Continue Online (Book 1, Memories) (16 page)

I
clenched my eyes and nodded. The man had given me more of an answer
than expected anyway. From that brief explanation, it was fairly
clear that these Voices, or Caretakers, were AIs. They could choose
me as much as I could try and choose them.

“
Why
not choose her?” The page flipped over one to the red skinned
temptress. The Angelic one was still up on her pedestal, but she
looked annoyed while trying to remain serene.

The
temptress came to with a black chair that she straddled. This view
was both a tease and a promise. Her legs flowed out to either side
and showed nothing but curves spinning down to obviously manicured
toes. She rested her face on a propped up hand and smiled.

“
For
the same reason I didn’t pick the first one.” I almost
groaned the answer.

“
That
answer feels incomplete, Grant Legate. Lust and love are not the same
thing, and neither are these two.”

“
I
didn’t come here to bang someone.” It was crude and to
the point.

This
made the temptress smile. Drat, I remembered how alluring she was far
too late.

“
Ah,
but you would love it.” Her voice was stimulating and made me
shake. I had to close my eyes and try not to respond on any level.
The black man made a noise and clicked his tongue. Shortly thereafter
both women faded away from view. I could still feel their presence,
though. That lingering hint of an overwhelming female and her cold,
distant counterpoint. Both were too perfect to be real, for different
reasons.

“
I’ve
known men and women who spend their entire lives chasing one of them,
and would die happy with a glimpse. Here, we give your kind the
chance to get closer than any from our world.” He smiled again,
satisfied with how things were progressing. I couldn’t say I
was happy, but I was rather enjoying the whole procession.

“
It
intrigues me when someone turns down the offer,” He said. “Your
turn, Grant Legate. If you have another question.”

“
Don’t
tell me some of you all are betting on who I’ll choose.”
I groaned.

“
There
are a few who do, yes.” The man gave a short chuckle. “If
that sort of thing interests you I can let you know the results.”

“
I’m
not sure I want to know.”

“
If
it’s any consolation most of them are out of the running.
Normally your kind chooses from one of the first few. Looks are a
valuable thing.”

My
eyes drifted downward towards a gut that had grown over the years.
Expecting fanciful looks from a woman was unfair. I only had this
pudgy midsection and a wad of emotional baggage to offer in exchange.
The me of years gone by might have been worthwhile. Once, I had been
a highly paid accountant and mentally balanced.

“
It’s
your turn still, Grant Legate.”

“
Yeah.”
I shifted gears. “Is this book ordered from those most chosen
to those least chosen?”

“
It
is. Across your kind and our world.” He confirmed.

“
Huh.”
I pondered the faces that had passed by, the creatures and images.
Here was this man, who had to be near the back. Why had so few chosen
him?

“
You’re
not very popular are you?”

“
In
this case I can both answer your question and pose my next one.
Please remember the rules and answer me clearly or this relationship
will have to end.”

I
nodded and waited.

“
I
am not, as you have stated so succinctly, popular,” I swear
there was amusement in the room. Less than before, far fewer, but
there was enough to fill the air without a doubt.

“
People
often do not like the questions I pose. I’ve been told they are
invasive and none of my business. Yet you do not seem upset at me,
more at the situation.”

“
How…”
The black man raised an eyebrow at my almost posed question. I put up
a hand and cut myself off, then nodded again.

“
Why
is that, Grant Legate?” He questioned me with a level
expression.

“
The
short answer?” I said.

“
A
complete answer of any length is fine.”

“
You’re
not the first shrink I’ve talked to. In my world I’m in
meetings, have a sponsor, the whole nine yards to get my life back
together. There’s nothing you could ask that I haven’t
already said out loud dozens of times.” I felt awkward standing
here. Not enough to do anything about it, my history was full of
being sat in one place and going through endless questions.

“
Very
well, Grant Legate. I will accept that answer. It’s your turn.”
He said.

“
Okay.
Yeah, I have a good one.” I responded with a pleasant smile.

“
I
hope so.”

“
What
the hell did that little dragon do to my Atrium?” Said little
dragon had alighted on the broken pillar's edge. Tiny claws dug into
formed groves and threatened to tear off more chunks of marble. It
was completely indifferent to my angry pointing finger.
“
Not
that, specifically, how the hell did loading up this world cause my
fiancée’s image to speak?”

