The Knot That Binds

One: Link Start

Placing the device over my head, committed so many acts of betrayal against basic survival instincts.

There was nothing natural about a headset the same size as my motorcycle helmet, but about five pounds heavier. Somehow, that wasn't the worst part about the NerveGear; it was the first gaming console made utilizing full-dive technology. As badass as that was, it meant playing a game with your body's neural inputs. In order to do that, it had to intercept the nerve signals that came from your brain and send them to the console instead. Ultimately, I wouldn't be able to move, see, smell, touch, taste, or any other possible senses while hooked up to the damn thing. Spitting in the face of all those reasons not to use this, I did wait in a virtual queue for hours and dropped a good couple hundred bucks on the thing. Funniest part was there were no games out at the time of release. Back in May, the console hit the shelves and it took until August for anything to come out. The makers of the NerveGear: a Japanese company called Argus, also happened to make the first game. As of the first day of August, the closed beta for Sword Art Online was released in Japan and the United States exclusively. In both countries, a select couple hundred people were allowed to play it. By some miracle, my older brother and I got to be a part of the closed beta. I was hoping to have my friends join me, but two of them didn't even have the console yet and one just didn't make the list. For a full thirty-one days, the beta was at the mercy of my brother and I. We played the living hell out of it, making solid progress and actually contributing to a large number of bug reports. I guess when you kick ass like we do, you find most of the shit wrong with the game. When the beta ended, we looked forward to playing the real thing, but it didn't launch until November sixth. My three other friends managed to get their hands on a console and a copy of the game, as well as my younger brother and older brother's girlfriend. In the beta, you could form parties of seven total players; perfectly our numbers lined up and we spent months excited about the amount of ass we were bound to kick. Since the servers went live in Japan at one o'clock in the afternoon, we had to all be ready at nine o'clock pacific standard. Daylight savings ended just yesterday and it had us worried about the time difference, but our scrambling panic came to an end when we remembered that we live somewhere that doesn't observe the dumbass rule. With nine o'clock just a minute away, I lie down and place the NerveGear on my head. I already had my calibrations and everything completed a long time ago thanks to the beta, but my phone was blown up by my other friends who were just barely starting them now. Too excited to deal with their shit, I simply told them: 'sucks to suck', and proceeded to boot it up. As the gentle hum of the external power cable filled my ears, I took a deep breath and muttered the next words with excitement.

"Link, start!"

My senses suddenly all numbed as the screen showed a bright white flash followed by several multicolored columns flying right at me. A few boxes showed up: things like the five senses as well as a language option. Since mine was previously set, the boxes were confirmed by a green check and then my senses were entirely extinguished.

Blurry doesn't even begin to describe my sight, everything appearing hazy around me. After a strong blink or two, my vision became clear along with each of my other senses. The cool winter breeze on my skin, the smell of bakeries making bread, the sound of footsteps and voices, even the taste of the bitter coffee I drank before diving sat on my tongue.

"I'm back, Aincrad."

I mutter quietly to myself, clenching my fist to reacclimate myself to the feeling of the full-dive technology. Right now, my eyes were shut and my body was motionless; but thanks to this horrifying miracle of a device, the game was projected into my unconscious mind and artificial signals were sent to my brain telling me what I was seeing, touching, hearing, smelling, and tasting. It really was astonishing, just how far technology has come. I crack my neck, rolling it side to side, and feeling the hollow pops of my artificial bones. Then, I placed one foot back, equipped a pompous grin, then took off sprinting. A mix of players and NPCs stared at me as I darted through the Town of Beginnings. It was probably odd at first, but most of them must've written it off as: 'Oh, he must be a beta tester', which was true. This first town hadn't changed a bit, but I did quite a lot. Coming back to the plaza I spawned in, I stopped at a fountain in the center. Slowly, I peered into the water to see my avatar's face staring back at me. When I created him, it was pretty typical of my character creation in MMORPGs. He had a light layer of facial hair, the dark beard covering my lower face. On top, I had long thin black hair pulled into a bun with even a little extra sticking out the bottom of it. Granted, I made myself about two or three inches taller than I really was, and smoothed out a flabby spot or two, but besides that, I was fairly accurate in build. Broad shoulders, dense legs, and a generally stocky frame that looked athletic but not like I was running any marathons anytime soon. To complete the look, there was a mustard-colored headband on my forehead, tied back with the ends fluttering like what a ninja would wear. My starter gear was similarly colored: a yellow and black long-sleeve and charcoal pants, complete with leather padding at the elbows and knees that served no legitimate purpose beyond fashion. While I reached level twenty-two in the beta, I was back at level one. After taking that long look at myself, I open up my menu by holding up my right hand and swiping down with two fingers. Of course, I had no items besides the starter tunic, pants, and leather boots. For weapons, the game does give you a one-time voucher that lets you redeem a free beginner's weapon of your choice. That's the closest you'll get to picking a class here, and in a game without magic, your weapon of choice meant a lot. Scrolling to my friend list, it showed those that I added externally before even loading up the game. Through the system itself, you could manage non-game-related things like your friend list. I see my two brothers as well as the older one's girlfriend online, the three of them already at a weapon shop somewhere. As for my friends, two were online and the other hadn't logged in yet. They were both at the central plaza that you spawn in when logging in, so I began to look around for them. Passing excited players in all sorts of different appearances and unique outfit colors, I spot the first of my two friends. He doesn't look a whole lot like himself, but that's expected in an RPG, I'm just too boring to come up with a unique character. He stands tall, his chest puffed out and his eyes sharpened. Since only a health bar appears wrapping around his right half along with a small cyan-blue crystal overhead, I had to ask his name to confirm.