Continue Online (Part 5, Together)

by Stephan Morse

  “You’re lucky I couldn’t do this last time,” I ground the words out while trying not to clench my teeth. “And if I didn’t need you, I would happily kill you.”

  “Go ahead and kill me.” His chin lifted.

  “No. You probably have your stupid ring, and I would have to waste time waiting to see if you resurrect.” My head shook while his eyes went wide.

  He looked younger now. Requiem was another owner of a [Howard’s Phylactery]. Thinking about it got me heated up again. Maybe I could stab him once and that would calm me down completely.

  Laughter filled the area for a moment. My heartbeat sped up as [Awareness Heightening] skipped along, disjointed. Existing at eight times normal reality’s speed took a lot out of me, and catching up felt like watching a video that couldn’t render right.

  “What are you laughing at!” Requiem shouted under me.

  My chest heaved rapidly. I pressed the blade down tighter as Requiem tried to slip away. I scanned the trees for the Jester’s form sneaking through until I realized this laughing was more of a boom. The noise didn’t belong to a Voice mocking my change of heart in beating up Requiem. We had crossed that bridge.

  Wraith was laughing, and his voice sent skeleton birds into the skies. “I knew it! I knew my brother’s soul could not be dead! The Voices did not lie! All this waiting, all this time following around a sheep in wolf’s clothing to finally find him again.”

  My face twisted as Requiem’s chest heaved. I could see the edges of his wide eyes. His weapons lay upon the ground, and his body held very still under my boot. Part of me wanted to twist the other heel and stomp down with full [Power Armor] a few times, but I resisted the urge. Self-control was getting easier. In fact, this guy might be the first person I had ever left alive after engaging in combat. Normally it was either me or them.

  “What?” Requiem asked.

  “My brother has returned!” Wraith lifted his hands to clap. Each bang of hands thundered. “This, this is my brother!”

  The large demon walked over, and that freakish emotion of surging happiness crawled into the deep parts of my brain once again. I tried to shake it off but felt the weird, ticklish sensation linger behind one ear.

  “You mean Spite?” The teen’s face went through a full range of rapid emotions. “Spite’s dead! I killed him.”

  “His flesh is gone, but his spirit remains!”

  “I’m a lot nicer than Spite was,” I tried to defend myself but felt increasingly disturbed.

  This large creature unnerved me. How Spite would have handled it was absolutely beyond me. Part of me wondered if the NPC even existed before I had accepted Vlad and Jean’s deal. The [Red Imp] had felt like a blank slate, so maybe not.

  “You could have fooled me,” Requiem said sarcastically from beneath my boot. He looked less stressed but annoyed.

  I tried to reduce my aggravation by lifting off of Requiem and walking away. [Power Armor] faded. I tucked my weapons under my belt. I walked right by Wraith and started pacing to cool down. My racing pulse refused to calm, and as [Awareness Heightening] faded, the rampant speed became obvious. Words came across my screen in slow motion as players days away sent text messages to our group. Their chatter helped remind me of the world at large resting on cooperation with Requiem.

  Awesome Jr.: Anyone know what happened with Hermes?

  Hecate: My man just wrecked that kid’s face and his Rank 25 demon.

  HotPants: It was probably unfair, right? Hermes has the viewership bonus.

  Hecate: Against a beta player? Requiem Mass has been playing for years longer.

  Awesome Jr.: He’s still alive, right? I thought Hermes said we need Req alive?

  Hecate: He’s alive. Babe, you’re reading this right? Summon me now. Whatever encounter is next will probably be worse than the Sage’s, and you’ll need help.

  SweetPea: …what about us?

  Awesome Jr.: We’re busy. Speaking of, anyone else up for their next assignment?

  HotPants: JR, I’ve got a few hours. Where’s the next group?

  Awesome Jr.: Hold on, I’ll check the board. Oh hey, Shadow before you log off for school, remind your minion army, whoever’s left, that we’re running low on time.

  Shazam: Everyone, World Eaters have chewed up half the mountain passes and started to come down. My guild is going to start losing the outposts soon. We have maybe a week. Be ready.

