Braxton woke the next morning. He was undisturbed during his rest. He hadn't seen the sun for several days at his best guess. He was unsure how much time and passed since he had been abducted. "Alpha, how long have I been here?"
"We have been joined for almost seventy hours." Alpha responded.
"How long until the combat armor camouflage skill is finished upgrading?" Braxton queried.
"Eight hours, three minutes and forty five seconds." Alpha replied.
"Thank you." Braxton replied.
"Where am I supposed to go next?" Braxton thought.
The green arrow came into view directing him out into the hall. He walked along following the arrow. A new section wall vanished exposing another door which opened when he approached. The room he arrived in had a counter, piled with supplies. It had rows upon rows of shelves and appeared to be some sort of warehouse.
"About time you showed up." A man in a military uniform approached.
"I wasn't given a time or any directions on where to go. I had no way of knowing someone was waiting on me." Braxton replied.
"Get used to it kid. Once you go through the gate, I'd be surprised if you get any pointers on where to go or what to do. You're going to load all this stuff into your storage and do your best to deliver it to the troops on the ground. It really doesn't matter if you die once you get through. The equipment and supplies can be retrieved by other players from the watch. Start packing it all in. Start with these two items." He pointed to a large lathe and a laboratory room.
"Those are huge. How do they fit in the watch?" Braxton looked at them with complete disbelief.
"How the hell should I know? I just know they do. Stupid kid, do I look like the creator of the watches? If I made those, do you really think I'd be working here piling crates and boxes. Do your damn job and follow orders." The man said grumpily as if his normal routine had been interrupted and he wanted to get back to something else.
Braxton began absorbing the items laying around the room.
"Atomic particle lathe acquired. Medical testing clean room acquired. Ammo 9mm five thousand rounds acquired. Automatic reload initiated. 7.62mm ammo five thousand rounds acquired. MRE crates acquired one pallet, five thousand meals total. Grenades five hundred. Raw material darkmater one drop. Raw material platinum two hundred pounds. System message status full." Alpha stated as he absorbed each item.
"That's it, I'm full." Braxton stated. The room still had a bunch more equipment sorted and prepared.
"Fine. Get out of here. The next person they send will have to take the rest. They must have run out of blood to give mules." The angry man said.
"Alpha, where to next?" Braxton inquired.
The green arrow appeared again. He walked down the tunnel as directed. The walk was not a short one it took an hour before the next door opened. This room was different than the others. When he entered the first door there was a wall of glass. On either side he saw automatic Gatling guns pointed towards the front wall. At the end of that room was a silver looking platform. It was shrouded with a strange luminescent glow. The green arrow was pointed directly at it.
A dark feeling seeped into Braxton's soul. He felt filled with foreboding the moment he looked at it. He knew this was the gate. The one everyone he had spoken with for the last few days had been talking about. He was on the precipice of entering another world. He had know way of knowing what would happen once he stepped through the gate. His choices had led him here and there was no going back. He walked towards the gate and summoned his sword to his hand.
***
DNA testing complete. Identity confirmed Braxton Blackhawk.
The young doctor who had taken the samples looked at the screen. The screensaver displayed the Blackhawk Gaming Industries logo as if it was staring into her soul at that moment. "Shit! The bosses missing kid is the one they picked up off the street. Janie get on the phone and get someone to stop him from walking through the gate or we are all fucked!"
***
Braxton placed his foot on the platform as red lights began flashing. Braxton noticed hem as his essence began to dematerialize. He heard a voice over the intercom say "Stop!" But, it was already to late.