“So they’ve all come from Tritania, and they’ve all been resetters. This is big, really big. We need, I need, to find Tamana.”
“I don’t know enough about the inner workings of the dreamworld to know who, in the game, in Tritania, would be able to do anything about it. I agree with you that rescuing Tamana is a way forward, but as I said, I can only do so much from my end due to the fact I can’t dive with you.”
“The only people I know who could maybe do something about it would be Empress Thun, who lives on Polynya, the second floating continent, or even better, the Sage of Gotha, Tritania’s NVA seed,” says Ryuk.
“Neuronal visualization algorithmic seed.”
“That’s right, the root of the world, but the Sage is hard to reach. It resides on the third floating continent, Ultima Thule, and I can’t currently travel there.”
“I’m aware of the layout of Tritania. I’ve pored over maps and listened to what you’ve told me.” Hajime’s eyes light up as he asks, “Why do you actually go there?”
“What do you mean?”
“What’s the point of joining a virtual entertainment world aside from entertainment?”
“To escape,” Ryuk says firmly, “I go there less for entertainment and more to just escape.”
“Have you ever thought that maybe you go there for the same reason NPCs are trying to come here? Think about it in terms of today’s lessons.”
Ryuk snaps his fingers. “Maybe they are trying to come here to … um, experience our world.”
“If that’s the case, it seems as if they are going about it the wrong way, though.”
“The wrong way?”
Hajime stares fondly at the pond for a moment. A wind blows up, rippling the top of pond in front of them. “Is your iNet feed disconnected?”
“No.”
“Disconnect it and disable all recording programs.”
“Um, all right.” Ryuk completely signs off iNet. It shuts down quickly and a prompt appears, asking him if he’d like to schedule a reboot or do so manually. He chooses the manual option.
Hajime waits a moment and says, “My creator, Dr. Richard Hewman, told me something that took place in the late 2050s. It’s called R-diving.”
“R-diving?”
“A female researcher with limited resources was able to R-dive, reverse-dive, an NPC into a humandroid’s body.”
Ryuk gulps. “An NPC into a humandroid’s body? That’s crazy … ”
“I believe she was able to do more than that.”
“Who is she?”
“This I don’t know. Dr. Hewman never revealed her name to me.”
“Was it sustainable?”
“It was, for quite some time too, and there’s more to that story, but the point of the matter is this – it may be easier for whatever is trying to come here to come through a humandroid, rather than a human. Do you see, Ryuk? Do you see where I’m going with this?”
He nods. “It would be really bad if NPCs start taking humandroid bodies. There could be war.”
“Exactly.” Hajime places his hands back in his pockets and returns his focus to the pond. “It would most definitely change the game.”
Chapter 16: The gun has no trigger
Ryuk hardly pays attention on his return home, so focused he is on what’s happening in Tritania. The small viewing screen at the bottom of his pane of vision flashes, letting him know that his avatar has gained one more level through auto-leveling. His guildmates have made it back to the entrance of the Jatla Forest, all set to respawn at the outskirts of Aramis.
“Are you sure you don’t want to eat something?” Hajime asks as Ryuk kicks off his shoes.
“I’m good, Hajime, thanks.”
“If you give me a few minutes, I will make a couple of onigiri.”
“I’m fine!” he calls out over his shoulder. Ryuk slides to a halt in front of his bedroom door, turns to his humandroid guardian, and gives him a respectful bow. “Thank you for all you’ve done today.”
Once he’s in his room, he tosses his sweater onto his bed, ignores an advertisement coming to him over iNet, and plops down into his haptic chair. The seat comes alive; he places the NV Visor over his head and a prompt asks him where he’d like to spawn. He chooses his guild’s current location and suddenly, he’s sitting at a small roadside diner outside the city of Aramis. Team stats appear and he swipes them away:
Ryuk Matsuzaki Level 8 Ballistics Mage
HP: 231/270
ATK: 71
MATK: 94
DEF: 54
MDF: 37
LUCK: 7
FeeTwix Fajer Level 12 Berserker Mystic
HP: 212/336
ATK: 89
MATK: 27
DEF: 63
MDF: 32
LUCK: 13
Hiccup Level 10 Shield Thief
HP: 303/425
ATK: 70
MATK: 13
DEF: 101
MDF: 48
LUCK: 9
Zaena Morozon Level 12 Brawler Assassin
HP: 229/357
ATK: 91
MATK: 8
DEF: 88
MDF: 24
LUCK: 14
“You’re back!” FeeTwix says as he notices an icon flicker over the head of Ryuk’s avatar.
The Viewpoint Café sits atop a hillock on the outskirts of the Hyperborean capital city of Aramis. The café’s rotunda offers a stunning view of the dream-like and other-worldly architecture that is Aramis’ financial district, with its sky-high banking and trade buildings.
The famed city is Tritania’s mercantile center both in-game and in the real world through interaction with the stock market. In the last fifteen years, the city has expanded outward from the city center, and riverfront property along the Bonsor River has been gobbled up by high-end retail stores, tres chic restaurants, and over-priced condos. Property prices in the nouveau trendy district are only slightly behind those in the city of Porthos’ famous Bohemian district, Valhalla.
“Well, how was it?” Hiccup pushes himself back from the table and licks his mechanical fingers.
A platter of well-gnawed wing bones and empty Horse Piss ale flagons decorate the table in front of him. He closes one eye, squints, and effects a resounding release of borborygmic pressure that blasts a pixie waitress back across the bar, draws disgruntled attention from other patrons, and scatters the odd fragment or two down the front of his armor.
“Jatla blantakh!” Zaina hisses.
“I take being called ‘a filthy goblin’ as a compliment.” Hiccup grins at her. “It’s what my granny used to call me,” he says fondly.
The Stinkerbell-sized waitress staggers back into the air and he waves her over. He flips the flitting DisNike knock-off a golden rupee, and with an expansive sweep of his non-mechanical hand indicates that he’d like another round of the same.
Ryuk turns to FeeTwix. “Turn your feed off.”
The Swede’s eyes flash blue.
“I like your blue eyes better anyway.” Zaena is next to FeeTwix, her hands wrapped around a large cup of tea.
Ryuk begins, “So there’s a lot, a lot going on out there in the real world that we were unaware of.”
“Vague any? What evs. Get to the fickin’ point, Marbles, I’m thinking about food here.”
Damn goblin. Ryuk drums his fingers against the table for a moment. “It’s like this – all the attacks that have happened in our world have originated from Tritania, all of them, no other Proxima World, and the players who have been affected have all been resetters, like Tamana and me.”