by Cosimo Yap
Activating his power armor’s basic invisibility, Alan walked over to the door. He reached to open it.
A hand grabbed his wrist, appearing out of thin air. Despite the hand, Alan could not detect another presence.
“Greetings, Traveler,” a disembodied male voice said. “I am Cerberus, and I will be your Teacher. I will accept the payment of all your ability points.”
A message popped up:
Scoping out the Competition Updated:
6/10 Major players met
Bonus: 1/10 Objectives found
“You will be my Teacher?” Alan asked.
“Yes,” the voice answered.
“And why is that?” Alan said.
“Did you think your earlier intrusion would go unnoticed? Now that I have laid my claim, no other Teacher within the system will instruct you unless I allow it. I am also the only Machine Lord Teacher in the system.”
“And you decided to teach me? Just like that?”
“You certainly need it.”
“Is that so?”
“It is. You are interfacing with a system you do not understand, and you have crossed a line few would dare touch. You are not other players.”
“Um, okay,” Alan said, still bothered by this disembodied hand and voice. Was trying to illegally access the school’s network such a big deal?
Cerberus seemed to grow incensed, and began speaking with increased vigor.
“Most would-be heroes and warriors follow their rules. They are only human. But you are bold—a Traveler. A fighter. Time will pass. Things will change. You will become a true Machine Lord, not some Rogue playing at greatness.”
“Okay, you keep saying you, but don’t you mean me and Eve, my AI?” Alan asked.
“No. You.”
Chapter 4
Alan paused, thinking over what he’d been told.
“I think you may have the wrong player,” he said. “Why should I trust a disembodied hand claiming to be a person I’ve heard nothing about?”
A soft chuckle rang out. “Check your quests.”
Alan opened his quest screen, watching the hand for any sudden movements. The corrupted quest had rearranged itself. It now read:
Training:
Accept Cerberus’s offer.
Penalty for failure: Expulsion from the Academy.
Rewards: Training and ???
“Um, well put that way, I accept,” Alan said.
“Good, we can move on.”
Three new messages appeared:
477 Skill points deducted.
Graduate Updated! Phase Two:
Earn 10 Rogue Commendations. You may earn commendations by completing Rogue Challenges. Two commendations of another class type may be exchanged for one Rogue Commendation. Once you have acquired these commendations and completed the third phase of your education, you may proceed to Volta.
Reward: With Phase Three completion, access to Volta granted.
Graduate Updated! Phase Three:
Master two skills.
Reward: With Phase Two completion, access to Volta granted.
“Shouldn’t I finish Phase Two before Phase Three?” Alan asked.
“Sure, but who cares about something as inconsequential as sequence? Follow me.” The doors opened and the hand began floating along.
Alan walked through the doors into a stone corridor that would fit a medieval dungeon. The hallway was aglow with dark-blue light strips. A message appeared:
You have entered the halls of Ænigma. You have left the safe zone. Death penalties will once again apply, along with all the risks typically associated with the Game. An unsafe zone does not equate with a lawless zone, and all players are reminded that local rules should still be followed.
“You’re not going to show yourself?” Alan asked.
“No,” Cerberus answered.
Alan leapt forward, reaching out for the arm that was connected to the hand. He found nothing but thin air.
What? Alan asked. Eve had no answer.
Another chuckle sounded, coming from behind Alan this time.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to discover who I am at a later time. It won’t be so easy as peeking behind a curtain of invisibility, either,” Cerberus said. The floating hand picked up speed as it moved along.
“Okay, can you tell me about these Rogue Challenges, then?” Alan asked, jogging to keep up with the hand. He passed by multiple intersections, each with different colors of light illuminating their path. Occasionally, a different colored light strip or two would join the dark-blue, running in parallel, but the other lights soon branched off along a different path. A few paths were dark. Alan had a feeling that he’d have to figure his own way out of this place. Eve began building a color-coded mental map.
“No,” Cerberus said. “You’ll discover them in time. If this is too difficult for you, go back to Incipe and do the kill-X, gather-Y challenges.”
“For a teacher, you aren’t very helpful.”
“Exactly. I’m here to teach, not help. And we’re here,” Cerberus said from somewhere. The dark-blue lights came to an end in front of a round metal door with a glowing blue dot at its center. Alan wondered what he’d find if he followed the dark-blue light backwards. He approached the doorway and a message appeared on it:
Customized Training Ground
Designed by Cerberus
Time to complete: Indefinite
The blue dot expanded until it covered the entire metal door, making it look like a portal to another dimension. Alan hesitated before going in.
“What is the most important resource?” Cerberus asked.
Alan paused to think.
“Time,” Cerberus said, “and you are wasting it.” The hand disappeared, and before Alan could react, a strong force pushed him toward the doorway. He stumbled forward through the portal, and found himself standing in the center of a familiar training room. It was a near-replica of the training room at the Black Rose headquarters—the size of a large gymnasium rather than a small classroom, the floor an omnidirectional treadmill.
