by Rick Scott
I then remember something that both he and Gilly mentioned separately. Or perhaps it wasn’t Bruce that mentioned it; maybe it was that guy Dennis that was with him. But nevertheless the word was the same. “Does that have anything to do with the shards? Or was it nano shards, Gilly? I remember her mentioning them earlier and I wanted to ask you what they were.”
Bruce pauses mid-bite and shoots a glance at Gilly, as does her mother.
Gilly shrugs. “What? You two are always mumbling about them.”
Bruce clears his throat with a smile. “Well, they’re kind of like batteries. But they store nano machines instead of electricity.”
Seems I might have gotten him on the backfoot with that one. I decide to press my luck a little further. “Oh, so we’re running low on them then?”
“Huh?”
“On shards. To fix everything.”
Bruce swallows like I’ve just asked him if the world is about to end. He then laughs. “Well…something like that.”
“Hope you have room for dessert,” Gilly’s mom suddenly stands to collect my empty plate. “We have apple pie and ice cream.”
“Sounds delicious,” Bruce says standing as well. “Let me help you, dear.”
They hustle away and I wonder if maybe I pushed that last question too far. But if I did, perhaps it was a good thing, because it seems to keep them from asking me any further questions. We enjoy dessert and this time I don’t shy away from seconds.
“Why don’t you two go have a sit in the living room,” Bruce says when we’re done. “We’ll clean up in here. We got some great movies you can stream on the holoviewer.”
“Thanks,” I say.
Bruce seems like a genuinely nice guy. But still, he’s holding a hatchet over my brother’s head. To get these shards or whatever they are from the surface, it seems. A dark part of me wonders if maybe he sent my mom to the surface to do the same.
Gilly distracts me from my thoughts by taking my hand and leading me into the living room and onto one of the couches. It’s a welcome distraction. I’ve been waiting for my whole life for something like this. A chance to sit alone with Gilly, a girl I really like, who likes me back and watch a movie together, in real life! It’s like a dream come true.
Gilly picks something from the holoviewer and we start to watch. It’s a prewar action comedy I’ve seen before, but I don’t mind. Gilly snuggles into me and she places my arm over her shoulders. I think I’m in heaven.
“So what did you need to tell me?” Gilly says after a bit.
I’m so in the moment that I have no clue what she’s talking about. “Huh?”
“You said you needed to tell me something in person. About your brother?”
Oh crap…I nearly forgot about all that!
My mind is running a mile a minute. What am I supposed to tell her? ‘Hey Gilly, your dad is forcing my brother to go to the surface, could you talk to him for me?’
No way can I mention her father. But I guess everything else I still can.
“Mike’s going to do something really dangerous to get mom’s surgery done.”
Her eyes widen with concern. “Like what?”
“I’m not too sure,” I say, although now it’s half a lie since I have some inkling. “But he’s going to do it in a few days. So I need to get the money for mom’s operation before then. If he sees mom cured I’m sure he won’t go through with it.”
“You said in a couple of days?” her voice strains with incredulity. And then she says something that both shocks and warms me. “What the heck are you doing here then?! You need to be leveling!”
I chuckle. “My number one cheerleader.”
She elbows me. “Hey, I’m serious. You can’t let your crazy brother do something stupid like that. We need to go make this money!”
It touches me when she uses the word ‘we’, makes me think Gilly really is the best girl in the world. After all the crap I’ve put her through, she’s still got my back 100%.
“Well I did make around 250k from killing Sheeba,” I say, but then sigh. “Still a long way from 3.5 million though.”
Gilly seems to barely be listening to me anymore. “Ok, I got a plan. I’m going to be your manager.”
“My what?”
“I’m going to manage your money and drops for you. I do know the markets pretty good, you know. Plus I’ll map out the best things for you to kill for money and leveling at the same time.”
I nod. It actually sounds like a decent plan. I suck at all that stuff, but Gilly thrives on it. This is a much better way for her to help me than leveling a healer. “All right.”
“Okay, let’s do it,” she says and she gets up from the couch. “Mom and Dad! Ryan’s got to leave!”
“What?” I say bewildered. “Right now?”
“Hey,” She pulls me up off the couch. “We got the rest of our lives to watch movies together. But you’ve only got one brother and one mom. So go back home. Log in. And get your butt in gear. I’ll do some research while you’re on your way.”
“Are you serious?”
She gives me the eye. “Does it sound like I’m joking?”
I laugh nervously. “Sounds like this is going to be an interesting development in our relationship.”
“Oh!” Her eyes pop open. “Speaking of that…”
And she grabs me by the collar and pulls my lips to hers. The kiss takes me by surprise as does my body’s reaction to it. We’ve kissed in game before, but like the hug, this feels way different. Way better. She breaks it off just before her parents enter the living room to say goodbye.
“Leaving a little early?” Bruce asks.
“We’re going to continue the rest of the date online,” Gilly says.
Bruce shares a puzzled look with his wife and then chuckles. “Guess you guys do it differently these days. It was great meeting you, Ryan.”
He extends his hand and I shake it. “Same.”
“Give our regards to your mother,” Gilly’s mom says and I shake her hand as well.
