Continue Online (Part 2, Made)

by Stephan Morse

  “Not exactly,” Vlad said. He smiled and I saw all the muscles on his arm ripple again. My head shook back and forth slowly. I had thought Leeroy was over the top. This guy was another level entirely.

  “James, I’ll try to send you messages more often. I don’t know how it will work with this quest.” I waved my hand at the fog. There were a lot of details to get and it didn’t seem like there was much time. Vlad was entering the final phase of his negotiations. The Voice had a really loud voice.

  He looked a bit happier and nodded in my direction. “We’ll figure something out, Hermes. Have no fear.”

  I smiled weakly at his sentence. This was all for Xin. She was the source of everything for me. For over a decade, we had been friends. For years, we had been more than that, at least when she wasn’t up in space doing training missions or testing.

  There were too many things to figure out.

  “Here. One cupcake.” Vlad turned and walked back from his ledge and fog. In his hand was the worst cupcake I had ever seen. Even Dusk seemed taken back.

  “I don’t know, little guy,” I said. “It might be a while before we get to a town to buy more.”

  Dusk managed to turn his face up. His neck twisted as he contemplated the dessert from a ninety-degree angle.

  “Be quick. There are things to do.” Vlad shook the small baked good.

  Dusk eyed Vlad, then ran down my arm to grab the cupcake. Soon he was back up on my shoulder sniffing and nibbling burnt edges.

  “Did he even put frosting on there?” I asked Dusk. The small [Messenger’s Pet] shook his head. “Jerk. Don’t worry, Dusk, I’ll get him for you.”

  The [Messenger’s Pet] kept chewing. He didn’t appear upset about the flavor so much as disappointed. Dusk was used to eating [Coo-Coo Rill]s raw and fish creatures so the flavor might not mean much.

  “Alright. Deal’s set. I’ve agreed to lend him one familiar, that’s you, Hermes.” He threw both hands up in the air. “And in exchange, we get a doorway into the realm!”

  “Even if I-” I swallowed slowly and chose careful words “-complete this quest?”

  “Even if. Who’s awesome? This guy.” He grunted and used his thumb to point towards his chest. Then he flexed everything a few times. Jean was outright smiling.

  I shook my head. That seemed like weird bargaining. “Is this portal for you?”

  “Nope. Demons. It’ll allow us to start another plague for the world if we need one. Nothing beats a demon invasion.” Vlad smiled and his teeth were disturbingly white compared to his reddened skin.

  “That seems harsh,” I said. A plague of demons did not sound useful to my enjoyment of the world. This was a game world, and the Voices were tasked with running it. They must have a strange view on things to set up situations like a demon portal invasion.

  “Your concern is touching, Hermes, but everything will work out in the end,” James said. He took a step forward.

  “It is time,” Irene mentioned. She was still following that space that was almost next to me.

  “What about those demons?” I asked. Vlad had lifted one giant arm and drug me near the cliff’s edge. I stumbled backward and tried to ask my question towards James. He would at least provide me some details.

  “You’ll see,” Vlad said. My foot slipped off the edge and I windmilled forward in a panic.

  “Ahh!” My eyes cast backward as the outcry escaped. A black ledge fell away into fog and nothingness. Where I stood before had been a slightly more relaxing perspective. Now here I was hanging on.

  “Sorry, Hermes.” Vlad didn’t sound sorry. He sounded amused. His shoulder muscles rippled as one giant arm lifted me up.

  “No, not again.” I flailed my arms. This time it wasn’t Shazam sending me off into the distance. It was a giant burly man who wiggled his pectorals in my face.

  “It’s a natural consequence of gravity, what goes up, must come down!” Vlad put another hand in a very tender spot and hefted me over his head. I gasped and secured myself. Hitting him back after getting this quest seemed like a bad idea. Plus he was easily twice my size and a wall of muscle.

  “Just throw him in so we can go back to my place.” Jean had one hand on Vlad’s flexing muscles.

