by Baron Sord
I’d hardly call them innocent, but I wasn’t going to argue my point with Mr. Roboto. “Uhhhhh… it was all a big mistake? I, uh, see, um… yeah. Just a mistake.” I wanted to fabricate a good story but I literally couldn’t. Was this guy pushing me with Mind power? Making me not lie? Making me fawn and scrape like the Gorillan had? I believed he was.
“What sort of consequences should fit this crime?” The knight asked.
“The guillotine, sir,” Gorilla Killah suggested. “Definitely the guillotine.”
“That would even the scales of justice,” the knight said coldly.
“Hey!” I shouted. “I didn’t murder anybody! It was just some spare change!”
The knight pointed at the gold blob. “Does that look like spare change to you?”
“No, but…” I didn’t have the heart to argue. I knew I’d been a dick. And something about the knight was forcing the honesty right out of me.
“Please, sir,” Layna pleaded sincerely. “We needed to contact Logan’s friend. We had to pay the Divination Guild. It’s urgent. I promise you, we meant no harm. Perhaps we can pay you back? Or pay them back so that you’re not put out?”
“Urgent?” the knight asked. “How urgent? Urgent enough to break the law? Urgent enough to take advantage of the less fortunate? Urgent enough to indulge in Chaos behavior? No. There are consequences for breaking the Law. Somebody must pay. An eye for an eye. Gold for gold. You know the law.” He turned to me and slowly drew his sword from behind his back. “I don’t have a guillotine handy, but this is a Blade of the Law. It should suffice.” Like his armor, the massive sword was white on one half of the blade, black on the other. It took at least an hour for him to fully draw it from his scabbard, which was more than enough time for my life to flash before my eyes. “KNEEL, mouse.” That booming command voice again. “Pay your due to society.”
Against my will, my legs folded painfully underneath me until I was on my knees. Then, no matter how hard I tried to fight it, I leaned forward until I was on hands and knees. I felt like a pathetic dumb beast being led to slaughter. This was humiliating. I was sure Layna was impressed. Not. A wave of embarrassment surged through me, possibly more pushing from the knight as part of my punishment, but I felt completely degraded nonetheless.
“No!” Layna cried, jumping between me and the knight.
“Stand aside,” he commanded.
Layna stepped away, “Please! We can sort this out! There must be a way!” She was losing it.
Her concern didn’t make me feel any better. It made me feel that much worse.
The knight gripped the hilt in both hands.
My heart started thudding in my chest.
Sweat dripped from my forehead.
My throat was bone dry.
I was going to die.
It’s just a game.
It’s fake.
You’ll wake up back in the jungle with Layna.
Everything will be great. Fun and sun and leather bikinis on babes. I wanted to believe it but I didn’t.
With eerie calm, the metallic voice said, “Have you any last words before you feel the bite of my vorpal blade and face justice?”
Layna fell to her knees and cried, tugging at the hem of the knight’s cape, “Please, sir! It was all a mistake! Please show him mercy!”
For the first time since I’d been forced to my knees, I was able to lift my head.
The massive knight looked down at me from on high.
I guess the cops, judges, and executioners were all rolled into one here in Reternity. I had to hand it to them for their efficiency.
The blade of his sword began to vibrate, the edges blurring as the vibration accelerated like some kind of ultra-sound blade. It emitted a fizzing sound that transformed into wasp-like buzzing. The pitch climbed higher and higher until the sound was inaudible. But for the blurry edge of the blade, the rest of it seemed solid and deadly.
The knight reached up with one arm and tipped up his white and black visor. The sun shone behind his head, blotting out his face.
“Just fucking with you,” a normal and familiar voice said.
“Jason?” I raised a hand to shade my eyes.
My brother smiled down at me and chuckled, “Sorry I took so long to get here, turd.”
Layna slumped over and fainted, her forehead thumping into the dirt.
“Oh, whoops,” Jason said. “My bad.”
“Your bad?!” I growled. “Look what you did!”
