I spun around, looking for an escape route. Wraith’s body blazed in the distance. His heat reached me even this far away. Xin hung limply despite my attempt to rouse her into consciousness. Dusk performed a strafing run upon beasts hounding the demon, but it amounted to almost nothing. Little creatures were climbing Wraith’s thick legs, and I could see holes appearing.
“I don’t know if we can get out of this,” I said. “I’m sorry, babe, I just don’t know.”
My heart thudded fast as Wraith’s form fell under the onslaught. Smoky [World Eater]s obscured the foggy demon, and they started blending together. The red light of his lava form started to fade. Their purpose completed, the mob of monsters started leaping into the water toward us. Cracks formed as more of them spawned on this side.
I turned, then got ready to jump. I wouldn’t die being indecisive. Xin’s heart lay elsewhere, as Yates had said. All that mattered was getting farther away until she returned to functionality.
Metal clanked as something alien appeared in front of me. Smooth edges and bars all attached to chains. I stared at the object as Dusk cried out. His huge wings beat by.
“Grab on!” Two different vocal tones came from above me. One sounded tired, and the other sweet.
My memory tickled with the idea of what that meant. Above me, a giant ship hovered. Its engines flared with blue pulses. The vehicle bobbed midair with metal rungs hanging off the end. Hope sent a surge of energy up my spine and made me smile.
“Treasure!” I shouted upon seeing the gold-and-silver female hanging out a side door. Her smooth metal shell waved at me.
“Come on, Hermes!” the [Mechanoid] yelled.
Another thin [Mechanoid] stood over her shoulder. His colors were a rusty metal mixed with gold. I waved back.
The island tipped and I panicked. Now wasn’t the time for a confused and delightful reunion.
“Hang on, babe!”
My belt slipped and threatened to lose the woman. Our island was crumbling. I had no idea where Wraith or Dusk were, but this was a way out for us.
Xin’s weak grip around my neck tensed briefly. I took that as what little acknowledgement she could muster, and I leapt for the dangling ladder. My arm jerked as I tried to hang on to us and the lifeline. Treasure’s ship bobbed, then flew off immediately. I saw Dusk alight in the doorway before we picked up speed.
My wife grunted. I got both feet on the bottom rung of the ladder, then started to lift us awkwardly. Jeeves and Treasure met me at the top. Their bodies were weaker than I’d expected. Eventually they managed to get Xin and me hoisted into the main hull.
My body crawled through the doorway and toward the room’s center. The straps tying Xin to me were loosened as I tried to check her for damage. She had red marks where the rope had pulled too tightly. Her face looked terrible. I had no means to heal her.
“Welcome aboard, Hermes. It’s been a long time,” Treasure said.
“Thank you,” I said and felt touched enough to repeat myself mindlessly. “Thank you.”
Dusk’s form had returned to his extremely small size, suffering rebound from the [Empowerment] ability. His face pressed against mine in reassurance.
I tried to keep myself together, but tears rolled down my face and I couldn’t stop them. My fingers tried to wipe them away but only lingered on the rough patch of teardrop scales that had come with Dusk’s [Blessing].
Event Scenario [Worlds Collide] triggered!
As the event ends, players will be given the chance to see which world is more powerful! Beware, player versus player reward systems encourage combat between users!
Skills are being adjusted to match a merged setting. Ability names may change. Players who have characters in both realms may see an increase in abilities as stats merge.
I scanned the text slowly a few times before the shaking kicked in. Yates had tried to warn me that everything would turn to chaos. Here I was in a fantasy world, flying in a giant spaceship that had probably been partially funded by my contribution points. The others were fighting heroes, or with them, back near [Haven Valley].
I walked to the empty pilot’s seat and found it responded to my touch. Sure enough, this was a new version of the [Wayfarer’s Hope]. I looked up in hopes that the [Wayfarer Seven] or [Wayfarer Eight] might be nearby. How would the Advance Online world handle this event? Did entire races check out? Maybe they were already stored and shuffled off.
