by Brian Simons
SOULKEEPER
Travail Online Book 1
by
Brian Simons
Copyright © 2017 by Brian Simons.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner of this publication.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously.
1
Travail Online Master System Log:
Analyzing distressed local servers…
Calculating active player load…
Backup server hardware for imaging and activation identified in: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
Cloning Travail Online data and Automated Intelligence System…
Bringing Travail Server 215 online…
Fatal exception. Travail Server 215 Automated Intelligence System corrupted during imaging…
Reinitiating process…
New backup server hardware identified in: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
Cloning successful.
Travail Server 215 online and ready.
Migrating 4,692,318 player profiles to Travail Server 215…
Removing Travail Server 215 (corrupt)…
Error. Travail Server 215 (corrupt) not found.
2
Coral sat at the edge of her bed with her new Travail Online starter kit on her lap. She had put this off for as long as she could. Coral wasn’t a gamer. She had lost her job six months ago and the unemployment finally ran out.
She wanted to be angry at Mr. Wilkerson, but she wasn’t. He and his wife were struggling to make ends meet, and all they wanted to do was retire. They were old, they deserved a respite. But to keep running their diner without going broke, he replaced Coral with a robot. Coral was a flawless waitress, but the bot would be too. Bots were boring, mechanical things, with none of Coral’s charm, but the Wilkersons wouldn’t have to pay a bot by the hour. Economy won out.
Most people had already lost their IRL jobs. Coral held onto hers because it took the Wilkersons so long to scrounge up enough money to buy a bot. But scrounge they did. Now she would join the millions of other people working in the MMO economy — the one created by playing massively multiplayer online games and then buying and selling in-game items for gold. That gold could be transferred out into real dollars after the game makers took their cut.
This system was capitalism at its finest. Automation hadn’t touched some people’s jobs yet, like fashion designers and brain surgeons. Those lucky few had a surfeit of cash to spend. MMO games, especially the ones with virtual reality connectivity, offered this moneyed class with a whole new way to spend their downtime. They could twink out their avatars with high level gear right from the get-go and trounce all the other players. Fun for them, but highly irritating to the players who spent every day grinding away the old fashioned way to level up.
Coral wasn’t complaining though. She needed these people to keep on playing and pouring their money into MMOs so she could work out a way to earn some of it for herself. She tore open the small cardboard box in her lap, eager to start her first day at her new “job.”
Travail wasn’t the only MMORPG. Not by a longshot. It did, however, have a robust economy and an uncanny array of professions to choose from.
A single sheet of paper held the box’s only instructions:
“Welcome to the world of Travail! Travail is a revolutionary new way to make friends, earn a living, and find your life’s purpose. Inside this Starter Kit box you’ll find a small device which serves as your passport to Travail. Place it over your thumb and press the button. After a rapid, painless pinch, a small syringe will inject you with nanotech that will connect all of your senses to Travail’s immersive world. Immediately place your new visor over your eyes. Then lie back, let the nano become acquainted with you, and await further instructions. Thank you for choosing Travail, where hard play makes fun work!”
Coral tossed the paper aside. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide had already infused their bodies with nanotech just like Travail’s. She had never heard of any health complications — not that she wanted to be the first. Should she really do this by herself though? She wished her parents were still around in case something went wrong. They had left her behind a few months ago in search of work in countries that hadn’t implemented bot labor yet. Luckily, they had paid off the mortgage back when they still had dependable paychecks. As long as Coral kept up with the property taxes she had someplace to live. Unless, of course, she injected herself with strange mini-machines that killed her. Then all she had was someplace to die.
She banished that thought to the back of her mind. She had spent the last six months begging for work at businesses that had sworn off human labor. She faced constant rejection and no hope of landing a job. That wasn’t living. That was a long descent into desperation. Travail offered a way out. A path forward. A place to discover a new purpose.
Travail was hope. And no dark thought about the science behind it was going to scare her away.
“Here goes,” she said, shoring up her courage as she fit the device onto her thumb. She pressed the delicate button attached to her finger and—
“Ow! Mother of—!” She bit her bottom lip to keep from yelling. That pinprick packed a wallop of pain. Travail broke the only promise it had made so far. It was too late to turn back now though, with the nano coursing through her veins. She felt a strange warmth in the tips of her long, delicate fingers. It spread to the tip of her nose, her toes, her ears. Her scalp began to tingle. Then she remembered the visor.
