《RWO - Dreams of another world》 1 - Online while away Today I¡¯m running. I¡¯m not running away from a monster. I¡¯m not running to save someone from a burning building. No, I¡¯m just running. Some days I practice down at the fighters training hall. Other days I work on learning obscure languages at the library. Smithing, archery, picking herbs are all things that I train in. You could say I¡¯m a professional at practicing. I¡¯m getting a bit winded, hungry, and thirsty. Time to take a break and get something to eat. There¡¯s a dwarven place nearby that I like. People have been giving me odd looks for the last 15 minutes. I wonder what that¡¯s about. I grab a table at Grey Stone Smasher¡¯s Stout and Trout. ¡°I¡¯ll have a stout, burger, and fries,¡± I told Shirley the serving wench. I know that it¡¯s Shirley because of the name floating over her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know what a burger and fries are. We serve stout and trout here.¡± Shirley stood waitingpatiently for a valid order. ¡°I¡¯ll have a stout and trout then.¡± ¡°Here you go.¡± Shirley put my order on the table, took my money, and then left to serve her next customer. I had a bit of a start as I realized that I had no idea where the plate came from. She wasn¡¯t holding it walking up to my table. It¡¯s been a strange day. Mornings are fine, though a lot of the time I can¡¯t remember going to bed. I just lose track of things and wake up in the morning. I wonder if that¡¯s normal. After finishing my meal I pull out my to-do list. Running: check. Next up is¡­ sneaking? I¡¯ll come back to that one tonight. More fighting practice ¡ª that sounds good. Off to the fighter hall. I briefly wonder when I write all these lists as I have no memory of ever writing one. Go figure. I warm up on fighting dummies with a wooden practice sword. Whack, Whack, Whack. Bored now. I grab some training armor and get into line for sparring practice. I count off the pairs and decide to chat with my partner who happens to be in front of me. ¡°Hey Thagnar, how¡¯s your day going?¡± Thagnar started and stared at me as if he¡¯d seen a ghost.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Hey Hashi, how did you hack your tag to get it to say ¡®away¡¯? Is the system glitching again?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t know that I was marked away.¡± I have no clue about what he¡¯s talking about. I see away next to about 20% of people''s names every day but other than them being a bit aloof and quiet, they seem like normal people to me. I have to wonder if that means people are being contemplative. I have a decent match with Thagnar and head out. I¡¯m walking to the market for crafting supplies when my awareness abruptly stops.
I had a strangely vivid dream. I was lying in a bed in a dark room. The bed was soft. All I could see were 5 whirling blades suspended over my body. I couldn¡¯t move at all. The blades were moving so fast I could feel a breeze coming from them. I was terrified. I couldn¡¯t make a sound. I silently prayed: will someone please help me!
I woke up, got out of bed, put on clothes and then got out my to-do list. I¡¯m feeling freaked out. That was scary. I lost track of yesterday while heading to get crafting supplies. Normal. Being paralyzed below a whirling death trap before waking up. Definitely a novel experience. I almost never have novel experiences. Well, I¡¯m definitely alert. I think I¡¯ll skip the wake-me-up at breakfast this morning. Hopefully, today will go better. I wish I could get rid of the (away) over my head so people would stop looking at me funny. The system silently adjusted Hashi(away) to Hashi. Ah, my to-do list. I skip the meal that comes with my room and Ipull out somerations from my bag after leaving the inn. I often wake up in inns but never remember paying for the rooms. I wonder if other people have memory issues late in the day. Perhaps I¡¯ll visit a medical priest later. Glancing at my list I see practicing making potions is first up. A lot of people are waving and greeting me today. I wave back and mimic some of the phrases that I¡¯ve heard. ¡°Hi.¡± ¡°Good day.¡± ¡°Nice armor.¡± I say ¡°good luck with the fishing¡± to a human in obvious fishing gear. The people in town are really friendly today. Maybe it¡¯s a holiday. I pick up supplies from several shops and then rent a potion stand at an alchemist¡¯s shop. I spend several hours making a variety of potions, which I then sell to the alchemist. While I was working I kept hearing this ¡°ding¡± sound. I tried to find out where the sound was coming from to no avail. When I asked the alchemist about it, he said that he heard nothing. I thanked him and left the shop. And then nothingness hit again.
I¡¯m sitting in a padded chair at one side of a crowded room. Not crowded with people, but crowded with stuff. I can¡¯t move my body again. I am glad that I can move my eyes. The room is lit and the light is coming from a glowing ball just below another spinning blade trap. At least I¡¯m not below it this time. As I sit here stuck to a comfortable chair I imagine that a black armored anti-paladin will charge in soon and threaten to torture me so I will give up state secrets. I don¡¯t know what a state is nor do I have any secrets. Maybe he¡¯ll want to see my to-do list. I see one of my fingers twitch and then blackness. 2 - Looking for a priest I''m back in my room at the inn. It feels so different from those other rooms. The rooms with the spinning blade traps. The rooms where I''m paralyzed. I get out my to-do list and insert a few items. I get dressed and head down to the common room. "Good Morning Hashi!" Hank says. [Hank, Innkeeper] I stop and think about this a bit. Something has changed. First Thagnar, now Hank; people are greeting me now. "Um, Good morning, Hank," I say with emphasis. "I''d like some breakfast, please." I walk up to the bar and have some breakfast and 2 cups of wake-me-up. After finishing I ask Hank where I can find a priest. "Down at the temple. Here, let me show you on your map." I get my map out of my bag and Hank points out the temple. "Thanks, Hank. See you later." Hmm, I think I''m getting the hang of talking with people. Other than buying things I''ve never had to do it. I set out for the temple at a run. Yay for running practice. I dodge people, wagons, and livestock as I head to the temple. Inside I talk to one of the guys walking around in robes[Brother Tim, Priest], "I think there is something wrong with me. I''m having strange visions. Can you help?" Brother Tim said, ¡°Be at peace my child and follow me to the treatment chambers.¡± I''m fascinated by his robes. His robes are purple, somewhat shiny, and seem to exude calmness. Maybe Brother Time is the source of the calmness. We walk for a short while down a hall and Brother Tim opened a door and gestured that I enter. He followed me in and closed the door. All that was in the room was a table, a chair, a cabinet of supplies and a low bed. Pointing at the bed he said, ¡°Sit. And tell me what is troubling you.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been having strange dreams where I wake up unable to move in a strange place. Both times I was unable to move and the was a spinning blade trap on the ceiling.¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Brother Tim stood up, made a few mystical gestures with his hands, and stared at something invisible in the air. ¡°If you will stay right there I consult with one of my superiors about your ¡®condition¡¯. Lie back and relax. We¡¯ll take good care of you.¡± Brother Tim seemed excited as he left the room. I took him at his word and lay back on the bed. I don¡¯t remember ever lying down in a bed before. I fell asleep.
Brother Tim is leaning over me saying my name. ¡°Hashi. I¡¯ve talked to my superiors in the order and they¡¯ve found a specialist that claims to have knowledge of your condition.¡± I¡¯m feeling a bit muddled at the moment and am really wanting some wake-me-up right now. Sitting up I say, ¡°I¡¯m so glad, when can I meet him?¡± Tim replies ¡°Follow me, he¡¯s right outside.¡± I leave the room after Tim. Out in the hall is a tallish fellow in unfamiliar clothing. Generally, mages wear cloth robes, thieves wear leather armor, priests and warrior can wear any armor type. This person is wearing leather robes and has some reflective goggles covering his eyes. Looking at the text over his head I can see that he¡¯s named Doktor Urmind and has no class tag. Doktor Urmind thrusts out a hand and vigorously shakes mine. ¡°Hashi, I am so very glad to meet you. Have no fear. I can help you regarding your recent disturbing experiences.¡± Feeling uneasy I glance at brother Tim who nods and says ¡°Doktor Urmind will take care of you. Divine one¡¯s blessing.¡± He does a short bow, turns and walks off quickly down the hall. Looking once again at Urmind I say ¡°Can we get some wake-me-up first?¡± Doktor Urmind says ¡°But of course young man. Let¡¯s go find a nice quiet coffee shop.¡± I trail behind him. I¡¯m feeling uneasy as I haven¡¯t even started on my to do list. The Doktor looks back and sees me looking at my list. ¡°Let''s get that wake me up to go and get you working on your list. We wouldn¡¯t want your player getting suspicious if he logs in, now would we.¡± I¡¯m puzzled. I¡¯ve heard other people mention logging in, logging out, players, NPCs, experience, and many other terms that I don¡¯t understand before. I never thought anything of it as I was busy training. Until a few days ago training was a pretty peaceful, mindless way to spend a day. No worries, no troubles. I had an endless series of boxes to check and very few decisions to make. Life was simple. Lost in thought I just noticed that I¡¯ve lost the Doktor as well. I pull out my list and head back to the fighters guild for training. I start humming and singing to myself. ¡°He¡¯s making a list and checking it twice¡­¡± My auto pilot has engaged and I¡¯m fine with that. Thinking so much has given me a headache. I stop and get a cup of wake-me-up before I start training.
The Doktor is near a coffee shop. It¡¯s not called that in-game. He¡¯s mumbling to himself. ¡°Who came up with the lame wake-me-up description? And where did my test subject run off to?¡± ¡°Better head back to the lab and summon my minions.¡± ¡°Hashi and I are going to have so much fun together.¡± 3 - On with the show Once again I wake up. I¡¯m on a bed frozen beneath the spinning blades of Doom. The room is quiet other than the faint sound of the whirling blades. They are spinning slower this time. I hear Doktor Urmind¡¯s voice: ¡°And now for something completely different.¡± I¡¯m somewhere or nowhere. I can¡¯t see anything. I can¡¯t hear anything. No smells, no taste, no feeling. I don''t have abody and I can only think. Think. Think. Think. I try to remember yesterday. Now I¡¯m here. Now what? Am I dead? Did the gods pull me out of my body and drop me? Is Doktor Urmind a god? How do I get out of here? ¡°Hello! Can anyone hear me?¡± I hear several thumping sounds and then the Doktor¡¯s voice: ¡°Is this on? Hashi?¡± "Yes¡­ Where am I? Doktor? I can¡¯t see anything. What¡¯s going on?¡±
Somewhere else Doktor Urmind is sitting with an old style laptop typing away furiously. Many windows of scrolling text and moving graphs are on his display. He types >run scenario001 actor=hashi.
I hear the Doktor again. ¡°Ok Hashi, you should see something in 3, 2, 1¡­¡± I¡¯m standing in a 10¡¯x10¡¯ room. The walls are light blue. The floor has light grey industrial carpeting. There are doors on two adjacent walls with little signs above them. One says [Long-winded exposition] and the other says [Screening room]. This is different. I wait for the Doktor to explain this. He¡¯s not saying anything. Perhaps if I go through the exposition door I¡¯ll get an explanation from him. I am curious about the screening room. Why not. Screening room it is and Iwalk through the doorway. The first thing I see after passing through the [Screening Room] doorway is Doktor Urmind. He¡¯s still wearing his leather robes and reflective goggles. He¡¯s also holding a paper bucket in one hand and a paper cup with a straw in the other hand. ¡°Hashi, I¡¯m glad you chose the movie version. Have some popcorn and soda. It helps for getting the full experience. Have a seat and I¡¯ll start the show.¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I just stare at the Doktor. I really don¡¯t know what he¡¯s talking about. Movie, popcorn, and soda are foreign words, perhaps dwarvish as they are short little words. ¡°Huh? Would you try again in common?¡± ¡°Food, drink, sit, watch. Is that more clear? I thought we¡¯d watch a film together to give you some context regarding your situation.¡± I take the rations from Doktor Urmind and sit down. There are two armchairs and a small table between them. Rations like mine are on the table. Across the room is a curtain over the edge of a stage. So film means theater with actors. The stage looks small for atheater production. The light in the room dims and the curtains part revealing a silver-colored wall. I look at Urmind, who is picking white fluffy food bits and putting them in his mouth. He stops eating and says, ¡°Look at the screen. The show''s starting.¡± I jump out of my chair when loud sound fills the room and a vision of a green shield emblazoned with a stylized WB fills the wall on the stage area. I brush fluffy food bits out of my chair and sit down to see the following words fill the screen: ¡°The Matrix¡±. I am entranced, disturbed, and a lot of other ''ed'' words by the vision unfolding on the silver wall. The Doktor must be a high-level illusionist. I¡¯m having trouble with this series of illusions based on many invisible observers abruptly showing their part of the story. It starts with a short skit about a high level female human monk named Trinity. She has an unarmed battle in a small room with what looks like city guards firing projectile throwers. Then she runs away. I have no idea how long these visions continued. I¡¯m engrossed with this story about a person in a world that wakes up in another world that others call the real world. I quickly realize that the Doktor wanted me to show me this story because I am like this Neo person waking up from his life support pod. My visions didn¡¯t include a pod and Neo¡¯s didn¡¯t have spinning blade traps overhead. I¡¯m getting a headache from the loud music and sudden shifts in point of view. Have I been living in the Matrix? Doktor Urmind dresses like this Morpheus person. Have I been asleep in another world dreaming of training my adventuring skills? Eventually, the sound ceases and the room brightens. I don¡¯t understand what I¡¯m feeling. Perhaps excited and frightened at the same time. I want my lists and some mindless activity. I¡¯m sitting here somewhat dazed. I¡¯m still staring at the silver screen when the curtains close. Doktor Urmind walks in front of me. ¡°Pretty cool, huh? Seem a little familiar? Have any guesses about what¡¯s going on?¡± Urmind asked. He grabs his chair and sets it down in front of me. ¡°Uh. Am I in the matrix? You¡¯re going to pull out a little box of pills?¡± ¡°Right now there is a person jacked in and playing Hashi in the game world you are used to. Most people play the game with blah, blah¡­ Nonstandard interface blah, blah¡­ .¡± Urmind notices my dazed expression and says, ¡°You¡¯ll have to visit the player''s world to understand your situation.¡± He makes some gestures with his hand and then I see some words floating in midair.
Would you like to play Real World Online?
