Focus shifted over to Kayla who seemed just as confused as I was. “Why couldn’t we come back? Couldn’t we hunt down the cultists and undertake the trial of the maw again? I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”
To be fair, I think she did understand, at least the letter of what he was saying, but there was some part of her that was in a strange sense of denial. I couldn’t blame her. Would the devs have actually made a quest line that you couldn’t leave and come back to? Especially one so, well, important.
Well, important to people who really wanted to make that real-life bond.
“This is unlike any other task you have undertaken, champions,” the Wanderer uttered with a conviction that was a little bit scary. With that same fervor, he continued in hurried words, “Trust me! Bond your souls and when you return with more time, I promise on the esteemed blood of the Sultan’s family that I will tell you everything.” With one hand, he beckoned us forward and the other he thrust again with frantic urgency at the Crystal. “Please!”
While the focus shifted back to me, my own focus was on Kayla as I turned to look at her.
Shale: I know it sounds crazy, but we better just do it and figure out the rest later.
She was uncharacteristically hesitant to reply, her teeth clenched in frustration. Precious seconds slipped away before she finally looked back at me.
Kayla: Okay, yes, you’re right. Break the interaction; we’ve got enough time.
Look, I might not be as well socialized as a twenty-five-year-old guy should be but I also wasn’t an idiot. We were staring in the face of commitment right now, neither one of us completely sure about diving in this deep. The nature of this quest, locking us in as a duo, and this new wrinkle of possibly being locked into this place for the duration of the whole Ring of Promise deal was something neither one of us could have expected. Who wouldn’t feel their feet getting chilly?
For now, though, we were going to both stay the course. I nodded to her and broke out of the NPC dialogue without any ceremony. If the Wanderer was offended, he didn’t show it. Instead, he kept waving urgently at us to run for the Crystal. Any and all hesitation we had regarding our situation was pushed aside for the moment as the rest of the world returned to the crisp, clear focus of normalcy. Entering full sprint mode, Kayla and I rushed up the steps, taking them two at a time (a nice little animation touch I’d appreciate more if the seconds weren’t slipping away) and we raised our arms in unison towards the Life Crystal, ethereal beams of spiritual energy entwining our bodies to the glowing spire.
Warning: If you attune your spirit to the Vale of the Three Wolves, you cannot suspend the Ring of Promise dynamic quest chain. If you leave the zone, break your partnership, or try to expand your group beyond the duo, you will abandon the quest chain and be unable to start it again with the same chosen partner.
Would you like to attune your spirit to the Vale of the Three Wolves – Ancient Crystal Plaza?
Our eyes met at that exact moment and there was both fear and excitement in those big blue eyes, matching my own feelings. For a few seconds, I thought I would say no and break this off, go back to the way things were. Things were working out well for once without me complicating everything by agreeing to this. I couldn’t know exactly what was going on in Kayla’s mind but I had a suspicion that something very similar was going on with her as well.
Still, with thirty seconds to spare, we turned back to the Crystal, first me and almost immediately followed by her, and nodded up at it.
Your spirit is now attuned to the Vale of the Three Wolves – Ancient Crystal Plaza!
Dynamic quest ‘Harmony Lost’ updated!
Hidden objective complete: You and your partner’s souls are now attuned to the Life Crystal and are protected from ejection from the Vale.
Objective updated: Speak to the Weary Wanderer and learn about the Vale of the Three Wolves!
My stomach churned with butterflies. This was that point of no return everyone always talks about … and I had the feeling this was just the first of many to come in the days ahead. Turning toward Kayla as the glow of the soul link faded, I could see she was chewing her lip in thought. With ten seconds left, I opened my mouth.
“Kayla …”
She blinked up at me with a start. “Shale, I …”
“… are we ready for this?” Even after throwing my chips into the pot, I couldn’t shake the worry.
“… Honestly?” she frowned. “I –“
Your time limit in deep dive has been reached! Emergency log out initiated!
