New Horizons (Emerilia Book 4)

by Michael Chatfield

  “It’s not going to be an easy path,” Bob said.

  “No, it won’t, but it’ll be mine and I’ll do everything in my power to look after my friends and get rid of the Jukal Empire’s control over our lives.”

  Bob patted Dave’s shoulder. “Shoot for the stars and maybe you’ll hit the moon?”

  “Someone’s been reading up on their Earth quotes!” Dave grinned.

  “Well, not much else to do other than just watch you lot run around. Uggh, it’s so boring dealing with just the Pantheon! Only Water and Fire are any fun. Air is annoying as hell. Light’s like the definition of Machiavellian. Earth is a dumbass and Dark is a conniving and powerful arsehole.”

  “Well, I have some people that you could talk to.” Dave smiled.

  “Who?”

  “You know, that guy Sato? Well, him, as well as whoever else he connects us with. Also the Dwarves. They need more help with information and I know that you like helping them out. I was wondering if you might have a spare AI that I could hook up to them with information on different topics on Earth? You could also impersonate the AI and get in the middle of it.” Dave smiled.

  “Playing on an old scientist’s weakness for progress and curiosity,” Bob said in an accusatory tone.

  “Possibly.”

  “Hell, yeah, I’ll give it a go!” Bob smiled.

  “Good, ’cause I have a meeting with Sato right now and then another one with the Dwarves right afterward.” Dave’s smile widened as Bob rolled his eyes.

  “So, I’m going to have to step up an AI core in what?”

  “Like fifteen minutes?”

  “Sounds like a challenge.” Bob laughed, some of the life coming back to him. Making plans and trying to give Emerilia a chance to survive was a tough job.

  Dave knew that Bob just wanted to be a scientist, learning new things and being at the heart of discoveries. Give him a challenge and he’d excel; give him friends and nothing could hold him back.

  “You’ve got ten more minutes,” Dave said.

  “Dammit!” Bob disappeared from the Cliff-Hill porch simulation, a big smile plastered on his face.

  ***

  Sato started the recording device before he activated his Mirror of Communication. He arrived in a simple room with a fireplace at one end, flickering away with two comfortable chairs facing it.

  “Hey, Sato.” Dave already sat in one of the chairs and waved him over.

  Over the last couple of months, there seemed to have been a breakthrough every week as Edward’s research division used the information gained from Dave and Shard.

  Living conditions had improved. New ships were being proposed. People who had been accepted into the leveling program were showing increases in every area. Some had even been able to create spells.

  “You look pretty tired.” Sato sat down.

  “Tell me about it. Lots of work to do, and not much time to do it. Need to be done within at least two months. I hope that we can make it in time.” Dave looked into the fireplace.

  “Edwards has a number of questions for Shard.” Sato sent a file to Dave, who could forward it to Shard.

  “And I have someone that I would like you to meet.” Dave swiped his interface away.

  “Who?” Sato asked.

  “Me,” an odd voice said from Dave’s side. “Got it done in seven minutes—suck it.”

  Sato looked over. His eyes went wide as he looked at a true Jukal, with its purple skin and patches of fur and frog-like appearance.

  “The hell is this?” Sato asked, ready to leave the conference at a moment’s notice.

  “I am Lo’kal, creator of the Trapped Mind Project. What you know as Emerilia.” The Jukal changed, turning into a gnome. “Also, the guy who just stepped up an AI core in seven minutes.” He buffed his nails on his jacket, looking pretty pleased with himself.

  “I also modified the planet Emerilia and created the Earth simulation. I believe it was time that we had a talk. Oh, and please call me Bob.” A chair seemed to rise out of the ground; Bob sat on it and faced Sato.

  “What the hell is this?” Sato looked to Dave.

  “This is Lo’kal, also known as the Grey God, Neutrality, and Bob. He made Emerilia to solve the issue of the aggressive species and keep Humanity alive, at least in some form. As you know, it wasn’t long after Emerilia was created that Humanity started making strides in different kind of magical tech. The Jukal sucked this up and started watching Emerilia more. They started watching for entertainment. Millions of Humans died as they continued to watch, getting Bob to re-seed the planet twice. They stopped the Players from killing off the aggressive species as they wanted us to have more people to fight,” Dave said.

  “I did not realize how close I would become to those that I grew and placed across Emerilia. I no longer felt a connection with the Jukal. As my family died off, I was left here, never allowed to die, my one purpose to run Emerilia, to entertain the Jukal Empire. What was supposed to be a way to preserve the greatness of the Human race turned into a television show.” Bob shook his head.

  “What do you want from us?” Sato asked.

  Dave and Bob looked at each other.

  “We don’t want anything, dude,” Dave said.

  “You’re enslaved on a planet that all of the Players think is a game, with a Pantheon that is playing power games with billions of Emerilian’s lives and an empire that uses it all for fun,” Sato said, not believing the two of them for a minute.

  “We’ve got our own issues, that’s right, but we’re not going to let that stop us,” Dave said, as if it was just a minor concern.

