mean, you'd think there would've been press releases ahead of time, calls for investors, shit, a Kickstarter campaign. Where did they get the money for this?
I type into the search bar Is Revelations real?
The screen floods with the responses I should've anticipated--discussions on the Biblical Book of Revelations. I should refine my search, but for a bit I just keep scanning the page titles and clicking on to the next set of results. In some way, the lack of responses I want is reassuring. Maybe it's all just coincidence and paranoia.
I turn away from the screen and look at the gaming chair and my neurolinx helmet. It couldn't hurt if I stick to Hell bound missions, right?
“Descend.”
I’ve only been in the Queue five minutes when the crush of bodies seem to get closer. A hard shove against my shoulder.
“Loser,” someone hisses.
A savage blow is delivered to my side. The game’s pain dampeners soften it, but I suffer fifteen points of damage.
“Where do you think you are?” another passing demon says. He’s laughing, most definitely at me.
What the hell is going on?
“Look what we have here, boys.” Rot’s familiar voice rakes across my skull. “Seems someone got a bit confused about the difference between Ahh-scend and Dee-scend.”
Rot’s decayed mouth swings on strained threads of sinew as he guffaws at his own joke. The three demons with him laugh as well. The sound is closer to a group of cats fighting than laughter. I try to ignore them and push ahead--I’ve got to find a place to pause and figure out what’s happening. Before I can leave, Rot and his men are on their feet, blocking my way.
“I don’t recall saying you could leave.” Rot sneers.
“Fuck off, Rot. I don’t have time for you today.”
The words come out before I can contain them. It’s a mistake. I have flashing Aggro warnings dancing across my screen. Seems the three closest to Rot weren’t the only ones from his clan in the area.
“I don’t know who you think you are, noob...but no one talks to me like that.”
Funny, I do. And noob? What is going on?
No time to wonder, I need to act. I can already feel spells pressing down on me.
I have a gem stone woven into my armour. It cost me ten levels on every spell I know, but it was worth it. The gem prevents any player whose level is lower than my own to successfully cast a spell on me. I do my best to never be stupid enough to take on a player higher levelled than me, so it’s damn useful. Especially now. Multiple spells are being deflected. Even though their intended purpose doesn’t happen, I still feel a tingle where I should be affected. For instance, my mouth tingles with the spells cast to silence my own magic. My legs register the impact of spells meant to slow me down. My torso from the spells meant to lower my defence levels.
One of the demons breaks from the ranks and charges me. The players in the Queue dash for cover, giving room for this rare showdown. I wait until the last moment to roll away, dodging the charger’s onslaught. As I roll to my feet, I draw my sword from its scabbard.
Fire jumps from the hand guard of the sword, running upward until the entire sword is ablaze.
“Holy shit.” I almost drop the damn thing I’m so surprised. No time to figure it out, I just know it’s caused my attackers to back off a bit.
Something hits my back, tossing me into the air. The pain dampeners kick in, but I still feel aches in my chest. My damage points take a big hit. Another two like that and I’ll be eating grass. Obviously not everyone is intimidated by the sword’s flames.
The charger.
Aggro ratings spike--his lucky hit has inspired his clan mates.
I need room to breathe. I raise the index and middle finger of my left hand and then bend my remaining fingers down to form an ‘o’ with my thumb. Every player creates their own hand position for casting spells. It helps to reduce the number of unintentional misfires. Like I said, spells are all thought. The hand position is a way of focusing that thought into action.
Wall of Flame.
I’m encircled in flames jumping ten feet into the air, pushing back the charger, Rot, and his cronies.
Disorient.
A crowd control spell. If it’s successful it will cause most of the people in the Queue to feel muddled and will play havoc with their aim.
Smoke Screen.
One more crowd control spell. Hard to attack what you can’t see.
I hit pause.
Now just what is going on? Quick, quick, quick, I need a solution. I just levelled up, so I'm not worried about losing experience points, but if I die in the Queue, I'll just respawn here and Rot and his boys will be waiting for me.
I pull up my player status screen. Immediately, I realize what the problem is.
My avatar looks different.
