WELCOME TO RIFTBORN?

  The World’s Greatest VVMMORPG!

  A voice loud as an earthquake rips across the sky. I find the volume control in the dashboard thingy, but it’s locked at Max.

  

  All Player Areas become active at the end of this message! But before we begin, thank you for becoming a member! And a double-super thank you to the 87,324 players who participated in the Premium Early Access event! You have earned an exclusive Founder Foundling Badge! But now the real game begins! Rise from your tombs, players…

  I jump as a trumpet fanfare tears across the world like it’s heralding the second coming of Jesus Christ.

  

  RiftBorn: Black Salt Corsairs

  The Rift is open! You have returned from the grave and been reborn as bloody pirates sailing the Seven Seas! Hundreds of islands, mysteries, and adventures await a hardy crew of stalwart rogues who take what they want and give nothing back! But remember, the RiftStorm is closing in, so time is precious and the countdown clock is ticking!

  I stop listening at the word pirates. At countdown clock, gigantic digital numbers light up the largest cloud.

  

  19 Days, 23 Hours until RiftStorm destroys the world.

  A sick feeling drops in the pit of my stomach as the clock ticks down. Do I only have 20 days to live?

  

  Explore on your own or band together and fight your way to victory as a team! How you play is up to you! And remember, RiftBorn is FREE TO PLAY, and you can upgrade your account to the rank of RiftElite at any time for Premium tags, loot, and exclusive vids on RiftTok!

  Free? HumanAsset is willing to kill cancer patients to increase its margins. These leeches would never give something like RiftBorn away. There’s no way there are enough idiot teenagers in the world to pay that much real money for fake digital prizes… right?

  

  And we have a new revolution in the gaming world: LivingLegends! RiftBorn AI NPCs who can help guide your party to victory with an AI experience so real you won’t be able to tell the difference between them and a real person!

  I almost laugh at that one.

  HumanAsset isn’t just using me to train the AI; it’s pretending I am AI. Probably a lot cheaper than actually programming something unique.

  “Wait, are you a real person, DDD?” asks Pepper. “Or are you just a program?”

  “Ask my insurance agent.”

  

  LivingLegends are a paid upgrade available to all RiftBorn players and a Special Edition Unique NPC—once they’re gone, they’re gone! RiftElite LivingLegends bidding goes live in 90 minutes, and a full list of available characters is available exclusively with the RiftElite Battle Pass!

  Neat. I’m a limited collector’s item. Don’t I feel loved?

  I guessed I was supposed to join a party (and it sounds like I was right), but if I understand what they mean by ‘bidding’, I’m just some kind of Hamburger Helper these gamers can purchase. This keeps getting better and better. I started off in debt to HumanAsset, and now I’m going to become a twelve-year-old’s slave.

  The thunderous music changes and suddenly goes full orchestral. I don’t know much about classical music, but it sounds like Vivaldi. The AI voice goes cloying and sweet.

  

  Fiscal Guardians: We appreciate you placing your child in our hands to help educate and entertain them during the hours you can’t. You can sleep easy knowing that RiftBorn is rated T for Teen, and live profanity filters are enabled, so your child will not be exposed to harsh or aggressive language.

  That makes me chuckle. Like these nasty little titty-grabbers aren’t cussing worse than a sailor on shore leave the whole time they’re gaming. Parents never cease to amaze me, how long they hold on to the fantasy that their babies are precious little angels. Being a teacher for 20 years taught me the truth: teenagers are the most vicious animals on the planet.

  

  Educational & Informational

  RiftBorn: Black Salt Corsairs fulfills U.S. Children’s Media Act requirements for Educational & Informational programming, so your little ones are learning as they play, including a Grand Finale that includes one of the great works of American Literature!

  Suddenly a red dot flashes in the sky, and a message pops up written on the sun. [Video Delivered: All Cardholders] and the music switches to a chorus of electric guitars as the sun text blinks to [Players Only]

  

  Hey, enough of all that smartypants junk, right players? Y’all wanna loot!

