The room was cluttered with the components of the MindSync, the console consisting of a tinted auto-reactive glass pane for the face with a framework of lightweight aluminum wiring and carbon fiber housing and a thick wire that plugged in for electricity and another cable that reached a stand where the game cartridge was placed. The helmet that looked like something out of a science-fiction movie was, in fact, the next generation game console, the MindSync, allowing the player to enter a synchronized mode where signals were intercepted from the brain and inputed into the game, sent into the server and into the virtual avatar, the whole process taking just under a quarter of a second.

The MindSync was the brainchild of someone known only by the scientific, gaming and international community as, The Primordial. A scientific genius, no one knows who he really was, only that he managed to create a full, three dimensional game with all the five senses working near-perfectly. His genius also led to the improvement in medicine, allowing doctors to virtually go about a procedure before actually performing it on someone.

In any case, now that the clutter was cleared away, my best friend, a rather hyperactive boy named Alex, was lying down with the MindSync already in effect, like his presence had already left the room as he lay there, unmoving, the cartridge of Dystopia Online already plugged in and whirring away in its housing.

"Your welcome." I sighed, not bitterly, but rather than staying, I had to get home, I had two more to set up at home and, with the finality of a coffin lid sliding shut, I closed the door, said goodbye and left his house.

My feet pushed down on the pedals of the bike, my ragged breathing echoed in my head as I rode the bike down the railway, which probably wasn't a good idea.

Now, I'm your average student, getting average grades except for my science classes which usually earns me a failing mark. I had several friends, none too special, absolutely none of the opposite gender.

I swerved out of the tracks as I heard a train approach, I was not much of a daredevil and running my old bike along the tracks was about the bravest thing I did. Problem was, it nearly got me killed as my bike caught in the rails and threw me forward. "Are you freaking serious?!" I yelped, rolling under the tracks and kicking my bike out of the way, the underside of the train less than a hair's breadth away from the tip of my nose.

As most could probably tell, I have the worst luck in the world. Now, it seemed to enjoy tormenting me as I lay there, delighting in giving me yet another heart attack. It wasn't just events, lotteries, games, even clothes and pets, fate seemed content to let me suffer most of the time.

The train passed by a few seconds later, I shakily got to my feet, grabbed my bike, and rode off the tracks and onto the asphalt of the main road's Bike Only lane. My bad luck was trying to get me killed again as an ambulance swerved onto the lane, "Oh shi~" I started, wrenching the bike sideways, avoiding a collision, but ended up sprawled on the sidewalk while the convoy of ambulance sirens blared to my right. "That would've been sad, an ambulance killing someone . . ." I sighed, looking at the wrecked wheel of my bike where the first ambulance had glanced it.

I rounded the corner, now pushing my poor bike along the remaining distance to my house. It was about eleven fifty that evening, almost midnight. Which reminds me, my sister is the exact opposite, she had fate on her side. Which led my train of thought to the two copies of Dystopia and the two MindSyncs at home, just waiting for me to put them together.

The day she brought it home, I sighed, instead of the second prize of the game, she came home with both First and Second prize, which consisted of one set of the MindSync system, my mother being happy to provide money for the second, and two copies of Dystopia Online, the first ever Virtual Reality game released.

Dystopia Online's first press release met with enthusiasm by the general public, because obviously, everyone wanted a copy of the first virtual game in existence. Problem was, the game's first actual beta test came with a hundred copies, we were unaware so I wasn't able to convince her to join and get a copy because she was insanely lucky that way.

I intended to enter quietly and wake Erin up as soon as I finished setting up the MindSyncs, but lo and behold my luck held, which seemed to cancel her luck out most of the time because, she was exiting the bathroom at the exact same time I walked into our room, her slender form just barely covered by the towel wrapped around her torso.

Fresh crimson spread from both our necks to our faces as soon as I met eyes with her, "Y-y-you pervert!" she yelled, throwing the nearest thing that came to reach, a hardbound copy of the dictionary, where it found its new home in my face, but the searing pain was nothing compared to the utter embarrassment I was feeling at the time.

Now, my mother was blissfully ignorant of these fights, either because of my sister's good luck or my horrible luck. "S-sorry." I muttered.

Ten minutes or so later, the two of us lay on our separate beds, both of us wearing the headgear of the MindSync System. "Seriously though, how did you get both prizes?" I asked her, glancing at the clock, midnight, meaning it was thirty minutes after the start of the game, we'd log in until six thirty so we could still get to school the next day.

She giggled softly, "I don't know, just lucky I guess."

I pressed the button on the outside of the visor with a thumb, listening to the whirr of the helmet and my world disappeared in a flash of light.

Welcome to

Dystopia Online

It was written in large, blocky writing, I watched as green plains rolled below me rapidly change into a charred wasteland. "Whoa." was all I could mutter before the scene ended and I stood before a door.

