“Mmmh, nope, I’ve never heard of them. But Continue has a mesh they use. Not everyone encounters the same batch of players.” She fiddled with her science project some more. I think she was just playing now since the image was spinning around.
“Oh? How did you figure that one out?” I asked.
“We did a paper survey at school and compiled the results.” She grabbed the project and zoomed in on a portion. “We got about five hundred responses before Trillium confiscated the documents.”
“That’s sneaky,” I said. The Trillium van beeped and a small message advised me that we would be home soon.
“Yeah. The Internet Social Dynamics teacher, Mister Eldelstien, took a hit from it. We almost got him fired last quarter.” Beth looked up for a bit and her cheek pulled back. A moment later she was back in the science project.
“Well, they take those things seriously.” There were a number of legal documents I had to sign just to sit in this Trillium owned van.
“I know. Anyway. People tend to run into people they know more often than anyone else. I’m not sure how they programmed it to do that.” Beth shrugged and started spinning around the picture again. She seemed to be killing time waiting. Was it because I was boring?
“Really? What about guilds?” I asked.
“Have you joined one?” She grabbed the image and proceeded to shake it. Everything fell apart.
“Not yet.”
“You’ll see then.” An alarm went off in the background. “Oh! Time to go! My death timer is cleared.”
“Again?” I said.
“Yeah, we’re doing practice drills for next month’s event, I mean week. A real week. Whatever.” Beth shrugged and waved away every image having to do with her science project. They whooshed away into her ARC and she pressed another green button.
“Oh, right.” I had been thinking about it off and on for a few weeks now. Spending time with family while doing something interesting was going to be great. If Liz played I would bother her. Though knowing my sister, she would be stalking guys in the game. I really needed friends of my own.
Requiem Mass was not friend material judging by our brief interaction. James and the other Voices were friendly, but they weren’t real or out here. Then again, if I had real life friends still, maybe there would have been no reason to start playing. That thought made me sad.
“You’re going to join us right?” She asked.
“I’m trying. This quest might make it hard.”
“Okay, get to a Porter, it’ll be easier to talk about it then!” The alarm in the background was growing louder. Beth turned and looked at her ARC. “Got to go!”
“Bye, munchkin.” I waved.
“Gah! I’m an adult now!” She flicked the screen off with an irritated expression.
I sat there chuckling in the Trillium van for a good while. She was right, but part of me still saw a little girl who used to demand games of hide and seek. Xin had been great with her. My fiancée would have been a wonderful mother. If the train crash hadn’t happened…
It hurt a little, but it raised more questions. This Xin in the machine was a recreation of the woman I knew. There was no illusion in me about her spirit being reincarnated or the soul. I didn’t believe Xin’s ghost had come out of the afterlife to haunt me.
But this was virtually the same thing, wasn’t it?
I wanted to talk to her desperately. There were only a few minutes left on the van’s Auto-NAV countdown. Soon I could see what the world of Continue had cooked up for me.
“Have a good night, Hal,” I said. Hal Pal had sat behind me and was oddly quiet the entire way home. My future as an armor polisher meant that I needed to at least say goodbye.
“Fair well, User Legate.” The AI moved its robotic shell enough to wave before going back into standby.
I hummed to myself and walked through the house. Logging into the game was similar to a ritual now. One lap through the house resolved life’s necessities. This helped prevent awkward autopilot pauses later on.
“Hah. Ha ha.” I started laughing. The very idea of logging off during Requiem Mass’ attempted lessons had me giggling. He tried so hard to instill obedience and I skipped out when it got boring. Minor bouts of amusement kept me going as I cleaned up the house and lay down in the ARC.
“ARC, log in.” My mirth dripped away slightly as thoughts of Xin came by again. I had to deal with Requiem and get back to my own body. From there it would be time to ask James some real questions.
The Atrium sprang into being. Everything was still the dull empty blankness I had set it to after Dusk destroyed a good portion of items. Looking at it was starting to irritate me.
“ARC!” I said.
