by Rae Nantes
After nearly an hour of running, getting directions, getting lost, almost getting arrested, and finally getting back on track, we found her in the university library. An elderly lady, maybe in her sixties, dressed in pants and a suit jacket. She looked like a professor.
"Kids, kids, no running in the hallways, now." She spoke to us like we were her grandchildren.
"Sorry, ma'am," Simone said.
The library was a clean room right on the edge of the water. Floor to ceiling windows wrapped the north and west walls and up to the second floor. Rows and rows of shelves packed with books, tomes, and scrolls. The entire place smelled like an old book. "I assume you two youngins needed something. Why else would you be staring so strangely at me?"
"Oh," I said. "I... had some questions."
"Admissions and Registration is down the hall."
"No, sorry. About the world. History, I mean."
"There isn't much, I'm afraid."
"Why not?" I asked.
She looked at me with curious eyes. "You're a nipsy, and you weren't taught this? Where in the heavens did you go to primary?"
"I-I spawned here," I said. "I wasn't born." I looked away, almost ashamed at what I've said. Would the lady even believe me?
She stared uncomfortably long. When I pulled my gaze back to her, I caught her still staring, and I looked away again like a guilty puppy. Eventually, she nodded. "Come with me, please."
We followed her silently through the library as she pulled a large book from one shelf, walked down a row and over, picked another, then finally stopping at a desk. "Sit," she demanded.
We did. The leather seats were cold where the socks didn't cover my thighs, and Simone's armor rattled against the table. The lady flipped open the first book and shuffled through the pages. Dust rose and settled, caught in the sunbeams from the window. The sea behind her glistened with the waves.
"And where did you say you were from?" she asked as she flipped forward, pausing only to re-lick her fingers.
"Um, a shore," I said. "It's the first thing I remember."
"Do you know why we don't have much history?" She stopped at a page, the one she was looking for perhaps, and brought her eyes to Simone and me. She didn't wait for an answer. "This is the year 527. Five hundred years isn't much to write about." She gestured at the rows of books. "The entire known history of humankind would fit on a single shelf."
"What about, like, evolution?" I asked. When I spoke to her, I felt like I was telling a doctor about embarrassing symptoms, or a child confessing to a crime.
She tapped her finger on the book. "Yet we have catalogs full of information from before our time. Human history before humans were here." She paused to let it sink in. "Now why is that?"
I wasn't prepared for a lecture. "I... don't know. Did they get the info from the players?"
She smiled. "I think we were the players."
"I don't understand."
"We have books upon books written about things that may or may not have ever happened, all originating from the same time period - year zero." She spun the book and pushed it to me. It was a hand-drawn map of the Roman Empire at its height.
How did I know that?
Simone looked at it over my shoulder. "So you think all the original nipsies were players that somehow got stuck in the game?" Simone asked.
The lady furrowed her brow. "The world, darling."
"Sorry," Simone whispered, sinking back into her chair.
"But no," the lady continued. "It is as though the people of that time carried the fresh memories of the players - the people of your world. As time passed between each generation, the memories faded." She looked out the windows and into the sea. "And yet, there is no record of names or families or lineages. It was as though the people simply popped up in the world and suddenly forgot who they were. When it became apparent to them that they would not return to that foggy dream, they raced to pour out their memories and knowledge into books and tomes - lest they soon be forgotten."
I stared at her, drinking in her words.
"That was the first generation," she said. She caught my gaze and reflected it. "Perhaps you are the same."
Chapter 11
Home
Smith: Hey, I finished the quest. 20k XP.
Simone: Sweet!
Relce: How we gonna split it?
Smith: Between the three of us, so like 6.5k each? The leftovers we'll just hand out to the noobs.
Simone: That'll take me to level 12.
Relce: 13 here.
Smith: Did you and Alex get the maps?
Simone: Yep! She went back to the inn to rest. She wasn't feeling well.
Smith: Oh? Should I swing by and throw her a heal?
Simone: I don't think that'll work.
Alex: What are NPCs?
Smith: I... don't really think we should be talking about this on here.
Simone: Sorry, Alex. It's becoming a taboo subject in the world.
Alex: Can you at least tell me what the MWR is?
Smith: Never heard of it.
Alex: It's the way you get into the game, right? It's how you log in?
Simone: We should stop before we start weirding out the new guys haha
Tae: Go ahead and tell her.
Smith: I'm kinda busy. I'm standing in line at the bureaumancer's office.
Simone: I don't know the specifics. Sorry.
Alex: If you could know your place in the universe, if it were a part of something bigger, would you sit around while someone else dangled the truth in front of you or would you hunt them down and torch them with a fire spell?
Relce: It's just the collection of VR worlds that all connect to the MVVR lobby. They started as regular simulations for physics research or whatever, but since it’s all opensource, people started patching in games. There are probably thousands of worlds, including the few afterlife ones.
Tae: Those are the garden worlds. Since the CPU requirements are continually expanding as the game list expands, the entire thing is kept on a vN probe in orbit somewhere.
Relce: They actually did that?
