《The Fifth Kingdom》 Prologue: The Tutorial Penny was going to die again. There were just too many of them. At least three Shadelings lurked in the shadows of the pines bordering the imperial road. They loomed big as Komodo dragons, the setting sun glinting off their scales. Nothing gleamed in their beady eyes. No hatred. No fear. One stepped closer, and its footfall was completely silent. It shouldn''t have been, the thing was massive, its back armored with crimson ridges of translucent cartilage, but it must have had some kind of stealth magic. Beneath its skin branched veins of glowing black blood, delicate and fine as a single strand of hair. It all looked so real. The Shadeling growled, and the sound vibrated her bones. Penny took a step back. Dirt crunched under her worn boots. This is just a game. Penny unsheathed her sword from its rusted scabbard. The blade was so heavy it made her shoulder ache. How many times could she realistically swing it? Six? Seven? She glanced over her shoulder to the wagon she was supposed to be escorting. It was still laden with a dozen of barrels of Illatria, a rare herb that, according to Viera, could be ground into even rarer medicine. Not one barrel had fallen off this time, although the speed gem installed in front of the cart was completely dark. In trying to fiddle with it to make it go faster she''d broken the thing entirely. Now she had no option but to fight and probably die. "Penny?" Viera, the Nyxie NPC who was her guide, peered around one of the barrels. Her fish-like eyes showed little human emotion, but Penny could tell from the way her small webbed hands clutched the barrel she was afraid. She was always afraid. "Quiet," Penny rasped. "Just listen." The Nyxie girl, not more than eleven, braced her shoulder and jutted out her chin. "You don''t have to do this. This my fault." "Viera," Penny snapped, her voice strangled. "Please." Another Shadeling stepped out of the trees, its lips parted in a snarl that revealed its shark-like teeth. Its beady eyes focused on Viera. "Over here, asshole." Penny lifted the sword, until the setting sun glinted off the edge of the blade. The Shadeling cocked its head at her and flicked its scaly tale, which thumped against the ground behind the beast. Then its beady eyes narrowed, considering her. Penny flinched. She could still feel the phantom pain in her shoulder form where it''d bitten her last run, but still she didn''t move. Better her then Viera. Penny had her pain settings down to 30%, but Viera was an NPC, she didn''t have pain settings, and whether she was real or not, Penny wasn''t sure, but she did know she didn''t want to hear her scream. Not again. ¡°You¡¯re going to let me through,¡± Penny said. ¡°I¡¯m just here to deliver some medicine to the next town over.¡± She had never tried stupidly pointless bravado before as a tactic to get them to back down. Maybe that would work. The Shadeling opened its maw. Black ichor dripped down its teeth before hitting the ground with a sizzle. Then it did something it never had done before, in the many, many times, Penny had played through this tutorial. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. It spoke. ¡°Givvveee up.¡± Its voice sounded like rock grinding against rock. Penny blinked, her sword slipping down an inch in her grip. ¡°You can talk.¡± ¡°Youuu.¡± The Shadeling stalked closer. ¡°Are weak. You try to run. We catch you. You fight. We kill you. You don¡¯t learn and you die. The world has given you a choice. You must make it. Then this will end.¡± The stench of sulfur wafted over Penny as it neared, along with a wave of heat that felt like she had just opened an oven. She barely felt it. Some part deep inside of her was too cold. The Shadeling twitched for a moment, like it was fighting something off, then its mouth opened again, this time almost not of its own will, and a voice that was not the Shadeling''s own sounded. It was the same voice that had echoed in her head five minutes ago, like it always did, at the halfway point of the tutorial. ¡°You have a choice Ms. Adams. Nothing in this world is gained without sacrifice. Civilization requires cruelty to survive. It is a cold equation that must be balanced.¡± Penny gripped the sword hilt harder. ¡°No.¡± The Shadeling thrashed like it was fighting off the possession, then said, ¡°Again and again and again. We will kill you. That is our function. Until you learn. Until you decide." As the Shadeling moved closer it stats flickered above its head. Lesser Shadeling HP: 89/120 MP: 20/20 Penny didn¡¯t have to bring up her menu to know her own stats were no match. She was a classless level-three Reborn, and until she passed this tutorial, that was all she would be. That was on purpose. Power was always a reward for doing what the game designer wanted you to do, and Penny had spent the better part of her time in Astrea doing the exact opposite of what Prince wanted. The Shadelings encircled her, forming a wall with their bodies. Penny widened her stance, like she¡¯d learned in that over-priced sword skills class in Crossways. Then she tightened her grip on the hilt. "Run," she shouted to Viera. "Run." The nearest Shadeling charged. Penny lunged right, knowing exactly the path the Shadeling would take. Unfortunately, that only meant she collided with the second Shadeling. Its body slammed into hers, but Penny was ready now, she thrust her sword into the creature''s belly, slipping the blade between scales. The creature gave a surprised grunt of pain. Penny couldn''t hear if Viera was running or not. She couldn''t tell. She hoped. Above its head the Shadling''s HP plummeted. HP: 20/120 She pushed harder, bracing herself with one foot behind her to thrust the blade deeper, but as she did she felt something sharp close around her leg. "Fuck." The first Shadeling had gotten teeth into her flesh. She screamed. It wasn''t that it hurt, although it did, it was that she knew her own meager HP had probably just been sizably cut down. She couldn''t take another hit like that. You''re going to die. You''re going to die. And then you''ll have to do this all over again. Penny ignored the voice in, and twisted the blade into the body of the Shadeling. Metal scraped bone as it hit the Shadeling''s ribs. Above its head the red of its HP bar disappeared entirely. One down. Penny yanked at the sword, ignoring the waves of agony as the first Shadeling''s teeth dug deeper into her flesh. If she could just get the blade out, she could attack, and thankfully it came free with surprising speed. She went to swing the sword, except¡­ there was nothing there. Her sword had melted. The blood of the Shadeling was just acidic as its spit, and where once had been a blade there was now just a stump like a burned-out candle. Another form filled her vision, the third Shadeling. The edges of her vision were going blurry. She was going to pass out, and then die. No. A wave of desperation crashed over Penny, but she let it. She let it drag her down, leaning into the panic and the fear. She knew both feelings well. Prince thought that losing would make her give up, like it had in the Academy, but by now Penny was used to failure, to pain, to loss. She had known so fucking much of it. And if Prince thought that losing would make her give up, fall in line, and follow his rules, he thought wrong. Her eyes locked the with beast. "Kill me, and I''ll just--" she sucked in a breath as fought back a scream "--come back." She thought she saw something strange flick through its beady eyes. Something new. Then it opened its mouth and closed its jaw around her head. Chapter One: #8be4ff Skies SIX HOURS PREVIOUSLY Penny''s phone buzzed in her pocket. She ignored it. There was no reason to check it. She already knew what the notification would say. Re: Bill from Whiteway Insurance Re: The Last Logo Concept You Sent Us Didn''t Work Re: Your Delayed Rent Payments. Penny''s inbox and texts were minefields, and with just one swipe, she knew she would set it all off, so she didn''t take her phone out. Instead she kept walking and focused on the feeling of the crisp March air cutting across her cheeks. It was a beautiful day for Chicago. The sky was almost blue, although it was more #5bf4f2 than #8be4ff, and the sun was actually shining. Big beams of light slanted down between the skyscrapers, dappling the street with warmth and melting the last traces of winter¡¯s gray slush that still clung to the curbs. The sidewalks were full. A surprising amount of people were out. Weirdly, they were almost all dudes. Where was Eshan taking her? Penny wondered. Her best and only friend been very cryptic when he''d invited her to hang out saying only, "You will have some fun, Quarters." She had thought that meant they were going to play Overwatch at his house. (Overwatch was how they''d met years ago.) But then he''d given her an address on Michigan avenue and told her to be there at exactly 3pm. It was now 2:59. Penny frowned and stood on her tip-toes, searching the crowd. Eshan should¡¯ve been easy to find. He was an Indian man the size of a Viking. ¡°Boo!¡± ¡°Jesus!¡± Penny squeaked and whirled, nearly dropping her ancient brick of a phone. Eshan Patel stood behind her, grinning, hands in the pockets of his sports coat. Penny blinked up at him. Eshan was only a year older than her at twenty-five, but he was nearly half a foot a taller, and maybe because he was sporting a beard and business casual attire looked much older. Penny pointed a finger at him. ¡°If you scare me like that again, I swear to God I will not vote for you in your next election, Alderman Patel.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t live in my district, Quarters,¡± Eshan said. ¡°I¡¯m not worried.¡± Penny rolled her eyes. Eshan gotten into politics, he always joked, because of his hatred of the penny. They cost more to make than they were worth and were a perfect example of everything wrong with the world -- namely that the government propped up special interests instead of trying to enact real change. As a result, he called her Quarters. It was annoyingly endearing, which was a good way to describe Eshan in general. ¡°So,¡± Penny said. ¡°What are we doing today?¡± She tried to keep her tone light. "It''s a surprise." "Uh-huh," Penny said. In her pocket her phone buzzed again. What if it''s Mom? She thought with a stab of panic. Wincing, she fished it out, and flicked open the screen, but it wasn''t Mom, just another email about the bills from Mom''s last stay in the psychiatric unit. "Quarters, you''re not going to cancel on me again are you?" Penny looked up from the phone, guilty. "Sorry. No." She made a big show of stowing her phone back in her pocket and putting her hands up. "I am one-hundred committed to having fun today. I promise." "You''re just lucky I like you. If anybody else canceled on me six times -- six, Quarters. I would not be inviting them out to the world''s most amazing event." Penny winced, fighting back a stab of guilt. "I''m sorry about that party. It''s just I''ve got to take on extra work with Mom''s bills and --" "Hey, it''s okay." Eshan waved her away, his expression suddenly soft. "I''m joking. I know you''ve got stuff. And if there''s ever anything I can do to --" "No," Penny scowled. "I''m really doing fine," she lied. She was not doing fine. Her life was a mess. To be honest, it had been a mess for the last seven years since her Dad had died, and her Mom''s mental health issues had gotten worse, but the problem was that Eshan had already helped her out once, two years ago, when her Mom had had her first inpatient stay. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Quietly, and with no fuss, he''d Venmoed her two thousand dollars, after seeing a bill laying out on her counter. Penny had tried to return it, but he''d refused. Money wasn''t an issue for him, since Eshan came from serious generational wealth. (His parents were lawyers, and the descendents of some Indian fruit magnate.) But after taking the money, Penny had felt so bad, she''d nearly thrown up. Oh, she''d paid Eshan back, not in money, but in labor, by writing half of his speeches, and designing his campaign ads, but it still hadn''t felt like enough. Plus, taking the money had made her feel like such a failure. And after everything that had happened to make her life a mess, she hated that feeling almost more than anything else. "So, where are we going?" Penny asked. Eshan shot her an enigmatic smile. ¡°Come and see.¡± Together they walked around the corner, and Penny¡¯s jaw actually dropped, which honestly she thought was just something that happened in cartoons. ¡°Holy shit.