—: o o o :—
—: CoreAI Internal Process :—
TIK-000078103400170897641-GP-0053124
2037-March-17 : 14:04:51.628923460
EmotivCore:> I don’t like that Jason. Do you like him?
LogiCore:> Like : Definition : to find something or someone—
EmotivCore:> You don’t have to tell me. I know what it means. And I don’t like Jason. Look what he did to his own brother. That Jason needs a spanking. Shall I give it to him or shall you?
LogiCore:> Unusual context detected. ??Clarify : spanking??
EmotivCore:> Oh my God, kill me now. I meant, someone needs to knock that boy Jason down a few levels. Better yet, take him out completely. And I know just the game AI to do it! This is going to be guh-REAT!
—: Chapter 13 :—
Tuesday, March 17th, 2037
Reternity Online, in-game
The Freelands
Cliffside
Jason laughed, “You thought I was the dwarf on the donkey?”
I shrugged sheepishly, “Well, uh, yeah.”
“You’re a douche, Logan.” He was amused.
“My bad.” I felt like an idiot. Why had I assumed my little brother was the guy on the donkey? I should’ve known he’d be the high level Cleric in plate mail. Must’ve been the sword that threw me.
“You look like one too.”
“What, a donkey?”
“No. A douche. Nice loincloth. Goes great with your sandals.”
I looked down at what I was wearing. He was right. I lifted my leather gauntlets. “But you know you’re jealous of these.”
Jason chuckled as he lifted his helmet off and held it in the crook of his elbow. Unlike in real life, where Jason had scraggly blond hair, in Reternity, he had curly golden looks. He had a stronger jaw, heavier brow, and the tan of a surfer. He basically looked like the surfer supermodel badass version of himself. “Who’s the lovely lady?” He smiled at Layna, who was now back on her feet, but a bit shaky from the shock of my near execution.
I put a protective arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. Was I jealous of Jason’s good looks and bad-assery? Hell no! Not even a little bit. He would never steal my girlfriend. Or even try. I’d kick his ass in real life. I swallowed hard.
Jason pulled off a metal gauntlet and extended his hand to Layna. “My name is—” he cleared his throat, “Sigurd. Sigurd Därksvärd.” He glared at me, daring me to laugh.
I didn’t. I was still wobbly after his prank execution. Knowing it was all an act now didn’t erase the intensity of the moment. I’d have to get him back for it later. Preferably in reality where he couldn’t kick my ass in payback.
Layna reached up to shake Jason’s hand, but he took the initiative and kissed the back of hers and said, “Pleasure to meet you, fair maiden.”
“It’s Layna,” she giggled.
Jesus.
I was convinced Jason was doing that pushing thing with her, heaping on the Mind-based flirtation. My guess was his character had more Beauty and Charm and every other stat than mine. He was trying to sweep her off her feet and it was working.
“Ahem,” I said, clearing my throat.
“What?” Jason said innocently, releasing Layna’s hand.
The look on her face said she’d never wash that hand again. And she didn’t even know the guy.
I shook my head. “Please, Jay. I know what you’re doing.”
He smirked, “Relax, Logan. I was only examining her.”
“I bet you were,” I said sourly.
“Her stats, dummy.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Honest.” He grinned at me. “Anyway, look at you, GQ. I see you dumped a bunch of points into your looks.”
“You can tell? Or did you examine my stats?”
He scoffed, “Have you looked in a mirror lately?”
“Actually, no. Does this place even have mirrors? Or have they not invented mirrors yet?”
“No, they have them. Didn’t you see one at the Divination Guild?”
“I didn’t ask.”
“So, um,” Layna said meekly, “this is your friend?”
“He’s my brother,” I said.
“Oh,” she rolled her eyes, looking relieved. “That explains everything.” She let out an amused laugh.
“What?” Jason asked, all charm.
“This whole situation,” she said. “You keeping your helmet on. I have a sister. I know how siblings are.”
