Continue Online (Part 5, Together)

by Stephan Morse

  “We were not born brothers. We became them. I thank you for that gift,” Wraith said.

  Focusing grew increasingly hard. My heartbeat raced. A dull thudding in my ears drowned out most other noises. I could barely make out the demon’s rumbling voice. The dirt around us crackled slower. I had no goddamn clue how to get out of this besides more running.

  I took time to undo my belt. My weapons were still enclosed correctly. They were slid to one side while the binding wrapped around Xin. I managed to get ahold of player inventory long enough to pull out rope and tie us together. This was not how I wanted to be next to my wife, but she could argue later.

  Wraith stared at the half-broken land bridge behind us. His eyes glowed and steam hissed out of his nose. Rain drops hit his exposed shoulders, further obscuring the area. My sight followed his. Our minute of peace would end soon. An army of creatures were pouring across the land bridge, and this island showed no signs of finding another to collide with.

  “If you survive to meet the Voice of Lust again, tell her I would have visited upon her a night to remember. Can you do that for me, brother?” he said.

  “What are you doing?” My eyebrows wrinkled together as I stood. Xin’s body felt heavy, and my knees hurt. Our new position freed up one arm, but I used the other to keep hold of her in case the rope failed.

  “It’s simple. One of us must stand here so that the other can escape. You are my younger brother; it is my duty.”

  “No.” My head shook quickly. I had no idea how else to respond to that statement. For a demon, he was amazingly chivalrous. But I didn’t like the idea of NPCs, any of them, dying for me. It had happened with Treasure and Jeeves and nearly broken me. I had no more uses for [NPC Conspiracy] left, and I doubted they could help much at this stage anyway.

  “Go.” He waved at me with one giant paw. “Go, brother!”

  I had seen horror movies where a horde of creatures attacked the protagonists. This looked like one of those zombie nightmares, only instead of half-rotted creatures in various states of decay chattering at people, we had a wall of hazy-looking people that would delete our virtual existences.

  It terrified me. I glanced backward to try to gauge the distance to that far dock. It was easily a mile across freezing waters. The ARC feedback would probably drown me well before that, even with double [Blink]s. I looked at Wraith.

  I rambled as we shuffled backward. “You have to survive! Trust me, Mezo will happily take you up on your offer, but only if you survive!”

  I started chanting again, staring up as the words spilled out. [Mechanical Hades Crown] had enough souls for two more [Empowerments], and if Wraith was going to stand his ground, I planned on giving him both. “Mechanical God of the Underworld, lend me your ear! Gathered are these forgotten souls. Grant me leave to release them to a final task before crossing the veil! Empower my brother, Wraith!”

  Bolts spun out of the crown and brightened the entire area. The essence, or whatever it truly was that made this ability work, looked reluctant to enter Wraith. His face glowed, and the normal happiness inside my head was almost surprised.

  They circled, then slammed into Wraith. He bent over as if in pain. Then cracks formed along his legs. Slowly, red glowed out from between the black portions. His leg size increased rapidly, along with the rest of Wraith’s body. The demon became a giant of lava and shadow. The horns on his head curled into wicked points, and even the broken stump glowed fiercely.

  “Hahaha, haha!” Wraith sounded half mad with delight.

  The vibration of his amused rumble made Xin groan. I felt that weird sensation of happiness crawl across my body, and goose bumps surfaced everywhere.

  The huge demon leapt across the crumbling bridge in two agile bounds. His arm grabbed onto the ledge and brought it down. Our path back to Yates’s island no longer existed, not that I intended to go back. Wraith lifted his arms and curled claws into the oncoming horde.

  My eyebrows tightened together. A hundred thoughts raced through my brain, questioning which course of action might be best. Could I have empowered myself? Or our [Blink] abilities? Maybe I could have hit Dusk again to make him even larger. I chanted the spell again, softer this time. Wraith would need it.

  He curled again and grew even larger. His body was easily on par with the first [World Eater] I had fought, but nowhere near the size of one in the distance. Still, we had very few options. I hoped the [Empowerment] would last him long enough to fight back those monsters, then escape.

