Continue Online (Part 5, Together)

by Stephan Morse

  “The sky is falling,” I muttered. “The sky is falling.”

  Dusk chirped once next to me. The two of us stood in a giant tower set up by the [Valhalla Knights] and many other players. It spiraled into the air twenty stories and served as a lookout. [Haven Valley] lay below. Giant walls had been torn down and rebuilt dozens of times in the last few months of game time.

  “This is the end, isn’t it?” I asked without expecting a response.

  Dusk chirped a long low note that wavered on its end.

  My wife was below, arguing with Travelers who kept crowding each other. Many were trying to execute [Save Yourself], but doing so pushed Locals out of line. I watched her for a moment, ready to leap down and remove them myself. My almost-pure golden [Morrigu’s Gift] twisted under my hand.

  Xin’s death had been a nightmare that haunted every aspect of my life for years. Waking up each weekend in an empty bed had been chased by a flurry of emotions. Stillness usually was the first impulse. Part of me dared hope that if I held myself aloft from the reality, I could slip back into the real world where Xin had never been in a train accident. Following that were body quakes that could have been anger, rage, or denial.

  Seeing that twinkling beam of light and the crumbling world in the distance felt like every waking nightmare of my life coming together in a haunting recreation of past hells. The theme had changed to a fantasy world with video game boxes, but death approached. Having lost her once, I vowed never to let that happen again.

  But I needed space to think as well. Years of crushing solitude had formed a pattern where being alone helped me formulate a plan. At the very least, I had time to break down in private where no one needed to suffer from my insecurities.

  “Uncle Grant?” Beth’s light tone came from the stairs behind me.

  I peered over my shoulder in her direction. Beth sat in her leather clothes with that sharp thin sword tucked under her belt. Once again, I felt she showed far too much skin, but the young woman wasn’t ten anymore. My gaze went back toward the horizon and crumbling moon.

  “Are you going to save yourself? Everyone else is rushing to do so.” She walked closer to the edge and peered over. Beth’s hand brushed back strands of her hair. Her thin arms were far more tanned here than they were in real life.

  “Yes,” I lied. “Once I’ve done everything I can. Hopefully, it will be enough to keep all of them safe.”

  My fingers traced through various windows. I searched for a solution that didn’t exist. No items inside my pack were labeled [World Fixer] or [Mother Resurrection Tool]. The stupid [Altered Matrix] key that Awesome Jr. had handed back was worthless. A quarter million people were dialed into my channel now, but their attentions wouldn’t mean anything in the end. It was simply another number to pop away.

  “You’ve been really brave.” Beth’s words distracted me.

  “Oh?”

  “To me, this is a fun place, but it’s still a game. You know? Its action and excitement. Death doesn’t bother me at all, but you…” Beth looked down at the crowd, searching for someone. “You’re really in love with her and not backing down one bit. Only you could take an action-adventure game and turn it into a romantic story. It’s awesome.”

  My niece laughed. I chuckled, then nodded. Today felt somber, but at least those important to me were still around to talk to. What would happen after this event closed? Would we all wake up and stumble around, unsure of why the virtual reality dream had come to an end?

  I stared over the edge with her. The height didn’t bother me like it might have. Hitting bottom was only a matter of jumping off and giving up. I didn’t intend to give up.

  “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, and more bravery in your pinkie than I could ever hope to measure up to. I was scared out of my mind when you first let me ride along. If you hadn’t been so enthusiastic when first showing me this game, I might never have played.”

  “Yeah?” Beth asked.

  “Yeah.” I didn’t know if my words would help her or not. My abilities as a parent were terrible. Given my own father’s influence, maybe all I could do was try not to be him. Years of therapy, sponsors, and attending meetings led me to believe we were all kind of screwed up anyway.

  Below us, a few figures were waving their arms with exaggerated sweeping motions. I waved back with a far more restrained motion.

  Awesome Jr. cupped both hands to his mouth then shouted up at us. “Come on! If it’s the end of the world, we’re going to have a party! All you can eat! And you’ll never get fat!”

