Cipher's Quest: (A Scifi Fantasy LitRPG) (Ciphercraft Book 1)

by Tim Kaiver

  His father, or whoever that net dream was, had wanted him to convince the bug boy to go to the fisherman. What if he could convince Adi to come to him?

  He walked to the door and put his hands on the cool metal. Closing his eyes, he applied his weight through his hands and rested his forehead against the cool surface. Adi. Listen to me. Welcome me. I want to help you. Show me where you are. Open your eyes to become one with me.

  Emmit had no idea what he was doing. The voice he'd heard as he entered the moss entrance had said that inside would show him the muscle of his growth. If this ability was like a muscle, did that mean he should clench the muscles in his head? He bit his teeth together and tightened every muscle he could from his jawline to the top of his skull. In his effort, he focused on his love for his non-blood brother, Adi. He truly wanted to help him, and felt no guilt in his attempt to access his friend's mind. This would be for the best.

  Not only would this help Adi—he hoped—but Emmit also needed this. The emotional whirlwind he'd gone through in the net dream, and the confusion in its wake, had left him like a shell needing to be filled with love, friendship, truth....

  If he could reach Adi and rescue them both, he wouldn't need to fear becoming worthless.

  Let me in, Adi. Please. It won't hurt. I promise.

  A wave of anger filled Emmit, so sudden and without explanation that it consumed his ability to focus. It invaded and demanded acknowledgment, but lacked a voice or clear definition to be understood.

  Had something else found its way into his mind—someone else?

  "Tell me what's going on!" the voice shouted.

  Adi?

  "Tell me what's going on, Emmit. You know more than you've told me."

  It's working!

  "What's working? What's going on?"

  Emmit's eyes remained closed, and his brain hurt with a pain that worsened the harder he focused on the imagined rope that tugged between himself and Adi. The blessing that Ocia told you about. I'm trying to use it to set us free.

  "Where are you?" Adi asked.

  In a cell. I thought you were right behind me. I heard you cry out, but then a neuronet beam took me into a net dream, and when I woke up, I was locked in a cell. Where are you? Can you show me?

  "Show you?"

  With Emmit's eyes closed, his sight wasn't complete darkness—more a gray fog with indiscernible shapes that moved outside of his control. Open your eyes to mine. Let me see through yours.

  The edges of the shapes clarified and lightened against the gray background. Were they trees with a low canopy or pillars inside a building? The gray darkened and swallowed the shapes into its fog. No, Adi. Relax.

  "I... I'm scared. What's happening to me?"

  It's just me.

  "How do I know? I've heard other voices."

  Other voices? Had his dad, or whoever, tried speaking to him, too? What did they want?

  "I don't know. They said the same thing. To open up and let them in. How do I know you're not them pretending to be you? I'm too far from when I lost you, Emmit. I need to get out of here."

  Don't let go of the connection we have, Adi. Pull harder and come. The gray lightened and allowed the pillars to tighten in shape. The background appeared to be a one-level room inside a building with pillars to hold up the ceiling. A hallway on Adi's right lead out of the room. It felt right—close. Like a bridge that could connect the two of them. Take that hall, Adi.

  "How do I know it's you?"

  I told you on the train that I'd tell you when I could.

  "Yeah. But Ocia was there. So was your mother. How do I know it's you and not either of them?"

  The gray darkened to blind Emmit from seeing where Adi was walking.

  Emmit had wondered the same thing when speaking to his father in the net. It could have been Ocia or someone else. What can I do to convince him? he wondered.

  How many people have you told about how your curiosity led to your capture on your father's ship and subsequent imprisonment at Setuk?

  "You and your mom."

  Okay, so—

  "But Ocia could have found that out."

  Yeah, I suppose, Emmit thought. The throbbing in his head and the strain to hold onto the connection between them tightened like a muscle spasm. He'd either need to let go or keep straining to bring his friend. What if something in his brain popped? Would his gift be gone forever? Or worse, would his brain stop functioning like it had before?

