Co:De

I glance over at the large holographic timer hovering over the crowd of people gathered in the centre of an Eastern European Cold war-era city. 2:00, it reads. It's almost time to say goodbye. I wave my fingers in the air, then pull them down sharply; a blue holographic menu window appears in front of me; 0 friends online, it says. I expected as much, but even still, it's depressing.

"I wish we could have all just gone hunting… together… one last time…."

I whisper to myself. A wry smile grows on my face as my eyes scan the greyed-out names on the drop-down list in front of me; I stop at one name, Seraa9; a flood of memories fills my brain. Seraa and I were close friends on Co:De, me and her had played together since the game first launched, and we partied up whenever we could. We were going to enter the Co:De championships in 2034, just like we had every year, in the hope of scoring first, although we'd only ever managed to get tenth beforehand. We were pumped; we'd stay up for multiple hours practising, getting our aim and recoil control tuned. One night we even stayed up so long that we triggered the emergency shut-off function on our VR headsets. It was exhausting but fun; we had fun, that was until one day, Seraa stopped coming online. At first, I thought nothing of it, but then days turned into weeks and weeks into months. The day of the championships was approaching, and that was when her brother logged into her account and sent me a message; "Seraa passed away from cancer.". When I saw the message, I felt my mind go blank. I logged off and sat there on my bed, not doing anything. The days afterwards are a blur; I just sat in my room eating and sleeping, doing the bare minimum to keep myself alive. I quit Co:De shortly after; it was a big shock to everyone in the community, but I just couldn't bring myself to play after that. Every time I logged on, I felt so empty.

I sigh heavily, pressing the red X in the top right corner of the drop-down menu, the cold tundra air brushes against my skin.

"Hey."

Suddenly I hear a raspy, quiet voice behind me, almost like a whisper. I turn around to see a girl with long white hair, the top of which is obscured by a black military beret, which matches her baggy military overalls. She's staring at me with her large silver eyes clutching a jet-black Steyr AUG A1 in her tiny hands. I recognise her Immediately, Anya1. She's infamous throughout Co:De, even on international servers. Like me, she used to play professionally; however, that's where our similarities end. I used two modified CZUB Škorpions submachine guns to get myself to a pitiful 10th on the worldwide PVP leader boards, whereas Anya dominated the 1st spot with her stock Steyr AUG assault rifle. She's pretty much better than me in every single way, but I don't resent her; no, in fact, I look up to her a lot. Her play style influenced mines back in the day, and we talked on the occasion after a competition, too; we aren't friends per se, but we made a point of saying "hi" to each other in the waiting lobby before a match.

"Oh hey, Anya. I never knew you were still active on Co:De."

"I've been maintaining my leaderboard spot."

She replies, monotone. Anya isn't really an expressive person, a lot of people would mistake her for being rude, but from what I understand, it's just how she responds to everything.

"Really? This game's basically dead now. There's only what, seven thousand players online right now? Is there even anyone still playing PVP mode nowadays?"

"Some. I usually have to wait thirty minutes to get into a session."

"Really? Thirty minutes?!"

Well, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised Anya took this game quite seriously back in the day. Before a tournament, she'd spend weeks out in the Sukada, the game's desert region, aim training and levelling up to get a slight edge over her opponents. She would only take a break for food and sleep. Some would call her crazy, and others would call her hardcore, but no matter what people thought of her, there was no denying Anya was crazy skilled.

"What about you, Xero? I haven't seen you since twenty-thirty-four. You quit, didn't you? Why are you back on now?"

"Ah, I just came back online for the shutdown event. I wanted to say goodbye to some old friends, but none of them are online…."

I say event, but it isn't much of one. Just a big timer in the sky, counting down the minutes until the servers go offline; I guess the devs didn't have the budget for a big event; still, It feels nostalgic going back into the game one last time. I stare up at the Holographic timer in the sky. 00:10, it reads. Only ten seconds left before the game goes offline. I look around me at the small gathering of players in the town square; everyone is saying their goodbyes and reminiscing on the good old times. The air is thick with nostalgia.

