LOG ENTRY 1
Sand in My Mouth and Ringing in My Ears
WHAT'S THAT SOUND? I'm cold, my eyes are closed, and I hear a loud ringing.
I open my eyes and discover that I'm face down in damp sand. The ringing sound in my head is getting quieter. Wow, what a crazy headache.
I lift my head to look around, and I see that I am on a beach, next to a large body of water. I can't tell if it's a lake or an ocean bay. Something seems familiar about this place? The temperature is pleasant, but the water is cold. I'm partially in the water, and my legs are wet. Weird, my legs are blocky. Wait! My whole body is blocky! I need to see myself. I turn around and crawl to the edge of the water to look at my reflection. I'm 8-bit retro digital! I look like a pixelated person! What is going on?
The ringing is now barely noticeable. My head is less achy, and my vision is clearing. I blink a few times. The sun seems to be setting. It's getting dark. I notice a new sound that's louder than the ringing in my head. It's like a creepy slurp sound.
"OUCH!"
I'm knocked on my side. I'm now looking up and see a terrifying sight! A huge black spider, as long as I am tall, with red glowing eyes is preparing to leap at me! That's what hurt me. This crazy angry spider is after me! It's making that slurpy noise. It jumps, and "ouch!" I see a flash of red.
I've got to get moving, I've got to defend myself, I've got to do something! My moves are clumsy. I don't know how to bend. Moving is difficult. Wait, it's not that difficult, it's just different. I can move if I don't think about the mechanics of it. If I just look at where I want to go, my body does the rest. My blocky body is responding to my thoughts.
Slurp! That crazy sound again! I turn my head and see red eyes glowing at me. It's going to pounce again. I don't know how much more of this I can take. I must take action now!
This feels like a game I've played. I've controlled my character from my computer, as a real person. The difference is that I am now the character. I hope I can learn to survive in this game. What would I make my character do in this situation? I don't have a weapon. I'm not wearing armor. It's getting dark. That is why I'm being attacked. Spiders attack when it's dark.
Wait! I'm near the water. Jump in! Spiders don't swim. At least they don't in the games I've played.
Screech! The spider jumps. But I am suddenly moving too, into the water. Am I fast enough? Can I outrun the spider? Wow this is cold!
The spider lands just behind me, at the edge of the water. "Yes!" I yell. I'm nearly up to my neck in the water now . . . And now I'm under water. Weird and eerie. I can totally see through the clear water. I see a squid swimming in the distance. It's huge—as big as me, or bigger. It is so strange to be in this game, to face creatures that are as big as I am!
The water is very cold. The bottom is uneven. It's like an underwater mountain that continues down, getting deeper and deeper.
Ouch! What hurt me? Ouch! I'm underwater. I can't breathe underwater! I need to swim!
I turn to face the beach. Through the water, I see the spider at the edge of the beach. Its red eyes are piercing the water, following my every move. Ouch! How do I swim? I look up, toward the surface of the water and . . . and my body follows my thoughts, I'm swimming!
Ouch! I must be nearly out of breath. In the game if I keep my character underwater too long, he dies. Of course in the game he will respawn. I have no idea if I'll respawn. I have no idea how I got here. Ouch! I'm so close to the surface. I need to make it; I can't die now, not here, not with so many questions to answer.
Gasp! My head pops above the surface of the water. I breathe in. But it's weird. I don't breathe air. It's like digital air. My body almost immediately feels better. The pain of not breathing is gone, but I still feel pain from the earlier spider attack. Speaking of the spider, I hope I surfaced far enough from the
Sand in My Mouth and Ringing in My Ears
WHAT'S THAT SOUND? I'm cold, my eyes are closed, and I hear a loud ringing.
I open my eyes and discover that I'm face down in damp sand. The ringing sound in my head is getting quieter. Wow, what a crazy headache.
I lift my head to look around, and I see that I am on a beach, next to a large body of water. I can't tell if it's a lake or an ocean bay. Something seems familiar about this place? The temperature is pleasant, but the water is cold. I'm partially in the water, and my legs are wet. Weird, my legs are blocky. Wait! My whole body is blocky! I need to see myself. I turn around and crawl to the edge of the water to look at my reflection. I'm 8-bit retro digital! I look like a pixelated person! What is going on?
The ringing is now barely noticeable. My head is less achy, and my vision is clearing. I blink a few times. The sun seems to be setting. It's getting dark. I notice a new sound that's louder than the ringing in my head. It's like a creepy slurp sound.
"OUCH!"
I'm knocked on my side. I'm now looking up and see a terrifying sight! A huge black spider, as long as I am tall, with red glowing eyes is preparing to leap at me! That's what hurt me. This crazy angry spider is after me! It's making that slurpy noise. It jumps, and "ouch!" I see a flash of red.
I've got to get moving, I've got to defend myself, I've got to do something! My moves are clumsy. I don't know how to bend. Moving is difficult. Wait, it's not that difficult, it's just different. I can move if I don't think about the mechanics of it. If I just look at where I want to go, my body does the rest. My blocky body is responding to my thoughts.
Slurp! That crazy sound again! I turn my head and see red eyes glowing at me. It's going to pounce again. I don't know how much more of this I can take. I must take action now!
This feels like a game I've played. I've controlled my character from my computer, as a real person. The difference is that I am now the character. I hope I can learn to survive in this game. What would I make my character do in this situation? I don't have a weapon. I'm not wearing armor. It's getting dark. That is why I'm being attacked. Spiders attack when it's dark.
Wait! I'm near the water. Jump in! Spiders don't swim. At least they don't in the games I've played.
Screech! The spider jumps. But I am suddenly moving too, into the water. Am I fast enough? Can I outrun the spider? Wow this is cold!
The spider lands just behind me, at the edge of the water. "Yes!" I yell. I'm nearly up to my neck in the water now . . . And now I'm under water. Weird and eerie. I can totally see through the clear water. I see a squid swimming in the distance. It's huge—as big as me, or bigger. It is so strange to be in this game, to face creatures that are as big as I am!
The water is very cold. The bottom is uneven. It's like an underwater mountain that continues down, getting deeper and deeper.
Ouch! What hurt me? Ouch! I'm underwater. I can't breathe underwater! I need to swim!
I turn to face the beach. Through the water, I see the spider at the edge of the beach. Its red eyes are piercing the water, following my every move. Ouch! How do I swim? I look up, toward the surface of the water and . . . and my body follows my thoughts, I'm swimming!
Ouch! I must be nearly out of breath. In the game if I keep my character underwater too long, he dies. Of course in the game he will respawn. I have no idea if I'll respawn. I have no idea how I got here. Ouch! I'm so close to the surface. I need to make it; I can't die now, not here, not with so many questions to answer.
Gasp! My head pops above the surface of the water. I breathe in. But it's weird. I don't breathe air. It's like digital air. My body almost immediately feels better. The pain of not breathing is gone, but I still feel pain from the earlier spider attack. Speaking of the spider, I hope I surfaced far enough from the
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