Arrival

by William Dickey

  I sighed deeply. This wasn’t getting anywhere so I waved for her to continue her story.

  ‘A long time ago, these lands were visited by a group known as the Travelers. The Travelers were experts of science and magic. Amongst their greatest achievements, they built bridges between universes. To aid the transition from one world to the next they designed an interface. Amongst other functions, the interface automatically translated languages, tracked skill usage, and translated combat experience into stat points, allowing them to develop their physical abilities in ways that best matched whatever environments they found themselves in. The greatest power they granted themselves in the worlds they visited was of course the ability to reset after death making them nearly immortal. This allowed the Travelers to explore the new world without worry. Or at least fewer worries.’

  “Nearly immortal?” I asked curiously. I didn’t trust her, but this being seemed to know some things.

  ‘Some things can still affect you,’ said Mai. ‘For example, your memories transfer with you during the resets, so psychological damage can transfer. Hence why you can’t just remove me. In addition, advanced enough magitechnology could hack the interface system. Potentially it could alter or otherwise interfere with resetting procedures and kill you for good, but I doubt anyone but the Travelers could do that.’

  “Where are the Travelers?” I asked.

  ‘The ones on this world died out or left a long time ago,’ said Mai. Her voice took a sullen tone for the first time. Apparently talking about sharing minds and interdimensional travel was not a big deal, but the Travelers’ end was. ‘They were gone before I began my stay here, shortly after the war with the Daemons.’

  “The Daemons…” I recalled reading something about that. “You mean the mythical first race that all of the other races of Tautellus united against.”

  ‘Yes,’ Mai confirmed. ‘The Daemons under the stewardship of their king, Lucifer declared war on all of Tautellus. The Travelers united with the other races of Tautellus to take them down. In the end, the Travelers died but they were able to take the Daemons out with them. After the war, the world was decimated. Only a small spattering of the other races survived and the people who remained devolved back to the Stone Age. As for myself, I was damaged during the war so I retreated into this mountain fortress and waited for someone capable of fixing my body to come along. Then you came.’

  “And I’m that capable person?” I asked.

  ‘No, I didn’t know the first thing about you when I latched onto you, but I wasn’t spoiled for choice. I have to admit your stats are somewhat disappointing. Level 20 is too small to normally appeal to me, but you’re a Traveler or at least you must have some connections. Bring me to someone who knows what they are doing so they can separate us and fix me up,’ said Mai.

  “But I don’t know such a person,” I said.

  ‘Someone had to bring you across the borders between worlds, bring me to that person,’ said Mai.

  “But I don’t even know how I got here. One day a bunch of people from my world just appeared in this one,” I said.

  ‘What?’ Mai exclaimed. ‘You didn’t mean to come to this world. So you’re just some puny level 20 primitive I’m stuck with.’

  “Hey, who’re you calling primitive,” I growled. “Stop acting like I should be thankful to have someone poking around my head. What do you care if I know the secret to interdimensional travel? You know all that stuff already anyway.”

  ‘No I don’t,’ said Mai.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  ‘I don’t know the secret to interdimensional travel or any advanced magitechnology. The Travelers limited my understanding to what I needed to perform my job. I know a lot about what magitechnology can do but very little about how it works. That’s why I needed someone else to effect repairs to begin with.’ explained Mai.

  I was beginning to process and understand my situation. “So let me get this straight, I have an artificial intelligence in my head. You can see everything I see, hear everything I hear and can alter what I hear and see at will. I’m stuck with you now and because you’re connected if I die, I’ll be resurrected with brain damage. Oh… and you and probably everyone else on this world have no idea how to break the connection.”

  ‘Yes, you got it straight,’ Mai agreed.

  “How do I know you aren’t altering my mind constantly in such a way to give me the illusion of control?” I asked.

  ‘You don’t,’ Mai said simply. ‘But the better question is: If I could outright control you, why would I even bother to create the illusion that you are in control?’

  We were both silent for a moment as I thought it over. I had to admit she had a point.