I then give Gilly a warm hug and wave as I leave through the door. Right as I do, Bruce puts his hand on my shoulder and leans in to whisper to me. “Do me a favor and don’t mention those shards to anyone else, will you? They’re sort of a…back of the shop, kind of thing.”
I nod. “Okay sure. No problem”
He then squeezes my shoulder with a smile and closes the door behind me.
Chapter 29 Grinding Gears
When I get back home, my mom is waiting up and apparently quite excited by the way she’s grinning at me as I hobble through the hab door with Mutt and Jeff.
“So how was it?” she asks beaming.
“It went great, mom!” I can barely contain my excitement and want to tell her everything. Or at least the stuff I can talk to her about anyway. I spend about ten minutes recapping dinner with her and the sparkle that fills her eyes means the world to me. I tell her about Gilly, her parents and their amazing house and the awesome food.
Mom especially laughs when I tell her about how Gilly got her name. “You’ll have to invite her over here sometime. I really want to meet her.”
“Definitely,” I say, but then I hesitate a bit. I wonder what Gilly might think of our rundown house compared to hers? But honestly, I don’t think she’d mind at all. Gilly is Gilly. She’s never been one for material stuff. “Hey, I got to go meet her online, ma. We’re continuing our date virtually.”
Mom laughs. “You crazy kids.”
As I go to leave, a question is still burning in the back of my mind.
“Hey mom, do you happen to know her Dad?” I had purposefully left his name and details out earlier, but now I just have to know. “His name is Bruce Peters, he’s head of infrastructure.”
Her face goes unreadable for a moment. “That’s her father?”
“Yeah…” Damn, maybe he did work with my mom. And maybe he forced her to go to the surface, just like he’s doing to my brother. My stomach sours a b
it. I was really starting to like Gilly’s Dad too, but maybe he’s the reason my mom has cancer. “You know him?”
“Of course, I know him.”
“So you worked with him? When you were doing the vents and stuff?”
“Ryan, everyone should know him. Don’t you know who he is?”
This one takes me totally off guard. “No…Should I?”
Then she lets out a laugh. “I really need to contact the board and complain about the education feeds. Ryan, he’s the board chairman. He’s basically like our president.”
My legs go woozy and I’m glad I got Mutt and Jeff for support. “What?”
“Oh my goodness!” My mom claps her hands together laughing. “My son is dating the chairman’s daughter and he doesn’t even know it!”
Chairman’s daughter? Holy crap! Then that makes Gilly…like some kind of princess! Well not really, but close! “Holy cow…”
“And no, I never worked with him,” Mom says and I feel a great relief lift off my shoulders. “But I think he worked with your father when they were younger.”
My stomach flips again. This stirs a whole new set of questions. Bruce knew my Dad?
“Well, you’d better go log on now, hon,” my mom says as she starts to puts her rig back on. “You shouldn’t keep the chairman’s daughter waiting.”
* * *
I log on with my head still spinning. As I materialize at the main spawn point in Swifttide I send a message to Gilly.
Me: Hey! You didn’t tell me who your Dad was!
Gilly: Huh? o_O
Me: He’s the board chairman!
Gilly: Oh yeah! lol : P Well that’s not really his main job, it’s more just like an added responsibility.
Me: But that means he’s like in charge, right?
Gilly: I guess! : D Anyway, come meet me on the Andor Steppe. I’ve got a way for you to make 1 million credits tonight. ^_^!!
I fast travel to see Gilly but I’m still struggling to figure out how I can possibly make one million credits in only one night. As I materialize I see she’s already waiting for me and I check to make sure my live stream is off. I don’t want to expose Gilly to the world like that, especially now that I know she’s a celebrity. Well…sorta.
Gilly’s dressed in her level 12 mage gear and looks as cute and sexy as ever, especially with her witch’s hat. She runs over and gives me a quick hug and kiss before yanking on my arm. “Come on! We’re headed East!”
I laugh as she drags me along and I invite her to my party. “Where are we going?”
“To the Grimstone Canyon.” She accepts the request. “We’re going to be doing a jumping quest tonight.”
“What’s a jumping quest?”
“One of the most horrible and annoying things ever invented by the Devs,” Gilly says as she marches through the rock filled terrain by my side. “Honestly I don’t even know why it exists. Practically no one even does it.”
“Oh,” I say. “So why are we going to do it then? And what exactly is it?”
“Well technically, you’re going to be doing it,” Gilly clarifies. “And as for what they are, think of it like being in an Indiana Jones movie.”
“A what?”
She sighs. “Nevermind. You’ll see when we get there.”
We continue our journey through the rocky steppe which slowly transforms into low hills. After a few minutes we finally reach a sheer cliff face that looks made out of solid granite. It towers above us by some three hundred feet and blocks out the sun as we draw close to its base.
I whistle as I gaze up at it. “I hope we don’t need to climb this thing.”
“Nope,” she thankfully says. “But there will be some climbing involved. Follow me.”
We traverse the cliff face until it opens up in a crack that’s as wide as the tunnel for my hab. I marvel at how the sheer walls rise up about us and leave only a sliver of sky at the very top as we travel through. The words Grimston Canyon then appear over my vision.