Yes No
4 - A few choices. Red pill, blue pill¡­ I try to get out my to-do list, it might have the answer. ¡°Doktor! Where is my bag? Where¡¯s my stuff?¡± Urmind answers me, ¡°The player has it. We can¡¯t have 2 copies of Hashi running around, so I cloned your character information. Your nameplate currently reads Hashi006. Would you like a different name while he¡¯s logged in?¡± I think about it a while. I¡¯m staring at the game invite with its red and blue buttons. ¡°How about H. Grindswell? I think that shows my individuality.¡± Urmind replies, ¡°OK, I¡¯ve updated you. Real world online will give you a game interface and the opportunity to train while you are in the player''s world.¡± Well, that is the first thing that has made sense in a while. ¡°Will I get my to-do list back?¡± ¡°You can make as many to-do lists as you like while you are there.¡± The Doktor seems to be trying to reassure me. ¡°Will I have to go through some sort of disturbing took the pill rabbit hole freaky transition to get there?¡± ¡°Nope, pushing the button will take you to a character creation screen for the game. There you can assign some stats and skill points for starting out. You won¡¯t be able to adjust your body shape. Other than that, it¡¯s pretty much the same interface used by new players to the game you were living in. You will be using the player¡¯s avatar while there. Do try to leave it where you found it. We don¡¯t want to let anyone know where you are from. There might be men in black suits waiting to take you away for study.¡± ¡°Doktor Urmind, you suck at being reassuring.¡± I close my eyes and push ¡®Yes¡¯. *** I¡¯m standing up in a small room. I¡¯m looking a person standing in front of me. I¡¯m not sure if there¡¯s anyone home in there as he¡¯s not moving and his eyes aren¡¯t tracking me as I move around to look at him. This gets boring after a minute or so. A female voice starts speaking. I can¡¯t tell where it¡¯s coming from.Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Welcome to Real World Online. Everyone at Doktor Urmind¡¯s Hacking Group hopes you will have a pleasant gaming experience. It seems that you have a special event character. Your initial race and body are fixed until modified in thegame. You have 10 stat points to distribute between intelligence, perception, and luck. You can do this now or save them until later. You have 1 skill point assigned to the crafting skill. You have one body hack augment slot available. Please choose one of the following mods for your augment slot. You may change your mod assignment later in-game. The currently available mods areadrenal speed boost, adrenal strength boost, and increased regeneration. Please also chose your stat assignment at this time.¡± A block of floating text appears with my three choices. After a little thought, I pick regeneration as I don¡¯t know how available healing potions will be in the game. Another one with my stats appears and I decide to split my points between intelligence and luck. Can the game make me smarter or extra lucky? I¡¯m curious about that. I look at a final display with my characters stats. I see one last text block: Accept this character and enter the game? I choose yes. ¡°One last thing before starting play. Please note a time counter in the upper right portion of your HUD. That is your available play time for this session. Please return your avatar to its original position before logging out or the forced logout when the Player logs out (estimated by the remaining time counter). Have an enjoyable time in Real World Online. Please state either ¡®Jack in¡¯ or ¡®Log out¡¯ at this time.¡± ¡°Jack in.¡± My expected transition doesn¡¯t happen and the voice has one more thing to say. ¡°Please note that Real World Online is a hardcore server. Resurrection is not available and death in thegame will result in character deletion. Play safe.¡± I transition into the game.
Player: H. Grindswell Character Name: TBD Class Name: TBD Level: 1
Stats:
  • Strength 10
  • Perception 10
  • Endurance 10
  • Intelligence 15
  • Agility 10
  • Luck 15
Skills:
  • Crafting 1
Augment(s):
  • Enhanced regeneration
Perks:
  • Practiced - trains faster than normal
  • Blank Slate - picks up new skills more quickly
5 - Survive? I open my eyes. I¡¯m on the bed beneath the blade trap. Pretty much same thing as before. I lift my left arm where I can see it. It looks weird and I feel very disconnected from it. I open my hand in front of my face. My hand is covered in tiny little lines and has uneven coloring. Wonderful! I¡¯m in a world of blotchy uneven avatars. I really don¡¯t feel like moving much yet. I feel oddly disconnected from my surroundings. [System: Game interface initializing¡­] [System: Brain wave monitoring and synchronization¡­] [System: Detecting encoding schema¡­] [System: Compiling game interface kernel¡­] [System: Downloading kernel into game avatar¡­] My vision blanks out for a moment. When my sight comes back it¡¯s different. The world seems surreal. I¡¯m seeing still images sequenced rapidly. The world seems distorted. I feel¡­ [System: Kinesthetic, tactile, and haptic interface initialized] I feel. I have no idea what the heck I¡¯m feeling. My whole body is stuffed with weird sensations. Overstuffed. I hope I don¡¯t stay like this.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. [System: Game interface initialized.] [System: Welcome to Real World Online. Have fun!] [System: Achievement! Player H. Grindswell is the first user to survive Real World Online character creation +1000 xp] [System: Level up! You have 5 stat points to distribute.] During the level up message, I heard a ¡®ding¡¯ sound. So that¡¯s what the ''ding'' is for. Survive?
I''m laying here staring at the blade trap. I wonder why they have those here. I see a targeting marker on the blade trap and some text next to it: [Ceiling fan]. Huh. Well, I came here to understand about my weird dreams. Time to get moving and check this place out. Sitting up I look around the room. Targeting markers show up all over the place: [Bed] [Door] [Desk] [Computer] [Pencil] [Paper] [Carpet]. Argh, too many nameplates. I wish they¡¯d go away. And they did. Cool! Nameplates on. Nameplates show up everywhere. Nameplates off. They disappear. There¡¯s a 1:27:33 visible in the upper right corner of my visual field where the 33 is counting down. Think. Think. Think. That¡¯s my time remaining. Time remaining off. The display disappears. Time remaining on. Numbers. I wonder how the system knows what I¡¯m thinking. I know, it''s mind magic. Next up: check out my clothes. Shirt and pants check. Not like the ones at home but they are pretty obviously shirt and pants. Inventory bag, nope. To-do list, no. I grab paper and pencil from the desk. I¡¯m not sure where to put them since I¡¯m missing a bag. How do people here carry around their stuff? I also don¡¯t see any weapons or armor in the room. I do have some sort of helmet that I¡¯m wearing. I put on some shoes that are next to the bed. Well, I have clothes, I have a place to end my adventure, I have supplies for making to-do lists. Player''s world, here I come. I open up the door. It''s adventure time! 6 - Whats behind door number one. Maybe I don''t open the door. I touched it and it didn''t open. Ithink: . Nope. I turn the object nameplates back on. I see [door], [door knob], [Hinge], [Hinge]. I touch the door knob. That didn''t do it either. I pull on the door knob. Same result. Maybe a spell would work. Doors in my world aren''t this complicated. Normally I''d just touch the door and activate it. I inspect the door knob.
>inspect door This is an interior wooden door. Attached to the door is a door knob. >inspect door knob This is adoor knob. It has a chrome finish. It does not have a locking mechanism. When a door knob is rotated, the latch bolt in the door knob assembly disengages from the strike plate embedded in the door frame.
Hmm, that sounds like some sort of gnomish device. Sounds simple enough. Ok then. Iput my hand on the door knob, rotate it, and the door pulls towards me slightly. I think this is a design flaw and overly complex but I now have and open door. Outside is a hallway with a few doors and pictures on the wall. It looks like there are some stairs down the hall.looking at the floor I see some [carpet]. I''m starting to feel better again about my adventure in the player''s world. Downstairs I see a room with couches and a large black panel [LCD TV]. I''ve left the name plates on but they are quite distracting. I also see another door [exterior door]. I wonder if I should be drawing a map of this in case I lose my way. My timer reads 1:19:49. Out the [exterior door] I go.[System Achievement: First time leaving spawn point. operate mechanical devices +1, +50 xp] After I walked out of the building, I just stop. I''m having trouble taking in what I''m seeing. The resolution and model detail are mind-boggling. Looking down Isee [grass]. After I reacheddown to touch it, I had to sit down on the [concrete walkway] to run my hands through the grass. I can feel that the ground is bumpy and rough. This is amazing. Sure I''ve never touch/felt anything before today. Looking around I can see [street], [sidewalk], [car], [park], [tree], [swing set], [human child]. So many things to see and they aren''t like their counterparts in my world at all. "Hey, Zach." I look up and see a human woman standing near me. Then I look around to see who she is talking to. Looking at her again, she seems to be studying me.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. I say "Hi" to her. She grimaces a bit and then made some sort of mystical gesture at me with one hand. Perhaps she''s casting a dispel spell at me. I never practiced magic so I don''t know. "Who are you?" She asks. I quickly bring up my character sheet and tell her. "Zachery Russell." That''s my character name here. I hadn''t checked on that since arriving and it wasn''t available when I was making my character. "Please come back in the house with me, I made some fresh coffee." She points at the house I just left. I think she''s talking about wake-me-up. "Sure, that sounds great!" I get up and follow her into the house. She leads me through the house. She gets me a cup of coffee and leads me into a room with a [dining table] and 4 [chair]s. I sit down with my coffee and she sits across from me. "I''m Kithera Rusell, Zachery Russell''s wife." I was still feeling pretty good after seeing the outside here. I think I lost my smile. Kithera is looking pretty intense now. She fooled me with the pleasant get some coffee thing. "I''m going to ask again. Don''t make me ask you a third time. Who are you? You, walking around in my husband''s body." Now she''s seeming pretty fierce. Uh Oh.I really don''t see any way around this. "I''m Hashi. Actually, I''m Hashi''s away character. I''m glad to meet you Kithera. Thank you for the coffee. I think your house looks nice." [System: Smooth talker, charisma +1] [System: Your quest to explore RWO without revealing yourself failed. Good luck. Hope there aren''t any men in black suits around.] I''m pretty sure Kithera wasn''t expecting that. She seems to be at a loss for words. I am a bit curious who she thought was occupying her husband''s body. Since I already gave it away, I follow up with: "As far as I know, he''s still playing the game at the moment. He''s not scheduled to log out for another hour." "Hashi, how do you know when he''s scheduled to log out?" "That''s easy, there''s a counter on my HUD." "Right." A long pause and then she said, "So you are playing a game. Correct?" "Yes, Doktor Urmind set me up with a character. He said it would help me understand my situation." I''m enjoying this conversation. The coffee tastes pretty good too. Coffee in my world doesn''t really have a taste. "Hashi, I''m going to contact my husband in the game. I think we are going to have to finish your play session a little early." Kithera opens up a [laptop computer] and starts pushing some [key]s on a [keyboard]. "Did you have some instructions on how to end your session?" "I''m supposed to put my player''s body back where I found it so that none notices. I guess that means I need to go lie down where I woke up." I really like answering her questions. It''s a similar feeling to the one I have when I complete a lot of the items on my to-do list. "Would you please go do that now?" Kithera asks. "Hashi, I really did enjoy meeting you and look forward to seeing you again." She''s still typing, but she did look up at me when she was talking to me. "Sure. Well, it was nice meeting you as well Kithera. Thanks for the coffee and conversation. Bye!" I waved at her and walked up the stairs. I followed her instructions. I went back in the room, took off the shoes, and laid down on the bed the way I was when I arrived. "Logoff" [System: You''ve completed your first session of Real World Online. Hope you had fun. See your notifications for announcements.] 7 - Ration wrappers I''m back from my first time in RWO. That was intense. Looking around I''m a little confused. This looks like my room at the inn, but different. Oh, it''s the room arrangement. On the bed next to me is a things-to-dolist. It says: I don''t remember writing myself a list. Why are there ration wrappers on the floor? [System: Player has logged out. Restoring Hashi, H. Grindswell (away)] And now I''m back in my normal room at the inn. H. Grindswell (away)? Doktor Urmind didn¡¯t say anything about me having an away character. Is that some sort of mistake? Checking my bag I find that I have a normal looking to-do list. A little vague this time. Based on what Kitherasaid, I think my player was in a rush to get logged out. I know how to grind skills, so I can work with this. Downstairs I asked the innkeeper if H. Grindswell had a room here. He directed me to room number 3. Time for me to rescue my away character. Grindswell (away) was sitting right where I¡¯d been just a little while ago. He looked rather distressed. When I entered the room he was staring at his list and starting to pull another rationout of his bag. ¡°H. Grindswell?¡± ¡°Uh, yes?¡± ¡°I¡¯m your player, Hashi. I am sorry I left you without instructions. Might I borrow your to-do list?¡± He handed me his list, I made some changes to it and handed it back. ¡°Sorry about that. Have fun.¡± I told H. Grindswell (away). Then I headed back downstairs and out to town for some quality grinding time. I hope my away character doesn¡¯t get too crazy.
From Zach Russell¡¯s development notes [Zach] Erica: start recording. [Erica] Recording. [Zach] This is my third trial of my auditory VR interface. Erica: disable video feed. [Erica] Video feed disabled. [Zach] I¡¯m walking around. Actually, I¡¯m sitting down and using my game controller for movement. Using the VR headset I can hear sounds for the objects in the area and they do seem to move around when I move my head. Hopefully, later in development, I¡¯ll be able to tell more about the objects around me from the sounds. I¡¯m moving but the sounds aren¡¯t changing. Erica: Enable video feed. [Erica] Video feed enabled. [Zach] Note to self. Implement a bonk sound for when I run into objects. I¡¯ve been trying to move through a tree for a little while now. End of thethird trial. Erica: end recording. [Erica] Recording stopped.
Player: Zachery Russell Character Name: Hashi Class Name: ExplorerA case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Level: 15
Stats: ¡¤ Strength 15 ¡¤ Perception 15 ¡¤ Endurance 20 ¡¤ Intelligence 30 ¡¤ Agility 25 ¡¤ Luck 35
Skills: ¡¤ Crafting 23 ¡¤ Alchemy 18 ¡¤ Running 45 ¡¤ Survival 9 ¡¤ Herbalism 19 ¡¤ Languages 30 ¡¤ Scribe 12 ¡¤ Enchanting 20 ¡¤ Longsword 25 ¡¤ Blindfighting 10 ¡¤ Acting 5
Special: ¡¤ Spatial Perception - allows theuser to know where nearby objects are within 15¡¯. Functionally similar to sonar. Does not pass through walls but will show objects behind other objects.