  ‘Now,’ Mai continued. ‘Can we put our differences aside and try to get along.’ Mai held out a hand for me to shake. I was tempted to take it, but had a couple more questions.

  “What are you getting out of this?” I asked.

  ‘I’ve been alone for thousands of years. It’s nice to have something to see, something to do, for a change,’ said Mai. ‘I know you didn’t ask for this. I’m sorry. I’ll stay out of the way, just going along for the ride.’

  I took pity on the strange artificial being before me. I too was growing tired of being alone. I extended my hand and took hers. Or I tried to. I couldn’t actually touch her. We both took this to mean agreement and moved to the next issue.

  “So, what else have you done to me?” I asked. “I noticed on the status screen my class has changed to Otherist.”

  ‘Yes. A natural consequence of bonding to you.’

  “What does it do?” I asked sourly. I had already spent so much time training to be a blacksmith and now I had to rethink my whole strategy.

  ‘Look for yourself?’ said Mai.

  I brought up the interface, as Mai called it, and accessed more information on my class.

  †Otherist†

  A scholarly class from a bygone era. A divided mind interested in learning all this world has to offer, the proverbial ‘Renaissance Man.’ Allows mastery of all non-combat skills as well as a number of special skills.

  Can learn and master all crafting skills

  Can learn and master all magical skills

  Can learn and master the skill: †Otheristry†

  Cannot learn any physical combat related skills

  Cannot learn any weapon related skills

  Skills improve 4 times slower than normal.

  “What does it mean by no combat skills?” I brought up the skill tab. Sure enough Spear Mastery and Hammer Mastery were gone as well as all the spear techniques I had learned: Piercing Strike, Javelin Toss, and Stand My Ground and in their place was a new skill, simply called Otheristry.

  †Otheristry Lvl.1 (65.8%)†

  The central power of the lost people only known as the Travelers. Allows for the integration of science and magic. †Otheristry† grows with the mastery of other science and magic related skills. As your skill with †Otheristry† grows you will gain access to the powers of the Travelers.

  Inventory size increased from 1 to 2 cubic meters

  “So you just tossed out all my combat skills and gave me this Otheristry skill instead. How am I supposed to fight with nothing but a larger inventory?” I said.

  ‘Right now all it gives you is a bigger inventory, but it’ll become much stronger as you develop it. Be patient, use your head, analyze the enemy for weaknesses and make a tool suitable for facing them,’ said Mai. ‘What I did is an improvement, you can master all crafting skills not just metallurgical ones and, as an added bonus, you can learn magic.’

  “But I learn everything 4 times slower,” I said referencing my class description.

  ‘So increase your intelligence,’ said Mai. ‘The higher your intelligence stat, the faster you learn skills. You should also put a few points in magic.’

  “You think I should learn magic,” I said.

  ‘Magic can be very useful espec
ially when combined with crafter abilities,’ answered Mai. ‘You’re human so magic will make you special. Most humans have no natural aptitude for magic. Without some aptitude, you can’t train in magic. That’s why human mages are so valuable. You can simply put stat points in Magic and Energy. Then you can learn magic.’

  “I’ll consider it, but for now I need to get out of here.” I poked my head back out the hole I’d entered. I could still hear shuffling snow from the yeti. “I can’t go back the way I came. There are still predators out there. Is that way possible?” I pointed to the metal door, firmly barred off from this side.

  ‘We could,’ Mai answered. ‘The rest of the base is through there. The tunnels are rather extensive. This used to be a military outpost during the war. Afterward many automaton soldiers returned here. Most of them should have long rusted away, but there might be a few partially functioning bots left. If they detect you they will put up a fight.’

  “Where does the door out lead to?” I asked. “I need to get to the western side of the mountains.” I explained to Mai the events since I arrived in this world and the quest to warn the country of the coming attack.

  ‘There is an exit on the western side,’ Mai answered. ‘If you want, I can lead you to that one.’

