Chapter 4: Sucker Punch

Your name is Keita Kawaguchi, and this is one of the coolest games that you've ever played in your 15 years of existence. Sure, you've tried your hand at some pretty sweet games over the years but for now, Sburb's got that 'new game dazzle' to it, where everything is new and exciting to you. It is an 'immersive simulation' after all, and that in itself is a startlingly accurate summary of the game. After taking the time to skim through the basic controls, you're having a blast just picking up a pillow and throwing it around your client player's room.

If you were to have a conversation with your past self, you're pretty sure he'd judge you for this sort of action. So tell me, how exactly is throwing a pillow around on a computer screen 'fun'? You suppose that would actually be a very good point. Except the only thing is, everything you're doing is actually happening and affecting the environment of your client, which is Yukie. Sweet isn't it? Taking a hold of Yukie's pillow again, you twirl it around with your cursor, flip it in the air twice and smoosh it on her head.

Your client player only grimaces at your antics, as she's manipulating somebody else's room on her computer as well. "Keita-" Her voice is muffled as you smoosh the pillow in her face. "-mmphhhpphh!" She swats the pillow away, slightly annoyed. "Are you done with that pillow now?" You chuckle in reply, to which she follows up with a haughty tone. "No fair... how come your server player isn't harassing you with pillows?"

Another good point. What is your server player up to? Just at that moment, you feel something sharp prodding your back. "GAH!" you blurt, whipping your head around and nearly falling of your chair at the same time. However, all you see is the rest of your room. What could that have been? Wait a minute…

Steve's laughter rings through your headset. So much for your server player being inactive. "N-Not funny, Steve… Idiot," you mutter into the microphone.

"Hey come on, that was hilarious!" he replies. Goddammit Steve. The prankster's gambit begins to sway even further in his favour. You sigh. When has it ever not?

"Alright Steve," you say. "Were you really just waiting all that time to prank me? Cause you know, that's kind of a waste of time…" You trail off as Steve begins to speak again, this time with a more serious tone. It seems that during his period of 'inactivity', he'd been looking through that walkthrough he found with the rest of the files.

Speaking of the walkthrough, you've tried googling to find one, but to no avail. Of course not, anyway. This game is still in beta. How can there be walkthroughs if we're the ones who are supposed to playtest this? Is there even a plot in this game?

This revelation raises another question. Where did Steve get that walkthrough? Does he even have one? You're pretty sure your logic is sound at this point. Since you and your friends have been chosen to playtest, there shouldn't be any in existence yet. If so, then there's a good chance that Steve isn't telling the truth… But what purpose would that serve? In any case, you decide to go along with whatever Steve's saying for now. If it helps the game, then it'll be fine for now. You'll just bring it up later on and find out the truth.

Steve's going on about a 'Phernalia Registry' and the placement of some machines which are supposed to benefit the game somehow. You move over to the garage in Yukie's house and find the Phernalia Registry on your UI. Sure enough, there are three machines; the Cruxtruder, Totem Lathe and Alchemiter. Huh...so maybe he does have a walkthrough. No wait, perhaps he found it by exploring the UI. Yeah, that sounds about right.

The machines are deployed in a jiffy, and the trio of 'thunk' sounds in the background indicate that Steve's done the same. Strange card designs called 'Sylladexes' are shown in the top bar of the Sburb UI, and after consulting Steve, you find out that they serve as a way of keeping inventory in the game. You peruse the collection, and find a variety of odd and rather impractical ones. Ouija? Jenga? Tech Hop? They all look quite over-the-top and ridiculous. You settle on the Array fetch modus, and it seems that most of your group has chosen that one too.

You leave your desktop to check on the contraptions, and to make sure that Steve hasn't destroyed anything as well. They're placed in a spare room down the corridor, with enough remaining space to move around. After a quick scan of the surroundings, you're convinced that no real damage has been done. As you open the door to leave, you almost bump into one of your caretakers. Evidently, she's come to check on the source of the thump noises. "Uh...uh… Don't worry about these. It's part of a school project...play," you sputter. You can tell by her face that she's not buying it. Well, time to improvise. "They're...spray painted and we've put in LEDs so they look kind of real," you add. "Seriously! P-Please don't worry,".

You manage to persuade your caretaker out of the room, and rush back to your desktop. "Hurry Steve, I don't know how long I can keep my uh… helpers out of the way. Let's start them up and get rid of them ASAP," you say.

Steve's voice sounds inexplicably cheerful as he chatters over the call. "Okay then Keita, we'll start everything nicely before your butlers can find out what's up. Right, it's about time for us to activate the cruxtruder, says the walkthrough-"

"Y-You…! I don't have butlers! They're...they're… helpers!" you retort, gnashing your teeth vehemently. Steve just chuckles at your response, and carries on. Goddammit Steve. He proceeds to ask everyone if they have the machines placed and ready, to which there is a resounding affirmation. You put on your handsfree and enter the other room again, with instructions to locate a wheel on the Cruxtruder. Luckily, there seems to only be one wheel, which makes things all the more simple.

