"How nice it would be if we could only get through into the Looking-glass House! I'm sure it's got, oh! Such beautiful things in it!"
- Alice, "Through the Looking Glass"
I sense my mind return to me, I think and feel again. I have connected... I am able to move my body, and suddenly hear a deafening noise. Thousands upon thousands of voices, plus the sound of millions of Rogues, Seige Tanks, Ogres, Barbarians, Footmen, and Corsairs. The noise slowly fades into the background as my vision comes to me. Now there are only about thirty voices, I look around at my surroundings. Looking at the sign above the doorway, I see I am in StarCraft USA-5, there is a wide variety of creatures in the room; most of them are regular humans, but some, like me, have personalities and features completely there own.
"Hey," I say into the crowd. A few of them glance at me, but quickly turn back to their conversations, I have nothing good to say.
I walk towards the doorway, and step out of the dark and musty Channel into a clean, well-lit hallway. A long, red satin carpet covers the length of the hallway, upon closer inspection the intricate designs woven into it become visible: The first defeat of Diablo, the opening of the Dark Portal, Tassadars noble sacrifice... It has all been recorded in this hallway. The walls are carpeted with gray berber, it adds a cool feeling to the hall. Lining the walls are gorgeous paintings: The great King Llane, James Raynor aside his Vulture, a rogue firing an arrow at an oncoming skelton. 'These things which mortal eyes cannot see,' I think to myself. I walk down the hallway to a futuristic, metal door with "Custom Maps" embossed into it. "Open," I say, the door slides open at my command, and I step inside.
Not many people in here, looks to be about six. No familiar faces.
"Hey," I say, and get no reponse from anyone this time. After waiting around for what seems like hours, I finally leave the dark vastness of Custom Maps, and enter into the hallway.
I walk down the hallway a little ways and step into an elevator. I'm not alone, there is also a Necromancer and a very frail looking boy.
I look at the Necromancer, he has several rare-looking items on his person. "Nice setup you got there," I comment. "Thank you," he says, in a rough, quiet voice.
The Necromancer gets off at the next floor, "good luck," I call out to him, he waves back at me as he raises an iron golem from a sword on the ground. The door closes, leaving me alone with a weak child.
"So, what are you with?" I ask. He looks up at me with bloodshot eyes, "Diablo," he says, just above a whisper. "What's wrong with you?" I ask, feeling a little sorry for the child. He smiles, "Don't let my appearence fool you." He suddenly grows about two feet up, and muscles form on every part of his body. Instead of being a frail young boy, he's now a very tall and powerful man. "What the hell..?" how did this kid get so strong? The elevator pings, and the door opens. He laughs, his voice loud and booming now, he says one word as he leaves: "Hack."
If only there were some way I could stop him... but I couldn't beat him, not when he's using a hack... The elevator finally reaches the floor I want, and I step off. This hallway is darker, made of rivited metal, with sconces embedded in the walls every three feet. Each door has a large computer screen with information on the game the door represents. I can see doors appearing and dissapearing down the infinite hallway, I step up to one: "Zergling Blood", I remember this game. I step through the door, into a large circular room, the entire thing carpeted with the same gray bereber carpeting. There are no furnishing, but the floor has a two feet-deep circle in its center, with areas jutting out of the walls, to be used for seating. There are five other beings in the game besides me: A Dark Archon, a primitive robot, Arcturus Mengsk, a normal-looking teenage boy, and a monkey, with a very long and unkempt tail. I recognize no one, except for the monkey. I sit down by him, "hello."
"Hey... another game, huh?"
"Yeah... they can get annoying, but that's what we're here for."
"Well, not you really... you spend most of your life in channels."
"This is a fact... but I like to get out in the games every once and a while."
A loud beep echoes through the room, as a holographic "5" appears in the center of the room. Everyone present stands, as the five changes into a four, then a three, two, one, zero...
The room around me warps, and then stretches into oblivion. I feel a hard surface beneath my feet, and open my eyes, even though I never closed them. The map is an installation map, I'm standing on a deck high above everything, looking down on the zerglings below. The others are here also, looking down on their respective players. I walk over to the right-side of the deck, and stand over my players area. The zerglings are slowly filling up the small space. I hate these kinds of games... it's not a real war... I step away from the edge of the deck, and walk into the building behind me. My hair is blown forward as I open the door, the air-pressure on the outside trying to rush in. I close the door behind me, and it clicks shut. I walk over to the bar, a man wearing a black shirt that says "Blizzard" walks up to the other side of the bar.
