Endless Online: Oblivion's Promise

by M. H. Johnson

  Arilius chuckled softly before his eyes hardened, glancing all about the pitch darkness. "Come on, boy. We have no time to waste." Val swallowed and nodded his agreement, the rush and roar of battle still pounding through his heart, and he blinked when Arilius admitted that their foe had been one of the smaller automatons, barely four feet high. He shuddered to think about what lay in store for them before pushing all such thoughts aside, pouring all his focus into the arborium before him, determined to rekindle whatever precious sparks of life remained.

  Val smiled with relief as silver and gold lights were soon flashing brilliantly as reserves filled with precious, vital Silbion, and already he could see the first vital green shoots popping up in the trays of rich loam. Val's heart rejoiced as that dire mission was at last complete.

  He turned to the dwarf by his side, smiling with fierce satisfaction, letting him know the stores that remained. "We did it, Arilius. With plenty of Silbion to spare!"

  The powerful dwarf clasped Val fiercely, pounding his back. Val coughed, wincing under the comradely blows.

  Arilius stepped back, holding Val by the shoulders, his smile filled with pride. "You did it, lad. And don't think I will ever forget. Don't think I will ever allow my people to forget the hero who came to our aid in our darkest hour." His smile hardened. "You know that the hardest part is still before us, don't you, Val? You have near two greater flask's worth of Silbion left. Enough to catalyze a complete emergency resuscitation. And enough to open the armory as well."

  Val blinked, the older dwarf nodding grimly. "Though I had hoped, prayed, that all we needed to do was imprint you upon all four quarters of the city, I fear the issue runs deeper than that." He swallowed, shaking his head. "On some level, I always knew to tread cautiously in this part of the city. As much as the automatons were content to ignore my little family keeping to itself in the periphery, I had sensed their actions becoming increasingly... erratic. It is why I turned off most of the peripheral emergency systems. It was not only to harvest the minuscule amount of Silbion used to sustain them. It was also to induce a state of hibernation within the more sophisticated automatons."

  Val nodded, following so far.

  The older dwarf clenched his fists, pain-filled gaze turned to the heart of his city, where the most lights could be seen even now, the bronze-gold alloy shining bright even as the rest of the city was still lit only with the dim, gentle lights that catalyzing the gardens had brought to bear upon all four quarters of the city. "The heart of the city holds vital support. And most importantly, the matrix itself. I dared shut nothing off, only escorting the two children we were able to awaken back to safer, darker areas of the city immediately."

  Val blinked. "You mean..."

  "Yes, Valor Hunter. Madness does indeed lurk in the heart of this, the greatest of cities, lingering madness infecting the minds of who knows how many of our former servants." He glanced back at where the mechanical corpse lay, silent and still as the stone around it. "And for all that I have no doubt that you and I could fend off trouble in the time it takes to coax a few of our brethren to flee besides us to safer parts, we will be awakening thousands of my kin. Utterly defenseless."

  Val nodded, understanding at once. "First stop, armory. Equip our men so that any trouble coming our way can be met with killing force."

  Arilius nodded. "Exactly. We need only trace amounts of Silbion and my handprint to open the armory door. I would have headed there soonest, had the final arborium not been on our way."

  Val swallowed and nodded, flowing into the darkness once more as Arilius led the way, realizing that the toughest part of their mission had just begun.

  "Arilius!" An alarmed cry in the depths of shadow, Val only just sensing the approach of the awful conglomeration of cogs and tendrils racing at mad speed on two spiked wheels down the corridor, considerably larger than their first maddened foe, multiple whips of bronze raining sudden blows upon the dwarf's quickly raised shield, blaster fire from its final arm deflected from his armor even as the older dwarf grunted with the impact of multiple blows.

  Val lashed out from the darkness, his fury given tight hot form in the shape of Elise's ancient dwarven blade, edge now shimmering with a fierce burst of Val's Psion reserves, darting forth and lashing out with his cleaving sword, watching the humming blade hack a great gouge into the whipcord like torso of the automaton. The blade jarred and tried to pull free from Val's fortunately competent grip, but it had cut deep into the alloy, well over a third of the way through.

