C2 01. I don’t play like that

// 36 hours ago //

“We all die, but we don’t all live,” with this phrase, which shattered my whole established world, the president began this morning.

I remember the apple tree petals bouncing gently off the branches and drowning in the air currents, the scent spreading around, the grass turning green, gaining sap, and the belated dandelions blooming. Spring had come early.

I remember the scalding taste of coffee, the bitter steam touching my lips, the stains on the table from the damp cloth, the grumbling noise of the dishwasher, the waiter taking the plates away from the table.

I remember the rattling of the hologram over the surface of the infovisor, the stern, wrinkled face of the head of the country, our protector and bulwark of security and prosperity. I remember the dark gaze, staring fearlessly into nowhere, the wide mouth that spoke weighty and so dangerous to the sanity of many.

“The Federation Council is divided on this matter, but my vote has been decisive. By the power vested in me by the people, I declare the shutdown of all Ainsoft servers and the closure of associated businesses and organisations that keep the virtual world running. In three days’ time, at precisely ten o’clock in the morning, the satellites will be knocked out of orbit.”

I remember the cup slipping from my cold fingers, breaking the silence with a wild clang, shards decorating the tile floor. Somewhere beneath my chest, a new feeling ached, still faint and uncontrasted, but tears already stung my eyes with pity for myself and for the rest of the world at the same time.

What does it mean ‘will be knocked out ‘? What is meant by ‘will shut down all the servers’? Are they serious? Is the president making a joke on the eve of the election?

There has been talk of closing down Virtul for a long time, but few assumed that the leftist party would move on from idle talk to action, much less such decisive action. If they destroy the game, they will not only undermine the country’s economy but also break the lives of millions of people. Many will lose the meaning of life.

The hologram light went out, the visor buzzed for a few seconds and then went into sleep mode. I closed my eyes and whispered the login word, the bars and numbers lit up under my eyelids. The lenses warmed up a little, loading additional gigabytes of the latest update. It seemed this time to be literally the last.

“Good morning, player 13-06-13. Nice to see you back in the world of reality breakers,” the System greeted me in a pleasant, deep voice. “Shall I send you straight to the teleportation tower or to the training room?”

“No. First to the town, the central square.”

“It shall be as you’ve ordered.”

The surroundings immediately went dark, and a loading line appeared on the bottom left. I crossed my arms across my chest, prepared to endure this slow boot-trial. The news was likely to excite not only the players of Unica, but of other countries as well, so the fountain square would now be crowded. Everyone was eager to get into the gossip cradle and complain about life or gloat over others. To everyone’s taste.

“While the city of Vairan is loading, please listen to the messages. The first one…”

I snapped my fingers quietly and lifted my right hand to increase the sound.

“Mom, this is Adisi. I just got home from school. I’ve already had lunch and done my homework, can I go visit Dixie? I know you’ll let me, so I left early. Thanks, mom.

Also, when are you and dad going to buy me a tame dravosaurus? Vicky and Michaelir already have ones and ride them to school. Buy me one, too, huh? I found out that if I upgrade it to level 30 and craft a control collar, it will be faster than our sports car.

And yes, if on the way to school I suddenly get attacked by wild irglings or toothbenders, a sports car can’t protect me, but a dravosaurus can, because every couple of seconds he regenerates his health scale to a hundred points.

Kisses, mom. I hope my arguments have convinced you. You and dad still have the money from selling that rare potion you made last month, don’t you?”

I couldn’t help but smile. Hardly a week goes by when Di is already asking her to buy something super expensive again. Where am I supposed to find a dravosaurus in the middle of a spring hunt? Only if it’s in the Crackling Woods in the lower dungeons of Virtul. I’ll get Vera and Kitana to buy some new swords. It’s been a long time since we’ve been to a high level instance. It might be a good way to have some fun...

The smile faded from my face. No, we weren’t going to have any fun. I clenched my teeth until it hurt, my fingernails digging into my skin to cover the pain of my soul with the pain of my body. Everything inside me was overturning, shaking and threatening to collapse, to shatter into tiny pieces.

How did we come to this? It wasn’t enough for the government to mess up our material lives with endless new laws and taxes, now they’ve decided to mess up our mental balance? Apathetic and insane people are much easier to rule, aren’t they?

“Second message.“

“Hey, menacing little swordswoman, who hasn’t picked up a weapon bigger than a kitchen knife in five days, are you going to earn points for the position of deputy guild leader? Am I encouraging these slacker guildmates to vote for you for nothing? Black Wolf may be a loner in life, but she’s got followers, too. Some kind of competition. Are you going to do politics in our clan? She’s going to be the boss for a second term... yeah, right. Where the hell are you? To be at the training ground by ten in the morning!”

