The Player Blackout Read online

  Respawn time: Instant. You will now immediately respawn in your first Base in Adventure City. Have fun!

  Before I could react, the notifications and darkness melted around me and I found myself standing alone in what looked like a large, seemingly abandoned warehouse.

  Startled, I looked around at my surroundings. The warehouse in which I stood looked pretty generic. A smooth, concrete floor, a cat-walk hanging from the ceiling above, and a large door at one end that was probably where trucks making deliveries or pickups came. An empty-looking office stood at the other end, but other than that, the entire place was bare. It looked like this warehouse hadn’t been used in years, if ever. It was also quite cold and smelled like wood and concrete, forcing me to wrap my arms around myself to keep warm. The words ‘WAREHOUSE 13’ were painted in red paint on the ceiling above me, which I assumed was the name of this place.

  “This is my Base?” I muttered, still looking around. “What’s a Base?”

  “Your Base is your headquarters,” came an excited, happy-go-lucky voice behind me. “It’s your home sweet home, where you come back after a long day of saving the world. Where you can kick back and relax and spend your afternoon watching all those soap operas you missed while Heroing.”

  I whirled around to see who had spoken. Standing behind me was a young man of about eighteen, his hands on his hips and a big, goofy smile on his face. He wore a green and white full spandex bodysuit, complete with big, birdlike wings extending out of his back. I wasn’t sure how he sneaked up on me like that, or who he was, but he didn’t look as threatening or mean as the thugs I beat up.

  “Who are you?” I said, taking a step back.

  The man thrust out a hand. “Name’s Joe Franco, but you can call me Cyclone. And I am your Sidekick.”

  I didn’t take Cyclone’s outstretched hand because I still didn’t quite trust him yet. “My … Sidekick?”

  “Sure,” said Cyclone cheerfully. “All Heroes need a Sidekick. Even Villains have Sidekicks. Aren’t you aware of the Sidekick System?”

  I shook my head. “No, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Then let me explain,” said Cyclone, although he didn’t lower his hand. “You see, when a new Hero shows up, they get their very own Sidekick. A Sidekick’s job is to not only support their Hero, but also answer your questions and guide you through our big, beautiful, wonderful, fantastic world we call Earth.”

  I eyed Cyclone carefully. “Did you have to use four adjectives to describe Earth?”

  “I could use a million adjectives to describe Earth,” Cyclone said without missing a beat. “My friends tell me I ramble too much, though, so I’ve been trying to restrain myself a little. Just a little, though, because I don’t want to be too quiet. Being too quiet is just as bad as being too loud, but no one’s ever accused me of being too quiet, although my sister Jessie is quite the intro—”

  “I get it,” I interrupted. “You talk. A lot.”

  “Right,” said Cyclone. He smiled. “I like you already. You know how to use the fewest amount of words necessary to communicate your thoughts. I wish I could do that. Then maybe people wouldn’t call me annoying behind my back, because I know that people are calling me annoying behind my back and it really bothers—”

  “What if I don’t want a Sidekick?” I asked, already finding myself understanding why other people called Cyclone annoying.

  Cyclone lowered his hand. “Sorry, but Sidekicks are mandatory for all first-time Heroes. After a week, though, you can let me go if you want, but for now you need to keep me. You’ll keep me, won’t you?”

  Cyclone asked me that with big puppy dog eyes. I was under the impression that Cyclone had faced a lot of rejection before and maybe was a little lonely, but that did nothing to make me feel more sympathetic toward him. If anything, it just made me more annoyed with him.

  Still, I took his hand and shook it. “Fine. Since I’m new, I’m going to need a guide anyway. Might as well be you.”

  As I shook Cyclone’s hand, a new notification appeared in my vision:

  Sidekick acquired! Joseph ‘Cyclone’ Franco is now your faithful Sidekick! To check out his Stats, Powers, Alignment, and more, go to the ‘SIDEKICK’ tab in your menu.

  You just unlocked the Sidekick System! Like player characters, Sidekicks can level up, learn new Powers, equip new weapons and armor, and do pretty much everything else players can do. The difference, however, is that you have control over your Sidekick’s growth, choosing where to invest Stat Points, Power Points, and more under the Sidekick screen in your menu. You can only have one Sidekick at a time.

