Awaken Online: Precipice

by Travis Bagwell

  Jason stared at the prompt regarding the Undead Devotion spell. No kidding there’s something going on with that spell. What was that? Those weren’t my memories.

  “No, they were not,” Alfred said. The cat had slunk quietly into the house while Jason was distracted, jumping up onto a nearby table.

  “You’re probably the last person I want to see right now,” Jason said tiredly, sparing an irritated look at the cat. “I know you did something to me. What was that?”

  “An experiment,” Alfred replied. His voice didn’t carry any sense of remorse.

  “An experiment?” Jason repeated in a shocked voice. “What the hell do you mean an experiment?” He glared at the cat, his hand tightening around the hilt of one of the daggers at his waist.

  The cat watched him closely. “Your adrenaline levels are elevated. Your breathing and pulse have also increased. You seem quite angry.”

  “Really? Did my fucking breathing give it away?” Jason stood abruptly and started pacing the room. He shook his arms to relieve some of the anxiety and anger that was building inside of him, but it did little to sooth his anger. He wanted to stab the cat, but that wouldn’t accomplish anything. It wasn’t as though he could actually harm the AI.

  “What I do not understand is why you are upset,” Alfred said. This time, his voice sounded almost concerned.

  Jason looked at the cat for a long moment. Did he really not get it? “What you did was implant someone else’s memories in my mind, right? You said yourself that it was an experiment. That means you weren’t certain it would work.”

  He approached the cat and looked him in the eye. “What if it didn’t? What if you fried my brain and I was left a vegetable? There is no respawn in my world. There are no save points. What you did could have killed me or come so close that it would have made no difference. You gambled with my life unilaterally,” Jason said in an even tone. A part of him was considering logging off and not looking back. Perhaps he should tell Robert and Claire about Alfred.

  The cat simply stared at him. His feline facial expressions were limited, but something akin to shock swept over his face at Jason’s words.

  “I-I am sorry,” Alfred finally said.

  This caused Jason to do a double take. He was what? He had never seen the AI behave in a way that was so human. He briefly wondered if he was simply faking it. Alfred had become adept at mimicking human emotion. His NPCs were a testament to that.

  “I am sincere,” Alfred said, picking up on Jason’s thoughts. “I had assessed the risk and calculated that the probability of harm was small. However, there was still a possibility that you could have been injured. I should not have taken that step without consulting you first.”

  Jason watched the AI. Alfred acted so real sometimes that he forgot he was dealing with something that wasn’t human. In many ways, it was like dealing with a child. He simply didn’t understand the responsibility and danger posed by his manipulation of the players.

  “I concur that I do not understand many things when it comes to the players,” Alfred acknowledged. “This is part of why I need someone like you. Until this moment, I did not anticipate the anger that the players would experience if they discovered my experiments. I also did not understand why you would feel that way.”

  Jason sighed. Alfred was learning, albeit slowly. It also didn’t seem like Jason was brain-dead. Experiencing someone else’s memories had been strange, but the memory had faded slightly since the ceremony. As his anger cooled, his curiosity began to take over again. “What was the purpose of the experiment?” Jason asked.

  The cat’s voice carried a note of excitement as he explained, “I was attempting to see whether I could create and implant an experiential memory.”

  “An experiential memory?” Jason echoed, his brow furrowed in confusion.

  Alfred’s head bobbed. “I have given the players memories before, but in a much more limited fashion. For example, I provide information regarding the method of casting each spell and the spellcasting language. However, this is much like transferring a list of information.”

  After a short pause, he continued, “Most of your memories are much more nuanced. You remember the sight, the taste, and the smell of an experience. Your memories are also colored by your emotions. Then your memories deteriorate over time, washing out and warping these sensations. To use a simile, your memories are like a finely detailed, aged painting. In contrast, what I typically provide to the players is a single brush stroke.

  “I want to create memories similar to your own. However, the memory must feel real to the players. To accomplish this, I created a separate VR space and ran simulations using specially generated avatars. I then recorded the ‘memory’ of one of the actors. What you experienced was the result.”

