It started out as any ordinary day. People all over the nation plugged in their favorite video games and sat in front of their TV's set to enjoy a test of man over machine. But this day wasn't really ordinary at all. Increasing solar activity had been steadily and subtly changing the microwaves bouncing all over the Earth in a way no one in science had ever predicted. On this day, in a single moment, people all over the country simply disappeared in a split second...

Kaveman opened his eyes and saw that for some reason his bedroom had been replaced by a surrealistic three dimensional chamber, rather dimly lit and foreboding. He was lying on his back.

Sitting up, he cautiously glanced around him, assessing the situation and realizing with some confusion that he was dressed in military garb, complete with khaki pants, shirt, combat boots and firearm. ...What the hell?? He thought. What am I doing here? This place looks really familiar for some reason.

A strange wave of deja vu swept over him as he took in his surroundings. ...If I didn't know better, he said to himself, I'd say it looked like my Doom game...

He shook his head vigorously, but the scene around him didn't go away. How did I get here? he wondered. I got up this morning, took a shower, got dressed…I hooked up to my modem... He tried to recollect his actions, feeling his heart start to beat harder in his chest. It was all so confusing. This can't be happening!

There were no noises, so Kaveman could only assume he was in no immediate danger. There were no enemies to be seen, although in this area he would have expected quite a few. As a matter of fact, he thought, feeling even more confused, I think I would have liked that better... at least I'd know how to deal with it. But this? Something's definitely up...

He heard a noise behind a huge sliding door nearby. Getting warily to his feet and taking out the revolver that was holstered at his side, he checked it for ammo. It was fully loaded, so he raised it to his shoulder, barrel up; finger resting on the trigger. Cautiously, he walked toward the door.

Connor thought she was having a dream... She was lying on the ground in some kind of courtyard, but she immediately knew it had to be a dream because she recognized it. Cool, she thought, getting to her feet, surprised to find herself dressed with military clothing and standard issue boots, ...I'm in Doom!

She pulled out the holstered pistol at her side, studying it for a moment before opening the chamber and finding it fully loaded. She snapped it shut, appreciating the comfort of its presence. Raising it before her, she glanced around her with a sudden rush of panic as she realized what a clean target she was out in the open, but there seemed to be no one around, ...no movement, no sounds. She started to walk, heading toward a well-known hidden entrance to the compound in front of her, but slowed to a gradual stop, an almost overwhelming sense of unease starting to sweep over her.

This is really weird, she thought, looking around at the building and the courtyard, the surrounding mountains, the grey sky overhead... It's all so REAL... She laughed aloud, nervously. "Impossible," she said. This was all getting just a little bit bizarre...

She resumed walking toward the compound and hit the hidden door to the inside. It slid upward noisily, making her jump.

Well, she thought, if this is some kind of dream, at least I'm remembering the layout of the game correctly. She stepped into the dim corridor, looking around cautiously. Still no sign of anything moving... Holding her weapon close to her shoulder in readiness, she proceeded down a long stairway to her right.

Kaveman approached the door suspiciously. He stood in front of it, dreading what might be on the other side. Just as he reached out to touch it, the door slid upward. Someone was standing there!

Kaveman instinctively jumped back, leveling his weapon and nearly firing, but instinct stopped him in that split second. The figure on the other side of the door had drawn her weapon, too, but instead of pulling the trigger, she let out a startled yelp as she recognized him.

"Connor?"

"Kaveman?"

Kaveman recovered first. "Man, am I glad to see you!" he said, lowering his weapon and stepping toward her. Connor responded by jumping down from the steps and wrapping her arms around his chest, giving him a huge hug, the pistol still gripped in her hand. He put his arms around her awkwardly.

He could feel her heart thumping, matching his own anxiety. Is this real? Kaveman wondered. She sure felt real. Connor, reluctant to let go, was wondering the same thing. After a moment, she eased away from him, and taking a step from his side, looked around them.

"Nuclear Plant?" she asked.

