Chapter 8 - Jackson

I was floating in a space between worlds. I breathed slowly and deeply. In and out. Tensions and cramps that hadn’t registered on my awareness began to leak away. My muscles relaxed. Sight, sound, touch, smell and taste were a thing of the past and all that remained was the now: this moment. I was slowly gaining my head-space and timing back.

Sights, sounds, and sensations arrived in a slow dance of inches. Memories played against my eyelids. Stories that had captivated me washed over and through my awareness. I found myself reaching and grabbing, running and jumping, eating and drinking, laughing and crying as the tempo picked up its pace. Swirling images and half-forgotten dreams blurred past as incandescent mist.

Everything slowed. Stillness returned.

“Initial diagnostic scan completed.” A female voice drifted out of the nothingness around me. “Age restrictions initiated. Adjusting parameters. Pain mapping initiating.”

I don’t really want to talk about what “pain mapping” felt like. Suffice to say that I once had an iodine mapping of my vascular system. I was told “you’re going to experience a warm sensation that will travel throughout your entire body, and many people say that it pools in their groin.” And boy, were they right. I could feel the iodine moving through my bloodstream all over my body, and yes, yes it did pool in the groin. I thought I was going to need ice cubes. Now imagine that same sensation, only replace “a warm heat sensation”, with “the thanksgiving turkey oil we just pulled out of the fryer,” and you start to get an idea of the horrors of pain mapping.

I felt as though I should have broken out into an immediate sweat, but in this disembodied state, the only after affect was the memory of a comic strip of two lobsters throwing babies into boiling water with the text bubbles saying “It’s just the sound of steam escaping.” Damn those lobsters.

“Diagnostics completed. Thank you for your patience. Please select a character race, difficulty, and class.”

The character creation screen I had been waiting for appeared in front of me. I scanned through the selections in anticipation. There was one option for race: human. I frowned. In all of our research we hadn’t come across any information on the initial startup, but we did know that there were other playable classes, and I had been looking forward to exploring the possibilities.

I selected human and made my character to look much like myself. I figured that changing my height and weight too drastically would make me feel like a stranger in my own body, especially after I logged back into the real world. I took some liberties with my features, ending with a vague resemblance of myself. I didn’t need people with a grudge trying to find me in real life.

“Please select a difficulty.”

In front of me was the choice between “hardcore” and “softcore” game types. The main difference was that softcore game types allowed you to respawn on character death. The hardcore setting would delete your character on death. I always loved games with the hardcore mechanic. It satisfied that dark itch in my soul. Everything has consequences. They’d learn that soon enough. Not only would I crush my enemies, I’d do it in style. The hardcore setting also increased skill points and primary stat points earned through the actual execution of skills, professions, and work by 100%. It seemed that gaining levels wasn’t the only way to get ahead in this game. You could actually gain strength just from doing hard things. Right then I knew exactly what I was going to do with my time in the game. I instantly knew this was a selection no sane person, and definitely no pay to win pampered pretty boy or corporate lackey would pick. I made my choice.

“Hardcore mode selected. Warning: After level 10 your character will no longer be able to respawn or be resurrected. Are you sure you would like to select this difficulty setting?”

I accepted and moved onto the class. This is what I had been most excited about. With the scope of the information we had on the game, they had the capabilities of doing almost anything. I couldn’t wait to explore what the developers had come up with.

Classes available: Adventurer

That was it.

There was only one class to choose from. What was going on? You have got to be kidding me. Where is the Fallen Angelic Beastmaster Rogue of Ascendant Flames? Warrior? Wizard? Cleric, for crying out loud. I sat there stunned for a time until I was prompted by the voice.

“Please select a character class.”

I sighed and selected Adventurer. It was only then that I realized I was making the selections with mental commands. It felt easy and intuitive. Talk about user friendly.

“Thank you, player. Loading game. Welcome to the world of Selador, Walker.”

Around me, a world began to shift into perspective. Blacks and charcoals began to slide into grays and then finally: colors. As the world tuned itself into focus I looked around me to find green trees, lush gardens of flowers and flowing waters as they spilled over exposed outcrops of minerals glistening in the sunlight. I turned slowly, taking it all in. I could feel the cool breeze on my skin, the warm sunlight and the fresh smells of damp earth and living things. I took my first deep breath, my body responding easily. It was unmistakably authentic.