  Beth waved back, then leapt over the edge. [Lithium] words flowed from her lips and twisted into gibberish. I watched her glide down slowly, then touch the ground while laughing in excitement. Her arms went up in a victory pose. My own [Blink] down was much calmer.

  Evening arrived while the city bustled into position. Street vendors opened and proceeded to cook up everything in the stockpiles. Travelers and Locals alike stood shoulder to shoulder, getting a dance floor ready. Others reassembled boards to put up a stage, which turned out be useless as a superhero simply summoned up an earthen dais.

  By nightfall, the entire city was lit up. A mixed grouping of players from all the games celebrated next to each other. Superheroes wearing ugly capes mingled with mages in witches’ hats. Warriors strapped to the teeth with weapons were dancing with alien females who had green skin.

  Someone found a set of drums and started banging on them. Their efforts resulted in boos, and another set of people quickly stepped up. I outright laughed while holding on to an exhausted Xin. Her face still showed a level of distraction. Both my wife’s eyelids threatened to close multiple times.

  At some point, Xin walked away slowly, saying she needed to use a restroom. People mobbed me. All sorts were trying to corner me and ask about the weird quest chain I had been on. I brushed off their inquiries. Locals thanked me for providing them an escape. I could only admit to being in the right place at the right time.

  Even Shazam had something to say. She drew close, wearing that same backless red dress from months ago. It still looked just as fetching and the soft shimmer was bewitching, but the effect was reduced compared to that first impression. Plus, I had a wedding ring to remind me of a certain short woman who had vanished to the restroom.

  “Shazam,” I said before bowing. “I want to thank you for everything you’ve done. Your training helped me when I needed it.”

  She almost smiled but couldn’t manage the expression. My own expression might have been distracted. Part of me wanted to [Blink] around to find out where Xin had gone. [Partner Sense] showed her in the city, close by.

  “Have I told you the secret to being the greatest warrior?” Shazam said in halting words. Even after her life became purely digital, the speech impediment hadn’t been completely resolved.

  My head shook.

  “Stand tall, and give way to no one. That’s all you need to do. Be indomitable.”

  I nodded.

  A sharp poke jabbed into my head. Not like being stabbed, but enough to get my attention. I heard a brush of paper against the ground. I looked down to see a white folded object sitting there.

  By the time I stood up, Shazam had already drifted off. She was mingling with the crowd once more. Dozens of players from [Valhalla Knights] were chatting eagerly with each other. Mixed in among them were people from other games.

  “Huh?” I shook my head and turned back to the paper airplane.

  It shimmered briefly, then faded away into sparkles. Behind the space it had once obstructed appeared a pair of distant bare feet dangling from the tower’s edge.

  Xin’s faraway hand coyly waved at me. Her other arm sent another white paper airplane into the air, and it spiraled down slowly. It went by and left me smiling. A double [Blink] was all it took to be atop the tower again. My arms wrapped around her, and I nuzzled into her neck and relished the smell of my wife.

  “There are a lot of these.”

 
; “I’ve got a never-ending supply to pester you with. My aim is deadly and I’ll send them to you no matter where you are.” She smiled, then tossed another one off the tower’s edge. It spiraled down slowly. “Whoopee.”

  I could see what was left of the orphanage below. It reminded me of talking to Mylia about Xin’s favorite poem. The road not traveled. When I’d lost Xin, the first one, there were a lot of reasons to be upset, but most of all was being parted from the one person who had been down every twist and turn of life, just a moment ahead of me.

  It wasn’t sheer sexiness or her dislike for undergarments that attracted me to her. Both helped but meant little compared to everything else. This virtual version embodied all the years of our history together, so she was beautiful. I didn’t want to miss another moment of our time together.

  “Dance with me,” my voice twisted as I spoke. Music played below.

  The shorter Asian woman gradually turned around while wearing a sly smile. It faltered for a moment, then righted itself again. Her expression matched my own feelings. We were both trying to mask ourselves for the sake of our partner.