Username:

Password: ******

I debated on the username for what seemed like an eternity. Ezekiel, so I typed in Destiny, my second name, even if it was a bit girly, I had grown fond of it and tended to use it as my character name on those few times I was dragged into playing online games by friends. I skipped through a screen, which I would probably later regret, but I finished logging in and after a brief flash of light, I stood in the center square of a large, paved square, a fountain merrily gushing out red water, at least, I hoped it was red water.

I clenched and unclenched my hands getting the feel of the avatar, I looked down and now regretted skipping that one screen . . .

"Ezzie! Where are you!" I heard Erin call out from somewhere, footsteps echoing behind me as a girl drew closer in the dark light of the full moon that still shone above.

"E-Erin?" I stuttered, looking at the girl who's voice sounded like Erin. She sounded the same, but the voice that left my lips came at an unnaturally high pitch. "What the?" I muttered, the confused look on my face must have appeared funny because Erin was now laughing uncontrollably on the stone floor, her shoulders heaving and her form shaking with mirth and a single tear ran down her cheek.

I was definitely blushing right now, the heat in my cheeks was probably visible in the near pitch-black of the night. I had no idea if blushing would actually create this kind of heat in my cheeks or if it was just the game's high specs exaggerating, because I have never actually seen Erin cry while laughing. "I-it's not funny." I stuttered, completely flustered.

"S-s-sorry." she laughed, softer this time, as her fit died down. "I can't help it, you, a girl?" she continued to shake with her laughter.

I dragged her to a window and I regretted it immediately afterwards for the rest of my life.

I was dressed in a dull blue-green shirt, slightly worn with a leather chestplate over it. A single shoulder pad of worn metal rested on my right shoulder, connected by a strip of leather to the chestpiece, where I would hold my sword I guessed, as I was right handed. I felt the heavy weight of something on my back and reached up and grasped the cold leather handle of a sword, drawing it with a flourish, admiring the simple grace of the light weapon. My eyes traveled lower and I frowned at the slight bulge over my chest, but God forbid if I was actually wearing . . .

A skirt, dark grey that reached to my thighs, hung from my hips. "You're kidding." I groaned. A belt of wide leather was secured around my waist from which hung a pouch of dark brown leather and inside was a handful of brightly polished bronze coins. A screen popped out and the words Money: 250 Ag appeared.

I moved to the features, a pair of almond shaped eyes were a bright green in color, my brown hair reached my shoulders in a large ponytail. My skin was a light shade of brown, not tan but not white. "You're so cute Ezekiel." Erin said thoughtfully.

"Don't say it like that." I replied, it was then I noticed, her character's avatar looked exactly like mine. "Great, from fraternal twins to identical twins." I sighed.

"You two, it's dangerous to be on the streets after dark!" an armored guy called, waving from an inn while two others kept watch from the second floor. "Get over here!"

"Arthur! I see one! On the roof!" one of the players, a girl, cried. I followed her finger and laid eyes on, what I thought was a ball of fur, as it leapt from its perch on the roof towards me.

I dropped to the ground as the thing, a writhing mass of fur and claws, flew over my head. I drew my sword, something told me that this thing wasn't friendly. "Erin, get ready." I said, the high pitched voice squeaked and caused me to let out a small groan, I really needed to control my pitch.

Erin blinked, nodded, drawing her own sword and adopted the same pose as me; feet apart, body lowered and the sword held out in front with both hands. It bounded forward in short jumps, teeth and claws extended, tiny red eyes flashing daggers at me. I swung my sword up in a vertical arc, feeling fur and skin part, jarring my arm as it stopped when it bit into bone.

It struggled for a while before wrenching itself free to lick its wounds as it charged towards Erin, who's sword had nearly dropped when it charged up at her. Her sword lifted at the last second for the tip of the sword to catch the thing by the leg, drawing black ichor as it scampered backwards once more.

Seeing other Nightmares beginning to appear, me and Erin cautiously moved back in a guarded crouch, the swords still raised to guard against the berserk spheres of furry death. I backed up against Erin as the Nightmare charged again, this time, it had no way to escape as Erin's sword flashed, sending its snarling head flying into the air.

Congratulations

Loot: 275 Ag / 125 Exp

Nightmare's Claw x 2

Tattered Fur x 1

I gave out a small sigh as me and Erin ran to the safety of the inn as more of the Nightmares charged towards us, fangs flashing and fur flying as they stormed towards us, I almost panicked and dodged before they were stopped by a barrier saying Inner Area: Protected

I gathered my wits and whispered to Erin, "It'd be awkward if I said if I was a guy. Play along with me and say I'm your twin."

"But you are," she replied nonchalantly.

"You know what I mean." I sighed, stepping forward into the light of the inn and the gathered players, almost all of whom were guys."H-hello. I-I'm Destiny. This is my sister Erin." I said, giving a slight bow.

"Arthur." the warrior from before said in a voice that lingered between teenage hormonal imbalance to deeper voice of maturity, he seemed to be about eighteen or nineteen.

