Chapter 4: Something's Not Right

Roland slowly awoke to the sound of someone singing. It didn't take him long to notice that it was his 'mother' who was gently singing to both he and his sibling, who was in her other arm. Though it was a nice feeling waking up to a seemingly caring mother, Roland was also slightly uncomfortable with the entire situation.

'This is really weird. Even though I know this is supposed to be all fake, I'm feeling oddly calm while laying here in her arms, I'm starting to see why increasing the sensual feedback during full-dive was considered to be so dangerous.'

Roland once more looked around the room trying to see if there was anything new going on around him. It had already been a week since this whole debacle began, and while it had been interesting at first, it had started to grow old. Thankfully he kept 'falling asleep', most likely the doing of the dev's who were most likely taking advantage of the fact that he was supposed to be a baby to shorted the cut scene without making it to jarring of a transition.

The thought that it was odd that he as newborn child was able to look around in the first place did cross his mind, but he excused it as something the dev's did to make the cut scenes more impactful.

'It makes sense to allow us to look around, afterall it'd be pretty stupid to make such a detailed cut scene and not allow us gamers to be able to see it in its entirety. Though I am wondering how long these cut scenes are supposed to last. I hope these ends soon; I need to see if I dropped any of my armour pieces because of the death penalty...'

Roland absentmindedly raised his hand in the air, and instinctively tried to pull up the GUI of the game. He waited for the usual screen to appear in front of him, but after a moment without the screen appearing, his absentmindedness quickly faded as he began trying to pull up the GUI again and again.

Each time he tried and failed to pull up the Gui, he felt his heart grow colder and colder, and after his fifth try and final try, he simply lowered his hand and closed his eyes.

'Okay… so the GUI isn't popping up, no problem. Did the dev's disable it during the cut scene or something? I mean I guess they could have, but that seems like a pretty drastic a thing to do just to ensure that players watch the cut scenes… I guess I'll wait and see what happens.'

Roland calmed his racing heart and settled backdown into his 'mothers' gentle embrace, allowing himself a chance to enjoy the Orc woman's soothing voice once more. He drifted in and out of consciousness, but didn't get to enjoy the peace and tranquillity for long. After an few hours of uninterrupted rest, Roland was brought back to the waking world by the tell tail thumps of an approaching Orc. A short while latter the massive chief entered the tent and made his presence known. 

He entered the tent with large strides and made his way over to the occupied bed. He stood towering over the woman and the two young Orc children as he looked down on them, his appraising eyes scanning both children for a while before focusing on the woman at last.

Roland couldn't help but feel disturbed as he was looking into the eyes of the Orc that he believed to be the father of the baby who he was possessing for the cut scene. No matter how he though about it, those weren't the eyes of a happy father welcoming a new life into the world. No, those were the eyes of someone who was calculating the worth of the objects before them, and deciding whether they were worth the trouble of keeping them around or not.

Roland couldn't help but shudder as the Chieftains cold eyes passed over him once again. 

'I know this is a cut scene, but damn is it realistic. It's like I can feel how little he cares about me just from his look alone. His distaste and disdain are almost palpable.'

The Chieftain huffed and began speaking to the woman while pointing at the children in her grasp. What ever he was saying must not have been good, as the woman immediately hugged both children to her chest and turned away from the hulking man before her. Her voice waivered as she spoke, but she seemed determined not to do what ever the chieftain was wanting her to do. 

This of course only seemed to anger the Orc Chieftain even more. He took a step forward and Roland's eyes almost popped out of his head when a red aura started to cover the Chieftains body, with even his tattoos started to glow in the same red colour. It was as if lava was flowing within the ink of the tattoo, slowly spreading from his head all the way down to his hands and feet.

When the Chieftain started doing whatever it was he was doing, both Roland and the female orc froze. It was as if a blade had been unsheathed and was now pressed against the throats of everyone there. Instinctively, both Roland and the female knew if either of them decided to move, their heads would soon go rolling to the floor.

While the female Orc was covered in cold sweat, afraid that she had really pushed her husband too far, Roland couldn't help but shudder with excitement!

'What the hell?! What is that! Orcs never had that ability in game. Is this something new that the Dev's have rolled out for us? If so, I can't wait to see what other goodies they have in store! I take back all the hate I threw their way, if losing the world event means we get these kinds of cool abilities then I wouldn't mind losing a few more times!'

As if reacting to his internal excitement, Roland somehow managed to open his mouth and giggled in excitement. The sound was so out of place with the currant situation that the Chieftains momentum seemed to halt. 

He looked at the two children in the woman's hands, and seemingly for the first time, really and truly looked at them. One of them, the larger of the two, was still sleeping soundly even though he had already released his aura. This was surprising since most would have been awakened once they felt such malice pointed in their direction.

The fact that the boy was still sleeping showed that he had potential as a warrior. Afterall, if he could manage to sleep through his aura blasting a few feet away from him, then he wouldn't flinch once he started fighting.

That or the boy was simple to stupid for his own good.

Mostly satisfied with one of his children, he looked at Roland next and couldn't help but squint his eyes. This one had been a mixed bag from the very beginning. No cries when he was born, which was a usual sign that baby was bound to be weak as it grew, yet he had been very observant of his surrounds from the moment he opened his eyes. 

Even now as the Chieftain looked at him, he was watching the Chieftains every move with a look of excitement and hidden intelligence in his eyes. 

The chieftain simply looked at his two sons and kept his thoughts to himself. Finally with his mind made up, he looked down at his at his wife one more time before retracting his aura. With a final word to his wife he left the tent behind him and continued with his daily task.

The female orc was surprised that the Chieftain had backed down, but she wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. She had managed to buy a couple days for her sons and she was going to make the best of them.

Unbeknownst to the struggle happening in his mothers mind, Roland kept giggling like a fool at the thought of the new and amazing abilities just waiting for him to discover.