《Shards of Aetheria》


 Introduction

    In 2039, the end of the world had arrived.


    It had come without much warning: a war fully deserving of its title, ''Ragnarok''.


    In this desperate time, the people of Earth could only scramble for shelter and cling to their loved ones. Waiting. Hoping.


    ¡ª¡ªBut there were some who had no one.


    The victims of unfortunate circumstance, they were completely alone in their final hour, unable to spend their last moments with any of those they cherished.


    At least, in the real world.


    ***


    The sirens wouldn''t stop. A constant, eerie wail.


    Soon after they started, I stacked everything I could against the upstairs windows.


    Before long, I was in the basement. In my room. Under my bed. Between boxes of canned goods and two liter bottles of soda.


    There, I waited. Hands shaking. Heart pounding. Listening, listening. Fighting back tears from time to time. Trying to reach everyone I knew. I didn''t know what else to do.


    Mom had left for work and still hadn''t come back.


    My phone soon ran out of power after so many failed calls.


    More neighbors could be heard outside, screaming, frantically arguing.


    And the TV in my room, screeching and buzzing, was a black screen filled with words of impending doom.


    Sometimes, an automated voice would rise above the other noise, and say such comforting things as thirty minutes until impact, seek shelter immediately, and do not walk, run.


    At this point, I felt that there was only one course of action to take.


    My headset was right there, after all. All I had to do was reach out and take it and my problems would go away.


    In recent years, I''d spent more time in virtual worlds than reality itself. So, for me, this was a natural response. Automatic. Not so much a decision as an easy means of escape.


    The noises faded¡ª¡ªsilence.


    My bedroom dimmed¡ª¡ªdarkness.


    With the flip of a switch on some dusty hardware, I left a terrible reality behind.


    ***


    The moon was a silver rectangle.


    The city beneath was made of countless blocks, each one meter in size.


    Quartz blocks had been used extensively here, etched or plain, along with gold and silver clays. Befitting a capitol square.


    In the gloom, a few townsfolk were still wandering. They wore different outfits, but their bodies were all the same. As curveless as the world they occupied.


    As was mine.


    I held out my hands. Moving them. Examining them.


    Although they had fingers and thumbs, and the color and texture of flesh, they were all straight lines and angles.


    The same was true for my armor, a full set of redsteel, and the obsidian sword on my back¡ªeach just collections of cubes, arranged to resemble physical objects.


    I was now logged into Aetheria.


    After throwing on my headset, it really did seem as though I''d been transported to another world. A beautiful world, and hauntingly so. A world of endless adventure.


    And it will be the last thing I''ll ever see.


    I shivered at this thought, then pushed it away. I was still trying to deny my situation.


    But it was impossible to shut out. The truth lurked in every vacant expanse. It was an eerie sight, the emptiness of that square.


    Before, this area¡ªthe very center of Aetheria''s virtual world¡ªhad always been filled with players, the air filled with their laughter and conversations. Now, there was only eerie silence.


    The townsfolk only heightened the sense of loneliness.


    None of them were speaking. Most never did, unless spoken to first.


    That was because they were NPCs, or non-player characters. AI-controlled game entities.


    Even now, they acted as they always had. Movements calm. Expressions indifferent, vacant. Some were even smiling.


    Yes, it seemed that I was the only player currently logged in. Which was no surprise. The emergency broadcast system reached even here. As part of the new safety standards regarding VR.


    I was reminded of this when the whole city flashed bright red.


    This was followed by a series of electronic shrieks. A computerized female voice resounded in my mind, monotonous, uncaring:


    "Logan, this is a national emergency. As your physical location lies within the periphery of a projected impact zone, you must terminate your VR session and seek shelter immediately. If you are in a building with a basement . . . "


    It was true, sadly. I hadn''t actually teleported to another world. My real body, in the real world, was still lying under my bed.


    Even so, the rest of her words fell on deaf ears. I''d heard all of this before and, as far as could be judged, had taken every step to ensure my survival.


    In the end, it came down to waiting¡ªeither waiting Out There, or waiting In Here¡ªand the silence, as unsettling as it might have been, was much preferrable to sheer chaos.


    "Shelter." I muttered this to myself. "This is my shelter."


    A passing street vendor heard this, apparently, because he turned to me with a smile.


    "There''s a tavern just over there, milord." He pointed down a moonlit street. "The Laughing Cow. Can''t miss it."


