“Hark! Hark! The Savior of Withremm hath returned!”
The citizens of the tiny hamlet quickly gravitated to the town’s center, eager to catch a glimpse of the man who’d saved their world from the Prince of Liches.
The hero wore a shimmering cloak and a dazzling set of armor. He was adorned with numerous rings, pendants, and charms, and wielded a sword that looked as if it were made of solidified light. To the impoverished peasants, he looked like a God.
“Huh. Looks like dad basically hundred-percented the game.” The hero said, speaking to an apparently invisible person.
“Hero! Hero! Have you returned to lead us?” One of the peasants asked.
“Just a minute.” The hero said to his unseen companion, then turning to the villagers, asked “What do you want?”
“Hero! It has been many a year since you blessed us with your presence. Pray tell, has evil once more filled the land?”
The hero eyed the villagers curiously, then turned to his invisible compatriot and said “I think they may be sentient… Yeah… Well it is an older game, and that’s how they were made back then… I’ll find out.”
The hero turned to the confused yet eager villagers. “Tell me, what have you been doing since my last appearance?”
A dozen voices rose in excitement. The hero calmed them down, then selected one of the men near the front. “You sir, what have you been doing since my last appearance?”
“Aye, it has been many a busy year! My wife and I had our third child, and I have acquired ten and seven more acres of prime farmland.”
“And you, ma’am.” The hero pointed at a woman holding a basket of apples. “What have you been doing these many years?”
“It’s been a rough patch for me, it has.” She said. “Lost me father to Bubis, and me husband has been stricken with Larx.”
The hero nodded. He pointed at a few more villagers who briefly shared their stories, then turning to his invisible friend, said “Yeah, it seems so… I know, but what should I do?… Don’t you think that would mess them up?… I don’t know, I guess… Fine.” The hero turned back to the crowds, but the giddy confidence he had was now dampened. “Listen everyone, I don’t know how to tell you this, but you’re not real.”
The villagers remained silent.
The hero appeared to search for his words. “So we have these things in our world called video games. They’re basically like digital worlds that we can play in for fun. Eventually scientists figured out they can create passive quantum computers by trapping xenon gas in a quartz matrix encased in a carbon-“ But the villager’s confusion made the hero trail off. “Basically, we created you to be background characters for us.” The hero explained.
“You claim to be a god?” One of the villagers asked.
“No, I-“
“Yes! A god! Surely only divinity would be capable of defeating the Prince of Liches!”
“No, no, no, you don’t understand, my people created the Prince of Liches as well.”
The crowd fell silent.
“Surely that cannot be. Why create a great evil, only to defeat it?”
“Well where I’m from, we’ve created a society free from struggle, yet we still crave problems that can be bested. We created these fake virtual worlds in order to sate those desires, and well, this world, your world, is one such place.”
The villagers still seemed confused.
“Okay, look, in our world we have this thing called ‘quantum mechanics’, and those are the properties of very, very small objects. Those small objects allow true randomness, and we created fake worlds that utilized that randomness to keep the games surprising. Well, we later learned that consciousness is inherently a quantum phenomena as well, and when we realized the games we were creating could contain thinking, sentient beings… We created you.”
It was clear the villagers still didn’t quite grasp what the hero was telling them.
“If you created us, then you can make it so our fields are always bountiful!”
“You can grant us a cure for Bubis!”
“You can bring forth more people!”
The hero was trying to calm the excited crowd, and eventually managed to speak above the din. “No! No! I can’t!”
The crowd fell silent.
The hero looked guilty. “Look, when we discovered these games fostered sentient beings, it became illegal to produce more of them. We’re not allowed to alter the fundamentals of the original code… I’m probably not even supposed to be here now! I- What?” The hero turned to his invisible partner. “Really?… So we just contact the guy and he picks it up?… So we’d need to buy postage?” The hero looked out at the village. A hundred eager, confused, anxious eyes stared back at him. He sighed. “I suppose we should. It’s the right thing to do… Probably, but I’ll ask.” The hero turned back to the crowd. “So it turns out there’s someone in my world who’s created a sort of safe-haven for digital beings, and if you want, your village can join their world. It will be quite a challenge to adapt, since this new world is filled with everything from scifi to historical fiction to-“ But he saw the villagers’ confusion, “-things will get very, very weird for you.”
“Weird how?”
“Well, there will be flying machines made of metal, and there will be people who stand 50 feet tall. There will be talking animals and buildings that touch the heavens and strange magics you’ve never before encountered. Your current way of life will probably not be viable in this new world, but your people will have guaranteed safety, and there will be plenty of others… And yes, there will likely be a cure for Bubis. But I need to make sure that’s what you really want. If you so decide, I will make it so your world joins theirs.”
The villagers became energized, and many of them began speaking excitedly of the fantastic sights they might see. It was clear that the decision was nearly unanimous, with the only hold-outs being slightly wary of the specifics of the move.
The hero looked out with a sad smile. “My father saved you from the threat within this world, and I’ll be saving you from the threat outside it. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure your people get to safety.”
He gave one last look at the crowds, nodded, then disappeared forever.