A glitch
1680 Words
When Aaron came back to his senses, he felt something coarse and grainy rubbing against his skin. The afternoon sun was shining straight in his eyes, which made him squint and shade his face with his hands. He couldn’t understand how this was possible. He was in his room just a moment ago and now he was lying outside, on a sandy shore.
Since Aaron’s room was always completely dark, with the curtains drawn and windows closed, this sudden transition into the open turned him blind for a few seconds. As his eyes re-adjusted to the intense daylight, he slowly picked himself up and dusted the sand from his clothes. He was still in his slouchy pajamas and his favorite plain black tees. Shading his eyes from the sun, he looked around to get a better idea of his surroundings. He was in for the shock of his life as a strangely familiar landscape greeted his eyes.
There was sand all around him and in the distance he could see huge sea waves crashing onto the shore. He had seen this place before. This just wasn’t right. He wasn’t supposed to be here. His heart started pounding rapidly inside his chest and he broke off into a run to confirm his suspicion. Yes, there was no mistaking now! This place wasn’t real. This was the island inside the game he was just updating!
Aaron was still looking around, confused, trying to find a way out of this mess, when the Z-band strapped onto his wrist began beeping. The Z-band was an accessory which helped to deliver a more user-friendly experience to the players by allowing them to use console commands and the settings menu without having to reach for the keyboard or console. It could also be used for sending in-game messages and making selections. The beeping sound the smart-band was making was a notification tone. Aaron quickly pressed the little green button on its side to activate the holographic display.
Immediately, a 3D display accompanied by a female robotic voice greeted him.
[*WELCOME TO SOLARIS!*]
[You are a part of a biological experiment which seeks to turn humans into more efficient organisms so that they may be able to adapt to harsh climatic and atmospheric conditions and survive even in the most extreme environment. Your genetically engineered body will allow you to use certain skills which will help you on your perilous journey. Kill, devour and evolve! Do whatever it takes to survive!]
This was all too familiar to Aaron. He had heard this introductory narrative when he had just started a new game for the first time. He stared at the smart-band in disbelief. Though gaming technology had advanced by leaps and bounds, making Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) seem like reality, the games merely offered the players a heightened sense of immersion through the use of VR headsets and AR screens. They weren’t supposed to literally teleport the player into the game world!
He was still staring at his Z-band, when he suddenly saw something light up below him. He looked down to see that his left leg was on fire. He panicked and tried to put out the flames, but immediately a new fire started on his right leg.
“What the hell is going on?” he screamed in panic as his whole body caught fire and even his eyes started burning. “f**k!”
Screaming and crying, he threw himself on the beach to try and put out the flames by rolling in the sand. He rolled over and over again, but only managed to scrape his skin. The flames continued to burn. Strangely enough, he didn’t feel like he was on fire. After a while, he realized that the fire wasn’t actually burning him. It was just dancing on his skin without causing any harm. Perhaps he had dozed off while studying and this was just a wild dream? But it just felt too vivid to be a dream. He could smell the briny sea and feel the salty taste of the ocean spray on his tongue. No, if it were a dream, he wouldn’t be able to feel such sensations. He really had been teleported into the world of ‘Evolution Island’.
“Hey, Aaron! Can you hear me?”
It was Zach’s voice yelling over the team comms. Aaron got up from the ground, still engulfed in flames, and pressed the answer button on his Z-band and spoke into the device. “Zach, where the hell are you? I’m really screwed, man.”
“Did you also get teleported?”
“Yes! I’m standing on the beach. Where are you?”
“I’m on the beach as well. But I don’t see you.”
Aaron looked around to find some kind of a landmark which would help them find each other. The only thing which stood out against the sandy background was a coconut tree bearing overly ripe coconuts. This wasn’t just any random tree, but served as a marker. In the game, this tree served as a fast travel point which allowed players to directly teleport to this part of the map. Aaron walked up to the coconut tree and replied, “I am standing near the fast travel tree.”
