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The Mainframe appeared at Veander, where the Kingdom’s Scroll Master was staying. The Mainframe had began assimilating the entire landscape of Veander, including the village’s inhabitants, turning them into redstone/player hybrids. The Scroll Master and his companions escaped, returning to the Kingdom.

By the time they had arrived to the Empire the Red Hand, a rebel force opposing the Empire and the Kingdom, has camped outside its walls. The trio tries to sneak through their camps but were captured. Suddenly an army attacked the Red Hand camp. The castle defenders also sent Owner Guard and guards to aid the army’s attack.

After the Red Hand’s defeat, the army introduced their allegiance to belong to the Arkimen Dynasty, another nation double the size of the Empire. The Owner has requested them to amass here, which the Great Dynast agreed to because of an old debt. The Trio relayed their news then to both the officers of the Empire and the Great Dynast. Both agreed to send patrols to Veander but focused their military efforts to be ridding of the Red Hand. With the unity of the Empire and the Arkimen Dynasty, the Kingdom was formed. Due to alliance agreements with the Enchanters as well as close connections to the Xpertus and Owner Guard, all the said groups were included to the new Kingdom’s hierarchy.

The Mainframe at this point was already the size of a small nation, becoming a large cloud of redstone machinery and human redslaves. The Red Hand remnants have merged themselves to the Mainframe, further becoming a threat. The Kingdom formed the Mythryl Army to combat the Mainframe, which is now the greatest threat to the Server.

Several months of airplanes, explosions and swordfights with both sides having access to monumental powers, the battle was reduced to a standstill. The Mainframe, which now achieved heightened awareness and intellect, demanded a truce. The Kingdom agreed which, even with the strength of two nations, was exhausted by the strength of the Mainframe and its Red Hands. Jack, which is now an elite Owner Guard, led the forefront of every battle. Hassan became tactical general of the Mythryl Army while Daniel, the Great Dynast and the Owner became the de-facto leaders of the Kingdom.

During the time of truce, the Mainframe built powerful missiles that contained massive power. The missiles fell on the Kingdom and its entire territory turned to ruin. Most survived, but their civilization, as well as their chances of combating the Mainframe, disappeared. The Enchanters let the survivors into their floating Hive, the only structure that evaded the Mainframe’s wrath. The Xpertus launched their own nukes that survived the blasts, as well as redstone hamper devices around the perimeter of the Mainframe. Through those two combined with Enchanter spells of shielding and warding, ensured the Mainframe wouldn’t spread further, giving safety back to the land.

Now there’s only a future to look forward to, and prayers that the Mainframe does not find them ever again.

Dear person who is reading this note,

Let me tell you the story of Adam Terran, aka me. This story is for you people of the future generation, where, I hope, you are living your lives the way you want it to. In my dreams, I see fields of green and red roses too. And importantly I see you, your friends and your family living how you deem life should be lived, without hindering or harming others.

Because during our time, the time your grandpas and grandmas held rifles and railguns, we had two choices; either we fought or we followed. Be proud because we chose to fight. Who were we fighting exactly? Mega Omega.

The name might sound very funny to you then feel free to laugh. We were too busy being afraid of the name to even mention it. You see, they ruled the world. Many people often imagine mass armies or a superweapon. Well, there are many ways to rule, and Omega used every single method they thought of.

They funded armies to being nations to war so they could profit and take their land. They out bought, outsmarted and outright killed their competitors in all fields of technology. Laptops? They had sunglasses that had ten times the processing power of your best computer. Nobody stood against the intellectual, political and eventually physical power Omega had gathered. While there are still “governments” for the countries, every official and member of it is part of Omega. They thought they could fool us with their puppets. With what they did brushed off all doubt of their control.

Individuality and imagination were thrown out of the door. Our houses were ugly squares. Each blade of grass should be one centimeter in length; Cars must stop every 30 minutes to be scanned by probes. Clothes must be approved before being worn. There were more rules and even more problems.

They made us into a machine. They turned the entire planet into a 100% efficient factory capable of making –and breaking anything they need to move on- anything they wanted.

Life sucked for me. My artificial parents, or whatever you call those machines that churn out sperms and eggs, were just doing their jobs “making” me. My life was spent being taught how to follow and to follow. Every step I took was all because they let me. And the feeling burns harder than any agony.

Now there was a small thing that kept me sane and kept the fires of hope in my heart. It was a game. That game was called Minecraft.

Long ago in a time where cars still had wheels and Mars was still a red rock which is unlike the metropolis it is today, millions of people played Minecraft. From the papers and information I could gather, it was creativity given form. People built castles, cities and whatever their minds could think of. People who know the forbidden language of Java and the “Pixel” programs were said to change Minecraft’s fabric through words and painting alone. I kind of found that preposterous.

It all ended when the group that made Minecraft (I forgot its name I think it was Mojang,) was killed in a car “accident”. They went in their transports and it all exploded. Omega people then threatened the news and media teams not to publish the event. They still did, which resulted in a dozen companies being shut down with their resources transferred to Omega.

Now at that time, I was sad, confused and hoping for escape. Words and observations can’t fully encompass what I want to say to you people, so I hope my recorded memories here in this Mindreader can show you better. What is a Mindreader? I’m pretty sure I left a manual for you.

If I didn’t, well… bummer.

Here’s me hoping,
~Alex Terran

…Why was it so dark? Oh, I fell asleep. Hard not to in this place.

I rubbed my eyes and let out a small yawn, careful not to alert anyone that I missed one of the Manager’s “motivational” speeches. Anyone might just report me and get a promotion; they’d act just like I expect them too. Already I could see some of my co-workers shuffling to tell the guards of somebody that took a snooze.

‘Is that bigger office of yours worth your conscience bleeding to death?’ I thought. I had other thoughts too, all of them overused and revisited over the last 17 years I have been here living myself to death.

We were all standing in a large room I lovingly call ‘The Box’. The walls, ceiling, floor and clothes were a dull grey. I also nominate my life into that list. The people’s expressions added to the dead-ness if that even is a word. The security guards were like statues. The employees’ expressions were either tired, depressed, bored or a combination of the three. Only the Manager differed and as usual, he talked and grinned like the devil he is.

“We are all gears in this machine we call life. We should work hard and strive to be tireless and endless, as Omega is.” He said. The crowd answered a mechanical “As Omega,” in response before dispersing and going to whatever part of this hellhole they got the bad luck to work in. I was just glad I perfected that half-sleep thing. I missed most of his speech.

I walked out slowly and careful not to look at anyone in the eyes. They said it was to give respect to each other’s personal space. I call it divide-and-conquer. I did that while passing through hundreds of people and dozens of corridors. I soon found my workspace/prison cell. People call it the ‘Disposal Room’. I fancy it the ‘Room for the Lazy’. Yeah, I need to work on the name a bit more.

What this room does is it burns, shreds and removes anything you want from existence. I stepped inside to see Menomax holding a baby and looking at it with such paternal love I wanted to barf.

Who is Menomax you ask? Well I’d love to tell you what he’s not. Every single time I asked him about his past it changes. One day he came from an abandoned experimentation facility then a secret rebel spy the next. He has a naturally purple colored hair and eyes, which almost got him executed for being too “alien”. What’s more, he has an overactive imagination and I spend most of my “job” listening to alternate universes and talking ponies. To top it all off, he’s my one true friend in this joint. And I have the confidence to tell a person this is my life is astounding to say the least.

His peculiarities aside, what surprised me most was the baby. Babies weren’t allowed out of their containment areas until they were old enough to learn. Why was Menomax holding one?

Apparently noticing me for the first time, Menomax looked up and smiled.

“Hello there Alex, meet my child.”

I didn’t know whether to roll over the floor laughing or wail a cry of agonizing despair. I decided to do both at the same time, all the while Menomax was looking at me strangely. As if I was the one in mortal danger.

After my brief moment of insanity, I sat on my chair, looking at the baby with curiosity. I have never seen a child before, and it kind of looked like… a potato of some sort. A potato made of cute baby.

“What’s his name?” I asked Menomax, who was fixing up diapers and milk bottles which apparently came from nowhere. He looked at me, his faraway expression heavily imprinted with bliss.

“When He gave it to me, I gave him the name that suited his soul. I named him Bob.” He said with a pleased smile. I stared blankly at his face for a moment before putting my head in between my arms, rocking back and forth.

“We’re dead, we’re dead, we’re dead, and we’re dead. That baby’s gonna come along with us.

Why did he send it to us-” I paused with wide eyes. I looked at Menomax with suspicion. “Who exactly gave you this baby?” I asked slowly, wary for the answer.

“Him!” He said with much glee I was tempted to shut him up before he alerted the guards.

“Who is Him?” I hissed. He smiled and shrugged nonchalantly.

“Somebody I know.”

“What’s his name?” I gritted my teeth.

“It starts with a letter.” He flashed his in a smile. By that point I wanted to claw my own face out. I touched my face with my fingernails, contemplating it further. I was staring at the white tiled floor, imagining
my blood splattered all over it.

People were a resource, like wood or steel. The baby was company property, and having one here is theft. Theft equals death. Maybe worse. What’s worse than death you ask? Many things I’d rather not speak of.

“If you want to see him, maybe you can stay at my house on Break Month.” I was noticeably paler before I came in but upon hearing that, I returned to my tan skin, along with heat and the breath I was holding for what seemed like forever.

Break Month is the only thing that kept suicide rates from reaching the 200 minimum. An entire month of lounging in your pathetic excuse for a house with your friends has saved me from the monotonous torture of my existence.

And it was coming up after this month.

Even the mention of it calmed me down even more, reducing my fear levels from ‘soon-to-be-dead’ to ‘might get tazed’.

“Sure,” I smiled. Menomax smiled back. Bob the baby looked at me and smiled as well.

We spent weeks filing papers to be burnt, shredded, incinerated and save some papers that looked kind of important. Whenever we get sent one of those, there’s a 99.99% chance somebody’s executed. We’ve made a morbid yet interesting game where we imagine how they died. Menomax often won and I assume you can guess why. A week after seeing Bob, which has taken residence on my table I received a paper bearing the sign of the Manager. I marked it for resend.

“Drowned in snake pool,” I call out.

A few moments later I heard the Resend Stamp on Menomax’s table.

“Suffocated with smoke.”

Another paper arrived at my desk and before I could even stamp it-

“Trapped in my doodoo!” Bob the baby said in a deeply masculine voice that made me drop my stamp. I stared, mouth agape, at the baby. He looked at the fallen stamp curiously. Said stamp landed on the paper. The baby crawled near it and lifted it up. The Resend mark was placed, but a bit pale.

“That was a good one Alex! You sounded what I thought Bob would sound like!” Menomax called out from his table. Bob still stared at me.

“You should press the stamp on the paper a bit harder.” Bob instructed me. I restrained a scream, seeing it might alert the guards walking the corridors outside.

I managed to swallow my scream, which yelled like mad all the way to my gullet. I managed to say “Wh-what are you?” Bob smiled at me.

“I am a transdimensional being that eats souls for sport,” he said in his deep voice that creeped me out a bit. I stared at him blankly. Bob smiled at me serenely before giving entirely baby-like chuckles that unnerved me.

“Really?”

“Of course not you silly! I travel dimensions, that’s true. I’m also 65,587,000,000 years older than you if my math is right,” he said.

What can I say about my reaction? Can’t, too busy sweeping my jaw off the floor.

I studied the pudgy being that could well be my new galactic overlord. He seemed fine enough, with pasty skin, slightly bald head and stuff. His eyes though were colored red and blue. They looked amazing, though I didn’t notice them before.

So, what would you ask to a being that probably has seen your great grand-caveman-father in diapers? For me, just one:

“Could you destroy Mega Omega?” I asked.