  “You. Shall. Not. Pass!” he screamed across the way.

  I almost laughed but couldn’t quite bring myself to let his happiness infect me to such a degree.

  “Go!” he turned and yelled in my direction. Lava spilled outward as his huge form rumbled the words. “Fly, you fool!”

  My head shook, but I turned and started running. Behind me, the sound of crashing could be heard. I ignored the heavy feeling and tried to pretend it was only the weight of Xin’s body tied to mine. Dusk soared out in the distance somewhere.

  “Help Wraith!” I shouted, in hopes that he could hit and run against a few of the monsters. How long could a powerful demon of this world last against an endless horde of creatures able to delete programs?

  In half a minute’s time, I stood at the island’s edge. Wraith’s form faded in and out on the prior island. The cracks that had been rapidly forming slowed their destruction as the demon fought. [World Eater]s poured out, only they focused on the giant made of fire and ash.

  I spun around, looking for an escape route. Wraith’s body blazed in the distance. His heat reached me even this far away. Xin hung limply despite my attempt to rouse her into consciousness. Dusk performed a strafing run upon beasts hounding the demon, but it amounted to almost nothing. Little creatures were climbing Wraith’s thick legs, and I could see holes appearing.

  “I don’t know if we can get out of this,” I said. “I’m sorry, babe, I just don’t know.”

  My heart thudded fast as Wraith’s form fell under the onslaught. Smoky [World Eater]s obscured the foggy demon, and they started blending together. The red light of his lava form started to fade. Their purpose completed, the mob of monsters started leaping into the water toward us. Cracks formed as more of them spawned on this side.

  I turned, then got ready to jump. I wouldn’t die being indecisive. Xin’s heart lay elsewhere, as Yates had said. All that mattered was getting farther away until she returned to functionality.

  Metal clanked as something alien appeared in front of me. Smooth edges and bars all attached to chains. I stared at the object as Dusk cried out. His huge wings beat by.

  “Grab on!” Two different vocal tones came from above me. One sounded tired, and the other sweet.

  My memory tickled with the idea of what that meant. Above me, a giant ship hovered. Its engines flared with blue pulses. The vehicle bobbed midair with metal rungs hanging off the end. Hope sent a surge of energy up my spine and made me smile.

  “Treasure!” I shouted upon seeing the gold-and-silver female hanging out a side door. Her smooth metal shell waved at me.

  “Come on, Hermes!” the [Mechanoid] yelled.

  Another thin [Mechanoid] stood over her shoulder. His colors were a rusty metal mixed with gold. I waved back.

  The island tipped and I panicked. Now wasn’t the time for a confused and delightful reunion.

  “Hang on, babe!”

  My belt slipped and threatened to lose the woman. Our island was crumbling. I had no idea where Wraith or Dusk were, but this was a way out for us.

  Xin’s weak grip around my neck tensed briefly. I took that as what little acknowledgement she could muster, and I leapt for the dangling ladder. My arm jerked as I tried to hang on to us and the lifeline. Treasure’s ship bobbed, then flew off immediately. I saw Dusk alight in the doorway before we picked up speed.

  My wife grunted. I got both feet on the bottom rung of the ladder, then started to lift us awkwardly. Jeeves and Treasure
met me at the top. Their bodies were weaker than I’d expected. Eventually they managed to get Xin and me hoisted into the main hull.

  My body crawled through the doorway and toward the room’s center. The straps tying Xin to me were loosened as I tried to check her for damage. She had red marks where the rope had pulled too tightly. Her face looked terrible. I had no means to heal her.

  “Welcome aboard, Hermes. It’s been a long time,” Treasure said.

  “Thank you,” I said and felt touched enough to repeat myself mindlessly. “Thank you.”

  Dusk’s form had returned to his extremely small size, suffering rebound from the [Empowerment] ability. His face pressed against mine in reassurance.

  I tried to keep myself together, but tears rolled down my face and I couldn’t stop them. My fingers tried to wipe them away but only lingered on the rough patch of teardrop scales that had come with Dusk’s [Blessing].

