Midnight Dominion

It was a title that young Simon couldn’t resist. Midnight Dominion: Play or be played.

It had just come out in the Synapse store; the premier online marketplace for video games and other indie software. The game was so new to the store, it had no legitimate reviews. Simon knew those were not faked reviews by its developers. He had learned the hard way that rave reviews for a newly released game meant that it was a shiny piece of frag fodder.

But Midnight Dominion was different from the other new releases of the day. There were currently zero reviews. It had no fan screenshots. Nor did it have any action packed blockbuster trailer. Simon thought was a tad strange. This was usually a warning sign that the game was going to be a lackluster 8 bit graphic independent video game. But the “Play or be played” tagline spoke to his subversive voyeuristic nature. It made him decide to read the game’s synopsis.

Peer into another reality, another Earth, another New York City. Watch as mankind’s secret alien overlords reveal themselves as they harvest the city of human crops. Control the destiny of a New York citizen and try to save him (or her) from the alien brain reaping.

When Simon read it again, it sounded like a cheesy movie trailer. He heard the high-pitched music in the background. But he still wasn’t sure. He remembered the last game, Zef. Another indy game that had a surreal vibe too. Simon chose Zef because it was just six bucks. Then he was surprised with a game at that price. Simon looked at the price tag for Midnight Dominion. Fourteen bucks. This wasn’t going to his mother’s bank.

Simon enjoyed the Synapse gaming marketplace. They had reasonable prices which prevented him from getting a smack from his mother. They had a myriad of games from all over the world and Simon had a limited allowance. He found the marketplace a couple of years ago.

He checked out Midnight Dominion for purchase. It was simple, his mother would find out too late. It was going to take three hours to download. Simon saw it as a good sign. He cursed his mother for having a DSL. He knew she couldn’t afford anything else But it just meant that Simon was just going to have to wait until tomorrow.

The day goes fast. Not even the C- test score would slow him down. It was not going to go well with his mother. But she would have to see the test first, and Simon was not a kid to just hand over tests. And she was not one to ask for them. The one time she did, she removed all his games. It was meant to help him focus.

He dropped his backpack at the front door. At least today he was guaranteed some free time. He turned on his laptop. The front window message said “Midnight Dominion has been installed..” Simon clicked the Play now button. The screen went all black. Simon was not worried, this was normal. It was a sign the graphics were going to be good.

Soon the screen was full of stars. The “in game” camera was controlling what Simon saw in the game. As the camera rotated, stellar nebulae could be seen. Soon the camera began to move forward, but increased. Simon couldn’t remember any opening sequence like this. He assumed it was pictures taken from the Hubble telescope. But he dared not blink. Then soon there was a strange distortion at the center of the screen.

As the camera moved in closer, the distortion became more clear. It was the title “MIDNIGHT DOMINION” as text with no border outlines. Inside the text was another picture of the cosmos, but of a different sector of space. It was a background with more stars that were glimmering brighter. Simon figured that this was the window into the other reality.

The camera proceeded towards the text shaped windows. And then it was at the window where Simon saw only the new cosmos. The moment the camera passed thru text shaped window, a dark vibrating tone emanated. Simon realized that there was no other music or other sounds in this game. He had no idea what was going on. Sure signs that his fourteen dollars was wasted.

After the camera passed into the new reality, it went to warp speed. The stars changed into thin streaks. The camera went through a couple of nebulae and asteroid fields. It nearly ran into a planet. Soon the camera moved into a familiar looking solar system. Simon was not good at astronomy, but he could recognize Saturn and Mars. The camera finally slowed down as it approached Earth. It was at the center of the screen rotating as night became day.

The camera began to enter earth’s atmosphere, its movement made Earth look like a rolling ball. It got closer and lower to the surface. The camera began to slow down again as it approached New York city. It suddenly dived down onto the bridge. The “in game” camera finally came to a near halt as it followed a man walking across the bridge. He is entering the city limits.

A thin white 3D rectangle outlined the man for Simon. Simon gets worried. “Who the hell is this?” He asks at the computer. Right after he asks, text appeared next to the man. “Name : Nicholas Pegg Occupation : Library Analyst Age : 36” The text soon fades away. Simon’s frustration increases as he looks at the overweight man in the game. He was wearing a casual suit. The shirt was not tucked in, and ketchup stains were visible. His pants were wrinkled.

Where was the impossibly rock hard body? Where were the big friggin guns that defied the laws of physics? Where was the alien invasion swarm? This was not what Simon expected at all. Simon wondered when the actual game started. Opening Sequences never took this long. He was ready to quit.