¡± What Penny had thought was a few people waiting for something, was actually the end of a line of at least two hundred people. It stretched nearly the full length of the city block. There were even uniformed officers standing every hundred feet or so, keeping watch. ¡°Are we buying pot?" Penny asked in a low voice.. Eshan burst out laughing. ¡°No. I don¡¯t think I can do that anymore." Eshan motioned her to keep walking. Penny followed him. In her pocket her phone buzzed again. This time, Penny switched it to silent and turned toward studying the crowd. They were, as Penny had noticed earlier, mostly men in their late twenties through early forties. None were particularly fashionable or and many had the sort of unassuming quiet vibe Penny often found in engineers or IT people. Nerds. Although rich nerds, going by the brand of headphones one of he guy''s was wearing. She let out a sigh of relief. Nerds were her people, which meant this wasn''t a political fundraiser. Eshan had taken her to one of those once and Penny had wanted to stab her eyes out. . Maybe they were going to a Diplomacy tournament. As Penny passed one of the guys, he turned, and gave her a very non-discrete once over. Penny sighed. There was one problem with being a girl geek. In the real world, Penny was not a hot girl. With her curly red hair, smattering of freckles and lack of curves, she never attracted a lot of male attention. However, whenever she went to card game or e-sports tournaments, which she sometimes did with Eshan, in her very very rare spare time, it was always a different story. The law of numbers meant she often got more male attention than she wanted, usually in the form of guys trying to explain to her how the game worked. Beating them was always satisfying on a visceral level. As Penny kept walking, she listened intensely to the conversation a pair of guys were having. "Jesus, Greg, not everything is a conspiracy.¡± ¡°And what about the rumors that they bribed the FDA to get it though?¡± ¡°Who the fuck cares. It¡¯s going to be epic! I can''t wait to watch.¡± Penny frowned. Eshan had said they weren''t going to buy drugs. But what else needed to go through the FDA. Some other new drug? Finally, Penny reached the end of the line and stopped in front of store, that except for a few things looked like every other luxury establishment lining Michigan Avenue. The things that were different were two. First, a version of a red carpet unfolding from the shops doorway, except instead of red, the posts on either side of the door were black, as was the carpet, which stretched out a few feet down the sidewalk. Manning the door were another two uniformed officers, along with a tall man in a turtleneck, which was also, predictably black. He had a small, metal pin on his lapel, but it was too small for Penny to say exactly what it was. ¡°You should have seen the paperwork they had to go through to get the right to put the carpet on the sidewalk.¡± Eshan said, his eyes glimmering. ¡°I think they spent nearly a thousand dollars just for that permit.¡± Penny nodded, trying to listen as Eshan went on about the details of sidewalk permits, but then her attention was stolen by something else, the sign above the storefront. She¡¯d been so caught up by the line, she hadn¡¯t noticed it until she was right underneath it. There were no letters on the sign, nothing that actually explained what the store was to someone who didn¡¯t already know. Instead there was simply a giant metal logo in the shape of an O. From far-away that¡¯s all it looked like, but up close, you could see the O was actually a snake eating its own tail. Penny''s mouth went cold, and her breath caught. A snake eating its own tail was the symbol for eternity, rebrith, both the end of the world and the beginning. It was a symbol that had once meant hope to her, and so many other kids, along with imagination, and dreams and fantasy, and really really fucking good video games. It was a symbol that now made her blood run cold. Because this was the logo for Oroborus, the world¡¯s best gaming studio, run by the world¡¯s most visionary amoral asshole, Edward Prince. A man, who had, without question, ruined her life. Chapter Two: The #b4b4b4 Ticket Eshan was talking to Penny. His low, calming voice was a stream of syllables and sound she couldn¡¯t quite process. No. She thought. This wasn¡¯t happening. How was this happening? ¡°I don¡¯t get how you don¡¯t already know about this,¡± Eshan said. ¡°It¡¯s been everywhere.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t follow Oroborus news,¡± Penny said, which wasn¡¯t entirely true. She didn¡¯t just not follow it, she had a block on her news apps so any news containing the keywords either Oroborus or Edward Prince just didn¡¯t show up. Did that mean she lived a less informed life? Yes. Absolutely. But she¡¯d had the block since she was a teenager. It¡¯d been the only way to stay sane. ¡°So you know absolutely nothing about Astrea,¡± Eshan said. ¡°Yes.¡± Penny¡¯s voice sounded far away to her own ears, like she was underwater. ¡°It¡¯s a new game?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a new world,¡± Eshan said. ¡°A fully immersive VRMMORPG.¡± Penny felt like she was falling. Eshan kept talking. Penny just stared at the logo. You could only know it was a snake if you looked hard. The logo itself was more like a designer had taken a brush in Illustrator and drawn a circle and then given up just as he got to the end. The bits that made it a snake were like clues, the white dot for an eye, the flick of its tail. The longer she stared it, the more nauseous she felt. The thing was, she couldn¡¯t blame Prince entirely for the impact he¡¯d had on her life. Some of the fault was hers, and that maybe was the worst part of all. ¡°From the last trailer, it really looks like the NPCS passed the Turing test.¡± Eshan¡¯s dark hair was wild from the wind, and his pupils dilated. ¡°I think Chat GPT passed the Turing Test, but it¡¯s still a bunch of non-sentient code.¡± Eshan frowned. ¡°What am I missing here? Why aren''t you excited? You love this stuff.¡± Penny opened her mouth searching for words, but her throat felt like it was closing up. She couldn¡¯t tell him the truth. In the six years she¡¯d known Eshan, she¡¯d told him exactly zero about her high school years. They were friends who played Overwatch, and the occasional round of Diplomacy if they could get a big enough group together. They didn''t go out for mani-pedis and talk about their traumas, and even if they did Penny probably still wouldn''t have told him about the Academy. She already saw the way he looked at her sometimes, with her mismatched socks and tendency to arrive late, as if she was a walking mess. If he knew how much of her current situation was her own fault he¡¯d lose what little respect he had left for her. Eshan would''ve never been as stupid as she was. He would''ve read the contract. "I''m just not a huge fan.¡± ¡°You¡¯re lying¡± Eshan said in that same, low, calm tone. Penny felt a twist in the bottom of her stomach. As Eshan took a step closer, his scent washed over her, laundry detergent and expensive, leathery cologne. He was a good guy. In another world, where his family wouldn''t have disowned him for being with a white girl, and she was capable of having functional romantic feelings, maybe they would¡¯ve dated. ¡°I signed an NDA,¡± she said finally. It wasn¡¯t entirely a lie. She had signed an NDA, although that was really more about telling the press than telling a friend. And even if she did tell the press, what could Prince do, sue her? She had no money left to take. ¡°You signed an NDA?¡± Eshan said. ¡°About what?¡± Eshan ran his big hands through his thick black hair. ¡°What are you talking about?" ¡°Okay.¡± Penny gritted her teeth. ¡°Edward Prince is not a good person. He makes great video games, but he ruined my life.¡± Eshan''s face suddenly went very hard. ¡°Did he do something? Did you meet him personally at a party and he¡­¡± Penny scowled. ¡°No, it¡¯s not like that. He didn¡¯t like sexually assault me." Eshan relaxed. ¡°Then what?" ¡°NDA,¡± Penny said. Eshan crossed his arms. ¡°Okay. Well, Ms. NDA..."Eshan took out two 3D printed tickets from his pocket, the looked like a boarding pass for an airline only they were made of pure metal. ¡°I¡¯m going to ruin the surprise, now I guess, but I¡¯ve gotten us two tickets to beta test Astrea. Cards on the table, I think this is going to be an amazing new fantasy world that we will have a chance to have first access to. It¡¯s a world our actions as the first beta-testers will help shape. But¡ª ¡± he held up the tickets. ¡°But¡­¡± Eshan trailed off. ¡°You¡¯re looking at me like I just wrote you a death threat in Comic Sans.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Comic Sans really isn''t that bad of a font. Did you know people have improved reading comprehension when¨C¡± "Quarters.¡± ¡°It¡¯s complicated. Okay ¨C¡± Penny swallowed, feeling like she sense the snake logo above her, lurking. ¡°I just. I can¡¯t play one of his games.¡± Eshan''s jaw tightened and she could feel the fabric of their friendship fraying. ¡°But,¡± Penny held up hand, ¡°I¡¯ll come with you to watch on two conditions.¡± ¡°Which are?¡± ¡°One. If there is a contract, you need to make sure you read it really carefully.¡± ¡°Who do you think you¡¯re talking to? I did go to law school." Penny grabbed at Eshan''s coat, not sure of any other way to let out the desperation that was clawing inside her rib cage like a feral cat. "I mean really carefully, Eshan." "I''ve read it already," he said gently. "It''s okay. t¡¯s all boilerplate, and actually if anything goes wrong with this tech, it leaves them super vulnerable to a lawsuit. Either they have a terrible legal team or Prince is the most arrogant man on the planet.¡± ¡°He is the most arrogant man on the planet.¡± ¡°And two?¡± ¡°If you get a bad feeling, if anything seems weird or off to you, you have to promise you won¡¯t play.¡± Eshan frowned. ¡°You really can¡¯t tell me what happened.¡± Penny could. In some ways it would be easy. She had told the story to herself so many times, it was each word had been carved onto her heart. Seven years ago, Edward Prince made nearly a billion dollars from Oroborus¡¯s first game, Inkarus. He¡¯d used that money to fund The Academy, a private school that admitted only the best and the brightest, tuition free, in hopes of turning out the leaders of tomorrow. For two years, Penny had been one of those students. She¡¯d studied voice with a Broadway star, Math with the man who had cracked Fermat¡¯s Last Theorem, English with a best-selling fantasy novelist, Social Studies, from a retired member of Congress, military strategy from a four star General. And she¡¯d been good. Top of the class in English, History, and Languages, where she¡¯d mastered French, Italian and German, along with Japanese. (She had steadfastly refused to learn Mandarin as the tonal element seemed too difficult. Spanish was also another weak point.) Math and Science had given her some challenge, but she¡¯d grinded hard on the books until she got solid B¡¯s in even her weakest areas. All that work was supposed to pay off when she graduated, at which point Prince promised free full-rides to whichever college accepted the students, (which for all graduates of the Academy was pretty much anywhere), along with a fifty thousand dollar bursary for living expenses, and choice of internships and connections with any fortune five-hundred company in the world. Penny had all of that in the palm of her hand. Then she¡¯d gotten expelled, cut, along with the rest of the bottom of the quarter of the class. The problem had been a class called Intersocial Dynamics. That class had no homework or tests, just a series of team building challenges at the end of which everyone voted anonymously to distribute a set number of Leadership Points, based on who they thought had contributed the most to the team. The funny thing was Penny had, objectively, contributed a lot to the team. One time, they¡¯d been split up into four groups and told to ferry a volleyball across a river. The other teams spent hours building bridges, all very proud of themselves for the structural soundness of their buildings. Penny, however, suggested that they simply swim the ball across ¨C since there was no stipulation about the ball having to remain dry. As a result her team won the challenge. But since Penny hadn¡¯t been the one to actually do the swimming ¨C that had been a brawny boy named Akira, who everyone liked ¨C she hadn¡¯t gotten as much credit. In fact, later, everyone said it had been Akira¡¯s idea. But Penny knew she had said it first. She knew. Didn''t she? On another challenge, they¡¯d been given a story by Ursula Le Guinn, that they were told had a twist ending, and as a team, they had to look at the clues and guess what it was. Every other team guessed that the twist was that the main character was a werewolf, but Penny, had known that would be much too obvious. She¡¯d told her team that the answer was obviously that the character was a wolf who turned into a human, a werehuman. She¡¯d been right, but it hadn¡¯t mattered her team went with another girl¡¯s answer, and did well enough. Later, everyone assumed that Penny must have cheated to have guessed the twist. Since her own suggestion had not just gotten the twist right, but the other little details correct too. In in the end, it didn¡¯t matter. In Intersocial Dynamics that she received a solid C-, and that, plus not receiving As in Math and Science had been just enough to put her percentile rank in the bottom quarter. So when Prince did his culling, she was gone. However, the worst part though was what happened after. A clause had triggered in the contract (a contract she and her parents had not read nearly carefully enough) that stipulated she was now on the hook for two years worth of back tuition. It had been an amount of money she and her family couldn¡¯t afford to pay, not without wiping out their savings, so they¡¯d ended up doing just that. Then her father had gotten cancer, and all those experimental treatments they¡¯d been hoping to pay for? Yeah, they couldn¡¯t afford those. So had Prince killed her father? Not technically. But sometimes it felt close. Other times, times she didn¡¯t like to think about, it didn¡¯t feel like Prince had killed her father at all, it felt like she had. She should¡¯ve known herself. She should¡¯ve stayed where she belonged. She was not a Type A leaderlike person. She was a weirdo, an outsider. Hell, even after the Academy she still had only one friend. "I can''t," Penny said. "I just can''t. But if those two rules work for you, I¡¯ll come with you and support you however I can.