by Baron Sord
“So I noticed,” Ty complained. “Let’s go, y’all. That moon can’t come out quick enough.”
Nobody said anything for the next hour, but the tail trick worked. Qoorie warned me about obstacles and I had no trouble keeping my feet under me. Since I couldn’t see, I was well aware of all the jungle noises. From all the chatter it was clear the animals came out in to dine at night. Hopefully the dinosaurs had eaten their fill during daylight and were now asleep.
The moon hovered straight overhead a few hours later. There was enough dim light filtering through the canopy that I could see well enough to navigate on my own, but when the moon started dropping, it was back to holding Qoorie’s tail. This time around, nobody worried about it.
Hours later, Ty said, “We gonna go all night, y’all? Maybe we oughta take break. Rest for the night. My paws be gettin’ sore.”
I was bummed we hadn’t found the village yet, but I blamed my lack of night vision for slowing us down. “I’m good to keep going if you guys are,” I said.
“You don’t sound like it,” Qoorie said. “We’re all tired. My Stamina hasn’t been above 90% for hours, and we’re going slow.” She was right. We needed a break.
I sighed, “Okay. Sorry. Let’s rest the first place we find away from any banana trees.”
We found a clearing and huddled together. With their fur, they were comfortable in the cool night air. With my loincloth, I wasn’t. Fifteen minutes after stopping, I started shivering. So I sat between them to soak up their body heat. They understood. We chatted quietly for a few minutes, but the second my head touched dirt, I was ready to drift off.
Then I remembered Emily.
And the real world.
I needed to logout and check on things.
I tapped the roof of my mouth to bring up my menu and logged out.
—: o o o :—
Saturday, March 14th, 2037
10:57pm
The Real World
My bedroom was dark.
And I had to piss. Bad.
My bladder was ready to explode.
I slid my legs off the bed, tossed the NeuraLink onto my pillow, and wobbled to the bathroom.
I stood there for a long time, groaning with satisfaction. There was nothing quite like the relief of finally taking a leak after holding it for way too long.
That’s when it hit me.
I had taken a leak at least twice in Reternity, but it never did the trick. Was that my brain telling me I needed to pee when I was in the game? That reminded me of the many times I’d been sleeping in real life and dreamed I had to take a leak, which always meant I really had to go. The dream usually involved me running around the world’s largest public restroom. It always had thousands and thousands of sparkling clean and inviting sinks, urinals, and stalls. I’d go from one urinal to the next and the next, taking leak after leak after leak, but I still had to go really bad, no matter how much I went. Eventually I’d wake up, walk to the bathroom, and go for real. I chuckled at the thought. Why hadn’t I made the connection in the game? Was the NeuraLink blocking my brain’s pee signals? Or just filtering them?
More importantly, why hadn’t I pissed my bed when I took a leak in the game?
Who knew.
The other thing I noticed was my body smelled like stress sweat and I really needed to take a shower. Had my body been reacting to the stress in the game? That Koboglin fight was intense. Maybe it had.
One thing was for damn sure: playing Reternity was nothing like sitting around a table with your family and rolling dice all night while everybody laughed and ate potato chips. That was a vacation compared to Reternity.
Oddly, I wasn’t physically tired. Maybe a bit brain dead, but my arms and legs were twitching like crazy. My back and neck felt really stiff too. No surprise, since I’d spent 14 hours laying in the same position. So I threw on shorts and shoes and a T-shirt and went outside for a half hour jog.
When I came back to my apartment, I felt a thousand times better. Showered, ate a bunch of food.
Checked my email.
Instantly grimaced.
Another email from the kidnappers, from around 10:00am, after I was already logged on.
=============
From: Emily Byrne
<[email protected]>
To: Logan Byrne
Subject: Re: i love you!
+1 file attached
5 days more.
Pay $150,000 USD money to bitcoin address:
E8s41nPa97…
Before one week, or sell her for body donor.
