Yvvaros: The Clash of Worlds
Read Yvvaros: The Clash of Worlds Online
Authors: Alex Mulder
Yvvaros: The Clash of Worlds
Alex Mulder
This digital book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this title with another person, please purchase an additional copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. All other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events or persons is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Alex Mulder
Kindle Edition
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
“It’s just a game. The first step in your treatment plan is accepting that fact and coming to terms with it, however difficult it might be.”
Luke shrugged. Dr. Meyers sat across from him. She leaned forward in her black leather chair, her eyes harboring a mixture of genuine and practiced compassion. She held a small notepad in one hand and a pencil in the other, though as far as Luke could tell, she hadn’t actually written anything yet.
“Have you ever had another case like this, Dr. Meyers?” asked Luke. The question came out in a slightly more accusatory tone than what he’d intended. Dr. Meyers continued smiling at him.
“A few,” she said. “I’ve successfully treated patients with suicidal tendencies, video game addictions, and ones like you. People that struggle with both, through no fault of their own.”
Is that why I’m here? Because I’m a suicidal video game addict?
Luke shifted his hand onto his stomach. The stitches there were still raw, a reminder of what had happened only a week before. Dr. Meyers watched him carefully, waiting for his reaction.
“Your treatment isn’t really necessary in my case, doctor.” Luke glanced up at the ceiling of the room, shifting a bit on the leather couch.
“I’ve read your file, Luke,” said Dr. Meyers. “I know that you were trying to ‘go all in’.”
Luke nodded.
“Yes. I was.” He smiled at her. “And the only thing I regret about it is that I didn’t choose a method that worked.”
Dr. Meyers laced her fingers together and leaned back in her chair. She was attractive, in her mid-thirties, tall and slender, with dark chestnut hair. She wore glasses that fit her face so well it was hard for Luke to imagine her without them.
“Luke, you’re 18 years old.” She paused and set her notebook aside, as though she wanted to speak from memory instead of a file. “You’re a high school senior. All of the teachers I’ve talked to have described you as a brilliant, albeit slightly lazy, student.”
Where is she going with this?
“You live with your father in a single parent household,” said Dr. Meyers. “And one of your friends was so concerned about you that she called me before this meeting to give me as much information about the incident as she could,
Sam… Why can’t she just leave me alone?
“Dr. Meyers, would you please quit beating around the bush and get to your point?” Luke tried to hide the frustration in his voice. It had been hard for him to go into the therapy session with an open mind, even though attending it had been a part of his psychiatric release agreement and not his own idea.
“Why haven’t you tried to ‘go all in’ again since the incident last week?” Dr. Meyers picked up her notebook again and began tapping the pages with her pencil. “You’ve been home for the past three days. If you were as serious about going ‘all in’ as you say you are, why haven’t you gone through with it?”
Why haven’t I? How am I supposed to answer that?
“If you’ll allow me to speculate, I think I know why.” Dr. Meyers paused, and when it became clear that Luke wasn’t going to interrupt, she continued. “I think you realize that you still have responsibilities in the real world, responsibilities that you can’t abandon.”
“I have responsibilities in Yvvaros, too,” said Luke. “Now more than ever. It’s not just a game! It’s not like I just play it for fun.”
The words felt stupid and hollow as they left his mouth, even though he knew they were true. The doctor’s smile was tinged with the slightest hint of condescension, but Luke forced himself to ignore it.
I can’t risk getting kicked out of here, not until she’s given me a clean bill of health.
“I believe you, Luke,” said Dr. Meyers. “Listen, I can see how much stress you are under. I’m going to give you an assignment this week. I want you to pay attention to the way that you are feeling and try to figure out the source of your stress.”
Luke sighed and shook his head. Dr. Meyers glanced at the clock in the corner of the room and then back at him.
“We’re out of time for today,” she said. “Think about what we talked about, Luke.”
“Sure.”
“I’m not going to tell you not to play Yvvaros.” Dr. Meyers finally began scribbling in her notebook. “What I am going to say is that you have to learn to balance the game with your responsibilities in the real world.”
