Cain had a large pot of tea waiting as his wives traipsed out of the shower room, wearing their white bathrobes. Each one looked bedraggled, being sick did nothing for them. Pouring a cup for each of his wives, they sat at the kitchen table and quietly drank. Toni looked at Cain, with a small smile on her face as she told him the news.
"When Enoch told me to make ginger tea, I remembered my sister when she had her terrible two, drinking ginger tea helped her alleviate, not fully stop her morning sickness. So eight babies, that is so, wow. I'm so pleased this is a game, it sounds fantastic but each of you pregnant at the same time, how will we cope?" Cain said, mockingly putting his palm to his forehead while gently laughing.
"Not eight babies darling... sixteen. We're each carrying twins and we are about eight weeks into our pregnancy, including Suzanna," replied Toni.
"No, that can't be right, I have not been making love to Suzanna for more than six weeks," said Cain. His mind and Enoch screamed at him to keep his thoughts to himself regarding Suzanna's ex-husband.
"Yet we are all eight weeks along, Rahab told me."
:Enoch can we like, can you work out how long they will carry these babies until they are born?: Cain asked.
{No, but Rahab can if we wait two or three days, she can check the hormone levels in Toni and work out from the size of the foetuses how fast they are developing,}
Cain, thought it through and he decided they could wait at least two weeks. :Two weeks for Rahab to have the time and his wives could relax and take it easy, a little anyway.:
Cain told his wives they would delay the crossing, not because they were pregnant but rather to have John, Enoch and Rahab find out how and why this has happened. He relaxed when they all seemed fine with his decision. Now the morning had gone and they had stopped being sick, they all looked tired but ok. Areto made a whispered suggestion to Toni, followed by Suzanna. Each of his wives nodded and they all agreed though Cain did not know what until Bethany and Suzanna spoke.
Cain found out that pregnant women had an increased libido, and since they had the time and a large bed, they intended to use both. Cain willingly let his wives strip him of his clothing and pull him over to the bed as they slipped out of their bathrobes.
They agreed to share the knowledge of their joint pregnancies later that evening in the villa and have a session to match the one they were now practising, for the paying fans who watched online.
Chapter 30
Delivery Day Names
Nearly three hours RT passed before Rahab reported what she and Enoch found, to Toni, over a day later in the game. [Yeah, we found the code a programmer used for working out a forgotten time line, should a female player or NPC become pregnant. According to the notes, this code was originally written as an exercise, only to run on the Alpha version of Forsaken, not the beta or live versions.
[We finally looked at the original programmer's code. Somebody had hidden the notes and the original code, under several versions of coding. Coding regarding time dilation effects, for players and NPCs when using portals, casting spells or slow motion in fights from activated skills. Anyway, they attached the pregnancy time code onto a hook written into the code for normal play. This was supposed to be a test phase during Alpha testing, but it was never scrubbed when the game code was compiled for the Beta and live versions.
[Forsaken’s normal base-time expansion code, giving two hours and twenty-four minutes of RTP, real-time playing, equals one twenty-four-hour gaming day. The formulae in minutes is 1:10 for game play, for pregnancy the formulae in minutes is 1:70, inside the 1:10 code. The programmer fixed all pregnancies at forty days of game time, equals forty weeks. You will need to play four RT days or ninety-six hours, then out pops, in yours and your sister-wives' cases, twins.
[You are all approximately nine weeks pregnant regarding the code the programmer wrote, the morning sickness stops after twelve weeks; aren't you all lucky?] Rahab said.
Toni could tell Rahab was laughing with Enoch about their situation. Toni told Cain and her sister-wives the news of how long they would have to play, or not, until their babies were born. Bethany replied that's not bad, forty game days, not forty RT weeks.
"Just think," Sophie said, "we have Cain all to ourselves, no fighting, no chasing and hunting Centaurs or Satyrs. Let's not forget those bloody-smelly and flea-ridden Harpies too. I assume we are leaving them here, we can't exactly take them with us into battle nor another zone, can we?"
