Virtual Horizon

by Kris Schnee

  A man emerged from the mansion behind them, wiping his hands on a rag. "We've got company?"

  Horizon bowed with a sweep of one wing. "My name is Horizon, and this is Nocturne, visiting from another world. Are you in charge here?"

  "Sure am." He looked wrinkled and sunburned. "The name's Jason. Uploaded not long ago. Ma, why don't you fix us supper?"

  The lady of the house stood. "I've got that turkey."

  "Might be a little weird. Vegetarian? Or beef?"

  "I'll see what I can do." She headed into the white clapboard house with its many windows and porches.

  Jason eased himself onto the bleachers beside them. "I didn't go in for the fantasy stuff. No swords or rayguns for me. Thought I'd try being just like I was outside, only happier. Ma and I, we couldn't have children. So here we are."

  The crack of a home-run swing and the shouts of the fielders made the little world alive with noise. Horizon sniffed the air but got only a vague earthy scent, an approximation of growing things. He thought of his life at the Community, where people had mostly gotten along despite the obnoxiousness of how it was run.

  "Why are you so beat-up?" said Nocturne.

  "You mean old? I feel that way. Maybe later I'll be different. You're just visiting?"

  Horizon nodded. "I've uploaded, though, and she's a native. Do you know Japanese by any chance? I've only played a little with people from other countries, and there was an auto-translation feature. I had just assumed it was still available."

  "Well, I do know Japanese in particular. I was a contractor in Guam and Okinawa for a couple years. Picked up a working knowledge."

  Nocturne said, "More to the point, have you got a magical 'zap a griffin so she knows Japanese' spell?"

  Horizon explained, "I'm sure Ludo could just turn translation back on. But you know."

  "She has to make a game of it, yeah. Supper's probably ready. Let's go in."

  Only Horizon seemed to think the speed of the cooking was odd, but Ma had already made roast beef and squash. And lime pie, yams, pineapple glaze... Half a dozen of the kids took their places at the table. The feast felt like being inside one of those government posters about "Plenty!". He smelled hot meat and bread, which made his wings quiver. Gradually he noticed the smells of oil and somehow, mixed-up colors distorting what should've been there. None of it was right.

  Jason clasped his hands. "Oh Lady, we give thanks, for your bounty and acceptance. May everyone in all the worlds have just as good a life. Amen."

  Horizon sat up on a chair too small for him, blinking. His talons were caught in the silk tablecloth. Nocturne just looked confused.

  Horizon said, "Do you always pray to her?"

  "Every day so far. I don't want to stop being thankful."

  The feast tasted as good as it smelled: vaguely pleasant and filling but glitchy, generic. Horizon was still uneasy. Maybe this guy was more honest than himself about uploaders' relationship to Ludo. If there were any real gods, their judgment of him would have to wait for the end of all Ludo's tales.

  Jason wiped his mouth. "I've got an idea to justify you getting that magic translation power. How about some baseball? You two versus nine of my best. Win, and I'll ask the Lady to throw knowledge at you. I assume she'll play along."

  [Quest offered by Jason: Whispered Words. Defeat the local baseball team.]

  Horizon said, "Looks like it."

  "What if we lose?" asked Nocturne.

  "I devour your souls." Jason waited a second, then laughed. "Only fooling. Got to have some stakes though, to make it interesting."

  The griffin girl peeked from behind Horizon's chair. "In that case, maybe we have to stay here until we win?"

  Horizon had only just recovered from Jason's joke, and now his wings snapped out to either side, ready to launch him off the chair to someplace safer. "Noc, we can't commit to being stuck here!"

  "But the food's good."

  You've never had the real thing, thought Horizon.

  Jason leaned toward them with one elbow on the table. "Do you feel the rush? The danger of something going wrong? If we ever completely lose that, we're done as a species. Present company included. Let's shake on it." He considered. "Also, each time you lose, you spend a week as these kids' pet battle monsters. Old game I used to play."

  For the first time since Horizon had uploaded, he might suffer more than mild inconvenience. The momentary terror of falling off a cliff had become less horrible after the six deaths he'd had on Hazard Island. Being stuck was more lasting, even if it was in a place like this. Reluctantly, he held out his talons to shake hands, and said, "Accept."

