Continue Online (Part 4, Crash)

by Stephan Morse

  [Morrigu’s Echo] sailed swiftly toward the red light and I couldn’t bring myself to feel happy at the sound as the light shattered. Wyl stumbled at the curtain’s edge and grabbed onto the dangling fabric. His body swayed for a moment before feet managed to stand upright. The man’s chest took deep rapid breaths as his gaze shifted around to take in the scene.

  I stood there and tried to figure out what words might make this right. I didn’t know what parts of the vision were true or false. Logic told me Wyl had simply never made it home to find out, and those battles where people died were part of a deep rooted fear. Part of me worried that he might be living an actual event repeatedly.

  “Tell me where we are, convict,” he ordered.

  I sighed and wondered if we would ever move past that label. Maybe Wyl couldn’t let himself, or maybe he didn’t know how else to classify me. My free hand rubbed tense neck muscles.

  “Well?” Wyl demanded while stepping closer. He took unsteady breaths—his wounds didn’t seem to be healing.

  “We’re on the way to The Shadow Zone.” Which was a goofy name to give this place. “And it shows us things we’re afraid of.”

  “Likely story. You’re reckless enough to be Carver’s reincarnation, and that fool didn’t know anything of fear. Defying the Voices, breaking into another man’s fears?”

  “I’m not Carver. I’m just a man who filled his shoes for a little while.” I didn’t want to belittle William Carver’s memory but Wyl kept asking. The guard wasn’t going to let go of this topic until it had been explained satisfactorily. Occasionally customers who demanded an over explanation while repairing their ARCs had the same attitude. Normally they were men.

  “That’s not good enough for me, convict. First you waltz in here like these nightmares mean nothing! The only man I’ve ever seen with such bull-headed disregard and that weapon is Will and he’s dead!”

  “Yes, he is, in your world and in mine,” I said.

  “What are you, his son?” Wyl’s breathing sounded worse.

  “No.” My own father was dead too. “I promise to explain, but only once we’re all together. I don’t want to repeat myself. And you need to get through—”

  “That’s what you told that Traveler, but I deserve to know!” Wyl shouted unsteadily. “I’ve held my tongue while you all prance me about the wilderness in the name of your kind’s stupid goals, and so far you’ve given me precious little reason.”

  “Go through the exit, and get healed. Then we’ll talk.”

  “Tell me,” he demanded.

  “Not until you’re better.” I needed him to march off now. Explaining myself would take an hour at least. That included time for follow-up questions, cries of outrage, and repeating myself a dozen times. All of which were actions I expected after having worked customer service for so long.

  “I was better! For two damned days while you were off prancing around in whatever faerie tale land your people come from!” He swung the blade at me but his own wounds were so bad the weapon fell short.

  “You’re not now. I promise by all the Voices I’ve met to answer your questions.” I didn’t have a better object to swear by. Some of those Voices would happily apply penalties if I broke my vow, others might find it funny.

  He glared at me for a full minute. My body felt heavy under the weight of unspoken waves of frustration. Wyl’s body gave out first and he swayed to one side with a grunt. I moved to help him but the stubborn man held up a hand in my direction. He righted himself then stumbled off toward the curtains.

  I felt sure the next noise would be the crash of a large man falling over. After two minutes it seemed like he made it through to whatever came next. I hoped he ended up reaching the [The Shadow Zone] or whatever location it was Shadow had access to. There Awesome Jr. or SweetPea could easily heal him.

  We were headed through all these events with a purpose. I passed through the curtains again expecting to come up behind a faltering Wyl, but this time, the journey between scenes was far shorter. I came out on yet another stage and saw a young woman sitting there.

  My niece sat on the stage with sheets all around. Up above a faint violet light shone down. There were no straw men or plastic dummies anywhere about. I stepped in then remembered how interacting had triggered my own white light from above.