  Adi, I'm trying. But if you keep fighting me, I don't know how much longer I can hold on, and I want to... You're my brother. If we don't both get out of here, I'll never forgive myself.

  The gray lightened, and the room Adi walked through clarified under the white light on the ceiling. The hallway had flat walls on both sides, but Emmit could make out the cracks in the concrete, and even a different concentration of humidity in the warm air than was in his cell. That's it. Emmit sensed the rope between their minds go taut and shorten. Some of the pressure eased off the pain in his mind, and in this state he envisioned a deeper stamina. Thank you, Adi. You're doing great. Keep coming.

  "I'm trusting you, Emmit. Because I could feel that you aren't lying. You're my brother too, and I won't give up the chance to help you out."

  At a crossroads in the hallway, Emmit knew Adi had to turn left, and relayed that thought to his brother. Adi obeyed, and the connection tightened. The pain in his mind faded to a dull ache. After this, he would need a break.

  Adi built up speed into a jog, taking new hallways in harmony with Emmit's guidance, until he—they both knew—approached the door that kept Emmit locked inside.

  That's it! Emmit pounded on the door and heard the muffled thumps as though through Adi's ears on the other side.

  When Adi reached the door, Emmit showed him how to turn the handle. It unlocked and opened inward.

  Emmit backed up and left Adi's mind. As soon as there was room, he rushed through the doorway and wrapped his brother in a desperate hug.

  "Emmit!" Adi began weeping. "I thought I'd lost you."

  "You didn't." Emmit felt tears trickle through his eyelids. "You did great. Thank you."

  *Task to influence Adi, mother, or Sprinkles – Complete.*

  Skill learned: Telescoping.

  +15 XP.

  105/130 to Level 2.

  As Emmit thought of how his father had taught him to use a telescope to see the distant stars, a bright light, like a face-to-face star, filled the room.

  His dad stood before him, studying his son. "That wasn't what I asked you to do."

  "I couldn't do it, Dad. I was too distracted thinking about Adi. I was going to come back, but I thought that if I got Adi first, it could help me figure out how to reach Samu."

  His dad smiled and stepped closer, squeezing Emmit's arm. "Had I thought that were possible, I would have started there."

  17

  Ehli regretted the joy she had felt beneath Cullen's admiration. It had been a while since she'd flirted, and she wasn't sure if her guilt, hiding so close to the surface of her emotions, was justified. She didn't have a reason to outright deny what either Willo or Cullen had said about Schaefer being alive. What had happened between him and Willo, though, and why had she felt it necessary to tell Ehli she'd fallen in love with him?

  Cullen led her into a clearing between trees, hiding his face. Was that too naked of her to remind him of her husband being alive? And that it was the last words spoken before the conversation ended made it louder still. "I didn't mean to embarrass you."

  "You didn't. I'm the one who looked too long." He pointed at a tree. "These leaves cause a rash." He carefully lifted a branch with red-spotted leaves that blocked their way with his blade hooked in a crook of tiny branches. He looked around to their left. "Let's go that way. Better not to chance it."

  She let him retake the lead.

  "We—that is you, me, and your son—have something special with this Cipher gifting. We've grown close because of it, and have
faced about four life-threatening situations within about an hour. I spent a decade wandering the stars for something important to do, and I've finally found it. So, I'm going to focus on that—on getting you and your son, and the Ancients' texts, back home. I apologize for getting distracted. Maybe I was just curious, but the same goes for you. Don't get too curious with my thoughts. If I'm going to lead you to safety, I don't need you knowing I'm not as smart as I look."

  She smiled. He had a cute way about him.

  He aimed his machete through an opening wide enough to avoid the red-spotted leaves. "If you have a question, just ask." He swung through, clearing a path.

  "Okay. You seemed lost in thought. Was it about our mission?"

  "Yeah. I was thinking about Torek and what Willo said about him."

  "Which was?"

  "She said he couldn't be trusted."

  "About what?" she asked.

  "I don't know, exactly. Willo said he knew more about Ocia's plans then he was letting on, and that if I told them about Willo, they'd take me back. They apparently don't know she's this strong."

