Note: All script in italics is to be read, much in the manner of the series, as narration by a character (normally Shiroe) and will be noted at the start of each piece of script.
Chapter 1: Just Living in the Database
Atharva Inc., one of the largest gaming companies on the planet, had once envisioned a game that eclipsed any other in size, scope and ambition, a realm of fantasy, where players could tackle goblins, dragons and other mystical creatures in an ongoing and ever-developing adventure that they dubbed 'Elder Tales'. However, the fickleness of the market betrayed them, but in doing so, Atharva created something even greater. Radically changing the framework of their great project, the company instead developed a new MMO, one that would slowly gather a player base of over 40 million souls. This game was Enclave, a game not founded on the winds of magic and the boundless imagination of the fantasy genre, but on the cold light of science, and the eternal struggle of man against a hostile world.
It was a full moon that evening, and on a quiet night its pale light would illuminate the forest in a warm glow that turned the clearing into a sea of tranquillity. However, this was not a quiet night, and the scratching of claws through the soil drowned out the rustle of leaves and the calls of nocturnal creatures. Hearing the sounds draw closer, the target of the claws' ire redoubled their efforts, boots thumping across the clearing. A ray of reflected light illuminated the fleeing man; he was tall and lanky, with a dark green robe shrouding his clothes. He carried a staff in one hand, a long rod of metal with a golden sigil at the top in the shape of an eye. An angular face bore glasses perched upon a thin nose, the lenses concealing a pair of eyes that seemed to glow faintly. Poking out from underneath his hood was a mop of blue hair, spiky and untamed.
Realising flight was futile, the man spun on the spot, brandishing his staff, his eyes seeming to glow brightly with ethereal power, as his off-hand entered commands on a menu screen. "Aether shock!" he cried, hurling bolts of incandescent energy at his pursuers, sending the lead ones flying, wreathed in visible electricity. The attack also illuminated the clearing further, giving the man a clearer look at his foes.
"I've got a visual on six nemeans."
The nemeans were large quadrupedal beasts that bore a passing resemblance to a lion, although the black, leathery hide, back-jointed legs and vicious three-clawed feet that each of them possessed helped assure the observer that there was no genetic connection. They snarled as they climbed back to their feet, battered but alive from the attack.
"Watch yourself Shiroe, without armour they'll open you up like a knife through butter," another voice filtered through the air.
"Noted, thanks for the vote of confidence Naotsugu," the now-named Shiroe shot back, even as he capitalised on the aftermath of his spell by putting some distance between him and the recovering nemeans. As he fled, Shiroe peered over the lip of the ridge he was on, spotting his ally, who was locked in combat with three more nemeans, who had him encircled.
Fortunately for Naotsugu, where his friend had only the robes on his back to protect him from the vicious looking claws of their adversaries, he had rather more solid defence. A full suit of bulky but well-articulated gunmetal plates covered Naotsugu from head to foot, adding nearly a foot onto the warrior's already impressive height, bringing him to a little under 7 feet. The subtle whine of servos betrayed that not only was this armour well-fortified, it was powered, thus giving the lie to the idea that the suit's large size might make its wearer ponderous. To supplement the impressive defence of the power armour, Naotsugu also bore a huge slab shield, 6 feet tall and at least an inch thick, which was being used to fend off the snapping jaws of a nemean. Naotsugu's other hand bore an impressively large blade, which crackled with potent energy.
"Alright! Time to use a Shield Bash!" Naotsugu shouted, only for his UI to clog up with warning icons, preventing him from selecting a skill. "Damn it! This system really sucks, man!"
'That's because it's not a game anymore,' Shiroe thought, before more movement caught his eye. "Naotsugu! On your eight!"
The tall warrior was not given long to dwell on the shouted warning, as Shiroe's shouted warning pre-empted the leap of one of the other nemeans attacking Naotsugu, its claws cutting deep into his armour and eliciting a cry of pain from its wearer.
"Ah! Get off me!"
'This would be a lot easier at my desk,' Shiroe mused to himself, only to have his reflections interrupted by a chorus of growls from behind him. His pursuers had caught up. "Akatsuki!"
"My Lord, I'll take care of this!" another voice interrupted, this time a female one, and a diminutive figure landed in front of Shiroe.
Positioning herself protectively in front of her comrade, Akatuski took up a defensive stance in front of Shiroe, a tanto clenched in one hand. The blade faintly glowed, indicating that it was no mundane weapon, a fact proven seconds later as the first nemean to leap towards her was neatly bisected. The other five recoiled from their new foe, snarling as they weighed their chances. Shiroe seized the opportunity quickly, brandishing his staff once more.
"Prescient fury!"
A crimson aura began to form around Shiroe's diminutive protector, allowing Shiroe to better make Akatsuki out in the darkness. She wore a purple top with loose belted brown pants and combat boots, augmented in strategic areas by armour plates, thereby allowing her protection while retaining mobility. Her purple hair was done up in a long ponytail with a long fringe, and a small satchel was attached to the scarlet harness on her body armour. Although he couldn't see her face, Shiroe could tell his comrade was wearing an expression of intense focus.
She sprang into action immediately, lithely dodging between the four remaining adversaries, delivering debilitating cuts and dancing out of range, leading her enemies in a perfectly choreographed waltz of sharp, pointy death. Few of the nemeans' claws found their mark, skipping off her armour or missing entirely.
Shiroe tore his eyes away from the ongoing combat to glance back down towards Naotsugu, who fortunately was having an easier time of it than when Shiroe had last checked. One nemean lay slain upon the field, while the other two clawed impotently at his slab shield, snarling in anger. When they renewed their attack, the first one to leap at Naotsugu was swung up into the air by the hefty warrior and slammed down onto its back, where it lay, mewling in pain. The other met a far swifter end, as its charge ended abruptly on the point of Naotsugu's blade.
"Yeah! Get some!"
Shiroe smiled at Naotsugu's boundless energy, the roguish smile on his friend's face totally dispelling the previously tense mood. However, the sense of triumph was short-lived, as Shiroe was borne to the ground from the side, one last nemean slavering above him, jaws snapping for his neck.