“Technically, yes and no,” he said in that deep voice I was still trying to get used to. His face was cute and then I’d hear that voice… It was disorienting to say the least. He continued on:

“I would do that now but it would go against my vows not to alter reality. Also, I sort of had a hand in its creation.”

I looked at him with my best “I’m gonna strangle your cute pudgy neck” face. He probably noticed and opened his palms in a placating gesture.

“Before, I saw it was good for the world to be unified. Now you see why I don’t interfere,” he said, “Often,” he added under his breath.

“Why don’t you undo what you’ve done?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“It would be against my vows-” He started before I cut him off.

“BUT YOU SAID YOU MADE OMEGA!!!” I yelled at him and for a moment I was afraid to hear the footsteps of the guards to investigate the disturbance. Menomax was beside me without even noticing it.

“I said I assisted upon its creation, but most of what it is now is their own make,” Bob said.

“How did you help exactly?” Menomax asked, his face disappointed compared to my look of hate.

“I supplied them with information of the world’s bases, plans and everything they needed to know to cripple governments and have them rely on Omega for virtually everything.” He stated flatly.

“Then undo what you did,” I spat. Bob only shook his head tiredly and sighed.

“If you had unlimited power and could change the world’s fabric with a mere thought, would you do change what is?” He asked. I thought for a moment before responding.

“Well, yes as long as it has a good effect and purpose.” I said. He gave me a weary smile that belied his form.

“Well let’s say you can change what right and wrong are defined as and you can change it so the world can function better under your guidance. What possible reason would you have not to do things? Nothing, because you can change the universe to match your intent and make it the most logical choice. Only my vows keep me sane, and I’d not break them again,

“I assisted Omega because the various countries would easily exterminate each other for resources. I then asked myself if it would be worth to interfere. I answered yes. What if I changed it again? What would happen after? Your people would fight for resources once again and the problem starts all over again,” he finished with a sigh. His features became older and wiser than I first saw them. “I apologize on my entrance with this form but this is the only way for me to get here without suspicion. Here, let me change to a form that suits my words,” he said. He crawled to the edge of my table and landed on the white tile floor with a dull thump. Then he changed.

His small body grew taller. His shoulders broadened, his features aged and yet his red and blue eyes stayed the same throughout the transformation. Most amazingly, he grew clothes on the way to the transformation.

What stood before me now was a young adult with short black hair with a... sorry, but I’m not good with clothing names. It held a sharp-ish design that gave off an air of confidence and skill. His pants and shoes followed the same pattern. What shocked me though were the colors.

His suit contained colors. Everywhere I looked a different shade or color would appear. His face looked young yet held the ancient weariness his previous form had, though his current one suits him better.

“I see you are pleased with this form. The other one always preferred an old man with a beard,” He casually noted.

Wait…what?

“Other one?” Menomax asked, voicing my thoughts aloud. He looked disturbed now. I would too, if my supposed baby became a full-sized elder being in front of me. He smiled sadly.

“I am the second being that is like this. The first one started when this universe started. I started a bit later. I’m pretty sure we’ve been fighting ever since. He wants to make you his playthings. I disagreed.”

All this talk of universes and morals almost shoved away my thoughts of meeting the person who brought Bob to us. I mean, who would go to a tyrannical company’s front door, knock and ask “Universal being for a mister Menomax! Can you send it to him?”

And I would meet him at Menomax’s house. This felt out of place for me. We were dealing with powers that exceed our own. The finite reaches of my domain included shredding and resending papers and thinking of how people die. These powers are well beyond that.

At the same time, I felt kind of nice to be given this power to a person like me and Menomax. It made me feel like I’m not just another grey-suited office zombie in this place.


Days flew by in a flurry of conversations and talks with Bob and Menomax. Meno seemed to get over “his baby” being all grown-up and has treated him like an adult, although he is concerned for him from time to time. Bob has found that to be amusing, yet I saw a glimmer of satisfaction and a smile on his features when he says it.

And now on to Bob. He has made my days in the office a breeze. He knows everything about Omega and has done all the paperwork in an instant. He also enchanted the office to take care of any future papers and sort them accordingly. Now I spend most of my time talking with them. And I thought I was lazy then.

I learned of what the world was like before. Me being vat-born as they call us, I have no knowledge of a world other than the grey corridors and white tile floors of Mega Omega. Menomax was one of the children taken from the mountain hideouts. They talked to me about forests and oceans and valleys. They spoke of a world where life was natural, not controlled. A world where a choice was made, not forced upon; a world where being someone meant being unique and not just born to live, work and die. Bob spoke of many things that he should have thought of before helping Omega.

“Your world has problems so that good things can come out. You humans can’t know happiness if you don’t feel loss. Your world isn’t perfect, but it’s the best where you can live in. I changed things, outweighed evil and good. I resolve to change this,” he said to me.

What we didn’t even talk about was the place where we were going to go or who were to meet. Anytime I start up a conversation with that Menomax would just smile and say it’s a secret and Bob will subtly steer the conversation in any way he wants. Sometimes I think he just makes me forget tiny things that make it easier for me to be steered.

And today is the last day of work; I couldn’t be any happier. Bob and I were engaged in a contest of skill, fortitude and self-control. Menomax stood at the back, looking nervously at me and Bob repeatedly. The air of the room could snap from the tension.

All my attention was on Bob. I was nearing my breaking point but I didn’t dare show any of it to him. He, on the other hand, has kept a genial smile on his face all throughout the last past minutes. It was darn frustrating. Ooh, the itch was bad.

Another second as passed, the itch got stronger now.

Another. My eyes twitched. Bob gave a larger smile, revealing white sparkling teeth.

Another second I was about to fall when the intercom called me to the Manager’s Office.

I gave a sign of contentment. Bob grinned.

“Until next time,” he said casually. I, on the other hand, was worried. The Manager wouldn’t call anyone for simple matters. His presence was valuable, as he has kept saying to us in his motivational speeches. What he often does is stays at his office and gets all the credit for our work. Even in a world such as this, greed still manages to thrive.

When did I get so deep with this stuff? Only a few weeks ago I was just one of them: a dull-minded fool of a person. What did Bob’s presence do to me?

I snapped out of my thoughts and proceeded to-

Wait… Why am I in front of the Manager’s Office? Years of doing the same things over and over again must’ve given me this talent to go where I want to go without knowing it. Neat. How long have I been using this?

The Manager’s door was made of dark brown wood; it stood out in the factory of greys, whites and blacks. I knocked, feeling the smooth texture of the wood on my knuckles as it rapped the door. Whoa, that was an amazing experience for me. Now you can imagine sad my life is now.

“Come in,” said a muffled voice which clearly came from the Manager. I twisted the knob and went inside.
To say the least, he was rich. The floor was made out of the same dark wood as the door. The walls were the normal grey but held various paintings and shelves filled with books. There was a sofa on the side, if sofa is what they call those things anyway. In the middle of it all is the Manager who sat on his desk and held a baby in his arms. He looked at me and smiled warmly.

“Ah, Menomax, was it? I tend to know my employees names,” he said. Well the jokes on you, jerk. He got off his desk and showed me the child. It was wrapped in white cloth so I couldn’t see much of its body except his face, which was similar to Bob’s first form only it had brown eyes instead of red and blue.

“So, do you know what this is?” he asked me, still wearing that cheerful face of his like a mask. Oh course I know what a baby is; our education wasn’t just about programs and propaganda. Still, I had to act like the unwitting slave worker he expects me to be. I’ve seen too many wisecracks blurt out their last joke to the Manager before passing into death.

“It’s a small human, sir,” I mumbled, careful to keep the act I have been putting on since I was a young boy. They don’t know the real Alex Terran. They never had. I’ve been running errands and doing things almost mechanically on everything I’ve done when I’m outside the Disposal Room. Sometimes I even wonder who Alex Terran really is. If he is this person I am pretending who I am, I would rather be someone else. If he’s different well, I haven’t met him yet.

“Erm, Menomax? You still there?” the Manager said with some irritation. Good, I thought, let him enjoy difficulty, no matter how minute it might seem. I looked at him with glazed eyes.

“Apologies, sir,” I said. He studied my expression for a moment if I really meant what I said.
“Don’t do it again,” he said. He gave me the baby, which I slowly held in my arms. It looked straight at me with curiosity. “Throw that thing in the incinerator for me, would you?”

I almost froze. I kept my posture the same. How could anyone do that?

“Sir?” I asked with hesitation, which he must have thought of as slow-thinking. He sighed wearily.

“Get this baby and throw it in the incinerator. Understood?” He said slowly, as if speaking to a child. I hated him for that. I nodded and walked out of the room, wondering what I was going to do with this baby. I don’t have any relation to him other than being his maybe executioner. Still, I thought, it would be wrong to just burn a living, breathing thing.

But is it really? This world will turn him into one of these people who will never have any dreams or aspirations. If I burned him, he would just feel a moment of pain rather than this slow decay. But my heart still can’t take the fact that this small, innocent little being will die because of me.

My blood was turning to ice all the way to the Disposal Room. There are also the repercussions to think of. If I don’t do it, I will be accused of disobeying a direct order which equals to death.

When did I have morals in this miserable place? Oh yeah, when Bob showed up. His appearance was random yet it’s already obvious that he was there for a reason. But why us? Maybe chance? Sometimes I’d hope I was somebody different; I was somebody better.

Once I again I find myself in front of a door, only this one was the normal white variety. My hand felt like stone as I turned the knob. I walked in, lead filling my every step. Menomax was talking with Bob when he saw me, eyes wide.

“Adam, is that a baby?” he asked. I sighed and I nodded. I went over to the incinerator, stopping in front of it. I looked at the baby in my arms. It was sucking on its thumb. I don’t even know its gender.

If I do it, my life will be wracked with guilt. If I do it, I won’t even have a life.

I reached open my arms slowly, my guilt turning into real pain in my arms. I closed my eyes to get it over with easier.

And then… lightness. I opened my eyes to see my hands are empty. I looked over to Bob who was cooing the small baby in his arms, its tiny little hands reaching for his face. He looked at me empathically.
“I’m sorry you were in that position. Their standard practices have begun to sicken me,” Bob said. He looked at the baby and gave a small smile. The baby smiled back. “As if there’s anything wrong with you. I’m going to call you Apollo.”

“You know his gender?” I asked. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Uh, I think you’ve forgotten I can create black holes for fun. You didn’t expect I’d know a baby’s gender?”

I remained silent, looking down at the floor. I think my ears reddened. After a moment, I asked:
“What are we going to do to him?”

Bob looked at me thoughtfully.

“Well I thought it was decided. We bring the baby to Menomax’s home,” he said it as if it was the simplest thing in the world. Didn’t he think of the guards? Or the hundreds of scanning devices? And how would we hide a baby anyway? Bob noticed my face and smirked. He tossed the baby in the air, the child was giggling at the suddenness. Bob snapped his fingers and the baby disappeared with a loud pop. He winked at me.

“Don’t worry for now. Someday you will have to make the hard decisions and the complicated plans.”

Partly, I was relieved that someone else will bear that burden. On the other hand, he said it as if I was a youngling. It was limbo and also kind of foreboding. I don’t know why I should be surprised; an old fossil like Bob could probably recite every prophecy concerning two babies, one not really a baby and the other portable, messing up my schedule.

I spent the next few hours working, and working and work-

Okay, I apologize for zoning out. It has become a habit I’ve trusted on to keep me sane.

Now, the intercom buzzed in a pattern that signaled the end of the day. Don’t ask me about the time and when things happen here and there, I’m pretty sure Omega has gotten time to follow their rules and wear a dull suit like the rest. In other words, I don’t know what the time was since I came out of the training centers.

Me and Menomax walked in the hallway along with every worker in the joint. Bob was invisible or just teleported to the house. I dunno. He’s practically a divine being; he can do whatever the heck he wants. He could get on a floating teacup pig towards Meno’s house if he wanted.

