Virtual Nightmare

By Aaron Thompson

Trapped in a virtual world where death is real, but you must fight just to survive.

Shane, a casual gamer accidentally stumbles upon a hidden gaming club that is trying out futuristic, virtual gaming suits. He is welcomed to test the amazing and super secret technology. Little does he know, the test will be far more dangerous then he ever could have imagined. If he stays in the game his life is forfeit, but to escape is certain death.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aaron Thompson
• Release date: Jul 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201177621

Book preview

Chapter 1

I don’t understand why you couldn’t have just taken a picture of it and shown me, Lewis complained as he and Shane strolled down the street. Why do we have to walk for miles, in this unrelenting heat, just to show me some strange anomaly? He was sweating profusely in the hot, humid, summer air as he continued to complain. I swear, if I die from heat stroke, I am coming back to haunt you for the rest of your life.

Shane, used to Lewis’ habitual protests was completely capable of blocking him out. If his friend wasn’t grumbling about something; the weather, news, politics, people, or life in general, then Shane would start worrying. It was Lewis’ way of dealing with stress, and Shane surmised, his friend must be under tremendous pressure.

You wouldn’t believe me if I showed you a picture, Shane countered. You’d claim I used photo shop or something.

Lewis nodded his head in agreement, then shot a suspicious glance at the sky. Is it me, or is the sun angry at us? It feels so much more intense then I remember from previous years.

If you left the house more often it wouldn’t feel like that you pasty, pale freak, Shane teased. It’s about time you got outside and soaked up some sunlight. You’re the reason gamers get stereotyped as being basement dwellers.

I stay inside on days like this so I don’t roast and blister. In fact, I can feel the melanoma crawling up my shoulders and spreading across my face.

Shane saw red splotches across Lewis’ cheeks and shook his head, That’s the vitamin D your body needs so badly. Besides, it’s only a block away.

You said that eight blocks ago! If you wanted to get rid of me so badly, I’d rather you stab me a hundred times with a blunt icepick. It would be less painful. Shane Roberts and Lewis Stevenson kept picking on each other the whole walk, it was their way of maintaining a close bond of friendship.

Shane stopped on the sidewalk at the next busy intersection. Look, Shane poked Lewis and pointed at a spot in the painted crosswalk. He was clearly excited. Doesn’t that look like one of those Space Invaders from the old Atari games? Saturday traffic was heavy and it was hard to get a clear look at where Shane was pointing.

No, Lewis blurted as he mopped his face with his shirt, then curled his lip at the soaked spot in disgust. The walk sign lit up, and they began to cross with everyone, until Shane stopped to get a better look. Lewis watched the remaining foot traffic walk around them. What it looks like is one of those Rorschach blots. Or better yet, a weathered blob of street paint.

How can you call yourself a gamer, if you don’t even recognize a classic game? Shane teased gesturing to the shape in the crosswalk.

Lewis didn’t say anything, a testament to how tired he was. He crossed to the other side of the street, pulled his phone out and put it to his ear as Shane followed. Hello? Yes, I’d like the hotline for the mentally unstable. Lewis waited until Shane sidled up next to him and continued the mock conversation. Hi, I hate to be a bother, but I think one of your patients has escaped... What is he doing? Well he’s standing in the middle of crosswalks, impeding traffic, trying to play antiquated video games using cracked markings in the street.

Shane laughed in spite of himself, and shoved Lewis. Get moving you idiot. There’s another one down this way. Hurriedly Shane took off down the street. This one he was certain Lewis would recognize. Did these symbols actually mean anything? Were they something tangible, or were they nothing and his mind desperately wanted to connect them together?

While walking downtown last weekend, Shane noticed the first little blob. It looked remarkably similar to the little dancing aliens from the classic game, Space Invaders. In the game, they lined up across the top of the screen and moved back and forth, coming ever closer the to bottom. The player was supposed to shoot the aliens out of the sky before they reached the bottom of the screen, because when they did, it was game over. Shane knew about these games because he had found his father’s old Atari console one day and spent hours playing those classics.

