Chapter 2
DAY 1
My eyelids are a red brown burgundy color.
I keep my eyes closed. If I don't, my mind will be blown to itty bitty shreds. Those itsy bitsy little shreds will be torn into tinnier pieces by an anger badger. That badger will then attack any one who gets near it and where am I going with this? Eh. Who knows? I watch the light dapple on my lids, feel the numb warmth of artificial sun light touch my face. I know it's not real. These are fake senses, but still, they feel good. I suddenly hear and feel everything around me. I stay still for a moment, taking in the abrupt wave of senses come at me like a snarling badger. A cool breeze brushes against my pale skin, sending a shiver down my spine, carrying the smell of grass, trees and-WTF-bird? It smells a little like my neighbors pet parakeet; a little woodsy and animal-y at the same time. I grimace. I don't like parakeets.
... They bite.
"Are you going to open your eyes or are you too afraid?" a male voice asks me. It sounds frail, soft and slightly amused. Who the-is it? I open my right eye a smidgen of a bit to peek out before opening my eyes all the way. I'm standing in a round court yard of some sort on a light brown cobble stone path heading towards and encircling a single round white stone tower in the center. Golem Tower? All around me are huge white stone walls laced with green ivy. I look down at my feet to find them wrapped in green leather boots with huge cuffs at the top. My senior novices boots, I think with pride. Wow, they're actually kinda cute. I look past them to a little virtual ant crawling past my right shoe, across the path and into the grass. I hear the tiny songs of birds in the back round, and for a moment I imagine I hear a symphony playing. A cough draws my attention away from a cluster of emerald clovers on the dew laden grass outside the path. I look up directly into a pair of eyes that are way too close to my face.
"AH!" I stumble backwards, falling over onto the stone walkway in the process. Unexpected pain erupts on my tailbone following up my spine. Confusion racks my brain as I struggle to haul myself up. I can feel here? Okay. It was worth the $999.99 . Any reservations are gone now. This is awesome sauce. A shadow falls over me. I raise my head a little and a beard tickles my face. An old man with a very long, gaunt, white bearded face looks down at me with kind blue eyes. Funny, they look just like-I push the memory aside. Too precious. Too fast. I lift my back up of the ground. He has on a deep purple robe with red trim paired with a pointy matching cap, a staff with a spiral on top and a gold monocle on his right side. Headmaster Ambrose. He's somewhat blocky, like everything in this world, but I don't mind. He looks me over and asks amused, "Done watching the grass grow?"
"I didn't-I wasn't." I feel heat rise to my cheeks. I hate, hate, hate, hate, HATE it when I stutter. I take a breath. "I wasn't watching the grass grow."
"It's alright. You'd be surprised by how many people get distracted by these virtual worlds. Lots of people actually end up romping through the grass." He offers his hand, which I take gratefully. It feels warm and soft, worn down by time. He's surprisingly strong for his appearance and I am soon at my feet. He brushes some dirt off my shoulders with his free hand and strokes his beard thoughtfully when he's content with my cleanliness. "Yes that'll do it. My name is Merle Ambrose, but you may simply call me Headmaster or Professor Ambrose. I'm expecting great things from you, but first on with the tutorial, shall we?" Not waiting for my response he rushes on, "By now you've probably realized thought is linked with action. Your actions will be automatic and the signals that would normally be used to tell your muscles to move are being picked up by a chip in the helmet responsible for monitoring your brain waves. This sends a signal to the computer telling it what you want to do or what you want to say. In turn, your helmet also picks up everyone else's signals and voices and tells you what you "feel". Your environment is completely interactive now because of this. Understood?"
"Uh, yes?" I say, cocking my head to the side. Gak, that was a long spiel. I tuned out most of it. What was that thing about the chips? Man I could go for some chips right now. Salt'n Vinegar chips, yum.
"Yes you understand or yes, I think I know what he's talking about but I'm kind of lost?" Professor Ambrose asks. I nod quickly. He goes on, "Wait. Yes you understand or yes I kinda get it?" I shrug my shoulders. He chuckles stomping the but of his staff on the ground, "Oh well. You'll understand in time. However, my owl friend would like to speak to now. Oh," He looks up as shadow falls over us from above and I look up to see a large bird gently spiraling down to us. It lands quietly on the curve of the head masters staff. It's a large snowy owl with tiny light grey dash marks along its wings and has on a type some type of cap-a graduation cap?-with a matching purple scarf with yellow trim and stars around it's neck. It looks at me with an approving gleam in it's blue eyes(seriously is everyone gonna do that?) before introducing itself with a wobbling falsetto voice, "Helloooo. My name is Gamma. As you found out from your little fall, because the helmet can send signals back into your brain, you can feel an enemies attack now." A wave of alarm goes threw me. I think of my first ever counterattack, a Firecat, and how cool it had looked killing a lost soul. I had been burned before. I didn't want to be burned again. Gamma must have realized this because he says, "Don't worry though. The attacks will be quick flashes and the pain will be numbed. It will feel like nothing is even happening to you."
The wave of alarm recedes with cool relief as its replacement. Come to thing of it, it's too cold. Freezing cold, I can see my fake breath in front of me. We all look up and see a huge dark cloud snake its way out above the tip of Golem tower turning the sky completely black. The hair on the back of my neck stands up, a large bolt of lightning rips out of the clouds and strikes the top of the purple stone roof, the ground shakes furiously and once again I fall back onto the ground. Hail and rain fall down around me and as I look up onto the face of the tower, a window is illuminated with yellow light and a shadow crosses it. I look over at Professor Ambrose shielding his face with his hand squinting up at the window. "How odd..." he mumbles. He speaks louder, "Come along young wizard! Let's investigate the matter! Meet me in the tower!"
He begins walking off, Gamma silently swoops down onto the cobblestone path next to me. "You had better go with the headmaster. You'll be safe with him." It flutters off behind me, over the white washed walls leaving me wondering, Is it a boy or a girl?