Anyway, back on walking, or better yet, skipping this part that’s just all about walking.
Gotta warn you about the outside though, it’s the same as the inside, but without the ceilings.




We stepped out off the factory, which gave me a whiff of fresh stink. The air was heavy with pollutants and chemicals it almost made me wish to be stuck in the Factory for most of the year again; at least in there it didn’t stink.

The crowd around me was walking uniformly like some kind of clockwork mechanism made of people. I’m pretty sure me and Menomax, who was too busy following our own rhythm, looked a bit different from the mass of suits and dresses. I turned to my purple-haired friend, who was walking with a spring in his step.

“You seem awfully cheerful today,” I said. He looked at me with half-dreaming eyes and smiled.

“Today you will know of the Server,” he stated with both certainty and excitement. I was going to ask what the Server was when a man suddenly went in between us. He looked at Menomax for a moment before turning his red-and-blue eyes upon me in a cautioning frown before turning to face forwards and walked normally.

“We shall not speak of what is to happen too openly, if I were you two,” Bob whispered a moment later. I nodded slightly.

We were walking on a wide concrete road that had several trees lining on both sides. The road kept straight and branched to the left or right, leading to neighborhoods of white squares that passed for as houses.

The field beyond the concrete was a gull grey slush of cracked sandstone. These wastelands continued until it stopped at another factory or housing area, which was basically what composed the entire world right now.

We kept walking, passing three housing divisions before reaching ours. By that time the large mass of people turned to a few dozen or so workers who were now having microscopic small smiles on their faces and launching split-second winks at one another. It was amazing to see, considering how many months I’ve spent walking past dead faces; maybe these people aren’t so dead after all.

Menomax’s house was a large white square and had the ID D-1-5 on the sidewalk tile in front of the house. Menomax went inside first, then Bob, then me. Before I stepped inside I swore I almost heard the laughter of the neighbors, but dismissed the thought as just my imagination. Wait, I have imagination?

Stepping inside Menomax’s house I have been assured I had no imagination for I didn’t see what was coming.

A dull grey stone covered the walls of the room, the monotony being broken by a few glinting colors of gold, maroon, turquoise and sometimes even deep black. The floor was made from dark brown planks. A rug behind the door was colored green, with a frowning face on its center. Looking at its face made me feel a bit cautious for no reason. Light came from deceptively wooden torches which actually were plastic lights that glowed orange-ish illumination in the room.

The room smelled a bit of wood and a strange smell that I can only describe as natural. I looked at my friends (I guess I can call Bob that…) to see what they were doing. Bob was looking around with an air of nostalgia, his hands softly brushing the stone walls. Menomax had it worse; he was hugging the planked floor and making snow angel motions with his arms and legs.

“Oh how I missed you, my housey-wousey!” came his muffled squeal. Rolling my eyes, I sighed. When I thought I knew his weird inside and out I’d stand corrected. Bob shook his head from the memories he obviously was swimming in and looked at one of the wooden doors.

There were three in total, with a sign each saying where they lead. The other doors’ signs said ‘Bedroom’ and ‘Kitchen’. Bob was looking at a door which sign said ‘Minecraft’.

Now at that time I knew nothing about Minecraft, but it still the name felt good to my ears somehow. Now Bob looked at me and coughed.

“Now, before we go from this point, I’d like to explain some things to you. Menomax can help me with the explaining er, Max?” With an amused expression, Bob tapped Menomax on the shoulder and he froze before standing up and cleaning his shirt. He smiled a bit more sedately now. “Please sit down, both of you,” Bob said.

I did what was asked and waited for whatever they wanted to say to me. I’ve been experiencing some weird changes in my perspective ever since all this mystery popped up. I’d like some clarification.

“Now, we are going to use something called the Mindreader. It is a device built to connect you to another mind space that can be accessed and entered by other people. I guess you can think of it as a messaging system but directly with the mind.

“That mind space is called the Server. The person who created it – we call him the Owner – made another world in that Server. You can think of the Server as another world entirely. There will be many things you won’t be able to understand at first but stick with us and you’ll be fine.”

When he was done, he gestured for Menomax to continue.

“The Server time is also a bit longer than in the present. The Owner made it that a century will pass in the duration of Break Month. Don’t worry about food and all that; The Mindreader triggers a hibernation effect on you while in use.

Also, the Server is based off Minecraft. The world will be blocky and simple at first, but I promise it’s the best place ever,”

I nodded, absorbing the information in small bits. Trying to imagine an entire world in that room is kind of daunting. If I spend the whole Month in there, I’ll live to be a hundred!

No, I’d feel like a hundred when only a month has passed. When I get out of there, I’d feel entirely out of place. I’d be an old man in a suit of a young adult.

“How will I get out?” I asked.

“The Mindreader can be disconnected at any time. You can feel it in your mind like a switch. You have to be careful where you log off though,” said Menomax.

“How about death? Does that happen there or is everyone immortal?”

“You can die but you will be reborn or “respawn”. You will lose experience of your past life and start anew. I’d kinda avoid that but you need not worry. Me and Bob have been in the Server for many times already. Stick with us and you’ll be fine.”

“I don’t need to go there now do I?” I asked. The part about losing my memories spooked me out.

“You could, but what could you do that we haven’t been doing in the Room for the Lazy?”

The question gave me pause. What would I do? Sit around, doodle on papers? Talk with Menomax? No, scratch that. I wouldn’t want a headache.
“So, you ready to go?” Bob asked, eyeing me with a strange expression. Was it hope? Pity? Constipation? All three? Or maybe it was just my own mind.
I nodded. All of us stood up and walked towards the ‘Minecraft’ door with Bob leading. He twisted the knob on the door and I saw-
A bare white room.
“Where’s the flashy portals and blinking lights?”
As we all stepped inside, Meno and Bob shared a knowing look. Purple and red-and-blue eyes sharing a knowing look have been proven by history to be a very bad omen for someone who didn’t get it a.k.a. me.
“Mindreader, on,” the two men said in unison and suddenly the white room turned black.

I felt as if I was floating, my feet finding no land to find purchase on. My body began to change and morph as I felt light-headed. I knew that I connected to something big. It was a strange moment to know without the five senses that a large mass of intelligence joined me with it.

Then there was daylight.

I was standing in a field of grass, surrounded by trees. I looked around, getting a bit of familiarity with the place. I took a tentative step forward when I noticed I was boxy. I looked humanoid of course, but I was made of square shapes, my fingers being thin rectangles. I had knees and such, but still. I walked to a nearby pond. The trees and grass around me was composed of squares. No curves or circles, just squares.

My reflection was on the pond, surprisingly clear. I expected it to be even more boxelated. My head was a big square. My features were the same, in a square way. Plain and simple, I wasn’t unique or anything of the sort. Being under Omega had made me a tiny cog in its large machinations. Oh great, now I’m starting to sound like the Manager.

So… this is the Server? It’s a different place than anything I’ve ever seen. The forest around me stretches into the distance. I can see the square sun bathe the trees with light, their leaves casting multitudes of tiny shadows that move with the wind.

I could see a mountain range over the distance, towering everything else around it. There were roses beneath me, swaying gently with its red petals. I took in a big gulp of air. It was clean! By God, the air was clean!

I felt a small smile tugging at my face. This was beautiful. My thoughts turned sour as something occurred to me.

This is was Omega took from me.

I could see Menomax sitting at the other side of the pond, his legs swishing halfway in the water. Tiny fish came up and nibbled on his legs. He was smiling with an expression of quiet joy on his face. I’ve never seen Menomax this serene, or boxy.

“I take it you are enjoying yourself?” Bob suddenly said behind me. I looked around and I saw him as I did in real life, albeit in a square form. He was holding a sharp fat stick with a handle. He held it carefully, to test its weight. He gave a few experimental swings before doing an abrupt stab, the speed surprising me all of a sudden.

“Where’d you get that- Nevermind,” If this was a story, Bob could make every inconsistency in the book. He could even bring that book here if he wanted to.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about the inventory system. You see this sword?” Bob placed the sword on his back. “That sword stays there.” He then pulled at the handle again but when it came in front, it wasn’t a sword anymore. In place of the blade part was a curved piece of wood. “This is a pickaxe. We’re gonna use this a lot.”

“How’d you do that?” I asked. He said it was a system and not just some godly magic.

“Alright now you’ve just recently came on the Server. Everybody gets a starter set of a few tools and a few pieces of wood and torches. If you’re lucky you can get food in there. How do I explain getting it… do you feel your connection to the Mindreader?”

I nodded.

“Well, there’s another space there that’s for inventory. Feel your mind.” Bob said. “This was easier to do on the PC…”

I felt the spaces in my mind. They were like switches there. I slowly felt the “inventory” space. It already had a few pieces of wood and tools. There was some bread and apples too! And there’s also this gold ring…

“Hey Bob, is this normal?” I showed him the ring. It was rectangular to fit the fingers and had various tiny inscriptions around its surface. Bob looked at it with curiosity.

“Who put this here?” He asked, studying the inscriptions. “Whoever did, we could use this. This is a ring of pardon. Wear it and you will be immune to guard violence and Notch knows whoever bows down to Mythryl royalty.”

“Cool, so I like, got a powerup?” I asked as I wore the ring, admiring its shininess.
“Yeah, sure. Let’s call it that.” Bob said. He looked away a bit faster than usual. Hm, that was a bit suspicious.

“What should we do now?” I asked.

“We should probably find a settlement. A camp, town, village, whatever,” Menomax cut in. He pointed to the sun, which was in the middle of the sky at the moment. “We don’t want to be out in the open when that comes down. Here,” –He walked to a nearby tree and picked off an apple– “we’re going to need food. Does everybody have torches?”

We all nodded. “Good,” he said. “Be alert for fruits and berries. A few plants can help too. Don’t take anything too brightly colored. Plants and berries with any color except for purple, yellow and green can be dangerous.”

“Dude, how do you know this stuff?” I asked. The way Menomax carried himself as he spoke, so confident, almost made him like a different person.

Menomax smiled. “I’ve spent my time here in the wilds, living off the land. From the location of the mountain ranges, we are south of the Glorium Empire territory. We should head towards the mountains, behind that is the Arkimen Dynasty. I know a settlement nearby we could go towards. We’ll need supplies for such a long way.”

Bob, who was already picking some apples, nodded. I went over to the pond to grab some of the purple plants over there. They were all in the color Menomax said is alright so I hunched down and started picking.

“Hey Menomax?” I called out. Menomax was away from the group, standing in front of a square something as he fiddled with pieces of wood and grass. “What’s that?”

“A crafting table,” he called back. I looked at the plants. I got ten. I got up and went over to the table. It held tools and such as well as a grid on top, probably to help with the crafting process. I went over beside Menomax and I watched as he placed a few pieces of wood on the three by three grids and it froze in place. Menomax then worked with wood of different size and length.

Slowly he fashioned a small bow made with plant parts and wood. He tugged at the string experimentally, the string tight and strong.

“Dude, that string could break,” I said. If we were gonna go in a fight with a bow made of plants, I’d be hesitant to trust it with my life. Meno tapped his forehead.

“Centuries,” He assured me. Of course he was bound to pick up some druidic techniques from hermits and talking unicorns in this place. If I spent a century in wildlife, I’d be laughing with rocks and licking the dirt, too. If I hadn’t made it any clearer, I was not assured.

“Do you have a sword?” Menomax asked me. I checked my personal pocket dimension. Nope. I shook my head. “Alright, wait a moment.” He put the bow on his back and began to work on another form. By the time he was done, there was a sword lying on the table that was similar to the one Bob had earlier. Now this, I can trust. I gave it some swings, feeling how light it was and how it would fare against an actual opponent.

A few minutes of swinging and slashing at the air. Menomax called us.

“I think we have enough. Let’s get moving,” He said. Menomax had a wooden quiver with a few arrows in place with his bow in one hand. He was covered in some brown and green robes that served as camouflage. Bob and I had only our swords.