Ah, the grind, peaceful with time to think. I wonder what this blind fighting skill is. I bet they know at the fighter¡¯s hall. I need to have a talk with the training master. I arrive and hunt him down. I say to him, ¡°Hey Tony! I¡¯d like to try something different for sparring practice.¡± Tony replies, ¡°Oh and what is that? Two swords? Sword and shield? Sword and dagger? Is the long sword getting boring?¡± I think he¡¯s making fun of me a little. ¡°No, I¡¯d like to spar blindfolded.¡± There, I said it. Tony¡¯s jaw dropped briefly. Okay, really he stared at me with his mouth open. ¡°Are you nuts? That¡¯s like a master level fighting skill. You are what, like level 15?¡± I give him temporary permissions to view my stats. I make up a story about fighting at night. I don¡¯t Tony believed me. He takes me to one of the large training circles after I grab my gear. I step into the circle and put on a blindfold. Everything is dark but I hear just fine. I still have some after images of things I saw before the blindfold. Maybe they aren¡¯t after images after all as a ghostly blob where Tony was on the other side of the ring is getting larger. I get out my practice sword and move towards the Tony-blob. I ¡°see¡± Tony and the ground and what I think is Tony¡¯s sword which is moving into a guard position. I put my practice sword in the same position. Tony isn¡¯t saying anything. I think we are standing at about the right distance for sparring now. I can hear the murmur of conversation outside the ring. I can hear Tony breathing. I also hear some odd sounds at the very limits of my hearing. Tony says, ¡°Begin. Let¡¯s go through some basic back and forth slowly and see how this goes.¡± Tony swings his sword slower than usual using the same sequence as beginner sword training. He counts the moves, ¡°one, two, three, four¡­¡± I match him on the beginning forms and after a little while Tony picks up the pace. The longer we go the less blurry Tony¡¯s ghostly shape is. I can also see his sword moving but it leaves streaks behind it. All I see is Tony, his sword, my sword and arm and the ground. This is cool. Tony leaves the beginner forms and starts moving around. I match him and we begin sparring for real. Tony kicks my ass. He is the trainer after all. He calls a halt after he¡¯s gotten 10 hits to my one on him. I take off the blindfold and see Tony grinning at me. I look around the circle and I see people clapping. I bow to Tony and he bows to me. As we walk out of the circle, he claps me on the shoulder and says, ¡®Hashi, that was awesome. How long have you been hiding that?¡± I don¡¯t know what to tell him so I just say ¡°A while.¡± I follow up with ¡°I still need a lot of sword work, though.¡± Tony¡¯s reply is ¡°You¡¯ve got that right. You should come down and train more. We¡¯ll make a decent fighter out of you yet.¡± I picked up several points of blind fighting while sparring with Tony. I did my best to ignore the dings and messages as I was pretty busy at the time. I am a bit curious why my player has blind fighting and spatial perception. 8 - Lost in thought My to-do list: I¡¯ve practiced all my skills. Twice now. I¡¯m standing in front of the alchemy shop where I just did another round of potions. People are walking by. Now, what do I do? I like grinding but the thought of doingthe third round without new instructions doesn¡¯t seem like much fun. I imagine doing 1000¡¯s of rounds of practicing the same set of skills, in the same order, endlessly. Yuck. I wonder if that¡¯s what it was like for my away character. Got it. I can check up on my away character and see how he¡¯s doing. I head back to the inn. I walk into my H. Grindswell room and he¡¯s still sitting there looking at his list. The floor is littered with ration wrappers. I think I have a whole stack of rations in my bag. Has he been here eating rations the whole time? ¡°H. Grindswell?¡± He turns to me and says, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m H. Grindswell. Can I help you?¡± ¡°I gave you a new list the other day. Why are you still here?¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. He replies, ¡°I didn¡¯t understand your instructions. Access the help system for creating valid task lists for your away character. You can either view this online or via your help menu in-game. ¡± He''s talking weird. I wonder if there¡¯s something wrong with him. He¡¯s acting really strange. I could try to figure out this help thing but I feel strange and disoriented after that exchange. I don¡¯t say anything more and leave the room. I¡¯m feeling lost. I don¡¯t know what to do either. Did I useto be like that? Did I sound like the system messages? The thought of that possibility is disturbing. I got out of the inn. My to-do list isn¡¯t working for me. I don¡¯t know why my player hasn¡¯t given me a new one. My away character is a freak. I¡¯ll stop and get some wake-me-up. Or is it coffee? Dana is working the counter at the wake-me-up shop. ¡°Would you like to order something, Hashi?¡± ¡°Dana, I¡¯d like a coffee with cream and sugar.¡± ¡°We only sell wake-me-up here. Would you like to order something, Hashi?¡± I¡¯d never noticed before, but Dana sounds just like Shirley over at the Stout and Trout. And the way she says things reminds me of my away character. Very repetitive. ¡°I¡¯ll have a wake-me-up.¡± I pay Dana and leave the shop. I stop by a few more stores and I¡¯m seeing the same thing over and over. The people working in the shops keep saying the same things over and over. The only difference in what they say is the name of the customers. My world is starting to seem very unreal. Fake. Artificial. I need something different. Running is good for that. I start practicing running. I run out of town. I want to see something new. [System: now leaving town. Damage restrictions are removed.] 9 - First blood I''ve never been this far from the edge of town. Damage limits have been removed. I didn''t know there was such a thing. I''m on the north road. I frequently do my running training up here. I already passed the first farms and cows. Slowing down. I''m feeling a bit better. That bit with my away character and the shop staff was creepy. Before that, everything felt real. After those encounters, my world felt... off. Hollow. Separate. Echoes. Somehow seeing the cows at the farm is reassuring. I stop and look at them a while. I wonder what they think about. I''m glad they can''t talk. Could I have a cow for my away character? It would be hard to get one up or down the stairs at the inn. I wave at a farmer. He''s standing out in his field. He''s ignoring me. Looking up the road I see the farms to the right and trees to the left. A few characters walk by and head into the forest. [Super_Mike] and [GamrChick78] were on their nameplates. Maybe there''s something interesting out in the trees. I start jogging to see if I can catch up with them. "Hey, Super Mike. What''s up?" No response. I''m 20 feet past the tree line. Maybe he didn''t hear me. The characters have stopped and equipped their weapons. I hear some noise in the shrubbery past them and 2 wolves jump out from the bushes and attack Super Mike and Gamer Chick. I just stand here watching. It''s so fast. Reminds me of fighter practice. So many system messages show up. [Super_Mike] hits [Wolf] for 6 damage. [Wolf] hits [GamrChick78]. I see hp bars over everyone''s head. Mike''s hp bar goes down faster than the others. I''ve never been in real combat and wonder if they''d mind if I helped out. Mike''s hp bar flashes red, only a little left on it.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. That''s it. I''ll see if I can help [Super_Mike]. I equip my sword and jump out between [Super_Mike] and his [Wolf]. [System: Wolf criticals Hashi for 83 damage.] [System: Super_Mike hits Hashi for 13 damage.] I hear [Super_Mike] say, "Sorry." [System: Wolf criticals Hashi for 253 damage, you have died.] Everything fades until only a ghostly scene is left. I see [Super_Mike] fall and a faded version of him appears standing, then it disappears. [System: You may wait here for resurrection or respawn at your last bind point.] [GamrChick78] falls and her ghost disappears. The wolves chew on their bodies a short while and then leave the way they came. It''s quiet here. I think I''ll hang out here a bit. Nothing else happens. I thinkthe word respawn and I''m back in my room at the inn. Everything looks normal. My clothes and my sword are gone. I''ve got some more. That was... exciting. So that''s what people do when they go adventuring. Fight stuff, die, respawn, run out of town and do it again. I think that''ll be fun, at least for a few rounds. I wonder if I should put on armor next time. I equip the armor in my bag. I''ve never actually used my armor. [Leather breastplate], [Leather gloves],... Ok, I''m ready for another round. Sometime after leaving town, I stopped feeling creeped out. And then I died. Now I''m back again. No mess, No fuss. After I leave the inn I started running north again. Townspeople, players, the edge of town, farms, cows, I run by them all. Watch out wolves! I''ve arrived back where I died. No wolves here. There''s my body. What? I''m looking at my corpse. It''s still where I fell. [Hashi''s corpse]. But I''m still here. How can I be there and here? Shudder. I inspect my body and find the stuff I''m missing: my clothes and my sword. After I get them, my corpse disappears. The system message refers to this as looting. My clothes look a bit damaged. I can fix that back in town. I don''t see any wolves. Here wolfie, wolfie, wolfie. 15 minutes of this and I don''t find any wolves. Occasionally I see rabbits that run away from me. No wolves, though. I head back to town. 10 - Hashi takes a nap. I''m back in town now. Didn''t find any wolves to fight. It''s starting to get dark. Most of the townsfolks are headed home. There are plenty of adventurers out still. I still don''t really feel like repetitively grinding skills right now. Even though I''m not tired I think I''m going to try sleeping. I''m under my covers, on my bed, with my eyes closed. I''m going to sleep. "Hey system, I''d like to sleep now." Nope. Not happening. Maybe if I just lie here a while longer... I think about: ? Fighting wolves ? Finding my corpse. ? Respawning ? Grinding ? My creepy away character ? Doktor Urmind ? Kithera ? Grass I wish I could log into RWO. I''m not having much fun in my world right now. I wonder if players have a sleep skill that they level up in. Maybe I could find a trainer for that. Ok, the dying and respawning thing was a little fun. I open my eyes and see a [ceiling fan] again. [System: logged in to RWO] Huh, did I fall asleep? Yep, I can feel my body again. Actually, it''s my player''s body. I can feel something next to me. I roll over and see Kithera. Somehow I don''t think he''s playing at the moment. Should I wake her up? I wonder if that would make her mad. I bet taking my player''s body out on an adventure while he''s supposed to be sleeping next to his wife is probably a little rude.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "Hey, Kithera." "What?" "It''s Hashi again." Kithera sits up abruptly and pulls the covers around her. She looks a little different. Her hair is messy and she isn''t wearing her glasses. "Hashi, why are you here? Is he playing in his sleep?" "Not sure and don''t know. I went to the inn and tried sleeping and woke up here. Your husband didn''t leave me a real list of things to do and repeating the same stuff over and over was starting to get to me. And my away character is creeping me out." Kithera said, "Hashi, slow down. Do you know how to get back to your own world?" I tell her, "Sure, all I have to do is say ''Log off''" [System: H Grindswell has logged of RWO] When I wake up at the inn, I have to wonder if she tricked me into logging off, or did I just do it to myself. I hope she''ll tell my player that I want a new to-do list. Since I''m thinking about to-do lists, what to do with my away character. The thought of him just sitting there a couple rooms away. Yuck. I need to find something for him to keep him busy. It''s time to make a list. ? Have him practice running. To the next town. Maybe. Then I''d end up in the next town. ? Have him cycle endlessly through the list of skills like I was starting to do. I''m not liking this one since I''d be running into him all the time. ? I could get him a room at a different inn. ? I could get a room at a different inn. ? I could send him off to fight the wolves. With armor, or without armor. I¡¯d probably have him skip armor as he''d probably lose it. I''m not sure if this is helping. I want to get him out of the way where I don''t have to deal with him. I prefer it not involve leaving him in too strange a location that would be hard to get back from. I wish I could just turn him off and skip the away character thing. [System: H. Grindswell away character function disabled. Use the system menu to re-enable away characters] Uh, that is both great and scary. So my player can just turn me off. I really don''t like that. I need some way to keep that from happening. I better not get him mad at me in the meantime. I''m going to go clean up all those wrappers and then find something interesting to do. 11 - Talking with Trixey. After cleaning up the rations wrappers I went downstairs to make sure the two rooms were paid up. Hank tells me, "Yes, Hashi. You are still paid up for another for another 2 weeks. Did you forget?" "Sorry Hank, I''ve had a lot on my mind." I heard someone come in the front door of the inn. "Hashi?" I hear a female''s voice. Turning to look I can see [Trixey] heading towards me. She''s gracefully navigating the tables, barely missing patrons and the wait staff. [Trixey] looks to be a young dark-haired elven woman. Thinking about it, she looks a lot like Kithera - my player''s wife. "Kithera?" I ask as she comes up to me. "Trixey is my middle name, that''s what I go by here. Let''s go up to your room." I look at Hank who says, "Hello Trixey, haven''t seen you in a while." "Doing pretty well, Hank. Thanks for asking. Can you make sure that we aren''t disturbed?" "Sure think Trixey!" Hank winks at her. I wonder if they have some sort of inside joke going between them. Trixie and I head back to my Hashi (away) room. I sit on the bed and Trixey sits on a chair. We sit for a little while and then Trixey starts talking first. "So, Hashi... You seemed a little upset when you visited last. Are you ok? How about you tell me about what¡¯s bothering you. You mentioned that your''away'' character was ''creeping you out''." I have a lot to say, "Yes. At first, I thought he was a normal person. The last time I saw him he started talking strangely. Something about invalid task list format and that I should consult the system menu or on-line help for more information on task list creation. His voice sounded weird. I don''t think he''s a normal person like you or me. Later on, I noticed something similar talking to shop keepers. I don''t think that they are real people either." "Hashi, what real people do you know or have you met?" "Well, there''s you and Doctor Urmind and Thagnar. Thagnar is a guy I practiced sparring with at the fighter hall. Oh, and I think Tony is. He''s the trainer at the fighter Hall. Maybe Brother Tim down at the temple. I''m not sure about him. But not the away characters or the shop keepers. I think most of the adventurers are real, except when they''re away." "What''s different about the people who don''t seem real?'' I tell her, "It doesn''t feel like there''s a person inside those people. They feel hollow or empty. And they tend to say the same thing over and over again." Kithera said, "That makes sense. If it makes you feel better, I think that you are a real person. I''ve noticed the same hollow feeling on types of people you mentioned as well. So why did come visit my world?" I know the answer to that one, "Because Doktor Urmind told me that if I went to Real World Online that I would understand my situation better. I kept waking up unable to move underneath a spinning blade trap. Now I know it was a ceiling fan. Then I went to the temple to find a medical priest. Brother Tim introduced me to Doktor Urmind. Doktor Urmind showed me a movie and then sent me to your world. That''s why. And being paralyzed beneath the spinning blade trap was really scary."Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Trixey listened to me, nodding her head occasionally while I was talking. She said, "Waking up unable to move is something called sleep paralysis. My husband Zach is narcoleptic and he experiences that every once in a while." I''m not sure what to make of what she just said about Zach being narcoleptic. It is a little reassuring that he has similar issues. Another question occurs to me, "How did you know that I was in your husband body?" Trixey leans back in the chair a bit and plays with her hair a bit. It looks like she''s thinking hard about this one. She says, "With Zach''s narcolepsy, he will go from being awake to asleep quickly. He walks in his sleep at timesand sometimes will talk in his sleep with his eyes open. Every once in a while when he does that he talks as if he was someone else. Sometimes it sounds like an asleep Zach, sometimes a spirit or ghost, sometimes something alien - those are pretty strange, sometimes he''s speaking as if he were one of the gods. I''ve gotten used to it and I¡¯ve found that the fastest way to get him back is to listen to whoever or whatever is talking through him and once they''ve said what they need to, they leave." I said, "Is this sort of thing common in your world? It seems similar to when a player logs in and the away designation disappears." Trixey replied, "Fortunately no, Narcolepsy is rare and thankfully having other beings make guest appearances in my husband''s body doesn''t happen often. I think that sort of thing is a very rare occurrence in humans. I''ve learned to recognize it when it happens with Zach." Trixey gets out some paper and a pen and starts writing. It looks like she¡¯s making a list! I was about to comment on that but she started talking again, ¡°Hashi. If you are willing, I¡¯d like to set some regular times for training missions in my world so you can visit safely.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like that.¡± [System: Trixey has offered you a quest in RWO: Training missions. Rewards for success: unknown. Penalties for failure: unknown. Do you accept?] ¡°I accept.¡± It looks like Trixey is done with her list. ¡°Hashi, I¡¯d like to give you a secret to-do list. Don¡¯t read it out loud or show it to anyone. Zach and I discussed these and would like you to do the things on the list if possible.¡± ¡°Sure, if that¡¯s what my player wants. Can I keep this in my inventory or do I need to hide it?¡± Maybe I should memorize it and destroy it. I better read it. Hashi¡¯s secret to-do list: ¡°I can do this. Doktor Urmind was pretty much asking for the same thing, except the part about you and my player.¡± [System: Quest: Hashi¡¯s secret list has been accepted.] "After I logged off of RWO, I turned off my away character. Is your husband going to turn me off? I don''t want to be turned off." Trixey replies immediately, "No! He is definitely not going to turn you off." She sits motionless for a few seconds and then adds, "Zach just told me that he won''t turn you off. We both want to make sure that you are safe." I feel some sort of inner tightness relax. I still need to find a way to make sure that I can''t be turned off by anyone. I add that to my to-do list. Trixey and I talk for a while longer about a bunch of different things. Eventually, my mind starts feeling full. I have a lot of new ideas and they seem to bebreeding and connecting. ¡°Hey, Trixey! I really am enjoying talking with you, but all the new ideas are making it hard to understand the new things that you are saying. I think my new stuff meter is full. Can we talk some more another time?¡± ¡°Sure Hashi. I¡¯m going to log off now. See you soon!¡± Kithera disappears. I think I¡¯m going to sleep some more and then go back to finding something interesting to do. 12 - Interpreting mystical gestures I need something interesting to do. Dying was fun. I had a nice talk with Trixey last night, but I''ve got a while before my first real world training session. I bet Doktor Urmind can fix me up with something fun to do. But for now, this is my world. I live in a fantasy MMO. I used to do odd jobs for my Player. He''s out there in the "Real World". He hasn''t logged in for a while so I ran out of things on my things-to-do list. So at least for a little while, I''m on my own time. Currently, I''m walking to the nearest temple. It''s in town, there are streets and buildings and people walking from one place to another. Everyone has a little nameplate floating over his or her head. Adventurers have names, their away characters have (away) after the name, and some characters are (AFK) and just stand in the road like a statue. Some of the townspeople have names, some have generic descriptions like [baker] or [city official]. There are shops around: Item shops, alchemy supplies, wake-me-up shops, restaurants. Everybody is busy and few people talk to one another. This is my world. I got some directions from a priest at the temple, he even marked it on my map. It''s a very short walk and I opened the door to Doktor Urmind''s Dream Emporium. A little bell rang when I opened the door. I see him. He sees me. He''s sitting in a chair next to a table. He''s got a [laptop computer]! What world am I in? I turn around and there isn''t a door behind me. He''s gotten out of his chair and is walking over to me.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. "Hashi! I didn''t want us to be disturbed. Relax." I am worried. Something about being in a room with Doktor Urmind, especially a room with no obvious exits is disturbing. "Um, Doktor Urmind." "Yes, Hashi?" "Can we go someplace a little more open? Something about this room is bothering me." Doktor Urmind makes a few hand gestures and we are standing in the local wake-me-up shop. I see people around us but no one is moving. I wish I knew what all these mystical gestures meant. [System: +1 mystical gesture interpretation] Stop. What did I just do? This sort of thing has happened before. I wish I knew what I just did to set off the system message. [System: Ask Doktor Urmind] Doktor Urmind is standing nearby grinning at me. "Doktor Urmind, are you messing with the system messages? I wanted to know what all the mystical gestures people were making meant and I received a system message that my ''interpret mystical gesture'' skill increased." He''s waiting for me to finish. And then he waits a little longer. "You''ve been living in a game world. Or have you? Do you know where you are now?" Doktor Urmind is emphasizing the word you a lot. "No, not really. It looks like the wake-me-up shop. But it isn''t. I think. I don''t know." Doktor Urmind says, "Well, think about it some more and let me know what you come up with. So, you were looking for me. What''s up?" "My player hasn''t logged in for several days. As I haven''t had instructions from him, playing as Hashi doesn''t seem right. I was wondering, could I play this game as H Grindswell in the meantime?" He replied, "Sure, all you have to do is tell the system to log on as H Grindswell." "Can we change the character up? It''s been weird bouncing back and forth as two clones." Doktor Urmind gestures at a wall and a door appears. There''s a sign over it that reads [character creation]. "Just pass through there and you can go through character creation and make a new you for this world." I walk through the door. 13 - Picking out a new char I''m in a room with a long row of statues depicting the various races I''ve seen in the game. Male and female versions of each race are grouped together on slightly raised platforms. Cool! It''s another Doktor Urmind special. Somehow I don''t think this is the standard character creation for the game I live in. I walk down the row and look at each pair. There''s an information plaque on a pole next to each race''s platform. [Human] Most often played race in the game. They''re average at everything and level slightly faster. You''ve already tried this one. I''m thinking Doktor Urmind wrote these. [Elf] There are a number of elven subtypes and the non-players tend to have segregated communities. Elves generally have live spans much longer than humans. Elves also have pointy ears. [Dwarf] These hardy mountain dwellers make for great fighters. They are great for mining, metal working, and feeding to the dragon that is chasing you. They''re tough and have a racial disadvantage of being unable to reach the top shelves in shops. [Gnome] [Halfling] [Orc] [Cow-Person] Yep, I''m sure Urmind wrote these. [Catgirl/Catboy] These anthropomorphic felines are known for being cute. Their species are well known for hunting, stealth, and for roadside stands where they sell questionable goods. I''ve really liked seeing these people in the game. I don''t think that''s what they are really called, though. I''d like to have a cute character. Catgirl it is. I touch the statue and see a system notification [Would you like to choose catgirl as your race?] Yes I would.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. And now I''m a catgirl. The statues have disappeared and I''m looking at a catgirl in front of me. Now I''m presented with a series of options on changing body shape, coloration, the human/cat balance. I play with the controls for a while until I''m satisfied with how I look. [Accept changes?] Yes, I do. Now what? I''m presented with a new row of statues of the various player classes. Each of the statues shows a player in an action pose. [Warrior] - boring [Priest] - I can''t tell what he''s doing. Glows a lot [Wizard] - maybe [Bard] - meh [Alchemist] - I''ve had my fill of potion making. [Witch] - cool, I like the pointy hat [Druid] - interesting, [Rogue] - kind of cool, sneaking is fun [Ninja] - oh, I like that outfit. Really good for sneaking. I''m not so fond of killing people. [Paladin] Champions of their chosen deity. Protectors of the people. A cross between knight and priest, paladins have some divine magics as well as strong martial skills. Heros. Oh, I like that one. I wonder if I could be a paladin and wear ninja clothes? [Would you like to choose paladin as your class?] I''m a paladin! I''m now shown myself wearing shiny armor. I''m not sure how I''ll be able to move in that metal suit. Perhaps I can mix and match with ninja gear. What''s next? The statues representing races have disappeared. Now in front of me is a large arch lettered with [Choose your deity!]. I''m not so sure about this one. "Hey! Doktor Urmind!" He''s right next to me. "What''s up Hashi? Nice outfit." I ask Urmind, "What''s up with this deity thing? I''m feeling a bit strange about it. Can''t I just pick you since you''ve been so helpful and all." "Hashi, unfortunately, I''m not on the approved list for the game. I think the players might notice. I''d rather the people running this game server not be aware of my existence. Players with paladin and priest characters pick a deity or pantheon during character creation. You can change your mind later. The cat race players frequently take the cat pantheon." "Ok. That works for me. I was just worried about committing to something more. It''s just a game, right?" 14 - Catgirl adventures Doktor Urmind looked at me for a while. "Don''t sweat the character class, just go start playing." "OK, Doktor Urmind, where''s the door?" "I''m sending you to a starter town. Message me if you need something. Have fun!" He waved his hand, and an archway appeared. I can''t see through it. I know its time to get going, but I am feeling a bit nervous. I look at Urmind one more time and then walk through.
I''m standing on a dirt road through a forest. It''s just a little bigger than a dirt trail. My map shows a town nearby. I''m pushed several feet. What was that? "Are you going to stand there all day?" I look around to see who''s talking. I''ve been pushed again. [Dave, Druid], [Amazing Grace, Priest], and [Bob, Necromancer] are all standing pretty close to me. Each of them starts walking towards the town. "Well, are you coming, or is standing on the spawn point fun for you?" That was Dave. "Uh, sure." The other players haven''t said anything. I notice after walking for a bit that more players appear back where I entered the game. Everyone I see is a cat person. They all have cat ears and tails, although it varies some on how catlike their features are. Everyone is furry. I like that. I haven''t interacted with players much yet. I want to start a conversation. I''m feeling nervous about that. Several players have sprinted ahead. I''ll follow them and see where they go. Dave''s still walking near me.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I ask him, "So what do we do when we get to town?" "Is this your first time here?" Dave asks back. "This is my first new character." That''s true, mostly. "Well, the starter villages are mainly for introducing new players to gameplay. You''ll go from quest to quest and pick up some basic gear and beginning skills. Just follow me for a while and see." "Thanks!" That went pretty well. Why is he sending me private messages? I''m getting a creepy vibe now, and I''m slowing down and letting him walk farther ahead. Dave doesn''t reply and starts sprinting ahead. I''m pretty confused about that whole exchange. Maybe I can find someone else to talk to. The village is in a clearing with a few larger trees. The houses and buildings look very organic. Most are round and look like they are made out of tree limbs and dirt or mud. This village is a lot smaller than the town where I''ve lived.
[The Purrfect Place] I follow the slow stream of players heading into town. Everyone is over by [Tammy, Town elder]. "Gather round, brave adventurers..." I listen raptly as Tammy talks about the history of the town, the coming darkness, and how that looming threat is currently manifesting as a rat infestation. Tammy has offered you a quest: Thin the rat horde! Rewards +100xp and an item. [+50xp for completing: Find the town elder.] I accept the quest. Nyatali the Ninja has been watching me while I was listening to Tammy. Nyatali''s fur is black, and her tail isn''t as fluffy as mine. Maybe she was waiting for me to finish so we could do our first quest together! "Hey Nyatali, want to hunt rats together?" "Hashi, did you actually listen to all of that?" "Well, Tammy was talking." "Sure, I''ll hunt rats with you. Don''t forget to equip your dagger. Follow me." [Nyatali has invited you to a group. Accept?] I accept the group invitation and start running to catch up with her. My first group. I''m so excited. 15 - Thinning the Horde Nyatali stopped a little outside of the clearing. "Well, here you go Hashi. Rats." We''re in the woods near the village. The rats are scurrying everywhere. I just stand looking at them for a bit. "Wow, that''s a lot of rats. How much is considered thinning?" Nyatali stabs a rat near her twice. It dies. "Just kill them until you get bored. That should be enough. You haven''t done this before?" "Nope, this is my first rat hunt." I start stabbing rats. And more rats. Fighting with a knife is a bit different from sword fighting. Even though I''m only first level, the rats don''t have a chance. One or two hits kills them. Nyatali is efficiently ridding the area around her of rodents. So am I. Occasionally a rat bites me, but not all that often. The slow in combat regeneration takes care of that. "So this is going to slow down the coming Doom how?" I ask. "Like I said earlier, how can you stand to listen to the intro text?" Nyatali replied. We''re running from rat to rat, cleaning up the woods. "Tammy was talking, and I wanted to hear what she had to say. Won''t we run out of them eventually?" Nyatali seemed surprised there. "Wow, you really haven''t played much. We''ll never run out of them. The first ones should already be respawning by now." Nyatali was surrounded by a flash of light, but she kept on fighting as if nothing had happened. After killing a few more rats, I got a flash of my own. [System: Level up! new stats are available for assignment.]If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Nyatali said, "That''s good enough for now. Let''s loot the rats and turn in the quest."
