Continue Online (Book 1, Memories)

by Stephan Morse

  Skill Used:

  [Identification]

  Results:

  [Messenger’s Pet]

  Details:

  Clearly not a cat. Reacts poorly to the name Sniffles the Second. Breathes fire when annoyed.

  “Greed. Jealousy. There’s deep generational hatred and racism. The Chinese had it really bad after the depression. I’d be willing to bet that people who enter from other points in our world make it a point to attack those who are from different areas.”

  “We, I and those Voices who could be bothered to look, have noticed certain, hostilities, in some of the other locations.” James stood, serious as always as he watched me wander around the room. The little dragon trailed after me, nipping at my heels in hopes of getting another cupcake. I gave him the leftovers that seemed safest. The little guy either had an iron gullet or was lucky.

  “Thankfully this world is huge, right? Imagine if it was as crammed as ours.” I had some peanuts squirreled away to toss at the small dragon one at a time.

  “Make sure you chew this time,” I whispered to the small dragon. James was more than smart enough to pick up on the difference, which was amazing considering he was a computer program.

  “It is huge. Still, do you imagine the people of our world have no feelings? That they wish to add your conflicts on top of their own?”

  “I’m sure it balances out. I imagine your world asks our people for help all the time.” This was a game, there were quest systems, I think. Beth hadn’t shown me one, but my friend’s post had mentioned a quest.

  “They do.”

  “Well, it’s a give and take. At least I assume so.” I said.

  “You are correct. You seem to understand much of our world for a new visitor. Have you experienced other worlds before?” James gave that somewhat sly smile again.

  “Are you asking if I’ve played other games?”

  “I believe that’s what your kind calls them.” He nodded.

  “Then yes, I used to play a lot.” Childhood being what it was, I played a ton until college. After that, I had been drowned in homework and reality.

  “And were you any good?”

  “God no. I found some neat things, sure, enjoyed challenges in others, played with friends. I was never one of the best. I usually played a little bit of everything to see what it was like.”

  “Why?” James asked.

  “Why what? Which part?”

  “Why a little of everything, and not a focus?”

  “Oh. Attention problems I think.” I tried to remember all the games from a decade ago. “Boredom or other distractions. Once I got good with a class I usually switched. Playing to be the best was never my style.”

  “A jack of all?” James was falling behind on the question and answer count. His eager tone was getting the better of him. Often I found myself slipping and forgetting he was a machine. Oh well, we would settle our debt of questions and answers eventually.

  “As the saying goes. I’m surprised you know that one.”

  “One player introduced your world’s card games to ours. It’s done quite well.”

  “Yeah? Did they set up a casino and everything?” I could imagine a fantasy world with a giant casino in its major cities.

  “No. What’s a casino?”

  “Wow. No casino. I bet your Voice of Gambling or Chance would love one of those. Right up there with Wyvern races.” Now I was being flippant. Throwing out things I imagined this world would have in one place or another.

  “What sort of nonsense are you talking about?”

  “Mh. Well, I can explain casinos I guess. It’s a place, commonly referred to as ‘The House’ where people come to gamble money on games of chance. Some countries and states consider gambling illegal, but most just tax the bejesus out of them. Part of the proceeds get taxed by whoever runs the area and the rest goes to The House.”

  They had to have races that involved flying mounts. A world with thousands of years’ worth of history couldn’t be that oblivious. The idea of thrill riding giant serpents through the air in a death-defying race made me giddy. As a player, I would love a round or two, even if I failed.

  Of course, players like me would be able to resurrect eventually. Beth had all but told me that death wasn’t permanent. It was inferred from her description of leaping off a cliff dozens of times and the fact that Continue was a game.

  “And this is popular?” James sounded conflicted like he was almost worried about getting an answer.

  “Oh yeah. Old ladies will sit for hours on slot machines. At least they did until computerized gaming took off.” I said.

  “Very well. I have more questions.”

  “Is there a Voice for Gambling?” Time to cash in one some of my owed questions. James would likely call me out if things got carried away. I rarely put much thought into my words anyway. It was part of the strategy I employed to avoid depressing thoughts. My conversations meandered around sometimes as a result.

  “For Chance, there are two,” James replied.

  “Let me guess, male and female? One’s kind of a shifty looking fellow, the other’s a dressed up dame.” I loved this game. How often would anyone get to use the word dame in real life? Moments like this made me smile.

  “In some aspects,” He said

  “I feel like you’re giving away too much information for a Voice.” My cheek turned down with a slight frown.

  “That’s the nature of our bargain. Much of what we’re talking about is readily available in the world. Were you to ask for something dire, I would be equally invasive.” James had proven to speak with his flat tone frequently. His facial expressions flipped between empty and a faint, almost sly, smile.

  “Wait. I’ve lost track of where we are on questions. Do you mean that I can ask you anything I want to about the world? Like about secret moves and overpowered items? And the price would be some horribly invasive question?”

  “In essence.” Thank goodness he treated that as one question. I had gone rather hog wild with the tone. “Does this bother you?”

