Hiraeth #2: Online
I invested awfully a lot of time on BoonRP, filled with the promise of the new technology could bring. With the Extensive Virtual Reality System, I could finally be in the world like the TV and the movies dream about. I could be whoever I want to be, and BoonRP showed the way.
BoonRP imitated real life, but everyone saw it as a violent video game with gangsters, hitmen, and a world that was close to a dystopian end. But I saw it as a new world, a clean slate, so I worked hard on getting better. Each death became a milestone so I could be accepted, Sarah and Tom accepted me.
I groaned and woke up. Was all of that was a dream? But no, it wasn’t.
“Sarah.” Those were the first words I said out loud.
My ears were ringing; I can smell fire and smoke, and there was a fire alarm. Was there an explosion?
The meeting room was a mess; the glass windows in the meeting room were shattered. I slowly got up, and the pain was around my body, worse than cramps, and it hit me that from the middle of the room I was now already at the farther back of the small meeting room.
So I moved a little forward, moving the chairs that were disarranged, and was in shock to see an explosion crater on the spot where Kervin was. Did he explode?
But it didn’t matter, I have to find Sarah.
“Sarah!” I called out like a brother finding his lost sister in a carnival.
I walked groggily, stumbling upon the table, but it didn’t make me give up finding Sarah. I went around finding her, but she wasn’t there, so I decided to move out into the cubicles outside. The cubicles that were near to the door were either destroyed or deformed due to the heat.
The office was just a normal office. There were fifteen cubicles which were used to take care of complaints reports and issues regarding all around in BoonRP, but the blue cubicles were now empty, and there was no sign of life.
“Joel,” a soft voice echoed in the room.
“Sarah!?” I ran around the cubicles finding her, till I found her in one of the cubicles.
“Are you okay?” Worry was on my face. I was already stressed about what happened.
“I don’t know... I don’t feel so good, Joel,” and she started wincing in pain, and to add insult to injury she started crying.
I pressed her head to see her vitals, she had a Bleeding effect, and she was also paralyzed. She had to get the doctor, I thought all hope was lost till I remembered the clinic in the building.
“I’ll go get some supplies,” I said with concern.
As I was standing, Sarah held my hand, but I pushed it away, giving her a look of pity. I was worked up already.
I went out from the room, and I was in a long hallway. Each room had a door, like those in schools, the ones with a small window, and each room was filled with cubicles, and each room also had different labels. The one which I got out from was the Administrator Room which I basically used to stay in to receive some complaints and reports of hackers, but I was moved to Game Mods since I liked playing the game than sitting around listening to complaints.
I frantically searched for a clinic, till I found the Items Room. I went inside, and shelves filled with promotional items, tournament trophies greeted me. It was a medium-sized room; it had blue walls, and the cabinets were placed by the wall. Each shelf was filled with items; this was the items room we usually have for memorabilia of past events, glitches, or even overpowered guns.
I frantically searched around for Health Kits or even items that can heal, but I found the beta item of a bandage, which was a can of beans. I took it with some bottled water since these two were beta models of the Health Kit and the Bandage, and I steadfastly ran into the Administration Room. Happiness already filled my head. I finally can rescue Sarah from her illness.
As I came near the room, I saw men with full Tactical Gear with an MP5 and a P90 outside of the room.
“Sir, you can’t come in. Under investigation,” but I didn’t care. I rushed past them and ran to the cubicle.
A lot of “hey!” and shouts were behind me, but I can’t be fucked thinking about that; I needed Sarah, and she needed me.
As I came to the cubicle, my face full of happiness turned to sadness, Sarah wasn’t anywhere to be found. The sight made me drop the items, causing them to break and vanish.
“Sir, I’m sorry, but you have to come to me,” and the FIB member grabbed my shoulder. I grabbed it, and I pulled it, and consequently, the member fell to the ground.
“SARAH!” I shouted, trying to find her, the other FIB members that were in the various cubicles noticed me.
“Sir, please calm down,” A full-tactical-gear member with a voice that sounded like it was a woman told me.
“Where the fuck’s Sarah!?” But the girl was clueless.
“Sir, please don’t make us do this,” and she pulled a taser gun.
With instincts, I went at her and tried to get the taser gun, but it was too late. She pulled the trigger which sent me to a train of pain. I felt the shock, and my First Person UI went red, and there was a big sign “Paralyzed” at the top of my UI.
I lied down. I can’t do anything, and the person which I did take down earlier stood up and went near me.
“Don’t take this personal,” getting his MP5 stock, he then hit me in the head, giving me a concussion, and I blacked out.
But seconds before I blacked out, I heard a soft whisper.
“Happy anniversary, baby,” and I smiled.
“You too, Sarah.”