Thorny: Oh my god, I’m going to play that hero game next. That old woman is flying! FLYING!
Awesome Jr.: This is going to get messy, isn’t it?
Hermes: You have no idea.
Xin gradually came to. I waited for her eyes to open before I let my exhaustion shine through. She managed to smile tiredly at me, and I babbled for a few seconds. The [Wayfarer’s Hope] flew onward as my ARC connection drifted off. Reallife needs were calling, and now might be the only peaceful moment left before the end.
Reality asserted itself as the virtual world fell away. My heartbeat kept a fast pace, and the ARC sheets were lined with sweat. Message lights sat against the walls, telling me what time it was, how many messages had been received, and tomorrow’s weather.
Thirst made me swallow while my fingers pressed against the fifteen-minute countdown. Recent events played through my mind once more. That demon had called me brother then stayed behind in order to keep Xin and me alive. The idea that a digital creature I barely knew had held me in such regard, to the point of self-sacrifice, made me sick. They wouldn’t be the last to die as [Worlds Collide] went onward.
I ran to the bathroom and threw up. The recent events had left me weak, hungry, sore, and worried for the future. At least the overall idea felt simple enough. All I needed to do was get Xin through the doorway, prevent any [World Eater]s from passing through the light, and keep myself logged into the ARC until the virtual reality finished collapsing.
Session One Hundred Three — Eat Dirt
Three hours of sleep hadn’t nearly been enough. Nevertheless, that was what I got before waking up and trying to get back into virtual reality. Upon reaching the Continue Online portal, I was greeted with a black screen and pop-up boxes.
[Worlds Collide] merger results!
Play time calculated. Preference for a fleshy meat sack has been noted. Continue Online character established as primary. Changes resulting from a merger of two characters are being summarized and displayed.
[Energy] attribute not found on primary avatar. All abilities in Advance which used [Energy] can now use [Mana]. [Enlarged Power Source] converted to increased [Mana] pool and regeneration.
[Power Suit], [Camouflage Program], [Anchor], [Material Conversion], and [Mechanical Minion] abilities localized and added. [Combat Program] (Loadout storage) already exists. Prior weapon patterns imported.
Redundancy in [Gait of Bowman] resolved. Equipping this item now adds one Rank to skills instead of providing passive access.
The list went on. Only a few of the highlights showed, but it looked as though the game had tried to stack all the old [Mechanoid] abilities on top of my prior Continue ones. [Brawn], [Endurance], [Tenacity], and a few other character points had gone up. I shook my head. What did any of this matter to me this close to the end? I mean, [Anchor] might have some uses.
Maybe it would matter more to other people. There had to be a few out there who had played multiple games and would now see it all collapse together into some strange character. I felt shaky at the idea of superpowered people attacking sword-wielding warriors from Continue Online.
Running on three hours of sleep didn’t help. I poked at the messages and watched them pop away. Nothing new took their place. I glanced around. This area looked like the room of trials, or at least it felt like that room. Only there was no one around at all.
“Hello?” My voice echoed off objects I couldn’t see.
I walked forward quickly in hopes of gaining anyone’s attention. After a few footsteps, the room changed from its pure
dark shroud and gained a few spots of light. People in the distance were facing away from each other. Their mouths moved but I couldn’t hear what came out.
This place didn’t scare me anymore. I full-out ran, but the speed of my virtual travel didn’t close the gap any faster. In the distance, I could make out Xin standing next to Treasure and Jeeves. My wife’s face twisted with an unheard shout. The two [Mechanoid]s looked slightly perturbed but otherwise focused on objects in front of them.
Xin’s body swayed to one side. Their forms shook briefly. Fire flared, then died down. Maybe they were stuck in a weird event, or maybe I had been captured by a mental ability that caused me to lose perspective.
The actual reason didn’t matter. Standing still did no good. It had taken me years to figure out that. Xin had told me to move forward and not look back. Doctor Litt constantly reminded me to tackle one problem at a time. Both were mantras to fall back on. I kept running, eager to get to them and help.
