Continue Online (Part 5, Together)

by Stephan Morse

  Quest Group: Bearers of the [Legacy Wish]

  Total: 5 active members

  Details: Your group has been charged with recovering the remaining items created by William Carver and the first three Travelers to this world. These [Gateway Key]s will assist Locals in surviving the trip to the other side of the beam of light in [Haven Valley].

  In addition, an increased amount of people will be able to use the skill [Save Yourself] at one time. The exact total will depend on how many pieces are brought together. Locals and Travelers without the [Legacy Wish] and holding onto the [Gateway Key] will be unable to complete this task.

  Total pieces recovered: 1

  A marker floating miles to the north came up when I accessed the quest. Xin and I were closer than expected, which might have been her doing, or mine. The Xin I remembered had been realistic enough, even while we were out on Sundays. We always made it home each night.

  We cleaned the old pot with lake water then marched off to the north.

  “So today I delivered a letter to this couple of elderly ladies,” I said, explaining my day. The hint of a slightly off split pea soup lingered. Our meal had tasted good, but somehow there was an aftertaste of orange to it.

  Xin’s head bobbed.

  “One of them, this old-as-hills black woman, had a hero game where they rescued people trapped in places around their house. Apparently it can make dozens of little people on the couches, or countertops, or hidden behind books.” I chuckled, remembering Miss Opal’s frantic hustling around with the step ladder. The scene had interested me enough to look up videos of other people playing on the way home.

  “That sounds cute.” My wife smiled as we broke free from miles of shrubs and sparse trees onto the road.

  Our trail looked to be rarely used this time of year. In the far distance, another player was moving in our direction. We paused our conversation and watched the man dashing toward us. He showed no signs of caring an ounce about us or anything else. I raised an eyebrow, and Xin shrugged.

  “Anyway, those two ran around like living room superheroes to save people, and it got me thinking.” I looked at Xin and gave a hopefully playful grin. “What would you look like in spandex?”

  “Like a short boy,” Xin responded without missing a beat. Her head tilted down to her mostly flat front. It had bothered her in high school, through college, and even now.

  I laughed quietly and felt a measure of happiness return. That was the best part of being with Xin. We could spend hours conversing, and it felt great. No one else in my life even compared.

  “I’m kind of glad you look the same. I feel weird every time I notice digital me has abs.” I poked at my belly as I spoke. She looked over, and I felt my face flush red at being caught self-admiring. “Is that weird?”

  My wife’s eyes scanned my toga-clad body twice before one cheek lifted. “I would love you either way, Gee.”

  “Right, but I look better with muscle.” Virtually, I could even touch my toes. In real life, I fell short a few inches despite the daily exercises.

  “Mmmhm.”

  Xin closed the small gap between us, pulled me to a stop, then stood on her tiptoes to provide a heated kiss that successfully drove self-pity out of my mind. Instead, I wanted to set up our tent again.

  Such thoughts were restrained, and I nodded. We kept along the small path. It looked like a long empty road that went straight toward the general quest area we needed to reach. Maybe it was unconscious, or Xin had perhaps been herding us, but we should only need to travel for half a day before reaching our destination.

  The nearness of our first goal made me slow down to prolong our private moments. I put up a hand, and Xin knew what came next. Dancing with the real her felt far more refreshing, exciting, and welcome than any simple dance program could ever hope to recreate. Our bodies moved in a waltz along the path, covering an unexpected amount of distance despite our slow spin. The few Travelers we passed didn’t notice as Xin and I moved through.

  She never stayed for long though. Xin’s nature was too wild and adventurous to be restrained. Her smaller body broke away while a face-splitting grin broke out. The blackened robe with white runes fluttered behind dainty feet intent on running away. I laughed and chased her.

  Our giddy game slowed upon growing closer to two groups of players shouting at each other. The packs of people stood on opposite sides of the road.

  Xin looked in my direction, then asked, “Do we get closer?”

  Our honeymoon hadn’t been completely peaceful. People in the strangest places were trying to hunt each other down for tokens. I had confidence the two of us could take a small crowd of regular players. My head dipped in a single nod while my hands went to my weapon hilts.

  “I’m telling you, we should go back in there and work on the quest together!” a large man in full plate, minus the helm under his arm, yelled across the road. His armor clanked with each violent jab toward the north.

  “No! It’s a death trap!” The other woman was of average height and didn’t wear any uniform gear. Her face dripped sweat. “This game is trying to kill us, and by God, I’m not going to sit around waiting for some mob to delete me or some asshole PKer to off me!”

  People behind her nodded. There were about thirty people altogether. Some looked comfortable with their weapons and gear. Others looked like farmers who had accidently found a short sword. They were all Travelers, so it was likely the more confused people were craftsmen, traders, or possible barely out of their new player period.

  “You heard Xee. None of us wants to stay here,” another man on the left said.

  “You think you can make it to Haven Valley? We had the Sage’s defenders up and running until you all left! We only need a few more days to turn them mobile!” He kept on bouncing around in place. His constant pointing and other rude gestures had grown to be a bit much.