A torrent of system messages flashed before my eyes.

Achievement Unlocked: First!

You have gained a Unique Ability: First Things First

Activate this ability to increase one full Rank in a Profession or Skill of your choice (Example: Expert Miner will upgrade to Master Miner). Ability is consumed upon use, choose carefully!

Achievement Unlocked! Protagonist Patriarch

You have received a new hidden Mythic Title: Protagonist Patriarch

You are the first person to arrive into this new world. This title is locked and can only be revealed at level 100.

Attention! Patriarchs are the first individuals to unlock classes, races, or rarely--certain skills or abilities. They are the progenitors from whom all other of their class or race derive.

As the First Player, you gain a hidden passive skill: Plot Armor

You are the hero of your very own story! +50 to Luck! Luck increases by +1 every 2 levels without detracting from your skill points. Additionally, all Patriarchs gain an additional primary stat point and skill point per level (currently 6 instead of 5).

You have unlocked a hidden Primary Stat: Luck!

Luck cannot be raised with unallocated stat points.

With the bonuses to Luck you will find your gameplay affected, such as quests, item drop rate, unique encounters, along with other unknown characteristics. This achievement, passive skill, and Luck stat are hidden and cannot be seen by other players by any means. This restriction does not include you. As the Protagonist Patriarch you will be able to recognize all others of your kind. Do with this information as you will.

The Luck stat has now been confirmed to be unlocked by Protagonists, Patriarchs, and by other unknown means.

Achievement Unlocked: Lucky!

Critical Hit Chance, Critical Hit Damage increased 2%

Special note to the First Player:

The top 10 players to join the game gain the Legendary Protagonist achievement: +25 Luck and + 1 Luck every 2 levels. They will only be made aware of the existence of Legendary Protagonist, Protagonist, and Unlikely Protagonist achievements.

The top 100 players gain the Protagonist achievement: +10 Luck and +1 Luck every 2 levels. Protagonists will only be made aware of the existence of the Protagonist and Unlikely Protagonist achievements.

The top 1000 players gain the Unlikely Protagonist achievement: +5 Luck and +1 Luck every 2 levels.

You have received a new hidden Legendary Title: Adventurer Patriarch

Patriarchs gain an additional primary stat point and skill point per level (currently 7 instead of 5). +10 Luck. You gain +1 Luck every 2 levels.

Attention! You have reached the maximum Luck per level gain at +1 Luck every level, you greedy pig!

We would like to express our thanks to you for your earnest interest and dedication to our humble game. Please enjoy these bonuses for your support and enthusiasm. We are excited to see what you will do with your unique story and potential. Enjoy the game!

A war of anger and elation raged inside of me. These were some really amazing freebies and bonuses, however I hated being put into a position where I felt that I owed anyone anything. I would tackle this world and my mission alone and on my terms. I didn’t need the help or the complication these things would have on my life in this game. If anyone were to find out this unique advantage, it would paint an immediate target on my back that I didn’t need. One thing was for sure. I wasn’t going to be telling anyone about this.

A man stepped forward from a rent in the air. It reminded Jackson of a Loony Tunes episode where bugs bunny just turns sideways and he's suddenly holding a huge mallet. Where did it come from? I was asking myself the same question about this guy. He was smartly dressed in business formal: Black suit, black tie, black sunglasses. Jackson half expected him to introduce himself as Agent Smith—or maybe CIA. He was definitely getting the dystopian big shot feeling from this guy.

“Hello, Jackson. I'm Agent Q, one of the Men in Black and we need you to stop an alien menace that threatens our entire solar system.” The man was stone faced as he pulled off his polished black sunglasses. I gaped. My stomach sank. Kill me now.

A smile slowly played across the Agent’s face as his clothes melded into an unassuming T shirt, jeans, and a pair of Chuck Taylor's. The bold print of the tee stated proudly—‘Rogues do it from behind’.

“I'm just screwing with you, man. The names Quincy Cooper, I'm one of the developers for Infinity Online. I’m also high enough on the totem pole to be able to represent our company for Launch. The reason we're having this conversation is that as the winner of the proverbial golden ticket your character gets to cut the ribbon for the launch of this flagship game for our company. The game will not start for anyone else until our conversation is done. We've got a little bit of time and I'm empowered to congratulate you, give you a bit of information, and answer a few question. So… Hit me, whatcha got kid?”