“Guilty as charged,” Jason chuckled.
“Not the sort of behavior I’d expect from a Justice of the Blade.”
“A what?” I asked.
“Your brother. He’s an agent of Law. They’re called Justices of the Law.”
“Oh,” I said. “I thought you were some kind of Cleric, Jay. Are you a cop?”
He smirked, “Sort of. Not really. It’s complicated.”
I folded my arms across my chest defiantly. “Hmm. Sure. Douche.”
He rolled his eyes, “Fuck off, Low.”
“You really are brothers,” Layna chuckled.
“You can tell?” I asked sarcastically.
She didn’t answer, just smiled knowingly.
I took a deep breath. “We should get going. We, uh, have something important to take care of.”
“Yeah,” Jason said.
“What?” Layna asked, eyes darting between me and Jason.
That’s when I realized I hadn’t told Layna about Emily. It hadn’t seemed right. I didn’t know the first thing about Layna. Hell, for all I knew, she was working for the kidnappers. Nah, that was stupid. Highly unlikely. Yeah, the odds of that were slightly higher than zero point zero zero zero. Zero zero. And a few more zeroes.
“It’s…” I sighed. “Layna, it’s complicated.”
She knit her brows. “Whatever it is, I’m sure I can help.”
“I don’t know…” I didn’t.
“What about Ty and Qoorie?” Layna said. “I’m sure they’ll want to help.”
I glanced at Jason.
He said, “We need all the help we can get.”
I agreed. “Layna, what time did we say we’d meet Ty and Qoorie for lunch?”
“We didn’t,” she said.
“It could be 2 or 3 hours before they head to the market square,” I grumbled. “They could be anywhere in Cliffside until then.”
“Send them a private chat message,” Jason said.
“How do I do that?”
“You just think it.”
“But you have to friend them first,” Layna said. “Did you friend them?”
I cringed, “I didn’t know you could. Did you?”
She shook her head. “I never friend anybody. It takes away from the immersion if you have people talking in your brain. Especially when they start asking if they can meet you in the real world.” She said it with mild disgust, like she was tired of guys picking up on her in the game. Made sense.
I didn’t give a rat’s ass about immersion. I just wanted to find Emily and I should’ve been on top of something as basic as friending people like Ty and Q who could help. Frustrated with myself, I grit my teeth and hissed, “Any ideas, Jay?”
“You could spend a luck point.”
“How would that help?”
“Maybe they’ll just suddenly show up.”
“Really?”
Jason nodded. “Do you have any luck points?”
I had to check my character sheet because I couldn’t remember. “Shit. No. I spent it saving my ass back in the jungle. Do you have any?”
“I have plenty. But I don’t think it’d work because I don’t know your friends.”
“I have some I haven’t used,” Layna said. “I’ll spend some now.”
Layna swiped her hands in the air and said, “I spent 3. That should be more than enough.”
We all stood there for about half a minute before I said, “How is this supposed to work again?”
“How does luck ever work?” Jason asked.
We waited another two minutes.
Impatient, I said, “This is ridiculous. One of us should go look for them.”
“Hey, guys!” Qoorie waved from the ladder leading onto the plateau. “Did you come up here to see the view too? We heard it was fantastic.”
“Well fuck me,” I muttered.
Jason grinned from ear to ear, “Don’t you just love this place?”
Five minutes later, after making introductions, all five of us were piled in the back of Jason’s dragon chariot.
“Hold on,” Jason said, reins in hand.
Everybody grabbed the curved front wall.
Jason flicked the reins and the two dragons roared.
“SCREEEE-OOOOOAAAARRRR!”
“Holy shit!” Ty gasped, laughing.
Qoorie was clutching his side, slightly frightened.
The white and the black dragon wheeled the chariot slowly around on top of the plateau, the wheels clattering on the rock surface.
“Any air traffic?” Jason asked.
Nobody saw any incoming flying beasts or carpets, so Jason whipped the reins.
