Logging in! Open your Third Eye!
There was definitely something special about those candies. It could
not be explained, but they were the most succulent sweets
one could ever get one's fingers on.
Well… Maybe that was an exaggeration, but truly: they... were... Delicious.
It wasn't just because they were shaped
like cute little crocodiles, oh no. That was one
reason why they were so amazing. There
was also the fact that they came in five different shiny colors and
flavors, and also because of
how soft they were, yet hard
to chew at the same time. It simply felt satisfying taking one, chewing it, swallowing it, then taking another one in an endless cycle
of utter gustatory pleasure. Well, endless until there were none left,
in which case going back to Jelly's GummyGator to
buy a new candy box was necessary, but the pleasure delivered by these
chemically-produced wonders was truly worth it.
Yes. There was definitely something
special about those candies. And there was nothing like sitting down on
a bench inside a crowded building
and waiting while enjoying another pack of GummyGators.
“Can I have some?”
Fulguro looked next to him, frowning. A kid was gazing at his candy box with
the biggest puppy eyes he had ever seen. the kid's smile, however, could be
placed right between cute and creepy. But, if he was one that could also
enjoy the wonderful candies that were
the GummyGators…
“Sure!” Fulguro replied, to the kid's joy. “Take
one of each flavor. I've got enough for myself anyway.”
“Five for me? Aw, thanks,
mister!”
Fulguro raised
an eyebrow. “Mister?
Hey, I'm sixteen years old, y'know. Not exactly old yet.”
The kid sat on the bench as well and
began eating his GummyGators. “Oh. Well I'm only thirteen, so, anyone above my age looks so…
tall. And you're kinda tall, anyway.”
“I'm pretty
average-sized for my age, actually, but I'll
take that as a compliment.” Fulguro gazed at the boy, intrigued.
Aside from his yellow
trousers and brown shoes, he
was wearing a safety
vest-shaped jacket with a green cross painted on the back, as well as
a hat with the exact same cross painted on it. Even his backpack had
similar features.
“So, um…” Fulguro asked, uneasy, “is your class having a safety measure
check here or something?”
The kid swallowed his last two
candies at the same time. “Nope! I'm just
going to participate in the competition thingy. Then
I'm probably joining the Cyberbase with
everyone else.”
“Ah. Let me guess: your
parents think that you'll never learn anything by just playing your
stupid video games, and when you learned about ThirdEye's
new game, you came here to prove them wrong?”
The kid grinned at Fulguro. “Bingo! Same thing for you?”
“Kind of. That and I wanted see how different it would be from
regular school. My parents are allowing me to stay one year, to see
if it's worth it or not. Schools that teach you stuff with virtual
reality don't open up every day, after all.”
“I know, right? I was so excited when they announced it! What's
your nickname on Muster Heroes?”
“Fulguro. Yours?”
“Mettrick. I wanted to go with Mettricky, but I dunno, I
preferred it without the "y". Easier to pronounce.”
“Oh? Personally I wanted to go with a pun with my actual name.
As in, Fulguros, since my name's–”
“Nononono don't tell me! Didn't you read the leaflet when you
entered here? We're not supposed to give away our names and
identities until our classes are formed!”
“Oh, Sorry. Point is, I wanted to make a pun.”
“Right. But is that a reference from somewhere? Your nickname,
I mean.”
“Oh, yeah, it is. A cartoon I
used to watch. Shoogazz: Tension Hunter.
I really loved it. I love
stuff about electricity in general, to be honest.”
“Oh! I heard about it! It stopped airing a while ago, I think.
Is that where your T-shirt comes from?”
Fulguro looked at
it.
He had almost forgotten he was wearing what he liked to call his
“gamer's attire”: simple deep blue trousers, equally deep
blue shoes and a T-shirt featuring his favorite fictional character:
Volthorn the Electric Pegasus. “Oh, that. Yeah,
it comes from there. I bought it in a convention a while ago. Long
story.”
“I've got time!”
As if to prove Mettrick wrong, a
bell suddenly resounded in the dome-shaped
building, interrupting every conversation in it. People began looking
around,
buzzing like flies.
“Your attention please!”
a female voice said through a distant speaker. “Welcome
to the Cyberbase of Q-Cubris! We apologize for making you all wait
for so long, and we thank you for your patience. The first
Competitive Test will begin a few moments, so the participants of the
event are welcomed to enter the Entertainment Areas.”
