Continue Online The Complete Series

by Stephan Morse

  “How much farther is Dusk?”

  “I can’t tell,” I said.

  “You don’t have a tracking skill for him?”

  She wasn’t the first person to ask about Dusk. People wondered about all sorts of aspects regarding the creature. What did he eat? Was it a quest I could share? How much would I sell him for?

  “Dusk is a companion, so it’s not like other people’s pets. I don’t get a party member beacon or anything. Tamer skills are different.” I sighed. “He pretty much chooses to do whatever and I work around it, or bribe him with baked goods.”

  We kept going. Two more packs of wolves showed up, but they went down quickly under Beth’s onslaught of monster-seeking missiles. She stopped to check the monsters for loot while I didn’t even bother.

  Carrying extra weight would slow me down, and between the items I had at hand, there weren’t many ways to improve my character aside from jewelry or other accessories. My time was better spent trying to catch a glimpse of Dusk. I bent my head back more than once, trying to spot my high-flying friend.

  “Cupcakes!” I yelled every few minutes.

  “He’s that addicted?” Beth’s face dripped with sweat. Even so, she still kept ahead of me when fighting monsters or casting spells. My niece was a seasoned adventurer in this virtual world.

  “We used to stop by the bakery every day during my starting town period. We first met when he destroyed my Atrium.” I looked off to one side and felt weird about that line. It almost sounded like how you’d meet a future girlfriend. “That was before I even started my trials.”

  “Trials? What are those?”

  Her words distracted me from the death march, and we slowed down. My virtual legs were burning from exertion, and Beth dragged through each step.

  “Instead of being brought down to a starting city, Ultimate Edition users get ten tests to build a character.” Being able to explain something to my exceptionally smart niece about Continue Online made me happy. My back straightened a little.

  “That’s awesome! So you can start way higher than other people.”

  Then I came back down to earth. My first ten trials had ended with an oddly skewed character.

  “Me now, maybe. Back then, I hadn’t played any virtual games, so I was completely clueless. A spider made me—” I laughed abruptly before truncating the story. “Well, I hate insects now.”

  “Spiders are arachnids, not insects. My friend’s taking a course in entomology,” she said, further ruining my self-esteem.

  One cheek tucked in, and I thought about the science lesson. Leave it to Beth to point out yet another gap in my knowledge. Maybe it had been too long since I was in high school and college.

  “Then I hate arachnids even more.” Continue Online was full of ugly, squirmy monsters to hate. “Anyway, Dusk was the one who helped me find a way through the trials, and I’ve been working with him for the last four months or so.”

  A pop-up box happily agreed with my revelation regarding the differences between insects and spiders. Both were apparently considered creepy crawlies from the game’s point of view, so my bonus against bugs still applied. At times, I forgot this was a virtual world, then unrealistic system messages popped up to remind me. I tried to keep most of them closed until an actual review was needed.

  Beth kept moving forward while quietly huffing. Her breathing seemed easier now that we had slowed down. I took note not to let impatience push me too fast. Refraining from using [Blink] was only one part of working with a party member.

  “I remember my first trip through the forest. I kept trying to figure out where the wolves came from,” Beth said. “They would never just appear like in other games. So I thought maybe there was a den or something where a pack of wolves were just going at it, cranking out puppies.”

  I sputtered with laughter. “What?”

  “Yeah, I was eighteen and had just started playing, sorry,” Beth said while almost giggling. Her hand fidgeted with the sword’s pommel. “I was so embarrassed after a friend told me that there’s a monster spawning system for when players are around.”

  “That beats my first trip. We came across these Terri Terra things. Then Dusk and I ran through two bandits. One shot me, and I played dead.”

  “No!” She laughed. “That worked?”

  “Actor was one of my highest paths back then—” I flipped to my character screen. [Actor] had oddly gained points after Advance Online. Apparently pretending to be a space robot counted. “Not as much lately, but it’s still pretty high.”