'Another one? How did that get there?'
2 Days Prior
He awoke with a sharp intake of breath. Blue skies, illuminated by two suns, greeted him.
"Whoa."
This definitely wasn't home. He relinquished the soft patch of grass he'd been laying on to sit up and take in his surroundings. The ruins of dilapidated concrete buildings surrounding him. No, not concrete, Shiroe noted, this more resembled tectcrete, a super-strong material with a marbled effect that they used in...
"Enclave," he whispered.
Shiroe: And all of a sudden, there I was.
It was a difficult concept to take in. Just a short while before, he'd been sat at his desk, logged into Enclave after finishing up his coursework for the day. Now he was inside his favourite MMO, an idea he would ordinarily have found preposterous. But it was an undeniable fact. There was no other explanation as to why he found himself attired in the garb of his avatar, or why his eyes had glowed when he looked at his reflection in a pond.
'I can feel the warmth of the sun on my skin, and can smell the scent of flowers on the breeze. There's no way this can't be real.'
Shiroe clambered to his feet, using the staff that he had awoken carrying as a prop to aid him. The golden eye that adorned the top of the staff glinted in the sunlight.
'I've even got the psybane staff my character carried. So I'm attired like my character,' Shiroe glanced down at the ground, which seemed to be suspiciously further away than he normally remembered it, 'And I might even have his physical attributes, which explains the dislocation. But where are we?'
Spying an un-ruined tower with an open door, Shiroe ascended the stairs, albeit somewhat clumsily. 'My avatar is slightly taller than I actually am, so it's kinda disorienting trying to climb stairs.'
He was not prepared for the sight that greeted him at the top. Directly ahead of him, occupying a wide plaza, was a titanic tree, its bark ghostly white, and its leaves blood red.
"No way, that's… the Wraithtree. Is this seriously Akihabara?" he gasped, speaking out loud.
Under the tree, Shiroe could spy other people milling about, also dressed much as they would be in the Enclave game, many of them in full combat gear and suits of powered armour. Most of them were wandering around in confusion, but some groups, most likely those from guilds, seemed to have a better bearing on their surroundings. He descended the tower and headed into the market that surrounded the Wraithtree.
Shiroe steadily weaved his way through the players occupying the market, taking careful note of what was going on. More than one player was shouting at the stallholders, demanding to see a GM, and from the terrified looks on the shopkeepers' faces, the NPCs didn't have a clue what they were talking about. Other players were simply milling about, perhaps unable to comprehend the situation they found themselves in, and completely disoriented by their strange surroundings. More still were arguing with each other, or stood sobbing. The clamour of terrified voices was near deafening.
Too distracted by the scenes of panic and confusion playing out around him, Shiroe tripped over his own feet and went sprawling to the ground. Clearly his new stature was going to require some getting used to. Groaning in pain, Shiroe pushed himself up, only to start at the display in front of him; the literal display, that is, as Enclave's user interface hovered about a foot in front of his face.
"Huh?" Shiroe said eloquently. "The menu screen?"
'Perhaps if I tap it.' A few tentative clicks on some of the floating buttons brought up further menus; Shiroe scrolled through his inventory, his statistics page, and his skills list, finding them all in line with how his character had been equipped back when it had just been a game. He smiled at the comforting familiarity of the system. Now to just hope that all of the functions of the menu system were there….
"Let's see if I can get out of this," Shiroe murmured. He dismissed all of the opened sub-menus and scrolled down to the bottom of the list. Reaching the bottom, his finger hovered over the button he hoped might send him home.
LOG OUT
Shiroe tapped the button, only for it a 'denied' icon to flash up.
"I suppose that would make it too easy…" he said, releasing a sigh of frustration. He motioned to close the menu, only for one of the side bars to catch his eye. "Sweet, my friends list!"
A speedy scroll down the list informed Shiroe that not everyone he knew was online, but it seemed a significant proportion of his friends were. He made his way out of the busy marketplace and found somewhere isolated, perching on a rock while he noted who was in the same predicament as him.
'Maryelle, Henrietta, Soujiro, Nazuna, even Tohya and Minori, a lot of people came on line for the new expansion pack.' He paused over another name. 'Naotsugu? Let's see if the instant messaging system still works… voice chat.'
A ringing icon appeared over Naotsugu's name, accompanied by a dialling tone. It didn't take too long for the call to be picked up.
"Shiroe? Dude, is that you?" The voice was deep and has a bass quality to it, but it was shot through with a lackadaisical, laidback attitude, although Shiroe noted a hint of worry in it, most likely the same worry most players currently had.
After a few minutes of catching up, the pair agreed to rendezvous in one of Akihabara's parks so they could talk face to face. It was there Shiroe found Naotsugu perched on top of a large rock under another massive tree. Like most of the city, the park was hugely overgrown, but without sturdy tectcrete walls obstructing the local flora, the plant-life in the park had gone completely out of control.
"Hey there!" Naotsugu greeted, waving cheerfully as Shiroe approached.
Shiroe's Heads-Up-Display (HUD) flashed up Naotsugu's stats as he got closer: 'Naotsugu, Level 90: Fusilier Class Character. Subclass: Warrior.' Shiroe knew this already, but it was comforting knowledge to know that some things hadn't changed since they'd ended up here. However, what he was entirely unprepared for was the sheer size difference between him and Naotsugu now. Sat at a computer monitor, his counterpart's huge suit of armour hadn't looked that much bigger than his own character, but stood in front of it, well, the difference was self-evident. Naotsugu stood around a foot taller than Shiroe, and was perhaps half as wide again as him.
"Hey, what are ya starin' at?"
Caught gawking, Shiroe replied, "Well, er, I didn't expect you to be this tall. And what happened to that scar you had previously?"
"Hmm?" Naotsugu palmed his cheek. "Oh, you're right, it's not there anymore. Dunno why." He grinned. "Anyway, you look the same as ever Shiroe! Lanky guy with spiky blue hair and glasses, which hide creepy beady eyes!"