  “YOU GOT IT, SWEETIE!” He boomed. “Hermes, say hi to the twerp!” Vlad then threw me off the virtual cliff and into the swirl of crimson.

  I twisted and tried to reach out toward the ledge above. James and the female Voice stood up near the cliff’s edge. Vlad towered over both of them and was waving goodbye. His free hand covered a clear smile. There was enough time, as the game interface flooded me with fog, to see Jean shrug and say “What, he agreed, didn’t he?”

  This was just a game. The words flashed through my mind again as everything around me started warping.

  My hearing was the next thing to be assaulted. Howling wind whipped by in waves. Eyesight had been reduced to little slits that could only see a swirl of colors coming at me. Everything was spinning as it rushed in my direction. Only I wasn’t going towards it on my own. I was being pulled like there was a rope around my waist dragging me across a huge distance.

  Everything snapped into place like a rubber band. I huffed and tried to calm down.

  Landing hadn’t hurt my legs at all. No, instead it felt like my vision and hearing was being run through a blender. I would have retched. The vitals for my EXR-Sevens were flaring up uncontrollably as this wild ride continued. My stomach contents threatened to crawl their way up and out.

  There was still far too much fog. I waved one hand around and took note of something tiny in my grip. It looked like the same smooth black of [Morrigu’s Gift] but the shape was all wrong. My vision cleared up enough to reveal a pitchfork.

  “What?!” I exclaimed. My voice was super high pitched and almost chattered.

  “What’s this?” I exclaimed at the same time as another voice outside the fog.

  Oh. Right. I was going to be a familiar or summoned creature of some sort. What exactly had they subjected me to? I spun around and tried to look behind me. There was a tail. I had a tail! How neat! My arms were really short, though. That was extremely weird. The limb felt like my arm, it bent like my arm, but it was chubby like a baby’s.

  My legs were even worse. They kind of hung there beneath me. I tried to kick one. It responded but felt lethargic. Almost like trying to make a fist upon first waking up. Nothing clenched right.

  “God this is pathetic.” Someone muttered. I ignored them and tried to figure out what those things just out the edge of my vision were. They moved rapidly. Fluttering. Every time I turned to turn to see them my body spun.

  “You’re my familiar? That’s what I bargained so much for?” The other person said. “What a rip-off. I’m going to find those executives and give them a piece of my mind.”

  Wings. That’s what they were. I had wings attached to my back that were moving quick like a hummingbird’s. They left small dark trails behind them either from light being blocked out or a special effect.

  “Come on. I don’t have all day. You got your cupcake.” The young man said. I twisted my face. Dusk had been the recipient of a cupcake, not me.

  Plus it looked poorly made and extra gross.

  “Whatdoyouwant?” I tried to speak in my normal tone. The game translated my thoughts rapidly. Part of my tail was curling about the pitchfork’s bottom portion. That was weird. I got distracted watching it spin around like a drunk trying to find their pocket.

  “The terms of our contract. I need to make sure you understand them.”

  “Nope!” I said promptly. My tone sounded happy.

  “Rule one, you must do exactly as I order.”

  “Hah! Okay!” The words escaped me before they fully registered. Continue Online must be translating super fast. Was it part of this character? I focused on my arm and tried to use [Identification].

  The list went on.

  “Rule two, you can’t lie to me.” Requiem Mass was goin
g on about his requirements like they were important. I tuned in just enough to laugh.

  “Hah!” I nodded too hastily. My brain was already trying to figure out ways around these rules. If I was going to be acting as a demon, then it would be a simple matter of thinking like one.

  Besides, in all the childhood stories I had ever read, demons loved the letter of the law.

  “Rule three, you cannot harm me directly or conspire to harm me.” He smiled as I went still. Requiem Mass had effectively limited my actions with that one.

  “Ah. Well, there goes all my fun.” My tail lashed back and forth. Everything was bobbing up and down due to my wings. I had to concentrate to move them around.

  There were a few other basic system notices that helped me out. Off to one side, there was an autopilot menu option for maintaining altitude. I glared at the small box until it was on.