  "This strong?" Ehli stopped as a bush in front of her shook. Out sprinted a tiny yellow lizard.

  They paused a second to see if anything else came out, then continued making a path between trees, Cullen following his compass.

  "She said she could help us find Emmit," Ehli continued, "but that I wouldn't be ready until I touched the snake. And that he was fine where he was. Then, before the snake bit me, she disappeared, and we're left wandering this stupid jungle." She couldn’t help thinking a mara could pop out and tear claws and teeth through them both at any second. "So how strong is she, and do we bother trusting anything she says anyway?"

  "I don't know." Cullen craned his neck forward to see around a tree before proceeding. "She admitted to being unpredictable, as though apologizing for it. I can see her telling me we can't trust anyone as a way to make us trust her, but so far she's proven nothing. I've known Torek far longer. He deserves the benefit of the doubt, and if Ocia is telling the truth about my father's involvement in this colony—and the need for my memories to get us back in time to stop the invasion—then that plan remains on the agenda."

  "And I've known Ocia for six years. He's been like a father to me." Ehli took in the strange noises of bird and insect interweaving choruses. "He rescued me from prison, and has been up front about the urgency that has created our dangerous position. I want to trust him too, even if he was not up front about Schaefer being alive."

  "He didn't tell you because he said it wasn't his place to. If I were your husband and had been gone for that long, I'd want to reveal that surprise myself, in person."

  Ehli felt something when he said if I were your husband. Jealousy would be the best label, especially matched up with his need to look away after he said it. "Would you have fallen in love with someone else while you were away?" she said to his back as she followed him through two ferns.

  "Again, that's Willo talking. If she and Schaefer have become enemies, it would make sense to try and drive a wedge between you."

  "But by admitting she fell for him? Wouldn't that make me just as mad at her?"

  "Maybe," he said. "Maybe not."

  "Yeah." Ehli remembered another part of the dream. "She did say she hadn't been told about me until a week or two ago. I think."

  "Smart ploy."

  "Right."

  "Any luck mind-locking with your son?" Cullen tapped his head as though to illustrate.

  "No, but I'm working on it. I had that thing with the ants, and can read your thoughts once in a while."

  "So glad for that."

  "It's okay. Nothing I haven't liked," she said, and felt the start of a blush. "Mostly: oh, a rock, another tree. Stuff like that. It's nice. Like my own personal tour guide."

  "And on this side, we have a tree. Haven't seen that one before. Bugs live in there, too. If you're hungry, protein."

  Ehli chuckled. "So helpful." She climbed up on a rock, accepting Cullen's hand to help her up. The new vantage offered a lookout over a swamp rising over tree roots, and a river beyond. A dry path to the left looked to be a possible long way around.

  Cullen held his compass up. "There's another transmitter that way." He pointed straight through the swamp. "Maybe Emmit will be this way. And we can say, thank you Mr. Swamp. Don't listen to what Mr. Tree says. Your musty smell is actually quite becoming."

  "I never liked Mr. Tree anyway." Ehli continued holding Cullen's hand as they navigated the sloping levels of the rocks back down to the grass.

  "Mom? I need you!"

  Ehli's foot slipped and she lost her balance.

  Cullen caught her, but the moss on the rock caused her weight to pull him off balance. He twisted and threw his hand up under her other arm, clutching her chest to chest. Then he slipped and fell backwards, inadvertently taking her with him over the side of the rocks.

  Cullen grunted as her weight drove him harder into the earth, and his pack crunched beneath him. The impact bounced her over his shoulder and onto her back. Her leg slid in mud and soaked her calf and upper sock.

  Cullen moaned.

  She rolled over, and became aware of a new notification.

  Skills learned: Conduit-focused pathing and Telescoping.

  +10 XP.

  Great. Two. Thanks for the warning, she thought, a little guilty as she considered who or what she was upset with. Could you help me not to get hurt when I learn the next skill? The Cipher didn't respond. She wondered what, or how, interaction with the Cipher worked. Cullen arched up, holding his side.

  "Are you okay?" she asked.

