by Charles Dean
“Huh?” Liu looked confused as she stood up and tilted her head at Lucas. “I don’t understand. What’s the problem? Just get in the machine already. We got friends to meet.”
Lucas was about to clarify what he meant, but before he could object, she began undressing. She unzipped her skirt, unbuttoned her blouse, slid down her pantyhose and removed her bra and panties. It wasn’t particularly fast, but Lucas couldn’t move as he stood there stunned, watching her actions. She climbed into the machine, and the door closed on top of her, finally letting Lucas regain his thoughts.
Back when Yu Hua, his wife, was alive, the sight of another woman naked never would have evoked such feelings within him. Now, however, it had been far too long since he had actually been with anyone, and the urges that made up being a man were starting to win out against guilt and history. I need to find someone to relieve this stress, Lucas thought as he walked over to his own device and began to disrobe. Soon.
When he climbed into the pod, Lucas was greeted by the melodious female voice with pleasant British tones as she went through the typical startup and greeting. “You have one missed call from your mother. Would you like to return her call before beginning immersion?”
“No,” Lucas replied, shutting it down. “Did she leave a voicemail?”
“She did. Would you like to listen to it now?”
“Yes, please.”
“Her voice mail is as follows: ‘Hey sweetie. How are you holding up? Liu said she finally got ahold of you and that you went to go see Yu Hua’s grave together. I’m so proud of you. Liu is such a wonderful woman. I’m glad you’re being nice to her again. She needs it. Especially after that fight she had with her dad again this week. I can’t believe that insensitive old man had the nerve to kick her out of the house when she went to visit her mother. Anyway, glad you’re at least being nice to her. I’m proud of your progress. Love you, Mom.’ End of message. Would you like to leave a response?”
Lucas was a little surprised. What? Her dad kicked her out of the home completely? What the hell did Liu say or do to cause that? He knew that Liu had friction with her family, but he didn’t know what could have happened in the last week that would have triggered such a drastic response. He debated bringing it up and asking her, but he decided against it, figuring it was better to let her talk about that stuff in her own time. “Just . . . Just send my mother a simple text. Tell her, ‘I love you. We should have lunch together sometime. I’ll try to come home for the holiday. Love, Lucas.’”
“That is an excellent message. I appreciate its brevity and sincerity.”
“Thank you.”
“No, thank you for giving me the privilege of being your virtual assistant. Now, you also have 48 emails from 20 different sources. Would you like to review them before beginning the immersion?”
“No, thank you. Just delete all of the emails.”
“Of course. What a great way to avoid wasting time. Would you like to begin the immersion process now?”
“Yes, please,” Lucas said.
“Please close your eyes and relax. Immersion process is starting.” The dive capsule began filling up with a slick gel, and the voice slowly became softer and softer with each passing word as Lucas’s naked body was taken over by the liquid and the machine. Seconds later, the machine began accessing his brain, and music from one of his favorite composers, Vivaldi, wafted into his ears.
“You may now open your eyes,” the system notified him.
Lucas did as he was prompted, and in front of him was unveiled the dirt road leading up to the Imperium’s capital, Dover. The group had logged off near the entrance, but not close enough that he would spawn right next to a guard, when he finally logged in. Unlike Hesse, the mainland was, so far, much less green and flowery. The dirt road was completely turned to mud in places, and grass was allowed to grow freely along the roadway, making it look like a lawn that hadn’t been mowed in five years. Lucas’s group had ventured into the grass a few times only to find that there were dozens of critters, all just as deadly as wolves and bears, hiding out in that waist-high grass.
“Are we the first ones back?” Lucas asked. Without the usual VRMMO systems of player messaging, friends lists, and guild messaging boards, it was almost impossible for players to find each other without having pre-planned meeting spots. At times, players even had to go so far as to send out old-fashioned emails just to organize events and coordinate meeting locations. The choice added a massive layer of realism and forced players to get to know one another and each person’s individual schedule, but it also meant that there were plenty of times when they would get stood up or be inconvenienced by confusing addresses and notes.
