Continue Online (Book 1, Memories) (15 page)

The
woman grunted and waved me away.

Voices
came in all shapes and sizes. No two alike, many seemed to have
gender counterpoints. Skin color varied and many weren’t human.
One Centaur type creature was disturbingly correct in its anatomy. I
shuddered for a moment while the great beast gave a laugh. That page
was turned quickly before he could rear up and disturb me even more.

One
was a short creature that might have been a gnome. A stockier one
followed that might be a dwarf. Scanning through this book was giving
me a fairly clear picture of what sort of choices were out there in
this game.

Here
was a tree and perched up high was a giant cat man. Clearly this was
the same race as whomever Beth was playing with in the game. I paused
in my perusal. Were these what passed for Gods? Was that what was
happening here? A Voice? Oh wow. Now it was even more important to
find one that worked for me. Only I had no idea what to choose.

Next
up was a Jester looking creature. I hesitated to say human because it
wasn’t entirely clear under the clownish edge of frills. Worse
still was the long nose on his face and the distorted smile. This one
stared at me and didn’t move. His backdrop was blank like some
others had been before.

I
blinked and tried to figure out if I was looking at a mask or its
skin. The eyes were dark and sunken, the rest of his face a pearly
white. My skin crawled. That had to be a mask. The rest of him was so
colorful that it was hard to look in one spot.

Suddenly
the room was too quiet. Looking away felt dangerous. I had to
struggle and remind myself that this was a computer program. Nothing
here was real. Yet the thought of looking away made my heart race.
This Jester creature could have been staring into the middle distance
or something over my shoulder. Behind me. Was something there? Maybe?

I
risked looking away from that inhuman face for a moment. A second to
confirm that the door to my Atrium was still in the distance. To
check and make sure nothing had crawled out of this latest display to
get behind me.

The
tiny dragon squawked with sudden panic and flew off from its perch.
The feeling that had been creeping up behind me was even worse, only
now it was from the direction of the Jester I dared to look away
from.

I
turned back and flinched. The Jester was now inches away from my
face. A long nose spanned the divide. There was nothing under that
mask. No mouth or eyes to be found in the depths of blackness.

Cold,
clammy fingertips touched my forearm.

“
You
could not handle what I would ask.” The Jester's distant and
distorted voice came out. “Not yet.”

I
risked glancing down. The Jester was taking my hand, an action which
sent my virtual heart into palpitations and using it to do something
with the book. Together, me almost petrified and the Jester with a
frozen grin, we closed the book entirely.

The
images and projections of humans and other creatures faded. Even the
Jester was gone. I took a few breaths to steady myself. This game had
officially freaked me out. Once I got over the rush, part of me
realized that these different images, Voices, were completely
suckering me in. I watched them like a spectator at a zoo. Some
interacted with me and made me realize that this observation was
two-way. Continue Online was studying me. That idea made me pause.

“
If
anyone needs to know, I’m really good at polishing the metal
frames of our eventual robot overlords!” The comment came out
far more nervous than it did joking. In the darkness, something once
again seemed amused.

I
shook myself off and the feelings faded. I was reading into the empty
surroundings. My shrink called it projecting internal fears upon an
indifferent landscape. Self-realization was a technique I tried to
practice over the last few years. It made me more open with the
things that bothered me, like the conversation with Liz earlier
today.

Was
that today? I opened the book again, skipping a few pages to avoid
the Jester or any others of that type.

“
You
seem at a loss.” The latest figure was an overly plump black
man. He too wore glasses and had a balding head. Flickers of gray
etched what roots remained. “Would you like to talk about it?”

That
tone struck me hard. A rich depth lined each word, firmly gentle with
a single phrase. I didn’t swing towards the guys' side of the
fence at all, yet he spoke in such a way that I wanted to talk. Even
the question he asked felt comfortable. It was the same sort of
question I heard once a month from my psychologist. Two hours a month
spent explaining that I hadn’t tried to kill myself in the
bathtub this week because I was going strong.

“
If
we speak for too long, does that mean I’ve chosen you?” I
asked.

“
Not
at all. You make the choice clear by placing your hand on the print
below.” The heavier man approached the podium during our
conversation.

He
was strangely alone in the landscape. Most of the others had been
given some sort of backdrop. Warriors had battle scenes, elves had
trees or something nature bent. The connections were obvious. Like
the Jester, this man had nothing else but wasn’t nearly as
creepy.

“
Can
you explain what’s happening?”

“
I
can, but for each Voice there are rules,” He said.