"Err... Moving on, I think the game might be reconciling some of the ways our characters look with how we actually look. Hence your scar is gone. I still look mostly the same because I made my character look like me, but I did notice that I'm taller than I am in the real world."
"Woah, that's weird man. But that's hardly a new thing today, is it? I've not logged in for two years, and suddenly this happens? This is seriously messed up Shiroe, what's going on here?"
"I don't know. My best guess is that we're actually in Enclave."
"I had a sneakin' suspicion you might say that. Think it has to do with the new update? What was it called… Cosmogenetic Discovery?"
Shiroe nodded. "It's too coincidental. Everything was totally normal up until they rolled this new expansion pack out and then the next thing I know, I wake up in here."
"Me too. And this is definitely Enclave. I mean look at our gear, and look around us, this is totally Akihabara, I've spent so many hours here I know it like the back of my hand. But everything else is way too real to be some sort of VR or anything like."
"I know what you mean," Shiroe replied, stooping down to run his fingers through the grass. "You can really feel everything, the texture of grass, the pollen in the air, all of it. I doubt we're dreaming, so I guess we're just stuck here."
"So we're stuck in our favourite MMO? Jeez, how cliché." Naotsugu laid back on the rock he'd been sat on, the servos in his armour whirring as he reclined. "Anyway, what do we do to get home from here then?"
Shiroe frowned. "I have no idea. Heck, I'm not even sure how we got here. But since we don't know how to go home yet…"
"Might as well make the best of it," Naotsugu finished, punctuating it with a wide grin. "So, strategy man, what's our next move?"
"We should get our bearings, and try to work out if anything's changed from the game to now, learn the basic mechanics, that sort of thing. We know how to play Enclave, but we don't know how to live in its world."
"Sounds like a plan," Naotsugu replied, getting to his feet, a little unsteadily to Shiroe's eyes, perhaps because the bulk of Naotsugu's armour was disorienting him. He hefted his shield and sword, placing them onto a magnetic clamp on the back of his armour. "Alright! Let's go."
"I know this probably isn't what you expected, but it's good to see you again Naotsugu. Welcome back."
"Hehe, glad to be back," Naotsugu said, giving a goofy grin to his long-time friend.
The pair bumped fists, before heading off into Akihabara on their new adventure.
Akihabara, sometime later.
"Y'know, I have to say it's totally weird the perspective you get actually being in the game," Naotsugu said as they wandered out of the relatively busy city centre. "Like, all the buildings and roads are the same, except ruined, but seeing them with your own two eyes and not on a screen is pretty odd."
Shiroe nodded. Everything was so familiar in Akihabara, yet so alien. Everything was there, the central guild building, the Wraithtree, even all the NPC shops, in all the fundamentals it was the Akiba they had logged thousands of hours in and around, but physically wandering through it was disconcerting. Perhaps even more so since the city seemed to have been ruined sometime between the last patch and when they woke up there. The previous Akiba certainly never had greenery growing up through the streets, or half the buildings falling into disrepair.
'Despite the scenery change, everything is still as we remember it,' Shiroe thought. He reached into the bag slung at his waist and pulled out a small pendant, shaped in the same eye sigil that adorned his staff. As small popup informed him it was an 'Aetheric Brooch'. 'Even our items are the same, and our skills and stats.'
"So," Naotsugu spoke up, breaking Shiroe out of his musings. "Did ya try to log out yet?"
"Yeah, it didn't work."
The pair walked under an archway, passing a number of players slumped listlessly against the walls of buildings, or sat idly on the floor, before emerging into an open plaza, on the other side of which was a large bridge, and an open gate whose portal crackled with blue energy.
"So, wanna try the outside zones?" Naotsugu asked.
"No, let's hold off for now." Shiroe's curt responses told the tall warrior that his friend's mind was elsewhere, most likely mulling over the challenges they could now face in this world. Naotsugu shrugged, and just ambled after Shiroe at an idyllic pace. Neither player registered the shadowy figure that followed them from the rooftops.
Continuing their tour of Akihabara, Shiroe and Naotsugu encountered further clusters of idle players, seemingly disinterested in their surroundings, or anything for that matter. Shiroe's eyes narrowed. An aura of despair seemed to hang over these adventurers like a shroud, and it worried him. People seemed to have lost hope, rather than trying to make the best of the situation, and how could they make Akiba liveable if they wouldn't put in the effort? He for one was not willing to just sit and wait for the end, one way or another, if there even was an end.
As they moved into another deserted zone of the city, Naotsugu noted the look on Shiroe's face and decided to strike up conversation again.
"So man, how was your course going?" he asked.
"It wasn't going too badly. They cut down our number of lectures a week by half since last year, but like nearly doubled the amount of coursework we have to do instead."
"I guess you didn't mind that, Mr Never-Leaves-His-Desk!" Natosugu grinned. "Bet it gave you more time to play this."
Shiroe chuckled. "I guess you're right. What about you then? Still chasing girls at work?"
"Nah, sadly the boss didn't hire any new hotties for the office, so I was actually having to knuckle down for a change."
"Is that really an issue?"
"Ah come on man, I gotta have something to distract me from work every now and again."
"I swear you have a one-track mind," Shiroe said. Before he knew, Naotsugu was holding up a V sign right in front of his eyes.
"Two kinds of men in this world, four eyes. Real men like me, who dig appreciate the lovely ladies, and closeted gentlemen too scared to admit it!" Naotsugu exclaimed melodramatically, revelling in his own perversions. "I love the ladies, and panties are my treasure!"
'Good lord,' Shiroe thought, only for Naotsugu to level a menacing glare at him.
"By the way, you're the second kind of guy four-eyes."
"Thanks for that clarification," Shiroe said dryly, as he continued walking, only to trip and nearly end up sprawled on the pavement. He felt a hefty gauntlet grasp the back of his robe and hoist him to his feet, where Naotsugu looked at him quizzically.
"Yo man, you ok?"
"I'm fine. Remember when I said earlier that I'd gotten taller? It's throwing off my sense of balance a bit."