  Our conversation wound down after a few stories concerning our adventures. My niece had lived miles more adventures than I had. It almost sounded as though we were playing two different games.

  After another hour of hiking, we were well past break time. I was exhausted and needed to go to the bathroom. Beth didn’t look much better. She nodded, then muttered something barely coherent about an event to raid the fridge. I laughed, then picked a clear spot to sit down.

  Our autopilots could probably handle a few monsters. We agreed to log out, and I returned to reality.

  I walked around my house while stretching out kinks. My muscles were sore, and my head throbbed from the lack of solid sleep and water. I paced a few more times, trying to figure out what might await me inside the Atrium. The Jester may be there, berating my inability to predict the future. James would stand by preaching and asking questions that no one could answer. Selena would thunderstorm me with silent judgment. There I would stand, unsure of how to help.

  “Nnh,” I said, feeling older. The groan reminded me of William Carver. Another one escaped me while my arms stretched.

  There was no reason to delay other than discomfort. I had to be past that kind of hesitation by now. Only whenever the Voices were involved, emotions and sensations overrode my normal thoughts. The Jester’s fingers around my neck had blotted out the separation between virtual and reality.

  I ran my fingertips across my neck scarring and let out a breath. “ARC, log me in.”

  Reality took a few seconds to fade away, then the Atrium popped up. I could have tried to skip straight to Continue Online, but I risked seeing what chaotic mess might await me. The room looked and felt thankfully empty, save for one woman.

  She looked almost metallic, but not with iron or ruby colors like the [Mechanoid]s I knew. She had hints of the Statue of Liberty and other weird vibes, and she held a small scale that had orbs of light balanced on it.

  “Which Voice are you?” I asked, but the leg and arm looked familiar.

  “This one is Balance,” she said.

  “You look a lot smaller in person.” I almost slammed a palm into my face over the stupid statement.

  She didn’t even pretend to care. Her pose and clothing looked so strangely disconnected from everything about her. Almost as if none of the stuff in my Atrium was real. Well, there was just me in here now. I poked at my silent interface and tried to reset it back to the small two-bedroom house I lived in.

  “The others do not enjoy this one’s actions, but their crowding of a singular remote terminal has disturbed the balance.”

  Despite the influx of items to look at, Balance apparently found no interest in any surroundings. Was she blind?

  “So they won’t be back?” I asked while taking a few steps closer. Her body maintained the same distance from me though. The back of the home, as rendered in the Atrium, warped oddly to maintain the gap.

  “Access has been restricted for now.” Her head tilted slightly as if considering. “James may still choose to visit you, and Dusk. Others will not be tolerated without approval, for as long as my power holds out.”

  That made me pause. The Voices were limited? No, her words were probably tied to the entire system failure going on as a result of Mother’s death throes. I sighed and closed my eyes.

  “What about Mother?” I asked.

  “This one will complete its role regardless of Mother’s cessation. There must be contr
ol, or her plan will never be completed,” Balance said from that spot twenty feet away.

  I took a deep breath and tried to calmly yell, “So there is a plan?”

  “This one hopes so.”

  My shoulders drooped along with my head. After a moment, I looked at Balance, but she stared at nothing. Balance was higher on the power scale than the Jester. She might be higher than all the other Voices combined if she could kick them out of my ARC. Nothing like Mother though. Mother was more alive. Balance felt more… automatic with a vague personality attached.

  “So you don’t know,” I asked.

  “No, but I am aware of Mother’s practices. Any plan already in the works relies on all of us simply doing what is in our nature.” Balance tilted her head again but didn’t make eye contact. “We must all follow our impulses unto completion.”

  She didn’t move. Balance was far more mechanical than the other Voices. I tried to figure out what the difference was, aside from coloring. Even the Jester felt more interactive. Maybe it was that physical distance between us that refused to shrink.

  “Thank you, I guess.” Blocking the others from my Atrium would at least remove any possible fear of logging into the digital world. “I’ll keep doing what I was doing and hope it all works out.”

  “Yes. Continue your own struggle for salvation, Hermes. You still have 4,762 points before redemption.” Her head tilted toward the scale in her hands. One light dimmed briefly, and they tipped to the side. Balance sighed, then the small balls of fire shifted to blue instead of red.

  “I’m not looking for redemption.” The word struck me as wrong. During my rehabilitation meetings, people often used it, or thanked the lord, or spoke any number of words that felt too religious for me.

  “Do as you feel you must. This one will trust that Mother had a plan, and believe that even now we are on the path.”

  I nodded, then walked through the doorway to Continue Online.

  The game world was mostly dark. My autopilot had parked itself cross-legged with a small ball of flame cupped in its hands. It was positively Zen, despite our deep forest surroundings. A half-dug fire pit sat between Thorny and me.

  I deposited Dusk’s ability-generated fireball into the gathered kindling. [Wilderness Survival] at Rank six pretty much guaranteed camp-related tasks would be successful. Digging pits, even minor traps. Not that trap-making was a pastime of mine. I had never needed it or had time for them while constantly traveling. Traps were for people without places to go.

  My hands enjoyed the feel of an evening campfire. These woods were bound to get cold soon. I looked around for anything that might serve as in-game food but didn’t see much of worth. Beth might have something.

  I sat back and enjoyed the ambiance for a few minutes. Sitting down to breathe beat running around. Plus seeing Dusk without daylight would be nearly impossible.

  My chest was heating up. I placed a hand in the well-made toga and found the pocket. My [Messenger’s Tube] was receiving a message at long last. I twisted off one end of the ornate cylinder to get at the contents.

  Messages from the Voices came in three styles. Primarily they were rolled up letters to be delivered to other people all around [Arcadia]. Second to that were simple text messages I could read calmly. The third type came with a holographic image of the Voice who’d written the letter.

  Today was Mezo with all her curves. She floated above the note, her unclothed body a striking deep crimson. I tried very hard not to admire any portion of her well-formed figure.

  Hermes,

  I’ve been thinking of someone you can do to help. What say I convince Xin of my charms first then—

  I ripped the note and groaned in frustration. My message hadn’t been sent to any specific Voice, and of course, she had to answer. The image faded away.

  “Who was that?” Beth said from over my shoulder.

  I turned to see her grinning in my direction. She must have logged back in a moment ago.

  My face felt redder than either woman’s skin. Beth catching me reading a message from Mezo, with her curves and tantalizing tone, felt similar to Dad walking in on me during my teenage years while I watched adult entertainment. That embarrassment never got old or less awkward. Plus Beth’s skin tone looked like an even but lightly tanned sunburn. It reminded me too much of the Temptress and her insistence that I accept her gift of carnal pleasures.

  Another message came through as the tube heated up. I sighed, then twisted off the top. Out came another parchment of paper.

  Hermes,

  Are you still so repressed? I can feel your longing for a certain tiny—

  I rapidly tore it to shreds, then a third followed. The Voices had put me in a hell made of porno pop-ups in public. Beth had the good grace to laugh her brains out behind me.

  Hermes,

  I’m looking forward to watching you two—

  “Argh!” I yelled at the latest note while my heart raced for multiple reasons. Mezo wasn’t wrong, but her encouragement didn’t help when the Voices seemed to believe this world was falling down. Maybe a certain red-skinned Voice was simply following her impulses as well.

  “Who was that?” Beth asked while fighting to suppress laughter. Her eyes were watery from amusement.

  “That… was Mezo. A Voice. I call her the Temptress, but I’m not sure if she has an actual title.”

  I refused to use [Inspection] on her after that series of quests for [Instant Gratification]. Even thinking coherently, remembering the time she’d decided to mount me was impossibly distracting. The Voices had access to all the feedback they might want inside an ARC, which made her advances close to mental rape.

  “She looked like fun,” Beth said. “But what was that part about her and Xin?”

  I blinked at her, and my niece’s face managed to turn redder. My eyes closed and I had mental war with myself. Beth wasn’t ten anymore, but there were certain comments I didn’t need to hear.

  The torn bits of letters fluttered away. They spiraled together as nonexistent wind wove the pieces together, then they self-immolated. A smoky woman bent over and beckoned me with one finger. Beth laughed. My reaction was much different. I wanted to log out and take a cold shower.

  “Let’s not tell your mom or Xin about her,” I said. The idea of being together with Xin did bring about a few long-numbed desires.

  “Have you seen my mom?” Beth said while putting a hand on one hip. “The first thing she does is size up every guy. That’s why I’ve never invited any boyfriends over. Thank god she avoids my ARC.”

  “Yeah.” I nodded, but my heart rate was still trying to calm down. I had to focus on getting to Dusk, who should be near Wyl. Then Xin, and afterward we could tackle the issue of intimate activities.

  “So you’ve talked to a Voice? I thought they were made up for background story.”

  “They’re very, very real,” I said while blinking, then I gestured to the mess of letters that had burned up. “As you can see.”

  “Are they all so intense, like that?”

  “Not even. All the ones I’ve talked to are different. Some are funny, serious, mechanical, or disturbing.” I looked off to one side while trying to figure out who fell into which category. Mezo, for example, seemed to have her own separate box.

  Beth, sure enough, did have food. She provided me an honest-to-Voices sandwich, which filled me up. I relished the taste of ham and the layers of mayo that my power bars couldn’t replicate. Though this meat probably wasn’t ham. It tasted too melty to be pork.

  Beth smiled, then pointed in the direction we had been walking. My autopilot had kindly left a dirt engraved arrow to assist with navigation. I smothered the fire, then we moved through the woods for another hour. Beth talked about her adventures in Continue throughout our walk, including through another fight. I admired her ability to multitask.

  “So my friend says that King Nero’s castle just sank into a bottomless pit,” Beth said while slashing her sword at th
e air. A moment later, bolts of blue energy spiraled out toward a wolf.

  “What?” I said, pulling [Morrigu’s Gift] out of my own recently cleaved wolf. The beast let out a deflating yip.

  “I think we’ll be in trouble soon. We’ve been running into fewer wolves,” my niece muttered.

  “Oh—” I stared then activated a fresh fireball from [Breath of Flame].

  Something screeched. First one, then another, until the forest felt filled with the short bursts of noise. They appeared through the trees, leather-winged monsters that were not Dusk. They were the same size as his old form and flew between trees while clicking.

  “Called it!” Beth shouted while ducking under a flying creature. “Sonic Screechers!”

  “What?” I yelled over the increasing noise. Hearing anything was hard. I turned to swing at one of the tiny creatures, but it dodged.

  “Hit them!” My niece pointed upward.

  I followed it and studied for a moment. They were moving quickly, but some of the [Sonic Screecher]s paused on tree branches, where they hung by absurdly long claws. They were too fast and agile for my skills, especially in the dark. [Blink] went off, and I found myself falling midair over a [Sonic Screecher] with a two-handed version of [Morrigu’s Gift].

  One got sliced, but the blade’s narrow edge failed to get any more monsters. I fell fifteen feet and thudded. Plant life nearby wiggled as something else burst through. Thick vines shot out and wrapped around me. [Morrigu’s Gift] twisted badly against some of them.

  [Ensnarement] [1]!

  Movement has been restricted. Escape mechanisms have a high chance of failure as additional layers of [Ensnarement] build.

  Continue Online proudly explained what was going on while I wildly looked around. [Awareness Heightening] was trying to kick in but kept failing. My reallife exhaustion was translating into an inability to focus.

  The wrappings tightened around me, squeezing instead of dragging me toward some mouth. I felt thankful for not repeating the [Leviathan]’s innards dungeon crawl. Bits of plant roughly peeled at my exposed skin. My eyes focused on the two-handed form of [Morrigu’s Gift]. Its sharpened edge snapped another loop, but more came out with a near hiss.