The Eternal Sleep

Find and Retrieve

    Luca felt weightless, and a distinct awareness that he was falling. Despite doing this many times, he doesn’t think he’ll ever get accustomed to it. His center of gravity settled, and light flooded into his eyes. Taking a moment to re-orient himself, he glanced around and took in the hustle and bustle of the game world.

    The Willow Town was crafted like an old-time village, medieval buildings and old taverns, and the center was thriving with life as usual. He could hear the composer's music that played softly in the air, and the sounds of chatter that followed you, no matter where you went. It was the only town that placed itself between the rest of the game and the ‘Edge’.

    He looked at himself in the mirror as a compulsory check that came with the rules of the game, to ensure that no glitches appeared in the created avatar and that the player is aware of any new updates. Neck length, blue hair was absentmindedly combed to the side as he adjusted his leather jacket and fingerless gloves, feet shifting from habitual movement in the high boots that were a tasteful insight by Rena.

    After the mandatory check, he tore bright, silver eyes away from the mirror and stepped off the portal platform, acclimating to the rush of music in his ears. Some players waved at him in greeting; others continued their conversions with friends, magic and weapons casted around like every-day utensils.

    The portal platform where he arrived was, as the name suggested, a platform between four fancy poles that allowed players to portal from one town to another in a matter of seconds, it was also the place where players respawned if they died on a quest or in a street battle, giving them full health again with the price of coins and inventory items.

    Now, it was time to figure out what Jay had been up to in the last hour or two, he had the tendency to wander if something interesting caught his attention. He walked to the ‘Edge’, absently noting how the lighting became dimmer and the sound of the music faded, in its place was a mystic reverberation that faintly resembled a lo-fi beat that washed a sense of peace over the area.

    The ‘Edge’ was the end of ‘The Eternal Sleep’ platform. Instead of just linking the world like a sphere, the creators allowed it to be flat, lining the underneath in clouds and filtered it with serene music. It was lined with a waist-height banister painted with characters from fairy-tales found on the game.

    It was popular place to hang-out and talk, and less significantly, jumping off the platform without the real-life consequences. Luca, along with the rest of his rag-tag crew had tried it, it far more resembled sky diving rather than something to be weary of. Players simply respawned in the portal platform without any loss of inventory items.

    Unsurprisingly, a figure was already sitting on the banister, feet dangling calmly over the side. The figure had short black hair that faded into green, a black hooded, knee-length jacket, boots similar to Luca’s own and a rifle strapped to his back. 

    Luca thumped his hand on Jay’s shoulder as a greeting before leaning against the banister, looking over the endless expanse and never-ending sunrise. The breeze moved gently, a soft wave though this hair and clothes, allowing his jacket to float like a dramatic movie.

    “Odd seeing you so quiet for once.” Luca smiled at Jay.

    “Haha, I can be quiet.” At Luca’s raised eyebrow, he relented, “But that’s so boring though, I mean we already have one guy that barely talks.”

    “I guess we do need someone to talk twice as much to make up for it.” Luca laughed, “Speaking of, any idea where the others are?”

    “Nope, well Rena’s here but she went to paint in this new place she found in the old city.” Jay turned around and jumped off the banister, nodding his head to the town before walking slowly, Luca followed him silently, “I was with her for a while when I realised, I had time to get some coins.”

    “And did you?”

    “I tried… but it didn’t end well.” Jay stopped and waved his hand, a small screen appeared in front of him, Luca leaned next to him to get a better look. It seemed like Jay lost more coins than he earned them, unfortunately. “My small quest turned out to be a fight to the death… and I lost.”

    “While that sucks, I hope you plan on earning these coins by yourself.” Luca jogged to catch up with Jay, the mystic music fading back into the light-hearted tavern music.

    “Nope!”

    Luca still couldn’t understand how he’d managed to get roped into his. One minute he was standing next to the ‘Edge’, having a peaceful moment, the other, he was handed a flyer for a high paying quest from the board in a tavern and dragged through a portal platform to the centre of the old city of ‘Porta-res-Fernada’.

    Sure, he was willing to help Jay earn some money back on a quest, but if he failed, he’d lose half of his own coins as the game’s form of payment to respawn. It would be even worse if they took enough health damage to lose things from their inventory.

     Jay was a formidable fighter in the game, skilled with both knives and guns, Luca had trained with all in the simulations that the gyms offered but he was most proficient with a sniper’s weapon. If Jay couldn’t handle this quest with his skill level, Luca had no idea why he thought adding a sniper would be of any extra use.

    “So… you want to explain the quest to me? Or am I going in blind as usual.” Luca distractedly asked as he glanced at the damaged buildings and empty roads.

    “Ouch, one, that was one time and two… it’s a find an’ retrieve mission.” Jay sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

    “You lost a find and retrieve quest, really?” Luca stared at him in shock. “You have to be kidding me.”

    “Hay, look, it wasn’t as easy as it sounds okay, there is a reason why this quest pays so much, beside, you do not want to see what that little kid turns into when you don’t find all the things she want.”

    “Dear Eternal Sleep, this is so dumb.”

    Jay led them into an open area, a single water fountain in the middle. On the benches surrounding the plaza, there were a couple people milling about and chatting, the grey cobblestone design of the ground muffling the sound of their boots. Jay wasted no time walking up to the fountain and resting his hand on the water, a blue screen appeared.

    “Several things, Little things. Very dear, for much I care. Find them, Retrieve them. Or face my fear.” Luca read the rhyme to the side of the description screen, “That last part doesn’t sound to reassuring.”

    “Like I said, you don’t want to see what she turns into.” Jay glanced back at him.

    “How did you manage to lose this?”

    “It’s timed, I didn’t realize. Every five minutes, things move around and at the last five minutes, she turns, so we have to be quick, you in?”

    “Fine, if I lose though, you own me half of the coins you earn for all three quests you win after this.” Luca huffed and double tapped his chest to pull up his stats screen.

    “Deal.” Jay entered the information and clicked the ‘Go’ button. “We have ten minutes prep time.”

    Luca grabbed Jay in surprise as his weight disappeared, his breath stuck in his lungs. He stumbled as he was abruptly lifted thirty feet in the air, Jay pulled him closer so he wouldn’t fall. The ground stabilized and the city rebuilt itself in seconds. The streets empty of life and unnervingly quiet.

    “You need to warn me before you do that!” Luca punched Jay in the arm, not that it mattered, they couldn’t feel pain.

    If there are other people present that are not in a quest, the game would create a second copy of the area above that would be invisible to anyone except those in the quest. It allowed both groups of players to remain uninterrupted or not be distracted. It was very disorienting, however, if the players were not aware it was going to happen.

    “Why, this is far more fun!” Jay dodged another punch.

    “I hate you.” Luca said without malice and waved his hand to pull up his screen again as it had disappeared when he fell. “Okay, what is it exactly you want me to do?”

    “Eyes in the buildings, it’s easier if there’s a pair of eyes overlooking the whole thing. You look from on top and tell me where anything is on the comms so I can get it faster, rather than both of us being back and forth.”

    Luca hummed an affirmative, looking at his stats screen. On it was an outline of his avatar on the left, his clothes and weapons translucently blueprinted on his person. The right was his health bar, that amount of coins he carried, his achievement list and a couple other options such as weapons choice, inventory and avatar design. He clicked the weapons list and quickly scrolled through, adding a standard scoped sniper and a teleportation totem that he’d earned on a previous quest.

    “Time’s up.” Jay nodded at him, a bat in his hands and a standard handgun in a holster on his thigh.

    “I’m ready. “ A five-second count down appeared in front of them.