when Shelton came up to me and Noah between math and bio on friday, it never occured to me
what we might be getting ourselves into as he quickly and quietly explained this whole
Rasmussem idea to us. Noah was trying to act like this wasen't a big deal, taking to Shelton-a
skinny kid with glasses and in a wheelchair, in the tenth grade wing. we got the information out
of him as quick as possible: meet up at his house (his basement, to get technical) on Saturday
morning. I was a little wary; did I really want to waste a Saturday in a basement? but Noah
talked me into it. he's a fantasy-game nut, even though he won't admit it. and it is pretty fun,
although when you think about it, it's gotta look pretty brainless from the outside:a group of kids
rolling dice and scribbling on graph paper, talking about curses and jailtime and caves. but
whatever. so Noah and I show up on Saturday, and Dominic lets us in. he's a kid from one of
the lower grades, I only recognized him form the nature club, which meets in the tenth grade
wing about the time we get out. Shelton's parents split up when he was young, and his mom is a
real estate worker and isn't around on Saturdays. we went down to the finished basement, and
Noah and I sat down on the loveseat. Shelton was at his computer, as usual, typing in some
kind of web script. Giannine, a girl I used to hang out with, was sitting in a lounge chair. she
smiled hesitantly when she saw me. I smiled back, not really paying attention. Dominic, the guy
who'd let us in, was on a cushion in the middle of the floor, as was Cleveland, a short guy who I
only barely recognized. I finished taking this in as two more people came into the room-A kid
called Arvin, I think it was, and a woman I didn't know behind him. Arvin went over to Shelton
and talked quietly with him as the rest of us waited. I looked at the woman. she was petite, and
looked to be in her mid-thirties, with short brown hair and big eyes. Arvin nodded at Shelton
and went over to the woman. she took a seat in the recliner and Arvin joined the boys on the
floor. apparently we were all here, because Shelton exited out of his computer script and
swiveled around to face us. "As most of you know-" he stopped, and said, "Alright, as none of
you know, I have been looking for a long time into a role-playing game, or RPG, that I found on
the internet. Rasmussem, inc, is a company devoted to RPG, but they have a feature that other
games don't." here he paused for a dramatic finish, "Rasmussem has the power to send you inot
the game." I guess this sentance didn't get the effect he was looking for-our clueless faces led
him to explain, "Rasmussem transmits their story to your brain, turning it into brainwaves," he
launched into a long schmeel of technical explaining of which I tuned out, trying to grasp what he
had said.send you into the game-like a holodeck or something? I was starting to think this could
be interesting. I tuned back in to hear Shelton say, "So you can all come to the computer and
create your charector. once you are finshed, click submit-only you will know who your
charector is." Cleveland spoke. "How much does this cost?" Sheldon cleared his throat. "Ah,
well, normally, around $200 per person." this was enough to make us all look up, mouths open.
"But," Shelton said hurridly, "I-I-tapped into the system. it's free." a sigh of relief. "you hacked it,
didn't you Shelton," said Giannine. he didn't answer, which we all took for a yes. "I've already
programmed my charecter," he said instead, "so you all go and we can get started." people
went up and came back, looking mildly more interested then before. Arvin and the woman, who
I finally deemed his mother, went up, and then it was our turn. mine and Noah's, I mean. I sat
down at the computer with Noah looking over my shoulder. the screen looked like this:
INDICATE HOW MAY PLAYERS:_
I typed in 2. the screen shifted to:
NAME: _ PLAYER NAME: SEX: F)M) PLAYER: F)M)
PROFESSION:
NAME: PLAYER NAME: SEX: F)M) PLAYER: F)M)
PROFESSION:
I looked at Noah. he looked at me. we had talked about what we would do if we were to
make up our own characters. "Robin Hood?" he asked me. I nodded, and typed:
NAME: Dawn Marie PLAYER NAME: Robin Hood SEX: F PLAYER: M
PROFESSION: Thief
NAME:Noah PLAYER NAME: Maid Marian SEX: M PLAYER: F
PROFESSION: Swordmaster
the list went on, asking about what clothes we wore, how we spoke, what we carried. we finally
finished and returned to our seats. we were the last ones to go, so when we finished, Shelton
returned to the computer and clicked a button. a strange, sing-song, humming sound emitted
from the computer, and I suddenly felt tired, so tired...
