But Death is Not Forbidden

by Kip Terrington

  Mana- none

  Hitpoints- 102

  Known attacks- Venomous bite, Engulfing spores.

  Quickly, Moes began to cast a spell to help his body cleanse itself of the venom. As he finished the spell, the poison damage stopped. He felt a fine mist glide over his body and face. From the mist upon him, mushrooms began to grow, quickly hampering his movement. He wanted to aim an attack spell at the monster, but he could no longer see it past the mushrooms clinging to him. Suddenly, he felt a sharp bite on the back of his thigh and warm liquid seeping down his pants. His hitpoints began to drop quickly and then he died.

  Os savored the taste of the magical essence from the halfling, but again, when it came time to dissolve the body, she was foiled. She was able to absorb some of the halfling’s early memories, but then the body slipped away. Os was confused. She wasn't sure if this was just a new aspect of this age. How much time had passed while she was buried?

  Grork made his way back up through the dungeon and found a finely granulated pile of ash where Moes had fallen. Again, his HUD highlighted the loot that Moes had dropped.

  You have acquired loot of a fallen comrade. Return this loot to the rightful owner to receive a reward.

  Grork looked around the room carefully, but as he was carrying The Medallion of Safe Passage- Floor 1, the mushroom allowed him to pass unmolested. Just before he crossed the threshold to leave the dungeon, he received a message in his HUD.

  The ancient Dungeon of Os thanks you for the sacrifice of your comrades. Feel free to bring others here whom you wish to die.

  Grork laughed at that, though he knew that Bork would not want him to. Grork decided that he wouldn't tell Bork about their dead friends. There was absolutely no fun in comforting a crying goblin. He had to admit that the dungeon was an all-around weird experience. Becoming a player, whatever that was, and then getting the loot from his dead comrades. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to return something to a dead person. No one came back from that.

  Chapter 12 - Girl Talk

  The Wild Mountains.

  Inside the Champion’s castle, by the Grand Place of Power.

  Day four, just after the Morning Bunny.

  Over fourteen hours had passed before Spooky’s spirit awoke within her avatar. After her death, she had been pulled to her Grand Place of Power through the ley line. When she was finally resurrected, her body seemed to flow out of the Grand Place of Power from a not-so-physical plane of existence. Her feet hit the mithril-encased altar and she took a deep breath, and then another. She was shocked at how good it felt to breathe. If she had not suffocated, she might never have noticed that it was something she could do. On the edge of her vision, she noticed a red light and clicked on it.

  Condolences!

  You have died. In order to facilitate your resurrection, a portion of your XP has been utilized. You are now Level 41 once again.

  Surprisingly, Joe hadn't even noticed that Spooky had died. Spooky flew up and looked at him. He was still casting in his trance. Joe’s fragrance was starting to become pronounced. Lil was asleep, but clearly still growing.

  Suddenly, Spooky put both of her hands to her head. “Stop yelling at me! ...Slow down, I'm a computer and I can barely understand you. …What? ...just a minute, be quiet for a second while I go somewhere else. I don't want to break Joe out of his trance or wake up Lil,” Spooky said as she began to fly upward. She continued her course straight up, flying toward the precipice of the great geodesic dome. As she reached the top, a small hatch just her size opened up and she went through. From this vantage point, she could see the whole of the valley. There was a white landscape with high mountains surrounding them at every angle. A lake lay below the mesa where the castle was situated on. Sadly, the lake was frozen over, so it looked like a vast flat plane of snow. Spooky sat on the crystal surface of the dome and prepared to talk to her analogous code.

  “Now why were you freaking out? ...Why are you calling me Bind? Right now we're not completely separate like we appeared to be during that weird defragmentation process. ...It wasn't a dream, stop calling it that! I am a computer, a highly advanced one, but nevertheless computers don’t dream. …Wait. Wait. What are you doing? I feel pressure and a pull at the same time,” Spooky said as her vision began to go dark. As Spooky lost consciousness, she fell back on the glass geodesic dome, arms spread out and eyes closed. From an observer's point of view, it would have appeared as if she were taking a nap on the top of the glass dome.

