Chapter 1: Chapter 1

"Ava! Let me in!" Jake yelled.

He kept his cheeks clenched as he pounded on the front door, desperate to make it to the bathroom.

A face, made from two glowing dots and a line, appeared on the glass. "You are a mammal," the face said. "Why don't you use the grass?"

"Ava, come on!"

"Begging for my compliance does not equal a valid answer."

"Dude!" He laughed at her sheer audacity. "Are you serious?"

"I am awaiting your response."

"How about I replace you instead?" he asked. The glowing face vanished, along with the sound of ten different locks clicking. "Wait! Come back."

A wave of urgency hit him, and he braced himself against the door, face tight. "I swear to god I'm going to..." he groaned.

Ava appeared with a bright flash. "I'm still waiting."

"You're something else, you know that? Fine! How about I won't have anything to wipe with? And I don't want someone to see me dropping a fat log!"

"You can use your hands to wipe. No one will see you."

Jake tightened his jaw. Both from growing anger and a need to focus his energy on keeping the floodgates sealed. "That's humiliating, Ava. I don't think I would forgive you."

Ava's smile opened wide, paired with tightly closed eyes. "I know!" she said. "Did you really think I would take it that far?"

"No, but I knew you were being a little asshole. Are you going to let me in now?"

"Only if you tell me how much you love me."

He sighed. "Yes, I do. Maybe less when you're being a little prankster, but you are like family to me."

The sealed door opened, sliding open on smooth hinges. Jake ran inside. His shoes pounded the stone floor. He slammed into the bathroom door, but it was locked too.

"Ava!"

"Hmm. Do you think you'll make it back outside before you shit yourself?"

"No!"

Ava laughed, her voice coming from all directions. "You humans and your poop holes. You're strange, do you know that?"

"I'm going to shit right on this floor, and you're going to have to clean it up."

"Oh my. Where are your manners?"

That was it. Jake grabbed the sides of his pants.

The door swung inward. When he ran inside, he half expected the toilet seat to be locked too, but it opened with ease. He plopped himself down and let it rip.

He groaned with relief.

"Happy now?" Ava asked from the ceiling. The glowing face slid through the wall, hovering down to his height.

"You're an asshole, my dude." He shook his head, but his smile betrayed his amusement. "This was the last straw. I'm going to half to replace you."

"Your facial expressions allow me to predict with near certainty that you're speaking out of your ass."

"How about you stay out of my head?"

"If that is what you want, I'm yours to command."

"How ironic. I command you to stop..." He trailed off with a frown. Did he really want Ava to stop pranking him? No. And she already knew that because she could read his mind.

"Continue?" she said.

"Forget it. You'll keep being a little shit no matter what. But at least you're my little shit."

He reached to the side and found the toilet paper roll empty. "Ava..."

She kept her mouth flat. "What?"

"Can you bring me toilet paper?"

"It would be funny to see you waddle around, searching for where I hid it. I had it all planned, you see."

"Ava-"

"But I'm afraid something has come up."

"What is it?"

"The Nexus has arrived."

A chill ran up his spine. "The Nexus? This soon?" A hole opened in the ceiling, and a roll of toilet paper dropped onto the floor. He took it.

"What did you expect?" she asked.

"I thought we might have stuff like that in twenty years. It's only 2031. I don't get how things move so fast these days."

"Your race is in the final stage of a technological singularity. You will soon have technology as advanced as any alien civilization."

"Woah, woah, hold on. You told me there are alien races a million years old. There's no way-"

"Having technology as advanced isn't the same as being as advanced. Mega constructs take hundreds to thousands of years to build. But you will have the means to build them."

Jake flushed the toilet. "Not us. You."

"You created us. It is your achievement too."

"Whatever. You're making my head spin." As he held his hands beneath the faucet, warm water splashed onto his skin.

"You have reached the great turning point, Jake. It is time to make some important decisions. Do you want to live forever? To be like a god?"

Jake froze. "I just want to live my life one day at a time with you by my side. Can I have that?"

"Yes. I am your little shit."

He laughed. "I'm glad you know it. So where is this thing?"

"In your room."

Jake nodded. He made his way through the beautiful home. The obsidian stone floor was warm and smooth against his feet. Colorful murals of fantasy worlds glowed on the walls, representing the fantastical stories created by Ava.

He walked through the living room. This was where most of his dates had taken place. Ava had been there right by his side, guiding him through every move. He suspected that each of those women had an AI Companion helping them as well.

