I know. PvP and who it’s okay to attack and when was one of your first lessons. Let’s go.
Alan made his way over to the Administrator outpost. It didn’t look like any spotters were watching it. At least, none that Eve detected. Shortly thereafter, the Administrator teleported the box for three diamond marks, which seemed like an absurd amount as it was only moved up a few floors. As he was expecting to die, Alan then exchanged the rest of his credits for five diamond, one gold and eight silver marks, which were one level below gold, worth around two hundred credits each at street value.
All right, we have about 30 minutes, maybe a few more if we hurry once we respawn at the Administrative Center, let’s see what we can find in the Abyss Labyrinth.
Chapter 16
Alan managed to make his way into the labyrinth with an unsuspecting group of explorers. The guards seemed to be more interested about who and what was potentially coming out of the labyrinth than who was going in. Inside the ruins of the building, there was a set of stone stairs leading into pitch-black darkness. The stairs were perfectly symmetrical, and Eve was able to outline in the darkness where the stairs should be, allowing Alan to roughly see in the dark. The explorers were making preparations and going over plans, so Alan decided to proceed down without them.
As Alan entered the dark labyrinth, two messages appeared:
You have now entered the Abyss Labyrinth. Unknown perils await in this seemingly bottomless maze.
Warning! Your level is far lower than even the weakest of threats in the Abyss Labyrinth. You are advised to leave and come back when you are a higher level or with a larger group. Otherwise, don’t blame sudden and unexplained death on anyone but yourself.
Communications with the outside world have been suspended. Your ability to send messages to other players is disabled.
Ignoring the messages, Alan continued onwards, invisible. Once he was far enough away from the surface he activated the glow of his sidearm, illuminating the path downwards. The area truly was an abyss. Other than the stairs, there were no walls or even floors that Alan could see. Instead, there was only the pitch blackness of a bottomless, unfathomable depth. One misstep could easily lead to his demise. Alan wasn’t one to feel vertigo, but the presence of nothing but the darkness was fairly unsettling.
Alan made it to the bottom of the stairs after what seemed like an eternity. There were three paths illuminated by a soft blue light, though Alan couldn’t tell where the light came from. Down each path were simple, 10-foot wide stone walkways. Each was right next to a bottomless drop. There was a player’s note saying that the right and left paths had been cleared already, thus Alan was about to take the middle path when Eve communicated with him.
Wait. Fire at the ground in between the paths and next to them.
Um, all right.
Alan did as Eve ordered, firing in between the paths with his laser pistols, wondering what Eve wanted. He watched as the lasers shot out into the depth going further and further until disappearing into nothingness. Then, as Alan fired to the left of the leftmost path, the laser struck something, and the outline of a fourth, hidden pathway appeared.
What? How did you know?
Lucky guess. Continue firing at the ground and follow the invisible path as your shots illuminate it.
Alan did so. This hidden path was invisible; the only way Alan knew which way to go was that Eve marked where the shots he struck landed, creating an outline of where the path was. Unlike the stone paths, it was barely three feet wide, making it difficult for Alan to maneuver, especially as it twisted and turned. It was unnerving too, standing on an unseen road, on top of darkness. After a few minutes, the path led Alan below the stairs he had entered through, backwards rather than forwards.
*Click*
Alan’s foot pressed into the ground, pushing into a pressure plate. His mind immediately leapt into overdrive.
Three incoming projectiles from the stairs.
Eve highlighted three darts coming towards Alan. Alan dove, barely avoiding them.
Perhaps we should proceed with more caution.
Um, okay.
Alan continued to creep along the invisible path slowly, barely surviving a number of traps thanks to Eve’s observation skills and his own inhuman reaction speeds. A few were surprisingly simple to maneuver around, such as a single tripwire and a gap in the path that had to be leapt over. Others were puzzles that Alan had no way of understanding, control panels with unknown symbols and technology at work. Eve seemed to understand them though, and following her orders Alan managed to pass them with ease. Finally, after around fifteen minutes of scrambling around Alan found himself before what was, as far as he could tell, a cube-like structure. The path ended here, yet as Alan spread his hands out over the invisible wall before him he could find no door or obvious way of entering this structure.
Try reaching out with your mental capacities.
Like I’m trying to communicate with an Administrator?
Yes.
All right.
Alan concentrated, trying to detect some sort of machine presence or consciousness he could interface with. To his surprise, he detected a faint presence before him, and initiated contact.
Hello? Anyone home?
… Systems Initializing. Error. Warning: Limited Power.
Greetings Traveler. Warning: ERROR. Main Systems Offline.
Traveler? Are you an Administrator? What are you doing here?
ERROR: Bad Request.
Wha—
Resuming Power Savings Mode. Estimated remaining power supply for limited functionalities: 34 Millennia. Please contact the Authorities and repair or supply power source, Traveler. Current threat leveclass="underline" Gamma.
The presence cut off, and a new quest appeared before Alan:
Missing Systems:
Restore power to the mysterious Abyss Labyrinth. Find out more about the structure and its purpose.
Option: Figure out who the Authorities are and attempt to get help from them
Penalty: ???
Reward: ???
Time Limit: Approx. 3000 years
Threat Leveclass="underline" Gamma
Threat level? What’s that? And how did you know that I should reach out to try to contact some machine presence?
I am unsure. My actions have been motivated by a faint sense that I have been here before, or I know something I shouldn’t… There is no data in my memory to indicate I was ever here before. This is highly disturbing. A threat level only appears in a quest which could potentially lead to far reaching and possibly horrific consequences. The highest known threat level is Alpha, which was only once recorded during a universe wide genocidal rampage, the Predecessor War, while the lowest threat level is Gamma.
Yet even Gamma threat level quests have been known to influence the fate of entire planets. I am unsure if the threat level is because of the time limit or possible effects of the quest. Guilds and factions, even enemies such as the Empire, Haxlards and the Republic often band together to solve such quests. We should continue on, and try to find more. Proceed with caution.