Continue Online The Complete Series

by Stephan Morse

  I didn’t know how.

  No, I had to focus on moving forward. Putting the dance program on the back shelf was only one step. I stepped through the doorway to my new—temporary—distraction.

  Advance Online greeted me with the same whoosh of starry skies and intense G-force simulation. Moments later, I was back in my [Mechanoid] body and floating in space. A message sat on my screen. I reached to punch Yes but hesitated.

  Extended duration spent in space. No propulsion available.

  Would you like to abandon this shell and transfer to your last registered location at the [Wayfarer Seven – New Unit Production Room]?

  Chills covered every bit of my metallic body. Stars twinkled around me from huge distances. A lack of gravity meant there was no end to the tilting landscape. That little box was the only thing standing between an absolute blanket of darkness and me.

  “Oh goodness.” I tried to take a breath, but my lungs felt empty. Not lacking air, just not filling up either. It made sense, because I was both a robot and in space.

  I counted to ten while trying not to panic. My foot absently jerked in zero gravity. The yawning abyss of an intergalactic medium hadn’t defeated my walks upon the ship’s hull. It couldn’t make me kneejerk into releasing this current body to go back to my starting point.

  “This is a bit freaky,” I said as the world kept spinning.

  Seconds passed, and it occurred to me that oxygen would never run out. One of the joys of being robotic meant an absence of that fear. I wondered briefly if Hal Pal feared something else instead. Like a giant electromagnetic pulse frying things. Maybe the stars’ radiation and sunspots could put my new body out of commission. Well, that would be okay, but space itself wouldn’t be the cause of my release.

  I wanted to talk to myself again, but I managed to choke back the words. Dusk wasn’t nearby.

  Finally, after feeling certain that there were no expected rescues or stars nearby, I pressed the release button.

  The game did that gut-wrenching pull through space again. I felt like barfing, but apparently robots didn’t throw up. If the other [Mechanoid]s felt the same sense of disorientation I did, they would blink into a new body staring at their feet.

  Which was what happened to me. I vowed to die less in this game if only to avoid nausea. By now, the ship’s layout felt familiar. The small map on the side of my vision showed the [Wayfarer Seven] and dotted a path back to the outer hull. My quest to keep cleaning remained in effect.

  After a few minutes, during which I braved the outer rim, I reached Treasure’s little workshop. It was the least tidy place in the entire ship, even with the [ByteMite]s cleaning all over. Dozens of the small creatures scooted in and out while Treasure watched a dozen different screens.

  “Ah. Unit Hermes. Your consciousness has successfully been transferred. Are you all right? Is your core in one piece?” Treasure smiled. Her golden coloring seemed to be laced with a secondary series of lines that had escaped my notice the first time.

  “I think so,” I answered while trying to puzzle out the other color. Silver maybe? It had a shine that simple metals didn’t. “I got knocked off by some creature and couldn’t hold onto the ship.”

  “It’s okay. The ship’s reserves have more than enough resources to recreate you. Shifting your consciousness takes time due to the space lag, but this sector is well supported.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Indeed, less complex programs transfer quickly. Were you to suddenly increase in parameters, the transfer could take days,” Treasure said and smiled.

  I took her brief explanation to mean that having additional skills and abilities would lead to a longer resurrection time. Video game hurdles were once again explained by in-game logic. “What happens to my old body?”

  “It will compact and await pickup by a drone.” Treasure turned away from me and shrugged. Her eyes looked back at a screen. “This unit does have a question.”

  “Okay.”

  “You said there was a creature on top of the ship?” She turned to look at me.

  I had gotten closer to her to better see the monitors. Even distracted, her hand kept pressing buttons on the displays. It made for an oddly interesting view. Too bad she was a robot.

  “Yeah. Something small and black.” I tried to remember the blur that had knocked into me twice. Why anything would use a head-butt as their primary attack was beyond me.

