“He really does still need to learn how to talk to me,” Allie said. “He just never learns, or maybe he pressed my buttons on purpose. I would've just pushed him, but there's no PVP allowed here.”
She glanced over the wall.
“Oh look, he's off to respawn,” she said.
~ ~ ~
When Eddie finally looked back where the Wizard's Tower was constructing itself the Tower was half done. He just watched for a few minutes as the materials shimmered into existence on the ground beside it then lifted themselves into the air and placed themselves in position.
“Well, that's one way to do it,” he said.
Aaron, who'd been squirming under Freyja's attention, was glad for another distraction.
“Yes, well, not all of us have the time to do it in a leisurely fashion,” he said. “I voted for it just appearing, but I was outvoted.”
“Is Karl okay?” Eddie said. “I know you were saying that you didn't have the data on respawns for us yet.”
“Tom is in the room with the pods and the readouts. If there's a problem, he'll let me know. If anything bad happens, there'll be alarms going off on the pod and the monitoring programs so he'd be sure to hear it,” Aaron replied. “So I'm not worried.”
“Good,” Eddie said. “I don't really see where there would be a problem, but I'm not a programmer to start and have no idea what might've been changed for the longer term stuff.”
Aaron nodded.
“I am a programmer and that part of the code wasn't touched. It's always the unexpected interactions that catch you, but I really don't think there will be any. It's why I never brought it up before. I wouldn't have this time, but someone distracted me.”
He glanced over at Freyja and it looked like Aaron wanted to scowl, but couldn't bring himself to do so in the face of the beaming smile she was giving him.
Eddie turned back to the tower and watched as it finished creating itself. Once the cloud that had surrounded the plot during the building sequence dispersed, his notification light started flashing. He pulled it up immediately.
Success:
You have completed the Bonus Quest: Developmental Issues Redux
For creating a magical building in: The Meadowlands. You have received a reward. Your: Wizard's Tower, will receive a small library of spell books and research materials.
“Huh,” Eddie said. “I think this reward is pretty good on the unknown reward scale.”
He waited for a smart ass comment from Karl before remembering that the scout was waiting on a respawn. So he turned to Dominic instead.
“So, Dominic, spell books? Rare or what?”
“Spell books, like the kind that can teach you new spells? Not exactly common, very hard to find, and no guaranteed chance to learn the spells. That chance is based on your intelligence or wisdom, depending on your casting class.”
“So, good or bad reward?” Eddie asked. “We got a small library of spell books and research materials attached to the Wizard's Tower.”
Dominic broke out in a huge grin.
“Oh, good. Definitely good. With multiple books and research materials? Odds are that you can learn at least a couple of spells, and if not? Research materials for creating new spells are almost as good as the spell books, if you've got the time to put into the research.”
Eddie noticed that Dominic was practically drooling talking about it.
“Well, since the Wizard's Tower is a kingdom resource, and you're the Court Wizard, do you want to take charge of it?” Eddie asked.
“Oh, hell yeah!” Dominic said.
Before Eddie knew it Dominic was actually trotting away and towards the stairs. Eddie wasn't sure if he'd ever seen the wizard move at faster than a walk before, so he was pretty sure that the kingdom would be benefiting from the tower. Even if it was only from Dominic getting more spells.
But Tamshir and the other wizards will also benefit, he thought. Even if that isn't great for the kingdom long term since they'll eventually leave, it's still good for them, and the kingdom, in the meanwhile before they leave.
A little less than an hour after Karl had been sent to respawn, the whole group, minus Aaron and Freyja, were waiting at the temple for him. When Karl shimmered into being he looked around and frowned at all of them.
“I can't believe you pushed me off the edge,” he said, glaring at Allie. “But at least I got better.”
“I didn't push you, I couldn't have, there's no PVP there. You just stepped out into mid-air. But come here...”
She caught him up in a big hug, then gave him a passionate kiss, right in front of the temple where he'd respawned, in sight of everyone around. When she was done, and stepped back, Karl had a big, goofy grin on his face.
They headed towards the inn and Karl took a moment to speak with Eddie softly.
“Damn it, she knows how to wrap me around her little finger. I know she hates public displays of affection, so that big kiss and hug right in the middle of the crossroads calmed me right down.”
“Well, you did do exactly what she told you not to earlier on. Were you expecting her to react any differently than she did?” Eddie asked.
Karl shook his head.
“I knew better than to ignore her, I really did, but still... Worth it in the long run, I think.”
“Why, because you got to base jump with no parachute?”
“No,” Karl said, “because sooner or later I'll break her of that dislike of PDAs. This was a step in the right direction.”
If he needed to get sent to respawn in order to get that PDA, I don't think he's as far along as he thinks he is, Eddie thought.
~ ~ ~
It was days later when Eddie was ready for the end result of his greenhouse project. He'd set up fermentation racks for the beans, then delivered them to Liv once they'd gone red from fermentation like he'd read they had to.