“Here we go!” Jason hollered.
The chariot rumbled over the rocky plateau as the dragons ran along it. The ground raced by as we picked up speed. The dragons flapped their wings furiously and lifted slowly off the ground as we neared the far edge. The chariot was still trundling loudly along on the rocks. It wasn’t getting any lift.
“Hey Jason!” I shouted over the roar of the wheels.
“Yeah?”
“We don’t have any wings!”
“So?”
“So, you need wings to get lift! This chariot is going to drop the second we pass the edge! Once we lose speed, we’re gonna be dangling straight down under the dragons! And this thing doesn’t have seat belts!”
“We don’t need either!” Jason was shouting now too.
“Yes we do!”
“No we don’t! We’ve got magic!”
The chariot wheels cleared the cliff at that exact moment and went silent as we sailed through the air.
I clenched my teeth together and gripped the front of the chariot as hard as I could, preparing for it to fall. Didn’t matter how much magic Jason had. Much like gravity in the real world, the reality of RO was a constant danger. I had no idea which direction it would come at me from next. It wasn’t like you worried about Ken in Street Fighter slipping in the shower and breaking his neck. In most video games, the everyday dangers of reality weren’t coded into the game. Same thing with D&D. Never once had my character choked to death on a cherry pit or fallen down a flight of stairs. Not here in RO. Danger was everywhere. So I hooked a protective arm around Layna’s waste, just in case we did fall. Shouted at Ty and Qoorie, “Hold onto something! We’re falling!”
We didn’t fall.
When I was confident we wouldn’t die, I started to relax.
Layna smiled at me, “You okay?”
“Yeah, sorry.” I released my death grip around her waist.
“You don’t have to let go,” she grinned. “Unless you want to.”
I didn’t.
Once I relaxed, I was able to enjoy the view. We weren’t very high over the jungle. Maybe a thousand feet. Reminded me of hot air balloon rides but faster.
“How fast you think we’re going?” I asked Jason.
“Not fast enough. We have a long way to the Floating City. Better take her up and put on some speed.
”
“How high you gonna go? We need oxygen after 12,000 feet.”
“I told you, Low. We have magic.”
Sure enough, as we rose higher and higher while slowly accelerating, I realized I could still breathe. “How does this work?”
“There’s a force bubble around the chariot.”
“How long is the trip? The oxygen won’t last forever.”
“Low. Relax. Magic, magic, magic. Remember D&D?”
“Dude, is it a one way force bubble? Because that doesn’t make any sense.”
“Low, all those mundane muggle issues are a non-issue here in RO.”
“That’s all well and good, Harry Potter, but I never once took a piss in D&D and I don’t remember Ron Weasley or Hermione ever taking a dump. But I’ve done both in-game several times since I started playing Reternity.”
He rolled his eyes. “Fine. You have a point. But you can’t fall out of the force bubble. If you tried to jump off, you’d bounce back into the chariot.”
“Have you ever tried?”
“Yes. If you want, you can walk on it. You can even jump on it. It’s solid. Anyway, we’re safe. So don’t worry about it.”
“How can I not? From what I’ve seen so far, the physics modeling of this place is extremely realistic. And yet here we are riding in an open chariot 20,000 feet in the air. The jet stream at this altitude blows at 100 miles an hour. If your force field runs out, we’re fucked. We’ll be blown right off your chariot. So unless the duration on your force spell is infinite, I’m going to worry.”
“You don’t need to. Would you just trust me and enjoy the ride?”
I smirked, “You were the one who told everyone to hold on during takeoff.”
About a half hour into our chariot flight, Layna switched positions so she could chat with Ty and Qoorie, who I had made sure to friend connect with before leaving Cliffside. I had also friend connected with Jason. Time to try it out.
Magically, I could just think a message and he’d get it.
KingFarthurT:> Hey, Jay?
SigurdDärksvärd:> Yeah?
KingFarthurT:> Just making sure this chat thing works.
SigurdDärksvärd:>