When I woke up, I was in the game.
what we might be getting ourselves into as he quickly and quietly explained this whole
Rasmussem idea to us. Noah was trying to act like this wasen't a big deal, taking to Shelton-a
skinny kid with glasses and in a wheelchair, in the tenth grade wing. we got the information out
of him as quick as possible: meet up at his house (his basement, to get technical) on Saturday
morning. I was a little wary; did I really want to waste a Saturday in a basement? but Noah
talked me into it. he's a fantasy-game nut, even though he won't admit it. and it is pretty fun,
although when you think about it, it's gotta look pretty brainless from the outside:a group of kids
rolling dice and scribbling on graph paper, talking about curses and jailtime and caves. but
whatever. so Noah and I show up on Saturday, and Dominic lets us in. he's a kid from one of
the lower grades, I only recognized him form the nature club, which meets in the tenth grade
wing about the time we get out. Shelton's parents split up when he was young, and his mom is a
real estate worker and isn't around on Saturdays. we went down to the finished basement, and
Noah and I sat down on the loveseat. Shelton was at his computer, as usual, typing in some
kind of web script. Giannine, a girl I used to hang out with, was sitting in a lounge chair. she
smiled hesitantly when she saw me. I smiled back, not really paying attention. Dominic, the guy
who'd let us in, was on a cushion in the middle of the floor, as was Cleveland, a short guy who I
only barely recognized. I finished taking this in as two more people came into the room-A kid
called Arvin, I think it was, and a woman I didn't know behind him. Arvin went over to Shelton
and talked quietly with him as the rest of us waited. I looked at the woman. she was petite, and
looked to be in her mid-thirties, with short brown hair and big eyes. Arvin nodded at Shelton
and went over to the woman. she took a seat in the recliner and Arvin joined the boys on the
floor. apparently we were all here, because Shelton exited out of his computer script and
swiveled around to face us. "As most of you know-" he stopped, and said, "Alright, as none of
you know, I have been looking for a long time into a role-playing game, or RPG, that I found on
the internet. Rasmussem, inc, is a company devoted to RPG, but they have a feature that other
games don't." here he paused for a dramatic finish, "Rasmussem has the power to send you inot
the game." I guess this sentance didn't get the effect he was looking for-our clueless faces led
him to explain, "Rasmussem transmits their story to your brain, turning it into brainwaves," he
launched into a long schmeel of technical explaining of which I tuned out, trying to grasp what he
had said.send you into the game-like a holodeck or something? I was starting to think this could
be interesting. I tuned back in to hear Shelton say, "So you can all come to the computer and
create your charector. once you are finshed, click submit-only you will know who your
charector is." Cleveland spoke. "How much does this cost?" Sheldon cleared his throat. "Ah,
well, normally, around $200 per person." this was enough to make us all look up, mouths open.
"But," Shelton said hurridly, "I-I-tapped into the system. it's free." a sigh of relief. "you hacked it,
didn't you Shelton," said Giannine. he didn't answer, which we all took for a yes. "I've already
programmed my charecter," he said instead, "so you all go and we can get started." people
went up and came back, looking mildly more interested then before. Arvin and the woman, who
I finally deemed his mother, went up, and then it was our turn. mine and Noah's, I mean. I sat
down at the computer with Noah looking over my shoulder. the screen looked like this:
INDICATE HOW MAY PLAYERS:_
I typed in 2. the screen shifted to:
NAME: _ PLAYER NAME: SEX: F)M) PLAYER: F)M)
PROFESSION:
NAME: PLAYER NAME: SEX: F)M) PLAYER: F)M)
PROFESSION:
I looked at Noah. he looked at me. we had talked about what we would do if we were to
make up our own characters. "Robin Hood?" he asked me. I nodded, and typed:
NAME: Dawn Marie PLAYER NAME: Robin Hood SEX: F PLAYER: M
PROFESSION: Thief
NAME:Noah PLAYER NAME: Maid Marian SEX: M PLAYER: F
PROFESSION: Swordmaster
the list went on, asking about what clothes we wore, how we spoke, what we carried. we finally
finished and returned to our seats. we were the last ones to go, so when we finished, Shelton
returned to the computer and clicked a button. a strange, sing-song, humming sound emitted
from the computer, and I suddenly felt tired, so tired...
When I woke up, I was in the game.