  The mechanical abomination squealed strange crackling cries as it spun around, raining vicious serpentine blows upon Val's quickly raised shield as he backed away, shaken by the awful strength of his foe even as he smiled to hear it screech again, Arilius's blade cleaving completely through the resilient alloy.

  Sparks and strange surges of mana and psionic energy radiated from the spasming thing as it twisted in its death throws, Val and Arilius prudently stepping back as the thing crackled and died, black smoke trickling from the joints in its armor, the flickering lights of its eyes going black as it stilled at last.

  Val paused a moment, closing his eyes, pulling up status screens he had long since ordered closed almost always, normally popping up only when he was leveling up or something momentous occurred.

  Critical strike! 2 point Psion drain. 141 out of 143(144) Psion remain. You have caused a crippling injury to the Mad Automaton. Mad Automaton is vulnerable to subsequent attacks. Mad Automaton has been fatally struck by your companion! Mad automaton defeated! Experience earned! You are 10% away from level six!

  Val gazed in his mind's eye as his experience bar nudged up, somehow feeling a sense of potency course through him, propelling him onward in some unidentifiable way, as if he were a sailboat being blown along by winds he could scarce fathom to a destiny dark and potent, like a howling storm off in the distance. He wondered how hard he would be rocked by the surges of potency that would burn through him once he completed the crux of the mission at hand.

  Whenever he would play games in his other life, he savored every level up. Only now was he aware of the strange pain and struggle just to reclaim himself each time as the howling souls and lost dreams that fueled his growth tried to claim him for their own ends. It was like giving painful birth to himself, and with every delivery, he risked dying on the table. He grimaced and shook his head, knowing he would just have to accept it. Nothing seemed to happen until he slept, and helping Ava and her clan was too important to let his own fear of pain and growth get in the way of doing what he had to do.

  "Valor, is all well?"

  Val blinked, gazing once more at a worried looking Arilius.

  "I'm fine," he assured, looking down at the automaton, shivering as he took in the sight of the horrid mass of bronze tentacles, shimmering eyes and the odd-looking spiked wheels it had rode upon, wondering what its function could possibly be.

  "Waste disposal," Arilius said with a mirthless smile. "Originally they were used for burrowing ore, but that model was repurposed." His brow furrowed. "I was assured that they lacked proper sentience, or I would have been more leery of so cavalierly reconfiguring its function, delegating it to the lowest tier of dwarven rank when it had once known the glory of freeing priceless ore from our prison of stone."

  Val grinned, strangely comforted to hear Ava's grandfather sound so characteristically like a dwarf.

  Arilius frowned. "What?"

  Val swallowed, embracing a gentle truth. "You brought to mind warm memories I had of playing one of my favorite games back home."

  Arilius smirked. "You were thinking that I had acted 'just like a dwarf,' weren't you?"

  Val grimaced but nodded, his older companion chuckling softly. "If your games depicted those of my race as potent brilliant technicians who loved forging arcane wonders and shaping the most pristine of metals, then your reflections serve you well." He pinned Val with a strangely knowing smirk. "But if you think that makes me a gruff, bearded fool
who faces all opposition with an axe, you are seriously misguided." He barked a laugh. "I far prefer the use of a sword!"

  Val flushed. Just how deeply could Arilius peer into his mind when they spoke?

  "Deep enough, lad, as you should have realized when you stole Ava's heart." He sighed, shaking his head. "I grieve that you cannot mesh your mind with hers when you two become one, but your mind works in other ways, far better at hiding from others than any disciple among our people, even the most gifted. And our gifts availed us nothing against the damned Highlords that destroyed our people! I hope, Valor Hunter, that your Shadowmind wards you against their daggers as well as it does other foes you have faced."

  Val flashed a bleak smile. "The first time I remember using it, it was warding myself from the vile bitch that sought to kidnap dozens of us. A Darklord who had already snatched away someone I cared about. She thought she had me snared, only to watch her men die beside her."

  "Well done, boy!" Arilius clapped his shoulder in approval. "But no time for stories of battle and glory. We have a mission beyond all others to complete first."

  Val swallowed and nodded. "Of course."

  "And Val?"

  "Yes, sir?"

  "You strike well. It is good to fight by your side, boy."

