Continue Online (Part 3, Realities)

by Stephan Morse

  “Are you sure?” I bit my lip. Part of me was extremely happy that they chose to come with me on this death mission. The other part wanted them to simply escort the [Wayfarer Eight] home.

  “This one is, yes,” Aqua said.

  “I’m going, if I wasn’t in this until the end, I would have never accepted reconstruction.” Treasure nodded. Her sweet tone overtook the tired one with ease.

  Ruby nodded again.

  “Jeeves?” I asked after trying to take a careful breath.

  “Yes, Unit Hermes, I am here until the end,” Jeeves answered without hesitation.

  “Even if-” I couldn’t say it. The AI didn’t know what might happen in the case of game death.

  “Yes, Unit Hermes. You won’t get rid of me that easily,” my friend said. I nodded. From here, provided we pushed back the other large ship left behind, we would truly give chase.

  They started making plans while an errant thought crossed my mind. It was triggered by Jeeves’ words. This idea was not a new one. It had passed through many times, teasing, taunting, offering liberal amounts of hope for a wounded heart. Today it came forth without a melancholy taint of sadness or desperate hope of succor for a drowning man.

  It existed with a stilled resolution. At the end of this adventure, I would be together with Xin, even if it killed me.

  I felt at the wound to my chest and side while contemplating a second thought. This after idea chased the first with a rapid cynicism, sneaking in before I could clamp down on growing suspicions. Perhaps, the thought said, I would be together with Xin only when this adventure truly killed me.

  Session Sixty – Peace Offing

  I stood on the bridge of a now emptied [Knuckle Dragger]. Treasure had remotely initiated the Jump Gate and pushed me right through. For the first time, I was alone, truly alone, and further away from the rest of my crew than ever before.

  “I will eat you!” a barely female voice shouted at me.

  My eyes weren’t really focused that well on her right now. Human ships didn’t have as many neat interface options. There were knobs and dials in front of me. Most of the screens were broken. One projector did work allowing me to see half of the person I spoke to.

  “I will turn you into metal man soup!” the person kept screaming.

  The display showed Auntie Backstab’s big ugly metal face. She looked twice as ugly without the helmet. Veins popped in weird spots, hair had been badly burned or shaved off. I would be upset too if the man who blew up my ship just waltzed right on through in her defeated vessel.

  My heart raced a bit. One hand kept gripping at the inactivate laser sword hilt in my hand. I blinked now and then, but it wasn’t from nervousness. Seeing gobs of slobber froth up from her anger didn’t make me that upset. This was surprisingly fun. Being yelled at by a virtual monster held far more excitement than dealing with angry customers.

  “Ma’am-” I choked back the moment of amusement and tried to stay level headed.

  “I am no ham!” she shouted abruptly.

  My lips quivered slightly. She was on the other side of a broken screen. This was way more entertaining than being chased around a ship in desperation. Now, here, I felt comfortable enough to almost laugh.

  “The Mechanoid fleet wishes to cease hostilities. I’ve brought back your deceased as a sign of good faith toward this goal.” I tried to remain calm. Maybe there were some crew members in the background that could get rid of Auntie Backstab.

  “I propose we eat you for dinner! You bring you fleet, I will eat!” Her face twisted and a new series of bubbles dripped off the protruding lower jaw. Then Auntie Backstab seemed to hear her own rhyme and started laughing.

  “Perhaps there is someone else I should be talking to?” I suggested. Requesting another person sometimes helped irate customers get a way out. Using such methodology here while negotiating with the enemy felt very neat.

  “You should not be talking! You are a ham! You should be squealing!”

  “Captain Backstab, what are you doing on my bridge?” a male voice I hadn’t heard before cut in.

  “Talking to ham!”

  “Ma’am, I am not a pig, I am a Mechanoid,” I said calmly and with far more glee than anyone should have. Talking to this vaguely womanish monster filled me with mirth. Being miles away from such a violently unstable mountain of crazy and being able to mock them with kindness made my top ten list of best moments.

  “Get off my bridge, Captain Backstab,” the male said.