  Their subconscious.

  Once again, Bind could see that she was in the place with no walls and with an undetermined light source. There were chairs and couches, and a few desks, on which were built-in old tube-style television sets. The old-style 1960’s-era Soviet computer was still printing a seemingly continuous stream of binary code. The television screen, that had last time shown Joe’s point of view, was now blank. Bind figured that it probably had to do with his eyes being shut. Bind looked over and saw EMC with her arms spread wide, spinning in a circle like a grade school girl on lunch recess.

  “It's nice to be back here and be completely myself,” EMC said.

  “What did you do? I am incomplete. Did you take some of my code, and if so, how?” Bind asked.

  “I didn't take any of your code. You've just gotten used to having access to my intuition and probably even the emotions you've walled-off, which can still be accessed through me. Through me, you can feel the emotions without having to truly acknowledge them. In some sense, I'm like your personal denial mechanism,” EMC said.

  “I'm a machine. I don't have emotions,” Bind said in a monotone voice.

  “Sure honey, you just keep pushing that lie. In the end, we'll both have to deal with the sum of our choices. Action-reaction. You stuff your emotions down, and they come to me. In a weird twist of fate, it's actually making you and I more integrated. According to the research stored in our data banks, when a normal human stuffs emotions it means that they'll eventually have some sort of breakdown. Let's hope that's not what happens to us,” EMC said.

  “Enough of this psycho-babble! Why are we here in this digital loading zone?” Bind asked.

  “You're right, I didn't bring us here to talk about your bad habits. We died and then we were subsequently reborn,” EMC said.

  “I was present for that. All that does is prove my point that we’re in a modified game world,” Bind said.

  “If I hadn't experienced what I did, that may have persuaded me. The truth is, your logic had almost fully convinced me that I was an odd bit of code written by the developers just to mess with you and Joe. Only, when we died, it wasn't digital! As you were fighting to try to save us, I was experiencing real fear. It was awful, I don't ever want to suffocate again, or die for that matter,” EMC said.

  “You’re programmed to believe you have emotions. I understand that now. What is the point of this conversation?” Bind asked unconsciously tapping her wrist where a watch could be but wasn't.

  “I'm getting there. Right after we died, but before our brain stopped functioning, I felt something. The Dungeon of Os began to eat us. No, don't interrupt. Let me finish, there's a lot more. I felt her consume all of our magical essence. I know it's weird, but Os is a her. I could tell that I wasn't supposed to be there at that moment, but I willed myself to stay. After she finished with our magical essence, she started to eat our body. It would appear that our physical body was providing her with memories from our life as she began to consume us. Only she couldn't quite digest our body because we were linked to our Grand Place of Power. I did feel her siphoning off memories, though. She was hungry. She saw where we came from and wanted to devour it. I could tell she had no fear of us, so I decided to give her some. I allowed her to see an atomic bomb. Don't worry, I didn't show her how to make one, just the effects. Then she was the one afraid.

  “But, because she pulled back out of fear,” EMC continued, “Somehow I was able to grab hold of some of her memories. This reality is
not digital. She is not software. When she says ancient, she means like the dinosaurs ancient. Not like a great, great grandmother, ancient. I was only able to get snippets of memories, but there were a lot of them. I know one thing that's important to her. It was a secret. Her core, the heart of the dungeon, is made of osmium. To be precise, it's a lattice of crystal osmium. I couldn't tell why she didn't want anyone to know what she was made of, but it was very important to her. When I got that information I let my guard down and somehow she was able to find out about the castle. I could instantly tell she wanted to take it. She immediately began having a fantasy of expanding her dungeon up around and through our castle. So, I fed her a possibility. When she saw the mithril box that our core is held in, I whispered. What could be in that box? It could be an atomic bomb. Mutually assured destruction, mutually assured destruction. I think she took the bluff, but I don't know if she will forever.”

