“Nicely done!” I congratulate them. “Now, let’s finish this.”
Up ahead, I can barely see Ryken’s car. He disappears behind a copse of trees and once we pass through, he’s barely a speck in the distance.
“He must have a speed boost,” Talia yells from behind us.
We come upon another forest. The track leads through it, but I can barely make out Ryken’s vehicle on a path that goes around it. The path is nearly twice as long by going around, but there must be a reason he’s going that way. He must have seen something.
“Take the road to the left,” I tell Talia.
“What, why?”
“That’s where Ryken went.” I glance in her direction and our eyes meet.
“Are you sure? It could be a trap.” She sounds hesitant.
We’re already in a placing position, so I understand her concern, but I also know Ryken. The only thing trustworthy about him is that he will always look out for his own interests. “He would never risk his position this late in the race. If he’s taking a side-route, it’s because he sees something we don’t.”
I swerve from the main track and take the narrow path around the forest’s edge. I stay vigilant, in case I was wrong, but there’s no trap, at least not yet.
Several roars come from within the forest and trees shake in its depths. A moment later, we gain three spots, then two more.
When the path reconvenes with the main track, we’ve gained seven spots total. Only a flat stretch of road stands between us and the final portal.
I press the pedal to the floor, and the sound of snapping trees echoes behind us.
“Faster!” Urgency coats Dean’s voice.
I look over my shoulder just as a massive green dragon emerges from the trees. Its wings flap like sails, whipping against the air. It soars higher, and I let out the breath I’ve been holding.
Then it barrels in our direction.
We’re less than a hundred yards from the finish line with an angry dragon on our tail. Our car hits top speed, but without a speed boost, the dragon is gaining on us fast. It could pick us up and carry us back to the forest for all I know.
I sure wish I had an extra invisibility right now.
Dean shoots at the dragon, but none of the elements work against the dragon’s impenetrable scales, not even the combo effects.
Talia and I are neck-and-neck on the final stretch. Her face is set in stone as she focuses on the portal.
The dragon reaches for us, and I swerve to the right, nearly losing control but leaving the dragon grasping at air. A shrill shriek cuts through the air. A moment later, something jostles us, and I lose all ability to steer. Talia zooms past us and into the portal.
Two large claws rip into our car, cracking the shield and lifting us into the air.
My instincts take over. “Jump!” I say it without thinking. “Jump through the portal.”
Dean doesn’t question the order and stands on his seat. I grab his hand to steady him as he balances on the edge of the car. He pushes off and leaps toward the portal.
As the car lifts higher into the air, I climb onto the hood and jump with all my might, aiming straight for the portal. The dragon screeches again. I hit the swirling galaxy of the portal, and everything fades to black.
Chapter Twenty-Two
We portal back into The Vacuum, where over forty people are already celebrating making it through to the final round. Epic instrumental music blares from every direction, confetti falls from the sky, and Nancy soars through it all riding her pegasus.
“We did it!” Dean embraces me sporting a wide grin.
I return his embrace, but my mind is elsewhere. I can’t get over the distant look in Carter’s eyes when he saw me. He didn’t recognize me at all.
“Man, I thought you guys were goners.” Chadwick wraps his arm around Dean.
Talia extends a hand to me. “Yeah, the last thing I saw y’all were being pulled into the air by the dragon. How’d you manage to get away?”
“We didn’t.” Dean smirks. “We jumped from the car into the portal.”
Talia tilts her head back and laughs. “Classic!” She stops laughing and frowns as her eyes bore into me. “Esil, what’s up with you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
In a way, I have. I know I need to find answers, or I’m just going to bring everybody down.
“I need to head out. There’s something I have to take care of. Keep an eye on Dean for me.” I pat him on the back. “You did a damn good job today. I’ll see you back at the apartment.”
He looks at me with a shocked expression, but I don’t wait for him to respond before returning to my home portal.
This is a big moment for him. He should be proud, and I will celebrate once I find out what the hell is going on. But I can’t just pretend like this doesn’t bother me. I spent over a year in the Broken Lands, and the NPCs like Carter were indistinguishable from anyone I’ve met in real life. If they changed their programming or erased their memories…
I have to know what happened to them.
I log out of Pangea and change into my sweatpants in record time, nearly knocking the lamp off the table as I scramble through the apartment. I take one last glance at Dean as he sits peacefully in his haptic suit before I bolt out the door.
I sprint down the sidewalk, across the courtyard, and into Pangea Headquarters.
Benjamin is stepping out of his office just as I arrive. He smiles, but his demeanor quickly changes. “Everything okay, Esil? I was just about to log in and give a speech to everyone who made it to the final round.”
I hold up my hand while I catch my breath. “What did you do to them?”
“To who?” He gives me a confused look.
“The NPCs from the Broken Lands. What did you do to them? I saw Carter, but he didn’t recognize me.”
His smile returns and for the briefest instance, I have the urge to hit him.