  Curious, I let go of Cyclone’s hand and swiped away the notifications. I brought up the menu and, clicking ‘SIDEKICK’, saw a list of Sidekicks pop up in my vision. Cyclone was the sole inhabitant of the list, so I clicked on his name and I found myself staring at a complete 3D model of my Sidekick, with his Stats and Powers set off to the side:

  Secret Identity: Cyclone

  Real Identity: Joseph Diego Franco

  Level: 1

  EXP: 0/100

  Available Stat Points: 0

  Available Power Powers: 0

  Alignment: Hero [Sidekick]

  Class: Speedster

  Powers: Flight [Level 1], Gust [Level 1]

  Skills: N/A

  Equipment: Eagle Wings

  Health: 15

  Stamina: 10

  Strength: 9

  Defense: 3

  Charisma: 2

  Intelligence: 8

  Agility: 16

  Evasion: 17

  Accuracy: 10

  Dexterity: 9

  Energy: 10

  Luck: 0

  HERO STATS:

  Courage: 1

  Justice: 1

  Trust: 1

  Fame: 0

  Willpower: 1

  “Hmm …” I looked at Cyclone. “You’re not very strong, you know that?”

  “Of course,” said Cyclone without even pretending to be offended by my rather blunt remark. “All Sidekicks start at the same level as their Hero or Villain. I level up with you, although I only get half your experience.”

  I scratched my chin. “Do I have to manually level up each and every one of your Stats and Powers myself? Seems like a lot of work.”

  “Nope!” Cyclone said. “You can set my growth to ‘Auto’ if you want. That way, I’ll have the freedom to grow my Stats and Powers as I see fit while you don’t have to do anything.”

  “How do I—ah,” I said, seeing a tab under Cyclone’s name that read ‘SIDEKICK GROWTH.’ I clicked the tab and toggled ‘MANUAL’ to ‘AUTO.’ “There. Now I don’t have to worry about leveling you up or anything like that.”

  “Thanks,” said Cyclone. “I prefer being able to level up my Powers and Stats on my own anyway. Not that I don’t trust your judgment, of course, but I still like having some degree of control over my life. I don’t like feeling helpless, you know what I mean?”

  “Yeah, I think so,” I said. Then I frowned. “Tell me this, Cy—do you mind if I call you Cy?”

  “You can call me whatever you want,” said Cyclone with a big smile. “You’re the Hero, after all. You can even rename me if you want. I don’t have any choice in the manner.”

  I nodded, although privately I was starting to wonder what the difference between being a Sidekick and a slave was in this game if he couldn’t even name himself. “Okay, Cy, what would happen if I fired you?”

  Cy’s smile immediately vanished from his face and tears appeared in the corners of his eyes. “I thought you said you weren’t going to do that.”

  Seeing Cy on the verge of tears, I held up my hands and said, “No, no, this is just theoretical. I mean, this is my first day as a Hero. I’m just trying to understand the game world, that’s all.”

  Cy abruptly stopped sniffling, his big grin stretching over his face again. “Okay! Well, when you fire me, all of my Stats, Powers, and Levels are reset to th
eir default. That way, if some other Hero decided to recruit me, they wouldn’t have an unfair advantage over the other Heroes. As your Sidekick, I can also aid you in battle, which is one reason you want to make sure I keep up with you.”

  I nodded. That made sense, from a gameplay perspective. But I still found it weird how Cy looked and acted so much like a real human, yet he talked about leveling up and stats and other video game terminology like it was just an ordinary everyday thing. For him, I guess it was, but me personally, I wasn’t sure I would ever get used to this stuff. Even if this was my life now, I wasn’t sure I would ever find this ordinary, not when I knew that this was all just a really advanced game and nothing more.

  Thinking about my current condition made me look at my menu again. Right at the bottom of the menu was a button labeled ‘HELP.’ I recalled Chuck, the VR agent, informing me that I would have a button in-game that would allow me to talk to him anytime I wanted. I also recalled him saying that the Department of Virtual Reality would be watching my every move, although I saw no cameras around to indicate that anyone was watching us.