We went inside the forest. The trees around us covered the sunlight as we walked. With every step me and Bob made, twigs and leaves would crack. Menomax walked like a ghost, not making any sound. If I didn’t focus on him he looked almost invisible with his robes.

We were in Menomax’s element. In here, he was the master. I sped up my pace to walk alongside Menomax, causing noise along the way.

“So where are we going again?” I asked.

“To the nearest village.” Menomax answered back.

“And where is that?” I asked again. Even being a super ninja, he still was annoying me.

“In the direction where we’re going now. Don’t worry; I’ve spent time in this forest. The Empire won’t catch us.” At the mention of the Empire he cast a quick glance behind before resuming pace.

“What’s so bad with the Empire?”

“They’re tyrants. They have forged their history in blood. They also turn anyone in their lands into slaves or soldiers. It’s like Omega in there.” He said. I nodded. Any place like Omega is a place I’d rather avoid.

We continued walking for what felt like an hour. The sun was over the horizon, almost going down. The sky was cast in colors of orange. And yellow. Bob and I got out our torches while Menomax kept being his ninja self.

Night reached us. Bob and I were casting glances in all directions, seeing only what the torches can afford us. Menomax crouched as he walk, alert for any sound or movement. We heard howling. We heard wings flapping overhead. I felt weak waves of heat wash over me by the torches, but it wasn’t enough to really keep the night cold away. The cool shade of the trees turned into a menacing darkness as the moon came out. Fortunately, the trees began thinning out as we neared its edge.

Suddenly Menomax froze. I looked around, panicked. Then we heard it. Music and laughter coming from our right.

“Hey it’s alright-” I began but a shush from both of them silenced me. Bob raised his sword defensively and Menomax pulled an arrow from his quiver. I, uh, made a scary face while my hands gripped the sword’s handle tight.

I took a step forward. *SNAP* A twig broke under my square foot. The laughter and the music stopped and I heard a few mumbles and shouts.

“Who goes there?” a voice spoke out.

It was Menomax who spoke for us. “We are travelers. We mean no harm,” He said.

“Travelers, eh?” the same voice asked, doubt plain in his voice.

“I am Menodiah, the Ranger of Axebury. I travel with Bob and Alex, two newlings.” He spoke with the force of authority I have never heard from him. I looked at him with confusion. Do I really know the purple haired weirdo I’ve been with in the Disposal Room?

“I can see your two friends, but I can’t see you, Ranger. Show yourself.” The voice spoke out. We heard rustling and saw him approach with four men behind him, all armed. The man held a torch in one hand and an axe in the other. Unlike our gear which was made of wood, his axe head was metal, its sharpness shining in the torchlight. The same can be said for the other men’s weapons. We were woefully outnumbered and outclassed if blows came to blows.

“Give me your torch, Alex,” Meno said. I gave it to him, shooting a “you better explain this” face at him while doing so. He nodded, his purple eyes showing his affirmation. He turned back to face the men.

The leader of the men loosed a small gasp. His face was tan, with a scar under his right eye.
Under normal circumstances he’d make for a terrifying vision but his face was of open-mouthed, wide-eyed shock and it was downright funny.

“I am sorry for the disrespect, Lord Menodiah. I was wary for Imperial forces here. Their numbers have been growing as of late.” He bowed and kneeled. The other men followed his example. Bob smirked at the display. I was just growing even more confused.

“My Lord, is it true what happened at the Tower?” He whispered reverently, his head rising to stare at Menomax, or Menodiah’s face.

Menodiah scowled. “Now is not the time to speak of such things. My friends need a place to stay, would your camp accommodate us?” His voice and posture changed completely. I’ve seen him change from an air-headed dreamer to veteran woodsman to great prince in a day. I’m pretty sure he’s going to have a pet dragon called Lumpy Space Dragon that shoots purple globs of puppies. Normal now has no definition for me.

“O-of course, anything for you, Lord,” He was standing up now, along with his men. “Please, follow us, Lord.”

“What is your name, soldier?” Menodiah asked, pleased with himself. The man stammered:

“Captain James Pellarn, sir. Commander of the Kingdom’s 12^th Forest Division,” James said with a salute. “It’s an honor to serve, sir.”

“Stand down, soldier. Where is the camp? I see no lights.” Menodiah noted. James grinned.

“Open the gates, boys!” James yelled to his men, who disappeared off to somewhere. I heard a creak when two large gate doors opened out of thin air, revealing a large camp. “Camo-netting, sir. The walls are netted. Unless flying, our walls are high enough to block light. Nobody can see us, sir.” James explained, still grinning. Menodiah smiled and nodded.

“Smart man,”

“Can’t survive in Imperial territory if I wasn’t, sir,”

We went inside and I froze for a minute to observe the place. The place was huge. A large bonfire was in the middle, illuminating the entire place. As the doors closed behind us, I noticed we were surrounded by tall wooden walls. Platforms with archers were all around, the men similarly netted I almost couldn’t see them if it wasn’t for the slight shimmer when they moved. There were tents placed all surrounding the bonfire. There was a stable for horses and beside it was an armory tent of sorts, because I saw weapon racks lined outside the tent.

And there were people. Sure, boxy people, but people nonetheless. They were all around the campfire, sitting on fallen logs and tree stumps. Captain James went inside and was about to say something, probably announce The Great and Almighty Ninja Ranger Lord Menodiah when the entire crowd beat him to the chase.

“Menodiah! Menodiah! Menodiah!” The people cheered, racing towards Meno. Menodiah lifted both hands to halt them but was ignored and lifted up into the air.

“Let’s sing the song of the Ranger Lord!” a voice said. The crowd began to sing in unison:

“Menodiah, Menodiah, leader of the fight!

Menodiah, Menodiah, ranger of the night!

He fought ten demons!

He cut off a troll’s head!

He put two virgins to his bed!

Menodiah, Menodiah, the lord of men and sword,

Menodiah, Menodiah, the leader of our horde!”

The song continued to even more verses. James smiled.

“Here, honored guests, I’ll lead you to your tents.” He said. Me and Bob followed.

“You’ve been awfully quiet the whole time, what’s your take on this situation?” I asked Bob. He just shrugged.

“I’ve seen weirder.” He replied.

Of course he has. I instead turned to James.

“Why are they so happy to see Menoma- I mean Menodiah?”

He looked at me, shock plain in his features.

“You do not know of Menodiah? Of the entire Server’s heroes, his story is the one most sung. His achievements are many. I will burn the night if I were to list down all his deeds.

I looked back at Menodiah who was now at the bonfire, surrounded by drinking men and women while the bards played.

“Menodiah, Menodiah, the Empire’s deadly bane!

Menodioah, Menodiah, and the Kingdom’s power he’ll regain!”

With that the song ended with a loud cheer. The crowd’s noise died down although obviously cheered by Meno’s presence.

“Now this is your tent,” James said.

“Okay, cool.” Said me, the almighty and powerful Alex. Hah, I wish. Inside I found two nice sleeping bags made of fur. The bonfire lit up the insides of the tent quite snugly. I dove right down to one of the bags, expecting their furry softness to cushion my fall. *Thump* Ouch, no it did not.

Setting my sword aside, I buried myself in the bag, feeling relaxed after that long walk through the forest. Bob was sitting cross-legged with his hands on his sword which rested on his lap.

These people, who are they? Captain James said that they are from the Kingdom. And Menodiah, or Menomax, or whatever the heck his name is. Is he the leader of this, Kingdom? And is the Empire really a problem, or only they see it that way?

I got to be careful; danger could come at any minute.

“It seems you got a fan, Alex,” Bob said. I looked out at the tent and saw a brief glimpse of a face peeking inside as it ducked out fast. Curious, I stood up and followed whoever that was. As I went outside, something felt wrong. The shimmering forms of the archers on the platforms were gone. I looked and saw a shimmering body lying down on the dirt. Only the head was visible, and it had an arrow stuck to its forehead.

Before I could issue a warning, the wall gates were blasted open and a volley of arrows flew inside, hitting men and women. There were screams and yells. I didn’t notice it before, but all of them held a weapon of some sort. I saw the man draw their weapons and shields while the archers hide for cover. I went back for my sword, but once I saw the attackers, I was better off with firewood.

They had iron armor with golden designs on it. Chainmail was worn underneath. The men were helmeted, hiding all but their mouths, which were either straight lined or snarling like wolves. The men in front held spears with shields while the men behind had short swords in place of spears. The archers were still outside, firing at the Kingdom soldiers.

Once the soldiers closed, it was chaos.

Sword upon sword. Steel against steel. Men fought and crashed, all trace of merriment replaced with rage and discipline. It was a raging hurricane of combat with Menodia at the center.

He was surrounded by friends and foe alike while he shot down the enemies at an unbelievable speed. Then I saw Bob, taking a horse. I ran towards him, running around the camp, avoiding combat. As I ran, I passed through the armory. I stopped in my tracks. My thoughts raced, weighing the options. I remember my inventory and the sword I left. I ran towards the weapons racks, grabbing a sword and a shield. I felt weighed down by the shield so I dropped it.

Armor, my mind yelled, you need armor! I went inside and saw one of the enemies struggling with a Kingdom soldier,. I looked at them, to my sword and back to them. I ran and stabbed him in the chest. The man’s eyes were hidden, but his mouth was open in shock. The Kingdom soldier yelled and whacked his head with his sword. The man crumpled to the ground.

Me and the other man panted heavily for a second, the battle outside still going fierce.

“Damn Imperial bastards,” he muttered. He offered a hand. “Thanks for the help. I’m Pollux, apprentice quartermaster.”

“Alex Terran, tourist. No problem. I need armor, something light.” I said. Pollux nodded and pointed to a set of leather armor placed on a wooden table. “Thanks.”

Pollux nodded before running outside to join the fight. I stopped to consider my options.

While those men outside have been trained to fight, I’m not. The best I can do is escape while I have a chance. But doing so would leave Menodiah alone. Friendship won out and I ran outside, yelling a battlecry. As I ran outside, I had time to see the last Imperial soldier be cut down by Menodiah, who acquired an iron sword during the battle. My voice died down and I smiled, embarrassed. The men chuckled. I looked around and saw a few dead. Menodiah stabbed his sword into the soil.

“For the Kingdom!” he yelled.

“For Menodiah!” the soldiers yelled. “Death to the Empire!”

Pollux approached me and slapped me in the back.

“Good fight,” he said.

“Uh, yeah. Good fight,” I replied.

Afterward the fallen Imperials, along with the soldiers, were burned in a funeral pyre. Their respect was solemn and I stood as people I didn't know were placed in a line except one. There was one face there that brought last night's battle last night to mind. Dead men were stripped of their armor and gear while their bodies are laid bare. The bonfire became a place of mourning, rather than the celebration area it was a few minutes before.

When you know the face of the dead, it can be a sobering thought.

I will mourn for Captain James Pellarn as his men have.

Afterwards the men slept and so did I, though not as soundly as I wanted to. The mystery person didn’t appear this time.


I woke up to Menodiah standing in front of me. I looked at my side. Bob wasn’t here.

“Sup, Meno. Where’s Bob?” I asked. He moved out of the way to point at the horses, where a few men were preparing to travel. Among those men was Bob, who saw me and waved.

“Alrighty then, let’s go.” I said. Menodiah nodded but there was something in his eyes that wanted to say more. “You came here for a reason right? Then spill.”

Menodiah sighed.

“I guess I owe you an apology and an explanation. I’m sorry I kept all this from you. Yes, my real name is Menodiah. I have dedicated myself to the Kingdom’s cause my entire time here. Heck, my whole life is dedicated to it. I also am a celebrity here of sorts. Many people will be friendly to us. I really am sorry.”

I nodded, too tired to be angry. I walked out and found four horses waiting for us. Pollux was there, grinning at me.