    I gave him a blank look. His AI had assumed that I''d meant finding a bed for the night. Since I didn''t respond, he fell back to his standard routine: "Milord? Care for a stormberry roll?"


    "No."


    With a brief nod, the vendor went on his way.


    I silently watched him go, still in awe, despite my circumstances, at how much this world had evolved in recent times.


    The NPCs still had simple AI, but one month ago, before the Reality Update, they didn''t speak at all. Two updates before that, this server didn''t even have townsfolk, or towns, only villages.


    It had progressed so much.


    We had Entity to thank for that. He was Aetheria''s creator.


    Although, many players had an almost equal hand in the server''s creation. Including myself.


    That golden building over there was my idea and my work. The House of Alms. A place where veterans could leave spare items for noobs.


    Ione had helped with its construction. She''d always been much better at building. She''d taught me so much. How to do corners. The twenty different uses of slabs. So many little tricks.


    Where is she now? I wondered.


    Is she safe? Is she as scared as I am?


    Of course, there was a reason why we were such good friends. We had a lot in common.


    For one, we both had single parents. Like most parents in our time, they worked at least two jobs. At least two. Weekends were a luxury they simply couldn''t afford.


    But then, there were many things the parents of our generation couldn''t afford. Such as children. Which was why almost every kid I knew was a single child. It could be said that hearing the word brother or sister was an uncommon experience.


    So, being alone was something we''d each grown used to.


    I suppose that was why we spent so much time in VR. We studied in VR, hung out with friends in VR. Above all else, it was a good way to get away.


    A selfish thought hit me, just then.


    I couldn''t help wishing that Ione was here, too.


    And Mango. I''d always poked fun at the fact that he''d chosen to play as a pigman. But I''d give anything to see that blocky pink face one last time, just one last time.


    In this type of situation, isn''t that all anyone can ask for? To see their family? Their closest friends?


    That I''d never met them in the real world didn''t matter. At least not to me. We''d spent so much time together in this one.


    Even though I hadn''t been able to reach them earlier, I''d hoped to find them here. At least this way, we could have told each other that things were going to be all right.


    That was something I couldn''t convince myself of, no matter how hard I tried.


    The truth was,


    My city was about to go down in a brilliant explosion. Along with many other cities in the real world.


    With another shiver, I glanced around the streets which were now completely devoid of townsfolk. The last had turned in for the night.


    Now, it was just the gentle glow of street lamps. The tops of chiseled columns disappearing into gloom. The colorful banners which had been placed for tomorrow''s quest event.


    I took a few steps, each step slow and timid and impossibly loud.


    Pretty depressing. And the silence is somehow terrifying. I''d settle for talking with an NPC at this point.


    A bright red digital clock in the corner of my vision read 15:35. That wasn''t server time, but a notification provided by the emergency broadcast system. It was counting down by the second.


    Just over fifteen minutes remaining, then.


    Ah, what am I still doing here? I should log back out. No one else is coming back . . .


    Besides, I can probably cram more stuff into my room. The freezer, perhaps. Some bookcases. Yes. Bookcases.


    "Main menu," I said out loud.


    A silvery menu screen appeared before me.


    It held many rectangular buttons. Most notable was the one at the very bottom¡ª''Quit''.


    My finger hovered in front of it for a very long time. Fifteen seconds feels like forever when you have fifteen minutes to live.


    What is this? Why can''t I press it? I can''t keep hiding in here. Not this time. No, if I do one last thing, it should be gathering up enough courage to¡ª¡ª


    Wait. Dude. Can''t I call mom from in here?


    Indeed, MindLink had a variety of built-in software, including Pengio, a voice call app. No matter which game a player was in, they could use such programs at any time.


    Accessing Pengio, I tapped my mom''s name. A cheerful sound rang out as the app tried connecting, at odds with my gloomy surroundings: buu-bee, bee-buu... buu-bee, bee-buu...


    At the same time, a small cartoonish penguin danced on the call screen. Finally, there was a single sad beep: beeuuuuuuuuuuuu. The little pengiun stopped dancing and made a sad face.


    ¡¸ Sorry! Couldn''t connect to the other party! ¡¹


    I tried several others, including Ione and Mango. The result was the same each time.