Vera, as always, was sharp-tongued and quick to crack. I didn’t care much for her nagging for whatever reason, but now it was a little offensive. She was the one who had asked me to brew a potion to make the leather armor stronger. And she complained about something like that? She wasn’t the one who had spent two days in the marshes looking for pungent cloudberries.

“Third message.”

“I’m going to stay on the expedition for two more days, my love. We stumbled upon the tracks of a white dragon. If I’m lucky, I’ll bring home rich trophies. By the way, I found the lake pearl you told me about. You can get it after completing a quest from Avisoriel, the maiden of Bitter Lake. Did you get the message from Adi about the dravosaurus yet?”

Just as I was about to press the voicemail answer button, the wind hit me in the face, twirling the hem of my traveling dress, one braid on my temple unraveled, and I mentally made a note to go into appearance editing mode. After all, I had wanted a short haircut for a long time.

“The central city of Vairan, peaceful territory, western district. 10:03 a.m.,” a male program voice pathetically proclaimed the caption that appeared in the corner of the screen.

“Because of the large concentration of players in the location some objects will be displayed superficially, without detailed processing,” the System picked up the baton.

“Would you like to rent a vehicle?” a friendly, tanned old man raised his head, invitingly pointing to the panel of available means of transportation.

Ignoring the invitation, I pressed the inventory button and summoned the mercenary’s cloak. I didn’t want to show my face in the capital and run into a lot of friends and enemies. The streets of Virtul were most likely in chaos, resembling the imminent apocalypse. Many players probably felt freedom and impunity because the end was near.

Yeah, bad luck for the foreign regulars. They’re in a tough three days until our servers get shut down. I clenched my jaw again.

“If I could, I would kill the president and all his henchmen,” I breathed out softly.

I put the hood over my head, pushed the door open, and went outside.

The upper city was dazzling in brightness and light. The sun, the countless lanterns that don’t go out even during the day (no one knew if this was a bug or a specific innovation of the developer), and the shining half-glazed store windows on the ground floors. If ever there was a paradise for ocular masochists, this was it.

I pulled the thick fabric tighter over my forehead. I could have gone to the nearest store and splurged on some goggles with dark lenses, but I didn’t want to waste time.

And the western part, as always, is relatively peaceful. Usually these areas are assigned to the kingdom of Rith. There live quiet guys, pacifist people, who grind frantically on bots and prefer not to engage in conflicts between clans, parties and other game factions.

I displayed the map in front of me. The tiny green dot that showed my location was blinking away in the middle of nowhere, a stone’s throw from the edge of the city. I was grateful the System hadn’t dropped me off in the woods nearby.

Rivers of red, blue, and gray dots flocked to the center, and even the NPCs seemed to think that today’s event was too significant, most of them snapped out of their anchor points.

Yes, it will be difficult for players to catch them, take a quest from them or complete a mission. The System likes to make mischiefs from time to time; the NPCs sometimes go on a round-the-world trip within the city. They are then almost unrealistic to find.

I had one such occasion. I spent two months looking for Gwynn the shoemaker, and he was sitting in a tavern two doors down, drinking tea with the local landlord.

The sea of dots on the map was stirring, crowding and densifying. How many players were there already? A few million? The news, of course, interested everyone without exception.

Soon I, too, will be a drop in this human digital ocean.

I raised my hand to the sky, outlining the seal of the summoning. The bracelet on my wrist warmed up, answering, even purred. I hadn’t called my pet in a long time, and it missed me.

“Aris, appear.”

The shrill cry of a huge bird, a shadow obscured the sun. I looked up, and barely had time to recoil before a hawk fell from the sky like a stone, slowed to the ground and landed softly on my side, begging me to stroke its neck. A few seconds for petting, the hawk’s mobile eyes closed in pleasure for a moment.

“Did you miss me, honey?” I couldn’t contain my smile, and my fingers slid down the bird’s back, brushing over its feathers.

Aris let out a loud half-squeal, startling the two NPCs passing by.

“Shall we fly?”

The airmount understandingly moved sideways toward me, and a rider’s saddle appeared. One second, the last preparations before takeoff, and the sky was a little closer, the clouds parted beneath the broad wings. Higher, higher, I wanted to go even higher.

“Over there...” I mentally marked the point on the map.

