I found a game called Zircon. I took it home and installed it on my new computer and hit the start key.
As the game opened on the desktop, a friendly face appeared and asked me to select a character to be during the game. A large variety of human and non-human characters were displayed and available. There was a face and a role for every taste. Once one selected a character to be, the game began.
The game opened and soon other characters began to show up and greet me in a friendly manner. I was soon absorbed into society in Zircon. There was a new set of buzzwords and game jargon to learn, but I soon learned enough to understand and communicate. I was quickly approached by a cloaked human type figure and asked to pledge allegiance to him and I did so. Being pledged allowed me to gain experience points and learn even more rapidly. Having a group to belong to gave me access to areas of the game that would have taken me months or years to learn on my own. I even advanced as the character to which I pledged advanced by taking in other recruits. The ranks were designated as Middle Ages type classes, squires, dukes, earls, and barons. There was a mixture of swords and wizards and mystical chants and spells along with modern day weapons and computer technology and even a few futuristic time warps and telepathic or space travels. It was quite mesmerizing!
There was so much to learn that at first I would tire and turn off the computer and crawl into bed in the wee hours of the morning. But as I grew in the game society, I got more and more reluctant to turn off the computer and go to bed at night. I would drag through the day and long for my return home and a lengthy nap. But as soon as I returned home, I would turn on the computer and just see who was on the network playing the game. As my pattern became set, others on the net would approach me and ask for assistance fighting a giant or a dragon. I began to feel I was really a part of this new universe. They liked me and we got along very well. They didn't know who I really was and I didn't know who they were. We were all living the life we picked and we were known, as we wanted to be, not judged by some sluggard at work who thought he was better because he had a bigger office. Girls on the net were anonymous too. As far as I knew, they were the svelte gracious character they chose to be in the game. There were no mundane problems like electrical bills. No insurance to buy. It didn't matter if I drove a Corvette or an Escort, because the things of the world that were disturbing during the work a day world didn't exist there.
I began to live for the night world when the net was buzzing and all of my friends were of the same interest as I. Through the day I struggled to face my horrid boss as I looked about my tiny six by six cubicle. At work I had no respect, no pay raise, no future. I had endless years of staring at those same walls and hoping a reorganization didn't compress them even further, or heaven forbid, boot me out the door altogether.
I had to make a choice in my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment