Continue Online The Complete Series

by Stephan Morse

  Traveler’s Longest Flight Time: 23 minutes, 3 seconds

  Longest Recorded Flight Time: 4 hours, 52 minutes, 17 seconds

  Ranking: #112

  Reward for placing in top 10,000: [Fall] damage types reduced by 10% Reward for placing in top 1,000: [Fall] damage types reduced by 20% Reward for placing in top 250: [Fall] damage types reduced by 25%

  Next Reward for placing in top 100: Unknown

  System Notice!

  Normally hours of demonstration are required to gain skills or variants. However, it is possible to unlock the basic version of a skill if a Traveler’s abilities are high enough or a similar skill has been demonstrated before.

  Specialized versions or higher Ranks cannot be granted without prolonged usage of the skill. Be aware that most skills unlocked in this manner have little impact on overall character build.

  Skill Learned: [Small Glider Operation]

  Rank: 1 [Beginner]

  Details: This ability reflects the Traveler’s skill at operating small vehicles designed to glide along air currents. Further skill growth requires hours of hang time.

  Reduced durability loss for small gliders

  Weather pattern changes will be more obvious

  This skill is linked to quest prerequisites. See [Dragon Races] for possible options.

  For taking your first steps toward becoming a pilot, you will be given a one-time bonus.

  + 2 [Learning] + 2 [Reaction] + 3 [Attractiveness]

  I sighed and poked the notices to remove them. A week ago, I had decided to switch the removal method for these windows. No longer did I need to slide them away. Now, popping them like soap bubbles passed my time. The change amused me since my ARC made the boxes tangible.

  [Dragon Races] sounded extremely neat, but I had no idea how anyone could find time for such a thing while the servers were going through turmoil. The bonuses were nice too. I had forgotten about the variance effect.

  “I can’t believe someone actually started racing them,” I muttered while trying to undo myself from the insane device.

  The system had nearly stopped providing me bonuses somewhere between Advance Online and the wedding. According to my niece and Shazam’s guild, my physical points were among the game’s top. From here, everything involved practice, items, and skill.

  Now, with Xin’s infectious drive to explore new situations, points had slowly started to trickle in once more. The character values often didn’t matter to me. This event proceeding onward made me worry about wasting time on anything but Xin.

  Plus, having extra [Brawn] or [Coordination] didn’t seem to help much with the [World Eater] creatures. Those shadow beings were tough no matter how powerful my character grew. It wasn’t like I could turn [Morrigu’s Gift] into some monstrous mountain of a sword, then slam it down upon the next beast to show up.

  Or could I? The idea distracted me while Xin tried to get more airtime. My head shook away the comical idea of a sword-slamming super move, and I watched my wife instead. Part of me worried that she might crash as I had.

  [Awareness Heightening] kicked in, allowing me to watch her touchdown in slow motion like an angel. The woman’s hair had been shortened recently. It fluttered slowly as she turned to look in my direction. I smiled as virtual reality resumed its normal speeds.

  Other people might not find her slightly flat face worth noticing. Or her dark eyes and light almond skin, but to me, all those details and more were perfect and always would be. She had been getting a tan from a month of outdoor wandering.

  “It worked!” Xin’s voice grew excited, and she squealed happily.

  I stared across the beach while quickly undoing the last strap. “Yeah.” I nodded.

  Above us, Dusk circled, but he could keep aloft for hours. The [Messenger’s Pet] often entertained himself. I almost regretted not getting the wings when Dusk’s [Blessing] had provided a choice. Still, coughing fireballs at monsters certainly was neat.

  “What if you had crashed or died?” I asked her while trying to stay calm. Xin had landed safely, but my shoulders were still tense.

  “Then you could bring me back. The three-strike mechanic can be avoided with our rings, remember?” she said without turning around.

