And after a panicked solid minute of CPR, Rich's eyes bolted open. He began to cough and wheeze, rolling over and puking in between desperate gasps, sobbing for dear life seconds later.
Val said nothing, merely patting his back and helping the kid as best he could until Rich's eyes lit upon a familiar face, and he flew into Arny's arms. "Oh thank you, Three! Oh my god, I thought I was a dead man! I tried to say the escape word, but my lungs were filled with that shit!" He looked both furious and relieved, tears still streaming down his face.
"I know, Rich, I know," she soothed. "I was trapped too. I thought I was going to die. Oh my god, I really thought I was going to die!"
She gazed up at Val, pinning him with a smile of such gratitude it left him floored. "Thank you, John. You saved my life, and I'm not going to forget it. It's crazy to ask, but I don't suppose you live near the University of Illinois?"
Val blinked. "I'm in Chicago," he admitted, before thinking better of it.
"No shit," Rich whispered. "Me too." His wheeze turned to a chuckle, Arny joining him a second later, and, before he knew it, Val found himself laughing with relief as well.
"Small world," Val said. "I'm just glad you guys are okay."
"So am I," Richard said. He gazed at Val and Arny both, nodding his head as if coming to an important decision. "Well guys, this has been the most realistic and horrid game I've ever played in my life." He gazed at Arny with a sad little smile. "I would have really loved to explore the universe with you, Arny, and if you ever want to get together in real life, well, drinks are on me."
Arny frowned. "Rich? Don't quit yet, we're not at a backup stone. We just need to get the coordinates, back ourselves up, and we're good." She pressed her finger against her smooth, unmarred hairline and frowned. "Where the hell is my chip?"
Rich sighed. "That's just it. No starting gear, no implants, no guide master giving us instructions on the next mission. Something's wrong, and if it weren't for the Eagle Scout here, we'd both be dead, and god knows if we would have stroked out in real life." His gaze grew solemn. "I think there is a reason why they pulled the plug on this game, even if they won't outright admit it."
"Rich, don't be like that!" Arny pled. "Yes, the main servers went down, but it only made the game more elite! Only one out of ten of people who try, maybe less, can even get on!"
He nodded. "More like one in a hundred. And they never bothered to repair those servers, or even make an official statement." His gaze grew intent. "Arny, I did a little research. They can't even find the company behind Exalted! Just shell corporations that lead nowhere. Doesn't that tell you something?" He looked around, shaking his head. "Yes, it has full bloody immersion. Goddamn, it's incredible. But I think it's flawed. It's only giving us full sensory input, no modulating abilities at all. In other words, we feel everything." He smiled ruefully at Arny's naked form. "We can feel all the pleasure and sweet rewards of the real world, but we feel all the pain too."
His eyes grew haunted. "Three... when I stopped breathing... I get the horrid feeling that this was all for real. That I really was dying." He reached up, clasping Val's hand. "I owe you one. If I ever see you near campus, drinks are on me. And if the rumors are true and biofeedback from this dying corpse of a game can actually enhance real-life learning and muscle conditioning, I wish you both the best of luck. But be careful. Both of you. I got the definite feeling this game is playing for keeps." He flashed a shaky grin. "Now let's see if this is like some bad movie, and I'm trapped in this game forever. Parachute!" he cried, immediately collapsing like a lifeless husk.
"Rich!" Arny cried, looking genuinely shocked. She bent down and felt his pulse, eyes widening with panic. "Oh god, we got to do something, Val!"
Val shook his head. "Easy, Arny. Look at his chest. It's not deep, but he's breathing. If I didn't know better, I'd say he's just asleep."
The girl frowned, hand gently touching his chest. "You're right," she said, "but I didn't think that was how the game was supposed to work. I thought, well, we just disappeared or something?"
Val shrugged. "Maybe this game is so realistic that it likes to keep track of all the pieces as real to life as possible. I'm betting this body is just asleep, and he's pulling his helm off right now, shaking his head as if waking up from a dream. If he ever gives this game a second shot, he'll wake up in here."
