by Ed White
I’m no prude or whatever, but I’ve never done DMT or LSD, so I’ve no direct experiences with the psychedelic trip. What I do have are stories told to me by Jonesy and his friends, who’ve experimented with just about anything. Jonesy, who served as a police officer—no comment. Paul was never the same, that’s for sure—in college, he had a very bad trip.
I’m also cursed with a damaged neurological system, starting with my second brain—the enteric system of my intestines and the reason I am dying IRL. Something related to my interface with Lenscape, despite Julia’s assurances of healing and treatment, might be the cause of all of these anomalies and perhaps my “abilities”.
“David?”
I turn to her. “Sorry. Maybe the Boss isn’t a hacker, maybe a player, but the thing we have to focus on is returning to the game proper. Learning what this place is might help, but guessing won’t.”
Lisa nods and raises her palms. “So what do we do?”
I take in the crimson mantle of the sky. That red glow is freakin’ calling to me.
I point in its direction. “You can’t see it, but there’s a strong red glow in that direction. It’s probably the next sedes for me to collect, but maybe a way out if I can see it here.”
I don’t mention the possibility of the glow being the current location of the red Battle Avatar, Captain Arrogant Mc. Stalem. I mean, anything is possible at this point.
Lisa taps her lips. “I’m not sure how I get out of here with you, but I’ve no idea how I got here either. Let’s go for it. I trust you.”
She said she’d be with me and damn well true to her word, here she is. Whatever the outcome, my time is short without neurological treatment, if I can’t...live in the game.
Oh shit.
Turning to Lisa I grip her shoulder. “Wait, game logic. Let’s think about the rules that govern the game. What genre is this?” I spread my arms.
Lisa frowns. “I don’t know if there is one. Apocalyptic? No, it’s science fantasy, sorta like Star Wars. A lot of eastern fantasy concepts? It allows fans of each to choose a path to follow and experience different aspects of Lenscape. We cultivate our abilities and ascend to higher ranks until we qualify to become battle avatars.”
“Okay, fine. So what purpose does this place serve?”
Lisa shrugs, glancing at the skinwalker.
I keep an eye on the skinwalker. The creature is…out of it, spaced out—a logical state given the nature of the Grey Zone. The longer we stay here, we become like the skinwalker, like Wilds Wraiths—grey—we lose all sense of self.
“Maybe this is a functional limbo, an inventory for souls. Think about it. Where do the unclaimed soul boxes go? Are we assigned a new one when we respawn?”
Lisa interrupts. “No, the soul box is reincorporated when we start over. That’s how we gain XP, I see our soul box as a bank. We bank experience, the truest currency of the game. And ley crystals are the essence, the true core of the mobs we defeat.”
I nod, repeating a recurring thought. “It’s all about the souls.”
Lisa frowns. “What are you saying? If this is an inventory, the only way to return to our bodies is for someone to equip us?”
I point to the crimson horizon. “Maybe, but let’s find out what the red glow is.”
***
Losing our color the longer we remain in the Grey Zone, we continue on through the endless waste. We risk losing all sense of ourselves and the desire to escape.
“David, maybe you weren’t able to enter Fast Travel because you aren’t recognized as a player while inside the skinwalker body.”
“Oh, I’m a playuh.” I grin and wiggle my eyebrows.
She pats my shoulder. “Sure you are. I’m being serious.”
“I know, I know and I appreciate it. The Fast Travel snub occurred to me too, but it doesn’t explain how I, and especially you, got here.”
The faint green aura of the sedes reappears, rippling like a fine mist over my body. We consider it for a moment before I press on with my theory.
“Think about this, Lisa. There are non-player characters, but what if those ghost players or grey shades and Wilds Wraiths are TPCs?”
Lisa scrunches up her nose. “TPC?”
“Yeah, ‘trapped player characters’?”
“No!” Lisa shakes her head. “How would that happen, people are logged in…oh.”
We share a knowing look.
“Right, what exactly are Dream Walkers?” I raise my eyebrows.