A slow-motion [Messenger’s Pet] bounded by. His body looked sleeker than normal. As if someone had pulled Dusk’s tail to nearly double his normal length. His merger between the two game worlds struck me as weird.
I started checking out my own body while running. There were no obvious changes or glowing metal bits like my [Mechanoid] form. Joints and fingers all looked perfectly flesh-covered. A series of lines ran from my chest out toward each limb. The edges of them could be seen under my toga and sandal wrappings. They pulsed like a painted or tattooed version of malachite.
My abilities weren’t responding at all. Distance toward the ship steadily shrunk. I kept my eyes on the others while calling out frequently. No one responded. The trio was fixated on pressing interface buttons. How Xin knew what to do in the spaceship was beyond me, but she had training I didn’t.
The world of darkness chimed. My body froze, and nothing responded. I hung mid-stride in that moment when the earth below was pushed away but before gravity pulled me back down. It felt almost like flying without the exertion of wings.
Echoing footsteps slowly came up behind me and traveled to my front. The large black man who had first guided me upon entry to this world stopped slightly to my left. His head tilted to one side while both hands clasped over a large belly.
“Are you sure about this, Hermes?” He looked at me and raised an eyebrow, then turned to look at the trio frozen in a staged mockery of the [Wayfarer’s Hope] interior.
I tried to nod, but my neck muscles didn’t work. In the ship’s rear cockpit, my Hermes avatar lay prone on the ground. The form gradually grew closer regardless of being frozen.
“Think about the question before you answer,” James said with an infuriating smile. “Think long and hard, Hermes, because there are things in life which cannot be undone. Not by you, not by me, not by Mother, and not by your gods.”
“I’m sure.” The sound of my voice startled me. Who was he to warn me about repercussions? I knew exactly how final life could be.
James looked troubled but faded into the blackness. The world sped into high gear. Gravity pulled my gut down as I fell into the prone body with a startled yell.
Dryness plagued my throat. Both arms itched madly. A metallic ringing filled one ear as the world tried to tilt sideways.
Our ship rocked as something slammed into us. I tried to focus on the screens being displayed. The blue bar tied to our ship’s hull looked terribly low. One of the walls had dents from the outside.
“What’s going on?” I managed to mumble.
The marred wall bothered me. [Mechanoid] vehicles were normally smoothly designed, to the point of absurd precision. A dent felt wrong.
Dusk chirped from overhead. His nails scrambled along the metal as he jumped to my shoulder. The longer tail wrapped around my neck and felt almost familiar. I pulled at his limb slightly to loosen the pressure. This body was human, not [Mechanoid]. Being throttled by my [Messenger’s Pet] might be fitting, but ill-timed.
“Welcome to consciousness, Unit Hermes,” Treasure said while pressing her fingers against the air. She looked to be scanning the area for life forms. A dozen small red dots with status markers, health bars, and power readings floated in front of her.
Xin turned and yelled, “Gee! Quick! Grab onto something!”
I reached for the back of her chair but stumbled as our ship rocked again.
“People from the other world!” Xin shouted, then winced.
That expression was one I recalled too well. The [Wayfarer’s Hope] had never been known for sound absorption.
“They’re attacking us,” she said.
“I must confess, this is all very strange,” Jeeves said carefully. “We were flying through the outer reaches, looking for your distress beacon, then found ourselves here on a planet. Our engines are not optimized for these atmospheric conditions.”
“I’m sorry you got into this mess,” I said more calmly than expected.
Xin tilted the vessel to one side, and my most recent meal threatened to return to the surface. One foot braced against the back of her chair. Dusk gulped as we righted ourselves quickly. I missed zero gravity space fights.
Jeeves calmly kept talking, as if these antics meant nothing. After our combat in space together, maybe it was mundane. I checked the readouts for a giant spaceship or some beast from the stars pursuing us, but there was nothing.
“Most of our race has already escaped, but we did not wish to leave anyone behind, especially not in light of your efforts to save two full Consortiums.”