  Even Shazam had been included in our group. Interacting with her felt weird. She was like Xin, a recreation of the real person, stuck inside a machine. How many years of solid gameplay had been required to make that leap? Would everyone be able to transition over if they died in real life? Maybe there was a formula involving how many hours passed.

  “Fuck. If you’re not here to kill me, then are you the guy I’ve been waiting for?” Requiem took a breath, then asked, “The one who sent this letter?”

  He stood away from me with a scroll held up. Thankfully Requiem hadn’t pulled out an explosive or smoke grenade. The young man indulged in alchemy and collected all kinds of goodies. Nothing would have been surprising.

  “Maybe. Probably.” I waved dismissively. This character had delivered a metric ton of letters. For almost a month in reality, Hermes had wandered around without my input because of Advance Online. “I was looking for you, yes. To make a deal, not fight.”

  “Could have fooled me,” Requiem muttered again. “Maybe you are Spite. You don’t read like a player and knew all my moves, plus that weapon and those abilities. Jesus.”

  “Yeah, you spent weeks beating the shit out of me.” I held myself back physically but not verbally. My head tilted, and I bit the bottom lip to stop speaking. Admitting that out loud couldn’t help anything. It just spread poison and unease.

  What would my support group think of this? A few had shared stories of abuse cases; they drank to get away or became worse while under the haze. I couldn’t admit to frustration and violent urges over a game. It felt wrong, but Xin would understand. I needed my wife. All my annoyance at dealing with Requiem Mass had been to recover her in some manner. Being back in her presence would help remind me that everything had turned out all right. I twisted the rainbow ring and watched as a bright array of colors zoomed off.

  “What was that?” Requiem asked.

  “It’s none of your business. All you need to know is I’m willing to pay you for help with a task. That’s all I want from you,” I said while counting the seconds and trying to get some composure before Xin arrived.

  “So the deal was true then? You’ll pay top coin for the knowledge?”

  He held up the scroll again, which made me sigh. The Voices hadn’t told me about an actual letter, and rarely did I find out what was inside any of them. I wasn’t sure how he’d gotten it, or maybe the notice had come from my autopilot or another Traveler. The parchment and broken wax seal certainly looked like one of mine. It was possible this scenario fit in with one of Mother’s far-reaching schemes. She had worked this out well in advance. I closed my eyes and tried to remember the few details given to me.

  I knew that there was another location to get to. The Voices couldn’t tell where because they were blind to where it even was. They only had a whisper of a name that came from one of M. Shell’s journals. The name Yates had been spoken a few times by Requiem, while he was at a location they hadn’t been able to view. Apparently only this Traveler had come close to the spot since release.

  “Twenty thousand gold pieces if you tell me everything you know about the Island of Faded Illusions and guide me there.”

  “Sixty,” he countered without a second thought.

  My eyes rolled. “Forty.”

  He wanted gold. What an absolutely stupid request. Continue Online gold meant even less now than a year ago. The game would crash well before he could spend any of it. Any towns with an auction house were days away, and gold prices were a cluster even if he could get in touch with black market contacts.

  “Paym
ent up front.” He stepped closer then put out a hand.

  I flicked gold coins from my inventory at his face, one at a time. Each thud made me feel better. After the fourth one, he started catching them while complaining.

  “That’ll be a penalty for disrespecting me. Forty-five thousand gold.”

  More went flying at him. Requiem caught most, but many made it through. He stopped and picked them up anyway. My head shook. Gold meant nothing to me. My casino funds were absolutely insane as people dumped cash into gambling.

  “Fifty!” he shouted.

  I sighed and gave up. He could triple the price and it wouldn’t matter to me. The gold and money weren’t an issue and never had been. Especially since the entire [Red Imp] scenario had left me with an uncomfortable but advantageous result. I knew his real name, Matthew Jules, and I owned his stupid little trailer home. I’d paid off the debts left behind by his parents.