  “See, I think this is why I came to be so enamored with you Humans. No matter what, you don’t quit—you always strive forward. Also you’re really argumentative, which leads to you making a lot of cool tech.” Bob grinned.

  “So, why are you giving us all this information then?” Sato asked.

  “Seemed like the right thing to do?” Dave shrugged.

  Sato rubbed his temples. “So, you gave us all this advanced tech just because it seemed like the right thing to do and you’re not asking anything from us?”

  “Pretty much. And the stuff that you’re figuring out right now is the kind of things that Players get used to within the first couple of weeks being on the planet. Or two years for the People of Emerilia.” Dave tilted his hand in a rough approximation.

  Sato kept his features straight as he took that in.

  What kind of stuff are they using if this is what they have within the first couple of weeks? Dave has said that he has been within Emerilia constantly for nearly a year and a half.

  “So, why did you want us to meet?” Sato asked.

  “Well, Bob has all these plans and stuff, so I’m going to be busy for the next little while. I thought that between Bob and Shard, you would have most things covered. You know he was Jukal at one point so he knows how they think, where they are, and all that kind of information.” Dave looked to Sato.

  Sato looked to Bob, his eyes thinning. “Okay, well, we are always interested in more information. We have our own means of verifying it,” Sato said. The information they had already provided was useful; even if Bob’s information wasn’t correct, at least they had it if they needed it. If it was, then Sato was not willing to lose it. That was how he had become vice-commander of Deq’ual’s military forces.

  “Sweet! This will be much more fun than hanging out with Denur or the Merpeople. Dragons sleep a lot and the Mer think of me as some all-powerful god. Getting really annoying. I should have kept a few of the Beast Kin and Demons around—they were pretty fun.” Bob tapped his chin.“’Bout time I had a vacation and started doing a few experiments!”

  Sato felt as though he had been left out of the conversation. “So, what did you do before Humanity was killed off?” Sato asked.

  “I was a scientist, worked with Humanity a lot. I was able to use my position to make this system. I have always been fascinated by how creat
ive you lot are.” Bob smiled, looking distant with a sad smile on his face.

  Sato shook his head. I would have thought this kind of thing impossible until a couple of months ago. Now I’m not so sure.

  ***

  Dave left Sato and Bob talking, skipping out and going to his second meeting that day. He entered the Dwarven conference.

  “Dave!”

  “Ah shit.” Dave turned around and headed for the entrance he’d appeared in.

  “You started this mess—you git yer arse to this table!” Kol yelled from the conference table.

  Dave hung his head and turned around as he got mobbed by a dozen Dwarves at the same time, all of them asking different questions about the metals and elements he had sort of introduced to the Dwarves. Dave answered as many questions as possible. He had been joking about leaving as he started getting excited with all the ideas that the Dwarves were coming up with. Some ideas inspired fear.

  “That will make a bomb—shouldn’t do that, Keli,” Dave said, as she explained a reaction she was working on.

  “How big of a bomb?”

  Dave stroked his beard in thought. “I’m not sure but I have some equations that you might use to figure that out.”

  “Ah, I hate all this darned math. Used to be a time when you could just hammer metal into the right form!” Keli shook her head.

  “You’ve got that high Intelligence—it’s about time you used it for something.” Kol slammed the hammer in his hand against the table. “All right, you delinquents, sit yer arses down and stop trying to touch Dave, ya bunch of bearded perverts!” Kol really didn’t like being the head of the council.

  There was a mass of grumbling, mostly from those around Dave as they moved to the conference table.

  Kol hit the table once again as everyone sat down. “Council in session. We’ve got more materials to divvy up.” Kol sent out messages through his interface. “That’s done. We’re also getting more shipments from the Stone Raiders with the rarer materials. Bob has been kind enough to lend us a hand in regards to the new information that we have. He has made a simple AI for us to talk to regarding our various questions on the new materials. Everyone, meet Jeeves.” Kol waved to the side of the room.

  An unassuming man wearing a butler outfit appeared, and bowed to the Dwarves.

  “You can ask Jeeves whatever you need. He will do his best to gather information, formulas, and anything else you might need to know on the subjects you are studying. We are also running classes on magical coding. It’s cheaper, easier, and shut up, Barry.”

  Barry crossed his arms, growling to himself.

  “Quino has also had some breakthroughs with magical coding. You want to tell them?” Kol asked.

  “Thanks, Kol. Okay, so as we know, if we have extremely complicated Magical Circuits on something, then we need a higher-classed material to contain that power. Same if we have two Magical Circuits operating as enchantments. With magical coding, we have been able to figure out how much power each metal can take. We’re now working on different permutations of metals and densities,” Quino said proudly. Knowing just how much power the magical coding could be on any given material would allow them to push the enchantments to the limit.

  “Didn’t have to use all my damned newly forged swords,” Endur complained under his breath, not that many paid attention. Edmur, his brother, looked rather pleased himself.

  “Okay, any other announcements?” Kol asked.

  Dave raised his hand and received a nod. Dave might have been one of the new master smiths, but his actions meant that everyone listened to him.