"Ah right. I kinda had that a bit too, this armour is really bulky, but surprisingly easy to move around in once you're used to it."
To punctuate his point about the armour's dexterity, Naotsugu did a rather deft cartwheel, although his armour's servos seemed to whine in protest. The clattering noise meant that Shiroe and Naotsugu failed to notice several stones hitting the ground around them. It was only when a rather larger rock ricocheted off Naotsugu's chestplate that they finally noticed. He traced the route of the thrown rock back to one of the dilapidated buildings that lined the streets, noting a shadowy figure perched on the top floor.
"Hey man, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Naotsugu hollered, pointing directly at the figure with an irritated expression. "You wanna fight or something?"
Shiroe carefully scrutinised their assailant, a tall man wearing light, dark purple combat armour including a visored helmet and brown combat pants. A lighter purple scarf hung around his neck, and a back-slung blade could be seen peeking out from behind them. Then it clicked.
"Wait, you're…. Akatsuki!"
The HUD indicator flashed up a new character indicator: 'Akatsuki, Scout Class Character, Level 90, Subclass: Infiltrator'
"Wait, dude, you know this guy?" Naotsugu asked.
"Yeah, I've been on a few missions here and there with him. Doesn't speak much, tends to use the preset chat commands, and I've never seen him without a helmet on, but he's great at what he does. One of the best scout characters I've seen, absolutely top notch."
"That's a pretty glowing review coming from you man. What do you think he wants?"
"I don't know, shall we go find out?"
The pair ascended the crumbling stairwell inside the building, picking their way through the shattered masonry that littered the floor. Akatsuki was waiting for them at the top, leaning against a pillar.
"Well, guess you got stuck here like we did Akatsuki," Shiroe greeted, eliciting a curt nod in response.
"Hey there, I'm Naotsugu. I'm a Fusilier with a thing for the ladies, and I'm not ashamed to admit it! Pleased to meetcha!" Naotsugu said, adding a cheeky grin and a thumbs-up.
"That's one way to make a first impression I suppose," Shiroe said.
"Hell yeah it is," Naotsugu just grinned wider.
Their banter was interrupted by a distorted voice emanating from Akatsuki's helmet. "Lord Shiroe, I need your help." There was a hiss and a click as the helmet disengaged from the rest of the armour he was wearing, then a thump as it fell to the floor. "I need something to fix this body I'm in." Although the voice was quiet, it was definitely a woman's, although the face that went with it was a man's.
Two jaws dropped. Shiroe was the first to pick his back up.
"Woah, all this time you weren't a guy? I guess that's why you didn't speak that much."
"Can you help me? Please?"
There was a pleading edge to Akatsuki's voice that Shiroe couldn't ignore, and he frantically fumbled with his bag, which served as access to his inventory, before producing a small brass orb, inlaid with lapis lazuli to form a series of runes. It seemed to hum with a potent power, and he handed it to Akatsuki tentatively.
"This should be able to help you. Press down on the two circles at each pole, and then pull the orb open."
Akatsuki merely nodded, but there was a gratefulness in her eyes that warmed Shiroe's heart. The scout vanished around the next wall, already fumbling with the orb.
"Damn dude, was that what I think it is?" Naotsugu asked.
"Lord Octavius' Orb of Omnipotent Transmogrification? Yeah, I had it stashed away at the bottom of my inventory, never used it."
"But dude, you could only get that item when the game was first released! It's super rare!"
Lord Octavius' Orb of Omnipotent Transmogrification was a day-one sign-in bonus that Atharva had gifted to every player who created an account on Enclave when it was first released. As the fancy name implied, the item allowed one to completely re-customise one's avatar, and as such was highly sought-after, especially since Octavius' Orb was the only item of its kind in the entire game.
"Akatsuki needed it more than I did," Shiroe said, "So I'd rather give it to her than hoard it away forever." It had felt like the right thing to do, and Shiroe stood by it. Besides, what use had he for it? He'd kept the same avatar for nearly a decade, and he had no need for large sums of gold – his account in Akihabara's bank was already full to bursting.
"I'll never get how they called you the Villain in Glasses acting like this, man."
There was a hiss from around the corner, and then a loud hum, followed by a blue light emanating from the next room. Shiroe quickly body-checked Naotsugu, who had begun trying to sneak a peek around the corner, sending the pair to the floor in a display of surprising strength.
Then the screaming started, accompanied by far harsher light emanating from the adjacent room, which painted a fairly grim silhouette on the wall. Both Shiroe and Naotsugu were wide-eyed at the sickening cracks and squelching as bone reshaped and flesh was remoulded. Akatsuki's shrieks seemed to go on for hours as the orb forcibly reconstructed her very being. Nevertheless, a few minutes later, they died down, and a small figure padded back into the room, cradling a now defunct orb.
"I feel much better now, thank you. I knew you'd be able to help me, Lord Shiroe."
Shiroe and Naotsugu both picked themselves up, only for the former to colour very swiftly at Akatsuki's new appearance. She'd lost at least a foot in height, maybe more, and where her avatar had been athletic, Akatsuki was now lithe and acrobatic. However, what Shiroe noticed most of all was how cute Akatsuki was. Chiselled features had been replaced with a very pretty face and soft, smooth skin, and her purple hair hung messily about her. The aura of cute was only reinforced by her outfit, now many sizes too large for her, with the sleeves pooling over her hands and the armoured body glove now hanging loosely off her petite frame.
Of course, Naotsugu had to spoil the moment. "Wow, total babe up in here!" he exclaimed, a statement which mercifully went ignored by both of his comrades.
"Lord Shiroe, you've saved me. I owe you a great debt." Akatsuki levelled her purple eyes at Shiroe with utmost seriousness, causing him to flush.
"No, seriously, it's no problem," he said bashfully.
"I mean it! I will repay you for this," Akatsuki said forcefully. However, before any further arguing could be done, Naotsugu piped up again.
"Now Shiroe, back to what I said earlier about chicks being awesome, there's no denying it! A real man ain't afraid to tell them about it too. So come on, be a man, man!"