  “Are you listening?” Requiem asked.

  My head shook, now it was time to start acting. “Notin theleast, youtalk too slow.”

  Neat! That was a new message. Hopefully, it operated like William Carver’s progress bar and would allow me access to additional abilities as time went on. For now, it seemed like flying and stabbing people were the only skills available to me.

  “It doesn’t matter. You can’t get out of that circle until you agree to those terms.”

  “Okay.” I looked up into the sky as if there was a great decision weighing upon me. It was extremely dark up there. No stars, no sun, just gloom. At least it was visible gloom, being a [Red Imp] with night vision was already paying off. Where was this while I was down in the caves? Dusk was such a cheater if this is what he got.

  I looked around. Requiem was busy scowling and digging through a backpack for something. Behind him were withered trees that looked like they were barely hanging on to life. They must have been lacking sunlight since birth to look so twisted and gnarly.

  “Well?” He asked.

  “ShutupIam thinking.” I managed to slow down my words just a little bit. My synchronization bar actually dropped a percent from my efforts. It was enough to make my teeth grind. That felt weird too, I ran a tongue over the edge only to find out that my lips were far thinner than expected and the teeth were sharpened.

  “Your master made this deal, you must honor it.”

  “Agggh!” I shouted at him and stabbed the little pitchfork at the air. William Carver’s introduction had been soft and slow. This was something that I was literally thrown into. Still, it was also very interesting. I felt myself grinning despite the messiness of my situation.

  “Cupcakes! I demand better cupcakes!” I figured sticking with the classic would serve me well. Dusk might pop in at any moment. Or he might not. I was unsure how the [Messenger’s Pet] or [Morrigu’s Gift] would translate over. The weapon from William Carver had to stay with Hermes, right?

  “Okay. Sure, we can do that.” Requiem Mass was nodding. There was something in how he pitched his forehead and turned his lip up that said he’d rather beat me senseless. “Deal.”

  The dome about me dropped away. I was no dummy. Requiem Mass was fast, but this was something I had prepared for. Especially given how he glared at me through the summoning circle’s protective shell.

  I fled straight up.

  “I’m ordering you to come down here!”

  Something around my neck warmed up slightly.

  “Okay! I will!” I did no such thing. Strangely the slight heat around my neck didn’t get any hotter. My arms were too chubby to bend right. The pitchfork was used as a makeshift latch to grab at the edge of something. My eyes looked down and saw a collar’s edge.

  “Why aren’t you coming down here!” Requiem Mass shouted up at me.

  “You didn’t saywhen!”

  “Right now!”

  “Dowhat now?” My voice squeaked out defiance. “That’s a…”

  Wait, what was he doing? Requiem’s lips were moving. A tendril of fire grew to one side and his arm stretched out wide to grab it. Flames danced around his fingers as he hurled the pillar of fire up in my direction.

  I dodged without putting much thought into it. There was a small box up to one side that spoke about [Survival Instincts] and [Fire Resistances]. I didn’t have much time to pay attention to it as he hurled another stream of flame in my direction.

  “Nyaa!” I stuck out my tongue and gave him the biggest raspberry available. It was a terrible idea.

  My tongue started bleeding and cheeks puffed up. I managed not to cry out from the feedback. Luckily the ARC wasn’t extremely intense about everything that the player felt with regards to pain. Still, nothing could compare to William Carver’s heart attacks.

  “Oh, I’ll get you.” Requiem was bobbing his head up and down quickly. “You’re going to love this.”

  Then the world started to fade away. What was happening now? Had I failed so badly that the Voices were already recalling me back to the Hermes character? This had been fun actually. Teasing some young brat of a teenager who seemed to think everything should bend to his will.

  Suddenly that weird vortex of light appeared. The wind tore at my hearing. Colors swirled all around in a rush. Everything induced vertigo. I had enough time to see Shazam’s passive face staring down at me. Her hands glowed green with a healing spell.

  I turned, retched, and groaned as the world spun again.

  The jerk Requiem was pulling me back.