  Event Scenario [Worlds Collide] triggered!

  As the event ends, players will be given the chance to see which world is more powerful! Beware, player versus player reward systems encourage combat between users!

  Skills are being adjusted to match a merged setting. Ability names may change. Players who have characters in both realms may see an increase in abilities as stats merge.

  I scanned the text slowly a few times before the shaking kicked in. Yates had tried to warn me that everything would turn to chaos. Here I was in a fantasy world, flying in a giant spaceship that had probably been partially funded by my contribution points. The others were fighting heroes, or with them, back near [Haven Valley].

  I walked to the empty pilot’s seat and found it responded to my touch. Sure enough, this was a new version of the [Wayfarer’s Hope]. I looked up in hopes that the [Wayfarer Seven] or [Wayfarer Eight] might be nearby. How would the Advance Online world handle this event? Did entire races check out? Maybe they were already stored and shuffled off.

  Thorny: Oh my god, I’m going to play that hero game next. That old woman is flying! FLYING!

  Awesome Jr.: This is going to get messy, isn’t it?

  Hermes: You have no idea.

  Xin gradually came to. I waited for her eyes to open before I let my exhaustion shine through. She managed to smile tiredly at me, and I babbled for a few seconds. The [Wayfarer’s Hope] flew onward as my ARC connection drifted off. Real-life needs were calling, and now might be the only peaceful moment left before the end.

  Reality asserted itself as the virtual world fell away. My heartbeat kept a fast pace, and the ARC sheets were lined with sweat. Message lights sat against the walls, telling me what time it was, how many messages had been received, and tomorrow’s weather.

  Thirst made me swallow while my fingers pressed against the fifteen-minute countdown. Recent events played through my mind once more. That demon had called me brother then stayed behind in order to keep Xin and me alive. The idea that a digital creature I barely knew had held me in such regard, to the point of self-sacrifice, made me sick. They wouldn’t be the last to die as [Worlds Collide] went onward.

  I ran to the bathroom and threw up. The recent events had left me weak, hungry, sore, and worried for the future. At least the overall idea felt simple enough. All I needed to do was get Xin through the doorway, prevent any [World Eater]s from passing through the light, and keep myself logged into the ARC until the virtual reality finished collapsing.

  Session One Hundred Three

  Eat Dirt

  Three hours of sleep hadn’t nearly been enough. Nevertheless, that was what I got before waking up and trying to get back into virtual reality. Upon reaching the Continue Online portal, I was greeted with a black screen and pop-up boxes.

  [Worlds Collide] merger results!

  Play time calculated. Preference for a fleshy meat sack has been noted. Continue Online character established as primary. Changes resulting from a merger of two characters are being summarized and displayed.

  [Energy] attribute not found on primary avatar. All abilities in Advance which used [Energy] can now use [Mana]. [Enlarged Power Source] converted to increased [Mana] pool and regeneration.

  [Power Suit], [Camouflage Program], [Anchor], [Material Conversion], and [Mechanical Minion] abilities localized and added. [Combat Program] (Loadout storage) already exists. Prior weapon patterns imported.

  Redundancy in [Gait of Bowman] resolved. Equipping this item now adds one Rank to skills instead of providing passive access.

  The list went on. Only a few of the highlights showed, but it looked as though the game had tried to stack all the old [Mechanoid] abilities on top of my prior Continue ones. [Brawn], [Endurance], [Tenacity], and a few other character points had gone up. I shook my head. What did any of this matter to me this close to the end? I mean, [Anchor] might have some uses.

  Maybe it would matter more to other people. There had to be a few out there who had played multiple games and would now see it all collapse together into some strange character. I felt shaky at the idea of superpowered people attacking sword-wielding warriors from Continue Online.

  Running on three hours of sleep didn’t help. I poked at the messages and watched them pop away. Nothing new took their place. I glanced around. This area looked like the room of trials, or at least it felt like that room. Only there was no one around at all.

  “Hello?” My voice echoed off objects I couldn’t see.

  I walked forward quickly in hopes of gaining anyone’s attention. After a few footsteps, the room changed from its pure dark shroud and gained a few spots of light. People in the distance were facing away from each other. Their mouths moved but I couldn’t hear what came out.