“Seems like it,” Liu said. Her in-game name was Xun Guan, a noble Lady of the Imperium, who had been the very first dungeon boss that any of the players would ever encounter when they started up a character in Hesse.
“We’re not that early. Some of them--”
“BOO!” Bonnie exclaimed. Just as Lucas was going to say that some of them should be back, Bonnie had jumped out at him from the grass.
“What the--” Lucas jumped back and automatically turned toward her, ready to defend himself.
“Sorry, boss. We all got on a few minutes earlier and decided to wait. Surprised it took you two so long to get on,” she said as she came out of the grass with Nick and Katie behind her.
“Wait, where is Viola?” Lucas asked.
“Oh, she’s late too. I figure she’s pampering herself with grapes and wine like some fancy-pants literary snob,” Nick laughed.
Bonnie reached over and quickly smacked Nick on the head with a healing scepter while yelling “HEAL!” and patching the wound just as fast as she created it.
“You almost made it a full minute,” Lucas commented, laughing at Nick’s misfortune.
“What the hell, Bonnie? I was talking about Viola! Why’d you hit me when you think she’s snobby too?!”
Bonnie shrugged. “Boss likes grapes and wine. Your correlation was implying he was a snob too. So, you get hit.”
“A joke is not a reason to hit someone,” Nick grumbled.
“If I hit someone just for being a joke, then I’d be hitting you all the time,” Bonnie snickered.
Nick stepped away from Bonnie and then turned back to Lucas. “How come you two logged in at the same time?”
“What are you implying, Nick? That the boss and Liu are together? Grow up, man. Just because you’re unwanted like a stripper’s dirty single doesn’t mean you need to go stirring drama for the boss,” Bonnie said.
Lucas shrugged. “Well, we are family. We were having lunch together.”
“Oh . . .” Nick’s face soured. It seemed that stirring up trouble had actually been his intent.
“A knight that’s good at acting like a fool, and a fool that’s good at acting like the knight, one seen by all to only beckon laughs, one seen by none, and in that hidden gap does she draw our eyes at end of days.” Viola’s voice came from behind Lucas. “How could I be late in attendance of your play?”
“And there she is, the one and only damsel in distress,” Bonnie said. “Asking to die a little early though, aren’t we?”
Lucas turned to see one of the prettiest people he had ever met in his entire life. Viola had long voluminous dark-brown hair; a petite, feminine face; a delicate, cute nose; and large purple eyes that always seemed to sparkle. Combined with the green and brown leather outfit that she was wearing, the only way she could have looked more like a Disney princess was if she had been decked from head to toe in a ballroom gown.
“You know, what exactly happened to your quest now that you’re gone?” Nick asked. “I mean, it’s not like people can rescue you when you’re all the way over here.”
“Oh.” The princess stopped and placed a finger to her mouth. “That’s true. I don’t know. Truthfully, I never even considered what might happen if someone really did manage to rescue me. I just always assumed that Lucas woul
d naturally show his brilliance as the greatest villain and crush every one of those would-be heroes in their tracks. The idea that one would successfully capture me? Gosh forbid!” She giggled merrily. “What a silly notion from a silly boy.”
“You two really need to stop picking on Nick,” Lucas said, putting a hand on Nick’s shoulder. “He’s the only reason I don’t die most fights, so can you cut it out?”
“Aww . . . See that, Nick? Your meat is valuable to at least someone in the group,” Bonnie teased, drawing a deep grimace across Nick’s face.
“Well, if you guys have chatted enough, let’s get a move on. I want to go greet some fellow nobles and see what I can do to begin setting up a dungeon on the mainland.” Lucas walked off without waiting for a response so that the group had to either follow him or get left behind.