    With a sigh, I set Pengio to redial my mom''s number continuously, then set the app to run in the background. The happy little app screen folded up, vanishing from view.


    Guess I''ll be staying, then. If there''s even a 1% chance that I''ll be able to reach mom this way, it''s worth it.


    In theory, this made sense. The phone networks were jammed. Plus my phone had died and I hadn''t been able to locate my charger. However, the Internet was still as fast as ever.


    With nothing else to do but wait, I began browsing through my in-game statistics.


    Total distance traveled: 1,251.7 kilometers. There''s no way I''ve traveled that much on foot. Most of that must have been after I got my horse. Yeah. That explains it.


    Total monsters slain: 171,527. Really? There must be something wrong with the statistics.


    Total bosses slain: 1,362. Well, there was that time we kept farming the Skull Lord over and over.


    The saddest was total playing time this year. 3,115 hours. I tried doing the math in my head, then gave up and opened the calculator app.


    8.5 hours per day?! Clearly there''s a problem with the database. Clearly! I know I''m an addict, but that''s more than a full time¡ª¡ª


    "Logan?"


    From behind, a girl''s voice.


    There was only one player who called me by that name, and anyway I recognized it immediately. I closed the statistics screen and whirled around.


    She gave one the impression of an elf, although an unusual-looking one. Light gray skin. Light blue hair falling past her shoulders, long ears sticking through.


    That was a sylph, which could be thought of as Aetheria''s version of elves.


    That was also a skin, or custom in-game appearance.


    That was Ione.


    A wave of relief hit me. At the same time, a bad feeling was welling up inside, since her presence here could have only meant one thing. She must have been alone in the real world, too.


    As we met, I could see the slightest trace of fear in her expression, the worry in her eyes.


    Although the system couldn''t replicate a user''s feelings exactly, it drew upon the physiological¡ªheartbeat and so on¡ªto achieve a vague semblance of emotion. And then, when she spoke, there was nothing virtual about the terror in her voice:


    "I fed my cat, right? Was making breakfast, right? Poured some cereal. Poured some milk. Sat down at the table. Right? Then my phone blew up with those awful messages. I . . ." She ran up and gave me a hug. She was trembling. "Where are you?"


    "The basement," I said. "You?"


    "The same."


    More relief. "You''ve got supplies, then. Food. Water."


    "Yes." She unwrapped her arms from around my neck and stepped back. A pause, until: "Have you heard from anyone else?"


    "No. Haven''t been able to reach anyone. Not even my mom."


    "Couldn''t reach mine, either. She was at work. I tried so many times."


    Of course, I reminded her of the Pengio app. It wasn''t like Pengio was something we''d rarely used before. We''d used it all the time. It''s just that fear makes you forget about a lot of little things like that. I suppose her fears grew stronger when her penguin made a sad face as well.


    She lowered her head. Silence.


    ". . ."


    ". . ."


    ". . ."


    "Look," she said at last.


    I followed her gaze. Beyond the columns, past the flowers and quaintly embellished signs, stood a figure of immense presence and size.


    Under the hood of a white robe, only darkness could be seen, and behind, four angel-like wings stretched out like an X. In one hand was a scythe so enchanted its blade was just violet light.


    Entity.


    On this server, game administrators were known as ''Immortals'', and among them he was the absolute highest in power.


    He was also the kindest. If the players of Aetheria had been turned into sheep, he would have gladly served as their shepherd.


    "Kolb. Ione." His deep voice, oozing with gloom and sorrow, drifted across the square. "My poor children. How terrible it is to see you here."


    With a grace unexpected of someone his size, he glided over to us. "I''ve taken the liberty of blocking the emergency warning system server wide. I assume there are no objections?"


    We could only shake our heads.


    The Immortal''s hood tilted downward in a nod.


    Stolen novel; please report."I will also assume that you''ve already taken all necessary precautions."


    "We have," Ione said, and explained to him our similar situations.


    Entity clutched his chest. "Ah, you poor kids. That''s so sad. My own parents went on vacation a few days ago."


    He turned and raised his free hand. In the direction of his outstretched fingers, several two-dimensional screens appeared in the sky.


    Each screen could be thought of as a web browser displayed in-game. Upon every window was a different news feed, different video, all relating to the attack.


    "According to the experts, it seems that our world may be ending very soon," he said. "Although, I don''t believe it will come to pass. We do have a defense system, after all. At any rate."