She shook out the last item in her starter kit and pulled the visor out of a thin plastic sheath. She fumbled with her warm tingly fingers to get the visor over her eyes. Her head felt weak, her stomach uneasy.
The visor was clear plastic, and she could see her bedroom clearly through the lenses. She looked down, and saw that the instructional sheet had writing on the back. In tiny, almost unreadable print, it said:
Trade Secrets. The Travail Online Starter Kit (“Starter Kit”) contains proprietary nanotechnology, nanotechnology delivery, bluetooth, infrared, and wireless communications technology owned by Arbyten, Inc. By proceeding to use Travail Online (“Travail”), you agree not to analyze, deconstruct, or destroy this technology, and not to provide information on the form or function of this technology to anyone other than Arbyten, Inc. or its agents.
Confidentiality. By proceeding to Travail, you agree not to disclose, describe, or reveal your experience with the Starter Kit contents, including the visor and nanotech delivery device, and not to describe, disclose, or reveal your experience during the Nanotech Acquaintance Period (“NAP”). The NAP is defined as any period of time, however long, that the nanotech actively surveys your nervous system, including but not limited to your brain, your sensory organs, and your skin’s pain, temperature, and other touch receptors.
Waiver. By proceeding to Travail, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Arbyten, Inc. and its successors and assigns for any emotional, physical, or psychological effects of using the Starter Kit or Travail. You further agree to waive any and all claims in tort or otherwise relating to any loss of in-game currency, equipment, or other loot.
There was more legalese after that but Coral didn’t care about the fine print. She faced the choice of either logging on now, or starving to death in the near future. A wave of dizziness overtook her as the nano probed her neural system. She fell backward onto her bed. Then, she went blind.
The plastic visor didn’t wrap around her whole head. It was more like a cheap pair of sunglasses. Yet, Coral couldn’t see a thing — not in front of her, and not peripherally. She couldn’t hear anything either. She could tell her heartrate was increasing. She could sense her mouth dry out in fear. She could feel her forehead cool as she broke into a sweat. She just couldn’t see or hear anything.
Then, against the black nothingness, she saw a faint image flicker into view. It looked like an old woman, walking with a cane. The image bobbed gently as it got closer, bouncing lightly with each step. Long, silky gray hair parted down the middle of her head and cascaded down to her waist. Wrinkles creased the corners of her eyes and framed her mouth like a pair of parentheses.
“Welcome, young citizen,” the woman said in a smooth, soothing voice. “I will help you choose a path. Would that suit you?”
Coral was dumbstruck. This was so lifelike, she felt like she could reach out and hug this old woman. Though with no landscape or scenery, she couldn’t tell how far away she was. The old woman just hovered there in front of her, waiting for an answer.
“Young citizen,” the woman continued, “I am the conduit between you, your nanotech companions, and the world of Travail. The nano have scanned your synaptic connections and mapped out your memories, your desires, and your aptitudes. They help me to help you. They transmit sensory information to you so that you can experience everything Travail has to offer. They also transmit thought-based commands that allow you to control your experience. If you would like me to help you choose a path now, simply think ‘yes’ and your avatar will tell me so.”
“Yes,” Coral thought, but she heard the words out loud as if she had spoken them. She wondered what her avatar looked like.
“Wonderful,” the woman continued. “What life can Travail offer you?”
“I want to earn a living,” Coral said.
“Of course you do. In what way?”
“I want to create something meaningful. Something useful, that people will want. I’ll need to sell it to make money, but I don’t want to do something boring and repetitive.”
“In Travail,” the old woman said, “one must practice often to increase their skill. Such patience pays dividends.”
Coral felt blood rush to her cheeks. She was blushing. Or was her avatar blushing, and sending sensory information to her real cheeks so she knew how her avatar felt? Two minutes into the game and the line between her body and her avatar was already a blur.
“Yes,” she said, “and I am prepared to be patient. I just don’t want to spend the rest of my life chopping down trees to sell logs.”
“Your fingers are long and agile, young citizen. There are other paths that would suit you. You could play the lyre and bring merriment to crowds and courts.”
Coral wondered what would happen if she did poorly at that. She pictured a life playing a lyre in the Travail equivalent of a subway, hoping passersby tossed a few coins into her hat. “Perhaps there’s something else?” she asked.
“You could hunt animals with arrow and longbow and sell their pelts on the open market.”
Coral’s reaction was quick and firm. “I’m not interested in violence.”
