Continue Online (Part 3, Realities)

by Stephan Morse

  Time until [Wayfarer’s Hope] catches up with [Lady Liberty]:

  1:33:54

  I drove on. Stealth was pointless. We would either attract every monster in the entire solar system or make it through safely. [Lady Liberty] was ahead somewhere, my hope was that she would be fighting or clearing a path. After ten minutes, we encountered the first casualties.

  There was a stream of dead monsters. I saw pieces of bodies and health bars. A trail of defeated beings littered the solar system, snaking between planets and onward toward the center. It was possible to see where they had sacrificed a lot of human ships in order to make it this far.

  I stared at the dead. Our ship floated forward almost silently. It was like walking through a graveyard. The monsters I didn’t mind, except that some of them looked like giant twisted people. Mutated faces and extra arms hung off of human looking creatures floating in the vacuum. This went on in a long trail of crazy. By Neptune, I felt sick. At Saturn, my stomach wanted to retch.

  “Welcome to a spaceship graveyard.” Eggman didn’t have the nerve to laugh in the face of this. Treasure’s noisy scans kept identifying ships. Brief messages came up. Her readings presented all kinds of details such as the year each ship went missing, crew size, and their allegiances. The oldest ship was from at least one hundred years in my future.

  It took hours even with the ship’s speed. We saw Jupiter in the distance, and Mars on another side. Finally, we found the Advance version of Earth. Only instead of one small green and blue marble, there were four large pieces. Lightning crackled and a cloud hung between them. Our planet looked to have suffered from an explosion that rent it into shards like a global watermelon.

  “What happened here?” I asked the three behind me.

  “Humans,” Jeeves said.

  “That’s what the records imply,” said Treasure.

  “We fucked up paradise during a war with the first AIs,” said Eggman supplying further information.

  I stared at the globe in front of us. This scene was a virtual foreboding of mankind’s future, especially with my knowledge of AIs and their current existence. Our programs were no longer simple creations that only understood and performed basic tasks. They grew, learned, evolved, and apparently even fell in love.

  An image of Xin’s face popped into my mind. I hoped especially that they loved.

  Session Sixty Three – Electric Slide

  Humanity’s home planet had been divided into large chunks. A nimbus hung around the shards, looking like a milky paste with wicked storms crackling along it. Space lightning involved huge bolts that might be larger than the moon. Science wasn’t my strong point, but our future looked terrifying.

  Treasure guided our semi-ragged ship closer. I saw the golden [Mechanoid] sigh heavily. Jeeves also looked worried. Eggman was laughing with his huge mouth. A brief glance at Dusk showed his head tilting while staring at the larger human. Even without a speech bubble, I could tell the [Messenger’s Pet] wanted to stab him in the face. That might be me projecting.

  “Can we get in there?” I asked the crew behind me.

  “Not easily,” Treasure said. “These energy readings imply we’ll be torn apart, and arrive greatly damaged at best.”

  “Bah. Make a decision, I’ll be back in a few minutes. Hehehe. I’ve got to drop some doom in the toilet!” Eggman vanished in a whoosh of light. Treasure didn’t even bat an eye. The AIs clearly had a huge blind spot where players were concerned.

  “Can I go alone?” I asked. If we swung it just right our [Wayfarer’s Hope] could probably sling shot me in between the clouds. Landing would be extremely dangerous. Maybe an army of Dusks under me might help. Or I could borrow mass from something and shed it. Voices above, [Blink] would have been so useful.

  “You’ll die,” Jeeves said. “And I wish you would stop trying to do this alone. Part of my mission is to assist you, Unit Hermes, no matter what happens.”

  I took a deep breath. Jeeves and Treasure had gotten me this far. Without the AIs, I would never have been this successful. Maybe my game experience would have involved starting on the place Treasure mentioned. The Shores of Ohm, where all the baby silicone and metal filled [Mechanoid]s crawled out of to start their journey to the stars.

  “I think you should take Treasure, and run, don’t look back,” I said.

  “We won’t,” the rusty gold AI said to me. Its face showed stern disapproval for even suggesting they leave.

