by Thad Ward
Ada whistled. “That’s handy. World Firsts are rare, though, so it’s not a huge surprise they might give you an unusual bonus.”
“I figured it was just an achievement at first,” Ike said. “Are they as unique as they sound?”
“Yup,” Ada said, nodding. “Only the first person to trigger a World First gets it. A lot of players are obsessed with finding them. I would’ve said it was a waste of time until you brought it up. You’re the first player I’ve met who pulled it off.”
“Okay, so they’re probably not a reliable way to increase skills,” Ike said. “Is there any way to increase primary attributes?”
Ada continued walking downhill as Ike followed. The terrain was rocky and uneven, with large outcroppings separated by grassy patches. “No. It’s yet another one of the things folks gripe about. True Calling assigns your attributes for you and they can’t be improved. At least, nobody’s found a way yet.”
“Is it just me,” Ike said, “or do the scores seem to reflect real life to a degree? It feels kind of judgy.”
“Oh yeah,” Ada said, casting an exasperated look over her shoulder. “Trust me, everyone feels that way. Scores aren’t even balanced between players. Some people get a lot of high scores and some get all low scores. It’s like we’ve been weighed, we’ve been measured, and we’ve been found wanting.”
Ike shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense to me. Why make a game that forces you to use the same crappy stats you have in real life? That picks your race and class for you? That won’t even let you pick the same starting area as your friends?”
“The better question,” Ada said, “is why the world is going crazy over it. Sure, everyone complains, but they’re raving about it, too. It’s like all the gamers came down with Stockholm syndrome and fell in love with True Calling despite the abuse.”
“Present company included?” Ike teased.
Ada threw up her arms. “Guilty.”
The two walked in silence for a few minutes before Ike picked the conversation back up. “You know, I think it has to do with identity. Like a career assessment or a personality test. It’d be different if it was random, but the game isn’t so much assigning as assessing. It lets you know how you stack up, what makes you special. It’s like we’re all puzzle pieces and the game can tell us exactly where we fit.”
“There you go again making the game sound super creepy,” Ada said unhappily. “I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I don’t have to like the idea of a computer knowing me better than I know myself.”
Kilometers passed uneventfully. Ike wasn’t typically one for hiking, but the scenery was pleasant. Shadows of scattered clouds played over hilltops and mountain peaks far into the distance. Ike spotted wildlife here and there: A flock of birds taking flight, a pair of goats climbing a mountainside, even a tabby wildcat hunting through some tall grass. None got close or looked dangerous, though, making it seem like nothing more than a peaceful stroll through the countryside.
The conversation with Ada was patchy, broken up by long stretches of silence. They exchanged comments about the countryside, complaints about the game’s lack of a faster travel system, ideas for character progression, and strategies for continuing to party together. When they’d exhausted game-related topics, they passed the time getting to know one another.
“So you’re a programmer, huh?” Ada said. “Do you think that has anything to do with being an artificer?”
“Maybe,” Ike said. “I’ve always enjoyed figuring out complex systems. I’m really into automation and planning. So I’d say I decided to be a programmer for the same reasons the system decided I’d make a good artificer. The two are related, but I doubt every programmer ends up as an artificer. What about you? Do you think you being a trapper has to do with your day job?”
“Not really,” Ada frowned. “I’m an office worker at a contracting company. Though I did want to be a veterinarian at one point. That ended when I toured a veterinary college. I couldn’t deal with the sight of the hurt animals. A trapper is ranger-like without the animal stuff, so that sort of fits.”
“You also seemed pretty giddy about being in control of those fights,” Ike pointed out. “Do you feel the same when a construction project finishes on time and under budget without any surprises?”
Ada furrowed her brow. “I guess I would, but that doesn’t ever happen. It still feels like a stretch. Enjoying this so much has made me reconsider if I’m in the wrong profession in real life.”
“Maybe you’d like something in criminal justice,” Ike suggested. “The game had you chasing down a thief, after all.”
The sun was dipping toward the horizon as they crested a hill with a lake below. “What do you say to some fish for dinner?” Ada asked.
“I didn’t see the fishing skill on your character sheet,” Ike said.
“You don’t need skills to try things,” Ada explained. “It’s like swinging a weapon. Anyone can do it. Skills just make you better at it. Do it enough and the game may even award you the skill, but it’s a lot faster to learn from someone who already has it. I just didn’t have the time or gold to buy instruction in fishing before I left Weir.”
It took a few experiments with Minor Reshape for Ike to create a serviceable fishing rod, using long grass as a base for a fishing line and some sparse trees for the wood and hook. Ada asked him to correct the design several times to make the rod more supple or the line stronger. Ike offered up the last remaining scraps of rat meat as bait, supposing the fish might appreciate the awful taste more than he did.
“Do you mind if I leave you to this for a few minutes?” Ike asked.
“Sure,” Ada said as she baited the hook. “What are you going to do?”
Ike gestured to a section of the lake that disappeared behind a nearby hill. “This is the first body of water I’ve seen since logging in. I’m wearing a dead man’s clothes, fought a bunch of monsters, and hiked for hours. I need a bath.”