Curious after noticing that one, his eyes actively searched for others. This was part of Shane’s personality. He was great at solving puzzles, and constantly searched for patterns in everything. Because of this, a second shape caught his eyes on his way to his favorite coffee shop for his usual Saturday morning breakfast. Now Shane needed to share this find with someone else. It would be confirmation that he was not imagining things. Today he dragged Lewis, a fellow gamer, and best friend since high school, out of his house to share this discovery. But so far, his friend was being less than cooperative.

Here! Shane said as he stopped at the curb and pointed downward. What do you see now?

Shielding the unrelenting sun from his eyes with his hand, Lewis looked down the street at the coffee shop. I see a wonderful oasis across yonder dune. Tell me that is not another mirage playing tricks on my soon to be desiccated body, he said feigning faintness.

Okay, Shane said starting to become exasperated. He had to agree with Lewis, the heat was intense this afternoon, and was starting to get to him as well. If you can tell me what character this one is, we’ll go to The Buzzing Beanery. But, I thought you didn’t drink coffee?

How astute oh wise one, but I bet they have some amazing slushes, iced tea, or something else cold and rejuvenating, Lewis said. He then looked down at the crosswalk where Shane crouched, pointing. He scrunched up his brows, Is it one of those Zelda monsters? No, wait... I got it, Pac-Man! You know, he sighed. I really don’t know what I’m looking at.

Be serious before I shove you into traffic, Shane barked, finally getting tired of Lewis’ antics.

So violent. You really should refrain from video games for a while. They are starting to affect your reality of right and wrong. Lewis joked as he wiped more sweat off his forehead. Go ahead and shove me in front of a speeding car. At least then I could get a ride in an air conditioned ambulance.

To hurry the conversation, Shane pulled out his phone, did a quick internet search, then showed it to his friend.

Well hell. Would you look at that?

See the resemblance now?

Looks exactly like that thing. Is that a little dude riding an ostrich?

It’s Joust. One of those ‘antiquated,’ as you called it, Atari games.

Great, I see it. Now, you can stand here all day if you want, but I am going inside before I melt like a snowball in hell.

Come on snowflake, let’s both get something to combat this heat, Shane said.

Inside The Buzzing Beanery, they grabbed their refreshments, and sat down in the cool coffee house. Shane asked Lewis’ opinion of the strange characters mingled in with the asphalt markings. I really don’t think they’re anything more than simple coincidence, Lewis shrugged and slurped down his iced tea.

You don’t think they’re clues for something?

Lewis looked at Shane over his drink with a skeptical eye. "You tell me I need to get out more. Who’s so obsessed with video games, he thinks he’s living one?"

Says the pot to the kettle, Shane chuckled. You’re online way more than I ever could be.

Living the dream brother! Before you go any farther Doc Skeptical, I recently secured my two hundredth subscriber... Lewis leaned back in his chair smugly. In fact, why don’t you join me in playing Craft and Conquer? There’s this insanely strong group no one can beat, called The Chimera. It gets raided all the time but there’s just something about the way they play, it’s uncanny. I’m currently working on leveling up to go after them myself. But if you and I could beat them while streaming on my channel, you know how many subscribers we could get? With our combined skills, we’d be hitting the big time!

Shane shrugged, not wanting to commit to anything right now. That game is fun, but not something I want to play all the time.

"I have a plan in the works that could take them out, but I could really use your ability to strategize. Who’s the tactician who sends users to the mortician? That’s Mr. Shane Roberts," Lewis was laying the compliments on thick trying to persuade Shane to help him out.

Laughing, Shane agreed to join Lewis in his campaign. Okay, this one time, but don’t blame me if we get beaten.

Don’t you worry about that my friend, Lewis clapped Shane on the shoulder, he was clearly excited. "Come over next weekend, I should have all the preparations ready. It’s going to be a GIANT undertaking." Lewis put strong emphasis on the word, but Shane wasn’t paying much attention. He was still thinking about the markings in the street, trying to decide if they were clues to something bigger or just figments of his active imagination.