I felt a range of emotions that couldn’t be sorted out in a few seconds. My efforts to reduce the loss of NPC life while in Advance Online had certainly been paid back by simply getting us away from all those [World Eater]s. However, it had also endangered two lives that I had already considered saved.
“If you have a wild plan, Unit Hermes, now would be the time,” Treasure said. Her shoulders dropped, and her eyes barely flickered with a golden light.
For a moment, I wondered if Mother might be looking out at us through an avatar again, only that would have been impossible. Her gut wound had finally reached an end. We were in the aftermath of her passing now. An image of Yates’s form screaming while being bathed in golden light hit me, and for a second, I felt dizzy.
The ship rocked while my wife cussed under her breath.
“Can we use a Recall scroll, or take the death and get to our bind point?” I asked.
We were flying through a forest of some sort. Ahead of us loomed giant mountains. Our vessel, despite being a spaceship, didn’t move fast enough. People in capes paced us on either side. Their arms were held out in front as rings of energy pulsed into us.
“I don’t know! We’re in combat!” Xin tried to control her shouting. Her hand slapped at buttons on the ceiling. I didn’t recognize any of them. Laser beams flew out toward the two people in capes.
A huge chunk of rock from below was hurled in our direction. I glanced at Treasure’s screen, which displayed a close-up of a small cluster of players. One large being of rock and earth lifted his arms. A piece of earth floated in front of him, responding to the person’s call.
“Is that a Behemoth?” I had time to ask before the latest attack hit us.
Our ship tilted forward. The display windows flickered out. Xin slammed into the framework of our ship.
“We cannot compact for a crash landing with human beings in here,” Treasure said then sighed.
“It seems we’re crashing regardless,” Jeeves responded in both a male and female tone.
“Unit Hermes, do you have a method to descend safely?” Treasure sounded remarkably calm. Her tired voice overpowered the sweet tones. “We’re not configured to soften the blow for flesh-bound creatures.”
“Babe!” I yelled at my wife. The noise echoed, and I wanted to break down the walls.
At last glance, we had been high and the ground was coming closer. There were enemies outside. My [Mechanical Hades Crown] didn’t have enough souls to
empower Dusk or [Blink]. We didn’t have a metal glider. I could try [Material Conversion], but now wasn’t the time to experiment.
“Gee.” Xin’s body slid backward as we picked up speed.
Dusk chirped in confusion next to my ear while my arms wrapped around my wife.
“Rear door,” I tried not to shout and almost succeeded.
Treasure nodded, then pressed a button in front of her. The metal behind me slid open as our vehicle’s wall shifted to a new form. Jeeves looked in my direction with a muted expression of worry that made its eyebrows wrinkle together. I tried to bunch my legs and put strength into the jump.
We hung briefly as the [Wayfarer’s Hope] started to turn into a metal ball. My heart thumped rapidly as gravity asserted itself. The world spun, and Xin’s robe flapped against the wind while air chilled my legs. [Awareness Heightening] kicked in, amplifying both our perceptions and reactions.
“Dusk!” I yelled.
Force, along with sharp tiny nails, dug into my shoulder putting a new spin on our flailing fall. The [Messenger’s Pet] squawked while getting his wings working. I looked at the enemies between each spin.
Both caped players were sitting together. They were Travelers who had shot down our ship with the help of the people below. They wore ugly matching red-and-black outfits with ribbon-like capes that dangled to their feet.
“Get ready!” I [Blink]ed us twice to get us toward the nearest stable-looking platform.
“Teleporter!” a person yelled as our combined weight collided with his back.
My wife’s hands were free, whereas mine were busy holding her close. She pulled a weapon out of inventory and quickly used it as an anchor around the flying man’s neck.
I slipped down but managed to get a grip onto her robe. “Hold on!”
The other player put out both arms, touched his wrists together, and fired off a bolt of energy. Dusk’s dog-sized form flew in, wildly scratching, which threw off the person’s aim. Nails clawed at the man’s face, and he started screaming.
Continue Online The Complete Series Page 192
