Visionless Reality

Five

      Amazed by the intro and the theme song, I decided to play this game for the live stream, only after getting used to the physics and the logistics of the game. The main menu of the game was a room, proper white room, with a creepy feeling of everything looking same. I started roaming around the menu using the tablet, lying around there and found different modes of playing that particular game, actually 3 modes- Story mode, Practice lobby and the Pathetic mode. Also one special mode that would be unlocked after 90% completion of story mode. Before jumping into any serious matches, I decided to understand the physics and the basics of the game… and to verify all the settings in the game. So practice mode was the best possible option for the first interactions. Selecting the practice mode, the background music turned violent. It was like taunting me to play the story mode. I liked the way that the environment transformed into the battleground with a swift and appreciable transition. A portion of the wall on my right, turned into a notice board with some dusty papers, explaining the rules and basics of the gaming controls. The ground beneath my feet… the white tiles with my footprints… turned into short grass with some muddy patches. I was amazed how much efforts, the creators have put into creating this game. This was definitely the best game I was going to witness.

        My hands, that were bare in the main menu, were wrapped with bandages and those were tight. I could feel the tension through the gloves. They had sensors and some mechanism to make the game physics, feel similar to the real world. The walls around me, drifted away, exhibiting the new environment of a war-like arena. I was on some grounds with a few tattered houses and garages in front. The whole arena was very intuitive and appealing. Words are not enough to make you visualize the arena. I continued roaming around in the map, wondering how are the graphics in the game so realistic, just like reality. Even my VR setup did have some flaws like glitches and the management of the environment but this game… seriously, the creators nailed it. It was none like playing a game. I felt like actually roaming around in a devastated city, all in ruins, amused with the thought of how a creator tried to perceive each and every aspect in the game.

        ‘Rules to abide by for being an honest citizen of Nation-A:

1.      Everyone in this game is a real person. Please do not try to indulge in a useless fight. It will lose you      experience points as well as your ranking will decrease.

2.    Maintain dignity of the server throughout the practice session.

3.     Try to sustain your craving of modding or hacking the system.

4.    Do not play any of the sessions while intoxicated.

5.     Stay calm and do not scream. Other players are not deaf.

Breaking any of the above given rules will make sure of the fact, that you won’t be able to play this game, ever again.’

        As the rules were strict and pretty straight forward, I tried not to break any one of them which would have me banned from their server.

        ‘Basics of the game:

To move around in the game, think about moving to that place and your mind will work as a controller.

To perform any actions related to the games, try to mimic the action in real life.

Everything picked up can be kept in a backpack behind you. You can use its space to fill it up with useful resources up to an extent.

Reloading and firing a weapon requires real life experience. If you never have tried one before, checkout the pamphlets for the arms training. Armory skills are recommended for story mode.

Experience points, map, and all the intel will be provided on the tablet in your backpack.’

        Many other pamphlets were available on the notice board such as lost and found, advertisements, treasure hunt ones, but the one that caught my eyes was the arms training. I was fond of guns and was jealous of Kanei for knowing everything about advanced fighting arms and armaments. The pamphlet has an address to the location but I did not know where to find it, so I tried to look around for something relatable. I found a tablet inside my backpack, a small metal container, a flash light and a butterfly knife. The tablet actually had weight. The gloves were very interesting for I could feel the tension in the real world. The tension of the backpack zip, the struggle of finding the stuff, and the weight of the tablet, I could feel them all. The game was consuming my senses and making me feel a part of that world. I touched my watch and I could feel it without actually seeing it, which made it clear that I was still in the game environment.

        The tablet’s interface was pretty clear and easily adaptable, with the home screen of my location on the map. I could use the various navigation options present, to access different stats during the game. The location service on the tablet has an option of ‘tYSS’ code. One that resembled to the pamphlet on the notice board about the arms training. I scanned the code and a blue target point was blinking on the map, that was only a mile away. Tracing the path on the tablet, I was amused by the environment of the game. The whole environment was making me sick. It was like living on the Earth and believing that you are not. Throughout the way to the arms training centre, I had a vivid experience of many things in the game. Such as: everything has a weight (just like the real world), like most of the games have certain blocked paths, in this game you just require creativity and every blocked path is unlocked. Although moving around in the game was using my brain, I was feeling the pain and tiredness physically, in the real world. I thought of taking some rest before continuing but the curiosity to explore, took its turn.

‘Teddy’s toy store. Is this the right place? I wonder not.’- self.

        Moving close to the store, I was to have my first encounter with a person in the game. This person had shaggy brown hair with a grey coupe hat. His limbs were short and fat, just like his toy store’s name. I think he was teddy.