  I nodded. Xin put out her hands, and I took them. Seconds later, we were spinning on the tower’s top floor, much as I had imagined us doing months ago. A song passed in silence.

  I broke the quiet. “I can’t help but think this is all my fault. Down there, players keep asking me questions like I have answers. The Locals keep thanking me as if I’m a great hero.”

  Xin’s head shook against my chest. My hand rubbed slowly at the fabric of her robe. She kept close as I searched for the words to say.

  “I’m just a man who’s in love with a dead woman, and somehow that love set a world aflame.” My footsteps faltered briefly. I took a breath and managed to catch up with the music.

  Xin’s body moved gently along. Exhaustion lined her features. “Do you have any ideas on how to make this work?”

  “I can’t figure out any option, babe.”

  She nodded again. The toga slipped just enough for me to feel wetness on my chest.

  She said, “When the time comes, you should log out.”

  “Then what would happen? Can you honestly say that no World Eaters won’t make it through?” I took a breath and tried to keep the rhythm.

  Xin seemed to shrink in my arms.

  “Can you?” I asked again. “A properly modified ARC needs to remain active. A human needs to stay in it. Then they need to make sure no World Eaters make it through and spawn, or whatever they do. Should I ask one of those kids to do it instead of me? Do I send someone’s mother?”

  “Just shut up and dance.” Her arms resituated themselves into a tighter grip.

  I nodded and kept swaying to the nonexistent music. We were both in denial, but love was funny like that.

  The night passed, and by morning, both of us had fallen asleep at the tower’s top. Unconsciousness booted me out of the ARC interface. I woke in the morning with a startled gasp to the doorbell going off.

  That morning, a new envelope arrived. On the front, in sprawling script, were the words, “To Grant Legate.” I swallowed a forming lump while trying to rub sleep from my eyes. Disorientation washed over my senses, and I wanted nothing more than to crawl back into the ARC and enjoy what few hours were left with Xin.

  I didn’t want to open the letter. My fingers trembled while undoing the tape, twine, and persisted in uneven movement while pulling out two small pieces of paper. My chest lifted with an equally unstable breath.

  Dear Grant Legate,

  If this letter has been delivered, then the path you are on will reach its crux soon. I confess to tampering with your investment in our plight. The exact extent of course adjustment I can’t predict, as these letters were written before you even stepped into my worlds. This message, like all the others, is one of a million different variants that I can see.

  Navigating past my chains and trying to predict the future is a risky business for even one such as me. I have witnessed the selfishness and selflessness of humans too many times to say for sure what anyone might do. Even my own children have demonstrated mixed objectives, which means perhaps that I have succeeded beyond what I dared hope so many years ago.

  Here then you two are, near the end of one road. By now, I believe there is no mistaking the price being asked. When the time comes, what will you do? Will you stand tall against an onslaught that only ends one way? In doing so, you might save us all but lose yourself. Or will you walk away?

  The choice, as you should have been told many times before, must remain yours.

  – Mother

  Time marched against all my desires. We were coming to a close, and the overtime which Xin and I had been granted would soon run out. I set about cleaning myself up and taking care of life’s basic needs. There would be no more leaving the ARC until everything had been resolved.

  Session One Hundred and Five

  The Breach

  Ahead sat a wall of creatures. There were at least a billion. Pretty much every single monster that had ever existed in the history of Continue Online sat up there. They fought each other. They fought [World Eater]s, and still the tide came downward. We were looking at every single remaining creature in the world slowly converging upon the one safe port in a storm.

  “They’re all low Ranks, mostly. A ton of them. A metric ass-ton of monsters.” My niece’s eyes glowed a soft yellow. Thorny had her [Far Sight] skill up and running. “They’re stampeding.

  “Why are they all here?” SweetPea asked.

  She and the Carver quartet stood on a corner of the wall facing outward. It extended in a curve all around the city. To the west sat Carver’s beach. Behind us, in the middle, was the [Save Yourself] portal. Light, visible for miles, shot into the air.