Kaveman nodded. "Looks that way, although how we got here, I don't know."

Connor laughed, nervously. "I always thought I'd go insane someday, I just didn't expect to take someone with me."

Kaveman shook his head, holstering his weapon, "No, you're not insane... somehow, we must have gotten pulled into the game." Now it was his turn to laugh.

"What am I saying?"

Connor gave him a wry grin, putting her own gun away. "You know, if you think about it... in a sick sort of way this is really cool. I don't hear anything... you suppose we're still in Deathmatch?" She was still looking at the scene around them, still entirely confused about what was happening.

The two were good friends, both in their 20's, Connor on the upper end, Kaveman on the lower. It was a habit of theirs to play Doom with each other on-line. In Deathmatch, two game players signed on to hunt each other, one on one. There were no alien enemies to contend with in the matches, as in the original form of the game, just the two competitors. Kaveman and Connor liked to play for hours at a time.

Their friendship had started anonomously, just names on a screen, but they'd taken it the next step, meeting and finding each other mutually enjoyable. Together with Kaveman's best friend, another on-line Doomer named CG and another younger Doom addict named Cole, the foursome liked to meet on weekends and engage in arcade games and rounds of laser tag.

But this was different. Very different. Kaveman shrugged his shoulders, glancing around quickly, then looking at her. Connor turned to him, a sly smile starting to cross her face. "I mean, come on Kaveman, haven't you ever wished you could actually be here?"

Kaveman didn't answer, but he looked at her thoughtfully.

"The last thing I can remember," he said, "is playing you on this level. ...I was heading for that door, because I knew you were outside..." he paused, a puzzled expression on his face. "Then, there was some kind of static on the screen. I started feeling really dizzy."

"Yeah," Connor said, "Same thing happened to me. Next thing I knew, I was lying outside this compound." Kaveman nodded in agreement. Neither spoke for a moment, the awful implications starting to sink in for both of them. Connor broke the silence first.

"Well," she said, "at least I'm glad I didn't get sucked in here with an absolute stranger. I'm glad I was playing you..."

"Yeah..." Kaveman agreed, "Either one of us could've been playing Cole..."

Connor laughed, but then looked at him seriously. "Well, but... "

Kaveman looked at her. She had an apologetic expression on her face.

"Admit it, Kaveman, I mean, ...I'm sorry you hadda get stuck in here with me... You and CG should've been tearin' it up." She looked at the ground, dejectedly.

Kaveman sighed and rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Come on Connor, you know I enjoy your company... Sure, me and CG in here would be a blast, but you're pretty twisted too..."

Connor looked up at him at that, one eyebrow raised, frowning slightly. Kaveman couldn't help a quick smile at her reaction. "I think we'll make a good team..." he said, looked around now, still somewhat perplexed, "...if we ever find anyone to fight." Connor nodded in agreement.

Finally, realizing that standing around wasn't doing any good, Kaveman asked, "Should we look around first, or go right to the exit?" Connor thought for a minute, staring at the ground. Kaveman watched her patiently. After a moment she looked at him with the glint in her eye that he'd been half expecting.

"Let's... look around first." she said, grinning mischieviously.

They checked their immediate area, the big main room, just inside the entrance to the Nuclear Plant level. Kaveman had shouldered a backpack that was in a secret area just a few feet from where he had been lying.

Doom was like a second home for both of them. They had played it for so long that each knew the consecutive levels and secret areas like the backs of their hands. Thankfully, this virtual world come to life was architecturally the same as the one on their game consoles.

Ammunition for various weapons lay in little piles around the area. Connor set to work, gathering as much as she could and bringing it over to Kaveman, stuffing it in the backpack. Kaveman was collecting boxes of medical supplies, called medikits, which were also scattered around the room. Connor came over to him as he opened one up, both curious as to its contents. Sifting throught the box, they were impressed by the assortment of first-aid materials, and even happier to find portable bottles of clean drinking water inside.

