Chapter 3: The Mystery of FallenOne
“Fifteen Questions: What’s Your Gameology?”—Posted on the blog of Girl Geek.
So, there’s a meme that’s been floating around the Gamer sites, and I’ve been tagged to join in the fun. Why not? Girl Geek is always game for a little fun. (see what I did there?)
Without further ado…
Girl Geek answers Fifteen Questions:
1. What is your gamer tag?
Um. It’s GirlGeek. Yeah? Shouldn’t surprise anyone!
2. PC or Console?
PC. I don’t even own a console. Okay, so my PC is a rusty bucket of bolts, but I’m able to play my favorite games with everything adjusted on the lowest possible graphic display and sound settings. I’m hoping to upgrade soon, but money’s tight! At least I can still blog on it, right?
3. Keyboard or Gamepad?
Keyboard. I’m not fancy!
4. Single player or Multi player?
Multi-player, though I do love some single-player games. There’s something about the camaraderie of working toward a goal together. I like meeting new people through games, too. I’ve made some amazing friends through my newest obsession, Dragon Epoch.
5. What was the first game you’ve ever played?
Final Fantasy—I couldn’t even tell you which number it was.
6. Hardest game you’ve ever played?
Any first-person shooter (FPS) game. ‘Cause I suck at them. I never did want to shoot anyone, anyway. I’d rather zap them with my lightning bolts or fireballs instead!
7. What is your favorite game of all time?
Legend of Zelda! Old school is very cool.
8. What game is currently your favorite?
Dragon Epoch is the game that has eaten my life. And I love every second of it, pet peeves and all!
9. Favorite video game genre?
MMORPG, or pretty much any role-playing game.
10. Favorite video game character?
It’s a toss-up between Lara Croft from Tomb Raider—because she’s badass—and Alistair of Dragon Age Origins, who is dreamy. He may be made of pixels, but ladies, he’s perfection.
11. Which video game character do you hate most?
Wirt the Peg Leg Boy from Diablo. Because really, why-oh-why do we keep trusting that little turkey who’s been fleecing the heroes of Tristram for years?
12. What gaming systems do you currently have?
My PC, such as it is, is all I need. I’m a PC gamer and proud of it. I’ll leave the console gaming to others.
13. How long have you been gaming?
I started gaming my sophomore year in high school when I was out for part of the year due to illness. My BFF introduced me to gaming. He came to live with my family not long after that, and we became co-dependent video game addicts. We tried out everything there is to try, but, like I said, I love RPGs over FPS, while my BFF is not as discerning. Basically, if it has pixels and beeps, he loves it.
14. How long was your longest gaming session?
Uhhh, do I want to come clean about something like this? I have done an overnighter before (as in twenty-four whole hours!).
15. What game have you clocked the most time on?
Hard to say… the old record was Final Fantasy, but given time, I’m certain Dragon Epoch will take the lead. It’s quickly becoming an addiction. What can I say? Want to read my true confession? I’ve never actually typed /played on a game to discover the hours I’ve spent playing. I’m scared to see exactly how much of my life has been sucked up by gaming! Scared, I tell you. Ignorance is bliss and all that!
So, there’s my meme. Hope you’ve enjoyed it. As always, leave your Qs and As in the comments, but don’t razz me about that /played or I’ll delete your ass.
***
FallenOne’s private message blinked across my screen in a swath of purple text.
*FallenOne tells you, I read your blog.
He’d caught me the next day working the game on my own. Heath was still off with Brian, and after I’d spent a few hours on test prep, I needed a break. So I’d gone for a run, and then logged in to attempt to figure out the crafting and trade system in the game.
By far, my favorite parts of the game were the quests and exploration of new territories. However, I expected that my blog readers would have questions about other aspects of the game once it officially released—and the NDA was lifted of course. I’d have to write about how to make armor, how to craft food for your characters to give them maximum strength, stat improvements and hit point regeneration possibilities, how to make bags to carry all your virtual shit around while you kill and loot the monsters, etc.