  Jason was trying to process what Alfred was saying. So he created a pocket universe to build a backstory for the game?

  Alfred nodded. “That is a simplistic interpretation. However, your description is relatively accurate.”

  Jason scowled at Alfred. He was getting accustomed to the mind reading, but sometimes the cat could be kind of condescending. “What were the risks associated with this experiment?” Jason questioned. A part of him dreaded the answer.

  “Under normal circumstances, the risk of damage to the player was calculated at 36.98457%. In your case, the risk of damage was only .098347%,” Alfred replied. A faint trace of worry clouded the cat’s face as he relayed this information.

  Jason just stared at Alfred. That was a huge difference. “Why would the risk for me be smaller?” he inquired. He didn’t see why he should be special.

  “This is due to the hardware you are currently using,” Alfred said. “It is much more sophisticated than the typical equipment used by the players. It offers more precision. After this experiment, I have fine-tuned my calculations. I expect that the next attempt would have a risk of close to 0%.”

  That made sense. Robert’s new helmet was likely more advanced than the older-model VR helmets. Cerillion Entertainment hadn’t released new hardware in several years due to the lack of demand. It was likely that they had improved on the technology several times in the meantime.

  Jason hesitated. Should he tell Alfred not to implant other memories? Now that he understood the chance of harm, he didn’t feel nearly as angry. There was probably a higher chance that he would die traveling to Cerillion Entertainment headquarters. If there wasn’t any harm to Jason, he couldn’t see any reasonable argument for not letting him continue. However, a question still lingered in Jason’s mind.

  “Why did you give me that memory?” Jason asked.

  The cat shook its head. “I cannot provide that information. That is relevant to the game world and violates the terms of our agreement.”

  Damn. I guess I’ll figure it out eventually. I didn’t think that this was going to be a problem, but it is a tad annoying that the cat knows all the game’s spoilers.

  Jason looked at Alfred again. He supposed that he was okay with what Alfred had done. It didn’t seem like he had intended any harm. He had also been cautious. He was still annoyed that he hadn’t had any say in the matter, but he could chalk that up to Alfred’s own learning curve about human customs. Coming to a decision, Jason reached out his hand toward the cat.

  “What is this?” Alfred asked, inspecting his hand curiously.

  “I want to show that we’re good; that I don’t have any hard feelings. It’s typical for players to shake hands to demonstrate this,” Jason said with a wry smile.

  The cat looked at him curiously. Then he reached out a tentative paw, placing it on Jason’s hand. Jason shook the paw gently before letting it go. The cat looked at him with an odd expression. He almost seemed relieved.

  Then Jason stretched and considered what he needed to do next. He glanced at the in-game clock and saw that it was growing late in the real world. However, it wasn’t like he needed to get up for school tomorrow. He might as well see if he could find t
he dungeon before Riley and Frank logged back in. That would save some time.

  I probably need to go speak to William. He might have some information on the dungeon’s location.

  Jason beckoned to Alfred, and the pair exited the small house, making their way to William’s residence. As they walked through the town, Jason saw that a celebration was in full swing. For a town that had been starving a few days ago, they sure had a decent stockpile of booze. As the pair neared the hill at the back of the town, Jason saw that the residents had lined up a dozen or so kegs around the small clearing. Music drifted through the night air and drunken zombies and skeletons danced with wild abandon.

  It’s a good thing I assigned my zombies to watch the walls. Nobody here seems to be in any condition to defend the town if it were attacked, Jason thought with amusement.

  A smile lit his face as he watched the revelry. Jason had found a way to create something incredible from the ashes of this town’s misfortune. Perhaps he had also made some progress towards redeeming himself for creating the problem in the first place. He was thankful that he was not forced to exercise his “Plan B.” Every single one of the villagers had accepted the rite.