  “Strange. We haven’t passed any life-bearing locations in quite some time,” Treasure said with confidence. Her dual tones merged together in a sweet but tired drag.

  “I wouldn’t know,” I said while being annoyed that my own voice didn’t perform any special harmonics. What use was being a [Mechanoid] if I couldn’t get any neat colorings or speech patterns? Maybe I needed more levels or skills.

  “I checked the readings. There is a small thermal signature on the hull that has been there since roughly the time of your first unit’s awakening.” She looked at me again with one eyebrow up in a question. [Mechanoid]s didn’t have real hair, but there was a slightly darkened bump that passed for an eyebrow.

  “Really?” I squinted while thinking. Or I would have squinted had my eyelids worked. It was strange not blinking. The fact that some small black creature had shown up at the same time as my creation of this character seemed questionable at the very least.

  “Affirmative. This unit hopes you will be able to capture the creature so we can determine how it got attached. There are additional questions regarding its ability to survive in a vacuum.” Treasure walked toward another screen, then shook her head. Moments later, she was standing near a panel in one wall.

  “That does sound odd,” I said slowly.

  “Indeed. Very few creatures of that size are able to do so, and most are unfriendly to other life forms.” Treasure frowned and pointed at a screen near me. It showed a fuzzy image of a small raptor-like creature with an extra small set of arms.

  “I’ll look into it.” This whole situation was suspicious. Very, very suspicious. A new message popped up to distract me from the various possibilities running through my mind.

  Task: [Clean the Sensor Array] partially complete.

  Task: [Clean the Sensor Array] removed.

  253 Contribution awarded

  New Task: [Investigate the Sensor Array] available.

  Your commentary regarding a possible life form on the ship’s hull has brought worry to the Consortium. Please continue your contribution route by reviewing the outside of the ship for possible disturbances.

  Note: Violence is allowed under Consortium guidelines. Treasure has asked that you avoid damaging the creature if possible.

  I blinked and wondered if that was a lot of contribution or not. I had nothing to measure it against. Maybe being a mop man paid the same as a janitor did years ago, before such work was outsourced to robots. The idea of a minimum-wage version of contribution made me laugh.

  “Unit Hermes. It’s dangerous to go alone. Take this with you,” Treasure said. In her hands was a wristband wide enough to cover most of my forearm. She must have pulled it out of the wall panel while I looked away.

  I took the small item while saying, “What’s that?”

  “A combat program holster,” Treasure said.

  Small pictures and symbols were flashing across my vision. Bits of information that looked like code that didn’t associate with anything else. This was different from the body enhancement that gave me [Anchor]. That had brought purely physical sensations, where this upgrade seemed to be mental.

  Was this what Hal Pal felt while running various program upgrades? How strange.

  Attention unit identified as Hermes!

  Software upgrade received: [Combat Program] (Loadout Storage)

  Enhancement Details: This additional equipment will fuse with your neural network. All combat subroutines will route through this to reduce core processor stress load. Resources are pulled from your current chassis and can be pat
terned in numerous shapes.

  “It uses the same technology our shells are built with in order to provide adaptable weaponry,” Treasure said as images kept flicking by. They had died down a little bit once the pop-up box came into being. “Combat loadouts may vary and require significant contribution to acquire.”

  “So I have to earn additional weapons?” I missed [Morrigu’s Gift] and [Morrigu’s Echo]. My weapons in Continue Online were absolutely the best. Using them only made their broken nature compared to normal weapons more apparent.

  “That’s correct, Unit Hermes. Your current value to the consortium allows for two patterns to be inserted. What type of combat do you prefer?” She smiled a bit while looking at me.

  I guessed combat was second nature to [Mechanoid]s. Or maybe they were just realistic about the need to be prepared while venturing out in space. There had been six other Wayfarers before this current one.

  “Can I do a giant sword?” I defaulted to the style Old Man Carver had passed on.