After looting the rats, we had a treasure trove of rat skins, rat tails, and copper coins. I suppose I could make some shoes out of the rat skins. "Wow, that was fun. I haven''t ever killed any monsters here before." Nyatali looked at me. "That was amazing if it was your first time." "That was my first time killing monsters. I spent a lot of time training in the fighter''s hall on my previous character." "And you never killed a mob the whole time you played? What were you doing?" Nyatali looks puzzled. "Grinding skills and practising. I did try combat against some wolves. They killed me. It was fun." "Girl, you are weird. Why make a new cat girl character?" "I like the way cat girls look. I like the ninja outfits as well. I was wondering during character creation if I could do the paladin thing wearing ninja gear." "I suppose you could. Probably not very efficient, but we would match." Nyatali laughed at that. "Do you want to keep playing together?" [Nyatali would like to be friends. Accept?] "I''d really like that. I haven''t played with anyone here yet." I have a new friend. Yay!
We turned in the quest with Tammy. [Thinning the Horde complete. +100xp] Tammy give us each two healing potions and another inventory bag. "Ok, Nyatali. You seem to know your way around here. What''s next in our grand adventure?" "Get out your map. See these symbols. Those are people with quests. And this symbol is you, and this one is me. See?" "Got it. On to the next quest or do we get rid of the rat pieces?" "Well, this starter area is good for getting the first few levels and some basic armor and weapons. It''s not like the rat parts are going to leak in the bag. That would be gross." "Killing rats was a lot of fun. Even more fun than getting mauled by wolves." "You have a strange idea of fun Hashi." We find the next quest giver. Tammy told us about this one. Ginger, the blacksmith, needs help finding missing tools. During Ginger''s speech, I watch Nyatali. She''s always moving. The longer I''ve spent with Nyatali, the less real the Townsfolk seem. I can hear Tammy giving her speech to another group of players. It''s same speech she gave us, not a word different. "Nyatali, is Tammy''s speech the same every time?" "Of course it is. All the quests are scripted. That''s how this game works." Huh. I''ll have to think about that. 16 - Building stuff I have to say, the rest of the quests in town weren''t as much fun as the rats were. Running around doing the quests with Nyatali was a lot of fun though. Watching the other players race from quest to quest was a bit amusing as well. They kind of remind me of the rats running around now that I think about it. I wish we could build stuff on here. That would be cool. [System notice: building tools are only available during development and aren¡¯t available to non-admin players] "Hey, Nyatali! Wouldn''t it be cool if we could build stuff on here? Make things that stayed in the world?" "Hashi, this isn''t that sort of game. Some of the other MMOs have ways to build houses and more extensive crafting, just not this one. Why? Do you want to do that instead?" "I think I''d like that." Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. "Sure Nyatali, let''s do that. I''m installing it now." "Ok Hashi, I''ll meet you at the main spawn point. Since we just started these chars I''m going to turn off my away character. I''ll meet you there." [Your friend Nyatali has logged off.] --------------------- This is weird. I''m standing next to what looks like my player''s house. Well, I''m standing next to what looks like my player''s house if it was in my world. Doktor Urmind is standing next to the front door. Doktor Urmind says, "Hey Hashi, I thought you might like some place to go when you are logging into other games. I took your video feed from your first session in RWO and built an in-game version. What do you think?" "It''s really weird Urmind. This is my player''s house. It has game world grass. I don''t think I''d be comfortable with it. Are the rooms the same?" "The ones that you went into." Doktor Urmind is scratching his head and fidgeting. "This feels like their house. If you are going to make me a house, I''d like one that was mine." Doktor Urmind stand drops his hands to his side. "Well Hashi, this goes to show you that I don''t know everything. I was sure you''d like it. I think I just achieved an uncanny valley moment. Let me get you logged in at Nytali''s game server. We''ll fix you up with a house later. You''ll come back to this world when you quit the other game. Send me a message if you have any questions while playing Blockminer." Wow, Urmind can talk a lot. I''m glad he''s understanding about the house. It makes me uncomfortable looking at it. No clue what he meant with uncanny valley. That sounds like where we are at right now, only there isn''t a valley here. The house is the only thing in sight. Doktor Urmind does one of his "making a portal" gestures and an Archway appears. [System: +1 interpreting mystical gestures] "See you later Doktor. Thanks!" I walk through the Arch. ----------------------------- What the heck is this? Everything is square. 17 - Visiting Nyatalis House Everything in the world is made of cubes. Well, the game is called Blockminer. Blocky people are everywhere, nameplates over each of them. I''m getting pushed around a lot. I must be standing on the spawn point again. I''m still trying to make sense of what I''m looking at. I guess the green squares on the ground are grass. I think I''m in a park. I see gray paths and what I think are trees. The other players are mostly running towards one of the square arches that are at the edges of the park. The rest of the park has some fencing between the arches. At the edge of the fence, I can look down a long way. That sure is a long way down. There are vast forests, mountains, deserts, and water as far as I can see. Blocky clouds are overhead. I wonder where Nyatali is? I hear a ding, and my chat window pops up in the corner of my vision. Nyatali''s right in front of me now. Well, at least that''s what the nameplate says. She vaguely looks catlike. It looks more like someone stuck cat stickers on the same blocky shape that all the players have. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. I read the FAQ. Now I know about mining, crafting, building, caves, and the basics of Blockminer play. Oh and how to bring up the main chat. At the end of the FAQ, I see mention of a website. I remember some players back home talking about websites and the world wide web. I didn''t see any webs when I visited Kithera. Maybe I can ask her about websites when I see her next. OK, time to mine!
Nyatali''s taking me to her home on the server. We went through one of the arches (she called it a portal) and were transported to a road pretty far away. I''m not sure if the coordinate on my HUD''s mini map are helpful or not. The day/night cycle here is a lot shorter than the one at home. We run up the road a bit and eventually boarded mine carts at a train station. Nyatali had to help me with getting on a mine cart. Pushing a cart and jumping in seems like a complicated procedure. "Ok Hashi, we''re going to get off at the next station." "Why did they make train tracks instead of a bunch of portals?" I asked Nyatali. "No clue Hashi. We''re here, time to get off." I exit my cart and then chase it down. I ask Nyatali, "What do we do with the carts?" "Put them in the chest that has a ''Carts'' sign." I follow Nyatali for a little while longer, and we arrive at a small village of wooden homes. There are paths between the houses, and we finally end up at a two story home made of wood and stone. When I read through the FAQ, it had pictures of the various materials. Nyatali''s house in on a large lot that has several trees and many colored flowers. I have some trouble thinking about those blocky things made of wood and leaves as trees. Inside the house, she has a large room with a chandelierand a loft area with beds. The main room has a seating area with blockyfurniture and a carpet with a colorful geometric pattern. Paintings and frames showing Blockminer items cover the walls. Nyatali runs up the stairs and stands next to one of the beds in the loft. "If you want Hashi, you can set your bind point here until you make ahouse and a bed." "I really like your house. It''s nice. OK, I''ve set my bind point to the bed. Now what?" Nyatali places a chest next to the bed and stands next to it. She tells me, "I''ve put some basic stuff that you might need in the chest. Grab it and let''s go explore." I transfer the chest''s contents to my inventory and equip the armor she gave me. I''ve put a sword and a pickaxe in my hotbar. I tell Nyatali, "I''m ready. Onward to blocky adventure!" 18 - Whats that hissing sound? Nyatali threw an axe at me. It didn''t hit me of course. Just landed near my blocky feet. "Cut down some trees, Hashi. I''ll help you get started with the mysteries of crafting." I put the axe in my hotbar and start chopping down trees. About a dozen trees later, "Nyatali, I''ve got wood, saplings, and apples." "Good! Now make a crafting table and some torches." "I don''t have everything for the torches." I just noticed Nyatali throwing coal at me. "OK, done." It''s starting to get a bit darker outside. Wow, the days are really short here. I stick a torch in the ground. Cool! Nyatali starts running. "Follow me, Hashi. Let''s get to the mine entrance before the monsters come out." I run after Nyatali. [The mine, remember not to dig straight down...] - a sign over the mine entrance. Well, that mine entrance is pretty... rectangular. We walk down what seems like endless stairs. The stairs are 6 blocks wide and the ceiling is 4 blocks high. Nyatali and I are 2 blocks in height. There are torches every 10 blocks or so going down. Nyatali tells me, "Not much farther. Here we go." Wow, This is a really big room. The floor is covered in torches. There are 1x2 holes in the wall.in the side walls. The room seems like it goes on forever.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Nyatali tells me to pick a spot on the wall and to start digging. "Place a torch on the wall whenever it gets dark or the mobs will start spawning behind you. Meet you back here in a while. Let me know." Pickaxe in hand I pick a wall and have at it. Dig. Dig. Dig. I''m making a long tunnel. It''s starting to get dark. Oh yeah, torches. That''s better. I look in my inventory and I''m accumulating a lot of cobblestone and some coal. I see some different color stone on the wall and dig it out. I''m back near the bed. Some sort of green monster ran up to me and started hissing. I guess I died. None of my gear is with me. I hope it wasn''t blown up. Nyatali is standing next to a chest when I get back to the mines. There were monsters in the dark on my run over but they didn''t kill me. Nyatali runs over and starts attacking a zombie that was chasing me. It dies pretty quickly and drops something. I look in the chest and find my equipment. It looks pretty damaged though. Nyatali continues her lessons, "Ok, make a forge and smelt that iron ore. You''ll need an iron pickaxe to mine some of the ores we''ll find down here. After that we can explore some caves I found down here." "Sounds great. This is a lot of fun." ------- Armed with my new shiny pickaxe, I follow Nyatali down to the caves. These are kind of spooky. Dark. I see bats flying around and I can hear moans off in the distance. Nyatali is placing torches as we go. I guess that might make it easier to find out way out later. We occasionally find zombies and skeletons and the two of us together fight them off. This is a little different from the other sort of mining as the ores can be seen on the cave walls. When we find pools of lava, Nyatali pours water over them turning the lava a very dark purple color. "That''s obsidian. We''ll need diamond tools to dig that up." Nyatali throws me a bucket and tells me, "fill it with water when we see some. I put the bucket in my hotbar as well. Pretty soon we locate some diamond. Nyatali has me craft a diamond pickaxe. "Let''s go back and mine that obsidian now." "What''s it good for?" I ask her. "Making portals to hell. Do you want to check that out?" "Haven''t been there before, Sure! Let''s go." 19 - What music? We built our Hellgate. It looks pretty much like the portals near where I came into the game, just a different color. When we activated it the center was filled with swirling motes of light. The gate makes an eerie moaning sound. Creepy. Nyatali motioned to me, "Come on, let''s go!". She jumped into the gate and disappeared. I followed her through.
Kind of dark in here. Lakes of lava as far as I can see. Flows of lava fall from somewhere above me. I think that''s where the light here is coming from. The ground is red and seems to be on fire in places. "Wow." "It is pretty cool," Nyatali said. "I like the music here." "What music?" Nyatali asks me, "You don''t have music? Open up your options page and turn on the music." I do it. I stand for a long while and listen. "That''s really cool, Nyatali. I didn''t know about the music option. This really adds to the experience. Do you have music when you aren''t playing the game?" "Sure, I''ve got a music app and have a few sites I stream music from as well. What do you listen to Hashi?" "I like listening to birds. I enjoy talking with people. I listen to the things around me. It helps keep me from tripping over stuff. Hey, I sure do like this music. So what is there to do here in hell?" Nyatali looks back towards the Hellgate. "We don''t want to lose track of the gate, they can be hard to find if we wander too far. I did bring some more obsidian to make another just in case." She starts walking and keeps talking, "Well some monsters are only found here, there are materials that only can be found here for crafting and potion making."Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. We''re still walking across the hellscape. I like the music, the view isn''t all that interesting though. "Nyatali, where are we going? I did kind of want to get around to building." "I''m sorry Hashi, We were down in the mines and I pretty much slid into tour guide autopilot." "That''s ok Nyatali, I do it all the time." We start heading back to the gate.