"What can I get for ya, Juuhachi?" He asks.
"The usual."
He grinns, he's kind of cute, but he's also a systems operator... He grabs a bottle of brandy and pours it into a glass, which he sets down in front of me.
"On me," he says.
"Thanks," I pick up the glass and take down a gulp. The bartender shakes his head and smiles, as he washes some shot glasses. He always gets a kick out of the fact that I can down an entire bottle of scotch, in under ten seconds.
I spin around on the barstool, and face the large windows looking out over the playing field. Not much action going on... monkey's player just got a Zergling Leader. I turn back around, and glance up at the television in the corner. It looks like they're doing some WarCraft 2 Ladder Coverage. The bartender walks over to the TV and turns the volume up.
"... better watch the rear of his base, beacause I've got a feeling Dark Sunrise is going to come in there." on of the commentators said.
"Normally you would think so, but Sunrise has been known to charge in full force, while the greatest odds are against him... I think he'll come in the front."
"Wait! Black Troll is moving his forces to attack Sunrise's base..."
I turn to the bartender, "Is there anything else on?"
"Oh, sure," he presses the channel button repeatedly, "just say when."
The channels slowly flip by: old KBK footage, old PGL footage, live StarCraft Ladder games, live Diablo 2 footage, Dragon Ball Z... "stop!" I yell, the bartender jumps, startled, and looks up at the screen. "What's this?" he asks.
"This, bartender, is Dragon Ball Z..."
"Dragon Ball Z, eh? I've heard of that, lot's of guys come in here raving about it."
I lean over, rest my elbows on the bar, and watch the show. It's some episode from the Cell Saga. Gohan-san has turned Super Saiya-jinn 2... too bad I know what happens... a familiar face comes on screen, "Kurillen-san..." I whisper to the air.
"You want another?" the bartender asks. I look at my glass, it's empty, I don't even remember drinking it, "hai." I say, he looks at my, puzzled. "What?" he asks, picking up another shot glass to clean. "Hai," I say again, "it means 'yes'... in Japanese." He loses the puzzled look, "oh, okay... that's right, you're from Japan aren't you." He takes my glass and fills it up again. I hear a lot of noise going on outside. "I'll be right back," I say, and walk out the door. The air stinks now, like burning flesh, electronics, and blood. I look over the edge of the deck, there are blood-stains everywhere, and the rotting corpses of zerglings litter the substructure. I look over at my players base, he has several Archons wandering around his base, along with too many zerglings to count. In the center of the map, his units are getting attacked by several broodlings. I wish I could help him... I could defeat those broodlings easily. But interefering in any way could cost, not only my life, but my players ability to get on Battle.net. I watch, helplessly as my player is beaten down, not even Monkey's player can save him... Slowly, the Dark Archon's player gains kills. I walk back into the bar, and sit down in front of my glass. I push it away, "bartender, get me something very strong." The bartender walks over and takes the glass of brandy. I look back up at the TV, Dragon Ball Z is over, now they're showing some news on the current situation of StarCraft 2. I lean onto the bar and watch the anchor-man go on about the cutting-edge graphics... I hear a clunk, and grab the glass that has just been set down for me, the liquid inside is dark, almost black, and has a thick orange-colored froth resting on top. I take a sip... it's good, I don't know what it is, but it's good. I take a gulp, and then wipe the froth off of my lip. They're showing actual footage of the game now, looks like it's gonna be pretty good. The room suddenly warps around me, "see ya, bartender." I say, as the room stretches out into oblivion. I open my eyes, even though I never shut them, and find myself, once again, in Custom Maps. Still no familiar faces... I here a loud bang, an easily recognizable sound... it's time to go. The room fades around me, and I feel my mind slip... slip... one... zero...one... zero... zero... one... zero... one... one... one... zero...
"Now, Kitty, let's consider who it was that dreamed it all."
- Alice, "Through the Looking Glass"