“Protocol says Lord Menodiah needs an escort. Guess who’s got that honor?” Pollux said.

I yawned. “Good morning Pollux. You know where we’re going?” His grin grew even more.

“A town called Blackstone. There’s a road nearby that can lead us to it. Get saddled, I know the way,” Pollux gestured at one of the horses. I went near a grey horse that was drinking some water. While everything was square-ish, I know a horse when I see one.

I saddled it and I kinda felt nervous. Bob was there, smiling at me while atop of his own horse.
“Good morning,” Bob said. “First time riding a horse?”

I nodded, though my attention on my horse. Bob went near me and taught me some pointers on the whole horse-riding thing.

“Fancy I saw you grabbing a horse during the fighting last night,” I said. He smiled apologetically.

“Figured out I’m normal here. It feels great! It also reminded me I was useless in that fight” He said. I guess I could understand. He doesn’t have to worry about earthquakes when he walks or some other cosmic power he can unleash. He’s just like everyone else and all that entails.

With Menodiah, Bob and me saddled and ready, Pollux signaled the men to open the gates we rode at a steady pace, reaching a dirt road and onto Blackstone.





The trip to Blackstone was not quite the dull, boring journey I thought it’d be. On the road I grew more and more awake and so actively ignored Menodiah with glee. Instead I chatted up with Pollux, our guide. The apprentice quartermaster had a smile the whole journey, even when it was drop dead boring.

“This is the southernmost part of the Empire. We can get to Arkimen Dynasty territory through Blackstone then to a system of roads in the mountain ranges called the Great Snakes by the Arkimenians. The roads, as you’d probably guess, are called the Snake Roads. After we navigate there, we’ll go to an Arkimenian outpost and we part ways. I’ll move my own way and travel to a Kingdom outpost,” he said.

“Alright,” I said. Unable to hold myself back, I asked another question.

“I’m sorry if it’s personal but, how did the Captain die? I didn’t know him, not really, but he was the one that showed us the camp and such, I’d feel better to know how he fell,”

Upon hearing the question, Pollux lost his smile.

“It was a bad death,” He said with bitterness. His eyes were trained on the dirt road below as only the hooves of our horses gave sound to the silence that felt a bit heavier that before. “He was battling three swordsmen at the same time, swatting away their swords like it was paper. A spearman came behind, hitting him at the heart,” He looked at me with a hard expression.

“We are made of squares. We are in a virtual reality. But us, you, me and everyone else… we’re real. That death was as real as death was. My Captain will be reborn as someone else, and he will not know of me, his actions and his joy,” –Pollux sighed– “He was there, you know.”

I felt like I was supposed to gasp in shock and pee myself, but I was too busy trying to figure out what he meant. Pollux gave a dry chuckle.

“I forget, you are newlings. We can live to be so old here; I just assume you’d know,”
Uh-oh, I sense a very sad and very long story approaching. I looked at the road ahead and there was still no trace of Blackstone. Bob was at the rear, probably thinking about his step-down from godhood. I looked at Menodiah, who gave me a small smile. I glared at him for fun before turning back to Pollux.

“You see, long ago there was this machine called the Mainframe. It grew, consumed and had a mind of its own. The Mainframe ravaged the landscape. Before, there was no Glorium, only the Kingdom. The Kingdom fought and my friend, those days we had technologies so terrible we could’ve ravaged a normal army to dust.

But sadly, the Mainframe was no normal army. It was a machine that created machines. It could infect us, living players, and use us as his slave force. Then the Mainframe launched bombs so terrible we were forced to leave, but not without leaving a final revenge. We launched our own bombs at the Mainframe. We didn’t destroy it but we contained it. To this day the great Guardian Walls keep the Mainframe as we like it: weak and out of reach.” He finished.

I nodded. I haven’t seen any large walls since my travels. Maybe it’s somewhere far away. I wasn’t complaining, either. I like the Mainframe weak and out of reach too.

I was wearing the leather armor from the night before. When I charged out of that tent looking like a fool, I didn’t really wear the armor at all. I guess it was the panic. This time, I got the sense to wear the thing during preparation. My new sword was at my back and unlike the wooden sword I had at the start; I could feel the weight on this one.

Thinking about it, I should ask Pollux for some sword practice. During that battle I got winded from just stabbing with it. In a real battle, I am too slow and too weak to be in a real fight.
I heard a rustling to the shrubs on my right. My head whipped right, alert for the sound.

The whole party stopped and unsheathed their weapons. All of us were looking around now, careful for bandits or wild animals to come out.

What did came out was a girl, who was unarmed and unarmored.

“Hi,” she smiled as she waved her hand.

“Wait, I know you…” I said, trying to figure out who she is. I know she’s a girl because of her…long hair. Yes, because of her long hair. And face. Yes.

The girl chuckled. “I’ve heard that from Skyrim too many times already.”

“What is she talking about?” I turned to ask Pollux. He shrugged. Alrighty then.

“What are you doing here in the wild? You’re not even armed! What if someone were to attack you?” Menodiah asked.

“Well, I was following you and your friends, Lord. I was sure I was safe.”

“And why were you following us?”

This stinks of spying. I looked far back if she led some Imperial troops to us. I’m still neutral over this war thing but as long as they want to kill me, I’ll happily return the favor.

“Er, him,” she pointed at me. The whole group looked at me and I was nervous. Having the attention of three armed men in a bad way wasn’t a position I would’ve liked to have.

“Why me?” I asked.

“You’re cute,” She said with a straight face. My ears grew red and I could see small smiles from my companions. “And I kinda need to go to Blackstone as well. My family is there.”

“Alright, but I have one last question to ask-” Menodiah started.

“Wait a minute here,” I cut it. Now don’t get me wrong, I like girls who think I’m cute but my math just doesn’t add up. Four horses, five people. “Where would she sit? We only got four horses-”

Before I could protest, the girl jumped on my horse and put her hands to my waist. I thought my ears were red before, now they could probably be steaming.

“Oh let’s just get this over with,” I said as we started to move again.

“Of course, handsome prince,” Bob said. The other two chuckled. I sat there, embarrassed.

“Now girl, what would be your name?” Menodiah asked, careful to keep his smirk from being too much, and failing horribly.

“I’m Ashley, but you can call me Cheryl,”

“Why?” I looked back at her.

“Cause you can!”

The rest of the trip was silent and dull.

I wish.

The girl wouldn’t stop talking. It was as if somebody gave a child too many sweets.

“Where are you going after Blackstone?”

“Are we there yet?”

“Who are you really?”

“Are we there yet?”

“I gotta pee.”

“Are we there yet?”

“Seriously, are we there yet?”

“No, we’re not,” I grumbled, staring at the dirt and trying not to scream.

“We’re here!” She shouted. The surprise almost made me fall off my own frickin’ horse. Steadying myself, I saw Blackstone for the first time.

The road ends in a bridge where it continued into the town as a stone road. The buildings were made of stone and wood, with thatched roofs. There were people wearing normal clothes, or normal from what I’ve seen in this place. They were made from leather, but not as thick for armor. Think medieval-clothing styles.
As we crossed the bridge, I saw more of the town. Further down the road was the town center, a circular, or as much as what circular can be in the Server, patch of grass with a well in the middle with benches around the perimeter. There people gathered and talked. I guess that is their plaza of sorts. I could see the town stretch further towards another bridge. I could guess the entire settlement was surrounded by rivers.

Nearing the plaza, a signpost was placed, showing the direction of various shops, establishments and places to note. Pollux studied the signpost, his eyes looking at the various directions at which they pointed.

“Look, they have a Kingdom outpost and an inn. Where would you guys like to stay? The inn’s got comfort, but we’ll need some coin for that. We get free lodging in the outpost, but we have to provide our own food.”

“Or we could go to my parent’s house!” said Ashley, I mean Cheryl, I mean- argh. Stupid people with their stupid dual names. I’ll call her Ashley from now on.

“She’s right; we gotta take her back to her parents before we go.” I said with relief, though I tried not to show it. “You know the way to your place right?”

“Mhm,” she chirped. “Just take that way,” she pointed at a large building, probably the largest building in Blackstone if my eyes are telling the truth.

“That’s your house?” I asked. It figures she’d be a daughter of nobility. She had an air of naivety, going into the wilds unarmed and depending on us for protection. It would be the best choice for her to stay here, where she actually knows where she’s going. We left our horses at the well, where they munched the grass in peace. Walking to the house, I heard whispers and mumbles from the townsfolk.

“She has returned…”

“Her curse…”

I didn’t like what I heard. The house was built on a strange black stone. If I looked closer, it was kind of purple-ish when it shone in the light. Ashley knocked on the door repeatedly.
“Mom, I’m here! Open up!” She called.

The door opened and a large man in a formal suit glared at Ashley. The door was a meter taller than me, and the man was as well.

“Where have you been Elizabeth? Your mother has been worried sick,” The man’s deep and gravelly voice intimidated me in seconds. The other three were unfazed, though, as far as I can tell.

And wait, Elizabeth? I looked at her with the same “you better explain stuff” face to Menodiah yesterday. She smiled and shrugged with a carefree air that irritated me. It was Menomax all over again. Oh yeah, that wasn’t really him.

“Elizabeth? Elizabeth Blackstone, is that really you? Get in here immediately!” A stern yet worried voice called from the second floor of the house.

“Coming, mom!” She called back. She looked at the large man guarding the door.

“These are my friends Bronx, you can let them in,” she said before running upstairs. I took a step forward before Bronx’s hard stare focused on me. I felt my foot turn to stone at his look. Like Bob, his eyes were strange. Both changed to different shades of purple.

“Do you know what I am?” He asked in a warning. I shook my head but Bob stepped forward, looking at Bronx with a hard stare to match his.

“You’re an Enderson.” Bob stated. Oh here we go, back to names I have no idea about.

“Correct,” Bronx smiled. “You better behave while inside the Blackstone house or I will use my abilities to make sure you will,”

“We’ll take that in mind,” Bob said as he went inside while gesturing for us to do the same.

Aside from the scary butler guy, the house was pretty great. Tables made from the same black stone as the walls held various portraits of the Blackstone family.

“I’m guessing the town was named after them, then?” I asked. Bob nodded. “By the way, what’s an Enderson?” I whispered that question, careful not to offend the large giant man by the door, who was now trailing us as we walked.

“An Enderson is a person who has visited a realm known as the End and was changed by it,” Bob explained. “The End is in another plane of existence than here, which we call the Overworld.

“Being in that place for too long or through violent exposure, one can have the traits of the End into their very being. I heard the process is painful, but the results are quite worth it.

“Aside from the increased height and the eye color, an Enderson can bend the fabric of the Overworld through effort. They can freeze you in place, teleport to and from places, summon objects and even warp your being until you become unrecognizable.”

“Oh,” I said, suddenly aware of how Bronx could teleport me halfway through a wall or freeze me as he could do some really nasty things without fear of revenge.

The house had several rooms of large size. There was the kitchen, dining room, living room and such. We opted to stay in the living room, which had chairs for all of us. Later Elizabeth came down slowly, the energy in her movements gone.

“Bronx,” she said, her voice having a slight tremble. “Mother is having one of her episodes. Please give her the medication,” she said. Bronx nodded.

“Of course, my lady,” He said, giving us a glare before going upstairs.

“What happened?” I asked, careful not to step on any sensitive issues. I was really annoyed by her during the trip but still, the way her movements seemed forced and robbed of all energy, made me want to sympathize.
“My mother has a sickness that has been getting stronger. The doctors said the cure was in Blackstone mine, but that has been infested with the undead for years now. I went away to find someone who can help me get the cure down there. I saw you and your ring of pardon and I thought you can help me,” She let out, like she has repeated many, many times.

“I have asked many people already. All of them turned me down. This sickness has tormented my mother for years on end! Please,” she had small tears on her face now. “Please help us,” she pleaded.