  “I would rethink your stance, Matthew,” my words came out evenly. “I’m willing to give you your stupid request of gold, but don’t push your luck. I may simply decide to figure this out without you, and I wouldn’t lose an ounce of sleep while you’ll probably die due to greed and never make it to Haven Valley. Not that they would let you in after one word from me.”

  His head tilted and eyes narrowed. I shrugged.

  “Fifty-five thousand,” Requiem said with a straight face.

  “Thirty-five.” I flicked another coin at him.

  The second rainbow bounced back. Xin’s form touched down, and she nearly glided over to me. I smiled. Seeing a tiny Asian girl wearing a black robe, with a huge bone-topped staff, coming out of a rainbow felt like a backward result. Thankfully she didn’t arrive with glittering butterfly wings. The idea made me laugh, and I felt that much better.

  I looked at the teen. His face had frozen upon seeing my wife come over and hug me. He formed words, then looked at his own hand. Maybe he wanted his own wife-summoning rainbow, but the chances of him earning one were slim.

  “Forty.” He nodded. “I was headed there anyway, before people got in my way.” Requiem frowned at me for a moment, then sighed. His face was wide open and easy to read now that I knew what kind of person the teen was—a greedy brat who had been forced to become so by his family circumstances. “And if you are somehow tied to Spite, don’t expect an apology.”

  Xin turned away from me with a false smile. Two fingers jabbed upward, and a thick white pillar slammed out of the ground right into Requiem’s crotch. He hung there with a wide-open mouth and crossed eyes. I felt my own mouth gape.

  “That’s for hurting my husband,” she said. “And I won’t apologize either.”

  “Husband?” Wraith chuckled harder. Between gulps of air, he choked out words. “Amazing! My brother, married! From a nervous little coward to a warrior! Hah!”

  Xin looked at the giant, and her face blanched. The shorter woman might be experiencing a worse vertigo than I ever had. From her slanted eyes, she was seriously considering slamming Wraith in the same manner as Requiem’s recent groin shot.

  In a way, Wraith was dead-on with his assessment, were it not for the brother statement. Defeating Requiem on my own reminded me just how far I had come. The demon didn’t care and kept on laughing.

  Session Ninety-Nine

  The Far Shore

  I found myself hating the young man more as time went by. His hair was a mess from the wilds and the clothes were worn down. Still, he knew how to play, and once we made the choice to move forward, there was no hesitation. Requiem acted decisively and kept training other skills while walking around.

  After an hour of work, the four of us stood in a large pool of water that was near freezing. Wraith looked the most uncomfortable. A heavy moon hung overhead. Requiem sent little waves through the water. Its surface rippled with a hypnotic movement.

  “This is stupid.” My teeth chattered. Being waist-deep in this chill sucked. “We should have brought swimsuits. Do we have swimsuits?”

  Xin shook her head.

  “No can do. This shortcut requires suffering anyway,” Requiem sounded matter-of-fact.

  Briefly, I recalled the room that Shadow and the others used. There had been a certain level of mental suffering required as we played out our nightmares. Hopefully, this shortcut wouldn’t require the same.

  I didn’t completely buy his explanation. He’d convinced us that we could access a shortcut by traveling through a swimming-pool-like location to the castle. This used to be Frankenstein’s location. Part of me wondered where the man was now. His character had been offline for days.

  “Still, why do we have to freeze to death?” Xin asked.

  “It’s this”—Requiem’s face softened a bit when Xin asked the questions—“or go the long way. Based on what you’re both saying, that way isn’t fast enough.”

  “I didn’t know there were portals in this place.” My wife stared at the water. “Is it a doorway?”

  “Him I would charge for the knowledge, but you I’ll tell for free.” He shrugged, then smiled toward Xin. “No, and it’s not really a normal portal so much as a beacon.”

  Wraith kept chuckling. Apparently he found my displeasure with Requiem a source of amusement. Every five minutes, I felt the desire to [Blink] Requiem off a cliff, then get Xin through her beam of light in [Haven Valley]. Afterward, I could watch the world fall apart from a safe distance. Only then, hundreds of other NPCs might be deleted.