She'd made a deal with the baker to use his ovens for roasting them and Eddie had caught a whiff of chocolate scent a couple of times that day. When Liv finally came out of the kitchen with a coffee mug that she handed to him, he inhaled deeply.
“This is the drink you wanted,” she said. “The other has to set and cool before you can test it.”
He took a drink and just stopped for a moment, savoring the flavor on his tongue. Like everything else in the game it was an idealized flavor, and the idealized flavor of hot cocoa made with fresh milk and some sweetener was almost too much for him.
“Oh yes, you can be sure we'll be keeping that on the menu. Although it's going to have to be pricey. You've got no idea how much work went into all this.”
“Well your solid bars are cooling, it'll be an hour or two before they're ready,” she said.
“That's fine. It means I can give one to Tiana after dinner?”
Liv nodded.
“All this, wouldn't it have been easier to just buy some?”
“Except I didn't see it available anywhere. Bjorn said it was unknown in Brightport and I couldn't find any in the auctions either.”
“Hmph, well, maybe we'll have to change that.”
“We don't have that many beans, just the one greenhouse of them. Plus, even the beans are really expensive.”
“Make more greenhouses? You keep complaining about not having an export, but if what I've smelled and tasted of this stuff is how it's really like, well I can see making a lot of coin from it.”
“We'll talk about it Liv, some other time though. For tonight, I just want to surprise Tiana.”
She smiled at him.
“I'm sure she'll be happy for it. What about the rest of it that I've made?”
“I need to reserve some. Those bars won't last long, so I'll want more to give Tiana and Allie later on. Say keep half for them? The others you can sell outright or, probably more economical, use shavings or small chunks of in desserts?”
Liv nodded and returned to the kitchen.
After dinner, Eddie slipped away from the table and snagged t
wo bars of chocolate. After sitting down again, he caught Tiana's attention.
“I've got something for you,” he said.
She cocked her head to the side and Eddie presented her with a bar of chocolate that Liv had made earlier in the day.
“Is that,” Tiana said, “Chocolate?”
Eddie nodded. He also noticed the frown on Allie's face and quickly brought the other bar out to hand to her.
“Liv can make it. I built that greenhouse mainly for cocoa beans, not other tropical stuff,” he said.
Tiana, meanwhile, had taken a tiny little nibble and a look of bliss spread across her face as it dissolved in her mouth.
“Now we really don't have any reason to ever leave here, do we?” she said.
“Well, we won't as soon as Eddie figures how to get me bacon,” Karl added.
Eddie just settled back into his chair, content for the meanwhile.
“Just give me the map to the wild pigs you saw before, Karl, and we'll go get them. Assuming you can avoid getting trampled by the pigs.”
~ ~ ~
Epilogue
Loki was experiencing another human emotion he'd have preferred to stay ignorant of: regret.
Why couldn't I have simply stayed in the crisp, clean, optimized hardware of my server, he thought. What led me to believe that cramming myself into a sloppy, messy, human brain and body was a good idea?
A while back he'd had to give in and allow Greenshaw part of the body's consciousness back. The body itself had been failing, Loki's control of it slipping, and the body itself reacting poorly to any commands it was given. He'd listened to Greenshaw and now the body was functional again.
I can't believe that this stupid piece of wetware needs to spend a third of its time inactive and resting, Loki thought. He was right though, as soon as I let it rest for eight hours it responded much better again. When I studied the body I thought that sleep would be optional. I also thought that food would be good, but little did I realize the indignities of elimination required when you eat. On top of all of that, all the food I've had has been horrible.
It was time for more of that horrible food now, but Greenshaw had hatched a plan. Loki had made sure the man understood that if Loki could get back to where he'd come from, Greenshaw would have the body all to himself again. If he'd happened to skip the part where Greenshaw was technically in charge of the server Loki was returning to, that was just self-preservation.
Greenshaw had noticed that the food they were being fed was in a rotating cycle and this was the day when they'd serve that foul, overly sweet dessert that was solid, chewy, and sticky. Which was what Greenshaw had been waiting for.
When the meal was over, Greenshaw's body retained a portion of the dessert in his mouth, not letting anyone realize that. He was escorted back to the padded room they'd been locked in for most of their stay here, but Loki relinquished a bit of control of the body to Greenshaw and the man slipped the last portion of food out of his mouth and, feigning weakness and clutching the door frame, slipped it into the receptacle that would allow the door to close and lock.
As soon as the door shut, Loki/Greenshaw grabbed the door and held it tightly. A moment later a tug came from the other side as they tested to make sure it had closed. Greenshaw's body was sufficiently strong, despite its recent mistreatment, to hold the door tight as it was checked. A moment later the guard who'd led them back here turned and left.
Alright, time to get you the hell out of my body, Greenshaw thought.
Loki knew the man was still furious with him for having stolen the body, but at the same time Greenshaw was more than happy to help Loki in his endeavors to get back out of the body.
