by Tom Larcombe
“Need a hand?” Karl said.
“Sure, all the walls are up from earlier, I want to get the floor down also, then tomorrow we can hopefully finish off the roof. So, just move some of those rough planks over here next to the door and I'll place them.”
At their higher levels both Tiana and Allie had used some of their stat points on strength, they were probably stronger than either Karl or Eddie. So Karl and the two women passed planks over to the door bucket brigade style until Eddie told them to stop.
He was placing the rough planks on the ground where the plank outlines were flashing. The work went quickly and it was less than half an hour later that he placed the last plank. They fit together far better than he'd thought they were going to and he was pretty sure that the game was tweaking planks as he placed them, causing them to have a snugger fit with one another.
Not that I'm going to complain. Building something like this back in the real world would probably take weeks, not just a couple of days, he thought. And if the game really is tweaking it, the whole thing will probably be more solid than the one back in the real world would've been. This may be a game world, but even so I'd much rather be here than there.
Eddie's past few days had made him feel better than his past few years prior to entering the game. He felt as though he were actually accomplishing things here. He'd created his own job that paid okay, he knew he could keep a higher share of the profits and no-one would care, but that didn't feel right. Besides he was sure he'd be making even more money once he finished the bunkhouse.
And when I finally get my inn built, I'll make more than I ever made in the real world even. This is definitely where I prefer to be.
There was an edge of worry though. He had no idea what the game company was going to do with him. They'd fixed the problem with the nightmares, but hadn't mentioned the inability to log out yet.
And when they do take care of that, are they just going to kick me out? I suppose I could come back in as a helmet-head to run my businesses here, but the full immersion is just so sweet that I'd rather not lose it. Is there any way I can make enough money to get my own pod and pay the monthly immersion subscription?
He knew his profits were a long way away from that level. Even the cheapest pods, the ones that you couldn't use for long term, started at around ten grand. The better ones, the ones that allowed thirty day immersion, were closer to twenty-five thousand dollars.
Well, I should have at least another day or two of the full immersion. I'd better live it up while I can, he thought.
“Let's head back to the farm,” he said, grabbing the handles of the, now empty of produce, wheelbarrow.
“Hey Lucky, want a ride?” he asked.
The bobcat stared at him for a moment then stared at wheelbarrow. A moment later she darted into the underbrush at the side of the road.
Eddie started laughing and it was infectious. The four of them headed back towards the farm along the road, Lucky occasionally joining them, normally to drop a bunny at Eddie's feet before heading back into the underbrush.
~ ~ ~
Back at the farmhouse Allie claimed first dibs on the tub.
“The only thing I miss about being in game all the time is soaking in a hot bath,” she said.
Eddie chuckled as he poured beers for the other three of them. Karl was being a gentleman, or so he'd said, and hauling buckets of water for Allie.
There's definitely interest on his part, but from what she was saying about those other guys, he's going to have his work cut out for him if he wants her to be interested in return. I hate assholes like that. As if harassing the women weren't enough, they've also left them skittish even when they meet a nice guy who won't treat them like that.
With a mental shake of his head, Eddie carried the beers over to the table.
“This is a nice place. Why are you bothering to build that other one?” Tiana asked.
“Well, while I could rent the bunkhouse out, how many people would want to walk a mile or so just to get to their room?” Eddie replied. “With as many players as are camping out down near the hamlet, it just seemed like a better idea to build rooms closer to them.”
“There probably are a few that would be happy to make that walk for a room, but I get your point,” she said.
“Also, the bunkhouse on the farm is just open inside. The one I'm building is going to have sectioned off rooms. I thought people would much rather have a small room than barracks style housing.”
“That's for sure,” Tiana said. “I know most of the female adventurers would prefer that. It's not as bad as what Allie and I were putting up with, but most of them get ogled a lot at the very least.”
“Is it really that bad out there?” Karl asked, finally sitting down at the table.
“Just a minute and I'll answer you,” Tiana said. “I promised I'd heat that water for Allie.”
The tub had been set up in a room on the ground floor that was bare of furnishings. When Tiana came back out the door a few minutes later, she was accompanied by a cloud of steam rushing through the door as it was opened.
“So yeah, it is and it isn't. It was worse for a while, but then a couple of the worst offenders disappeared. Don't know, or care, where they went. But everyone kept comparing people's behavior to those two after they left. Better than those two doesn't even mean a civil human being, so it's a really low bar.”
“All the guys are like that?” Karl asked. “That's kind of hard to believe.”
“No, maybe ten percent, give or take a bit. And there are varying degrees of how bad it is. Right now, Terrod and Sombra are the worst of the ones left. You have to remember that I only know the people who were adventuring during the day very well. The others? Not so much, so I can't say for them. I'm just basing my figures off of what I've heard from the other women when they were still around their camps.”
“So a lot of them aren't in full immersion?” Eddie asked.