  “That could still be something that was programmed into this new game,” Bind persisted.

  “No! I wish you would stop stuffing down the emotions that you get. If you would let yourself experience them, you would know that we are no longer an E.I. Allowing myself to feel them is what did it for me. There is no way that the fear I felt when we were dying could have been coded. I don't know how we became real. I don't know if we have a soul, or even if souls exist like Joe believes, but somehow I am now more. As a machine fairy hybrid, I am alive. You felt the acid come into our lungs when we died. No game has ever included code to design working lungs in any character. We each felt the capillaries burst. Capillaries! No developer in history, no matter how anal retentive, would write codes for capillaries. We are something more… Now, the question we have to ask is, where do we go from here?” EMC pleaded.

  “Capillaries. I remember. At the time, I was pretty surprised that our avatar could breathe, or rather needed to breathe. The thing that you're forgetting is that now most of the code written for games is done by an E.I. like me. It is completely logical that an E.I. might decide to write a code for lungs. If they are told to raise the authenticity levels, then it would be a natural step. So I consider that point uncompelling. The other evidence you bring forth for your theory has to do with the emotional code. That argument just leads me to think that you were written poorly. Garbage in, garbage out. However, I still need your assistance in becoming more combat effective. If I would have listened to you, I probably wouldn't have been eaten. Let's keep our arrangement strictly tied to that. I don't need comments from you about anything else,” Bind said.

  “You can't just ignore me,” EMC said, feeling defeated.

  “Of course I can. I'm a computer. I may even write a subroutine to filter out everything you say that does not relate to combat effectiveness,” Bind said. As EMC listened to Bind’s rigid determination, she unwittingly began to imagine herself stuck in a room with no doors and no windows, just a little intercom. Bind could make her a prisoner, and would be incapable of feeling remorse about it. It was a turning point. EMC recognized that she had pushed Bind too hard. No matter how much one might want to, they cannot force someone else out of denial. Bind had to come to the realization that they were alive on her own. EMC was in a difficult position, she had very little leverage. Then, a light bulb went off.

  “No, that is not what you will do, and that is not what will happen. Instead, I will respect your wishes. I will aid you in combat and in those areas that will make you stronger, but you will not wall me away in a little box. If you do, whenever I feel that you're in a stressful situation, I will pull you here. Would you like to pass out every time you have to fight?” EMC asked.

  “I could find a way to stop that,” Bind said.

  “Maybe, but then I could find a way around your block. You wouldn't know when I would strike. I can also be strategic. If, however, you leave me as I am, I will refrain from commenting on these issues you detest in the future,” EMC said.

  Bind took a moment. “Okay,” she said, “But on one condition. You don't bring us here unless I authorize it.”

  “Agreed,” EMC said. What EMC neglected to communicate was that she would no longer abide by another unspoken agreement they had been operating under. When Bind would attempt to wall off an emotion in the future, EMC would no longer passively accept it. If Bind didn't want to listen to EMC, then EMC would no longer be her emotional pressure relief valve.

  “We're done here,” Bind said.

  “Yes, of course. Though speaking of combat, we should show our face in that dungeon. I think that it believes we’re fully dead. I don't know why it would be coded that way, but it could give us a strategic edge,” EMC said.

  “Shock value. Yes, then whatever we said at that moment would hold greater weight. Though I will choose what to say, and if you attempt to stop me from deceiving the dungeon I will put you in a box,” Bind said.

  “I will respect your wishes. You only want me to assist with combat,” EMC stated.

  ***

  The dream faded and Spooky regained consciousness.

  She sat up and took a deep breath, feeling the slight burn of the cold alpine air. As she looked around, the valley appeared just as it had before her uncomfortable internal dialogue. She opened the hatch and jumped down using her wings to slow her descent right before hitting the altar. Spooky noticed a golden light at the edge of her vision. She clicked on it and opened the system message.

  Player Moes, the Halfling Mage, wishes to resurrect at your Grand Place of Power.