“Here, step into my office.” He scans his hand on the reader, opening the door, and gestures for me to step inside. When the door closes behind him, he finally speaks. “You have nothing to worry about. They—”
I cut him off. “I looked him in the eye, and he didn’t know it was me. Did you erase all of their memories?”
He lifts his hands in defense. “Listen to me, Esil. They are all fine.” He sighs. “I shouldn’t even be telling you this, but that was nothing more than a mirror of the Broken Lands. We copied the code and tweaked it to run in Raceworld. All the characters you saw run off of a script. We are going to use the footage from the race as a teaser to announce the last stage of the tournament.”
“What?” I’m suddenly aware of how tense my body is. “So everyone is fine? They still know me.”
He smiles again. “Everyone is fine. All of their memories are intact. I’m sure it was a shock to you, but we didn’t think it was fair to let you in on the secret. You already know more than any of the other competitors about what’s coming.”
I take in a deep breath and my shoulders relax, though my hands still jitter from how worked up I was. I fix my gaze at the floor. I know I must seem insane to have made such a fuss.
“I’m sorry—”
“Don’t worry about it. Your heart’s in the right place. You were in full-immersion for a long time, so of course, they are real to you. I mean, they act of their own accord. Who’s to say they aren’t real?” He stands up. “I hate to cut and run, but I’ve got a few million people waiting for my appearance.”
Benjamin escorts me out of his office. With a squeeze on the shoulder, he disappears down the hallway. I lean back against the pristine white wall lost in my own thoughts.
After today, I’m not sure if the world is ready for full-immersion. Look what just happened to me. I ruined what should have been an amazing triumph all because of my attachment to lines of code.
What happens when the entire world becomes that invested in all of Pangea?
I take a deep breath. Maybe I
’m overreacting. Pangea is already more real to most people than their lives outside the game, so what is another layer of immersion? Most people have more outfits and items in-game than outside of it. Before I experienced full-immersion, I had already bonded with Fenrir and Merlin so much that I experienced real grief when I lost my pet owl.
But even then, I knew he wasn’t real. What happens when the line between game and reality continues to blur?
I meander down the hallway, through the double-doors to the laboratory where I used to test full-immersion. For the first time I can remember, it’s empty. There aren’t even any scientists or technicians in the control room.
There are other labs at headquarters, even an overflow lab from when we expanded the beta testers for the Broken Lands. Maybe that’s where Aleesia is. Either way, it appears that whatever they have planned for the final stage is ready to go.
Now that I have answers, I make my way back to the apartment. I open the door to find Dean sitting on the couch, the official Pangea Online stream running on the far wall.
He stares at me as I walk in. I’m not even sure how to begin explaining what happened, so I just stand there.
“Sorry about that,” I finally say.
“What happened? You weren’t yourself back there.”
“Yeah, I kind of freaked out for a minute.”
I go on to tell him about my experiences in full-immersion. How the final stage of the track was a replica of the Broken Lands, only I didn’t know it at the time, and how I panicked when Carter didn’t recognize me.
He gives me a sympathetic smile. “I don’t blame you. I just wish I had known. It would have helped me make sense of the situation.” His smile broadens, and I can tell there’s real mirth behind it. “But hey, we made it. We’re in the final round.”
My self-pity fades, and I’m able to smile genuinely. “That we did.”
“And you think the final stage is going to be full-immersion. Like the real deal?” His eyes are wide with excitement.
“I don’t know anything for cert—”
Benjamin appears on the feed, and I let my words fade away. I turn the volume up, and Dean and I watch in silence.
“What a stage, am I right?” Benjamin winks at the camera, clapping his hands and showcasing his natural charisma. “We saw it all. Action, adventure, friendship, betrayal, heartache. Even a last-ditch heroic effort to abandon the hovercar and leap into the final portal. This truly was a race for the ages.”
The camera pans out, showing Benjamin in between footage of all ten stages of the race.
“While most of the stages were classics with a twist, we brought two new tracks to the tournament. The first was modeled off of Apocalyptica, an homage to one of our great tournaments of the past.” All ten feeds switch to footage of Apocalyptica, showing different teams as they took on the course. “We added zombies as obstacles, and the challengers didn’t disappoint. There’s more than one way to skin a cat, as they say, and our challengers proved it. They used ice, fire, acid, and much more to put an end to those pesky walking dead.”
One of the panels shows Dean and I rescuing the gnomes, and the subsequent betrayal by the cyberpunk ladies. In another, Dawn freezes the undead and Ryken plows into them, shattering their frozen bodies like glass.
“But the real gem was right in front of your eyes the entire time. The forums have been hot with discussion about the track no one recognized.” The panels switch to the Broken Lands track, panning above Carolton, the dryad, the faeries, and a devastating dragon attack in the forest. “This was your first glimpse into a new world, the Broken Lands, and a teaser for the final stage. A stage never before seen in Pangea, one that will change virtual reality forever, and the crowning achievement of Pangea’s future.”
Benjamin takes a long pause as he stares intensely at the camera.