  Beth gave a stuttered laugh of delight. She had an actual tail that twitched suspiciously. It looked devil-like and pointy, similar to the Temptress Voice, Mezo’s. It might be close to my old [Red Imp] appendage as well, but that idea was weird. Whatever was going on in her list of fears I didn’t want to know why it might cause her to giggle like that. I threw [Morrigu’s Echo] in javelin form toward the blue, almost purple light and it shattered to pieces.

  My niece’s body straightened and the long strips of black fabric faded away. She stood slowly while blinking. After a moment, the young woman turned and saw me then went crimson in the face.

  “Uncle Grant!” She threw a hand across her chest and pelvis. Beth was fully clothed but acted like she hadn’t been wearing anything.

  I tilted my head back, closed my eyes, then rocked side to side. There were a few real fears an adrenaline-loving teenager might have. Given my own close calls with parents walking in at poor times, she had likely been caught in a valid but childish reason to panic. At least, if I understood this stupid stage correctly.

  Walking into high school buck naked would have been a neat and simple thing to worry about. Maybe it was best Beth didn’t get visions of her family dying. The idea of her having such an innocent problem compared to the trauma I or Wyl saw made me laugh.

  “This isn’t real.” Both my hands went up. “I didn’t see whatever you think I saw. Let’s go please,” I said between chuckles while waving at her. Looking away didn’t need to happen, but it felt awkward anyway. Parenthood would have been rough for me.

  “Okay!” she said and I heard footsteps.

  I risked looking at my niece tuck behind a curtain as another light flickered on. My chest lifted with a huge breath then let it out gradually. Fingers rubbed at stiff neck muscles and I glared at the curtains. There were no signs of her emerging and another scene starting, but that damned stage light was on again.

  Those little flame creatures existed out here collecting thoughts and ideas. Maybe they would listen now.

  “Do you guys want me to break that one too?! Because whatever you’re doing to Beth, I’m not really going to be happy about it!”

  There was a pause while another light threatened to turn on. A faint hint of white could be seen and my head shook back and forth while glaring toward the catwalk. Little beings of flame could almost be made out performing whatever stagehand duties they needed to do up above. I [Recall]ed [Morrigu’s Echo] and hefted the spear form in one hand.

  The air felt momentarily heavy and my surroundings slow. [Awareness Heightening] kicked in automatically and I eyed creatures that shuffled by at brisk speeds. They still moved too quick for me to stop but I could see them moving objects around. I targeted one while readying [Morrigu’s Gift] for a throw.

  It hissed out a jet of steam then ran off. The motion of curtains stopped and the backdrop behind me was suddenly replaced with a simple brown. Violet and white illumination in the catwalk flipped off and house lighting came up rapidly. A green sign flickered above a doorway in the audience.

  Beth came stumbling out of stage right with a confused expression. “What, what was that? I was just-” she sounded puzzled. It had taken me a moment too, but my response had been anger. My niece wouldn’t have the relationship I did with these AI programs.

  “I think the show is over.” I pointed at the exit with [Morrigu’s Gift]. It shifted to a calm looking pole with a hook then was tucked under my toga’s belt. “Let’s go.”

  “That was weird. I had invited a friend over, and then-“ her words trailed off.

  My hands went up. “I don’t want to know.” And I didn’t really want to share my own night
mares.

  She stayed quiet while we went to the exit. I kept an eye out for those caretakers of this place but didn’t see anymore. Maybe they were off having a smoke break or whatever digital programs did when there weren’t people to torture with visions.

  The faded red doorway opened up and revealed another cavern. I walked through eagerly and Beth came quickly behind. She bumped into me while I gasped in wonder at the ceiling.

  There were stars up there, and they looked far brighter than any I had ever seen. It reminded me of Advance Online’s character creation room for a moment. Only there were no options to choose races like [Cricket] or [Behemoth].

  “Where are we?”

  “The Shadow Zone!” a young man shouted. “You made it! Awesome!” the person said, followed by a sharp grunt of pain.

  “Heh.” I chuckled then looked down. The floor was covered by a shallow but thick fog that almost made seeing my feet impossible. There was a dais that stood out far brighter in the distance.