Once more, Naotsugu's comment went unanswered, although Akatsuki directed a questioning glance at Shiroe while pointing in Naotsugu's direction. "Lord Shiroe, do you happen to know what's wrong with that guy?"
"The list is pretty long and varied, where do you want me to start?"
"Hey! Your face is long and varied!" Naotsugu responded irately.
"So is it some sort of mental problem? Or maybe head trauma," Akatsuki theorised, totally ignoring Naotsugu's angry protests. "I didn't think that rock I threw hit him in the head, but I might have been mistaken…."
"Um, Akatsuki," Shiroe said, somewhat tentatively, "Not that I mind poking fun at Naotsugu like this, but do you not need some new gear? What you've got on looks a little… oversized for your current form."
Akatsuki froze, before looking down at what she was currently wearing, and how loosely it hung off her frame. After a short delay, she blushed quite vividly, and flickered out of sight around the corner, little more than a blur to her two companions.
"Aww dude, totally ruining the eye candy, not cool."
Shiroe's staff 'accidentally' smacked into Naotsugu's head for that particular comment.
It was not too long before Akatsuki reappeared, wearing a relatively similar outfit to her previous male avatar. The purple cuirass that she'd previously worn had been replaced with a segmented suit of purple plates, whilst independent vambraces and pauldrons were now strapped to her bare arms. A red harness sat over the chestplate, with both her satchel and tanto slung from it on her back. Her loose fitted brown pants were much the same as before, with kneepads and greaves providing additional armour support. A white sash doubled as a belt, and the loose ends trailed behind Akatsuki like coattails, falling to just below her knees. The entire outfit was completed with a pair of black combat boots, unarmoured to allow for lighter footsteps. Shiroe also noted that Akatsuki had disdained the use of a helmet, much as Naotsugu did, and had instead opted to tie her hair up into a long ponytail.
"Alright, shall we go and find somewhere more comfortable to converse then?" she asked.
"Yeah, let's," Shiroe replied. As the trio descended from the tower, he asked Akatsuki, "Miss Akatsuki, I notice you're not wearing a helmet. Why is that?"
"I found it stuffy, and it impeded my peripheral vision. All of the additional displays and sensors were okay, but I prefer going without."
"I suppose it must be somewhat different from when you were sat at a screen playing this. It's a lot easier when you don't have to use your own two eyes."
"Sure it's harder being in the game, but it is cooler!" Naotsugu interjected. "I mean who'da thought I'd ever get to wear awesome armour like this someday. Not me, I can tell ya that."
"Yeah, I suppose it is pretty cool," Shiroe smiled.
After a short walk, allowing Akatsuki to readjust back to her normal self, the three players headed back into the park where Shiroe had met Naotsugu earlier in the day, cadging some food from a vendor on the way there. The sun was beginning to set, the overgrowth casting long shadows across the park as a result. The group found themselves somewhere comfy to sit, watching the sunset as the first evening chill began to creep in. Eventually, Shiroe asked a question that had been nagging at him for a while.
"By the way, Miss Akatsuki, did you use the orb to return you to a similar size to your real-world body?"
"Yes, why?"
"I was just wondering, since both myself and Naotsugu have had some issues adjusting to our own differing heights as well."
"Yeah, it was a bit annoying," Naotsugu said, before grinning, "But I bet you had it even worse, a shrimp like you being trapped in that tall body. Oof!"
Naotsugu went flying off the rock he'd been perched on, Akatsuki's boot planted firmly into his sternum, an impressive achievement considering the former's stature and heavy armour. The warrior was sent sprawling to the floor in comical fashion, before struggling to right himself in a manner not unlike a turtle that had been flipped the wrong way up.
"Hey! What is your malfunction, titch!"
"Don't call me short!" Akatsuki shouted, huffing cutely. Leaving Naotsugu to try and get up, she turned back to Shiroe. "There were also some other considerations that made my male avatar… less than advantageous in this current mess."
Naotsugu once again gave voice to the unspoken meaning of the statement, his armour whining as he got back to his feet. "Right, like when you have to go for a slash!"
This time it was Naotsugu's face that received the full force of Akatsuki's (possibly justified) wroth, sending the perverted player to the floor clutching his nose. Akatsuki looked over to Shiroe, pointing at the downed Naotsugu.
"Lord Shiroe, is it alright if I knee Mr Pervy-pants in his stupid face?"
"Ask before you do it, pipsqueak!" Naotsugu shouted angrily, climbing to his feet with one hand covering his bruised nose.
"Don't call me pipsqueak!" Akatsuki looked over to Shiroe. "Now then, how can I repay you for your earlier kindness?"
"Well, I was just happy to help," Shiroe stammered modestly.
"I cannot allow that," Akatsuki replied firmly. "I don't want it to be said that I do not repay the debts I incur."
"No, seriously, it's fine!" Shiroe protested. "Honestly, I don't need repayment."
"Well if I could suggest, you let me get a couple of handfuls and… Oww!" Naotsugu appeared at Shiroe's shoulder, making some perverse grasping motions in front of his chest, before being swiftly swatted aside by an irate Akatsuki. He landed with a clatter some ten yards away, in a groaning heap.
"Lord Shiroe, may I kick this vulgar idiot in his stupid face once again?"
"I said ask before you do it, titch, you didn't even let me finish my sentence," Naotsugu whined, clutching at his now twice-bruised nose.
Akatsuki remained unmoved. "You were clearly going to say something perverse," she sighed.
"Well, yeah," Naotsugu giggled. "Anyway, why don't you just tag along with us? You're not in a guild or anything, right?" Akatsuki nodded, she'd avoided guilds because of all the pretty politicking that tended to characterise them. "Then pony up with us for a while, and we can all consider ourselves even. What do you think, Shiroe?"
"Well, now that we're all stuck in this world, it's probably best if we stick together for our own safety. I think it'd be great if Akatsuki tagged along with us," Shiroe said.
"Are you sure? Do you really want me in your party, Lord Shiroe?"
"I think it'd be awesome to have you along with us Akatsuki," Shiroe replied, offering an earnest smile.
