Edwin P. Ust
He missed the beginning of the end of the world. So did everyone else. He missed it because he was playing AntruA. He was not playing AntruA at the end of the world, so he did not miss it.
Nobody missed the end of the world; it was the end of the world.
It started at 4:32 pm, on a Tuesday. The last wild butterfly died starting the world’s end. The world did not start ending that Tuesday. The world has always been, existing, the world that is, in a state of constant endings, and new beginnings. So what we really have here is the start of our story.
His name was Edwin P Ust, He preferred Edie. Edie was an avid gamer, spending hours in his couch, consuming high protein bars and Ultra-ZaP. Powered by this combination he would play for hours, often for days. This had been the case at 4:32 pm when he turned off his system, eyes grainy and heavy. After twenty-two straight hours of playing Edie felt content to go to sleep, he had played well. Tuning his TV to a steady background buzz, he prepared for bed. The flashing gray of the screen provided his only light, as he pulled pizza boxes and empty soda cans off his bed. The half full bottle of pee a reminder of six hours ago, and again three hours later, was carefully placed out of the way by the foot of the bed.
The color of the room suddenly changed from a grey to green. Edie turned, and gaped, never had he seen a landscape like the one scrolling across his TV screen. The sky was a rich blue, the sun was shining in a way the reminded Edie that he hadn’t seen the sun in many, many years. The picture was following a dirt path wide enough for a three people to walk shoulder to shoulder. The path had a slight grade as it passed over the crown of a small hill. A few bunched bushes were scattered over the ground, none within a few feet of the path. As the view crested the hill a man appeared, though he was quickly elapsed by the vista that appeared simultaneously. The view screamed adventure; hills, forest rivers, and mountains. Off on the horizon a sea glittered. Then, so quickly it left Edie’s head spinning, the screen went black.
Black.
In the dark his eye ached to see that color, that life, one more time. Then blazing across his vision, ANTRUA, each letter a radiant window into this amazing world. A new small circular window opened in the center of the picture, from within the traveler was looking directly out at Edie, and smiling. What a smile it was, projecting joy and amazement. The smile spoke.
“Just like real life, but so much better.”
Then it was done, whatever had been on before started up again. But it was not like Before, Now there was Antrua. Whatever Antrua was? Edie had been exhausted, but now there was no way he could sleep.
“Out trusty Internet, only you can get to the bottom of this,” he said, speaking out loud in his excitement.
But the Internet failed, Google pulling up only one legitimate post, Wikipedia.
“AntruA, created by the mad genius DocZed, is not just the greatest game of all time; it is a whole new experience.”
That was it. That was all there was. Edie tried to search for DocZed. Information came slowly. Wikipedia, the overflowing chalice of information only said, “DocZed, mad genius.”
Edie then found mention of DocZed in an article in Players Ink, a gamer blog. The joke being that it was not written in ink any more.
Obviously this is not his birth name, but it is the only one the world knows. DocZed has burst onto the blogosphere. Somehow DocZed has gained a controlling share of a number of large multinational multimedia corporations. Who he is and what he plans to do with this new conglomerate, no one knows. What are you DocZed and what do you want with us simple humans?”
Edie was on pins and needles, however he had now been awake for about thirty-two hours straight, even if there had been more info to be gleaned from the Internet, and he would be unable to recognize it. He turned the TV on in the vague hope that he would see another commercial. The constant buzz finally worked in lulling Edie to a semi-sleep like state. At the slightest change in volume he would spring up thinking that the commercial was back on, it never was. The few brief moment of sleep he got were painted by swirls of bright greens, yellow and blue. The few moments of the commercial were replayed across the back of his eyes over and over. They picture was warped from his memory and plagued by a feeling of beauty just out of reach, or comprehension. He was pledged by the feeling that he was missing something; he could find It, if he could just remember what It was.
Edie slept.
Edie woke. With a start; the room was once again bathed in green light. He stared hungrily at the screen, heart racing, waiting to see that vista one more time. However this was not the same commercial, this one started following the stranger as he walked along the path. This was different, Edie was able to take in details, appreciate the green peacefulness of the landscape. The green was so deep, Edie had never seen anything like it, all he knew was sidewalk, and concrete. Butterflies flitted about a green hillside and a light wind blew the grass in slow waves. The picture zoomed in on the wanderer. He wore brown pants and boots; his shirt was a lighter shade of brown with the pattern of leaves sewn along the seams of his sleeves. He had a sack tied over his shoulders, and he carried a staff.