  My mind calculated the odds of making it back to [Mechanoid] territory from here. We were in [The Old Earth Solar System], which felt like a restricted zone. Having a key to the gate was either Advance Online’s way of limiting who went there, or making sure people were strong enough to go poking around. It might also just be a matter of getting a lucky drop from a space pigeon or some other nonsensical creature.

  “You don’t even know if you can come back like other players or Mechanoids.” I lowered my head to look directly at Jeeves. This was driving me crazy.

  “I’ll take the risk,” Jeeves said.

  “What?” Treasure had a much different reaction. “What does that mean?”

  “Nothing I wish to share,” It responded. Both the nanny and butler voices turned stubborn.

  “It means that if Jeeves dies down there, it might be impossible for you to rejoin on the Shores of Ohm.” I threw the name out there. It sounded extremely important, especially given how Treasure used it earlier. She had the same reverence people used when talking about meeting loved ones in the afterlife.

  There was a pause while the shorter female [Mechanoid] looked at us. First to me, then back to Jeeves. She pressed buttons on her scanner and stared at readings then smiled. Her head nodded rapidly.

  “No. I am confident that our data can be recovered, same as any other core. You will return too, Hermes, regardless of our successes,” Treasure stated. “We should not be afraid to do our best.”

  I looked down for a moment and tried not to dwell on the situation. There was a way through. If all else failed I would use it to at least secure Jeeves’ future. It would be a matter of trying my hardest to not need such a way through.

  “I am with you, regardless of what may come.” Jeeves once again affirmed to me.

  “I too am willing to see this to the end,” Treasure said.

  I kept our ship paused outside the Earth’s atmosphere. Eggman gasped upon reentry. His character made a loud farting sound that thankfully [Mechanoid]s didn’t process correctly. Skipping that purchase on the [Wayfarer Seven] had been a good decision. At least, I was fairly sure it had been skipped. Our cabin felt a bit more stuffy and Dusk was squawking. One of the small raptor’s four arms kept trying to claw the top of Eggman’s head.

  “We ready?” Eggman asked.

  “No, I’m trying to convince them to leave,” I told the other player. He might understand trying to keep NPCs safe. Maybe he wouldn’t.

  “Bah. Do or do not, there is no die!” Eggman scratched a large double chin then shook his head. “Maybe I’ve got that wrong. Hehehe.”

  “We’re going,” Treasure said.

  “You heard ‘em. Pedal to the metal! Go, go, go! All units prepare for battle!” Eggman bounced around in our ship. The motion did more to jar him around then it did our ship.

  “Ham.” Auntie Backstab’s face appeared on our ship’s screen. My head tried to wrap around the concept that the half [Leviathan] monstrosity had once again shown up. How did she make it through the Jump Gate?

  “Is that?” Treasure shook her head. “No, pardon my inquiry. One moment while I bring up our scanners.”

  Beeps sounded. The indicator for our shield dipped and other lights came on. I turned to look over Jeeves’ display. A trail of defeated monsters and a few dead players littered our path back to the Jump Gate. All of them had been taken down by Commander Queenshand and crew. Soon my friend had the [Stabinator] up on the display.

  “Ham.” Auntie Backstab’s jaw looked broken. The once imposing a
rmor was in shreds. Green mud melted together with space eel features. The [Stabinator] fared even worse. Spikes were hanging off of the former ball in odd shapes. It looked like someone had pounded into the sides and dented it.

  “How are you still alive, Captain Backstab?” I muttered to her image.

  Boss Re-Encountered!

  Name: Auntie Backstab

  Health Pool: Still a lot

  Damage Output: Questionable

  Happiness Level: -45

  “Ham. Will eat. Ship destroyed,” Captain Backstab mumbled repeatedly. Anger must be driving her forth to catch up with us. The game scripting may be forcing Auntie Backstab to chase us so we wouldn’t stop for too long. It felt extremely aggravating because she could probably still out damage us all together.