    He turned back to us.


    "I will now send a program to each of you. Should you execute it, your Safeguards will no longer be in effect."


    Safeguard.


    That was another aspect of MindLink.


    Normally, any significant disturbance in the real world would end a user''s session immediately.


    If someone shook me, for example, it would be enough to pull me from this reality. Pain would also do the trick. Such as that caused by intense heat or the extreme pressure of a blast wave.


    "You could think of this as another precaution. In the event of the unthinkable, nothing will tear you from this world, and . . . you won''t feel a thing."


    A transfer notification screen appeared before each of us, neon orange and transparent:


    ¡¸ Entity is sending you a file¡ªNULL7.VAE ¡¹


    ¡¸ ¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö ¡¹


    ¡¸ Virus scan complete! ¡¹ ¡¸? SAFE ¡¹


    ¡¸ Accept ¡¹ ¡¸ Decline ¡¹ ¡¸ Rescan ¡¹


    Ione exchanged glances with me, her eyes glassy.


    "Thank you . . . Entity."


    The transfer took less than a second. After I browsed my file system and ran the program, the monotonous female voice returned:


    "Warning. An unauthorized program has disabled your Safeguard and is preventing Automatic Safety Disconnect from initializing. Log out immediately and call . . . "


    I confirmed this myself. Within the ''Client Settings'' sub-menu, the slider marked ''Safeguard Sensitivity Threshold''¡ªranging from one to five, and previously set to one¡ªwas now grayed out.


    Ione, having watched over my shoulder, did the same.


    "All right," she said. "Done. But . . . Entity, do you really think we''ll need it?"


    "No. I still have faith." More silence. "I just want you two to know that I''ve always been so proud of you two. You''ve helped out so much with the creation of this world, and . . ."


    His huge form shuddered.


    Ione began shaking. I''d never seen her cry before. Tears slid down her cheeks like little glass cubes.


    Entity really was like a father to her. To us. Neither of us had ever known our fathers, and Entity had, throughout the years, served as a stern parental figure in the absence of any real ones.


    We each gave him a hug.


    It wasn''t the same as an actual hug, of course.


    There was no warmth there, nor the solidness of a real embrace.


    Our presence was just an arrangement of countless ones and zeroes on a hard drive somewhere.


    Polygons. Terabytes. Not real live flesh and blood. Still, it was all we had, right now¡ªand right now, it was more than enough.


    Regaining his composure, Entity, towering over us by nearly one meter, reached into his robes. He was accessing his inventory, from which he retrieved a sword.


    A broken sword.


    He held it down before me.


    "I''ve been meaning to give this to you, Kolb."


    I took it, examining the blade. Made of adamant, only half of it remained. It ended in a jagged, diagonal fracture.


    This was an odd weapon. Game items never visibly degraded like this. Normally, when a weapon''s durability reached zero, it would simply crumble into dust.


    Only adding to the weirdness was that fact that it had full durability. Meaning, this was the weapon''s normal state. It was in perfect condition. Furthermore, it had a most curious name.


    ¡¸ Critbringer ¡¹


    "What is this?" I asked, noting the weapon''s pitiful damage. The same as a sword made of wood.


    "A quest item. One of the greatest ever made." Entity turned to the distant banners. "I was going to present this to you before the start of tomorrow''s event. Since you two won the last."


    A quest item, huh . . .


    Yeah. That''s right. Our server had quests.


    The original game had improved dramatically over the years, and quests were standard even on vanilla servers.


    Most were scripted, but some were run by operators and administrators. The latter were often complex and usually involved teams working together to accomplish some task.


    With my left hand, I drew my obsidian sword from the scabbard on my back. My belt pouch served as my ''Inventory Access Point'', and so I placed this old sword in there. It vanished inside.


    Then, I shoved ''Critbringer'' into my now-empty scabbard. Quite proudly, I might add.


    "Of course," Entity said, turning to Ione, "I did say one of."


    He drew another sword from his inventory, its blade also broken and made of orichal, a metal with qualities comparable to those of adamant.


    ¡¸ Bossender ¡¹


    He handed this to Ione.


    "Yesterday, our Scribes made a new lore entry for these weapons," he said. "The blades are to be reforged in desperate times, when the reign of darkness once again threatens to prevail."


    By lore, he meant the story behind the game world. This included a record of its wars, alliances and other major events. That is to say, its history.