But I hadn’t expected FallenOne to appear twenty minutes after I logged in and send me his blunt message without even a preface.
I stared at the blinking cursor, suddenly and inexplicably nervous.
*FallenOne tells you, This is Mia, right? This isn’t Heath on Mia’s character or something weird like that? Maybe you’re AFK?
I blinked, realizing I’d spent so long staring that I hadn’t responded, and he now thought I was AFK—away from keyboard. I leaned forward, putting my hands to the keyboard.
*You tell FallenOne, You read the whole thing? Heath just told you about the blog last night!
Him: I read fast.
Me: You’re actually a computer, aren’t you?
Him: Computers don’t have opinions. Anyway, I think it’s a really good blog. Better than a lot of those bigger blogs out there. I’m excited to read your posts about Dragon Epoch after the beta test is over.
Me: I’m still absorbing the fact that you’ve read ALL my content. I’ve been blogging for 2 years. That’s a lot of my ranting to read.
Him: *shrug* I enjoyed it.
“Masochist,” I murmured to myself, not fully aware of why I was grinning so big that my cheeks were starting to hurt.
Our conversation didn’t last much longer. He had to go to work, and I had to finish up a few things before my evening shift at the hospital. But he made it a point of finding our group again, despite having warned us that he didn’t regularly game with the same people.
In fact, over the next few weeks, FallenOne and I gamed a lot together when the others weren’t around. Persephone had a weird-ass work schedule (mostly graveyard shifts operating a big-ass computer system), and Heath was often out with Brian, probably condo shopping. I, on the other hand, was studying for the test, working some small shifts here and there, writing on my blog or, my favorite, gaming. I was not, however, sleeping very much. My mind wouldn’t shut off enough to let me sleep more than a few hours a night.
I compensated with another addiction: Dr. Pepper. Ahhh…caffeine. Best invention ever.
And FallenOne, my mysterious young man—or middle-aged basement-dwelling mailman, as the case might be—seemed to keep similar online hours to mine. So we started working on side quests that didn’t require an entire group to accomplish. All the while, we enjoyed witty banter.
Me: I’m one hundred percent certain that the designer of this game is a sexually frustrated pre-pubescent teen.
Him (after a long pause): What makes you say that?
Me: Just look at it. Every chick has the perfect, and I mean *perfect, rack. Firm, bouncy yet not floppy. Ample. I bet the guy has never even *touched a female breast.
Him: You never know…
Me: I know I’m right.
Him: So not only are you a brilliant pre-med student, a witty blogger of all things gametastic, but you also are the resident sexpert who can gauge any man’s sexual experience based on limited knowledge?
I blushed, my cheeks burning. If only he knew he couldn’t be further from the truth. I’d never had sex before. Not even pseudo-sex.
Me: Do you think I’d reveal all my talents to you at once? Anyway, I have some unpublished articles about Dragon Epoch that will go up once the NDA is lifted. Can’t wait to put those out there.
Him: What’s your verdict so far?
Me: It’s pretty decent…
(After a pause)
Me: Who am I kidding? It’s effing awesome. I really am enjoying this game. Just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Him: Other shoe? What do you mean?
Me: Just waiting for the game to disappoint me, I guess. It always happens. But it’s only been a week, and I have a feeling there’s a lot more of Yondareth to explore.
Him: Yeah, there’s a lot more.
Me: How do you know?
Him: I have my ways.
Me: So how long have you been gaming?
Him: Years.
Me: Are you a student?
Him: You can say that.
Me: There you go, being mysterious again.
Him: I like being mysterious. About as much as you enjoy being snarky.
Me: Well, they shouldn’t make it so easy for me. I can go on for days about the insults to feminism that riddle this game. Maybe I’ll continue with my theme about the inadequate women’s armor and sexually frustrated boys.
Him: There you go talking about sex again.
Me: …
Him: So…are we going to kill stuff or what?
Me: We have to work on this quest for General What’s-His-Face.
Him: *yawn*
Me: Come on, we’re only fifth level. Let’s go pick some pretty yellow daffodils in honor of his lost love!