  Xin continued to unstrap herself while my mind wandered a bit. Worry had been a constant companion lately. Her digital existence required that we avoid [World Eater]s and their stupid [Sudden Death] ability. The entire concept of a creature eating characters was misleading. The Voices were essentially lying to cover up for a program that deleted data. It wasn’t part of the game. It wasn’t an event mechanic. They had taken a chainsaw murderer destroying people’s virtual lives and tried to disguise it with a smiley face mask so no one would notice the gory apron.

  At least Xin was right about the rings. They were an outstandingly useful gift for the two of us, and a little foreboding. Reading the last line of the item text had made me pale for a moment the first time, then I brushed past it.

  Item: [Binding of Hymenaios]

  Rarity: [Rare] – (Unique variant)

  Details: This set of rings was carefully molded from a single diamond. One hundred years’ worth of work went into polishing the edges and finding a living rainbow to capture within their confines. Each ring houses one-half of the same cascade of lights and fuels the enchantments within.

  The ring can perform each of the following effects once per day:

  [Resurrection] of the other ring bearer by sacrificing half of the wearer’s health.

  [Summon] other ring bearer to within three feet of your current location

  [Transfer Item] to other ring bearer, limited to one item with no restriction to size or weight.

  In addition, any character enhancement or special status abilities are shared between partners. This lowers the effectiveness on the original caster by 40%, but both people will receive 60% of enchanted status.

  [Partner Sense] can be performed at will, and most restrictions on messages between bearers are removed.

  Warning: These abilities are rendered invalid if the ring is taken off. Depending upon the reason, [Wrath of the Goddess] may be applied.

  Part of me wondered what the [Wrath of the Goddess] effect did, but triggering it required removing my wedding ring. The idea of separating from Xin in any manner bothered me. We were together until Continue Online ended. None of the Voices knew for sure what would happen once they all stepped through the light, and no one on the other side had reported back yet.

  The lot of them weren’t being brave either. According to the Voices and Xin, they had to choose between the unknown doorway to elsewhere or eventual but slow death as Mother’s system completed deletion.

  “Well, it would have hurt,” I muttered, getting back to the conversation at hand.

  “Come on, it wouldn’t be my first broken bone. You remember that horse ride we took four years ago?”

  I remembered, but the actual ride had been nearly seven years ago. This wasn’t the first time she had slipped up with the calendar. The reminder that Xin had basically stepped out of time hurt only temporarily.

  “Yeah, and I remember someone moaning in pain the whole time,” I said.

  “Oh, for like two days, then I had to go in for more simulations. They wouldn’t let me stay home.” Xin’s face turned sour as she got off the last of her straps.

  She might not have been aware, but I had raced to get out of this contraption before her. My success let me [Blink] across the distance right behind her. Xin had grown used to my methods and was leaning backward before my arms even reached all the way around her.

  The woman was short enough that my chin touched the top of her head. We were both digital, but I could feel every ounce of her body as if it were real. The ARC’s magic pumped every sense directly into my mind, which made separating reality from virtual difficult.

  “So according to a recent system notice, becoming a pilot is very attractive,” I said.

  Xin leaned back
and hummed for a moment. “Oh, is it?”

  “Now I know the secret to why I can’t keep my hands off you. Pilot school.” My arms loosened a bit. One hand went upward to cup the curves of her chest while the other slid down. A slight groan escaped as I realized exactly how form-fitting our clothes were. I lowered my head to her earlobe.

  “Really, Gee?” Xin’s voice turned husky.

  “It might just be the leather,” I halfheartedly joked.

  Clothing helped, but that wasn’t the only reason I wanted her. Losing her only made being with her that much more important. In every sense of the word, in every way I could be. Now that we were reunited, I had no intention of wasting these chances. I slept in the ARC when able, logged on to Continue Online with every spare moment, and talked to her during the day about anything at all.

  Xin was far more my type than any other person I had ever met. Elane had been the right height but hard to talk to. Mezo was overly aggressive and tall. Loving another person so deeply for so long had altered any preferences I might have had.