  Do we turn around and risk it, or follow the prompt to dive forward? I took a deep breath. There were many reckless options. First, the other [Mechanoid]s needed to go home and be freed from my madness. I knew if I thought about it in depth, that this whole idea was ridiculous. The craziest part wasn’t even chasing a digital woman, it was me pulling along extra people to try and reach an electronic copy of my dead fiancée.

  “Treasure. Take Jeeves, go as far as you can.” I felt all at once certain about our situation. These two were going to die like Ruby and Aqua had. We, I, was being chased by one giant space ogre who healed from eating metal. This was clearly our nemesis and she wouldn’t stop unless killed.

  “Unit Hermes, User Legate, we’re not leaving you,” they both said in unison. I blinked, and felt momentarily proud for Jeeves managing to fit in, even a little.

  Our vessel kicked into gear. Out of reflex, I sat down quickly then buckled myself into the harness. One of the other two was piloting us now. I cringed and wondered if a better speaker might have been able to solve this problem. Could a greater man have found a way to talk to Commander Queenshand ahead of time? A skilled warrior might have dominated Auntie Backstab. Perhaps an expert tactician might have led our [Mechanoid] army toward domination.

  “We’re going in,” Treasure said while continuously pressing buttons. My display abruptly shut off. “You can’t do this without our help, and the visual feed you old soul cores rely on is only serving as a distraction.”

  “But you’ll die.” I turned the seat toward them and tried to plead my case.

  “All forces full speed ahead! Go team robot!” said a bouncing fat man. His bulk took up a lot of room in our ship. Dusk scowled at him from a perch above.

  “At least let me see something.” I couldn’t sit here and not know what we were getting into. Or what we were flying toward. All those lightning bolts, they had rippled across the broken parts of our world.

  I needed to watch, one way or the other. Being a coward in these situations was no longer an option. My biggest change in the last few months wasn’t a bunch of character points or skills. It was confronting the things that scared me with both eyes open. I may not be calm or cold blooded, but I would not run. I would live, and hope for a better tomorrow.

  Treasure waved a hand in my direction and a small window appeared. It showed us cruising at high speeds toward the planet below. Our vessel shook as it entered a different type of space. Was that water? It looked like a bunch of frozen droplets all scattered about. Is this what remained of the earth’s once vast oceans? I didn’t understand how that was possible.

  Lightning happened when positive and negative ions built. Bolts poured out from the cloud’s center and flew out rapidly to the various pieces of old Earth. They whooshed through the water droplets which set them dancing as if they could boil in a vacuum.

  All these lightning strikes came from the center of what used to be Earth. Sadly that was the exact location that Treasure was piloting us toward. Our screens showed some interference as all the systems started losing functionality.

  “Ham,” Auntie Backstab groaned. Her ship had apparently closed a good deal of the gap between us. If our vessel had been focused on sensors instead of maintaining shields and repairing, then maybe we would have noticed sooner.

  Treasure gasped in annoyance. A tiny mostly metal hand slammed down onto her desk. The female said, “I’m losing readings. One moment, I need to input the last noted course corrections. At this rate, we will break through and hold orbit on the clear side.”

  “The systems are going out. We’re nearly dead weight,” Jeeves said while shaking its head back and forth.

  “No, we’re doomed! But the other players are still online, I know it! If those twerps made it through, so can we!” Eggman shouted happily despite the bolts streaming around nearby.

  What exactly were they conducting off of? It was like this place still had some semblance of gravity, but no longer had actual mass. Our war with the AIs must have truly turned this place into a bizarre madhouse planet. It could be the game just messing with settings for impact.

  I didn’t have control of our destination. It was perhaps for the best, my ability to pilot felt like a drunk person driving sometimes. The prior fuel usage and constant course corrections were all my fault.

  “Brace yourselves!” Treasure shouted. Our ship rocked as another trail of lightning went by. The interface I was watching faded out as electricity rippled through. This bolt must have been close enough for some of the branches of energy to reach across to us. I frantically tried to figure out if we were full of negative or positive ions, but nothing came to mind. We had to be a bit of both with energy [Core]s, but portions of Advance Online didn’t follow outright science.

