“Okay, so, Suzy, you stand here.” Dave pointed at a cleared portion of ground before the large circle in the center.
Suzy did so.
“We’ll power this thing up. Should take no more than a few minutes to do, so have your soul binding contract and spell ready. You won’t have to spend any energy on the summoning, so just focus on bringing that creature under your control.” Dave looked to her.
“Okay.” Suzy had been thinking of this moment for nearly two years. She was excited and nervous. Summoning and contracting a beast was some of the most powerful magic that a summoner knew.
“Activating summoning,” Malsour said.
The runes around the room started to glow with energy, coming from four different corners where soul gems were embedded into the walls. A hum of Mana filled the air as the circle Suzy was in lit up with power. The runes between her and the summoning circle lit up; the circle started to glow with power.
Then, there was a flash of massive power. Most summoners had to use their blood to make these summoning circles because it was more accurate and the power needed was extraordinarily high.
A screech tore through the air. In one moment, there was nothing in the main circle, and then there was a small bird. It looked to be about the size of Suzy’s hand. The screech had been its infant roar.
Sparks crackled along the bird’s wings. It had a cute appearance, but Suzy felt that this would become an incredibly powerful beast in the future.
As it soared forward, it sounded as if lightning were chasing it, instinctively using its lightning power to increase its speed. It hit the barrier around the summoning circle. It let out an indignant squeak.
Suzy used a far sight spell to look at the lightning phoenix. It had a regal and powerful air even in its infant state. It screeched; white lightning raced from its mouth and hit the barrier. Its body looked like living lightning given phoenix form.
“Suzy!” Dave said, pulling her out of her thoughts and studying the creature.
“Got it,” Suzy said, embarrassed that she had paused before casting the soul binding spell. She pulled out a dagger. Cutting her finger, she quickly drew a magical circle on her hand before she reached out toward the phoenix.
“Come here, little one. Let’s have lots of adventures together and raise you to be a big, proud lightning phoenix,” Suzy said in a calming voice as she cast the spell.
The phoenix lowered itself and came closer to Suzy, as if recognizing someone more powerful than it.
The phoenix bucked lightly under the pressure Suzy was putting forward. Then it stopped fighting. It looked up at Suzy with scared eyes. The lightning phoenix was a noble and great beast and yet it looked up at Suzy with the fear of an infant. It had been awoken into a strange place and Suzy was casting a seal on it.
“Don’t worry, little one.” Suzy smiled at the phoenix.
It looked apprehensive for a bit as the spell finished. Suzy closed her eyes, feeling something leaving her body. She let out a breath as power flew down her arm, connecting with the bloody magical circle on her hand and toward the lightning phoenix.
Prompts appeared around Suzy as she took a few breaths, trying to stabilize how she felt and the sudden loss of power.
If gaining stats was like becoming a god, losing them was like having a cold knife cut out a part of you. Losing a part of her Willpower, her very soul, momentarily disoriented Suzy.
She took her time reading the prompts.
You Have Gained A Soul Bound Creature
The Lightning Phoenix is yours to command. Unless you break your contract with the creature or allow it to die, the contract will not be broken. Controlling this creature takes 10 Willpower from your overall stats (does not affect Mana recharge).
Soul Binding Contract
You have created a soul binding contract with a Lightning Phoenix. For a portion of your Experience, you can increase this creature’s level and abilities.
The Lightning Phoenix is currently Level 0 and gains 0% of your experience.
Well, I’ll be changing the amount of experience she gets really soon. Suzy moved to the next prompt.
Name Your Soul Bound Creature
Your Lightning Phoenix does not have a name. Do you wish to give her one? Y/N
“Okay, so you’re female and you need a name.” Suzy smiled after reading the prompt. She had thought of naming Steve, only to find out that he already had a name.
“Can we drop the barriers and enchantments?” Dave asked.
“Sure.” Suzy’s eyes never left the little lightning phoenix that was flapping its wings, staying in a hover as it looked at Suzy. “How does Lu Lu sound?” Suzy asked.
The phoenix cocked its head to the side before it let out a chirruping noise.
“I’ll take that as a yes?” Suzy asked.
It made the same noise again.
“Lu Lu, it is.” Suzy smiled as the barrier dropped and the different runes in the room stopped glowing.
The phoenix approached Suzy slowly. It smelled her, circling a few times, and then it came to land on Suzy’s shoulder.
Suzy tensed, expecting to get shocked by the lightning that ran over the phoenix’s body. Instead, she just felt the small claws of the young phoenix holding onto her shoulder, digging through part of her shirt but not making it to her actual skin.
The phoenix was warm and her feathers were light. None of the lightning around the creature hurt Suzy.
She looked to the phoenix. She had four wings, two on either side, with a large tail. She was clearly meant to achieve great heights and then use air streams to glide to her destinations. She had a long neck that ended in a head similar to an eagle’s head. Her large eyes looked to Suzy, as if trying to understand her better.
“Hello there, Lu Lu,” Suzy cooed, holding out a hand to the creature.