  This place didn’t scare me anymore. I full-out ran, but the speed of my virtual travel didn’t close the gap any faster. In the distance, I could make out Xin standing next to Treasure and Jeeves. My wife’s face twisted with an unheard shout. The two [Mechanoid]s looked slightly perturbed but otherwise focused on objects in front of them.

  Xin’s body swayed to one side. Their forms shook briefly. Fire flared, then died down. Maybe they were stuck in a weird event, or maybe I had been captured by a mental ability that caused me to lose perspective.

  The actual reason didn’t matter. Standing still did no good. It had taken me years to figure out that. Xin had told me to move forward and not look back. Doctor Litt constantly reminded me to tackle one problem at a time. Both were mantras to fall back on. I kept running, eager to get to them and help.

  A slow-motion [Messenger’s Pet] bounded by. His body looked sleeker than normal. As if someone had pulled Dusk’s tail to nearly double his normal length. His merger between the two game worlds struck me as weird.

  I started checking out my own body while running. There were no obvious changes or glowing metal bits like my [Mechanoid] form. Joints and fingers all looked perfectly flesh-covered. A series of lines ran from my chest out toward each limb. The edges of them could be seen under my toga and sandal wrappings. They pulsed like a painted or tattooed version of malachite.

  My abilities weren’t responding at all. Distance toward the ship steadily shrunk. I kept my eyes on the others while calling out frequently. No one responded. The trio was fixated on pressing interface buttons. How Xin knew what to do in the spaceship was beyond me, but she had training I didn’t.

  The world of darkness chimed. My body froze, and nothing responded. I hung mid-stride in that moment when the earth below was pushed away but before gravity pulled me back down. It felt almost like flying without the exertion of wings.

  Echoing footsteps slowly came up behind me and traveled to my front. The large black man who had first guided me upon entry to this world stopped slightly to my left. His head tilted to one side while both hands clasped over a large belly.

  “Are you sure about this, Hermes?” He looked at me and raised an eyebrow, then turned to look at the trio frozen in a staged mockery of the [Wayfarer’s Hope] interior.

  I tried to nod, but my neck musc
les didn’t work. In the ship’s rear cockpit, my Hermes avatar lay prone on the ground. The form gradually grew closer regardless of being frozen.

  “Think about the question before you answer,” James said with an infuriating smile. “Think long and hard, Hermes, because there are things in life which cannot be undone. Not by you, not by me, not by Mother, and not by your gods.”

  “I’m sure.” The sound of my voice startled me. Who was he to warn me about repercussions? I knew exactly how final life could be.

  James looked troubled but faded into the blackness. The world sped into high gear. Gravity pulled my gut down as I fell into the prone body with a startled yell.

  Dryness plagued my throat. Both arms itched madly. A metallic ringing filled one ear as the world tried to tilt sideways.

  Our ship rocked as something slammed into us. I tried to focus on the screens being displayed. The blue bar tied to our ship’s hull looked terribly low. One of the walls had dents from the outside.

  “What’s going on?” I managed to mumble.

  The marred wall bothered me. [Mechanoid] vehicles were normally smoothly designed, to the point of absurd precision. A dent felt wrong.

  Dusk chirped from overhead. His nails scrambled along the metal as he jumped to my shoulder. The longer tail wrapped around my neck and felt almost familiar. I pulled at his limb slightly to loosen the pressure. This body was human, not [Mechanoid]. Being throttled by my [Messenger’s Pet] might be fitting, but ill-timed.

  “Welcome to consciousness, Unit Hermes,” Treasure said while pressing her fingers against the air. She looked to be scanning the area for life forms. A dozen small red dots with status markers, health bars, and power readings floated in front of her.

  Xin turned and yelled, “Gee! Quick! Grab onto something!”

  I reached for the back of her chair but stumbled as our ship rocked again.

  “People from the other world!” Xin shouted, then winced.

  That expression was one I recalled too well. The [Wayfarer’s Hope] had never been known for sound absorption.