“The game allows me to manage some simple actions while you’re out of Omnia, or out of the pod, as long as those actions don’t require making a real choice. It’s always best to log out in a private place where you will not be interrupted. When you are not in Omnia, Drake does not have to eat. Since Drake is in jail, I’ll have him go through the motions of eating the food, using the toilet, and all the other things a person should do during the day.” replied Samantha.
“Don’t eat too much, I want you to get in some exercise, then a shower and some sleep.”
“To bed?” said Kevin, “We haven’t been to bed in days,” he said playfully.
“Hmm, you’ve got to earn your rewards; I don’t think you have been exercising hard enough. Maybe I’ve been too easy on you?” Samantha replied in a similarly playful manner.
***
The next morning he woke up to see Samantha sitting cross-legged on the bed facing him, in all her natural (or unnatural) glory.
“Good you’re awake, we need to talk about a few things.” said Samantha in a serious tone, completely at odds with her state of undress.
“You have my complete attention.” leered Kevin, while his eyes rested on some of Samantha’s more prominent assets.
Samantha frowned, “How should I get your attention… oh, I know.” Then she disappeared. A second later she reappeared fully, and conservatively dressed, holding a bucket. She then turned the bucket upside down to drop ice water on Kevin.
Kevin jumped up out of the bed shouting, “What the hell…”
“Good, you’re awake, we need to talk,” said Samantha with a grin. She then tossed him a towel. Once he was done drying, she handed him some gym clothes.
“Let’s go, we can talk while you exercise. You don’t want to waste time… remember I know you, you’ll regret it if you don’t make the most out of the time you have.”
As they moved to the training room to start his work out, he asked, “Why did you dump water on me, I thought you liked sex.”
“Remember I said I know you… In many ways, I am you, I came to exist reading your mind. No, I don’t like or dislike sex, the act is meaningless. It pleases me to be useful, but I have no sex drive. But some sexual activity is good for your health. Just remember, I’ll act a part for you, but it’s not really something I do for me. Everything I do is to support you and, make you the best you can be.”
To Kevin, that was both kind of awakening and still a turn on based on what she said. How could a man not like a woman who existed just for him… yet now he thought he understood her better. No matter how he felt, could she really feel anything for him? To have someone love him, he would need a real companion.
“Thanks for explaining that… I’m still physically and somewhat emotionally attracted to you, though,” responded Kevin.
“I know,” smiled Samantha. “Enough stretching, let’s start running while we talk.”
“I think we should evaluate your last session in Omnia,” said Samantha. “What do you think you could have done better?”
“Let me think… Well, the scene in the freighter was confusing. Since I know nothing about space ship emergency procedures and drills, I wasted a lot of time stumbling my way through the freighter.”
“Ok, so that something we will need to add to your training, at least a minimal understanding of onboard ship drills. That will include; fire, depressurization, and abandon ship drills. You were very slow getting suited up if the leak were fast or a blowout, you would have died right there.” said Samantha. “You should also get familiar with what’s in a med kit, and how to use it. In an emergency, you might not have time to ask me for directions.”
“What else?” asked Samantha.
“I need to learn how to use, strip, clean and take care of my blaster pistol. What do you think about swapping out the pistol I had for the one I recovered from the pirate?” asked Kevin.
“The heavy blaster will hit harder, giving you more take down power, but it’s heavier, and a little harder to use at a longer range. The weight may slow your draw speed. The heavy blaster just requires a bit more strength, agility, dexterity, and skill than the regular blaster.”
“If you’re not worried about draw speed, the heavy blaster combined with the carbine would provide a good combination of firepower at all normal ranges.”
“If you ever decide to get eye implants, I’ll see what you see. Combined with a targeting upgrade to a blaster, I could indicate where you’re aiming, like a laser pointer. Some armor suit helmets work like that too. It’s better than a laser pointer because no one else can see the indicator.”
Samantha said, “Ok, another question. Did you consider just handing the data cube over to the pirates?”
“I did think about it… wait, if this is a debriefing, why am I wearing shorts?” joked, Kevin.
“Don’t make me dump more ice on you… run faster,” replied Samantha. “Go on, why didn’t you give them the cube?”
“I had too many questions… I don’t know what is on the chip, but it’s bad for someone if the pirates get it… I keep telling myself it’s just a game, but everything feels so real, I feel like my decisions have real consequences… So who gets hurt by the pirates getting the data, and how bad?”
“Well I can tell you, unlike MMORPG games you are used to playing; everything you do in Omnia has effects, and those effects have effects, like the ‘butterfly theory.' So, yeah, if you give away the security codes of a bank to pirates, expect it to be robbed.”
“What about the shuttle?” asked Samantha.
“I want to keep it. I want to get into space,” said Kevin.
“Isn’t that like running before you can walk? You have a lot of ground side skills you need to learn. You might want to consider selling it; you can use the money to get some gene therapy.”
“The price for gene therapy that will increase your limits to 3.5, usually costs about 2000 credits.”
“What about higher levels?” asked Kevin.