As Nicholas entered the city, the ground began to shake. Simon moved his mouse to see if he could look around. And he could. The nearby buildings were wobbling and shaking off loose debris onto the streets. Simon moved the mouse to look back down at the streets. Everybody was having difficulty staying on their feet. Some people dropped to their knees. Simon watched Nicholas look at the distant skyscrapers shake rigidly. Screams could be heard far and near as the empire state building began to fall down sideways. The screams felt so real to Simon.

Grey smoke began to spread all around the streets. The earthquake stopped after one last thump. At this time, Simon decided to try and turn Nicholas around to look at the damage done to the bridge. As he moved the mouse around, Nicholas said “WOAH!” as it became uncontrollable motion. Once turned around, both Simon and Nicholas were shocked to see what happened to the bridge.

Nothing, It was perfectly fine. Only it was a few hundred feet below them. A thick transparent glass wall replaced its location. It had an odd pulsation that made it look organic. Nicholas looked to the left and right and saw that the wall spanned the edge of the city. Simon forced Nicholas to look down at the bridge again. “What the hell!” He screamed out again, As Nicholas and Simon both peered downward they saw the city floating away from the bridge.

“Now it's getting interesting,” Simon thought. Simon wasn’t going to quit now as he watched the city being lifted into outer space. Simon turned Nicholas around again to look at the city. “Hey, cut it out!” Nicholas cried out. Fear was turning into frustration. Nicholas thought that whomever was stealing the city was also stealing his body.

A small jolt poured throughout Simon’s body. “Was Nicholas aware of my controls?” he thought. “No No” he said out loud. “What do you mean No!” Nicholas yelled back to Simon. People started to walk away from the edge of the city wall that imprisoned them. A new surge of electricity went through Simon’s body. He was beginning to sweat.

Simon leaned into the laptop and said “Uhh..Hello” Simon let go of the mouse and let Nicholas have control over himself. Nicholas heard a loud squelching voice of a kid. “What do you mean hello? Who are you? What are you doing to me?” Nicholas angrily said. Suppressing his hidden accent . “My name is Simon. Simon Frost.” He said as he backed away from the laptop.

Simon was too afraid to say anything else. He was unsure of what was really going on. It was unlike any other game. “You don’t chat with characters in the game. They are not real.” He thought to himself.

“Well Simon, Simon Frost. Why the hell are you stealing my city?” Nicholas asked. “That is not me. That is the game. Midnight Dominion.” Simon responded with a guilty tone. “What are you talking about? Midnight Dominion?” Nicholas rapidly asked. “Uh. It’s the game you are in. You're the hero, apparently.” Simon answered. “Hero? This ain’t a game to me kid! This is the real world. I am going to be late for my job..” Nicholas said.

As the city began to float beyond the orbit of the planet, the day turned into a night. Simon couldn’t argue that it really was a video game. The transparent wall behind Nicholas is shown to be a gigantic bubble that encompassed the city. Nicholas looked out into black void of space where the bridge was supposed to be. “It’s real to me, kid,” Nicholas said. “Check your TV, see if they have news about New York.” Nicholas ordered.

Simon leapt from his seat and rushed to his TV .Scrambling to find the remote, Simon flipped around to find a news station. There was no breaking news. Just people arguing about nothing in particular. The game wasn’t real. Simon sighed in relief, but also a little disappointment. He went back to his room.

“Nothing. No breaking news about New York at all” Simon said to Nicholas The scene on the computer screen had changed to a bright yellow nebulous cloud. Nicholas was looking all around, the cloud was all around the city. Nicholas was not that surprised at Simon's revelation. “This kind of thing doesn't happen to me.” Nicholas thought as he was realizing that he was just part of some silly video game. “I am sorry. Mr. Frost.” Simon said apologetically.

Simon soon remembered the name of the game, Midnight Dominion. “Holy Frag on a stick!” Simon said out loud. “What is it now kid?” Nicholas asked annoyingly. “The tag line for the game is adventure into another reality. And the opening sequence showed a doorway that the game went through to get to you specifically.” Simon explained.

Just then, at the top of the wall, it began to burst in five different places. It looked like pins breaking a balloon. They stretched downward as they reached the street level. And then they outstretched leaving a large black mass on the streets. Nicholas and Simon couldn’t see any details. Simon right clicked the mouse to see if he could zoom in. And it worked, sorta.

