Sorry this one took so long guys, life and my other story happened! But I'd say a ten-thousand word chapter should help make up for it. Four reviews already is amazing, thanks for your comments and hope you enjoy the reading!
EDIT: Dangit I messed up with a perspective detail and corrected it. Yes I literally just changed one word in the chapter, it was going to bug me.
Chapter Two: Project Guardian
Day 1
Date: Friday, 1st Month, 21st day, 1017th year D.A. (Dark Ages)
Location: Councilor Yeman's Apartment, Obroseon
Time Until BRSO Release: 4 Hours
The first thing Yeman had done when he got back to his apartment had been to call his friend and fellow councilor Justin. Having served on the council for two three years terms to Yeman's two years of experience, he was often the person he went to for advice and ideas, despite his friend being a councilor from Haweth, the Kingdom of all manufacturing.
To Yeman's amazement, Justin was just as surprised as Yeman was to find out that the Keepers had been moved half a day early. Justin, although surprised, didn't think of it as a big deal, but was obviously trying to avoid sounding too impartial, aware of the connection Yeman had to those kids.
"Justin, I know you may not think this is a big deal, but how did this happen without me at least hearing about it first? You'd think with how often I was down in that lab I would have heard about the transfer time." Yeman was losing his patience, but a voice in the back of his head was telling him that Justin wasn't going to offer much help in this situation.
"Yeman this really isn't a big deal, so you didn't get to see the kids one last time before they were shipped off to their cells, so what? You'll see them tonight." Killing each other, like hell I'm going to that stadium. Yeman thought to himself. There was no way in Thilan he was going to watch the children he had an indirect hand in raising slaughter each other for the amusement of the new Guardians. Justin let out a sigh.
"Look, they were shipped off without you knowing, if that's it I don't see why you can't just go to their cells and say hello now." In his anger, Yeman had forgotten about that detail. He had been so focused on the wrong transfer time and the aggressive, arrogant attitude of Eastil that he had totally forgotten that the scientist had denied Yeman the new location of the Keepers.
"When I asked about that they said they had orders not to tell me?" Justin was silent for a moment, searching for words.
"But, there shouldn't be anyone in Blue Rift with the authority to prevent you from learning that information, the Keepers are official council business, we have the right to know anything and everything involving those kids." Now I'm getting somewhere.
"I'm thinking they had to have been bribed, somehow. It's the only explanation for this." Yeman stated with careful confidence.
"Possibly, but withholding this information is against the law, Eastil can easily be arrested and charged with treason."
"Unless the order came from a Kheawuton councilor classifying the Keepers as a wartime secret, which would be possibly since…"
"Since the Keepers are by all definition combat ready." Justin finished. Yeman pulled at his hair, resisting the urge to scream his frustration into the earpiece. This was absolutely crazy, and it didn't make sense either.
"But what would a Kheawuton councilor gain by moving the Keepers early to a secret location?" Yeman asked, half to himself.
"Could be that someone in Kheawuton didn't like how close you were to those kids." Yeman shook his head.
"But why go through the trouble just to stop me from seeing them? All but one of those kids will be dead by dawn tomorrow." Yeman was pacing hard now, having walked all over his apartment at least four times, and now he was pouring himself a drink to try and get himself to calm down a little.
"This is a problem Yeman, if one of the councilors is able to bypass the council and use the Keepers for their personal agenda, the balance of power will tip, and things are already pretty unstable in the council as it is." Yeman let out the breath he was holding. Justin always thought big picture, a lot more so than he did, and this time his friend really put it in perspective. At first, Yeman had called to vent his anger, and now they were facing a potential political crisis. Great Sanctuary, could this day get any worse?
"Alright, we need to start looking for connections. If our theory is right about a Kheawuton councilor being behind this, that's the first place we should be looking."
"Agreed, goodnight Yeman."
"Goodnight." As Justin ended the call, Yeman dared not hope that somehow exposing this before the midnight event would somehow stop the Keepers from being killed, more likely he could save the survivor with this, and even then that was a very optimistic outcome.
However despite his desire to save the Keepers, he couldn't tell Justin about Eastil's reaction to Yeman's rather brutal line of questioning. Eastil had called the Keepers "outdated" but they probably had more combat experience than any of the Guardians, so what did Eastil mean by it? And what is he planning…
Day 1
Date: Friday, 1st Month, 21st day, 1017th year D.A. (Dark Ages)
Location: Unknown Holding Cell, Kingdom Unknown.
Time Until BRSO Release: 3 Hours
Black hadn't moved in forever, her chest hurt too much to try. The cells appeared to be separated, divided by massive walls of metal, the element she didn't recognize. Normally it wouldn't matter, since her Cannon could blast through it, but whoever designed the cell had her in mind. Energy barriers prevented her from destroying anything but the mattress, and Black saw no point in destroying that. Doctor Eastil and the strange men he had been with had let her keep her weapons for what it was worth, probably so she could tear apart her fellow Keepers later.
Pain was always a sensation Black had been able to ignore in the past. If she was shot, bones broken, it didn't matter to her as long as she could stand and fight. But this was different, a pain that she couldn't fully hold down.
The pain of betrayal.
"Black, seriously it's been hours, come on answer!" Black didn't respond to the cries in her mind. It was the one best kept secret of the Keepers, the one they had agreed to never share to the science team, and somehow they never managed to detect. Somehow, the Keepers were able to communicate telepathically when close enough to each other, allowing them to communicate in combat without wasting oxygen to do it. They hadn't found any barriers to the communication other than distance either, so they could talk despite the steel walls, but Black didn't want to talk to anyone.
The calls that disturbed Black's silence were coming from Red Crystal Gunner, one of the last Guardians created and the emotional rally of the group. Like Black, most of the Keepers didn't allow themselves to show emotion, because emotion led to moral conflict, which hindered ability to follow orders and be effective warriors. Crystal was the one Keeper who didn't have this issue, maybe it was out of necessity to stay hidden among her comrades, or it was because she hadn't actually been placed in a killing position until now.
