I stood up and dusted off my pants. The spawning had dropped me rather rapidly from the sky, and I was sure glad that jeans were now in Minecraft. Was it like this for other players too?  I wondered if I would ever find them. After that disaster, it didn’t seem likely that they would ever accept me again.

The pixely landscape was more realistic then I had ever seen, and my ‘character’ was just like me in real life. Almost. I could move each of my fingers, twitch my tail, blink, breath, I could feel the wind and the rain against my life-like skin. It was amazing, I was so glad that the beta for 20.0 had come out. I shook my head, the smooth graphics stunned my now-able-to-use-expression face. It seemed to lack something, however, something important. I wonder what it is. My mind whirled.

This version was almost like life itself… yet I still regretted my failure, my quavering. All I had to do was press a button. The button. That small choice, yet I was accursed to be a coward, such a coward.

Shelter. Nothing much had changed there, and I stepped to the nearest tree, flicking out my shiny claws, shredding at the bark of the tree and slicing through the oak. The wood minimalized, and I picked it up, throwing it into my tool belt I received upon spawn.

Oh, yeah. I forgot you don’t know yet. In this new Minecraft… they took your life, moved you into the computer. Your life was based off of the program they had you trapped in, and…well, apparently I’m a cat person, a neko. The name hovering above my head was the only thing that never changed in the updating versions.

Steve. What a boring name, yet it was the only one I could remember, the only thing I knew. In the earlier versions I had a vague memory of my name. ‘Steve’ now though. No numbers, no other symbols, nothing. You’d think since that was the ‘main character’ of the game some player would already have taken the name.

The vast echoless sky seemed to be mocking me as I carefully crafted a crafting table, plopping the sticks and wood into it, binding the axe together. I hefted it, staring at the wooden blade that seemed to re-awaken something in my mind.

After a few minutes of felling trees, I found a shady grove near a small shining pool. Perfect.  Beginning to create my home, A 6 by 6 wooden plank house, I kept thinking of my story, of how it should be told. Who will read this? I don’t know, I never will. Perhaps no one.

The quandary state this may leave you in is a downfall of any good novel, but I do hope you enjoy it. Even if it’s a true event…

The night will soon fall, I should begin to write it. The thought dropped throughout my mind like a sword, chopping my peace of mind. How could I write about that again?

We shall skip the humdrum routine of me finding paper, let’s just start at the beginning, the time where not everything was pixelated …

The bright screen was the only thing illuminating my room on the Monday morning of December the 4^th, and the computer’s continued hum calmed my mind. It was nearly 3AM, the time when I usually went to sleep. However, something was going on, something new. Planet Minecraft was abuzz with excitement over… something. The forum threads that kept popping up, the blogs and skins with the news, but what was it? Every forum post, locked, edited away. All I saw was: ‘Who’s Steve??’ and ‘Mojang suspicion?’ yet, the blogs were deleted, detected, and closed away from the world. As I clicked on the refresh button, I noticed PMC was down, it seemed as if the users had crashed it with all their silly Steve questions. I noticed that it wasn’t just PMC, the internet was down as well. I need to get that looked at. I scratched my chin, feeling the stubble of a beard. Oh, bother.

The distinct ping of an email went off; clicking on the message, I wondered who would email me at this time of night. The email was in a fancy format and addressed towards ‘Steve.’ Steve? Wrong person perhaps? Yet the scrawling script burned against my tired eyes, and I knew it was meant for me.

The short letter left me baffled, confused… Minecraft 15.0? As far as I knew, 1.8 had just been released… not even 2.0 was out yet! Somehow, I felt drawn to the ‘experiment.’ If all I had to do was test the game, how hard could it be? I even got a free Minecraft account from all that. What was there to lose? Oh, I wish I had have stayed at my welcoming computer that dreary night.

The next day I was dressed and ready for this trial, I had shaved and put on my best suit, even though it was just a game. Ha, just a game! It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, what if they recognized my skills so much I get a job there? I thought excitedly. Rushing out of the house and into my car, I drove out of my driveway, into the morning traffic.

Or lack thereof. The streets were empty and the wind seemed louder than ever. On a Monday, that didn’t seem quite right… maybe work had the day off.

I parked my car in the driveway of Mojang, staring at the huge skyscraper that was the HQ of Mojang… the company that created Minecraft. Of all people it was me who was chosen to participate! How wonderful!

I bundled out of the car and walked hurriedly to the huge, glass sliding doors. Upon coming closer to them, I noticed that they weren’t sliding open as usual, but I shrugged it off. Pushing the sliding doors open I stepped into the building.

The doors slammed behind me, leaving me in a lobby so dark that it seemed as if I could never escape.