  “Negative. You do not possess enough material to support such an item,” Treasure said, more exhaustion than sweetness evident in her tone.

  I reread the box from before and zeroed in on the line speaking about weapons pulling from my current mass.

  “Please consider something small or an energy-based weapon that will utilize your core’s power,” she said.

  “Um…” A box came into sight with a few options to choose from. I guessed the game was helping me since space weaponry made no sense. I poked through options slowly.

  Treasure set about inspecting her lab and chasing around [ByteMite]s while I poked through options. There were a few extremely high-end ones well outside my reach. I saw one that basically turned my arm into an energy cannon like an old-style video game character. The contribution required would be almost triple my current total.

  I flicked through numerous options. Most were distance-based. This was intended to be high science fiction, so I guessed everything having lasers made sense. As much as a game could. Me having a robot body made of metal that could move around its atoms to use skills like [Anchor] kind of stretched the limits.

  Finally, I settled on two weapons. One would allow me to try something new. [Wrist Blaster] did low damage and had minimal range. It didn’t get in my way either, since I could basically curl my hand down and fire it off the top.

  The second was double-beam sword with high damage and an absurd energy drain. It at least felt the same size as [Morrigu’s Gift] in the two-handed form. Months of training with that blade wouldn’t be wasted even here in a new game.

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  “I am.”

  “Very well. They will load shortly.”

  Small loading bars crawled across my lower right vision.

  “You should see an activation icon on your interface. Only one may be active at a time without further modifications,” she said.

  “Got it.”

  The loading bars dinged upon reaching one hundred, and they transformed into icons. I focused on the laser one and felt my arm tingle with energy. It seemed comparable to a low-volume electric jolt.

  “Unit Hermes, please continue your contributions, and be careful.” Treasure blinked a few times, looking worried. This game, even though it wasn’t Continue Online, felt amazingly well thought out.

  I nodded, then focused on the other icon. A bit of metal looking like an unlit candelabra appeared in my hand. There was a trigger button under one thumb. Pressing it made two large beams shoot out to about three feet in length. It was like [Morrigu’s Gift] meets laser sword. This felt almost natural, minus the lack of color. Maybe once I got my own color scheme like Treasure’s silver and gold, the sword would adapt as well.

  According to my choices, the laser beams only drained energy when fired. I had never shot a gun, so this would be new on all fronts. Perhaps being a [Mechanoid] included target assist skills. Even after months in Continue Online, my throwing ability had huge gaps. [Blink] made distance fighting nearly unneeded.

  “I’ll check it out now,” I said.

  She nodded and waved good-bye.

  I got outside a bit quicker this time. My [Anchor] ability had increased in efficiency during my prior hours of cleaning. I knew where the handholds were and only cleaned parts of the hull within easy distance. Each small pile of gunk gave me minor contribution points even with the task removed, so there was value in cleaning.

  Finally, I was near my prior spot. We weren’t traveling through a debris field at the moment, and I had hustled along a lot faster instead of woolgathering while cleaning. [Anchor] turned off while I grabbed one of the many handholds on the ship’s hull.

  I would be ready this time.

  Off in the distance stood my small target. I studied it, wary about being knocked into space again. It was a tiny creature without wings that hooked into the ship’s hull with springy legs that ended in sharp claws. A three-foot-long tail snaked out behind it and jabbed into the hull as an anchor.

  “Neat.”

  Neither of us would be floating off into space, but in my case, that was thanks to [Anchor]. This creature actually latched on. Our ship was moving at insane speeds, but there was no wind to tear at us.

  I would have to ask Treasure or Emerald how the ship managed to avoid G-force pulls. Maybe it was a game mechanic to allow people to go on the outside of the ship.

  The small creature looked around nonchalantly before yawning. A clack of jaws brought back memories of a certain [Messenger’s Pet] riding on my shoulder and making that same noise.