There was a green armored vest sitting in an alcove, which Connor pulled on and buckled. Kaveman, who had gone back into the secret area, came out wearing an identical vest. There was an elevator-accessed alcove in the middle of the room, and Kaveman took a look, hoping to find a shotgun that was normally there in the actual game. It was, so he picked it up and slung it over his shoulder. As he emerged with it, Connor looked at him, confused.

"Didn't you pick that up when we were playing?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he said, sudden realization dawning on him. "I picked up a lot of this stuff. But it's still here."

"Well," Connor said, "you know I was outside, and I had the chaingun when this happened. But if this stuff is still in place..." she said, pausing as Kaveman raised an eyebrow, reading her mind.

"Let's go get the chaingun!" they both said, and together, they raced for the sliding door leading to the stairway access to outside.

As they made their way toward the far side of the huge outdoor courtyard where the chaingun should be, Kaveman and Connor spotted something familiar directly ahead. They stopped in front of a blue soul sphere lying on the ground in front of them.

"Should we take this?" Connor asked. "How would we even use it?" She crouched down to take a closer look at it.

"Try touching it and see if it disappears." Kaveman said.

Connor thought about this as she glanced up at him. She reached out and gingerly poked the sphere with her finger. It rocked a little bit, but remained the same. Kaveman cracked up.

"I don't think it's going to bite you. Here..." he crouched down beside her, reaching out and picking up the glowing orb. Connor was looking at it, wide eyed. He rolled it around in his hands. "Nope," he said, shaking his head, "I don't think we'll be able to use it. Too bad."

He put the sphere back on the ground and stood up, holding out his hand to Connor. Taking his hand, she stood up too, still looking down warily at the blue ball as Kaveman turned and continued walking.

Connor trotted to catch up to Kaveman as he made the last turn of the courtyard, and there, up against a far wall, was the chaingun and two big boxes of bullets. They strode over to the formidible weapon.

"Let's see how much this thing really weighs." Kaveman said, handing the shotgun to Connor and hefting the machine off the ground. It was solid, comfortably heavy in his hands, and it gave him an immediate feeling of security.

"Try it out," Connor said.

Kaveman steadied the chaingun against his hip, and opened it up, aiming toward the ground in front of them. It spit out a flurry of bullets, sparking slightly with the friction of metal on metal. The ground in front of them erupted in a small dustcloud as the bullets pierced the soil.

Kaveman adjusted his stance against the constant kick of the machine. He had a wicked grin on his face. As he let off the trigger, the echo reverbated off the surrounding walls, followed by dead silence. Connor and Kaveman grinned at each other as he slung the chaingun over his back.

"Awesome..." Connor said. She slung the shotgun over her shoulder and grabbed the two boxes of ammo.

Kaveman, still wearing a shit-eatin grin, took one of the heavy boxes from her and inclined with his head. "Come on," he said, "let's go."

Back inside the compound, as Kaveman sat on the steps near the middle elevator, reloading the chaingun, Connor approached a red door, which led to the rest of the compound. No keys needed in Deathmatch... she thought to herself. Pushing on the door, it slid upwards with a whoosh.

"Everything okay?" Kaveman yelled from where he was sitting. There was no sign of movement in front of her, no sound.

"Yeah," Connor called, "I'll be right back." She pulled the shotgun in front of her just to be sure, and proceeded to look around.

The room off to her immediate right, following a short corridor, contained a push button switch which Connor knew would access a nearby maze room. She decided to take a look.

Walking cautiously down the corridor, a green glow eminated from the room, coming from a moat of toxic ooze that surrounding a platform, containing the switch. She stopped in front of the pool of green slime. "Ain't no way I'm going in there..." Connor said, quietly.

"I wouldn't either," Kaveman agreed, silently coming up behind her. Connor jumped in fright and whipped around, shotgun leveled at him.

Kaveman stopped, arms raised. "Whoa," he said, "just me..."

Connor lowered the gun in relief.

"Don't do that!"