Four doorways appeared in the middle of the walls. One was a blue portal that Alan assumed would take him back. To his left a forest clearing could be seen, to his right an urban environment, and ahead lay darkness.
“Lesson one: Control,” Cerberus said, his voice echoing off the walls. “Proceed to the right.” There was no sign of the hand anywhere.
Alan took a step to the right and a laser grid appeared, an array of crisscrossing rays red of light that covered the room. The grid of lasers grew denser as Alan approached any of the walls. A shadowy outline appeared and Alan followed it, jumping over a laser beam and narrowly avoiding a second beam when he landed.
Eve began to show a pathway to the right door. Then the laser grid started shifting, moving about in random directions that made Eve’s path obsolete. Alan ducked under an incoming beam.
“Precision is key, every movement must be exact,” Cerberus said. “The best-laid plans go to waste when they cannot be executed perfectly.”
The floor began to shake, forcing Alan to devote his attention to maintaining balance. All attempts to make it over to the right doorway disappeared, as it took all of his effort to avoid the lasers. Eve’s outlines became flickering chaos as each one was suddenly reset due to the random nature of the ever-shifting laser grid and floor.
“Assuming plans can even be made in the chaos we call the universe,” Cerberus said.
Eve, stop providing an outline when there’s too much randomness, they’re giving me a headache, Alan sent.
Very well. The outlines disappeared. With a sigh of relief, Alan stepped to the right of an incoming beam, only to be struck from behind. There was a brief flash of pain, a bright flash of light, and Alan found himself standing at the center of the room once more. The lasers and floor stopped moving.
“The problem with many tools is that they become handicaps,” Cerberus said. “Give a child a calculator and they
forget how to add. Give a person an AI and they forget how to think.”
Don’t help me this time, Eve, Alan sent. He moved to the right and the lasers started moving again. He tried to regain his sense of spatial awareness without an outline to follow. It was a challenge. He moved into a beam again, resetting the room. He failed time and time again.
“Yet, we would still be crawling in the mud without these tools. The key is to know how to use them,” Cerberus said.
“How am I supposed to use Eve then?” Alan shouted as he narrowly evaded two laser beams.
“Do better,” Cerberus said. “You have been using Eve to show you what to do. That problem is hard, requiring complex calculation; I’m surprised Eve has been managing as well as she has.”
“Well, what should she being doing instead?” Alan asked. Distracted, he was hit by a laser and let out a yelp of pain. He stood still so the laser grid wouldn’t start up again.
“Showing what is,” Cerberus answered. “And no idleness—constant activity is a Machine Lord’s greatest strength. There is always more to learn, more to practice.” The laser grid began moving about. Caught off guard, Alan was quickly struck by a laser. When he restarted, everything was already in motion. He swore as he avoided the nearby lasers.
“Well, I’ve done pretty well thus far,” Alan said.
“You’ve faced dumb, low-level opponents in non-chaotic environments,” Cerberus said. “Taking the heuristically optimal path is easy to anticipate. And even then, you are unnecessarily limiting yourself; there will always be lag between what Eve tells you to do and your response.”
“So, what then?” Alan asked.
“How many times must I repeat myself, you imbecilic time-wasting ape,” Cerberus said. “You are having Eve evaluate what she thinks is best, trying to take everything into account. Not only is this ineffective planning, but it is slow. You need to start making active decisions. Make your own choices.
“You may have Eve run background checks to make sure you don’t make a colossal mistake, but optimization is key. Act on your own based on information she provides.”
A slow realization began to come over Alan, or perhaps Eve, as he continued to dodge lasers. Eve began constructing a model of the present, of all the variables at hand. Not a picture, but a snapshot of reality, the equations of gravity and electromagnetism and strong and weak forces woven into the model. Alan was amazed by his sudden awareness of where everything was, of its speed and direction, the model more detailed than any outline had ever been. There was so much information.
Alan focused on his immediate surroundings. He moved toward the exit, finally making progress. The model was amazing, showing him how much force he should exert to counteract the shifting floor, and where each laser was. Each next step was obvious to him, the way ahead clear as day. He didn’t need an outline to show him what to do.
As Alan approached the exit, he learned what Cerberus meant by a lesson in control. The number of lasers that began to block his path meant that he didn’t have time to process it all, and after a few attempts he activated hypercognition.
“Remarkable,” Cerberus said, his voice sounding the same despite the fact that Alan was experiencing time at a fraction of its speed.
“Give every task I assign you your all—hold nothing back.”
He tried and failed. Once, twice, a hundred times. A message appeared, and then another shortly after. Alan ignored them, intent on making his way through the laser grid. After a remarkable run of near misses, he made it through, a final laser moving out of his way.
Alan found himself standing before massive apartment buildings, each an identical metal structure over ten stories high. His Revenant Power Armor had been replaced with a basic set, and his weapon with a standard laser rifle. He checked the messages:
Your awareness of surroundings has improved. You have gained a new sub-ability of Enhanced Control, Enhanced Awareness! +5 Intelligence +5 Perception
Enhanced Control (Intermediate) has advanced to Enhanced Control (Advanced)!
