Continue Online (Part 5, Together)

by Stephan Morse

  A brief explanation couldn’t possibly solve the mystery here in a few hours, despite all the foreknowledge provided by living as William Carver. I didn’t even think this place had been on any of the old man’s maps. Michelle must have set this place up alone some time back. Before I started playing at least. Getting the large cables set up took longer than I expected. Apparently their prior battles had knocked them all out of position. I looked down to see small grooves in the ground with metal conductive points every few feet.

  That also made no sense. I felt as though this entire thing was a circuit board, but not one I knew. Well, they were a little familiar. I didn’t know where from though.

  “Do you hear that?” someone asked.

  My ears perked up as a distant sound worried me. I had heard something, which only grew clearer. We all stood still for a moment while straining to hear.

  “Goddamn this event! What bullshit are they throwing at us now?” Xee shouted. She kicked at the ground and pulled out two clunky-looking swords. One was driven into the ground while the other came to her hand.

  The odd noise grew into a droning sound. Hundreds of small critters poured over the walls. I knew that sound, and my neck tensed and my skin crawled as a result.

  “Spiders?” I asked while looking around.

  The patter of heavy rain made it hard to hear anything beyond bolts of lightning sliding off the haywire dome.

  Dwight put on his helmet. Xee and her crew were buckling down behind half-broken barricades. Even TockDoc had stopped his wire movement to get ready. He started setting items that crackled with electricity onto the ground.

  “No. They’re World Eaters. Look at them,” Xin said next to me.

  “World Eater spiders,” I ground the words through clenched teeth.

  I fucking hated spiders more than anything else in this stupid game. Ever since those first ones had made me gain a [Soiled] status, every bug had become fair game.

  Xin made a small barfing sound in the back of her throat. She got over it quickly, then lifted the staff crosswise in front of her. Lights flashed on the black robe as white bits of bone appeared in the air all around.

  “I hate spiders!” I shouted, then charged.

  [Awareness Heightening] kicked in, along with a number of other effects tied to my bug hatred. [Morrigu’s Echo], one of my two shapeshifting weapons, turned into a large three-pronged trident. It soared through the air and stabbed into three of the spiders before I had even registered what was happening. My distaste for all beings squirmy had reached a level of instinctual destruction.

  Xin’s white bone bolts shot off a moment later and riddled the next row. Other spells and abilities triggered too but were far less effective. The horde of shadowy spiders barely slowed, and rain kept pouring down.

  I [Blink]ed into the middle and swung [Morrigu’s Gift] in a large flat circle. Bugs splatted against the sword’s flat edge as if I had hit a homerun. The edge of Xin’s skeletons could be seen charging in. A pack of the bugs mobbed them, and I switched targets to the new formation and bunched my legs. I bounced off one of the remaining wall ruins to get added height. It wasn’t Shazam’s level, but I’d worked hard to learn.

  Midair, I turned. [Awareness Heightening] kept the world moving nice and slow. Xin also enjoyed the shared buff. Small bone shards endlessly flew out like white bullets of death into the front row.

  [Breath of Flame] caused my neck to bulge. Two small balls of fire pelted in rapid succession into a nasty shadow arachnid’s back. It screeched and twitched exactly how any other large spider would. The fire spread and caught a few more aflame.

  A dozen of them landed on me. Their terrible little limbs made me freak out and ram into the nearest wall, squishing two. Bugs drove most sane thought from my mind. Two of Xin’s bone missiles pelted one of the shadow beasts. A bolt of lightning hit another.

  People were shouting out contradicting orders. Dwight and Xee’s guild members were mostly useless. Calamity at least was hacking her way through bugs. A few could be seen chewing on building parts and trying to get to TockDoc. He huddled under a small field of electricity that fried them like a bug zapper.

  They bite back!

  Total health loss: 20%

  One foot stomped down and twisted to activate [Power Armor]. My mind bent in focus to limit the skill to only one body part, a new trick I had picked up during my honeymoon. Armor flashed into being upon my forearm, and I punched one of the spiders. Two more skittered across my body. One foot went up to squish another crawling by while I swiped the air again with [Morrigu’s Gift].