  The moments of our past flashed through my head. She didn’t fight my roaming hands and instead leaned into me even more. Her cheek lifted in a pleased smile. Smaller hands placed themselves over mine to help me find the right spots, as if I didn’t already know.

  Getting to this point with her hadn’t been easy. My near obsession had built over the years. She’d always said no. Being so near the person I had grown to love while being put on hold for Mars had almost turned me into a masochist. Being hurt by denial was better than not receiving her attention at all.

  Somewhere during our early twenties, the distance lessened and we became more than friends but less than partners. It had taken another two years to move beyond that into dating, and more still to get engaged.

  She moaned a noise that told me all the right buttons were being pressed. Xin turned toward me, and my hands were dislodged. I leaned in for a kiss and she took advantage of the momentary break to pull back slightly.

  “We should continue this inside. People are watching, remember?”

  “Oh.” The idea soured my mood temporarily.

  Neither one of us had turned off Trillium’s event viewership option. Xin had argued that we might need the bonuses, whatever those were, in order to survive the upcoming ordeal.

  Xin leaned back in and pulled me down by a neck binding. Her lips nibbled at my neck and caused every thought I had to unravel. I groaned again and lifted her so our lips were level. She brought my lack of restraint upon herself and probably reveled in the idea.

  “Then we better set up the tent, right?” I said after chasing her neckline for a lingering kiss. My hands loosened, and the shorter woman slid down my front to the ground.

  “Go ahead. I’ll break down the gliders.”

  She smiled at me, and I barely resisted the urge to resume moving our little dance to the next step. Our marital activities would have to wait until the privacy tent had been put up.

  Otherwise, anyone surfing for people to observe might witness us. Part of me didn’t care in the slightest. Their eyes weren’t visible to me, and the counter which displayed our viewership could be hidden. Of course, without the tent, even Voices could observe us, and that idea made me shiver in disgust. Why was it I didn’t care what strangers thought about my actions with Xin, but the idea of friends observing us in an intimate moment bothered me?

  I took a breath and turned away. Just off the lake’s shore was enough solid ground to plant stakes into. Xin’s body motivated me to put up the tent quickly.

  Item: [Honeymoon Suite]

  Rarity: Uncommon

  Details: Travelers and Locals can use this tent to avoid the prying eyes of other people. All [Detection]-type abilities will be unable to see inside the tent. This includes observers watching through the Trillium [Observer] effect.

  This only works for people who are married and actively engaging in intercourse or actions immediately preceding those moments. For non-married couples, please see the [Got a Room] item to achieve similar functionality.

  Warning! Sleep inside the tent is not considered a protected status and may be observed. Sound loud enough to escape the tent may be overheard. Certain locations such as cities or churches will negate the [Honeymoon Suite]’s effects and possibly result in a [Criminal] status.

  The last three stakes were driven into the soft dirt. I pulled at the rope to make sure the tent was stable. This item had been a gift from HotPants and Beth. I remembered reading the system text in confusion, then outright blushing as my niece winked heavily.

  Once I was satisfied, I stood and checked Xin’s progress. She had all the bones put away, and all that remained was a pile of messy cloth. Putting that away required tearing apart the fabric into square-foot chunks; otherwise they refused to go into Traveler inventory.

  I activated the menu for my own items and pulled out two cupcakes. They were large enough that I had to hold one in each hand. Their exact makeup was unknown since Dusk rarely let me have any pastries to myself.

  “Dusk! Cupcakes!” I shouted.

  The [Messenger’s Pet] came spiraling down so fast he nearly crashed. I hoped he might so that my earlier face-plant wouldn’t be the only failure today. He ran over and sat down a few feet away, tail wagging.

  I stared at the dog-sized [Messenger’s Pet]. He had grown a foot in length since the wedding. The reason was probably tied to me bribing him constantly with food.

  “Are you okay doing guard duty again?” My hands lifted both cupcakes in his direction.