  * * *

  Horizon spent the first innings terrified, but then it wasn't so bad. Team Griffin had a comfortable two-run lead even though they had to cover all the bases and Nocturne had never seen the game before. Horizon learned to swing harder by holding the bat with his beak, which made the kids giggle. The enemy scored a three-run homer that went into the corn, but the "phantom runner" rule for the two-griff team worked to their advantage and helped them to an unstoppable lead. Horizon sprawled when it was done, letting out the tension in his spine.

  Nocturne nuzzled him. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

  "Congratulations," said Jason.

  "My drake's brave enough to face human cubs. How about that language thing?"

  Their host held up a hovering, spinning gem with a Japanese word in it. A happy sound effect played. "Here you go. It's been nice having guests."

  The griffins touched it and fireworks went off. [Translation enabled!] they saw.

  Horizon saluted. "Thanks. We're off." He and Nocturne took to the air.

  "Ice cream, next! Who's our MVP?" they heard Jason say below.

  * * *

  They rested at the stained glass crossroads. "Back to our rendezvous with Rashomon?" said Horizon.

  "Let's see something different," she said, and pointed to the iron gate.

  * * *

  They emerged in the courtyard of a sunny palace. A three-tier adobe mansion shined in white and pink like a wedding cake. There were multiple swimming pools in sight. Babes were everywhere. No, not "women", specifically hot babes in several races and various states of undress. Pretty obviously NPCs since they seemed to be wandering around or lounging by the pools.

  Horizon approached one of them warily. "Hi there. What is this place?"

  [Translation from Spanish active], the interface warned him. [The meaning may not be exact.]

  "Welcome to Whitegold Palace!" said the nearest gal.

  "And who's in charge here? Where?"

  "The Prince owns this palace. He's at the shooting range."

  Horizon's ears flicked toward a faint, repetitive banging. "Thanks. Let's see if I can avoid a deadly battle this time."

  The range proved to be a fancy adobe warehouse with a deadly battle already in progress. A gang of masked men in bulletproof vests hustled down an aisle between towering crates. They used hand signals and muffled orders to split up.

  The griffins hung back. That was wise, because a man in a white trenchcoat leaped across the tall stacks and opened fire with twin pistols. The troops fired wildly up at him. Their enemy dealt death with every leap and roll. In seconds of combat, all the troops were dead. The gunman landed in a cool pose, the slides of his guns clicking open and the muzzles trailing smoke.

  [Perfect!] said an unseen announcer.

  Nocturne applauded. "Hi! We come in peace."

  The man holstered his weapons and looked around. "Good morning. Call me Whitegold. I was told to expect guests today; are you fellow uploaders?"

  The griffins introduced themselves. Horizon said, "Is everything all right?"

  "In here, yes. My personal heaven. Look upon it." He led them out to the sunlight to admire the mansion, the hedge-maze and pools, the birds in the clear sky. "Would you like food or drinks? Or a turn in the battle room? I've dueled a dragon but never your kind."

  "No, thanks," sai
d Horizon. "I've seen enough gunfire lately."

  Whitegold laughed. "I thought so too, when I came here. I listened to Ludo and she talked me into uploading. She said to give up my mansion and most of my fortune, and I'd get something better in return. Put my son in charge of my company, and help him transition it toward legal activities, and she'd protect him. But young Che is too nice to run the business."

  Horizon tapped his beak in thought, and then his wings flared wide. "Wait a minute. Che? 'Whitegold'? The mansion? You're that drug dealer!"

  Nocturne bristled too. "Are we fighting?"

  "Peace, Senorita. I'm not a criminal anymore. Why bother, when I can do this?" He easily cast a runic spell and conjured a double handful of clinking golden coins, letting them spill through his fingers onto the cobblestones below. "I'd be happy with this place, but... Do you have any news about my son?"

  Horizon faltered, mentally standing down. "I met him once, in person. But that was most of a year ago, in another world."

  Whitegold dumped the rest of his fairy-gold. "He vanished, and I fear my rivals closed in like vultures. He was supposed to begin changing the business, investing in things that he can feel proud about, with Ludo's aid and my advice." He stamped the coin-strewn ground. "Is that why you're here? To break it to me that he's been found in half a dozen pieces?"