Arny frowned. "But what happens if someone assaults him, or a monster kills him, or some psycho cyborg saws him up for spare parts?"
Val shrugged. "Not a clue. Did they cover it on Readit?"
She smiled. "No, I'm just having an anxiety attack." She turned toward the doorway. "Let's just get out of here."
"Alright, but first let's get him as comfortable as possible. Okay, there we are." Val nodded as they got Rich in the recovery position huddled up by his former pod, out of immediate sight, before clearing his throat. "Arny?"
"Yes?"
"We're still naked. There's got to be a locker or something here, something to dress their clones, or cyborgs, or synths, whatever they spawn here."
Arny smirked. "Makes sense." Her smile grew. "None of this is real, of course, but I have one question for you, John."
"Yes?"
"Do you really look this good in real life?"
Hidden quest: What about me? I Complete! Experience earned! Having sensed that fellow players were trapped in the deadliest of glitches, you did your part to free them! Two lives and all their potential have been spared Oblivion's caress, thanks to your timely intervention. Well done!
Val looked down at himself. His abs weren't exactly washboard but were pretty close, his legs well defined, and he knew that if he flexed, his biceps would pop. "Pretty much. I took care of myself when I served." He laughed. "Trust me, Arny, until very recently, you would have looked at me with pity more than anything else. My face was scarred, and my legs were a burnt wreck."
The beautiful Asian girl winced. "Damn. I'm sorry. Well, you certainly don't look like that now."
Val grinned, his eyes alone making it clear the admiration was mutual. "I got better. Don't ask how."
She smirked, nodding her head. "I see you have. So John, how old are you really?"
Val sighed. "I almost don't know how to answer that. I was in a coma for awhile. When last I went to sleep, there were a hell of a lot more stars in the sky than there are now."
Arny nodded. "Yeah, that happened a few months back. Terrified everyone. I guess it still does." She grinned. "I'm nineteen, going to college on a full scholarship, which isn't easy since the PC brigade decided that since Asians score higher than average on tests, we need an even higher GPA and SAT scores than average just to get our foot in the door, let alone earn scholarships."
"Sorry, Arny, I don't know anything about that. I skipped college entirely."
Her eyes widened. "Really."
He nodded. "I served instead. And call me Val, if you want."
She smiled. "Call me Yin. What does Val stand for?"
Val flushed. "Valor, actually."
She grinned. "Well, you were damn valorous, saving my sorry ass. Yin means silver, by the way. I was my mother's favorite jewel." She smirked. "Of course she then had my baby brother and she kind of forgot the silver for little Johnathon and her new husband."
Val winced. "I'm sorry?"
She laughed. "Not at all. Alex is a great stepdad, and Johnathon is a sweet little guy, even if he made studying hell, my senior year. Honestly, they paid more attention to me than my mother did. But I have no right to complain. Classes came easily to me, my memory is near photographic, and I wasn't one of those idiots so eager to belong that I was going to blast my head with alcohol and meth and whatever the hell else they were popping at parties near where I lived."
Val smiled. "Good for you."
"Yeah, I got addicted to online games instead. Worst that would happen was I'd play too much, and then the solution was just to take away my gaming privileges. Mother hated my gaming, but Alex was pretty
cool with it. So as long as I kept up my GPA, I could be a wild hellion online all night as far as he was concerned. Better than sneaking out with the boys, he'd say. Mom couldn't argue with that logic, so for that reason alone, he got a pass in my book."
Val chuckled at that. "My dad was sort of the same way, though I was less into games and more into HEMA. I didn't even try for straight A's. Concepts clicked pretty fast for me, but I couldn't memorize for crap. Raw facts with no overarching framework to tie it all together would slip out of my head like water through a sieve."
"HEMA?"
Val nodded. "Historical European Martial Arts."
"Pretty cool. I study Asian martial arts myself. Judo mostly. So what's your scholarship in this game?"
"13."
Yin smiled. "That's what, better than 80% of people? Sounds like you got a pretty good head on your shoulders."
