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Nieni: Let's see how you like a year-old story idea.
"Welcome to my world, travelers... you are either brave or foolish to have come here. I am King Tudone, of the Sleeping Duty... Ah, but you must have heard of me! The last of the good royalty! No? Well then, I shall explain myself!
“There is a game that is not a game, played in a place that is not a place. This game is named for the group who created it! The Sleeping Duty. A group made up of the great heroes and heroines; Nite Siren Bells, Nieni Springs, Draclit, and myself... We are the chosen saviors of the world of Rinodotte! But all is not going well, for the Sleeping Duty is a small lot and our task is much too big... That is why I call to you! The best of the best, the worst of the worse! Hear the King and rise to my aid!
“Over seas and through trees, you must travel... even mountains if need be... it is in the land of Ettodonir, where everything joins, everything parts, where a journey ends and another awaits; it is here that you must go! Find the treasure that must be found, become your greatest dream! Conquer your every fear, or fail!
“... You ask what treasure it is you search for? Nae, I cannot tell you! For each of you hold a different treasure in your heart and I dare not guess its name! Will you help me? Will you save my world in return for your inner most desire...?
“SLEEPING DUTY, THERPG OF A LIFETIME! BE THE FIRST TO GAIN ENTRANCE! A small fee of thirty dollars and a strong stomach is all we ask for!"
The crowd half laughed and half groaned as Mark Hopper drew his cloak tightly around himself, the sweeping fabric making him appear “mysterious”. The golden head band serving as his crown gleamed as a ray of sunlight sneaked in through the high window on the other side of Gaming Convention room. Raising his chin, Mark appraised the large accumulation of people who had come to hear him announce his newest virtual reality game. He hid a grin; the one purple eye that wasn't hidden by a dark curtain of hair twinkled with unexpressed excitement.
The public would love this game, he knew it! Of course, this one was quite different from the other releases, but they had never reached such a height of virtual reality before... Turning his head slightly so that he could speak into the voice volumizer attached to his cloak, Mark finished his speech.
"As much as I would love to have you all... I must regretfully announce that this offer is only for six of you..."
A girl somewhere gasped a few choice words at that, everyone else following suit with exclamations of, "NOT FAIR!" and, "BUT YOU SAID YOU NEED LOTS OF HEROES!"
Smirking, Mark held up a hand to silence the crowd.
"I know... it isn't fair... but the game is not yet released! Six of you will enter now, the rest must be patient! Patience will be a strong point learned and it is better for you to learn it now in waiting, then the hard way in the game!"
"I LOVE YOU MARK HOPPER! CHOOSE MEEEEEEEEEE!" A voice sounding suspiciously like the rude girl from earlier shrieked, a brown head bouncing up and down in the crowd.
"There will be a competition, a testing run you might say... it is this test that will determine who gets to go into 'Sleeping Duty' itself! The thirty dollars is for the privlege of playing in thefirst running, which is quiteworth the pay,if I do say so myself..."
A boy near the front of the crowd called up to Mark, "How are you choosing the six people?!"
Slipping a foot over the smooth surface of his hover stage, Mark tapped a button. The platform buzzed mechanically and swerved away from the large group of onlookers to stop at an empty long table not too far away. Landing the platform, Mark stepped down and sat in a fancy throne seat behind the table. Grinning wolfishly at the soon-to-be 'Sleeping Duty' fans, he swept his arms grandly at all before him.
"A smalltest, of course. You sign in here...and the test... begins... Now.”
Squealing excitedly, a swarm of teenage girls were the first to make the wild dash to the sign-up, followed closely by the frailer of males. Taking up most of the back crowd; stragglers and late comers. Most of those particular kind never even reached the desk, eventually wandering away kicking themselves as they realized how long of a wait they were in for (“What kind of a name is ‘Sleeping DOODY’ anyways? Sounds like a crap game to me!”).
Mark unhooked his voice amplifier and smiled at the front flock that shoved their way closer to him, giggling. Pulling a pen from a pocket inside his cape, he handed it to a redheaded girl standing directly in front of him and winked. “Having fun yet?”
The girl blushed. “That depends on whether I get into the game…. Mr. Hopper.”
Mark managed a friendly smile at her flirtatious tone and took back the pen, holding back a roll of the eyes as she held onto it longer than necessary and made a show of holding his gaze. Upon signing up, each person received a two-sided quiz sheet. One by one, they glanced through and grinned disbelievingly as questions like, “What is your favorite story genre?”, and, “How many RPGs have you played in the past year?”, stared up at them.