“Awaiting Input.” The toneless machine responded.
“Match current, wait, restart command line.” I should do something different. “Match Atrium to prior address, Seventeen Walk Home Ave. Purchase extras as needed.”
“Confirm authorization for purchases.”
“Confirmed.” I nodded.
Around me, the Atrium shimmered. A cash register style noise went off repeatedly as digital items were downloaded in exchange for real money. Outfitting an Atrium was pretty cheap. My savings account was also well off if I wanted to tap into it.
A recreation of our old couch materialized nearby. It and many of the other items in the house were decorative. With her being away for weeks at a time due to training and me being immersed in work most nights, there wasn’t a need.
Another hour passed while I fiddled around with additional purchases. A new doorway was put in. The view to a digital representation of our lawn was edited to be a beach. These were all items we had wanted to buy in the real world but couldn’t justify spending money on. Soon it was a near perfect replication of our old home, plus a few items.
My face crumpled.
What on earth was I doing? No. I had engaged in this kind of behavior before. Trying to build a home like Xin was going to return at any moment. This time I was going through the motions while she was stuck inside Continue Online. There were other things to think about as well.
What if I talked to her and it was extremely weird? The woman I had known was gone. No matter how well the Atrium fooled my senses, that was an undeniable fact. What if she didn’t feel the same after being reconstructed? What if she blamed me for her death in the real world?
One step at a time. I might fail this quest. None of it would matter then. I was sure the Voices would happily scatter Xin’s existence back across the digital landscape. James admitted they had multiple times already.
Following the Voices was Trillium. What if they found out? There was no way that woman, Miz Riley, would let such a thing slide. She had been upset enough at William Carver’s autopilot.
“ARC, del…” I thought better of it. “Save the current layout and reset Atrium back to default.”
“Please provide a name,” The ARC system said.
“Grant is an idiot.” Was my shaky response.
There were a million possible ideas flooding through my brain. If I took it on faith that this was Xin, what happened if I failed her this time? It had only taken one violent train wreck to tear me apart from her in reality. Losing her again, with the tenuous existence Xin had, would destroy me.
My head shook. I had to focus. What tempo fit a classic waltz? No. I needed something spicier. What was the tempo for Salsa dancing?
“ARC! Load up Continue Online preview.” I said.
A screen popped into being nearby. I reached out and drug it over. The game feed was showing my [Red Imp] avatar bound and rolling on the ground. The imp was gagged. Vicious annoyance in the small red bundle’s eyes was mirrored by Requiem Mass.
I hummed some more and tapped a foot slowly. Salsas were fast, and could be sultry. With my weight loss, it might be possible to pull one off and not feel completely goofy. Losing weight had started to reflect inside the Atrium as well.
Salsa. There was s
omething to that idea. Logging in with Requiem wouldn’t go anywhere and I needed to clear my head. There were still two doors that led into programs of my Atrium. One went to Continue. The other exited to my dance instruction game. Dancing worked during the Age of Carver, it might work again.
I fired up a generic dance partner for a few rounds. It was easier with something that didn’t resemble Xin. Using a digital version of her felt wrong now. Before I had been dancing with the image of a deceased woman. Now she wasn’t. Or was. Voices, this whole situation had me confused.
Slowly I drowned out the analytical thoughts with dance. The program led me through various steps. An hour later and I felt like it would be possible to do a few rounds with a real person.
My thoughts went back to my vaguely reincarnated fiancée. Would she like the changes in me? They weren’t all positive. Another idea hit me. What if she found out about my brush with death? Would she understand that?
I returned to the dance program and kept at it for another hour. Biometrics from the EXR-Sevens showed my heart rate was up and impulses were being fired to all corners of my body to simulate exercise. Sweat was probably dripping across me in reality too.
Toweling off in the video game only served to clean up my digital character and slow down the feedback. While my hands wiped away at illusion sweat I stared at Continue Online’s preview window. The digital projection moved in high speed due to the time dilation differences.