Ada raised an eyebrow incredulously. “Are you sure? It’ll be freezing.”
“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Ike shrugged. “Besides, I can move Minor Cold Ward from my tunic to my ring. That’ll probably help.”
“Okay,” Ada said doubtfully as she cast the line.
The enchantment didn’t help. At least, it didn’t help enough to notice. Ike jumped in and the shock of the cold took his breath away for a moment. He came back up gasping and cursed loudly. He was pretty sure he could hear Ada laughing in the distance. It took a minute to acclimate, but he was able to quickly scrub himself clean.
As Ike was dripping dry, a glint of white on the surface of the water drew his eye. He turned toward it, eager that the water could contain something of interest. “What the hell?” he said, realizing that it was coming from his reflection. He knelt and stared more intently to confirm: His hair and goatee were stark white. Ike finished drying, dressed, and returned to Ada.
“Enjoy your bath?” Ada asked without looking away from her fishing line in the water. She was trying to suppress her amusement.
Ike shivered. “Yeah. Just as cold as you said. I’ll get a fire going.” He stooped to gather sticks. “Hey, weird question. Has my hair been white the whole time?”
Ada cast a confused look over her shoulder. “Yeah. Is it not supposed to be?”
“Uh, no,” Ike said with a nervous chuckle. “My hair’s normally brown in real life. This is the first time I’ve seen my reflection. It makes me look a lot older than I really am.”
“It’s probably part of your race,” Ada said. “I don’t know anything about astrals, but there are plenty of folks in Weir with races that have odd physical traits. I’ve seen pointy ears, scales, feathers, horns, glowing tattoos, green veins, cat ears, fox tails… even leaves. Players with human heritages like highlander outnumber the rest, but there’s just as much variety among us as you’d find on Earth. All the colors of the rainbow. I’m mostly Scottish and Italian descent in real life, so highlander’s
not a stretch.”
“Any other astrals in town?” Ike asked hopefully. He was eager to get more information about his race.
“None that I’ve seen. Sorry,” Ada said, then smirked and added, “Look on the bright side. You might be the only prophet action in town.”
You are in a rest area.
The sun had set less than an hour before. The two sat at the base of a hill next to a lakeside fire. The temperature was dipping sharply and the firelight cast dancing shadows along the hillsides.
“It’s not much, but bon appetit,” Ada said, raising her fish on a stick from its place over the fire and blowing to cool it. Despite the makeshift rod and bait, she’d managed to land several rainbow trout.
Ike raised his fish in salute and dug in, burning his tongue on the first bite. “I’ll be honest,” he said with his mouth half full. “I’ve never really liked seafood, but this is the best I’ve ever had.”
“Everything tastes good when you’re starving. And when your last few meals were rat meat and cardboard,” Ada said, eating hers just as avidly. “I’m going to log out after I finish this. Get some dinner in the real world.”
“Do you think we’ll get to Weir tomorrow?” Ike asked, licking some juice off his fingers.
“I’d say we’ve only got a few more hours of walking,” Ada said. “It took me three days to track this guy down, but it was a lot slower using Investigation to search for his trail. What time do you plan to be back online tomorrow?”
“Early,” Ike said, biting back the urge to tell Ada that he’d be on all night. “Just log on whenever. If I’m not at camp, I’ll be nearby.”
The two finished their meal and Ada logged out, leaving Ike alone again. It didn’t take long before that thought made him restless. He didn’t hear many animal noises over the wind, but he felt exposed, like the light from his campfire was a beacon that would attract trouble from kilometers away. Just the same, he couldn’t put it out unless he wanted to freeze to death.
Ike shook his head to clear out the paranoia. “No sense dwelling on it,” he muttered. “I might as well spend some time tinkering.”
Ike stared at his ring and opened the enchanting window, reading through the code for his new enchantments. Safety wasn’t as complicated as he’d imagined; like other enchantments he’d seen, it simply changed a parameter on a game object. In this case, it was changing the location parameter of the user. The only trouble was that it was setting the location to an identifier for the user’s last visited rest location. Ike wanted to make an enchantment that would set a different location, like the closest settlement or 100 meters forward, but couldn’t quite work out how.
“What I wouldn’t give for some documentation,” Ike muttered. “I guess I’ll need to see a few more examples to figure this one out.”
Ike moved on to Summon Lyrebird next. There was more complexity to this one. Creating the new game object seemed simple enough; the enchantment used a name-based lookup, so swapping out “Lyrebird” for something else was straightforward as long as he was using a valid name. Ike didn’t see any code assigning the creature’s stats, concluding they must be assumed based on the creature summoned.
That was about the only thing simple about the code. Some bits handled where the new creature appeared, how it behaved, and how long it lasted. Ike decided it would be best to experiment incrementally, changing only one or two things and seeing the results.
You have learned the enchantment: Summon Giant Rat
You have gained experience.
Excited, Ike cast Minor Reshape on a bit of wood. He formed it into a vaguely rat-shaped figurine, placed the enchantment, and beamed at the result.