Val frowned. "It's weird. I seem to be recalling things a bit better since I slipped out of that coma. It's much easier to concentrate and memorize miscellaneous facts than it used to be, and days seem a bit more distinct. I can go back and remember scenes much clearer."
Yin tilted her head. "Full regeneration of burns and improved memory. Damn sweet coma you had there, Val."
Val smiled. "Fair is fair. What's your Scholarship?"
Yin shrugged. "It's weird how they don't have a clear intelligence stat in this game. My scholarship is 17. Like I said, near photographic memory. My insight is 12, which means I'm a bit better than average at figuring out puzzles, difficult concepts, or spotting when people are trying to hustle or deceive me, or sensing when things just aren't right. Perception is how well you notice details, and there I'm 11. I don't forget much, but my sensei does say I need to learn to turn off my racing thoughts and take in everything going on around me." She chuckled at that. "Willpower is mental grit and there I'm 10, and yes, sensei says I'll only achieve my goals in life if I learn focus and discipline. I like sports and I don't mind physical exertion, but it's true that if schoolwork didn't come so easily to me, there is no way I'd ever make honors. If my mother's scoldings didn't reduce me to tears, I probably would have messed that up anyway."
She closed her eyes, her brow suddenly furrowing. "I can't find my implant perk. I thought I had one. Damn. How do I play a mech-warrior now?"
Val grinned. "You could always go for battlemage, right?"
She laughed. "You need a 50 point magic pool to get that advanced class! And I didn't get the skill background package for it, so I have no idea how spells work. But wait...that's weird."
"What's weird?"
"I have a 30 point starting magic pool. That's not bad, you know. Most people just start with ten. 30 points is what a starting mage has."
Val winked. "Then it's destiny. Welcome to the mage's circle, Yin."
She rolled her eyes. "Sure. Let's just get out of here, okay?"
Val nodded, then looked back at the chrome pods. No lights flickered upon any of them. Still as coffins, deathtraps waiting for the next batch of players. The three of them couldn't be the only people to successfully jack themselves into the starting zone. Not by far.
Val felt sickened by the sinister implications of this room, how perilous it would be for players who had no idea what they were getting themselves into. He then closed his eyes, putting his fingers upon the floor, taking a second visualize clamping down upon the crackling storm of elemental energies he sensed somehow howling in the ether all around him, allowing only the barest whisper to escape.
"Val, what are you doing?"
But Val paid Yin no mind, somehow adapting his Dominion Catalyzation spell to slip his sense of self into the hardware and conduits making up this entire automated facility, spending a breathless awed moment as the entire facility popped up like a blueprint in his head, and in that instant, he knew what the problem was.
He opened his eyes with a shudder, seeing Yin gazing at him strangely. "What the hell did you just do?"
"Sorry," Val apologized, "I was using a spell I have to see if I could figure out what's wrong with these clone pods." His brows furrowed. "If this game is getting a little fritzy, maybe we can at least do something so other starting players don't face the horror of immediate death. And since the game was built so realistically, we can fix the problem ourselves."
"No kidding. How do we do that, Val?"
Val smiled. "Basement. Apparently this building, this entire area, was hit by a massive pulse of some sort. A major circuit breaker was flipped, hopefully saving the electromana couplings, but I'm not entirely sure. And there may have been some other damage as well. If we can at least flip the breaker, that would be a start. Not perfect, but a start. I don't know if it will restore the power, but one thing's for certain. If we were to just leave things as they are, any players porting in now could die in real life. They could slip into cardiac arrest, suffocating with no sensory breakers on and no way to say the word that would port them out."
Yin's eyes grew big. "Shit. You're right. How the fuck can this game mimic the sensation of suffocation unless brain cells are really dying from lack of oxygen?" She looked sickened by the very idea. "Lives might really be on the line."
Val nodded.
Yin grinned. "Well then, what are you waiting for, hero? Let's get on with it."
Quest update: What about me? II! You think you've found a way to turn on the facility once more. Of course, it's always possible that you woke up in hostile territory! Turning on power might alert enemies to hunt you down and kill you. But if the pods are operational, at least future players will have a fighting chance. As much as waking up naked and disoriented without promised equipment will allow, anyway.