  This new area was filled with people. Wyl looked terrible. Awesome Jr. and SweetPea stood together. He was near a board moving pieces around and the younger girl looked to be knitting another object. HotPants stood with her staff muttering to a shorter girl who wore a robe over her face. The robe made it hard to tell but there was a small amount of black hair that spilled out from the hood’s confines.

  I narrowed my eyes and tried to absorb the staff in her hands. It looked like carved black bone with a serpent coiled around it. My head tilted and took in the robe and one skeleton standing behind her. Then I laughed.

  It was her. It had to be Xin. Before I fully registered the motion my body had already [Blink]ed over the distance. My feet didn’t even hesitate and I grabbed the other person and spun her. We tipped slightly but my [Coordination] handled the uneven ground easily.

  “Ahh!” She stuttered as the hood fell back. “Dammit, Gee! I was trying to be mysterious!” The short woman laughed, my heart surged and eyes felt wet. It was her, in person again

  “You think I couldn’t figure out it was you?” I asked as we slowed down. The rest of the crowd was muttering but their words didn’t matter right now.

  “Now that we’re all here,” Shadow said with his artificially gruff voice. “Perhaps you should start explaining.”

  My head shook. I wasn’t even sure what the Voices would do if I explained myself. [The Messenger] title, [NPC Conspiracy], and most recently [Altered Aura]. All of those items mixed together put me in an awkward between position with the people of this virtual reality and my own.

  Luckily I had practice airing my own situation in a room full of semi-strangers. Maybe that was one of the few perks of being me.

  “Right, I’ve promised everyone to share what I know.” I looked down at my hands and tried to figure out exactly how much to share.

  “It’s okay, Gee. You can tell them.” My fiancée nodded and smiled.

  “Everything, even about… you?”

  “James said the choice was yours, as it must be.” Her words were quiet.

  I nodded and chewed one lip. Those words sounded like something James would say. Balance had said much the same general idea. I should act as deemed necessary by my own personality and when had I ever been one to hold back over explaining my own life? I often told other people too much to the point of coming off as a bit preachy. Perhaps that was part of the reason Mother chose me. They needed someone to think about problems and be willing explain it to a circle of people.

  Even now the others stood around forming a loose gathering. Wyl had stepped up to join the others and waited with his arms crossed. SweetPea set down her items and waited. Shadow fiddled with one of the small statues but otherwise stayed quiet.

  “Right.” I nodded a few more times. “Well then, I’ve told this story to others before, and I’ll tell it again. It may sound crazy, or unreal, but I assure you it’s not a dream. It’s my life, and it’s been a wild ride for a while…” This time, I told them it all, about Xin’s former life and her new one.

  Xin tucked in close. Her thin muscled arms found the gap in my toga and reached around my side. I kept an arm around her shoulder and drew her in. She reacted like there hadn’t been a gap of years in our association. The feeling reassured me and felt sad at the same time. To Xin, perhaps not much time had passed.

  I needed to ask her about it after the others got done with their responses. I wrapped up the remainder of my story, including bits about Hal Pal, Jeeves, Mother and any other details that came to mind. Around us a panicked array of questions started and I had no idea who to address first.

  Session Eighty Five - Dirty Laundry

  They were all shouting but only one voice stood out.

  “What do you mean you were William Carver?” Wyl asked. He had pushed past the younger players and stood right in front of me. Xin’s skeleton guard moved half an inch in response. I had the urge to yank out [Morrigu’s Gift] and start smacking the freaky construction.

  “Only for the last four weeks. From just before SweetPea started playing until his death was me pretending to be him. The real William Carver, in our world, was apparently all but dead by then and the Voices wanted to give him a sendoff. One last moment to feel like a hero.” I looked down and took a breath. Those final moments had meant perhaps as much to me as anyone else. “I tried hard to do right by him.”

  The mess of people demanded different answers at the same time. I held up my hands in hopes they would calm down but the quartet seemed unwilling to handle it. Wyl stayed bottled up and didn’t move right away. After a few seconds of glaring, he turned and pushed through the crowd.