She has it backwards. It’s the real world that I need to learn to balance.
Luke stood up and shook Dr. Meyers’s hand before leaving her office. Her secretary handed him an appointment card for later in the week as he walked by.
It was a nice day, but the weather didn’t matter much to Luke. In fact, he had only one thing on his mind as he made his way home. He walked fast enough to cause his stitches to hurt, reminding him of what had happened and threatening to punish him for his impatience.
I have to get in-game.
His dad’s car wasn’t in the driveway when he arrived home. Luke wasn’t surprised. Chris Smith had disappeared after Luke tried to go all in. He hadn’t seen his father in person since then. The last time he’d seen him, they’d fought in-game. It was the battle that had changed everything.
Luke walked into the empty house. He’d grown accustomed to the silence over the past few days. He wasn’t really expecting his father to return, but a tiny part of him still worried about him coming home and catching him with his head set on. Before he’d left, any little thing could send him into a violent rage, but Luke’s interest in Yvvaros, the game that his father had designed, set him off the most. Luke wondered what he would do to him now if he found him playing.
Dad… Where did you go? Do I even want you to come back?
It was early afternoon, but the house felt dark. Luke did a lap around the first floor cleaning up the piles of dishes and clothes he’d left scattered behind him over the last couple of days. Finally, he walked upstairs to his room and settled in at his desk.
His laptop and VR headset were right where he’d left them earlier that morning. He turned on his computer, booted up the Yvvaros game client, and when prompted, slowly pulled on the headset.
In an instant his room was gone. In its place was a crystal clear sky, hot dry desert air, and a sea of sand all around him. The transition no longer caught Luke by surprise. It felt like walking through a door, or slipping into a dream. He accepted the new world in front of him without any skepticism.
This is where I belong.
Luke stood just outside the settlement that he had helped to found. He was Kato, the level 15 Sword Saint. Dunidan’s Rest was a small desert outpost, built up around an oasis that provided his group with water. It was the only zone with a significant water source in the area, and it provided them with a means of thriving in a barren land.
“Kato! About time!”
Silverstrike, or as Luke’s best friend was known in real life, Ben, was standing high up on the wall surrounding his guild’s compound. Silverstrike waved and Luke made his way over to the heavy iron-gate.
“Yeah, sorry,” said Luke. “I got caught up in some business in the outside world.”
Silverstrike opened the gate for him, and Luke stepped inside. Over the past couple of days, his guild, The Consulate, along with Athena’s Wrath, another guild they’d welcomed into the zone, had been expanding.
In addition to the two necessary guild halls and the outer wall, Dunidan’s Rest now had a small general store, run by a member of Athena’s Wrath. He smiled as he walked by it, noticing the tiny little outdoor refreshment stall that had been recently added.
A training ring had been added as well. Two members of Athena’s Wrath practiced with swords while another yelled out encouragement and the occasional pointer. Luke could see that one of them had gained a level since the day before.
“Well I’m glad that you’re back.” Silverstrike frowned at him. “Seriously.”
Luke nodded and walked forward with his friend, slowing as they neared the shade of the palm trees that grew along the edge of the oasis.
“Did the Arbiters make any new moves?” Luke asked the question quietly, afraid of what the answer might be. His fear was justified. In the chaos that had followed the Battle of Kantor, the rules of play in Yvvaros had changed drastically.
“They’ve been scouting further out from Kantor and Stark Town, Luke,” said Silverstrike. “We still aren’t sure what they’re looking for, but it’s not hard to take a guess.”
They’re tracking down the players that have ‘gone all in’.
Luke frowned. The Battle of Kantor had been a major media event. News of suicide by players ‘going all in’ came from all over the globe. The death toll had been the top story on every media outlet for a week. Every pundit on both sides of the political divide had added their own brand of moralistic panic to the media frenzy. Finally the cries of outrage became too loud to be ignored.
In the United States, hearings were held on Capitol Hill, and the United Nations had convened an unprecedented emergency meeting. The world leaders acted much faster than anyone had expected, ousting the developers from the control seat and installing their own overseers within Yvvaros, the “Arbiters”.