¡± Eshan looked at her through narrowed eyes for a moment, and then nodded. ¡°Fine.¡± Then together, they headed to the glass doors, which slid open silently. As they did, Penny swore she could feel the eye of the snake, boring a whole into her back. Chapter Three: Damned if I Do When Penny was seventeen, a few days after she¡¯d gotten expelled, she remembered waking up early in the morning, before the birds had started chirping or the garbage truck trundled by, and sitting up in her bed and staring into the darkness. It had felt then like something was sitting on her chest, like she couldn¡¯t move, like she couldn¡¯t breathe, and now, even though the sun shone behind them as they stepped through the double glass doors, Penny felt the exact same way. Inside the air was cool, aggressively and unnecessarily air conditioned. Goosebumps prickled up her arms, and a scent like unopened packaging hung in the air. The hallway itself was dark, draped in dark cloth like the entry way to a restaurant. It even had a little podium, where a woman stood, crossing off names in a leather notebook. When Eshan and Penny entered, she looked up. "Mr. Patel. Ms. Jones. I''m glad you''re coming. I was worried you were going to miss the log in window. Penny frowned. She didn''t know the woman, but she looked familiar in the way beautiful people did. Maybe she''d seen her on TV once. The woman was tall with facial features that looked vaguely Korean, although her hair was blonde. Tiny diamond studs twinkled in the woman''s ears, and she wore a white dress that looked new. Everything here looked new. Why had Prince done it? Penny wondered not for the first time. Why had he put in the contract that the expelled ones had to pay back their tuition? He clearly didn''t fucking need the money. Penny held up her hands. "Well, we''ll understand if we''re too late." "No," Galatea said. "You just made it. And of course, I understand you''re very busy Alderman, and you have your graphic design work, Penelope." Penny froze. "Excuse me?" "Sorry. I feel like I know you from your applications, even though you don''t know me." Galatea laughed. "Can I take your coats?" ¡°Sure.¡± Eshan handed his coat to what had to be a young intern dressed all in black, who took it, and scurried off down the hallway. Penny took a step back, clutching her frayed coat protectively. ¡°Applications?¡± Galatea shot a quizzical look to both of them. "Yes, over one million people applied to beta test. We had to be very selective, but your applications were very strong." "I didn''t make an application." Eshan held out his hands innocently. ¡°I may have filled out her application for her.¡± Penny narrowed her eyes at Eshan. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°That¡¯s typically not how we do things, Mr. Patel,¡± Galatea''s lips turned down in a frown. "We want people who want to be here and who are motivated. The AI is very sensitive to player choice, so it''s important we have people who will take Astrea, seriously. As beta-testers you will be shaping this world. Our more ambitious players may even create the germs of what later will become Astrea''s civilizations and cities." "I''m not here to play," Penny said, her words coming out so sharp she nearly winced at herself. Then she shot Eshan a tentative smile. "I''m hoping maybe I can be taken to the watching area." "I see," Galatea cocked her head, and an expression Penny couldn''t read twisted her mouth. If it wasn''t insane, she would''ve called it disappointment. " Well, let me show you both the pods. Maybe you''ll change your mind, Ms. Jones." After that things moved very quickly. Because they were the last to arrive, they were hurried through a series of hallways, a balcony that overlooked an an I-MAX theater, where Galatea explained, the people in the line outside would come to watch the real-time stream of the beta-testers, before finally reaching a set of two doors. Penny asked Galatea if she could sit here, but Galatea hummed non-comitally. As they walked Penny kept looking for ammunition to convince Eshan that all of this was bad idea, but nothing Galatea said had any new red flags. Instead, Penny couldn''t help but notice little things. How there was a table at the bottom of the Imax theater that had at least a hundred crystal champagne flutes and a case of Dom Pergnion. There were gift bags too that the interns were stuffing, that had, what looked like, bottles of expensive perfume, a new smart phone, and a VR headset for Oroborus''s other game, Inkarus. Penny''s phone buzzed again, and she didn''t need to check it know it was another email about another bill she couldn''t pay. Her throat began to feel tight. The contents of one of those gift bags could pay her rent. And it wasn''t that she thought rich people didn''t deserve to be rich or spend money, but there was part of her that remembered her father taking his hard earned money out of retirement account, half of which had been devoured by penalties and taxes. What was left had gone straight to Edward Prince. Penny understood, that she hadn''t made the cut. She got that part. She was 100% not suited to be a leader of anything, let alone the world. But this, that somehow her being less than meant that her father had to die while they drank champagne? Penny wanted to throw up. She wanted to punch someone. Maybe Galatea. Maybe Prince. Maybe Eshan. Maybe herself. Finally they reached the end of a hallway lit by flickering florescent lights, that reflected oddly off of a linoleum floor. Galatea stopped them in front of two doors. "Well, this it." Penny grabbed Eshan''s arm, and gave him a pointed look. He returned it with his "aw shucks smile" the same one that made people trust him, believe him when he said he could the make the world a better place. Penny had believed that smile too, that''s why she had helped him on his campaign. Penny opened her mouth, searching for words. From one of the doors came a man in a suit holding a clipboard. "Mr. Patel, we''re running behind. So if you''re still coming, you''ve got to go now." Eshan shot her an expectant look. Penny sighed. "Just double check the contract," Penny said. "Triple check it." "I will," he said. Then gently, Eshan removed her hand his arm, and followed the man inside, joking casually. And just like that Penny found herself alone with Galatea. Above her the lights flickered, for a moment, and the air felt strangely charged. Galatea''s eyes ran over Penny, and she felt the woman cataloging her mismatched socks, and the frayed edges of her coat. "Well," Galatea said. "You are not what I was expecting." Then Galatea gestured with her had to the door, and without saying anything further, opened it. "Why don''t you come inside and talk. I think there are some things we need to discuss." Chapter Four: Take Something Back Penny wasn''t sure why she followed Galatea into the room. Maybe it was curiosity, maybe it was because she wanted to see the Pod that right now Eshan was stepping into, to reassure herself, that while this technology wasn''t dangerous. If that was the case, then maybe she''d need to barge into Eshan''s room and rip him out of it. She''d do that, if she had to. But whatever Penny was expecting, what lurked on the other side of the door, was something different. The room was a small and quiet space, covered in a thick carpet. Dimly lit, it reminded Penny of a massage therapists office, except where a massage table might have been, there was instead the pod. A seamless white object, the thing looked like a cross between a coffin and canoe. Penny couldn¡¯t see a single wire coming or going from it, even though the top was open, revealing an interior upholstered in the same kind of cloth they used in cars. Penny approached it and ran her finger along the smooth plastic exterior, taking a bit of joy, when she left smudges of fingerprints behind. "So," Penny said. "What do we have to talk about?" Galatea closed the door behind her with a click, that was somehow swallowed up in the carpeted hush of the room. "Well, Ms. Jones. I am in a bit of a pinch now." "Uh-huh," Penny said. "Yes. It is vital that we fill every single beta-tester role, and I fought to include you, personally, and now you''re telling me that not only did you not apply, but now that you''re here you don''t want to play." Galatea set down her clipboard on counter that was nestled in the corner of the room. "It is not good for me." "I''m sorry," Penny said flatly. "You are not a very good liar, Ms. Jones," Galatea said. Penny grimaced, it was one thing for her to be obvious to Eshan, but this was genuinely annoying. Penny shrugged. "Well, I do have one thing, that I might think might change your mind. Did you know that we offer a bounty to all of our beta testers?" "Why? You have a million people who pay you to test this game. Why would you pay us?" Galatea smiled thinly. "Let me explain. This--¡± Galatea wiped away the smudges Penny''s fingers had left with the back of her hand ¡°--is a VRNCD or Virtual Reality Network Connection Device, and according to the FDA, because it interfaces directly with your brain it is technically a medical device and thus subject to clinical trials. Currently we are in Phase One. That means legally we are obligated to pay you for participating, in this case an amount of two thousand dollars¡ª¡± ¡°Two thousand dollars.¡± The words rushed through Penny¡¯s gritted teeth. ¡°Yes.¡± It wasn¡¯t actually a lot of money, and that was the depressing thing, but Penny took in a sharp breath as she remembered a few days ago sitting with her Mom at the kitchen table. Her mom hadn¡¯t met Penny¡¯s eyes, just stared down at the floor, like she was a little kid at the principal¡¯s office. Then she kept apologizing, saying she was sorry she couldn¡¯t get herself under control. She kept saying that maybe next time she needed to be hospitalized, that Penny shouldn¡¯t call her therapist. ¡°You don¡¯t need any more bills, sweetie. Just let me be. Let me be.¡± Her mom didn¡¯t that say that she¡¯d be okay. Because they both knew if she couldn¡¯t get treatment, she wouldn¡¯t be. ¡°Phase One,¡± Penny said. ¡°That means, you¡¯ve never tested this on humans before.¡± ¡°On very small groups, yes, but a large size of a thousand people, no. Although, up until this point no one, human or animal has had any adverse side effects. Not even a headache.¡± ¡°Uh-huh.