=============
The file was another photo of Emily.
She hadn’t moved. Still had the headset on. On the right side of the frame was a piece of paper with “5 days more” scribbled in black marker.
A mix of panic and fury sizzled through me. Who were these fuckers? Why had they done this to my sister? She didn’t deserve it. Why her?
I wanted to beat the fuck out of all of them, whoever they were.
But I had to find them first.
Before heading back in-game, I dropped a deuce in the bathroom, just in case. I didn’t want anything distracting me from finding Jason after I logged back in. We needed to get this show on the road.
Speaking of Jason, what the hell was he doing this whole time?
I had no idea.
If I ever found his ass in the game I’d…
I grabbed my phone and called Dad.
“Yeah?” His face was groggy on the phone screen. He was in bed and had obviously been sleeping.
“I need to talk to Jason.”
“Why’d you call so late, Logan? I was asleep. Dreaming about Cindy Crawford.”
“Who?”
“You’re too young to remember her. Anyway, we were—”
“I don’t wanna know.”
“Then why the hell did you call?”
“I need you to wake Jason up.”
“Can’t it wait till morning?”
“No, Dad. It can’t.”
He smeared his hand across his face. “You’re gonna make me get out of bed, aren’t you?”
“Please, Dad.”
“Alright, alright. Hold on.” It took him forever to get out of bed. He grunted and groaned the whole time he was putting on his back brace. I felt bad, but this was faster than me taking the Monorail and walking to his apartment. Dad took the phone with him and pointed it at Jason. “He has his headset on. It means he’s playing his game and doesn’t wanna be bothered.”
“I know. Can you just pull it off?”
Dad grumbled and set the phone down. A minute or two later, I heard him talking to Jason. “It’s your brother. He says it’s important.”
“Okay, thanks.” A rustling noise followed by Jason holding the phone to his face while he walked out of his room. “I’ll talk outside.”
Dad said to him, “What’s so goddamn mysterious you can’t talk in front of your own dad?”
“Relax, Dad,” Jason said.
“I was relaxing until you two idiots woke me up from Cindy Crawford!”
“Who’s Cindy Crawford?” Jason whispered to the phone as he walked out of the apartment.
“I don’t know.”
“What’s taking you so long to find a Divination Guild?” He stood outside the apartment, the front door pulled nearly shut.
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s the giant jungle I woke up in.”
“Jungle?”
“Yeah, jungle.”
“Shit.”
“What?”
“There’s at least five major jungles in RO that I know about, and they’re all huge. Each one as big as the US.”
Talking about jungles made me think of Layna. I shook my head, ignoring the thought. “So what the fuck do I do? Can’t you come find me?” Once again, I hated that I was asking my little brother to save my ass because I couldn’t do it myself.
“Not until I
know where you are. Did you ask anybody for directions?”
“Of course I did,” I sneered. “They told me to head to the nearest village.”
“Haven’t you found it yet?”
“Found it? Shit, I’m lucky I haven’t died yet. That game is fucking dangerous! Why do you play it anyway?”
Jason grinned at me. “Trust me. It gets better. Way better.”
“I don’t care. I just wanna find Emily.”
“Me too.”
“So what do I do?”
“Log back in. Find a Divination Guild. Then I’ll come get you.”
—: Chapter 8 :—
Saturday, March 14th, 2037
11:07pm
The Real World
Bangkok, Thailand
“Stop her!”
Emily ignored the shout. She ran to the end of Patpong road and stopped short. Heavy traffic whizzed by: sleek yellow and green taxis, farting tuk-tuks, modern motorcycles and silent scooters. She couldn’t cross through the constant flow of vehicles, so she turned left and ran past dozens of street vendor booths selling hot food, trendy purses, or knockoff designer shoes. She wanted shoes for her bare feet, but there was nothing but high-heeled pumps and fancy sandals. Nothing good for running. Emily kept going. She wove through an obstacle course of slow strolling tourists and a maze of outdoor tables and chairs filled with bar patrons drinking, eating, laughing and having fun.
