The Words That Matter | Glowfic Constellation

out_of_depth

When he saw the announcement the first person Alex called was his Grandmother Jen. And of course he got sent to voicemail. Jen was never one to answer unknown numbers even if she was waiting for a call, well not unless she was particularly looking for a fight.

"Hi Jen, it's Alex. I don't know if you've heard but I'm apparently stuck in a video game called Gates of Eternity. I think you should be able to call me back at this number I'm not exactly sure how all this works."

Then he hung up and waited.

His interface showed he had an incoming call about five minutes. Later.

He picked up. "Hello."

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"Alex, is it really you? I admit I wasn't expecting to hear from you."

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"It's me Jen. I take it you've seen the news then? I assume what's happened made the news."

"Over 93,000 people trapped in a video game? The networks are eating it up. Their sort always like to demonize new artistic mediums. And this is particularly dramatic."

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"I hadn't heard how many. I guess that's better than it could have been. The game sold 100,000 copies."

"Don't go looking on the bright side too hard. You're one of the people trapped in there. I suppose it's a bit of egg on my face I thought it was your military work that was going to get you into trouble."

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Alex forced himself to chuckle. "I guess, hopefully I'll come through this alright though."

Jen was a bit shrewder than that though. "Alex, is this game connected to your military work somehow?"

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"You know I'm not allowed to talk about what I'm working on. Not even denials."

"That just leaves me to speculate then. I wonder if it was the hardware or something else. Or perhaps some combination. VR would be nearly ideal for some sorts of military training. I don't quite see how a physicist would be helping with that. I guess you did take some engineering classes."

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"Jen, please."

"Alright, alright. I do worry about you though. All the secrecy. And you wrote a will. That means something about what you're doing is dangerous. Don't you give me any excuses about it being a good idea for everyone either."

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"All I'll do is repeat what I've already said. The work I'm doing is important. Well, I guess the work I was doing. I won't be doing much of it inside of here."

"You're not going to play it safe though. Not if I know you."

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"I'm just following your example Jen."

"I have mostly kept away from physical danger. Aside from the death threats anyway. You seem less circumspect."

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"As you say. I have at least some advantages though. I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't try my best to get us all out of here."

"Do you now? That's as good as an admission to something isn't it. Yes, yes I know you won't say more. Seriously though, take care of yourself Alex. And if there's anything I can do please let me know."

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