Noble Farmer
By
A.W. Sheffield
Book One of Noressia
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my Wife, Stacey, for the countless hours you had to endure listening to my concepts, irrational schemes and just over all, me. Those few moments taken during your hectic days to acknowledge my ramblings and childish ways mean so much to me.
To the Pollock Editorial Service. Drea, you have been monumental and there is no amount of gratitude I could share with you for donating your free time to my story.
To my Parents, who were always there and told me to follow my dreams. As much as I know this isn’t you flavor of choice. I hope my written word might bring you a little bit of laughter, or make you wonder where you went wrong.
The Characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
References made to Artists, Songs or Games where in, are by reference only.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Epilogue
Special Thanks
Prologue
Identifying Patient...
Patient Identified...James Cory Corwell
Running Patient Diagnostics...
Age...28
Condition...Stable
Treatment Protocol...Body Regeneration
Body Regeneration Region...Left side
Region Site Listing...
...hip...joint...femur...knee...total left arm...total shoulder...restore nervous system...reverse muscle atrophy.
Patient Diagnostics...Complete
Current Status - In stasis…ready to connect to treatment server
Advance Learning Online World (ALOW) Content uploaded and permitted…
Syncing Avatar...
Age...3 Cycles / 21 Years of Age
Race...Nature Elf / Human Hybrid...failure to assign features...
ERROR...technician override needed, awaiting technician response…
Technician override...approved...Modification...Spectrum Elf accepted...
Assigning random features...compiling...
Compilation Complete…
Race upgrades...Not Applicable
Avatar Upgrades...Not Applicable - ERROR. One upgrade requires assignment... technician override input required...
Technician override...Accepted...Touched by Goddess...Defining…Saeya the Earth Goddess…Accepted
Starting Region...Atheria
Package...Nobleman
Compiling…ERROR
No House Vacancies...Assigning Vacant Land...Accepted
Enter Household Name...Persik...Searching...Accepted...Ancient Line
Restoring Lore...
Compiling...Avatar Accepted...Uploading...
Server Status Check...Server...Found...Initiating...Queue Sequence Triggered...
Nanobot Connectivity...98% GO
Neurobot Connectivity...42% NO GO…
ERROR...low connection will reduce players control over avatar...triggering reconnect...Accepted...Reboot of Neurobots….
Neurobot Connectivity… 91% GO...WARNING Player will have difficulty distinguishing the game from reality.
Warning deleted from records…Deleted.
Neurobot Connectivity Input Manually Altered by Technician...From 91% to 73%... Warning, Player will still have a 91% Connectivity Rating...Warning...Deleted by Technician. Records Deleted.
EGG POD Monitoring Systems check;
Life Support...In Place..Testing...Complete...Start Feeding and Breathing Tubes.
Waste Tubes Hook ups...In Place...Testing...Complete...Start Vacuums.
IV...In Place...Testing...Complete...Start Hydrational Drip.
Monitors...In Place...Testing...Complete...Results saved to Patient’s Hard Drive.
All Systems Go...Patient is ready for Cerebral Injection...Complete...System Diagnostic Results Saved to Patient’s Hard Drive.
Patient is ready for Treatment. Begin Treatment YES/NO
Yes...Treatment Commencing...Neurobot Technology Engaged.
Queue Sequence Complete
Ready for Cerebral Transfer to Server.
Initiating…
WELCOME TO ALOW!
Transference Complete.
Awaiting Additional Input…
He stood from the chair and stretched, the fifth client to be put under that day. He smiled when he looked over the text on this cell phone. This is my last client ever, too bad it was the only one I was willing to kill. He thought to himself, as he counted the one and eight zeros before the decimal point. His heart was thundering in his chest. What he was about to do was entirely illegal, but what did he care? He would be far away in another country this time tomorrow. He sat back down and prepared to screw with one life, only to make a better one for himself. He entered the death parameters very carefully. The death parameters would not kill the patient outright, but would put the patient at such a disadvantage, death would be a welcome escape. With a quick change to the patient’s stats, anyone would want to die when they started out like a newborn baby in the body of a twenty-year-old. Sucks to be you guy. You’re going to be the weakest shit head in the game. Nothing personal, just making sure you want to die.
Parameters Accepted...Uploading...Error. Do you wish to force Parameters? YES/NO
YES - Parameters Forced...Uploading. Complete.
Awaiting Additional Input...
System Close...Accepted.
As he stood from the chair once again, he calmly placed his lab coat on the hook by the door. “Sorry man, don’t know you, don’t care to,you have my thanks anyway. Enjoy Heaven or Hell, whatever.” With the words said, he left the laboratory for the last time. He took his time, saying good night to coworkers, all the while he knew he would never see them again. He was a big shot now, a multimillionaire. When he got to the elevator, he sent one text. DONE. Then he snapped the burner cell phone in half and pulled the battery. It was the easiest one hundred million he had ever made.