She looked at Suzy’s hand, and then Suzy’s face once again. Suzy inched her hand forward and stroked the phoenix’s feathers.
Lu Lu flapped her wings, getting comfortable before she let out a pleased cooing noise. Suzy gave her a light scratch. Lu Lu turned in to it, clearly pleased with the petting.
Suzy began to take her hand away, but Lu Lu let out an indignant coo, poking Suzy’s hand and then pointing at her back.
Suzy laughed, petting the phoenix again. It seemed to relax, lowering itself and flapping her wings to get comfortable. Suzy turned back to the others by the door into the room.
“She’s so cute! Hello, Lu Lu!” Induca moved closer.
Suzy was afraid that Lu Lu would get scared again, but Induca started to scratch Lu Lu as well.
She let out content coos at the attention.
“Looks like a weird flying kite that ran into a power line,” Steve said.
“And the mood’s gone.” Dave sighed. “Malsour, up for a beer? Seems this thing works. After this, we can go see Ela-Dorn. See if she can help us out with making this a bit smaller.”
“Sure, though before we see Ela-Dorn, I’m going to take a shower and get some sleep.” Malsour looked at Lu Lu, Suzy, and Induca with a happy smile.
“You going to summon a creature as well?” Dave asked.
“Well, that murmador did interest me. I’ve never heard of something like it and it would look cool as hell,” Malsour said.
“If you get one as well, then we can go on some quests or just go and grind some experience out to level up our beasts,” Suzy said.
Lu Lu rose up, flapping her wings. It seemed she agreed as well.
“Well, I heard that Josh might be planning a raid on a portal,” Induca said.
“That’d be a good chance to do some leveling up,” Dave agreed.
“I’m going to get back to work,” Steve said. “Nice work with the flying electrical socket.”
Lu Lu hissed and Steve grinned.
“Looks like she’s got some fight in her.” Steve chuckled and left.
“Beer o’clock!” Dave announced.
“I think we’r
e going to take Lu Lu back to our apartment, get her settled and see about getting her some food. Then, work out a plan to get her to level up some,” Suzy said.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you, baby girl?” Induca said in her baby voice. Lu Lu seemed to approve, jumping onto Induca’s shoulder. “She likes me!” Induca doubled up on Lu Lu’s scratches.
“You know, most people get a cat.” Dave shook his head and walked out of the room.
***
Ever since Bob had told Dave about the kill switch that was implanted in his body, he’d been thinking about it.
He had looked at various ways to stop it. He’d spent hours looking at his own body, trying to find it. He’d even looked at recordings that Bob showed him of other Players who had come to the end of the Player cycle, dropping dead by the Jukal’s command.
He had been able to gain some clues.
From people’s gestures, it seemed that it originated from around the clavicle. There was no great big explosion; a person would only hold their chest as if they were having a heart attack and then fall forward. Moments later, their body would start to dissipate, as it did with all other creatures that were killed and looted.
Dave had been studying himself, as well as POE’s and Player’s physiology.
Apparently, the POE had the same kill switch in them. He couldn’t find any difference that would allow him to pick up whatever the system was.
He’d even had Bob change into Human form so that he could see what a Human without the kill switch would look like. There had been no noticeable difference to Dave.
Dave rubbed his face and let out a frustrated noise.
“Hey, Dave, I might have something.” Bob walked over, watching something on his interface. He made it a larger screen and shared it with Dave so that he could see it as well.
It showed someone using a Mirror of Communication.
“This is five minutes after everyone else died,” Bob said, his voice flat. Seeing so many people die had been a rather morbid experience.
Dave watched as the person left the Mirror of Communication.
They sat up before their face distorted in familiar pain. They coughed blood and collapsed back on the bed they had been using. After a few moments, they started to pixelate and dissolve.
“How is that possible?” Dave asked.
“It must have blocked the signal,” Bob said. “When you go into the Mirror of Communication, it creates a kind of dampening field around the user, so that no one can try to hook up, say a mind recorder to try to figure out what they’re saying to others. It was a big problem last millennia, anyway. Now, it creates a signal dampening field: the Mirror of Communication processes all incoming signals, passing it to the user, or blocking it.”
“So, if we were able to create that same kind of field and block those signals, then we could stop the kill switch from activating. It’s not a complete answer, but it’s a Band-Aid of sorts.” Dave leaned forward in his chair.
“If we can get that signal, record it and figure out what it’s supposed to be doing, then we can probably find out what the kill switch is and then come up with a strategy to destroy them.” Bob snapped his fingers.
“Okay, so we need a signal suppression device as well as recording abilities,” Dave said. “We’re going to need to make this out of soul gem constructs. This coding is too complicated for the normal coding plates.”
Soul gem constructs were capable of doing much more than a coding plate was. They could have much more coded into them compared to an ebony sheet. They also removed the need to integrate a power source and were the best at distributing heat.
“Well, I can probably rip some of that suppression coding from the Mirror of Communication, then get Shard or Steve to simplify it down,” Bob said.
“Then, all I need to do is make a simple recording device. However, before I can compile that information, I’m going to need some receivers to pick it all up.” Dave looked to Bob.
