by Adam Drake
But I tried to convince myself it was okay because I now had a Legendary Quest to go on. A good excuse as any.
I tapped the screen and the yellow warning message was replaced by the IceTech Industries logo. Then the words 'Quantum Connection received from Earth' appeared.
Suddenly the telepresent droid straightened up, lights blinking on across its chest. A digital rendering of a woman's face appeared on the blank surface of its head.
The woman turned the droid's head as she took in her new surroundings.
“Welcome to Callisto IceStation 6,” I said with a pleasantry I didn't feel. I wanted back into the game.
The droid angled toward me and the woman looked at me with surprise. “Why, hello!” She said, small lights on the droid's chin flashed with her words. “A pleasure to be here. I'm Cassa Dell, host of Stellar Now Daily. Are you Vivian Krenn?”
“The one and only,” I said with a smile which didn't reach my eyes. My subconscious kept chanting Legendary Quest over and over in my mind.
The droid extended a hand and after a slight hesitation, I shook it.
“I hope I'm not disrupting your busy day too much, but IceTech did say it was okay to talk to you at this time.” There was only the tiniest hint of annoyance in Cassa's voice. Maybe she was perturbed at my not being ready right at the exact second the interview was scheduled.
I didn't care.
“No, not at all,” I said, rictus grin still plastered on my face. “I'm almost never busy, actually. The station is fully automated. I'm just here for insurance purposes.” Cassa's smile brightened. “And that's partly why I wanted to do a segment on an engineer at an icestation. My viewership are enthralled with the idea of someone choosing to work under such, uh, extreme circumstances.” I felt myself bristle at the choice of words, but composed myself. “Oh, this job is not extreme at all. I sit around and fix anything the station AI can't handle, and call in for support when things get too bad.” It was a boring job. Boring as all hell. There was literally nothing for me to do all day, every day, except play online.
Cassa made a show of mulling over my words, the droid's head nodding. “Yes, but the circumstances of the job are extreme wouldn't you agree?” Before I could answer she kept talking.
“Think of it, here you are on a far-flung icestation. Other than yourself, no other people are present, correct?”
“Correct.”
“And if something bad does happen how far away is the nearest help?” “Uh, Icestation 3 would be the nearest manned station.”
“And how far is that?”
She knew the answer. Heck, it was probably right in front of her in her research notes. But it would play better if I said it for the viewers.
“Well, depending on the moon orbits, maybe three hours away.” That was best case scenario. Truth be told, if something big or disastrous did happen, I was well and truly screwed. Which was why IceTech paid so well.
“Three hours!” Cassa bellowed, emphasizing the words. “That must be stressful for you knowing help is so far away. If something did happen, what would you do?” “There are procedures we'd follow. There's also several escape shuttles strategically positioned across the station.” I tried to sound calm, almost to the point of soothing. I never had cause to use the escape shuttles, but I didn't doubt they would work if the time came.
Or, at least, I hoped they'd work.
“I see,” Cassa said. As if unsatisfied my answer wasn't dramatic enough for her, Cassa suddenly whirled the droid around and floated to the vast observation window. I followed.
“Oh, its a beautiful sight, isn't it?” Cassa said, her voice dramatic. She'd been here only a couple of minutes and already I was finding her annoying.
Legendary quest, legendary quest, legendary quest.
“You get use to it, I guess,” I said with a shrug.
Beyond the window was a vast ice field which stretched out to the moon's horizon. Digging droids mulched their way through the dirty blue-white ice and dumped giant mouthfuls into waiting dump-trucks. The trucks then zipped off to various mobile processing nods.
All very efficient and none of it requiring my input. Just the way I liked it.
Cassa paused long enough to give her viewers time to drink in the vista. All of this was beamed out instantaneously thanks to quantum link technology, allowing anyone, anywhere in the solar system, instant access or communication without even a millisecond of delay.
“So what happens when all the ice is dug up?” Cassa asked. Again, I suspected she knew the answer, but was asking for the sake of others watching who might not.
“Well, once we clear a field out to a certain depth, the station moves over several kilometers and the process starts all over again.”
“The station moves?” She made the last word sound incredulous.
“Yup, lock, stock and barrel. Pretty simple, actually. It sort of just shifts along the ice until it reaches an ideal spot.”
“And you assist with this?”
“Nope. Not at all.” Which was a good thing. Can't have a human screwing things up out here. Especially considering the significant dollar value the station has.
The droid angled its head to one side as Cassa gazed at me. I sensed a personal question coming.
She asked, “So if you really don't do anything here at the station, aside from dealing emergencies, however do you pass the time?” Her digitally rendered eyes flicked over to look at the simulation suit sitting to the side of the workstation, hanging in its harness.