I paused, my brain switching gears rapidly as I took in the eccentric persona in front of me. The more I thought about the handouts and gimmicks to short-cut my way to success, the more angry I became “Alright, Quincy. Why are you trying to force feed me this steaming pile without my consent? What is it you want?”

“Well… That's actually a great first question. It's what we like to call a necessary evil. Not the gift of bonuses to you, but the rationale behind it. You see, the corporation would like to limit the impact of real world money providing too much leverage on the game mechanics. Those pay-to-win schemes break down quickly. Players lose interest as they race to the top on a road paved with their paychecks. Who wants to be the top dog of that mangy pack? They feel ultimately invalidated and deep down they know they've bought their place and not earned it. It crushes the winners and everyone else under the boot heel of the all mighty dollar. And yet…” He trailed off thoughtfully. “Money does talk, and after all there is a certain amount of pragmatic practicality to be taken into account. While we want equal opportunity for all players, we can't just leave money sitting on the table either. Money is a priority. It's just not our only one. It's not even our main one. We have a number of means of reducing the negative impact of the more financially well-endowed simply buying success, fame, and fortune. One of those methods was the lottery that you won. The first thousand players to log in receive significant bonuses and achievement awards and they generally go to those who have paid for the privilege. However, money cannot buy your way to the top—though I must admit, it does help. The one exception, was you. You are a balancing point, or at least, you have the potential to be. It might only seem a token gesture. It might even in truth, turn out to be such, but it has the potential to have a powerful impact on the game. It is for you to decide. We've given you the potential and it's up to you to use it or squander it as you see fit.”

I took a second to process what Quincy was saying. A lot of it made sense and yet, I couldn’t help but feel like a pawn in a larger game. It’s the same game that someone was playing with mom’s life. I clenched my jaw. “You said that there are multiple means of creating balance in the game and preventing the rich from running roughshod over everyone else. What are they?”

Quincy chuckled. “Smart, kid. Smart. Unfortunately that is one of the proprietary pieces of information that I am unable—though not unwilling—to divulge. One thing I can say is that our algorithms target certain calibers of individuals as well as actions that give opportunities and potential rewards to players. These actions are generally at odds with the normal behaviors and motivations of those who would prefer to buy their way to the top. I cannot say any more on the subject.”

Hard work, I thought. I sighed inwardly. It was dad and Gerald all over again. I could almost hear the sound of their voices echoing some truism about the value and importance of hard work. One voice in particular would often come from the opposite side of a spray bottle of water when I lingered too long in bed on a lazy weekend.

“Okay.” I said after a moment of thought. “What about my sister. We logged in at the same time. How did you guys work that?”

Quincy beamed as though this was one of the questions he had hoped and waited for. “That! Dear boy, is an excellent question and conundrum. Right now she is experiencing a similar conversation with one of my colleagues. Your immersion rigs were set up using one of the fantastically accurate atomic clocks that we as civilized human beings have access to. You entered into the game at exactly the same time, even down to the nanosecond. The scripting of the game did the rest. It followed the directive according to its commands and issued the appropriate rewards to the First Player, or players as the case may be.”

“So you're saying, I'm a charity case?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“More or less.” Quincy shrugged, unfazed. “Another interesting fact was that our release date and time was a firm guarantee. We believe strongly in punctuality. That means, if you had logged in outside of the five minute window of our precise launch time, you would have completely missed out on the provided bonuses and they would have simply shifted to the next player in line. The First! Achievement and others would have passed you by, and you would have continued on, unknowing of the lost opportunity. I guess it's a good thing you were both so excited to play our game! It is that very enthusiasm that we are hoping to tap into to make this game all we hope it can be. We’re about out of time here, we allowed 10 minutes for Q&A for you and your sister as a continuation of just how big a prize you two truly won, but that time is swiftly running out. As you may be aware, time is compressed inside of Infinity Online at a one to two rate. So after two hours of relative game time, only one will have passed in the real world. Don't ask me how it works, because I can't explain it. They tried to dumb it down for me, but all I got was something about the unique interaction at the boundary of where Einsteinian General Relativity meets with Quantum Mechanics inside of our brains. They're able to overclock the brain or slow down perception like when your bodies’ fight or flight response engages—or something like that. Like I said I'm a coder, Jim not a quantum biologist.” He said the last in a surprisingly passable imitation of Dr. McCoy from Star Trek. “For your general need to know, let's just say it's magic. And to that end, we are using that unique property to have this conversation. While everyone else is logging into the world, they are currently synchronizing their equipment. The same thing you did before you arrived here. Only they are not actually logged into the server and experiencing the time dilation. They are still outside, waiting to log in. Thus we have this window of opportunity. So, if you have any more questions, now is the time to ask them.” Quincy finished with a sly grin, his arms open wide as if in invitation.