They saw the closest mass was about two stories tall and had four legs. It had a shape similar to a centaur. Nicholas ran inside a building. It was a typical city bodega. He stayed near the windows to look out. The shadowy centaur began to trot down the street. Spearing people on the street with a long black spear that flowed out its body. Simon became frustrated that he was not in control and doing something. “Dude, you're the hero. Do something” Simon yelled to Nicholas.

Nicholas turned away and responded to the voice in his head. “Kid. I am an overweight, underpaid librarian. I am not hero material. Leave me out of it!” Nicholas said in a whisper. They heard hoof prints rattling the windows. The centaur-like creature was quickly moving closer. A few people managed to run away, only to be trapped by the new city wall. The creature was now impaling people two at a time. One man tried opening the store door, but got impaled a few steps away from Nicholas.

Simon was getting freaked now too. This was turning into a survival horror game. And there was no way to fight back. Simon doubted that Nicholas had any special powers or any real fighting skills. But he clicked the left mouse button a try. It made Nicholas jab a fist into the wall. “Hey! That hurt!” Nicholas cried out. The shadowy centaur stopped and looked down at the store window. Looking right at Nicholas. It turned toward him. Nicholas ran to the back and searched for the back door. The first door he found was a storage room. Nicholas quickly kept looking around. There was feverish anticipation as the black centaur creature approached. It treated the buildings like shrubs in a jungle.

Simon watched with guilt for getting Nicholas into the situation. Any more keyboard or mouse movements would just make things worse. He stared at the laptop, he had no idea what to do. Nothing felt scripted . Simon was on his own with no idea how to progress the story.

Nicholas sped to the next open door he could find. He found women and children, muffling their whimpers. Simon and Nicholas both assumed they ran the store. Nicholas rushed past them and went to the next door, it was the back exit.

The alley walls began to shudder. And in that instant, a black oily spear impaled one of the women inside. But up close, she wasn’t impaled at all. The spear looked like it had skipped going through her. The woman was frozen in place and time.

Simon saw this as a clue or a possible tool. The alien centaur lunged into the building to recover its spear. As it moved in closer, the walls began to sway and crumble around Nicholas. The others ran away past him, and he followed.

Simon pressed the keyboard and moved the mouse to motion Nicholas back to the spear. “Quick before it's too late! Grab a part of that spear.” Simon said to Nicholas. “Are you crazy! There is no time!” Nicholas yelled out.. “I ain’t touching that for crazy voices in my head!” But he was forced to go to the spear. Simon pressed the E button and that made Nicholas grab at the edge of the spear.

"No. Nooo!” He said as he pulled back. A piece of the spear broke off in his hand like chalk. It was a dry chunk in his hand even as it still looked oily. Nicholas resumed to run away. He didn’t look back, but he imagined the alien’s black hand trying to grab him in through falling rubble. The doorway ahead began to sway. Nicholas cursed Simon for another takeover. But he did escape into the alley. He couldn’t see anyone else there. He ran blindly and crashed to the ground. He got up and turned around.

Through the grey ash, Simon and Nicholas watched the shadow of the alien centaur grab his spear and pick it up. A brief sigh of relief escapes from Simon’s and Nicholas’s mouth as it turned around and headed back to the street. The creature makes thunderous clops as it walks away.

Nicholas got up and walked down the alley. He grasps the black chunk of the spear. He couldn't drop it. “Look kid!” Nicholas began. “I know you mean well. But this isn’t a game to me!” Nicholas says with a raised voice. “What you did back there! The punching at walls, the grabbing at alien spear thingy. It doesn't help.”

Simon started to get upset. It was one thing to talk with a video game character, but it was another for them to talk back. And to be undermined by a cowardly nobody. Simon couldn’t believe that Nicholas was a real person.

“How do you know?” Simon asked. “How do I know what?” Nicholas asked back. His frustration grew as he got his bearings. Thoughts of getting back to his job trickle in

“How do you know the spear part isn't helpful?” Simon answered. It's one of the best things he liked about video games, god like control. And he just realized that they had their big gun. Simon continued to rant. “Have you ever played a video game? Do you even know what a video game is?” Nicholas was shocked.

Thinking back to his childhood, and the arcades that he passed on the way home. Nothing but smoking degenerates ready to kick his ass a slightest thought. “How..How do you know you're not the one in the video game kid?” Nicholas asked, trying to think away his problem. “I just want to live my life, real or unreal.” He said as he looked up at the nebulous clouds.

