The Arcade Series

I spent the next few minutes minding my own business, looking over at the three customers every few seconds to make sure everything was alright, but everything was. Terance finished his meal first, which was not much of a surprise, so I decided to go ask him about my offer now instead of later. I called Terance over, while going over what I was going to say in my head.

“Hey Terance, I need to talk to you.” I said loudly to the group around one of my cafe’s tables. Terance looked up, I could see that he was a little confused but he turned back to his two friends and I watched him whisper something before he walked over to the counter. “What?” Terance asked me once he got over to the counter and I took a deep breath before starting my proposal.

“Do you remember when I gave you a discount on that artifact for being my first customer?” I asked him, though I already knew the answer. “Yes…” Terance said, raising an eyebrow, causing me to continue. “Well, I have something that I would like you to do for me. It is a new… game, that I need somebody to try out. To give me some feedback, maybe tell me how you think people would enjoy it more. In return I think that along with getting to try out the game, for free of course, I would give you a good discount for another artifact.” I explain, laying out my offer and watching Terance’s reaction.

From what I could tell, he was definitely tempted by the offer. But I could also tell that he was a little suspicious. He is probably justified in that. My offer sounded shady as hell.

“What kind of ‘game’ would this be?” Terance asked me, tilting his head at my offer though more curiously then suspiciously to my relief. “Well… It is quite a unique thing. Though I am sure that you could have some fun with it.” I say noncommittally.

“You saw it before, it's the thing that looks like a chair.” I say, after a moment of hesitation. “I can show you how it works if you want to try it out?” I finish and I look to Terance for his reaction.

“How much of a discount would I get if I try out the game?” Terance asked me, leaning on the counter while he did with a calculating frown. “Well…” I say and I think to myself for a moment, “How about forty percent for an artifact? Maybe you could get me some more customers as a favour. It's a bit empty around here lately…”

Terance seemed taken aback at the amount, and he was definitely getting a little suspicious about the good offer, but he still gave a nod. “Sure.” He told me, standing up straight as he did and looking back to his two friends who were finishing up their food, both of them looking at him as well, no doubt wondering what we were talking about.

“I heard that you wanted to get those two some time in the arcade?” I asked Terance brightly, and he nodded a confirmation. “Then how about you get those two playing and then I can show you the new game.” I say, letting Terance go to talk with his friends before we started.

He gave me a smile at that, but he nodded all the same and he left to go do just that, telling them about my offer.

Terance P.O.V.

“No, I don't know what the game is.” I say, sighing as I talked to Gary and Isabella about what I was offered by the mysterious old shop owner. “But what I do know is that forty percent off anything is worth it. And besides, if this new game he got is anything close to anything else in the Arcade it would be worth a try anyway.” I say, trying to convince my friends that the old man's offer was a good thing.

Obviously they thought I was being tricked into something when I told them that the shop owner had offered to let us get an artifact for close to half the normal price in exchange for me testing a new game that had appeared inside the arcade.

“But why would he do that?” Isabella said with a frown, “Nobody in their right mind would ever give a discount on an artifact. Ever.” She insisted and then gave me a look. “Are you sure that you should?” Gary said, trying to be more of a mediator in the situation. As usual.

“Yes.” I told him instantly, leaving no room for doubt or questioning and causing Gary to give a sigh. “If you are sure.” He told me with a nod that clearly finished the sentence with a clear ‘I don't want to clean up after any mess you make’ look on his face before he turned his attention to Isabella and giving her a mollifying look that made her sigh and calm down, slumping in her seat.

I looked at the interaction with a chuckle. Isabella never argued with Gary, I could tell it was a fact of life with her and I had only known them for a few days. And they refuse to admit to anyone that they like each other either. It made me laugh at how oblivious they were at times like these… But I held it in with a smirk.

Isabella noticed however and she took a swing at me with a pout, which I dodged without trying, letting my grin get bigger as I did. As if a mage could hit a rogue. Gary just laughed.

With that issue solved for now though, I turned my parties attention to how to play Arcade games…

Half an hour of playing/teaching arcade games later, I walked to the old man with only the slightest bit of trepidation. “I can try out the new game now…” I say to the wizened figure of the old man behind the counter, who looked up at my approach. “Good!” The old man exclaimed enthusiastically at my words and he walked briskly out from behind the sales counter with a smile. “Lets go to the chair then!” He pronounced and beckoned me to follow him through the Arcade.

