from the heat, but he didn’t care. Blisters formed over his fingers, but he didn’t care. Everything from his wrist to the tips of his fingers was screaming in agony, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was one thing. “Oscar. Maladay.”

Darkness. That’s all I can see. I thought it might have been a bit intimidating, but oddly enough, it’s a bit comforting. I don’t feel the usual aches and pains one would expect you got through the normal process of aging. My joints aren’t stiff, my back isn’t sore, and best all whatever pain I was experiencing before is gone. Wait. where am I? Am I still in the game? Shouldn’t I have left my pod already? I open my eyes, or I think I do. Instead of feeling like I opened eyelids, there is a sensation of… becoming aware of my surroundings. Like everything was out of focus and I just adjusted the lens. I’m still surrounded by absolute darkness, but there is a small window hovering in the air before me.

[RESPAWN]

That’s odd. Where is the log out option? For that matter, where is the option to choose no? Curious I reach for the window to try and select… Well. Respawn. Instead of my arm reaching forward, the second the intention to respawn crossed my mind, the window flashed and I felt a new sensation. The sensation of time passing by rapidly. The darkness vanishes and is replaced by a bright light. I squint my eyes to block out the light. Hey, I have eyes again! The brightness dims until the lighting is more appropriate levels. I open my eyes and look around. Trees. Of course it’s trees. Gotta love those trees. I let out an exasperated sigh, pick a random direction, and start walking, only to fall flat on my face. “Ahh fuck! That hurt.” I try to rub the pain out of my stinging nose only to wince at the pain. Shit. it’s already so fucking swollen! It’s sticking out so far!

I get my hands and feet under me, intending to get into a sitting position. I push off the ground to find I am standing. Wait. how am I standing? I was just getting on my hands and knees… I am on my hands and knees… but I’m standing… on all fours? I am starting to come to the realization that there is something horribly wrong with me. Slowly I look down, determined to figure out what the fuck is going on. Unfortunately, what I see doesn’t answer my all important question. 2 black panther paws greet my confused gaze. I wiggle my toes and feel the forest loam moveing beneath them. The two panther paws before me however remain motionless I was almost giddy with excitement until a realization smashes my happiness to smithereens an instant later. I wiggle my fingers, only to see the digits of the panther paws dance merrily on the ground. My heart stops, and my vision goes blurry. Nope. nopenopenopenopenopenope. This is not happening. This is impossible. I am clearly dreaming. This is a bug. I just need to call a GM and they will fix everything. I am not stuck as a gigantic fucking cat. As these pleasant thoughts dance through my head, I continue to stare fixedly at the offending appendages supporting me. If time had permitted, I might have stayed like this for a long time, but unfortunately life likes to throw dicks at my face.

“Ah shit! Dude! I found one! Ha! Dibs on this one! I bet I can one-shot this bitch!” On reflex, I look up at the offending noise, only to see a large metallic wall in my face. Is that a shield? *CRUNCH*

[YOU HAVE DIED]

Death Blow: Hammer Strike

“Yeaaa! Did you see that? Ha! Dropped my hammer right on the things face! Never even saw it coming!” After the initial flash of pain, I’m suddenly looking at a dead panther. Wait, is that me? Geez did they really have to go for the face? That’s just rude! Couldn’t they see I was in the middle of a panic attack?! I look around and see standing a few feet away from me is the same jerk that blindsided me. He had a mix of chain mail and plate armor with a shield and one-handed mace with blood smeared on the side of it. Even as I watch the blood vanished from the weapon, leaving it in pristine condition. The man steps towards my… body, and crouches down to touch it. Hmmph. Probably to loot it. Dirt bag! The moment he touches my body, a shiver runs down my spine. Do I even have a spine right now? I’m just floating here. I can see a loot window appear over my body. The only item is a pelt which appears to be a quest item. This is weird on so many levels. I am staring at my own dead body as the person that killed me basically takes the skin off of it.

Another man walks into the clearing, This one wearing mage robes and carrying a staff. “Man that took forever to find just one! And that old fart expects us to get five pelts for him?” The mage crouches down next to my body and opens another loot window. Oddly enough, there is another pelt there waiting for him. Along with a claw… This is so not fair. It’s bad enough they killed me, but to have to sit here and watch them loot my corpse is just adding insult to injury. The Warrior puts a hand to in chin in thought. “I think I might have an idea. Instead of spending hours traipsing around the woods we-” at that moment, Mr. Mage takes the pelt and claw from the loot window and puts them in his bag. My body fades away, the warrior and mage fade away, and my surroundings turn dark. After a moment, I regain sensation in my body and I feel a little upset when I feel the quadrupedal limbs of a Shadow Stalker panther. My vision clears and I see a familiar icon floating in front of me and I am surrounded by a gray void.

[RESPAWN]

I let out a huge sigh as I try and to gather my thoughts to formulate a plan. “Okay problem. I am a huge fucking cat. I died and respawned twice now and I am still the cat. So first step, figure out the cause of this.” As I think to myself I start to pace back and forth. I stumble a lot but, if I am going to get anywhere on four limbs, I need the practice. “Okay so the last thing I remember before things started going haywire was the fight with the wolves. Things were intense, but nothing seemed odd… except right before the panther died. What was that moment of excruciating pain? That was way worse then any sort of pain I have felt in my entire life, much less what is supposed to be the amount of pain felt in this game.” That in and of itself is unusual. Normally when you got hurt in the game things never got bad enough to make a player stop playing. Even if you were to lop off a player’s entire arm they would never feel anything more than a dull ache. “Maybe there was some sort of script error during the quest? If there was a huge bug during the quest, that could explain the odd spike in pain and my current situation.” I nod to myself, which if you ever wondered, is really weird to do when standing on all fours.

