The following is a non final version of the first section of my upcoming novel, Fantasy Mainline.
Lance knew he was finished. His health was low, but the drake he was fighting had blood leaking from several wounds. If it used its breath attack again, it would be over.
He lifted his sword for a final blow. The dragon reared its head, looked him in the eye, and roared. Fortune was with him—it had run out of ice. As his sword descended, the blade erupted into flames. The intense heat melted the icy coating on the beast's serpentine neck, allowing the weapon to sink in, finally killing the vile creature.
His heads-up display spilled messages at him.
<You have defeated the Ice Drake of Muhulsha.>
<You have completed a quest.>
<You have leveled up.>
Lance sighed, logged out of the game, and pulled the virtual reality rig off his head. His apartment was a mess. The shades were closed, plunging his home into a grey semi-darkness.
Sighing, he walked to his favorite overstuffed chair. Pushing aside food delivery bags and ignoring the smell of stale french fries, he sat down. Immediately his phone buzzed. He was tempted to ignore it until he saw it was Pastor Joe. Shame and guilt washed over him as he remembered how much he had been abandoning his friends lately. He answered, "Hello?"
"Lance, so good to hear your voice. We've missed you," his pastor said. "How are you?"
Three weeks ago Lance’s parents and fiancée had been on a trip to visit her family at their mission station in Venezuela. Their single-engine Cessna had gone down, killing all three. Lance did not want to remember; he wanted to push it all away. But he had not been able to.
Lance looked at his gaming rig. Ten years old, but still a decent VR setup. The headset and gloves pulled at him, all that treasure and even a new level... It’s like a drug, he thought.
"Are you there, Lance?"
"Sorry, Pastor. It's been a rough time." Lance had taken the news in stunned silence, endured the funeral, and then descended into grief.
"I suppose that's the understatement of the year," Pastor Joe responded. "Can we get together for lunch?"
This startled Lance. He was not expecting an invite. "Sure… How about a burger?"
Joe was much more than just Lance’s pastor. He taught at the seminary where Lance was studying, and they often met to talk theology over food.
"That would be great," Pastor Joe responded. "Noon?"
"Sounds perfect," Lance replied, even though it did not.
#####
As Joe entered the restaurant and walked over, Lance said, "I ordered meals for both of us. Hope that’s okay."
"Sounds good," Joe said as he took the seat across from Lance. "How've you been?"
Lance did not immediately respond, taking a moment to finally consider how he did feel. "I’m numb, really numb. But I suppose that's what I was aiming at over the last few weeks."
"What’s the distraction?" Joe queried.
"I’ve been gaming. Haven’t done that since I was in high school, and even then, only a few hours a week. But these last two weeks… I just climbed in and wallowed in it."
"Yeah, I guess I can understand. What game have you been playing?" Joe had never been one to mince words.
"I have a copy of Shield and Spell from back then." Lance shrugged.
As the food arrived, the dam that Lance had built for his emotions finally broke. Joe got up quickly and sat next to him, putting his hand on Lance’s shoulder. "Go ahead. Let it out."
By the time Lance had recovered, the burgers and fries he had ordered were cold.
"Sorry about that," he mumbled. "You want to pray so we can eat?"
"Sure," Joe said, "let’s pray. Father, I lift my brother Lance up to you. Give him the comfort of your Holy Spirit. Draw near in his time of need. Show him Your mercy, Lord, and bless this meal."
"Pastor Joe?" Lance said.
Joe looked up from his now-cold meal.
"Over the past month, I think I have come near to checking out permanently several times."
Joe munched a fry thoughtfully. "So, you have been escaping into a game as a form of defense against the harshness life has thrown at you?"
Lance nodded.
Joe looked him in the eye. "Lance, our hope, our joy, our defense is found in Christ, not in a game. I can't condone this sort of escapism, and I think you are going to feel better when you get around people."
“Is it sinful to game at a time like this?”
“There is no prohibition against gaming in Scripture, but we are called to make the most of our time, and to serve God and not ourselves.”
“Yeah, I know that.” Lance looked away from Joe as a tear trickled down his face. “Maybe I sound like an addict, but I need this distraction right now. In fact, there is a new game releasing this coming week that is next level. I am thinking about giving it a try for a week or two.”
“Fantasy Mainline?” Joe asked, “A lot of the guys at the California Healthcare Correctional Facility where I minister are talking about it.”
Lance had researched the technology used in this game. Devices were physically implanted in the gamer that could directly read and write neural signals. This completely immersed the player into a virtual world that they could see, taste, feel, smell, and hear. It was the Matrix but for real. FM would be the first game to use this new tech.
“From what I hear from the inmates I minister to, mainlining means injecting a drug directly into the bloodstream,” Joe said. “This new system is asking people to move into a fully automated warehouse where their bodies are cared for by robots while they game full time, literally mainlining the game.”
“That makes sense,” Lance replied, now understanding why the name had always seemed strange.“I seriously think I am going to get a subscription and give this a try.”