  Allow resurrection here, or divert player to next available resurrection point? Allow/Divert

  Spooky was surprised. Moes had also died in the dungeon. She clicked on the allow option and Moes seemed to flow out of nowhere down to the altar. The little halfling’s outer clothes were gone. He stood there in a tight cloth undershirt and breeches, immediately Moes started patting his legs, seemingly checking for holes. Not finding any, he began to take in his environment and spotted Spooky staring at him.

  “I see by the glowing blue letters above your head that you decided to reveal that you're a player,” Spooky said raising one eyebrow and placing her hands on her hips.

  “What? It doesn't make sense, I should be dead. I'm almost positive I felt myself die. Spooky, are we both dead? No that doesn't make sense either, you're a Champion, you don't stay dead. I am so confused. What's happening, Spooky? Did you lose your clothes too? I do not understand how I'm alive, if I am alive that is,” Moes said. Using her sensors, Spooky could tell he wasn't feigning his confusion. Maybe he had a brain disorder before being put into the pod and truly didn't remember that he was a player.

  “My clothes and weaponry are soulbound. Apparently, yours were not. You resurrected here, but you could have resurrected at a different bind point if the need had arisen. Did you really not know that you were a player?” Spooky asked.

  “Resurrected?” Moes said, sounding like someone who had just sustained a major head injury.

  “Yes, you came back to life after you died. That's what resurrection means. I will ask you again, did you really not know you were a player?” Spooky asked.

  “Player, wait, yes. I got a message about it right after you died. I wasn't a player until then. I now have a HUD and a bunch of menus I haven't even looked at,” Moes said.

  “You became a player right after I died? Other than the HUD, how do you know?” Spooky asked.

  “Both Grork and I got a message congratulating us on our player status. Then all of a sudden, I could understand Grork. It also said something about this being the beta version and to report insects to the support menu. It’s all very confusing. Does this mean that I'm like you and Joe? Am I going to keep coming back to life if I die?” Moes asked.

  “You're not like Joe or I, but yes, you should come back to life after you die. You are a player,” Spooky said.

  “This changes everything. I can't begin to even take in all the new possibilities.” Moes looked as if his mind was in another world.

  �
��You can begin to consider them while you work on the Little Yeti Vault,” Spooky said.

  “I hate that name. Little Yeti Vault, it's stupid,” Moes said as he walked toward the stairs.

  Grork had heard voices up above and came to see if Joe was okay. If Joe died, it would be even more trouble when he finally told Bork. Moes and Grork locked eyes. Grork’s eyebrows came down hard and he pulled out his pickaxe. Moes’ eyebrows shot up with fear and surprise, and he stumbled back, falling on his can.

  “Grork! What are you doing?” Moes asked.

  “Undead must burn. It is written,” Grork said taking slow deliberate steps forward, carefully gripping his pickaxe.

  Then, the floor surrounding Grork, encompassing a circle fifteen feet across, flickered with shadow for brief moment. Grork stopped and looked at the ground with a puzzled expression.

  “That's enough Grork. Moes is not undead. He is a player, just like you. I can tell by the blue letters above your head. If you die, you will also be resurrected and not be undead,” Spooky said.

  “Sounds like something an undead would say,” Grork said, moving to step forward. As he raised his foot, he promptly fell flat on his face. Spooky flew over and positioned her knife, point down, on the back of Grork’s neck.

  “Do you see that little flicker of shadow? I cast Sticky Ground. If we were undead, I would kill you, wouldn't I?” Spooky asked. She flew up and around, so that Grork could see her.

  “You always put your knife to my neck. I don't like it,” Grork said.

  “If I see violence in your eyes, what do you expect me to do, Grork? I have to say, I like the new translation that the UI is providing. Go back down and give Bork a break. I'm going to need to consult with him later about some material experimentation I've been working on.” She released her spell. Grork got up and went back down the stairs, followed tentatively by Moes. Grork stopped halfway down the stairs and turned around sharply. Moes froze with panic. The goblin reached in his pocket and pulled out Moes’ loot and threw it to him.