“After this tournament, Pangea will never be the same. For the first time ever, we will be bringing full-immersion to Pangea Online—starting with a battle royale in our first full-immersion world, The Broken Lands. The final one hundred teams will compete for glory until only one team remains, winning a sizable donation to charity and an exclusive Pangea Online scholarship. Stay tuned for an introduction to Pangea’s newest development.”
The screen goes black, and a medieval style map appears. The camera zooms in on a castle, then pans across to map past Carolton, the Cursed Forest, and Thunder Mountain. We see goblin society on the mountain as they toil among the rain and lightning, elves peer out from the edge of the forest with uncertainty plastered on their faces, and then a display of fireworks from Carter’s nightly show. “Adventure Awaits” flashes across the screen.
“But first…a champion must be crowned. After millennia, magic has returned to the Broken Lands. Fountains have sprouted across the continent, granting magical powers to those who are worthy. Adventurers have come from worlds over for a chance at glory, and the fates have answered. A tournament of heroes awaits, and as the playing field grows smaller, only one victor will remain.”
The screen shifts to an action montage, where I see several of the beta testers wearing leather armor or colorful robes as they battle one another inside of a translucent dome. They cast magic from their palms, some throwing fireballs, others bolts of energy. One hovers in the air and launches an icicle like a javelin. A woman shoots a gust of wind to block a barrage of arrows. Two more battle with swords, using magic with their off-hands. The camera continues to switch from one hero to the next as the number of fighters is whittled down. In the final scene, we follow behind a figure wearing a blue tunic as he summits a hill and lifts his sword into the air.
The clip ends and the stream focuses on the analysts as they speculate on the final stage. A new message from the developers draws my attention away.
Greetings Esil,
Congratulations on advancing to the final stage of the tournament! The package you received is now able to be opened. Inside, you will find the next wave of VR technology. The helmet inside provides neurological feedback that allows full-immersion without cumbersome machines. There’s no need for haptic suits or gloves, as the deep dive experience melds flawlessly with your nervous system. The technology has been rigorously tested, and the full details can be found in the terms and conditions.
We have set up training grounds for each team so that contestants can acclimate to full-immersion before the final stage. You will find an access token in the home portal of each former champion.
Good luck, and as always, never stop leveling!
-Pangea Online Developers
I set my tablet aside and stare at the two black boxes stacked neatly in the corner. It’s crazy how much full-immersion has changed in such a short time. From massive capsules and pods, now it’s all compartmentalized in something so small.
“Ready to do this?” I ask Dean.
“I was born ready.” He moves the two black boxes, sliding mine in front of me and then sitting on the floor in front of his own.
I press my finger to the locking mechanism, and it scans my fingerprint. The scanner flashes green, there’s an audible click, and the lock opens. I lift the lid and find the helmet inside.
It’s polished black with a mirrored purple facemask that covers the entire face. It looks more like something out of a sci-fi shooter than a gaming headset. Next to the helmet, there’s a pamphlet marked “Instructions.”
Place helmet over head and lie down in a neutral position. Once you are ready, lower the visor to begin setup.
“This is badass!” Dean stares at his reflection in the visor. “Can we try them on?”
“No, I was thinking we would just stare at them all day.” I laugh. “Kidding. Let’s do it.”
I pick up my immersion helmet and head into the bedroom. Once the helmet is on, it feels incredibly light and snug, almost like it was molded just for me. I lay down on the bed and flip the visor.
The tutorial is simple enough. Lines of text scroll down the inside
of the visor, telling me that it only works in full-immersion worlds, and that in order to gain feedback in the rest of Pangea, I will need to use the haptic suit connector. I’ll be able to use the helmet to get to my home portal, I just won’t experience true immersion until I’m in the Broken Lands or Training Grounds.
There’s also a note that the helmet shuts off after six-hours of uninterrupted gameplay.
Inside my home portal, a gold coin hovers in the middle of the room, spinning slowly. Dean arrives a few seconds later, and I let him in.
When I focus on the coin, a message appears.
Broken Lands Training Grounds Token
Activate? Y/N
I focus on yes. The coin vanishes and a portal takes its place.
I step to the side and gesture. toward the portal. “After you.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
The transition from visual-only to full-immersion is a bit jarring. For a moment, I’m disoriented as the world spins around me, but when I feel a cool breeze against my skin, everything stills. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Fresh air fills my lungs and the scent of the outdoors washes over me.
I’ve missed this.
I’m standing in a stone courtyard. Pillars and weathered steps of some ancient ruins surround me to the right. Further away to the left, a rocky hillside descends to the edge of a forest. On the other side, there are rolling hills speckled with towering oaks. Several streams cut through the landscape.
If memory serves, this is the wilderness between Carolton and the Endless Forest. The terrain is great for a battle royale, offering plenty of places to hide items and provide cover. Multiple ruins are scattered through the area.
“Whoa!” Dean crouches next to the grass at the edge of the courtyard, running his fingers over the blades. “This is crazy. I can feel every blade.”
“You’d rather play with grass than this?” I point to a veritable treasure trove in the center of the ruins.
Pangea Online: The Complete Trilogy Page 69