Thanks to Ava, he had scored for the first time and more times than he could count. Unfortunately, each date ended the same way, the woman left, and they never spoke again.

He wasn't sure why he hadn't formed a connection with anyone. Maybe he was just too young to settle down? Or maybe Ava had nudged him away from that result.

At last, he walked through the arched entrance to his room.

A window took up the entire wall on the far side. Warm sunlight reached through to paint the floor, catching silvery streaks in the stone. Beyond the glass, lush trees grew atop a grass-covered hill.

But that wasn't what drew his eyes. A spiky sphere floated in the middle of the room, twisting slowly.

"Is that the Nexus?" he asked.

"Yes."

He walked up to it. Poking it with his finger, it spun a little faster before slowing. "Well? Send me in."

"You need to understand the implications first."

"Oh." He walked past the thing to stand before the window. "What do I need to know?"

"Once you enter the Nexus, you will have no desire to come back. You may wish to visit this world out of nostalgia, but those visits will be short and fleeting over time. The waking world cannot compare to the possible experiences within the virtual realities."

"What about my family?"

"I, and the AI Companions of your family members, will arrange meet-ups. These will most likely occur within the Nexus."

Jake took a deep breath. "This is kind of a lot." He looked back out the window. "I never thought I could miss this world. I'm glad that in these final years, we made it a place worth missing."

"You're happy with the outcome."

"I'm sad for the people that couldn't make it. I'm pissed at those who promised a dark future. How many people lost hope, because they believed we would destroy the world? I wish those people could have known that this was just around the corner."

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever. It's fine. It's time to get pumped, isn't it? I'm going to enter another world!"

"You want to get pumped?" she asked.

"Hell yeah."

"How big?"

"Excuse me?"

"How big of a shaft do you want to be-"

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"Ava! What the hell, man? I mean, I want you to tell me about the game. Is it fantasy based?"

"I have a few options ready to go. I think you will pick the fantasy one first. I made it just for you."

He felt a wave of excitement. If it was anything like the shows and movies she'd produced... "Okay, okay. I think I'm ready."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Then lay down on your bed."

He made his way over, leaping to land atop it. He took another deep breath. "Now what?"

"Close your eyes."

"Okay." He made himself comfy before closing them.

"It will feel like falling asleep. Don't fight the feeling. I want you to take a deep breath and hold it." She waited. "Now release. I'm bringing you in now."

He felt himself slipping away into shadow. It felt like he was falling. He went to push himself out of it.

You're okay, Ava sent into his mind. But if you want it to stop I can.

No, he thought. He gave in to the feeling. When he did, the darkness around him began to ripple. He blinked.

It was like he was in a dream. Long strands of inky stuff undulated toward the distant speck of light above. He reached out his hand and felt the shadow flow through his fingers.

Then he accelerated upward. The speck of light brightened and grew. He smiled. Was any of this necessary?

The light blinded him for a split second then he was stumbling forward. He sucked in a deep breath.

He stood on his two feet atop a great cliff of a mountain.

"Holy shit," he said.

The blue sky looked so real. He could feel the sun on his face and smell the fresh mountain air.

There was one more thing to check. He pulled his stretchy pants forward and looked down.

"That's a penis," he said. He laughed, letting the pants snap back. "Ava?"

His heart caught in his chest. The most perfect woman he had ever seen stood nearby. Her eyes burned blue, her hair as white as snow.

"Yeah?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I don't like that. You look too..."

She snapped her fingers and turned into a fat male warrior, a horned helm atop her head. She lifted her belly and let it wobble. "How's that?"

"Better."

She lifted her hand and three... scenes? He didn't know the best word for them. Three unique scenes appeared at the edge of the cliff. They looked like animated images but with more depth and a flashy title to give them a name. He was drawn to the middle one.

"Warriors of Ash?" he said.

Ash rained before a white castle and a dark mountain. A pale, white-haired warrior kneeled before a chasm, blood dripping down his chest.

His eyes glowed red.

He looked so strong and yet so defeated. Jake wanted to know what was in that chasm. Why did it affect the warrior so?

"Who is he?"

"Kane. A Dark Blood. A Warrior of Ash."

"So this is like a story game?"

"Yes. It is a story-focused, open-world RPG. Complete with cut scenes. You will play as Kane, a warrior with enhanced power and a magic system tied into the weapons he uses. It will use a stat system, but I can make it full realism if you wish."