  “Sounds good,” I answered.

  ‘I love it when a plan comes together,’ Mai grunted as a fat cigar materialized between her teeth.

  Chapter 15: Ruin

  I lifted the metal bar blocking the door and tossed it aside. The bar clanged against the ground. Clear echoes reverberated up and down the smooth hallway walls for a full minute. After they died out, I gently pushed on the ancient door. It groaned as the corroded hinges gave way, revealing an empty corridor. I moved down the passageway as quietly as I could, on guard for remaining robots.

  The hall was narrow, only 4 feet across, but I guess that was only narrow compared to the height of the ceiling, which was just over 16 feet. The walls and floor were virtually identical to the chamber I had first entered, simple smooth pewter colored metal surfaces and nothing else.

  I proceeded slowly. The smooth empty hallways propagated sound waves perfectly, sending any noise for hundreds of feet. The ruin had been silent for millennia, even the slightest noise would seem deafening to anything that remained on guard. Each step, each breath, was made carefully to reduce noise to a minimum. The only sound I couldn’t stop was the whirring of the hand crank lamp. Every few minutes, I stopped walking to recharge the light. As I moved quietly, Mai chatted away.

  ‘You’re not from here so I have to tell you about all the amazing things you should see in this world,” said Mai before starting to list things off. “In the south there’s the Petrified Rainforest and to the east there’s Volcanus. That’s where the daemons arose from at the start of the Daemon War. It’s only 700 miles from here so you should really stop by if you have the chance. And of course there there’s the Great Mermandile Reef…’

  “Mai,” I whispered. “You’ve actually been to all those places.”

  ‘Ssshhhh… Yes I’ve been to all of them,’ she said. ‘How else could I recommend them?’

  “So your last bell boy carried you around to all the tourist destinations. Well, I’m not going to do that. As far as I’m concerned you are just an annoying stowaway,” I whispered.

  ‘Sssshhhh…,’ Mai shushed me again. ‘As I keep saying, you need to stay quiet. I can talk because nothing except you can hear me, but you must be silent in case some of the defenses are still operational. As for all the travel, don’t think I’m some sort of ditzy debutante. I saw all those places because they were once frontlines in the war. And, I wasn’t carried around. I had my own body…’

  “Can you at least keep it down?” I whispered. “It’s kind of distracting. I won’t hear danger coming.”

  ‘Well, wouldn’t you be a little talkative if you were alone for thousands of years. I’m just making up for lost time,’ said Mai. ‘If danger comes, I’ll hear it and shut up. Now where was I?’

  Mai continued her persistent chattering. First, she spoke on the variety of Tautellusian landmarks that had impressed her. Then she described the complex food chain of an ocean on the other side of the world. Shortly after Mai began a discussion on the proper breeding of Plutarch slugs, thankfully the dim light of my lamp revealed I’d reached the end of the longest hallway in the world and was entering a larger chamber, giving me an excuse to silence Mai.

  “Sssshhhh,” I shushed back at Mai for once, which filled me with glee. Her chattering was even more annoying than my little sister and I needed to focus.

  The chamber was similar to the first one, a 20 by 20 foot square room, but along each wall was a doorway to another hallway. Along the walls were rows of thick leather bound books and in the center of the room were a table and a set of chairs. After I circled around the room once to check for unwelcome surprises, I circled back again to get a better look at the books. The books had titles like Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer in Late Period Minoan Sacerdotal Rituals, Mana Reservoir Geomechanics, and Transdimensional Conduction Studies of Polar Regions.

  “What is this place?” I whispered to Mai.

  ‘Ssshhh. It’s just a waiting room for the offices on this floor,’ said Mai.

  “Are there more floors?” I asked.

  ‘15 of them,’ she said.

  “15,” I exclaimed.

  ‘Yes, this facility is quite large. It fills most of the mountain,’ said Mai.

