Chapter 3: Town Hall
Arthur read the message on his phone screen again. And again.
"Citizens of Halewick
Report to the town hall to receive your interface devices.
Compliance is compulsory.
Distribution will begin immediately."
It was as if his mind was struggling to process the sudden change in reality.
In less than a day, every single nation on the planet had fallen?
Even countries with nuclear weapons had lost their sovereignty?
And to top it all off, this was all done for the sake of some kind of game?
It was an absurd scenario that didn’t make any sense. And yet, no matter how impossible it sounded, it was clearly happening.
Outside the window, the giant warships hovering over Halewick like silent judges were proof of this.
A few moments later, Arthur snapped out of his reverie and felt a trembling hand settle on his shoulder.
"Grandpa." He turned to look at Luke.
Luke’s face was still as pale as a sheet, but thankfully, the old man seemed to have regained some of his bearings. At the very least, he’d managed to turn his gaze away from the TV and was now propping himself up from the bed.
"...Let’s go to the town hall." Luke rasped slowly, "Let’s go see what this is all about."
...
The air on the streets tasted like ash, as if numerous buildings had already been burned to the ground.
Arthur helped Luke down the front steps of the shop, steering him towards their small pick-up truck by the side of the restaurant. The door creaked as he hauled it open, and Luke sat on the passenger seat without a word.
Arthur grabbed the keys hidden above the sun visor and fumbled with the ignition for a bit. It had been a while since he’d started this old thing and wasn’t even sure if it still worked.
Luckily, after a few tries, the engine revved, its growl almost loud enough to mask some of the distant explosions coming from down the street.
The small pick-up drove in silence, past the empty storefronts and abandoned bicycles tipped onto their sides.
Looking at the situation in the shopping district, Arthur realized that most of the buildings were still intact, but their owners were either still hiding or they had already left for the town hall as well.
...
The square in front of the town hall was chaos organized into endlessly long lines.
Thousands of people queued in rows, herded between cordons of yellow tape trying to keep order. Some of them stood silent and hollow-eyed, while others whispered anxiously or clutched each other’s hands.
And above them all, near the town hall’s entrance, six alien guards stood calmly, scanning the crowd as if they were waiting for someone to step out of line.
Arthur guided Luke out of the truck and joined the end of the nearest line. Thankfully, despite the huge number of people, the town hall employees seemed fairly efficient, and every minute or two, the queue was thinned by more than a dozen bodies.
A makeshift PA system crackled every so often, reminding everyone to stay patient:
"Please remain calm. Keep an orderly line. You will be processed soon."
The line inched forward at a steady pace, and Arthur kept a firm grip on Luke’s elbow the entire time. The closer they drew to the entrance, the sharper the air around them seemed to get.
"They say it’s some kind of... game? What does this even mean?"
"Hell if I know, hell if I care. But if those monsters think they can toy with my life, they’ve got another thing coming for them."
"Right? Who the hell cares about some stupid game? I’m not going to play! What are they gonna do? Make me?"
Arthur could hear a group of people at the front discussing in low voices.
Still, no one spoke in a tone above a whisper.
Even the few people who complained did so while throwing furtive glances towards the six monsters above them.
Even Arthur’s eyes kept drifting to the alien guards towering by the entrance. Their armor looked impossibly dense, black plates overlapping like the carapace of some monstrous insect. One of them turned its helmet fractionally, scanning the crowd. Arthur met that faceless gaze for a moment and felt something cold uncoil in his gut.
This was the first time he’d seen these things from up close. This close, at least.
...
Inside, the town hall had become something completely unrecognizable. Dozens of folding tables were arranged in neat rows, practically forming a makeshift grid. Officials sat behind them, hollow-eyed and slouched, passing out black bracelets from crates stacked nearly to the ceiling while writing down notes.
When it was their turn, Arthur stepped up.
The man behind the table looked up slowly, as if each motion took effort, before he stretched out his hand and said monotonously
"Name and ID."
"Arthur Shaw."