"Now, everyone's gotta turn that wheel," instructs Steve. You place your hands on the wheel, and hesitate. What if it's a trap? What if something blows up and we all die? There isn't any clear plot in this game yet… it could be a bad end. Just then, the sound of footsteps echo down the hallway. Oh my god, is that someone else coming? Crap, I don't know how long I can bluff my way out of this. Here goes. Gripping the wheel with both hands, you give the wheel a firm clockwise turn. The Cruxtruder begins to rumble, and the lid opens up with a bright blue light.

"Holy shit!" You back away and shield your eyes from the blinding light. A luminous ball of green light shoots out from the open lid and hovers in the centre of the room, emitting an ethereal and ghastly glow.

Meanwhile, the chat is chaotic mess of exclamations and apprehensive voices. Judging from the ensuing hysteria, the others have experienced a similar situation. Only Steve's voice is relatively calm, though you are able to detect a hint of panic in his tone. "A-Alright everyone, hurry," he says, "You gotta chuck something at that ball… It'll become your guide for the game's story, supposedly…"

The glowing ball seems to follow you around, so there's no trouble telling it where to go. You re-enter your room after composing yourself, and look for something suitable to put into the orb. Your room is a treasure trove of gundam collectibles, mainly gunpla and some posters of the Strike Freedom and the Sinanju that you ordered online. All along your numerous shelves are gunpla built with painstaking detail and clearly very well cared for. Your more precious models are kept in clear cases of acrylic. They are your precious babies. If anyone were to touch them, let alone drop them onto the floor… No doubt it would be an unforgivable act. You would make their life a living hell.

You pick up one of the Haro dolls on your bed, contemplating whether to use it for the orb. It seems self-explanatory that this 'guide' would have all the functions of it's host, and a robotic mascot that can help to repair gundams would be pretty useful. Even if it you're never going to need to repair a gundam, it might be useful for fixing other things. With a mighty throw, you score a direct hit on the orb with your doll. The orb flickers and flashes again, and turns into HaroSprite!

It seems that the call is still inundated with incessant chatter. Steve's once again at the helm, relaying further instructions. A cruxite dowel? What's that? It is a mystery easily solved, as you find it sitting nicely on top of the Cruxtruder when you enter the spare room. It's a green crystalline cylinder, which you take and place on the Totem Lathe. The lathe clamps the dowel firmly into place, and the little screen lights up with the message 'Insert card'. The card. Now where is that card? As if on cue, the pre-punched card appears out of nowhere and smooshes into your face. "Bluh!" you splutter. "What the hell Steve!"

"Whoops, I almost forgot to add it in." He snickers as you grudgingly take the card from the floating cursor. Fine. You win this time round.

Yukie pipes up. "Wait, wait, did you get smooshed? A-ha! Karma, Keita~! Kaaarma!" Gaaaah. Goddammit Steve.

A streak of light that illuminates the window interrupts your thoughts. Curiosity piqued, you ignore the chatter of the others and head over to the window to take a look. The scene that greets you sends sudden shivers down your spine, and you stand rooted to the spot like a helpless tree.

You can practically feel the dread rising in your gut. The world is ending.

A low rumble picks up in the distance, and gradually increases in amplitude. The sky is alight, awash in reds, oranges and yellows. In the centre of it all is a blazing ball of fire, hurtling earthward. A meteor.

At that moment, the skype call loses any sort of order it has. You can vaguely hear the panicked shouts of Sally, Yukie and Janet. They're scared. The same thing must be happening to them. The world can't end like this. IGCSEs haven't even started yet. Steve's end is unusually silent. Just then, Reyna speaks up. "H-hey guys, calm down!" Her voice is less of a blubbering wreck than anyone else's, but there is a trace of worry in it somewhere. "This is just a game remember? It's called an immersive simulation for a reason. It's a simulation. You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna take a notebook and start taking notes as a playtester. That's what we're supposed to be doing, remember?"

Her words cut right through the clutter of your whirling thoughts, giving you a moment of absolute clarity. That's right. It's just a game. You rummage around for a paper pad and a pen, and immediately write down 'Impressive gameplay so far. I felt as if I was actually living it. It really is quite something.'

The others come to their wits as well, and the panicked atmosphere quickly subsides. Steve's end picks up once again, but for some reason he sounds awfully… rushed. "Guyshurry-put thecard-inthelathe-alchemisethetotem-Ihavetogosoon-I REPEAT. PUT CARD IN LATHE, TAKE TOTEM, ALCHEMISE. THEN BREAK IT."

"Steve! What's going on?" Yukie's voice is fraught with confusion and fear.

"I have to go seeyouontheotherside"

Steve has disconnected.

AN: Thank you for your patience, and apologies that I couldn't get back to you at an earlier date. Here is chapter 4! *claps enthusiastically* My exams are over now, and I'm pleased to say that it has been a month of smooth sailing! Well, we're finally nearing the characters' entry to the Medium so the pace should start picking up. That being said, this series will be returning to updating every week by Sunday at least. Until then!