Ready Player One Read-Through: Chapter 3

Content Warning: online misogyny.



Wade enters the Basement - the oh-so-clever name of Aech's virtual chat room. Basically it is like an OASIS within the OASIS, without having to be a part of the OASIS. It goes deeper than that; deeper into doom.

A dossier on Aech - He is an eighties geek like Wade; since he is a gunter we can assume that this is because Halliday was an eighties geek too. How convenient that our hero's only friend in the OASIS is the same age as him (this is true in the real world as well, as we will later discover). He is just like Wade in the virtual world, only chattier, and arguably more obnoxious in his eighties obsessions.

Aech can afford a pad like the Basement because he has a job within the OASIS as a competitor in "televised PvP arena games after school and on weekends". Yet the OASIS is not monetized; at least, not when it comes to first entering it. Gaining points/credits and level experiences means gaining currency? What kind of currency? How will the IOI taking over make much difference again?

Furthermore, Aech is apparently "even more famous than Art3mis". Of course he is.

As Wade enters the Basement proper, and we are introduced to what Aech looks like:


Aech's avatar was a tall, broad-shouldered Caucasian male with dark hair and brown eyes. (Page 38) 


Aech is the only character in the book who is described as being "Caucasian". Or "male", for that matter. Now, don't kid yourself into thinking that this specific mention means that Wade and the other characters are in fact POC, so white is not the default in this world. Ready Player One is as white as Logan's Run (see? I can reference old sci-fi movies too, it requires no effort). This is merely clumsy and obvious foreshadowing.


I'd asked him once if he looked anything like his avatar in real life, and he'd jokingly replied, "Yes. But in real life, I'm even more handsome!" (Page 38)


Remember this.

We get infodump on how these two gunters met, and their shared interests; mainly, their obsession with Halliday and finding his Easter egg. Aech is described as a "true Halliday scholar", and there are A LOT of references to old video games and eighties trivia. Yet there is no love or enjoyment to be taken from just listing these things - from just saying that you experienced them without elaborating further. There's no exploration on why every single thing from the 1980s is enjoyable to practically everyone in this book. Has Halliday brainwashed everyone using the OASIS? Like, anyone who enters the OASIS loses their free will and individuality?


I didn't know anything about who Aech was in the real world, but I got the sense his home life wasn't that great. Like me, he seemed to spend every waking moment logged into the OASIS. And even though we'd never actually met in person, he'd told me more than once that I was his best friend, so I assumed he was just as isolated and as lonely as I was. (Page 39)


Yet more semi-self-awareness that is not explored further or followed up on. Goody.

Next we get an excruciatingly-long conversation between the two geeks about a lot of eighties stuff - games, classic movies, the like. Useless information. We learn that what is considered "canon" means what Halliday mentions in his Almanac that might be significant to the egg hunt. Aech shows what a charmer he is by saying that he doesn't consider Ladyhawke to be "canon" because it is girly.


"How many times have you seen that sapfest? I know you've made me sit through it at least twice." He was baiting me now. He knew Ladyhawke was one of my guilty pleasures, and that I'd seen it over two dozen times. (Page 40)


He has seen the same film over two dozen times. Wow Wade, that is sad, even for you. There's hardly any satirical self-awareness to even suggest that this is hyperbole. And how can an eighteen-year-old who has dedicated every waking moment of his life to consuming all eighties trivia - playing the games, watching the movies and TV shows and cartoons, listening to the music etc. - find the time to rewatch something that many times?

So "canon" in the future has been changed to mean whatever James Halliday liked, and what is therefore gospel and important in pop culture. Gotcha.

Aech calls Ladyhawke "fucking lame", and are you ready for this?:


"I don't care if Spielberg directed it. (Page 41)


Spielberg would direct the film adaptation of Ready Player One. Just thought I'd mention how funny that line is in hindsight.

