An Dying Community

Short story. A man along with his acquaintances discuss the inevitable ending of an community they were a part of.

I walk upon the nearly barren wastelands. It is windy, my goggles help but not that much. Dirt flies across my goggles, getting my grey hoodie dirty. My armor is a bit smudged from the elements, however I remembered my destination LegendCentral. 

Once a grand place that brought people together. Made friends. Made lovers. Made enemies. Our own personal hangout. But now, an inactive wasteland. Few of us remain. 

As I walk, I glance at the  empty  stone homes. People I knew used to live there. I continue and then I stop.  This was her house. My mind was instantly flooded with more joyful memories.  It was as if everything around came to life again in my mind. I remembered people walking the streets, laughter, and a general happiness, however I was alone. Never was the most social person in the world. Even though this place was filled with people in its prime, I knew few. Then she took an liking to me. There were joyful hellos, disappointed goodbyes.

 Then I shake my head violently. She was gone. Never coming back.  And more importantly, any feelings she had for me weren't real. It was only all in my head. I keep walking, hoping nobody saw me pause.

Then, I approach the social bar. This was where most of us met up, and now where the last of us remain. I enter and take a quick look around the room. I spot only three people. 

 To the left side of the bar is a man named Knight. He wore an scarf and a cloak. Bits of green armor  on his wrists. He also wore some armored boots. 

On the other side was an cyborg man in his 40s. He had two red robotic eyes, along with a robotic arm. His name is Heir. He's the remaining ruler of this town. 

And then the last person was a woman with a cowboy hat. She had red hair, howeve no armor to speak of. She was an hunter. She is named Red. 

"I have returned from the oblivion." I joked quietly 

Red waved, the others did not say anything. I didn't expect much conversation. The other two were probably away. 

I sat at the center table not far away nor close to anyone. For about 30 minutes there was still silence. It saddened me to see this place in this kind of state, even though it was an common occurence. I could tell that the others didn't like it either.

"You know, there was nothing stopping anyone from staying." I said trying to get a conversation going. 

Knight nodded. Red looked away.

"Yes, even though this place was officially shut down, I got it back up and running again" Heir said.

"I guess it was the catlyst. The excuse everyone needed to.. break free of this place." I continued.

"Perhaps I should move on too, free myself of the shackles of this place." Heir replied.

That was shocking. Everyone always joked that Heir would be the last one here before the place was totally dead. Sometimes I thought I'd be here as well. I guess I couldn't blame him. 

"You know.. I wonder what would happen if they made a 2nd LegendCentral." I said. 

"Ha.. that would be funny. We'd be reincarnated in a way." Knight said. 

"Yep. In a way, and eventually it would be shut down as well. Starting the cycle again." I said a bit louder.

"We could go there, and pretend we're from a lost civilization." piped up Red.

"Heh, that's more my speed. Dramatic like." I replied

"What if there was a cycle before this one?" Knight asked 

"Well then the former members would be the oldest among us." I stated. 

"So...Heir" Red joked. 

Heir was silent for a moment. 

"Always making jokes about me." he said grumpily. 

I stood up making arm gestures you make when you pretend there's a ghost.

"Heiiiirrrrr you're an anciennnntttt beiinnnng" I joked

Red and Knight laughed. Heir frowned. 

"Well this was an nice talk guys, but I should get going." I said

"Goodbye" Red and Knight said. 

"Goodbye" Heir grumbled.

I laughed on my way out. It was sad, but the fact was this place was going to be completely inactive soon. So many memories ended, but I guess at the end of the day....everything ends. We all have to accept that. I exited the bar and then pressed a button my wrist. My body disappeared and I was back on the main menu screen. I then shut off my computer. 

Reviews

[DiskartetHaraya]

At first I thought this was going to be another post-apocalyptic story. I had two questions in mind reading it.

One, what happened? I was 1/3 done reading the story and I thought, how is the explanation going to fit in the rest of this piece of fiction which isn't a novel but a short story?

The second one was, given the state of things, was survival an issue? There's wastelands and armor mentioned in the opening paragraphs, how can there not be challenges to survival?

But lo and behold, in the end those details were in fact foreshadowing.

Plot twist, it was a video game! Regardless if the game was in itself designed to be post-apocalyptic, we're all familiar with that feeling when an online game we used to love ceases to be played, right? Or when we simply lose contact.

This story is great. May our appreciation of virtual reality's relevance to society never die. Long live video games.

[DiskartetHaraya]

Since I tend to write a lot to the point of losing clarity, I mean to say the two questions became less relevant in the end, and the sparse details that were actually mentioned in the story, worked.