They made it halfway to the town when Lucas started to hear small explosive noises that he immediately recognized as the sounds of a battle. What the hell? Already? Lucas pulled his backpack in front of him so that it was only hanging by one strap from his shoulder, reached inside, and pulled out his magic staff. He already had his necklace on, which would allow him to channel Meddling Minds, but he still liked the spells that came equipped with the Pangea staff. He had grown accustomed to using the Cursed Tome of the Endless Reader while on Hesse, but that weapon wouldn’t work outside of the starter zone.
“Dude, you really need to go to the market and get a better staff,” Nick said as he moved ahead of Lucas and assumed his role as the tank. “The spells on that one just aren’t great.”
“I’ll see you in the fight, boss,” Bonnie said, darting into the tall grass on the side of the road and vanishing completely.
Katie signaled her agreement with Bonnie’s idea and disappeared after the Were-Fox. As a Naga, Katie had a racial advantage that allowed her to move much faster than the rest of the group.
“That’s the fourth explosion, and it’s really loud,” Xun Guan said, peering ahead. “Do you think it’s a group of mages, or just one high-level magic-user?”
“It seems just one,” Lucas said. He pointed toward the scuffle that just came into view as they made their final turn in the road, and the city’s gate was revealed.
The capital was surrounded by large stone walls, a beautiful moat, and a classic drawbridge. But as everything came into view, Lucas could see that the bridge was down, and there was a group of four guards fighting against a magic user and a tank in the middle of the two-carriage-wide bridge. The tank didn’t even have a weapon in his hand and was only carrying one medium-sized shield in each arm instead, but he was covered from head to toe in plated armor. Lucas thought it looked silly at first, but when he noticed how easily the tank was able to move around and block each incoming attack while keeping all four of the guards at bay and providing his magic-wielding friend with plenty of room to throw explosive attacks at the guards, he couldn’t laugh. Well, that certainly is one way to play.
“Your time is now!” the Mage shouted as he channeled another Fireball.
“Easy, friend. You don’t want to do that! Lucas called out to the Mage while still running, already channeling his signature spell, Meddling Minds. It was his defining spell as an Enchanter that allowed him to create suggestions and turn enemies against each other, and it was built into the class item he wore around his neck. “I can tell you’re a good man, and these are good people. You don’t want to bother them. You want to put down your weapon and use your words.”
“What are you saying?” the man shouted back. “Of course I want to kill them. Otherwise, how am I going to make it through to the barracks where all of the best loot and Reputation is?”
But by the time the man finished arguing, Lucas’s spell went off. He had a much larger Arcanum supply now, and as a result, his spell channeled incredibly fast. He was only able to channel 10% of his energy into the spell at a time, and the cost of the spell had started to go up with his total Charisma. The reason he took his time with the channeling process, however, was because the spell’s effects would be changed depending on how convincing he might be before casting it. The other factor that affected the spell was Charisma. Whereas elemental spells did damage based on the enemy type, armor type, and the environmental conditions around them, his spell had only two factors: the suggestions he was giving and the difference between his Charisma score and the enemy’s.
“You know what I’m saying. I’m saying that you need to be a good person, to not fight against the defenseless guards. You’re clearly their better, so put down your weapon.”
“Yeah, I think . . . I think I will,” the man said quietly before dropping his magic staff on the ground.
“What the hell are you doing, Lavelle?” the knight demanded. “Why are you listening to him? Help me out here! I’m going to get swarmed.”
“But I don’t feel like fighting anymore,” the Mage replied. “I’m sorry, Jackson. I think it was rude of us to attack.”
“Idiot! We’re going to get killed!” Jackson yelled back.
“It’s a little late to be worried about that,” Bonnie said flippantly as she appeared behind the Mage. She burst out of the shadows and buried her dagger into the Mage’s back before the others could even reach the fight. In a way, it wasn’t really even a contest. Thanks to her class, Bonnie gained a movement speed bonus, and poor Nick suffered penalties thanks to the heavy armor he wore.