"Black please, I'm scared and no one else is talking, they all believe that we're going to have to kill each other! Tell me it isn't true!"
"We will have to destroy one another. The rumors you hear are true Crystal." Black replied in a monotone voice.
"But why? Why raise us for sixteen years only to have us destroy each other? I thought we were going to be fighting the Thilan Empire along with the armies of Blue Rift!" So did Black, but clearly that wasn't their purpose anymore, and nor was it her purpose to protect her fellow Keepers anymore. Now her only goal was to survive, but what after that? She enjoyed having a purpose, save Blue Rift. Merely surviving sure would be a challenge, but didn't appeal to Black. And on top of that, thinking of killing the other Keepers worsened the tightness in her chest. Was this guilt she was feeling for thinking about killing the comrades she had grown up with all her life?
"Black please, I don't want to tear my family apart, and I'm sure deep down you feel the same. We're sisters, we trained together for as long as I've been alive, you won't just throw that away will you?" Black was conflict
ted. If she teamed up with Crystal and ended up defying the wishes of the council by not killing her, they would probably both end up dead. Her number one rule that she had been taught since birth was to survive without betraying the council. Although she could probably throw out the last part of that rule, teaming up with Crystal was sure to get her killed, and she knew she didn't need allies to survive anyway.
"Crystal, our purpose now is to survive. If you cannot do that alone then you'll be the first of us to fall." Black could hear Crystal crying. She really doesn't have the ability to control her emotions. Black thought to herself.
"I thought sensei had taught us to always stick together no matter what, but everyone is too busy worrying about the first rule to remember!" Black sat up slowly, her legs going over the side of the bed. She realized that Crystal was right. It had been the last rule Sensei had given them before he left when she was ten. "Always stick together, no matter what happens, or what twists are in the road." This was the one of the few memories of Sensei that was clear, and Black hadn't understood the meaning of it until now.
"Crystal… thank you." Black sent, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths. She may not be a soldier for Blue Rift anymore, but she could follow her Sensei's teachings to stay alive, and that meant finding a way out of here.
"Wait, Black are you going to team up with me?" Crystal asked in surprise.
"No, no one is teaming up with anyone." Black replied firmly. "We're going to find a way out of this, everyone is walking away alive." Black didn't feel pride or happiness as Crystal or humans probably did, but this made the pain in her chest go away, and from that she knew this was the right course of action.
"Isn't this great Dead? Your plan is working!" Black could feel the disappointment coming off Dead, who must have been secretly listening in on the conversation the whole time, completely shattering the secret that the whole plan to get Black on board with their Keeper alliance had been organized by the first generation Keeper.
"I should have known you'd come up with something like this Dead." Dead Maser, a master scythe wielder, she was the other voice of reason for the Keepers when they were about to break out in fights that had been against the rules. Black was sure that behind closed doors, the scientists had debated the loyalty of Dead to the council because of how much she cared for everyone despite her equally neutral attitude to everything.
"It's just as Sensei said six years ago, we must stick together, and that applies now more than ever."
"Then we need a plan, they won't let us walk away from killing each other without a fight." Black responded.
"We have four cannons including yours, I propose we shoot our way out." A simple plan, and normally one Black would support, but this time was different.
"My cannon cannot pierce this wall Dead, and I think wherever we go, these walls will follow."
"A possibility I have considered, but there is no other option." Meaning that once they got to the location of the fight, if they were trapped by the same walls that held each of them now, there would be no way to escape.
"Then we must keep our senses open, and look for a new way to escape if there appears to be none."
"We're gonna be okay guys, I just know it!" Black couldn't help but feel a spark of amusement at Crystals child-like blind optimism.
"How many of the Keepers have joined us?" Black asked Dead.
"Roughly sixty-five percent, but everyone I have talked to has joined us so far." They actually might have had a shot, it looked like every Keeper was going to join their cause, giving them a higher chance of success, not that their chances were very good anyway.
"We must be prepared for the worst," Black pointed out. "The council will throw everything they have at us to prevent us from leaving them." Black didn't get a response from Crystal or Dead, probably because they were already talking to the other Keepers, who were probably out of range for Black to hear. They would probably rely on a relay system to get their message across to everyone.
The odds were stacked against them, and yet some of the top Keepers were still trying to find ways to survive. It was who they were, and the only thing they had left with their purpose gone.
No, we have a new purpose, to protect each other, and make those who betrayed us pay for what they've done.
Day 2
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2015
Location: 729 Lefraneu Drive SE
12:00am, Launch of BRSO
Rick rushed inside the house, kicking off his shoes in the general direction of the closet to be put away later. Rushing to the other end of the house to his bedroom, he flew into his chair, the force of the impact rolling it against the wall. Repositioning it, he took the BRSO disk out of its case, punching open the disk drive on his computer before carefully slamming the disk in place.
Starting up Cloud at the same time, Rick logged in to find his friends already in a Cloud call, probably discussing their installation process for BRSO, which Kevin was working on right now. The graphics for the loading screen were amazing, bright colors, beautiful images from various cities, fields, forests, and caves.
"I'm telling you that there is no way that forest isn't evil! Didn't you see the little rabbit looking thing in the corner of that shot?" Rick regretted entering the Cloud call at that exact moment, it was never good to walk in on Colin ranting about something when they got a new game.
"Colin, if there are evil rabbits in this game, they won't last long. Sharp, pointy teeth and cuteness aren't enough to deal with us." Sofia replied, probably rolling her eyes right now.
"Wait, when does that image come up?" Rick asked, making his smooth entrance into the conversation.
