Shall We Play a Game?
Stage 1
KarmaHope

"Ooww," Edward Elric groaned, "my butt hurts. What time is it, Al?"

His ever-suffering younger brother pulled out his phone to check the time. "It's seven forty-five."

"Uhg. Finally. We've been sitting here for hours," Ed complained loudly. He stood unsteadily, his joints stiff with cold after hours of sitting outside their local videogame store. He stretched as he regained his footing, eliciting dozens of cracks from various locations in his body.

"It'll be worth it though, right, Brother?" Alphonse said, watching his older sibling. He had been standing for a while now, shifting between feet at his place in the line.

"Of course it will!" Ed exclaimed. "This is the OcuNerve Rift we're talking about! The latest and greatest in all gaming technology! And it's coming pre-packaged with AltEARTH! Everyone who's anyone will be getting this game today."

"I'm just glad I don't have any classes until this afternoon," Al said gratefully. "I'm exhausted."

Edward snorted. "That's just 'cause you're lame and wouldn't sleep."

"Couldn't sleep," his brother corrected.

"Well, here's your number one tip about college, Al: you learn how to sleep anywhere and everywhere."

The two boys attended Central City University, Edward as a sophomore and Al as a freshman with incoming dual enrollment credit. School had been in session for a few weeks now, but both Ed and Al had decided months before that they were going to do the hardcore gamer thing and line up hours before the release of the OcuNerve Rift and AltEARTH. They were both longtime RPGers, and so the opportunity was one they couldn't pass up.

They had lined up at midnight for the game's release at eight o'clock that morning, but they were far from being the first in line. Edward didn't even want to think about how long the people in the front of the line had been standing there. Eight hours alone had done murder to his back – he admired their dedication, but at the same time thought it to be rather lame.

Who would go through that much trouble for a video game?

Yes, he knew he was being hypocritical.

The line around them began shifting anxiously as seven forty-five drew closer and closer to eight. If he hadn't already stood, Ed would certainly have to do so now in order to avoid being trampled underfoot. The hushed murmurs that had silenced during the night began picking up volume again, and he could feel his own heart beating in anticipation. Oh, how long he had waited for this!

The tentative release year OcuNerve Rift had been announced two years prior, when he was still a senior in high school. The actual date had been disclosed earlier this year, fully bringing home the fact that it was actually happening. He was so excited.

The future was an amazing thing.

"Look, look!" Al said, grabbing his attention, "They're opening the doors!"

And then everything was thrown into absolute chaos.

There was pushing and shoving as people surged forward, and Ed grabbed his brother's hand so as not to get separated. At the same time, he grabbed the frames of the glasses he wore so that there was no chance he could lose them in the crowd. The damn things were annoying, but he couldn't see without them.

It seemed like hours before they at last stood directly before the doors of the shop, but in reality was probably only about half that. Eager to see inside, Ed jumped on his tiptoes, cursing his height – or lack thereof. He still couldn't see over the rest of the people in the store.

"Brother, look out," Al said, tugging at his sleeve. Edward looked over just a moment too late as someone carrying a Rift box accidentally slammed into his shoulder. He jumped out of the way quickly, rubbing at the surely forming bruise, to let the person pass.

"Sorry!" the person – the girl mumbled as she passed by.

"It's fine," Edward muttered back. He got a brief glimpse of blonde hair as she walked away, followed by another dark-skinned girl that he assumed to be her friend, and then he was shoved forward into the festering claustrophobia of the shop.

"Aaah," Al screamed quietly, unable to contain himself, "We're almost there! I'm so excited!"

The line snaked through the shop, until at last they were next. Edward couldn't keep the grin off his face as he paid out the ass for their consoles; Alphonse would pay him back later, they'd decided. They walked out of the store with pride, past the line that still stretched on forever, and back to the car that they had parked hours beforehand.

It was only then that Edward checked the time once again.

"Shit!" he exclaimed, slamming the trunk of the car closed. "It's nine o'clock already – I've got to get to my nine-thirty still!"

"Give me the keys, Brother," Al said. "I'll drop you off at the university, then I'll take these home."

"Thanks Al," Edward said. "You're a lifesaver. Actually, no. More than that. A grade-saver. But promise me you won't log on until we're both home this afternoon, okay?"

Alphonse simply laughed. "The only thing I'm doing between the time I get back and the time I have to leave for class is sleeping, you can trust me on that one."

Edward thanked his lucky stars that it was a Friday night that night – it meant that all homework could be put on hold for at least a day, and he could log into AltEARTH as soon as he and Al got home. The two boys got out of class at about the same time on Friday, so one would always wait for the other so that they could walk back to their off-campus apartment together.

They had been on their own for a few years now – when their mother died a few years back, Ed was nearly eighteen, and so with their father missing, he had been emancipated and given custody of his younger brother. Neither had seen any reason to pay ridiculous amounts of money for on-campus housing, and so they had simply sold their old place and gotten a small apartment within walking distance of Central City University. They'd been there for almost a year and a half now, and it was working well for them.

Neither of them had to speak as soon as they stepped inside their apartment that afternoon, closing the door behind them. They just knew. Both dashed to their Rift boxes, and Ed was dismayed to see that Al's was open already. "You promised!" he accused.

"I didn't actually play it!" Al yelped. "I just installed the software! I did it on yours, too!"

Upon second glance, Ed saw that his box, too, had been opened. "Sorry, Al," he apologized sheepishly. Al just shrugged.

"It's okay. Here," he said, passing his brother a thick booklet, "here's the manual. I read over it a bit earlier – there's some really helpful information in there."

Ed took it from his brother's hand and skimmed through the first few pages on character design. It all looked pretty simple – after all, with yourself as the controller, it had to all be pretty intuitive. He cast it aside. "I'll figure the rest of it out as I go. Is there anything super important I should know?"

