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MidReal Story
Digital Escape: A Game Character in Reality
Scenario:A game character became real
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Mark Collins
Sarah's colleague and coder, friend of Sarah, glasses and unkempt hair, logical and cautious
Sarah Jennings
game developer and player, friend of Alex, long brown hair, creative and resourceful
Alex Mercer
stranded game character, no relationships, athletic build with digital aesthetics, determined and adaptable
I was playing the game when it happened.
"Hold him steady," Mark instructed, his voice trembling slightly.
One minute, I was in the middle of a boss battle, and the next, I was staring at a man who had somehow emerged from my computer screen.
Sarah knelt beside me, her hands pressing down on my shoulders in an attempt to stabilize me.
He was tall and lean, with an athletic build that looked like it had been chiseled out of marble.
"Alex, stay with us," she pleaded, her eyes wide with fear.
His skin was a pale gray color, and his eyes glowed a bright blue.
Mark's gaze shifted to the strange device that had fallen from my pocket when I collapsed.
He wore a black leather jacket and matching pants, and his head was completely bald.
It was small and metallic, with intricate patterns etched into its surface.
He looked like he’d just stepped out of a video game.
I blinked at him, trying to make sense of what I was seeing.
"This might be the key," Mark muttered, picking up the device and examining it closely.
He turned it over in his hands, his brow furrowed in concentration.
This couldn’t be real.
It had to be some kind of weird glitch in the game.
"Sarah, we need to connect this to your computer. It might give us some answers."
But no matter how many times I blinked or pinched myself, he didn’t disappear.
Sarah nodded frantically and scrambled to her feet, nearly tripping over herself in her haste.
She reached her desk and began typing furiously on her keyboard, her fingers flying over the keys.
He stood there, looking just as confused as I felt.
Her hands were shaking so badly that she had to pause several times to correct her mistakes.
"Hurry!" Mark urged, glancing back at me as my body flickered more violently.
"Who... who are you?" I stammered, my voice barely above a whisper.
The man’s glowing blue eyes locked onto mine.
"I’m Alex Mercer," he said, his voice deep and resonant. "I’m from the game you were playing."
My mind raced, trying to process his words.
I could feel the pain intensifying, each wave more excruciating than the last.
From the game? How was that even possible?
Sarah finally managed to pull up a series of code on her screen and connected the device to her computer with a USB cable.
I took a cautious step forward, my hand trembling as I reached out to touch him.
"Okay, it's connected," she said breathlessly. "Now what?"
Mark joined her at the desk and began typing commands into the computer.
His skin was cold and hard, like stone.
I jerked my hand back in shock.
"We need to find a way to stabilize his form," he said, his voice tense. "There has to be something in the game's code that can help us."
"Please," he said, his expression desperate. "You have to help me get back to my world."
As they worked together, I let out a pained gasp, my vision blurring from the intensity of the flickering.
I swallowed hard, my heart pounding in my chest.
"Hang on, Alex," Sarah called out without turning around. "We're going to fix this."
The screen flashed with cryptic symbols as Mark continued typing furiously.
"Okay," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "Let me call someone who might know what to do."
He paused for a moment, scanning the lines of code before nodding decisively.
I grabbed my phone and dialed Mark’s number.
"I think I've found something," he said. "It's a sequence that looks like it might reverse whatever's happening to him."
He picked up on the second ring.
"Do it!" Sarah urged. "We don't have much time!"
"Sarah? What’s up?"
"Mark, you need to come over here right now," I said, my voice shaking. "Something... something really weird is happening."
Mark's fingers flew over the keyboard as he executed the sequence.
The screen filled with more symbols, and I felt a sudden jolt run through my body.
There was a pause on the other end of the line.
"Okay, I’ll be there in ten minutes," he said finally.
For a moment, everything went dark, and I thought I might lose consciousness entirely.
I hung up and turned back to Alex.
But then, slowly, my form began to stabilize.
The flickering lessened, and the pain started to ebb away.
He was looking around my room with a mixture of curiosity and confusion.
"It's working!" Sarah exclaimed, relief flooding her voice. "He's stabilizing!"
"Is this your home?" he asked.
Mark didn't stop typing until the screen displayed a final line of code: "Process Complete."
"Yeah," I replied. "It’s not much, but it’s mine."
He nodded, his eyes lingering on the posters of video game characters that adorned my walls.
I took a deep breath as the last remnants of pain faded away.
My vision cleared, and I looked up at Sarah and Mark with gratitude in my eyes.
A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.
I rushed to open it, and Mark stepped inside, his expression a mix of concern and skepticism.
"You did it," I said weakly. "Thank you."
Before they could respond, the computer screen flashed again, this time displaying a new set of symbols that neither of them recognized.
