As his fingers touched the light, familiar faces flashed across Ethan’s vision. Recognizing them, Ethan almost pulled, but he’d been expecting this. He’d known one of these cursed orbs would bring up memories of his parents. Resolved, Ethan watched his mother and father turn and walk away from him. The memory was nothing special, but watching it still hurt deeply. It embodied his loss almost perfectly.
Ethan was an only child, as most children were these days. Looking after kids was far too much work for most people to want to have to go through it multiple times, or even once. Child-rearing was far more difficult than anything else in most people’s lives, such as modern jobs or VR. Nonetheless, Ethan’s parents had done their best to raise him. He had a lot of good memories of childhood, such as playing tag with his father or sitting on his mother’s lap, but the good times hadn’t lasted forever. When Ethan was a senior in high school, his mother had died from an unexpected heart attack while she was alone at home. There had been no warning signs and nothing modern medicine could have done.
Ethan’s father had never been the same. Soon, he’d grown depressed and began to waste away. Hurt, and hating to see his father that way, Ethan had used his recently acquired economic support money to move out and live with some friends from school. A few months later, his father had committed suicide.
It hadn’t been Ethan’s fault. Everyone had always told him so. He’d been a stupid kid back then. Nonetheless, it felt like Ethan was somehow responsible for both of his parents’ deaths. Surely there was something he could have done for them. It was stupid to believe that, but he couldn’t help himself. In fact, it was one of the reasons he’d moved out and left his dad alone. He felt guilty about his mother’s death and couldn’t face him. He’d wanted to get away from the guilt.
Tears formed in the corners of Ethan’s eyes as his gut twisted painfully. This time there was no grand revelation. He simply suffered through the memories over and over again until the pain of thinking about his parents faded to a dull ache. All Ethan could do was accept it without letting it control him in the present, and eventually the orb of shimmering light in front of him faded away to nothing.
“Fuck this world and everything in it. I better get my ten million bucks,” Ethan hissed as he looked around.
The mist had thinned out considerably. He could see almost a hundred feet ahead now. More importantly, he could see a structure in the distance. Something other than empty fog.
Ethan’s conjured memories had left him unsteady on his feet. He felt washed out, like he had been standing under cold water without his skin. Nonetheless, he began walking toward the structure. As he got closer, it came into focus. It was a round tower, and there was someone standing beside it. Lily.
“Ethan. Over here!” Lily yelled as she waved her arms in his direction.
“I see you!” Ethan shouted back as he hurried her way. He didn’t want to be alone.
When he reached her, Lily smiled gleefully and stepped forward to hug him. He went limp in surprise as she squeezed him tight. What? Where was this coming from? All of a sudden, Lily was being very familiar with him. Ethan wasn’t going to complain though. She was cute, and after what he’d just been through, nonjudgemental human contact felt nice.
“See, I knew you could do it!” she said proudly before releasing him.
Ethan’s cheeks went red as he blushed, and he couldn’t stop himself from smiling in excitement. “Ya, I did, didn’t I?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Ethan felt stupid. Really? That was the best he could come up with?
Lily nodded and began to blush too. As if realizing she had been over familiar with him, she swiftly stepped back and pointed at the tower. “Now we just need to go through this door.”
The tower was a huge but largely featureless structure. It was round and made from smooth white stone. Its top rose into a cone-shaped peak, and there was a single door in its face.
“Then let’s get out of here. I don’t want to stick around a second longer than I have to,” Ethan replied as he headed for the door.
CHAPTER 8
FORWARD
A quick push was all it took for the door to swing open, and Ethan immediately stepped inside. Lily was right behind him, and they were both confronted by the sight of a round room made of the same smooth white stone as the outside of the tower. It was lit by a big light in the center of the ceiling, and there were five doors set in the walls. Each one bore a colorful rune.
Ethan glowered as he studied the room. “Now what?”