I didn’t get to hear the rest of what she wanted to say as we were both ripped clean out of Elementalis, the virtual world falling away as the uncomfortable rubber band snap of the emergency log out protocols flung my perceptions back into my crippled body.
Quote 7
While the Pacific Ocean slowly consumed Old Los Angeles over the course of the Two-and-Twenty, the United States government in collaboration with the United Nations and various world governments to work on the Pacific Coast Arcology project. The goal was simple: build city-sized arcologies atop reinforced 'bean pole' structures and move the populations of the entire flooding coast to said arcologies. It was a miracle it actually happened but it did.
From Melting Ice, a GNN documentary on the global warming crisis of the 2100s
7
The divide between the deep dive and the real world was always a painful one for me to cross on the best of days but this particular crash was the worst I’d experienced in a long time, the first involuntary log out I had experienced in a while. When you manually logged out, you had the time to steel yourself for the transition and you could go up through the levels of the deep dive toward your body at your own pace. Involuntary bumps took all that out of the equation.
This time was even worse because of what we didn’t have time to say. An entire session was gone and who was to say what we had gained by it. I’d had enough uncertainty in my life in the day-to-day goings of things that I didn’t need more of it in the one place where things usually worked out like I expected. Now everything was topsy-turvy.
We were acclaimed in EO with being the first to unlock Crystalfire Keep and won a tidy cash prize in the process, and while that prize eased a lot of my financial problems in the short term, it wasn’t enough in the long run, not if things didn’t change.
Sure, it’d help my sister Chrissy get her out-of-date prosthetics updated, but it wasn’t near enough to keep everything taken care of once the Fontaine Institute pulled their aid. Even with the financial cushion we had, I still wanted to put in some work to increase that cushion, only now, I’d be stuck on the quest with Kayla until we were done, and I had no idea how long that’d even take.
As I stared at the status screens inside my NSAF helmet, Roxanne cleared her throat off to my right. “It’s been a while since you hit the timer, Max.” Concern filled her voice as she continued. “Are you okay? Your vitals are a little elevated and you’ve been sweating profusely.”
Roxanne Fontaine was more than our live-in nurse, she was practically family. Despite being the daughter of the head of the Institute, Roxanne was staring down the same bad straits we were. Her choices were to either go back to the Institute when it pulled out of our lives or to find a private sector job. That didn’t sound so bad on the surface and it wouldn’t be, well, for her. There was a reason we needed a live-in nurse, though, and it would be the first step down a road that wouldn’t end well for us.
As the screens went dark and the motorized arm holding it began to pull it away from my head, I sighed, thoughts of Kayla, my desire for our relationship fighting against my fears and worries, still swirling in my head. “Yeah, sorry. I was in a virtual desert for the last two hours.” I stuck out my tongue, hoping she’d not press deeper. “One of many reasons I avoid that part of the game whenever I can.”
The helmet finished its track up and away, letting the sights and smells of reality in. The smart lighting
in my bedroom radiated Midmorning Glow ™ as I adjusted my wheelchair back to the upright position and found Roxanne’s thin, lined face staring down at me. Damp cloth at the ready, she immediately dabbed at my face, a worried smile on her lips.
“Well, don’t make a habit of it,” she replied as she fussed over me. If she suspected there was anything more concerning me, she didn’t say. “Ten years of being a hermit hasn’t done your health any good. You either need to stay away from putting any kind of shocks on your system or actually, you know, get out and see the world, get some fresh air, that sort of healthy thing.”
I let out a self-deprecating chuckle as she pulled away, content with my condition for the moment. “Yeah, because I’m in the best shape to go have a sun-and-fun day at the beach.”
“It would do you some good, regardless of what you think,” she tutted as she stepped back, absently smoothing out her neon green scrubs. “Now, if you’re done putting yourself down, you should really get ready. We have to catch the transport in an hour.”
Now that brought a genuine smile to my face as I caressed the control stick of my wheelchair with my good arm. Today was the pre-op appointment for Chrissy’s refitting and knowing I was making that happen made me feel like I was a worthwhile human being. “I know I hate leaving the house, but this is going to be a good day.”