  Your First Quest is to find or construct your own pirate ship! There are plenty of Engineering supplies on the docks on every island, with millions of variations to customize your ship. You can also steal ships from the mobs that lurk around every corner of the map, or use their parts to upgrade your vessel! RiftElite players can purchase pre-built ships in the CoinRiver. Remember: it’s not just a payment—it’s momentum!

  “Ooo!” Pepper claps her fins. “That sounds like fun! Like Boaty MacBoatface!”

  

  Now get ready to loot, murder, and pillage your way to victory! Level up as fast as you can, because only one player or team will survive long enough to take the Pirate Crown! The rest of you will go to your graves knowing your dad was right: you were not enough!

  Only one team is going to survive? I eye the three hearts in my dashboard. Hell’s bells.

  

  Well what are you waiting for?! Get out there and remake the world!

  RIFTBORN?: Life is what you escape from.

  Bodies pour from the sky.

  They fall like rain, as if someone just dumped several football stadiums upside-down in the stratosphere and let the fans drop. Bodies thud to the cobblestone streets all around me. They pile up so fast that the town is instantly filled to the rooftops with bodies.

  

  

  Rename: Eastern Star Anchorage

  

  I watch the world split in half as Trader's Point clones itself. The duplicate town jerks out over the ocean. From here, it looks like a black cloud of bodies raining on a flying city. The cloned city shoots toward the horizon and disappears over the edge of the world.

  Woah. I’ve seen some weird crap in the last 24 hours, but that takes all the marbles.

  Bodies spill out of Trader’s Point and down the hill like the aftermath of a human tsunami. Soon the wave of bodies levels out, and Trader’s Point is left with only one layer of what I can only assume are players.

  Their avatars run through each other, blind to the other person’s existence.

  Players range in a variety of sizes, weights, races, and costumes in a panoply so diverse it is difficult to imagine they are similar in any way. Roller-skating panda Bears, flying dragon-snakes, musclebound orc goliaths, hoverboarding droids, galloping pink cyberponies, a kaleidoscopic train wreck made of color and insanity.

  “Wow!” Pepper exclaims.”It’s beautiful!”

  Some of the players become visible as they spread out on the map. Immediately, they start shooting at each other.

  The entire town square explodes in bullets, laser fire, arrows, spells, and flashes of violence I don’t even understand. After a few minutes, the smoke clears to reveal a graphic that says PvP Inactive. It doesn’t stop them from trying to kill each other.

  The Town Crier bulletin board lights up RIFTELITE QUEST BOARD! Thousands of bodies crush into the space around it. Players check the board, then explode outward in a dozen different directions toward whatever quest they selected. On my map, hundreds of locations light up as quests populate the entire island and dozens more out to sea. Mad Wizard’s Cave, Dirty Duke’s Dungeon, Buccaneer Bay Bootleg, Dr. Tentacle’s Lair, with climbing numbers beside each quest, presumably an indication of how many people had taken the quest.

  All around me, shops suddenly open and NPCs blink into existence by the dozens, merchants hawking their wares.

  Finally. Time for some real weapons.

  I spot one called Bloodspurt’s Arms & Armory, which is exactly what I’m looking for. I have nearly 2500 gold already, which ought to get me a weapon more advanced than a crappy crowbar.

  When I arrive at the doorstep, an ogre with a horn sticking from one side of his head holds up a hand and blocks the way. “Sorry, bub. You’re money’s no good here.”

  An NPC bouncer at a weapons shop. Why not? “I need weapons.”

  “Sorry, bub.” He repeats in that mindless way NPCs have. “You’re money’s no good here.”

  I swing the crowbar at him. It passes right through the ogre in a flash of bad code.

  “Now, DDD!” Pepper chides. “Don’t be rude!”

  “Stop calling me that,” I bark at the penguin, pissed at being denied service by an arms dealer. “I’m Dave, dammit.”

  Across the street, I spot a blue torch in an alley silhouetting a cloaked figure labeled Outlaw Merchant. I leave Pepper behind and hustle to him. The guy suddenly animates, throwing back his cloak to reveal a host of items sewn into the cloak. Black Market Baltazar comes up as his handle. “Greetings, Traveller! What do ye need, and what can ye afford?”