"Alright, what’s going on?" he asked.
"What's happening now?" Sarah asked nervously.
I pointed to Alex, who was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.
Mark stared at the screen in confusion. "I don't know... but it doesn't look good."
Mark’s eyes widened as he took in the sight of him.
Suddenly, there was a loud beep from the device connected to the computer.
"No way," he muttered. "This has to be some kind of prank."
"This is no joke," I declared firmly. "He claims he's a character from the game I was just playing."
Mark walked over to Alex and studied him closely.
"This is insane," he said finally. "But if it’s true, we need to figure out how to get him back."
We sat down at my desk and started brainstorming ideas.
Maybe we could reverse the glitch somehow?
Or maybe there was a way to send him back through the computer?
As we discussed our options, Alex suddenly convulsed and collapsed onto the floor.
His body flickered like a corrupted file on a computer screen.
"Alex!" I screamed, rushing to his side.
Mark knelt down beside me, his face pale with fear.
"What’s happening to him?" he asked urgently.
"I don’t know!" I cried. "But we have to do something!"
Alex’s body continued to flicker and convulse, his glowing blue eyes dimming with each passing second.
She was already at the computer, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she tried to find a solution.
"Mark, help me hold him steady," I pleaded.
Mark nodded and grabbed Alex's shoulders, trying to keep him from thrashing around.
"Come on, Alex, stay with us," Mark said through gritted teeth.
The room was filled with the harsh glow of the computer screen and the frantic beeping of the device connected to it.
Alex's eyes flickered like a dying light bulb, and his skin seemed to glitch in and out of existence.
"Sarah, hurry!" I urged, my heart pounding in my chest.
"I'm trying!" she snapped, her eyes never leaving the screen. "There's got to be something in this code that can help."
I watched helplessly as Alex's condition worsened, his body convulsing more violently with each passing second.
"Mark, what if we try to reboot the system?" I suggested desperately. "Maybe it'll reset whatever's happening to him."
"It's worth a shot," he agreed. "Sarah, can you do that?"
She nodded quickly. "I'll try. But it might take a few minutes."
"We don't have a few minutes!" I shouted, my voice rising in panic.
Sarah's hands were shaking as she typed in the commands to reboot the system.
The screen went black for a moment before flashing back to life with a series of cryptic symbols.
"Come on, come on," she muttered under her breath.
Alex let out a strangled cry, his body arching off the floor as another wave of convulsions wracked him.
"Hold on, Alex," Mark said urgently. "We're going to fix this."
The room seemed to close in around us, the air thick with tension and fear.
Finally, Sarah hit the enter key with a decisive click.
The screen went dark again before displaying a new set of symbols.
"Rebooting now," she announced breathlessly.
For a moment, everything was still.
Then Alex's body stopped convulsing, and he lay motionless on the floor.
"Is he...?" I couldn't bring myself to finish the sentence.
Mark checked for a pulse and let out a relieved sigh. "He's still alive. But barely."
The computer screen flickered back to life, displaying a progress bar that slowly began to fill up.
"Come on," Sarah whispered. "Just a little longer."
We watched in tense silence as the progress bar inched its way toward completion.
Finally, it reached 100%, and the screen displayed a message: "System Reboot Complete."
Alex's body shimmered for a moment before stabilizing once more.
His eyes fluttered open, glowing faintly but steadily now.
"Alex?" I asked tentatively. "Can you hear me?"
He nodded weakly. "Yes... I'm still here."
Relief washed over me like a tidal wave. "Thank God."
Sarah let out a shaky breath and slumped back in her chair. "We did it."
But our relief was short-lived as the computer emitted another loud beep and displayed an error message: "Critical System Failure Imminent."
"What now?" Mark groaned in frustration.
Sarah scanned the screen quickly. "It looks like whatever we did only bought us some time. We need to find a permanent solution or he'll start glitching again."
I looked at Alex, who was struggling to sit up. "Hang in there, Alex. We're not giving up on you."
He gave me a faint smile. "Thank you... all of you."
Mark stood up and started pacing the room. "Okay, think. There has to be something we're missing."
Suddenly, Alex's body shimmered again, but this time it was different—more controlled.
"I think... I think I can feel it," he said slowly. "There's something... pulling me back."
"What do you mean?" Sarah asked urgently.
"I don't know how to explain it," Alex replied. "But it's like there's a connection... between your world and mine."
Mark stopped pacing and looked at him intently. "If we can find that connection and strengthen it..."
"We might be able to send you back," Sarah finished for him.
Alex nodded weakly. "Yes... please hurry."
Without wasting another second, we dove back into brainstorming ideas and scanning through lines of code on the computer screen.