“The fast travel tree?” Zach asked. “You mean the one on North Beach?”
“Yeah, there’s only one,” Aaron replied, a bit confused.
“That’s not good,” Zach sighed.
“What do you mean? And where the heck are you?”
“I’m on the other side, bro.”
“South Beach?”
“Yep, South Beach. Just near Elden Forest.”
“What do we do now? How do we get back to our room?” There was panic in Aaron’s voice.
“I thought you really wanted a more immersive gaming experience.”
“It’s not funny, man! I’m literally on fire!”
“Calm down dude. I’m pretty sure the fire isn’t gonna burn you. Even I’m pretty screwed up. My body is just transparent right now. I can even see my freaking lungs.”
“What the....”
“This must be some sort of a glitch,” Zach explained. “It looks like our characters have merged with our own bodies.”
“How’s that even possible?”
“I don’t know. None of this was supposed to happen.”
“We have to get out of this place!” Aaron yelled.
“Stop screaming! It’s not gonna fix anything. Do you see any way out?”
Aaron looked around for some kind of portal or doorway or any piece of gaming equipment lying on the beach, but there was absolutely nothing like that. They had been completely cut off from the real world. “There’s nothing in here. What the hell is going on?”
“I think I may have some idea. It seems our bodies have been replicated as 3D models and digitally rendered into this virtual world. This is a form of augmented virtual reality,” Zach concluded with some degree of doubt.
“If our actual body is still in the real world, why the hell can I feel so many sensations? Why does it feel like I’m really here?”
“That’s because your consciousness is connected to this digitally constructed body.”
“So, what happens if something bad happens to us in this world? What if we... die inside this game?” Aaron asked, gulping down a lump in his throat.
“Since our minds are connected to our digital bodies, I guess dying would cause severe trauma and possibly send us into a comma in the real world.”
“f**k! That’s just great....And what exactly are we supposed to do now?” he asked.
“We try to survive, bro. If this is really the world of Evolution Island, we’re screwed big time! For now, just find a...….ngle..cha....”
“Zach! Zach! You’re breaking up!”
Before Aaron could get in another word, the smart band displayed that Zach had been removed from the team chat due to a connection error. Confused and nervous, Aaron looked for a way to access the menu by using his smart band. A few button presses later, he was able to select his character.
[*Predator: Pyromancer*]
[Rank: Fledgling.
Level: 1.
Health Points (HP): 70/70
Energy Points (EP): 50/50
Physical Attack (P. Atk): 10
Magical Attack (M. Atk): 0
Physical Defense (P. Def): 5
Magic Defense (M. Def): 5
Armor Penetration (A.P): 0
Speed (SPD): 15
Critical Rate (C. Rate): 5%
Critical Damage (C. Dmg): 20]
Aaron reeled in shock as he went over the stats on his first page. The level 30 Pyromaniac which he had created was gone now. The data had been wiped clean and he was now forced to start over again as a level 1 Pyromancer Fledgling.
“What the f**k! God damn it!” he screamed, tearing at his hair. “My character is gone!”
His screaming tantrum was interrupted at last, by the rumbling of storm clouds overhead. Lighting streaked across the sky, followed by the growling thunder. Though it was still afternoon, the light from the sun was blocked by the gathering clouds. And then the first drops of rain fell from the sky.
Aaron winced in pain as the raindrops drizzled along his skin. “Argh, what the hell is this?” he screamed in agony, feeling the keen sting of the cold water on his flaming body. His Z-band started buzzing almost immediately and another notification popped up.
[*Inclement Weather Warning!*]
[Time: Afternoon
Weather: Torrential Rain
Status effect: Wet
Debuffs applied: 2
Debuff 1: Continuous HP decay
Debuff 2: All stats halved]
Aaron realized what was happening now. He remembered that his character was a Pyromancer and water was its biggest weakness. If he stayed out in the open for long, the continuous HP drain effect would end up killing him! He had to head inland and quickly find shelter!
- Writer