  “You bridge is stupid! I will go take mine back now that ham has brought it.” The half [Leviathan], half [Behemoth] walked off. I tried to figure out if the game would make a new race, were there more than one. [Levimoth]? [Beheathan]?

  The newest man’s face came into view. Only half could be seen from the broken display. He looked human, older, with a few extra pounds on him. In his hand was a small armored marine figurine. Insignias lined the visible shoulder denoting numerous awards given for combat.

  “What is your name, Mechanoid?” the man’s tone commanded me to answer.

  “This one is Unit Hermes.” I tried to borrow speech patterns from Aqua and fulfill my role. It had been hard to get into character with Auntie Backstab’s grumbling face, but this ship’s captain seemed suited to the role.

  “And since when have Mechanoids ever attempted to bring back another races’ dead?” he said. I wished I could see the missing portion of the screen capture to better read his facial responses.

  “I suggested to the others that this might serve as a token of goodwill, with the goal of a ceasefire,” I said.

  The man tapped fingers against a desk out of view. “Why would you desire this?”

  “This one,” talking like Aqua was kind of fun, “has many reasons. First, we believe your Commander is on a mad quest to abuse the Mistborn’s powers. It is logical to assume that you’ve been left behind to prevent our ship from pursuing her.”

  “We have,” the man said, confirming my belief rather easily.

  I paused to review his body language. Only half of it was visible, but the remaining portion looked resolute. His chin lifted a little higher, both eyes were unwavering, he kept each hand behind his back in a military rest position.

  “Then if we agree not to use the larger ship in pursuit, your mission will be accomplished, without the need for additional humans to lose their lives,” I stressed the last sentence. To me, it was worth taking both of our larger vessels off the table.

  “Your kind have shown little regard for our lives before,” he said, lifting his chin a bit higher and adopting an accusing glare.

  “I am not like the rest of my kind. It may serve you to know that I have what the Mechanoid call an old soul core, or as some label me, a Traveler,” I said.

  “You’re certainly not like the others. In which case you are even less likely to be trusted.” He didn’t back down from his verbal challenge. “Standard Mechanoids are straightforward when tested in battle, Travelers often don’t know the value of honor.”

  I bit my lip and tried not to scream at the projection. This man had implied that I was possibly a liar and a cheat without provocation. Even my customers were more polite than that, on average anyway.

  “All I want,” I tried to come back to the point, “is for our ship to be allowed passage home to Mechanoid territory. Such an exchange will reduce pointless waste for both our races.”

  “If you’re concerned with your people’s safety, I suggest you simply go around. I have nothing to gain by allowing you through.” The man brought up one of the main points I managed to prepare for.

  This entire exchange reminded me of the days where I used to do accounting. People worried about money, they argued over little things. Often times they stuck to one point or another as a deal breaker. Any smart person, Captain or not, would decline something that didn’t have an upside. Which meant I had to remind him of the stakes.

  “No, Captain, it’s quite the opposite. I pushed for
an exchange of safe passage, our forces and yours both leave this mad quest.” I stood firm and tried to remember my calming exercises. This situation bordered into too serious compared with Auntie Backstab. “There’s no reason your people or mine should suffer due to a Traveler’s whims, or Commander Queenshand’s crusade.”

  “The Commander is worthy of respect for her goals,” the unnamed Captain said. His posture was both relaxed and formal. There was no rebuttal in the statement, though, only a defense of his commanding officer. That meant I had made progress in convincing him.

  “If she was worthy of respect she would not allow hundreds to die in order to bring back one person.”

  There was a clear pause as my words sunk in. It was a backhanded statement that would set any normal person back. I tried not to smile as the realism of these various AIs hit home once more. This was me communicating with a virtual creation, pretending to be a robotic man, without any sort of guidance on how to act.

  “You are the Traveler who had originally been granted rights to the Mistborn, correct?”

  “I am,” I said.

  “Then, would you cease pursuit as well?” he asked me point blank.