"Then it is settled then," Akatsuki said, dropping to one knee and bowing her head. "From this moment on I shall serve you as retainer and bodyguard, my Lord Shiroe. You saved me from the distasteful fate of being trapped in a man's body, and I shall repay that kindness with service. Whatever your order is, I shall fulfil it, on my honour."
It was clear that Akatsuki made this pledge in the utmost seriousness, despite her melodramatic method of affirming it. There was no false roleplaying here, only an earnestness that reflected in her eyes when she looked up, catching Shiroe's gaze with her own. Shiroe flushed under the intensity of her stare.
"Um, thanks, I guess," he said lamely.
"Aw, totally uncool way to finish an epic moment like that, man."
The Next Day
Now three players strong, the little party wandered through the streets of Akihabara, observing the gradual reassertion of some semblance of calm. The panic of the first day had somewhat dissipated, and although a pall of despair still hung over the city, they had thus far seen no players having total meltdowns in the middle of the street. However, the aura of tension of still persisted, and Shiroe noted a sense of unease still hanging over the city. The market, normally bustling, was comparatively deserted, except for the NPCs that traded there and a few scattered players.
Shiroe: The Non-Player Characters, or NPCs, that inhabit the world of Enclave, refer to themselves as Settlers, whereas we players are known as Adventurers, or sometimes Mercenaries. The fortified cities and outposts that most settlers dwell in are referred to as 'Enclaves', from which the game takes its name. Only the hardiest live outside the Enclaves, in what is known as the 'Frontier Zone', as the areas outside the Enclaves are dangerous, even for Adventurers.
As the trio passed through the market, a Settler woman manning a stall called out to them. "Would you guys like something to eat? You look hungry." She gestured to her stall, which had a veritable feast of food laid out across it.
Naotsugu's eyes lit up, and his stomach growled loudly. "Is all this for sale?"
The shopkeeper merely nodded, giving Naotsugu a cheerful smile.
On the other side of the street, while her companion was salivating over the food on display, Akatsuki merely held out a purse of coins. "Rice dumplings and green tea please."
However, as the hungry adventurers were about to find out, the food only looked sumptuous. In taste, it was less than stellar. Sat around a large flat rock, again in one of Akihabara's abandoned parks, the trio laid out their picnic and took their first enthusiastic bites of food – only to quiver in revulsion at the taste that followed. It was Naotsugu whose happy expression wilted first.
"This tastes like dog crap," he whined.
"It is really, really bad," Shiroe agreed, Akatsuki merely nodding her concurrence.
"It's like eating soggy rice crackers, but they forgot to flavour it, and there's no seasoning either!" Naotsugu complained. "It doesn't even matter which food it is, they all taste the same!"
"And all the drinks are just different colours of water," Shiroe added. "No flavour to them at all."
The trio's grumbling was interrupted however, by Shiroe's HUD flashing up in front of him. His surprise must have shown on his face, as Naotsugu looked over at him. "What's up?" he asked, still munching on his sandwich half-heartedly.
"Someone's calling me," Shiroe said, bringing up the chat window. His eyes widened.
"Who is it, Lord Shiroe?" Akatsuki asked.
"It's… Maryelle," he replied. He hadn't expected to see that name for a while.
A Short While Later
"So who is this Maryelle?" Akatsuki asked curiously, as the party walked back into the suburbs of Akihabara.
"She's the guild master of the Crescent Moon Alliance," Shiroe replied. "It's a small guild, but it's welcoming to new players and quite tight-knit."
Passing the Goldleaf Palace, Shiroe led his friends down a side-street, reaching an unassuming building of about four floors. He knocked twice, before the door was opened by a short man with messy blue hair and a pair of wolf-like ears adorning the top of his head.
"Hey Shiroe," he greeted, "Maryelle's upstairs, so just go on in. Who are these two?"
"They're two of my friends, Naotsugu, and Akatsuki," Shiroe said, indicating each of them in turn. "This is Shoryu, one of Maryelle's lieutenants."
"You're giving me too much credit," Shoryu said, "Henrietta still does most of the work around here."
He moved out of the way of the door, allowing the trio to enter the Crescent Moon Guild Hall. It was modestly decorated, looking more like a cosy home than the hub of an in-game organisation or anything of that ilk. It was the same story on the other levels of the hall, comfy furniture and homely decorations quashing the business-like atmosphere one would expect from a guild operation like this. This was only further reinforced when they reached Maryelle's office. Stepping through the open door, the three adventurers were struck by how… cute, everything was in her office. Dainty pink furniture was adorned with dozens of plush toys, and pictures of adorable animals hung from all the walls.
"That's a whole lot of… cute," Akatsuki commented, looking around with a slight hint of distaste. It was a little gaudy for her liking.
"This is the guildmaster's room?" Naotsugu asked incredulously.
"Oh, Shiroe!" a voice called from behind. Shiroe had just enough time to turn around and see the voluptuous blonde bounding across the room towards him before he was bowled to the floor in a powerful tackle/hug. "It's so good to see you! It's been too long! Do you want something to drink, or eat? How about I get you some brownies from the kitchen?"
"Calm down please, Maryelle," Shiroe exclaimed above the barrage of questions, although it came out somewhat subdued because of the crushing snuggle that Maryelle had him in.
Eventually Maryelle relented, leaving Shiroe in a crumpled heap trying to recover, and she turned her gaze to the other two in Shiroe's party. Their HUDs indicated that Maryelle was level 90, just like them, but a Medic class character, with a subclass of Artisan. She wore a low-cut black top with a green jacket, jeans and high top brown boots, presenting a stylish yet playful image, which one normally wouldn't expect from a guild master. But then again, her entrance had pretty much shown that Maryelle wasn't one to be bound by typecasting, and was proven again a moment later, as Maryelle tackled someone else in a flying hug, this time Akatsuki.
"Aww, she's so cute! Shiroe, did you get a girlfriend and not tell me about her? Wow, she's so adorable!" Maryelle exclaimed, playfully tousling Akatsuki's hair as she cuddled up to her, and ignoring Shiroe's heated protests.