He stepped up beside her, taking a look at the slime for himself as she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, allowing her nerves to settle down.

"Come on," Kaveman said reassuringly, "let's see what's in the maze, ok?"

Connor nudged him with her shoulder, companionably. "Ok, but how are we gonna get in? We can't get to the switch."

"I know how to get in. Follow Me," he said, leading the way back down the corridor.

They climbed the stairs leading toward the exit of this level and stepped into a little elevator off to the side. It was a tight fit. Kaveman grabbed Connor's arm and pulled her to his side so the wall wouldn't catch her as they descended.

They stepped into the little side room at the bottom of the shaft and climbed over the sill of a big glass-less window leading to an open-air room. There was a chainsaw perched on top of a column in the middle of the room. Connor looked up at it.

"Do you want it?" she asked.

"Naw," Kaveman said. "It's just gonna be a hassle to carry." Together, they strolled down a winding staircase leading to the maze area.

Hitting the wall at the bottom of the staircase, it slid open to reveal the maze, and they proceeded to the far end, both of them knowing the twists and turns well. One objective on both their minds; secure the rocket launcher!

"Have you noticed that there're no bodies lying around?" Kaveman asked as they walked.

"How come?" Connor wondered. "Everything else seems right." They had made it to a secret room, hopefully containing the launcher.

Kaveman banged on the door and it whooshed open.

"Maybe we shouldn't think about it. I don't like some of the ideas it brings up."

Connor shrugged and waited outside the little room, hitting the door as it started to come down, forcing it to go back up.

Kaveman stepped out, shortly, loaded down with the weapon, an armful of rockets, and another backpack.

Connor stared at the backpack. "That's not..."

"I know," Kaveman said, "It's not supposed to be here."

Connor took the backpack from him, and started filling it with rockets. "Well," she said, "at least it'll come in handy."

She pulled the backpack on, and took the rocket launcher from Kaveman, slinging it over one shoulder. The shotgun stayed in her hands, ready. She smiled at him.

"Shall we?"

Kaveman gestured and bowed.

"After you..."

But Connor didn't budge. "Oh no," she said, smiling, "I wouldn't dare to presume upon your leadership."

Kaveman looked at her kindly.

"Ok, I'll lead."

They went back the way they came, up the staircase to the window, climbing in and boarding the tiny elevator, this time individually, the added equipment creating too much bulk for them to ascend together.

They walked along a zigzag pathway that cut through the green slime in the next room, then they both took the next elevator down together, which let them off in a big, empty chamber. Kaveman strode to the opposite end of the room and threw a handled switch, opening twin doors on either side. Connor took one entrance and Kaveman the other, both meeting up at a junction. They descended down another narrow staircase leading to the exit room.

Once inside the exit room, Connor and Kaveman stood at a little shaft that contained the exit switch, reading each other's mind. They looked at each other apprehensively.

"Ok," Kaveman said, "either we end up home, or in the next level."

"Or," Connor added, not taking her eyes off him, "someplace we haven't thought of yet."

"Yeah..." Kaveman agreed.

Connor reached out and took his hand. "Either way, I don't want to get separated. Who cares if we end up at each other's houses? We'd be out of here at least..."

"And if we end up somewhere else?" Kaveman asked.

"Then you probably could use my help," Connor said. Kaveman nodded silently, squeezing her hand. They took a step forward, activating the lift to lower itself, then, jumping together down into the shaft. Kaveman, still holding Connor's hand, pushed the switch...

It was a growling sound that made them both open their eyes at the same time. It sounded a little ways off, but the menace in the sound of it was unmistakable. It was inhuman... Their hands were still tightly clasped, but now they were standing in a medium sized room, a sliding door in front of them.

Their weapons were intact, everything was the same as before except for their surroundings, and that inhuman growl, which was now accompanied by other equally menacing sounds that definitely came from the other side of the door. Kaveman and Connor unclasped hands, but looked at each other intently. They said it at the same time.

"Toxin Refinery..."

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