“I’m not the man you need though. I just had this ring when I started. I’m a newling. My friends can help but me? No, not at all.” I sighed.

Elizabeth gave me a weak smile.

“A ring of pardon upon arrival? Either the Fates gave you a Destiny or a friend of power arranged for you to happen, having a ring of pardon is no small matter. Please, let me show you something,” she said. She led us to a small garden on the back of the house. The garden was walled and there were three marked stones in a row. Elizabeth was standing upon the left stone, which said ‘Ashley’.

“The sickness took her first,” Elizabeth said, the tears falling now. She looked at the center stone, which said ‘Richard’, then the right, which said ‘Cheryl’. At the corner of my eye I saw Pollux make a diamond sign with his hands.

“Then they followed,” she gestured at the other two. She looked back at me. “They will remember me only upon the Waking. Do you know how long that is? Do you know?” If she knew of her tears, she didn’t show it.

“Only I am immune. The people say it is my curse, to see my loved ones fall while I stand,” she whispered.

“Alright, I’ll help. I will find that cure and save your mother,” I said. If you had a heart, wouldn’t you as well?

This world was strange. Everyone can live for a hundred years, but can die and be reborn as someone new.

My friends nodded in agreement. Elizabeth lunged at me and hugged me tight, letting her tears fall to my shoulders.

“Thank you,” she whispered.


“What’s wrong with you?” Menodiah said. We chose to stay in the inn, where Elizabeth provided us the money for the lodging. The four of us were sitting at a table, drinking something called golden apple ale. It tasted amazing, that’s for sure.

“What’s wrong with me? I want to help Elizabeth and there’s no wrong I see for doing so!”

“Didn’t you hear her? There are undead in those mines. We aren’t equipped enough to take on zombies,” he said, his hands curled into fists at the table. I was resting my head on my palm as I thought about it. A thought occurred to me as I put my hand down.

“Wait, aren’t you some sort of hero? What are you so afraid of down there?”

Menodiah took a deep breath; his eyes closed hard, his mouth a tight line.

“Blackstone is named because of its obsidian mines, which where we are going towards. Obsidian has been used for every dark deed possible. It can trap souls, inhibit magic and most importantly, summon undead. Call me paranoid but I don’t think it be mere coincidence zombies sprung up down in the mines.”

We all took in this information quietly for a moment before Pollux broke the silence.

“So you’re saying there’s a, uh, necromancer down there whipping up an undead army?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying.” Menodiah replied.

Pollux slammed his fist on the table. “Then we got to get to the outpost, gather some troops! This town could be in danger!”

Bob put a finger to his chin, or whatever counts as a chin for a boxy face.

“No, that wouldn’t be the case. If he wanted to attack Blackstone the necromancer would have sent them shambling here already. Besides, a necromancer would probably have hoarded some goods down there, and some weapons or gold can be helpful for our journey.”

Menodiah groaned. Pollux grumbled staring at his ale like it was the source of his troubles.

“I still think we should call some backup,” He turned to look at me. “Alex? You wanted to do this, what’s the plan?”

Funny, just when I was being jealous of Menodiah’s fame, the spotlight landed on me when zombies were involved.

“Well we did promise Elizabeth…”

“No we didn’t, you did!” Menodiah growled.

“Why not, then? Why can’t the Ranger Lord take down a few deadheads?”

“Because,” Menodiah said through gritted teeth, “I’ve faced undead before. They’re dumb and slow, but what people underestimate is their strength and their numbers. From just a bite or scratch you can be one of them. They don’t feel pain or go down easy. You have to severe their heads to put them down permanently.”

“So that’s it?” I asked, my voice slightly louder now, “You afraid you can’t use your arrows?”

“I’m afraid we’ll all die down there,” He raised his voice a bit louder than mine.

“Why don’t we all calm down?” Bob said, his hand raised and were covered in blue flames. We all were too stunned to speak while Bob was grinning madly.

“Yeah, I gots fire magic. I’m awesome, right?” He said, nodding in our direction.

“Zombies hate fire, and I got fire. What about I say we should go start practicing and preparing for the trip. There’s a library here somewhere and an alchemy store. I’ll visit those. You three can go to that outpost and practice and get some gear, alright?”

One does not simply create flames from his hands but still, I guess this was to be expected. I almost he was a cosmic being outside the game. I should’ve known he had some special magic here.

We now got a ranger, a soldier, a pyromancer and me, the guy with not much going for him.


We spent a month preparing for the Blackstone caves. Me, Pollux and Menodiah were often doing sparring practice down at the outpost. The soldiers recognized Menodiah and gave us free access to their equipment. Our time was spent practicing, resting at the inn, checking up on Elizabeth and looking for wherever the heck Bob went to.

Bob has been burying himself in books related to magic and keeps learning up on alchemy, giving us potions of healing when we could find him. Sometimes we went outside of town to see him demonstrate his abilities. He could often throw some fireballs and shoot flames at a short distance, but those already tired him. He told us not to worry, showing off his magic regeneration potions.

Menodiah and I have made our peace, though we’re rougher against each other during practice than with Pollux. He often practiced advanced techniques with Pollux that really did show his Ranger training. His movements were agile and accurate, quite at a level even Pollux was far from.

Pollux kept teaching me basic sword training and setting me off to do endurance or strength drills. While I wasn’t really even at Pollux’s skill though, I could use the sword effectively and could last longer in a fight.

I also spent my time with Elizabeth who had a calm smile when I saw her. She told me about her life, and how the sickness has been with her family for so long as she can remember. She told me about the Fates, a complex belief in the North which was the name of this continent. She never quite left the house, which I could understand when I heard the rumors about her. After we get the cure, those rumors will disappear.

The concept is kind of complex. The Server holds a fingerprint of all your actions and the actions of others. These fingerprints converge like a sea and affect the present in strange ways. The Fates can often be subtle like a turning of the head or in my case, give a man a ring of pardon.

Turns out, only royalty can give out rings like these. This small gold ring can buy me a generous plot of land if I sold it, but Elizabeth told me to keep it for the time being.

At one point I asked Bronx to join us fight. He agreed. During the course of the month we were really going to help the Blackstone family. I was also happy. If what Bob said was true, an Enderson on our side could really help.

And here we are, at the entrance to the cave. I still wore my leather armor while Pollux had iron. Menodiah had his trademark camo-cloak and bow and arrow. I also noticed he brought an iron sword as well. Bronx didn’t replace his formal wear but carried a strange orb he called an ‘Ender Pearl’. Lastly there was bob, who wore his regular clothes but this time with various belts filled with vials of blue and red liquids.

I gripped my sword tight as we went inside.

At the start the mines went straight forward, with torches lining the sides of wooden supports. As we went deeper the torches noticeably dimmer. At that point we found our first zombie.

It was a man, or was one. It wore clothing similar to the people of Blackstone, though tattered. Its eyes were deep black, staring at us with a dull, empty look. The zombie’s skin was pale green and to be honest, it stank like, a lot.

“Ugh, it stinks,” I said, swatting away the air in front of me. The zombie made an inhuman rasping growl. I readied my sword when a ball of magic hit the zombie in the face. The zombie continued to make its horrible sounds as it fell, and tried to crawl towards us. It stopped moving or making a sound as it was left as a charred heap that resembled a human.

“We should be careful; we’re going to find them in hordes after we go down,” Menodiah warned.

As we proceeded, the ground began to slant downwards and the torches becoming scarcer. Passing one point, we had to hold our own. We encountered groups of zombies now, growing number as we went down. Suddenly, the tunnel stopped to a large cave, where I could hear lots of groans and cries of the undead. They were pressed against each other, trying to claw their way up to us, the tunnel entrance a few meters above the cave floor. We cast the torch light to the zombies gauging their numbers.

“There must be hundreds of them here,” I noted, wondering how we would fight them all. “Any plan how to take on a zombie horde?” I asked them. Bob threw a torch down at the horde, which caught fire and after a minute, died.

“Okay,” I said, “How do we get down?”

Bronx smiled and closed his eyes, his features in concentration. Suddenly I felt like I was ripped apart and remade again, this time at the floor of the cave. I looked around and my body, careful for any missing or messed up body parts.

“Warn me next time you do that, man,” I said, panting. The rest were also similarly disoriented.

We continued down to the cave, where we saw old blood splattered around the cave walls and bones and skulls of probably people were scattered around, but no zombies. Something felt strangely wrong, like it was supposed to have noise when it was silent. I realized that a cave as large like this, there were supposed to have echoes. There wasn’t, and I thought I saw a familiar shimmer tugging at the air above us.

“Hey Bob,” I said. He turned to me, curious.

“What’s up?”

“Mind throwing a fireball at the roof?” I asked. Bob raised an eyebrow at that but still obliged. Summoning a small ball of flame from his hand, he threw it at the roof. Before hitting the roof, the air appeared to have caught fire.

“Camo-netting! It’s a trap!” I yelled as the camo-netting burned and revealed what was really above us.

There were dozens of them. Large, six legged monstrosities with red, glowing eyes staring maliciously at us.

“Spiders!” Pollux yelled. Bob began flinging fireballs while Menodiah shot arrows. Bronx aimed his palm at the monsters, causing some to disappear or break into broken parts. Some even imploded in themselves.

They all jumped down, surrounding us. I hacked at a nearby spider, cutting off all its legs on its right side. I stabbed another to my left, taking out some of its eyes. We continued like this, pressed in a tight circle, as we fought against the hairy things.

Thankfully, they weren’t very many compared to the zombies before. We stood there, breathing heavily, surrounded by the corpses of dead spiders.

“Whew, that was some exercise,” I said. The others were too tired to reply.

“Wha- look!” Pollux pointed at a small tunnel at the side of the cave. We looked at each other before nodding.

“I’m guessing the cure’s over there,” I said. Me and my friends walked towards the tunnel, which led to another smaller, but still large, cave. The cave rose to the very end, where a man was standing. In his hand he held a staff that glowed with a green light.

“Who are you to destroy my creations?” He yelled in a shrill voice. So, yeah. There was a necromancer here, and he’s crazy.

“You’re crazy, bro,” I said. He aimed his staff at me and shot a green fireball. I jumped out of the way of the blast, though I did feel its menacing heat. “What’s up with fire with you magic people?” I shouted. I looked back at Bob. “No offense,”

“None taken,”

“Give us the cure, necromancer,” Menodiah said, his voice echoing around the room. He had an arrow drawn and aimed at the necromancer.
“What cure?” He asked, confused.

“Aw screw it. I’m tired as heck,” Menodiah groaned before letting loose an arrow, which got the necromancer straight in the forehead. The necromancer’s dead body slumped to the ground.

“That was anticlimactic, bro. We’re supposed to kill him in deadly battle, like some awesome heroes, man!” Pollux complained. Menodiah gave him a look.

“Let’s just get the treasure and be done with it,” he said.

We walked towards the dead necromancer’s body, where behind him was a wooden door. Behind the door were potions, some weapons and gear and backpacks. Most importantly, there were tons of healing and cleansing potions here. There was also a chest that was filled with, yep, sacks of gold.

Let’s just say we went outside the mines happy and packin’ heat.


We returned later to Blackstone, where we healed Elizabeth’s mother. She offered us gold, but we declined. We already had sackful of the stuff. We just asked for a wagon to help with our gear. We had to carry the chest, seeing as our inventories were stuffed with gear, weapons and potions already. The mother did insist on giving me their family heirloom. It was a sword made of pure obsidian. It was called ‘Cursebreaker’ and I too was called by the people.

Alex Cursebreaker. That had a nice tone to it. The only problem today was we left our horses at the well when we went to the mines, so me and Pollux had to carry the darned chest to Blackstone. A small distance can feel backbreakingly long when carrying a chest filled with items more or less composed of metal.

“Why didn’t you just tell Bronx to teleport it along the way?” Elizabeth asked us upon our return.