“I think we have to choose one. I’ve seen symbols like these before. I think each door will take us to a different chamber, and the symbol is a clue about what sort of test it will contain.”
“Do you know what the runes mean?” Ethan asked her, ignoring how obvious her advice was. She’d already been very helpful.
Lily shook her head. “No, I can only guess based on experience. Sorry.”
“Well, then why don’t you pick which door we will use. You still know more than me.”
“Oh, so you want to go with me?” Lily replied as she gave him a pleased smile.
Ethan blushed. The idea they might go through different doors and split up hadn’t even occurred to him. “Yeah, of course I want to stay together. I think we make a great team, unless you don’t want to…”
A reassuring smile appeared on Lily’s face. “You seem like a good guy, so I wouldn’t mind traveling alongside you, Ethan.”
“Thanks, I look forward to it,” Ethan replied with more than a little relief. Apparently, he hadn’t managed to scare her away with his awkward demeanor. He really needed to chill.
Lily turned to study the doors. “Well, now I just need to choose one.”
As Ethan watched, she walked over and studied each door in turn. Her gaze lingered on both the runes and the doors themselves for several long seconds, even though Ethan had no idea why she was looking at the blank surfaces so intently.
“All right, we will take this one,” Lily eventually announced as she pointed at the door with a green wave-like rune on it.
“Why that one?” Ethan asked. He was glad he’d run into her, even if it was a little weird they had met during the test. It obviously wasn’t a team or competitive challenge, but whatever.
“I like the color,” Lily explained with a playful grin as she turned the door handle.
Before Ethan could reply, the door in front of Lily glowed. The next moment, a flash of green light filled the room and enveloped him.
As the light vanished, and after rubbing his eyes to clear them, Ethan found himself standing in a shadowy room full of broken equipment. Everything, including the walls, looked to be made from metal. There were electrical lights protruding from the ceiling, but many of them were broken, and others flickered as if damaged. Where the lights were strong, Ethan noticed streaks of rust on the walls and piles of shattered glass on the floor. Thankfully, a quick look to the side revealed Lily. She had been brought here with him.
“You chose an interesting destination for us,” Ethan joked as he looked around. It seemed like some sort of old lab.
“Interesting is good,” she replied.
Ethan walked to a table and examined it. There was dirt scattered across its surface and the dried up remains of a small plant. Weird.
Behind him, Lily was also looking around. The room wasn’t large, so it didn’t take them very long to search it, even though the lighting was terrible in many spots. Neither of them found anything of note.
“This is probably just the landing zone,” Ethan remarked as he turned toward the only door that led out of the room. It was wide open and led to a hallway.
“Probably. That would explain why it’s so empty,” Lily agreed as she walked to the door.
Ethan joined her and then they both stepped into the hallway. It was over thirty feet long, and rows of glass cages lined both sides of it. The cages had lights on top of them, and they were occupied by green bushy p
lants, most of which seemed to have grown feral. Some filled entire cages, while others had burst out of holes in the glass and were spreading across the floor or up into the roof. Several long pipes ran under the cages to supply them with water, and the entire length of the roof was covered in pipes.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen an environment like this in WorldShift before,” Ethan observed as he stepped over some broken shards of glass and a thick green vine.
Lily quickly chuckled in reply as she followed him. “Yeah, me neither. It’s neat though.”
As Ethan opened his mouth to reply, something moved at the edge of his vision. He stopped and turned to see what it was, but he saw nothing but an empty cage and a pile of vines. Had he imagined the movement? Ethan was about halfway through the hallway now. Cautiously, one of his hands reached for the hilt of his blade as he resumed moving.
Lily noticed his actions. “What is it?”
“I’m not sure—”
Before Ethan could finish, a green blur shot out of the cage to his left. It zoomed straight toward his chest.
“There!” Ethan yelled as he dodged to the side and drew his blade.