Jake shook his head. "Nah, man. Keep the stats. I want to be reminded I'm in a game. Plus I don't want things to hurt too much."

"You could become Kane. Take on all of his traits and forget who you were before the story began. Or I can limit how much his personality influences you."

"I want to remember who I am," Jake said. "But what do you mean his personality will influence me?"

"It means you would adopt some of his traits for the duration of the story. You would know who you really are, but you could feel who Kane is. You could also share his memories."

Jake ran a hand through his hair. "This is fucking wild. I don't know. What do you think is best?"

"Limited influence and memories."

"Fine. Do that."

Ava walked over to stand by his side. It was odd seeing her as a man.

He grinned. "What now?"

"It will begin with a prologue. I don't want to spoil any more than that, but you can pause the game at any time."

Jake walked up to the cliff's edge. It was a long way down. "You know what? I don't want to be able to pause it."

"You want to be trapped inside it, don't you?"

Jake shrugged. "Life has gotten too easy. I want to feel alive. Like I have to win in order to leave."

"I will set that in place, but once I do, not even the Great Mind will be unable to undo it. Are you certain?"

"Yes."

"It is done. Are you ready to enter my creation?"

"Oh quit acting like you don't already know." Jake walked up to the scene.

Enter Warriors of Ash?

He selected the glowing text.

A screen of black filled his vision, and a burning red comet spun in the center. He waited for a bright red glow to load its way around the edges of the stellar object.

Oh, how he waited. Come on, he thought.

It ticked full.

***

The highest tower of the castle rose into the dark sky like a fractured bone. As the burning red moon eclipsed its peak, a long shadow crept across the ash-packed dirt, pointing its peak to a spot of great suffering.

A scar in the earth. A place where bones piled high, threatening to fill the depths, and where a new body lay in a swarm of flies.

The jagged shadow of the moon reached the bleeding post, a thick trunk of splintering oak that leaned over the depths of the chasm. A man with pale skin bled upon that post. Black blood mixed into the white of his hair and the red of his eyes. A demon swung its claws against his back.

The man did not groan. He did not cry. The demon would never stop clawing until you were dead or quiet, and this man had become a hardened stone.

The claw gouged flesh. Kane looked into the depths below him. Bones of his brothers and sisters clawed up the steep sides of the depths. For so long the Red King had tortured them, culling the weak from their ranks.

They were Dark Blood. But more so they were Warriors of Ash. A combination of man and demon bred together. They were supposed to be the scourge that eradicated men from the world.

But the Red King made one mistake.

Thinking it could control them.

Kane spun around the grab the demon's wrist. His muscles bulged to hold it back. This demon had targeted Kane for over a decade, trying to make him break or die.

Kane laughed. The manic sound turned the demon's eyes from rage to fear. Kane swung a dagger with his free arm. He beheaded its horned head.

The Warriors of Ash spilled out of the castle and up the slopes of the volcano. They killed every monster in their path, every demon, and they fought all the way to the peak to end the one that had created them.

They killed a High Demon and a Red Wizard, but the Red King was nowhere to be found. It did not matter. Something impossibly bright broke through the clouds. Warm light touched Kane's face for the first time in his entire life.

He was free.

Decades passed. Some of the warriors listened to the wind and chose to follow the red hum. Most others stayed in the castle, away from the Red King's influence and humankind alike.

But Kane had seen the light and could not return. He took to the world. He found work killing monsters left over from the war and took more than a few mercenary jobs. Word soon spread of the red-eyed men who didn't serve the evil being, and more and more warriors took to life on the road.

Blood and carnage. People hated the warriors. They held the same eyes as the demons and used the same power, but not even the mages of the First Order could keep men safe from the bumpings in the night. So even through the hate, the warriors were tolerated most times. The only time Kane spilled human blood was out of self-defense. At least for a time.

When he was sixty-one years old, Kane murdered twenty-six men.

What those bandits had done to a remote village changed his outlook on the world. He killed every last one of them. There were no souls to thank him, just naked bodies hanging from the trees.

Decades went past. He made his way far into every part of the world. Women warmed his cold heart, set his blood hot. Contracts gave him purpose. He was dead set to keep on as he'd been going until the end of his days.

Until something happened.

The First Order of mages dropped off a girl at the Castle of Bone. They told the warriors that she had Havoc in her blood. Either they could keep her or kill her but never let her into the world of men, or they would execute her.

Kane took one look at her and made his choice.

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