I facepalmed. Hard.

We got our wagon and gold and with it we bought food for the long journey to the Arkimen Dynasty. We traded some stuff we didn’t need for things like the golden apple ale.

We were already preparing to leave when Elizabeth approached us.

“Thank you, for everything,” She said and gave me a peck on the cheek. Again, ears, red.

“Uh no problem ok guys let’s go kthnxbai!” I said before the guys could crack jokes.

We hooked the wagon to my horse, and we felt pretty victorious at the end. I inspected our gear. We traded most of the weapons at the town, though we left a few as extras. We bought a map of North to speed things along. We brought a compass as well to get the navigation better.

As I felt Cursebreaker on my back during the trip, I was feeling pretty boss.

To the Snake Roads, then! What could go wrong?

You are 12, right?

I shouldn’t have jinxed it.

During the travel, our wheel broke. Since we didn’t ask for spares, we had to make camp to fix it. Luckily, Pollux and Menodiah had knowledge on that sort of event and cut a few trees to begin working on the replacement.

We set up camp somewhere east of Blackstone, if my map isn’t wrong or anything. Judging from our speed and such, it would take two days to get to the Snake Roads. We found a pretty nice enough clearing in the forest to make do, setting up the tents and the chests and stuff.

We arranged the camp in a circle; four tents for sleep and one tent for our supplies. Our wagon was placed just beside the supply tent, our horses grazing nearby. Menodiah and Pollux were at a pretty long crafting table, probably three meters long if I’m a good judge. A camp was also a good time to get a little recap and rest from the journey.

Funny, I’ve been here for a month and the years of being in the Factory seemed like a dream. My character

Now that I gave it a closer look, our loot was various pieces of iron armor with various weapons made of the same metal. These people do sure love their iron, don’t they? We also got a good load of books and potions, all of which was unpacked and organized in Bob’s tent. I was inside the loot tent at the time when Bob came inside with a friendly smile, beckoning me to his tent. I dropped an axe I was studying and followed him to his tent, which had a strange hazy air to it that makes me feel weird.

Going inside, I was like, “Whoa,”

“Whoa, indeed,” Bob agreed as I looked around his tent.

There was an iron door on my right, which just stood there. His sleeping bag and various books were on the left, but what caught my eye was the… thing in front of me.

“Cool, right?” Bob asked me. It’s cool, if we’re having lunch.

The thing was pink and stood on four stubby legs. It had a small spring-shaped tail at the back of its rectangle body. Most important feature though, was its face. It had eyes had that strange gleam you won’t mistaken for anything else but intelligence, and it was studying my as hard as I was studying it. Its snout was big and had an insane and reckless quality to it.

“Salutations!” The pig greeted me. Its voice was entirely human, and it creeped me out just how Bob spoke with that man voice when he was a baby-

I looked at Bob, my eyebrows raised.

“Is this…” I whispered the last part very, very, quietly, “Your brother?”

“No, I am not,” The pig answered. I yelped, pointing a shaking finger at the monstrosity.

“It can hear me!”

The pig sighed.

“If I could facepalm I would do it right about now,” The pig said.

This pig… it could not be natural. I looked at Bob again.

“What foul sorcery is this?” I hissed. Bob waved a dismissive hand at me.

“Chillax, I just found a pig and turned him into a Pigman.” –He looked at the pig, who was raising an eyebrow at him skeptically– “Partly, anyway.”

“A Pigman? What, is he like an Enderson or something?” I asked. This entire situation stinks of weird.

“Kind of. Endersons are still players while Pigmen, and Creepers while we’re on the topic, are AI’s,”

“AI’s?”

“I forgot, you are vat-born, you don’t know this stuff. AI’s mean Artificial Intelligences. Every non-player being you can find here is an AI. What makes different is their AI’s are so advanced they have memories, thoughts, feelings and emotions. They’re practically people! Richard here,” Bob gestured to the pig, “Became a Pigman through some spells I found here,” He pointed at the books.

“Black magic, cough,” Richard said. Bob gave him a look. “I mean, uh, oink,”

“Anyway,” Bob continued, looking at Richard one more time before turning to me, “Having a Pigman in our journey could help us a lot,”

“Like a moving lunch?” I joked, cracking a small smile.

“Hey-” Richard started but Bob ignored him. I smiled a little bit more while Richard grumbled.

“Not just that. A Pigman has a large supply of stamina and if these books are to be trusted, they can move at fast speeds when shown food as motivation, especially carrots.”

“A pack mule then?”

“Richard will also be bound to me, meaning he’s loyal and will obey every command I give him,”

“Don’t get any ideas,” Richard warned him. I let out a small chuckle.

“Alright then, good luck with that,” I said as I started to go outside, leaving Bob with Richard.

Then I heard yells. Getting Cursebreaker from my inventory, I ran towards the source, which came from the direction of the crafting table. There I saw Pollux being pinned down by a stranger, a short sword pointed at his throat. Menomax had his back to me, aiming an arrow at the person, which I saw was a girl.

“Whoa, what happened? These things happen too fast-” I started, and then I noticed something wrong. Menomax wasn’t aiming, he was frozen. The girl wore a tight leather suit with a hooded mask that showed only her eyes.

Those purple eyes. She’s an Enderson!

I ran at her, Cursebreaker in hand. She aimed her free palm at me. I felt a heavy pressure bearing down on me, keeping me rooted to my spot, but still I moved, although in a slow, sluggish way. The stranger focused even more, slowing me down further. Then I noticed Cursebreaker was hot, I mean burning hot, and I couldn’t let go.

I was panicking now. I looked around, frantically searching for a way out. All three of us were frozen now. Bob! He could still save us!

“Go Richard!” Bob’s voice shouted as I saw a pink projectile flew itself at the Enderson, tackling her to the ground and breaking her hold on us. Menodiah kept the arrow trained at the stranger now, with Pollux keeping his blade steady. Bob came running, his hands filled with a blue glow. He aimed one hand at the Enderson and she was outlined with a similarly blue glow, her body unmoving while Richard climbed off her.

“Sorry for my sweat there, miss,” Richard said.

Pollux trained his sword at her face.

“Who are you?” He demanded. “I’m want to return the favor you gave me so you better not lie,”

The stranger kept silent, her eyes glaring daggers at him.

“What happened here?” Bob asked as he drew near us. Menodiah lowered his bow and turned to face him.

“She,” –Menodiah gestured at the frozen girl– “came out of the forest and pinned down Pollux then used her power to freeze me and Alex,”

“She’s an Enderson,” I noticed. I wasn’t really looking at them; my eyes were trained on Cursebreaker. I shouldn’t have been able to move back there. Is this sword magic? If it was then, cool.

“Daughter,” she said with obvious strain. “Enderson is for men. I am an Enderdaughter, or Enderchild,” She looked at Bob. “Could you loosen up on your spell there? It’s hard to speak when there’s a choking force on your throat,”

Bob nodded and the girl took in a heavy breath.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Now, who are you?” Pollux asked again, his eyes were filled with warning.

“I am Sasha, and I’m guessing you’re not my father’s men?”

We stared at her, confused. I’m still not quite a believer in the whole Fates thing but maybe it’s doing more than just giving me a ring. Since day one here I’ve been dragged from an Imperial raid to zombie caves and now to a runaway Enderchild. It was as if a writer was slapping on the plot on the fly, driving the story into as much as zigzag he could make it as.

“If this was a story it’d be frickin’ unbelievable,” I muttered. Bob raised an eyebrow at me.

“No, we’re not. We thought you were some imperial assassin or something,” Pollux said. “You aren’t an Imperial assassin, though, are you?”

Sasha shook her head. Pollux looked at her for a moment before nodding to Bob. “Let her free,”

“Thank you-”

“No thanks. If you turn out to be an assassin, I’ll make you pay. Are we clear?” And with that Pollux walked back to his tent, his sword never leaving his hand. Sasha stood up, looking at us with confusion.

“Your friend’s having a bad day?”


We let Sasha stay, and she was happy to oblige. We gave her a small spare tent and a sleeping bag where Pollux told her to make camp outside ours. He seemed pretty unhappy when we gave her the camping gear, even more so when we helped her set it up.

“Come on man, why so angry?”

It was night time and we were sitting on logs in front of the campfire. The five of us, including Richard, were eating some of our supplies. Sasha was not present.

Pollux was eating an apple, his eyes never leaving the fire. His eyes had a weathered quality to it that I only saw during our conversation about Captain Pellarn. It was not a good topic to talk about.

“Nothing, I just remembered a bad memory, that’s all,” He said before abruptly standing up and going to his tent. The rest of us looked at each other, not saying anything.

“So Bob,” I broke the silence, “I kinda forgot to ask you this. What was that door doing in your tent?”

At the question Bob’s face seemed to light up, his red-and-blue eyes filled with energy.

“I read something about Dimensional Doors. These doors let you have your own pocket dimension you can use to travel. I’ve been using mine as a portable workstation. You won’t believe the knowledge I gathered during our time at Blackstone,” Bob said. I looked at Richard, who ate a whole apple in one mouthful while sitting on the log like a normal person. I guess Bob finished the ritual because Richard had arms and legs and a neck.

“Yeah, I kinda don’t,” I said as I scratched my head. “So these doors, they can like, connect to other places?” I asked.

“Yes. There’s already a current system called the Pathway. It’s a system that’s been used for centuries! It’s so complex and so much stuff is down there, it’s amazing! With a few Dimensional Doors I can get inside that system and explore!” He said this with fascination.

“Why don’t you?”

“Because, the more doors you enter, the deeper the dimension you get, and when you’re in deep, you can find yourself in places you didn’t want to go to. The Pathway has been used for so long people have added and removed things in there that the risk of being lost down there is so great I may never find myself back here ever again.”

Oh, bummer.

“Only the Jesters of Spontaneous know the Pathway’s in its entirety, they say,” Bob said with a small trace of envy in his voice.

“Who?” I asked.

“The Jesters are a strange bunch. They travel all around the North, bringing joy through their performances and fighting bandits and such. They’d be the public’s heroes if they weren’t so dispersed and invisible all the time,

Richard turned his head behind him.

“Looks like we got company,” Richard noted. I looked and saw Sasha walking towards us, her eyes searching. Specifically, for Pollux. I still didn’t know what happened with that guy.

“Is he…?” She asked quietly, as if careful not to alert Pollux.

“He’s cooling down, girl. Here, take his log,” Bob said, giving a nod to Pollux’s log, which was in front of me.

“Thank you, sir,” She said. Bob raised a palm.

“Please, call me Bob. My friends here are Menodiah and Alex. Pollux is at his tent, though I’d guess you wouldn’t want to visit him at the moment.

As she sat down, I noticed she didn’t have her mask on and I got a good front view of her face.

She had a small scar running down her left cheek to her chin while her right eye was covered by a patch of her short black hair. I guess, if she wasn’t made of squareness, she could be cute.

Then the weird happened. Oh yeah I forgot, weird is normal to me now.

I saw an image for a split second, but the memory was burned in my head. I was looking at the scene like normal, but in real life. No squareness or anything, everything looked real.

Menodiah was there, his purple eyes reflecting the light of the fire. There I fully appreciated his camouflage cloak, how the colors blended in with the surroundings. I saw Bob, who looked like, well, Bob. Richard was also there, strangely still a square pig. Lastly, Sasha.

Only then I realized she was really cute. Judging from my friends, people get a blocky form of themselves that fits the geometry of this world.

During our month in Blackstone, I read some stuff about the Server in general and such, a ‘Beginner’s Guide to the Server 4 Kids’. At first I found the title kind of demeaning but when I read the thing, it took me hours to absorb the stuff. Now we know what my intelligence level is now, huh?

Anyway, back to Sasha. She had a small face that fit nicely with her short hair. Her mouth was also small which made her cuter, in my opinion. And her unique eyes. The only people I’ve seen with purple eyes are Bronx and…

Realization hits me like a flying Richard.