“Barely passable, but we have too little time,” Cerberus said. “Continue to train. Machine Lords multitask. Maintain awareness of the present while planning for the future, and accounting for the actions of the past. Now, clear a building.”
Alan looked left and right—there were dozens of buildings.
“Clear one?”
“Eradicate all opposition.”
Alan shrugged, activated Hypercognition, and walked into the closest building on his right.
A dozen Haxlards stood within a spacious lobby area, raising their weapons as Alan entered. A sentry turret at the center of the room swiveled toward Alan as he began firing at the Haxlards with his laser rifle. He took out two Haxlards before they fired back.
Alan dove behind a piece of furniture as he took out another three Haxlards with multiple headshots, only sustaining a single glancing hit before—
Alan froze. He found himself standing back in the middle of the apartment buildings. The scenario had been reset.
“What?” he asked aloud.
“A guard hit a security alarm,” Cerberus answered. “You should have been paying more attention.”
“To what? I was only there for a few seconds—”
“This is combat. Divide your mind to focus on both the present and the future.”
“Divide my mind? I can rapidly switch thoughts, but I can’t think two things at the same time.”
“You can’t? It’s trivial,” Cerberus said.
Perhaps the Machine Lord class quest must be completed first, Eve sent, bringing up the quest.
Scoping out the Competition:
6/10 Major players met
Bonus: 1/10 Objectives found
“Should I finish my class quest first?” Alan asked.
There was a pause.
“Yes.”
A flash of light later, Alan found himself pushed out of the blue portal, back into the hallway.
“Come back once you’ve finished the quest. I’ve sent you a list of major players in the Academy System, ordered by proximity. Most of them are teachers, too, so learn something while you’re at it,” Cerberus said.
Alan checked his messages; there was a list of fifty-four names with rough directions and basic descriptions. The first line read: Wraith, Hacker, Revenant ties. Follow the neon purple light.
***
As Alan had predicted, if he followed the dark-blue light strips backwards, they led him to a more central hub area, the number of colors lining the wall growing until there was a rainbow covering the walls and ceiling. There was a dark purple, almost-black light, and a pale lilac glow, but no neon purple.
Voices rose in the distance, a commotion of yelling and excitement. Alan activated his basic invisibility as another student sprinted around the corner. It wasn’t anyone that he recognized, but he remained vigilant nonetheless.
Alan scanned the lights again. Maybe he’d missed something. But no, the entire ceiling and wall were covered. He reached the main corridor, and there was no space for another light.
Alan blinked, then began cycling through the electromagnetic spectrum. Everything seemed normal until he switched to ultraviolet. Then a solid, bright-neon light appeared on the floor. Alan turned around and followed the light, almost running into another player passing by. Everybody seemed to be in a hurry, but he could always figure out what was happening later. People were probably worried about the 100-day term limit they had at the Academy.
Following the ultraviolet light, Alan made his way down one of the unlit corridors he had passed by earlier. He made sure to stay on top of the light, never straying, avoiding a few trigger mechanisms with his trap detection skill and his armor’s advanced stealth capabilities. Eventually a bright white light appeared, leaking out of a room. Alan approached the doorway and looked in.
Adjusting his eyes to the influx of light, he saw what he could only describe as a massive man cave. Two massive walls w
ere covered by about a hundred displays. On one side, games of every sport that Alan could imagine were being broadcast; on the other, every esport that he could think of was shown. There were posters of holostories, masterfully crafted models of the Enforcer fleet, a small shrine to a goddess, a decently sized snack bar, and a liquor cabinet, all decorating the cavernous area.
The center of the room was devoted to one massive display the size of a movie theatre screen, broadcasting an arena deathmatch in-game. Splayed out on a couch, wearing a helmet with wires that extended into the massive screen, was a short, human-looking figure.
Watching the screen in front of him, the figure called out, “Who are you?”
“Um, I’m Alan. Cerberus thought you might be able to help me.”
“Cerberus is but a loyal dog. He’ll teach you the fundamentals, but no more.”
“Then you teach me,” Alan said. “Also, just to make sure, you are Wraith, right?”
The figure leapt out of his seat, removing the helmet to reveal the face of a middle-aged man. The screen turned dark. He turned to face Alan. “Wraith I am.”
A message popped up:
Scoping out the Competition:
7/10 Major players met
Bonus: 1/10 Objectives found
“Do you even know what hacking in the Game is?” Wraith asked. “How much shit you almost got in?”
“What?” Alan said.
“Your stunt on Incipe,” Wraith said. “You’re lucky few recognized what was happening. If an Administrator found out, you’d be banned faster than you can say GG.”
“Banned? What are you talking about?” Alan asked. He gripped his weapons tightly.
“You tried hacking the Game itself,” Wraith said. “I don’t know how or why, and I don’t want to know. The entire concept—that the Game can be hacked—is anathema to most players”