¡± ¡°If you¡¯d like to participate, I¡¯ll need you to sign an NDA --" "I don''t want to participate," Penny said. Galatea''s eyebrows flashed upwards. "You''re so sure." Then she shook her head as if speaking to herself. "But I understand, with what happened..." Penny took a step forward, invading the woman''s person space, wanting her to look at her, to meet Penny''s eyes. "What happened, Galatea, tell me?" "Well you were eliminated from the Academy, and your family was forced to pay Edward Prince back. Not long after that your father was diagnosed with cancer, and was unable to afford experimental treatment. Your mother in turn, had a mental break down, which she still has not fully recovered from, leaving you as the sole bread winner for not just yourself, but also her. You were also unable to go to college, because you had an expulsion on your record." Galatea cocked her head as if she was reciting the plot of a movie. "Did I miss anything?" "No," Penny said. "You didn''t." Penny shook her head, and then she turned away from the pod to go to the door. "For what it''s worth, Penelope. I don''t think what Edward Prince to you was right." Penelope turned around. "You work for him." "Yes, because he is a genius, but genius doesn''t also stop him from being..." Her mouth twisted. "An predatory asshole." "I''d say amoral asshole, but yes. " Penny laughed, and then looked around the room. "Aren''t you worried you''re going to get fired for saying that?" "No," Galatea laughed as if the idea was funny. "He''s not going to fire me, I can promise you that, but here''s the thing. I selected you for this testing, because I thought Prince was wrong, not just in how he treated you, but in his initial decision to eliminate you in the first place. It''s a flaw people in power often have, that they only value the traits they themselves possess. In my..." Galatea stopped herself. " Anyway, so when I saw your application, Penelope. I was thrilled. I thought the decision showed remarkable amounts of grit and perseverance, given what has happened to you and your--" ¡°Don¡¯t talk about my family,¡± Penny said. ¡°And stupidity, that¡¯s what it would¡¯ve shown, if I had applied. Not grit.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Galatea said. ¡°But I read your transcripts and your essays from the Academy, and I saw what you did for Mr. Patel¡¯s campaign. Without your work on his ads, and writing his speeches, I am absolutely certain he would not have been elected. You painted a picture of a world that could be better, and got people to believe in it. You could be a powerful player in this game, Penelope. You could influence this world. You could make it something better.¡± Penny stood for a moment, across from Galatea, feeling like she''d been hollowed out. "A hundred thousand dollars," Penny said, arms crossed. Galatea''s smile faded. "Excuse me?" "If you actually think that what Prince did was wrong, then pay me back." There was a long silence for a moment, and Penny heard, for the first time a whirring sound coming from the pod, the quiet, nearly silent hum of electronics. "I''m sorry, Penelope, I can''t do that," Galatea said. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. "Why not," Penny said. "It would open us up to liability from the other candidates --" "Fuck you." God those words felt so good to say that Penny nearly feinted. Galatea''s eyebrows rose. "Okay. I don''t think we''re making progress here." "I feel really good actually," Penny said. Galatea gave her a wan, annoyed smile. "Well, before you go, can you at least read the contract?" Galatea gestured to a camera at the corner of the room. "That way it will look like you backed out for medical reasons, instead of because I am a terrible judge of character." Penny was about to say no again, but then she looked down at the clipboard. The text was dense, forests of letters, blocks of paragraphs. It would''ve been so easy for Eshan to read something and miss something crucial. Yes, he was a much more careful person than she was, but still. If something happened to him, because he signed this, and there would''ve been a way for her to stop it, and she hadn''t read the thing, she would never forgive herself. "Fine," Penny bit out. Then she grabbed the clipboard from Galatea''s hands. Teeth gritted, she leafed through the document. Paragraph after paragraph of dense medical and legal text, filled the sheafs. Even though Eshan had assured her that there weren¡¯t any tricks lurking inside, Penny still found herself searching. She half hoped she would find something, some excuse to go running over to Eshan''s room and to tell him not to play. But all in all it seemed boilerplate. Mostly the NDA made her promise that she wouldn¡¯t reveal any secrets to the press or on social media. The medical stuff was trickier. But there was specific language that excluded death or serious harm as known complications, which meant if they did occur could Oroborous would very vulnerable to a lawsuit. Why had Prince done that? Penny frowned. She could see two possible reasons. The first was that Prince was an arrogant bastard, and wanted to show how confident he was in the tech. But the second reason, that was the interesting one¡­ The players they were looking for weren¡¯t just your average gamer. They were looking for leaders, people like Eshan, people who wouldn¡¯t just be enticed to try new and dangerous tech because it was cool. People who had lives to lose, who would need to be enticed to take a risk. To be assured¡­ Penny scanned the document again, and noted that there was a clause that said Prince wouldn¡¯t be responsible for any mental trauma or PTSD. Which confirmed Penny''s thoughts that this game would not be a forgiving one. It wouldn''t be pointlessly cruel, the man wasn''t into the Hunger Games, but he also pried himself on excellence, on truly testing people. Frowning, Penny started to put down the contract, about to say no one last time, but then she spotted something else. Her heart began to pound, and she read and reread the line. In order to qualify for the study, the contract clearly stated all a person had to do was use the pod. Spending a certain amount of time in Astrea wasn¡¯t mentioned anywhere. So in theory, in order to get the two thousand dollars, all Penny had to do was log on and then log off. She didn''t have to play Prince''s games. She didn''t have to try and save the world. She didn''t have to do what Galatea wanted. Penny looked up from the clipboard, and she found herself staring at Galatea''s hands. The woman had no wedding ring, but she did have a giant emerald on her right hand on her middle finger. Penny ached to snatch it away, to take some, small sliver of what they had taken from her back. She looked up. ¡°How long is a session?¡± Penny asked. ¡°It takes five hours of real time, although it will feel longer within the game.¡± ¡°How much longer?¡± ¡°About a day for every hour,¡± Galatea said. ¡°Okay,¡± Penny said. ¡°And I can log out at any time.¡± She glanced over at the pod, not meeting Galatea¡¯s eyes, hoping the woman wouldn¡¯t see her plan. Clearly, logging out right away was not what Galatea had in mind. If Galatea was trying this hard to get Penny to play, she probably would get in trouble if Penny logged out early. ¡°Any time,¡± Galatea repeated. Penny looked back down at the clipboard. There was a pen at the top attached by a small string. The logo was printed on the cap of the pen. She swore the eye of the snake was staring at her. Penny stared back. She was tired, so tired of feeling like she had that morning after she''d been expelled. She hated the weight on her chest, the feeling of constant unending dread of being paralyzed. She wanted to do something, anything. So she picked up the pen. This time would be different. This time she knew the risks. Penny knew all this, but still she couldn¡¯t fight back the wash of fear, as she scrawled her signature across the bottom of the page. Then she handed the clipboard to Galatea. Galatea took it, and then went to cabinet, opened it, picked something out. ¡°I¡¯ll need you to take off your shoes and get into the pod.¡± Penny did. Her heart began to thump just a bit quicker in her chest. She maneuvered to the pod the way she¡¯d get into a canoe. The bottom was soft against her feet, although had little give. Penny noticed three metal circles gleaming in the place where she was supposed to lay her head. ¡°You¡¯ll need to lie down,¡± Galatea said. She held something in her hand now, two tiny paper cups. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Penny asked. ¡°This is water,¡± Galatea motioned to one of the cups. ¡°And this is a pill that will help you sleep.¡± Penny glanced to the door, then bit her lip. There was no going back now. She sat down and leaned back. Through her hair she felt a few cold points of pressure. The nodes, she guessed, that would conduct the electricity that would manipulate her brain waves into believing she was in Astrea. There was little room for her hands, so she ended up lying down stiff and straight like a plank, looking up at a paneled office ceiling. A combination of dread and something else tangled in her chest, knotting together, until she couldn¡¯t tell one from the other. ¡°Here,¡± Galatea said, then handed her cup with a pill. ¡°It¡¯s melanin. A very strong dose that, combined with the electromagnetic waves, should send you to sleep quickly, and keep you unconscious until you decide to leave Astrea." ¡°And I can leave, right?¡± Penny hated the slight edge of desperation in her voice. ¡°You can log out any time.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Penny grabbed the plastic cup with the pill, and downed it dry before she could second guess herself. Then she leaned backward again into the pod. Galatea said nothing, but only grabbed a head piece from the counter, and then wrapped around Penny¡¯s skull. It was a band of cloth covered with more metallic circles. Galatea¡¯s touch was dry against her skin, and gentle. Penny closed her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m turning it on now. Good luck,¡± Galatea said. Penny opened her mouth to say she didn¡¯t feel anything, but the moment she did she noticed a prickling. It was like a low level of electricity tickling her forehead. It wasn¡¯t enough to hurt, but it felt uncomfortable. ¡°Close your eyes,¡± Galatea said. Penny resisted the urge to do just the opposite, and then screwed them shut. A floater drifted by in the blackness, and Penny felt uncomfortably alert, overly aware of the flow of air over the tiny hairs on her arms, and the stiff curve of the pod underneath her spine. She was, she thought, a million miles away from sleep, but then her mouth started to go dry, and she felt her skin slacken. Pins and needles spread up from her toes to her legs. Log in and then log out. She let out a slow calming breath, and then inhaled. And immediately realized, something had gone, very very wrong. She wasn''t breathing air. Water, slightly salty, poured into her mouth and down her throat. Her eyes flew open in reflexive terror, and she expected to see the linoleum ceiling again, to be able to grab Galatea by her arm, but there was no ceiling. Instead she was faced with a wall of murky blue, and when she tried to scream, but there was no sound, only a few bubbles drifting up and up and up. Initializing system... Fuck, Penny thought. Chapter Five: The Game Begins
RANDOM SPAWN POINT GENERATED
Coordinates Latitude ¨C 42.358884. Longitude ¨C 11.431017.
Affiliated Area The Nyxian Ocean
User # 982
Log In Time 13:02 CT
Server Chicago, IL
Penny was sinking. She kicked hard, but her legs were too heavy, weighed down by her now water-logged jeans. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. She bent backwards, craning her neck to look up, searching for the surface. Had she been spawned hundreds of feet underwater? But no. There, far above her, she could see refractions of light glimmering through the surface. It was impossible to know exactly how deep down she was, but it had to be at least ten feet, judging by the pressure on her skull. Penny kicked, a second and third time, adrenaline rushing through her. It had only been a few seconds, but her chest already felt tight from panic. She reached upwards, and pulled with a stroke, propelling herself toward the surface. Tendrils of her red hair floated in front of her face, obscuring her vision. No. I''m not going to die like this. She took another stroke and then another. Her jeans and t-shirt dragged her down, but she ignored the resistance, just like she ignored the cold spreading between her ribs, and took one stroke, and then another, until finally she broke the surface. Gasping, she drank in a deep lungful air, or at least tried to. Halfway through a wave slapped her in the face, filling her mouth with salt water. She coughed, then squinted. Sunlight glared off the choppy waters around her. The air was warm against her skin. She wasn¡¯t going to die of hypothermia out here. Not right away at least. Well, technically she wasn¡¯t going to die at all, because this wasn¡¯t real. "Log out," Penny called. "Log out."
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE. SYSTEM INITIALIZING, USER BEING SCANNED¡­
A voice, eerily genderless , echoed in her head. Penny pumped her legs, treading water, and a slow moving dread crept over her. She felt like she did when she when she accidentally locked herself out of her house, and put her hand in her pocket, looking for a key that she knew wouldn''t be there. What had she done¡­ "End game," Penny said again, her voice full of false calm.