"The installer cycles through the same twenty images, it's the fifth one in the slideshow. The bottom right corner there's a small rabbit with red eyes." Colin's voice turned dark at the end of his last sentence to emphasize the evilness of the rabbit.
"BRSO is not Snakes and Mice Colin, this game is supposed to be a lot like reality, so I doubt that little rabbit would do very much to us even if it was aggressive." Scott replied calmly.
"But have you seen those eyes? That thing doesn't have a soul!" Rick could hear the hands of both Sofia and himself meet their foreheads out of reaction to Colin's terrible reference.
"Colin, no, just stop. If you try and kill an innocent creature because of this I personally will be the one to kill you." Colin muttered for a moment in protest but then fell silent. The slide show cycled through a few more times before our installations completed, all right at midnight, the game automatically launching.
At first Rick's screen was completely black, then the BRSO logo appeared in the center of the monitor with a light blue loading bar just under it. The group was silent, no one was speaking to one another as the bar was filling, probably on each of their screens, although Rick could hear Colin shifting loudly in his seat, waiting anxiously for the game to finish loading.
They all finished simultaneously, getting into the server together. Rick assumed that it was probably the same for anyone who was currently playing BRSO, which was probably all ten-thousand people who had a copy of the game, since they had gotten at least twenty messages each telling them to be logged into the game at the time of the launch or wait one week to start playing. For Rick, it was strange that they were that strict about start times, but didn't mind that much.
Without even a title screen or an introductory cinematic, the game launched right into character creation, asking your gender and age. Once that was completed, Rick's screen was bombarded with different options, all of which connected to body design, similar to some creature creation games, but a lot more advanced, almost like 3D modeling for really smart dummies.
"Woah, I'm not sure I can follow this, this is too much!" Colin complained almost immediately. Everyone gave their silent agreement. Rick noticed a timer at the top of the screen with a note under it.
"It looks like we only have two hours to create our character, and considering how advanced these controls are, it could take that long to get our characters built." Rick sighed. "Alright let's figure this thing out." Despite the advanced look of the creator, it only took them fifteen minutes as a group to figure out the creator, and within another twenty minutes they all had body designs made, each mostly matching their own physical bodies for the most part, except for Colin who packed a lot more muscle onto his character. "I'm such a beef hunk" had been his deep voiced comment, prompting groans and bruising promises from Sofia. Silently, Rick was glad all the Guardians had at least been wearing underclothing.
Once the body design was done, clothing and attire was next.
"Wow they have so many choices, this is so much better than the mall!" Sofia squealed in excitement.
"There are almost one thousand possible choices for shirts alone, I'm glad that they put in a search function." Scott commented with a mild tone of surprise and respect. Rick agreed silently, picking out his own outfit that he was glad Sofia couldn't see. She was probably going to freak out when she saw. Yellow T-shirt, a blight light jacket over the top with dark blue shorts and black sneakers labeled 'combat sneakers.' Not exactly the most matching outfit in the world.
"Oh, there's so much pink available, and it doesn't cost a dime! I'm so sad I can't pick out more than one outfit!"
"Sofia is the prime example of every girl gamer out there right now who is playing this game at this very second." Colin joked. Sofia seemed to ignore the hidden slam behind the comment, too focused on her avatar.
"Oh would you look at these shorts, too cute!" The next twenty minutes was filled with Sofia making random comments about some article of clothing she would find, and wither or not to replace the older item with it.
Rick wanted to tear his hair out, since they had not agreed not to move on until everyone was done with the current step. The last twenty minutes, can this girl ever run out of air? Rick thought as his friend began ranting about some kind of combat boots. Clearly his companions were starting to get annoyed as well, because the second Sofia stopped to breathe, Scott cut in.
"Sofia, as much as we enjoy hearing you browse the many options of BRSO, can we please move on?" After a brief pout of annoyance, Sofia sighed.
"Fine, but if they don't have some kind of item mall with all of these choices I'm going to sue this company." There was a loud frustrating 'click' sound as Sofia locked in her outfit, and Rick quickly followed behind.
Up next appeared to be the fun part for Rick, class selection. Unlike many MMORPG's Rick had played in the past, there was no choice of race, everyone was a human Guardian it appeared, and the screen showed five options for him to choose from. Shooter, Trooper, Sniper, Assassin, and Brawler. When Rick hovered over one of the options, it gave him a brief description of the classes skills, but there appeared to be no description of any special abilities.
Ruling out Sniper and Assassin quickly, Rick was left with Shooter, Trooper, and Brawler. Rick wasn't the kind to go charging into the middle of thirty enemies to be most effective so he ruled out the Brawler class, which appeared to be a kind of close range tank fighter. Lacking long range abilities, it didn't really suit Rick well.
Up next was Trooper, which looked like a lot of fun, but seemed like it lacked effectiveness and was counterproductive when paired with a Brawler due to the massive amount of explosions if friendly fire was enabled in this game, which left only Shooter. The class appeared to be nothing more than a simple soldier class, but it was well rounded and the most adaptive, the perfect fit for him.
"Aww man, look at all these rockets I can get with this class! Alright guys I'm going Trooper, don't try and stop me." Colin's choice didn't surprise anyone really, he had always been the explosive, trigger happy type of player.
"I'll stick with the plan and play an assassin, I assume the same goes for you Sofia?" Scotts question was answered by a squeal of excitement from Sofia.
"You bet! I'll be the cutest sniper in the whole game!" As everyone locked in their roles, Rick realized that they would have to play smart, they didn't have someone to soak up damage in the front line, meaning their tactics might have to play out in a guerilla style of play, the way they liked to do things.
"Man, if there's one thing about this game that I like, it's the number of explosives that the Troopers get, after all, the chicks dig a guy with a rocket launcher!" More groans.
"Rick can I please hit him?" Sofia asked with a pouty tone.