  After seeing their reactions, I wondered how they managed to stay quiet during my initial explanation. That might have been a muted influence from the Voices or they were simply interested. My attempts to get them to speak in turns failed. None of my prior experiences prepared me for yelling over other people or snapping them to attention.

  “Agghh!” a wild shout barely preceded a crack of noise.

  The skeleton which had been standing off to Xin’s side rapidly moved in front of us with one arm up to block. Both its knees bent to absorb the impact. A glowing red staff held by HotPants bore downward. Her hair tips were white hot and fluttered slightly in the nonexistent wind.

  My fiancée stood, readying her own weapon. Small symbols of white fluttered around the robe’s hem as she prepared to chant something. Shadow appeared next to HotPants and wrapped his arms through the older woman’s. The younger teen struggled to hold back an angry mother while I sat there chewing my lip.

  “Jesus!” Awesome Jr. said with an unexpectedly serious tone. “Take a walk!”

  “Asshole! You let us believe he, you, fuck! You were dead!” She practically spit the words as pressure increased. Muscles along her arms twisted and coiled under the strain of oppression. Xin’s skeleton had hairline fractures all over that hadn’t been there moments ago.

  “William Carver is dead,” I spoke with a firmness that years of customer service had provided me. The edge of [Awareness Heightening] threatened to kick in as my heartbeat climbed but the threat had passed. Instead, I felt a little more surprised that not really being dead had garnered such a reaction.

  “Come on. Remember your exercises. Breathe. In with the good,” Shadow spoke in hushed tones to the older woman. She let herself be dragged backward.

  “God dammit!” Something crashed as they walked off through a doorway.

  Xin turned toward the fractured skeleton and pursed her lips for a moment. One slender arm reached out and touched its white body. The creature collapsed one bone at a time and a rune flared for each vanishing piece. White lights cascaded around as her summoned creature’s entire body vanished into the clothing somehow.

  “Sorry about that. HotPants has been increasingly volatile since Haven Valley,” Awesome Jr. said with a surprising amount of diplomacy.

  I nodded slowly then reached out for Xin’s hand. She turned
and squinted for a moment while her nose flared. The woman was annoyed, not at me, but at the others disrespect of the situation. At least that’s how I normally remembered those expressions. It had taken me a long time to understand her mannerisms. In public she chose to let me take the lead and grew annoyed when others slighted me. It had taken almost a decade of working my ass off to get that level of respect from her.

  My almost casual acceptance of Xin having abilities should have bothered me but didn’t. Here in a virtual world violence was natural. If we explored dungeons together we would have plenty of opportunities for abilities. I swallowed a brief moment of unease.

  “It’s okay,” I said to her and rubbed softly on the back of Xin’s hand.

  The others were hesitant in their responses. Awesome Jr. hadn’t said much yet, taking a backseat and fiddling with his army pieces.

  “I’m sorry about that. Everyone here was affected by Mister Carver’s passing. It sounds like it wasn’t easy for you either,” SweetPea said.

  “How could it have been? We had all just started. I thought he was a NPC at first, then once I realized he was still alive during the last moments, I, well it helped me get myself together,” I said. Was SweetPea really only nineteen? These teenagers were all so grown up at times. Maybe it was a matter of what they dealt with. My own life had changed a lot since I started playing. The same may be true for them.

  “Do you really talk to them, this world’s people, outside of Continue?” the young woman asked.

  “The Voices mostly. I’ve talked to them a few times in my Atrium. Recently one of them kicked the others out.” I wished they had another name. Telling people I talked to Voices from a video game felt a step shy of needing a straitjacket.

  “Awesome. They’re self-aware enough to rein each other in,” Awesome Jr. said.

  “And she’s really a copy of your fiancée who died years ago?” SweetPea asked with soft tones. Her fingers fidgeted with air and legs crossed at the ankles. She seemed to be struggling not to pull the hoodie down in shyness.