Game Over

A simple introduction to our protagonist, Conan Parker.

 

“Its quiet…” thought the star pilot, “…too quiet.” Predictably, the combat computer buzzed to life.   “Bleedeep Bleedeep,” sounded the computer, as it displayed its warning. “Alphadog237, 15 enemy fighters approaching at high velocity.” read the text. Conan’s brain automatically translated the meaningless game speak into usable information. “Okay, fifteen baddies, and they’re fast,” he thought, and as if to verify, a swarm of swift dots appeared on his HUD as their counterparts rushed to greet him. “No problem, a few plasma mines should take care of them,” he thought as he pulled the secondary trigger. “Bleedeep!” chirped the computer as the message “PLASMA MINES ENGAGED” flashed on the screen. “Take this!” thought Conan, as he pulled down on the analog stick and released the secondary trigger. A satisfying boom told him that he’d hit his target as he shot upward, and seven dots dropped off his HUD to confirm. “Seven down, eight to go,” thought Conan as he wheeled around to face fire off a volley of laser shots. Seven more dots dropped off the HUD as the glowing bullets found their marks. “One left,” Conan thought. “Bleedeep!” chirped the computer as a red warning strobed over the screen. “ENEMY FIGHTER HAS ARMED SEVERAL GRAVITY MISSILES. EVASIVE ACTION IS SUGGESTED,” read the warning. “No problem,” thought Conan as he zigged and zagged to avoid the oncoming missiles. Not-so-predictably, he heard a familiar voice: “Conan, dinnertime!” shouted his mother from the kitchen. “I’ll be there in a minute!” Conan replied down the hall. An explosion sounded in his ears as he turned back toward his screen just in time to watch the screen flash “GAME OVER.” “Dang,” thought Conan as he got up to head to dinner. “I forgot to zig.”

 

                Dinner, as always, was quiet and quick. Noone ever talked much aside from the usual “How are you?” and “How was your day?” And they’re respective answers. Conan thought the only reason anyone even bothered to come down to dinner was to remind themselves what everyone else looked like. Conan had been a loner as long as he could remember. He’d learned to fend for himself at an early age, and he’d never been that good at making friends. He hadn’t even smiled in the past few years. He wasn’t depressed or anything, he just hadn’t had much to smile about. After a few minutes of dull silence, and the clatter of silverware on china, he headed back up to his room. He shut off the vintage TV that he’d left on before dinner, and proceeded to his computer. He logged onto his usual gamer chat room, and proceeded to type:

 

Alphadog237: Hey guys.

ProfessorQ: Finally u logged on!

Alphadog237: Why, exactly, were u waiting 4 me?

TekE1337: Awesome news!

Alphadog237: One of u loserz actually got a girlfriend?

ProfessorQ: Haha. Very funny. There’s a new video game out!

Alphadog237: U consider this news? This is 2130! New games come out every few minutes.

TekE1337: Not like this one! Here’s the link: mtep://www.o2s2k.com/spacesiege.badass*

Alphadog237: Ok I’ll check this out.

 

Conan double tapped the link, and in almost 3.421 nanoseconds (Conan reminded himself to upgrade his RAM module by a few terabytes.) the game’s web site was displayed before him.  What he saw almost made him smile. Almost.

 

(*Author’s note: internet was rendered obsolete in 2021.  http was replaced by mtep, which means mega text extra-net protocol.  Extra net is the new internet.)

“Astounding.” Conan said, as he perused the text on his holographic monitor. “I’ve never seen such hi-resolution graphics. Its better than hi-def.” He returned to the chat room.

 

Alphadog237: Wow. I might just stop using my old vintage games for this.

ProfessorQ: I thought you’d like it.

Alphadog237: What about this storyline though… it just says the player’s a soldier in a war over natural resources… with another planet.

TekE1337: Its an MMORPG. No storylines.

Alphadog237:  Oh. Wait… it doesn’t say what system its for.

ProfessorQ: Its like one of those ancient arcade games. That’s all you get.

Alphadog237: So I’m paying 300 bucks for just one game?

ProfessorQ: Yep.

TekE1337: Pretty much.

Alphadog237: Y?

TekE1337: It’s a Virtual Reality game!

Alphadog237: Bullshit! People have been trying to create virtual reality since before video games!

ProfessorQ: And it only took us 160 years to work it out.

Alphadog237: Might as well buy it. Its not like I’ve got anything better to spend my money on.

 

                With that, Conan shut off his computer. He didn’t have anything to do today besides play video games, so he decided he might as well head out and buy a copy at his favorite game store. He put on his coat and his oxygen mask, grabbed his wallet, and stepped into the airlock. A sickly green smog greeted him as he left his home. Green smog today. Not corrosive, so there’s nothing to worry about, he thought as he calmly walked down the lane, stepping over the corpse of a suffocated hobo, and caught the downtown bus. He didn’t speak to anyone, merely stood up at his stop, and walked out of the little bubble of clean air into a pocket of yellow smog. Yellow smog… not so good. I’m allergic to this. If I don’t get out soon, I’ll itch for days, thought Conan as he ran through the choking, crusty mustard yellow gas. Soon he burst out of the wall of yellow, into something that threw him. A pocket of transparency. Well that’s unexpected. Clean air pockets weren’t predicted in today’s weather, mused Conan as he slowed his pace. Just as he neared his destination, The D-Pad game store, the wind changed direction to face him. As he looked up, survival instincts flared into action at the sight of the vicious, blood red smoke, billowing toward him. S**T! thought Conan. Red smoke is gaseous base. If I’m in that for more than a minute, I’m as good as dead! Without thinking he darted into the cloud, desperate to get to the D-Pad before the airlock was sealed. He could feel his skin beginning to get slippery, as his eyes began to water. Suddenly he couldn’t breathe. His mask was failing. Sweat mixed with the soap that was forming from his skin as he sprinted. He saw the doors begin to close. Music from an old movie… Indiana something-or-other, played in his mind. He dove to leap over the bones and gooey red residue from someone who hadn’t escaped, and just barely managed to get into the airlock seconds before it sealed. A soft sucking noise at his feet began devouring the corrosive fumes, and replacing them with clean O₂. As soon as the evil red vapors disappeared, he tore off his mask and gasped for breath, as the door into the store opened.

 

“Good evening…” said Dean, the man behind the counter. “Whoa, Conan! What happened to you!? You look like a popsicle in a laser oven!”

“I got caught in a red cloud, Dean.” Conan wheezed as he walked toward the counter. “And the algae cartridge in my mask died.”

“I’ve got some re-skinner behind the counter if you want it,” said Dean, reaching down.

“As long as the needle’s clean,” said Conan as he took the syringe full of a pale purple liquid. He drew back his sticky, gooey sleeve, and pushed the needle into his arm. He felt the effects of the neurotoxins immediately. What was left of his skin started to tingle as his already bare nerves became super-sensitve. A searing pain surged over him as his body reacted, extracting protein from his muscles to form a new layer of skin over the naked nerves. He hunched over, feeling like he would vomit. A surging wave of side-effective pain forced him to his knees. His senses scrambled. He smelled the gray on the tiles. He tasted his heartbeat. He heard the pungent sweat and dissolved flesh. Then everything went black. 

Author's Note

Finally finished the first chapter!

Reviews

[anthony lopez]

IT IS REALLY GOOD! I CAN'T WAIT EITHER! GREAT JOB!

[Anonymous]

I really like it. You definitly grabbed my attention. And I can't wait to see what happens next! ^_^