“Does Jane know that I have the same achievements from being the first player to log in?”

Quincy furrowed his eyebrows. “That’s a strange question. Hmm… I don’t suppose she does. She is meeting with one of our intellect imitators who is explaining things to her like I am with you. However, there was really no accounting for your existence here. She was the one who won the competition and you’re sort of like a bug in the system. A two-fer if you will. The imitator’s algorithms did not account for you and will assume that she is the only First Player. It’s one of the reasons I’m talking to you personally in fact.”

I nodded. “Okay. That’s good. Don’t tell her, please.” I hated begging. But I was determined to make my own way. I refused to be handed the keys to the city. I’d take them and the hand along with them.

Quincy’s eyebrows raised in question. I didn’t say anything more. He simply shrugged. “Okay, whatever you say.”

I took the next few minutes to confirm or shoot down the speculation, rumors, and research I had conducted on Infinity Online. The corporation had been incredibly cagey and secretive about their flagship game and it had been worse than pulling hens teeth to get even the most vague generality about the game from sources. Regardless, I had still managed to fill up a good portion of a notebook with rumors and musings. Surprisingly, Quincy confirmed a good bit of the information that had made it into the notebook. Perhaps it shouldn't have been such a surprise. Information didn't make it into the notebook unless it had been corroborated by multiple sources, a challenge that had almost seemed insurmountable. Most surprisingly, perhaps, was the almost unbroken line of confirmed facts and information I had received from user Deathclawz. His information had gone mostly unsupported from any other source on the Internet. I had added them to my book on instinct. There was something about the information that had seemed to ring true to me at the time. Quincy seemed surprised at the range and depth of the questions I had asked. More than once, his brows drew down as he asked me where I'd had gotten my information. I told him the only obvious fact that mattered. I wasn’t telling. Of first importance was the confirmation that Infinity Online was an amalgam of what made MMORPG’s the staple and powerfully compelling stories and games that had captured the attention and devotion of so many. They had attempted to bring together the best of all of the worlds and make something that would become a true magnum opus of gaming experience. I just hoped I wouldn't have any nasty surprises about how the game interface might work, the HUD, or basic mechanics and gameplay.

“Okay. I’ll take the information, but you can keep your little perks. I don’t need them. I don’t need anyones help” Even though I was angry I couldn't help but like the man. He was straightforward and I could picture him taking on the hardest challenges, just for the thrill of it. “How do I get out of here?”

Quincy smiled broadly. It was then that I noticed that all of his teeth subtly came to sharp points. “A fighter, huh? Likes a challenge, does he? I think you and I are going to have a beautiful relationship.” He eyed me thoughtfully. “Next, you get to make a choice. You have another bonus ahead of you. You can choose a set of advanced starter gear to get your adventure off on the right foot, or you can choose to participate in the Advanced Tutorial where all skills, abilities, gold, items and experience gained are yours to keep at the end of your completion. This is completely your choice. If you choose the starter kit, you will be on your way shortly and can take part in the standard tutorial with a significant leg up on any other participants. Or you can simply dive right into the game. If you choose the Advanced Tutorial you will be teleported to a special Academy designed to accommodate the elite players of this new world. The choice is yours to make.”

I had a sudden flash of memory from a clandestine conversation with Deathclawz. He said cryptically, “Do hard things.” Therefore my gut told me that I had the potential to gain much more valuable rewards by doing the Advanced Tutorial, but I didn’t care about that. I didn’t need them or their handouts.

“I don’t want any of it. Send me into the world and then leave me alone.” I stared straight ahead. Waiting for the opportunity to finally take my anger out in a way that would actually get me somewhere.

Quincy smiled. “Advanced Tutorial it is.” He cupped his hand to the side of his mouth in a stage whisper. “You can thank me later.”

“Wait! But…”

The last thing I saw was Quincy waving at me merrily.