  “All these books are magic and science related, so if I read these, could I reproduce Traveler magitechnology?” I said looking over the various titles. Robots, inter-universal travel, modern plumbing, all sounded great to me, but most of all would mean that maybe I could get rid of her. Half a day in my head and I was ready to separate.

  ‘Ssshhh,’ Mai repeated again. ‘Maybe not with just these books. Most of the collection is in the library upstairs.’

  “Stop shushing me. That’s the twenty-third time,” I whispered. “Can you take me by the library on our way out?”

  ‘Ssshhh.’

  “Twenty-fourth.”

  ‘I can take you there, but the doors will be blocked off like my chamber was. You have the means to get through the thick metal structures right? You were able to break in through the thick outer walls of my chamber,’ said Mai.

  “That won’t be easy,” I answered. “I burned through the walls before with fluoroantimonic lemon juice but I’m almost out. Can I get through with normal hand tools?”

  ‘Ssshhh. Fluoroantimonic acid is one of the strongest acids in the world. You were lucky to have some on you. Normal tools won’t work,’ said Mai.

  “Okay. I guess I can’t see the library,” I said, bummed. The power of the Travelers intrigued me, especially the giant robots.

  ‘Sssshhh,’ Mai repeated, yet again, the hissing of her voice grated my ears and its frequent presence finally caused me to snap.

  “Cut it out. That’s the twenty-seventh time. I know I should be quiet. So you can stop-.”

  I was cut off by a loud deep shriek that sounded like a banshee going through a food processor.

  “Oh. Shit.”

  ‘Yes. Shit.’

  Mai took the form of a little, 8-year-old, girl with pigtails and a big toothy grin. ‘Told you,’ said mini-Mai in a childish high-pitched voice as she pretended to scamper off.

  “Why are you acting as if it’s just my fault?” I complained. “If you hadn’t been so annoying…”

  ‘Now’s not the time to argue,’ said Mai returning to normal. The sound of metal had steadily grown louder and was clearly coming from the hall to my left. I looked around hoping to find somewhere to hide but there was nothing.

  “Which way should I go?” I asked.

  ‘I wouldn’t go anywhere. You might accidentally run into more of them. Next thing you know you’re surrounded. At least here you have some options.’ Mai indicated all the passages.

  “Okay,” I
agreed. “I’ll wait and take a look. Which way is better if things do get hairy?”

  ‘Robots can’t get hairy.’ Mai pointed down one of the passages.

  I wound up my lamp as best I could and set it by the passageway the sound emanated from. Then I retreated and lied in wait under the cover of darkness as the groaning continued to grow louder.

  “What can you tell me about this thing?” I asked Mai with an odd mixture of fear and hope. The noise suggested the ancient automaton was enormous, but if it was as big as I feared, it also might not fit through the doorway.

  ‘There are too many models to say anything specific. Most of the robots are humanoid and carry a mix of melee and projectile weaponry. 10,000 years ago, they were extraordinarily fast. Some of them capable of going 50 to 60 miles per hour even in tight spaces,’ said Mai.

  “60 miles per hour, how the hell am I supposed to deal with that?” I said.

  Mai shrugged.

  Then it arrived. The limping metallic humanoid stood just over seven feet tall. In its hands were two heavily worn swords and in its shoulder pads were the remains of cannons. Fortunately, time had turned the cannons into Swiss cheese and they were in no way operable. The reason the robot had taken so long to arrive was also apparent. Its right knee was completely rusted forcing the automaton to drag its leg along the ground.

  ‘At least you won’t have to worry about it running?’ Mai commented.

  I kept back in the shadows as the robot entered the room. “Any specific weakness I should know about?” I whispered.

  ‘I’ll do you one better,’ Mai answered. ‘I’ll show you.’

  My vision subtly changed. Originally, the only unusual additions to my sight were a set of status bars in the top left corner indicating my health and stamina levels, but new things were added. Above the metal swordsman were another health bar and a line of text: Sentinel Model 888 Lvl 27. But that wasn’t all that had changed. Several of the robots joints and cracks in its armor glowed with an eerie red light.