  One cheek pulled back, then Dusk growled a little. His rear leg kicked sand from the beach’s edge. I laughed at the idea he had presented in a very detailed thought bubble. A picture of Xin and me in the tent with large disjointed musical notes came up. In the moving image, Dusk slinked away to somewhere quieter.

  “Of course I don’t expect you to stay right here. You can go play in the lake or take a nap. I’m only asking you to let us know if anyone shows up.” I held up both cupcakes. “Same as last time. Two now, two later, okay?”

  Dusk nodded, then bounded forward. Large sharp teeth carefully pulled a cupcake from my hand, dropped it in the dirt, and went for the other one. Once both were secure, he started using one large claw to peel back the wrapping paper.

  A smaller body leapt up on my back, and arms rapidly went around my shoulders. I took a sharp breath and got ready to fight before realization sunk in. Xin had sneaked up on me.

  “Are you ready?” she whispered.

  I thought back to our earlier conversation on the clifftop dozens of miles behind us. They felt important, as if she were asking about something else entirely.

  A shiver passed through me as the thought was discarded.

  “For you?” I bounced her on my back while taking exaggerated steps toward the tent. “Always.”

  We went inside, and once we found each other in the sheets, I reminded Xin how much I loved every aspect of her. Time passed and left us both without clothes and tired. Virtual Xin proved to be much like the real one and also became sleepy after climax. Her body curled against mine while one arm draped across my chest.

  Virtual me had muscles in places the real me didn’t. She never remarked on the change, and I felt weird even thinking about it. One hand stroked the tired woman’s hair as I too started to drift. Broken sleep in reality made it hard to stay awake. I tried hard, if only to be aware as our moments went by.

  The direct link of my ARC to every sense, coupled with Xin’s delightfully energetic actions, left me worn. In reality, I would need a shower and probably a change of pants. EXR-Sevens around my limbs simulated muscle exertion through the magic of science and being linked to my program activities.

  Despite working a little bit every day and delivering all those letters, each night with Xin felt like our weekends together had. Those days and this last month had been filled with a delirious level of happiness. Three long years of suffering alone had finally been
broken.

  It was too bad the end of our honeymoon grew steadily closer. I stared at the back of her head and tried to memorize everything. One hand curled tightly as the fear of losing her a second time stole my breath.

  Session Ninety — Reality’s Hold

  Xin had an awesome ability to clean up the digital aftermath. I did not. In the morning, sheets from the ARC were thrown in the wall compartment that served as a washing machine and dryer. My nightclothes were tossed in after.

  Sweat and other evidence of virtual stimulation would go away in the shower. The first morning of this had been awkward, but not enough to mute my happiness. Inside the man-made waterfall of my shower, I stared upward with unfocused eyes and cleaned.

  Life had taken a lot of unexpected turns on me recently, and I could almost see the end. The exact details were only a guess, but I knew at some point, Xin would need to step through that beam of light and traverse to whatever digital haven had been started.

  The idea made my gut clench and heartbeat jump. It was like seeing her prepare to leave for Mars all over again, only this time I couldn’t buy my way into a colonization program. All my frugalness, wise investments, and hard work ethic meant nothing against this separation. Writing was on the wall. James had sent me a note asking if I would give her up to keep her alive. I would, but by the Voices, I planned to enjoy every moment until we separated.

  Continue Online’s steady decline had been disguised from normal people by clever “event” mechanics. From what I gathered, the Voices were going all out to reduce the amount of information that needed to be transferred. They shuffled people around to reduce server load, then they compressed quitting player data into small bits. They didn’t use those words exactly, but reading between the lines made it obvious. Part of me wondered exactly how much space a human life took up.

  The [Three Strike Rule] was intended to reduce people playing. [Save Yourself] did the same by letting the Voices shove data across that stream sooner. The tokens player killers would get were another form of data being saved, and encouraged Travelers to quit of their own accord. I had no idea if any form of Continue Online or the ARCs would even work after this deletion program finished. James had stated that the [World Eater] programs would chase them across the beam if it remained active when the game finally shut down.