System Close...ERROR...Parameters do not meet Fail Safe Procedures. Awaiting Technician Override…
Technician Override Timed Out...Assigning Random Parameters to meet Safe Guards. Balancing Starting Stats...Life Experience Applied...Survivor Mode Initiated. Uploading…
Upload Complete. System Close. Have A Nice Day!
This was the last time he would ever have to drive this shitty sedan, being a Lab Tech was not all that it was cracked up to be. Not with student loans and the long hours. None of that mattered anymore, it was time to take a drive on easy street for the rest of his life. An Italian Sports car and model to fill his bed. He couldn’t wait.
As he clicked the unlock button on his key fob, two men exited the expensive German made car next to his. “Mr. Johnston, a pleasure. By your text, I see you took care of my brother?”
He smiled. “I did Mr. Corwell, everything will be as you requested. He will wish for death and I canceled the parameters to allow it to happen. Everything is taken care of.”
The smoothed back businessman shot him a practiced smile. “Glad to hear it, I presume you are hea
ded for the airport? Please, allow my driver to take you. I have also arranged for...a special guest to keep you busy on the way. Honey?” He extended his arm and a bombshell of a woman came out of the car. “If you would be so kind as to take care of Mr. Johnston, it is his last night in the country. Do be sure to make it memorable.”
“I most certainly will. Come with me cutie.” Before he knew it, she had his arm and was leading him toward the back seat of the expensive Mercedes.
“Enjoy, Mr. Johnston, and good luck to you.” Once the car drove away, the businessman turned to his associate. “He never leaves that car alive, you hear me?”
“How do you want it done boss?”
“Accident of course you fucking moron. Do I have to think of everything?”
“And the woman?”
“Collateral damage, I suppose. A shame really, I wanted to use her friend. The things she can do with her tongue…” The businessman shivered. “Make it fast, or slow, I don’t give a shit, but no one survives, you get me?”
“No problem boss.”
The businessman gazed at the fading tail lights of the Benz. “My last loose end. Finally.” He walked four cars over and got into the backseat of silver Mayback. He rolled down the window as the driver pulled out, “Oh and Hank, be sure not to contact me for a month. I am out of the country right now. I can trust you to get this done, right?”
“Yes boss.”
“There's a good man, do let Jenna know to cancel the wire transaction when you swing by the office tomorrow for your check. No point in giving a dead man a digital trail back to us, now is there?”
“You can count on me boss.” The window rolled up and Hank made a single call, “Goodbye Mr. Johnston.” He started to whistle as he got into the Tech’s car. He would leave it at a local hangout the man was known to frequent. Just another moron spending his money on an Escort and the driver just happened to run a red-light. “Such a shame, you weren’t a half bad Tech.”
Chapter One
The vision was strange, a memory from years past, yet a nightmare that I could not shake.
One moment I was in the post operation room, a hazy and clouded awakening from the anesthesia. Next, I was transported to the courtroom. My younger, nineteen-year-old self, stood alone at the defendant stand, awaiting sentencing for a crime I was incapable of committing.
The federal judge gazed down from his mile-high seat, his blazing brown eyes were fierce as they took in my sorry state. My hands shook nervously, my limp brown hair was plastered to my head from the perspiration that soaked into my orange jumpsuit. I was lean, pale, and any hope I had in life left me the second the federal jury called out their verdict. “Guilty, on all accounts.”
I knew this moment, like a person knew the back of their hands. It was the singular most important moment of my life up to this point. A life of loneliness, a life that some perceived pathetic, a life spent in the shadows of my overachieving siblings.
“I see you have foregone the counsel of your attorney, Mr. Corwell.” The judge’s voice reverberated off the cream walls of the room. “May I know the reason before you know your sentence?”
My voice was weak, full of fear and cracked like I had just started puberty. “I..ah, your honor, he didn’t even know my last name. He kept calling me Cornwall.” It was true, the defense attorney assigned to me by the court was a moron, spent more time on his phone than listening, and once the jury had given their verdict, I had fired him. Not because he lost, but because he did not care, I wished I had found my balls sooner, or at least called for another defense lawyer to take his place. But hindsight was twenty twenty.
“A fact I have also noted.” The judge’s eyes looked over me once more before looking at the prosecuting attorney, as if looking to be challenged. “I will make this simple for all who care, Mr. Corwell. I am giving you a choice, one not given to many, but one that may see your crimes expunged from your record.” Those dark orbs looked back at me, locking their cold gaze on to mine. “Your sentence as it stands now, is ten years in prison, parole possible after six, if you are a good boy.” He let the words sink in before he continued. “Or, military service.” This brought on a shout from the prosecuting attorney and the judge silenced him with a single glance. “A minimum of eight years, two thirds of your pay will be taken to help offset the pensions you stole from. The choice is yours, Mr. Corwell. Service to your country, or you can rot in prison with the other criminals.”