“It's starting!”
Mettrick exclaimed. “Gosh, I'm so excited!”
“Well, let's join the others, then. And good luck, Mettrick.”
“You too!”
The duo shook hands before walking
towards the edge of the hall.
They climbed the large stairs
with the crowd. People of all
ages had gathered for the event, and their general excitement was
apparent. When they reached the second floor, everyone stopped,
speechless.
In front of their eyes layed what
could only be described as a giant
futuristic arcade room. Artificial
white, green and blue lights enlightened the wide place, which was filled with desks and comfortable-looking leather armchairs. A bulky helmet with
inbuilt headphones was sitting in each of them, awaiting for the
players to put them on. At the edge of the arcade room, there was one
desk bigger than the others, with an armchair already occupied.
“Greetings, dear players!”
exclaimed the man sitting on it. He rose up, showing off his fancy
attire: a black business suit covering a white shirt, complimented
with a simple red tie. It all
seemed to fit perfectly with his chocolate-like tanned skin.
“Really sorry, but my boss wanted me to be as handsome as
possible for you guys, though I really wanted to wear something more…
Um… relaxed, if you see what I mean.”
Several people in the crowd laughed, while others nodded, smiling.
“Putting that aside, thank you
all for coming! I don't think you realize it, but there are two
thousand and
four hundred people planned to come here today, and you guys only
represent the first wave,
so to speak. Point being, WOW,
that's a lot, and we at ThirdEye
Industries
really thank you all, because it wouldn't have been possible without your will to actually come and participate in this experiment. And
speaking of which, I know some of you might be eager to put on those
Third Eyes sitting there, but I need to explain you all exactly what
you're getting yourselves into.”
The man let a nervous smile grow on his face and took an armchair in order to sit on it,
putting aside the helmet that was there before. “Right. Sorry, I promise it
won't take too long. So, greetings again, everyone. Now, you've read
the leaflets, you know the rules: I'm not giving you my name yet,
only my nickname. You can call me Mentor Ferrust
– though my friends
like to call me Rusty. So, as
you've realized by now, I've been selected along with a few others to
be the first Mentor of Q-Galis' Cyberbase. I know that the city is
far from being the biggest around the country, but the point is for
everyone to enjoy the experiment, no matter how many there are."
Ferrust rose from the armchair and walked around the room, hands behind his back. "A
Cyberbase – such as this one – is a giant arcade in which anyone can
participate to learn through gaming sessions." he continued. "Muster Heroes,
our brand new game, uses this new educational system to its fullest.
In other words, it's like a school, except that you're learning
through social interactions, virtual
exploration and cultural references that you need to figure out
alone,
or with the help of a guide such as myself."
He stopped walking and stared at the crowd, now serious. "You're not playing the
game just for entertainment,
but also
for your own, personal growth. That's the whole point of the
experience, and my colleagues and I will be there to
make sure everything goes according to that plan.
I hope you'll all get along, as your skills
and maturity matters much more than your age. Oh,
and aside for the Entertainment Areas, there is also a huge library
located in the Cyberbase, a cafeteria, and a few more areas that are
there only for your comfort. We'll be sure to introduce you to
everything once the test is over. And be careful, because it's going to be long.”
He sighed and flashed a much less professional grin. “Now, folks! Get ready for a
lot of fun… And excitement!
Let the very first Competitive Test for Q-Galis' central Cyberbase
begin! We'll be sure to make
everyone comfortable,
and we do have extra arcade rooms when we reach the limit of this
one. C'mon people,
let's move!”
It took
quite some time to place every
player in the arcade room –
and the adjacent ones for the extra players – but after
several minutes of chaotic movement, everyone was finally ready, the
Third Eye placed on their
heads.
Fulguro had found a place at the far right of the room, excited like the others. Mettrick was right next to him, smiling as well.
“Ok then!”
Ferrust exclaimed. “I see that everyone's in place, so it's
time to begin. First off, you'll be thrown in your solo rooms.
You've all completed your solo quests, so you all already had at
least one experience with the game. With that said, let's go,
people! Open your Third Eyes!”
Fulguro
pressed a button on the helmet, and the famous eye-like feature at
the center of it lit up. The teenager closed his eyes and let himself
be transported to the virtual realm of Muster Heroes.
.. or maybe they're just genuinely awesome sweets who knows?
)
Points: 17344
Reviews: 293
Donate