Tyler had always been an avid gamer, ever since his older brother Dylan had introduced him to the first Destiny game back when he was just 14 years old. Ever since he picked up that controller and killed his first Chimera he was hooked. Something just clicked inside him, and so began a hobby that soon became a craze and then ultimately an obsession that would lead him down the dark path he found himself on. Every day after school he would beg Dylan to play co-op with him, and as time went on his natural new-found skill overtook that of his brothers and he became the regular party leader amongst their clan.
When Destiny 2 came out Tyler was becoming a force to be reckoned with, his username was well known amongst other clans and feared on the PVP servers, his skill far surpassed those around him. Leading entire clan raids successfully he was soon being noticed by leagues, official and unofficial. By the time the first two expansion packs had been released Tyler had offers to join clans known worldwide, tournaments for cash and minor interviews on the gaming circuit as the new up and coming e-gamer to watch.
That’s when they approached him.
While playing one day Tyler received a message on his computer from an unknown sender, at first he wasn’t going to open it, until he read the first line that showed up underneath the message notification… –
Fate of the Forsaken short story
‘Tyler, we see great promise in you… we have an offer you shouldn’t turn…’
That was all he could see. What stood out to him though was the message addressed him by his real name, nowhere on his account had he used his real name yet somehow this sender knew it. The thought crossed his mind that this was maybe one of his or his brothers’ friends playing some kind of prank on him, so he figured he would go along with it and opened the message. The rest of the message went on to explain his gaming abilities had caught the attention of a very wealthy group of people, people who enjoyed watching gamers but with higher risks involved… Along with these supposed higher risks the cash pay-out of course made up for it to the victor. The message ended simply with if he was interested in joining he was to click the link, immediately log off and await further instruction. Tyler, not wanting to look like the message had got to him, clicked the link, logged off for the night and thought nothing more of it.
The next morning Tyler woke to the sound of his mom shouting from the bottom of the stairs, a package had arrived for him delivered by a bike courier. Tyler made his way downstairs and retrieved his unexpected delivery with a perplexed look on his face, where did it come from? Tyler opened it to find a brand new Ps4, a brand-new headset and camera, a Laptop and an assortment of wires attached to what looked like sticky pads and a note. The note stated that due to him accepting participation in the league last night he would no longer be using his old account, every contender used an assigned account, the supplied hardware with camera was compulsory. Lastly, the bizarre looking tangle of wires and sticky pads were meant to monitor his heart rate for the viewers and instructions how to set those up followed. The Laptop was for him to stream his live reactions back to the viewers, this also came with instructions. Tyler was soon realising this wasn’t some elaborate prank after all, and the idea of earning some serious money through a game he loved appealed to him. Without much more thought he headed up to his room, locked the door and set up the new machine, the camera and loaded up the new account. Just like the message, his new account name was simply ‘Tyler’.
With this being the weekend of the release of the new Forsaken DLC, Tyler hoped they had the foresight to set it up, his hopes were soon confirmed as he got stuck into the game with his new account. Glancing at the screen of the laptop he was surprised to see several other players all hooked up to wires the same as him, before he had time to fully understand what was going on a voice came over the mic.
“He… Hey… can anyone hear me?” The voice began “Hello?” it continued.
“Hi, I’m here” Tyler replied
“Well this is…. Different, isn’t it? Don’t quite know what to think yet” The mysterious voice broke the second silence.
Tyler looked at the laptop to see a young-looking boy in one of the mini screens talking at the same time as the mysterious voice
“Ah, I see you! Check out your laptop” Tyler gave a wave to the camera “That’s me!” The boy could be seen looking at his laptop then smiling and waving back.
Over the next 20 minutes each person introduced themselves, where they were from and their particular specialty, everyone seemed to be getting on perfectly until a high-pitched horn burst from all of their headphones cutting the conversations dead. Eventually a new voice entered the chat, one without a camera attached.
“I’m so glad you have all introduced yourselves to each other, the next part is not as fun for us when you can’t put a name to the screams.” A look of confusion and fear began to appear on each contenders’ face
“As you know this is a tournament, but it’s not the type of tournament you are used to, no, this one will only have a single round, winner takes all. A Battle Royale of sorts. Now, can I direct your attention to the wires you all so blindly attached to yourselves… These are now live, any attempt to remove them, will result in death by electrocution” panicked murmurs were filling the headphones “Quiet down quiet down, you are all perfectly safe, if you don’t touch the wires. That is of course until we enter the tournament properly… think of these wires as your elimination once being killed in game. That’s right, in-game deaths WILL result in your actual death…” The contenders began to protest, some were crying others were shouting, the host’s voice remained silent while the commotion rose.
As the shouting continued an ear-piercing scream cut through the noise, Tyler wasn’t quite sure what was going on until he looked at his laptop and saw one of the other contenders convulsing then…nothing, no movement.
“There’s always one every year” The host began “Someone always has to question whether the electrocution is a joke… As you all can now tell, we are deadly serious. Without further ado, Welcome to Season 4… Let the tournament can begin!” The slight sound of people cheering and music could be heard in the background of the host’s mic.
All Contenders were loaded into a lobby…only one left…
It’s been just over two years since that first fateful tournament for Tyler, thankfully for him he was the best that day, and the following tournaments after that in fact. His skills truly are legendary, to the point the host and his wealthy viewers use him in real games to lure new contestants into joining his clan, and if they prove themselves they too get a mysterious inbox personalised to them.
So, remember this story the next time you’re playing some game online and come across a new clan invite, he doesn’t only play Destiny you know… They’ve expanded his game range but each time the clans the same, So beware of…
The Fate of the Forsaken