    Originally written by Entity, it had been expanded upon by three players appointed to the task. Pieces could be found in libraries throughout Aetheria''s virtual world.


    According to Mango, who had recently been appointed as the third ''Scribe'', Aetheria''s lore now exceeded 250,000 words¡ªover 1,000 pages¡ªa history that could only be described as rich.


    So, it sounded to me like these swords were part of an elaborate quest chain, leading up to something big.


    Maybe this was pathetic in light of the current situation, but I couldn''t help wondering what kind of events Entity had planned.


    I envisioned an epic journey as we scoured the unknown, exploring underground labyrinths in search of lost relics, which could only be acquired after a legendary boss fight or two.


    What can I say?


    I was a game addict through and through.


    Entity suddenly stirred. He''d opened some kind of informational panel.


    "You''re not going to believe this, but it seems many more players have just connected or are in the process thereof."


    "How many?" I asked.


    "331 and counting."


    "What?" Ione opened her friends list¡ªa light pink window with a dark gray background, and countless dark red names.


    With her finger functioning as a mouse cursor, she scrolled down through until reaching the very end. She had 557 friends. The only one online was me.


    "No one I know," she said, closing her screen.


    I barely needed to scroll through my friends list. It only held 87 names. As when I''d checked earlier, hers was the only one illuminated.


    "They must have had the same idea as us," I said. "Some kind of clan reunion, maybe?"


    "It appears that way," Entity said. "Hmm. I should attend to them as well. Shall I transfer you there?"


    "No," Ione said. "I don''t know any of them, and . . . " She turned to me. "I just want to be with you right now. Is that all right?"


    "Of course."


    Although I couldn''t see his face, I knew the Immortal must have smiled at her request. "Yes, I suppose you two have many things you''d like to say to each other," he said. "Ah, young love. It breaks my heart to see you two here at such a time . . ."


    That was an old joke of his¡ªIone and I weren''t really anything but good friends¡ªbut still I blushed.


    For once, Ione didn''t play along. "Entity? Will you come back before . . . ?"


    "Count on it. Once I''m done administering the program." He shuddered again, then squeezed her shoulder. "Say a few prayers before my return."


    With that, the Immortal vanished in a cloud of red smoke. The clock read 3:31.


    Ione ran into my arms. "I''m so scared. And my mom, I . . . I just hope she''s safe. Yours, too."


    "They are. The fact that we can''t reach them, even through the Internet, probably means they''re deep underground somewhere. And they''d be relieved to know that we''re safe, too. "


    I felt her relax slightly. "Yes. You''re right."


    We opened our Pengio screens, but our little penguins were always frowning.


    Silence.


    Second after second of soul-crushing silence.


    Precious seconds, yet useless all the same. They were seconds neither of us knew how to spend.


    All I could do was struggle for words. The kind of things one says to a best friend when only three minutes and seven seconds remain.


    "Hey, I just wanted to say . . ."


    "Don''t," she said. "You don''t need to say anything because we''re going to be all right. I''m sure of it. I¡ª¡ª"


    A piercing, almost inaudible ring cut her off.


    The world began shuddering, as if displayed at two or three frames per second, until freezing completely.


    An icon of Entity''s hood appeared in my vision. He''d sent me a voice message, but I couldn''t hear him over the noise.


    Visual artifacts appeared to the sound of static. Red lines. Hundreds of tiny squares, scattered randomly, most bright blue or green.


    The only explanation for such abnormalities was something along the lines of powerful electromagnetic waves, which had been released by an explosion.


    I''d expected something more dramatic. It wasn''t, though. Just a glitched screen, haunting stillness, the frozen face of my best friend''s game character. Her favorite skin.


    No! This can''t be right!


    There''s still three minutes left, isn''t there?


    Is it possible that the warning system had been wrong somehow?! That''s so unfair! I had so much I wanted to say!


    "Ione?"


    She didn''t respond.


    Resting against my shoulder, looking somewhere beyond, she didn''t move at all.


    I must have gotten disconnected. I have to hurry up and back log back in. However, when I tried accessing my menu, my game client didn''t respond. The truth finally sank in.


    We''re . . . dying.


    My consciousness slipped away.


    An image of my mom flashed through my mind, memories of her, followed by those of Ione, innocent little moments, each one so intense that it almost felt like I was in another place.