  I see a list of items: Paralysis Dust, Healing Potions, Strider Boots, Engine Pump… all with prices under 1000 gold. There aren’t many weapons, but I like the look of the Poison Blowdart, and that Engine Pump might be useful for my MacHack. I select them both.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Black Market Baltazar whips his cloak closed. “I’ll not barter with the likes of ye! Begone, swine!”

  What the hell is with these NPCs?

  “Wicked! It's one of those LivingLegend things!” A pair of players moves into the alley, an elf with a beard and a dwarf without one. The dwarf looks me up and down. “What do you do?”

  Oh my God, finally. One of the players is actually talking to me. Before I can respond, I see a prompt come up in my dashboard thingy.

  

  EmpathyEngine?: Suggested Dialogue

  “Well, hello, young feller! There’s plenty an old Hermit can do to help you! Take a look!” [Display LL Benefits]

  “My name is David McClain!” I shout at the beardless dwarf. “I am being held in the cancer ward of Mercy Hospital, Tallahassee, Florida! I am being forced to—”

  

  

  Everything freezes blue. I’m paralyzed, like my whole body just got hit with lockjaw.

  “Your name is… what?” I see the bearded elf tilt his head. “It says DDD.”

  He didn’t hear me. Somehow the censorship protocols froze my avatar before I got past the first 3 words.

  “Bro, he totally glitched out,” says his beardless dwarf companion. “This sh§t is weak.”

  

  EmpathyEngine?: Oops!

  It seems you're having a little trouble following the rules! That’s okay, I’ll help you learn. As covered in your LL tutorial, any effort to break character will result in an Icebox Penalty with a 5-minute cooldown. Subsequent penalties grow exponentially. And remember: player engagement pays those medical bills, so be sure to smile! VSC HypeScore Penalty: -?1000

  For the first time, my VSC HypeScore number, whatever that is, moves, -?1000. The number turns a warning red.

  Frozen in my digital Icebox, a painful sensation shoots through my body, like the first time I got chemo, only not as pleasant. It starts to sting, then burn.

  “Hmph. Couple of party buffs.” The bearded elf reviews my stats. “Nothing good. I thought these things were supposed to be lit.”

  “I heard LivingLegends have a bunch of inventory slots the party can share.”

  “You can buy that with a Bag of Holding. Or a pack mule.” The elf looks at me like I’m a turd. “LivingLegends. Pff. More like LivingLosers. Come on.”

  He moves through me. “Goodbye, young feller,” My avatar turns and waves at the departing elf. “Good luck on your quest!”

  But I didn’t do any of that. I’m frozen inside the Hermit’s skull, paralyzed with pain.

  I watch the timer count down from 5 minutes, feeling the burning sensation increase. My veins and nerves scream in pain and I wonder if HumanAsset is punishing my real body or just feeding pain in through that arcade token drilled into my skull. “Okay, okay! I get it! No breaking character!”

  

  EmpathyEngine?: Excellent!

  A happy player is a paying player! Always aim up and to the right for those RiftElite satisfaction scores! Next Icebox Violation: 52

  I get the sneaking suspicion both the time and the pain will be exponential next time, too. After what feels like an eternity, the countdown ends, and I feel myself drop back into control of my body.

  “You some kinda rulebreaker, you old hobo?”

  I raise my head to find a figure floating at the end of the alley. A mohawked astro-kid on skates that look like starship engines hovers a foot above the ground. The kid is wearing a reflective mercury outfit that looks like it would be at home in the Silver Surfer’s closet. “Are you a LivingLegend? Is that what that LL above your head means?”

  I don’t see anything above my head, but I see it above his.

  

  Buck Rogers lvl 1 (LL)

  Race: Starman | Class: EchoJack

  Beside his name, the LL logo is surrounded by a gold disc. I’m face-to-face with a LivingLegend.

  “So are you.”

  “Yep.” The astro-kid smiles. “Wanna grab a beer?”

  ***

  “Watch this.” The astro-kid plops down at the tavern bar, and a huge glass boot full of frosty beer appears in front of him, golden and foaming. “Free beer anywhere you go! How about that? I had one of these in my tutorial location. Pull up a barstool.”