Once again, I was transported, this time to the post exchange parking lot. Not that I could afford a car with two thirds of my pay cut. But I had forgotten how nice of a day it had been, sunny with puffy clouds lazing across the sky. Springtime in Texas was so nice, right before the humidity set in and the temperature soared to hell.
There I was, walking through the parking lot towards the sidewalk, my thoughts deep in my future to come. Seven and a half years had flown by, and I was at the precipice of a decision of what to do next. My Retention Officer was hounding me day and night, desperately trying to get me to re-enlist, courtesy of my current Commanding Officer. I was her number one clerk, paper pusher extraordinaire. Major Courtney McClearen, was due for her own change of station and was trying everything in her immediate power to take me with her. It wasn’t that I didn’t like her or the army, I was somebody here, I kept my nose clean and my head down. Something not every soldier could get pounded into their thick skulls. But with my history, and the idea of a civilian life to be had, I was torn, to say the least.
I watched as I walked, my past self’s lean form built up with muscle and training. I walked with a purpose and normally had more situational awareness. My focus was on my thoughts and not the Lightweight Medium Tactical Vehicle that had just run the stop sign and bowled me over. My scream was cut short and I could see my ruined left side. Arm, leg, hip, all crushed because a fucktard had been looking at her cell phone and a moment’s lapse had cost me any future I might have had.
Two years of surgeries at Brooke Army Medical Center later, and I was no closer to having my shattered left side fixed. Fuck my life, was all I could think before I faded into the darkness, whether from shock or the anesthesiologist had hooked me up. I didn’t care anymore, I was an opioid fanatic now, my days spent in a blurring hazing of numbness, no thoughts, no desires, no future, no anything.
A pleasant heat radiated off my face, warming my skin from the apparent chill I had felt for the last three years. I awoke to find myself in a sea of tall grass, the towering stalks swayed in the light morning breeze. Lifting my hands to my face to rub the sleep from my eyes, it took a moment for my mind to register, but as I felt the skin of my left eyelid mash into my eye, I sat up in disbelief. “My hand! It works!” Not only that, there was no pain, my whole left side was healed, worked and didn’t even have a shadow of the emanating torment from before. Jumping to my feet, I did a dance of pure happiness as I spun, lunged, and even dropped on my hands and knees to do push-ups. It was stupid, I knew, but it was glorious, I was alive and it felt great.
“I see you haven’t wasted a moment in familiarizing yourself with your body.” His voice sounded familiar, like the one I had heard in a dream at some point. When my head snapped in his direction, I saw a man standing a few feet away from me. He was dressed in a black blazer, and matching slacks, but had a Captain America shirt on, complete with the shield. His hair was a mess of short black locks and he had dull blue eyes. Thin lips were held in a smug smirk and he grasped a tablet in his right hand.
“Come again?”
His voice was full of rich amusement as he squatted down. “Your body, how does it feel?”
“Good, I guess, like it should, why?” I was perplexed to say the least. “Who are you?”
He laughed while shaking his head. “Sorry bro, sometimes I forget that you were sauced to hell and back during our meetings. As to who I am, my name is Henry Williamston, your Player Coordinator.” He must have seen my perplexed expression for hi
s smirk faded into a gentle expression. “You are in ALOW, the Advance Learning Online World. Your body is being re...how to put this. Rebuilt, I should think. As we speak, nanobots are re-piecing your shattered limbs back together. Once they are finished, you will not only be able to walk, run, dance, hell, even play kick ball if that's your vice. Try out for an NFL team if you got the talent. You will be better than new, James. You have our promise on that.”
It was too much to process at the moment, and my head started to hurt with a pain that felt like someone was sticking a screwdriver through my ear. “You mean I am in the game...that game?!” I reached out from my position sprawled in the grassy field, and yanked a few pieces of the tall grass to examine, with my newfound knowledge, that it was not real!
“Oh yes, D&D, WOW, they all wished they had what ALOW does. Your brother, John, has informed us that you used to play World of Warcraft with him a long time ago, before it shut down. Think of this world like that game, only better, grander, and totally adult.” He winked at me. “Brothels in almost every decent sized village, hell you can even marry a girl if you want, or boy if that is your preference, or both. Polygamy is very much alive and well in this world. Some even find it worthwhile to marry and train up their spouses for their own personal parties. Grind mobs during the day and do an entirely different type of grinding at night, if you catch my drift.”
It was my turn to be amused, “You have got to be kidding me.”
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