Roxanne paused at the open door just before stepping through. “You know, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to. I can handle all the paperwork.”
“Not on your life,” I fired back, a little too fiercely. “Sorry, I just really want to be there for this. For Chrissy.”
Her smile had lost that usual bit of worry as she nodded. “Hey, I’m all for that and I know she really appreciates it. Well, I’ll leave you to it.” She stepped the rest of the way into the living room, keep a hand in front of the door sensor to keep it open. “If you’re not out in forty-five minutes, I’ll come get you.”
She got a smile back as I guided my noble steed across the room toward the micro-sized bathroom that was mine and mine alone. “Fair enough. Thanks for everything like always, Roxanne.”
Chuckling, Roxanne shook her head as she pulled her hand away from the autosensor. “This time, I think you get all the thanks, Max. Enjoy it for once.” With that, the door shut in near-silence, leaving me to my own devices.
I focused on cleaning myself up so I’d be presentable to the outside world instead of worrying about any drama. Best to enjoy these moments when things were looking up in real life and put my virtual concerns on the back burner to simmer and cook. Maybe it would all come to me when the time was right. A faint hope, but I didn’t want to seem upset or anything for Chrissy’s sake. After all, the whole idea of being open to something more than a friendly relationship came from my sister.
Still, as I went through my typical struggle to get out of my sweaty clothes and into the bath, I couldn’t help but wonder if any woman would really want a relationship with someone in my situation. Look, I had come to terms with my disabilities and the damage to my body years ago but that was in terms of self-acceptance. To ask someone to hitch up to that wagon, well, that was another thing altogether.
By the time I got out of the bath and into some fresh clothes, I felt a bit livelier and more human. I didn’t have to think about Elementalis Online until this evening so I got a big smile on as I rolled out to meet up with Roxanne and Chrissy.
Chrissy was nowhere to be seen, but Roxanne was bustling around the living room/kitchenette. When she saw me, she turned off the battered Tri-D projector in the table and gathered up a last few bits of paperwork into her ‘purse.’ I only put that in quotations because there are sailor’s duffel bags that are smaller than Roxanne’s Purse of Holding.
“I’m all ready to cruise around town,” I chuckled as I rolled up beside the table, “though I don’t think too many people will be wolf-whistling at this ride.”
She grinned at me, looking to be happier than she had been all week. “Well, you might not have a shiny new grav-chair but there are plenty of people out there that prefer a real classic like what you’ve got.” Adjusting the sling of her bag, she gestured toward the front door. “After you.”
I craned my neck around the room, focusing on Chrissy’s bedroom door. “Where’s Chrissy? She is pretty important to this whole trip, you know.”
Roxanne answered me with a roll of her eyes, a sigh, and another wave to the front door. I responded with my best shrug and figured it was best to simply comply with my nurse’s urging, no matter how much fun it was to poke the bear from time to time.
Nudging the control stick of my chair forward, I kicked the motor forward and cruised for the front door without another word. The sensor on the door picked me up a few feet early and opened, unleashing the deadly laser that is the sun onto my unprotected flesh.
Despite every inclination, I did not hiss and retreat to the safety of the darkness like a vampire or cockroach. No, I bravely rode out to face the lethal day-star and the sickeningly fresh sea air.
To be fair, we were lucky to be getting sunshine at all. Like the rest of the government-subsidized housing in Neo Angeles, we were low on the totem pole, like barely above sea level low. The rest of the city spiraled above us, a giant, fat pyramid of an arcology whose open-air levels made the whole thing look more like one of those ancient aluminum Christmas trees with all the lights of the homes and businesses. We only got real sunlight in the morning with our position. By noon, it was all artificial lighting that supposedly duplicated the Sun’s life-giving rays to within a .075% variance of the real thing.