“What the hell, are we being lowbie ganked?” Jackson asked. “Stupid noobs, why don’t you get your own prey?!” He spun around in a fury, deflecting the next round of attacks in a single move, and then charged straight at the guard closest to the Mage. He slammed into the man shield-first, and the guard was thrown back several paces.
“What the . . .?” the Mage came out of the Meddling Minds spell, Bonnie’s attack having jolted him out of it prematurely. Instead of dying, like many on Hesse would after even a single thrust of Bonnie’s blade, the guy was practically unharmed. He was confused, but he was still standing. “What’s going on?”
“Oh, so you’re back with us?” Jackson shouted. “Kill the damn lowbies! I’ll keep these guards occupied.”
“I . . . I . . .” Lavelle stuttered, still coming around. As if acting on instinct, he began leaning forward as if to recover his lost staff. Bonnie had relentlessly buried a dozen knife thrusts into the Mage’s back in the short time he had been out of it, but he just seemed oblivious to all of them. It was clear that this man’s simple cloth armor wasn’t as simple as it appeared, and that he was a much, much higher level than Bonnie and Lucas were. “I’m going to kill you!”
He finally collapsed forward and onto the ground, but his hand closed around his staff a second later, and he instantly began charging a spell the moment it was within his grasp.
“Viola!” Lucas shouted. He wanted to make sure his Sage was in position and ready to patch up whatever damage the spell caused.
“Already on it,” Viola called back, and a giant magically-made Force Shield popped up right in front of Bonnie, separating her from the magician.
A massive explosion erupted from the tip of Lavelle’s staff at point-blank range and then rebounded off the barrier. The otherwise impassable shield shattered under the effects of the powerful spell, but not before a majority of its force was rebounded directly toward Lavelle. The fiery backflow surged around the already-downed caster, roasting him with his own attack.
“Get another shield up! He’s going to shoot again!” Lucas warned. Then, taking his own advice, he began casting Wind Wall. Lucas quickly set the beginning and end points necessary to complete the spell and directed the huge gust of Wind toward Jackson. Not only would it turn away any spell Lavelle cast, but Lucas was also hoping that the forceful winds would help coerce the tank toward the moat in front of him. The blustery blockade sprang into place and slammed into a guard, throwing him forward. Although he was clearly caught off guard, Jackson somehow managed to react. He maneuvered one of his twin shields arou
nd between him and the projectile guardsman and turned him to the side, sending the guard careening off into the moat.
“What the hell?” Jackson crouched down slightly, lowering his center of gravity for balance, and turned to face Lucas, the obvious source of the Wind Wall. “Lavelle, a little help here!”
But there wasn’t much that his friend could do at the moment. Bonnie had leapt on top of him and pinned his arms to the ground, not only making it harder to cast but also making it so that his spells would blow up and hit him too if he tried to cast. The two wrestled around for a brief moment as they fought for control, but Bonnie eventually won out. She slammed her knife down into his stomach several times, eliciting howls of pain and rage.
Somehow, Lavelle managed to buck her off and over his head by pushing off with his legs and thrusting upward with his hips at the same time. It was incredibly reminiscent of a judo technique that Lucas had seen in movies, and he was instantly curious how someone was able to replicate it within the game, much less someone who was a caster.
Lavelle quickly got to his feet and backed away, but before he could raise his staff to cast a spell at the scrambling Were-Fox, three arrows darted out of the grassy wall and peppered his chest from his sternum to his Adam’s apple. Lavelle instantly abandoned his attempt at casting a spell and instead doubled over, grasping at his chest with both hands.
Lucas recognized that condition all too well as blowback from having failed to properly channel a spell. If it was anything like what Lucas himself had suffered in the past, Lavelle would be left dizzy and disoriented; and, indeed, Lucas heard the other magician gasp in several deep ragged breaths as if he were finding it hard to breathe. Then, almost as if to put him out of his misery, a fourth arrow shot through Lavelle’s cheek and into the back of his throat. Lavelle’s knees gave way, and he collapsed back to the bridge.