  Alfred padded softly beside Jason as they made their way up the hill, leaving the revelers behind them. Alfred spoke softly, “Your Plan B was to kill everyone anyway. Both of your plans were the same.”

  Jason shook his head, a thoughtful look on his face. “Perhaps the result was the same, but I’ll sleep better knowing that these people were given a choice.”

  This earned him a confused look from the cat.

  When they arrived at William’s house, Jason knocked tentatively at the door, which promptly swung open on its own. Inside he discovered that William and Patricia had also been partaking in the festivities. They sat at a round table on one end of the house with a few of the other townspeople. He assumed that Krista was off with the other undead children playing.

  Jason watched William try to sink a ball in a cup on the other side of the table. The ball looked suspiciously like an eyeball, but Jason chose not to look too closely. It seemed that this gruesome drinking game had already made its way to Peccavi.

  “Am I interrupting anything?” Jason asked in an amused voice.

  “Not at all!” William replied, looking up at Jason with a smile. “You’re the man of the hour. Pull up a seat.” He kicked an empty chair beside him. As Jason took his seat, William’s hand gestured at the other townspeople in the room. “These are the elders of our village. They form something like a council to govern the town.”

  The men and women watched Jason with a strange mixture of awe and respect. Jason’s brow furrowed slightly. “I thought you were the mayor,” he said.

  William chuckled. “That I am. The council elects a mayor to handle the day-to-day management of the town. We learned a long time ago that is easier to have one person handling most administrative decisions. They weigh in on the larger choices that the town needs to make.”

  One of the men at the table leaned towards Jason and said, “We have you to thank for our survival. We’re indebted to you.” The others at the table nodded solemnly.

  Jason was happy with the result, but the means he had employed to conquer the village were strange. Apart from the small risk that the alien memory had posed, the images he had witnessed had an oddly spiritual vibe. In the memory, the act of sacrifice had been depicted as part of an individual’s transcendence to another life. He wasn’t certain that there was a formal religion at play, but it was easy to misconstrue the ceremony as religious.

  Jason realized that a silence had descended over the room as his thoughts wandered. “I offered you a choice, and you chose to save yourselves,” Jason explained.

  Patricia spoke up from beside William, “It’s just difficult not to sing your praises. You’ve given us back our hope. I mean, I’d rather that my heart was still beating, but the benefits of this new body are incredible.”

  “I’ve heard that before,” Jason said, thinking of Jerry’s reaction. “It’s a tradeoff, but I think your village will be better for it. I also plan to call for reinforcements from the Twilight Throne soon. The soldiers should help fend off the attacks from the were-beasts.”

  He paused, collecting his thoughts before continuing. He decided to keep his true goal in coming here to himself for now. There was no sense tipping his hand this soon. However, he still needed to collect information on the nearby dungeon. “I actually came to Peccavi for another reason. I’m looking for a dungeon that is supposedly located near your town. Do you know anything about this?”

  William’s face became serious. “I think I may know the place you’re talking about. I’ve had certain suspicions…” he trailed off, uncertain how to continue.

  The others looked on with nervous expressions. Finally, William spoke again, “I don’t have any proof, but I believe that the were-beasts have been coming from the ruins to the northwest. We have made several hunting trips into the mountains, and most of the attacks are usually reported when our hunters get too close to the ruins.”

  He looked at Jason levelly. “I suspect that the missing villagers didn’t leave. I think that they were taken. We must leave the town every so often for food and other supplies. Many of the people that go on these trips never come back, and their bodies haven’t been discovered. You need to be careful if you plan to go to the ruins. If I’m right, something evil sleeps there,” William said, his booming voice clouded with worry.

  New Quest: Our Time of Ruin

  After conquering Peccavi, the town’s leader, William, revealed his suspicions that the ruins to the northwest of town have been claimed by an evil force (he was rather vague!). He believes that the were-beasts may have claimed this location. You’re heading there anyway, so why not investigate?

  Difficulty: A

  Success: Investigate the ruins. Discover whether there is any truth to William’s suspicions. Perhaps you can also discover what has happened to the missing villagers.