“Are there any aggressive monsters here?” I ask. “And what level is this place?”
“Not where we’re going,” Gilly says. “And don’t worry about level. You could do this quest as a level 1.”
As we continue on, we discover a set of stone steps carved right into the canyon wall. Gilly takes the lead and bravely plows ahead up the narrow and roughly hewn steps. I follow her but start to feel somewhat queasy from the height as we get to the midpoint. I then get a private message, which serves as a distraction.
Val Helena: Hey, I see that you’re back. How the date go?
Me: Excellent! I’m still on it. ^_^
Val Helena: Oh.. so I see.
I guess she must have done a search for me and saw us in party or something.
Val Helena: Where are you two headed?
Me: To do a jumping quest thing.
Val Helena: A jumping quest? LOL! Have fun! TTYL.
I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this quest. Gilly said it’s level 1 though, so what can be so hard about it? We find a hole in the rock face at the top of the steps and I’m dying to enter it by the time we reach. Once inside, we travel down a tight passageway and I feel the ground tremble beneath my feet. I fear it might be a monster heading toward us so I pull Gilly back. “Hold up. I think something’s coming.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t you feel that?” I say. “The ground is shaking.”
“Oh yeah. That’s the quest. Come on.”
Golden colored light begins to fill the passageway from some unknown source as we continue on. The trembling beneath my feet gets stronger but also more distinct and rhythmical. It’s definitely not a monster. It feels more like big pieces of equipment slamming together.
The tunnel ends and opens up into an enormous cavern that’s as big as the one Gruzug was in. But where that one was empty, this one is filled with something that resembles the insides of a giant clock. Two sets of massive cogs wheels rotate slowly in the center of the cavern, elevated by a combination of rocky spires and steel girders. The vibration I felt is from a series of massive hammers that slam down on top of an iron bridge that leads to a maze of gears and other moving parts. It looks and sounds like some kind of 18th century factory with its rhythmic banging and a constant squeal and squeak of turning gears. At the very center of the massive contraption is the golden light source that radiates from a single point a few stories above us that fills the entire cavern with an eerie yellow glow.
“So this is it,” Gilly says and points to the light source. “The objective is to touch that thing up there.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes, but by sticking to the pathway.”
I shudder as I see the spinning and slamming appendages. “So this is the thing that no one wants to do, huh?”
“Yup, and that’s why you’ll make a million credits if you can do it.”
“This quest gives 1 million credit?”
“No the quest itself only gives around 100k I think, but you get a gem at the end that’s a prime ingredient in level 85 prestige gear.”
“What’s that?”
“Really cool looking stuff, like what Aiko was wearing. Anyway, high level players will pay upwards of a million for the gem.”
“Wow.”
“There are only a few players who can even do this quest in game and the quest resets every six months with a new pattern.”
“Sounds tough.”
“It’ll be a breeze for you though! And I’ll be with you to cheer you on. There’s an observation path I can take.”
I look again at the massive machinery slamming and banging. “Where do I even start?”
“Over here, come on!”
Gilly leads me further toward the rusted iron bridge that has hammers on a rotating spindle that’s falling on top of it. They slam rhythmically but it’s an odd, off beat pattern and it scrambles my mind when I try to make it out. I take a step further and receive a quest prompt.
Yo
u have been offered a new Quest: Gauntlet of Gears (Recommended Level N/A)
Make your way through the obstacles without getting hit or falling.
[All abilities will be disabled]
Do you wish to accept and set your home point to this location? (Y/N)
Darn! No abilities?? Now I see why this quest is so hard. I confirm yes and my homepoint resets. Gilly clambers up a narrow access ramp adjacent to the bridge that stretches over the top of the hammers. She waves to me and blows me a kiss. “Good luck, babe! You can do it!”
Easy for her to say!
But abilities or not, I still have 70 agility right? How hard can this be for me? The ground shakes as I approach the huge hammers that are as big as tree trunks. I focus on the first one and run under it as it rises just after a hit. Easy! I jump through two more and then wait while the next hammer falls, timing it to run underneath when it goes back up. I’m just about to dash under it when something slams me from above.
You take 100,000 damage!
You are defeated!
I respawn to Gilly laughing at me. “You waited way too long!”
“What? But I wasn’t even under it!”
“Yes you were, just by a little bit.”
“Well thanks for telling me.” I stick my tongue out at her.
“Oh wait!” Gilly says. “Didn’t you have on Shadow Copy on?”
“No. It said all abilities are disabled.”
“Shadow Copy is a spell not an ability, dummy.”
Say what?
I cast shadow copy and it actually works!
“See! That’s why I said this will be easy for you. Now come on. Try again.”
Heck yeah! I practically run into the hammers this time, feeling invincible. I duck and dodge through and get about halfway way when I see.
Your shadow absorbs the attack.
What the? But I was way past that stupid hamm—
Blam!
I respawn.
“Hey! What are you doing?” Gilly shouts to me. “It’s just one free hit not immunity. Use it to figure your way through.”