"Wait until we've met up in game Sofia, then yes, you can hit him." Rick answered with a grin as the game asked for a character name. Without thinking, he typed in Whitestar, his usual character name, confident that no one has taken it.
"Alright guys, roll call, character names. Whitestar." Rick started.
"DJStarswag" Colin answered.
"Fallen Rose." Sofia replied with an almost monotone voice, a hint of pride creeping through at the reveal of her name.
"Winston Business." The reveal of Scott's name led to what sounding like a spurting of water from Colin.
"What the hell, Winston Business? What kind of average ass name is that Scott?" Scott sighed.
"It's my name, and it doesn't attract attention, such is the nature of an assassin." He replied calmly.
"Whatever, I bet your Guardian doesn't look half as cool as mine does." Colin boasted.
"Knowing you Colin, you'll have the dumbest looking Guardian of anyone here." Rick replied with a laugh, prompting similar responses from the rest of the group.
"You guys suck." Colin complained. "So what's up next?" Rick turned his attention from the conversation back to his monitor, where the screen had various stats such as Strength and Agility. Each of them had a number to the right of the text with a plus button above the number and a minus button below. At the very top right of the screen was a counter that read Points Remaining: 5.
"Looking like we're putting some initial points into our characters." Rick observed.
"Yeah, but what's the deal with only giving us five points?" Scott complained in his usual whiny tone. "And why in hell does my Guardian have an agility of five when my strength is twenty? And my Health is nine-hundred?"
"Strange, my Guardian has a strength of twelve, health score of two-hundred thirty and an agility of twenty-five." Scott replied neutrally. "Could it be because of the different classes?" Rick gave the idea some thought.
"It might also be affected by how our characters are physically built, I have similar stats to yours Scott."
"Looks like it's the same for me, but my accuracy is almost forty already, what do you guys have for energy?" Sofia asked. Rick and Colin's Guardians had roughly five hundred energy each and Scott had almost eight hundred. "What? I only have about two hundred energy! That's not fair!" The whine from Sofia was almost childlike.
"Everyone spend your points wisely and check what stat your leveling, the amount of damage don't here doesn't appear to be influenced by the stats." Rick pointed out. Scott was quick to correct him on his error however.
"Hang on Rick, check out accuracy, 'increases your ability to hit vital organs on your target.' That sounds like more damage to me."
"It's possible that hitting the heart or head of someone would be a killing blow in this game no matter what the weapon." Sofia commented.
"Check out the focus stat as well, look how much it regenerates." Rick replied, drawing everyone's attention to his latest observation.
"Wow that's crazy, I get one hundred points per hour real time." Sofia commented.
"Me too, everyone else have one hundred per hour?" Colin asked, and both Rick and Scott answered with a yes. "This is going to be one low action game!" Scott have a 'hmm' of thought.
"It's almost like this game was modeled after real life. A real person couldn't fight for fifteen hours straight without a break."
"Wait, would that mean that walking would take up energy as well?" Sofia asked in shock.
"It's possible." Rick's eyes went to an astric at the bottom of the page. "Hey look, it says here that stats are leveled through action, meaning we can probably improve our energy and focus just by playing the game and not pushing ourselves too hard."
"Meaning the more we play the game the more OP we get?" Colin asked rhetorically. "My kind of game." Rick decided to put two points in accuracy, two in agility and one in strength, to get a head start for when he eventually obtained a weapon that was heavy.
"Alright, well I've made up for the problems of my Guardian!" Colin declared.
"Don't tell me you put five points into agility!" Scott sighed. "Alright well you'll be able to lift heavy stuff and move fast, but when you don't have any energy or can't hit anything don't start whining."
"Don't be so hard on him!" Sofia protested. "I put four points into my own agility."
"Yes but the ability to reposition yourself quickly in one of the essentials of being a sniper." Scott reasoned.
"It doesn't matter, I doubt these five points will make a big difference early on, and having the extra agility will help a bulky Guardian like Colin's." Rick reasoned. "Is everyone done with their point distribution?"
"Yes." Was the almost synchronized reply from the group, and Rick clicked the 'Finish' button at the bottom of the screen, and his monitor went black for a moment, and it wasn't a slow fade, it went black immediately after he clicked the button, making him jump in surprise. Had his computer just crashed?
"Woah, woah, woah, something's up, my monitor just went black!" Colin shouted suddenly, and a feeling of relief washed over Rick.
"Same thing just happened to me Colin, don't worry about it." Suddenly, two timers appears at the top of the screen, one was at ten seconds and had text above it that read: 'all other programs will close in.' "Alright guys, it looks like we're going to be swapped over to the in game communication system, meaning I'll see you all on the other side!" A quick round of 'later's' and 'see you's' managed to get through before BRSO terminated Cloud, cutting off his communication to his friends.
Taking a look at the second counter, Rick realized that it matched the counter that was on the top of his screen when he was creating his character. One hour remaining until his Guardian would be launched into the world of BRSO, and he would be thrust into what he hoped would be a grand adventure that he and his friends could talk about for years to come.
Satisfied that he had some extra time on his hands, Rick got up from his desk to go make himself some food, since he hadn't eaten in a few hours. Looking through the fridge, he eventually decided on the leftover takeout pizza his family had saved from the night before. Even heated up in the microwave it tasted a little stale but Rick didn't mind, food was brain fuel, and he was going to need a lot of it to get through the night.
Day 2
Date: Saturday, 1st Month, 22nd day, 1017th year D.A. (Dark Ages)
Location: Unknown Holding Cell, Kingdom Unknown.
Time Until Guardian Launch: 1 Hour
It had been almost two hours since Dead had informed Black that every Keeper was on board with the escape plan. They still hadn't managed to find any new details as to what field they would be placed in, but it wasn't like they could search for answers themselves when they were locked up, and nobody had even seen a guard since they had first been placed inside their strange, unknown prison.