They put the quest plans of finding the Pirate King on hold, Cain's wives stayed in the villa while he went pirate hunting in DB1 and DB2 with the Amazons once the DreamBabes were twenty-six weeks pregnant. Cain took group one and group three as he hunted for pirates. Leaving groups three and two to supplement the guard on the villa and his wives. Cain thought twelve days passed quickly, considering he spent nine days at sea training the Amazons. Toni demanded Cain be with them for the final five days, which he did since he enjoyed being with them as each of their times drew close.
:I remember my kid sister when she was expecting the twins, how mum was a rock of stillness in all the frantic preparations. She brought my sister, her husband and me into that calm making us all feel a level of peace, rather than worry.: On the day before each of his wives were due, Cain arranged for them all to go back to see Cybele in her temple.
They hired eight sedan chairs as Cain's women wanted to hear what would happen with their babies. Groups two and four provided security as they travelled through Petrabele, reaching the temple without problems. The town's people they passed all bowed, and gave thanks to Cybele for the blessing of their soon to be born children.
Inside the high priestess welcomed them to Cybele's temple, she led them to the altar. All the priestesses in the temple were inside and created a circle around Cain and his wives, the priestesses all knelt before the altar.
The golden light washed around the temple and Cybele sat upon her over-stuffed red armchair, floating above the altar. She welcomed each by name, starting with Suzanna ending with Cain.
Cybele informed them the reason for the pregnancies and the speeded growth. The growth, she said, was mainly down to the period of time a player would donate to such an undertaking and feel they had contributed without losing time to the game. Cain already knew if the pregnancies ran as they do on earth that would account for over seven years of GT, Game Time.
"Your thoughts on how long a real pregnancy in the game would not be tolerated are correct Cain. Whereas the forty days GT was only four days RT ending with a fully termed delivery, a healthy birth in four days," Cybele told them,
"You are expecting a period of change with the birth of your children, likewise I too am expecting a period of change as I leave behind being an EI to become an AI. You have all helped in that process, when you gave the foundation stone to Athena, back in Pappabele, I asked her if being the fertility goddess she could do me a favour.
"I had Athena, another EI, make the blessing. Now I am nearly an AI, I can tell you why I had players and NPCs get pregnant. As you know starting with the Amazons I have been making NPCs independent, while some NPCs have become hosts for the spare system EIs.
"Myrina, Areto and now Suzanna being the case in point. The EIs are very adaptable, the more input they received the more human like their responses will be as they grow. Your babies will be a new generation of EI+, they will grow at a fast rate and will help run and balance the game system. Athena's blessing did not just affect you ladies, but every lady in Forsaken in all game zones.
"Once you give birth in two days, within one and three quarters of an hour of each other, you will see how fast your babies will grow. When you finally get to Pyrgadikian, find the travel-post. Take the priestess, Violetta with you again, she can bless the travel-post for my people to use. She can also sniff out worshippers of Erebus."
Cybele spoke more, "Once you manage to leave your babies here and cross the sea to the mainland there will be a major quest for you from my temple in
Pyrgadikian. The reward for completing the quest will be the location of the portal. There are many game portals on the mainland, someone located and manned, like one in the Thessalonika capital, Thessalon. From the freed oar slaves there are one hundred and twenty-six of them who have swore to either Athena's or my service.
"They will protect your children as they grow. You will be able to speak to them through any of my or Athena's altars, we can arrange these once they have grown to an age where they can recognise you," Cybele said as she bid them a safe delivery and promised she would send a few priestesses to aid.
She laughed at the stricken look on Cain's face. Telling him, "It is not every day a man can be at the birth of his sixteen children. Be thankful," Cybele said, "You did not lay with any of your Amazon warriors, though they are all willing and fertile even now."
Something worried Cain the day before his wives gave birth. He understood the principle and mechanics, though had never witnessed a birth in the flesh, especially not his sister's birth. As each of his very large pregnant wives rested, trying to get comfortable, Cain was restless.