Lisa rubs her chin. “The international law under consideration at the United Nations about Dream Walkers addresses the performance of menial tasks across a whole bunch of industries.”
“Right, so while we play the game our bodies are controlled by what, the same sort of AI that runs the NPCs?”
Lisa shrugs. “Is there a central server?”
She’s right. “I don’t know much about computers, but my dad does. Maybe I should’ve said the same software that runs the NPCs.”
Lisa nods and squeezes my arm. “Yeah, I can see that being the case.”
Her hand comes away from me in a gossamer trail of green mist.
“Oh!”
I laugh at her expression and immediately think of what rude remarks Jonesy might make. Shaking off the intense memories of Jonesy, I look at my own hand, sheathed in the green aura of my first sedes. From my vantage, the aura has settled from flames to a soft glow, mist-like around my body. The fine mist clings to Lisa’s hand even as she rubs her fingers with her other hand. Perhaps a lingering, passive or active effect of the sedes protects me.
“Maybe if we continue talking to each other, about each other, we won’t forget who we are,” I say.
Maybe we only risk getting lost in each other.
Lisa grins, fascinated by the jade mist around her hand. She looks up. “Well, I like long walks on the beach, and this is a long walk. It’s a date.”
***
From all-consuming grey, we walk under an oppressive crimson twilight. The crunch of crystals beneath our feet has become a constant, the deeper into the red zone we’ve come. The sky and landscape a dark bloody black-red and I can’t help but associate the entryway into the Grey Zone with our surroundings.
“Well, this place is creepy.”
Lisa turns her hands over, her body aglow in the shared aura of my green sedes. “Oh, I don’t know. I’m getting a Christmas vibe.”
Green and red, she’s a riot. I roll my eyes. “Please, you can’t see the red light.”
“Sorry, you’re right, I still don’t see it, the red,” Lisa giggles. It lessens the sense of dread. I don’t know why such a weight presses down on me. I’m discriminating against the color red.
Larger crystal shards, jagged and shattered, claw at the sullen sky. Maybe that’s why I’m ready to shit my pants in a place where we can’t take a crap. It’s funny, one universal constant—we all have an asshole—doesn’t apply here.
That’s not entirely true—we do have Malcolm.
Lisa turns around in a full circle. “Do you see the next sedes?”
“No, I think if it is here, it’s underground like in the Wilds. Maybe to acquire it the red sedes takes you back to the playable world.”
Lisa smirks. “That’s a big if. There’s no guarantee this is even part of the game and all I see is the same grey everywhere, dark but for the milky grey of the sky and shattered crystals.” She pauses. “Oh wait, I see Jonesy.”
***
“It’s not safe! We have to get the hell out of here!” Jonesy lunges at me and I can’t help but flinch, backing away from his outstretched, clutching hands. His hands are clawed, his eyes wild.
“Jonesy, where are Kona and the others?”
Jonesy ignores or doesn’t hear Lisa, as he stumbles toward me, focused and maniacal, not at all like he was before. “It’s not safe, not safe!”
“How did Jonesy get here?”
“I don’t know, he wasn’t like this before.”
Lisa throws her arms up. “Before? What do you mean?”
“The last time I was in this place, before my vision in the hedge maze, I saw Jonesy.”
“If he’s been here this long why hasn’t he forgotten himself?”
This time I throw my hands up in frustration as Jonesy draws closer. “Maybe he has. I don’t know!”
Before either of us can say another word, my guts are pulled into my throat and I’m gasping for air, blinded by light and choking on the stench of rotting vegetation.
The Wilds.
Remy.
Our masked mystery stands over us, his cloak billowing in the breeze. How he tolerates it in this heat is anyone’s guess. A further mystery. He lowers his baton.
I sit bolt upright. “Jonesy! Where is he?” I swing my head around, only seeing Lisa, the undergrowth and the skinwalker body.
I’m back in my own avatar, my body is my own.
Lisa holds her hands to her chest and neck. “Oh, man! Remy, what happened?”