  My teeth clacked together as the game increased our feedback response. Both legs felt stiff, and my arms refused to form a complete fist. Requiem didn’t look any better. Xin leaned in next to me while Wraith simply stood there waiting.

  “We’re almost ready,” Requiem managed to say through chattering teeth. He looked worn down with chilled skin. His thinner body and low weight were working against him.

  I needed more than a toga. Chill caused my virtual balls to shrink.

  Xin’s hand squeezed mine.

  Our health bars were starting to drain. It wasn’t just Xin and me; Requiem also looked worse for wear. I seriously debated the wisdom of this path. We had one strike against us after fighting a round of player killers on our honeymoon. Requiem hadn’t yet died during the event.

  “It will be okay, brother. Requiem may be a mad human who inspires loathing in every Traveler who meets him, but this path isn’t a lie.”

  Wraith’s deep voice made me shiver again. That sense of infesting amusement lingered in the back of my skull. I had no idea what level of feedback in the ARC caused such a specific notion. Combining that feeling with the numbness of this pool confused me.

  The four of us stood around the reflected moon and waited. Nothing else stood out in the darkness. Even Xin’s face started blurring into the background. Wraith’s fog-covered face wove in and out. Requiem’s shivering form reflected along with everything else. I stared at the white wiggling mirror.

  “It’s here.” Requiem’s words came from far away.

  “What?” Xin said.

  “Listen carefully, and don’t do anything quickly,” the teen said. “Take a breath, then let out all the air. Without taking another breath, you need to look slowly from the moon in the water, straight up to the moon overhead.”

  “What will happen?” I asked.

  The young man glared at me through the water’s rippling surface. Wraith was the first to fade. His towering form existed in one blink, then vanished so quickly I worried he might have teleported away.

  [Sight of Mercari] showed nothing. Xin’s face tilted back to look overhead. I watched her body fade out. The pressure at my hand vanished. Requiem’s unpleasant smile faded next.

  I swallowed and wondered why jumping into the unknown still made me hesitate. This was only a game. The method Requiem suggested would be a built-in secret or shortcut, simply like Requiem had said.

  Breath came in, then went out completely. I stared at the moon’s rippling form for a few seconds and admired the serenity. My head t
ilted backward gently. Dizziness swept across my senses as the moon’s shape fell downward. I felt as if nothing existed but both large white spheres, pulling at my form.

  My body saw both moons until I had no clue which one was the reflection and which might be original. Then it didn’t matter. I fell backward and landed on a bed of gentle sand. The grains rubbing between my outstretched fingers was the first sensation to return. I heard Xin’s delightfully quiet laughter before she tried to restrain herself.

  Wraith chuckled too.

  Even Requiem sounded pleased when he started talking. “Don’t look up until I tell you. If you do, you may end up being teleported to a random spot, or end up in one of the areas that World Eaters have destroyed.”

  He’d probably over explained for my wife’s sake. Xin’s hand reached down to grab mine. I stood and looked at the ground under my feet. Sand was everywhere, pure white grains only broken up by small puddles of water which had a planet reflected upon them.

  “Every time I think I’ve seen a lot in this game, there’s always something new,” I said.

  “Where is this?” my wife asked.

  “The Moon’s Shore,” Requiem answered while stepping carefully around the puddles.

  “How did you find this place?”

  The teen ignored me.

  “How did you discover a place like this?” Xin asked instead.

  That he answered. “It’s only visible when you’re near death and near the moon’s reflection. I… died a lot during the beta and found this place.”

  “So we use this to get to the island?”

  “Almost. We’ll use this to get to a place where we can see the island.”

  My wife kept Requiem answering questions while we progressed. I had no clue how far we needed to go. Our path traveled a good half mile while they talked about all kinds of beta secrets. All of which were nearly useless now that the game was coming to a close. I hated that Xin’s questions got more results than mine. Then again, Requiem and I had a terrible history. My eyes nearly rolled every time the young man blurted out an answer at high speeds. Despite being pummeled in the package by a pillar of bone, he seemed infatuated.