Tae: Considering the garden, it was a good idea. The probe's onboard AI can replicate new servers, and fetch the resources needed to sustain itself however long it needs to. The entire concept is that the garden could outlive humanity. Especially considering what happened to Earth.
Relce: Dude that's tight as shit. A robot that's just shepherding around a group of worlds in the solar system?
Tae: That's not even the best part.
I stopped reading and tossed the ribbon off the bed. They were getting off topic, and I already got what I needed to hear. In the darkness of the room, I squeezed the pillow to my chest.
I truly was just a nipsy locked in this world, locked in the game. It's what I was, just code. Just a collection of functions that all boil down to some innumerable lines of text that compile into ones and zeros. If the first generation spawned 500 years ago, why was I so late? Was I a bug? The original nipsies were left here by the developer to populate the planet - for his games, for his amusement. Is that what I was now? It was another dead end in my branching lines of thought.
From what I understood, I was just a copy of a person somewhere on Stella Vallis. I was stripped of my identity and left here to find a new one. Why would they do such a thing? It felt as though some right of mine were violated, something trespassed on. I wondered if one day I could find the real me here in this world - to stumble upon her in the market square or find her larping in river towns. With my outdated memories, she would have to be older than me, ten years at least. Was she married? Happy? Does she live a cozy, boring life in the Martian city? How lucky she must be.
Maybe instead I was the lucky one. The players come here to escape from something, to escape their dreadful daily lives and fill it with fantasy and the worlds of their dreams - yet here I was experiencing it to its greatest detail. After all, what would I be doing if I were stuck in Stella Vallis
instead? Finishing up university, struggling to find a job, hating my life and wishing it was anything else?
I thought of Simone and Smith and the happiness they always seemed to share. I was jealous. Maybe what I wanted was the freedom to choose. Maybe I was still just a child who wanted what I can't have.
I closed my eyes.
{"
They're too real.
They are real.
And no one takes it seriously.
Am I truly alone for thinking of them as human?
"}
I opened my eyes to the sound of tapping on the window. It was the wind, rattling a tree branch on the outside wall. I stared into the ceiling. Popcorn designs painted on the tiles, blue and white, stretching from wall to wall. How long would I waste away in this room, hiding from the outside world? I needed to get up, get out of the maid uniform, get something to eat. Had an entire day passed? It felt like it.
I felt warm air brush against my cheek. I rolled toward it. Dark skin, white tattoos, a mischievous smile. "Hey, there," Simone whispered. She wasn't wearing her armor.
I groaned and rolled away from her.
Sharp, inviting eyes. Confident smile. Boyish hair that fell across his face. Smith was resting his head on his hand. He winked. I felt arms reach from behind me and pull me in. Simone was giggling.
"I was sleeping," I whined. My body felt hot.
Simone's hands wrapped in front me, exploring my outfit. Smith brushed the hair out of my eyes. His face was inching closer to mine. I tried to back away instinctively, but I only pressed harder into Simone. It made her glee with laughter. "G-guys?" I whispered. "What are you, um—" My eyes widened, and my body twitched. Simone was exploring way too much.
Smith let out a soft laugh. He drew closer. His breath tasted like wine.
The door snapped open. In the doorway, Relce and Trell stood frozen mid-stride, mouths agape. Relce eased back, pulling the door before it clicked shut. Then a knock.
Smith and Simone burst into laughter. "Stop messing around and get in!" he said.
Relce and Trell stepped in, cheeks pink at what they almost walked in on. Some other people were waiting outside the door. "I uh, didn't know we were that kind of guild," Trell said. Relce stifled a laugh.
Simone wrapped her arms and legs around me, pinning me against her body. "We were just trying to cheer her up!"
They did a good job.
Relce and Trell offered an unconvinced nod. "So, we, uh," Relce stammered on. "We ready, buckeroos?"
Smith sighed and rolled off the bed. "Yeah. The construction company will meet us there."
"Tae is getting the ships now," Relce said. "Should be good to go once we get there."
Smith nodded. "Alright let's move out."
After I demanded to change into something more acceptable, we gathered our things and left for the docks. There we met with the rest of the newcomers - fresh faces and names I had yet to commit to memory - and loaded into the ferry. The ship itself was packed with tons of lumber and metal sheets and other construction material. It was more than enough to build a skyscraper, it seemed.
During the short trip, I took the time to get acquainted with some of the others. Most of them were in the level 5 to 10 range, everything from priests to mages to melee classes. Tae was a level 14 lancer without a horse, a feminine guy who had a knack for numbers. He was a player, probably one of the tryhards who try to min-max everything. Leila was a nipsy girl who was so incredibly shy that I found her utterly endearing. It was the first time in a while I wanted to just scoop someone up in my arms and run away with. She was an engineer by trade, but her combat class was a rifleman.
Of the new group, those two were my favorites, and I found myself spending time laughing and joking and sharing stories with them, ideas about magic and tactics that reflected our enthusiasm back and forth until we reached the shore.
