Extra Lives

A monster that most men would flee in horror, so legendary none would speak of out loud, lay in wait. Three were not moved by typical fears and aspirations of mundane men as they moved into advantageous striking positions.

The ruins virtually swelled with the low hum of the beast’s breaths. Beak crouched by the stairs. Mayhem, several feet back, readied to bend reality with the ancient words of the arcane, while Hye slinked in shadow and silently slipped into the darkness behind the beast.

The beast slept on a bed of bones born of fallen foes, too unlucky or unskilled to defeat their quarry. Beak approached slowly. His armor would almost certainly wake the creature. With each step the massive monster snorted, unconscious, but creatures this vile never quite slept completely.

Hye moved into position and raised his spear high over the beasts head. Seconds before action and intention became realized, Hye broke the silence, “Hey dudes, I have to go, I’ll be back in a bit.”

Hye froze in place as a monument to his inaction. The reptilian eyes of the beast opened and saw Beak standing in its midst. Its head slowly rose. “We calling it?” asked Mayhem. Beak looked at the thing with cold determination, even though he was dwarfed by it like a mouse that chose to stand against a cat. “We got this,” Beak said with confidence.

***

Life unfolded in the Inn of Canterbury. It swelled with the likes of rangers, trappers, and beast masters who came from all across Restine to enter the hunting grounds of the Valley of Warning. There a warrior could make himself an instant legend, or become completely forgotten in the belly of beasts too primal to be named.

Nordic slammed down two ales in front of Mayhem and Beak. “You know I love it when you come through, but when you do leave I’m going to insist you take your shit with you,” said the surly barkeeper. Mayhem smiled and lifted a glass. Nordic was the only one in all of Restine that had stones enough to stand up to them, and they loved him for it.

Beak sat in front of a pile of gold and riches, unamused. The spoils did little these days to sate him. Eyes that burned with the green embers of jealousy peered at them, but none were brave enough or stupid enough to test them, even missing a man.

“We almost died today,” said Beak to Mayhem. Beak was an armored warrior; his shell sat on his body like a second skin. His helmet lay dormant in the pile of riches. “It was his anniversary today, you know… he…,” Mayhem stopped himself, to restructure his words to be kinder. “He already told us he would have to leave; his time went over. You’ll have to respect that… right?” said Mayhem.

Beak shook his head as if he understood and, a part of him did, but another part buried deep down resented their busy lives, even if he couldn’t vocalize why. “Isn’t it… can’t you—” Mayhem took a breath and started over. “You don’t have to just slay monsters; there are other things to do. Maybe you could try some of them,” said Mayhem. “Look Beak I have to go. I’ll be back later tonight alright,” he said in closing.

Beak nodded as Mayhem froze in place, then slowly drifted away into the digital ether. Beak looked at the treasure on the table and began pulling it into his magical bag of holding, and the thing swallowed an unnatural amount of loot into its boundless magical space.

After leaving a few golds for the house he stepped outside and was greeted by the huge severed monster head that half blocked the door. He wrapped ropes around the trophy and his horse Bastion then dragged the thing to their keep.

On the battlements of the castle, Beak stared out at Elder Grove in the distance, wondering if there was anything left in this place for him. All that truly remained was to defeat the Lord of Destruction that haunted this land for untold years; then perhaps he’d move on. Maybe this world was, in fact, the problem. Maybe he was spending too much time in this place. Mayhem and Hye had lives, and all he had was this. Was there even any point in trying in a world he had no connection to?

Beak closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he was Bicrum, a scrawny Black man mixed with Pakistani. The dungeon he lived in paled in comparison to the grandeur of Telmon’s Keep. There were posters on the wall to cover up the cracks he couldn’t plaster. His apartment was one room —not one bedroom, one room— and most of that room was taken over by his gaming rig.

He peeled off his haptic suit as if it were fused to his skin and hopped into the shower that encompassed the toilet and sink in the same cramped area. He emerged from the basement apartment like a groundhog looking for his shadow.

At least the wonders of the city were worthwhile. He brought the digital display in his J-Home to life and manipulated the text on his screen that floated silently in the air. He called AutoRide.

He stared at the world as if for the first time, taking in all that it had to offer. The car dropped him at an amusement park. Holograms of popular I.P.s interacted with amused parkgoers. An image of the legendary Doc Emmett Brown from Back to the Future enticed families to come join him in the Back to the Future experience.