"Hey, Anya…"

"Yes?"

"You were an inspiration to me in the old days, and the advice you gave me helped me get to where I was; it's a shame I couldn't go further, though… but thanks for everything you did for me."

Anya nods before staring back up at the countdown timer. 0:05, 00:04, 00:03, 00:02, 00:01, 00:00. I brace myself shutting my eyes, waiting to be pulled back into the game selection menu of my VR headset and yet… nothing. I open my eyes; I'm still in Co:De and the timer still says 0:00. I look around me, confused; from the looks on everyone else's faces, I'm not the only one. I wave my fingers to the side, a black holographic settings box appears in front of me, I click the white logout button in the bottom left corner, but it won't work; it doesn't even make a click sound; it's almost like it's just a decoration. I turn to Anya, confused; she returns my bewildered glance.

"Try the E-Log out."

She suggests. The emergency logout is a function standard on all Full Dive VR headsets to prevent players from accidentally or intentionally getting trapped in VR; it's required by law on all Headsets; it's usually activated by closing your eyes for 3 seconds and then shouting "E-Logout" or "Emergency Logout". If the servers broke on shutdown, then the E-Logout would just close the game and put me back in the game selection lobby. I close my eyes waiting three seconds.

"E-LOGOUT!"

I shout at the top of my lungs, but nothing happens. I can still feel the cold tundra wind on my skin, and the confused mumbling of the crowd hasn't gone away. I open my eyes; as expected, I'm still in Co:De, but why? The E-Logout should have worked; it's designed for these situations. I look over at Anya, who is now scrolling the in-game forums, probably looking for an answer of some sort. I glance at her menu window; the forums are filled with tons of posts titled "I'M STUCK IN THE GAME AND E-LOGOUT WONT WORK HELP!!!" or something to that effect; at the top of the forums, a discussion thread has been started by players titled "The Logout Bug, Discussion and possible fixes?" Anya clicks onto the thread and scans through it quickly.

"Find anything?"

I ask, looking over her shoulder at the thousands of replies pouring in all at once.

"No, the thread has only been live for a few seconds. Only thing I can tell is that a lot of players if not all players, are having this issue, and the E-logout won't work for them either. We should probably make a bug report; if the devs get swamped with enough of them, they'll fix whatever's broken."

Anya Clicks the "bug report" Icon on the left of her screen, but nothing comes up; the menu doesn't even register a press, just like the logout button. Anxiety begins to creep in. What if we're stuck here forever? Is this even real? Am I dreaming? What's happening? Questions raced through my mind, but I silenced them. It's better not to assume the worst has already happened. It's probably a bug the devs will fix soon.

"Whatever, We'll just have to wait it out. Want to go hunting in the meantime, Xero?"

Anya suggests shrugging her shoulders. A chance to see Co: De's premier player show of her gunplay in real-time and not be on the receiving end of it. Back in the day, that kind of opportunity would have my blood pumping with excitement, but now on the final day of the game, it feels more melancholic.

"Sure, wouldn't hurt to go hunting one last time…."

Anya clicks on the party Icon on the left of her menu screen and drags my name into it from the "nearby players" section. Immediately a window pops up in front of me, "Anya1 Has Invited You To A Party" I click the green accept button, and a party window pops up in the right of my vision containing my name and Anya's.

"Where do you want to go?"

Anya asks, looking at me blankly. A popular hunting spot in the hay days of Co:De was the Liteyn Mountains, a rocky mountain range with steep snow-covered peaks. A lot of high-level androids and mini-bosses spawned there, which meant you could farm a lot of rare guns. A lot of players would make money by grouping up and "hunting" bosses and mini-bosses and then selling the loot to player-run shops. High-level players generally avoided NPC shops as the maximum sell price was capped, which meant that you'd be paid the same for a piece of Ultra rare loot as you would a piece of rare loot.

"Let's go to Liteyn."