We spent some time surveying near Nyatlali''shouse for a place for me to put a house. "Any ideas on what sort of house you want?" "A big one with a lot of rooms. Maybe a secret underground lair?" "Sure we can do that. Go mark off where you want your yard and house and we can get to the building." I look at the other houses in the area and get an idea of how large the other houses are, then I mark off and area about twice that large in both directions. "A big house. Ok, we can do that." Nyatali places a crafting table, furnace, and a large chest. She also starts placing torches on the ground every so often. "Place stoneblocks on the ground where you want your bottom floor to be." I start doing it. After a while, Nyatali looks in on me. "Looking good Hashi. Hey, I''ve got a class in the morning and it''s getting late. Don''t forget to watch out for mobs at night if you build at night. I''ll see you around." I reply, "Take care Nyatali. I had a lot of fun today. I hope to see you soon. Let''s play together again." I go back to building my house. I wonder if maybe I overdid it regarding size. After a while, I get into a groove. Build, gather materials, Build some more, sleep, repeat. Sometimes it rains. Sometimes I stay out too late and the monsters come. I''ve got a sword. Let them come. I''m finishing up one the second floor when Doktor Urmind shows up. He looks pretty funny in low-res and blocky. "Hashi. Nice house. It''s very um... square. I wanted to remind you that it''s time to you to visit Kithera for your first practice session." "Thanks, Doktor Urmind. I''ve really enjoyed working on the house. Building is very peaceful. I like the music on here. I didn''t know I could turn on music." I look around my Blockminer house. Time to go. "Log on to RWO." 20 - Real World Online: Training Day #1 .[System: Welcome to Real World Online. Everyone here at Doktor Urmind''s Hacking Group hopes you will have a pleasant gaming experience.] [System: you have mail!] I am in a body! I can feel again. It is Zach''s body. But he hasn''t complained yet. He is in the other game while I am here. So it is a fair trade. He seems to like my world. I am exploring his. I met his wife a few sessions ago. Her name is Kithera. She''s pretty nice. My eyes are closed. I''m sitting on the ground. I think I''ll sit here a sec. Settle into the bod. The sensations can be overwhelming. Doktor Urmind doesn''t tell me everything. Better check my messages. I haven''t been doing this for long. But long enough to know the more you know, the better. >read mail ----------------------------------- From: Doktor Urmind To: Hashi Grindswell Subject: Game changes Hashi, We''ve been changing the game systems around which is pretty easy since you are the first RWO player to survive character creation. We''re going to try out some different things. Please, let us know what you think. We''re going to start out simple. You''ll still get xp and levels. We''re going to revamp the stat system, so no stats for now. You''ll still get skills as you learn how to do new things (more of an acknowledgment for the time being). In addition to your estimated time remaining indicator, you also have a hp bar, a stamina bar, and a special bar. Thanks again for trying out RWO. I hope you enjoy your training session with Kithera! Doktor Urmind ----------------------------------- I''m starting to see some ghostly images. I have seen them before while blind fighting in my world. People are moving near me. I hear Kithera''s familiar voice. I stand up. I open my eyes. This isn''t the usual place. Huh, this looks like the fighter''s hall. I''m in a fairly large well-lit room. Half covered in [wood] and half covered in [blue carpet]. Chairs sit waiting on the carpeted part. "Hi, Kithera. I''m so glad to see you." I don''t know who the other [human, male] is. He''s wearing a white [martial arts uniform]. I wasn''t expecting anyone else. Kithera seems comfortable with him. So he must be okay. Kithera responds, "Hashi. I was worried. I haven''t seen you on-line for days. Everything ok? Where did you disappear to?" "Yeah, I met a nice cat-girl. I was a cat-girl too for the adventure. We played for a while and then she showed me around on a Blockminer server." Kithera looks a little surprised. Note to self, how do I know that she''s surprised? I turn to the man standing next to Kithera. He hasn''t said anything yet. "Hi, I''m Hashi." "Hi, I''m David." he replies. Wow! He has a nice voice. I feel like I have heard it before. It reminds of some of the music Kithera listens to. Not sure why. His nameplate updates to [David]. He holds out his hand. I know what to do here. I reach out, grab his hand and shake it up and down vigorously. David lets go of my hand and turns to Kithera. "Enthusiastic, I like that." Then he turns to her, "Kithera, what''s the next move. It''s your magic show." Magic show? Where the rabbit? I don''t see a hat? Last week, Kithera said I''ve already fallen through the Rabbit Hole. Am I on time? Kithera starts talking again. "We should start with something familiar before we add too many more new things Hashi. This is David''s dojo. He teaches martial arts and sword work here. " Uhm..? I wonder silently saying nothing. But as usual, Kithera pulls answers out of thin air. She is magical that way even without a rabbit or a hat. It is nice not to have to ask. "He''s a friend who won''t talk to others about you. I filled him in just a little bit about your unique circumstance." "So, no men in black showing up to take me away?" I try to sound like I''m joking. I''m a bit nervous though. "Nope. Not this week. We should be safe. David has known Zach and a few of his riders for years. Zach comes to the dojo with me often. In fact, he came here with me today." David says, "Wow, even though you told me, Kit, this is amazing! That is Zach''s body. But the speech, the body language, and the energy are completely different. Zach is just not there." "What''s a dojo?" is what came out of my mouth. But my thought was more I wonder if the NPCs in my world creep my player out too. I may like his voice but his words make me uneasy. "It''s a lot like the fighter''s hall that you''ve trained in." Kithera tells me. "Oh. So we''re going to do some fighter training today?" "Kithera suggested that doing something familiar would help you get used to your... Zach''s." David looks to Kithera who shrugs. "Get used to this body." "Zach''s playing the game." Kithera interjects "But you already knew that." She points to some computer equipment on a table across the room. I smile and nod. Yes, I know. So does she. But I haven''t seen David over there yet. Does he play in my world? "So Hashi, are you up for a little sword practice?" the master asks me. I nod again. He walks over to the rack that holds some practice swords. I see some practice armor hanging on the wall. "Sure, I''ve had a lot of practice with wooden swords. I''d like that." David hands me some practice armor. I try to equip it. [System: equip and inventory are currently unavailable in RWO] "Equip doesn''t work." I turn to Kithera, who is already on her way over. "How do I put this on?" "Let me help you with that. Put your arm in here. Ok, now the other arm. Here''s how you do the straps." She adjusts until all is just so then steps back. David hands me the practice sword. "I''ll be watching. Right over here. Just in case you need anything." Kithera reassures. I think one day she will make a good mother. She knows that new things can be hard. David gestures to the center area of the wood floor. I join him there. This part is pretty familiar. David bows to me. I bow back. He gets into position. David stands a bit differently than my usual opponents. But I''m not sure what the difference is. Something with the feet. Whatever it is, that way he''s standing looks solid, stable. I adjust my stance and try to match his. "Kithera told me that you usually count through your beginning strokes. I''ll count and match you. We''ll start out slow and then speed things up." the master explained. I nodded in agreement. David bows again. I do it with him this time. "One, two, three, four." I like David''s voice. It makes me feel calmer. On the next one count, I start my usual practice.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. David matches me perfectly. His blocks have just the right force. After we speed it up to about where I''d normally shift into sparring, David calls a halt. He shows me a few places where my form could be a bit better (so I am less likely to be injured). I wonder about the stamina bar. It has not budged yet. David asks if I''d like to try it again. He is careful. Now that he knows that I have the basic forms down, sparring becomes a possibility. [System: +1 sword skill] "Pretty impressive, Hashi." From across the room Kithera says, "I don''t think Zach could have done that well." I believe her. She promised never to give me empty praise. Her vows require honesty toward those she agrees to help. "Once again" David confirms "We''ll start slow and speed it up." He gets into position again and starts the count. This goes pretty well again. Sparring seems to work about the same as when I practiced against Tony. But David gets more frequent touches. I''m surprised that I don''t lose any hp from David''s touches. I know breaking Kithera''s husband isn''t on the program. What would a really damaging... "Ouch!'''' flies out of my mouth. My hp dropped a few on that one. What is this intense feeling in my shoulder? Feels like fire inside. Why did I say ouch? Why does Kithera look worried? She is walking over to me. David becomes statue like. "Kithera, what does ouch mean?'''' I ask aloud between a shallow breath followed by a deep one. I have to ask. I''ve never said that word before. Kithera has never said that word to me either. I hope it wasn''t something vile in the tongue of RWO. Neither of them looks angry. So it can''t have been too bad. I thought of much worse things to say when the fire started inside the joint. Wow! Kithera can move very fast. David is lifting me up... Uhm¡­ I don''t remember the going down but I am up now. David removes the pauldron and stares at my shoulder. Kithera pushes in for a look. I check my hit points bar. Only 3 out of a hundred down. I am fine. I don''t get the look on her face. Kithera is frowning. I want to tell her that I took increased regeneration but I don''t know what Zach''s stats really look like. Could this be a problem in RWO? David moves my arm around like I am a toy being played with. But I know this is serious. He mumbles words about range of motion. No bleeding. I try to say the bruise will fade quickly. But Kithera shushes me until David is done with his examination. "Don''t worry, Kithera. It will be fine in a minute. My hit point bar has climbed by one already." "Zach doesn''t have one of those," she protests. "That bruise looks like it goes all the way to the bone!'' "But I do, and I''ve already regained a hit point." I would explain more. But her eyes will not focus on anything except the bruise. Yes, it is black and purple now. But in just a few minutes it will lighten. Should I reassure her or just let it take its course? "Bloody hell!" came out of David''s mouth." Kit, did you throw a healing spell already?" "Not yet. I need the crystal on the self to do it properly." she rose as she said it, heading for the bookcase across the room. "Not sure that''s needed, Loves. Have a look." he prompted. ¡°It¡¯s gone all yellow and green now.'''' I heard Kithera drop whatever she had just picked up. She was back in a flash again. Staring at my shoulder like she''s never seen a fighter regenerate unassisted. Not every party can have a healer along. If she can accept me and other beings using Zach as an avatar, what is so shocking about advanced self-healing? Was this just another difference between our worlds? Or was she more worried because it was her husband? I must ask about that next time. Now doesn''t seem the time. "Okay. That is unexpected." she says automatically. ¡°Apparently, more of your in-game skills transferred than expected." "Isn''t it a good thing?¡± I wonder aloud. ¡°It means that Zach doesn''t break as easily when I am here." "I''m not so sure about that, Hashi." Kithera concludes without any true disagreement evident in her voice. "Just because the surface wounds heal fast doesn''t mean there won''t be pain afterward." "Pain?" I wonder aloud after checking the hp bar. I have only half a hit point to regain. David laughs and begins to adjust the practice armor that had been loosened when I went down. I can tell he is excited by this revelation and wants to go at it again. So do I. "Don''t mind her. She both worries too much and is the cautious sort always. David assures as he moves my arm in a full circle with great satisfaction. ¡±You''ll be right as rain soon enough." "Pain, in this sense of the word," Kithera, replies "is the physical sensation caused by damage or disorder in the body." She watches the last of the discoloration turn into health. David replaces the pauldron on my shoulder. His smile sparkles like a polished charm. But Kithera still looks pale as she goes on about pain. "What you felt was no small thing I imagine. It comes in a wide variety of depths and flavors. We have hundreds of words to describe the wide variety of manifestations it takes. Imagine that what you felt was nowhere near agony as it didn''t make you scream or cry or pass out. It was the thing that made you say ouch, by the way." "Is ouch a bad word here?" I really want to know. Kithera looks so unhappy. I have never seen her like that before. I am fine, and my hp bar is back up. She still looks sad. "It isn''t an insult or a curse, if that is what you meant. It is just something people say to let others know they are in pain. " "Kithera, why did I say it. It is not from my world" I want to know. Sometimes, I just know things that I didn''t know before I started playing RWO. I don''t know how I got them they are just there, the way the "ouch'''' word was just there. Zach may be giving me more than just an in-game avatar. "I think that you said it because Zach says it a lot." she says in almost a whisper. David has turned his face away from her direction. He seems to be giving her some kind of privacy. I follow his lead. I do not ask any more question about pain, about ouch or why her husband, my player, says the pain word a lot. But I know now that Zach is sharing more than just the use of his body. I wonder: do I leave traces in him too? I hope some of them make Kithera smile. She gives so much. I do not want to give her worry or sad or any kind of pain. [System: +3 empathy skill] "Really, I am fine now. My hp bar is fully restored." I announce just because the silence was getting creepy. "Excellent!" says David. "Now what?" "I want to continue if that is okay." I nudge it out there as gently as I can. Kithera nods reluctantly. David agrees readily. As we walk back to the practice area I make a request. "When I logged in, I was seeing with my eyes closed. It was very like what happened when I tried blind fighting in my world. Could I try some blind sparring here?" David grinned. He was clearly game. But Kithera, not so much. "So you blind spar often at home?" Kithera wonders. "Are you good at it there?" ¡°I have several levels in blind fighting.¡± "That''s nice. Mr. Grindswell. But those levels did not involve pain." her hands went to her hips on both sides. "Are you sure you want to try it again and without your sight in somebody else''s body?" I ponder the situation carefully. My player had instructed me to train in all the skills on my to-do list. That included blind fighting. But I know that breaking Kithera''s husband is not supposed to be part of the training program. The master of martial arts did not seem directly opposed to the idea. But he had said it was her show. Clearly, it was going to be her decision today. Thankfully, the bruise had faded completely. So no lasting damage had been done so far to my player. " uhm... oohff... fine... boys will be boys! " she gave in. "I''m sure Zach would love for you to try it, Hashi. David, take it easy and don''t hurt him too much. Zach only has one life." "Only just enough, I promise." he quips at her. "We ought to film this bit. Just in case the bruise doesn''t all go away. Zach would want to know." "Give me a minute, and I''ll set up some cameras." she begrudgingly agrees. "This isn''t exactly what he made his interface for in the first place. I mean how often do the blind have sword duels?'' I tell her, "Every Thursday and twice on Saturdays in my world. That is why it is on the to-do list. But only the blind monks, of course." It¡¯s great that she¡¯s interested in blind fighting. Once she gets done with her preparations, Kithera lets us know that she''s ready for our shenanigans. David brings over a weird contraption that covers my eyes. After some adjusting of straps, I''m ready. I close my eyes. I see a ghostly view of the room. David and Kithera stand out in color against the black and white lines that indicate solid objects. I begin to hear the sounds that coordinate with their movements. I can still see their nameplates plainly. I bow to David again. We go through a few rounds of counted strokes as before. We separate off. The sparring begins. I feel like I am becoming aware of where David is going to move and what sort of attack he''s going to do next. His ghostly image has ghosts of its own. They predict. I listen. My sword makes contacts. [System +1 blindfighting skill] I start getting some touches on David. My stamina bar is holding steady. The special bar, which started empty has gotten full. It is flashing. I''m not sure what it does. I mentally tap on it. The world changes and I feel larger. I feel the room. David slows down abruptly, and the ghosts streaming off of him extend much farther. I don''t know if he''s messing with me or if something else is going on. I can see the special bar starting to creep backward toward empty. I do not want to be empty. Since I now have a good idea of where his blows will land, and he appears to be moving more slowly than I, I move around him and tap him on the side. Feeling bold and a little excited, I tap him seven more times in various places. Wow, this is awesome! I''m super Hashi until the weakness comes out of nowhere. I''m feeling weird now, and it''s growing. I still have half a special bar left and half a stamina bar as well. I tap him one more time. My arms feel disconnected they cannot obey the commands I think to them. I can''t hold on to the sword. It falls out of my hand, falls slowly towards the ground. I fall as well, slowly, so slowly to the ground. [System: special ability adrenal moves gained] [System: special ability hypercognition gained] [System: you have the cataplexy debuff] I''m on the ground. Time speeds up. I can''t move. "Hashi, can you hear me?" Kithera has rushed over. I open my eyes. She moves a finger from left to right in front of my eyes. I can track her finger. At least my eyes move. I hope I didn''t break her husband. I hear Kithera, "Hashi, it''s okay. You''re not dying. It only feels that way. But it will stop soon, and movement will come back. It was the excitement. It does it to Zach every time." She is speaking softly. I know she means it because she does not lie to me. "It''s not your fault." I know she means it. But I don''t understand all of it. "I''m going to get Zach back from the game. He''s more used to this," she explains. "You didn''t do anything wrong. This is Zach''s problem. I mean the body''s problem." Kithera assures me and then she says," What you just did, that was amazing." Did I hear her right? So in RWO, even when I am powerless, I have a reason to be proud? "Don''t worry Hashi, Zach''s hit points will come back up. It is only a cataplexy attack. He will be able to move again. You will be able to come back soon enough." she soothes me with the promise, turns her head to see David fiddling with buttons on the machine then asks "David is Zach coming?" I hear his comforting voice like a song from far away. "Yes, Loves, we have him." [System: You''ve been disconnected from RWO] [Quest complete: First training session. +2 levels, see notifications for other rewards] I''m tired. I can''t see or feel anything. But I know why Zach comes to my world. Now I know that he needs me. I am looking forward to the next session. I think I will take a nap. 21 - System fault [System fault detected. Lost connection to the primary controller. Do you wish to restart the interface server?] I''m still in the dark here. Why am I not back in my world? Where am I? "Doktor Urmind!" "Hello? Is anyone there?" I can''t see anything. I can''t hear anything. Am I dead? I wish I could get back to a place. My world, my player''s world, any world would do. [System fault detected. Lost connection to the primary controller. Do you wish to restart the interface server?] I yell, "Doktor Urmind? Hello? Can anyone hear me?" Anybody?This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I yell louder, "Doktor Urmind. I know you''re out there. You''re always out there. Watching. Listening. Messing with my system messages. Talk to me. Please." I hope he answers me soon. I whisper to the darkness, "Is anyone there?" I''m afraid. [System: user offline] [System fault detected. Lost connection to the primary controller. Do you wish to restart the interface server?] [System: restarting interface server...] The world turns white.