He worked the carnival games, which were still heavily rigged in favor of the park ever since the concept of amusement parks was started. He attempted to see the beauty in this mundane world, though he couldn’t. He was a warrior of great renown, and here he was merely some teenager living an uninteresting life, barely fascinating enough for him to want to live through it.

He had only been at work an hour before he was contemplating a heist just to break up the monotony, even though it ran counter to his internal code of ethics. He watched other people’s happiness, and some part of that appealed to him, but it was a dull comparison to the highs of Restine.

When night fell a girl approximately his age —except beautiful— walked over to his booth with her suitor, A cocksure gentleman in a jacket with a letter on it. The man transferred over his creds to Bicrum and took a ball for each one to launch at a stack of pins. With a strong arm, the athletic gentleman missed his mark once, then twice.

“This game is rigged. I want my money back!” the man screamed. “Sir please calm down. Yes, the bottles are weighed, so it takes a tremendous amount of force to topple them, but if I could be so bold, you missed it completely anyway,” said Bicrum. “Why are you messing with me man? Just give me another ball,” said the irate teenager.

The girl at his side couldn’t stand to look Bicrum in the face due to how embarrassed she was with her escort’s behavior. Bicrum handed the bigger man another ball, not because he was scared of him in the least, but because a part of him wanted the man to succeed. He missed the bottles completely once again. “I want my money back right now,” he demanded. Bicrum shook his head in annoyance and disappointment.

“Are you making fun of me…?” “Let’s just go. I don’t even want the teddy bear,” said his female companion. The bigger man shoved her hand away when she attempted to calm him. “Sir, I won’t allow you to do that in my presence,” said Bicrum. The man attempted to grab him. Bicrum didn’t hesitate or think twice before punching the young man in the mouth, knocking him down.

He may have been a little man, but he didn’t fight like one. “I apologize madam,” Bicrum said to the woman. When she smiled at him, it was as if the sun rose for him and him alone. In her, he understood the value of this place —this world he always saw as lesser. Her name was Abigail, and they walked the park after hours. It was said that this world didn’t have magic, but the dazzling lights, coupled with Abigail’s radiant beauty, proved that statement to be false. Bicrum’s life here didn’t mean much to him aside from her, so when she asked to meet him again, he didn’t think to say no.

***

Beak opened his eyes in Castle Telmon, and there he was in the same instance he had left, except night had fallen. He could see the flickers of torchlights bouncing off the taverns and the twinkle of fireflies in the Elder Grove.

“Beak, are you ready?” yelled Hye from down below on his white stallion, Dietrich. Mayhem was mounted on Yohan and waved him down. Beak smiled. He was glad to be home.

The three adventurers rode hard into the threshold of the Valley of Warning, ready for another run. After passing through the sentries of trees in the Elder Grove that warned them of the dangers, they passed into the extremely dangerous lands known as the Valley of Warning. They rode cautiously through the darkened terrain, with torchlight to guide them.

“How was your anniversary?” Mayhem asked Hye. “Good. We went dancing, and she actually didn’t buy me socks. She bought me a Jauki ocular lens,” said Hye with excitement. “Damn, she really pulled out all the stops this year,” said Mayhem. “Where were you earlier?” Mayhem asked Beak.

The armored warrior smiled to himself, a rare time when he had a secret to reveal. “I met a girl,” said Beak. Mayhem and Hye held their horses figuratively and literally. “What?” said Hye, as if blindsided by the idea. “Where?” asked Mayhem. “Outside of the game?” Beak said with a little pride. “How did you do that?” asked Mayhem, who looked to Hye as if this were an extreme mystery.

“I decided to invest in something outside of this. Why not?” asked Beak. “Did you know he could do that?” Hye shrugged as if confused. Mayhem shook his head with equal confusion. “Are you going to be able to take a run at the Lord of Destruction?” asked Mayhem. “I am, but I have a date tomorrow,” said Beak. Mayhem looked to Hye with more confusion. “We can set up camp and make a run for it tomorrow, before your date,” said Hye.

Through the strength of torchlight, the party traversed the dense woods to the familiar border town in the Valley of Warning. As they looked at the overgrown walls that led to different depths of the city, Beak got a message. When Hye was in the midst of declaring his allegiance to Zoas to the wall sentries Beak said, “Excuse me for a moment.”

Beak accepted his call. All the sounds that happened outside of the communique were muted. He saw Hye and Mayhem going through the motions of getting into town. Half of that time was spent glancing over at him in quiet amusement.