“Well, 4.0 is about 16,000 credits, usually only people in the military get gene therapy that takes them up to 4.5 or 5, because it’s so expensive, and most people just don’t need the strength, agility, or dexterity… All though I think everyone could use more wisdom, hahaha. The costs for military level therapy, if you can find someone qualified to administer them, are 128,000 credits and 1,024,000 credits respectively.” replied Samantha.
“To give you an idea of what that means, you can buy a used light freighter for about 16,000 credits. That’s why the military therapy requires a 20 your enlistment.”
“Gene therapy does increase a Human’s natural life expectancy, but the increase in years is less with each level. So, at the 3.5 level, you could expect to live about 200 years, then 250, 275 and 287 respectively. Of course, these are average life spans; there are many factors to consider when you talk about how long a person might live.”
“So now you can see why most people just get the first two levels of therapy. Of course, genetics means some of the improvements are passed down to the next generation. For rich people, who take the option to get a 5.0 upgrade, they might have a child with genetics in the 4.3 to 4.7 range. It’s one of the things that separate the poor and the wealthy, better genetics.” said Samantha.
“Well, that’s a bit more then I needed to know right now. I still like the idea of having a shuttle, fast transportation on the planet is another advantage,” replied Kevin.
“Ok, think about it,” said Samantha. “In the long run, I think you would be better off with the first level of therapy, but I can’t explain all the reasons to you at the moment,” said Samantha.
“Ok, I’ll give it more thought.” Kevin knew there were things about the game Samantha was restricted from telling him, probably stuff players are supposed to discover as part of a quest or something.
Kevin continued to think about what he learned about the game, and what he needed to do next.
“Samantha, I’m thi
nking about selling my Arcania account,” said Kevin. His Arcania character was one of the top players in that game, and he had a feeling that the value of the account would go down once Omnia was released. He wondered if Intelecom had any plans for releasing a fantasy version, he thought that there were many people who would rather play a fantasy game. At least until they got to smell a real medieval city, or had to use what passed for a bathroom, and flees…lice… rats… black plague… on second thought, maybe they would have to make some changes?
“If you’re sure you want to sell your Arcania account, I can research the best place to sell it and list the account for you.”
Since we’re talking about money, I should also mention that you could save a little money by getting rid of your internet service. I have a multi-gigabit connection to the internet that is included as part of the service, you could just run a cable from the pod to your real world computer, and I could manage the connection for you.
Kevin thought, ‘That makes sense, so if I take meals in the pod, I don’t need to pay for food or internet service. That’s a lot of money saved each month.’
“That reminds me I have to clean out the refrigerator some time, I haven’t opened it in a week.” said Kevin.
“Samantha, would it help if you downloaded the novice level engineering book?”
“Yes, but the process is different from how you learn physical skills. You would need to read through the engineering book from a terminal. It would be like speed reading while in this room, with a high level of retention. You would learn the material faster and retain the information better after the gene therapy. Of course, your physical stats would increase faster too, almost twice as fast.”
Kevin sighed, “Ok, I can see how the therapy is a priority.”
Samantha tackled Kevin to the ground… “What!!”
Samantha smiled, “You get a reward.” Then she pulled down his shorts and applied her lips to something other than talking.
***
A few hours later, while taking a break for lunch, Kevin thought about the questions Samantha was asking him.
“Samantha, you know what I’m thinking all the time, right?”
“Whenever you’re in the pod; yes.”
“Then why were you asking what I was thinking about the data cube, shuttle and all, earlier?”
“I know what you’re thinking, but it helps you to talk these things out. That conversation enabled me to share some of the training I thought would help you, and some information about how the game worked,” said Samantha.
Kevin thought about this for a few minutes. Was Samantha using a Socratic method of teaching him about this game?
***
Kevin spent the next three in-game days in training. He decided to put off the engineering training for a few days and focus on things that would enhance his survivability.
He added blasters to his small arms training, including lessons in speed stripping and cleaning virtual copies of the guns he found in Omnia.
He also added knife fighting to the hand to hand combat he was training in.
While Kevin trained, Samantha continued to apply positive reinforcements. Kevin had a feeling that he would soon be barking and rolling over at her command…
On the third day, Samantha stopped him in the middle of doing pull-ups.
“Time to go, there’s a guard getting ready to open your cell in Omnia.”
“Before I go, can you show me how my stats are progressing?”
Samantha brought up a blue screen for Kevin to examine:
Name: Horatio Drake
Race: Human (Earth subtype)
Hit Points: 130
Combat Level: 1.1
Strength: 1.2 (max 1.9)
Charisma: 1.1 (max 1.8)
Agility: 1.1 (max 2.0)
Intelligence: 1.5 (max 2.1)
Dexterity: 1.0 (max 1.8)
Wisdom: 0.8 (max 1.7)
Constitution: 1.3 (max 1.9)
Memory: 1.3 (max 2.1)
Maximum values are based on personal genetics.
Chapter 9 – Judgement Day
“Clang”
Drake woke up in the jail cell to the sound of the heavy metal door bolt slamming back.