The fake sun felt no better than the real sun on my skin but I’d put up with all the sunshine in the world to live in the upper levels. I think it was a natural feeling that everyone feels, the desire to be closer to the sky, I guess. It's why we figured out how to make things that fly, right?
Chrissy didn’t seem to view it the same way. She was leaning against the railings of our front walk, next to the transport landing dock, drinking in the ocean air. Her undersized prosthetic arm was twitching a bit that morning, a gentle reminder to be happy that we were finally getting that fixed.
“What a zztz beautiful day,” she enthused, her voice box buzzing and popping. “I could fzz enjoy this view forever.”
“You’ll get a much better view from the transport.” I grinned as I rolled over to her. “Heck, if we lived upside, we’d get the best view.”
Our front walk was only a few yards wide, the same as every other unit in this block of housing. Each block had thirty-six of these identical houses on angled tiers from the ‘ground’ of the arcology floor. While there were multiple lifts and inter-level rail systems, to really get around, you had to use grav-cars, the automobile of the Two and Twenty. Naturally, we couldn’t afford one, so it was rental services for us. Yet another reason I didn’t get out much.
Chrissy glanced over at me. “The ride will be fun, sure, kzk but why would I ever want to move? This is zzzzzz our house, Max.”
I could have come at her with a dozen logical arguments as to why that was a stupid thing to believe, that moving to a nicer place would obviously be a good idea. I couldn’t, though. How could I be such a jerk?
“Well, I suppose I can’t argue with that, can I?” I grinned as I looked out over the view myself.
The sky was buzzing with cruising commuters while big cargo ships plied the sea lanes made by the flooded ruins of Old Los Angeles below us. I wasn’t old enough to remember the Slow Flood or the Resource War, but I’d heard enough about them in school to be glad we were mostly past all that. To have to live with the ever-rising waters and fear that you would get flooded out before the governments and corporations got their heads out of their butts and got things done to fix things, it would be a lot worse than our own situation.
“No, you can’t,” Chrissy static-giggled, her eyes dancing. “So, how’d EO go kzt today? How’s Kaaaaayla?” It was a childish tease but Chrissy was only thi
rteen.
I sighed, trying not to show my current confusion on that front. “How old are you? Six?” I forced a grin. “Things are going fine. We actually found that quest so, you know, that’s progress.”
Chrissy gave me a probing ‘you-can’t-fool-your-sister’ look, but before she could say anything, Roxanne came out the front door in a rush.
“Okay, I’ve got everything and you’ve got everything. The transport is going to be here any minute and …” Roxanne looked up from where she had been frantically double-checking her bag and her nurse’s ‘utility’ belt. “Are you two ready?”
“I’m super kzzt ready, Roxanne!” Chrissy’s enthusiasm overtook her suspicion, and I was totally fine with that.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I agreed as the hum of gravitic engines grew from the buzzing hive swarming around the city.
Roxanne smiled. “Good, because it’s time to go.”
Quote 8
The Resource War is a poor term to refer to the massive collapse of the traditional industrial resource network and market around the world. In essence, the world was running out of many of its traditional, non-renewable resources and that led to an outbreak of conflicts of all kinds among the countries of the world, aggravated by the humanitarian crisis of the Slow Flood from global warming. Somehow, at the end of things, humanity managed to struggle through, finding innovative solutions to the problems and finding an uneasy peace forward into the Three-and-Twenty.
From the Resource War article, Deep Dive Wikipedia
8
I had never ridden much in grav-vehicles. When I was younger, when Mom and Dad had still been alive, we lived in the upper levels where conventional automobiles are still used for day-to-day stuff. It was a twice-a-year treat for trips to the mainland, not a common thing. After the accident, well, taking grav rides had been more common but for all the wrong reasons. Surgeries, therapy, housing reassignment, things that only slowed during our years at the Fontaine Institute. Naturally, I had to agree with my last therapist when he pointed out that those connections between gravs and trauma only contributed to my shut-in nature.
The Vale of Three Wolves: A LitRPG Adventure (Elements of Wrath Online Book 2) Page 8