“Nope, some of them are helmet and glove gamers, some are in the short term immersion pods. There are only a few like me and Allie that are in the long term immersion. Most people doing that and adventuring are much higher level already.”
“You don't have to answer this if you don't want, but why are you still a lower level and in a full immersion system?” Eddie asked.
“It's a long story. Do you want the too long, didn't read version?”
“If that's what you prefer to tell me,” he replied.
Karl took a pull of his beer and leaned back, obviously not wanting to intrude.
“I'm an experimental case,” Tiana said. “I'm not really an avid gamer, but Light Online is trying out some alterations to their pods for medical purposes.”
She stopped for a moment, mustering the nerve to continue.
“I was in an accident. My legs weren't in very good shape after and the doctors told me I might never walk again. They did what they could for me with surgery, but told me I was going to have to do extremely strenuous, and frequent, physical therapy if I ever wanted to walk unassisted again.”
She stopped again and Eddie saw the glistening of moisture in the corners of her eyes. When she spoke again it was in a rush as though she wanted to get the words out while she still could.
“One of my therapists had recently read about Light Online outfitting special pods for medical purposes and he contacted them with my case. They outfitted a pod especially for me. One that's constantly stimulating and exercising my legs, meaning my body is doing as much physical therapy as the diagnostic software says it should. That much of it is something that the mind just can't take, so my mind is in here while the pod exercises my legs. Honestly there's no way a physical therapist and I could schedule it the way the pod does, so this is better. They say my legs are showing progress, even if I still can't walk again yet.”
She stood up and walked out of the room. Eddie thought he heard a muffled sob, but wasn't sure. He glanced over at Karl uncertainly.
“What
are you waiting for idiot?” Karl said. “Go comfort her. If she allows it anyhow.”
Eddie hesitated, but stood and followed Tiana out of the room. When he saw her he stopped, unsure of how to proceed. He reached out an arm, but stopped before he touched her.
“Tiana?” he said, then dropped his hand to her shoulder.
She spun around, her eyes filled with tears and more of them streaming down her cheeks. Her hands went up to scrub the tears away from first one cheek, then the other. After that she caught his gaze.
“I get it if you don't want me around you any more,” she said. “I know that no-one likes dealing with a cripple.”
He shook his head and the confusion he felt must have been evident on his face.
“Why would that matter?” he asked as she stared at him, her eyes widening.
Her tears started flowing again.
“Really?” she said softly.
“Yeah, really. Especially here. Why would you having injured legs in the real world matter to anyone here in the game?”
“I don't know, but the other people I told fled like I had a contagious disease. You're not going to do that?”
“No, why would I? It's not like my real world situation is anything to brag about. I'm unemployed and practically broke. That's how I got stuck here like I am, I'm—”
She pushed her finger against his lips.
“Stop,” she said. “Didn't you tell me you're under an NDA? It sounded like you were about to say something you shouldn't.”
Eddie opened his mouth to continue what he'd been saying, then his jaw snapped shut again as he realized she was right. After a moment he opened it again.
“Thank you, you're right. And no, I can't understand why people would act that way.”
Her tears were still flowing as she leaned in against him. He enfolded her in his arms, holding her loosely, savvy enough to know that the way she reacted so far suggested that she was interested, but scared.
If I hold her loosely, maybe she'll actually let me hold her and comfort her. I have a feeling that if I tightened my grip she'd be more scared than comforted.
After several minutes of standing that way, she straightened back up, pulling herself out of his arms. He just let go regretfully. He'd been holding her and marveling at the game again. The scent of her hair had filled his nostrils and he'd realized that her body had its own unique scent as well.
If the game went all out on that, what else have they gone all out on? he wondered.
~ ~ ~
Karl had promised Eddie that he'd limit his drinking again so they could hunt in the morning. He had a second beer with Allie after she was out of the tub, but that was it. Eddie offered to haul water for Tiana, but she told him she preferred to wait until the showers were ready and that she'd accept his offer to haul water for her then.
Allie promised to go hunting with them first thing in the morning. The plan was for Eddie, Karl, and Allie to go hunting while Tiana worked on harvesting the garden. After the hunters returned, they'd split up. Karl and Allie were going mapping while Eddie and Tiana were going to go try to finish building the bunkhouse before it was time to open the food stand.
Karl wanted to map the road in the other direction, headed away from the hamlet. Eddie had mentioned seeing the adventurers walking along it before and Karl wanted to see where the road led and where those adventurers had come from.
When morning arrived, Eddie was actually the last one awake. He'd spent some time lying in his bed and making plans before falling asleep. He was gently ribbed for delaying their plans, but when he looked outside it was still earlier than he'd left for hunting the last couple of days.
By the time the hunters returned, Eddie was feeling a bit outclassed. Allie had made most of the kills for the morning, although since the two woman had dropped their current group and created a new one that Karl and Eddie joined he still got experience for it. Her bow skill was much higher than his though and he resolved to find the time to set up a range and practice his own skill to see if he could raise it that way.