Knew that was coming. I said, “Well, thanks to quantum connecting I can stay in touch with friends and family. Watch the latest shows in real time, like yours. And sometimes play games.” The last sounded hurriedly spoken to my ears.
“Games?” Cassa said excitedly as her droid moved from the window to the suit. “Do you play a lot? I would guess you've the time to do so? Does the company mind?”
I blinked at all the questions. Was this why she was really here? I couldn't imagine her viewership would be satisfied with a simple ice-station visit. God knows there were thousands of them out there spread across the outer planets and moons.
Don't be afraid. There's nothing wrong with it, I told myself. “Yeah. I play a lot. It helps take the edge off.”
“The edge off loneliness?” Cassa asked her droid face locked onto mine.
“Sure. Look, the company is required by law to have a human on sight at all times. And, sure, they only have one, the minimum needed to stay legal for insurance purposes. I have tasks to do, but they're really just optional. I'm left to my own devices, as it were. So they supplied my with a simulation suit so I can, uh, hop online and meet people and do stuff to keep me occupied.”
“Like play games?” Cassa said.
“Among other things,” I said, but conceded, “but playing games is my primary distraction.”
“And all this can be done in real time across the solar system thanks to quantum connections!” Cassa blurted with a smile. I knew this wasn't a question, just a statement of fact for those of her viewers who were too dim, or just didn't care how they can watch this conversation in real time.
Of course she was right. I can play any multi-player game with millions, even billions of other players and none of us would suffer a second of delay. Instant internet is what I've heard it referred too as.
“And which game to you like the most?”
I almost laughed. Despite the tens of thousands of online games which use quantum communication there was only one that towered above them all.
“Unlimited Fantasy Worlds,” I said. Yeah, the name sounds hokey when said aloud, but its title didn't lie.
“How long have you been playing UFW? Since you started here?”
Again, I suppressed a laugh. “Well, before that. Years, now. Heck, maybe a couple of decades, even.” I tried not to feel pathetic admitting it. Has it really been that long?
“Amazing,” Cassa said, this time her exuberance was a little muted. Was she gett
ing bored, or did her live stats tell her the audience was getting bored and it was time to move on to something new? Her droid motioned a hand toward the suit. “I've done many interviews with people who simply love UFW. Some play it even when they should be working. But you said IceTech is okay with your playing?”
“The company is cool with it. They even encourage it. Helps keep me sane.” I forced a chuckle.
“How many hours do you think you play in a day?”
I frowned and shrugged. “I dunno. A bit.” Screw that. I knew exactly how much time I played each session. A lot. There's even an active chronometer that my suit's visor displays. But I deselected that option years ago. Don't need to see that each session.
Cassa's face crooked an eyebrow. “Now for those viewers who haven't heard of Unlimited Fantasy Worlds, how would you describe it?”
Wonderful. Amazing. A reason to live. I didn't say those out loud, but I felt it. Instead, I made a show of mulling the question. “Well, its a Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game. Fully immersive, which is why it's best to wear a suit when playing.”
“A virtual reality,” Cassa coached.
“Yeah, VR in the extreme. When I'm inside it's like I'm really truly there.”
“And where is there?”
“A fantasy setting. Wizards, warriors, magic, monsters, quests, loot. You name it, its got it.”
“According to latest statistics there are nearly four billion active players. Billion! Is that true?”
“I have no way of knowing how many play, but it's a heck of a lot. So much so that years ago, when the single world launched, they almost immediately had to release any new expansion or content onto other worlds within the game.”
“And there are thousands of them now.”
“Yup. And the game's master AI is creating new worlds filled with content all the time. Mostly to meet demand.”
“How do you get around? From world to world, I mean?”
“Gates. Big round things. You can gate around the world your own or instantly travel to another world.”
“Would you say you're addicted to UFW? You do play a lot as you've admitted.”
She caught me off guard with the question. Did I just admit that? I felt my hackles rise. “No. I'm not addicted. I play for relaxation.” UFW was anything but relaxing. In fact players had been known to have heart attacks while suited up and playing. UFW was intense. My encounter with the dragon had been very intense. It was also why I loved to play it.
“So,” Cassa said with putting a hand on her android hip, “if I challenged you to stop playing for, oh I don't know, say 24 hours, would you be able to do it?”
I felt a chill crawl up my spine. There was a damned Legendary quest waiting for me to dive into right this moment. I was dying to log back in and start. But could I push that aside for just a standard Earth day? Just the thought of it made my throat go dry. Was I an addict?
“Sure,” I said with an air of indifference. “Why not?”
Cassa clapped the droid's hands together with a metallic click. “Wonderful!” She said, overjoyed. “I'll have one of our producers check in with you after to see how you made out.”
“Okay, not a problem.” But it was a problem. What would I do? Legendary quest, legendary quest, legendary quest.