They herded to the tables set aside for them, picking up the pencils waiting there, and began their tests.Inquiries such as, “What’s the point of this?” did arise, but were quickly squelched as brains wereracked with the answers most likely to impress (and kiss the ass of) the RPG king, Mark Hopper.
So it went until, finally, the loudspeakers came on to announce the convention’s closing for the day. Customers, gamers and browsers alike groaned, but obediently began their slow exit, checking bags and rubbing irritatedly at the orange entrance stamps on their hands. The tests were hurriedlyturned in.
“Be sure to return at five tomorrow, if you’ve signed up today, or you’ll miss the name calling!” Mark reminded the retreating masses, voice amplifier back on. “If you miss your name being called as one of the six, the next best pick will be chosen in your stead!”
Sooner than expected, the large building was nearly emptied, except for a few wandering sales people taking down their stalls and one or two civilians trying to bargain a last deal before heading out. Mark slumped in his chair momentarily, rubbing his forehead, before standing and assisting his helpers in covering his gaming equipment with black sheets. The convention building always locked up tight at night, so there was really no reason to do much more by way of protection. So long as he arrived before anyone else did, there was no chance ofstrayfingers wandering to his game systems.
Sighing, Mark waved as his people left for the day. He himself would probably be remaining for a few hours at least, going through the “tests”.
‘I’m really too young to do this crap.’ Mark thought to himself, not bothering to speak out loud as he usually would… in a place this large, the echoes would have been eerie. One by one, he read through and circled interesting answers, simply tossing away the papers that lost his interest. An hour later, he was down to the six names needed. Exhausted, Mark smiled in triumph. “That wasn’t so hard.”
Ellie Karbonz
Frank Trance
Kelly Jone
Gayson Taylur
Emo Liz Harlo
Wenda Lukas
Yawning, he rose from his chair and made his way over to the laptop to type in the names. The screen glared brightly at Mark and he glared back pitifully, eyes tired after a straining day. He saved the file with a few quick clicks of the mouse and it was barely two seconds later that he had his keys and was posed to push open the back exit door… It washardly two seconds later that he heard the low buzzing, and then a wavering, static-filled voice. The sound echoed through the large building and reached Mark’s ears easily enough. He stepped back inside, awayfrom the door, andturned, closing it behind himself.
A dim green light was filtering out from under the black sheets his team had so carefully placed over the Sleeping Duty equipment. Mark started at realizing the glow was coming from the virtual reality machine itself and was by its side within moments, pulling away the sheet to investigate. The voice grew louder, but the static remained, slurring whatever words were being said.
“What the hell…?” Mark leaned down, tilting his ear against the game’s speakers. “Don’t tell me it’s malfunctioning now. I knowI turned this thing off already.”
Steadily, the voice grew louder still andreverberated through the nearly empty building. Mark moved away, as the volume hadbecome uncomfortable and was now clear enough to be heard, even through the static… Not that it really made any difference, considering the language it was in.
(1)“Vyumu ef iem zekj ek iem bedu is goek okc fessumekj- Mubumk hiekj quocum, vyumurum hie doh vokcum… E coqq hie simby smid vyumurum hie doh vokcum… ek byu kodu is hie’mu tqiic, E coqq iem zekj!”
Mark frowned. “Sounds like the language Jake programmed into the NPCs… Shit, the machine’s busted somehow. Shit… Shitshitshit. I’m supposed to be showing this off tomorrow!”
His stomach flipped a few times, churning and giving off the well-known sensation of falling. The feeling forced Mark to stumble back into a discarded plastic chair, head spinning. ‘What the... I’m not upset enough to faint over it… Get up Mr. Hopper, you’ve got repairing to do before morning. No sleep for you.’
Mark’s silent pep talk didn’t quell the dizzying sensations. If anything, he could swear it worsened the situation as a prominent spot of brown spread over his vision; the first sign of a black out, he knew from experience (Ever gotten dizzy after a shower and nearly fallen down stairs?).
‘… Well... maybe I’ll… wake up early enough...to…’ Mark’s thought never finished as the brown film was just as quickly covered by a tidal wave of black.
(2)“Vuqcidu yidu...”
1- “Where is our king in our time of pain and suffering? Return young leader, wherever you may wander... I call you forth from wherever you may wander... In the name of your blood, I call our king!”
2- “Welcome home...”