  “Why would it? I’ve been explaining the inner workings of my mind to a counselor. On the bad months I admit I’m human in front of a crowd of strangers.” That didn’t mean that those admissions didn’t hurt, it only meant I didn’t hide what, who, I was from anyone.

  “Then we’ll get along fine. When my questions bother you, all you need to do is stop answering.”

  “I can’t see any reason I would.” I responded.

  “Time will tell, Grant Legate.” Hearing my name started my teeth grinding again. “There. That motion. You seem upset whenever anyone calls you by your entire name. Why is this?”

  “Because it makes me feel like a child. Only my parents used my entire name.” That was the main reason.

  “And that question didn’t bother you? You answered so quickly.”

  “As I said, I try not to hide how I feel. Explaining it is a bit harder sometimes.” I had been through lots of books during my attempts at self-repair. Human emotion was a lot more complex than computer wiring. Hiding was useless and only prolonged the pain. Yet I still danced with an image of my fiancée. I guess we all coped somehow. There I was again, thinking along depressing lines.

  “Alright. Load up the next event. Let’s do something that involves any sort of chance. Dice, cards, whatever your world has.” A world where I could gamble with no loss of personal money? Neat. Learning new games would also be interesting.

  “Very well,” He said.

  The next room had tables and cards. I could see how some of this lined up with gambling pretty easily. A run-down table in one area of the room reminded me of street vendors. Find the Queen and win a twenty! There was a set of dice. Two giant, slick orbs that did who knows what. Many more items littered the poorly made tables.

  Identification was an easy enough skill to use. I focused on an object and switched eyesight to th
e small plus icon that floated nearby. Windows opened up with more information much like all the other pop-ups this game used. Most were boring and I floated around trying to see if this helped the skill grow.

  I raised an eyebrow.

  James wasn’t in this room anymore. I looked around for the larger black man and couldn’t see him hiding behind any of the devices. He vanished during my perusal of the objects lying around. I didn’t actually need him for this. The Voice would probably be out there observing this, somehow, like he had during the feast trial. All the Voices were probably out there somewhere. My whole purpose for this room, aside from playing games in a game, was to talk to another Voice. Maybe something neat would happen.

  Maud had given me an idea. Not because chasing in-game advantages was in my nature. I wanted to change the program a little.

  “Oh look, a coin.” I picked up the coin. “What’s a good deal for this place?” Choices and possible wagers were weighed while wandering through the tables and games.

  There was a strangely shaped dart board. Next to it was a bow, throwing knives, and a few other items that looked like they flew terribly. A cage had a bird inside. The bird was golden, fluffy and seemed to be half drunk. No telling what form of gambling that was. Maybe people passed it around until the bird barfed on someone.

  “Hah!” Laughter escaped me as realization dawned. What better way to talk to a Voice of Chance and Gambling than to gamble on what it would like?

  “Alright, here’s my proposal.” I waved the coin around. “Heads, whatever Voice presides over Chance comes down for a talk.”

  “Tails, you apply a penalty of your choice once I’m down on the world.” The feast had taught me that there were penalties in this game.

  Wait. This wasn’t a two-sided coin was it? I checked both ends. A dragon tail on one side and a head on the other. Good enough for me. I flipped the coin and let the ground catch it. My next trick would be to ignore the coin’s outcome for awhile and use [Identification] on more items.

  “This makes no sense.” A table nearby had cards. They weren’t the normal decks, though. This was more like a tarot set. Images were all different and had strange suits. Instead of diamonds there were footprints on each card. Instead of a spade there was a scale of some beast, probably a dragon again.

  I shuffled the worn deck as kindly as I could then turned some over. First was a mask, much like the one on the Jester. Its expression nearly mocking with a half-mad grin and sunken eyes. Jester’s suit was a beast footprint. Trails of blood hung around the card’s border depicting violence in the background.

  “Very funny,” I muttered.

  The next two were vaguely interesting as well. One was a representation of Maud. Her suit was that of a burning fire over a brick which might mean home and hearth. Surrounding her was a litter of grasping children. I smiled. The look on her face was less exhausted and closer to exasperated.

  The last was a man in a duster that I hadn’t seen before. He might have been in the portion I skipped over when looking through the Voices’ pictures.

  “Huh.” He looked sort of snappy with only slight stubble. Clearly human, though, so not belonging to any of the unusual races. His suit was fine without a single hair out of place. The guy almost seemed like a well-dressed pool shark. I could see it. At least his sleeves weren’t lined in stupid gambling symbols or anything similar.

  There was a clink behind me. I turned around feeling amazed. That noise ushered in memories from decades ago.

  “Pool?” Numbers on the balls weren’t the same. They looked almost like roman numerals. The table felt was an off-red instead of the standard green. Everything about the table screamed makeshift. Next to it was a man with a pool cue who was dressed nearly the same as my earlier tarot draw. He was chalking one end with a lazy half-smile.

  “Pool. Another game brought over by you visitors. I rather like it.”

  “Nice tie.”

  “Want it?”