  I sit, and a foamy glass boot appears in front of me. The astro-kid raises his. “Here’s to digital life! May it go on forever!” He clinks my boot and guzzles down half of his beer. I give it a taste, expecting nothing, but the beer tastes like… something resembling real beer, cold and refreshing. It’s not great, a watered-down IPA, like a Pabst Blue Ribbon. Still. It’s beer. Yay beer.

  “Where you from, buddy?” Buck Rogers asks with a smile.

  I can’t get my head around the fact that there are more people like me in the game. “Tallahassee.”

  “Florida! Me too! Cape Canaveral. What’s with your name? Is DDD code for something?”

  “Just my old arcade handle.”

  “Ahh, a GenXer. Here’s to Madonna!” He clinks my boot, and I have to laugh.

  “To Madonna.”

  He extends a hand. “Buckley Granger. Lung cancer, stage IV.”

  I shake it. “Dave McClain, colon cancer, also stage IV.”

  “Looks like HumanAsset got us both right in the pooper.”

  I snort a laugh.

  “Oh my!” Pepper’s cheeks turn red. “Language!”

  “Cute little sidekick you’ve got.” Buck scratches Pepper under the chin. “How about you, Chilly Willie? What hospital are you in?”

  “I’m not in a hospital.” Pepper smiles. “ I’m in a bar!”

  “She’s not a real person,” I swig the boot. “Just AI.”

  “Huh.” Buck nods. “Cute.”

  “You want to buy it?” Buck chuckles at my joke. Pepper frowns. I ignore her. “How does someone so young get lung cancer?”

  “Young?” Buck laughs. “I’m 87 years old. This is just the skin they stuck me in.”

  Wow. 87 years old. This futuristic astro-kid wearing jet boots was around for the Korean War.

  “Buck Rogers.” I snap my fingers. “Okay, that makes more sense.”

  He wipes his mouth. “I’ve got a question for you, Davorino.”

  “Just one?”

  “Right?” Buck laughs. “I’m too old to get half of what they were talking about in that instruction manual, but one question tops the list: what the hell is a Veemor Pig?”

  I laugh again. “A what?”

  “It said it like 400 times in the instructions, and again when the game started. Veemor Pig.”

  I suddenly get what he’s talking about. “VVMMORPG.” I shake my head. “RPG is Role-Playing Game, like Dungeons and Dragons. The O is online. The M’s are something like Multiple, Mega, Many? I don’t remember. The VV, no clue.”

  “Very Visual."

  “Right.” I ease back into my seat. It’s been three years since I just sat down in a bar and had a chat like a regular guy. It’s nice. Like being a man again.

  “So you know all that from playing Dungeons and Dragons, huh?” Buck nods. “I remember the Satanic Panic.”

  “Right. Mazes & Monsters. Tom Hanks in the sewers.”

  “Heh, I forgot he was in that movie.”

  “Okay, answer me one.” I lean in. “What’s the HypeScore thing in my dashboard thingy?”

  “Your HUD?”

  “HUD! Thank you!” I breathe a sigh of relief. “That’s the word I haven't been able to remember. Heads-Up Display!”

  “Yeah, the HUD. Even I know that.” Buck giggles. “Did you not read the instructions at all?”

  “There’s one!” comes a shout from behind, and I turn to see a dolphin-guy and an Aquaman ripoff in the tavern doorway, both labeled AquaTeenForce. “A Living Legend! We found one!”

  “Two of them.” The guy in the orange chainmail nods. “Nice.” He walks up to Buck. “Okay, get in our party, shiny boy.”

  A blip over Buck’s head reads:

  

  LivingLegend Party Invite: [AquaTeenForce]

  

  “Sorry, amigo!” Buck raises his glass, and I realize he’s reading the EmpathyEngine prompt from his HUD. “You’ve got about 45 minutes before you can invite us to join. But we’ll be happy to play with you guys once the roster goes live!”

  “What’s he got?” Dolphin-boy smacks Buck in the chest and reads the LL notification that pops up.