Arthur was a medium built guy in a suit of half-plate armor. His chest was covered by a piece of rigid metal with a gorget to protect against slashes to the neck, leaving him free to twist and move, his lower torso was covered by metal studded leather like a roman legionnaire's skirt. Between the armor joints, I could make out a red tunic woven from rough cotton. He wore khaki pants with a large leather belt, on his back hung a scabbard where a steel crossguard and a handle of leather ended in a octagonal pommel of dull metal. He had dark brown hair, held back by an armet of leather that encircled his head and had two flaps that went down the side of his head with slits for the ears. From the little skin besides his face, I could make out the body build of a basketball player, lean and fit. His eyes were like electricity, darting from gold to bronze to yellow as the light flickered. A thin mouth which was, as of now, curled in a smile and small nose completed his features.

"I'm Lance, that was some awesome swordplay there, you two!" Lance grinned, sticking a hand forward which I shook rather timidly.

Lance was larger than Arthur by about three or so inches, his shoulders broader and his skin a shade or two darker, he seemed to be in the same age group as Arthur, about seventeen. Unlike the more lightly armored Arthur, Lance sported full body armor, his chest covered by the dull grey metal with interlocking plates covering his lower torso and his shoulders had matching pauldrons with each having a blue trim and the silver base on his left shoulder was graced with the picture of a gold sword with a pair of unattached blue wings. He wore dark grey cargo pants and sported leather boots with buckles of silver. He sported a large spear made of dark, polished wood and a large metal blade was shaped into a triangle with the larger end narrowing until it attached to the shaft of the spear with a length of plain metal acting like a crossguard. He had clear brown eyes that reminded me of coffee beans and his black hair was cropped slightly short.

"Name's Dune. You two were great out there." the third member of the group said, extending a lightly armored hand, grinning from ear-to-ear.

Dune was younger by them by far, about my age, fourteen or fifteen at the most. He still had the softer curves of childhood rather than the harder lines of adulthood. He wore baggy khaki pants and a loose tunic of the same shade, like white cloth was soaked in tea. His feet were covered by a pair of supple leather boots and he had a quiver of arrows on his back and he held a longbow of polished light wood in his hands. He had sandy colored hair and a light tan of coffee-and-milk, his blue eyes had a mischievous glint that made you want to say, 'Stay away from that, you might break it.'

"I'm Gorge." the fourth guy said, a brief smile crossing his face as he turned to face me.

Gorge seemed to be about sixteen, with intense violet eyes and dark brown hair. He wore a suit of full armor akin to that of a medieval knight, fully covered by the plates of metal that covered his body from neck down and turning him into the classic knight-in-shining-armor. He bore a large tower shield made of wood bound in iron. He also had a longsword on his back, the scabbard covering the blade but a steel crossguard and a handle of leather ended in a octagonal pommel of dull metal were visible behind him as he stood to allow the last member of the group to sit.

"E - Emma." the girl answered in a nervous whisper.

Emma looked about fifteen or sixteen, her light red hair was tied back in a braid and her blue eyes shone like a pair of gleaming sapphires. She was dressed in a blue knee-length skirt outlined in gold and a blue tunic covered her top, a simple metal vest protected her chest, the sleeves reaching to her wrists and were trimmed in white clouds. She wore a pair of closed slippers and a staff of polished wood ending in a slender metal head, like that of a sword, a pike, rested in her hands.

"When did the two of you arrive? I didn't see either of you during The Announcement." Gorge asked, eyeing the doorway where a small horde of the Nightmares was now growing in number. "Why were the two of you outside at night, don't you two know how dangerous that is?"

"We logged in about twelve forty, so we missed whatever announcement, why?" I replied, tilting my head a bit and watching the vacant expression turn to horror on their faces, which would have been funny if not for the same feeling of disbelief in all of them.

"So why?" Arthur gaped, mouth open and disbelief on his face.

"Why what?" I asked puzzled.

"Why the hell did you log in?" Dune finished Arthur's question.

Okay, now I was confused, why on earth would I not log in? "Why not, we spent good money on the game, why wouldn't we?" I asked puzzled, looking to Erin for an answer to the strange question I had.

"Let me explain." Arthur sighed.

The world as we know it, reality, is gone. In it's place is this land of darkness called Dystopia. The ten thousand players and the one hundred Beta Testers are the only humans here, the rest are either monsters or non-player characters called NPCs. There is a massive tower that reaches high into the sky and according to several players, another that delved deep into the earth. The man who trapped us in the game, a psychopath who went by the name Primordial, stated that the game would end and the remaining players set free once the underground and sky towers were cleared by slaying the bosses atop each tower, which would be incredibly difficult because the tower defied logic by looming like a single pillar, reaching high into the sky. Meanwhile, down below, a massive pit of darkness awaited us, God only knew of the hellish landscape that awaited us below. Lastly, if we died, meaning our health points dropped to zero, our avatars would be deleted from the server and with that, our very existence as well.

Out of my lips escaped three words, "Are you serious?!"