"One hour until they launch the Guardians." Black whispered, not really intending for anyone to hear her.
"Why couldn't we have fought alongside the Guardians, I bet they're really cool!" Crystal exclaimed with excitement, like she was expecting one to enter her cell at any moment.
"They're our replacements Crystal, we were never meant to see the field of battle."Black replied neutrally.
"We cannot know for sure what the intentions of the council might be Black. All we know is that they now want us dead." Dead was right of course, but Black still couldn't help but wonder what the point in raising them for seventeen years was if they were only going to be killed in one big bloody event.
Sudden movement in front of her cell caught Black's eye and her head snapped up. Two scientists with three Obroseon guards armed with high powered stun rifles, although they looked slightly different which led Black to believe that they were experimental.
One of the guards disabled the shield protecting the front of the cell, letting one of the scientists and a guard inside before re-activation, once again trapping Black and preventing any chance of escape.
"Hey there, we need to give you an injection before your big event tonight, so sit still for me alright?" The scientist pulled out a syringe and slowly approached Black, clearly expecting her to attack him. Her gaze quickly darted over to the guard, who already had his weapon pointed at her, safety off. Knowing that trying anything now would be suicide, Black simply let the scientist circle around behind her and inject something into the back of her neck. She could feel the shot but didn't react; pain was something to be ignored.
Almost immediately after the task was completed, the pair retreated outside the cell and moved on without a word. Black watched them go, wondering if they were going to do this to the other Guardians.
"Black, were you injected as well?" Dead asked after a few moments.
"Yes." Soon they learned that every Keeper had been injected in the same location, and Black could only assume that this was a kill switch if they decided to escape. Their chances for victory got slimmer every passing moment.
Day 2
Date: Saturday, January 22nd, 2015
Location: 729 Lefraneu Drive SE
BRSO Location: Guardian Hall
2:00am, Guardian Initiation
10… 9… 8… Rick relaxed in his chair, adjusted the BRSO headset so it fit just right, and placed his hands in ready position. 3… 2… 1… The game was about to begin. When the timer hit zero, the world exploded in a flash of white, and it looked like Rick's Guardian was in some kind of tank, the liquid having been recently drained out of it. With a small white flash, instructions appeared at the top of Rick's screen explaining how to move around. Arrow keys for directional movement and mouse movement to look around, and it doesn't look like I have any kind of targeting marker. Still wondering how he was going to do things like pick up items or target enemies, Rick continued to play around with the controls, walking back and forth a few steps in the small cylinder and looking around, although the strong green coloring made it almost impossible for him to see outside.
Suddenly the tank shook, and there was the sound of a conveyer belt, suggesting that he was moving. Although Rick couldn't tell which direction just by looking into a monitor and hearing a few sounds, he was glad to have a few more moments with the controls. The movement suddenly stopped as Rick's Guardian was taking a step backward and suddenly his screen was looking at a tank wall from a lot closer to the ground. Great, now how do I stand up? To Ricks amazement, his Guardian got off the floor and was back on its feet. So what if I wanted to punch the air right in front of me? The Guardian punched at nothing, falling short of the tank wall.
"What the hell!" Rick said out loud. Your avatar didn't get a lot of its directions from bushing buttons on your keyboard, it got them from your mind! This has got to be some of the most advanced technology I've ever seen, and I didn't think this was even possible yet! It was right out of a science fiction novel, but it was as real as his own body, and it wasn't a dream.
Suddenly the tank wall in front of Rick opened up, revealing the outside world. Rick stepped out of the tank and gaped at what he saw. He was in a massive tower, he couldn't even guess how high it must have been, and it was easily half a mile in diameter if not more. Wow they really didn't cut any corners. Ten-thousand Guardians would fit in here easily if organized properly. And organized they were. There were a grand total of twenty five rows with tanks systematically traveling down, letting Guardians out, then disappearing into the wall to make room for the next tank. It was an incredible sight.
"Guardian!" Rick turned his head to come face to face with a man in a white lab coat wearing safety goggles. He tipped his head in the direction of an exit. "Follow everyone else to the initiation hall, your briefing should start within the hour." Rick nodded and walked forward, following the other players down a hallway, through the twists and turns of the tower down several floors. The building overall looked very nice, dark blue and black color scheme, various lights and data screens, it was like the most ominous Disneyland ride ever.
Eventually they got to some kind of stadium, where the bleachers went in a large circle around a small center stage where large holographic screens floated around. There were hundreds of Guardians already were sitting down and were talking with one other. Rick could pick up all kinds of emotions, ranging from shock and amazement at the new headset technology to worry over why they were all being led to this one room. Rick also realized that everything sounded just like in real life, like he was actually using the ears of his Guardian to listen to the world around him.
Forced forward by the crowd, Rick kept an eye out for his friends, the most noticeable would probably be a giant muscular avatar packing a rocket launcher and a sniper dressed all in pink. Quickly and easily, he spotted Sofia near the back of the bleachers with Colin and what could only be Scott's avatar.
"Hey everyone!" Rick gave a wave as he sat himself down next to Colin's muscular avatar. "Settling in with the new control system?" Colin and Sofia's Guardians gave Rick a thumbs-up and Scott's Guardian gave him a nod.
"I guess we should formally introduce ourselves, since it's only proper to call each other by our character names here. Hearing it once in conversation when we were creating our Guardians isn't enough." Scott reasoned. "So, my name is Winston Business, it's nice to meet all of you."
"Fallen Rose, a pleasure Winston!" Rose/Sofia shook Winston/Scott's hand. Colins bulky avatar held up a hand.
"DJStarswag is the name, please, just call me DJ." Rose smiled while Winston just rolled his eyes, but this time actually had a smile on his face. Everyone turned to me with my introduction.
"What's your name dude?" DJ asked. "I don't think you even mentioned it back during creation."