  I was still feeling violently ill from the jerky summons. My vision was blurred. Something tore at my back and made me cry out. What escaped was a string of violent curses that had never come out of my mouth before. That must have been the [Red Imp] in me talking.

  “I’ll teach you. We’ll start training right away.” Requiem’s face was almost fervent. I felt even sicker looking up at him. This must have been what prisoners of war felt like during our last global conflict.

  Something bound my wings together. A message appeared on my interface telling me flight was no longer an option. My synchronization points dropped a full five percent from humiliation.

  Requiem Mass threw a punch towards my face. I had a few moments to contemplate how large his fist seemed to be compared to my own short body. Xin. I could suffer through anything to give her a chance. I waved one free finger and pinned the quest reward text off to one side of my player interface.

  “You made me waste my mana.” He snarled. “And you want a cupcake? Here!” Something was shoved into my face.

  I coughed and sputtered with a suddenly dry throat. Meanwhile, the beating continued. My body was far too small to fight back. The wings on my back were bound in some sort of rope. Requiem Mass looked downright disturbing for a teenager. Was this really another human being? Could anyone look at a living breathing creature like he gazed at me?

  Then I remembered. He didn’t think that I was a real person. Requiem Mass thought I was a computer program acting out a part. I would show him. Somehow the tables would turn and Requiem would be the one being beaten soundly.

  “We’ll do this again tomorrow until you understand that I’m not playing around,” Requiem said. My eyes drifted to a small pop-up message on one side.

  Something intelligible escaped me. I managed to smile. This pain was nothing compared to what William Carver had felt. It was nothing compared to what I had done to myself. Suffering this was nothing, not for Xin.

  I could have logged out and let the autopilot take it. My time was spent studying the young man who was trying his hardest to beat some sense into me. His gaze was astonishingly serious for one so young. How had he been raised to think that hitting someone taught a lesson? The feedback was muted enough that I could gather all types of details before being presented with a death screen. Luckily, this was a game. Reaching zero health was just a chance to take a bathroom break.

  Session Thirty – Beatings Continue

  I had taken my recent death as a good time to catch up on real life. Two items from the Trillium ARC repair queue served
to keep me grounded. Historically, drowning out my problems while solving other people’s mechanical woes served as a good distraction. After work ended I called my neice.

  “Uncle Grant!” She was fiddling with some three-dimensional projection in the background. It looked like the model of an energy formula in action.

  “Hey, munchkin, what’s that?” I nodded to the image.

  “My final for Intro to Advanced Energy Dynamics. It’s super dull.” She squinted and pieced another portion together. “They’re making me create an entire sequence from scratch on their server.”

  “Can’t do this one in the ARC?” I asked. Beth raised both hands and then winced as she pressed a button. Her model spun and exploded.

  “Nope. That’s cheating. You should take this class, like audit it, or something.” Beth waved at her project and scowled briefly. Two buttons later and it was reset back to an un-exploded version.

  “Why?”

  “Last week, I took some of the theories about energy conversion and used them in Continue. Then bam!” Beth lit up happily as she pressed go again. “Biggest fireball ever.”

  “That’s neat,” I said. Score one for science.

  “Yep.” My niece was easily excited by things. Every time we spoke though it seemed to revolve around Continue. “What are you doing in-game?”

  “Fighting frozen dinners and dealing with another weird quest.” I thought it summed things up neatly.

  “Oh?” Beth ran away from the science project and came over to her camera.

  “Yeah. It’s a player versus player sort of thing.”

  “Ewww…” Beth trailed off. She used the same face during childhood exposure to olives. “One on one, or groups?”

  “Just one, a guy named Requiem Mass.” I felt there was no harm in telling Beth the name. Worst case scenario she would show up and cast one of her big fireballs at him. Could a [Red Imp] summon players? Wait, that was conspiring to do harm to Requiem?

  Better yet, how on earth could the game prevent me from doing that? It hadn’t stopped me with dropping a rock on that other guy’s face. What was his name, Gaston? There were ways around the system.