The hawk flinched, sensing the direction, flew a little forward and whistled down. And the soul, it seemed, decided to compete in speed, swooped down to my belly and hushed, watching with curiosity for the butterflies that fluttered inside me with delight.

The square was really crowded. After letting Ari go, I sneaked into one of the old bar-like diners. The plasma screens looked ridiculous in a medieval setting. At first glance. Over time, you get used to everything.

The sniper rifles of the latest generation also did not fit the rapier and axe set either, but they even looked harmonious on the two-meter tall ogre. Once again I marveled at the tastes of some players who purposely disfigured the avatar’s appearance, and then I pushed my way through the throng to the visors.

And the news was terrible. On one channel the announcer was talking about ballet and graceful swans, on another one there was an already useless debate about Virtul, and on the third channel drone cameras were filming a bunch of protesters storming the police and fire trucks.

“It’s like going back six centuries in development,” a short nymph with fluffy ears and a tail whispered frustratedly watching the latest video.

“First they will take away our Vir, then our homes, then our last money, our freedom. And then what? Life?” a werewolf-fox was clearly eager to start another uprising of gray separatists, brutally suppressed, by the way. “People, citizens of Virtul and Unica, will we tolerate this?”

Some supported the redhead, but most just looked doomed to a bleak future. Knowing our president and his dictatorial policies, there was no way to make a riot – all ingredients would scatter when the military machine arrived.

“But how can this be?” a woman sobbed in the corner, “I have a son and brother here. Both of them have been buried long ago, their eternity imprints stored only on the Cardin server, and if it’s shut down, I won’t be able to see them anymore. It’s cruel and wrong!”

Some thought in the back of my mind flashed and slipped away. I tried to catch it, but in vain. It ran around, taunting me, but no clarity was forthcoming, and the visor broadcasted growing areas of conflagration. Perhaps this time the military power will not be enough to quell the nation’s resentment. The people would no longer fight for freedom, but for life. After all, Virtul is indeed, for many of us, our everything.

“And the latest news. Thirty radical activists set themselves on fire outside the government building in protest. Thirteen people were saved, the fire spread to nearby buildings, but the flames were extinguished. Representatives of the Ministries of Health and Security urge citizens not to engage in provocative methods of protest that threaten the health of others and the protesters themselves…”

Now there was more anger and hostility in the air. Everyone probably wondered if he was ready to sacrifice his life for the sake of the game.

I didn’t know. I had not yet come to the realization that soon the world I had known since childhood, the world I loved, the world I knew, the world I was ready to devote my dreams and time to, would be gone. I stood in the middle of a stirring sea of people, a brewing gale, and stared blankly at the holograms and text summaries that flashed in rapid lines.

Again and again the recordings from drones, phones and video cameras were scrolling before my eyes. I woke up from the surprised exclamations. The visors went off one by one, all went out, and for a moment the hall was enveloped in deep silence. But then dozens of holograms of the same man flashed simultaneously. A man? Or rather... a monster?

Only a monster in human form could steal the world from us.

“As I said before, our decision is final. Satellites and servers will be disabled without the possibility of restoration. Your futile attempts to go against the law and the system will lead to nothing, all rebellions will soon be suppressed. After three days, any activity related to the game of Virtul will be considered illegal. Violators will be brought to justice. The five terrorists who were captured today for attempting to blow up the building of the Ministry of Internal Control will be executed at sundown.”

A groan of horror and unconscious fear ran through the crowd. I closed my eyes to avoid seeing the face of the man who was announcing capital punishment with such ease. As if he didn’t just cut someone’s life short with one word, but was telling us the algorithm for making a banana smoothie.

“I urge you to be calm. By a majority vote of Parliament, our country has decided to go the way of eradicating virtual reality. Think about your lives, about your loved ones, about our future generation. Our children will thank us for the fact that one day we chose a real life, that we chose to live in the present, not in numbers and fictional reveries.”

“To hell with this parliament together with their ‘right’ idea, they don’t understand anything!”

“And the president, too! Let him burn in hell, the antsy bastard...”

The appeal of the head of state went for a second round, as if they had forgotten to change the record. The scolding towards the country’s top officials became more venomous and subtle. And I finally caught up with the elusive thought...

In this world, I have only one close person left.

“Dad,” I exhaled into the void.

And again there was the café, the aroma of coffee, and the music from the rarity radio. My heart raced in fright, my breathing quickened, as if I’d run barefoot back and forth to the international train station.

Father must not find out about the closure of Virtul. He simply won’t be able to bear the news.