"Dude," Naotsugu whispered, sidling up to stand next to Shiroe, "Where have you been hiding all these hot girls all this time? It's like non-stop babes, dude!"
"Oh, and who's this big guy?" Was all the warning Naotsugu was given before he too was bowled over by the over-affectionate guild-master. "What's your name, cutie?"
"Naotsugu," the warrior choked out.
"Oh, it's so good to meet you Naotsugu!" The latter could do little but stand mute as Maryelle flitted around him, offering spine-rattling hits to his armour. "Oooh, you're so buff! And so yummy too! Do you lift weights?"
Naotsugu's protests went unheeded, and both Shiroe and Akatsuki took some amusement in their friend's discomfort with being manhandled by the gorgeous guild-master of Crescent Moon.
"Maryelle, stop this at once!" A chastising voice came from the threshold of the room, heralding the arrival of Crescent Moon's second most senior member.
"Oh, Henrietta," Shiroe said, turning to greet the newest entrant into the room.
Henrietta appeared to be woman of studious and erudite appearance, with a mature demeanour and wardrobe. She wore a smart lilac suit with a darker purple shirt underneath, whilst her chestnut coloured hair was kept in a ponytail at the back, with two strands framing her face down to the shoulder at the front. Smart formal shoes and a pair of half-rimmed oval glasses completed the look of a highly professional woman. However, this was to obfuscate from Henrietta's clear combat ability, as Shiroe's HUD indicated that Henrietta was a level 90 Officer Class character, with a subclass in Ordinate, and most tellingly of all, the title 'Deadshot' next to her player name.
Of course, Naotsugu took comparatively little note of all of these details, instead choosing to comment, "And another one? Man, Shiroe, where are you keeping all these hotties?"
Disregarding the outburst, Henrietta simply adjusted her glasses. "My goodness," she said in an exasperated tone, before gazing over towards Shiroe. "Lord Shiroe, I'm sorry for calling you here on such short notice, but I was hoping that we could discuss- Ah!" The files Henrietta had been carrying spilled all over the floor as the normally reserved secretary of the Crescent Moon Alliance squealed loudly. "Oh, she's so cute!"
'She' in this instance was Akatsuki, who promptly fled out of Henrietta's reach, determined not to be consigned to the ignominious fate of being bear-hugged to death.
Some Time Later…
With Maryelle having finally been prised off Naotsugu, and Henrietta dissuaded from pursuing Akatsuki for snuggles, the five of them sat down to discuss the state of affairs, and why Maryelle had reached out to Shiroe.
"Tell me, Maryelle, how many of your guild are online presently?" Shiroe asked, taking a sip of his tea. Surprisingly, it seemed tea was the only beverage not to be currently suffering from the tastelessness of the in-game food.
"There's about thirty of us online at the moment, with twenty-seven in the guild building at this very moment. Liliana and Asuka are out doing errands, so a total of twenty-nine are in Akihabara presently. And that's all of us that are logged in."
"And I guess we can't get in touch with anyone else."
"That's pretty much the case," Shoryu chirped up from the corner. "On top of that, none of the intercity links are working, not the transport gates, nor any aircraft, so we have no contact with Shibuya, Minami, Susukino, or Nakasu. And given the inevitable dangers of crossing the frontier zone, most players are pretty much locked into the city." Shoryu's blue power armour clanked as he indicated the five major player cities on the server.
"Most of the guilds are currently holding meetings to try and work things out now, but as far as we can tell, they're all just as clueless as we are. But they're also stepping up recruitment drives, trying to bolster their manpower and influence as much as possible," Henrietta said, "The city is just becoming more and more tense as guilds swell in size for self-protection."
"There's safety in numbers after all," Maryelle said, "And with people scared, they want to feel like they have some form of safety."
"I mean, I get these are special circumstances and all, but this is nothing new," Naotsugu said. "I mean, it's just how the game's always worked, everybody knows that right?"
"Not necessarily," Shiroe contested. "This is a new expansion, so we'll have seen a massive influx of new players on launch day, some of whom don't know how the game works. And, that is assuming that the game has remained the same in the first place. With this new expansion, and our new circumstances, we can't guarantee that anything is as we once knew it."
"Man, this is heavy," Naotsugu said despondently.
"Um, Shiroe," Maryelle said, uncharacteristically quietly. "I know we've discussed this before, and you don't really like the politicking that characterises most guilds, but now that things have changed; would you consider joining Crescent Moon? The Tea Party's disba-"
"I'm sorry Maryelle, but I cannot accept," Shiroe interrupted. "Thank you for the offer, but I'm afraid I have to decline."
Very little was said for the rest of the meeting, mostly just an exchange of pleasantries and any current news that might be of use. Maryelle was subdued, her normally bubbly mood shelved for a more shy, reserved side to her that Shiroe hadn't seen that often before. He could tell that she was a little upset by his curt refusal of her offer, which cut deeper because the two of them were friends, and he still couldn't commit to a guild. His own mood had soured as a result, and he said little.
As the trio of adventurers left Crescent Moon's HQ, Naotsugu engaging in his usual spiel about hot girls, this time in reference to Maryelle, the latter gazed down from her office window at their retreating forms.
"Maryelle, you mentioned the Tea Party before. Did you mean the infamous Debauchery Tea Party? I heard they were this super-strong guild that just disappeared into the wind one day," Shoryu said.
"Not quite," Maryelle replied, "The Tea Party was kinda like a guild, they had a name and everything, but they never registered officially."
"Indeed," Henrietta continued, "The Debauchery Tea Party consisted of a group of high skill-level players who were not tied down to guilds, which allowed them to go and complete high level quests and adventure in otherwise dangerous areas whenever they wanted, reaping lucrative rewards as a result. Shiroe, who you just met, was the group's strategist and coordinator."
Elsewhere in Akihabara
While the Crescent Moon were discussing Shiroe's past, the latter and his companions headed back past the Goldleaf Palace and into Akihabara proper. There, in the main plaza, they saw the largest concentration of idle players yet.
"They really just gonna sit there all day and do nothing?" Naotsugu asked as they ambled past. "I mean, haven't they got things to be doing?"