    And, another time.


    At the edge of a village, I stood before the sylph. We had just met.


    "So, how do you pronounce your name, anyway?" I said. "Eye-oh-knee? Eye-oi-knee?"


    "Eye-own," she said, slow and distinct.


    "That''s an odd name."


    "Not as odd as Kolb."


    This scene switched to the two of us in a plains biome. We were searching around for a cave to mine.


    The warning system came on. It was notifying us of a terrible blizzard happening throughout much of the eastern United States.


    "We should log out," I said.


    Ione laughed. "What? Over a little storm?"


    "Yeah. We should take this situation seriously. It''s pretty bad."


    "All right. Fine. Let''s log out. Wanna meet up IRL and get some waffles?"


    "You''re so weird."


    "That''s why ya love me!"


    I turned away. "We are not an item!"


    "You''re right! We''re a legendary tier item, enchanted with Super Cute Couple VII!"


    I sighed. "I totally walked into that."


    Now, I was in the Hall of Ceremony, on the raised platform.


    Tens of thousands of players had gathered below, and all were silent.


    Entity put a golden medallion around my neck. It was my first tournament victory.


    Everyone then cheered, especially my fellow clan members. Everyone in the Lost Legion was there.


    The cheering faded. Another memory: I was in the streets of Aetheria City, searching for a potion shop. Again, she was there.


    While we walked, Entity appeared out of the blue. He''d been wanting to talk to me about an upcoming quest. "Aww, what''s this? You''ve got a girlfriend now? Congratulations, Kolb!"


    I reacted then as I always had whenever he joked around like this. "What?! She''s not my¡ª¡ª"


    Ione cupped her hand over my mouth. The only sound I made afterward was something like ''mffffmph''.


    "He''s just shy," she said. "He''s totally my BF!"


    "I am not!" I said, flustered. "As a Knight of the Lost Legion, I have priorities! Such as gaining levels, obtaining enough emeralds to buy a horse, and decking myself out in the rarest and most powerful of dungeon loot! Until I reach level 100, girls simply won''t be in the picture!"


    Entity stared forward in silence. "As you say."


    "What are you doing?! Hey! Stop, hugging, me!!"


    "Come on," she said with a smile. "It''s only a joke!"


    At last, an image of mom, smiling, standing in the doorway of my room.


    "Ready to go, hon?"


    Darkness.


    Along with a feeling that was both warm and cold.


    As my consciousness dimmed further, there was a sensation of falling, falling¡ª¡ªforever, through a void.

 Seed Unknown

    A cool breeze.


    The sound of crashing waves.


    The scent of the ocean, and flowers and grass.


    Wet sand, soft against my cheek. It crumbled in my fingers as I drifted out of sleep.


    I rose up, taking everything in. It was still dark, the shore night blue. The sun was a red sliver over a glittering black ocean.


    At this very moment, I knew, deep down, that something was very wrong here. Yet, the previous events were not immediately present within my mind.


    It was as though I''d slept for a very long time. I only knew that it was strange to be here, and that I shouldn''t be here, even though this world seemed familiar in some cloudy way.


    I''m . . . logged in to Aetheria?


    Did I fall asleep in-game again? Strange. I don''t remember this area.


    But I do remember voices. They were saying something about danger. Something about an emergency. Most of all, they were saying something about time.


    It all came trickling back, one blurred memory after another.


    The sirens. The broadcasts. The calls. And one last desperature measure to see a best friend.


    So . . . I''m alive.


    I''m still alive. We''re still alive. Entity was right after all.


    My heart grew lighter by the second¡ªyet I didn''t rejoice, only took a deep breath, as if this were all a dream that any loud noise could end.


    "Main menu."


    I opened my friends list. Its border was light blue, the color theme I''d chosen. It was also completely empty.


    I felt a slight chill. Blinked. Indeed, the area which once contained 87 names was now just a dark gray background.


    I closed and reopened my friends list to no avail. What sat within the light blue border was nothing but a blank gray screen.


    "Huh."


    There was no mistake about it. My friends list had been deleted.


    Mind racing around the possibilities as to why this had occurred, I pressed ''Add Friend'' .


    A virtual keyboard sprang up beside me¡ªaquamarine, transparent¡ªwhere I typed in ione. For convenience, a tab labelled Add appeared on the keyboard''s right side, which I pressed.


