Sam's spaceship floated across the lava moat. The damage it sustained from the crash was minimal. Since there were too many of Lord Shellie's minions, the only ones to ride with Sam were Minnie and Persica. The explosion caused by Gamer and Sonia lit up the windshield, and drew concern from everybody. They moved over the courtyard and had front row seats to the unfolding events.
"Hell yeah! These power ups are awesome!" Sonia removed the bounce bracelet. She then played with a ball of fire like it was on a ball and paddle.
Through the smoke of the inferno, a figure approached. Gamer shouted, "Sonia! Watch out!"
Sonia turned and nailed Hero with the fireball. However, a thick, purple cock pierced through the smoke and stabbed Sonia's chest. She stumbled away, and the firepower faded. Hero loomed inside the smoke, double-fisting his dildo for more strength.
"Dōshite shin denai no?" she was hit so hard, Sonia switched the dub.
The smoke cleared and revealed Hero wearing a red tunic. He had no signs of scorching.
"If my game logic holds up, I suspect the red is fire resistant," Gamer grumbled.
The black tendrils wiggling out from behind the mask twisted around Hero's limbs. They extended his reach and transformed his whole self into a writhing mass of black licorice. The Proforce emblazoned across the mask, and gave it life. The eyes rattled around like googly eyes.
"He's all yours, Gamer. Good luck," Sonia clapped her hands together and bowed out. Her sarcasm could be felt.
"Yeah, right! Even if I had a plan, like I'd fight that thing by myself!" Gamer's risk assessment said no.
"I implore you to reconsider," Sonia offered a plate of fresh, crispy chicken nuggets.
Gamer immediately dashed at Hero – the nugs were his! The licorice sucked the dildo sword into its body, only to eject it out from between its legs at head level with Gamer. It thrust forward like a stinger. Gamer lined it up and opened his mouth. He deepthroated a large portion of the bat. The spaceship viewers winced and gagged. Sonia's eyes bugged out. He then kicked up and disarmed the bat from the licorice, and then immediately added the item to his inventory. It disappeared, with only a little soreness in his throat.
"Hot," Sonia approved.
Gamer stylishly front flipped and landed on the licorice's shoulders. He clasped a hand onto the mask and said the magic words, "Reveal your true self!"
The mask needed to be torn free, as if the mask had fused with Hero's skin. The elf let out an agonizing cry – the black sinews of the mask stretching and ripping. Blood gushed forth, and Gamer successfully removed the mask. He backflipped off Hero with the mask in hand.
Hero's form returned to normal and Shade's corruption released from him. Hero crumbled to the ground. He breathed heavily, and fell unconscious.
Gamer fanned himself with the mask, "Yeah, I knew there was something odd about this thing. Major a-hole vibes."
And then the mask twitched. Gamer raised an eyebrow at it, and the googly eyes zeroed in on him. The black tendrils flaps latched onto his screaming face. The mask pulled itself on and knocked him over. He felt every inch of the tentacles screwing through his skull and orifices. It was like nothing Gamer ever experienced. A retro-style chime sounded in one of his ears, amidst all the darkness's static noise. It was true agony. The world faded quickly. Sonia's shout of his name barely reached him. The distant cackle of a victorious Shade was the last thing Gamer heard.
***
When Gamer opened his eyes, he was in an entirely different location. A flat plane stretched all the way to a cloudy grey horizon. The ground had a thin veneer of water atop it, and reflected the blank, dim world. A single, dried up tree was nearby.
"Hello?" Gamer spoke. He expected an echo, but was disappointed.
"Hold up, bro. I almost have it ready," Samira's voice piped in.
Hearing her voice – quiet as to not wake mom, and soft with a hint of raspiness. It flooded Gamer with unexpected nostalgia and yearning, "Samira? I can hear you..."
A myriad of pixels gathered in front of Gamer. They were monotone, and when they took the shape of a person, they stayed in grey scale. The avatar that formed was a blank slate; they were featureless and ambiguous. It checked its body and extremities. Though it didn't have a mouth, it spoke with Samira's voice, "Ah, low res. I'll have to sort that out later. But, at least I got it working."
"How is this possible? I thought you couldn't log in without being tracked. What is this place?" Gamer didn't know where to start.
"Remember how I said I went shopping earlier, and that's why I was late. This is why; you are inside an HDD," Samira spun in a circle.
"Inside a drive?" she blew Gamer's mind. "Wait, you're telling me I'm not in the video game anymore?"