"Right, my bad. My name is Whitestar, White for short. Looking forward to blowing a bunch of stuff up, and speaking of which did anyone get a weapon after they created their character?" DJ, Rose, and Winston all shook their heads.
"Nope! We selected our classes but it never gave us a weapon selection, and it doesn't look like we even got a starting weapon. Maybe they'll hand them out during the initiation."
"I hope you're right Rose, even with this avatar being as strong as it is, I want to make things explode not punch shit!" DJ was over-emphasizing everything with arm movements, almost smacking White on two occasions with his dramatic movements.
"What do you guys think they'll talk about?" White asked looking over the stadium as it got fuller and fuller, Guardians still pouring out of the entrance.
"Probably will go over the controls, introduce us to our enemy, go over the rules, basically everything that was hidden from us during out wait for release and then some." Winston answered before changing the topic. "This game feels so real, it's like I'm controlling a body in another world." Rose nodded.
"I know what you mean, when I first figured out that this headset reads your mind I was totally shocked. This game is totally amazing!" White grinned.
"So a smash hit then?" Another thumbs-up from Rose.
"You bet, I think this is our game White!" A bell rang out across the entire room, and conversations everywhere fell silent.
"Attention Guardians, please find your seats quickly. The initiation will begin shortly. I repeat, the initiation will begin shortly." A few moments passed before the group started talking again.
"It all sounds so real, these headphones have built in surround sound baby!" DJ pumped his fist in the air and White laughed.
"Can't wait to get out there, I wonder what the world is like?" Rose asked with her voice filled with wonder.
"If I had to guess, I'd say something either steam punk or science fiction futuristic. Just based off of the plot and what I've seen so far." White speculated.
"Steam punk would be so cool, but wait, the holographic screens in the center…" Rose pouted as she realized that there was no way the game could be her favorite genre.
"It's too clean for Steam punk anyway, and in some ways it seems like it's crossed with fantasy. I mean, a floating continent?" White shrugged. "There isn't a good way to tell while were in here."
"I think we're gonna land in some ruined city, and this is like, the last secret stronghold and we have to get out there, and push the Thilan back so they can rebuild!"
"I've played one too many post-apocalypse games." Winston remarked. "I truly hope that isn't the case."
"What's wrong with post-apocalypse games?" DJ challenged with a raised fist. "You a zombie hater or something?" Winston rolled his eyes.
"No, but I've played that genre into the ground already. Turn based, RPG, FPS, MMO, I've done it all when it comes to doom and gloom."
"Besides," Rose responded, "if the world is all dead, there won't be any clothing stores for me to pick out more outfits!"
"Is all you think about clothes?" DJ asked in a bored tone.
"At least I'm not obsessed over rocket launchers and explosions!" Rose retorted with a huff.
"Alright you two, don't make Winston and I sit through twenty minutes of your bickering, Rose can like her clothes and DJ can like his explosions!" Rose turned away from DJ, which also put her back to White, and didn't turn around.
"Geez you're fighting already and it hasn't even been an hour yet." Winston sighed. "It's a wonder how we even manage to work together at all." By now there were almost no empty seats left, and Guardians were starting to take up the seats around them.
"Attention Guardians, the Initiation will now begin. Please take your seats." A few straggling Guardians who were looking for their friends were forced to sit down as the lights dimmed, and the holo-screens jumped to life, displaying images that matched what was on the installation screen. Seeing them farther away took away some of the effect, but it was still somewhat cool to White.
"Welcome Guardians, to Blue Rift Sanctuary." A female voice echoed throughout the chamber. Suddenly, a rectangular platform began to descend from the roof. Light flooded in from the chamber above for a moment before it was sealed by two large metal doors. "My name is Councilor Jude. I am a member of the Sanctuary Council, the government that protects this great continent. I realize that all of you come before us now in search of adventure and excitement. But I ask that you also come with a sense of duty, to protect what threatens to be lost."
"What a cliché speech." DJ whispered.
"I'll start with our history." The screens jumped to life, showing more scenery images than before, different than the loading screen. At the end of the short slideshow was an image of a massive floating continent.
"For as long as this planet has been in existence, the continent of Blue Rift has floated above the world protected by a natural phenomenon called the Great Barrier. His phenomenon created a barrier that let no creature or machine enter or leave. It protected us from the great evil that rested on the lower world, waiting patiently to strike. Then, one thousand years ago, the Great Barrier suddenly stopped." The screens displayed a burning city, men and women on fire, knives and swords in their bodies, blood everywhere. It looked like a massacre.
"Our enemies struck ruthlessly, and the kingdoms were nearly destroyed. We had been caught off guard, unaware that the barrier had fallen. For the last one thousand years we have been working to drive the Thilan Empire off Blue Rift and send them back to the bloody world in which they come from." The video continued to play, showing shaded forms of strange creatures of various types as they passed by, freezing on some king of mutant kangaroo type creature with the head of a snake, hissing at the camera.
"They are masters of creating nasty creatures that do their bidding. And although we have pushed them back, there is still one small section of land under their control." The holo-screen displayed a two-dimensional map of Blue Rift. Most of the map was blue, but there was a small section on the western end that looked like some kind of folded hand that was red.
"This small section of land still remains under the control of the Thilan Empire. And the creatures they have holding us back are terrifying. We need your help Guardians, to push them back. To drive them off this land. This is your purpose."
"Basically we're here to clean up their mess." DJ muttered. "Good, that thing looked nasty." White nodded his silent agreement, not that DJ noticed.
"Before I continue with specifics, I must ask, is everyone ready to fight?" A massive roar from the crowd, no one was stupid enough to turn this offer down, this was easily the best game of the year for a decade straight. Jude seemed to smile.
