Chapter XXIX: One Week

We changed.

I mean every single one of us.

Hell, it seemed like everybody changed. Not just us Debuggers, but everyone in the whole goddamn world. After we saw the outside of The Place, we felt different. Maybe more alive? I dunno. It was different and beautiful. It was as if Ancient Minecraft had this grip on us and we had finally broken free of it. Of course we were still far from finishing this goddamn thing, but we were one step closer. We just needed to wait. Waiting was the hardest part, though. I think that's a Tom Petty song, actually. Whatever.

On Thursday I tried to go back on The Place, but it was gone. As I had expected, it must've been deleted after we got out. Figured, though. Something was going to happen, I though. While we dug I knew something had to happen. That was the point of the goddamn tunnel, right? Anyway, that's how that worked out. The Place was gone and we had nowhere else to meet. I actually got an email from Blackfield not too long after, like Friday morning I think, saying that we wouldn't meet until the next Wednesday. Fine by me, really. I had some things I wanted to set straight. Now that Ancient Minecraft didn't seem to overly depress me, I felt like I could definitely fix what I had messed up.

So Thursday wasn't anything special. I was just thinking about the whole thing. Friday, though, was different. I apologized to all the people I had shut out from my life. I got back into contact with Ed and Garth, but also realized that Conner was, in fact, my best friend at this point. We hung out a lot more and I brought him along more often whenever Ed, Garth, and I would meet up at the mall or something. The dude was awesome, really. He was mature and brilliant.

That Friday night felt weird. It felt incredibly freaking strange. Honestly, I think it was because it was the first Friday in a while where I knew I wouldn't have to be on Minecraft. It would be the first weekend in a while where Minecraft wasn't involved and I couldn't have been happier. I went home with the feeling that everything was right with the world again. Hell, I brought Conner over and he stayed the night. It was amazing, really. We talked a lot, too. We didn't resort to playing a bunch of games or watching movies. We talked. It felt civilized. It felt freaking amazing.

When I woke up on Saturday, I began wondering exactly what I would do that weekend. I mean, I hadn't planned it out too well. I got up with Conner, we took showers and stuff, and just sort of hung out. It was definitely early, too. I usually woke up early on weekends, but Ancient Minecraft messed that up badly. God, I was happy that was over for the most part. Well, not over, but resolved internally. I mean I wasn't affected by it as much. I was normal is what I'm saying.

Conner seemed pretty damn normal too. He seemed carefree. He acted like he always had before becoming involved with The Debuggers. It was great to see him becoming a normal man, too. If anyone deserved to escape from this hellhole, then it would be Conner. He deserved getting away. I didn't since I brought it upon myself, in a way. Solstice seemed to go along with my sentiment and Blackfield is determined to finish what he started. Oddly enough, though, Blackfield seemed different in my eyes as well despite me barely even knowing the guy. When I first met him he was pretty serious and working hard. Granted, he is still working hard, but he seems more... weakened? Is that what I should say? He seemed different is all.

Honestly, at this point I wanted to get back into contact with the other Debuggers. It was sort of the reminder of what Lyle was doing. You know, he was cutting himself and all. It was jarring to watch. I worried for him. I still do, honestly, because I never contacted him since what happened. What I really wanted to do was meet with Gage or Hospice. Gage seemed to know more than we did. Either that or he really did know that The Debuggers would fall apart - I mean, Xanadu sort of single-handedly destroyed us. Gage must've been trying to warn us.

Hospice, on the other hand, was a different case. I never knew him, probably never will, but its the freaking curiosity that drives me.

Conner and I decided to gather Garth and Ed and take a hike at this nearby trail we never went down. It was a beautiful Saturday, even though it was freaking winter, and I felt like getting out and being productive. While walking on a trail wasn't the most productive thing around, it was definitely more productive than I usually was. Anything that wasn't freaking Minecraft would be fine.

I tell you, we all were happy. Garth and Ed seemed happier, really. I thought it was because they were getting along with Conner very well, but it was actually that they saw I wasn't who I was before anymore. I was energetic and happy and outgoing. I wasn't keeping to myself. I wasn't sad. I was Howard, the friend they lost for nearly two months. He was back and ready to take on life once more.

"So, Howie," Garth began while we walked down the asphalt trail through the woods, "did you give up Minecraft?"

Damn, they just had to bring that up. It didn't bother me as much as before, though, "Sort of. I'm taking a break from it is all."

"Yeah, 'cause we still haven't played on a server yet. You can join when we do it, Conner." Ed said.

Conner nodded. He felt uncomfortable with that idea. Was it possible he hated Minecraft more than I did?

We kept walking. Honestly, whenever the topic of Minecraft came back up, I just had to shoot it down. This was my escape from it all. I had one week to myself. I didn't want to think about the two months of hell that I've gone through. They didn't mind, though, and I know Conner was happy with how I made sure it never came up.

Eventually we reached this field of wheat. It was strange because it was so far back, seemed abandoned, and none of us had seen it before. It wasn't too big, but it was decent sized. We stood there, looking out over this beautiful field of gold, just staring. No one said anything and it was an odd moment we never had before. We felt like real friends. We were thinking the same things. We remarked on the incredible field. There wasn't much farmland around us, but this was it, I guess.

While I stared, though, my sight changed. It was sort of... out of focus, I guess you could say. I mean I was sort of staring past the field of wheat at a bunch of trees and everything seemed blurred a bit. I shook my head and looked around. A feeling ran through my head. I felt freaking light-headed, of all things. I looked up at the blue sky to see storm clouds in the distance. It was early afternoon.

I nearly broke down when I saw Conner doing the same thing.

We weren't experiencing something from Ancient Minecraft, were we?

No, we couldn't be.

We ended up heading home from there. That night I worried for myself and Conner. I didn't talk to him on the way home, but I felt like I had to. I decided I would meet with him on Sunday to see if he was alright. This feeling, though... it felt like non-existence, if that makes sense. It made me feel artificial. Maybe it was just because I was staring at a goddamn screen for so long. It would pass with time, I supposed. I just hung out, acting normal for the most part, with this feeling still there. It never left. It was destroying me, to be honest.

The next day I went over to Conner's to talk to him. Problem was that when I approached his house, his parents said he was sick and couldn't be around anyone for a little bit. Was it that bad?

Would it be this bad for me?

The next two days leading up to Wednesday were thought-provoking, really. This feeling of being artificial kept freaking coming back and scaring the hell out of me. When I walked around the halls of my school I couldn't help but look at everyone like they were just another Xanadu. Like, you know, just another NPC. They didn't feel real. I was going insane. It was coming back. Ancient Minecraft was going to destroy me mentally now. I had to meet with Solstice. I just had to. That Tuesday I emailed Solstice and asked her if I could talk to her.

She never replied.

I thought I wouldn't make it to the next meeting.

It was just as I initially thought.

I couldn't escape Ancient Minecraft.


Howard Answers:

Fantasmic: Yeah, Phillip. Way to be wrong. However, what exactly did Phillip believe? I'm just curious is all.

Chalkolatedragun: I didn't want to go on Minecraft at this point either. However, since it all ended, I don't think there's anything to be really afraid of.

WildSmilingPasta: Now you're just being cryptic as hell, dude. Why not make a story out of this?

Guest: Thank you, I appreciate it.

manaphymajic1999: Honestly, I never thought of it like that. All four of us just thought that it was because the last three were freaking difficult to craft, but you might be onto something here. I dunno if that's how it worked, but that's pretty interesting thought.