“H-hey, is anyone there?” I cast my voice out, but it seemed thin and quavering, not at all like I wished it to sound. Typically the dark didn’t scare me, but now… there was nothing in that dark place but fear itself.

“Proceed to the testing center, Steve.” A metallic voice rung out from the PA, and I jumped as the lights flickered on and blinded me. Why do they keep calling me ‘Steve’?

My surroundings were now visible, and I could now tell that the Mojang building looked much like any other office building on the inside. I patted my pocket and reeled back in dismay as I realized I had forgotten my phone… now I couldn’t re-check that email… or get help if it was needed.

I strode to the elevator, the false confidence came naturally to me after years of practice, and saw the panel next to the elevator;

Floor one: Developers

Floor two: Testers

True, there was more to be seen, but my eyes landed upon floor two and I bounced into the elevator, forgetting the strangeness of it all. The buttons were lit with the glowing yellow and I pressed the number 2, excitement causing my fingers to tremble. The excitement in the air left me breathless...  

Once I reached the testing hall (After some hindrance; finding the hall had been a trifle difficult) I saw doorways upon doorways, tons of them. They were numbered 1.0, 2.0, and seemed to go on for as far as the eye could see.

I stopped in front of 12.0… what was inside? I knew they had asked me to test 15.0, but the building seemed to be deserted, and it wouldn’t do anyone harm to take a quick look…

I placed my quivering hand on the silvery door handle, pushing down on it. The door creaked slightly, as if it hadn't been used for years. The yellowy light of the flickering hall lights streamed into the dark room. The only source of light was from a computer at the back center of the 12 x 12 musty room. A glowing silhouette was slumped in front of the computer. As I walked towards it curiously, I was suddenly aware of the lack of breathing coming from the form…

The corpus seemed to be 16 or 17, only a few years younger than me, his short frazzled brown-black hair sat untidily upon his head. As I walked up next to him, I was hit with the reeking smell of decay, and I fell back; the kid was dead!

I stumbled out of the room for all of my worth, slamming the door behind me. I cast my eyes around wildly, looking for an exit. They were going to kill me!

“Steve, your room awaits you to your left. Enter the room and wait for further instructions.” The PA rung on, echoing through the dim floor. Hell no! I didn’t come here to die! My mind burst out the panicky thought. All windows were suddenly slammed and doused into black and the 12.0 door suffered a faint click, the sound of a lock turning.

 A quick pace sent me to the looming 15.0 door, where the number glowed a faint red. It was the only door left open, the only thing I could do. Might as well get it over with.

Once the door clicked shut behind me, the voice from before entered my mind;

“It pleasures us that you have reached the destination. Take a seat in the chair adjacent to the PC and put the headphones on. We require you to leave them on until… further notice.”

“A-alright.” My voice shook, I had given in to the voice, and I knew there wasn’t an option left.

As I took my seat in the chair, the monitor flicked on. The welcoming screen displayed a message that wasn’t the normal login screen;

I wiggled the mouse, then suddenly remembered the headphones. Reaching out for the grey headset, my hands shook violently as I put them on…

A voice in my mind… In my mind.

“Welcome to Minecraft 15.0, Steve. You are our final tester. You have now been granted your new Minecraft life… the first of many.”  I suddenly felt something prick my head… then my mind, and before I could fling off the headphones in horror, I was thrown into darkness.   

I awoke, blinking in the strange, harsh, white light. My limbs were limited, my sight blurry. Suddenly, I realized that Minecraft 15.0 was more like real life than anything so far.

As I demoed all the new features and tested what my character could do, I began to think…

I left the house at 7:48ish, around when rush hour should start. The power was out at the Mojang building. It was Monday. The streets were deserted… something was wrong. Very wrong. I startled, and began to reach up to rip off the head phones. I could feel my real life self-copy the movements and then…

My Minecraft figure twitched, and I felt the blocky grass rush up to meet me. In an instant, I was awake and aware, ready to fight. The dark room greeted me the same as before, shadowy and musty with only the computer within it.  

Voices.

I heard voices.

Steve, you’re the beginning of everything… Steve!

We needed you!

The voices were agonizing, piercing my mind and crawling up my neck. The shivers and pricks I felt, the horror. I need to help them! Yet no way came. The black of the room seemed to be eating away and then…!

“Steve. Please put your headphones back on.” The PA clattered to a start. They didn’t turn it off though, and I heard:

“The simulation is going just fine; all systems a go.”

“But no one has ever gotten out of it before! This one is different!”

I suddenly shouted up to the ceiling, nothing in particular did I yell, yet my voice echoed off as if the room was larger than I had imagined. I angrily put the headphones back on, and I felt myself go into the computer.

A button.

Button?

Why a button?

