It still seemed odd that an intergalactic society solved its disputes with a virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing simulation, but Alan figured truth could be stranger than fiction.

Only the future of Earth hung in the balance. This was to prepare him for the Academy, and the intergalactic society he was to insert himself into. The past week had gone by in a flash, as he learned various alien etiquettes and mannerisms, while picking apart his own idiosyncrasies. He tripped over a wire on the ground as he put on a new change of clothes, disoriented from logging out of the Game. He emerged dry.Īlan moved over to a nearby desk, his body adjusting back to reality, to the corporate suite he was in. It was like getting out of a bathtub, except none of the fluid stuck. A wash of silver, liquid gelatin flowed over him and back into the capsule. He stepped out of the grey metal capsule. The thought invigorated him.Īlan already wanted to reconnect to the Game, but there were things he had to do. It occurred to Alan that playing a game could be his job. He was on Earth, emerging from the ten foot long grey oval that connected him to the Game. Thoughts rushed to the surface of his mind, but they didn’t snap into place instantaneously like they did in the Game.Įarth.

But he still only felt part of himself while he was in reality. Alan was smarter, stronger than before the Game. As his in-game character’s attributes increased, the nanomachines in the capsule improved his real mind and body. In the Game, there were a dozen quests to challenge, and every effort was rewarded. In real life, Alan felt like he was inching toward death, while in-game, progress happened. The real world seemed dim, a loading screen before the adventure.Įarth was dull the Game new and bright. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.Ĭopyright 2017 by Cosimo Yap. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.

Opening moves by cosimo yap