Parallel: The Legion

Chapter 2: The Legacy Begins

Ryder woke up, he looked around and shook his head. 'Never gonna get used to that..' He thought as he got up and looked around...something seemed off. Everything was neatly in place and was actually sparkling clean. Okaaay...that's not right. He shook his head at the attempt to replicate his room. In most days it was generally clean, but today he left it in organized chaos. He chuckled when he found that none of his hidden knives were anywhere to be found. He walked out of the room and tilted his head looking both ways. Doors lined the walls and a few other people were there just as confused as he was. Lines in the floor glowed a soft red as if directing them where to go. Being drugged, being shown where to go, and having potentially dangerous people with you, what could possibly go wrong? He followed the lights, his initiative causing a few to follow him, and the rest to join them. The lights led them to an industrial door which opened to travel a conference room. Two other distinct groups made up the rest of the participants, but what caught their eye were the people on the platform. A Norse woman stood proud waiting for everyone to settle in. Her hair was almost pure white, with just a hint of blonde, the pale blue eyes matching with the face of a fighter, and the toned body which resulted from years of training and conditioning. The other figure seemed to match the Valkyrie, the easiest way to describe him would be 'Roman God'. Short pure black hair and light brown eyes, on top of a muscled body. Clearly this man actually could have been a gladiator. As he stepped forward as took a seat, a figure emerged from each of the other groups. They took their seats beside him, the others who followed him followed suite. The man coughed and looked towards everyone,

"Some of you might recognize me,  for those who don't, I am Alexander Mitchell, Currently leading Genaco in NorAm and EU." He said bluntly and paused to let the information sink into everyone's minds. Ryder raised an eyebrow and shook his head. Genaco..hired..? them..this could be the best or worst thing to happen to them.

"I'm sure all of you know about the dangers of jumping into the virtual world, especially in gaming. Most of you here are gamers, and most of you do show symptoms of Parallel." Another round of murmurs but none seemed surprised. Parallel was the name given to the disorder which caused players to not be able to differentiate their characters from their real personalities. This was mostly blamed to the argument of reality. Many gamers claimed that the VR world felt more...real. He went on more about why they were taken and chosen, but his focus was more on the other leaders. Clearly as serious as he was, they carried themselves with confidence and authority much like himself. He would probably need to watch out for them in the future. His attention was returned to Alexander as he said his last sentence.

"...Think of yourselves as Beta Testers. The Alpha testers are in Japan. Show your strength." With this he left the room and the attention was set to the Valkyrie. She answered questions but let the players mingle amongst themselves.

"Damn she's hot.." "I call dibs!" "I'm right here!" A resounding thwack made everyone share a laugh and easily fell into a calmer mood. The girls fell into a conversation with the others as Ryder walked towards the other leaders

"You guys feel it too right? Sorry I'm Chase." He was of African-American descent, his build leaning more towards the stealth or ranged classes.

"Yeah..they're hiding something. Falken." His curt reply only reinforced his appearance. Obviously he was built to be a tank, but he could've been anywhere from a Berserker to a Paladin.

"That guy creeps me out..but yeah they're hiding something big. The guys in Japan probably know a bit. Guess we'll see them on the field. Ryder." Unlike Chase and Falken, he was not built for a specific role. To observers they looked like old friends.

"Were you guys in King's Journey?" Falken asked as they fell into idle conversation "That final battle really gave everyone a run for their money huh?"