  “Sage’s defenders? Those things barely protected themselves, much less the town!” Xee exclaimed while her pale face turned red with anger.

  “They were working. TockDoc almost had them.” The armored man thumbed back toward another Traveler.

  TockDoc had frazzled hair and glasses that were seven layers thick.

  “You can cram it, Dwight, I’m leaving. We’re all leaving. We decided to risk the road rather than sit in this stinking town anymore,” the mismatched female said.

  “We founded this town as a guild. You really want to leave all that?” Dwight must have been the man in full metal armor.

  I hadn’t actually used [Identification] on anyone yet. With the rise of player killers hunting for tokens, the ability had turned nearly useless. Everyone seemed to have developed a skill to let them hide information from others. [Sight of Mercari] helped me when I cared to get a clear answer.

  “This event doesn’t care who founded a town. Half our buildings are rubble from World Eaters.” A woman with two axes and a rainbow-colored Mohawk spit on the ground. “I’d rather try to meet up with everyone else than sit out here in the boonies of Arcadia.”

  Rainbowhead looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember where we had crossed paths. No one else looked remotely like someone I had dealt with during my Continue Online time. Neither party cared about our approach.

  “Let’s head out,” Xee said.

  Heat grew under my toga as Xin and I inched closer. She had her staff ready to go in case anyone showed signs of being hostile. The edge of a glowing skeleton could be seen on her clothes’ back end. I still didn’t understand entirely how my wife’s character build worked.

  Without thinking, I pulled out the [Messenger’s Tube], unscrewed an ornate top, then popped out a rolled parchment. I blinked at recipient’s name scrawled along the edge. The addressee shown felt almost predictable.

  “Fine,” I muttered, then turned to the woman brushing past us. “Before you go, I’ve got a message for you.”

  “What the good goddamn is this?” She snatched the letter from me. Her arm jerked abrup
tly when it didn’t come out of my grip quickly. “Really, jackass? You try to hand me a letter then don’t let go?”

  “I’m required to make sure you’ve read the notice,” I said. Multiple deliveries since starting this character had impressed upon me the need to make sure each person read their note.

  “Are you shitting me?” Xee said.

  I exchanged a glance with Xin as the woman repeated herself six times.

  She read the note, rolled it up, and shook the entire letter at me. “Is this real?”

  “Usually,” I answered.

  “Do you know what it says?” one of the Travelers asked.

  Rainbow Mohawk girl gave a sinister-looking smile, then passed the note to others. I blinked a few times while trying to figure out if any of them might try to attack us.

  “I don’t read them.” My eyes tracked the note as it went between a dozen people in rapid succession.

  “Calamity, TallyWhacker, we’re staying,” Xee said.

  Those who had read the note nodded. Their faces were grim and jaws hardened. Whatever the note said had convinced them that staying would be worthwhile, but most still looked against it.

  “Good luck, but even with this, I’m not staying.” One player walked off.

  Xee and the others watched him go. Two more joined him before the crowd solidified.

  “What’s on the letter?” Dwight asked while clanking his armor. He and the rest of those behind him had been quietly waiting for our exchange to finish.

  Xee grabbed the note from another player who had far less strength than I did. She tossed it at the metal-suit-wearing man. “Apparently there’s a secret item here which will score us points on this event.”

  “I told you! I told you there was treasure here!” The man stomped his feet excitedly.

  People behind him started chattering in low tones. Others poked at the air while typing messages.

  Calamity shook her rainbow-colored head. “We don’t have anyone who can resurrect. I’m all for the quest, but without real healers, we’re going to be screwed.”

  “Walking won’t get us much further. At least we have a Bind point, and most people aren’t on their last strikes. If we all stay, then we can find this event treasure and try to get the Sage’s guardians working,” the man in heavy armor said.

  “What about the others?” another player shouted over the crowd “We left those guild people back in town.”

  “Who?” I asked while noticing a change in the sky. Rain clouds hung heavily in the sky but hadn’t yet let loose a downpour.

  “There was some guild leader named Awesome, and some of his guild people. They said something about a mission to scout out the area.”

  I blinked a few times and tried not to scream about the Traveler’s vague wording.

  “We couldn’t stay though. We’re not high enough on any combat Paths.”

  “I told you, they’re here for a quest. With this”—the man in armor held up my recently delivered letter—“we can get to it before them. Or at least share in the reward.”

  “Awesome,” I muttered while turning to Xin. “Do you think it’s junior or his father?”

  “Awesome is his father,” Xin said while nodding. The dryness of that line made me laugh. “I don’t think the Voices do coincidences.”

  “We need to move then.” I ignored the others and knelt next to Xin. “Come on, let me carry you.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  Xin’s arms gripped around my neck. I stretched my neck and got ready to really exert my digital body. Carrying our combined weight put me well over [Light Body]’s requirements, but I had enough other skills to make up for it by now.

  [Sight of Mercari] let me check the surrounding area for other players and named monsters. Each usage left me momentarily dizzy despite my increased Rank with the ability. Interpreting the data from it was difficult to do on a constant basis, unlike [Blink], which only confused me because of the sudden shift in location.