  “The Exdar’s Traders and the Stone Raiders are working to become one guild. I don’t know how long it will take but it might slow down deliveries slightly but we should be able to make up any difference as the Exdar’s will have access to more funds,” Dave said.

  More than one Dwarf had an excited look on their faces. Dave had been refining multiple materials into different metals in the Aleph forges and then sending them out to the different Dwarven mountains. Each Dwarven mountain had a number of teleport pads, allowing them to take the material in any one mountain and then send it out to the rest. New refineries and processing facilities were being built in many mountains so that they could convert the materials themselves.

  “Good. Even when the different facilities are up and running in the Dwarven lands, we’re going to need other sources of the new materials. I know that the war council is already asking for more information on the titanium barrels. After the fire test that Jesal did, they want more. We all know that soon we will be embroiled in a battle of one kind or another. Keep in mind the different applications of the materials.” Kol’s covered eyes moved across the table.

  “Anything else?”

  No one seemed to have any good points so Kol hit his hammer on the table.

  “Now git!” Kol gestured at the entrances and exits with his thumb. The Dwarves grinned and laughed at his antics, taking their time in leaving. “Dave, a word.”

  The Dwarves had their talks; many moved to Jeeves, who multiplied into a dozen different avatars, ready to answer their questions.

  Dave moved off to a private conference room behind Kol. The door closed as Kol took a seat.

  “Well, when I taught you to be a Master Smith, I had no idea this was what you had in mind,” Kol said with a rare smile.

  “Enjoying being the leader of the council?” Dave grinned.

  “Pain in the arse,” Kol muttered. “Now, I wanted to talk about your smithy and the ceramics factory. Have you been reading the messages from me and Zel?”

  “Yeah, I have and there is a reason I am putting more money into the companies instead of taking it out,” Dave said.

  “Boy, there is more coin there than I have seen outside of the Dwarven treasuries and we pluck gold from the ground,” Kol said.

  “I know, which is exactly why I don’t need it. I just submitted another half-dozen patents and I’m making solid gold from those. I want the smithies and the ceramics factories to grow.”

  “We’re producing as fast as possible, and now building warehouses. The traders buy up as much as they can, but we’re isolated.” Kol scratched his head.

  “Not for long,” Dave said.

  “Well, you going to tell me what your damned plan is or am I going to have to drag you out of where you and your guild are holed up?”

  “I want us to buy a teleport pad,” Dave said.

  Kol was silent for a few moments. “You want to buy a teleport pad for Cliff-Hill? Do you know how much that will cost?”

  “Quite a bit, I know. It’s why I haven’t been taking any money from the companies or the patents. In a few weeks, we should have enough to buy one.”

  “Damn boy, you don’t have simple plans, do you?”

  “Think big or go home,” Dave winked. Kol let out an amused grunt.

  “Well. Gurren and Lox still talk about you and Deia all the time. They’re going off on some dungeon raids with the Stone Raiders they’ve trained up. Could never keep them in one place for too long.” Kol laughed.

  “They’ll be fine. They could kick my ass any day.” Dave laughed.

  “But you can come back from the dead—they can’t. It makes things a lot harder,” Kol said.

  “I know, but dying is not our aim. We’ll be beside the best trained Stone Raiders. All of us have been working on our skills. The Stone Raiders might act like idiots when we’re in town, but when we’re on a raid, things change. Players always go first; if we die, we can come back. The People of Emerilia are some of our strongest fighters. They don’t want to be a burden so they train harder than anyone. Which makes us Players get off our asses and try to outdo them.” Dave shook his head at his guild’s ways. “We really are a bunch of idiots.”

  “Can say that again. I Still remember a little incident with a certain guild master throwing weapons in my smithy, or a certain student turning decades long practices on their heads,” Kol said,
but Dave could see the corners of his old teacher’s mouth lift up in amusement.

  “Thanks, Kol,” Dave said dryly.

  Kol chuckled. “Well, I’ve probably taken up enough of your time. What do you want us to do once we have the money for the teleport pad?”

  “Place it somewhere in the town, with defenses around it. You never know when someone might get your codes and be able to come through the damn thing. Set up a power grid like the one that was around Boran-al’s Citadel. Charge the equivalent cost of soul gems plus five percent for the time it’s open per person. Get with Zel and figure that out. If you have any issues, send me a message and I’ll see what I can do about sorting it out,” Dave said.

  “Fine, sounds straightforward enough. It will also open up a lot of places to sell our wares. Having a smithy that takes on applicants from across Emerilia and can repair the highest-tier armor—Cliff-Hill is going to expand just because of that. Zel was complaining about the clay and other materials he needs for different projects. Damn, I’m only just starting to realize how much this is going to change the two businesses.”

  Dave just smiled. Having the teleport pad to help out the two businesses was one reason; the other was so that he could get to the seeder whenever he wanted to. The Dwarves and Elves were reinforcing the area. If the Stone Raiders ever needed to retreat somewhere, then Cliff-Hill was the place to do it.

  Chapter 6: Moving Forward

  Shard looked over his people. When they had escaped Emerilia, they were being hunted down by creatures made by the Pantheon, their numbers pitifully low compared to their original strength.