Shane wanted Lewis to continue searching with him, but knew it was a waste of time to try and convince him. He would go and figure it out alone. In fact, when he did get to the bottom of it, he would have loads of bragging rights. Besides, Lewis was done for the day. The heat was getting unbearable for him, and he was summoning an Uber to get back home.

However, Shane was not ready to leave. He noticed the first two last weekend and had obsessed over them all week, now he needed to see if there were more of these cryptic markings around the city. He bid farewell to his friend, and promised to come over later for drinks. First and foremost, he felt compelled to check out the area more.

Don’t call me if you can’t figure out the enigma, Lewis call as he rolled his eyes for dramatic effect and slid into the Uber when it stopped.

Shane smiled as he flipped the bird to his friend, then walked off.

He needed a plan, that much was obvious. He could walk the entire city and never find another marking if he simply wandered aimlessly. Shane looked down at the jousting character. If someone was unfamiliar with those games, all they would see, like Lewis said, is a strange cracked blot within the crosswalk bar. The heat was intense, but he could endure the unrelenting sun for while longer after the stop in the air conditioning and the cool drink. He had the energy to get to the bottom of these symbols. Shane decided he would travel the direction the Joust characters lance was pointing. If he didn’t find another one, he would give up this fool’s errand and go home. If there were more, Shane would follow them until he found what was at the end of them. Turning right, Shane kept a sharp eye to the ground searching for more of these pixelated looking characters.

Two blocks later, Shane spotted another one, and his excitement grew to a record high. Three is a pattern, he thought to himself as he stared at the character. This one was not familiar to him, but it had the same 8-bit feel to it like the others. It clearly had two small square eyes, and a creepy grinning mouth set inside an oval shaped head. One arm curled to its side while the other pointed right again. Not wanting to waste time, Shane quickly took off in that direction. Another character was waiting for him close by, this one pointing to the left. By now Shane had left the main throng of locals and tourists and was walking on the outskirts of the city. Shane wondered where these signs were leading him. Maybe it was an old game promotion from many years ago and was no longer relevant, he thought. Caught up in the thrill of the chase, the possibility of this scavenger hunt being dangerous never crossed his mind.

The next one was harder to spot, because it wasn’t in the crosswalk. It was much smaller than the others and mixed in with a faded yellow line on the side of the road. These road markings were obviously old, and faded badly. He finally saw the next symbol, followed the direction it was pointing, but soon hit a dead end. Feeling disappointment and mild anxiety that his quest was over, Shane retraced his steps. He wasn’t ready to give up yet, this was too much fun.

Concentrating hard on the ground in case he swept over the next one without realizing it, he ran into another pedestrian. I’m sorry, my bad, Shane said quickly.

The guy wobbled, took an unsteady step back, looked irritated, then his face lit up. He squeezed his eyes shut a few times while appearing to try and focus his eyes, then asked Shane for some spare change. Feeling bad that he plowed straight into the guy, he reached into his pocket and pulled out what was left of his coffee shop splurge. He dropped the coins into the man’s outstretched hand. The guy peered into his palm as he continued to sway like wheat stalks in the wind.

Shane heard him mutter in drunken slurs, Cheap bas’ard. Hey, how ’bout a dollar at lease. Can’t buy nothin’ wit dis.

Pretending not to hear, Shane made a hasty retreat back to the last marking he saw, and waited for the drunken guy to continue wandering away. Once the man was out of sight, Shane concentrated on the blocky character. Staring hard and inspecting the figure very carefully, Shane finally noticed something he overlooked. It was a humanoid like creature, but there was only one arm that he followed too hastily. The second arm could have worn off over time, or disappeared any number of ways. This had to be the missing clue. Shane tried to decipher which way the missing arm pointed. If he knew more about this particular character, he might know which way to go, but his knowledge of early 1980's games was limited. He surmised it would not lead him back in the direction he came, and they seemed to follow the basic cardinal directions of North, East, South and West. If he came from the West, and had headed North to a dead-end, then he needed to go either South or East. Now he had a fifty-fifty chance to travel the correct direction. He liked these odds much better.