Requiem had set up camp. My [Red Imp] body was strung up on a tree branch and glaring. The Traveler was sharpening a blade while muttering. A small fire crackled off to one side. It was hard to tell from the preview window but it looked like I was being hung over the flames.
Both eyes rolled. Requiem Mass was single minded with his stupidity. Still, there was a small message off to one side hanging in wait. I pinched the picture and zoomed in.
The Voices were politely hinting that avoiding the pain wouldn’t solve any problems. Dealing with the ARC’s muted feedback was bearable but not enjoyable. Now seemed safe enough since no physical torture was being induced upon the [Red Imp] character. Switching to Continue Online was also a good way to put thoughts of Xin and her version of reality out of my head.
Stepping back through the Atrium into Continue left me upside down and confused. The world looked downright odd from this angle. Trees curled towards the ground and the gray clouds made the world seem like there was a second floor.
I wiggled and got nowhere. Requiem had trussed me up exceptionally well. My tail was loose. That threw me for a loop. How on earth did anyone control a tail? Everything else in Continue reacted to thoughts. A new appendage should as well. Failing that there would be an autopilot system of some sort.
Happy humming escaped me. Aside from being bound and upside down this whole situation was kind of neat. My tail bobbed in time with the humming and a box displayed.
“Mmheh.” There was a gag across my face making it hard to speak. [Idle Humming] was nearly the same as my [Battle Hum] skill. Oh well, if Continue wanted to throw a second version at me, then okay.
I tried to hum. A small box appeared on the bottom right of my vision that had a musical note. That spot on the interface was where I used to see details about William Carver’s [Old Age] effect.
A few minutes passed while Requiem Mass grumbled and I tried to focus on tail control. My head had a little wiggle and moving it in time with the appendage seemed to help. The tips of both feet moved around with the humming. That was how I learned [Red Imp] toes were kind of clumpy looking and had giant ugly warts.
“What are you doing?” The Traveler startled me with sudden shouting.
I raised an eyebrow and mumbled the first thing that came to mind. It was my attempt at impishly insulting his mother and the synchronization bar jumped up. That made me smile and raise my cheeks high.
“What a failure of a pet,” Requiem said. “Can’t even get out of some rope.”
Part of me was in agreement. Escaping rope seemed to be a skill that was worthwhile to learn. Maybe Beth would have an idea next time we spoke. I would say ‘Hey, Munchkin, how do I escape being tied up by crazy people?’. Her response would probably be ‘Use fire’.
Oh. I looked at the fire pit below me and wondered how strong my resistance was in this form. A little pain would be easy enough to bear for an escape. Maybe my tail was sharp.
“Time for another round of beatings. Maybe this time you’ll listen when I give you an order and stop playing games.” He said. His voice sounded like a teen who was barely hitting puberty.
Requiem pulled at the rope that was used to hang me up. He had it strung over a sturdy branch up above and then wound it around another tree trunk.
I twisted and managed to get a closer look at the tail tip. It seemed pokey. Not super sharp or needle-like. That wouldn’t be much use in cutting the rope. Do [Red Imp]s grind their tails against flat rocks to sharpen them like birds did with beaks?
Another question for the pile.
The ground approached suddenly as Requiem let the rope go. My neck nearly snapped and these odd wings struggled to right me automatically. They failed due to being bound. ARC feedback sent my shoulder muscles into spasms.
“Mmmhgrh!” Muffled noises came out.
Where was my pitchfork? I needed it right this minute to stab Requiem in the face. That would solve both the growing irritation and quest in one go. Fortunately, I had a year and change of meetings and self-distancing techniques to calm myself.
This last month in Continue Online had sent my emotions all over the place. One thing after another had turned my world upside down. Xin existing in some form was the greatest. The thought replayed in my head again as the world spun from dizziness. Xin wasn’t completely dead.
“Seriously. How are you going to help me?” Requiem said while undoing my bindings. My wings quivered and shook as they regained feeling. It felt like trying to stretch a pinkie out that was actually attached to back muscles somehow.