“Excellent. Well, my producers are telling me we're out of time. Thanks for your's Vivian. And I wish you well!” Before I could say goodbye Cassa's face vanished, and the droid slumped forward, going dark.
Wow. I guess her audience was bored.
And speaking of bored... I glanced at the simulation suit, then shook my head. No. I'd go about my optional tasks IceTech had given me. None of it was relevant, but all of was something to do.
I made a list of these tasks. First, I would analyze all the droids in the station, one by one. Sure the station AI did that automatically several times a day, but it wouldn't hurt to have a human set of eyes on things. Then I could double check the myriad of ice samples that were being made. Again, the station AI handled this, but I'd make an effort to ensure that nothing was amiss. Then there was the station integrity which required a thorough inspection, millimeter by millimeter. Ever time the station moved there was the risk of cracking. Or micro-fissures.
I dutifully made my list, which was as long as it was unnecessary. Then I started to make sublists. Lists within lists of all the things I could be doing.
Once I realized I was simply delaying starting the first unnecessary task on my unnecessary list, I crawled into the simulation suit and logged back into Unlimited Fantasy Worlds.
I had a Legendary quest to start.
CHAPTER FOUR
Gate travel within the game was equal parts convenience and aggravation. On one hand, you could travel instantly anywhere in the game universe, across oceans to different continents, even to other planets, of which there were tens of thousands. On the other hand, it couldn't be too easy. So most times when you traveled through one gate you had to hoof it the next one, as no single gate went everywhere, you needed to find the one going toward your destination.
After logging back in, I stepped through the gate at the base camp and into a whole other place. The dark ash clouds of the volcano environment changed to perfect white fluffy ones against a pale blue sky. Tall trees and lush greenery momentarily assailed my vision. I had spent too long in the grim volcano zone. This new setting fed my soul.
The small clearing where the travel gate sat was empty of people. In the distance, perched on a tall mesa, were an array of buildings. Zeppelin shaped sky-barges floated to and from there. Fenway Port and the next jump to the quest location. A wide cobblestone path led in that direction.
But before I could start toward town a message appeared.
Quest Complete! Steal the Dragon's Egg Part III
You managed to leave the Volcanic Plains after taking the dragon's egg without getting reduced to cinders. Reward: 3,000 Experience Points.
Cool! Not only did I get the Legendary Quest scroll but also a bunch of xp for simply surviving long enough to leave the area. I'd take it.
Then another message, this one more flashy and dramatic.
You have increased a level! You are now level 43! Congratulations!
Earned: 3 Attribute points, 5 Skill points, and 3 Ability points.
I'd forgotten how close I'd been to level, so this made for yet another nice surprise. Double checking that I was standing in a safezone, I pulled up my Character Sheet.
Name: Vivian Valesh
Race: Human
Class: Thief
Subclass: Shadow
Level: 43, 0% toward next level
Hit Points: 925, Mana: 120
Attributes:
Strength: 29
Agility: 45
Constitution: 32
Wisdom: 15
Intelligence: 15
Charisma: 20
Main Skills: (Level 3 or greater)
Archery: Level 8, 44%
Acrobatics: Level 3, 21%
Climbing: Level 7, 14%
Dodge: Level 5, 85%
Parry: Level 5, 69%
Sneak: Level 6, 32%
Swords: Level 9, 62%
Minor Skills: (Under level 3 - Select to view)
For my Attribute points, I decided to play it safe this level and simply spread them across all three of my main attributes. So one point went into Strength, Agility and Constitution, respectively. The point to Constitution bumped my Hit Points to 950. The more the merrier.
Once I hit level 50 more exotic weapons became available to my subclass and I'd probably start having to focus on Strength for a while, just to have the points to wield them. But I'd wait until I actually had a weapon to spec against.
For my Skill points, I put 3 into Dodge which pushed it to level 6 and the remaining 2 into Parry which got it to 85%. I felt these needed the points as they were the least used skills.
But, again, I'd may have to focus on Archery and Swords la
ter for higher level weapons.
I had about a hundred minor skills, ones you accumulated during your characters natural adventuring but didn't need. These were mostly all sitting at level 1 or 2. I only cared about the ones which favored my class.
The ones that helped me kill better.
For my Abilities, I stuck with the main two I used the most.
Shadow (8/10) - 2 Minute Duration
Allows the player to cloak for a limited period of time. Cloaking is enhanced if in natural shadows or if the player is standing still. Use is immediately broken if engaged in combat. Timer refills when not moving. Next point grants a duration of 2 minutes and 15 seconds.
I'd decided earlier that I was gonna max out this ability. I wanted more time to stay cloaked. Maxing the ability with 2 points raised the Shadow's duration to 2 minutes of 45 seconds.