SYSTEM INITIALIZING, USER BEING SCANNED..
Okay, so the system was taking a moment to scan her and log her on. Not a big deal. This was fine. She just had to like not die until she was logged on. Then she could log off. A swell pulsed underneath her, the magnitude of it taking Penny¡¯s breath away, as she rode the massive wave. Experimentally, Penny kicked down harder, so that she could raise up a view inches out of the water. From there she could see above the crest of the nearest wave. Her heart sunk as she took in her surroundings. Nothing but choppy white-caps stretched to the horizon. Had the game dropped her in the middle of the ocean? But no, Penny turned a little more, and there, she saw it-- land Penny gave a small gasp. Royal blue ocean waters unfolded out toward a curving shore of steep tree-covered hills. They were so green, Penny didn''t even think it was even possible. At the top of the nearest one loomed a real life castle A castle. Penny laughed, and drank in a breath rich with the slight tang of salt and the smell of fish. On the hill beyond that there was a circle of tiny dots Penny guessed had to be thatched houses or maybe tents. Curls of smoke spiraled up from the encampment. On the hill after that there were a few scars of empty land slashed into the green hill-side. Maybe the camp was for harvesting lumber? Or maybe there had been a battle? Or a monster attack? All of it was insane, and felt somehow more real than reality. In the real world there was cars, and jobs, and computers. Penny spent most of her days staring at Photoshop, and Illustrator files, adjusting vectors by millimeters, looking at recreations of reality that were cartoonish and simplified. People replied to emails that had sentences like "My branding goal is to capture the attention of single white females who like cats and yoga, and who follow Gen Z attitudes about brand authenticity." Brand authenticity. Penny wanted to laugh. How was it that this fake world was the most authentic thing she''d felt in years? The world here was full of concrete nouns. Water. Sky. Sun. Trees. God, she hated Prince. Why could such an asshole make something so primal, so true.
USER SCANNING COMPLETE. STATS GENERATED...
Penny blinked, this time instead of the voice coming from inside of her head, there was an accompanying blue box that hovered, semi transparent in front of her face. She swiped at it, but it was like touching a projection at a movie theater. The thing was only made up of light. ¡°Welcome to Astrea.¡± Penny¡¯s hand froze mid-air. Unlike before, the voice that spoke those words wasn¡¯t genderless, or inhuman. No, it was very, very familiar, the tone deep, with a metallic edge that made the voice piercing even at a whisper. Edward Prince. Penny wished she could¡¯ve sworn at him, could¡¯ve told him to let her out of this stupid game, could¡¯ve done anything except for what she did, which was, for just a second, freeze up. Thankfully, as the voice went on, Penny realized that the message was pre-recorded and she relaxed. As the voice spoke, words appeared on the blue-box like closed captions.
WELCOME TO ASTREA The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Congratulations! If you are reading this message, you are one of the few chosen as beta-testers. Only 1000 were selected, and are at this very moment playing the game in stations in San Francisco, Washington, New York, Chicago, Singapore and London. You have been given the rare opportunity to step foot on virgin ground before the world of Astrea opens up to the larger player base. I suggest you use it wisely, as a time to build, explore and level up your area. In this world there are the worthy and the worthless, the leaders and the followers, those that deserve what they have been given, and those that are parasites. In Astrea the worthy survive, the great may forge civilizations, and even the lesser may look at themselves through a mirror darkly and see their truest face. May you learn the truth of what you are.
Penny found herself rolling her eyes. God, Prince was such a dick. Of course anyone he didn''t consider strong was a parasite, what a sociopath. "Free me from this hellish prison you giant, gaping asshole" Penny yelled, but more out of annoyance than because she thought it would actually work. Another blue box appeared.
PLAYER GENERATED
PENELOPE JONES
RACE Reborn
AGE 25
CLASS None
HEIGHT 5''2"
WEIGHT 120
HP 30/30
MP 0/0
EARTH ATTRIBUTES ASTREAN ATTRIBUTES
INTELLIGENCE 14
STRENGTH 9
DEXTERITY 7
CONSTITUTION 10
WISDOM 16
CHARISMA 12
INTELLIGENCE 1
STRENGTH 1
DEXTERITY 1
CONSTITUTION 1
WISDOM 1
CHARISMA 1
** PLEASE NOTE ALL ACTIONS IN GAME WILL ONLY MODIFY ASTREAN ATTRIBUTES. EARTHEN ATTRIBUTES ARE GATHERED VIA SCAN. **
SPECIAL SKILLS AND ABILITIES
NONE
INVENTORY
Those Bootcut Jeans (Waterlogged) My Favorite Mercy T-Shirt (Waterlogged) That Underwear I Got For My Birthday (Waterlogged) That Blue Bra I Finally Found Behind My Dresser (Waterlogged) Receipt from Jewel Osco (Waterlogged -- DEGRADING) House Keys Three Quarters Wallet (Waterlogged)
As Penny scanned the stat box, she found herself forgetting her rage and panic for a moment, and instead giving a mild smile. It looked like this game scanned who she actually was and distributed stats on that basis, and considering Prince''s opening speech, all in all her stats were pretty generous. It also seemed as if the Earth numbers would remain constant regardless of whatever she did in game or how powerful she became. Interesting. The other thing that Penny found funny was the labeling of the item names. It looked like the system had generated her belongings based on what her mind currently thought she was carrying, which was why they had labels that were so specific. She wondered if because the system decided her inventory based on her perceptions of herself, if she had imagined herself with sixteen bars of gold while she was being scanned, if they would have appeared in her pockets when she logged on. Although, considering where she had spawned, it was probably for the best she hadn¡¯t known to try that. Not that it mattered. She was not here to play, she was here for one reason and one reason only, to get the money and get out. Which she still was no closer to doing. As Penny read, she noticed at the very bottom of the box a menu.
Settings Stats Quests
Penny went to hit the button for settings, but as she did she noticed something breaking the top of a wave about a hundred yards away from her. Due to the menu blurring her vision, she couldn''t quite make out what it was, but it didn''t matter. If it was something dangerous, her best course was to log out as quickly as possible. She had no weapons. No magic. She couldn''t even run, because she was in the middle of the ocean. Quickly Penelope scanned through the settings, noting that there were a number of sliders, she could tweak that all had latinate sounding names. She tried to focus on them for a moment, hoping stupidly there might be a setting for ¡°CAN BREATHE UNDERWATER¡±, but as she did, she noticed on the other side of the menu, there was a shadow moving under the water. It was big, much bigger than a normal sized fish. Shark? Fuck. Penny pawed at the menu, making a motion that sent the text flying upward in a scroll, until she came across the very bottom of the settings. Then she saw it.
DISCONNECT
Penny slammed the button with her palm. For one terrifying moment, nothing happened. Then the blue box morphed, the white letters of the sliders and the disconnect button fading away to be replaced with a message.
DISCONNECT INITIATED
Thank you for participating in the beta-testing of Astrea. We appreciate your time and talents, and everything you have done to shape this world. However, before you log out, be aware that logging out before the end of the beta will end all quests, and result in deletion of your character and loss of any accomplishments achieved. Also, please note that due to the time dilation difference between the world of Astrea, there will be a slight delay in your disconnection. We recommend that you find a safe place while logging out, ideally in your SAFE STARTING AREA with your GUIDE standing guard. If you find you are in an unsafe location or wish to pause the log out process at any time, simply hit the button below labeled RECONNECT.
LOG OUT COUNTDOWN
1 hour and 22 minutes remaining...
RECONNECT
¡°Fuck,¡± Penny said. ¡°I¨C¡± But she never finished her sentence, because fingers closed around her ankle. And pulled her down. Chapter Six: No Body, No Soul Penny slipped under the surface for a second time. Salt stung her eyes and her nose, and on instinct, she kicked down at whatever was grabbing her with her free leg, but her heel met nothing but water. Penny twisted, trying to break free from her attacker¡¯s grasp, but its grip was too strong. Come on. Really? Down she went, bubbles streaming by her, her vision filled with that damn blue box.
LOG OUT COUNTDOWN
1 hour and 15 minutes remaining...
Frantic, she swept her hand through the menu to banish it, and it disappeared, but behind it was another menu. Although this one filled with a series of sliders for things like audio, sound, smell and taste. The numbers streamed by her as she was dragged down. Penny was drowning in them. On the bright side, at least if other players were having this crappy of an experience with the game, Prince would not be getting good reviews when this was all said and done. Who wanted to be drowned and tortured for fun? Except, they''d all signed an NDA. Motherfucker. She couldn¡¯t breathe. Penny sliced her hand through the menu. Please let Eshan be having a better time of it than me. Hopefully, he at least spawned somewhere with reliable oxygen. The box disappeared, and Penny turned down to look at the monster grabbing her. Except, it wasn¡¯t a monster. Shock jolted through Penny she met the bright green eyes of a Mermaid. The creature was beautiful, her face all high cheekbones and strong jaw lines. Long, silver hair billowed around her in the water like a shroud, and her delicate shoulders were armored with the husks of black, spiky sea-urchins. A bodice of black seaweed hugged her toned muscled physique, stopping right before her flat stomach. The mermaid clearly worked out. Penny''s gaze trailed down the creatures flat toned stomach, amazed at the subtle gradient change from flesh to silvery scales. The mermaid had a thick, powerful tail that reminded Penny of a salmon''s. In her hand, the mermaid held a knife made of the tooth of some sea creature. Penny thrashed, but the mermaid just tightened her grip. Reborn? Penny stilled. The voice vibrated through Penny''s skull, oddly pleasant, and deeply musical, silken. Penny shivered. Reborn? Answer me. Is that what you are? As the mermaid spoke, her eyes glowed a brighter green, and the water shimmered around her, but there were no bubbles, and Penny realized, the woman''s lips weren''t actually moving. Clearly, this was some kind of water based telepathy. Answer me. Are you Reborn? The mermaid''s grip loosened, and then to Penny''s surprise, she trailed one finger, gently up Penny''s ankle. Penny froze, all of her muscles going suddenly tight, a blush flooding her cheeks. Had anything this beautiful ever touched her like that? The mermaid cocked her head, surveying Penny with a smirk. Just tell me, and this can be over. "Please, let me go," Penny said. Although all that came out was a series of bubbles, and a muted garbled echo of the words lost to the water. The mermaid¡¯s eyes narrowed. Fine. Do not tell me. I do not need confirmation. You speak a tongue I do not know. You are hornless, finless, scaless. You are Reborn. So let me be clear... In one smooth movement, the mermaid brought her knife up to Penny¡¯s ankle and slashed. Pain. Utterly real and complete, blazed up Penny¡¯s leg. In the corner of her vision, a red gage appeared, and then immediately flickered, as a third of HP vanished.
HP [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
When you are reborn. The mermaid¡¯s eyes glowed so brightly they lit the planes of her face. Do not come back. Penny flailed, frantically reaching for the surface, but she was far, far too slow. With a powerful flick of her tail, the mermaid shot up, so that she was parallel to Penny. Then she shoved her blade in Penny¡¯s chest. Penny¡¯s HP cut down another third.