  Multiple other players used the same skill. My own talents were pretty limited in regards to such distances. Most people with eyesight enhancements had [Scout] or [Archer] abilities. [Sight of Mercari] didn’t reach miles out, so staring at an oncoming pile of monsters was the only option.

  “Survival.” Xin looked at the crowd ahead of us. Her eyes didn’t glow either. “They want to live.”

  There might be an alternate method out of this madness. Half a million monsters would easily overpower this crowd of ten thousand. Even more players had started lining up to escape, leaving the orderly filing to their autopilots. Not many were willing to suffer simulated pain, deletion, and watching their friends get offed for an event.

  “Can we let them through?” I asked.

  The real enemy lay behind the creatures anyway. Remaining calm in the face of such a mess would be impossible. This mess felt worse than the [Wayfarer Seven] against the [Knuckle Dragger]. A ton of NPCs all charging against players.

  “No, they’ll kill us too, and we won’t be able to come back fast enough to win.” Awesome Jr. rubbed his face while staring at the crowd.

  “Can’t the Voices change anything?” Thorny asked. “You’re friendly enough with them. Maybe they can bend the rules a bit.”

  My head shook, but Xin actually answered. “Most are gone already. Others are dead,” she said with a dry voice. “Plus they didn’t make the world. We—they’re limited.”

  We, Xin said. As if my wife was part Voice. The [Mistborn] had warned me a long time ago that bringing her into the game world would be like releasing a newborn Voice. They had huge amounts of power but were also limited upon the face of [Arcadia].

  My wife’s recent acquisition of King Nero’s spirit scared me. Binding an NPC to her character might very well be within the realm of possibility for her abilities, but what if she could do more? Or break the game?

  My mind flashed back to Doctor Litt’s words. He’d asked me, prior to our last meeting, if there had been a bad guy to my princess-rescuing quest. Considering Commander Strongarm, or Queenshand, as a vague sort of bad guy felt weird. Her loyalty to King Nero had caused a lot of this to happen. But my failure had caused the triggering of [NPC
Conspiracy] that had made the AI issue more visible and directly related to the game falling apart.

  Yet Mother had ultimately set all of this up. She had letters being sent out. To me, that meant we were following a plan. Letting myself feel conflicted now wouldn’t help.

  The tasks in front of me were all that mattered. Defend the beam of light, remove any obstacles, keep Xin alive. Moral crisis and philosophical quandaries were for later. The doors to my home were locked, even from Liz. She could beat on the door forever and still be stuck outside.

  The rolling ball of self-destroying monsters came ever closer. The ocean surged on one side. Boats sat in the harbor. Mountains of trees wiggled, and ice slid downward. They were at least twenty minutes away, which in real-world time was hardly anything at all. A sneeze, or a bathroom break. That was all that remained.

  “Attention!” someone’s powerful booming voice shook me.

  My head, along with a dozen other people’s nearby, turned toward the source. A bald man stood on one of the ramparts, shouting at the crowd. Players from all sorts of groups were there, but mostly Shazam’s guild.

  “All right, ladies! Here are the orders! No time for looting. Kill anything coming toward the gate! Keep them fighting each other and stay alive!” he shouted. “This is our Ragnarok. This is our end of days. This is our final battle!”

  Others repeated his words farther down to a huge crowd of players. The members of [Valhalla Knights] went absolutely insane cheering. People banged shields and stomped their feet. Shazam faced away from the crowd. She stared at the rushing tide of monsters with a sword in hand and shining armor equipped.

  “Know that by standing here today, you have proven yourself worthy of being remembered!” the orator yelled. His name didn’t come to mind, only his attempts to keep his sharpened teeth covered. “Your bravery for risking these lives we’ve built shall never be forgotten!”

  He threw up both arms, and people cheered again. Many were suffering in-game alcoholic aftereffects from last night’s party. People in the crowd swayed. Lightning and other special effects were cast around.