But here is what you need to be ready for - proof that this whole chapter is nothing but masturbating over eighties trivia, and a published internet troll thread:


It's [Ladyhawke] a chick flick disguised as a sword-and-sorcery picture. The only genre film with less balls is probably...freaking Legend. Anyone who actually enjoys Ladyhawke is a bona fide USDA-choice pussy!" (Page 41)


Yep, definitely a troll thread.

Fuck you, Aech. I don't like Ladyhawke or Legend either, but not for the reasons you do, and I would never insult people who do like them. Especially not with misogynistic language. Especially not towards my best friend. Your best friend who is sitting right next to you!

Fuck your misogyny, too. You think chick flicks are inferior? That they are not "canon" or to Halliday's worthless taste because they're not "manly"? Or violent male wish-fulfillment fantasies?

The 1980s was a decade dedicated to catering to those fantasies, and to male entitlement. Aech is probably one of those people who consider The Hunger Games and Frozen to be chick flicks sorely because they have female protagonists.

This is horrifying coming from Aech in light of his true identity; revealed close to the end of the book.

By the way, there is no mention of any female avatars in the Basement.

I can't help but think that this argument - this whole freaking chapter - is semi-autobiographical; Cline's way of taking out his frustrations at other nerds in his writing, outside of internet forums.

The eighties references present here are overkill. There is no entertainment value to be found in listening to two geeks arguing over stupid, pointless crap, like internet trolls with no lives. Flame wars and arguments on the internet are not fun to read about.

It gets worse when we are introduced to a gunter called I-r0k. Wade calls him a "total lamer" and "an obnoxious poseur". In short, he is Cline's strawman interpretation of a "fake gamer". Thank all that is still good and decent in this world that he isn't presented as female.

What follows is childish bickering between I-r0k, and Wade and Aech. I-r0k (I hate having to type that a lot) hurls homophobic slurs at the two "heroes" and "true gamer geeks". Back and forth it goes on.


"That's right, I called you a poseur, poseur." I stood and got up in his grille. "You're an ignorant know-nothing twink. Just because you're fourteenth-level, it doesn't make you a gunter. You actually have to possess some knowledge."
        "Word," Aech said, nodding his agreement. We bumped fists. More snickering from the crowd, now directed at I-r0k. (Page 43)


And you call I-r0k a lamer, Wade. You couldn't get more fourth-grader dude-bro if you tried.

The penis-measuring continues. Wade and Aech "one-up" I-r0k at every turn when it comes to eighties pop culture knowledge. They are really obnoxious and full of themselves here. It's like Cline thought that geeks were never liked or were never popular, so here he is desperately trying to rectify that. But geeks are popular! They have been since the rise of the internet and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the 21st century. Nerds - specifically, straight white male nerds - have always been catered to. Again, this is awful considering how Aech presents himself in the OASIS.

After the crowd in the Basement literally cheers for Wade and Aech, and I-r0k hangs his head in shame (the cliches and ego-stroking are hurting me), he says that they "both obviously need to get a life". Then:


"Whatever," he said over his shoulder. "If I didn't spend so much time offline, getting laid, I'd probably know just as much worthless shit as you two do."
       Aech ignored him and turned back to me. (Page 45)


And I-r0k is the bad guy.

This is I-r0k's only appearance in-story in the whole book. He exists to make Wade and Aech look better. But no, it just makes them reveal how even more pathetic and sad they are. I-r0k is the best person in the room right now, minus the homophobic insults.

Aech tells Wade that he only allows I-r0k in the Basement so that he can beat him constantly in games, and that "his ignorance gives me hope". The more "fake gamers" there are out there, the better the chances are that either Wade or Aech will win the contest.

Aech is manipulative and a bully, a sneak - this never gets called out on, and is never mentioned again. Lucky that Wade is on his good side, huh!

After agreeing to meet again for a TV marathon (how are they finding the time to sit around and watch all of this superfluous crap whilst hunting for the egg?), Wade logs out of the Basement and is back in his classroom just as the bells rings. End of chapter 3.