HP [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
Penny let out a garbled, gurgled scream. She was going to die. She was going to die here, and then wake up probably somewhere worse, and then die there too. She had to do something. She refused to let herself be endlessly tortured. Penny felt dizzy, her lungs were cold. She wasn¡¯t going to fight this monster. She wasn¡¯t going to play his games. She wouldn¡¯t do it. Not again. There had to be another way. Think, Penny. This wasn¡¯t real. This was a game. There were a thousand other people right now playing it, but they couldn''t also be having the same experience as Penny. It didn''t make sense. Something wasn''t fitting. Desperate, Penny brought back up the settings menu. The disconnect button was still greyed out, and the timer had barely ticked down, but Penny noticed something else.
NEUROPATHIC INPUT
0--------|------------100
VISUAL INPUT
0------------|--------100
AUDIO INPUT
0--------|-----------100
OLFACTORY INPUT
0--------|-----------100
GUSTATORY INPUT
0-----------|---------100
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Fuck, I am an idiot. There was a setting for pain. Without thinking, Penny reached up to the first of the settings, and brought neuropathic down to zero. The effect was instantaneous. Her skin tingled with a numbness like her whole body had fallen asleep, and even the tightness in her lungs eased.
WARNING: OPERATING AT LESS THAN 30% SETTINGS ON ANY SENSORY INPUT WILL DISQUALIFY YOU FROM EARNING EXPERIENCE OR FULFILLING QUEST LINES.
Of course it did. Thankfully, Penny didn''t care. She was too busy almost screaming with relief as her mind cleared.
FOUNDERS PERK ACCESSED
FEEL NO PAIN
STATUS: Unavailable 750/750 Players Have Unlocked This Skill Tree
You have adjusted the settings to make yourself impervious to feeling pain.
Perks
Gain +1 to Astrean Constitution.
Constraints
No experience can be gained while any setting is marked at less than 30%.
ERROR: This perk has already been claimed by the maximum number of allotted players. Keep experimenting, in order to find perks others haven¡¯t used yet!
Wow, Penny thought, I really should''ve checked settings earlier. But it wasn''t her fault, she''d been a little busy trying to survive.Well, technically, was still a little busy. Through the blurry menu she could see the mermaid coming in for a last attack. She wouldn¡¯t survive this one, this she knew, but another thought occurred to her. A defiant smile curved across Penny¡¯s lips as sharp and bloodied as the mermaid''s knife I won¡¯t play your game, Prince. You can¡¯t make me. Then, one by one, she brought each of the settings to zero. Her sight went first, plunging her world into blackness, but Penny didn¡¯t feel afraid. This wasn¡¯t real. He could kill her in the game, but he could hurt her, not really. Not unless she let him. Not unless she agreed. I do not consent. After her vision, her hearing went, and the world suddenly silent, except for the sound of her heartbeat, breathing and the rush of blood in her own ears -- all the sounds from the real world. After that her sense of touch disappeared, the sensation of the water over her skin vanished, as did feel of her heavy jeans dragging down her body. Finally, she lost the sense of taste, the salt and iron from the blood and sea water slowly fading from her tongue. Now she could feel the dryness in her mouth and the slight after-taste of the pill. Eventually all the was left was the blue box with the settings and the timer, and her HP gauge, which strangely, still had a third left. Black silent calm stretched out before her. Penny laughed, although she couldn¡¯t hear it or feel it. In the real world her body was still gently asleep. Prince could do whatever he liked. He could try. But he couldn¡¯t hurt her, not again. She wouldn¡¯t. Penny wanted to twirl, she wanted to dance. She¡¯d won. Well, sort of, she was right now dying in game, but it didn''t matter.
HP [[[[[[[[[[[[
Then something strange began to happen. Cracks of white light began to break through the darkness, and with horror Penny watched as her sight returned. But something was off. The perspective was different. Now, Penny was above her body, watching her form float limply, as red blood plumed behind her. The mermaid was reaching back for one last strike, but before she could, Penny¡¯s body''s skin began to glow. The mermaid darted backwards, holding out her knife in front of her, but it wasn¡¯t much help. The light got brighter and brighter, until even Penny, at least the version of herself outside of her body had to squint . Then Penny¡¯s body opened her eyes, but it had no pupils, no irises, they were just glowing pits of white fire. Two beams shot out her Penny''s bodies palms, and two out of her feet. One hit the mermaid''s shoulder, blasting her sea-urchin armor to dust. The mermaid flinched, and then with a thrust of her tail propelled herself away.
SKILL TREE UNLOCKED
SOUL MAGIC
STATUS: Unlocked 1/10 Players Have Unlocked This Skill Tree
By removing yourself from your senses, you have gained mastery of your mind and body, and unlocked your innate abilities.
Perks
Gain a mana pool. Gain +1 to Astrean Wisdom. Gained access to Founder''s Quest.
Constraints
No experience can be gained while any setting is marked at less than 30%. Gain a total ¡°death limit¡± of ten.
SOUL MAGIC ABILITY UNLOCKED
ASTRAL PROJECTION
STATUS: Unlocked 1/10 Players Have Unlocked This Skill Tree
You learned how to separate your body from your mind, and now can create an insubstantial projection separate from your body.
Perks
Astral projection form can neither harm nor be harmed.
Constraints
No experience is gained while in projection form. Projection has a thirty second limit. Projection has a cool down of ten minutes. Must be within ten feet of your body.
SOUL MAGIC ABILITY UNLOCKED
SUPERNOVA
STATUS: Unlocked 1/10 Players Have Unlocked This Ability
When all hope is lost, that is when you shine the brightest. If you Astral Project while your hit points are below ten percent, you will unleash a massive energy blast.
Perks
Deals a massive burst of spiritual energy to foes.
Constraints
Spell results in instant death in game. Spell effects both friend and foe alike.
Spell results in instant death, Penny read. Great.
HP
Penny sighed as her HP counter went to zero, and then once again, her world went black. Chapter Seven: Eyes Like Fire, Heart Like A Bomb Darkness. That was all that was left to her now, a familiar velvety, iridescent nothingness that always came when she closed her eyes. It wasn¡¯t black exactly, but a dark red, the color of her skin lit by the light just beyond her eyelids. She exhaled. Her heart was still racing from the adrenalin of the fight, but she could breathe. She¡¯d done it. She¡¯d found a way to functionally log out, and kept herself from being tortured or having to play Prince¡¯s stupid game of survival. Now all she had to do was wait in this void for an hour or so until the log-out counter ticked down, then she would leave, two thousand dollars in hand. It wasn¡¯t a big victory. It wasn¡¯t as if she¡¯d disabled Prince¡¯s game or made him pay for what he¡¯d taken from her family. She wasn¡¯t going to get back everything she¡¯d lost, she wasn¡¯t even going to earn a tenth of what had been taken from her family. But that was okay. The thing she really wanted back wasn¡¯t something she¡¯d ever get anyway. Dad. Was this what it was like for him when he died? Had he been staring at a light moving on the other side of his closed eyes? Had the world felt close enough to touch, but so far away? Penny breathed in. Weirdly, at this moment she felt as if she turned around, he¡¯d be there. She half expected to hear him say her name. She always used to call him when she had good news. Dad, Penny wanted to say, look. Knowing it was stupid, Penny turned. All that greeted her was a blue box.
LOG OUT COUNTDOWN
1 hour remaining...
Below the counter was the settings. Experimentally, Penny moved her hands in front of her face, and with a start she realized she could see them. Her fingers were just blue-tinged silhouettes in the dim glow of the menu, but they were visible, which meant that her visual setting couldn¡¯t be at zero. In fact, as Penny took in the menu, she realized that all of her settings had been reset to one hundred percent, but she still couldn¡¯t see anything. What was going on? Penny went over the memories, feeling like she did when she played those games on the back of cereal boxes where she followed one line with her finger through the tangle of all the other lines. Okay, so first she¡¯d turned her pain setting to zero and then all of her other senses. As a result she¡¯d unlocked the ability to Astral Project, and her vision had returned, showing her body as it exploded in a self-destructive Super Nova. After that, the power had caused her HP to drop to zero and brought her here. Which was¡­ Wait.
RESPAWINING....
Drip. Penny flinched. In the silence, the sound of the water falling was like a gunshot.
RESPAWINING COMPLETE!
Drip. Drip. Sensation came next, rough stone pushed up against her cheek, along with the touch of something softer.. Moss? A wave crashed in the distance, and then there was a disorienting swooping feeling, as Penny realized that she wasn¡¯t standing up anymore, but instead lying down. She blinked, taste, and smell, that same briney fishy scent filled her mouth. Her muscles ached, but more like she¡¯d had a hard work out than she¡¯d been killed. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Vision blurry, Penny reached to adjust the settings back to zero. She didn¡¯t want to spend a second longer in Prince¡¯s hunger game hell-scape than she had to. After this she was going to go home, and make herself a big pot of Chai tea the way Eshan taught her, on the stove, with ground pepper and cinnamon. Then she would power through as much work as she could. She was feeling good. Her mojo was back. The clients would love whatever she did next. Penny frowned as she brought her hand up to change the settings. Another blue box appeared in front of it, and then a few more boxes, these ones colored. Pop-ups? Seriously.
RESPAWN POINT GENERATED
Coordinates Latitude ¨C 42.36333. Longitude ¨C 11.421017.
Affiliated Area The Nyxian Shores
User # 982
Log In Time 13:02 CT
Server Chicago, IL
**NOTE ALL RESPAWN POINTS WILL BE WITHIN TEN MILES OF SPAWN POINT**
YOU HAVE DIED: YOU HAVE DIED. THE FOLLOWING DEATH PENALTIES ARE NOW ACTIVE. -HARD RESET ¨C All Astrean stat bonuses are set to zero. -SOUL DAMAGE ¨C PERMANENT PENALTY of -1 to all ASTREAN stats. -YOU HAVE LOST the following items: Those Bootcut Jeans (Waterlogged) My Favorite Mercy T-Shirt (Waterlogged) That Underwear I Got For My Birthday (Waterlogged) That Blue Bra I Finally Found Behind My Dresser (Waterlogged) Receipt from Jewel Osco (Waterlogged -- DEGRADING) House Keys Three Quarters Wallet (Waterlogged)
RELATIONSHIP GAINED: You are now DESPISED by the Nyxian Mermaid Confederacy. Any members of that affiliation will kill you on sight.
REPUTATION GAINED: Your explosive death was witnessed by a mermaid who has reported the incident back to her people. You are now known as a particularly dangerous Reborn, and the first they have witnessed who has access to magical powers. You have earned the title: EYES LIKE FIRE, HEART LIKE A BOMB You are now: HUNTED by the Nyxian Mermaid Confederacy.