Surprise
crossed the heavyset man’s face as he turned around to glare at
the small dragon. The much smaller creature crouched and winced, it
almost seemed to be pleading, but no words came out. Its mouth didn’t
even open. Soon it was backing up and almost falling off the broken
pillar's rear.

The
exchange wasn’t limited to those two. There was whispering
again, similar to what had happened when I first placed my hand on
the book. My gut told me these Voices, or computer programmed
personalities, were talking about something. None of the words were
distinct. Finally the room pulsed once, a brilliant blinding light.
Whispering stopped. The small dragon didn’t look up. After a
long pause, the black man turned back around looking upset and
distracted.

“
That
is not a question I can answer at this time, but we will arrange a
chance for compensation,” He said.

“
Will
you be able to answer it sooner or later?” I asked. The black
man lost some of his scattered anger and focused on my latest
question.

“
That
depends entirely on you, Grant Legate. Would you like to know
eventually? You may not like the answer.”

“
Yes,”
I confirmed.

“
Very
well. I will work to provide you an opportunity.” There was a
pause in the conversation as whispers rushed around again. “If
we judge it to be allowable.”

The
background chattered died, seemingly satisfied.

“
I’m
afraid I’ve lost track of who was where in the questions,”
He admitted. “Recent, developments-” he turned with a
half glare again “have distracted me.”

Can
computers get distracted? There was hope that humanity might survive
the eventual takeover of our robot overlords. Maybe we can lock them
up with logic loops and eat up their processing power.

“
I’m
not sure.” I was terrible at keeping track of the here and now
anyway. When working I could focus, and that was only possible due to
one task being available at a time. “You can ask a few if you
want.”

“
Not
right now.” Lips moved as he counted back. “Your turn I
believe. Since I could not answer your earlier question completely.”

“
Okay.”
I shook off this whole weird situation.

This
was probably some clever ploy to get me into the game. Continue
Online's evil plot started with destroying all the other digital
items I owned. A follow-up act involved pretending to punish itself.
That was far too complex for me to even conceive of. Honestly, if a
game wanted to go to that extent to get me hooked, I would sign off
on it.

“
Did
you have a name? Do any of you?” I gestured to the darkness
that had housed the other Voices. Most of them were likely out there
somewhere still.

“
We
all do though the names we were created with are far from perfect.”

“
Okay.
What would like me to call you?” Computer programs probably
couldn’t generate perfect names.

“
James,”
He said.

“
Just
James?” Computer AIs in a fantasy world would hopefully have
better naming sense than the creators of EXR-Sevens or Second Player
helm did. VCE-One through VCE-Seven Hundred and pi would sound far
less impressive than James.

“
Why,
is that name not good enough, Grant Legate?” I smiled at his
return question. Even our belated greeting was following the question
trading requirements.

“
James
is fine. It seems out of place for another world.”

“
It’s
not from our world, it’s from yours.” He said.

“
Well,
I guess that explains it.”

“
Your
turn again, Grant Legate.”

A
frown crossed my face. I was beginning to suspect we had different
definitions of the word question. Or maybe he could bend the rules a
little if he desired.

“
Okay
then.” My hand went for the book on its pedestal, ignoring the
tiny half cat sized dragon which was now staring at me. I reached out
and rubbed the top of its head. The small thing was so surprised that
it puffed out a glob of steam and jerked away.

“
Heh.”
I ignored the small creature and flipped through the pages again to
get to the back. I knew what choice would work for me.

“
Looks
like I’m signing up with you, James.”

“
Are
you sure?” He asked.

One
hand pressed down into the outline of a hand. Lights and sparkles
suffused my impression. What had once been darkness was now lighting
up. Walls seemed far closer than they had been. We were now somewhere
else entirely. A smaller room that felt far different both in
presence and atmosphere.

“
Yeah.
Looks like it.” I said while looking around.

“
Very
well.” The man looked around at the new landscape. “Then
we should get started with the next phase.”

Session Five -
Oh Wondrous Feet

Without
comprehension, I read the message repeatedly. James and the small
dragon creature weren't around anymore to remove my confusion. Both,
along with my book and pillar combo, were gone.