"Nope, this was a test run to see if we could transfer all of you from outside the game. It's super tricky and there's a bunch of extra steps, but I know you don't care for it, so I'll keep it simple. I copied and pasted you."
"Does that mean I'm me?" Gamer discovered the clone paradox.
"Again, super technical. Essentially, when the mask took hold, it injected Shade's virus into you. Like Hero, it damages your data and removes the ability for it to load properly. The Shade virus inserts itself and takes over from there via a remote access point; i.e. Gamindorf. However, I made a failsafe for if your file corrupts. It opens a protocol, copies your data, and transfers it into the HDD. And it worked!"
"Geez, you've been working in the background this whole time just for this? That's crazy, Samira. I guess I ought thank you for saving my life...again," the rollercoaster of emotions just didn't stop. "Does that mean I'm officially immortal? I can just live on different drives and shit?"
"Unfortunately, no," Samira opened graphs and diagrams that made sense to smarter people than Gamer. "Due to your unique 'living' code, every second that passes increases your bytes. I was afraid of this, but that's why I got the biggest drive I could find. It'd take less than a week in here for you to stop...growing, so to speak. You wouldn't be able to make any memories, learn anything new, or develop in any meaningful way. A true eternal gamenation."
"Shucks, well, okay...what do we do?"
"First: a test run!"
Samira's avatar mimicked typing on a keyboard. She opened a holographic keyboard in front of both of them. Samira posed next to it like Wheel of Fortune, "Type anything."
Gamer literally typed the word 'anything'. Samira gasped and laughed, "It worked! My keyboard buttons are moving. Try the mouse!"
A digital mouse about the size of a Great Dane materialized. Gamer did a typical front kick and nudged the thing away. It earned another gleeful response from his sister. Gamer cracked a grin, "So I can interact with the real world, huh?"
"As expected! Holy cow, this changes things. It's so cool!" Samira busied herself with logs and analytics.
"Say, if we're talking and I can act on real life in real-time...what's happening to me in Chanterelle?"
"Currently you've turned into a black lotus monster thing. Shade's virus is finishing the corruption of your file. Everybody else is keeping their distance, and the edge lord is bellowing a bunch of laughter from the rooftops," Samira rolled her non-existent eyes.
"Isn't that bad? How am I getting back?" Gamer asked, determined to overcome this setback.
"Thanks to Sonia's warning, I suspected that Shade's virus might try to spread to you or me. It's why I waited to copy you over with it, so we can tackle two birds with one stone. Without the remote access, it isn't really doing much. It needs direction. If we can remove the virus, I can copy and paste you back into your Chanterelle coding and completely clear the virus from your operation. I'll even have a copy of the virus, and we can play around with its function," Samira lined it up.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Ctrl, alt, del that shit!"
"I can't. It's bio-tech – working term, no copyright – just like you. The only way to interact with it and eliminate it...is for you to face it," Samira pointed towards the center of the massive void. Past the tree, Gamer saw a greyed-out version of himself, with red eyes. Gamer noticed this negative version of himself peered about just as he did, and froze in place when they locked eyes.
"Oh, cool, an evil version of me. Classic," Gamer sighed.
"By my estimations, overriding the virus will do a lot to your systems. I've no projections on how it'll change you. I can't stress this enough; this is your only shot to beat the thing," Samira raised the stakes.
"If you aim for the throne, you best not miss," Gamer quoted. He solidified his confidence and glared at his clone. He tilted his head, and so did his copy. Almost like a mirror. Gamer tested his theory and waved; his copy perfectly matched his motion.
"Well, that's creepy," was the next test. Interestingly, the mirror version didn't move its lips or speak.
"Shade is far more dangerous than Marco, Ouija, or Lord Shellie. We're fortunate to have the means to counter him, but one slip up will be all it takes for him to kill you," Samira's usual concern for her little brother was more evident in person than text, "I'll bounce, in case his virus tries anything. I'll be watching, though. Good luck."
"Wait!" Gamer overreacted. It wasn't really his sister, but this was as close to her that he had been for a long time, "Can I ask a favor?"
"Anything."
Gamer went ahead and hugged Samira. She took and gave with an equal amount of love. He could hear her begin the waterworks. It stung his heart, and then he started to choke up. The hug lasted for a strong minute. He assured her, "We'll be together again. Soon."
"Ana bahebak, ahki," Samira gave one last squeeze. She digitized and watched from the ethereal place called reality. (I love you, my brother.)