The central, final portion of Khersath lay beneath Alan: the Main Plaza, an open area of almost 250 square km, almost ten miles end to end, about a third the land area of New York City, all for a public square. At the center, Alan could make out the outline of a building large enough to be seen from space.
As the shuttle continued to descend towards the Main Plaza it wove into an unimaginable flow of traffic, cutting in and out of lane after lane of strange looking spaceships, flying contraptions, airborne creatures and unknown beings. Dumbfounded, Alan stared as what looked to be a dragon arched straight upwards, almost crashing right into the shuttle as another spaceship chased after it, shooting a barrage of red laser fire at it. The spaceship had cloaking enabled, making it difficult for Alan to see. The pair were closely followed by a squadron of Administrator fighters trying to keep the peace.
Alan watched the screen as the surface of the planet came closer and closer, their destination highlighted, a gigantic, 100-floor skyscraper located on the east side of the plaza in the residential quadrant. The building was of an indistinct, chaotic shape, painted an aquatic blue among a series of similar buildings. Up until now Alan had held back his sense of disbelief, thinking that the technology and abilities in this game were unlikely, but possible. Now, he had to wonder. Was all this possible?
With a near infinite source of both energy and materials? With the capability to break fundamental laws of physics such as deleting unwanted items? With untold millennia to create, experiment and develop? Certainly such is possible, even expected.
All right, um, good to know Eve.
The top portion of the building opened up, allowing the shuttle to enter into a hangar bay. A message popped up:
You have now arrived on Khersath. The planet of Khersath is designated as a safe zone. Thus, should you die there will be no penalty unless you enter one of the areas deemed unsafe. You may not enter any unsafe area against your will. Any unjustified acts of violence or breaking of laws will be appropriately punished by the Administrators Guild, ranging from a simple fine to prolonged incarceration depending on the nature of your crime.
As a friendly reminder, most forms of public nudity and various obscene gestures are illegal, no matter the customs of your species. For a full listing of the 4,389 public decency laws on Khersath, please contact an Administrator. Have a nice day!
The shuttle powered down, shutting off the display and opening its ramp, allowing Alan to disembark. Alan emerged to the now-accustomed sight of Haxlardian guards. These guards seemed to be remarkably better equipped and of much higher status though. Each wore a blood red mask in addition to dark crimson power armor with an emblem of a black mask engraved onto the front. One carried a gigantic laser sword best described as a warglaive, a double-ended glaive-polearm with condensed, fiery red energy as its blades instead of metal. The other carried a plain-looking laser rifle, but Alan was pretty sure the weapon was anything but plain. A light-blue masked Haxlard wearing light power armor stepped forward, holding a tablet of some sort.
“Blessed be the Three. Welcome to the Haxlardian Embassy, Earthling, I hope you had a pleasant trip. Is there any way I can be of assistance?”
“Um, I was hoping for directions to the Administrative Center.”
“Certainly, one of our Crimson Guards would be happy to escort you.” The Haxlard gestured to one of the guards.
“I don’t really need an escort, just directions.”
“No, really, I insist. It’s the least we can do. As per our agreement with the United World Government, we would like to assist you as you get accustomed to the Game. Also, despite being a safe zone, Khersath is not safe. Thieves and scoundrels are rampant in the streets.”
“Yeah, and I’d like to get outside and stretch my legs!” the Haxlard holding the warglaive said. Despite his fearsome appearance, his voice sounded young to Alan.
“Oh, well, I guess I could use a bit of a guide, I don’t know too much about the city anyway,” Alan said, at Eve’s insistence. The so-called Crimson Guard would likely be a fountain of information.
“Wonderful, have a pleasant trip,” the blue-masked Haxlardian said. He pressed a few buttons on his tablet, then turned to approach another set of arrivals. The remaining Crimson Guard followed him.
“So, um, hey, I’m J-, I mean, I’m Red Death. The lift down is this way,” Red Death gestured towards the back of the hangar.
Grinning at the Haxlard’s name, Alan said, “I’m Alan, lead the way.”
Once they emerged from the building through a reception area, Alan stared at his surroundings. In front of him was the public square, and with it were thousands of players of all sorts and size going about their business. A towering behemoth in a mechanized suit, small green plant-men wearing dark green robes and a group of figures in black armor levitating over the ground were but a few players that caught Alan’s interest. For the most part, everyone appeared to be surprisingly humanoid, with slight differences. A more exotic skin color, a surprising appendage, a strange item of clothing or a difference in size was all that would set most apart. A cosplayer from any large convention would fit right in with this crowd; no one would even take a second glance at them.
Everyone was either headed to the center of the plaza, towards the pyramid-shaped building looming in the distance, or back towards a different quadrant of Khersath. Numerous stalls were set up, full of merchants and players hawking their wares, from exotic foods to standard weaponry and ammo. Other than the designated spaces for merchants that were spread out every couple hundred feet, there was no main road. Just open space and chaos.
A hundred different sights, sounds and smells assaulted Alan’s senses: loud roars of spaceships overhead, the constant murmur of voices from an inhumanly deep bass to an eerily angelic high-pitched chant, a battle between two miniature robots, a crowd betting on the outcome, a blur of movement to his left so fast that by the time he looked it was gone and a horrendous body odor which was quickly replaced by the aroma of a delicate spice. It was overwhelming. Alan could barely process it all, and he could feel Eve going haywire as she tried to analyze and categorize the entire environment.
Alan realized he had stood, mouth agape, right at the entrance to the building for nearly ten seconds, but Red Death didn’t seem to mind. Alan quickly stepped aside to let a delivery through. Shaking his head, shutting his eyes, Alan tried to get his bearings back.
“So, um, Red Death, where is the Administrative Center?” he asked.
“You don’t know? It’s that building right there, of course.”
Red Death pointed towards the center of the plaza, at the towering outline of the pyramid building Alan had seen from space. The building rose so high that the top was lost in a sea of clouds. Its base was simply massive, Eve labeled one side to be at least a few miles. The entirety of the Golden Gate Bridge would span about half the length.
Looking up, Alan stared at the sky. It felt strange, knowing that this planet was different from Earth, yet the sky looked similar, with a rising sun, white clouds and a blue atmosphere. The sun was too bright to directly stare at, but Alan was pretty sure it was yellow. It would be interesting to see what the skies of the levels below-ground looked like. The number of people and structures here amazed Alan, but if the globalnet was to be believed, this was but one level of hundreds.
Unfortunately, Alan didn't have time to sightsee. He had things he needed to do, a trial to undertake. Looking at the time, Alan realized he only had about five hours to do the errand; it was 6 a.m. local time. To Alan, though, it felt around noon. He blinked again, gazing about; this was the crowd at 6 a.m.