Chapter 1: Stupid Easteregg

20.6.2016: Hi guys. Found a nearly done chapter for this while cleaning my HDD, went through the story again and thought I might update it a little...

It was a warm, perfectly normal Friday afternoon. Outside the sun was shining, kids came home from school and someone down the street was mowing his lawn.

Jana however didn't care. She sat alone in her room and surfed reddit. The shades were down and a small table fan was humming next to her two screens, the only source of light in the room. The rest of her desk was a mess of cables, CDs, books and half finished homework.

At the moment she was waiting for her best friend Ray to show up. They had planned to spend the afternoon playing video games and he had announced he'd bring his PlayStation and a game he had meant to show her for a while now.

A few minutes later the doorbell rang. Jana shut down the computer with a few keystrokes, raced downstairs and flung open the front door with a broad grin. Ray, a lanky 19 year old, had a heavy sports bag slung over one shoulder and his back pack over the other.

"Hi!" Jana stepped to the side and watched as he dumped the backpack on the ground. The sports bag was set down with a lot more care. "Dude, did you really take all that stuff to class today?"

Ray shrugged as he kicked his shoes off. "Either that or showing up an hour later. Plus we only had maths and it's not like Mr. Williams would care. So, where do you wanna plug her in?"

"Right." Jana snorted. "My parents are working late today so we can use the big TV I guess." Ray picked up his bag and Jana led him down the hall into the living room. While Ray set up the console Jana went to grab some snacks and drinks for them.

Plugging it in took him only a few seconds. "You got the WiFi key?," he called.

"Sure," came Jana's reply from the kitchen, followed by a row of random letters and numbers.

Ray rolled his eyes. "You people need to start using normal passwords! Every time I visit you I got to reconnect my phone." He pulled a scratched up God of War I case out of his bag. Jana reentered the living room carrying a tray with Coke, glasses and chips in time to see the title screen pop up.

"God of War? Wasn't that the game you mentioned a while ago? Where you gut Cronos or something?" Jana placed the tray on the table and sat down next to him. She eyed the title screen curiously.

"Yeah, but that's in the third part." Ray grinned and grabbed the controller. "I thought we should start at the beginning. It's not like the games have much story, but you should at least have a rough idea of what's going on."

Jana shrugged and grabbed a handful of chips. "Sure. Sounds good to me."

"Okay then." Ray quickly set up a new game and handed the controller over to Jana. The flames and face on the screen faded to black until it was completely dark. The music stopped playing and silence fell over the room.

"What the... That's not supposed to happen." Ray said into the silence.

"Huh. I'll check the cables." Jana handed the controller back and got up. While she made sure the plug was connected correctly, Ray felt a little freaked out. He had played the game many times, but he had never seen a bug like this. He was fairly sure the cable had been firmly plugged in, so it didn't come as a surprise when Jana's attempt didn't do anything. His try to bring up the PS menu failed as well.

"Ah, screw it," Jana muttered and knelt down next to the console. "Let's reboot it, see if that helps."

"You think so?," Ray asked.

She shrugged. "If in doubt, try turning it off and on again." She extended her hand to press the power button, but Ray's shout stopped her.

"Holy shit!"

Jana's head shot up. They did have a picture again, but it felt wrong. Instead of the low polygon count she had noted in the title screen, this one seemed almost too real. Even for a modern game. It was the face of a woman with a diadem on her brow. Jana glanced back at Ray, who looked like he had been frozen in place on the couch. "Uh, Ray? What exactly is going on here?" She backed up a bit and frowned at the screen.

"I am Athena," the person on the screen said. "And my world needs your help."

Ray was still starring at Athena's face completely dumfounded. This was impossible in every way. There was no way something like this could be happening. For some reason he had to think of all these 'x-Box struck by lightning' stories he had once read.

"Are the two of you willing to help me?" Athena asked. She didn't seem fazed by the looks the two were giving her.

Jana was the first to find her voice again. "What... What exactly do you mean by 'help'?" She felt stupid about talking to the image, but at this point she was sure it was no trick by Ray. He was to bad a liar to put on such a show and there was no way he could manipulate a PS game like this and still have it work. She glanced back at him, but he was still looking like he had seen a ghost.

"I cannot go into detail now, but I must ask you to help another mortal on his quest to save my city."

"You gotta be kidding me." Ray stared at Athena like she had lost her mind. "It's motherfucking Kratos. It's not like that guy needs any help."

"I am not joking. Kratos might be strong but he is not invincible. And that is why I need you to aid him. You seem to be the best choice for the task."

Ray and Jana looked at each other.

"This is idiotic." Ray got up and walked over to the TV. "Look, I value my life, okay? There is no way we're doing that. Seriously, what makes you even think that this is a good idea?"

"Come on. Have you ever heard of people ending up in video games? It's not like that's going to work anyway." Jana shrugged and frowned at the screen. "Probably some stupid Easter egg to freak people out or whatever. Let's just reboot and get on with it. This is getting ridiculous." Jana didn't notice Ray's facepalm behind her.

"Stupid Easter egg?" Athena's eyebrows shot up. "I considered letting you go. I really did. Until you called me stupid. For your information, I am the goddess of wisdom!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake," groaned Ray.

A flash of white light filled the room. When it faded Ray, Jana and the bowl of snacks were gone. The TV was showing the title screen once more and one might have thought that the two of them had just left without turning it off.