“Stabbings!” I don’t know what a demon might say. Stabbing people was evil, right? Cleaving those two men into two bits back in the forest had felt pretty foul. That being said, murdering giant ice cockroaches felt perfectly justifiable. Comparing the two extremes felt weird.
“Well, you’ll get your chance.” The Traveler was looking over the fire into the distance.
I sniffed the air and tried to look into the darkness for any sort of enemy. This would be a terrible time for a battle. Flying was still awkward.
The wings on my back shook. These were not pinkies at all. How on earth did the ARC give people feedback for items they didn’t have in real life? Tingles shot through them and I danced back and forth in order to help the circulation along. Jiving around helped me barely avoid a weird gooey bit of acid that slid right by my chubby cheek.
“Ahhhwhathappened!?” I shouted.
“Attack them!” Requiem pulled out two swords that looked to be blue and black. One had a trail of smoke spilling from behind as it moved.
“Attack who?!” I shouted again while trying to uncoil the remaining rope from both legs.
“Them! Now!” Requiem dove past me.
The collar about my neck warmed up again. This time the pain kept increasing steadily. These stubby [Red Imp] legs were not working correctly. I tried to flutter both wings and lift off the ground. Thinking quickly derailed as I tried to figure out if the marking on my stomach was a birthmark or a welt.
Pain zipped through and made the tiny body I occupied gasp and curl. Flying halted. My own tail slapped around on the ground as both gimpy legs gave out.
“Get up!” Requiem shouted.
It hurt to stand. The ARC feedback was hiking up the sting for each percentage being ticked off. Oddly, my synchronization bar climbed as the damage stacked.
“Nowwhat?” I was determined to drag this all out for as long as possible.
This quest was fairly straight forward. If I couldn’t kill Requiem directly th
en maybe inaction and feigned stupidity would get him indirectly killed. My time as Carver had taught me that being proactive earned more results than sitting on a bench reading a book. That was probably a good metaphor for life.
“HELP, ME, KILL, THEM!” Requiem slashed at a giant rat creature. These rodents possessed green squirmy eyes and a mess of tails attached to them. Large gashes were littered all across the monsters and many of them were clearly infected.
“Ewwwwwwwwwww.” I gave an unintentional shriek. The ARC pulled the thoughts from my head as it did everything else and bypassed any mental filters.
“KILL THEM!” Another two percent of damage ticked by and the synchronization jumped up accordingly.
Still, pain hurt. I could avoid some by trying to follow the orders stated. Everything conspired to make me fail. Flying was way harder than expected. My tail successfully wound around the pitchfork and everything started tilting wildly to the left. Moments later instability allowed me to collide dead on with a tree.
“Ha! You won’t escape this time!” Another figure yelled triumphantly.
He was the goofiest looking person I had ever seen. His neck had a piece of rippled white fabric around it that made no sense. The collar was popped up, one sleeve was too long and his coat had points on the end that looked comical.
I was actually starting to prefer Requiem’s clean vest look. At least his dress code had some utility to it. Though the cape on Requiem was nearly worse than the puke green one Awesome Jr. had worn.
It seemed like a bad time to wonder how Awesome Jr. was doing. Flying towards giant mutant rat creatures would have been far easier as Hermes. I knew my stats and had loads more experience using that body. This nameless [Red Imp] avatar was still foreign.
“Kill him!” Requiem pointed one of his smoking blades towards the new Traveler. A sloppy attempt at using my [Identification] skill listed a bunch of useless question marks. I decided to nickname him PoserMan in my head.
I scrambled to at least fly in PoserMan’s direction. Flying was a huge failure. I ran into another creepy tree and fell to the ground. Boxes appeared around me explaining that being bound for so long had damaged both normal flight skills and all [Focus] abilities. Oh well. The worst that would happen is my [Red Imp] self died to some super move. Maybe he would strike a pose and scream about unleashing a laser.
Continue Online (Part 2, Made) Page 25