    Although her name vanished from the input box, it failed to appear on the list. In addition, there was no message of any sort indicating success or failure.


    I tried adding her name several more times to no effect. Other names produced the exact same result.


    "No way?"


    The only explanation for this went back to yesterday.


    Was it yesterday? Or had I really slept longer? Exactly how long had it been?


    In any case, one of the last things I could recall during that time was my game client glitching and locking up.


    That was about the time I noticed my armor. Or rather, lack thereof. Instead of a masterfully crafted set of redsteel was an outfit most new players could be found in.


    ¡¸ Torn Wool Jerkin ¡¹


    ¡¸ Torn Wool Trousers ¡¹


    ¡¸ Moldy Leather Shoes ¡¹


    I immediately checked my inventory.


    Everything was gone, my prized little stash, from stacks of emeralds to my miniature airship and other trinkets.


    The Character screen was an equally mysterious sight. What should have read ''LEVEL 97'' now read ''LEVEL 1'', and my abilities were as follows: None.


    My world, shattered.


    I simply forgot about everything else.


    The sense of loss, right then¡ªit felt like half of me was gone.


    This was something only a game addict who''d lost a beloved character could understand.


    A character they''d spent countless hours playing as, gathering materials to craft that one new item, hunting for those last few experience points.


    I reached behind me, an action mechanical to me now, ingrained within muscle memory. There was no sword, of course. It must have looked like I was patting myself on the back.


    A glint of light suddenly caught my eye.


    There it was, half buried in the sand. Critbringer. A sword so broken, it shouldn''t be bringing any crits at all.


    I picked it up, turning the weapon in my hands, noting the brilliant opalescent sheen, predominantly green, flickering across what remained of its silvery blade.


    What . . . happened . . . ?


    So, after all that, I wake up, still in MindLink, still connected to the server, in an unknown location, with none of my original items or stats.


    Yet, I can''t access my friends list, my username is now ''Kolb'' instead of ''Kolbert21337'', I''m wearing an outfit befitting a beggar, and . . . I''m still in possession of this sword?


    This last point was the most perplexing to me. How and why did this sword remain when hundreds of other items did not?


    And why was I wearing clothes? (That was not as ridiculous of a question as it might seem.)


    Had my character data simply been deleted in some way, I should have been in my ''pajamas'', the game equivalent of naked¡ªsomething similar to a peasant''s version of shorts and a tee.


    No, this was more like my character had been reset somehow. Definitely odd, although still not impossible, given the events of last night.


    Okay, who cares about all of this right now? What about the current state of the world? My mom, my friends? I really am a game addict.


    "Main menu."


    0.1 seconds after the screen appeared, I pressed ''Quit''.


    The button lit up momentarily in acknowledgement. Yet, nothing else happened.


    Again I pressed. Again the button flashed. And that was it. No error message. No automated voice informing me of a problem. Nothing.


    It has to work this time.


    All right. Maybe if I just press at the right time.


    I pressed that button at least one hundred times, each time more frantic than the last.


    Emergency Disconnect likewise didn''t respond, nor could I access regional chat, or any web browser, or Pengio, or any of MindLink''s other built-in software.


    This is bad. I can''t text, email or message anyone. Whatever happened last night must have really messed things up.


    Am I somehow disconnected from MindLink? Nothing''s responding at all. Can I even interact with the world? It almost feels like I''m a ghost.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.My mind revved in neutral. The clutch wouldn''t engage. The gears, they just spun and spun.


    I don''t know how long I remained like this, just standing on a beach, staring at the ocean. At some point, I heard a rustling sound. A young woman was standing beside me.


    Pitch black hair. Pearl white skin. Robes the color of midnight.


    A violet emblem on her black cloak indicated her status as a legendary-tier NPC.


    Such NPCs typically gave the rarest of quests. You''d never find them in a place like this. And she should have turned to face me, like they always did in the presence of a player.


    She didn''t, though. In her standing animation, she simply joined me in staring at the ocean.


    I turned back to the glittering black expanse.


    "Emergency," I said, my tone calm and quiet. "I have a real life emergency."


    The NPCs within any MindLink game had all been programmed to acknowledge phrases like this.


    I didn''t have any means of communication myself, but these words should have triggered a script. An operator should have contacted me within seconds.


    "Don''t we all," was the woman''s only reply.