The man was singing, it was a happy tune one that kept his pace measured and had the feeling of deep contentment. Edie wanted to feel that happy, While he listened to the singing he felt a great longing. As the wanderer walked around a bend in the path the picture pulled back. The curve had revealed a beautiful seascape. Small waves lapped on a picturesque beach. The path led to a small cluster of huts on the beach, a few boats pulled up beside them. The traveler paused, turned towards the camera and beckoned for Edie to follow him to the town. Then he took a skip step in place and started the last leg of his journey. The screen was black, with only ANTRUA windows into the amazing world.
Then Edie looked at the clock. The digital readout displayed 11:37am. Suddenly AntruA was secondary concern, to be replaced by a thought that everyone can relate to.
I’m late.
Ten minutes later Edie stumbled out his door, still pulling a blue polo over his head. The polo popped over his head. Grimy light, filtered and reflected off the windows of the towering skyscrapers still had enough glare to force his eyes down. Edie blinked to clear his eyes, struggling to comprehend the bundle of clothing and blankets next to his stoop. He continued on his flight to work running most of the way. Through the gloom of the day and constant flow of people he tried to slip through the spaces that opened and closed. The current of humanity buffeted him as he slipped though eddies that formed and disappeared in the crowd.
He reached then fought the lurching surge onto a waiting train. His commute changed now, on the street you fought the tide, on the train you merged. The doors closed and the pressure increased everyone trying to brace against the closeness. The first movement of the train caused the whole mass to move first swinging towards the front then stumbling to the back of the car. Then the train picked up speed in the tunnel.
The train, ripping through the air of the tunnel, howled. To Edie this was the sound of pure human triumph against nature, that or natures defiant scream against humans technological hubris. The howl both thrilled and terrified him. The howl took his subconscious and his thoughts slowed down and clarified. Almost like meditation Edie’s wondering mind opened. The pile of clothing and blankets had been a person. A homeless person, sleeping. It stuck Edie that this person had nowhere else to sleep. It was like a window of reality opening up. In the void of the howl, in the mass of humanity he realized that he had accepted that the reality he lived was only reality. Swaying as the car came to a stop, Edie desperately hope for a new reality, hopefully not the reality of the homeless person by his door.
Walking into the plaza where he worked Edie took a deep breath. The plaza was a temple dedicated to the consumption of money. The majority of the storefronts in the plaza took up the first floor of three skyscrapers. This formed a square parking lot. Into this lot eight little stores had been built like a peninsula separating one big parking lot into two. The washed out black of the parking lot dominated the color scheme of the plaza. The signs above each store had once been radiant now they were dull, the dirt of the city layered on by age. Some of the names were still legible, most were not. There were five restaurants, all representing the bastardization of one nation or another. The others were various stores selling knock off closes, shoes, and electronics. Edie worked for one of these, a small cell phone retailer called It’s a Cell World After All. The store was three shops down on the peninsula in the shadow of the looming skyscraper.
“Edie P, late again, what was it this time? Did you lose your twenty-sided die, or was it some other nerd mishap, maybe a difficult math problem. I know a broken calculator, no, even better your pen leaked all over your shirt?”
“No, I just forgot to set my alarm.”
Edie had learned that the best way to deal with Jason was to deal with him as little as possible. Jason was assistant manager at It’s a Cell World After All, where Edie worked. He was a total Bro; he always wore khaki cargo pants, and a polo shirt with a popped collar. He was required to wear a blue polo shirt by Cell World but outside of work he sported a wide range of pastels always sporting that stupid popped collar. He was just five foot four and worked out all the time to compensate. He walked like he had just come from riding a horse, and he liked to high five, hard. Every small event became a victory that merited a brutal palm-stinging blow.
“The boss is in the back, he’s waiting for you and he is not happy. High-five.” Jason said, delivering the statement with his usual palm popping zest.
Edie refused to give Jason the satisfaction, so as he walked away he held his hand in close to his leg, trying not to flex it at all. The store was small, its walls were divided into four-foot sections a mish-mash of displays and peg hooks. The displays were all garish colors. Edie’s favorite ad campaign was a series of three-dimensional women. There was a bikini clad blond with perfect curves, the kind of curves that sell. The creepy part was the three-dimensional part. This being her boobs and the hand that held the phone. Across from the beach theme there was a dance theme. In this display the women flaunted the phone while peeking over her shoulder, her buttocks extending from the wall like an obscene neck support. The rest of the store was covered from floor to ceiling with a plethora of phone cases, batteries and wires. The effect was startling; the wall seemed to grow a thick pelt of plastic. It also hid the two women until you were right next to them. Edie never got tired of watching as people jump in alarm at see people suddenly jump out of the wall, offering the latest model of phone, and boobs and booty.