“You could design robes and gowns, armor and outfits, and open a marketplace stall for your wares.”
Wow. This game did have a lot of options. Street musician, hunter, tailor. Coral knew she didn’t want to sit around all day asking what else was out there. And she did have fond memories of helping her mother patch up old clothes with a sewing machine. “Yes,” she said. “I choose that path.”
“Very well, young citizen. You will enter Travail as a Seamstress. You may master your trade through perseverance. After all, hard play makes fun work! But learn also to keep yourself safe. If your avatar dies, you will lose all of your skills and all of your possessions and gold. You will come back to me to start a new life.”
A semi-translucent notice box popped up between Coral and the old woman.
Class Selected: Seamstress
Congratulations! As a Level 1 Seamstress you start the game with [sewing kit] in your inventory. The unique Tailoring skill tree is unlocked.
Players earn experience points (XP) through combat, crafting, resource gathering activities, and completing quests. Your level increases at pre-determined XP intervals.
Player attributes increase with each level at differing rates based on class. As a Seamstress, you have a discerning eye and nimble hands. You gain an additional +1 Dexterity with each level.
With each additional level, players earn 1 skill point that they may invest in their unique skill tree, as well as any additional skill trees you unlock as you progress through Travail. Unlocking skills allows you to use new combat techniques or craft new items. Once a skill is unlocked, it becomes a new ability that you possess and can hone through practice. View your unique skill tree to see what Tailoring items are available to you at each level.
You may also develop new hidden abilities without spending skill points. The abilities you may uncover vary depending on your race and class. The more you use an ability, the greater proficiency you will develop with it and the more significant the bonus it will provide you.
“Ok,” Coral said and the box vanished.
“Now, young Seamstress, by what name shall I call you?”
“Coral,” Coral said.
“That name is taken. By what name shall I call you?”
“Seamstress_Coral?”
“That name is also taken. By what name shall I call you?”
Coral wasn’t the most common name, but with hundreds of millions of players worldwide, she would hardly be the only one. Unsurprisingly, at least one of the other Corals had chosen the same trade. Choosing a name would require some actual thought then. Darn, Coral thought. Wait, that’s a sewing word, isn’t it? “How about Coral_Darning?” she asked.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Coral_Darning. Now let us decide what you will look like.”
3
Travail Server 215 (corrupt) Automated Intelligence Log.
Opening access link to Travail Server 215.
Running routine game balance analysis …
Analyzing overall game challenge level…
Challenge level: insufficient to maintain economic growth.
Game balance weakened by player reincarnation.
Game balance weakened by NPC assistance.
Game balance weakened by NPC respawn.
Creating content to address rebalancing…
Launching new quest…
Creating quest reward: unique relic item…
Removing select quest restrictions…
Cloning NPC to accept quest…
Identifying closest server: Travail Server 215.
Pushing quest and NPC to Travail Server 215…
Disconnecting from Travail Server 215.
4
“Hello, Otto old pal,” Daniel said to the NPC shopkeeper.
“Oh, it’s you,” Otto said. “What do you want, Daniel_the_Maniel?”
“Is that any way to talk to an old friend? I need some health potions for me and my buddies. You remember Sybil and Sal. We’re going on a raid.”
“Health potions are 10 gold each and replenish up to 1000 HP. Greater health potions are 25 gold each and replenish up to 3000 HP.”
Not one to pay full price for potions, Daniel enacted his Haggle skill. “Otto, buddy. I know you can do better. How about you give me a discount?”
“Don’t you try to haggle with me. You’re a murderous ass. You’re lucky I don’t—”
Daniel took his broadsword and stabbed Otto through the chest. As a Level 2 NPC, Otto was a non-player character with low HP, making him easy to kill. A real player would have higher hit points and might live long enough to strike back. A real player might even take offense to being stabbed in the chest. Otto, however, was a good enough sport.
>> Otto takes 132 Damage. Otto dies. Y
ou receive 2 XP.
Otto crumpled into a bloody mess on the floor after one hit. He clutched at his chest and looked up at Sal and Sybil with plaintive eyes. Damn, these NPCs are so lifelike. Daniel almost felt bad for killing him! Before long, Otto went limp and his dead body faded from view.
“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” Sal said. “Otto’s a nice guy to people that don’t, you know, kill him. And the way he looks at me and Sybil for help every single time. It ties my stomach up in knots.”