“Hey, it’s Abigail. I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out a little, seeing I had time. I understand if you don’t,” said Abigail as a disembodied voice. Beak was just a little surprised by how unsupportive his friends were. They were fine having lives, and he was just supposed to be okay with it when they went off and lived it, but the moment he went out and found himself business, they met it with suspicion.

“I think I can do that. Send me a pin, and I’ll show up wherever you want,” said Bicrum. She did immediately. “Give me a minute,” he told Abigail. Mayhem and Hye were in the middle of riding their horses down a slope toward the second wall of Zoas.

“…I don’t understand why he’d do something like that. I just mentioned getting a hobby or something…” said Mayhem to Hye, who was in the middle of a conversation about Beak. “I’m back. Look guys, the girl I’m courting asked to spend time with me. I endeavor to go to that. I should be ready when it’s time for us to strike,” said Beak. “Should be?” Hye said with confusion. “It’s cool. It’s just gearing up,” said Mayhem. Beak didn’t wait for further deliberation. His avatar froze, then digitally derezzed.

Bicrum made his way to a park. Abigail wore a white sundress and stood next to a man selling ice cream out of a freezer on wheels. Her eyes lit up when she saw Bicrum, and she waved with enthusiasm.

“Hello, my lady,” said Bicrum politely, kissing her hand. “A gentleman —that’s what I like most about you,” said Abigail. “I’ll apologize that the first thing I noticed about you was your beauty, but I’ve come to know your compassion,” said Bicrum.

“So how long have you played the game?” she asked. “Which one?” Bicrum asked honestly. “This one. How long have you played J-home Life,” said Abigail. Bicrum didn’t understand the question, but he decided to play it off as he did, in hopes he could piece it together through context clues. “All my life,” he said confidently. Abigail chuckled politely.

“What type of ice cream do you want?” asked Abigail. “I do not know. Whatever you choose is what I will have,” declared Bicrum. The two walked the boardwalk with ice cream on a clear, sunny day.

“I’m from Maine. Where are you from?” asked Abigail. “Originally Nome, Alaska,” he said. “Really? I’ve never known anyone from there,” she said. It was at that moment someone walked on water across the tranquil pond. “I hate hackers; they’re not supposed to use magic here,” said Abigail.

For Abigail, this incident barely raised an eyebrow, but for Bicrum, the entire concept of what reality was was suddenly thrown into question. “I just realized something I have to do. I must go,” said Bicrum. “Are we still on for our date?” wondered Abigail. “Of course,” said Bicrum, the cracks in his calm were becoming apparent.

Beak appeared in a shop. He linked his avatar to his party, and he materialized there. Hye was haggling the price of a well-balanced short sword, and Mayhem was perusing the oddities he might procure for spell components. “Welcome back,” said Mayhem.

“Where do I go when I leave?” asked Beak. “I didn’t think you went anywhere. I thought you just winked out for a specific amount of time, then reappeared,” said Hye. “Why would you say that?” asked Beak. Hye and Mayhem half-shopped in the rustic shop and half-addressed Beak, as if it weren’t that big a deal.

“Because you’re an A.I. tied to the game,” said Hye. “Bro, you’re not supposed to break immersion and tell him that,” said Mayhem. “Well, he’s already breaking it. He’s popping off and getting girlfriends and shit. I think that ship has sailed.” “Why do you play with me if I’m not a person?” asked Beak. “We started with six, but we’re the only ones in our party still playing. So we got you to fill in the gaps.”

“So I don’t have a life… where have I been going when you’re away?” asked Beak. “I don’t know. Like I said, I thought you just disappeared,” said Hye. “What is J-Home Life?” asked Beak. “J-Home Life… that lame game. It’s basically just a life sim… why?” said Mayhem.

Beak asked no more questions, though that didn’t stop him from thinking them. For all his life, he believed that he was living an uneventful life and this game was his escape from that —when in the end, he was just another function of the game itself.

He floated through the next few hours. He followed Mayhem and Hye to the fortress of the Lord of Destruction all the while contemplating the worth of a digital life. Everything in his life was thrown into question, namely if he had one at all. Were these even his friends? As the party of three approached the final boss and began their assault, Beak noticed the time.

As they made their epic charge, Beak spoke to the other two, “I’m sorry, gentlemen, I have a date”.

Beak froze in place and left the game.