  My course took me to the skeleton that had also been mobbed. It stood calmly as spiders waved their stupid gross pincers and tried to chew away at it. I flipped [Morrigu’s Gift] into a giant hammer, then brought it down. Xin’s skeleton vanished, recalled at the perfect time to leave me with a free-falling clump of soon-to-be-paste bugs.

  I squished them and moved onward. Moments later, Xin had formed all three skeletons into a giant one. It cleaved entire swaths at a time while I [Blink]ed around, taking glee in landing upon spiders with my heavy metal boots. [Power Armor]’s increased skill was super neat.

  We fought off the small mob of bugs for a rapid-fire five minutes. I went longer than needed, making sure every single enemy had been ground into dust. Absurdly large hammers sat in either hand. They were unwieldy, but awesome when the need to squish bugs arrived.

  “Clear!” Xee shouted.

  The confirmation rang up from others. Xin stepped up and leaned heavily upon the staff. Her skeleton monster crumbled one chunk at a time as the runes putting it together were recalled. In real life, she had been the one with tons of energy, but here in the digital world, my avatar surpassed hers.

  Maybe casting spells took a lot of energy. My throat felt rough from all those balls of fire. I’d thrown a lot more than two by the time I wrapped up. Being Rank Three on that stupid ability hadn’t done much to make barfing up fire feel less awkward.

  A block away, Dwight’s prone form lay covered by a building wall. His armor was dented awkwardly under the pressure of poorly made bricks. One of Xin’s skeletons worked to heft debris and uncover the man. Xee was missing an arm and sobbed in a corner.

  Losing a limb hurt like hell in this game. While the pain paled in comparison to real life, most people didn’t enjoy any suffering. There was a reason most people stayed craftsman or chose not to get involved with battle.

  The world simply offered too many personal challenges, chances to grow, and most of all, time. No other game in an ARC even remotely came close to Continue Online’s time compression. Not Advance or Progression.

  TockDoc knelt next to a body ten feet away and pressed metal paddles against the other figure’s chest. “Clear!”

  The paddles jolted. The Traveler’s body jerked twice as smaller bolts of electricity caused a seizure. It failed, and the player remained in a deceased status. Maybe someone from Awesome’s group would be able to help. Assuming our actions had helped any of them survive. I looked up to see what was going on.

  Now that the arcs of purple had died down, or been drained toward destinations unknown, people were running out of the dome a half mile away. Their bodies were a blur in the still stormy weather. A simple-looking man led the way out. He assisted a limping male I didn’t recognize. They swiftly descended toward the town. That had to be Awesome and his party. If it wasn’t, they were Travelers and could help when properly bribed by a timely system notice.

  “We’re down here!” I waved.

  Their lead person motioned back, and I stopped my exaggerated gesture. [Brawn] allowed me to lift more rocks back into place and try to shore up the walls. I expected us to need them once again.

  “Did they get the wires?” I asked anyone within earshot. [Healing] wasn’t one of my player skills, so I left the [Bandaging] to professionals.

  “They ignore them. Every single World Eater to come through, of any kind, destroys the town and us
Travelers, but ignores the wires.” Calamity hefted rocks nearby, clearing the large bulky cords as I did. Her face was covered with bites, and blood dripped everywhere. Only her multicolored hair still stood out.

  I looked across part of the ruined building toward Xin. She nodded. We were on to something. William Carver’s weapon was much the same. Regardless of which variant of [World Eater] we came across, their digital destruction ability didn’t function upon the important item. The cables were made of a different material or untargeted by [World Eater]s. Perhaps they were a separate type of code, but how that was possible was beyond me.

  Either way, those wires were the key to finding Michelle’s key, whatever shape it may take.

  Awesome walked closer. With him were five of his guild members. I trusted Awesome Jr., so his father was likely a decent enough guy.

  He said, “You must be Hermes.”

  “I am. You must be the father I keep hearing about from Awesome Jr.”