  I mean, I was a metal creature who stole minerals and elements from a ship in order to upgrade myself. We traveled through space into mass teleportation relays and came out the other side. Jeeves and I had fought a space eel. Our ship drove like a car without an Auto-NAV. Clearly the AIs that managed this place thought science only existed when it didn’t interfere with the game elements.

  “Ahhhh!” Eggman screamed. The rest of us watched our [Core] energy bars fluctuate rapidly. He huffed and pressed a button at his waist. Red blots appeared along one meaty arm, but after the ability activated they slowly vanished. He must have triggered a player potion or nano-machines, whatever future tech excuse allowed for health recovery.

  Seconds later our ship was bumped, and this time the collision was unkind. “She’s on us again.” Treasure said after trying repeatedly to access her console. It flickered in and out.

  “Don’t we have shields?” I asked.

  “Not with all this ambient energy,” she responded.

  “Your pal’s right, we’re doomed!” Eggman put a fist in the air and jumped up and down. His form shimmered a bit with a green glow.

  “Fine! I’m not driving, and I’m tired of her following us!” If they didn’t need me to drive this hunk of metal, I needed to try another means of keeping us safe. I unbuckled and pushed myself by Eggman’s bulky form. He rolled into a wall and almost crushed Dusk and Jeeves.

  “What are you doing, Hermes?!” the chubby player demanded. We were like two large pigs trying to pass each other in a narrow hallway.

  “Being stupid, but we’re going down one way or another, and I’m not letting her follow us anymore.” My brain was already trying to plot out the calculations. At the right angle, there would be enough force for me to leap between ships. From there I could bring the [Stabinator] down. My abilities could easily take out an enemy’s vessel, especially since our shields were constantly being drained by the lightning.

  We had a small ladder in the back. I pushed up through the hatch. [Anchor] activated swiftly and my hand glommed onto the hull. Eggman screamed at me as oxygen whooshed out. Dusk chirped and clanked in behind me. It took less than a minute to get myself outside and seal the hatch behind me.

  Jeeves’ voice came out over the intercom, “Are you sure this is wise?”

  “No! Try to stay close!” I wondered briefly what my sister would think about these next few actions. My head shook back and forth. I readied myself
to jump. Space combat without the [Blink] skill felt exhilarating. If it hadn’t been for Xin, Jeeves, and Treasure behind me I would have truly enjoyed this.

  “That won’t be a problem, Hermes, at this point gravity and propulsion will do the work for us. You have less than five minutes before we breach the clear zone,” Treasure said over the system.

  “Okay! Are we going that slow?” I was an idiot, one with a metal body who couldn’t actually die in this game. Treasure and Jeeves might be able to resurrect me on the other side of this. Maybe, but this recurring nightmare of a boss had to go.

  “Through this? We must not rush, it takes time to correct course and avoid the worst strikes,” Treasure said.

  “Ham?” our mostly broken enemy questioned. I was unsure what game mechanic justified her ability to break across our lines.

  Both legs bunched, [Anchor] deactivated, and I leapt through space toward a looming [Stabinator]. The vessel’s size was downright imposing but impossible to miss. My body slammed into the accelerating vehicle. I had no idea how fast we were going, or how much gravity was impacting us. I did know the action hurt as inertia sent me rolling around the hull.

  Seriously Questionable Choices

  Total Health Remaining: 85%

  I landed on a spike’s rounded edge, my back bent painfully over the damaged weapon. [Anchor] activated again as I slammed both hands down to try and get purchase before slipping away into the great unknown. A small chirp of noise came in right behind me. I looked up and saw Dusk, angry and upset at our slippery situation.

  He had mastered traveling on the [Wayfarer Seven]‘s hull. Auntie Backstab’s ship was not nearly as easy to get around on for either of us. I wasn’t sure where to start with my demolition plan. [Anchor] fluctuated wildly with each minor lightning strike passing by. Dusk seemed to be timing his hops between spikes, I followed him, only stopping when he did.

  Our path was aiming for a hatch near the underside. Probably used by normal people to board the ship. We passed through huge dents, broken spike pits, and portions of the ship that was covered in tar.