  

  EchoJack lvl1 (LL)

  Combos are the name of the game with an EchoJack! In addition to a killer Sonic Strike and Distraction debuffs to help defeat your enemies, EchoJack makes the beats (and the enemies) drop with his RampageRhythm, which synchronizes your team for double the combos, double the points!

  Mockquaman punches me in the chest and looks at my Hermit buffs. “This one’s crap, just heal-and-hide.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” murmurs dolphin-boy. “We can’t buy one for like another hour.”

  “Why don’t you sit down with us and have a drink while you wait?” Buck offers them a seat. “First round’s on me!”

  Flipper ignores him. “If we leave them here, someone else will get them.” The dolphin draws a blaster pistol. “Can’t have that.” He shoots Buck in the face.

  I watch Buck Granger hit the floor, a corpse with a cauterized hole in his face.

  “Whaa! Look at that!” yells the Aquaman ripoff. “Awesome, brah! I thought PvP was turned off!”

  “They’re not players, you dumb c§nt, just NPCs.”

  A flash of light and Buck Rogers rematerializes on the barstool. He looks shocked, and I see an alert in his HUD.

  

  ?? ?? ?

  “Okay, whoa there, partner.” Buck raises his hands, his voice shaky. “ I’m here to help you—”

  Mockqaman lifts his trident and stabs Buck in the stomach. He twists the prongs, and I hear a sound like a margarita blender burr from inside Buck’s guts. My drinking buddy’s entrails spin out over the trident like spaghetti. “Whoo!” shouts the idiot, gazing at his weapon. “This thing cooks!”

  Buck falls to the floor in a pile of his own entrails and respawns on his barstool. His eyes are wide, frightened.

  I grab Mockquaman’s trident. “Knock it off, dipsh§t! Leave him alone.”

  

  EmpathyEngine?: Potty Mouth!

  Watch your language with players, especially RiftElites! Thank you for your compliance.

  “Get out of my f§cking way, ret§rd.” Dolphin-boy grabs my face and throws me at the wall. I smack into the door of the tavern and blood trickles from my nose.

  

  Health: 93% | ??????

  “Hey guys!” Buck Rogers gets to his jet-boot feet and miniature speakers morph into place all along his mirror-mercury body. “Let me show you how I can help your party out! If you stick to the beat…” A thumping dubstep rhythm suddenly pulses from his armor. “We can bring the heat!”

  Disco-lighting suddenly fills the tavern and turns it into a rave. All the NPCs inside start moving to the rhythm, serving drinks and food on the beat.

  “Ha! Slick!” Mockquaman yells, catching the rhythm. “One…”

  “Two!” Dolphin-boy pumps a flipper-fist in the air.

  They both shout at the same time. “Three!”

  They draw their guns and blast Buck Granger in the chest.

  He hits the ground, his face locked in an expression of astonished horror. I wait for him to respawn on the barstool, but instead, there is a blip in my HUD.

  

  

  Life Support Coverage: Terminated

  HumanAsset Deficit Account: Closed

  Released: FullCircle Cremation Services 32920

  Expunged from memory pool

  [Deletion: Permanent]

  

  I blink, not able to believe what I’m seeing.

  “Wait… is he...”

  “Buck?” Pepper shakes the astro-kid corpse with a flipper. “Buck Rogers? Get up.”

  The barstool’s still spinning like he might come back. But Buck Granger’s not coming back.

  A notification flashes above AquaTeenForce.

  

  You killed a LivingLegend!

  This is a unique event. Buck Rogers will not return. EchoJack Class eliminated.

  Unique Badge LivingLegend Kill: EchoJack

  “Noice!” yells Flipper. “Unique badge!”

  I stare at Buck Granger’s body on the dirty tavern floor.

  They just killed him in cold blood.

  These idiots couldn't be more than fifteen. Just kids. And they’re laughing like they kicked over a trash can.

  My fists turn into knots.

  I’m going to kill these shitheels.

  “Ha! So there really is only one of each LivingLegend.” Mockquaman laughs. “Gone forever. One-of-a-kind. That’s fire, brah.”

  “No cap. Like a NFT.”

  “Yeah. Let’s clap this f§cker too.” Mockquaman brings up his pistol and points it at my head. “Double badges.”