It took a few hours to get all the materials unloaded and the worksite ready. From there, the construction crew went right to work - putting up the building frame, sawing wood, pouring concrete. Some of them even used magic to speed up the process. One older guy with stubble on his face and a beer belly was using low-level floatation magic to lift boards up the scaffolding. Others would use focused flames to weld the metal sheets.
For a time, I was fascinated, but I soon became bored. My strength was probably in the single digits still, so I instead walked up and down the shore. In the distance, I could see some small ships tied to a pier, a couple kilometers away. Smith chose an excellent location for a base. Here, we could trade and get quests at the neighboring towns, and the major cities were just a quick ship ride away. There was plenty of open land around for expansion, and I assumed he wanted to have his own dock. I was impressed - not only by his strategic mindset but also his business acumen.
He spent most of the guild's gold on hiring the construction company and the materials, but he explained that the rest will be done on our own. Until we got there, however, we needed a place for the nipsies to sleep at night and place to call our own. To stay afloat, we would take quests, usually merchant escorting or bounties, to pay our wages.
Of which, I settled on taking a 1k gold per month. I was okay with that until I learned Trell was getting an extra 250 on that. "And what makes you so special?" I asked him.
He looked at me with the faintest smile and a lifted eyebrow. "Because I have a valuable profession."
Professions! I hadn't even thought about learning a side gig. "What do you do?" I asked.
He pointed to himself with his thumb, an air of pride washed over him. "You're looking at a level 5 bureaumancer."
"Gross."
He smiled, genuinely this time. "Level 5 is the requirement to get a quest license. Since only nipsies can get the license, Smith needed one of us to do it."
"And why didn't he ask me?" I was envious.
"You were asleep."
"Oh."
"The cap is low until I get can my next rank."
I tilted my head at him. He took the hint.
"I can only authenticate 500xp per quest, which is great for noobs, but I have a limit of 2k XP per week. That means every week Smith will have to give me the money to buy XP slips."
"Why is that?" I asked.
"To prevent abuse. There are a lot of measures in place to prevent XP laundering. My logs are being audited, so Smith can't just bribe me to give him levels."
"That actually sounds like a pain," I said. "Have fun with that."
"I'll be sure to buy you a scratching post with my extra 250."
I narrowed my eyes up at him. He struggled to hide his stupid smile. "Hah. You're a riot. I'll just find a better profession and get even richer."
"Good luck," he said.
Some of the other nipsies were teaching the players how to fish, some having better luck at it than others. A campfire was made, and meals were being prepared. The sun was on its last legs, and the building was almost complete. I walked over to inspect my new home.
It was still fresh and smelled like sawdust and pine. It was really just a large cabin, with a huge den, a kitchen, some storage rooms, and a dormitory area. We would need to sleep in bunk beds until we could expand. I groaned at the thought. During my stay at the inn, I could hear Trell snoring in the nearby room. I'd probably have to smother him every night just to get some sleep.
I stepped over the stray pieces of lumber and wire, up the dusty steps to the second floor, and into the day room. Windows wrapped around it, and I could see the beach party by the shore and the forest on the other side. I stepped outside onto the balcony. From this vantage point, I could see deep through the woods, far enough to see the nearby road that connected the towns on either side of us.
I was satisfied. With the construction almost done, we would need to pack it full of furniture and decorate it, then we could call it cozy. I felt at ease, happy even. A sharp laugh hit me from the shore. Relce was trying to breakdance in the sand, and my new friend
s were having a good time. I hurried down the steps to join them.
Chapter 12
The Lancer
I was the first one awake the next morning. The players were still logged out, and the other nipsies were still sleeping soundly in their tents. I checked to make sure everything was in order - the building was still standing, the tents were unscathed, and our stuff was still laying around in bags. It was a foggy morning, and the air felt misty against my skin.
I walked around, grabbed a snack, and killed time listening to the world wake up while I waited for company. I was getting lonely, and I wanted to visit the town over, at least before Smith logged in to boss us around on another busy day.
I was sitting on the balcony when someone finally logged in. They materialized in the grass by the tents, looked around, then spotted me. It was Tae. He was still in his armor with his spear on his back - probably to keep them safe while he was offline. He waved, then hurried to join me.
"Good mornin’," he said. His voice was peach tea and carried a cadence that put me at ease.
"Morning," I replied. "Got any plans for today?"
He looked out to the sea in thought. He was more feminine than most of the girls I met here. Long red hair, small frame, inviting sweet smile. "I need a horse," he said. "But I dunno where to get one." Amber eyes that were set ablaze.
"Maybe the town over will have some for sale. It's probably about an hour's walk."
"Yikes," he said. "That's a good distance.”
"Better reason to get a horse," I smiled.
It was a pleasant walk. We talked at length about our lives and shared stories of our time here. He was a programming student in the local university and came to the game when he read about the spells in an online forum. He explained to me the syntax of functions and drew similarities to the skills and spells. I found it interesting that the magic system appeared really as a framework. It was as though the developer had put everything in place but never got around to polishing it. Spell names were no exception.