When I started the game, I'd spent years playing as humanoid characters like dark elves. So instead of teeth and claws, I chose a sword as my weapon and made my avatar more humanoid in appearance. I made the skin ash grey and raised the ears into a point. I also reddened the eyes and brought the hair line forward into a more sinister point. Humanoid, but definitely not an angel.
That's different now.
My skin has a slight bronze tan, my eyes are blue--to the point where they appear to glow--and my hairline has softened. Even the angle of my avatar's jaw has been altered from an angular point to a softer round.
My avatar has been remade into an angel. What the fuck?
Well, not quite, it looks a little too rugged for an angel, but I'm closer to it than any other citizen of hell.
Have I been hacked?
Is this some kind of joke because I reached...
Ah, I see. I am an angel. The game has taken my appearance into its own hands--I've even been locked out of the customization options. I stare at my new face a few minutes more. I guess I'm not opposed to it, but what a pain in the ass if everyone in hell thinks I'm either an angel to fight or some angel loving newb.
Geezus, they don’t know what I am. All sorts of people claim they’ve reached the Fallen Angel level, but none mentioned this, and everyone in the Queue seems surprised. Could I be the first?
Shut up. Don’t worry about that right now. I need solutions. What new skills did I pick up?
Here's the Sword of Flame skill I already discovered. The default setting is to activate whenever I draw my sword. I'll leave it like that for now. It gives my sword a significant boost in the damage it deals.
A Warding spell.
Allows the caster to place wards preventing demon entry. Useful for securing territory buildings in hell and preventing other demons from opening chests.
My pulse quickens. It won't help me here, but in the future... I'll think more about it once I'm out of this situation.
What else. Come on, I'm a Fallen Angel, I've got to have something...
Yes!
I unpause, crouch down, and summon my newest ability.
Wings.
Not the white, glowing, wings of Heavenly angels. These wings are so black they absorb the light.
I leap into the air. The wings are like another set of arms on my back. In the same way I only have to think about moving my arm to grab something, I just think I need to fly, and the wings respond. I rise upward, the smoke swirling and shifting with each flap of my wings. The crowd can see me--most stand with their mouths open. They know the truth now, I'm no angel wannabe, nor am I an angel from Heaven. The way Hell works, they’ll line up by the hundreds now, thousands maybe, to try and take me out. All so they can brag on the boards that they killed a Fallen Angel.
I should’ve picked Heaven. I bet there’s fewer assholes up there.
I soar up into the sky. In this circle, it looks blue and full of clouds. There's a ceiling to it, eventually. Maybe one day I'll reach up high enough to touch it. Today, I streak forward, reveling in freedom, heading toward the Eternal Plains to find a bit of peace.
Wings. I can fly.
<
br /> I can fly, I can fly, I can fly, I can fly.....
Peter Pan. My mom's favourite Disney movie.
How many times did we watch that together when I was a kid? Every time I was sick and stayed home from school, and then at least another four times a year on top of that. She hasn't turned that video on since dad...
The center of the Eternal Plains is empty. I touch down on the soft grass and collapse to my ass. Flying is amazing, but it's drained my stamina points. I'll have to focus on leveling that up if I want to fly further and faster.
In my menu, I return to the Warding spell.
I've waited months for this.
When real life sucks, to be offered a chance to escape somewhere else--to be strong, powerful, and a person of influence--it’s like a drug. When I put on that helmet I'm not just playing a game, I'm immersing myself into a different life. I'm shaping myself into someone I could never be in the real world. The fact this game allows me to experience it like I'm truly living in its world is too much to resist. But the one thing the game has lacked is a place to call my own. Hell is filled with players who look to pick fights to prove how badass they are. And if it isn't another player hassling you, there's some NPC looking to do battle. The boards said there was a way to have your own space--a place where you could be safe and alone. Now I have the ability to give myself that.
But what if the game is real?
It doesn't matter--I have what I need. I'll carve a little piece of hell out for myself and spend my time enjoying my own space. If I feel the need to do missions, I'll just do the hell bound ones. Can’t get into too much trouble killing demon NPCs.
It’s just a game.