“Um, all right, do we walk there?” Alan asked. The building seemed pretty far away.
“Sure, or we could jog. It’s a little over five miles, around a two hour walk, an hour if we run.”
Once again, Alan silently thanked the Game’s makers, as it automatically translated units of measure, sayings, and other small nuances.
“Um, are there any vehicles we could take? I need to make a deadline.”
Glancing at the map and quest marker, Alan saw the entrance to the Undercity was another two miles from the Administrative Center, in the north east quadrant of the plaza, closest to the private quadrant of Khersath. The military quadrant was in the north west, while the living and merchant quarters, the part he was now at the outskirts of, were to the south.
“Unfortunately, the Administrators banned most private vehicles from the public square after a group of Revenants tried to use a few to take the central command point in the Administrative Center. You knew this, right?” Red Death glanced at Alan. Or at least Alan thought he did, it was hard to tell with the mask.
“Uh, right, the…” Alan waited for Eve to supply him with an answer. She was oddly silent, with no calculations running that Alan could detect. He waited another second, then said, “Um, actually, I can’t recall.”
“You can’t recall the First Great Cyberwar? It’s when the Revenants made their first move, you’re wearing their armor for god’s sake!”
“Uh, right, I haven’t had the chance to learn much history. Why don’t you tell me about it as we jog along?”
“All right, well, I’m no expert of course, but, well I guess it began with the New Technology Law, but you wouldn’t know about that either would you? Well, I guess it’s sort of like…”
They set off at a jog towards the Administrative Center, Alan half paying attention to Red Death as he thought about what Eve had been teaching him. Eve’s first lessons had been about the various types of classes and items in the Game. She had moved on to vehicles, and other things like military logistics. To be honest, almost none of what she was teaching him was at all about culture. It was all just information that might help in battle. Of course, that was useful, but was Eve really prioritizing the correct things in her lessons? Alan supposed so. He could always learn more when he had the time.
As they ran along, passing by thousands of players, Alan tried to spot people with different classes. If he focused on one person, and they were in the public database he had gotten from the Thought Emporium, their level and class would pop up momentarily. In the Game there were the traditional classes of an MMO: damage dealer, healer and tank, but there were a lot of specialized classes as well. Diplomats, pilots, engineers, scientists, merchants, laborers and such made up a lot of the players as well. His own dual-class, a Rogue Machine Lord, was a sort of combination damage dealer and jack of all trades, at least from what he could tell so far.
Running along, Alan felt surprised at how in-shape he was. Jogging along felt almost as easy as walking; his stamina meter was slowly depleting at around 3 energy/min, but that meant he could run at this pace for over an hour. He was getting used to always wearing the Revenant Power Armor too, it felt lightweight, like he was wearing leather padding or a light Kevlar suit. It was nowhere near as cumbersome as the full on power armor many players wore in the Game. Alan tried to get a better look at the gear other players were wearing as well.
According to Eve, items ranged from traditional sci-fi gadgetry, such as space marines in power armor with plasma or laser weapons and almost every variation thereof, to the more fantastical, almost magical items empowered or enchanted by psionic powers. A number of items combined scientific materials with psionic energy as well, although most forms of science and psionic ability were strangely incompatible. A large number of players wore masks or helmets, often as a part of their power armor, hiding their faces. Additionally, most players had an emblem of some sort, similar to Red Death’s. Looking at a particularly elaborate green swirl, Eve finally answered Alan.
Error. Too many variables. Re-analyzing surroundings.
Alan felt Eve try to take in all the information again. She froze, hanging just like the last time.
Stop. Give me a basic overview of the factions on Khersath, Alan sent.
The Imperial Realms, or the Empire as it is commonly referred to, are an empire of around 30 life-sustaining worlds ruled by a single, enigmatic emperor. The Empire is predominantly humanoid and is constantly at war in attempts at expansion. They are currently rumored to be gearing up for another large scale war; it is unknown who their target is, but it has resulted in something of an arms race.
Most of the Democratic Realms, or the Republic, are a series of approximately 100 planets with semi-interconnected governments, similar to the European Union. The ins and outs of Republic politics are even more complicated, and allegiances are constantly shifting. For example, should one planet be invaded, it is not guaranteed that other planets will even be required to respond, depending upon too many variables to list. There are chunks of 10-50 planets which do have collective defense treaties in place within the Republic, as well as a 20 planet collective not in the Republic which are known as the Pirate States.
And the Revenants? Alan asked.
The Revenants are a faction that worships an ancient machine race, the Architects. Little is known about the Architects other than they are the basis for the majority of the technology the Revenants use. The Revenants come from many species, like a guild, yet all are at least part machine. Their home planet, or planets, is in unknown space, and they are often seen at the far reaches of space searching for ancient artifacts or technology. Their technology is generally the most advanced in the Game.
Wait, what's the difference between a faction, guild and government? Alan asked.
A faction is an umbrella term for guild and government, they are separate entities, at least according to the Game. Yet, even though guilds are in a different category, they are no less important or influential than many governments. A major top ten guild may be just as or even more influential than, say, the Empire. Additionally, guilds may control a planet or planets, similar to a government, but the rules concerning how each rule are completely different. The various circumstances around the planet can vary a lot too, of course. There are certain planets which are unable to be conquered, at least through war, such as Khersath. Khersath is essentially a place where PvP, or player versus player combat is disallowed, a war-free zone where all the various humanoid factions interact. The interplay between guilds and governments can be quite interesting, as for instance your guild may end up going to war with the government you are a citizen of, and, once more, the specific circumstances of the situation would determine whose side you could or could not take. Of course, many of the major guilds are simply arms of the various governments.
Once Eve finished her info dump, Alan got his first good look at the Administrative Center. He had expected it to be a boring office building, like a City Hall or a Department of Motor Vehicles. Instead, the enormous pyramid-shaped building could be the palace, or burial site, of a galactic emperor. The building was layered with sheets of black metal, turrets and defensive shield generators located every few hundred feet. Alan could see the outline of a cube shaped structure at the tip of the pyramid. It was hard to make out, as it was nearly two miles up in the sky, but it looked like a mark.