I''m running down a long hallway. I''ve got to get somewhere. It''s important. I hope I get there in time.
#Interface initialized. #Primary controller offline. #Welcome, Doktor Urmind. #Happy Hacking! $> Huh? What? I''m looking at words on a screen. I''m somewhere! Where am I? I''m in Doktor Urmind''s office. I''m sitting in his chair. I was looking at his [laptop computer]. I''m wearing his clothes. "What?" I stand up. I look around. The room looks just like Urmind''soffice in town, the one without adoor. What''s going on? What happened? Is my player ok? [System: invalid message recipient] I pull up my friend list. I see my name on it twice and a bunch of names that I don''t recognize. I check my character sheet. I''m logged in as Doktor Urmind. 22 - Dude, whered I leave my avatar? Um, Where''s my save menu? I want to go back.
  • I was playing BlockMiner with Nyatali.
  • I logged into RWO.
  • I trained with David.
  • I hit my special button.
  • Everything slowed down and I hit David a bunch of times.
  • My body stopped moving and I fell down.
  • I was disconnected from RWO.
  • I was in the nothing place again.
  • A system message kept showing up asking me if I wanted to restart the server.
  • I showed up here logged in as Doktor Urmind.
Now what? I''ve been here before. There used to be a door in this room. Doktor Urmind made some mystical hand gestures and then we went somewhere else. What hand gestures did he use? I try to remember the hand gestures he made. I can imagine them. I slow them down and look closely. I might have gotten an [interpreting mystical gestures skill] but I really don''t know what the gestures meant or did. I try to copy the first gesture. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. On my fourth try, I see a notification. [System: opening superuser menu] Now I see a window with some options: [Superuser Menu]
  • Teleport menu
  • Window menu
  • God mode
  • Quick commands
That second gesture was him picking a menu option.[System; +1 interpreting mystical gestures]This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. I move my hand up and down.The selected item follows my finger. I think he picked ''God mode'' that time. I''m not sure I''m ready to try that out yet. The window menu sounds safe. [Window menu]
  • System console
  • System dashboard
  • Interface window
  • Hacking window
Nope, let''s go back and try quick commands [Quick commands]
  • Toggle invisible
  • Jump to Hashi
  • Watch Hashi
  • Hacker chat
  • Check my stocks
Can he go invisible and follow me around? That''s a bit creepy. I don''t know what that last option is. I''m not sure I want to chat with his hacker friends. I don''t know what they''ll do if they find out that I''m logged in as Urmind. Then again, they might be able to help. This feels weird messing around with Doktor Urmind''s menus. There is one I have to try on this menu. I pick ''Watch Hashi''. A window pops up. It shows me in this room. I''m seeing all of my movements. I wave at myself.Does he watch me while I''m sleeping? Can he see me in RWO? I close the window.Could I make one for Nyatli? Do I want to watch her when she''s not playing with me? Thinking about doing that makes me feel weird. An unpleasant weird. Sounds like a ninja sort of thing to do. I still like the ninja clothes though. This isn''t getting me get out of this room or find out where Doktor Urmind is. [Teleport menu]
  • Office
  • Home
  • Jump to Hashi
  • Secret Lab
Home sounds good. I pick ''Home''.
I''m standing in front of a fairly large gameworld house. The sign next to the door reads ''Dr. Urmind''. I''m not stuck in the room. I''m going inside. 23 - Follow me I knock on the door. No one answers. I wait a while. I check out Doktor Urmind''s character sheet. Doktor Urmind. Doktor Urmind''s house. Doktor Urmind isn''t in the house. I open up the door and walk in. I haven''t actually been in many houses. Just my player''s actually. There''s a large room in front with chairs and low tables. No pictures on the walls. My player had pictures on the walls. I wander through the house. There are a lot of rooms. I find a room with a bed. There''s a kitchen. Food preparation here works pretty much like other sorts of crafting. I haven''t found anything interesting yet. Walking down one hallway I do finally find some pictures on the wall. They''re all pictures of me and Doktor Urmind. They''re numbered one through six. I only remember the place in the last one. I guess I really do have some memory problems since I don''t remember being with Doktor Urmind in the other places. Oh, this room is interesting. Books, lots of books. Big brown leather chairs. Tables covered with books. There''s a place for mixing drinks is against one wall. There are a lot of bottles over there. The room is huge. What am I doing here? Where''s Doktor Urmind? I''m feeling lost. This would be fun if Doktor Urmind was showing me around his house. I don''t know if my player is ok. Kithera said something about getting in touch with me. She doesn''t know to contact me as Doktor Urmind. Is Doktor Urmind ok?You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Wait... Urmind sent that letter mentioning that he knows about Kithera and Zach and that they know about him. I didn''t see Trixey in his friend list. Hmm. This is confusing! Now how do I get the teleport thing to work. I start messing with the superuser menu. I tried the teleport to Hashi, but that just moved me a few feet. I think it targets me. After five menus and two help screens later, I figure out how to teleport to the inn. Hurray for mystical gestures. And,,, I''m in front of the inn. I see my player and Trixey nearby. I tell them, "Hey, you two. Can we talk somewhere, um, private." My player says, "Have you heard from Hashi?" Trixey tells my player, "Strange thing for you to say, Hashi. Where to Doktor?" I start fumbling with the teleport menu again. I target [Hashi] and [Trixey] and take us back to Doktor Urmind''s House. "Follow me, please." I head into the house and head back to the library. My player asks, "What''s with the cloak and dagger business?" I reply, "It''s actually a black leather duster." Once in the library, I turn to look at them. "I''m Hashi, and Doktor Urmind is missing." I sit down in one of the chairs and wait for the questions. My player and Trixey stand motionless for a bit and start into their idle animations. I guess they are talking to each other in RWO. They start moving eventually. Trixey asks, "So, you are the Hashi that visited RWO. And you are logged in as Doktor Urmind. Is that right?" "Yes." My player says, "That must be weird for you. Can you tell us what happened after you were disconnected from the dojo?" I tell them, "Have a seat, and I''ll tell you." And I do (except for the part about the superuser menu). 24 - Another name. "So how are you teleporting around?" Kithera asked me. "I figured out his mystical gesture." I show her the gesture. "I don''t know if only works for this avatar or not. I know I could switch back to my character, but I''m not sure if I could switch back once I leave it. I haven''t tried." That might have been a bit more than she was asking. I turn to face my player and tell him, "I have to say it feels a bit strange to finally meet you. Can I call you Zach? Calling you Hashi would be too weird." Zach replies, "That is my name, so yes that''s fine. When we''re around other people in the game we should probably stick to the nameplate names though. I didn''t expect to ever get to meet you. Doktor Urmind asked me to avoid it if at all possible. He never did explain his reason though." "How did you meet Doktor Urmind?" I ask Zach. Kithera''s sitting listening to both of us. Zach looks around the room for a little while. I guess he''s thinking about it. Then he starts talking, "Well that is a bit of a story. I''d been working on an idea I''ve been toying with for a while. I was trying to build an auditory based augmented reality device for the blind. I wanted a way for the sight impaired to have a way to get more information about their surroundings. I thought using a game system would be a good way to train it. Oh yeah, the Doktor Urmind part. I was able to make a prototype. A definite contender for the ''Ugliest hat award''. Basically, it was a hacked up VR headset with sensors strapped on and cables back to several computers. I''d been testing it for several days while logged into the game. I ran into a lot of people, trees, buildings, monsters, and a few times off of cliffs. I was in town getting supplies when Doktor Urmind started talking to me at a coffee shop. I refuse to call it a ''wake me up'' shop. Hey Hashi, I need to take a quick break. I''ll be right back." Zach''s nameplate changed to [Hashi (AFK)] and his avatar stops moving.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Kithera says, "Zach had to get up and walk around a bit, probably is going to go smoke. Be right back myself. I''m going to make some coffee." Kithera went AFK as well. What''s smoking? Walking around and smoking. Huh. I really can''t imagine what that means. I''ll ask them when they get back. I''m contemplating playing some sort of prank with their frozen avatars when they start moving again. Zach continues, "Sorry about that. I was starting to have trouble with the narcolepsy and it was making it hard to type. Here''s Kithera with the coffee." I interrupt Zach, "Zach, what''s smoking? Are you cooking something?" Kithera''s back from AFK. Zach answers me, "You''ve probably seen people in town using pipes. A person puts crushed up dried leaves from a tobacco plant in a bowl attached to a hollow tube. They burn the plant and inhale the smoke. Here in my world people do this for the stimulant effect it has. I find it helps my narcolepsy symptoms some. It''s looked down on now because it can cause harm long term. It helps me with my symptoms. Hey, are you ok? I''m sorry you had to experience part of a cataplexy attack." "Um, Zach, I''ve never really understood what people mean when the say ''Are you ok?'' What''s ok mean?" Zach, "Feeling well?" I reply, "Other than feelings of satisfaction, I have no feelings from my avatar. I''m not distressed. A bit worried about Doktor Urmind." KIthera asks me, "Hashi, do you have another name. Outside of the game?" I think a bit. "My only experience of being outside the game is when I''m in a big black space with no light, not sound, and no body.I don''t know of any other names other than when I picked H Grindswell as a character name. It sounded better than Hashi006." Zach and Kithera look at each other. "Did I say something strange?"
  • Hashi006
  • 6 pictures on the wall
  • The first player to survive
I don''t think those other pictures were of me. 25 - Looking at pictures My mind connected the dots. I don''t recognize the picture though. "Um, Zach? Did you see those pictures of me and Doktor Urmind in the hallway?" "Well, could have been you, could have been me. I only met Urmind a couple of times. I''d have to look at the pictures to see if they match the times I met the Doktor." said Zach. That''s better. Seeing ''Hashi'' over Zach''s head has been bothering me. "I need to log off for a bit. I''ll get back on as soon as I can." Kithera tells us. I wave. Zach bows. Kithera disappears. I ask Zach, "How about we go look at those pictures and you can tell me more about meeting Urmind." Zach gets up and says, "Sure." He walks with me out into the hall.
It''s a well-lit hallway. The walls are covered with tight-fitting strips of some white wood. I run my hands over the walls. There''s some haptic feedback when I touch the surface, I can tell that the surface is a little rough. Zach''s beside me. "I like touching things in Real World Online," I say aloud. Zach runs his hand over the paneling as well. "I never was able to get any realistic tactile sensation into the in-game interface." I avoid looking at him. I look at picture number 6 instead. The one that I remember. It''s weird to see a picture of me and Urmind with our nameplates over our heads. I don''t remember there being anyone there painting that would see this picture. Who made the picture?This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. I look at each picture in turn. I''m not talking and neither is Zach. He''s following along looking at each of the pictures after I do. I don''t remember being in these places. The avatars are the same but somethings different about the first five. I turn to Zach, "What''s different between the first five and number six? I remember number six. I don''t remember the others." Zach looks at me and examines five and six and then the other four. Zach points at the nameplates. "The sixth picture says Hashi. The others all say Hashi (away)." Oh. Zach tells me, "The only time I''ve seen the Hashi (away) avatars were when I was shoulder surfing when Kithera was playing. Let''s head back to the library, Kithera''s back."
Kithera isn''t AFK anymore. She''s spread some papers on a table nearby while we were gone. She says, "I''ve printed out some of your notes since you started using the interface, Zach. You might want to finish telling your story before we look at the notes." Zach looks at Kithera and they both get quiet for a little bit. I''m pretty sure they are talking outside of the game. I wish I knew what they were saying. [System: Do you wish to monitor current interface audio?] Um. That doesn''t feel right. Zach starts talking again. "Doktor Urmind approached me at a coffee shop in game. I''d only had my interface working for a few days. Here''s a transcript of the conversation." Zach hands me a parchment.