“We can’t use the infrastructure I have. The Jukal are checking up on my shit. What about the onos?”
“That could work. I can update them to make a transmission system through the soul gem constructs. With them spread across Emerilia, we can use them as relays for compiling the data,” Dave said.
“Perfect. We can back up the interface systems as well. I’m not too sure if the Jukal will be able to turn it off or not. They need servers to be able to connect to one another over large distances. Otherwise, people would only be able to connect to those within fifty kilometers or so.”
“I can do that.” Dave nodded as a sense of relief filled him.
“Now, we just have to figure out what to do with the next generation of Players.”
Dave looked to Bob in shock. “What?”
“When one Player cycle is in the game, there is another Player cycle being born and trained. Right now, they’ll be mature in thirty years. In the Earth simulation, a day for them is about a week on Emerilia. There are currently three Player cycles in the system, for backups. Nearly seven million people. Once they near maturity, the time dilation is turned right down so that a day for them can be a month or so for everyone on Emerilia. Right now, they’re just simply brains in a vat,” Bob said.
“Where are they?”
“I can show you,” Bob said.
Dave opened and closed his mouth. The people who would replace him were essentially his brothers and sisters. They had been born by the same Human progenitors and born from the same place and went through experiences on Earth.
“Uh, can I?” Dave asked.
Bob snapped his fingers. The room disappeared and they reappeared in a massive complex.
Dave stood up from his chair, feeling numb as he looked over the plant.
There were several levels, further divided into sections. They were filled with pods that were about a meter tall and a half meter wide.
As Dave watched, a rack extended out of the wall. A large automated robot grabbed the container, moving it from the rack to a different machine.
Dave’s Touch of the Land had unconsciously spread through the room. He knew what was in the jars, but he couldn’t believe it. He squinted, using far sight to see the container. Within it, there was a brain with a cap on it. A spinal column was sheathed in metal.
“There’s no need for a body. The liquid in the tanks see to the Players’ needs. The cap records and sends signals, allowing the AI to figure out the best way to get people addicted to Emerilia. The metal lining on the spine manipulates the nerves, allowing people to feel the different things in the Earth simulation,” Bob explained. “When people go back to the Earth simulation, many of them say that things don’t feel as real as they do in Emerilia. This is because they’ve been conditioned. It’s also because once a Player cycle is active, their brains here are uploaded to the Altar of Rebirth’s and a new body is printed for them.”
Dave walked along the catwalk, his boots clanging on the metal decking.
Machines were constantly moving, changing out the Player capsules’ solution or adjusting the encapsulating cap and metal coverings on the brain and spine.
Bob walked behind Dave.
The facility extended on into the distance, row upon row of minds, of people who were living out their lives on Earth, thinking that it was reality.
“What safety measures have the Jukal taken here?” Dave asked.
“There’s a flush system, filled with a poison that will kill the brain. The other is they will cook them with heat. The last resort are bombs that line this facility. They will explode, destroying all of the supporting systems and cutting off access to the Earth simulation servers. Even if someone’s brain doesn’t die from the explosions, they’ll slowly run out of solution without any of their senses perceiving anything as their brain withers and dies.” Bob’s voice turned hard.
Dave shook his head. That way of dying would be torture; he couldn’t imagine what would happen to someone if they couldn’t do anything
. They would have nothing but their own thoughts until they finally died.
“We’re not going to let them die.” Determination filled Dave as he looked at the containers.
Bob smiled and looked to Dave. “I was hoping you’d say something like that.” Bob sent Dave a message filled with information.
“What is all this?” Dave looked through the various technologically advanced systems that he was seeing.
“This is the coding that I have to overwrite the machines in here. It will systematically eject everyone in here from their simulation and then send them to an Altar of Rebirth. The machines think a new Player cycle has started while the people will be pulled from their lives and thrust into Emerilia. Sure, it won’t be pretty and all of them will have the kill switch, but if we can get that Band-Aid on the altars, we can get a whole lot of them out before the Jukal realize it,” Bob said.
“Though, they are going to notice it, and if they do, then they just activate their fail-safes—this facility goes up and everyone who hasn’t been pushed out of an altar dies,” Dave said.
“I’ve looked into making an Altar of Rebirth myself. The tech is complicated as hell. I know how to create humans and subspecies, but even I am stumped with the Altar of Rebirth. You can’t even get plans for them. And if I or someone else was to see their secrets, much like the Aleph and the portals, the Jukal will kill them off,” Bob said in a serious tone.
“There has to be a way.” Dave sighed as he looked at all of the people, just helpless brains in a tank.
“For now, we work on getting this Band-Aid thing to work, and we think of ways to help the people out here.” Bob clapped Dave on the shoulder.
Dave sighed, but nodded. “Rome wasn’t defeated in a day.” Dave glanced around the facility one more time. “Let’s get back to the lab; I have work I need to finish.”
In a flash of light, they left the facility. It was as if they were never there as millions of containers and thousands of robots silently looked after the Players.
Time of Change (Emerilia Book 7) Page 18