Anya quickly closes all her menu tabs and taps her scratched gunmetal wristwatch twice; a large radar-like map appears projected out from the watch, measuring at least twice Anya's size. She puts her finger on the screen dragging the map down until she reaches the correct spot, a jagged area outlined by the futuristic blue vector style lines of the map labelled "Liteyn Mountain Range" she double taps on the name. A black holographic window appears in front of her prompting her to pay the fast travel fee. Once a player had been to a city or area, they were allowed to fast travel to it using the map; however, they would need to pay a fee; for veteran players with a large amount of cash like Anya and me, this wasn't a big deal, but for lower level players it could get costly which is why a lot of lower level players preferred to use the cheap snowmobile mount instead. Anya accepts the popup. A distorted blue forcefield appears around us as our bodies dematerialise into blue shards, futuristic blue blocks slowly fill my vision, and my senses go numb; after a few short seconds, the blocks gradually disappear. I find myself standing in a large rocky valley in between two steep, snow-covered mountain peaks with Anya standing in front of me; she's already scanning the area, occasionally glancing at the holographic mini-map contained on her wristwatch. I put my left hand to my ear, engaging the in-game party chat.

"Radio check."

"Loud and clear. Follow me."

I hear Anya's slightly distorted voice echo through my left ear. It feels just like old times the tense, quiet mountain air, the occasional unexplained rumble in the distance, the suspense filling my body; it's so nostalgic and yet saddening. I'll never get to experience this again. I sigh and begin following Anya through the rocky valley occasionally scanning around me for any unseen threats, usually in a Co:De party you would have one person at the front, your navigator, in charge of guiding the team and looking out for any oncoming threats, behind them you would have your heavy or tank, they usually wore thick ballistics armour and carried around a Light Machine Gun, they took the majority of the damage, after them you had the DPS, DPS stands for Damage Per Second and as their name implies that's what they specialised in, these players usually had medium, light or no armour depending on that particular players play style and could carry a variety of guns from Anti-Material rifles to sub machine guns or even grenade launchers, DPS is one of the more interesting positions in a party because it let the player choose how they were going to approach their role, I personally liked to move around a lot and get behind an enemy as did Anya, but some DPS players acted more as a walking artillery platform using weapons like the RG-6 to blast the enemy from the back, finally we had the medic they were in charge of making sure everyone's health didn't dip too low, this was especially challenging because unlike your typical fantasy RPG, Co:De required medics inject players with "Stims" which meant medics had to get up close and personal, this was the standard party setup, however, some Mil-sim players like the LMPF faction preferred to set theirs up more like an army squadron. Me and Anya are a party of two, meaning we can only really designate a navigator and DPS; that's fine, though. We're high-level players, Anya being level 92 and me being level 88, so our HP or health points were higher than that of an average player, and Anya's immense skill can help us if players or enemies ever ambush us.

"Stop!"

Anya puts her hand in the air, stopping me dead in my tracks, I scan the snow-topped pine trees that lay ahead of us, but I can tell my senses aren't as honed as they used to be. I used to be able to pick out the tinniest movement from really far away, but right now, I'm struggling even to keep focused on a specific spot. Then I hear it, the sound Anya was able to pick out immediately… A faint rustle in the woods, accompanied by the occasional twig snapping. I raise my left hand to my ear.

"Any idea what we're facing?"

"Enforcer probably…"

Anya replies. I can tell she is entirely in the zone; even after all these years, she still hasn't lost her touch; I guess that's just how amazing she really is.

"I need a closer look…."

Anya slides her finger across her right eye; a green luminous radar-like screen appears in front of it. That's her NM-ES Implant, the ES standing for enhanced sight; it was an ultra-rare item that you could only get if you won first place in the first-ever Co:De championship; it's fair to say it's priceless, considering it's the only one in the game.

"Clocked."

Anya puts her right hand down and steadies her AUG, resting it on her right shoulder while holding the front grip firmly in her right hand. Despite her blank expression, I could tell she still had the fire in her eyes, the same fire I had been engulfed and destroyed by tournament after tournament. She was ready for a fight.