Mana: 9 / 9 (-4)
Ike hadn’t been sure how much more it would cost to summon something capable of combat, so he’d started with the easiest monster he knew. The class restriction hadn’t been part of the code, so he could only assume it was a built-in limitation of the summoning effect itself. The kicker had been adding in the once per day limitation he’d learned from Safety, which had brought the cost down.
Ike considered activating the new enchantment to test it out. On the one hand, it would recharge again after he slept. On the other hand, he was alone in the wilderness. “Better safe than sorry,” he said, stowing the figurine in his satchel.
Ike yawned. The mental and physical exertions of the day were starting to win out over the cold and the paranoia. “Just one last thing,” Ike said, casting Harvest Enchantment on his boots.
Boots of the Coiled Snake have lost the enchantment: Minor Biding
Boots of the Coiled Snake’s remaining enchantment capacity: 1 / 1
You have recovered 2 mana drain.
Mana: 8 / 11 (-2)
Minor Biding was one of Ike’s favorite enchantments, and he planned to use it again. It was better suited for combat, though. With hours of walking ahead of him the following morning, he needed something different. He’d already been thinking about how to code it all afternoon as he walked with Ada, so it didn’t take long to complete.
You have learned the enchantment: Minor Hiking
You have gained experience.
Ike applied the enchantment to his boots, giving them a more appropriate name while he was at it.
Ike nodded approvingly. It had taken a lot of limitations to manage a constant speed increase to any meaningful degree. It wouldn’t work quickly, in a dungeon, or during combat, and they wouldn’t be able to stop for breaks. That said, it could cut an hour off half a day of travel.
Ike’s eyelids began to drift as he sat next to the fire. “Well, no choice but to get some shuteye,” he said to no one. He gathered up some tall grass, cast Minor Reshape to make the world’s scratchiest blanket, and curled up next to the fire. His last thought before falling asleep was to add a proper sleeping bag to his mental shopping list.
Chapter 12
Reading the signs
I ke felt something jab him in the side and woke with a start. A figure loomed over him, a shadow against the morning light. He threw off his blanket and blinked to try and see his assailant.
“I know you said you’d be on early,” came Ada’s voice, “but this is ridiculous. Did you sleep in-game all night?”
Ike sat up and scratched his head, his eyes still bleary. “Yeah. Figured I’d get the full experience, you know?”
Ike could tell Ada was doubtful from her crossed arms and the tone of her voice. “Bugs and dirt? Possible predators? A grass blanket and a campfire? In this kind of chill?”
“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it,” Ike said, but he realized everything about his appearance agreed with Ada’s assessment. He was dirty. His hair was a mess. His whole body was sore from shivering all night. He guessed he must have bags under his eyes. Between adding wood to the fire and getting startled awake by noises in the night, he hadn’t gotten more than a few minutes of sleep at a time.
It seemed like Ada wanted to say more when she looked past Ike. “What’s that?” She stepped over him to a bare patch of soil beside the camp. “Weird. I can’t even pick it up. My hand just passes through. Is it a glitch?”
Ike rose and joined Ada. Sitting in the patch of soil was a pristine scroll with a golden seal on it.
Ike lifted the letter thoughtfully. “It’s a letter for me from the GMs,” he said. “It’s got a very interesting enchantment on it. I wonder…” Ike cast Harvest Enchantment.
Letter has lost the enchantment: Consignment
Letter’s remaining enchantment capacity: 0 / 0
You have learned the enchantment: Consignment
You have gained experience.
You have recovered 1 mana drain.
Mana: 10 / 12 (-1)
Realizing what he’d done a second too late, Ike quickly unrolled the letter. He let out a sigh of relief to see that its contents seemed undamaged.
Hello Mr. Fennell,
My name is Neil. I am the True Calling game engineer assigned to monit
or your issue and keep you apprised of any changes. As you're undoubtedly aware, we are still working to resolve the issue itself. However, per the agreement, we have taken the following immediate steps:
Your apartment has been cleaned. All perishable food has been disposed of.
Your cat is being boarded at a kennel near your apartment. The contact information for the kennel has been left on your fridge.
Your employer has been informed of the situation. They would like you to know that this is being handled as prolonged medical leave and have stressed that you will still have a job waiting for you when the situation is resolved.
I will follow up with more information tomorrow at dawn or earlier if the status of the issue changes.
Kind regards,
Neil F. Salcena
Senior Engineer
Ike frowned at the letter. It was both reassuring and troubling. They’d effectively put his life on hold, which was a relief, but that still meant that he was stuck in the game for an unknown amount of time.
“Not what you wanted to hear from them, I take it?” Ada asked. She stood in front of him so as not to read over his shoulder but was reading his face instead. Her previous incredulity had given way to a tone of gentle concern.
“Yes and no,” Ike admitted. “They’re being polite and helpful, but I can’t help but think they’re stringing me along, too.”
Ada’s look of concern deepened. Ike guessed that she wanted to know more but wasn’t going to pry, which was good since Ike couldn’t legally spill the beans anyway. She paused for a long moment, then said, “Want to get going?”
“Sure,” Ike said, then he suddenly remembered. “Hey, mind if I see your boots for a minute?”