Tiana had the wheelbarrow loaded with produce by the time they got back so they had an early lunch, then Karl and Allie headed out along the road to the east. Eddie checked his inventory to make sure he had the tools that had been listed on the blueprints, then he and Tiana left the farm heading west towards the hamlet.
“So many things I have to do,” Eddie said as they walked. “Paul sent me the blueprint for a cart that I could use the critters in the barn to pull. It would be so much nicer than pushing this wheelbarrow. But I want to get the bunkhouse finished first. I'll probably get the cart done before working on the inn though, I think there will be a lot more materials needed for that than I can get right on my own lot.”
“You could always hire someone to do some of these things, you know?”
“I did, I hired Ingolf to clear the land and he's got a couple of other guys that should be there today to assist him.”
“I'm talking about building these things. I'm sure there's someone around who can do it.”
“Well, Paul could, but he's getting his wife and daughter. I kind of hinted to him that there might be work around here, but I don't know if I could afford his services. Besides, I got two points in carpentry yesterday building the bunkhouse. It's always good to work your skills up, even if carpentry is one I got accidentally.”
“Tell me about it, I ended up with masonry just from trying to build a rock wall around our fire pit back in the camp,” Tiana said. “I didn't think that would qualify as anything, but boy was I wrong.”
“Did you work that one up?”
“It's at two now, but I haven't done anything with it intentionally.”
“Well, I might beg some more help from you then. The blue print shows an optional fireplace for the bunkhouse, but it's made of stone so I was just going to skip it for the time being. I bet it would be easy for you.”
“Um, easy? Building a fireplace easy? I don't think so.”
“I just need to figure out how to share the blueprint function with you. It shows you exactly where to put things to build what's shown.”
A note of doubt entered her voice.
“I'll try if you really want me to,” she said.
“If you're willing, I'd like you to do it.”
She nodded hesitantly.
“And here we are,” Eddie said. “Let me see if I can share the blueprints like I would a quest.”
He concentrated for a moment before Tiana squealed with delight.
“I can see where everything still has to go,” she said. “Is this how you got all of this done so quickly?”
“Yes, and if you're going to do the fireplace, you should know that if something flashes red when you put it in that means it's in the wrong spot or needs to be adjusted. I figure that's why none of this has fallen over yet. I'm just not that good a carpenter in game yet.”
“Can we go get some stone? I'll work on the fireplace while you work on whatever is next for the building itself.”
“Sure, there's a bunch of rocks back near the pond and stream on the back of my land. Maybe those will do?”
She nodded.
“Let's try,” she said.
They spent the next half hour making a sizable pile of rocks at the back of the bunkhouse, close to where the fireplace would go. Then Ingolf showed up with two other men in tow.
“Eddie, these are my cousins Osmond and Brandr. Two of the ones my father told you about. They'll need to negotiate for their wages. I don't know what happened to the other one. Dad will be upset with him that he didn't show.”
“Osmond, Brandr,” Eddie said, nodding to each of them. “So, do you have your own felling axes?”
Both of them shook their head.
“Then here, this will be the first part of your pay,” Eddie said, drawing two of the axes he'd purchased out of his inventory.
Ingolf raised an eyebrow at Eddie.
“You had your own,” E
ddie said. “Hard for them to fell trees without an ax though.”
“Easy enough for them to haul and drag without one,” Ingolf stated.
“Ah, I see, they were going to be here to do the shit work?”
Ingolf blushed, but nodded.
“Well, have one of them do that while you instruct the other in felling trees, then switch off. They'll learn a valuable skill and you'll still have to do less of the work you'd rather avoid,” Eddie said.
He turned back to Osmond and Brandr.
“So, the two of you aren't skilled woodcutters?”
“No,” Osmond said slowly, drawing out the word.
Brandr just shook his head.
“Then in addition to the axes, I'll offer you five copper for each full day of work you put in. Plus you'll be learning a new skill.”
The two immediately accepted, beaming at him, and Eddie had to wonder just how much less he could've paid them.
Tiana was already at work on the fireplace, making pleasantly surprised noises as she discovered that the stones were locked in place once they'd been put in correctly. Eddie glanced up at the next flashing area that was the beginning of the roof. It was going to be more difficult to get to than the others, especially while carrying a plank.
I wonder if I can advance the process along to another section. The stairs are inside and it looks like everything they attach to is already in place. That would make it much easier to get the planks up there.
He stepped in through the open doorway the plan had left in the building so far and walked over to the stairs. Focusing in on them he tried to activate that section of the blueprint. Sure enough, the bottom step starting flashing.
With a grin Eddie ran out to the pile of planks and carried one back over. The stairs were done quickly and once they were he activated the roof area nearest to him. There were load bearing supports that had gone into the center of the building at the same time as the exterior walls. They were also the framework for the interior walls that he'd add later. But they were already in place so the roof went in smoothly and quickly.