"I'll cover you."

I say, pulling my CZUB Škorpions out of their black leather hip holsters and holding them out in front of me.

"…"

Anya paused, looking down.

"D-Do you mind… being a decoy…?"

She stutters out. I think this is the first time I've ever heard her stutter; usually, she's so calm and collected; it caught me a bit off guard. Why would a question like that be so difficult to ask? I suppose it's better to ignore it.

"Sure."

Her shoulders relax, and a barely noticeable smile grows on Anya's face. It was almost like she feels relieved, although I can't say why. I guess there's a lot about Anya I don't know; best not to ask, though.

"I'll take the six. Just dodge the fire."

The enforcers aim slower than I can run given my increased agility stat, so I should be able to keep it occupied while Anya strikes. I nod and begin running for the trees; it doesn't take long for the bulky chrome android to spot me and begin firing away. Two blue bars appear above its head as I near, as well as one red one. It has full health and full shields; go figure. I guess not many players are going to venture out here during the closing event.

Brrrrrrtttttt

7.8 mm rounds zip through the air, landing only a few centimetres behind me. If I slow down even a little, my body will get torn apart; I need to keep running. I sprint as fast as I can, dipping in between trees. Splinters of wood burst outwards like shrapnel from a grenade. Is it just me, or did it actually hurt when that chunk of wood hit me? No, that's impossible pain simulation was never a feature in Co:De; the tech hadn't been developed at the time of its release.

"I'm going to strike; keep its attention on you."

Once again, I hear Anya's distorted voice, In my left ear. I raise my left arm.

"Got it."

I hear faint footsteps in the direction of the Enforcer; that's Anya, no doubt. I need to make sure I don't mess this up for her.

thunk

….

BANG

A small explosion sends shockwaves pulsating through the ground, disturbing the fresh snow on the branches of the pine trees. I look at the Enforcer, who is now turned to face the direction Anya's running in; she has knocked out its shields. Impressive! It's not easy to knock out an enforcer's shields one shot like that; you need to know precisely where its weak point is and plant an explosive on it, but there's no time to gawk; I need to keep it distracted. I skid to a halt on the slippery snow. Quickly, I draw the CZUB in my left hand, aiming it at the Enforcer; accuracy doesn't matter here; I just need to keep it distracted. I pull the trigger, and a hail of bullets pierce the Enforcer's shiny metal chassis leaving red glowing markers where they penetrated, I didn't do much damage, but it looks like I got its attention.

"Don't run, stay-"

Before I could hear the rest of Anya's sentence, a loud zip crosses my left ear, almost deafening me. I feel a sharp pain in my shoulder. I must have gotten hit by something, but why would it hurt? It shouldn't. I look at the health bar projected in the left of my vision. I'm down to fifty per cent HP, not good. I duck for cover as I scan the treeline.

"Xero?"

"I'm hit! No visual"

I reply, holding my left palm to my ear. A sudden flurry of bullets passes me, ripping holes into the surrounding trees. I can't stay here for long; eventually, whatever it is that's shooting at me will figure out where I am, and after that, it's game over for me.

"Think! What to do!"

In a situation like this, usually, the team's tank would handle the Enforcer while the DPS goes for the other target, but it's just me and Anya, and there's no way I can dodge bullets from two directions. I guess I'll need to ask Anya; she'll know what to do in a situation like this.

"Anya! Got any ideas?"

"… Do you have an EMP?"

Of course, An EMP grenade would be the perfect solution; why didn't I think of that!? It wouldn't have worked on the Enforcer because of its shields, but it might work here. I double tap my fingers in the air pulling up my inventory.

"Emp Grenades…"

I navigate to the throwables section, bingo ten EMP grenades; thank goodness I still have some. I press the EMP Grenade Icon with my finger, and a small metal sphere materialises in my hand. I press the glowing blue button on the side of the grenade and throw it as far as I can toward the direction of the fire. 1… 2… 3… ZAP the grenade sends a pulse surging through the surrounding area. I feel the hair stand up on my neck as the air electrifies. There's no time to lose. I've got five seconds before the effect wears off, and it won't be long before that Enforcer turns its attention to Anya. I bolt out of cover; rounds rain down behind me as the Enforcer resumes its attack. I can feel my heart racing; I only have three seconds left.