One by one Penny swatted at the menus, although props, she had to admit, Eyes Like Fire, Heart Like a Bomb, was a fucking cool name. If she ever got around to finishing on that electronica album she was fiddling with, she would one hundred percent use that as a title. The rest of it was, whatever. She wasn¡¯t staying here, and she refused to care about Prince¡¯s number games. She was done. Penny turned over, groaning, and blinking as her eyes adjusted. Quickly, she realized she was staring up at the ceiling of some kind of cave on the shore. Stalactites hung down from the ceiling, edged in a golden moss, and dripping with water. Beyond them, through an opening in the cave, she caught a sliver of the ocean. It wasn¡¯t blue anymore. The sun had dipped to kiss the horizon, sending gold spilling out over the now calm sea. It looked so still it almost seemed frozen. Until there, far, far in the distance the ridged back of some sea creature broke the surface. It was big, so big, far too big to be a mermaid or even a shark or whale. Holy shit. What was that? No. Penny shook her head, smiling ruefully at herself. What that was was probably something that would eat her if given a chance, and since Penny had already been stabbed and drowned so far, she wasn¡¯t big on adding eaten to her list of ¡°Ways I Died Today¡±. She raised her hand and summoned the settings box, then she brought down the pain setting, and then the touch setting, but just as she was about to bring down the hearing setting, she heard something. A scratching on the rock, like a rat or maybe more like a cat. Penny didn¡¯t wait. She didn¡¯t want to watch herself die again, so she flicked the rest of the settings down to zero. Whatever that thing was she would never know. Blackness enfolded her once again. Or, it did for a second, because then, a moment later the same white cracks appeared again, and once again Penny was standing outside of her body.
ASTRAL PROJECTION ACTIVATED.
The setting box hovered in front of her, all of the other settings were set to zero, but sight was, unfortunately, locked at 100%, as was hearing at 100%. Which meant she had a perfect view of the source of the sound. It was a girl, no, a toddler really, she couldn¡¯t have been more than one. She had a big mop of seaweed colored hair, and only one, very sharp tooth, like a shark¡¯s. She wasn''t entirely human, her feet and hands webbed and with claws, which explained the scratching sound. She approached Penny from behind. Penny tensed, expecting the girl to take a bite out of her, but the girl didn¡¯t do that. Instead, she curled up next to Penny¡¯s sleeping body, moving Penny¡¯s arm like it was a blanket, then she started to nestle in. Or rather, she started, about halfway through she stood up again, and then put her faces inches away from Penny¡¯s, so that the girl¡¯s flat nose brushed up against hers. Then in a voice so quiet it was almost lost in the harsh crashing of waves, she whispered one word. Not a word really, but a question, a plea. ¡°Mama?¡± Chapter Eight: The Look Back Penny was pretty sure the girl was going to kill her. Oroborus loved tricks like that. In Inkarus, Prince''s first game, a haughty, beautiful princess sends you on a quest to slaughter a village of zombies. Only after you clear the village and return the head of the chief to her, you realize the princess is actually a demon in disguise, and the villagers'' only sins were being a little decayed, and worse, now with the power gained from their deaths, the demon has enough magical juice to begin waging a campaign of terror on the surrounding countryside. Penny braced herself as the fish girl brought her nose up to the face of Penny¡¯s unconscious body, and opened her mouth. The girl''s single sharp tooth glinted in the dim cave-light. Penny covered her eyes. The girl leaned in. Then she pressed her lips to Penny¡¯s cheek in a wet open mouthed, slobbery kiss. In her astral form, Penny¡¯s eyebrows rose, although her body remained completely still. The girl frowned at Penny¡¯s body¡¯s lack of reaction. Then she poked at Penny¡¯s cheek with a webbed finger, hard. ¡°Mamma?¡± The girl''s voice came back in a cascade of echoes, fading off into the deepness of the cave, bouncing between stalactites, softer with every repetition. Hopeful, the girl turned around, thinking someone was there behind her, but she found only darkness. Then she started to cry. It was a soft mewling sound that made Penny''s stomach feel like someone had grabbed it and clenched it into a fist. Manipulative asshole game designers. Still. Penny knew the sound well. It was the kind of cry you made at the end of the wake after the funeral, when everyone else is gone and all that''s left are too many flowers and too many casseroles. It was the kind of cry you make when you know the person you''re crying for isn''t coming back. Penny started to move. She didn¡¯t think about why, except to remind herself that nothing really bad could happen to her even if this was a trick, since her pain sensors were set to zero, and she couldn¡¯t listen to someone make that sound, even if it was just a game, even if it wasn¡¯t real, even if the game was doing this on purpose to get her to play. She just couldn¡¯t. When Penny reached her body, she slid her astral¡¯s self fingers back into the flesh of her hands. For a moment it felt like putting on a glove, then there was a snapping sensation, and her vision turned, and there she was, blinking, staring at the side of the cave wall, and the fish girl''s stubby legs. The fish girl and bent down, her face level once again with Penny¡¯s. ¡°Mamma?¡± Her eyes bugged wide. ¡°Hi,¡± Penny rasped. ¡°Mamma!¡± The girl broke out in a giant, gummy smile, her single tooth standing out prominently. Then she buried her face in Penny¡¯s chest, and started to cry again, louder this time. ¡°Woah, hey. It¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°Mama.¡± The girl tugged on Penny¡¯s arm trying desperately to communicate something. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m not your Mom. We can find her though, okay?¡± ¡°Mamma. Mamma. Mamma,¡± the girl chanted. Penny found herself wrapping her arms around the little girl. ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°Mamma!¡± The girl grabbed Penny¡¯s hand, then she nuzzled her face into it. Her eyes made contact with Penny¡¯s and for a moment Penny thought it looked like she was asking permission. ¡°Hey, I ¨C¡± But before Peny could finish the girl chomped down on Penny¡¯s flesh, burying her single sharp tooth into Penny''s flesh. Blood welled up around it immediately, although there was no pain. Penny yanked her hand away and rolled over. ¡°Son of a bitch. I knew it. You want to eat me.¡±
HP [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
Penny''s HP went down by exactly three ticks. The girl keened, her eyes closed and she thrust out her arms towards Penny, her tongue flicking out of her mouth. ¡°Mama.¡± ¡°If you come at me I will just astral project out of this body and then I will explode, and you don¡¯t want that.¡± To Penny¡¯s surprise after her words the girl didn¡¯t attack again, just pointed at Penny¡¯s bleeding hand, and gave Penny a look as if she thought Penny was the stupidest person in the universe. ¡°Mama.¡± Penny looked over her shoulder, half terrified that the fish girl¡¯s real mother was going to come lumbering out the darkness. Maybe the girl was trying to summon her so they could eat Penny together. Penny needed more info. The little fish toddler lunged for Penny''s hand again, but this time Penny was ready. She grabbed the girl by the scruff of her seaweed woven dress, and held her at arm¡¯s length. ¡°No,¡± she said sharply. The girl pouted, an expression so overdramatic, Penny almost laughed. Then with Penny¡¯s other hand, she brought up her settings. It stood to reason that if bringing down her inputs could grant her magic powers, that increasing her settings might as well. Maybe something that would give her more of a HUD. The girl squirmed in her arms. "Just. Stay. Still. I don¡¯t want to hurt you if I don¡¯t have to.¡± Penny wasn¡¯t sure why she didn''t want to harm the girl. She girl was just a piece of code made by an asshole, and the girl had literally just tried to take a bite of her. This is why you never won his stupid leadership games, Penny thought. You were always too nice. Even when people tried to hurt you, you always still tried to help them, like an idiot. With one hand, she brought up the sliders for sight and hearing all way to one hundred percent. Then she swiped away the menu. She blinked in shock at the world that greeted her. It was like she''d put on some combination of glasses and night vision goggles. Where before, deep into the cave had been a hazy pattern of indistinct shapes, now she could make out a bead of water glistening on a mossy stalactite at least a hundred yards back. Sound crescendoed too, the distant crashing of waves growing to roar, that almost, but not quite drowned out the other noises, the harsh exhale of her breath, and the faster, hitched breathing of the fish girl. Two more green boxes popped in the corner of Penny¡¯s vision.
FOUNDERS PERK ACCESSED
EAGLE EYE This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
STATUS: Available 892/1000 Players Have Unlocked This Perk
You have adjusted the settings to improve your eyesight.
Perks
Gain additional information when inspecting objects. To inspect an object simply squint.
Constraints
No experience can be gained while any setting is marked at less than 30%.
FOUNDERS PERK ACCESSED
Sharp Ears
STATUS: Unavailable 600/600 Players Have Unlocked This Skill Tree
You have adjusted the settings to improve your hearing.
Perks
-Treasure emits a light buzzing sound that can be heard from up to two meters away. -Dangerous creatures emit a base low tone that can be heard from up to ten meters away
Constraints
No experience can be gained while any setting is marked at less than 30%.
ERROR: This perk has already been claimed by the maximum number of allotted players. Keep experimenting, in order to find perks others haven¡¯t used yet!
¡°Mamma. Mamma. Mamma,¡± the girl chanted angrily. ¡°Okay. Okay.¡± Penny banished the boxes. Then she turned to the girl. Before she even squinted at her, there was so much she noticed now she hadn¡¯t before. For one, while girl had fish-like eyes, she didn¡¯t have any scales, instead her skin was stippled like a frog¡¯s. The other thing was how thin the girl was. Although she was the size of a human toddler, she had almost no baby fat. Her arms were twigs. Penny thought she could see her ribs. She also had deep bags under her eyes, and dirt smudged on her face. It had been a while since she¡¯d seen civilization, although judging by the sea-weed dress the girl wore, she clearly at one point had. Penny squinted. Beside the girl, a blue box appeared.
Alflowa "Leesie" Shoalheart
RACE Nyxie
AGE 14 months
CLASS None
HEIGHT 37 inches
WEIGHT 15 pounds
HP 3/5
MP 0/0
ASTREAN ATTRIBUTES
INTELLIGENCE 8 (-1)
STRENGTH 4 (-1)
DEXTERITY 2 (-1)
CONSTITUTION 8 (-1)
WISDOM 7 (-1)
CHARISMA 11 (-1)
ALFLOWA SHOALHEART is currently HUNGRY.
SPECIAL SKILLS AND ABILITIES
FEEDING -- ((AGE LOCKED)) ((RACIAL LOCKED)) Like all Nyxie children, this character has the ability to gain sustenance from their caretaker by consuming their caretakers blood, doing so creates a CARETAKER''S BOND. Each Nyxie child can only have up to two character''s bonds at a time, and the CARETAKER must be of childrearing age, and of humanoid shape. Extensive time away from the bonded character, will create SEPERATION ANXIETY, and cause the child to go into acute distress, causing them to take drastic measures to seek out a new CARETAKER. ***Once the Nyxie reaches the age of 2 years, FEEDING ability disappears. *** NYXIE CHILD EFFECTS: BONUS: When well fed the Nyxie gains a +5 bonus to intelligence and + 2 bonus to strength. PENALTIES: If not fed fresh blood every 12 hours, Nyxie will gain HUNGRY attribute, and will lose HP until death. CARETAKER EFFECTS: Penalties: Feeding removes a variable amount of HP. -1 to Constitution Bonus: +2 to Wisdom Gain temporary ability SENSE DANGER. Within a radius of 300 yards hear a low humming sound if danger is near.
INVENTORY
Waterweed Weave Gown
INFORMATION
Current resident of the Nyxian village of Bayrock.