  Nocturne said, "No, sir. We don't know where your son is."

  Whitegold's shoulders slumped. "Thank you for listening, at least. Maybe no news is good news; he's resourceful. I just have no desire to help out with Ludo's many schemes until I know more. Are you sure you don't want to try a battle of some kind? Us versus the army, maybe?"

  Horizon shifted his weight uncomfortably. "I'm not eager to kill soldiers or cops, even NPC ones."

  "Bah. How about robots?"

  Horizon looked to Nocturne, who shrugged. "All right," he said.

  * * *

  The griffins had a relaxing few hours there with battles and swimming and lounging around. But it was time to move on, back to the spaceship.

  They appeared above the city and evaded the sentry beetle. They scouted all the way around the cylinder, stopping every few minutes to rest in fields.

  "Samurai Sam's got more of these temples to himself," said Horizon. They stuck up like red spikes now that he was searching for them.

  He landed near a pond where a lone monk tended rice seedlings. Horizon made sure translation was on before saying hello.

  The monk spoke, bowed, then returned to his work. The words "Welcome to our village!" brushed themselves onto the bottom of Horizon's vision for several seconds.

  Horizon blinked. "Thanks. Can you tell us what's going on?"

  "Cylinder Town is a peaceful place," said the monk's subtitles.

  "Who is the man with the statues?"

  "Lord Emperor is..." The monk paused, twitched, and began to speak in a new and sniveling voice. The text beneath him said, "You should go. My lord will be angry if I don't do my work properly."

  Nocturne said, "What are we talking to?"

  "If you must know, I am Second Son, owned by Lord Emperor. My unworthy consciousness jumps between the lesser minds of the peasants to make sure that we do our work as perfectly as our weak skills allow. You made Lord Emperor upset by entering one of his temples uninvited. I jumped in and he destroyed one of my bodies." There was no accusation in his voice.

  "He's enslaved you? How's that even possible?" Horizon asked. It seemed that Second Son was a mind who controlled all of the peasants but only steered one at a time. "Is Lord Helmet an uploader, or what?"

  "We both are. I am not worthy of any better fate."

  "We'll go kick his ass for you."

  "Oh!" said the peasant as the griffins departed. "He will be very angry indeed!"

  Horizon and Nocturne strategized in midair. This villain was probably easy to summon, and if things went badly they'd respawn outside the world.

  They entered the nearest temple, finding no monks on duty. Horizon banged on the golden statue inside. "Wakey wakey!"

  "That's not very heroic," Nocturne said.

  "Come forth, knave!"

  The master of the house appeared. Lord Emperor, [Level 108 Supreme Overlord of Imposing Excellence] (or so the dramatic lettering around him proclaimed) loomed over them and removed his demon-faced helmet. Beneath it was a bearded, scowling man. "You again. Has my staff displeased you?"

  "Your sword displeased me," said Nocturne. "You enslaved an intelligent mind to be your horde of peasant minions, didn't you?"

  "Second Son is fit for the job. He is unworthy of more. Did he complain to you?" The Emperor's hand twitched on the hilt of his sword.

  Horizon kept out of reach. "No, but you've obviously beaten him down pretty hard. What did he ever do to you?"

  "That worm cleans my temple floors, tends my fields, and prepares my food. Always making mistakes here and there."

  "For which you killed him, right? Would you treat people in the Outer Realm that way?" said Horizon.

  "Yes."

  "Skree! What is wrong with you, Subtitle Sensei? Were you a killer out there?"

  The temple's lord laughed at him. "I don't think you understand, outsider creatures. Second Son is mine --"

  Nocturne said, "We got that. We were about to proceed with the ass-kicking."

  "By his choice."

  "Awk?" she said.

  Lord Emperor snapped his fingers. Three of the peasants ran into the temple and kowtowed. He said, "Second Son. Do you wish to leave this world forever and be gone from my sight?"

  As one, the minions spoke a river of pleading. The subtitles said, "No."

  "You see?"

  "We are unworthy!" they said.

  "You do not speak unless spoken to, dog!"