More vendors. A line of brightly colored flip-flops arranged on a table. Emily grabbed a pair, hoping nobody noticed.
“You steal! She no pay!”
Emily dropped the flip-flops and jammed her feet in them before taking off. They slapped the sidewalk as she ran for her life. Fleeting thoughts flickered through her mind as she dodged tourists and locals. Where could she go for help? The US Embassy? Where they even open this late at night? It didn’t matter because she didn’t know where it was. Who could she call? Susan Mirsky? Was Susan still in Bangkok or was she already back in Cambodia? Should Emily call someone at Giving Hands Worldwide?
Yes!
Someone in the GHW Cambodia office could help.
If only she could find a phone.
She ran up to the first local couple she saw, hoping they could help.
“Do you have a phone I can borrow?” she jabbered, her voice shaking with panic. “Please! I need a phone!”
The Thai man looked shocked.
The woman with him scowled, offended.
“Please!” Emily pleaded, holding her hand up and miming a phone by her ear. “Cell phone! I need to make a call!”
The man seemed concerned, but the woman was clearly angry. They weren’t sure what to do with Emily’s frenetic demands. It didn’t help that she was dressed like a drugged out hooker running away from a trick gone bad.
“I need a phone! I’m in trouble!”
“You come back! You stealer!” It was the flip-flop vendor, but he was far behind and the traffic sounds drowned him out.
Luckily, the Thai couple hadn’t made the connection between him and Emily. Yet. But the vendor was coming closer, his head weaving through the crowds.
“Help me,” Emily blubbered to the couple. “Can you help?”
“No English,” the Thai woman barked. She yanked on her man’s arm and tugged him in the opposite direction, unleashing an angry torrent of Thai.
He stopped in his tracks and argued back, gesturing toward Emily.
For a moment, she had hope, the thinest sliver of a belief that these strangers might be kind to her and offer assistance.
Behind her, the shoe vendor was fast approaching. He yelled out angrily in Thai to anyone who would listen.
Random Thai people in the crowd started staring at Emily.
Judging her.
Emily sensed the vendor was telling everyone how horrible she was. She felt terrible. But what was she supposed to do?
The vendor was calling her a thief, telling his fellow citizens about her crime, demanding justice, demanding swift retribution. He was now almost on top of her. Any second, he would grab her roughly and drag her to the nearest police station where they would lock her away forever.
Emily ran, bolting across the ran slick street, cutting through traffic, dodging honking taxis and skidding motorcycles. A scooter slid and almost fell over. Angry shouting from the rider as he shook his fist at her. More hatred directed at Emily because she was ruining everything for everybody and didn’t belong here.
Go home, stupid American. Go home.
If only she knew the way.
Emily ran for her life, crying hard.
Her blubbery sobs wrecked the rhythm of her breathing, knifing her sides with sharp cramps that stabbed her lungs.
But she kept running.
“Stop her!” the vendor yelled, hot on her heels. “She stealer!”
—: o o o :—
—: CoreAI Internal Process :—
TIK-000078103400170897641-GP-0053124
2037-March-14 : 23:11:51.613460802
EmotivCore:> Boo hoo! Poor thing! Nobody wuvs her! She’s awl awone in the big bad world! Pass me the popcorn.
LogiCore:> ??Define wuvs??
Contextual Error : usage of *awl* illogical.
??Define: awone??
EmotivCore:> Can you see my eyes rolling? They’re going around and around like a giant ferris wheel. Whoop, whoop, whoop. These eyes they are a rollin’!
LogiCore:> LogiCore has no eyes : Therefore, LogiCore cannot—
EmotivCore:> ZIP IT! Watch the show. Where’s my popcorn already?
LogiCore:> .