Remy pumps his hands. “I only have one answer to all that. Malcolm found Jonesy and the others in Haven. They’re at the inn.”
Lisa jumps up, unsteady, she almost falls over. Righting herself, she points behind her, cursing when she realizes there’s no way to point to the Grey Zone. “What? We just saw him.”
Remy jerks his head back in confusion, his expression hidden by his mask and hood. “While you were laying there on the ground?”
Lisa scoffs. “No, in some sort of freakish limbo.”
Addressing Lisa, Remy points at me. “You having weird visions like Greywaters?”
Lisa huffs with her arms crossed tightly across her chest.
I raise my hand. “What did you just do, Remy? How’d Lisa and I get back into our bodies?”
Remy pauses a bit too long.
Lisa steps to Remy. “Did you use the God and Ghost Exchange on us?”
Did he? The Exchange would pull our mana back into our bodies, “following” the connection to us in the Grey Zone, pulling on the cord, drawing us back to our bodies. But how did I return to my proper body? I wasn’t in my game avatar.
Remy waves his hand. “Let’s discuss this later, at the Wilds Edge, later.”
Lisa pouts, and I’m inclined to speak with her privately on the matter. I like it, I prefer it. Our journey bonded us—literally—as the heart sedes blazed its green mana around Lisa, protecting her from the debilitating oblivion of the Grey Zone.
My eyes wander to the empty husk of the skinwalker body and our alternate fate—oblivion.
Lisa turns. “I’m not going without you this time, David. Go on, Fast Travel.”
And I do.
Chapter Twenty-two
The soaring buildings of Haven scratch at the sky as we shunt in from Fast Travel, our feet skipping along the enormous flagstones at the sudden deceleration. Numerous adventurers are returning, delayed by the failure of Fast Travel, many look as tired and ragged as we do. Everyone is complaining, Fast Travel is one direction only—back to Haven.
The punches of air continue and my ears adjust to the murmur of thousands of PCs and NPCs alike, milling about the area of the Grand Gate. Whether traveling to the Realms or into the Wilds, we all disembark at the vast grounds around the Grand Gate. Parade grounds, you might say, and with the limitations set on Fast Travel, everyone is returning here. Thousands of players.
We’ve precious few days left in this hopeless search for hackers.
A system-wide game notice fills my vision.
The Way of the Walk [Fast Travel] will be unavailable until further notice.
Cries of protest and curses rise from the crowd and my stomach joins in with a large gargle. The usual reaction after a bout of anxiety. Despite the few fruits eaten before the Chol attacked, I’m starving—we all are, so Lisa, Remy and I head to the Wilds Edge Inn to order food and baths.
The walk through the broad streets is a long one from the center of Haven to its outskirts, a haze of faces, stalls and items forgotten before the street-side entrance to the Wilds Edge Inn looms overhead.
Adventurers mill outside the enormous building, a disorganized line gathered like those at a popular club or movie premier. The red dome and the many forced respawns at Haven as a result of the failure of Fast Travel, are the main subjects of conversation. The instance tore up another large section of the Wilds, with Battle Avatars witnessed by surviving settlement builders in the area of the attack.
Message boards and chats are blowing up with rumors and theories, but I’m too tired to read up on it all. Most players believe hackers are flaunting themselves. Few players are jumping ship, but there are many complaints about lost or unassigned XP. Truth is, no other game can match Lenscape—the technology is too far advanced. If you want to experience another reality, you have mushrooms or Lenscape.
Once inside the inn, we claim our rooms, thankful to Jonesy for holding them. No matter where he goes, his experience in the hotel and restaurant industry always comes up. Without much said about the attack or my part in dragging us through the territory of the Chol on our way to the Game Instance, Jonesy greets us in the main tavern hall.
“Alright, I spoke to the owner, if we pair up in our rooms, we can sell back the other half for a pretty penny. Rooms are at a premium across the quarter after the issues with Fast Travel. We split the gold on the sale of the rooms.”