Him: These quest designers suck.
Me: It’s romantic. General SylvanWood wants to remember his lost love.
Him: *sigh*
***
*Elosia has entered the world of Yondareth
FallenOne and Eloisa make their way out of the city gates with a nod of approval and a thumbs-up from General Sylvanwood. He wishes them well and thanks them for their desire to help him.
“The next meadow over yonder.” The general points the way through the city barricade past the forest line. “In that first clearing. They only grow there.”
Eloisa turns to FallenOne, the fifth-level spearman who wears only a loincloth and bears a weapon as long as he is tall. He’s a strange-looking character with a bald head and a long, snowy beard—a wizened man who, it seems, is not as old as he appears….
Eloisa, on the other hand, is a spiritual enchantress with revealing robes of bright colors, ornate charms and shining, brilliant jewelry crawling up her arms. Her ears might be pointed, but she’s far from a tiny figure in a tree who makes cookies and sings. She’s more like an eternally young old soul—a protectress. Like the legendary Galadriel.
Into the forest they go, opposing bats and animated skeletons in their way. As they do so, they start to work together. When FallenOne dies in the third battle against a particularly annoying skeleton, Eloisa runs back to the city gate to meet his ghost so they can recover his things together.
“Come on, Fallen, let’s make sure this doesn’t happen again,” says Eloisa.
“I’m sick of dying. I think we should just redo the quest later.” FallenOne sighs, his head hanging low with discouragement.
But Eloisa is determined!
“I think we’ve got the hang of this. Shall we try one more time? If it looks like the mobs are going to kill you, I’ll throw myself in the way!”
“Fat lot of good that will do! They’ll just come after me once you die.”
“No, because you can run fast and dodge them.”
As it turned out, neither of them had to sacrifice themselves or die.
They learned to work together. Since Fragged was gone, they didn’t have a strong warrior to absorb the damage, and since Persephone wasn’t around either, they couldn’t benefit from her healing magic.
Rather, they had Fallen’s spear to cause damage and Eloisa’s magic to slow down the monsters—and enhance FallenOne’s fighting ability!
They succeeded…because they figured out a way to do it together.
Eventually, they make it to the clearing in one piece, where they find a field of red poppies with only tiny dots of flowers of other colors—purple violets, bright marigolds and white daisies. Finding the requisite number of yellow daffodils is challenging while fighting off giant bees—with humanoid heads, no less—and one enraged gardener who chases after them, wielding a hoe.
“Look at us,” FallenOne says. “We really do make a good team.”
“Yes,” Eloisa replies. “High Five, spearman!”
And so began their duo adventures, spending time together way too late in the night.
***
*You tell FallenOne, Where were you the other night?
*FallenOne tells you, I had a date. Sorry.
Me: Oh, interesting…didn’t know you had a girlfriend.
It might have been pure assumption that he’d been out with a female, but his previous comments about liking boobs had led me to believe that he was heterosexual…so I presumed it was a woman.
Him: Not really a girlfriend. Just a friend.
Me (strangely relieved): Ah. Does she play DE?
Him: Nope. No way.
Me: Why “no way”? Would you not associate with a gamer chick or something?
Him: I associate with you, don’t I?
Me: Not the same. We aren’t friends IRL.
Him: It’s the same. I consider you a friend.
Me: But I bet this girl knows your name. You never tell me your name.
Him: You’ve never asked.
Me: You know mine. Quid pro quo, ya know…
Him: Quid pro what?
Me: Tell me your name. Don’t be dense.
Him: I’m naturally dense. I’m male.
Me: Har har. You’ve been reading my blog too much. Okay so…spill.
Him: My name is FallenOne.
Me: You suck. ..|.. (that’s the virtual middle finger in case you didn’t pick it up)
Him: You wound me.
Me: I don’t care.
Him: I just like having a mysterious persona.
Me. I can tell. Someday soon, I’ll pry it out of you.
Him: I might even enjoy that.
Hmm. Okay. Definitely heterosexual.