  For a moment, I considered pressing the button to call Chuck, but decided against it. Right now, I wanted to learn more about this game and how it worked before I talked to him about anything. Besides, I had the distinct feeling that Chuck, like so many government bureaucrats, had mastered the art of feigning ignorance about certain subject matter they weren’t allowed to talk about, such as the identity of the idiot who put me in here in the first place. Talking to Chuck would be a waste of time at this point.

  “All right, Cy,” I said. “You said a Sidekick’s job is to guide their Hero in the world, right?”

  Cy nodded. “Of course.”

  “All right,” I said again. “I want to find out more about my character’s Stats and Powers, as well as how all of this even works.”

  “Certainly,” said Cy. He rubbed his hands together, a rather evil glint in his eyes. “This is where the fun is about to begin. I hope you’re ready, boss, because once we get started, there’s no getting off this ride.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The manic glint in Cy’s eyes made me uncomfortable, but I said, “We’re not going to do anything, um, painful, are we?”

  Cy shook his head rapidly. “No, no, no. I’m just saying that I love explaining things to the Heroes I work for. There’s just something satisfying about teaching another human being. My dad always said I would make a good teacher and I actually applied to a few teachers’ colleges before I graduated high school, but then my Powers began manifesting and I decided that becoming a Sidekick was what I was meant to—”

  “I get it,” I interrupted. “So how do I view my character sheet?”

  “It’s easy,” said Cy. “Just go into your menu. It should be under a tab with your name, which should be at the very top of the menu.”

  Curious, I opened my menu again but didn’t see anything on my menu except for a tab labeled ‘UNNAMED.’ “I don’t see a tab with my name on it. There’s one called ‘UNNAMED,’ though.”

  Cy slapped his hand against his forehead. “Oh, I forgot! You haven’t picked out a name yet, haven’t you? Gosh, how embarrassing. For me, that is. Not you. Because I didn’t even think to ask you for your name when we first met! Silly me. I was just so eager and excited to meet a new Hero that I forgot all social graces! I hope I didn’t offend you too much, sir.”

  I would have made a sarcastic comment about how Cy seemed to lack social grace in general, but seeing as he wasn’t really a bad kid, I said, “Not a problem. So how do I name myself?”

  “Just click the tab. It will immediately ask you for Secret Identity.”

  “My what?”

  “Your Secret Identity,” Cy repeated slowly. “Your Hero name, in other words. You gotta make sure to keep it a secret, though.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

  “Because Villains who know your Secret Identity get all sorts of boosts to their Stats,” Cy explained. “It also makes you a bigger target for Villains in general and attracts all sorts of trouble you probably don’t want. You shouldn’t even reveal it to your friends or Teammates. Only your Sidekick can know it without any negative consequences, though if you fire me, I will automatically forget it. Got it?”

  Cy was uncharacteristically serious when he explained the Secret Identity system to me. Based on what he said, it sounded to me like the Secret Identity system played a role in player versus player matches, or PvP for short. Seeing as I already had a ‘secret’ identity of sorts that I wasn’t supposed to reveal to anyone, I decided to take his advice and keep my real identity to myself. Wasn’t like I was allowed to tell anyone who I was anyway.

  “Fine,” I said. “Time for me to pick out a name.”

  I clicked the ‘UNNAMED’ tab and was immediately presented with a virtual keyboard and a blank space where I could type my name in.

  I glanced at Cy. “I can name myself anything?”

  “Anything you want,” said Cy with a smile. He suddenly frowned. “You can’t pick someone else’s name, though. The system will let you know if a name is already taken. Other than that, though, you can name yourself whatever you please.”

  I nodded and looked at the keyboard again. The trouble was that I had no idea what to call myself. I didn’t even have any Powers yet, other than Super Strength, but that Power didn’t exactly inspire me to name myself anything interesting.