  Val smiled at that, letting Arilius take the lead as he channeled his breathing, slipping his soul into the shadows once more, tendrils of awareness one with the dark, ready to act, should other traces of madness come barreling out of the darkness. He would not let Arilius get taken by surprise again.

  Twice more the corridors rung with the sounds of fierce combat, Val and Arilius instinctively fighting in concert, a sharp whistle and Arilius was instantly ready as Val would strike from behind. Multiple automatons of the same type as they had first faced: repurposed minors, twisted collections of strange crystalline eyes and half a dozen powerful tendrils, like abyssal creatures from the minds of brooding 19th-century horror writers, and for all Val knew, they were. For something foul and awful had infected them, though whether it was deliberate malice or a tormented psyche trapped in bleak lonely purposelessness for a thousand years, he just couldn't tell. Nor did he care as he exulted over their third kill, his blade somehow blazing all the brighter, his sneak attacks now managing to cleave a full halfway through the tightly corded bronze alloy that made up the automaton's torso where the key command clusters that ran it were to be found. Effectively its heart and brain.

  Congratulations! All your adolescent training in blade and buckler from a life you think you lived has finally come to the fore in the crucible of real battle. Sword and Shield Level 3 Successfully quantized!

  Arilius bowed his head. "I had hoped... but no. This is how it has to be." He sighed. "When my people return, perhaps it is best that we forgo this part of our city's grand design. None but the simplest, most docile automatons shall I allow to traverse our corridors, ever again."

  Val grinned. "Sounds like a plan."

  Arilius raised his snow-white eyebrows. "It pleases me, how your ability to properly express yourself has grown since first you walked among us. But your words are still sometimes strange."

  Val grimaced. "I agree with you wholeheartedly." He then began to tremble, as the adrenaline surge of battle passed, safety returning. A nameless itch overcame him, a desperate need to embrace something as he suddenly felt undefined, wrapped in a strange cocoon, desperate to free himself.

  Congratulations, you have reached level 6! As you are not on the verge of death or battle, you feel sleep calling to you like never before, your soul eager to blossom ever closer to its true form! Some people fear sleep, afraid they might waken as an entirely different person joined only by common memory. In your case, this might actually be true. Enjoy your rest! (It's not like you have a choice.)

  Val lurched and stumbled, Arilius quick to come to his aid. "What's wrong, boy?"

  Val flashed an apologetic smile. "I know this may sound strange, but would it be at all possible to find some quiet corner and rest?"

  Arilius's brows furrowed. "The armory is just ahead. We can rest for as long as you like, once we get inside. Are you strong enough to press on?"

  Val grimaced and nodded. "I can go on as long as needed." And it was true. Sleep clawed at his brain, but the moment he started moving he felt jolted back into alertness, adrenaline keeping him alert and ready. He grimaced, utterly unable to lose himself in Shadowmind in this state. Never had the need to level up hindered him in real life. he blinked and frowned. Or had real life been the game? He was no longer even certain of that, only grateful that the shimmering forcefield guarding the armory door just ahead dissipated with Arilius's palm upon a brilliant platinum screen. The dwarf frowned upon checking a display.

  "Val?" His gaze was strangely intent. Without a word, Val handed him a small vial, the dwarf then taking it and pouring it into a small receptacle that immediately started trilling. "For what it's worth, the armory shouldn't need any more for at least a couple of centuries. My brilliant engineers thought a fully automated system would be perfect for the city's defenses. Only now do I see in bitter hindsight how foolish that was."

  Val nodded, fighting back a yawn. "Is every station Silbion dependent?"

  "Not at all. You know how vital the matrix and arboriums are. The arboriums shall now be self-sufficient, and what a blessing that is, and that matrix we can feed only enough to have it cycle free my clan before shutting down for good." A steady hand pressed down a lever upon the door. A strange blue light scanned over Arilius, the door hissing steam and opening, and Val gasped in wonder, seeing a massive chamber that looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.