Shane took a chance and continued straight on his original path, going East. It seemed counterintuitive to continue on the same path, because all the previous characters pointed off in different directions. In Shane’s experience, video games often tried to misdirect players, so they often had to try several different options before finding the correct path. During Shane’s ample time playing video games, there were several times he had to retrace his route through a meandering landscape, same as he was doing now. This current quest made perfect sense to him.

As Shane traveled on, he noticed his surroundings had changed to derelict buildings with closed down and boarded up shops, spattered with graffiti. This area was definitely the seedier side of the city. I’ve descended to the underbelly, he thought, starting to feel uneasy. In most current video games, areas like this were where zombies would jump out from dark alleyways. Cautiously, he continued to search for the next directional clue, while being more cognizant of his surroundings. As if to confirm his suspicions, Shane heard several loud pops in quick succession, then three more, at a different pitch, in response. Recognizing gunshots, he immediately flattened himself into a wall. Listening for more pops, he was ready to run like hell if there were, or if he saw anyone appear in this narrow alley. Although the shots sounded a few blocks away, they were still way too close for comfort. Minutes passed. During that time, Shane slowed his breathing and pounding heartbeat. Multiple times he considered turning around and going home. Eventually his curiosity won out, and he talked himself into continuing his search. Just one more, he said to himself. In the distance, sirens blared to life and headed toward the shots.

The threat of violence still fresh in his worried mind, Shane pondered giving up the search when his apprehensive eyes spotted the next shape on the wall ahead of him. At least he thought it could be. It certainly looked out of place with the flowing shapes and organic curves of the graffiti. This one resembled the letter ‘H’ from a decorative font style he had seen before. There were four thick blocks at the top and bottom of the ‘H’. In fact, they resembled barbells stood on end, with a line connecting them in the middle.

Shane scratched his head and thought of words that start with the letter ‘H’, Here...high...home? He sounded the words aloud. Hopeless? Sounded a dark area of his mind. Pushing the negative thought away, he looked around the area, up and down, but saw nothing that indicated his next direction of travel. Then a light came on in the attic of his mind. This was not a letter, but a car from one of the earliest racing games. Shane turned his head as far sideways as he could, and sure enough, the ‘H’ morphed into a blocky race car. Four square wheels adorned the top and bottom, and the nose of the car pointed in the next direction. Following the tip of the car with his eyes, he saw another dead end.

It was getting late, and the shadows were growing longer. He didn’t want to be caught in this area of the city after dark. Shane reluctantly decided that if he did not find another one soon, he would follow Lewis’ example and catch a ride back home. He walked to the end of the cramped alley, and saw a small hidden gap between the tall buildings, to the right. There was no other character signifying he should follow this way, but it was the only remaining option. He had followed the clues left behind, and they had led him here. The experience made Shane feel like he was in his own video game, exploring the clues and was edging closer to the legendary treasure. A surge of adrenaline coursed through him as Shane realized he was nearing the end of his quest.

There was a dumpster blocking the gap. It was too narrow to squeeze between, so over he went. Once he cleared it, he immediately regretted his decision. A body was laying on the ground about ten feet ahead of him. Shane’s legs weakened and threatened to drop him to his knees. He backed into the dumpster to hold himself up. His stomach did a flip and threatened to dump all its contents onto his shoes. In real life, as opposed to a game, he was no adventurer, no dashing hero type. He was a simple game tactics designer that spent most of his time at a desk, inside a small cubicle, in a large and very boring office. Dead bodies were way over his pay grade.

Chapter 2

Shane tried to swallow the fist sized lump in his throat, while seriously contemplating his life choices when the body moved and grunted. At first his imagination summoned the plethora of zombie movies that abounded in pop culture, which threatened to send him running away in a frenzied panic. Before he started screaming like a prepubescent girl, logic broke through the looming panic as he realized this guy was nothing of the