The premise for the story is a
simple one to explain. A character climbs inside a gaming pod and his mind is
transported to a virtual environment where they have to battle someone else in
a one-on-one fight. Hidden throughout the world there are weapons that any
character can pick up and use for the battle, but you’ve got to keep an eye on
things because there are plenty of hidden traps, ready to strike you down as
well as you opponent(s).
The concept of the story came to
mind quite a while back when I was playing a game with my friend. He had just
pulled off an awesome move that assured his survival and subsequently his
victory. We were talking about how improbable that move would be to happen
again, especially if we tried to recreate it. The only problem is, I can’t
actually remember what that move was. I knew it involved him jumping off a
building and landing behind me, surprising me and therefore winning the battle.
It was spectacular nevertheless.
As I was walking home, I couldn’t
stop thinking about how it would feel to be in that position. Being on that
roof, knowing that the only way you’re going to have a chance to win is to take
a leap of faith. Then you take that leap of faith, not knowing if it’s going to
work. What must be going through your mind during that leap must be terrifying
to fully contemplate, especially considering that you have absolutely no idea
whether you are going to successfully land it in such a way that you will then
be able to claim your much deserved victory over your opponent. And what must
your opponent be thinking, knowing that they lost the game via some surprise
attack. It would probably be awesome to say the least knowing that the jump
paid off, and devastating that you were on the receiving end of that attack.
That’s pretty much where the idea
came from. It wasn’t really anything solid to go by. When I had arrived home, I
pushed those thoughts aside and carried on with my day, only for them to
resurface just before I was about to go to sleep that night. Because I couldn’t
see the clock on the wall through the darkness, I laid on my back, staring up
at the ceiling for an unknown amount of time, thinking about how it would work
if I were to write it down in a story.
Well, first things first, if you
were to be in that situation, it would obviously be in a virtual environment,
which would then mean you would have to be in some kind of advanced
technological pod that can transport your mind to said environment, which you
would then walk around as if you were actually there. Well, that wasn’t hard to
piece together. Over the next couple of days, I figured out more of how it
would work as a story: That the weapons would be hidden in random places around
the virtual world, hidden traps, and the pod would be connected to the internet,
meaning the person who you will be fighting could literally be anyone –
experienced at the game or not.
Before I sat down and wrote the story, I thought about what I wanted to get out of it. Being a story about a virtual environment where you play a game, maybe there was something that I could express within the lines.
Certain specific games get a lot of controversy upon release, due to its mature content, be it violence or otherwise, but mainly violence. Yet, despite the many stories of such controversies, those games still become very commercially successful. The game depicted in the story does contain violence, and that means that people over the eighteen are the only ones who are allowed to play it. Yet, so many people under the age of eighteen still play those games. That is why I didn't tell you the main-character's age, because when we play certain games over the internet, we don't know the person's age, we just know the characters on screen.
When you're playing certain games, you aren't aware of the controversy surrounding it until you're told of it, but even then there is still a strong chance that you'll still play it because it is a good game, in your opinion. When I was writing the story, I did assume that the game featured did and still has a lot of people debating whether it is an OK game for people to play, despite it being ground-breaking with its technology. It's just another step in a long line of advancements. But as much as the game is disliked, the two people playing are still playing it because it is a good game, in their opinion.
So, I wrote the story with that in mind, but then it
just sat there. I had other things to think about: College for one thing. And
it continued to sit there for a few months before I found it again on the hard
drive. When I saw the file, I remembered that I had written a story but didn’t
do anything else about it. I checked it over, made a few adjustments, checked it over twice, and then, because I have this blog up and running, decided to post it up. I hope that what I said above does come across when you're reading it.
It is a little different to my
other writings in the way that it doesn’t focus on time travel or dreams, or
pretty much anything else that I’ve written about, which makes this story a
nice refreshing environment.
I hope you enjoy reading the
story. Any comments that you may have, please let me know, and I hope you all
have a nice Easter.
Thanks for reading
Antony Hudson
(TonyHadNouns)
My book, Sector 22: Zoey, is now available on Amazon, eBay, and SkyCat Publications' website:
Amazon:
eBay:
SkyCat Publications:
Ask me anything at:
ahudsonpresents@live.co.uk
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