THE MOMENT
"Spare change...?" the old man in rags asked as Matthew walked by. He was seated and leaning against the wall; but, he sat up straighter to ask Matthew for help. He stopped walking and looked down at the seated man. Matthew was positive that he'd never seen the old man before despite taking this route to work every day for years.
However, as he looked down at the dirt-caked vagabond, he felt a strange guilt grow in the pit of his stomach. He wouldn't have been able to put it into words; but, Matthew had the distinct sensation that he intentionally ignored the beggar over the years. As if he'd always been there but this was the first time Matthew saw him.
He knew he wouldn't be able to shake off the guilt at work unless he did something. Matthew pulled out his billfold and began to look through it for an amount that would remedy his guilt. As he flipped through the bills, a young teenage girl with long, dark red hair walked up next to them. She was dressed in a wine-red ninja costume but she had money ready in-hand and was about to give it to the old man. But, she stopped when she noticed Matthew.
"Oh, sorry. You were here first," she said. She pulled her hand and stepped back to let him finish.
"Uh... thanks...," Matthew said. Though, it confused him that she seemed to be dressed in a Halloween costume. And taking turns to donate to the homeless was rather odd. He chalked it up to an online challenge and decided to get out of her way as fast as possible. He currently had a $50 bill in his hand and was looking for something smaller; but, in the moment he wanted to leave. He pulled out the bill and handed it to the old man.
The man looked up at him with bright eyes and stood up on wobbling legs. He took the bill, then smiled at Matthew and pushed a small brown paper bag into his hands. Matthew didn't know where he got it, and didn't have time to figure it out because the man leaned forward with a wheezing laugh.
"Run...," he said while laughing. Matthew heard tires screech behind him and turned to see what happened. Two black SUVs sped around a corner four blocks away and were headed straight towards him.
"What?" Matthew asked. He looked down at the old man who sat down again. "What is this?" he shoved the paper bag in the beggar's face.
"Spare change...?" the beggar replied. Then, Matthew heard giggling next to him and remembered the teen was there.
"My name's Valentine," she said when he looked at her. Then, she knelt to give the beggar some money. "Stick with me if you want to get through this," she said.
"Get through what?" Matthew asked. At the same moment, the old beggar was giving Valentine another brown paper bag and told her to run. Matthew looked at the bag in his hand, then at hers; they were identical. "What's going on?" he asked. Valentine handed him her bag and grinned.
"Hold this. I'll explain everything after," she said and walked out into the middle of the street.
"After what?!" Matthew shouted. Valentine faced forward and Matthew realized there were now four SUVs speeding at them. She reached behind herself and placed her hand on her sword. Matthew looked at the four SUVs rushing towards them single file, then back at Valentine. He was about to ask her if she was insane, but then he heard a deep voice fill the air around them. And, he felt a chill travel down the back of his neck.
[Ghost Slash] the voice said. A bright flash of blue light blinded Matthew for a moment. When he opened his eyes Valentine stood in the middle of the road with her sword drawn. Its blade was covered in ice. Matthew looked further down the street and all four SUVs were torn in half by a line of ice that cut right through them.
Matthew was shocked by everything that had happened so far. He was out of surprise when the black vehicles disintegrated into white dust along with the frozen stalagmites that destroyed them.
"What's going on?" Matthew asked Valentine when she returned to the sidewalk. She stuck her hand out when she reached him and he returned the paper bag.
"You started a quest you didn't know was there..," Valentine said as she opened the bag. She peeked inside and sighed.
"What do you mean a quest?" Matthew asked. He watched Valentine reach into the bag and pull out a small glowing golden cube about the size of a Ping-Pong ball.
"I mean a quest," Valentine shrugged as she closed her hand around the cube. It was gone when she opened her hand again. "Aren't you gonna check your reward?" she nodded at the paper bag in Matthew's hand. He looked down at the beggar who had gone back to sitting down and minding his own business. Then, he shrugged and opened the bag.
He didn't see anything at first; but, he followed Valentine's example and reached in. He was surprised to feel something that wasn't part of the bag; it felt flat and stiff and smooth. He pulled out a transparent rectangle about the size of a playing card.
"What's this?" He showed it to Valentine and she smiled.
"Oh, lucky!" she said. "That's a node, it'll answer all your questions." Valentine reached into her pocket and pulled out another green bill.
"Now that you're on track, I can do what I came here to do," she knelt and handed the bill to the old man. He wobbled onto his feet, handed her a bag and told her to run.
"What about me??" Matthew asked when he heard the tires screeching behind him. He didn't know what was going on, but it seemed to be happening again.
"What about you?" Valentine shrugged. "You got everything you need. Just don't give him any money until you're ready to play."
“Play what?” Matthew asked as Valentine started running away from the SUVs this time.
“CHECK YOUR NODE!” Valentine yelled from a distance as the cars sped past Matthew.
“What?” Matthew looked at the glassy rectangle, then tapped the surface. Then, text appeared in the center of it.
[Welcome to the AlterNet.]