Interviews with the characters we all love with a little help from the authors that wrote them.
In this case DJ LeJeune
Name (and title if appropriate):
Written by:
Make rent; stop world annihilation.
Being “inside” the virtual reality RPG game, Path of Relics. Because of the Portal Rig, being in Path of Relics feels like the real world in every way. Only it’s a fantasy world with magic and weapons and ancient lost civilizations. With an escape that tempting, who would want to be in the real world of 2044, with its climate-ravaged, AI-driven joblessness?
Dual Kali Sticks. Apparently, I got pretty good with these from all my years hustling people in Times Square while playing augmented reality Kali Ball matches. In Path of Relics, my Kali Sticks are made of some light but durable metal, and I love how fast I can defend and attack using them. Plus, the weapons I found have mysterious dark stones in them that seem to be more than they appear.
When I found out I got accepted into the Path of Relics tournament. I didn’t believe it at first. After all, I’m no active VR celebrity athlete; I’m just a no-name Gurker scrambling for random gigs. Besides hustling people in Kali Ball, I only stream old-school role playing games for fun—and because it’s the only entertainment I can afford. Why pick me?
Lofton in Path of Relics is a beast with a sword. Lofton is a high-level NPC (a non-playable character), and he has very human motivations, developed over his full life in the game, all simulated day by day by the AI. Lofton wants a better life for his people, but at the expense of everyone except the nobility. Worse, Lofton’s actions in the game seem to be part of what’s causing the deadly malfunctions in real world Manhattan.
I don’t like to talk about it, but let’s just say I used to live in New Orleans. Yes, before the storms of 2031. Anyway, after all the flooding, my parents and I moved in with family in Ohio. Then more climate nomads from the coasts, AI automation gobbling up jobs… yadda, yadda. We ended up in Communal sometime later, and things went downhill after that. If I close my eyes, I can still see the living room of my parent’s Nola shotgun house. It’s where my dad first introduced me to 8-bit RPGs.
If I would have picked that restaurant gig instead of the delivery job out to Jersey, I might have gotten a more permanent position. But I guess that’s lightweight stuff. Maybe if I’d have stayed in college despite the AI job apocalypse… My first choice of career got automated away, but I might have found something that worked out.
Please don’t take Path of Relics away from me. I know it’s posing an existential threat to everyone in Manhattan, and heck, maybe even the world, but it’s like Heaven when I’m there. The Portal Rig perfectly mimics all my movements in the game, and makes everything feel entirely real (well, except for that chewing food thing). I don’t know what I’d do if I were forced to live fully back in the real world.
Thank you for reading. I mean, who the heck am I anyway that you’d listen to me? I guess I’m unexpectedly doing pretty well in this tournament, but with all the malfunctions and glitches happening in the real world—most likely caused somehow by Path of Relics—I don’t know how long this lime-light will last. Oh well, suits me fine.