"If you give it your phone number when it asks for it, it'll sync up your contacts and give you the opportunity to send friend requests to any of your contacts who have done the same. It's the only way we'll be able to find each other initially."

"All right, good to know. You ready?" he asked as he grabbed the headgear that was the core of the OcuNerve Rift and plugged it into his laptop. AltEARTH may have been installed straight to the Rift, but it needed the connection with the computer in order to access the internet. It was a bug that the designers were still trying to work out, but in the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter much. One didn't move while in-game, so the tether didn't hinder anything.

"Am I ever," Al said, plugging his own in and settling the helmet-like console over his head. "Let's go."

Edward flipped the visor down, and he was lost to a whole new world.

:/game_login

:/initiating_registration

:/enter_fullname: _

Edward reeled as the words flashed before him. He had heard that the Rift tapped into the brainwaves themselves, but he was entirely unprepared for the total lack of anything screenlike. It was as if he was actually floating in the middle of a white void with nothing but the black characters hovering before him. There were no keyboards, no nothing, so he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Edward Elric," he announced to the void, and watched in fascination as the characters filled in the space.

:/user_fullname: EDWARD_ELRIC_

… SPELLED CORRECTLY? … YES … NO …

"Yes," Ed confirmed.

:/enter_birthdate: _

He listed off his birthdate, and once again confirmed the information was correct. When it prompted him for his phone number, he gave it as Al had instructed him to do. He gave his email address too, because why not? They already had his phone number.

... WELCOME TO AltEARTH …

:/initiating_charactercreation

To his right, a giant pair of double doors materialized and creaked open. As it was the only thing that had changed in this blank equivalent of a loading screen, Ed figured he had to go through them. To his surprise, he found that he could walk normally, despite there being no floor beneath him. As he passed through the doors, they closed behind him with an ominous bang.

He was still surrounded by strange white void, but now the outline of a person stared back at him. As he watched, it filled in until he was looking at a reflection of himself: bad haircut, dorky glasses, cowlick, and all.

"You're me," he said dumbly.

"Indeed I am," the copy of him said, its voice resonating eerily in the space. "Multiple tests with multiple beta groups proved that players identify more strongly with an avatar that looks like them; however, you may change your appearance at will. Choose wisely, for you only get to create your character once."

He knew this – he and Al had spent many a night in the days leading up to the game's release discussing character appearances. They knew they still wanted to look like brothers while they were in-game. Taking a deep breath, Ed surveyed himself.

"Get rid of the glasses," he said, and the offending frames disappeared. "Hmm … I'd like my hair to be longer, down to my back, with bangs down to my chin." He watched the changes eagerly – it wasn't every day one got to see himself change before his eyes. There. When he tied his hair up, it would look awesome.

"Are you satisfied with your character?" the man that wasn't him asked.

He shook his head. "I'd also like to be taller ... let's make it five foot seven." He knew how much teasing he would receive from Alphonse if he was suddenly six feet tall in-game, but five foot seven was a hell of a lot better that his real-life five foot five.

"Are you satisfied with your character?" his lips asked.

"Hmm …" he mused. "I'd like to be a little more buff," – because who wouldn't – "and I want my eyes to be gold. Like, actually gold." They were a honey amber in real life, so why not up the ante a bit?

"Are you satisfied with your character?" He paused, surveying the man before him that still looked like him, but like a new and improved version of him.

"Make my hair a little more golden," he said, his naturally more dirty-blonde color looking out-of-place with his character's golden eyes. The adjusted color, while not as bright as his eyes, fit much better. "And … uhh … hmm. I'd like a stronger nose."

It was an odd thing to ask for, and who knew what the hell that even meant, but the game being tied in with his brainwaves meant that he got exactly what he was imagining.

"Are you satisfied with your character?"

God, that was getting annoying. "Yeah, I think so," he said. Just too late, he realized that he hadn't fixed his ever-present cowlick. "Hey, wait!"

:/character_confirmed

"Hey!"

:/uploading_memorydata

Slowly, the figure before him faded away. Seconds later, Ed felt the tickle of something at his neck. Reaching for it automatically, his fingers met strands of golden hair. His real-life form was gone, replaced by the one he had tailored himself. It was a strange thing to wrap his head around.

"Have you chosen a class for your character?" The outline before him was once again simply that – an outline – and it freaked him out even more than seeing his own face had. The resonance of its voice didn't help matters, either.

"Yes," Ed stated confidently. "I want to be an Alchemist." This was another thing he and Al had talked about in length. Seeing as he was a chemistry major, alchemy simply made the most sense. Besides, as he had said: it was goddamn cool.

:/characterclass_alchemist

:/enter_charactername: _

Edward grinned. He had known this one for years. Of course he would use the same name he had chosen for his very first MMORPG back in middle school – it was the one he had used ever since.

:/user_charactername: FULLMETAL_

… SPELLED CORRECTLY? … YES … NO …

Hell yeah. He was going to be the Fullmetal Alchemist!

It didn't get much more badass than that.

Author's Note:

So ... hi. It's me. I should be working on a billion other things, namely my Soul Eater Resbang fic and Rewriting Fiction, but I read this one fic last night last night and was inspired to write this AU for FMA. I honestly don't know where it's going to go yet, tbh. There isn't going to be any set update schedule for this.

In case you're curious, work on Rewriting Fiction is going slower than I'd like, but I've gotten a couple chapters done since I've been on hiatus.

The next chapter for this should be up fairly soon. I'm in the middle of writing it right now. I'm going to keep the chapters short, so I can update more frequently, hopefully. I banged the entirety of this one out last night in a fit of inspiration.

As always, reviews are greatly appreciated!