  Val couldn't help whistling his approval and grinning as he caught sight of multiple rows of weapons both exotic and ancient to be seen behind a thick panes of translucent crystal, as well as multiple plush looking benches, and what looked like a massive computer straight out of an old movie, including beeping lights and spinning discs of bronze. Val immediately slumped down upon one of the benches, feeling himself start to slip away, but not before hearing a strange metallic voice fill the air with a staccato flow of sound, Arilius alone answering in words he could understand. Val smiled and nodded, realizing that his early hunch about languages was correct. His gifts allowed him to understand the meaning behind words spoken by a thinking being, but sounds emitted from a cold computer made no sense at all to his brain. Of course, from what he had learned, Dwarvish was a challenge even for meta-humans to learn.

  Congratulations, you have reached level 6! The words chimed almost mockingly as Val was pulled into a sea of horror and despair. The cries of dying dwarves and twisted alien sentiences filled his mind. He could sense scores of people staring at him, pleading with Val to pull them free of awful death, and Val somehow knew that to give in to that terrible pity would doom his soul as well, only one of the vast sea of panicked people able to escape that dream.

  Val ached to free them. All of them. So many spirits of the past were trapped in the final moments of their doom, and Val was helpless to save them. But he sensed with odd clarity as well the thousands upon thousands of souls trapped in a fate almost equally as bad. Lost in frozen dreams, now just the faintest breath from extinction, in a dying matrix just a short distance away.

  Val lurched and gasped, pulling himself free of black seas of guilt, determined to help the people he cared about. To save Ava's people, to be the hero he had always wanted to be.

  Val could feel his sense of purpose grow, his fierce sense of self clamping down on who he is, what he would become. Willpower increased by one. You were always mentally strong, fighting for the right to your own existence as your soul morphs with the sweet potency of this realm. Val knew he had to be ever alert, ever ready for trouble when it came his way, able to act in the blink of an eye. Whether it was saving his Ava and Elise from spiders ready to devour them in a heartbeat, or fighting by Alvar's side, he needed to be able to act and react in an eyeblink. To save himse
lf, to protect those he loved. Perception increased by one. No better way to avoid trouble than see it before it sees you. Quickness increased by one. You were quick before, now you are even faster at responding to trouble when it comes your way!

  He was all too humbly aware of how close he had come to oblivion, multiple times. If there was a flow to the universe, he wanted to be following the current, even if the effects would be minute. Perhaps it would save him from a fatal riptide he never saw coming. Goodness knows something had saved his bacon more than once. Luck increased by one! You'll never know what it is, but +2 is better than +1.

  Even as he felt humbled and grateful for the companionship he experienced with Arilius and Ava, his mind accepted dark truths that were all too clear. All too often his life had depended upon focusing and harnessing his Shadowmind skill, mastering stealth in the shadows, invisible to prey skirting furtively in the darkness, invisible even to the minds of his enemies. Enemies who could strike Val not at all with their hideous of powers if all they sensed was emptiness, so long as he did not meet their gaze.

  Shadowmind Rank 5 achieved!

  Trapped in that endless sliver of time, all he could think of was the void within his own soul. That icy coldness that allowed him to strike his foes with such ruthlessness that no echo of his fury could be sensed, even an instant before he struck. It was why his kill ratio was so high, even though he had never formally qualified as a sniper. He had a deadly knack for getting close, at a range where his bullets never missed, skilled as he was with guns that this world would never see. It was fine to think he swam through shadow with righteous cause this day, but in his heart, he knew his was a killer's skill. Ruthless and cold, just like he.

  Congratulations! You are an Adept in Shadowmind! You now find it easier than ever to slip into the darkness of your soul. - You can now use psionic abilities with a high chance of success without disrupting Shadowmind! Harnessing spells is still difficult. You have a low probability of casting any but the most carefully released of spells without disrupting Shadowmind. +1 Darkpoint gained! The force and flow of your destiny becomes ever clearer. Friends and enemies alike can sense your grim potency. You have +1 charisma in all circumstances where you allow your intensity to show. You are 10+% more effective in all situations where you allow your rage to dominate! Allies will admire you, lovers will tremble, and all will know a savage killer lurks in your soul. - In circumstances where you wish to embrace the delusion that you are the sweet, innocent young man you try to look like (such as when trying to charm the most innocent of fools) -1 to charisma rolls. Only a shy recluse can hide the dark intensity so close to your surface.