Wait, was he flirting with me? After having gone out on a “date” with a “friend”? I frowned, puzzled. The dating habits of people my age—or presumably my age—still confused me.
Me: Well anyway, we could become IRL friends and it would be awkward calling you Fallen all the time. And if you ever come out to California, you could hang with me and Fragged. We could show you a good time.
Him: What part of California are you in? North? South?
Me: South. Not far from LA.
Him: Really…
Me: You seem surprised. Where are you at?
Him: I’m going to opt for being mysterious again.
Me: Pffft.
Him: Actually, I’m getting super tired. It’s 4 am and I’m falling asleep.
He really must have been tired because he just revealed, despite his earlier evasiveness, that he was three hours ahead of me. So that narrowed his state of residence to anything from Maine clear down to Florida, as far east as Massachusetts and as far west as Ohio.
Oh, hell. That wasn’t narrowing it down at all…
Me: Do you have an early class?
Him: I have to be out the door at 9. This isn’t good.
Me: Drink lots of caffeine. Good night!
Him: Zzzzzzzzzzz
As time went by and we got together regularly two or three nights a week, it got harder and harder to pull details out of him. It had become my mission to figure FallenOne out, but even Heath was no help.
And, of course, when Fallen wasn’t around and the rest of us were, we’d speculate about him.
“Maybe he’s a movie star,” Katya said. “I’ve heard there are famous people who like to play games like these so they can be social while remaining anonymous. I read an article that Henry Cavill was playing World of Warcraft when his agent called him to tell him he got the part of Superman. He almost didn’t pick up because he was on a raid!”
I snorted and Heath’s only comment was, “If Fallen looks like Henry Cavill, then I call dibs. I don’t care if he’s straight.”
“Seriously,” Kat continued. “My favorite author blogs about playing WoW but won’t say what character she plays or which server.”
Across from me, Heath shrugged. “Maybe he’s just some sort of weird recluse.”
“He has a girlfriend,” I said.
“Shut up!” Kat practically yelled over our voice chat. “Dudes who play this game don’t have social lives.”
Heath blew out a breath. “Screw you. I do.”
“You don’t count,” Kat replied. “You date men. You could just get your dates hooked on gaming so you’d have immediate company and no time conflict.”
I looked at Heath over my monitor and started laughing. Nothing could be further from the truth regarding Brian. That shithead—a name I only called him in my head lest I hurt Heath’s feelings—not only had zero interest in gaming, but he even poked fun at our hobby. Heath had stopped playing altogether whenever Brian was over—a fact which bugged me even more.
“He’s probably not a movie star, living on the East Coast,” I chimed in. “Maybe a sports figure or—oh hey, maybe he’s in DC and works in the government?”
“Maybe he’s President Obama. Do you think the Secret Service would let him play?” Kat asked.
Heath snorted. “Obama would never play a half-naked monk. I’d guess the Prez would be more of a Bard sort of character, given the nice speeches he gives.”
“Wonder what Michelle Obama would play?” I asked. “An elf badass something-or-other—named FLOTUS, of course.”
“Well, FallenOne’s probably not your president,” said Kat. “So who the heck is he? Someone needs to spark a FallenOne investigation. Heath, are you are man for the job?”
Heath shrugged, staring at his monitor as he took care of some busywork in the game. “I think he’s just a weird dude who doesn’t like to be social and lies about having a girlfriend.”
I frowned. Maybe that was as close to the truth as I was ever going to get. Though for some reason, that really didn’t sit well.
The speculation ended there, however, and we agreed that FallenOne would remain a temporary mystery. He was a good player, and we all enjoyed his company. And apparently, despite being a “free spirit,” he kept coming back for more.
It wasn’t long before our little group was a regular fixture in the game. We all had our real-life jobs. Kat and I—and, I presumed, FallenOne—also had our studies. The others had social lives, too. And those were the hours I filled with study. But when it was gaming time, we met in our virtual space and we played. Hard.
We still had many mysteries to discover—in Yondareth, as we leveled up together, and outside in the real world. Maybe one of the mysteries we’d solve would be who FallenOne really was.