"Very well. Each of you will been given a starting kit after the initiation today." The holo-screen showed a large backpack, it looked like it could easily carry almost fifty pounds in supplies. "Inside this bag will be some simple supplies, a wallet with a two-thousand credit cash card, a Guardian communications device, a thermos, and a ticket for a random weapon corresponding to your class. Additionally, you will receive a guide to all the kingdoms in Blue Rift and what laws they have and maps to every city."
No armor? That's really risky.
"Armor will be provided here at the Guardian Tower starting tomorrow, until then I would recommend practicing at the shooting ranges." There were a lot of groans when everyone learned that they would have to wait to go out into the field safely, but a few veteran looking players didn't seem worried about it. Are they planning on taking on the Thilan by themselves?
"I'm sure all of you are aware by now, but I must remind you. Should your Guardian be offline for more than seven consecutive days, or if your Guardian is not active for a total of fifty days in a cycle, you will be replaced. Do not disappoint. Now, I will continue on to some matters of a slightly different type." The screen shifted to a large building with a large G on the front of it.
"These buildings are called Guardian houses. We understand you cannot be piloting your Guardian indefinitely, so should you wish to log out, you must first take your Guardian here. Otherwise, you will not be able to log out. Also, do not leave your Guardian sitting alone in the field inactive for more than three hours. Doing so will result in suspension from your Guardian." So no going afk either, at least for too long.
"Every Guardian house will also have a practice area for Guardians, so if you're not on the front lines we encourage you to practice your skills. Remember, there is no killing of another player's Guardian. Doing so will result in revoking your Guardian. Light sparring however, is allowed and also encouraged in the training area." Images of the inside of one of the Guardian houses appeared, and it looked like a five star hotel with a special gym made for Guardians. Shoot ranges, bags for punching and kicking, specialized bags for swordplay, and a sparring arena.
"You cannot buy specialized weapons or armor at Guardian houses to buy more weapons and armor you'll have to do it at specialized shops scattered across the continent. We do not guarantee the quality of any of these goods, each of the stores will be privately owned and operated."
"What's that even supposed to mean? Are they saying that there are shops in this game that will sell us crappy products? What kind of game does that to its players? The chicks gad better be worth it because everything else in this game is starting to sound like a drag." Although White didn't want to admit it DJ had a point. Limited logout ability was going to be a pain, and it also sounded like buying new equipment was going to be painful too.
"Every Guardian has a storage locker on the first floor, please feel free to store your things inside there. Each locker can only be opened by a Guardian in your squad, which I'll explain momentarily. Rest assured your belongings are under maximum level security." But based on how close to reality this game has been so far, I'm going to guess we'll have to come back to this tower to get to anything in the storage lockers.
"As for how you'll be organized, like I mentioned earlier you'll be divided into squads. You're free to create and combine your squads however you choose, but please note that you will be required to name your squad. Although we do allow it, we do not recommended a Guardian wander off by himself, because should your entire squad get knocked out, every Guardian pilot in that squad will no longer be able to access their Guardian, and will be replaced." Shocked murmurs erupted from the crowd. It was such a harsh penalty, it was like one of those shows where if you died in the game you were actually dead.
"This is such bullcrap." DJ moaned.
"BRSO will be a serious test of skill. We cannot make a mistake." Winston observed grimly."
"With that, this is the end of the initiation. We thank you Guardians for your future contribution and service to Blue Rift and wish you the best of luck. To show our gratitude, once you have your weapon, you're invited to attend one of Obroseon's newest spectator sports, the Keepers. You will not need a ticket for entry, and a lighted street will guide you. Once again, from the bottom of our hearts at the Sanctuary Council, thank you for your service!" The platform raised, and Councilor Jude disappeared. The lights came on and Guardians started hurrying towards the exit, eager to get downstairs for their weapons
"This isn't what I expected!" Rose commented with a slow exhale. "What an intense game this is going to be!"
"What do you think 'The Keeper' is about?" Winston asked.
"I think we should find out, there's so much to explore here I want to get started right away!" White stood up, giving the others a moment to stand up before rushing for the exit with the others on his heels.
"I hope I get a rocket launcher, blowing things apart will be so much fun!" DJ declared.
"I wouldn't use launcher ammo to blow up a practice dummy DJ, you'll have to live fire test it." Winston pointed out.
"Just as long as it makes an explosion and goes ka-boom, I don't really care!" The four of them weaved through the crowd, Rose, Winston and DJ all trying to match White's excited pace. They were lead down several flights of stairs until they reached a large room with Guardians lined up, getting their stating packs and weapons. It looked like the weapons they were giving out were randomized as well.
"A raffle? I wonder if there are any possible rare weapons we could get." Winston scratched his chin. "Interesting." The group stood at the back of the line, which was moving very fast despite how long it already was. In almost no time at all, they were at the front of the line, each of them talking to a different clerk.
"Good evening Guardian. May I ask your full name as you input it?" The clerk asked, looking up at White.
"Whitestar, all one word." White replied. The clerk typed White's name into the keyboard then gave Rick a large backpack, which he put on right there. Then with a loud 'thump,' White turned around, surprised to find a long white cannon sitting on the desk in front of him with a holo-pad on it.
"Keep the holo-pad, it will give you all the information you need. You got a really powerful weapon Guardian, take good care of it, and sorry that it doesn't come with a way to store it. I've included a weapons shop in the holo-pad that should be able to make a good holster for this." Powerful? This thing is so long it'll take up most of my energy just to carry it around!
White gave his thanks and carried the cannon to a corner of the room where his friends were gathering. Everyone stared at his weapon with distaste.
"Dude did they give you the short end of the stick? That thing looks so weak I bet it couldn't even take out a slime." DJ commented with a snort. It would appear that he didn't get the rocket launcher he was hoping for, instead equipped with a massive chain gun. Rose got a sniper rifle, no surprise there although it looked standard issue, and Finally Winston got a long knife and a pistol. Great, so I get stuck with the useless weapon.