“You’re an Enderson…” I murmured. The whole group looked at me.

“No, you mean Enderchild-” Sasha started.

“Not you,” I said. I looked at Menodiah, “You are,”

Menodiah smiled.

“What gave it away Alex? The eyes?” He gave a small laugh. “Yes, I’m an Enderson.”

“Then what about the zombie cave? And Sasha? What about all those times you could’ve just blasted apart people!” I was getting my blood up now. The dude could’ve just teleported or warped or whatever Enderchildren did. Why did he have to cover it all up?

“Hey, I would like to not be blasted apart, thank you,” Sasha huffed, crossing her arms. Menodiah looked straight into my eyes.

Menodiah lost his smile. “Do you know how Enderchildren do that “blasting apart” thing? We have to bond with our target before we can alter them. That’s why teleporting far distances get less and less accurate and more so when you don’t know where you’re going. To use our powers, we have to feel the world, and the people living in them.

“Every time one of us uses our powers, we have to feel a portion of their being. Trust me, being exploded from the inside isn’t a good feeling to have. Why did you think I spent my times as a traveler and not some murderous assassin?” He looked to Sasha.

“No offense,”

Hey I’m not an assassin-”

“That still doesn’t explain you not using your abilities when we could’ve gone well with them,” I persisted. I have to know. I’m sick of not knowing. I still don’t know this world like they do. Well, I want to.

Menodiah moved his gaze to Pollux, who just came out of his tent, probably overhearing us. Sasha stood up, offering her seat. Pollux motioned her to sit down.

“I apologize for my earlier behavior,” Pollux said. He was standing in the circle now, his eyes soft.

“It’s cool. We’re cool,” Sasha said with a shrug. Pollux nodded, forgiven. He turned his attention to Menodiah.

“My Lord, is it alright if I tell him of the Tower War? It may be just a rumor-” Before Pollux could continue, Menodiah raised a hand to stop him from speaking further. Breathing a heavy sigh, he turned his gaze back to me. I could see the weight of this story in his eyes.

“No, let me.

“Long ago, the Kingdom engaged in the first battle against the Empire. We were in the East, fighting them off from the Great City.

“The East is far away from here, the North, but both our nations’ influences were there. The Great City is the largest settlement in the Server. People of all kinds were there. Even AI’s like the Testificates and Pigmen, even some Creepers called the place home.” Menodiah paused, probably recalling a memory. If it was happy or sad, his face didn’t show it. He was looking at the fire now, so was Pollux.

“I was leading the reinforcements to the Great City’s walls. When we saw its obsidian walls lined with Glorium banners, my men were outraged. The gates opened for us, but signs of Imperial occupation were everywhere. Slave trading was in the markets, on the streets. I wanted to go to Mayor Gabriel, so we took the Towers.

“The entire city’s transportation was through walking on large walkways that are connected by Towers. The system spanned the entire Great City, all of it leading to the Mayor’s palace.

“We were already climbing a Tower’s stairs when Imperial troops from the ground came to rush at us. My men held them off while the rest of us continued on. More Imperial troops came from the other Towers, surrounding us completely. We were trapped on all sides, each bridge leading to an enemy. This was the Empire’s strength: numbers. We were outnumbered 10-to-1.

“My men did what they did best: fight. Keep in mind that the Towers and their bridges were huge, capable of fitting an army and wide enough for a battle line. The troops on the bottom kept holding them off while the builders and healers created a camp at the middle floors of the Tower. We stood there, weapons ready while the enemy did the same. We all waited for the other side to make the first move.

“The Enemy didn’t like to wait. They sent a siege tower to overwhelm us from the middle floors. I ordered my men to hold their ground while I teleported inside. What greeted me inside were the men all having bombs to their bodies. They tackled me just as I was about to escape. My teleportation triggered their explosions, destroying the siege tower.

“The men that held me as I teleported warped and distorted, becoming nothing but lines and shapes. I was touched by the End, so I prevailed, but not without consequences.

“The men were gone, but their screams remained. Now I can’t use my abilities without unleashing a voice so painful I can die from just hearing it.

“After that, I ordered my troops to retreat, leaving the Great City to Imperial control. We left to Kyfor, a small city that is still in our hands. It’s still there, I think.

“The only thing I can do now is to keep my connection to the world. It can help with sensing things easier.” And with that Menodiah sat there, his eyes looking at the fire, though I can tell he’s probably reliving the battle. I could almost feel the madness that I never thought he had. If I listened close, I could just hear weak screams that never end, though that may just be my imagination.

We sat there in silence, feeling only the crackling fire and our thoughts. Pollux left during the story and I could see Menodiah thinking of doing the same. What would it be like, I thought, to never be alone, sharing an endless and intimate bond with screams that never stop? My anger turned to pity.

“Nevertheless, I shouldn’t have hidden my life from my best friend,”

“No, man,” I said, “we’re cool.”

Menodiah noddod, giving a sigh of relief. The camp was surrounded by an air of awkward silence.

“Bob, can I have your apple?” Richard asked.

“Sure,” He said, tossing the apple at Richard’s face.

“Ow!” Richard was rubbing his nose, which turned red from the apple. “You’ll pay for that,” He said.

Like I said, if this was a story, it’d be frickin’ unbelievable.

That was kinda funny, so I laughed and so did Sasha and Bob. Richard gave us a small glare in turn. Menodiah was exempt, but I could see a small smile on his face.

We passed through the night with some golden apple ale and the warm light of the fire. Sasha found the drink amazing and a bit later I found myself with a competitor for the person who liked the stuff the most. A dozen empty bottles later, Sasha found out that I’m the boss when it came to drinking golden apple ale.

After that the guys went straight to their tents, except for Sasha and me. She was looking at the fire with a strange expression. Was it sadness? Hope? An overdose of ale? I was thinking of standing up and going as well, but curiosity and diziness kept me to my seat.

“Er, you gonna rest now? The guys already left,” I said, my voice sounding weird.

“I’ll be going soon, I am just-” She paused, “-thinking, that’s all,” Sasha said, her voice of a deep masculine’s like Bob’s. Wait, she sounded fine before. I looked at the pile of empty ale bottles piled nearby and I got it.

It must be something I ate.

I nodded. My thoughts also nodded. They were nodding to the fact that I am crazy curious about her. Inhibition was a drag, why do we bring it along anyway?

“How about you, Alex? What roads?” She asked, her purple eyes fixed on my brown ones, which were looking at the world like someone kept tilting it.

“Excuse me?” I asked. I hope she understood me ‘cause I sure didn’t.

“What roads have walked through and past?”

“Oh, you meant how am I, right?” I said. She nodded. “Well, I’m kinda alright. A bit a hard of time adjusting and stuff but I think the worst is over,” My voice drifted off at the last part, like I wasn’t sure it was true. And I don’t.

Sasha also took notice of the fact that I had doubts and will comfort me and help me travel this path with someone who has been here longer and is not a.) a Ranger Lord with voices screaming inside his head, b.) an emo Kingdom soldier who got from ed to sorrowful in a pinch, and c.) a cosmic eternal being that creates intelligent humanoids made from pigly AI’s for fun.-

“Oh, okay then. Glad to hear that,” Sasha said.

-Or she could take into account that I’m a total stranger whom she knows nothing about. Yes, Alex, you’re one heck of a genius aren’t you?

A moment or two, I spoke.

“I’m kinda curious,” I started, now noticing what was weird with my voice; it had a slur to it. Sasha also noticed, ‘cause she had a small smile on her. “about you finding yourself here in this camp, being chased by your dad,” I chuckled, ‘cause the, uh, info! Yeah, yeah info, was hard to reach and I totally reached the info in my head and said that!

An Enderchild’s father hires men to track her down… There’s something ominous about it... I get it! His dad’s a bad man because he didn’t track her down himself! Hah I has the smartsickles!


My mind goes blank now.

“Uh, Alex, are you okay?” Sasha asked all of a sudden.

“What? Why? I didn’t do nothing bad!” I kept my unbreakable air of coolness, hiding the deadly panic now growing inside me.

What did I do? Who did I kill this time!? I noticed the empty ale bottles. Shock threatened to take me to oblivion.

Who drank all our ale? Who!? Internally, I am crying, for with no ale, there is no life.

“-I mean you were talking about my father being bad and- Um, Alex, why are you crying?”

“My life is over!” I cried, the horror of it all spinning in my head like horrifying swarms of-

“Death,” A voice said from nowhere. “There will be Death,”

I froze, and so did Sasha.

I saw the guys get up from their tents, surprise, dread and a strange sense of knowing in their expressions. Menodiah had the latter most in his eyes.

“The child of Goldenshield will mend the ties,” The voice spoke again. Its sound reverberated in my head, like its presence was bouncing around my head, never stopping, always repeating.

“The Kingdom of Daniel will fall by lies,” The voice continued. It was like a poem, the words slowly shaking me off my stupor.

“The breaker of friendship’s bane,

His fate is changing, never the same.”

Then silence. The ringing in my head stopped, but the words were imprinted in my thoughts. Menodiah was the first to shake off the shock.

“We should move. Voice amplification like that would require a large amount of magic, and magic brings monsters. Judging from the quality, it seems that the entire North heard it. Best we should do is to keep the distance between Arkimen lands and ours as short as we can manage,” Menodiah’s tiredness was gone, the confident attitude returning.

“Wait, what was that?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Menodiah said.
“Maybe it was the Owner,” Bob said.

“The Owner would have never announced his presence like that,”

“Ehem,” Richard said. We all looked at him.

“Oh now you people respect the AI? Anyway, if I can feel the data that came from that vocal signature, it probably came from the Enchanted Forest, which means it was probably someone of the Enchanters,”

“Who?” I asked.

“Scholars of magic and technology.”

“What if it was from the Black Words Society-” Bob asked but was quickly shushed by Menodiah.

“We don’t speak their names, are we clear?” He said, his eyes fierce at the mention of the name.

“Who?” I asked again.

“Abusers of magic and technology.” Richard supplied. Menodiah sighed. He looked at Pollux, who went to the wagon with a finished wheel in hand.

“Come on, let’s go!” Pollux called. We all nodded, all of us going to our tents to grab the stuff and bolt.

“Wait!” Sasha said. I stopped in my tracks, and so did Menodiah. “I know I am new, but can I come with you? I’ll return the tents this way. You can drop me off as soon as we’re as far away from this area as possible,”

A long silence. Pollux broke it in quick words.

“Alright. You can take my horse, I know you don’t. I’ll ride in the back of the wagon. Come on, go get your stuff!” He said. Sasha nodded quickly before disappearing and reappearing instantly to her camp, leaving and giving purple smoke wisps. A moment later, her tent teleported on the wagon, folded and packed tightly.

“Hey Menodiah why don’t you do that you’re an Enderson and all-” I joked, but then I froze as I remembered one crucial fact. His face had envy and longing etched on it like a stone. He looked at me with said eyes, though, as he spoke.

“You’re still drunk, Alex. I think Pollux should drive the wagon this time,” He said.

“No I’m not!” I defended myself and quite awesomely if I might add.

“Oh yeah?” He asked with a sly smile on his face. He reached out under his cloak and handed me a vial with purple liquid inside. Basing off history, purple equals bad.

“That’s an antitoxin potion. If you drink it without adverse effects, you’re sober,”
“Alright,” I saided, grammar becoming confusion, “Give it to me.” I drank it all in one gulp. “Any side effects?” I asked as I gave him the vial.

“When you drink the whole vial, you kinda black out.” He was grinning now.

I tried to form a reply about the scary voice, the monster hordes Menodiah predicted and the question of why can’t Sasha just teleport us the Snake Roads, but I was too busy being knocked unconscious as the potion tried to eliminate the effects of a dozen golden apple ale bottles in my system.