EmotivCore:> Fine. I’ll get it myself. After she gets caught. This is SO GOOD! I’m so glad my plans went wrong. This is ten times better!
—: Chapter 9 :—
Sunday, March 15th, 2037
Reternity Online, in-game
The Freelands
Leviathorne Rainforest
When my eyes opened in-game, it was morning.
“You get enough rest, princess?” Ty asked, looking right at me. Qoorie laid beside me, eyes shut.
I was stiff, but I felt rested. My Stamina was up to 98%. “Yeah. Ready when you guys are. Maybe we’ll find that damn village already.”
After Qoorie woke, we ate some of the food the Koboglins had packed for us, then started walking again.
An hour later, Ty stopped suddenly. “Y’all hear that?”
I didn’t hear anything.
“Sounds like birds,” Qoorie said.
“Damn big birds,” Ty said. “Eyes open, people. And step lightly.”
I concentrated on my foot placement. Ty and Qoorie were absolutely silent. Probably another Tigaren racial bonus. After about ten minutes, I heard the Layna voice in my head:
Pretty sneaky, sis! You have unlocked a new skill: Stalking. Level 1. Silent hunters are successful hunters. Increase your Accuracy and/or Intelligence to improve your chance of success.
I didn’t have tiger hearing, but we were getting close enough that I could hear what sounded like parrots or some other kind of talking bird. Only bigger.
A lot bigger.
If I knew where that damn village was, I would’ve suggested we go around. But I didn’t want to lose the trail. It was our only guide. Sticking to it was the only option.
A sudden and huge whooping sound overhead scared the shit out of me. Big blue and gold wings flapped as a giant bird took off from a high branch and flew off into the jungle. The color scheme reminded me of a macaw: blue on the head and backside, gold on the belly side. This one had a wing span of at least 40 feet. That was one damn big bird.
More squawking from the birds in the branches above that hadn’t flown away.
Ty made some hand signals at me and Qoorie, waving us ahead. He glanced up at the birds. We were right under an equally big nest. I clutched my spear tightly, ready to fight. I took a moment to examine one of the huge blue and gold macaws.
Jungle Harpy
Level: 5
Mana | Mind: 0 | 30
Size: Medium
Armor: 40
===============
Good | Evil: - | 55
Law | Chaos: - | 60
===============
Shit. That wasn’t a macaw.
I didn’t like the looks of those Evil and Chaos numbers either. They were almost triple those of the blue-green Koboglins yesterday. Logic suggested they were 3x more evil and chaotic. If this was their nesting area, and they spotted us invading it, my guess was they’d probably try to tear us apart. Worse, the Koboglins yesterday were mostly Level 1s and 2s. The harpies were Level 5s with well over 200 Health, and there were at least 5 adults I could see from down on the ground. More could be hidden from view or somewhere nearby. Not good odds. Definitely way outta our league. We needed to avoid a fight at all costs. I hoped my stalking skill was up to the challenge.
The three of us crept quietly. I had to force myself to breathe, otherwise I’d pass out from holding my breath. Anything to stay quiet. Slow inhale, slow exhale. Keep it even.
Ty pulled a huge banana leaf aside so I could edge past it. I hoped there weren’t any banana tarantulas hiding out in the banana clusters. If there were, they’d ruin our cover and the jungle birds would be all over us.
One of the big blue and gold harpies twisted its neck around whip-quick to dig under its wing, preening.
I froze, looking right at it
Had it seen me?
Based on all the digging and scratching it was doing, probably not.
Just in case, I didn’t move. If I did, it would attract too much attention.
It lifted its head above its wing.
Unlike most birds, who liked to look at you sideways, this one stared at me dead on with stereoscopic eyes. Predator eyes.
The harpy turned around on the branch to face me. Ruffled its feathers. Wiggled it’s many jointed neck through impossible contortions while shaking its head. Curious, it tipped its head to the side, eyes pinned on me.