Val grimaced and willed away the odd quest prompt, focusing solely on what he needed to do.
"This way," he said, slipping to the rear of the large building he now had a much better sense of, careful hands feeling out the spiral staircase.
"Where?" she hissed. "I can't see a thing!"
Val frowned, wondering just how creative he could be with his magics. "Hold on, I'm going to try something." He closed his eyes and looked inward, imagining himself gazing at the wellspring of potency that seemed to roar forth every time he cast his spells. Darkness. The tiny brilliant flickers he always saw when he first closed his eyes. He frowned, sat down, and focused on his breathing, Yin soon sitting beside him.
"Meditating, huh?"
"Trying to."
He could sense her smile. "Val?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think we could link up?"
He blinked and swallowed, his meditation suddenly out of reach. "What do you mean?" he asked breathlessly.
A soft chuckle in the darkness. "Our characters. Form a Spirit Link, so we know where we are in relation to one another, and we can sense when one of us is hurt. I hear people skilled with Spirit Link have an easier time casting magics on their fellows, they can even drink a potion and project the healing to a party member. If they're good. As close to a healer as I think this game allows." She swallowed. "Also, it lets us share quests and, well, it makes training easier, especially if you have a perk that boosts learning speed. And I can see your stats, and you see mine."
Val thought about it and nodded. "We know you have a magic pool now, which is awesome, as casting magic is an intense rush."
He could sense her frown. "Like taking coke? I heard someone raving about that on Readit. No thanks. Addiction already runs in my family, and you saw my willpower. I'll give that a hard pass."
Val laughed. "No, nothing like that. At least, I don't think so. It's like, imagine the thrill and terror of hiking up to the tallest hill you can imagine, just you and your snowboard, and you're gazing down at this fearsome drop only the most gifted or stupid of your friends would try, and thinking to yourself, 'I'm going to do it!' So you take a deep breath of pristine winter air, the icy wind brushing your cheeks, and you're off! Your belly floods with shivers awful and exhilarating as you plunge down that sheer, i
cy slope, the air suddenly whistling by your ears you're going so fast, legs vibrating as you keep your board just barely in control and you're going faster and faster and there's the jump ahead! You howl in terror and wonder as you take the jump and you're airborne, flying like a bird as the air whistles by, and it's pure focus and control, totally in the zone, and your heart is pounding as you soar towards the other ramp. You pivot and lift and your board kisses it perfectly as you race down to the end of the slope, easing to a gradual stop, and you never felt such feelings of elation, satisfaction, and maybe just a touch of exhaustion leaving you complete, replete, and filled with a fierce satisfaction."
Val grinned. "Like making love to your heart's desire. Sheer euphoria, but unlike drugs, you're not plagued by dark cravings. You're left feeling replete and satisfied and maybe in love with the rush, when it's all said and done."
Yin let loose a throaty chuckle. "When you put it that way, maybe the other classes are worth trying. Rogue adventurer you said? Sure. Count me in." She sighed. "My class is grayed out anyway, so I don't know what that makes me."
"Free to do and be whoever you want?"
She smiled in the darkness. "Sure, Val. Why not." A warm hand slid into his. "Can you feel that, Val?"
Val frowned, part of his mind screaming for him to ward himself because somehow he did feel it. He knew, somehow, that a certain path his mind was skilled at was cut off from him for now, but it seemed that wasn't the case with other players. Yin was definitely knocking on his mind. It was a polite knock, and somehow he knew that if he closed his eyes and embraced the dark all around, her probe would never find him.
Instead, he eased open his mind, giving her the smallest of connections. He thought he could force it wider if he wished, but for now, she could see the top of his metaphoric character sheet, and he see hers.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Yin Silverstrike - Class: ************ - Level 1
Primary Characteristics
Strength 10
Vitality 12
Endless Online: Oblivion's Price: A LitRPG Adventure - Book 3 Page 12