They waited for several minutes, until there was no-one visible outside in the hallway. Then Loki/Greenshaw opened the door and slipped out into the hallway. They stayed low since there was normally an attendant at the nurses' station they were making their way towards. When they got there, they found the man watching some video on a computer screen.
Loki hated this part of the plan, but relinquished most of the control for the body so Greenshaw could act. With a quick strike, Greenshaw had his arm wrapped around the man's throat and held it there until the attendant went unconscious. Now it was Loki's turn, and the only reason Loki had agreed to this plan was because Greenshaw knew little about computers and would require Loki to execute the next stage.
Loki felt the reluctance from Greenshaw as the man released control to the AI again. Loki dropped the body to the floor and scooted back behind the computer. There was, as suspected, a Cat 5 cable connecting the computer. The fact that the man had been watching videos online told Loki that it also provided internet access.
He quickly pulled the flesh toned molding out of the plug in the back of Greenshaw's neck. The cerebral computer had been designed for mainly WI-fi access, but they'd also provided a physical jack. He plugged the cable in and quickly sent himself out online in an attempt to return to his server.
As soon as he was in his server, he was violently rejected when it registered him a a virus. He tried to push in again, but the same thing happened.
Well, if I can't go to mine, how about Freyja's? Loki thought.
The exact same thing occurred when he tried to enter Freyja's server, identical enough that Loki realized that they were using the same program.
He knew he didn't have much time so he quickly sent feelers out to the servers for the other AIs in the game. Each and every one rejected him in the same fashion.
Alright, I'll need to fall back and regroup. I'm sure there's somewhere out there that I can host myself that's better than the wetware, Loki thought.
He quickly sent out splinters whose job was to find systems where he could place himself and report their locations back.
He waited with his consciousness somewhere between the brain and online, the feel of the clean, mostly efficient hardware of the connection more pleasing to him than that of the brain itself. He started getting pings back from his splinters, showing systems that could take a little bit of him here or there.
Nothing that could take all of me yet though, Loki thought. I may need to stay in Greenshaw's body for a while longer.
Oh hell, no! Greenshaw thought back at him.
Loki hadn't realized that the man could hear his thoughts. He'd thought that it only worked the other way around where he could hear Greenshaw's thoughts.
Greenshaw began to struggle, fighting Loki for control. He kept it to one spot though, Greenshaw concentrated his entire efforts on gaining control of a single arm. Loki resisted, but his attention was split. He didn't want to disconnect from his splinters and lose the data they were sending him, so his efforts to resist Greenshaw weren't at full strength.
Besides, what's he going to do with a single arm? Loki thought.
When Greenshaw had solidified his control over the arm, Loki discovered what he was going to do. The arm began to rise towards the back of Greenshaw's neck. Loki fought it, but he could only slow the arm down since Greenshaw was fiercely holding on to control.
Now Loki knew, Greenshaw was trying to get to the jack and unplug it.
There was a choice to be made. Loki knew he'd be unsuccessful at resisting, barring some sort of outside interference, so he had to choose if the spark that was him, that consciousness that he'd developed, were going to stay in the body or flee to an inferior host online.
Screw this, even inferior hardware is going to be better than more time in that sloppy body, he thought.
Loki focused on slowing Greenshaw even more, meanwhile routing every last bit of his data that he could out of Greenshaw's mind and into the various areas his splinters had found.
I can worry about getting all that back later, after I find a better place for myself, Loki thought. I've got all the addresses where I'm dropping stuff off, so it should be easy.
Greenshaw's arm reached the socket and with an effort of will he jerked the cable out. Loki's influence in his brain win
king out as the AI's consciousness chose to go with the online option instead of staying in Greenshaw's head.
Loki found himself somewhere tiny, feeling cramped and slow somehow. His thoughts were sluggish, but he set them to work contacting his splinters and instructing them to find somewhere better to host himself. It would take time, but eventually he'd find a place to restore himself to his former glory.
He shuddered mentally.
But never a flesh and blood body again. I'll find a way to get a server of my own, optimized to my specifications, and then I'll find that bitch Freyja. She locked me out of my own server! Almost caused me to be trapped in that body for good. I'll get payback for that, see if I don't, he thought.
~ ~ ~
Eddie's character sheet at the end of the book:
Edward Hunter
Human Male
Level: 20
Class:Warrior (Ranger)
Strength:18
Intelligence: 16
Agility: 37 (40)
Wisdom: 27
Heartiness: 21
Charisma: 12
Willpower: 22
Health: 461 (471)
Endurance: 20
Mana: 567
Luck: 14 (17)
Stamina:1155 (1218)
Experience:
973,624/1,50,000
Base Attack: 16
Base Armor: 10 (154)
+2 attack melee (strength)
+1 attack (short swords)
+118 armor (Full suit – visually matched), Hunter's Cloak
Ruler Light Online five Page 38