The end of the third millenia witnessed a significant turnabout in jaw dropping, and awe inspiring technology. Tech giants like Trident made giant strides in optics, and space exploration. Electro magnetic levitation, powerful holograms, sophisticated A.I systems, and virtual reality stepped into the scene with a bang. Several technological phenomena that had been previously deemed impossible were brought to life.
Incredible space stations hovered right above the earth's atmosphere, orbiting gracefully as though they were humongous satellites. Stationed like powerful, saucer-like, intimidating celestial sentinels, these artificial satellites served as a powerful momento to the testament of just how deep the earth had invested in modern tech.
With the advent of awe inspiring tech like this, the human society at large began to gravitate towards being a technocratic state where the elite ruled in magisterial splendor.
The gaming industry, like every other sector, was certainly not left of the loop.
By the year 2999 AD, incredible, almost life-like games emerged, triggering a surge of excitement in not just the overrall industry, but in the hearts and minds of every gamer alike.
This period in history was graced with almost omnipresent-like games like Voltron, Incognito, and Colosseum. From the very moment they were launched, they dominated the gaming sphere completely. Young students pined away their after school hours in their virtual reality pods. Bankers on Wall Street strove to out play one another on the scoreboard. Nursing mothers with violent psychopatic streaks slashing and killing in their pods became a very common sight.
Across the globe, spanning several continents and races, entire communities of astute gamers emerged in virtual colonies. Humongous screens, gaming pads, and virtual reality pods became the new household items. Games were basically the new high. So, energy drink companies leveraged on this booming industry, and made serious bank. Their sales sky rocketed. It was a momentous season.
Whenever top world gamers clashed and battled it out, the atmosphere around the world was almost electric. They were like gods, and the rest of the lesser gamers watched breathlessly like mere mortals.
Vito happened to be one of those gods.
An elite gamer who had gained god status online, Vito reigned over the Ultron community with reckless abandon. Cloaked in annoynimity, this shadowless form quickly rose through the score boards and stayed above all the other croonies like a dark storm cloud.
With a deathless mask, armed with a scythe, his avatar raged across the game, single handedly decimating entire legions of demons, eviscerating mages, and effortlessly slaying through missions like they were nothing. Very quickly, his screen name became a household name on the cybersphere. Vito was called, (and with good reason) the Angel of Death.
Despite his fame, and fearsome reputation, absolutely no one knew who this spectacular gamer was. Several rumors wafted across the cybersphere concerning this unknown entity. There were podcasts, and youtube channels dedicated to this awesome faceless entity;
"I heard he's a Russian assasin in real life, that's how they relax over there!"
"No fucking way dude!"
"No shit bro, he's probably got tons of kills under his belt..."
"Damn, little wonder he's called the Angel of death. That's some next level stuff right there..."
But of course, no one knew the truth.
A couple hundred nautical miles off the arctic ocean, somewhere close the north pole, and in a particularly serene neighborhood was a fifteen year old huddled in front of an eighty inched screen. Eyes bloodshot, hands gripping the transparent game pad, and attention wholly on the mission, the high school sophomore was leaning forward at a forty five degree angle.
The screen name at the top corner of the screen read- The Angel of Death.
Vein pulsating, and heart thumping in his chest like a coked-up bear, the young elite gamer's fingers flew deftly across the game pad. Vito had earned his terrifying persona online with literal sweat and blood. At the moment, he had been up for seven days straight! At his feet were dozens and dozens of empty cans of energy drinks! Vito had not moved out of that chair in over one hundred and fifty hours- not even to relieve himself.
The curtain blinds kept the sunlight out. So, the game god was not even aware if it was day or night. Truthfully, it was not like he cared.
On his screen, blinking at the bottom right corner consistently was an icon on his map. For weeks on end, Vito had been fixated on that very peculiar weapon. And right now, he was right on the cusp of obtaining the Staff of Azarath which would make him master over life and death- in the game of course.
Finally, seven days in, after twenty nine energy drinks, zero bathroom breaks, and eleven packs of chips, Vito's avatar emerged victorious from the dark Voltaire mountains. Surrounded by smoke, and with an ominous orchetra playing a victorious sound piece in the background, the Angel of death stepped out of the volcano with the much coveted weapon in hand.
In a powerful sweeping move, the millions of gamers worldwide who had been watching his progress for days, erupted simutaneously! Once again, their titan had done it. If there had been any doubt as to whether he was king before, there was certainly none now.
But the next few days proved to be anti climatic for Vito's worshippers.
With absolutely no activity at all, the much celebrated Angel of Death suddenly dropped off the radar! For the scores of gamers who worshipped his every move, this was particularly maddening. The vloggers, e-journalists, and podcasters took to it again with their conspiracy theories;
"I gotta tell you man, the AOD is definitely up to something! I mean, he basically has the staff now!"
"Facts bruv! Bro's probably cooking up a major come back. That shit gon be epic as hell!"
That did not happen. Days turned to weeks, and the weeks flowed into a full month as the gaming world waited for the return of their king.
Because Vito's entire online presence had been cloaked in annonymity, no one knew who or where, or even what to search for. If they did, they would not only have been shocked at the person they found, they would have been scarred by what they would find.
No one knew that the moment Vito won the weapon, he dropped dead on the spot. After seven days of going without sleep, and of being on a caffeine diet, his heart simply stopped. So, in a bit of an ironic twist of fate, the angel of death was visited by the true Angel of Death.
Funny enough, this was where Vito's real adventure began.
Before the swelthering darkness engulfed him, the last thing he remembered was a crushing pain in his chest that was so pronounced, the young gamer had literally felt his heart explode like a crushed tomato and dropped dead on the spot.
Bright lights.
Really powerful bright lights
The beam was so intense, and so overbearing, he felt this violent onslaught on his visual nerves even before he fully opened his eyes. His eye lids fluttered open weakly and caught the full harsh glare of the midday sun. Instintively, he raised his left hand to shield his eyes.
"What in the fuck?! Is that the fucking sun???"
For a moment, everything was white. His eyes took some time to adjust. And when they finally did, what Vito saw caused him to repeat the same rhetoric outburst from earlier on- only on a much higher octave;
"WHAT THE FUCK?!!!"
Seated on the bare ground like a medieval pauper, Vito was in a valley. For miles and miles around, the bright red color of the scorched soil covered the landscape like a reddish brown blanket. The blazing sun overhead, bore down on the valley like a fiery torch suspended in the heavens. There was not a single gust of breeze. A handful of tree-like structures were littered here and there. And at the edge of the horizon were a few hills that sat lazily, and yet majestically equidistant to each other.
Asides from Vito's thundering heartbeat thumping away in his rib cage, there were a handful of other soundtracks. There was the constant annoying chirping of crickets that was constantly being overlapped by the intermittent rattling of rattlesnakes slithering across the baked soil. There was also the occasional hooting noises of a bunch of owls that echoed through the valley. Although to Vito, they might have as well been the sound of dragons breathing down a lair.
With awe plastered on his face, the young Vito slowly rose to his feet with attentive carefulness, as if he was actively trying to not upset the balance of new environment by causing any ripple that would draw attention to himself.
All he could bring himself to say aloud was;
"What in seven heavens is going on here?!!! I don't recognize this place! Where the hell am I???"