Too tired to discuss it, we agree. Jonesy winks at me. I’m paired with Lisa, of course. Kona and Mal are together already, Remy in Granger’s room, and Paul with Jonesy. We head upstairs.
Ex is waiting for me as Lisa and I enter.
Lisa squeezes my arm. “I’m locking down that bath for us.”
Ex’s and my eyebrows shoot up. “Us?”
“Sure.” She pulls at her muddied, filthy shirt. “This isn’t my real body.” She turns and closes the door. Ex and I share a moment of awkward silence.
“Prude,” Ex says.
“Shut up. And where have you been?”
Ex laughs. “Wanted an audience did you? Imps do not fight, lad.”
Sigh. “I think I found the second sedes, just like you said. Why haven’t you told me what’s next? Do you have any info on a master artificer?”
“Wouldn’t have told you if I didn’t. As I said, imps don’t fight, they provide players with useful information.”
“And do all of you have such…active personalities?”
He gives me the Spock eyebrow. “To lack a personality would be no better than your user interface and an index, lad.”
A knock at the door interrupts us. “I thought you didn’t mind the nudity, Lisa, come in, I’ve not had a chance to get ready to bathe.”
“What’s with you and baths Mr. Grey?” Oh shit, it’s Julia. She enters the room in the same female avatar as before—a staff member of the Wilds Edge.
I throw up my hands. “Where the hell have you been?”
“Excuse me? You report to us Mr. Grey. I am not at your beck and call.”
“You know about the instance today?”
She grunts. “Obviously. I’m here to discuss it and your disappearance.”
I’m shocked. “What?”
“At the time of the instance, you and Miss Cline disappeared.”
Crap, I’m talking about dating Lisa and I didn’t know her last name.
“Where did you go? You were not recorded at the instance.”
I’m taken aback. “The instance? You thought we had something to do with that? That’s crazy. You ever thought the system errors might be the cause?”
“Possibly.”
We hear Lisa talking before she enters the room. “Everything is ready…”
I scramble to collect some sheets and a tray and push them at Julia as Lisa enters.
“Thank you, we’ll, uh, skip the turndown service, but if we could have some ale brought up while we go to the baths…”
Julia pinches her eyes and nods, stepping around Lisa and out
the door. Lisa smiles at her and turns back to me. “You ready?” She’s wrapped in a towel, with sandals on her feet. Her eyebrow arched, she waits.
“Uh, should I get undressed first?”
“Okay.” She waits, not understanding my question.
I fiddle with my buttons.
With a giggle, she rests her hand on her chest. “These aren’t our bodies, David.”
I gesture down my body with both hands. “But I do look like this, just leaner.”
“You mean, you’re skinny.”
“Yeah, sure, I guess so.”
She grabs my arm and drags me from the room. “It doesn’t matter what we look like.”
“Actually, I agree, but if Jonesy had the hots for you, I’m sure you’re a good-looking lady.”
She comes to an abrupt stop, turning as I collide with her, the softness of her against me, and her face to mine. “So I’m going to judge you because you’re not some Olympic athlete?”
“Uh…” I stutter.
“And those eyes of yours?”
I shake my head. “Will be on your face. I won’t look down.”
She laughs. “No, silly, are they your real eye color?”
Not the question I’d expected. “Yes.”
“Interesting.”
Pulling me along, we continue into the bath set aside for us and I’m struck by the scent of lavender and the thick aroma of meat, stew, and something like brandy or scotch. Damn, girl. She chose not to wait for our first date. I suppose by this point, it’s far from our first.
***
Relaxed in the large marble bath, Lisa reclines with her head back as I run water over her hair, rinsing out the lathered soap. The water runs to the floor drain, cool against my bare feet, and the strong scent of lavender easing the pangs of hunger which is causing me to salivate at the sweet and savory spices of our dinner. I find my eyes continue to wander down to Lisa’s breasts, half submerged below the surface of the bath water, slick with suds, stirring entirely different cravings within me.