He sat up in bed and took another look at his jail outfit. He wore a simple one piece orange jumpsuit. The only thing high tech about what he was wearing, was what looked like an ankle tracker around his left ankle. He had the feeling that it did more than help the jail A.I. keep track of his location. If he were designing something like it in a high-tech world, it would at least be able to monitor a prisoner’s health and stun them if they got out of line.
Imagine an inmate getting ready to attack someone, the A.I. would sense a spike in his vital signs, then observe his behavior, so just as he took a swing at someone… zap… and he hits the ground.
“Prisoner Drake, will stand up, turn around and walk backward to the door.” said the loud voice of the jail guard.
Drake thought, ‘If I’m right about the ankle device, this procedure borders on the anal retentive side.’
Drake followed the guard’s directions. The guard applied some restraints to his wrists that allowed his arms to hang to his sides, but he could not reach in front of himself.
Drake was then escorted out of the jail block. After going through a few corridors, and up a lift, he joined a group of five other prisoners; he was placed at the back of a short line. The prisoners were of mixed races, there were two Humans, one Dwarf like prisoner, and Elf like prisoner and one lizard like prisoner ahead of him.
This planet seemed to be a polyglot of races, with the Human type being a bit more numerous. When Drake started this game, he first got the feeling that this was a Human-dominated area of space. The dead cook on the freighter and both of the pirates were Human. But when he arrived at the city of Vastal, he was surprised to see a mix of all the races that he saw when he selected his race. Humans only seemed to make up about a third of the population.
“Listen up,” said a guard, in a voice that reminded him of a drill Sargent. “You lot are going to be taken up to courtroom eight, for a hearing before Judge Gert’fign.”
After going up another lift and being shown into a waiting room, Drake just sat with nothing to do. The guards wouldn’t let the prisoners speak, and Samantha was not there to help him.
Another thought occurred to him while he waited. Even if Samantha’s bracer were here, he still wouldn’t be able to speak to her. He would have to ask her if there was an upgrade of some type that would allow him to ask her silent questions.
He was finally called into the courtroom. A guard removed his cuffs and escorted him into the room. To his eyes, it looked more like a conference room than an Earth Court. He recognized his attorney Coyle Stevrenson, sitting to one side of the table. At the head of the table was a bird like… man? Who he figured was the judge. The table formed a kind of U shape with a podium at the open end. Drake was made to stand in front of the podium, facing the judge.
The Judge spoke with a slightly elevated almost song like pitch. “According to the records, or in your case the near lack of any records, I believe this is your first appearance before the court… As you can see, we try to maintain a casual atmosphere. But do not be mistaken, any miss behavior here will see you spending a lot more time either alone in a cell, or working off a short sentence of service to the city.”
Drake nodded trying to give the impression of respectful attention.
“Good, I’ve reviewed your case. Now, Mr. Stevrenson could you return the prisoners A.I. to him?”
Drake was glad to have the bracer back; he just hoped he could keep Samantha with him.
“Now Mr. Drake, could you direct your A.I. to transfer its recordings to the court. I understand the recordings are part of your claim of self-defense in killing two pirates in the forest?”
Drake said, “Sam?”
“Transfer complete, the transferred recording includes all the time fro
m when you woke up on the freighter to the time you were taken into police custody.” responded Samantha.
“Ok, Mr. Drake, you may take a seat.” said the judge indicating a chair next to his attorney.”
Drake half expected the judge to send him back to his cell while he reviewed the recording. But apparently, the courts of this city were different from the court dramas he used to watch on TV.
The Judge brought up a virtual screen of everything Samantha recorded. He then had the court A.I. cycle through the most boring details and just slow down for sections it thought the judge would be interested in. The Judge slowed for the section of Drake finding the body of the cook in the ship’s mess. Drake saw the judge making a note related to the scene. Then the video sped up to the point the data cube was recovered, and his conversation with Samantha relating to the cube. The judge made another note. The video continued speeding up and slowing down with the judge nodding his head or shaking his head from time to time, and sometimes making more notes. After a bit more than an hour of this, the video finally came to an end.
What Drake found irritating about the whole video was how it bounced around so much as the bracers camera moved around. All the motion made the record hard to follow. But at last, all the sounds, including the pirates talking about hunting him down, came through clearly.
“I see.” said the judge. “And do you Mr. Stevrenson, have anything to add?”
“Yes, your Respect. I have followed the investigation of the scene, and would like to point out that both of the dead Humans found at the scene were identified as known pirates, each with a sizable bounty on their heads. Their past crimes link them to the Dark Blood pirate gang, a gang known to use a ship that matches the one recorded as attacking the freighter Fyffes Swiftstar. Besides my client’s claim of the pirate’s property, I would like to extend the claim to include those bounties.”
At this point, the attorney handed the judge some documents.
“Very well, I have received your claim, and am ready to rule on the merits of the self-defense claim, and these additional claims of property and bounties.”
Omnia Online (Omnia Online Series Book 1) Page 6