The chair thing that was in the arcade seemed out of place when I first looked at it, and it still does. It was by the left wall of the building, in a more isolated spot near a window that looked out on a small gap between the next building and the Arcade only letting in a sliver of sunlight.

It seemed isolated like that, which started the feeling that it was different. Out of place in the Arcade.

Then there was the design of the ‘chair’ itself. At first glance it looked like a throne really, a high backed black padded chair with a solid base that almost looked like it merged with the floor instead of sitting on top of it. But it was… odd. It was not grandiose like a throne, despite its rough shape, but more angular. There were odd touches and inscriptions in the material of the chair that appeared to be a combination of deep black wood and some kind of metal that the base of the chair was made of. The padding was also made of a material that brought out details rather well through the dark leather.

But its peculiar headrest was what really set it at odds with all other chairs that I had ever seen. There seemed to be a set of straps on it, that wrapped around the back of the headrest and it connected to a weirdly shaped almost boxlike mask that seemed to cover only the eyes.

“This is the newest addition to my Arcade.” I heard the old man pronounce, breaking me out of my reverie and causing me to look to him over my shoulder while facing the chair thing. “It's called a Virtual Reality Chair.” He continued, but I had no idea what ‘virtual’ meant so the significance of the name was completely lost on me. It sounded interesting though.

“I think that it is best if you try out the chair yourself instead of me explaining exactly what it does, so just sit down and put on the headset and the tutorial I made should give you what you need to know.” The old man finished with a nod, gesturing with an open hand casually to the black seat, looking excited.

“Tutorial?” I was interested, having never really heard that term before, yet somehow it seemed to convey a simple concept that I had never really thought of now that I heard the word. It was actually really strange. Almost too natural to be natural. The old man just nodded however, so I just sighed and I sat down. He seemed to be distracted, and he seemed to feel that whatever this tutorial was would explain things and I decided to just trust him on that.

I watched as the old man took hold of the weird mask that was attached to the even weirder chair and he handed it to me. I took it in my hands, it was cool but not cold and it felt incredibly smooth, like glass in my hands. I slipped it onto my head carefully and my vision became completely blocked by the dark interior of the mask. So I waited patiently in the comfortable black seat for something to happen.

Before I could really get any time to wonder what was going to happen, I started to feel odd. It was almost like I was going to sleep, but not really. It was almost as odd as when an old witch friend of the guild master tried to teach a class on how to sense mana. Though not quite as odd.

Then I blinked and the world was white. I had to blink rapidly for a few seconds, trying to get the spots out of my eyes from the rapid shift in brightness, and when they finally left my eyes I looked around. “How…” I muttered out loud as I looked out on the bright white room that I was in, the old man and the Arcade nowhere in sight, and the weird chair with the mask gone along with it. I was also standing for some reason.

“How indeed.” I heard an answering deep and amused voice come from just behind me in the barren white room, causing me to spin around in shock and instinctively putting my hands in front of me in a defensive position as I looked for the source of the voice. There was a man standing behind me. He looked old, his dark skin covered with the lines of age, but he seemed so vibrant and full of life at the same time with an entirely white suit covering his body. He was almost ethereal in his appearance.

“Who are you?” I asked the man, not letting his appearance fool me for a second. There was something weird going on, and I have no idea what was happening. That is usually a good time to keep your guard up and be suspicious of anything and everything.

“Good question, my boy.” The man answered with an almost bittersweet smile, then tilted his head to me. “I don't believe I have a name yet. Who do you think I am?” He asked curiously, looking me up and down with the warm and fatherly look that so far had not left his face. His answering question was surprising though, and I didnt know what to say to that. What kind of person didn't have a name? Is this man infront of me, in fact, a man? He seemed human… Though that's true about elves as well as demons, so it's not exactly a very definitive answer.

“I think you look like a David.” I answered calmly, appraising the form of the mysterious figure in front of me with a critical eye. If this person was planning to kill me, stalling would only improve my chance of survival…

“David…” The old man looked like he was genuinely considering the name, and he eventually gave an approving nod to me. “Then I am David.” He said and gave a smile, then he continued and asked me “And who might you be, new User?”

“Um.. I am Terance.” I responded, more instinctively than anything, and wondered what being a new ‘User’ was supposed to mean. It seemed important. Like a title almost.

The man gave a nod, accepting my answer easily and then he spread his arms wide and declared to me “Well Terance, welcome to the Hub.” and he gave a smile as he gestured to the blank white room that I found myself in, as if it was the best thing in the world.