  "Lost... breath." He rolled onto his stomach and pushed up on his elbows. "Deep… muscle." His words broke between deep breaths. "Don't think anything broke."

  "I'm so sorry."

  "No. It was my fault."

  She crawled over and rubbed his side where his hand was pressing. "I heard my son."

  "Really? What'd he say?"

  "'Mom. I need you.'" She reached for Cullen's hand. "I got new skills too—conduit-focused pathing and telescoping, it said."

  As her hand locked in Cullen's, "Mom? Is that you?" came in.

  Cullen's eyes opened wide. "I heard that."

  "Who's that?"

  "It's me, Cullen."

  "Are you guys okay?" Emmit asked. "Can you come get us?"

  Where are you? Ehli asked.

  "Underground. A tunnel I took off the river. It's like a base built inside the hills."

  Ehli and Cullen both looked back up the slope they'd just descended. How'd you get in? Ehli asked.

  "A moss covering hid a hole I crawled into. Inside, it was tall enough to walk. Adi and I are in a room. Dad brought us here so I could develop my abilities."

  Anger rose with nostalgia of arguments with Schaefer. He did, did he? So glad he brought it up with me first. She searched the hillside for any moss coverings. The only moss she saw was on the side of some of the trees. Schaefer. Are you out there? What are you doing to my son?

  "Darling. I was wondering when you'd reach out. Sounds like our treatments have worked nicely."

  Cipher aside, and how much he really had to do with the success of her treatments, Ehli couldn't believe it was him. His voice elicited surprise first, then returned to a tinge of anger. Schaefer. Where's our son?

  "He's fine. Would you like to see him?"

  Yes. Ehli helped Cullen to his feet.

  He let go to smear off some of the clumps of mud staining his vest.

  Ehli waited for Schaefer to tell her where Emmit was, but a lighter, lonely sensation indicated he was gone. Schaefer?

  Cullen looked her in the eye, concern washing over him. "Is he still talking?"

  "No. You can't hear him either?"

  "No. Nothing," he said.

  Schaefer. Are you okay? She looked around in the hopes someone was spying on them and would come out now that the secret was out. But only chirping birds flying betwee
n trees greeted her.

  "Come." Cullen's hand pressed into the small of her back. "We'll—"

  "...trees with an orange vine," Schaefer said.

  Ehli and Cullen froze.

  Schaefer?

  "Yeah? Did you hear me?"

  Just something about an orange vine.

  "I said, we have access points at trees with an orange vine. It's hard to—"

  Cullen lifted his hand and held it out as though making a pledge, then grabbed Ehli's wrist.

  "...so you'll just have to keep looking for one with a covered entrance," Schaefer said.

  Weird, Ehli thought.

  "Weird? I thought it was clever," Schaefer said.

  You always did, Ehli 'pathed, but I wasn't talking to you.

  "Oh? Who were you talking to? The fearless Captain Re? Would you tell him I say 'Hi' and welcome? I do look forward to meeting him and thanking him for returning my family."

  "I'm right here, Schaefer," Cullen thought. "It seems that whenever I touch your wife, I share her telepathic abilities." He was careful to avoid mentioning either the Cipher or her skills.

  Ehli shared a look with Cullen as he moved his hold from her wrist to her hand, then nodded for her to follow him.

  "That's fascinating," Schaefer said, "though I'm not sure I like your tone in referring to touching my wife."

  Oh, Schaefer. Always the jealous one.

  "When your wife is mentioned more than anyone else once the ales are sloshing over and men start thinking of the sack, you tend to develop an ear for unsuited interest in your wife."

  I don't know who's supposed to be the jealous one right now, Ehli started.

  Cullen shared a look with her and mouthed, no.

  "No, what?" Schaefer asked.

  Cullen let go.

  Schaefer's presence disappeared, as though sweated out from her skin.

  "Don't tell him about...."

  Ehli exhaled, then nodded. "Right."

  Cullen took her hand again and pointed up the slope. She didn't see any orange vines, but branches hung thick enough that they couldn't see very deep past the first line of trees.