  I thought back to when I played the original Capes Online years ago, before the VR version came out, back when it was just a normal, albeit very fun, MMORPG. Back then, my character had been Winter, an ice-themed superhero who could generate massive blizzards and create ice out of thin air. Although I didn’t have ice Powers yet, I bet I would be able to learn them at some point, so I might as well go ahead and name myself that now. Something about dressing for the job you want, rather than the one you have, right?

  So I typed in ‘WINTER’ and found, to my relief, that it was still available. I quickly hit ‘enter’ and then a notification popped up:

  Are you sure you want ‘WINTER’ as your Secret Identity? Once a Secret Identity is taken, you can’t change it unless you undergo a Realignment or complete specific missions that reward you with a change of Identity.

  Accept? Y/N

  Huh. I didn’t know what ‘Realignment’ meant, but it sounded to me like you could change your Alignment. Meaning I could become a Villain if I wanted to, or a Villain player could become a Hero. I would have to ask Cy about this later, although right now I didn’t have any interest in becoming a Villain. I was quite happy being a Hero, or as happy as I could be knowing that I was forever separated from my friends and family who all thought I was dead.

  I accepted my name and then I heard Cy say, “Winter, huh? That’s a cool name.”

  I looked at Cy incredulously. “Was that a pun?”

  “Yep,” said Cy cheerfully. “It was punintended. Get it?”

  “I do,” I said flatly. “And I am very amused by it.”

  “Yay!” said Cy, throwing his hands up into the air. “Finally, someone who appreciates the subtle art of puns as much as I do! We’re gonna get along great.”

  I half-wondered if Cy was pulling my leg or if he literally didn’t notice my sarcasm. Given how low his Intelligence was, it could go either way.

  “Hey, how did you know my name?” I said. “I didn’t tell you what I named myself.”

  Cy pointed above my head. “I can see it floating above your head.”

  I looked up above my head and saw my name [HERO WINTER], floating above me like a ghost. “Weird. Can I hide it?”

  “Nope,” said Cy, shaking his head. “All character names are displayed by default as nametags above your head unless you find a Power that can allow you to hide your Identity. You can also see the Identities of other Heroes, Villains, and Sidekicks if you want. Look at me.”

  I looked at Cy and saw [SIDEKICK CYCLONE] above his head. “I can see yo
ur name.”

  “Exactly,” said Cy. “Of course, I wouldn’t go running up to people and just addressing them by their name if you don’t know them. That would be pretty rude and awkward, you know?”

  I barely hid my smile at that. Cy was the last person I expected to talk about being rude and awkward. At this point, I was convinced he was completely unaware of his own hypocrisy, but decided not to bring it up. He probably wouldn’t get it.

  Instead, I clicked my name on the menu and suddenly saw my character sheet:

  Secret Identity: Winter

  Real Identity: Nyle Ash Maxwell

  Level: 1

  EXP: 0/100

  Available Stat Points: 0

  Available Power Points: 0

  Alignment: Hero

  Class: Fighter

  Reputation: Unknown

  Powers: Super Strength [Level 1]

  Skills: N/A

  Equipment: N/A

  Health: 20

  Stamina: 15

  Strength: 20

  Defense: 12

  Charisma: 5

  Intelligence: 11

  Agility: 18

  Evasion: 6

  Accuracy: 10

  Dexterity: 17

  Energy: 10

  Luck: 1

  HERO STATS

  Courage: 10

  Justice: 11

  Trust: 5

  Fame: 0

  Willpower: 9

  “Hmmm …” I looked at Cy again. “All of my Stats are higher than yours. Why?”

  “Because you’re the Hero and I’m a Sidekick,” Cy explained. “Heroes and Villains automatically start out with higher Stats than Sidekicks of an equivalent level. It’s one of the benefits of being a Hero.”

  “But your Alignment also says you’re a Hero,” I pointed out.

  “Well …” Cy shrugged. “Sidekicks are also in the Alignment system, but it works a bit differently for us. We’re always the same Alignment as our Hero or Villain. In fact, how you interact with us Sidekicks affects your Alignment, although everything you do does, of course.”

  I stroked my chin. “Explain the Alignment system to me, then. I understand your decisions affect your Alignment but is there any more to it than that?”