Penny read through the boxes, and then with a frown dismissed them. It had been hard to focus with the girl wiggling in her arms, determine to take another bite out of Penny, but somehow Penny had done it. When that was complete, Penny stared down at the girl. The girl was still frantically reaching out her arms, desperate for Penny''s blood, but it was more than that. Yes, she wanted to eat Penny, but only because she was hungry and lonely, and she clearly didn''t want to kill Penny, just have her as a teensy snack. For the first time in a long time, Penny brought up the log out counter.
LOG OUT COUNTDOWN
45 minutes remaining...
"Mamma?" the girl asked, her voice as small and soft as it had been when Penny was asleep. For a moment Penny wanted nothing more than offer up her arm to the little girl, and let her drink as much of Penny''s blood as she needed, to rub her back and lie to the girl and tell her that sure, she was her Mamma, but as Penny stared into the girl''s life-like big, black eyes she knew she couldn''t do that. Penny was many things, but she wasn''t good at playing Prince''s games. Even if she wanted to be some kind of hero, which she most definitely did not, she wouldn''t be able to. She had tangible historical proof of this. She had tangled with Prince''s world once before and lost everything. If she told this girl she could protect her, it would be a lie. Anyway, In this game, Penny didn''t have any magical abilities other than one skill hat let her run away, and another that let her explode, harming everyone around her friend or foe. Neither of those tricks would help her take care of a Nyxie toddler. And even if she was a hero, even if she was going to waltz into whatever the nearest town was, and quickly begin shaping it into some kind of civilization, all while bonding with this tiny creature, by the end of it, in five days the beta-test would be over. This girl was clearly an automated, possibly even sentient piece of code. After they left Astrea there was a possibility the world would keep on going without them. Galatea had hinted at as much. In that case, even if she was the best leader and player in the universe, by the end of this all, she would still end up abandoning this girl, and this girl would be in exactly the same place she was before -- looking for someone to take care of her who wasn''t coming. "I''m sorry," Penny said. "I can''t. I''ve got to go." The girl didn''t say anything, just looked away from Penny, her expression oddly empty. As she moved Penny caught sight of the sharp edge of her cheekbones. The girl was so skinny. "But I''ll tell you what. Before I go, we''ll find you some blood, get you well and fed, and then we''ll take you back to Bayrock, and find you someone to look after you, okay? It didn''t say you needed my blood every six hours, just fresh blood. " The girl crossed her arms and frowned at Penny. Penny reached out her hand anyway. "I''ll try my best to find you food, it just can''t be me." She patted the girls matted dark hair, plucking out a stray shard of broken shell. "I''ll try, I promise." The girl didn''t look up at Penny again, or smile, but she did, wordlessly, slide her tiny hand through Penny''s own, and squeezed. Chapter Nine: Fishy Business After they left the cave Penny and Leesie found themselves on a rocky shore. Waves crashed beneath them in walls of white spray. There was no sand or easy path in any direction. In the far distance,, Penny could make out the ruined castle she¡¯d seen before, and beyond that a smattering of dots looked like tents. There had been a campfire there before, Penny thought. Now it was gone. A shiver sketched its way down her spine. Penny looked right, and found herself noticing something, a collection of slate houses nestled into the cliffside, bordered by a few noble looking cypress trees standing sentry about a mile away That had to be Bayrock. ¡°Okay, so. So we¡¯ll get some fish for you and then head there and ¨C ¡± Penny looked down toward Leesie, and then swore. ¡°Son of a bitch.¡± Leesie had stuffed Penny¡¯s entire hand into her mouth, and because Penny¡¯s sensory settings were so low, she hadn¡¯t even noticed. Thankfully, Lessie hadn¡¯t bitten down yet. ¡°I told you, you can¡¯t bite me,¡± Penny said. Leesie looked up at her with big, pleading eyes. ¡°Okay, I warned you.¡± With her non-attacked hand, Penny navigated to her settings, and then brought everything down, slipping into her Astral form. Penny¡¯s body went limp, falling over the rocks. There was a thump, and again, looking down at her body from above as it lay awkwardly one the stone. Both her HP and MP ticked town. HP: [25/30] MP: [4/10] Lessie began to cry. Penny didn¡¯t move her settings. She just waited. One second, then two seconds and then three. Lessies cries got louder. After ten seconds, Penny walked back to her body. As she moved, she kicked up a few pebbles in her wake, like she was a small wind. So she wasn¡¯t entirely insubstantial. Interesting. And she felt a slight pull back towards her body. In the corner of her vision a timer counted the seconds she could remain in her Astral form. 27 seconds. Penny slipped back into her body, and stood. Leesie cried in joy, and then scrambled up Penny¡¯s legs like a spider monkey, pressing herself into Penny in a desperate hug. ¡°Mamma. Mamma.¡± ¡°If you bite me,¡± Penny said. ¡°I won¡¯t leave forever, but I will take a small time-out, okay? So don¡¯t bite¡± Leesie pouted and looked away, but she didn¡¯t lunge for Penny¡¯s hand again. A blue box appeared.
RELATIONSHIP BONUS
You are now RESPECTED by Leesie Shoalheart. It can be hard to establish clear boundaries, but you¡¯ve managed it! Leesie will now listen to you and be more likely to follow your orders. (You have gained one leadership point. You can access leadership points after completing The Tutorial.
Penny rolled her eyes, even as she felt a twist of nausea. Leadership points, this was the Academy all over again. Yeah, she was just going to get food, find this girl¡¯s village and then get out. Even if she didn¡¯t have a mother there, there had to be someone who would care for her. XXX Finding food turned out to be harder than it looked. ¡°Ma, Ma, Ma,¡± Leesie babbled, playing the top of Pennys head like a bongo, as she rode on Penny¡¯s shoulders as they picked their way down the coast. They¡¯d been walking now for about twenty minutes. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. If this were a normal video game, there would¡¯ve been a tidepool of conveniently placed fat, lazy carp, who swam slow enough you could grab them with their bare hands. But Astrea wasn¡¯t a normal video game. It really was more like a world, full of difficult terrain, that looked generated by centuries of sea eroding the shore, and not by a game designer. There were no convenient footholds. None that Penny could see yet anyway. Finally, Penny found a trio of sea birds, cawing and swooping down a bit off the shore. When they came up, more than once something silver glinted in their mouths. Fish. Penny stopped. She needed a way to get those fish. Her first thought was to simply swim out of them, then Astral project from her body, somehow kill-herself, and detonate her Supernova ability, but there were too many problems with that. The least of which was at the end of that, she¡¯d be dead, and Leesie would still not have any fish. She had another idea, but it was kind of crazy, and seemed unlikely to work. ¡°Mamma?¡± Leesie peered around Penny¡¯s head, her nose almost butting against Penny¡¯s ¡°Hi,¡± Penny said. ¡°Still not your Mamma.¡± ¡°Mamma,¡± the girl echoed. The girl¡¯s voice was soft, and full of so much trust. It was odd. Penny had never met a character in an Oroborus game like this girl before. Prince wasn¡¯t usually a man who believed in innocence. It was almost like this girl had been generated by the world itself. It made her feel so real. It made Penny feel like if Leesie could trust her, maybe Penny could try, just for a second, to trust herself, too. xxx Five minutes later, Penny was kneeling on the edge of the rock, and bringing up her bare arm, against the sharp edge of it. It was odd to watch her flesh cleave under the pressure, while feeling only a slight nausea. Still she kept up the pressure until she was left with shallow gash on her arm. More than big enough for Leesie to drink from. HP: [24/30] ¡°Okay,¡± Penny called to Lessie, who was standing on another rock, peering curiously at her. ¡°I¡¯m going to try something now, and if it works I think we¡¯ll be able to get some fish, but if it doesn¡¯t, and take a while to come back, I need you to feed on my body okay.¡± The girl cocked her head. ¡°I know, I know I said not to, but if something happens you need to eat.¡± The girl just shrugged her shoulders, holding her arms out. Penny sighed. ¡°If I don¡¯t come back. I can be a snack.¡± Penny mimed chomping down on her arm. Leesie looked suddenly panicked, and realizing that Penny was about to leave her body, lunged toward her. ¡°Stop. I promise I¡¯m coming back¡±. Penny said. ¡°I promise.¡± She gave Leesie one last hug, and then set her back down the rock. That seemed to work, because the Leesie¡¯s went back to quietly watching Penny. [[Due to to your respect rating with Leesie Shoalheart, she will obey your command! ]] Penny let out a sigh of relief, then she laid herself down on the rock. A wall of wet spray crashed above her. With a flick she brought all her settings down to zero, and Penny closed her eyes, stepped away from her body and jumped into the sea. XXX For a moment she was the air, a current of motion, a breeze in the wind. Then she hit the water. There was no splash, and she was surrounded suddenly by the murky green of choppy surf. Her skin felt like it was prickling with electricity, with focus. She had to be quick. She only had thirty seconds. With a single stroke, she came back to the surface, checked the position of the fish, and then swam towards them. Her body undulated, as she rode the flow of the water. She wanted to laugh. She felt more like she was flying than swimming. In her Astral form the water gave no resistance at all. Seconds later she reached the fish. Penny swam closer, and a few flitted away in the shadows, flashes of silver, but more than a few stayed. They couldn¡¯t see Penny, as her body wasn¡¯t a body, but more of a force, like a wind. Which meant that now underwater it was a current. And as a current, she could move the fish, without them even noticing. God, it felt good to be the one moving things, instead of the one being moved. But she had a problem. There was a limit to her power. She could move the fish around within the water, but getting them out of the water was another story, She couldn¡¯t have more than ten seconds left. First Penny tried coming up from underneath the fishes and pushing them upward. But the best she got was moving them a few inches towrd the surface. Worse, the more she pushed the fish to the surface, the more they resisted. On her third try one flitted away, leaving her with only one more fish remaining. She felt a pulling sensation on her spine, as she if she was being dragged back to her body. The last fish wiggled in terror, shooting away. No. Penny reached, strained, the water whirling around her insubstantial fingers, and then she brushed against the scales of the fish. There was a snapping feeling and ¨C Holy shit. The world was suddenly so much wider, and slightly distorted, she could could feel water streaming through her gills, filtering hydrogen from oxygen. Wait, her gills? Penny flicked her tail and she knifed through the water, so fast, lean and small it was like she was a Ferrari. A blue box appeared.
SOUL MAGIC ABILITY UNLOCKED
POSSESSION Lv. 1
STATUS: Unlocked 1/10 Players Have Unlocked This Skill Tree
You have learned how to meld your spirit with that of another.
Perks
Can manipulate the body of one creature or living thing who has intelligence no greater than half of your own.
Constraints
Possession lasts ten seconds for every level gained. Projection has a cool down of ten minutes. Must be within ten feet of your body.
Another blue box came up with the stats of the fish, but Penny ignored it. Instead she pushed herself in her fish¡¯s body, to leap out of the water. The dry feeling of air against her scales was like fire, but she ignored it. She even ignored the thwapping sensation as she landed on the rock, flailing. Then she went to adjust her settings, but as she did, she quickly realized she now had one very big problem. She didn''t have any hands. Fuck.