Bzzt Bzzt Bzzt

  I drowsily peeked one eye open and groaned.

  Bzzt Bzzt Bzzt

  A mixture of moonlight and city ads were shining through my open window. The apartment ran hot even in the winter, so I enjoyed a breeze. I stepped on the icy floor trying to locate the buzzing.

  Bzzt Bzzt Bzzt

  Wondering who could be calling at this hour, I shook my jeans upside down.

  Rebecca? Was everything alright?

  Bzzt Bzzt Bzz-

  The buzzing stopped while falling from pants to ground where it continued its sound only louder against the harder surface.

  BZZT BZZT BZZT

  Falling out of my pocket, it was clear it wasn’t a phone. The PocketPet was still vibrating in my hand as I went to turn on a light to see what the hell it was going off for. Once my room was illuminated; I laid back on the bed and pressed the last of the four buttons under the small, pixelated screen to stop the incessant buzzing.

  [Your Pocket Pet is Starving!]

  [Hunger: 10/100]

  There was a blinking arrow in the bottom right of the screen, clicking the last button again brought me to the next page.

  [Feed your Pocket Pet!]

  An arrow to the bottom right of the screen was still blinking so I clicked the last button again.

  [Warning: Ignoring to feed your Pet can result in death of your Pet]

  I looked up and groaned and turned my head to my clock.

  3:49 AM

  This was the emergency I woke up for?

  I pursed my lips and shook my head while habitually using the four buttons on the screen to feed the helpless, digital animal. Many times, I would keep the little electronic creature alive to avoid upsetting Franki. Pondering why she’d get so riled up over this thing, I found myself chuckling as a little animation played of the animal doing a backflip.

  Okay kinda cute, I can see why she loves this thing.

  [Your buddy is Fed]

  [Status: Full]

  [Hunger: 100/100]

  [DING! Your pocket pet has leveled up!]

  The device started doing an 8-bit jingle and buzzing a different pattern to indicate the level up….

  …The same pattern that was buzzing in my pocket now.

  I barely noticed the faint tapping against my leg while trying to trigger the self-healing again. Sure enough, after a couple minutes, my body did the same pulse and fully mended my broken foot.

  At least I don’t have to worry about healthcare anymore...

  I concluded the more I chilled out, the more likely I’d be safe out here thanks to this newfound ability. I leaned against a boulder by the river and sighed.

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  Finally.

  After what felt like half a day in uncharted territory; a moment of relief allowed me to dig through the pockets of my tattered clothes. The first thing I grabbed for was the culprit of the incessant buzzing.

  How is this thing still going off after all I’ve just been through?

  I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at the screen.

  [0] >

  Zero what.

  Before I shoved it back into my pocket to find something useful, I paused. I found myself rubbing the back of the Pocket Pal device with my thumb. Flipping it over, I saw the textured engraving on the back of the tiny machine.

  “Love, Franki”

  My arms dropped to my sides and my head became limp. Tears fell past my sniveling nose and towards my quivering lips. Whatever time passed here so far now felt like an eternity away from her. The pain that I endured so far in this forsaken land was nothing compared to the hurt I felt now. My heart was stuck in my throat and my stomach full of cement, albeit never being hungrier. I doubted that the regenerative pulse could cure what I was feeling now.

  Working through the sullen sobbing, I flipped the device over again and noticed that there was a blinking arrow in the bottom right corner of the screen. I exhaled loudly and instinctively pressed the last button on the device like I have in the past.

  [Quest “Genesis Impact” Completed] >

  Curious... Never in the time I’ve used this device with Franki has a notification like this showed up.

  Genesis Impact? As in the impact where I cosplayed as a meteor?

  More questions started to fill my already accumulated backlog. Nevertheless, the arrow in the bottom right was still blinking, maybe I could get an answer if I kept going.

  [ You Survived Your Initial Descent // Welcome, Craterborn, to Genesis Isle] >

  Pft, Craterborn? Hmm... Craterborn.

  A weird surge of confidence hit me. Being welcomed to a place that has been constantly trying to kill me felt oddly charming. Every test that has been thrown at me suddenly had purpose and so far, I survived each one. Not only did I get a new title but also more information on where I was at.

  Genesis Isle...

  Still in minor denial of my current situation, I glossed back to any lessons in geography I took and tried remembering a place named “Genesis Isle” ... only to recall I did horribly in school. My overblown confidence was short lived as pressure started increasing, when it was getting clearer that I was in uncharted territory.

  I shook it off and stiffened as I moved to the next screen.

  [Quest Completed] >

  I pressed again.

  [Survive World Event: Meteoric Fire Escape / Collect Rewards] >

  Collect Rewards? Like what? Money falling from the sky? A new car?

  I dared to make another stupid guess as I remembered the [0] on the screen before.

  ...A new level?

  I paused; while looking down I saw the guts from the beetle drying on my threadbare pants. I waded towards the flowing river and sat my legs in the shallow running water. The speed of the stream was just enough to help brush off the discolored blood of my first enemy. The fire in front of me was also slowly dissipating away, fading into the sunsetting sky. Grey and transparent smokestacks were blending into an already vivid mixture of orange, violet and blue. I was angry and confused about ending up here; but during this moment, I couldn’t help but marvel at the serene order around me. My appreciation quickly deformed into anxiety as I doubted this place would always be this peaceful.

  I looked back at the device. My thumb hesitated as I was about to press the button as apprehension was stopping me from moving forward, the same feeling that always dragged me down back home. The fear of something bad about to happen constantly stopped me from doing anything out of my comfort zone. That’s why I never got anywhere with my job, which affected my personal life, and then carried over to my relationship with Franki.

  Fury mixed with regret warmed my body in contrast to the cool water my legs were soaking in. I flipped around to get out of the water and stood up. My eyes were now focused on the PocketPal, practically looking right through it. I clenched my empty hand in a fist and white knuckled the device with my other.

  No more, I’m going to get out of this. It’s time to take the first step into this.

  With newfound, unbridled assurance with what I wanted, I pushed the fourth button.

  A surge washed over me. Like the one before but this one was different. A wave pulsating my body was replaced with sensation of an outline being drawn around it. When the outline was finished, it flickered and beamed in a dazzling gold light. The phenomenon gifted me this strange feeling that I was suddenly capable of doing more.

  The glow then faded, like a firefly on a summer’s night and a woosh left my body. The shockwave instantly evaporated logged water off my legs, shook the forest leaves around me, and even dissipated most of the remaining smoke in the air.

  After the mystical experience empowered me, I breathed in what felt like my first clutch at new life then muttered under my breath,

  “Cool...”