That was all I saw, if I looked down on myself, I saw… me. Not Minecraft. Yet… not the real me. A fake.

“Chose…!” A silky voice lured me out of the daze, like all the bells in the world had come to sing me to sleep, as if it was all for me…

 “The button, Steve.” The voice from before clarified. “The red one… or the green one.” Buttons? That was so idiotic, I had no idea what either of them meant! Red was often a bad color, but they could be tricking me…

Who were they? Why did I of all gamers get stuck here? I needed help getting out, not the ones who screamed so pitifully of it!

“Chose…chose, chose… yes a choice! The red of your fate or green of your destiny?” The silk caressed my face, and I sighed… yes… yes a choice would be made.

“The button. Steve, your defiance and will to survive lead you to accidently be transferred into the main control’s computers. The headphones pick up your personality.”

“A-are you real?” I spoke out for the first time since reaching the button room.

“Yes, Steve. My name is Alex. I am a program Mojang created to follow their needs. However, I know that you needed guidance.” I couldn’t believe the voice was fake… it was just oh so real…!  

I reached out.

I reached out with my mind, with my soul, I reached out.

She fell, blinking besides to me. Her blond hair, shinning blue eyes, her stunned face. She was real… awe filled my mind.

“Alex!” I murmured her name as if it was a life line, the key of my salvation.  

“Steve, the first button, the red one. It destroys all of them! All of the Mojang workers in front of a computer will be sucked in, they will be sent to another program of theirs.” Her voice wrapped itself around me, but I knew something. I couldn’t hurt so many people.

“A-and the green button…?” I asked, desperately looking for a way out. Only the buttons shined their menace upon me.

Alex’s face was grim as she responded:

“Activates what the Mojang employs call ‘Your new Minecraft life.’ Basically they get sucked into Minecraft just as you did. Every single person with in a half mile radius of a computer goes into their own, separate world. You know how the streets were empty as you came here?” I suddenly remembered all the curiosities of the morning: “Well, your town has started its ‘Minecraft life,’”  The email! It said that I would receive a free Minecraft life…!  Panic bloomed within my chest, filling me with dread and fear. No! I can’t let this happen! Alex somehow had more to tell, the horror wasn’t enough. “The power outage?” Of course, the sliding doors wouldn’t open and the darkness of the first floor, the internet being down… “Mojang needs so much power to get people into computers that it blackouts the city. Now let’s see…” She pulled up an electronic map that was littered with red dots. “The red dots are the towns that already in Minecraft.”     

“No…” My heart, oh how it had leapt about, I could feel each and every beat, pulsing to its own rhythm of fear. “What if I don’t do anything? I-I could just sit here, refuse to make a choice…!”

“Remember how you got here in the first place…? It was because of your determination. Mojang wasn’t used to that. However… they’re ‘fixing’ it, closing out opportunity for you to do something.”

Did you know that shock is one of the hardest things to endure? It paralyzes your body, fills your mind, destroys hope. It’s terrifying. Yet, here, there is no time left. Time, time!

Falling to my knees, I murmured out a last question;

“A-are all the Mojang workers innocent…? Or just a few…” I just couldn’t kill so many of them… not if they were just working for their family! Just working to get along in the frightening world…

I stood then, reaching out. The button. The green one. Minecraft wasn’t that bad…

Everything disappeared. Alex last of all, looking sympathetically at me.

“Time, Steve, like you said. You ran out of it…”

I didn’t press a button… How cowardly was that? A freaking button for Christ’s sake?

There you go, my failure, the complete worst thing I have ever done.

Now, how did I phrase it back then, ‘Minecraft isn’t that bad.’

Alex used to visit me from time to time, give me updates, how Mojang was coming along, how many other people it had lured into its depths…

She used to. Alex’s last visit was in a panic, version 18.0, where she had informed me that everyone’s Minecraft life was started, only the Mojang employees are still in the real world. Her pixel form evaporated. I knew what it meant… 

Alex was never coming back. It weighed on my soul, blackened my heart, and clouded my mind. I couldn’t believe…. No…. I would wait. Waiting for eternity… Wait until- who knew how long I would wait…

Alone I would stay, alone. Who knew if you died in this Minecraft? I wish I could, but I always respawned. 

As I look back, I wish I had pressed the button. It would have killed so many people…but… would it be worth it?

Yes… the Mojang workers stole the hopeless souls away from all they had known, but the workers themselves hadn’t known the cost. They, too, were sucked in, by greed.

It was different though. For now they hover in the vast eternal veil of life and Minecraft, blocks and not, pixels or matter. As we had always predicted, technology had truly taken over…

That sacrifice, that button, should have been selected, pressed. More often than not, sacrifices are the only choice, and I failed in what should have been easiest…