Concern deepened on Joe’s face. “Why would you do that Lance? As I said before, you need your Christian friends and you need Christ, not some game.”
“I have read that all kinds of government agencies including prisons, welfare, and even the VA are going to be dumping people into this game permanently. Who is going to share the gospel with them, who will teach them about Jesus?”
“That’s a valid question Lance, but I think it’s off-topic. Others can deal with that.”
“I just need more time; every time I come out of the game my thoughts and dreams are filled with horrible images. Joe, I am going to give this game a try for just a few weeks. I think the removal of everything that reminds me of Julie and my parents will do the trick.”
Joe sighed, “I can’t tell you ‘no’, but I think this is a bad idea. Can I at least give you a ride to San Jose when you go to check in?”
“Sure,” Lance replied. Then thought, but you probably just want one more chance to make me change my mind.
#####
Pastor Joe had agreed to drive Lance to the location where he was going to be entering Fantasy Mainline. The facility was just over two hours away in the heart of Silicon Valley near San Jose.
Joe pulled up in front of Lance's apartment early, but Lance had cleaned up all of his stuff and had been ready the previous day. So, he had had nothing to do but sit on the front stoop and wait. So, when Joe arrived Lance just jumped in. Lance had always appreciated the feel of Joe's 60's mustang, the real leather seats and the rumble of the real gasoline engine that he could feel right through his feet.
"There is something about your car."
"They don’t make them like this any more for sure." Joe replied. "There is just a different feel when you lower the tech level."
With a smirk Lance replied, "I'm about to raise the tech level to 100%, and I have no doubt that there are worries there. But I need a serious vacation, a place where I can totally decompress for a week or two."
"I guess what troubles me", Joe continued, "Is that you don't seem to care much about what God thinks about this situation."
Lance looked pensive for a moment, "Theologically I know that God cares for me, but at times like these it feels like he doesn't. I guess right now feelings matter a whole lot to me. It's not like I am making a permanent decision here. I'll be back to real life and normal relationships after this vacation is done."
#####
As they arrived at the Fantasy Mainline facility Pastor Joe prayed for Lance and then gave him a huge bear hug, "I am going to be praying for you, friend, God be with you brother."
"And with you also." Lance replied with feeling.
"Contact me to let me know you are okay as soon as you are in, okay?" Pastor Joe said.
Lance nodded.
There were lots of people at the facility but not the crush he had expected for a launch day. The thought about this for a moment but then pushed the worries aside and reminded himself that he needed a real break and this is what it was going to look like. Lance turned and waved at Pastor Joe.
Joe waved in reply and then gave him two thumbs up, Lance thought he saw a tear in Joe's eye as he turned away.
As Lance stepped inside the warehouse-like building that would house his body and that of thousands of others who were entering the game today he was greeted warmly by a female wearing a Fantasy Mainline polo shirt, "Welcome to Fantasy Mainline Mr. Lindskoog. We are running a little ahead of schedule today, are you ready to log in?"
"Sure, I’m ready," he said to the attendant.
She smiled and led him toward the back of the large lobby. "The process to get you into the game is very simple from your perspective. We are going to lay you on a gurney and give you a small pill that will knock you out. While you are out, a robot surgeon will implant the devices necessary for you to experience the game, and when you wake up you will be in Fantasy Mainline. Do you have any questions?"
Lance thought about it and then said "When I want to log out, how do I do it?"
You will be able to return to your offline home, which is still part of the game, any time you are not in battle by just thinking about it. Once there you will find a settings menu, The complete logout option will be at the bottom. If you do log out and change your mind and want to enter again there will be an additional $3,000 charge to return to your account."
Lance nodded, "How about communicating with the outside world?"
The attendant smiled, "All communication forms are available from your offline home. As you certainly noticed when you signed the agreement we do not allow any posting of images or videos from the game to the outside world. The one exclusion is your offline home. Once there you can text, email, and even VR conference.
"In that same settings menu, there are options for how your avatar will look when you conference. You can keep your in-game look and clothing or look like you do today, we have free avatar clothing available as well. She tapped the air in front of her, manipulating menu options only she could see in her augmented reality glasses. I see you have already added your contacts to your account. All of them will be available to you and you can add more anytime you need to. Of course, all of the normal media channels from the outside including the full internet are available in your offline home as well."
Lance had done as much research as possible on the game and though they had not released much on the gameplay, he had already heard about all of these features, it was still good to know. "Okay then, let’s get this started."
The attendant motioned for Lance to follow her as she walked toward a door at the back of the space. Excitement blossomed in his chest. He had dreamed about this moment for years, complete emersion–gaming full time. Once through the door they found themselves in a small square room. A couple of attendants were there with a gurney, and Lance sat down on it. The attendant took a small pill and a paper cup filled with water off a table and offered them to Lance. He took the pill, the world became blurry almost immediately, and then…