  “God. Is he still doing that thing every time someone says awesome?” Awesome’s cheeks tightened up as he spoke.

  “‘Awesome is my father’?” Xin and I said in unison.

  I looked around, half expecting HotPants to materialize out of nowhere and hit us both on the head.

  “But yeah, I’m his dad. We don’t get to play much together, but he’s kept me up to date during dinner,” Awesome said.

  His voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Almost like a television anchor or someone who gave speeches regularly. He looked worn but managed to have a deep voice and clear enunciation.

  I tilted my head briefly and tried to wipe the leftover bits of dead shadow monsters from my toga. Thank goodness I wore black. “So you know what I’m doing here?”

  “And about this whole event?” He looked around at his guild members and the Travelers who owned this town. One cheek pulled back in a tight frown, then he said, “Yeah, I’m probably one of the few. But we shouldn’t talk about it while we have viewership. Needless to say, the cause we’re both working for is part of how we”—he gestured to the small gathering—“ended up here.”

  “Okay.” That made life a lot easier. Trying to explain this insanity to anyone not in the know felt both dangerous and crazy. If I spouted off too much, unfriendly robots would show up at my home with a straitjacket.

  “Looks like whatever you did worked—for now,” Awesome said.

  I saw a lot of Jr. in his father. They had the same expressions and way of speaking. Their main differences were age and a lack of the barf-green cloak.

  “It wasn’t my idea. The people here know how to reset the encounter.” I looked away for a moment, then found his hazel eyes once again. “Anyone dead?”

  “No one we can recover. There’s no resurrecting from a third strike.” Awesome shook his head. “That makes twenty-four we’ve lost since this event started. It’s a shame. Most of our guild wasn’t even together when things went south. There are people I may not be able to thank in real life for their hard work.”

  There were other familiar faces in the crowd of Awesome’s guild. Behind him was a much slower and more exhausted SheHulk. She wore heavy-looking armor and a tower shield that was taller than her. Next to the shorter Hispanic woman stood a tall blonde named TinkerHell. TinkerHell smiled, then waved in my direction, which earned me a glare from Xin. Elane, or SheHulk, said absolutely nothing and ignored me. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad, but it was definitely awkward. Elane and I had failed to start a relationship after I wouldn’t shut up about my then-deceased fiancée.

  Only now Xin wasn’t deceased. What would that cause the small woman, who was prone to violent outbursts, to do? I shook my head and put the worry out of mind for now.

  My breath was heavy, and I felt dirty. All those bugs and stupid spiders made my skin crawl. One of Xee’s people said we should be clear from [World Eater]s for the moment, but I was too grossed out by what had happened to really hear the words. The Traveler implied they only attacked when people tried to drain the boss encounter’s energies.

  “I think this is a good stopping point for me tonight. I’ve got work in the morning,” I said. Plus, I needed time to think about what we had learned.

  “Yeah. I’m on the east coast, so it’s way past bedtime. Real life keeps screwing up the game one.” Awesome looked at the rest of his small guild. He spoke while typing out a message. “Set your autopilots toward building defenses. Those with specialties or crafting should split their time. Anyone below raid ready should take a break. I’ll see you all tomorrow afternoon.”

  The scene was quiet enough for now. We were at a good stopping point. I needed rest, food, and to stretch. Real-life needs could be postponed but never put off completely. I gave Xin a kiss. She smiled but otherwise said nothing. Dusk sniffed along the broken ruins of traps. He should be able to keep her safe if the woman kept playing here.

  I logged out, got out of the ARC, and stretched, feeling the ache of playing hit me hard. My days inside Continue Online’s universe were often limited due to having to deliver letters. Part of me wanted to log in forever and keep sleeping inside the machine, but that wouldn’t feed me. Plus, my mother, Sharee, had left an audio message.

  We didn’t talk nearly enough since Dad passed away. One day hardly made up for my mental absence. Even in the wake of Xin and me getting married, Sharee remained distant. Almost like a cousin twice removed rather than a parent. Maybe the problem fell on me. I pressed play, and audio followed me around the house.