:Give me a fight to plan for or a battle to fight and I’d sleep sound as the dead. Eight pregnant wives and I’m walking the walls. I know there is nothing I can do apart from be there for each of them.:
The sun headed toward the western horizon, Cain knew it was now down to Cybele‘s promise which she made to his wives. Cybele as always kept her word to them, eleven priestesses plus the high priestess arrived three hours before midnight. Cain relaxed somewhat even though at thirteen minutes past midnight, Toni went into labour as her waters broke, his wives followed in order.
Sophie, Myrina, Lesley, Bethany, Areto, Suzanna and Daphne all nine minutes apart. Toni instinctively began pushing eight minutes after her waters broke. The programmer who wrote the code made the routine standardised for each player or NPC. Toni gave birth to two girls thirteen minutes later after her waters broke.
Sophie gave birth to two boys thirty-three minutes later, Myrina had a girl and a boy while Lesley had two girls. Bethany and Areto had one boy followed by a girl, then Suzanna and Daphne both had boys.
Cain was now the father of seven girls and nine boys. They named the children following random suggestions from their mothers, though Cain did not accept Jezebel as a name for one of Lesley‘s girls.
Toni's two girls she called Kate and Becky, they named Sophie's boys Jaz and Oscar. They called Myrina's children, Grace and Harry, while Lesley's daughters ended up being named Lily and Ariel.
Bethany called her boy Ricky and her girl Freya while Areto called her daughter Hazel and her son Neo. Suzanna called her boys Owen and Bilbo while Daphne called her boys Reggie and Rupert.
After the successful births they took their children down to Cybele's temple seven days later. Something seemed right to Cain about that length of time. Their children were all blessed under both Cybele's and Athena's altars.
Four days later each of his player wives were becoming eager to move on and complete the overlaying quest, to find and free Vince. Areto and Myrina were happy to stay with Suzanna until their children were a year old.
The system was growing the children at a remarkable rate, everyone thought the growth was normal since all sixteen children grew at the same rate. They heard from a priestess that all the children born in Petrabele during the last week are growing at the same speed. Rahab informed Toni the new system AI wrote a new code covering baby development.
[You know the AI here in Greece posing as Cybele. The code gave the children a growth rate of two weeks for each GT day. In twenty-three days the babies will be one year old. They will continue growing at that rate until they hit four.
[Once they turn four years old, their growth rate changes to one week per day, until they reach the age of eleven. On their eleventh birthday the growth rate changes, becoming three days per day. They revert to a normal growth rate of one day to one day after their eighteenth birthday. A child will reach adulthood in slightly less than four and a half months of RT playing,] Rahab said.
Sailing Away
Toni and Daphne messaged each other and travelled to speak with Cybele when their children had fallen asleep, two weeks after their blessing and dedication service.
[Are you sure this is the right choice? I know we weaned all the children and they are on a mix of normal food with occasional breast milk. Cain's idea of finding wet nurses to provide breast milk for another year was outside the box thinking. Thinking which you and Sophie spent the better part of a night, on your own rewarding him. In five days the children will have their first naming day, and you want to miss that?] Rahab said.
:I don't think we have much choice, each of us are becoming agitated we want to move on. The lack of movement and action is hurting our character development and we need to grow so we can find Vince. We did not get points for having the children, perhaps rewards or points are something Cybele AI can take a look at, and reward females for having children,: said Toni.
Entering the temple, it did not surprise Toni to see the high priestess waiting for them. She said Cybele woke her during her meditation. The high priestess led Daphne and Toni to the altar, to seek an audience with Cybele. The golden light flooded the area around the altar, Cybele floated mid-air, her feet around eight feet from the floor. She informed Toni and Daphne what was happening in the gaming zone of 337 BC.
"The fleet from Macedonia, sent by King Phillip will clash with the Pirate King's fleet in the morning. I will send a priestess with news regarding casualties. Once you leave the port the crossing will take three days, your triremes and cargo ships will need to drop you on a small headland, over a mile from the Pirate King‘s castle. I will mark the location on your HUD map.