  “Dusk?” I said. My own sound was muted by the void of space—there was no atmosphere for a vibration to carry through. Somehow my [Mechanoid] body could detect other sounds though. Was that a programmer error or some feature I didn’t notice?

  The small creature’s head perked up anyway.

  My second attempt was much louder. “Cupcakes?”

  Over the small bundle ran, loping with claws and tail jabbing every few feet. It was a sloppy hop. Abruptly I realized that if this was Dusk, the reason he head-butt me must have to do with adapting to a new body. He would have an even harder time using those limbs than I had using my robotic frame that couldn’t blink.

  Finally, the small bundle latched its long tail about my neck, a sensation that didn’t hurt in the slightest. Then it was up on my shoulder, head-butting me like a small cat… raptor… thing. He was close enough I could hear pleased chirping.

  “Dusk?” I asked.

  The small creature nodded twice.

  “How did you get here?”

  Session Forty-Four — Biologic Cargo

  I hurriedly marched back to the ship proper. It was that or log-out to shout in my Atrium. Both felt like valid answers to the absolute confusion of having Dusk appear in another game.

  Differences and similarities ran through my head while he chirped away happily. There were no smiley faces or frowns above his head. His mannerisms were clearly the same as my [Messenger’s Pet]. Chirping, tail around the neck as an anchor, jaw clacks when yawning. The weight and size were even roughly the same.

  Plus, and this was the weirdest part, he just felt like Dusk. The creature could only be a mental representation of computer code, yet I had assigned a feeling to him. Known to me in the same way as a familiar scent, or a childhood blanket.

  Finally, we made it back into the ship. The hatch sealed behind us while oxygen flooded in around me. For [Mechanoid]s it was useless, but it did help with verbal speech. Dusk’s form seemed to take no notice one way or the other. It also lacked wings, and his back curved differently. Maybe my entire belief that this raptor body was Dusk had been based on a desperate need to connect with the other game.

  I had issues reconciling Xin’s existence but not Dusk’s. The weight of years stacked up quite differently between the two. Xin and I had known each other for nearly fifteen years. My time with the [Messenger’s Pet] equaled less than half a year. Far less de
pending on my perception versus autopilot time.

  It sounded like Dusk. Now that we were inside, he chattered away even more. A passing [Mechanoid] colored in dirt brown gave me an odd look, but we kept moving forward. I ignored the silent judgment regarding my new noisy necklace and traveled to Treasure’s room.

  “Ah, Unit Hermes, welcome—” Her words cut off abruptly as she laid eyes on the creature who might be Dusk. If nothing else, I had completed Treasure’s task to bring it in without harming him.

  “Hi.”

  “Is this the creature?” she asked, her tired voice buried underneath the sweet one.

  Dusk, or the creature who might be Dusk, tilted his head and chirped with his bird-like noises.

  “I think so.” I’d only learned what Dusk was because James had given me an [Identification] skill last time. Was there such a skill in this world?

  “Can I have it? I’d like to see what it’s made of.”

  “No!” I jerked back and Dusk squawked in surprised—it sounded as if he had barfed up a hairball.

  “This unit won’t cut it!” Treasure must have seen my panic-stricken face. Assuming I had an expression. “It needs to be scanned and cataloged.”

  “You can do it from there.” I stepped back from the shorter [Mechanoid].

  She didn’t appear upset. A giddy hop accompanied her as she yanked a device from the wall. It went around Treasure’s wrist much like my [Combat Program].

  “What’s that?”

  “It will take a reading of his biomass.” Treasure’s vision glued onto the tiny creature, her eyes glowed with a gold and silver lacing. “Hold on a moment, you precious little creature.”

  The small wingless not-quite-a-dragon tilted his head, and I felt sure it was my buddy. Those thighs were basically the same. The slight curve of the skull. Even the amount of weight on one shoulder felt familiar. I’d only gone a week without Continue Online, but I’d missed him.

  “I don’t know if he’ll be in any of your systems,” I said.