Edie walked towards the back past the display that divided the room. Unconsciously he checked for new models and with around thirty phones on display this was no easy task. Edie liked to think of this a practice for his gaming, exercise for his eyes. But in the back of his mind he knew that is was just one of many skills he had gained working here that had no value in any other job. Who was he joking these skills had no value at all. Edie wasn’t sure how he felt about that.
The back of the store had the two registers on a long tall desk. The desk had a section at one end which could be closed, but contrary to company SOP it was always at least partially open. An open door behind the counter led to the back office. The reason that the store was so over stuffed with product was they had no room for overstock.
John, Edie’s manager, had a desk in that small room. However the top had disappeared under a deluge of junk, trash and take out containers. He was a scrawny man, which was exaggerated by the way he held his legs together to form a desk from his lap. He was always trying to read up on some new sales technique or analyzing numbers. Today he was holding what looked like a ream of paper, which he was trying to flip through while losing the fight of keeping all the papers on his lap.
“What do you know about Zed Interface, or Tapping, what about AntruA?” John spoke without looking up. This was something that he often did which bothered Edie, but on this particular occasion he didn’t even notice. Hearing that last word out of John’s mouth blew his mind out his ears.
“I really only know what was in those commercials, for AntruA.”
“There were commercials? Strange, did they say what it was?”
“Not really, it kinda looked like a video game, but pretty. It was all sun and a traveler who seem very happy to be there.” As Edie talked about it he became more excited. “It looks like a lovely place, with grass and tree and beach…”
John interrupted him with a wave of his hand.
“Did these commercials say anything about how you play the game, or anything about an implant?”
“No nothing like that, I just assumed…”
Once again Edie was interrupted.
“Edie we no longer work for It’s a Cell World After All.”
“What?”
“We have been bought up by Zed Interface. I have never even heard of Zed Interface. No matter, now they employ us. We are going to be performing the simple medical procedure of Taping.”
Edie was baffled, “What’s Tapping, implants to play AntruA, will we be selling AntruA here?” That would be amazing, selling AntruA at Cell World. Edie felt his chest swelling with anticipation; this would be huge strategically he would be able to size up his competition. Not only that, he could be the first person ever to play. No, whatever it took, he would be the first to play. “This I Promise,” Edie said under his breath.
“Apart from that, it all seems pretty simple, easy even.” Edie realized that John had been speaking, answering his questions, for some time.
“It also seems to be very profitable. We could get rid of most of the trash in this store. No more merchandise, no more EOL, with just the initial cost of the equipment, Taps are almost all profit. However, there is just one small detail.”
“Wait, are we going to be selling AntruA?
“No, Edie listen. I need one employ to work in the game, some sort of desk job, I want it to be you. You will have flexible hours and it comes with a raise.”
“It sound great but anything that good has to have a catch.”
“There is a small catch, you would need to get tapped. Of course Zed Interface would compensate you. The letter they sent had details on a store that is doing an early release and they want you to go and get tapped there. They said that your next check with have the cost on it. Oh, and the best part you would get a forty cent raise. What do you say?”
“I still don’t get what this has to do with AntruA.” Edie said, “I’ll do it, I guess, I mean what is Tapping? You said a medical procedure, why do you want me to do this so bad.”
“Ok, T.A.P is an anagram, it stands for TelNet Awareness Port, which mean nothing to me. What it means is implanting of a device into the back of your neck right at the base of your skull. The letter said it’s the size of a large bolt. They said that it is safe, well tested and all that, but it creeps me out. It will be really amazing; it does tons of stuff, cool stuff. Zed Interfacing requires all new franchises have at least one employee who has a tap to work with the machine that does the tapping. You won’t have to do any actual tapping on people. All you have to do is come in and make sure it’s working like it should and other things like that. Less hours and more money what could be bad right? Also,” John continued, “I already tried Jason, but he said no. Something about liking working with people more than machines. He’s right you like machines much more than people, not only that you like gaming, the only way to access AntruA is with a tap.”
“Why didn’t you say so!” exclaimed Edie, “Of course I’ll do it. You said an early release date, that’s huge. I bet there’ll be a line. I’m going to need like two, no better be sure, three days off.”
“Whatever Edie, take a week,” said John. “We need time to overhaul the whole store. I doubt there’ll be a line, but do what you want.”
