A New Beginning
Hey, ThatGuy here. Just wanted to let you all know a lil' bit about this story. I've Recently started writing an actual book, and recently finished Mass Effect: Andromeda. I Thought it would be a fun exercise in perspective, so I'm going to basically be self-inserting myself into the Start of the game. It'll be interesting to expand characters and see how I would react in the situations provided in-game. There will also be a romance arc, because what good is writing myself into mass effect without getting to bang an alien, no actual lemons though. (Actually, it's because I am terrible at writing romantic arcs in the many projects I've typed and deleted, so it'll be good practice.) TL;DR: I'm practicing writing with this, and thought I'd post here to share with y'all. (I don't own ME:A or any characters therein. Changing my name and some minor details so none of you can track me down and stab me with a soldering iron.) enjoy!
There it was, sitting right on the front step, the package. I'd been waiting for this thing to come in for weeks, and just in time too. I had set Mass Effect: Andromeda to start downloading that morning while I was at work. Had to be done by now. I Turned off the truck and lit a cigarette as I followed the short concrete path up to my front door, sitting down in the lone wooden chair I had set up next to the door. I exhaled a cloud of smoke and examined the package from where it sat next to me.
Odd. No return address, and the markings seem to be all in pencil. Fuck.
I may have just gotten scammed, maybe. "that's what I get for buying shady stuff off the internet." I grunted to myself, grounding the cigarette into my ashtray and hefting the box under my arm. "heavier than I thought." I shrugged and unlocked the door, heading straight upstairs to my place of peace and Zen: my computer room. I placed the box on my gaming chair and grabbed the knife on my belt, carefully cutting through the thick box tape covering the box.
Inside was what looked like a modified VR headset, kind of like an HTC, but with a definite aftermarket flair. Wires ran in a surprisingly thick bundle from the actual jack to the helmet, only splitting apart into a spider web of wiring at the latter. I pulled it out, carefully inspecting the monstrosity I had just purchased. Jesus Christ, if I play anything with a jump scare I'll get whiplash for sure, playing with this thing. Underneath the helmet were a set of what looked like ordinary gardening gloves, but with the same bundles of wires connecting to every joint and fingertip. Underneath all of that was a single CD and a neatly typed instruction manual.
I picked it up and flipped through the pages, most of which were double checking wire connections and the actual install of the hardware. I almost dozed off just flipping through it, stopping when I got to the last page.
HOW TO PLAY:
INSERT DISC AND INSTALL.
START UP .
DRAG AND DROP GAME FILE INTO ENGINE.
ENJOY.
"At least the startup will be easier than the install." I mumbled as I flipped back to the instruction cover. it showed a much cleaner version of the headset I had covering my desk, and in bold letters stated: TRANSFERTECH: A NEW WAY TO PLAY. I Had found it deep in the dregs of Amazon while looking for PC parts, and after ordering, I couldn't seem to find It listed again. Still, the ad promised, and I quote:
A technological breakthrough in gaming. Our state-of-the-art coding will bring your favorite games to your very fingertips. Be able to hear and feel as though you were actually there. We promise that you'll be satisfied with our product, or your money back, guaranteed. Because here at TRANSFERTECH, we know gaming isn't just a hobby; it's a lifestyle.
Who knows, maybe I lucked out, or maybe I got scammed. Either way it fills my evening up just setting the damn thing up. Before I plugged everything in, I copied what was on my computer into an external Hard drive, just in case all this wiring fried the thing to hell. With a sigh I tossed the instructions into the box on my chair and got to work.
I stood up and wiped the sweat from my head, finally done with all the plugging and re-plugging. I looked down at my handiwork, noticing the underside of my desk looked like someone unloaded a can of silly string everywhere. I hung the Helmet and gloves on the back of my chair and tossed the box in a corner, not caring much about it at the moment. I need to piss. I headed to the bathroom and took care of the deed, washing my hands and splashing some water on my face to help cool myself off. I gave myself a good hard look as I wiped my face with the hand towel on the counter.
I rubbed my hand over my freshy shaved head from this morning and scratched at the 4" long beard my friends have jokingly called 'the dirty lumberjack'. I took a deep breath and stepped back. I was about 5'11" and closer to in shape than not, but It was obvious that I have drank my fair share of beer in the past. I sighed and went out for a smoke before starting up the monstrosity I had connected earlier.
After I got back upstairs I took the disk out and tossed it in my PC's tray, closing it with an electronic whirr. The computer was obviously straining to download and run the program, but I was still surprised at how fast It went. "less than 10 minutes, nice". I took a swig of beer I had grabbed from downstairs and started on the first step: booting up . What popped up on my screen was a simple black box, stating to cut/paste a game's original files. Easy enough. I did what it said and dragged Mass Effect andromeda into the square, then hit enter. Nothing happened for a second, before the screen went black suddenly. "fuck. This isn't good." I swore as I began to reach for the power button on the tower. I stopped when large green letters appeared on the screen.
REWRITE COMPLETE.
…
…
STARTING PROGRAM IN 1:00
…
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EQUIP TRANSFER GEAR.
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…
THE FUTURE OF GAMING AWAITS. GOOD LUCK.
I shrugged and started with the gloves. It surprised me that what looked like cheap gloves were filled with what felt like silicone gel. As my fingers pressed into the tips of the gloves, the excess on the wrist tightened, scaring me for a second. It didn't hurt, but it was definitely secure. I shrugged and grabbed the helmet as the timer on the screen hit 15 seconds. As I put the helmet on, I realized it was also displaying on the internal screen. I took a deep breath as the inside of the helmet tightened around me. I could still breathe, but it was a strange feeling nonetheless. Exhale.
5
…
4
…
I took in one more deep breath.
3
…
2
…
1
I Gasped for air as I leaned up, shivering as the mist around me began to dissipate. I coughed a few times, spitting out a half-frozen concoction of chemicals and phlegm. My eyes began to focus as my breathing slowly regained normalcy. Where am I? Did something go wrong? I raised my arms to rub my eyes for a moment, disconnecting a bunch of sensors suction cupped to my arms. My head was spinning, and my stomach wanted to evacuate everything it had eaten in, well, forever. I turned and looked around, there were person sized boxes of some sort all over the circular room, and the air was chilly to say the least. A large circular arm slid past me, one of the boxes clenched in its claw as I was moved down to the end of the hall. That's when I saw it, sprawled in large, black, stylized letters were two words that both scared and excited me to no end. Hyperion Cryogenics. It Worked.