A nod came, followed by a check mark scrawled on a clipboard. Then, the man held out a bracelet without meeting Arthur’s gaze and continued:
"Place this on your dominant wrist. Activation is automatic, so you don’t have to worry. All you have to do is lie down on your bed and think of the word ’Zenith’ whenever you want to enter the game. Keep in mind that any tampering or removal attempts will result in enforcement."
The clerk took a moment to recompose himself and let out a long breath before he added in,
"Also... please remember that every month you have to mine a minimum of three thousand elemental stones and deliver them here. The element is unimportant, but you can’t bring any less than that."
"Elemental stones?" Arthur asked, but the official didn’t respond. He simply handed out the bracelet and waited for Arthur to put it on in front of him.
Arthur took it in his hand. It was heavier than it looked. It felt cold, solid, and dense. For a moment, he studied it in silence.
Despite its weight, this thing was smooth to the touch. It might have been a piece of jewelry, if not for the fact that it was basically a glorified ankle- well, wrist monitor.
He glanced to the side. Luke was receiving his own bracelet from another clerk, his hand trembling as he put it on. This was the second time Arthur had seen his grandfather like that.
The memory of the ships overhead flickered across his mind, along with that feminine voice from the TV declaring they had been conquered.
He drew in a slow breath.
"Don’t worry, grandpa. Everything will be fine," he said quietly, glancing at Luke.
Then he raised the bracelet and locked it around his wrist.
The effect was immediate.
A cold jolt raced up his arm, moving to the rest of his body like an electric current. Arthur felt it but didn’t flinch. He watched as black motes of light bloomed across his vision like ink in water.
A mechanical tone humming in his ears followed.
"NEURAL LINK ESTABLISHED.
INITIALIZING GAME INTERFACE.
PLEASE FIND A SAFE LOCATION AND ENTER THE GAME."
Arthur felt the jolt fade as quickly as it had come, leaving behind nothing but a faint, residual tingling in his fingertips. He lowered his wrist slowly.
"That’s it?" he asked.
The clerk nodded. "That’s it," he murmured hoarsely.
"Next."
Arthur glanced over his shoulder. Luke was fastening his own bracelet without a change in his expression. Their eyes met for a moment and the old man forced out a smile.
Arthur helped him through the crowd and out the side exit. The square was still clogged with lines of people and the silent watchers overhead, but nobody stopped them as they made their way back to the truck.
...
They drove home in silence.
Arthur kept both hands on the wheel, but he could faintly feel the heavy bracelet locked around his wrist. Every so often, he caught his grandfather glancing over, like he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words.
Finally, as they turned onto their street, Luke cleared his throat.
"Son, let’s take things slow. We don’t have to try this thing right away. We don’t know anything about this... game."
Arthur parked the truck next to the restaurant and shook his head as he turned to his grandfather,
"I know. But it’s called a game, right? It’s better to understand what we’re dealing with, at least."
Arthur could still see the worry in Luke’s eyes, so after a moment of silence, he added in with a grin,
"Don’t worry. If it turns out that aliens are terrible game designers, I’ll come back and complain about it over dinner."
Luke didn’t reply. He seemed like he wanted to argue more, but in the end, he simply let out a sigh and stepped out of the truck.
...
Back in the restaurant, the oppressive atmosphere seemed to have lightened quite a bit, as Arthur helped Luke into a chair on the first floor and grabbed a can of orange juice from the fridge.
Honestly, this entire situation still felt surreal, but denying it any longer didn’t make things any better. So Arthur had already resigned himself to taking a look at this thing. Game or not, it didn’t matter.
He took one last look around the place, at the familiar counter, the rows of clean mugs, the wooden tables, and the old cash register. Everything was still intact, at least. And more importantly, his grandfather was okay. That was enough.
"Alright," Arthur said while meeting Luke’s gaze, "I’ll be back before you know it. Just wait a bit."
Without another word, Arthur left the first floor and went up the stairs, returning to his room.
He closed the door, sat on the edge of his bed, and stared at it for a long moment.
Then he lay back, closed his eyes, and muttered under his breath.
"...Zenith, huh?"