  “Not my style.” I paused. “Why pool? More skill than chance?” This man didn’t seem like a complete gambler. My initial appraisal was that he preferred a risk of uncertainty mixed with personal hard work and knowledge.

  “Gamble’s a gamble. It’s a matter of guessing skill. You up for a game?” The pool player had basically announced that this would be another measure of my abilities.

  “Sure.” I stepped past the coin and took note of the dragon tail displayed. Looks like I failed, but gained attention anyway.

  “Your go then.” The balls had already been broken and the other man hadn’t sunk anything. His scatter was pretty good so I had a few choices.

  I walked around the table and tried to figure out if there were any obvious bumps or curves. One of the pockets looked a bit makeshift compared to the regulation tables I played on during my teens. My cousins had been pool sharks. Not me, I only visited. Still, I knew the rules. At least whoever had created the game in Continue had kept the stripes and solids.

  “Which one’s the eight ball?” An eight ball shouldn’t be sunk until the end. Too early and it would be a loss. Kind of like a landmine on the table.

  “The Black Dragon Egg over there is last.”

  Skill Used:

  [Identification]

  Results:

  [Black Dragon Egg]

  Details:

  The [Black Dragon Egg] is used to mark the last ball to be sunk in a pocket. This entry is specifically for a game of skill and chance. Do not confuse this with a [Black Dragon Egg]. The latter involves skill and chance with a [Dragon]

  Warning!

  [Dragon](s) are not a discovery made by this Traveler. Further information currently unavailable. Entry will be updated as information is discovered.

  The messages were waved away so I could see the table. My careful aim helped to sink one of the stripes. Another two shots were successful before missing. The cue I chose was actually fairly nice. My hands ran up and down the pole in amazement at the craftsmanship. They managed to replicate the smooth feel of a polished cue but still kept some of the wooden grain so it almost curved.

  The man in the duster, whom I assumed was a Voice like James and Maud, returned two balls before a miss. That made us even. I smiled and made another shot. Accidentally sinking one of his had set me back. A half smile, scowl, thing, crossed my face. He smirked in a lazy sort of way from under his hat’s brim right before sinking another two.

  I rolled my eyes and put another four in. Two went in at once from a split shot and the fourth was pure luck. We were even now. While he took his next shot I played with the dice on the table. Feeling their weight, casting a few throws. They were the standard six sided.

  “This one of ours? Or yours?” I asked.

  “Ours,” He said.

  “Guess that explains the color.” These dice were yellow cubes instead of the normally polished white. “You have any other types of dice?”

  “Mh. Didn’t like them. One hundred sides on a dice seemed a bit much.” The male Voice responded.

  “Silly, right? Still, some loved them. Probably because it helped them replicate something your world does with more realism.” Here I was filling the other man’s silence with mindless chatter. He hadn’t really been the talking type so far.

  “Your turn.”

  “Oh.” I wandered over and looked at the table. He managed to sink another few and retain the lead. This time, there was no good shot. He had effectively boxed me behind the [Black Dragon Egg].

  I sighed and pondered how to do this.

  Trick shot time. I lined up the stick and ball, angled my shot sharply and managed to hop the ball over his into mine. The bouncing tap had managed to sink one of mine hanging near a pocket. My teeth clenched as the cue ball rolled backward and gave the [Black Dragon Egg] a tap.

  “Whew.” I fired another shot at the far end of the table to return the favor.

  A
ll of my remaining balls were lined up near the [Black Dragon Egg]. Any shot he did from here would have to be carefully placed. Of course, any real attempt at thwarting the machine was mostly useless. An artificial intelligence that specialized in gambling and chance could easily make this shot. The man in the duster sank another one and managed to leave the [Black Dragon Egg] untouched.

  My head hung. The hatted Voice cleared his last few cues. He called the shot and sank the [Black Dragon Egg] easily.

  “Oh well,” I said.

  “You tried.” He nodded like the outcome had been inevitable.

  “Did you want to talk about the casino thing?”

  “Sure. The least I could do for a loser is hear him out.” He braced both arms over the cue tip and waited for me to explain. That spawned another twenty minutes of conversation where I tried to tell him how a casino worked. Winners were few, odds were in The House’s favor. Places designed to be as much a distraction as anything else. Kind of like this entire game. I had lost the coin toss and the round of Pool.

  Finally, satisfied, the man in his Duster tipped his hat and faded out. I was left with a pop-up window.

  Event!

  Poor Pool Performance

  Playing pool isn’t your strong suit. Even though you understood the rules, your skills weren’t enough to challenge the Voice of Gambling.

  Despite your pitiful demonstration, he listened to what you’ve said (He goes by Ray). Ray will provide his followers a chance to gain favor by establishing their own casinos. They will be modeled in the exact method you described.

  Followers deciding to pursue this will have to complete a number of quests for approval from local landowners. In addition, they must seek cooperation with whatever underworld guilds are nearby. Finally, they will need to find employees capable of surviving a seedy situation. All in the name of fame and money!

  For introducing this quest chain you get…