The green object missed its mark by several inches and shot past Ethan. It was a vine! As Ethan’s blade came free from its sheath, it snapped out to its full length and flashed with light. The weapon left a glowing trail in the air as Ethan swung it at the vine, and there was a sharp hissing noise as it cut through the plant. The remains of the bisected vine fell to the ground, but Ethan saw plants all throughout the room begin to move.
“We need to get out!” Lily shouted. She had already pulled out her own blade, and it glowed with white light.
Ethan nodded. “Get back to back! I got the front.”
Lily immediately moved to obey. Slicing apart a vine that shot down from above, Ethan joined her. As vines shot at them from every direction, they defended themselves and steadily began moving toward the exit. Buzzing filled the air as their energy blades cut down the attacking plants.
Using mental commands, Ethan set up a quick display to track Lily’s position, since he couldn’t look back to see her. Once he was done, a small map of the hallway and its occupants appeared on his helmet’s display. The action only took a second, and it allowed him to focus on the vines coming from the front.
As Ethan approached the exit, two vines shot out from either side. He dodged one and cut down the other, before turning and slicing the second apart. When he reached the door, he peeked through it. Another lab like the one they had just left confronted him, but there didn’t appear to be any threats inside, so he stepped through the door and turned around.
Lily was struggling to fend off the vines. She sliced one that came at her from above, but then a vine lying dormant on the floor came alive. It caught her leg and she tripped. Instantly, Ethan acted. He lunged forward and cut her free. He then grabbed her arm and pulled her through the door. His muscle-enhancing armor allowed him to move her with ease.
Together, the pair fell backward out of the hallway. Ethan landed on his back, and Lily fell on top of him. Luckily, they both managed to disable their blades before stabbing themselves, which would have been embarrassing. Ethan lay under Lily and waited for her to move, but she didn’t seem to be in a hurry.
“Thanks for the save,” Lily said a moment later as she pulled herself up off Ethan. She then reached down to offer him a hand.
“No problem. I was just doing my part for the team,” Ethan replied as he let her help him up.
They both grinned at each other before turning to survey the new room they now found themselves in. It was quite a large chamber, over a hundred feet across, and it contained quite a few plants. Thankfully, all the plants here were tiny little things that had been placed on shelves, so they were probably harmless. Like the hallway, this room was also full of metal pipes. Water dripped from some of the pipes in the ceiling and formed large puddles before draining away into grates in the floor. Tables and shelves full of lab equipment filled most of the space, creating a maze of obstacles.
“I bet you there’s something nasty in here,” Lily remarked as she looked around.
Ethan laughed as he stepped toward a table with a broken monitor on it. “Ha, I’m not taking that bet. There’s probably a giant murder-bot in here.”
“There are some med-packs over here,” Lily said as she went through the contents of a shelf.
“What kind?” Ethan asked as he walked toward her.
Med-packs could be used to restore health slowly over time, but there were several different types. Some were specialized to certain injuries, while others were more effective, and some had side effects. Ethan wasn’t injured, but he wouldn’t mind stocking up on useful items.
“I don’t recognize them,” Lily mused aloud as she took a pair of small green cylinders off the shelf and studied them.
A moment later, she handed one to Ethan. He took it and scanned it using his visor, and it gave him a readout.
Data tag found. Item identified as Experimental Gel #42.
Ethan read on to learn that the med-pack restored a high amount of health and boosted player focus when in use. Its only downside was a propensity to react badly when mixed with other drugs, which was unusual and rather vague for a game item. Still, Ethan decided it was worth taking. He opened his inventory and dropped it inside.
“Are you going to take any?” Ethan asked Lily.
“Oh, no. I’ve got better stuff on me,” she replied matter-of-factly as she put the cylinder in her hand down and turned away from the shelf.
Ethan shrugged and picked up the second med-pack as well. “You must have some really good stuff then.”
“I have an interest in medicine,” she replied. “Even if I stand no chance of ever practicing it in the real.”
Ethan nodded in understanding. Even medicine was mostly automated these days. Algorithms could diagnose people, and robots could perform surgery better than humans. The remaining doctors were mostly bureaucrats of one type or another.