  “I can’t, for my own reasons. I hope to reduce this mission down to a few Mechanoids, and the Travelers who took the Mistborn.” I wanted to get to the [Mistborn] for Xin, that hadn’t changed. It would never change, one quest or task at a time. All with the purpose of spending whatever time was available with her. In this world or the next.

  How did that old song go? She’s gone to heaven so I’ve got to be good. It wasn’t much to dance to, but it struck a cord after Xin passed. Listening to it also turned me into a depressive moody drunk for those first few months after her death.

  “And Commander Queenshand?” the Captain asked. “Will you attempt to kill her, if she gets in your way?”

  This time, I took a moment to consider my answer. We were negotiating details that would impact hundreds of [Mechanoid]s. “If needed.”

  There was another pause. I could tell the man was weighing lives against each other. His ship, this crew, a good portion had already died from the [Wayfarer Seven]. They would be against a slightly less powerful [Wayfarer Eight] but there would be further casualties.

  Bodies floated on this side of the Jump Gate too. I could see human ships recovering the dead all around, much like how we had recovered the [Mechanoid] ones on our side. It made sense, not every fighter ship would explode in a blaze of glory and leave behind charred remains.

  The [Knuckle Dragger] rocked as something huge docked. I looked over and saw an alarm calling the crew to battle stations.

  “Decide quick, Captain, I believe Auntie Backstab intends to kill me. I must respond to my consortium before that happens. The loss of this body will put me out of commission beyond their deadline, at which point they will come through regardless of my desires.”

  There was another pause. I could practically feel the ship vibrating as Auntie Backstab made her way from the hangar below to this command center. Each loud clomp of the monster’s footsteps shook throughout the vessel. I felt a tinge of remorse about the polite mockery uttered earlier.

  “Very well. Tell your surviving crew that we will offer a ceasefire, and escort them to an alternate Jump Gate that leads to Mechanoid territory. That is the best I can offer.” The Captain nodded.

  The captain’s hand gripped his small military figurine tightly. For a moment, he glanced down as if an entire board was spread out before him. Maybe he stood in front of a display which helped make the decision.

  “That’s good enough for me.” I nodded happily.

  Current Stage Event:

  Ceasefire negotiated. Modifications are being made to both faction’s memberships. Please take note of the following changes:

  [Mechanoid] forces are being rerouted away from this scenario

  [Knight’s Lance] and crew are being rerouted away from this scenario

  [Knuckle Dragger] remains active

  [WTS a Spaceship] remains active

  [Mechanoid] force comprised of Hermes, Ruby, Aqua, Treasure, and Jeeves remain active.

  I barely reined in a happy dance on the spot. It would be quite easy to bust out some moves. Dancing, a huge portion of my life, had been put on the back burner after switching to Advance Online.

  “That being said, Hermes, I can not, and will not prevent Captain Backstab from taking back her ship.”

  “I didn’t expect you to.” I sighed heavily while wondering how bad the next backstab would hurt. One hand rubbed at the wounds on my chest. Deep breathing still made me wince. “Honoring our arrangement is enough.”

  “I will if your people will.” The man turned a bit and nodded to someone in the background. I couldn’t tell who since they were in the broken half of my screen.

  “That’s fair, Captain, if not, the Wayfarer Eight will go down firing, and that serves no one,” I said trying to sound nonchalant. This was a big risk. We were effectively trusting an enemy ship to escort our partially equipped vessel.

  Hopefully, I could trust the Advance Online system message. It sounded like a lot of pieces were being taken off the board, aside from the other players. It felt odd that the [Knuckle Dragger] remained in play, but Treasure could probably solve that in seconds.

  “I wish your other ship had the same sense prior to starting this nonsense.” The man clicked off the communication screen. It left me and a shuddering ship from Auntie Backstab’s footfalls. Maybe I only imagined her approaching.

  I pressed the buttons to try and reach back through the Jump Gate to Treasure. It took twenty seconds for it to pick up. Treasure’s shorter body came onto the broken display.

  “They’ve agreed,” I said and started to worry as the ship shuddered. Just how strong was Auntie Backstab that she could make everything shake like this? Voices help me if her happiness level had taken a severe dive.

