Van nodded, but didn’t speak. He felt his heart in his throat as he looked at the tube.
“Hey, man, listen, I know it was kind of crazy last time we were in there, but this is different. We’ve got a full team backing us up now. They think they’ve figured out how to eject us anytime the game gets crazy. We aren’t going to die in there. We’re going to march in there, do some reconnaissance, and kick some weird alien ass. How does that sound?”
Van looked up at her and met her gaze. She seemed strong, confident and ready for action. The way she held herself was reassuring, as there was nothing but excitement and hunger in her eyes.
“Are… are you sure we can do this?” Van asked.
“Where is this coming from?” Sang responded, slapping him on the shoulder. “I thought you were an expert gamer who wasn’t afraid of anything.”
“When I was an expert gamer, the only thing I was worried about was losing fake internet points and my items,” Van replied. “Not dying. The only time I was worried about death was when I realized I had forgotten to eat for 12 hours straight.”
“Look, you have a choice here, Van. You can step up and serve your country and the world. You can come with me on some incredible adventure, fight bad guys, get paid, and have a blast. Or you can… go home. Buy a little haptic system for yourself. Play this game as just a regular player, and try to pretend that you are blissfully unaware of what’s going on here. You do have a choice, my friend. You can be the PC or the NPC. The hero or the shopkeeper. What’s it gonna be?”
“I’m legitimately surprised you used a gaming term right,” Van said with a smile. “Of course, I’m following you. I just wish I wasn’t this nervous. Trefor’s death spooked me like you wouldn’t believe.”
“I read the autopsy last week; crazy stuff, but don’t worry. We’re going to be fine,” Sang said as she lifted open her pod. “You ready?”
Van nodded and lifted his own pod open. It was eerie how coffin-like it looked on the inside.
“All systems are go!” called an engineer from the command room. Above them was a long glass balcony full of government workers who were monitoring the haptic pods. The CIA had put plenty of resources into this mission, and they had gone from a decrepit abandoned office to an actual counter-terrorism facility located somewhere in Washington.
“See you on the other side,” Sang said as she clambered into her pod and laid perfectly still. Van slowly climbed into his and took a deep breath. The lid slowly lowered over him then, and all he could wonder was if this was the last time he’d ever see the real world again.
Chapter One
Sang stretched her bowstring backwards, feeling the tightness of it. She still couldn’t believe how lifelike the game system was to her. She could smell the sweet scent of barbequed meat. There was laughter and chatter all around. It was incredible how detailed everything looked. She could even see the little bumps on the tavern table, and she could feel the coarseness of the wood with her fingers. Four weeks had been long enough for her to almost entirely forget how realistic the game was.
“Sang, earth to Sang,” Van said, snapping at her. She stiffened and looked up at him.
“What? Sorry, I was spacing for a moment.”
“The dragon—what are we supposed to do about the dragon?” he asked, pointing to the little dragon that was quietly sleeping on the table. It was about the size of a small dog, and seemed content just to lay there.
Sang gazed at the creature. She felt an aching in her head as she looked at it. The good aliens, nicknamed Allies, had pushed some kind of code into her mind and, despite all of her attempts, she hadn’t been able to understand what the message said. Every now and then, she would get hunches and inklings, but there was little she could decipher. And the government was equally baffled by the symbols that she had drawn for them. Contact was entirely dependent on this little dragon, whatever it was.
“Urp!” the dragon said as Sang poked it gently. It opened its eyes and yawned, its sharp teeth glistening in the light.
“Do you remember me?” Sang asked. It looked at her and slowly nodded.
“Earth, yes?” the dragon said.
“Yes, earth,” Sang replied.
“No,” Van interjected. “Not earth, video game.”
“Don’t confuse it!” Sang snapped.
“I’m not trying to confuse it, I’m just trying to tell it the truth!” Van protested as the dragon turned and began to gnaw on a piece of beef that had been sitting on the table.
“I have no idea what this thing is. It’s gotta be a program, right?” Sang asked. “Transmitted through the game to make conversation?”
“If it were a program, it’d speak in coherent sentences,” Van said.
“I heard it speak before,” Sang said. “It was kind of poetic. It said that Draco’s like locusts, hungry and unending.”
“Uh-huh,” Van said, his eyes shifting away from hers.
“Oh, you don’t believe me?”
“I didn’t hear it say anything other than earth,” Van said.
“I know it said something to me, damn it!”
“Damn it!” the dragon repeated.
“Hahaha, perfect. Let’s teach it to cuss!” Van said.
“Damn it!” the dragon said, hopping up and down.
“Yes!” Van cheered.
“Well, it needs a name. Do you have a name?” Sang asked. The dragon stared at her with its big yellow eyes. She wasn’t sure if it could comprehend her.
“I’m gonna name you… Jet!” Van said. “Cause you’re jet black!”
“Wow, way to go for the original name, Van,” Sang said as she rolled her eyes.
“It’s pretty great, isn’t it?” Van offered. He pointed to the dragon. “You Jet!”
“Jet?” the dragon repeated.
“Yes! You, Jet! Me, Van,” he said, pointing to himself. He pointed at Sang. “She, Damn It.”
“Don’t tell him that! My name is Sang; I’m Sang.”
“Sang. Van. Jet,” the dragon slowly said.
“Haha!” Van cheered, “It’s learning! I did it! I taught a dragon how to speak!”
“Well, keep it up,” Sang said. “Maybe if you endlessly babble to it, it’ll learn faster.”
“Genius!” Van said. He placed his elbows on the table, leaned his head forward, and began to babble endlessly to the creature.
As Sang watched the dragon try to bite Van’s nose, a noise caught her attention. It was a deep balooooo of a horn. She glanced out the window of the tavern just in time to see a streak of green scales fly past.
“Oh no!” Sang said as she leapt up and ran to the window. She could see a green dragon flying through the air, and riding atop it was a man holding a war horn. He blew into it again, emitting another loud balooooo sound.
“What’s up?” Van asked as he tried to pry the dragon off of his nose.
“We’re under attack! Draco knows we’re here!” Sang said.
“What? This quickly?” Van answered as he rushed up to one of the other windows. He glanced out and gasped. “Aw crap, we’re in trouble.”
“What’s the plan?” Sang asked. “Log out? Fight?”
“Run!” Van said as he made a dash for the exit, cradling the dragon in hand. In a split second, the entire tavern was on fire, flames bursting through all of the windows. Sang narrowly managed to avoid getting hit by the fire. The green dragon had flown past again and was breathing fire into the building.
“Get out of here, Sang!” Van said as he tried to force his way past the rubble. Sang could feel the stinging sensation in her lungs as she inhaled the smoke. She hacked and wheezed as she tried to navigate through the debris. The roof had collapsed from the fire and smoke was everywhere, making it nearly impossible for her to see.
“Van, I can’t see!” she called out, gasping for breath. Her health meter was beginning to rapidly drop due to the fact that she was inhaling nothing but smog. She wobbled a bit, but felt a strong hand grab her and pull her.