“
Are
you whatever passes for Gods in this game?” I started with a
simple question based on teenage years filled with games and
homework.

“
For
myself, I believe in a fair exchange.” The black man completely
bypassed my question. “You ask a question, and I will answer to
the best of my understanding, should I choose to.”

“
That’s…”

“
It’s
unfair, but there are restrictions on what we can impart to your
kind. Here’s an example, you asked if we are Gods in this game.
I can answer by saying yes, but the term God is misleading. We are
more like Caretakers of this world.” He said a mouthful while
walking around the pillar slowly.

“
Oh.”
I guess even the developers didn’t want to deal with
Christianity. Religions out there in the real world might get upset.
Especially since the player base was incredibly huge. Trillium and
The ARC Project had a yearly income higher than the Vatican.

“
Now
I ask you a question, and my rules are that simple. You ask, I ask,
you ask, I ask. I will try to keep this exchange even.”

“
That’s
reasonable.” It was awesome actually. The gods here had rules
right from the get go! That was something insanely unique from
anything I’ve ever played. Even before this level of realism.
Players never got to just flip through a book and talk to them.

“
Why
didn't you choose this one?” The black man flipped back towards
the beginning of the book. Moments later he was on the Angelic blonde
who sat on a pedestal. This time she didn’t look indifferent,
she looked annoyed and glared at the two of us.

“
I
don’t know,” I said slowly.

“
When
someone says they don’t know, it either means they are
uncomfortable explaining or don’t know how to word it. Think
about my question some more and try to answer it again.” I gave
the larger man a confused look. He was dead on, both in matters of
comfort and not having the right words.

“
She’s
on a pedestal,” I said.

“
She
was placed there by her followers and it has little bearing on her
looks. Most of your kind, and those in the world we watch over,
remark on her beauty, yet you did not.” The heavyset man looked
up towards the blonde with a hint of amusement.

Now
she was standing up and looked downright furious. A gust of wind
passed through and sent her blonde tresses spinning wildly about her
face. Thunder rolled and a storm approached from somewhere outside of
our room chilling the air.

“
I’m
not playing this game for that sort of thing. I had…” As
a man, formally in a relationship, I realized how wrong the words
coming out of my mouth would be taken. Looking up revealed a poor
reception to my utterance. She was getting even angrier. Her mouth
opened in a soundless shout and thunder echoed across. I winced and
shied away. Rain was splattering in the landscape across the book's
pillar.

“
I’m
not looking for a replacement of my fiancée!” I shouted
in desperation. The winds died. By the time I looked up again, the
angelic woman had resumed her location on the perch. She stared off
into the invisible distance.

These
Voices were intense.

“
Very
well. It’s your turn for a question, Grant Legate.”

“
Are
all of you so-” How did I phrase this? They had interacted with
me, and I hadn't even created a character yet. There was no entry
quest or setting. Nothing. Yet these Voices were clearly part of the
game.

“
You
are allowed to explain how you’re feeling before asking a
question. I am no Trickster seeking to lead you astray. I am-”
he gestured an arm up and down his midsection “exactly as you
see. A man who wishes to exchange questions for answers.”

“
Earlier
there was a man who yelled in my face. Some military one.”

“
Yes.”
The black man nodded.

“
And
there was the one in the mask.” Man or woman, it had been hard
to tell from the brief interaction we shared.

“
Yes.”

“
And
her.” I pointed to the woman on the pillar. She would be at
home staring out over the sea with that distant gaze.

“
Yes.”

“
Do
you all see me? Wait, no that’s not right…” I
waved my hand in confusion and tried to figure out how to phrase this
next question. It needed to be something that cleared up my unease.

“
You
are seeking to understand exactly what is happening here, is that
what you want to know?” He said. It didn’t sound exactly
right. I understood, but at the same time it felt incomplete.

“
I
guess?” My forehead scrunched in thought.

“
Very
well. You are here because you chose to be. Some of your kind enter
and are treated with far less grace. Yet because you held a key, you
will be tested before finding a place in the world.” I nodded
to show I was following. This sounded like Ultimate Edition stuff,
things not normally given to regular players.

“
Here,
in this space between our world and yours, are the Voices. We all
watch.” He gestured around, and for a moment I could see other
faces and figures in the darkness. They faded in and out with bows
and waves or grunts. Some smiled, others scowled, yet more looked
distracted.
“
Each
of us takes a measure of who you are and may choose to favor you or
not before your journey starts.”

“
So
that thing with me choosing a Voice was a lie?” I felt almost
happy for catching the game in a misleading lie.

“
Ah,
my turn next,” He said.