Suddenly, there was a loud clang, like metal hitting metal. The noise echoed from the far side of the room. Ethan spun around, but he couldn’t see anything. There were too many shelves and tables in the way. Thankfully, he didn’t feel the presence of anything weird like the shadow or the mist. This was probably a normal in-game enemy, which he could deal with easily enough.
“What was that?” Lily asked.
Ethan grinned. “Probably the nasty thing you mentioned earlier.”
Since the room was so large, Ethan drew his pistol. He drew it and took a firing stance before slowly walking toward the source of the noise. Once again, Lily copied him and drew a similar weapon.
Before Ethan got halfway to the other side of the room, there was a scuttling sound to his left. He swung around and raised his weapon, but he saw nothing but the dirty floor.
He grunted in frustration. “I really prefer it when the enemy just shows up and challenges you.”
“We should probably just find the exit and move on. Looking for something to fight seems dumb to me,” Lily said. “Things that jump out of air ducts at you never have good loot anyway.”
“There are probably lots more items in this room. We don’t want to miss them,” Ethan replied.
“Are you short on anything? Because I’m not.”
“I could use some ammo.”
“I really doubt you will find enough in here to replace whatever you use in a fight.”
Ethan nodded. “Good point. Let’s find us a door.”
Instead of continuing across the room, Ethan and Lily scanned the walls for any sign of an exit. Through a gap between two shelves, Ethan thought he saw something like a doorframe.
“Over there,” he said as he pointed toward it.
Lily nodded and took the lead. With pistols up, they moved quickly but carefully toward the area Ethan had chosen. They passed by rows of metal shelves and around a large metal table covered in plants and light
s without seeing any signs of danger. Soon they reached their goal, and it was indeed a door. Unfortunately, it was shut. Lily moved up to examine it, while Ethan turned and watched for enemies.
“It’s locked. We need to find a key, or a switch, or something,” she said.
“So we will be doing some exploring after all.”
“I guess so. Let’s circle the room. Staying next to the walls is probably safer,” Lily replied as she headed left.
Ethan followed after her and grinned. “I don’t know. Maybe that’s what the game designers want us to think. There might be some vents or holes hidden behind these shelves, and enemies could be waiting to ambush us from inside them.”
“Well, keep your eyes peeled then,” Lily replied in a tone that sounded more than a little sarcastic to Ethan.
Before Ethan could make a witty comeback, another loud scuttling sound echoed from somewhere near the center of the room. Instantly, Ethan turned and aimed his weapon in that direction, and he saw something dash under a table and out of sight. It had been about the size of a dog, but it had moved too fast for him to get a good look at it. As Ethan scanned the nearby shelves, he heard more scuttling from several different directions, and he saw something else move out of the corner of his eye before it disappeared.
“I think whatever is out there is preparing to swarm us.” As soon as Ethan finished speaking, the scuttling noise increased in intensity. It sure sounded like there were a lot of enemies out there. They could probably handle it though. Ethan was looking forward to having a chance to show off his moves to Lily. Despite his embarrassment in the mist, he was actually very good at this game.
“I’ve got some surprises for them when they come,” Lily told him.
As she kept her pistol aimed toward the noise, she used her other hand to pull a grenade from her inventory and press the button on top of it. She then tossed it forward, and it hit the ground about a dozen feet ahead of them. Ethan flinched, but instead of exploding, the device hit the floor and stuck there.
Before Ethan could ask what the device was, there was a loud squeak and a creature popped out from behind a table and stared at him. It was a huge rat. More squeaks followed and several more rats appeared. They all stared at the humans with beady red eyes that somehow conveyed both extreme hunger and bottomless hatred. Reading their intentions, Ethan shot the first rat without hesitation, and his aim was on target. There was a gory spray of blood, and the rat was blasted right off the table.
Worldshift- Virtual Revolution Page 9