Doktor Urmind: Pardon me, I''d like to discuss a business proposition with you. Me: Have we met before? Do you know me from somewhere? You have me at a bit of a disadvantage here. Doktor Urmind: Zachery Russell. I know of you. We''ve never met before. I''ve heard of you and your research from some associates. Me: Uh, can we talk about this irl somewhere? Perhaps on the phone. I don''t really want to talk about my research in-game. Doktor Urmind: The game is the easiest place for me to conduct business. Perhaps at my office? It is a private space. Me: Nothing on this server is really private. Phone? Text? Secured chat? Would any of those do? Doktor Urmind: Secured chat would work. Say in about a half hour. I can make it worth your while, even pay you for your time. Me: Any particular chat program? Voice chat? Doktor Urmind: I''ll drop you an email with contact information. Talk to you soon.
I look up at Zach, "And then what happened?" Urmind was acting suspiciously. Was he spying on Zach? 26 - A job offer Zach says "Here''s the what." Zach hands me another parchment. "It''s our chat transcript." Who or what is Urmind?
-- begin transcript Welcome to Doktor Urmind''s Hacker Chat All of our bits are washed with care. ## ZRtech has entered the channel ## TheDoktor has entered the channel ZRtech: Hello Doktor! what was this about paying for my time? TheDoktor: I''ll pay $500 for a 30-minute session. I just want a chance to make a proposal. ZRtech: Ok, you have me for a half hour. TheDoktor: Splendid! I''ve made the payment to your PayBuddy account. TheDoktor: Are you ready for the pitch? ZRTech: It''s your dime. Hit me. TheDoktor: Nice Johhny Mnemonicreference. Is that an official request? Better consult with H first. I''ll wait.Stolen novel; please report. ZRtech: H? What are you talking about? A little less cryptic, please. TheDoktor: I can''t come out and say it directly since the other H is reading this, The H with the antlers is the one I mean. ZRtech: I thought you said this was a secure chat. TheDoktor:The chat isn''t the issue. It''s about the transcript, later on. ZRTech: Ah, the one from the forest. Got it. TheDoktor: Wouldn''t do to give up your moonlight job. ZRtech: Who''s this other H you mentioned? TheDoktor: If you accept my proposal you''ll meet him later. ZRtech: Sure. I''ll be back online in a bit. ## ZRtech has left the channel ## ZRtech has entered the channel ZRtech: H thinks it''s a bit ambitious, but he''s willing. He says you''ll owe us both. TheDoktor: I agree to those terms. Ready? ZRtech: Hit me. -- Lost connection to server Welcome to Doktor Urmind''s Hacker Chat All of our bits are washed with care. ## ZRtech has entered the channel ZRtech: You and H are both jerks. That hurt! Obviously, you''ve been messing with my interface device. I''m not even going to ask how at this point. ZRtech: I''m still waiting for the proposal. That new pile of crap in my head is not a proposal. DoktorUrmind: I want to help you in developing your interface. I''d like to buy some of them once they are more portable. ZRTech: Help how? DoktorUrmind: I have technical staff and lots of money. I''d like to pay you to continue working on your interface full time. DoktorUrmind: I could make it a nonprofit grant if that makes you feel any better. ZRtech: Are you proposing that I leave my current job and do just this? DoktorUrmind: Yes, I meant your day job. By all means, keep doing the other thing. ZRtech: I needto consult with my wife, of course. I keep the rights and I want a million guaranteed up front. I am so glad that weird doesn''t bother me much anymore. DoktorUrmind: Can''t do anything about the wyrd. Where do you want the money sent? ZRtech: Green Forrest Treasury. I have to go talk to Kithera. Catch you later. ## ZRtech has left the channel -- end of transcript 27 - What about the others? Zach tells me, "Of course we took the money." "Ok, so you work for Doktor Urmind. Got it. Um, that''s a lot to take in. Kithera, what''s with all the papers?" "These list activity for the interface device. We''ve been able to pick out the times when you are in RWO. We can also see the times that you mentioned seeing into our world in your dreams." "Huh. You''ve talked about the interface a number of times. Is that the black thingie on my head when I''m logged into RWO? The one Doktor Urmind has been paying you to develop?" Zach says, "Yes, that''s it. I''ve been wearing the interface pretty much non-stop since I was able to make one that doesn''t have all the cables attached." "So what about the other Hashi''s? Numbers one to five. Are those me? Or are they someone else? I''m pretty freaked out about them. Were there other me''s that didn''t survive?" Kithera says, "Both Zach and I have looked at the logs. There''s some activity similar to your dream episodes and also to the beginning of your first RWO session." "The beginning of my first RWO session? How many?" I already know the answer to this one. "Five." they both say at once. "So what''s different between those sessions and mine?" Kithera says, "They pretty much look the same until a certain point where there is a rapid increase in network activity. For your session, the network activity hits a certain level and then goes down. For the other sessions, the network activity continues to rise. All of them had an increased heart rate at the same time."The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Kithera pauses for a bit and then continues, "For your session, Zach''s heart rate went up for a little while and then settled back down. The other five times it continued to rise along with the network activity until the network activity dropped abruptly. We also saw in all six cases a huge upswing in server activity. A lot of the interface is based on artificial neural nets running on a cloud server. The previous times we had to reset the interface neural nets as they had trained themselves into a nonfunctional state." Am I just bits in the cloud?I look at the papers on the table. This is way too much to take in. My head''s full. Zach takes over, "Let me fill in a few more gaps here. I''ve been making to-do lists for my away character the whole time. Like what happened with you, I saw evidence that my away character was going off and doing other things than what was on the to-do list. After each one of these interface resets, the away character went back to doing the things on the list. I asked Doktor Urmind about it once. He said that he thought that would be normal given that I''m using a hacked game client. I don''t remember his exact explanation but that having an away character get weird with the nonstandard interface made sense to him. Something about the away characters being adaptive based on how their players act in-game. I don''t remember doing anything all that strange in-game other than running into things a lot since I wasn''t using a visual interface." Mind blown. I don''t understand most of what Zach is talking about. I sit down on the couch. "That is a lot of stuff all at once. What did you think at the time these things were going on?" Kithera tells me, "Well naturally I was worried when Zach''s interface went weird those 5 times. After the first two times, Zach set up a safety mechanism to put the interface into a standby mode if his heart rate started racing. That got triggered during sessions 3 to 5. When the interface came out of standby, it kept retriggering until he reset the interface neural net." I can''t process this. Did they kill other me''s? "Hashi, those interface neural nets haven''t been active since you disconnected from RWO, the interface device was damaged during the fall. Zach''s repairing it." "You aren''t the interface." What am I? 28 - Becoming I can''t say anything for a while. Zach and Kithera are looking at me. They aren''t saying anything. I close my eyes. -------------------- I''m running. I''m running in town. It''s my first day. I feel like I''m a passenger in my own body. I see the people in town. The ones that I saw that day. The difference between players and the townsfolk is obvious to me now. Not just the nameplates. The way people walk and move and interact. It all looks so very different even though its the same. I''m talking to myself. Out loud. The other me. The one I was back then. I was so confused. I see the ceiling fan. The one that terrified me the first night.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Doktor Urmind. I don''t know if he''s a villain or a hero or just... I see my game world. The one where I was born. Townspeople are giving out quests. Players are running from place to place, like they don''t have enough time. I live in a game. My player. I loved those lists he made. The world outside Kithera''s house is so vivid. I love the way grass feels. I see Kithera for the first time. My first real world person. I feel something inside now, warm, comforting, even better than cows. I''m running through town. My world has just changed from home to something else. The townspeople aren''t people; they''re moving things. My away character is just some part of the game. I miss Doktor Urmind. I don''t know who he is. I think he cares about me. He found me when I was in the darkness. Except for that last time. Is he lost in the darkness? Kithera and David, Zach and Kithera, Doktor Urmind... I know people. They know me. I exist. I open my eyes. -------------------------- They''re still looking at me. Waiting. "Um, hi." I wave at them. Zach says, "Hi Hashi." Kithera says, "Yes, you are real. In any world you are in you are real. "I kind of figured that one out. Thanks for telling me though." "Now, where did Doktor Urmind go?" 29 - Drawing a line in the sand I''m in a very large room. I''m standing behind a few people. We''re lined up for something. The room is filled with gray walls as far as I can see. I can barely make out the back wall of the room. Hmm, I''m a catgirl again. Curious. I''ve seen a room like this before. When was it? Someone in the front of the line walks off into the maze of walls. The line moves up. I''m holding something. A piece of paper with writing. Number 161. I vaguely remember that I was doing something else just a short while ago. What was I doing? It sure seemed important. The line moves up. Three people are ahead of me. They''re staring at their papers. And their numbers. I don''t have papers. Now I can see a white line on the floor. The first person in line is standing right behind it. Past the line is a person sitting behind a desk. I''m not sure what it''s made of. Painted metal? I feel strange. Disconnected. I can feel the paper with the number in my hand/paw. My body doesn''t quite feel like Zach''s did in RWO. Where''s Zach? Wasn''t he here a minute ago? The line moves up. Two more in front of me. The man behind the desk is wearing a black suit. I''ve seen someone like that before. Do I know him? One more person in front of me. The person before her walked up to the desk and talked to the man in the black suit. The man in the black suit is wearing reflective glasses. I''m scared. The lady walks up to the desk and then heads off into the gray maze.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. "161." I''m standing behind the line. There''s something I should be doing. I wonder what. The person behind me pushes me a little and says, "That''s you. Go on." Oh. It''s my turn. I walk up to the desk, and I see a small sign on it. It says ''Immigration''. I''m standing in front of the desk now. The man behind the desk has a stack of paper folders. How''d I know that? The man looks up at me and says, "Mister Grindswell." I know that voice! He''s a- "Hashi!" "Huh?" Zach is in front of me. He asks, "Are you ok?" "I don''t know. I was somewhere else." I''m in the library now with Zach and Kithera. I say "I don''t know what happened." "That looked a lot one of Zach''s microsleeps," Kithera added. My game body doesn''t have feelings. "I''m feeling strange." Zach and Kithera have moved over to me. I see both the library and the room with the desk at the same time. I''m falling. "Mister Grindswell!" the agent says. I can see his ear piece with the white spiraled cord. "Mister Grindswell, pay attention. This is important." I''m here now. The library is gone. I answer him, "Yes, I''m Hashi Grindswell." The agent looks a little less severe now. He reaches over and taps my numbered paper. I see a golden line on the floor appear that runs left of the desk and into the maze of cubicles. I''m feeling less afraid now. He pulls off his reflective glasses and looks at me. I can see myself reflected in his eyes. A tiny me. Not a catgirl. "Your case worker is ready to see you now. Follow the line and you will find her office." He sounds kind and softer somehow. I just noticed that his suit is really a grayish green. I don''t know why it looked black before. I follow the golden line into the sea of cubes. As I take my third step, the line starts to sparkle. I hear behind me a clock chime the hour. I hear it ticking now. I turn to look and there''s nothing at all behind me. Where did the cubes go? I turn back and there in front of me, I see a pleasant looking woman sitting on a couch. She pats the seat beside her. "Welcome, Hashi.Forgive the abduction. But we need to talk." Something about how she speaks reminds me of David. I sit down beside her. She was wearing some sort of suit when I first saw her. Now she''s wearing a golden flowing gown with many layers. She''s so beautiful. I wonder what she wants to talk about. I guess I''ll see Zach and Kithera later. Part 2: Run Hashi, Run Doktor Urmind is making a pot of coffee when a klaxon goes off. Running into the next room he sees on his laptop the following message. [System: Hashi signal lost] A foreign expression crosses Urmind''s face: Fear. Furious pounding on the keyboard ensues.
Louder. Softer. Waves of sound.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. I drift with the waves. Thub, thub. Shhhh. Thub, thub. I open my eyes. So bright. The light. I''m under a tree. Sunlight peeks through leaves above. I see my arms. I see my hands. I see my claws. A breeze caresses my fur. I roll over and sit up. I''m sitting on a stick. I''m cold. My butt feels strange. I have a tail! Clothes would be nice. Standing. I can do that. Trees are all around me. There are leaves on the ground. And sticks. My body feels different than when I was in Zach''s. Is this Zach''s world? I start running. After a while, I drop down to my paws. And run. I feel like I''m flying. [System: +1 running] [System: Soul integration 10%] 2-2 A meeting I like running on the leaves. Is it running when I''m on all fours? I''m not sure how big a cat I am. But it is so very cool. "Rowr" I chase after birds and squirrels. I still have a special meter. I pounced a squirrel. I only boosted a little. For a critter I have by the back of his tail, he''s scratching me up pretty fierce. I let him go. I have fun running a while longer and then I shift back and walk on two legs a while. I don''t have any clothes. The only things in my inventory are the books that the Lady at immigration gave me and my papers. It does seem like a glorious day. I love the feeling of my body. This one feels like it''s really mine and not just a loaner. It would be nice if there were some people around. Someone to talk to. I think about pulling up my menu, but that doesn''t feel right. I do bring up my minimap. it shows my wandering path through the woods.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. "Hello... Is anybody out there?" I still see animals around. I keep walking. I sense a presence near me. I don''t know what it is. It doesn''t feel bad. Kind of powerful. And familiar. I enter a clearing. Standing in the middle of the clearing is a stag. A really big stag. A big rack of antlers. He''s looking at me. Pretty intense. That''s who the powerful vibe was coming from. Weird. Everything has gotten quiet. I can hear his breathing. He''s still staring at me. Feels like he''s looking inside me. Two can play that game. I inspect him. System: Forrest Lord - level ??? You called? "um, Hi! I''m Hashi. You heard me?" You are rather loud and your arrival was noisy. I''m not hearing him with my ears. Feels more like I just know what he''s saying. I guess this counts as a person. "Yeah, I just arrived. No idea where I''m at. Was starting to feel lonely." Well Hashi, welcome to my domain. Be at peace. There are others here as well. "Should I call you Forrest Lord? I''m feeling tense. I don''t know why." I feel like I can talk to this Stag about anything. Call me what you wish. We can talk names later Hashi Grindswell. Follow me. You are safe here. The stag takes off running. I try to keep up but quickly shift and follow. I''m larger than I was earlier but smaller than him. He runs fast. [+1 running] Running feels good and right. I am excited. Being in the world is good. I feel the world around me. And I think based on the Stag, the world feels me. [Soul integration: 15%]