"That's the point… they don't," Shiroe said. "Going outside the city is probably too daunting a task for most people, nobody's spending money so there's no point crafting anything, assuming that they even have a crafting subclass, and there are no ways to entertain yourself either. Sitting around is probably all they have to do."
"Well when you put it like that…" Naotsugu tailed off. "I suppose there ain't much to do then. But do you suppose dying'd let you out of the game? That's a pretty common trope in fantasy novels that go like this."
"Yeah, but so is just dying," Shiroe countered.
"Hehe, oh yeah…"
"Dying in-game used to mean arriving back at the Orbital Relay," Akatsuki added.
Shiroe: The Orbital Relay, much like many other games' Cathedrals, Castles or other respawn points, serves as the location in which Enclave players' characters resurrect. The idea was that adventurers who arrived in orbit over the planet, teleported down the surface via the relay, thus explaining a player's 'revival'.
"Nice, but I really don't fancy testing that out," Naotsugu said. "I mean, we're all level 90, and I don't fancy losing XP or gear just to see if we die for real or not. Y'know, on top of the potential for actually dying."
Shiroe paused. Partially because he got a glimpse of someone he thought he recognised in the distance, but also because his brain came up with a new idea.
"My lord?"
"Maybe we should try it," Shiroe said.
Midnight, Akihabara Outskirts Hunting Ground, Frontier Zone
"The Administratum District. Didn't expect I'd be coming back here when I logged in." Naotsugu commented.
"We wouldn't likely encounter any mobs that would attack us this close to Akihabara, because we're at level 90, and so the monsters would be much lower level," Shiroe said. "However, hunting ground areas have permanently hostile mobs, and since they're still low level we can test the combat system without being in too much danger."
"An excellent idea my lord," Akatsuki complimented.
They had not gone far into the woods when the rustle of the undergrowth told them that were not alone. A feral growl preceded the arrival in the clearing of their first foe. Its leonine shape was immediately recognisable to all three adventurers, before a little HUD popup informed them it was level 34.
"It's a nemean," Shiroe said, "Be watchful, they're pack creatures so there's definitely more of them out there.
"Ah, they're nothing but a warmup," Naotsugu scoffed, pulling his power blade and slab shield off the clamp on his back. He regretted this hubris a moment later, as when the Nemean charged him his entire HUD became cluttered with dozens of danger messages, leaving him unable to select an attack.
Shiroe frowned as he watched Naotsugu struggle to deal with an enemy that he by all rights should have killed before it even got into attack range.
'It's a massive jump from playing the game and using its systems, to actually manipulating them ourselves. That makes things more complicated, because it's nothing like sitting at home tapping away at a keyboard. We actually have to fight in order to stay alive, using our physical selves to battle rather than our avatars. We have to learn how to fight.'
Shiroe regretted his inner monologuing as he gazed up at the drooling jaws of the nemean that had borne him to the ground. He barely recollected anything that had happened in the last five minutes, which was as long as the furious fight had lasted. He braced for whatever fate awaited him after death in this world. But it never came.
"Assassination!"
A blade erupted through the roof of the nemean's mouth even as it lunged for Shiroe's throat, leaving the dead beast locked mid-snarl before it toppled to the ground and exploded into coins and items. Akatsuki proffered a hand to Shiroe, pulling him to his feet.
"Thank you, Miss Akatsuki."
"It was nothing, my lord," she replied, the darkness hiding the faint colour in her cheeks.
"But, how did you do that?" Shiroe asked, staggered by what had just transpired. He could have sworn Akatsuki was at least twenty metres away when she suddenly appeared behind his assailant and ended it. There was no way she could have done that on her own, but he never saw her pull up her skills menu or activate any items.
"I… uh… don't know," Akatsuki answered, wiping her blade on some grass before sheathing it. "It felt like my body just moved on its own."
Shiroe gazed around the clearing, and then down towards Naotsugu. There was little evidence of the battle that had just taken place, just an assortment of coins and items strewn all over the dusty ground. But it had left a big impact. That short fight had shown that combat in this world was now dependent on the person, and had driven home just how involved they were in Enclave's world now. They weren't behind a screen anymore, and that was a difference of monumental proportions.
Shiroe: Enclave. Atharva Inc.'s Flagship MMORPG/FPS. Over 30,000,000 players log into this game worldwide every single day, and there are countless more active accounts. But now, some 50,000 of those players on the Japanese server, and hundreds of thousands of players worldwide, are stuck here in this place, that's just like the game. And none of us know how to leave. Those of us that were involved in the world-shattering event that caused us to become trapped here, would forever call this day 'The Apocalypse.'
Chapter End
Hey there guys, it's HereticalShinigami here. I hope you enjoyed this intro chapter to Enclave, the Log Horizon story that I'm going to be working on in the future. I came up with this concept of 'what if they changed the genre/setting of the game' after watching season 1, and after a few too-long conversations of this idea with some friends, Enclave was born. I really enjoyed doing some world-building for this story, and I got to dip into my favourite sci-fi universes for inspiration, and I hope you liked this first instalment too, maybe enough to stick around as I continue it. I tried to mirror the course of Episode 1, slowly dropping details of the differences between this world and the canon one, while retaining many familiar plot devices and scenes. This will change after a while, as my plot diverges from the canon story's course, but I felt this would work well as a narrative device to introduce my story. Do drop me a review if there is anything you liked, think didn't work quite so well, or would like to see, and you can also PM me if you have any burning questions.
A note for anyone expecting speedy updates: My main focus for writing is currently my other story, Girls Und Panzer:Open Warfare, and will remain as such until it is done. This story will receive sporadic updates as my inspiration and schedule take me, and will likely not receive my full attention for some time. I would like nothing better than to sit around writing all day, but I kinda already have to do that for my degree, and with another project that I am committed to I do not feel I could commit to a schedule for both. This chapter is, in essence, a tester to see if I could write something like this, and because the idea just wouldn't get out of my head. However, do expect more in the future.
Until next time,
HereticalShinigami