"Kavon, we need to start planning your birthday party." "Ooh! Can we port to Playnet again? That was fun?" "Sure, honey. If that's what you want." "Only I want to try Bollyworld this time." Kavon smiled, remebering the map. Bollyworld was adjacent to Carnalnation. All he had to do was figure out how to get himself and his friends past the Wall.
- Start -
His mom would provide the Transfer Pass. That would be easy - she was in the middle of one of her "moods" with his dad, which meant that as far as his birthday was concerned his wish was her command. His friends would get theirs as well - what kind of parent would hold their kid back from such a great experience.
The Transfer Passes would temporarily give them a proxy host inside of the specified Server they had chosen. His mom usually got him the 5 hour package, which was more than enough time to do what he wanted.
You see, despite its near constant feeling of contentment and familiarity, GreenAcres was a particularly shitty Server. It was full of folks just like his mom and dad - boring. Everybody drove the same car, lived in the same box that they called a house. Worked for some faceless entity that they were honestly more interested in than the rest of their life, included but not limited to their spouses or even their own children.
Kavon's only respite from this monotony had been the Network, and the friends he had spent whole nights talking to on chat. It seemed like only those on the Net really understood just how messed up the rest of the Servers were. They would talk, and argue - sometimes lament - about the things that they saw. The monotony, the conformity - Kavon felt connected to these people, more so than any he knew in person. (fleshies, as the Net called them.)
It was through this small group of friends he had formed that the subject of CarnalNation first came up. Someone had casually mentioned it perhaps, or posted some copypasta on one of the "myth" boards.
CarnalNation was paradise. At least, as close as you could get in a subjective world. The only Server of the 12 that was based on the concepts of Anarchy and self-regulation. It was said that the Net itself was hosted through Carnal (As they called it). You could live however you pleased, as long as you didn't negatively affect those around you. Kavon remembered reading ancient manuscripts about a man named Roark that lived a similar way. He hoped to find a statue of the man when he finally made it to the Server.
There was only one problem - Access to CarnalNation had been closed for as long as Kavon could remember. You couldn't just get a Transfer Pass, and they wouldn't just let anyone in. If you wanted in, you had to find your own way. That was the spirit of CN, otherwise they would be just another of the 11 Servers, lying to themselves about "Security" and "Organization."
And boy, did CN make it hard to break in. The internal barriers were night but impassable. Any unauthorized personnel would be immediately vaporized as they reached the top. He had watched someone try to bypass the defenses when he was little, and the image still stuck with him. In one moment a man frantically pulling at wires, the next: dust.
It had taken years to notice, and it wasn't even Kavon who had, but eventually they found a fatal flaw in the system: The Wall.
Now, some might say that trying to get past The Wall would be an incredibly stupid thing to do, there were equally valid Net Boards that said otherwise - some even insinuating the governments of all 12 Servers to be colluding, and withholding information to the public.
It turned out, all you needed to do to open The Wall was de-stabilize some quantum batteries and rig them to a Resonating Circuit. The chaotic reaction would loosen The Walls dimensional structure, and you'd be safe to cross through.
That was the theory anyway - Kavon had lifted the process out of an old copy of Neo-Cracked's 15.5 lifehacks you can do with your old Quantum Batteries. The manuscript was difficult to parse, but one of the group had studied Ancient Net Speak, and was able to figure out the step-by-step and nursery.
It took them 3 years, but eventually they were able to gather enough materials to make two full devices. It was now, on his 16 birthday, that Kavon would get to experience what life truly could be like when you weren't surrounded by social lemmings.
The day was finally here. Kavon closed out all of his tabs, and went to sleep.
----
"Do we really think it's going to work?" Kavon heard mOrLoCk ask, as they watched the techie set up the improv portal device.
"If my calculations are correct, the chance of this going in a lethaly wrong direction are 0.0003%" The techie, known on the Net as SCOTTY, replied. "This is well beyond the need for even speculation on what could go wrong, but no, be my guest. Tell me how to do my job.:
"Stop bickering, you two." Kavon piped in. "Either it works or we die."
"You really know how to put a man at ease, don't you, Kavon."
"I do my best."
"I personally agree with the sentiment."
The device was put in place, and the preparations were made. Everything was checked and surface tested, and then tested again.
"I believe, no, I am confident," SCOTTY stuck his head from outside the wires. "That we have got everything squared aw-"
The teenager was interrupted by the wall suddenly starting to split.
"WHAT?!" was mOrLoCk's yelp "Why did you start it."
As the tear ripped even longer and larger, the boys continued to arguer.
"I d-din't!" SCOTTY had shot back as soon as the seam appeared, avoiding it as if were the boogeyman. "I swear! This is not me! I can say that it is fantastical, though!"
"Give me the trigger!" Kavon shouted, receiving the re-purposed car key trigger in his hand. "I'll take care of this."
He moved forward as soon as the words left his lips, and almost immediately stopped.
The Wall had opened at this point, and standing in the very center of the gap was a woman, skin pale and stark white. She had the darkest of black hair, and wore a gray, skin-tight jumpsuit. Not far behind the woman was a Man, of similar build, and look to the woman, but who's demeanor was more like the three boys than of an alien invader, which these folks most certainly had to be.
"Do you come in peace?" SCOTTY asked, perhaps in desperation. "You have to tell us, ya know.."
HAS LEGION ARRIVED?
The creatures voices sounded like factories trying to speak coherent words. Kavon could understand them, but if there was nuance - He wasn't picking up on any.
"We do not know of this Legion you speak of, but we do have many questions of our own."
Kavon watched the woman process the words he had spoken, and then she glanced at the device they had built, and then at the trigger. She moved with impressive speed, and in a moment had snatched the trigger from Kavon's hand. The other pushed the boys further way from The Wall, but Kavon watched as the woman activated the trigger.
After a flash of light and quite possibly the loudest CLAP Kavon had ever heard he once again saw the woman standing. Now, instead of being in front a massive hole in the fabric of time and space, She was standing in front of a seam - one that had been seemingly welded back together by the reaction caused by their device.
It was mOrLock who spoke first. "Someone tell me what the hell just happened!"
The man looked at the teenager and said:
"THEY WILL FIND ANOTHER WAY SOON. THERE IS NO TIME TO EXPLAIN. YOUR TOY WAS VERY HELPFUL."
SCOTTY had to be held back as he yelled in response. "Our toy! you mother fu-"
Another explosion, but this time from inside the CarnalNation Server.
"AS SAID EARLIER. NO TIME. ONLY RUN."
- End -
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