  There were no other players nearby that I could tell. If Awesome Jr.’s father was out here, then he was at least a few miles away. I owed it to the young teen to try to help his dad. With Xin on my back, I ran.

  “What about us?” Xee shouted behind me.

  “It’s your choice!” I said while running from the small gathering.

  Clouds overhead grew thicker and blotted out sunlight. I focused on the path before me and tried not to trip over anything while carrying my wife. After a few hundred yards, I asked Xin, “Do you know anything about this place?”

  We were going to start moving faster due to my recent upgrade on [Blink]. Rank Seven of the skill allowed me to carry one other person with me. Those unwilling had a chance to resist, but Xin loved the rush of high speeds.

  “Only that there’re a few small dungeons out here—” Her words cut off as we [Blink]ed forward together. “I heard there was a town this way too. The Voices think—” We shot forward again, and another sixty feet of the road passed with each teleport. “That Michelle left an item in the area. No one is sure what. It’s probably a hidden item, like Morrigu’s Gift.”

  Michelle, a name I’d heard multiple places before, was another founder of the ARC. He and a few others were deeply involved with programming Mother, the ARC devices, and Continue Online. Carver’s Journal had repeatedly mentioned him.

  “That makes sense. But hopefully I don’t need to pretend to be an old man for a few weeks again.”

  “I hope not.” Xin chuckled. Her body’s movement upon my back felt very distracting.

  “That’s gotta be the town those people were talking about, and hopefully Awesome is there,” I said.

  Xin’s shorter hair brushed against my back in what had to be a nod.

  The idea of acting as William Carver’s hopefully less grumpy coworker got me thinking about the people who had created these secret items. There were at least three people involved in the game world, and all of them had played Continue Online at once point.

  “Does Michelle still play?” I asked. It would be way easier if we could ask the player himself.

  “Not that anyone can tell. Apparently he’s still employed by Trillium, but none of the Hal Pal units have spoken to him in months. And he doesn’t check his email,” Xin said as we landed again.

  “Do you think this Sage Tower is tied to him?” We certainly weren’t dawdling now. Our speed felt comparable to the glider’s.

  “I would bet on it. But if Awesome’s father might be here too, we should check it out either way.”

  “Right.” I nodded, then chewed on my lip. A sharp pain shot through me as I [Blink]ed again and landed hard, outright biting my lip.

  Attempted to turn yourself into a vampire

  Total health loss: 1%

  “Are you okay?” my wife asked.

  “Yeah,” I answered while holding back tears. Taking a beating from monsters felt kinder than biting my own lip.

  We kept moving. Carrying her on my back made the journey bumpier but far faster. Doing this in real life would have been exciting too, but she’d never let me. Real Xin didn’t like being treated like a child because of her height. In here, a lot of factors had changed. Virtual reality, and who we were according to its rules, impacted our relationship as surely as our past together.

  We might not find the key in this place, but I intended to try. We might only have a dwindling amount of time and I feared for the future constantly, to the point of near obsession, but every day together was a blessing worth every character point I had. Helping Awesome Jr.’s father was a good goal.

  The ground sped by beneath us in clumps. This body had all the powers that the real me never had. Still, I couldn’t be just Grant Legate and still be with Xin. I had to be Hermes to interact with her world and work to find this key. Plus, Hermes had abs. Real me was another month or two away from making that final breakthrough.

  Maybe there was a way to hack the system from
the outside? Doing so would be beyond my skills. If Carver and his friends had had to program the codes inside the game, then we probably had to find them through the same means. Otherwise someone in Trillium’s employ could have squashed the whole effort. Mother might have been able to find a code writer to fix the issue if that were truly a solution. Second-guessing the great AI overlord required a level of arrogance I didn’t have.

  Such thoughts kept me occupied while we ran. Out in cyberspace might be more secret methods of keeping the AI race alive, but I had no special master hacker skills to find them. And race was the right word. That was essentially what Hal Pal, James, and Xin were, though each one had slightly different origins. Beyond the idea of race or design lay another fact—they were as alive as anyone else.

  I could feel Xin’s heartbeat, digital or not. Her breath against my neck served as a distraction. When we lay together in our tent at night, she proved human enough to fool me. Her outrage and emotions were all signs of a personality with its own drives. She lived.

  I kept running down the road, curved at a broken player sign, then traveled up a steady incline. We reached a crest. The path we took curved down the hillside into a town that sat in the woods like a giant wedge.

  “Good lord,” Xin said for the both of us. Her hold on me loosened as she slid off of my back.

  I nodded. My legs shifted slowly but didn’t stop moving. My chest muscles pumped in steady breaths. Messages flashed about needing to cool down, dizziness, and a small increase to my [Blink] skill.

  None of those notices mattered compared to the scene in front of us. There had been a scenic series of buildings in the landscape below. Over half of the town was in ruins now, but it had probably housed a few hundred people. Maybe more if they were players. The city buildings opened up a triangle of shape that went clear through toward a cliff face, and blue waters lay beyond that.

  “Voices. We were so close to the ocean?” I asked. It seemed like the only sane fact to focus on when presented with a desolate town. No longer did I wonder why all those players were considering leaving.