“Okay, so now I know the cause. Step 2: What should I do? What are my goals?” After all this pacing I am getting used to the odd movement pattern. As a matter of fact, after the first minutes of stumbling, it almost seemed to come naturally to me. I decide to increase my pace a bit, going from a slow walk to a light jog. I trip up a little, but quickly get my footing and start to maintain my pace for a bit. “The first thing I want to do is get back to my regular avatar’s body. The fact that it hasn’t happened yet leaves me to believe this may not be as easy as I hoped. Going back to the clearing where I began the quest with the cat to find my body would be nice. Ah crap! I don’t know where that is! Hell, I don’t even know where I am!” I facepalmed out of frustration, forgetting the fact that I am currently jogging, and need 4 unoccupied feet to maintain this action. I faceplant in the gray void. Thankfully, there is no one to witness my humiliation. I will take this memory with me to the grave… wait. I am in the grave. Am I? Shrugging off the thought, I continue my ponderings while laying flat on my stomach. The position is oddly comfortable. I guess cats really ARE adapted for laying around all day. Damnit! Quit being distracted!

“So finding my own body is out of the question, what about the admins? I’m sure they can do something. If anything, being able to log out would be nice. It’s probably getting late at home and I need to be able to get up for school.” With that thought, I bring up the menu with a mental command… um… I bring up the menu with a mental command! Oh shit. It’s not working. This is bad. Really bad! How the hell am I supposed to contact the admins if I can’t bring up the menu! I feel a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach as another thought occurs to me. If I can’t access the menu… how am I supposed to log out. It’s a good thing I was already laying down, because at this point, I don’t think I could stand even if I wanted to. “Okay, okay. Just relax. There’s gotta be something you could do. You just gotta figure it out.” With all these zen moments I’m trying to achieve you would think I would be some sort of guru by now, but I felt like my brain was going to short circuit any second now. I start taking calming breaths and let my eyes go out of focus as I relax. I feel better as the tension of the last few hours leave my body. At that moment I notice a blinking notification icon in the corner of my vision. Excited at the new distraction, I focus on it and a load of windows pop open one after the other. “Oh, hey there stress. I thought you would be gone for a little longer at least.”

[ERROR]: Capsule desynchronization code #884931b initiating emergency log out process!

[ERROR]: Emergency log out failed. Reinitializing.

[ERROR]: Emergency log out failed. Reinitializing.

[ERROR]: Emergency log out failed. Re%&@tializing

[ERROR]: E$1+=5ncy log out failed. Rei#*%[email protected]

[ERROR]: Em&4Jkj!? log out )&4led. Rein9&=aliz+-0

[ERROR]:[ERROR]

[ERROR]:[ERROR]

[ERROR]: Feedback loop detected, action halted. Bug report submitted.

[ERROR]: Cannot access source files. Please reconnect Virtuo pod to Dreamscape Online to submit bug report

“Huh, so that’s what happened.” I thought I should be screaming right now, but instead I just felt numb. Like someone got a heavy duty vacuum cleaner and just sucked all my emotions away. I slowly closed out the messages, one after the other and as I read each one, I started feeling a new emotion. I was scared. As each error message appeared, then disappeared the fear grew. At the 9th window, I couldn’t look at the rest of them anymore. There were more windows, but I just minimized them. My body was shaking so hard I could barely stand up. There wasn’t a corner I could crawl into, everything was just a gray void. So I just curled into the tightest ball I could manage and started crying. Don’t ask me how I could manage that as a panther, I haven’t seen one cry before either, but damn did it feel good to just let it out.

I don’t know how long I lay there, it felt like hours. The worst part was that I never really felt exhausted. No matter how long I lay there bawling my eyes out, I always felt refreshed, which is really unsatisfying if you think about it. If you ever had a really traumatic experience, and laid in a bed, or on the couch and cried for an hour or so. Than you would eventually reach that moment where you felt so drained, you would just fall asleep. For me, it was always the best damn sleep I ever had. Sure it may have been a sad moment, but I always woke up feeling refreshed and ready to face whatever the day would bring me. This time I didn’t get to experience that. I never felt sleepy or tired. It may not have seemed like much, but it was just one more frustration to add onto the pile I had going.

Eventually, I did stop. Not because I felt better or anything like that. Oddly enough, I was bored. Crying wasn’t going to get me anywhere, so I need to get out there and do something about it. I look at the blinking notification icon. “I guess I should check the rest of these error messages, there might be a clue in it that could be useful.”

[You have been Slain]

Death blow: Dire wolf bite!

Attention!: As an Apex predator, you have lost your title to the one that defeated you!

Name: Dire Wolf- Aragor

[ATTENTION]: You were slain by a rival! You have lost the title: Apex Predator

Since you no longer posses this title, you have lost the rights to your seat of power. You will now be randomly assigned a new respawn point.

“Okay. That’s not an error message. That is a message I should not be seeing at all.” I close the messages and find there aren’t any more messages to help the universe torment me. Thank goodness. “Okay, now that that is out of the way, I think it’s about time I do something about my current situation.” Upon realizing I had no access to menus to log out or contact the admins, that changed things around a bit. “If I can’t go to the admins, I just need to get them to come to me.” I smile to myself, “I am such a genius!” With those last words, I walk over to the respawn button and prepare myself to take the first step towards solving all my problems!

“Ahh! There he is! Dibs!” *CRUNCH*

[YOU HAVE DIED]

Death Blow: Hammer Strike

FUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!