Simon left Nicholas alone for a while. But he had to finally answer. “I am the one in front of the laptop, fat ass!.” Simon then pressed the forward key, taking control again. It seemed cruel, but it had to be done. Nicholas jutted onward to the end of the alley. Still fighting to gain control from the unseen forces controlling him like a marionette.

“Is that the best answer you got?” Nicholas answered. The spear part then rammed into the ground next to him. Neither Simon, nor Nicholas made the command to do that. It was something they did together, without even knowing. It oddly hummed and the ground around it glowed with electricity.

They both were dumbfounded to explain what was happening . Simon stopped pressing the keyboard and let Nicolas run away again. Stumbling down to the alley, Nicholas panicked and hyperventilating, no thoughts in his head. Simon, on the other hand, couldn't stop thinking about what the spear part in the ground meant. "I don't understand what is going on," Simon thought.

As Nicholas calmed down, he became only one step to the city street. It was one step back to normal. His breathing was getting back to normal, but then the ground shook. A giant alien centaur turned the corner and speared Nicholas in the chest. He became encompassed in the spear as it grew around him.

Simon watched in shock. He had lost all control. The black centaur picked up the spear, carrying Nicholas with it. Simon started to button smash, trying to make something happen. But nothing happened, the alien centaur transported Nicholas back to where it came from. Simon continued to watch as the game camera followed them upwards into the nebulous sky beyond the wall.

The game camera moved around as it followed Nicholas into an alien mothership. The grotesque puss like blob was like no other spaceship Simon had ever seen. He only saw it for a few seconds, but it had throbbing veins that networked around the entire structure. What was it? A spaceship, a planet, both?

The game camera entered into the living pus, where the black centaur alien dropped off its spear into a putrid looking pus. The spear, along with Nicholas, began to dissolve as the alien centaur trotted away. Simon’s stomach churned as Nicholas began to be liquefied into a pool, floating around in a sack of pus. All that remained was his brain and spine, floating around in the sack.

Simon was waiting for the “GAME OVER” message, so he could go back and try again. But it never came. It added worry to his list of emotions. The game camera pulled back to watch the pus bag begin to hover and float away. As it flew forward through a maze of flesh like tunnels, the bag also began to change its shape. It became more of a box-like shape. New colors of green and red hid the brain of Nicholas.. It began to have a chrome-like surface. But it still remained very organic looking.

Simon watched as the box traveled and stopped at its final destination. A small alien centaur gleefully galloped in anticipation as the box approached. A larger alien centaur monitored the young one with its unseen eyes. Simon thought that Nicholas’s box was going to be food. A decadent treat, but it wasn’t

The alien child finally grabbed it violently out of the air. It rushed to a quiet corner, and knelt down, then placed the box on the ground. It made some gestures with its higher appendages above it. Soon after, the box began to emit a bright light from the top. The bright light turned into a holographic image that showed images of complex polygonal shapes and simple yet comical looking symbols. Simon thought it could be the alien’s written language.

“It’s a video game. Nicholas is a video game box” Simon thought. It shocked him to even think about it. He lost. He let a real man in another world die. He didn’t take it seriously enough, he still had some doubts. “Death by video games, I don’t think so” Simon thought. He played the game and lost, does that now mean someone will control him like he did Nicholas?

With nothing else to lose, Simon took a chance and pressed the F5 button, the quickload to the last save button. He didn’t recall any chance to save his progress. It happened way too fast. And to his surprise, something happened.

The game went back in time to when Nicholas had thrown down the spear part into the ground. The point where he was only a few seconds away from being captured again. “LOOK OUT!” Simon screamed out to Nicholas, but Nicholas kept moving forward to the street and the shadow of the alien centaur that was waiting for him once again.

Again he was captured. Again he was transported to the alien mothership. And again his brain was transformed into a living video game console. Simon punched the F5 button again, and then yelled out “STOP!” But Nicholas was not listening to Simon anymore. There was nothing Simon could do to save Nicholas’s life, real or digital. Simon tried several more times, but it was too late in the game to do anything else.

Simon finally decided to turn off the computer. He had wasted too much time on a game that was messing with his head. A few hours later, as he went to bed by himself, he decided that it wasn’t MIDNIGHT DOMINION that tricked him into thinking Nicholas was a real person. It was his own damn min turning in on himself.

“I played myself.” He finally thought as he drifted into sleep.

***

In high orbit above Simon, hovered the silent dreadnought SYNAPSE. Black alien centaurs watch him and his every keystroke. Deciding if the human race is ready for reaping.

“Not yet. But soon” they decide.