  “Hey. I… wanted to see how you were doing.” Her voice was halting. “Liz and I have been… well we’ve been watching this adventure thing. She says you get points or something if we watch? I hope it’s helping.”

  I smiled while figuring out food and water.

  “I wanted to tell you to be careful. The Legate men, well, they’ve always had weak hearts… in more ways than one. Your father, he tried hard to cover it up, but I used to catch him sometimes.” She took a shuddering breath. In the background, papers crinkled. “War did that, you know? Some guys didn’t come back the same. And I see you fighting, and part of me can’t help but think it’s a game. But it’s not, is it? I don’t think Liz or Beth really get it.”

  I had the urge to call Sharee and let her know everything would be all right. Mother, the first AI who had created Continue online, had promised. The pain of what might come didn’t scare me anymore. Not after Xin’s passing the first time. I wouldn’t lose her this time either. Somehow she would be alive—maybe out of reach and my life, but her body wouldn’t come home in a stupid tiny breadbox.

  “You remind me a lot of him before you were born. Before he went away.” She took another breath and tried to finish up her ramble. “I see that same look in your eyes. Like, you know something’s going to happen. Just… if something does happen, call me or your sister. God knows you two never really relied on anyone else while growing up. Your father and I, we tried to… I don’t know what I’m saying. Just call if you need help. Please.”

  The message ended there. I sat in my front room at the one small table available and nodded, mostly to myself. My food and water were already half gone, and basic bathroom needs solved.

  I had other reasons to visit reality, and I prepared to work on this one. At my side sat a journal where I was writing down my moments together with Xin. Each night I tried to find time to put archaic pen and paper together in order to record our recent adventures.

  It felt weird to be so calm about what might happen, but if Xin would be gone, I needed memories outside of the ARC. Something more personal than barely meaningful pictures on a social media site. Something to hold me together while I imagined her living in a better world. Free of Earth’s growing paranoia about AIs and oppressive shackles that even now deleted entire lives.

  Two drops of liquid slipped down my face, then more rapidly followed. I closed my eyes and tried to steady myself.

  “Huh,” I said, abruptly feeling the lack
of real sleep wash over me. “Weak hearts indeed.”

  Session Ninety-Three

  His Father is Awesome

  Sleep hadn’t come, so today’s work was canceled. Instead, I logged into the ARC to at least feel useful. Xin and I huddled on the third story of a ruined inn. I held up a large umbrella to block some rain. An overhang of the damaged building handled the rest.

  Rocks around us threatened to tumble. Travelers below were moving objects according to the directions of what few guild members remained online. From what I gathered, they had placed traps and tried to remove hiding spaces.

  “I’ve been trying to find the words for this, to explain it and not sound crazy,” Xin said quietly.

  I knew exactly what she meant, but I didn’t want to speak. Exhaustion from the real world, both physical and mental, laced my digital avatar. Plus, holding her was very comfortable. We didn’t need to talk if she didn’t want to.

  “I remember the train crash,” she said, barely getting the words out. I slowly rubbed up and down her goose-bump-riddled arm. “I remember dying. The sudden impact, a twist of metal, then my face being scraped to pieces.”

  The idea of all those bits of hurt happening to Xin drained me of warmth. What remained was the weight of her body pressed against mine while I tried to process. My wife waited for a response, but there were no perfect words to soothe her.

  I tried anyway. “You told me, in your first letter. I can’t imagine how terrible it must be to remember your own death.”

  She nodded against my chest, then pushed her hair back behind her ear. My lie went unremarked upon. Of course I knew what her death could be like. My own brushes with cessation made understanding far easier than most probably realized. The memory of sharp pain in my neck as I dug into bone and flesh still made me sweat. That kind of damage should have killed me, but medical science refused to let death claim anyone so easily.

  “It got worse after I died.” She swallowed, and I could feel her body press closer to mine. “I kept waking up to the same scene over and over, like a nightmare stuck on repeat, and in the end, I would fall into a million pieces, then start over. Can you imagine that?”