Digitas Chapter 2

Leon looked nonchalant as he stoked the virtual fire with his make-shift walking staff. Fire was cheap. He took a glance at his Pixels; he had plenty from the killing spree. Without thinking, he opened up his menu again only to be met with the same greyed out option in his ‘logout’ tab. This was supposed to be a dream come true; a miracle of sorts, yet he felt an uncertain disconnect, that something was now amiss. Could it be a bug in the programming?

 

Digitas has been online for nearly a decade now; they ran into a few problems and set-backs in the first year as expected of any launch especially one of a full-scale virtual reality world but most of them have been promptly fixed and heavily regulated. After all, they were dealing with the consciousness with almost half the population of the world.

 

“Interesting, I still live.” A female voice chimed disrupting his thoughts. “Is it because it’s me?”

 

“Lady, let’s be clear. On a usual day, you would already have loss a significant portion of your pixels and kissing the air of the Capital by now.” Leon retorted. “You of all people.” He added with emphasis.

 

Pixel hoarding. If it were a disease, Leon would have been diagnosed with it ten times over. Pixels were the basic living blocks of Digitas. It can be shaped, reformed, transferred and serves as the main recognized currency in all five continents of the virtual world. One could say it is life itself.

 

“You do know they don’t pay me in pixels right? This outfit is the only thing I have. Just here to look pretty.” The female smirked.

 

Leon turned his face slightly, his slight double chin visible from the natural contour of the tilt emphasized by the embers of the young campfire. Unique armor set. No apparent prior gaming experience, annoyingly perky behavior and a downright impossible positive attitude. That can only be a Community Manager; celebrities hired to promote Digitas. It was Leon’s custom to hide the ID toolbar that will hover over a player’s head; he didn’t care for their names but this time he squinted hard at her ID. It read, “CM.Scarlett”.

 

Scarlett beamed with an air of noble arrogance realizing that her identity has been found out. “Yes, perhaps you will treat me better now…Hey!”

 

Leon was already a good hundred meters away, making his way to the nearby cliff wall. He stood for a bit surveying his surroundings before muttering a few words. Light glowed around him and then a sudden crack, echoing across the otherwise naked plains. It was getting darker, and Leon knew he had to be ready. Using what pixels he had, he reimagined the clay and debris from the earth around him and formed it to a small palisade and within minutes a small shack formed. Now, for a light source.

 

Leon gripped his sword as he hastened to keep the flame alive. The world was significantly darker now that the sun has set. Digitas employed a very realistic engine; it had its own Day/Night Cycle. 18 hours of Day and 10 hours of Night to be precise. The imbalance keeps it fair for players from all time zones. Night times were particularly dangerous. Roaming monsters and wandering souls were much stronger in the night and they had ever changing extra abilities that kept even the elite on their toes.

 

“Nice place you have.” Scarlett remarked behind a startled Leon. “I approve.” She added as she flicked on her fingertip menu.

 

“NO!” Leon screamed but it was too late; Scarlett had pressed the button. Leon sighed as he witnessed his fame counter rose. “Thank you oh so very much. Do you have any idea how hard is it to remain fameless? For your Information, I revel in infamy.” Leon added with a curse, staring Scarlett down.

 

“Im- so-sor-, here I will help you keep the fire up.” Scarlett stuttered a little, avoiding eye contact before finishing it with a hint of her usual crisp, perky tone.

 

“Look, just go away. I don’t need you, teleport back to the capital. You aren’t ready for the night out here.” Leon barked as he pictured a bedroll and projected it onto the floor. The magically imbued palisades and torches should keep the spawns at bay or at least the weaker ones. Or so he hoped as Leon tucked himself in, bracing for a long haul, wouldn’t be his first. His rampant kill streaks have made him a heavily wanted man. He had never seen past the gates of a Free City in the longest time.

 

“I ….I couldn’t.” Scarlett whispered after a moment of silence. “The teleport stones. They don’t work.”

 

Leon eyes flicked open. The stones aren’t working? That is a game changer indeed… Something was very amiss. First the inability to logout and now, they cannot teleport between populated cities? Without teleportation, travel would take an unbelievably long time on foot.

 

“Guys …. I pray that you guys aren’t logged in now…” he muttered to himself as he seated himself upright. He won’t be sleeping tonight.

Author's Note

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