The cannon itself looked kind of cool, long one and a half foot barrel, it looked like it shot big rounds and had to be held by sticking your arm in the one foot square part of the cannon. The whole thing was as white as a fresh layer of snow. Looking at the holo-pad, I began to read the historical text.
"White Rock Cannon. a weapon designed for a Keeper. The original owner of this weapon died in a training accident almost two years ago when a bomb prop had accidentally replaced a real bomb in a training session. Use it well Guardian, for there is no other weapon like it anywhere on Blue Rift."
"Isn't the event we're about to go see called 'The Keeper'? This means you got one of their weapons!" DJ exclaimed. "Dude I take back what I said, I bet that thing's wicked powerful.
"But it is just a starting weapon." Winston pointed out.
"So what? We said it ourselves, the weapons we got were randomized, meaning White could have gotten himself the most powerful weapon in the game!" White rolled his eyes.
"And a minute ago you were saying that I had a weapon that couldn't even kill a slime, what happened man? You somehow get a vision that this weapon was in the hands of some girl Keeper?" DJ grinned.
"You know it, and she was real hot." White patted his shoulder and placed his arm inside the cannon. His Guardian seemed to know exactly how to put it on, so there wasn't any trouble. White pointed the cannon around, noticing how bulky and awkward his Guardians movements became. This weapon was going to take some getting used to.
"So should we head for the Keeper event? I'm excited to see what will happen!" Rose declared rubbing her hands together. "Based on White's cannon. I'd say they're going to fight one another!"
"Should be interesting, we'll get an idea of the combat in this world." Winston starting walking towards the two sliding doors that led to the building's exit. "We should hurry, the best seats will be gone quickly."
When White walked out of the Guardian Tower he couldn't help but stand there and stare at the city around him. Lights everywhere, spotlights erupting from an area of the city not too far away, and brightly lit arrows on the street, pointing down the street in the direction of the massive, colorful lights.
"Alright wonder boy, let's go." Rose pushed White forward, and they started walking down the street towards the stadium, and their first major event of BRSO.
Day 2
Date: Saturday, 1st Month, 22nd day, 1017th year D.A. (Dark Ages)
Location: Obroseon Grand Stadium.
Time: 3:15am
Black stood in between two massive gates. Their design was old, made to match the design of the massive coliseum they were being sent to fight in. From their studies they knew that this was the most famous stadium on Blur Rift, but it had been closed for the last three years to be renovated. Is that how long they've been planning this?
Black already tried shooting the gates, they were made out of the same material from her cell, no chance they were going to be destroyed by her Black Rock Cannon. This was the end for the Keepers. Despite the hopeless situation they agreed to all stand together. They weren't going to the Sanctuary Council win and turn them into monsters.
Rose had managed to get seats in the front row. The massive arena was shaped like a football field, and they were in the best spot, surrounded by other Guardians as they filed in quickly taking up all the seats in the section. White had been shocked at the massive roar from the crowd when they had entered the stadium, it was like the Guardians were already celebrities among the NPC's.
The field below was what caught White's attention. It wasn't shaped like anything, just a simple black ground with blue lines running across it in a grid pattern, making him wonder just what kind of field it was.
"This is so exciting, I'm definitely rooting for the hottest fighter down there!" White rolled his eyes. It didn't matter what world DJ was in, his mind was always focused on explosions and the ladies. White wondered when the show was about to start, they had been sitting down for almost twenty minutes, continuing to banter on about the same topics they had discussed back at the Guardian Tower, when movement caught White's eye.
"The gates are opening up!" The crowd roared in applause. White shifted uncomfortably. His was forced to keep his White Rock Cannon on his right hand since he lacked anywhere to put it, and he had forgotten to store it in his locker back at the tower. This is just going to annoy me all day…
Black could hear the people of Blue Rift howling for blood as she stepped into the arena.
She wondered if they even knew that they were almost their protectors. Their saviors. Banished to the fate of trying to save one another from the will of the council. Black looked around. The stadium was massive, and it appeared that every Keeper had come out of their own gate.
"Keepers, please make your way to the center of the stage and stand on of the platforms." Black did as the announcer had instructed, finding Dead three platforms to her right. Scanning the rest of the Keepers, who were now gathered on the circle of blue rings, Black made eye contact with everyone, confirming that they knew the plan. They all did.
"That one in Black is so cute! She's totally going to win this one!" DJ pumped his fist in the air. "Go Black, crush them all!" White squinted to get a better look at the black keeper through his monitor. From what White could depict from where he was sitting, the girl was wearing a Black jacket, short black shorts, tall black boots, and was equipped with a cannon much like White's only hers was black instead of white. Crazy, but then again my weapon was a Keeper weapon. Rose nudged White.
"She's got your cannon, you think she as a chance?" White shrugged.
"I don't know, win or lose I hope I get the chance to talk with her, I'd like some tips on how to use this cannon." Suddenly the field started to come to life, the floor of the stadium coming to life, rising and creating various terrain. Everything was still in view for White, and all that was really created were a bunch of broken down ruins that didn't offer too much cover. This fight is going to be nothing but a bloodbath! White realized quickly. But when the bell range for the match to start, the Keepers didn't start killing each other. Instead, the left eye of the black keeper ignited, wait was it on fire? The girl pulled out her cannon from its holster on her back, the top strap separating to let the cannon slip out easily, and then she pointed it right towards White! Wait son of a- an explosion of smoke later, White couldn't see anthing.
Chapter two! Remember to fav/follow if you liked the story! I'll try to get a chapter out every two weeks or so, but really you'll just have to keep an eye out for more! Hope you enjoyed the second chapter of BRSO!
Also please remember to leave comments for me, they help out a lot and I read every one of them, if you ask a question I'll post my answer for it at the top of the next chapter. See you all next time ;)