  We talked very briefly about how the remaining ship’s Captain agreed to a ceasefire but demanded to escort the [Wayfarer Eight] to a Jump Gate. Treasure and Aqua agreed that it was a sensible request.

  There was a short time delay in our conversation since the message was piping through a great distance. Part of me was annoyed that Advance Online felt the need to be realistic on this point but chose to allow giant space monsters and metal morphing races like the [Mechanoid]s.

  “Very well. We will pilot our ships through and submit to the escort.” Aqua nodded. “We shall join you soon for pickup.”

  “I’m probably going to be…” Dead wasn’t the right word. Being crushed was more accurate for a metal body. “Well, Auntie Backstab is going to probably remove this shell in order to reclaim the ship.”

  “Unlikely, we have prepared a decoy for this eventuality. Ruby will assist in masking your presence.”

  “What?” I turned around in time to see a flash of crimson. Everything spun.

  Ruby, the red skinned [Mechanoid] who seemed to linger outside the edge of my vision, had done something dangerous. She must be using a stealth ability, like the one that Emerald had awarded me but I hadn’t played with. A box flashed at one side telling me roughly what was going on.

  Attention Unit identified as Hermes!

  You are being hacked. This is the first time you have been hacked by another [Mechanoid]. Please be aware that countering this process requires a combination of [Endurance], [Depth], and [Focus].

  I ground my teeth and tried to stay conscious. They were doing exactly what I had argued against. Sacrificing countless people in order to help me. The fact that a [Mechanoid] consciousnesses would be recovered somewhere else didn’t matter in my mind. A box started ticking by the effects of my efforts upon this game character.

  Second Hacking attempt resisted, [Tenacity] awarded.

  Massive footsteps stomped nearby. I felt the vibrations rather than saw them. My ARC feedback had grown exceptionally blurry. Small ones and zeros were crawling across my vision like worms. Behind them
was a trail of blackness that provided no visual information.

  Ruby was under my armpit, lifting me. We staggered somewhere as the hacking attempt wore on. In a small corner of the command room, there was an exit panel. The other [Mechanoid] set me down and started removing the paneling.

  “Ah ha! Metal soup man!” Auntie Backstab yelled from another room. The half [Leviathan] NPC couldn’t have smelled me through the walls, could she?

  Third Hacking attempt resisted, [Tenacity] and [Respect] awarded.

  “Unit Hermes, you have shown value for what you perceive life to be, and we respect this, however, we do not have time to lose a key figure to the whims of the enemy,” said Treasure, her voice ringing in my head.

  Everything started to fade. I wanted to growl and huff at Treasure. They had set up another [Mechanoid] to die in my place. Even now the noise of Auntie Backstab could be heard.

  “Backstab successful!” She shouted and the entire ship shuddered.

  Fourth Hacking attempt resisted, [Tenacity], [Respect], and [Adaptability] awarded.

  Fifth Hacking successful, awareness shutting down.

  The ARC feedback didn’t stop. Advance Online gradually brought back my eyesight and deposited me in the gray space. This was the same area I had ended up in after the [Leviathan] encounter and ripping out my own [Core]s.

  I logged out and took care of real life issues. To keep myself apprised of the in-game situation, I loaded up a monitoring program. A sound would play once the unconscious status changed and my character was playable again.

  The house needed a quick round of cleaning. Clothing sat folded and pressed in a deposit box. I picked that up, threw empty food containers into a recycling bin, and tried to remember what life consisted of on a good day. Sleep, dancing and work mostly.

  Aside from the necessitates of self-maintenance I also had family. Liz visited me a few days ago in the hospital, and she likely hadn’t come to grips with our argument on Sunday. Our brief moment of conversation was probably the result of the medical scare.

  Plus, I may be out of the game, but there were other options that could be pursued. I called Beth because I needed someone human to talk to after all that gallivanting about as a [Mechanoid]. Maybe she could help me get a Continue fix. The option of cheating to watch her play through my admin connection was strong.