"I'm going in for the strike."

Anya says in my left ear. Sure enough, I hear another loud ZAP, and the Enforcer collapses to the floor. Like me, Anya has used an EMP grenade; however, unlike me, Anya wastes no time deliberating; she climbs the metal body of the incapacitated android and leaps over it.

Tatatatatat

the rhythmic firing of her Steyr AUG echoes through the air as she delivers multiple consecutive shots to the android's head. The Enforcer's red health bar quickly drains, and the android explodes into blue holographic blocks before disappearing completely.

Now it's my turn, but I only have two seconds left. I search frantically around the maze of trees, hoping to find my phantom shooter—one second to go. From the corner of my eye, I see a chrome-coloured object glinting in the sun. I turn as fast as I can to the side. 0 seconds left. I'm staring face to face with a slender skeleton-like metal android clad in thin metal armour. Its narrow glowing blue eyes stare at me menacingly. It's a model FSAA1, FSAA standing for Fast Scout Assault Android, FSAA's don't have much in the way of health, but their accuracy is deadly. I need to act fast, but I'm out of time; it's no longer incapacitated; in fact, right now, I'm staring down the barrel of the futuristic-looking rifle it's pointing at me; there's no time. I'm through. I close my eyes, awaiting the red glow of the respawn screen…

Twang

A loud abrupt noise. Snaps me back to reality. I open my eyes to see a glowing red dot on the shoulder of the FSAA. The chrome android stumbles backwards.

"He's yours."

Anya says calmly through the comm. Now's my chance. Adrenaline rushes through me as I lift my right arm and put my finger on the trigger of my gun; without hesitation, I fire almost my entire magazine into the chest of the android; glowing red dots light up its metal body as each bullet pierces its frame; eventually, it's red health bar becomes almost entirely transparent. I take a step back; with my hand extended, I deliver one final burst to the FSAA's head, and it dissolves into blue cubic shards. An overwhelming sense of relief and excitement fills my body. Was this what it felt like back in the day? This relief, sense of accomplishment, the adrenaline. I feel so alive.

"Yahooo!!!! We did it!!!!"

I scream at the top of my lungs. I missed this. But, it's still not the same… without her…

"Yes, Good job, but please don't shout into the comm. That hurt my ears."

"Ah, sorry…"

I rub the back of my head, embarrassed. Perhaps I did get a little overexcited. But it has been a long time. It's a shame it'll also be the last time… I glance over at the popup window that I neglected to notice, thanks to my enthusiastic outburst. "Enemy Defeated [Model FSAA1] EXP Gained 1445 Items Gained [Fragmentation Grenade (Uncommon)]"

"Huh, that's a disappointing loot drop…."

"Hey, Anya? You get anything good?"

"Explosive tipped ammo for the P90."

"Huh?!"

I stumble back in shock. Explosive tipped ammo is highly sought after in Co:De, thanks to it being the only ammo type that insta kills no matter the gun and the only ammo type with splash damage. It's classed as an Ultra Rare ammo type. Still, it's usually way harder to find than ordinary Ultra Rare items, and you usually only find a mag's worth; if you do find it, that is, so to get explosive-tipped ammo after just killing one enemy is really rare.

"W-What are you going to do with it?"

"I don't own a P90, so I'm probably just going to discard it. There's nothing else I can do with it."

I open my mouth to speak, but she's right; there would be nothing else to do with it. The game's going to close down soon, so selling it would be useless, and if she gave it away, chances are no one would use it in time. It's such a shame that an ultra-drop like that one must go to waste, although speaking of the game shutting down, it has been quite a chunk of time since the servers were meant to shut off...

"Hey, A-"

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

An echoing scream stops me mid-sentence…

"What the hell?"