‘Hello sir! Is this the place where I can have some arms training?’

‘Hello dear! Arms training master succumbed to his injuries while using a faulty frag grenade in one of his lectures, decades before! By the way, you look new to this place. Never seen you before.’-store manager.

‘Oh! Sorry to hear that! That must have been of a great loss.’

‘Nah! Nothing like that. He was a total brat. He used to teach his students about the arms but the twist is, he exchanged it for something that the students liked the most. Many has even exchanged their girlfriends for the training. That behavior of his was nasty.’-store manager.

‘Hey fella! Do not listen to his side-splitting stories. He faked his own death twice in front of all the family members.’-strange hoarse voice from inside the store.

‘Here he comes! That is my brother Jason!’-store manager.

‘Will you come on in to have some action or are you going to stand there for no reason?’-Jason.

‘Welcome buddy to the Teddy’s toy shop! I am Teddy and you can call me Ted… Uncle Ted… Mr. Ted… Or whatever you want. I am here if you need my assistance’-Teddy.

‘Hello Mr. Ted… I am Akashi. Nice to meet you.’

‘But your tag says that you are Recruit-5. Listen buddy…’-Teddy.

        I looked at the tag on my breast pocket. It was a badge with Recruit-5 carved on it. Felt like metal. Teddy held my collar and tugged me close to his mouth. Close enough, I could feel him breathe.

‘You never lie in this world. This is the place of true and wise only. The moment you lie; nobody knows where you might end up being. Or if it is your actual name, reveal it to no one. Your tag is your name now. Nobody is a faker here, so being among the herd is the best, until you are pushed off from your community…’-Teddy.

        His sudden reaction to my words were not predefined. I am sure that the creators have planned the game to be unpredictable. For more reasons, I feel like Mr. Ted is a real person, living his life playing the role of a store manager.

‘Looking at your face, it reminds me of a young and brave boy, who went through all of this. I do not want you to end up like him. You look pretty innocent and wise. Go on… Jas is waiting for you. Enjoy your learning my friend!’-Teddy.

        I had no words left to say after that. The game was becoming more and more weird on every turn. I like the uncertainty of the game but this resembles that to the real world and it was making me real sick.

‘Come on fella! Let’s have some action. Years have gone teaching someone!’-Jason.

Entering the toy shop, it was less of a shop and more of a toy super market. He had divided that mall into partitions, depending on various categories like under 9, under 18 and adults. But that was not our target location. I followed Jason throughout the mall ending up into a shabby corner outside the shop, with dim light. Only a few boxes, gasoline cans and a door was visible with a sign of ‘Authorized Professionals only’. Jason entered the room that lay behind the scarred door, while I was looking at the sign board.

‘Are you going to stare at that sign board? I think that would not be an adorable choice. Come on in fast.’-Jason.

‘Yes sir, ofcourse.’

        Entering the room, no… an armory store. It was huge. Like a factory of manufacturing cars. But instead of cars, it was filled with large boxes, most probably, weapons inside them. I was wondering what knowledge will I gain here.

‘Hey buddy hold this. Let’s see what you’ve got.’-Jason

        Handing me a pistol, Jason wanted to see what skills I had. Taking hold of the pistol, I was instantly flattered for I was feeling its weight and every groove. It was damn heavy. I was not able to hold it properly, how are people able to shoot with precision. Having no prior experience, I was just looking at the pistol.

‘Okay so, try to shoot those targets. Let’s see how’s your aiming.’-Jason.

‘But I’ve never done this before...’

‘No problem. See this. Hold this g*n tight and stiff, keep your index finger on the trigger and thumb on the safety switch. This way on, this way off… Remove the safety, and squeeze the handle. Simple.’-Jason.

        I did as he said and the result was devastating. I pointed at the target and I hit the higher end of the target. It was really hard to sustain the recoil of the pistol. He asked me to try again and the result was similar… the higher end. My hands were already shaking, holding the bulky pistol for the first time and this recoil. Ugh God…

‘Sir the recoil is very high. I can barely control it.’

‘Okay, so that’s the problem. Hold this.’-Jason.

        Handed me another pistol, the one that looked like a cowboy style. I tried to shoot the target and this time it was way different. I hit the wall behind the target. Its recoil was way higher.

‘Yeah boy. It was off the field. That’s the power of colt python. We don’t have any pistol without any recoil here. If you want to learn some real arms, you will learn to use these only. I will teach you.’

        And that is how immersed I was in the game. I lost the track of time, though it was the first time playing that game in my life.