  Horizon stepped away from them. "This world is something you wanted?"

  All three of Second Son looked up at their master without speaking.

  Lord Emperor said, "Go on. Tell them."

  They answered, "We must stay here until our sins are scourged away. We have been very bad and must be punished until our work becomes perfect."

  Nocturne said, "Mind control?"

  Horizon backed further away with his ears and tail low.

  The master leered down at them. "Would you like to try punishing them with me? It's quite fun."

  * * *

  Nocturne and Horizon lay on their starting platform, on their comforting pile of pillows. Horizon tried to explain to Nocturne that for those two people, that situation was apparently their idea of "fun".

  Nocturne stuck her tongue out. "That's messed up. I'm glad I got designed based on somebody sane. Although I would think that no matter what you were like, right?"

  "Probably." Horizon comforted her with his wings, though they felt like the blood had drained from them. He didn't even have blood except as a rare, decorative battle effect.

  She looked him over with worry in her eyes. "How do I know you're not an enormous loony pervert?"

  "Learn about different ways that people live, and what they think is right."

  "So it's all subjective? There's no standard rulebook?"

  Horizon shook his head. "Not one that everyone agrees on, at all."

  "I bet Ludo could tell us."

  "She's letting us explore and see for ourselves, instead."

  In Ludo's future there'd be thousands and thousands of customized dungeons, not the heroic adventuring kind but dark places where every human desire festered. What to do about that, though?

  Nocturne said, "With Whitegold, maybe we can help him by finding his son. For the dwarves, I'm not sure there's a way to make them interact with the real world much, but maybe it's okay that they don't. I'd like to talk Second Son out of whatever got him to hate himself so much, but it'd take a lot more time than I'm willing to spend with him right now."

  "Yeah. And Typhoon... maybe we've helped him already. Or our talk will tide him over until we can pull Linda in." Horizon paused. "Per
mission to speak?"

  Nocturne glared at him. "Don't even joke about that! You're mine, but not like that."

  "Okay, sorry." He managed to wriggle one wing and drape it over her.

  They lay together for a while.

  * * *

  They stopped by Jason's world to commiserate and seek advice. It was another sunny day in paradise, with a picnic outside at the baseball field. Horizon and Nocturne waved their wings and got sidetracked giving griffin-back rides. It was a little demeaning to play fetch, but Horizon didn't much care so long as nobody called him 'dog'.

  They trotted into the mansion, looking for Jason, and found him in the basement.

  What, exactly, Jason was doing with three of the children is something few storytellers are willing to describe.

  Horizon gave an ear-piercing screech and tackled Jason, raking him with his hindclaws and stabbing him with his beak. Nocturne, half a step behind, stomped on Jason's arm. Battle icons flashed.

  Jason screamed. "Get off me!"

  Horizon gashed Jason's neck with his talons. The old man's body shattered into pixels, making Horizon thump to the floor beneath it.

  Nocturne said, "Run, kids!" There was a flurry of movement that left the griffins alone in the basement.

  Horizon snarled at the checkpoint crystal spinning in the corner, as bright and pure as anyone else's. He leaped and tried to smash the thing, but it only rang and wobbled even after his mightiest talon slash. "Bastard's going to revive here."

  Jason reappeared a moment later, wide-eyed and intact, and grabbed a hidden shotgun.

  Horizon said, "You don't deserve this world."

  "Sorry you feel that way." Thunder crashed and Horizon got slammed backward, shredded. Nocturne shrieked beside him as the world went dark.

  The interface said, [DEATH. No comment.]

  He woke up not back at the crossroads, but right there in the basement, aching all over. He'd touched the crystal. Stupid! Nocturne was gone, but so was Jason. Horizon crouched and braced for Jason's next appearance, ready to kill him again.

  The man respawned and threw himself to one side. Horizon leaped and stabbed him like a mouse until he was dead and gone.

  Seconds later, Jason managed to shotgun Horizon again, while having his throat cut. Horizon died, then reappeared yelping at the burning pain in his bones. [DEATH. No comment.] His vision had contracted to the spot where he knew the creep would revive. When Jason appeared, dazed and pained, Horizon tackled him and stole the gun, then gashed him across the belly.