"After you have climbed the walls and captured the castle, Athena and I will attack the rogue EI behind the Pirate King while you attack and kill its avatar. Some of you could most likely die, take care of your Amazons they all don't yet comeback from death."
Cybele blessed them individually and as a group. For Cain and his DreamBabes, Cybele gave them an increase across the board of ten points. After she blessed them she gave Cain's concubines five points across the board, with fifteen points to self-distribute. For the Amazons Cybele gave them twelve points to self allocate.
Toni thanked the high priestess and with Daphne they ran back to the villa, climbed over the wall they left by. Daphne laughed as someone caught them in a net and wrapped them tighter than a pig in a blanket. Cain stood watching them struggle as the net swung lazily from the cottonwood tree branch. Toni could tell they had annoyed Cain, yet he let them down gently. Once free, he gave them each a hug and kiss followed by a heavy slap on their bottoms. He told them they were silly thinking they were safe as he handed three poisoned daggers to them,
"I took these from assassins who entered our grounds five minutes after you left. Imagine if they had been earlier and caught you as you climbed the wall. Or followed you to or attacked you on the way back from Cybele's temple." Toni apologised and said, "We are getting desperate, even Myrina and Areto. Staying here is becoming harder each day, we are missing th e travel and the action. Foiling Jason and solving the quests, we miss working to the best of our abilities."
Calling walked Toni and Daphne back to Bounty, inside he called a meeting, where Toni and Daphne passed on the news Cybele gave them. They also said Cybele warned them to be careful as some would die in killing the Pirate King. Cain checked his stats and asked his wives to distribute their points so they had a better idea of where things would stand before their mission.
Cain laid out the map Nithey delivered earlier that evening, hence Cain finding out Toni and Daphne were missing, as Nithey saw them leave over the wall as he came in ten yards away from them.
Someone had drawn a map of Pyrgadikian on a large piece of vellum, barring the green of the fields the only bright colour was the Pirate King's castle, a dull golden colour. Nithey gave Cain a verbal report,"They have house
d Mogastation and Boostoff in the Pirate King's castle. They are two of seven players guarding a mage called Circe, who the Pirate King has locked in a large tall tower."
Boostoff informed Nithey the travel-post they used is in a basement of the large building on the south side of the main square, opposite the fountain. They carried out four tiny quests once they arrived and they impressed Giant Dick with their skills; he put them on an important guard duty.
Myrina and Areto moved their few belongings out of Bounty as they were staying behind to keep a watch over all their children. Who, in four days, would be one.
"Don't forget to take them to the temple, as Cybele has promised to make a TwitBook connection so we can see their celebration of their first naming day," Toni said.
In the morning the two hundred warriors marched to the docks and boarded the four galleys. While the y put on a show the other two hundred used the secret tunnel and moved hidden from sight down to the warehouse. From there they swam into the hidden holds on the galleys. The freed slaves now worked for the shipping company Cain started for Suzanna, SSL, Suzanna Shipping Lines. They were the rowers for all the galleys and Triremes, they also crewed the trireme with forty of the fighting slaves, who were sworn to serve Cybele or Athena.
Cain spoke with Toni, Daphne and Sophie before they set sail as they would be in charge of the other three galleys. He told them they could undertake the crossing in two days with favourable winds, but they had to meander increasing their time at sea. The aim was to reach the headland where they would drop off all the Amazons twenty minutes before sunset.
The voyage went as planned and for three days the weather held fine and their were no pirates or squalls. Eventually they approached the headland as the last inch of the sun slipped below the horizon. The four galleys and Trireme slowed to a halt, twenty yards from the headland.
Cain and his DreamBabes led the four hundred Amazons from their ships, and swam the distance. Once ashore they climbed the headland, assembling at the top. The gift of night-vision gave them a huge advantage, being able to see as though the sun was still overhead, though in greys not colours. Toni, Lesley and Sophie carried the quivers for the archers, removing a noise source. Cain spoke quietly to the leaders, confirming their final instructions.
Forsaken 337 BC Page 38