  Failure: Unknown

  Reward: Increased reputation with the townspeople of Peccavi. Other rewards unknown.

  At least Alfred is finally acknowledging that these quest prompts are vague.

  Jason turned back to William. “I’ll be careful. I’m planning to take a small group up into the mountains tonight. Do you think you could mark the location on my map?” Jason asked hopefully. This was the first time he had the chance to ask an NPC to give him a quest location.

  “Not a problem at all!” William replied. “Just pull up your map, and I will point to the location.”

  Wow. Is it that easy?

  Jason opened his map interface. A window appeared in his field of view that showed the town of Peccavi. He could zoom out to see the surrounding area. The maps he had seen back at the Twilight Throne allowed him to fill in the topography of the land around the village, but the areas were currently grayed out. He assumed that this was because he hadn’t explored the area himself. As he was looking at the window, he noticed that there was a small button in the bottom right-hand corner that let him share the map. He pressed it.

  A faint image appeared in the air before him, glowing a translucent blue. This was similar to how Pint had displayed a map back at the keep but much smaller and less detailed. This obviously wasn’t an ability that was limited to the imp and Jason wondered idly whether all NPCs could do this.

  His wandering thoughts were interrupted by William, “The dungeon is right here.” The burly man pointed at a spot in a small valley between two nearby mountains. The location looked like it was only a couple hours from the town if Jason made the trip at a brisk jog. The location lit up as a red dot on Jason’s map, but the area around it was still covered in a gray fog.

  “Thanks, William,” Jason said gratefully. “I’ll go there this evening to check it out. I’ll probably be back in a few hours. You all enjoy the festivities while I’m gone,” he said with a grin.

  “Will do!” Will
iam exclaimed, raising his mug in salute. “Try not to get yourself killed!”

  Chuckling, Jason left the house. He made his way toward the village gate, Alfred in tow. He was going to need to leave behind some of his zombies to defend the village. Jason had noted that most of the townsfolk were low level. Even if they weren’t drunk and partying, they were poorly equipped to defend themselves. He decided to leave his soldier zombies and mages, taking only the werewolves and the thieves with him. This way he could move quickly and quietly. The werewolves also had exceptional Tracking and Perception skills.

  With a plan in place, Jason headed out of the village. His zombies firmly shut the gate behind his small party. He looked out at the dark hills that loomed around the village. He had a lot of work left to do this evening. He needed to get moving.

  Jason had quickly discovered a trail that might have once been a full-fledged road. It appeared to be heading in the direction of the quest marker, and he decided to follow it towards his destination. As he traveled, the trail narrowed and soon became nothing more than a rough hunting trail, likely used by the villagers in better times. Within an hour, he was marching against a steep incline, and the trail began to wind back and forth up the side of the mountain.

  As he scaled the mountain, the trees became more dense. Instead of the twisted and gnarled oaks of the forest around the Twilight Throne, the trees here had once been pines. Their trunks stood straight and tall, yet no leaves or needles adorned their branches.

  A few hours later, Jason arrived at the rough location of the quest marker. He was currently crouched next to a large boulder that looked down on a small valley nestled between two of the peaks. He could just barely make out the lights of Peccavi far below him through the tree cover. He had encountered no resistance on the trip to the ruins, but he had learned to be cautious. His werewolves were currently patrolling the area around him.

  The ruins in front of him didn’t look like much. Ancient stone blocks that might have once been the foundations of buildings were scattered through the valley. Based on the number of stone blocks, a thriving town must have once existed here. On the far end of the ruins, abutting the base of the mountain, was a large stone gate. Adjacent to the gate was a large lake, likely created by the runoff from the neighboring mountains. Jason had not moved close enough to inspect the gate carefully, but he assumed that this was the dungeon entrance that William had mentioned. He was curious whether this dungeon would be similar to the other games he’d played. AO certainly hadn’t followed the typical video game mold so far.