    The chills grew stronger, played hopscotch up and down my spine.


    "Connect me to the emergency hotline," I said, louder this time, the calmness fading from my voice.


    "I know not what you speak of," she said, "for I''m not what I once was."


    With a growing sense of fear, I glanced over at her once more. Slowly.


    No, not her. It was just an NPC. Yet, the way this thing was talking, responding, the very real sorrow in its voice . . .


    "But I do know why I came here," she said, still staring ahead. "I knew that I had to find you here. I knew. Only, I don''t know why or how I know this. I . . . can''t remember yesterday."


    I stepped away, eyes locked onto the side of her face.


    Aetheria''s NPCs had been talking for over a month, but there had always been a robotic quality to them.


    Their lines were pulled from a database of countless recorded sentences, triggered by keywords caught with limited voice recognition.


    Furthermore, their movements were but a handful of repetitive animations looped infinitely. You could never forget that you were interacting with AI, not for a second.


    Yet, in this moment, I had.


    And asked a question no game entity would have been able to understand.


    "Are you . . . real?"


    "I should be the one to ask." She turned to me. "Tell me, is it true? I''m not a real person, am I? I feel it. I know it. How am I here, then? How can I think? And . . . how can I know so much."


    I opened my mouth. Closed it. Took a deep breath. Raised a finger and lowered it. Rubbed my chin.


    Initial thought: a real person had to be controlling her. That was very unlikely, of course. A desperate attempt to explain.


    What made more sense to me then was that she had somehow gained sentience, which didn''t make much sense at all, but was the best way to explain what now stood before me.


    "Earlier," she said, "I woke up in a house. Even though I''d never seen that house before, I knew that it was my house, and knew that a young man wielding the exact same sword as the one you have now would soon arrive. Here. On this beach. At this very location. And I knew that I was supposed to find him. To speak with him. And show him this."


    She withdrew a tome from her robes.


    With a shiver and another deep breath, I glanced at the passage of text she pointed to:


    And so shall it be: in these perilous times, two Saviors shall descend from the Sacred Light and drive the Veil of Darkness to each corner of the world.


    Looks like something Mango would write, I thought. Wait. The lore. This is part of the lore!


    "I could recite every word," she said. "Yet, I don''t recall ever reading this before." She pointed to another passage:


    Alas, our Saviors walk a difficult path, for their Divine Weapons, forged by the White Shepherd and blessed with Sacred Light, were all but destroyed during the Second War.  Only when their shards have been reunited can each Weapon be fully reforged.


    White Shepherd, I thought. Isn''t that what the Scribes and roleplayers call Entity? So, it really is the game lore. You''ve got to be trolling me.


    So, because I have this sword, and because this sword is a quest item, I''m on some type of special quest? I''m a ''Savior''? What exactly does that mean?


    "I''m supposed to tell you that you can stay at my house for as long as you want," she said. "I know that you will most likely refuse my offer and that if you did accept, I should encourage you to visit the capitol as soon as possible, so that you can speak with a Sage who knows much more about the Prophecy than I do. Then I''m supposed to give you this." She retrieved a handful of emeralds from her robes. "My life savings that I can''t recall ever earning. I know that I will give it to you without a second thought, because I''m a non-person who doesn''t matter. And, I know that you will take them in the same manner and for the same reason. I will bid you farewell and you will leave me without saying a word. However, if you were to ask any questions regarding what I''d told you, I would speak with you until you understood." She paused. "How can I know all of these things while feeling that I didn''t exist yesterday? A curse? A magic spell?"


    The more she spoke, the more her words seemed distant, as if coming from another room.


    What she was referring to . . . it was her scripting, her AI. She''d been programmed to give me a special quest.


    I wanted to run, to hide, to do anything but remain here. But I could only stare at her vacantly. Tremble. Catch my breath. No rational thoughts.


    She fell to her knees, closed her eyes, and clasped her hands together. "I came here not only because I was supposed to but because everyone in my town is suffering from the same affliction. I thought our Savior might understand our plight and use his power to save us. I beg you. Is there anything you can do?"


    That was the straw that broke the camel''s back¡ªerr, the feather that clogged my inventory.


    Lights out.


    Mental overload.


    My brain couldn''t process this any longer.


    One moment, I was opening my mouth to say something¡ªwhat, exactly, who knows¡ªand the next, I fell face down into the sand.