Continue Online (Book 1, Memories) (7 page)

“
Oh
yes, that would be delightful. Chocolate.” There was a pause
while the male hummed pleasantly. “Wait. Anyway! The entire
purpose of the ARC project was to give everyone a chance to visit a
place like this. Something so real that it could be truly called
another world. This is not some imitation. Not merely a place where
people talk to poorly constructed machines and walk through a world
that looks fake.”

There
was muttering in the background, but it was too low to hear it. The
male voice being recorded cleared his throat.

“
Here
it is. I assure you that the clip shown earlier is based on real
in-game footage. It is every bit as lifelike as anyone might desire.
The world is open, truly free form, and we, you, I, anyone, can join
it,”

“
After
it’s released.” By now all the reporters on this
recording were staring at the air, expecting a counter of some sort
from the female. There was none so the man continued.
“
After
it’s released, and become a legend.”

“
Your
ending is lame. This is why I don’t like talking to the
public.” She said.

“
She
doesn’t mean to be rude everyone. She is right, though. If
swords and crafting aren’t your thing, join to talk to friends.
If you want to cook, everything you learn in game can be replicated
in real life. It is extremely real, and amazingly detailed. There are
hidden races, treasures, and story lines spanning generations and
entire worlds.” I could almost imagine the male scientist
shouting with a fist up in the air in triumph.

“
Worlds?
I thought you said this was one world.”

“
Shush.
They don’t need to know all the secrets.” He sounded
panicked.

“
Says
the man who’s letting the recording go on.” The female
scientist said.

“
Oh.
Oh, right.” The male shifted to sheepish. “Sorry
everyone, ignore that last bit, there’s no secret hidden
stuff!”

The
clip shut off leaving a momentarily confused audience. Almost as one
they realized it was over and they could launch all their questions.
The man behind the podium waited for the noise to die down.

“
I’ll
add a few more points. First, while the clip is less formal than
we’re used to, far less, it is a message from the two main
creators of this game. These two people have spearheaded one of the
greatest technological movements of our generation. This was done
secondary to Continue Online.”

“
In
case you misunderstand Trillium's intentions by this last statement.
The game is much more impressive than the ARC system alone.”

“
I
will not be outlining costs personally, that information is available
online. I will, however, tell all of you one of the biggest decisions
regarding Continue Online. This is a detail everyone at Trillium felt
was imperative from the outset.” The man behind the podium
paused and took a breath.

“
Any
information about the world itself will be shrouded until our
management dictates otherwise. Our legal resources will engage in
suppression of all game-play details outside approved feeds. This is
to ensure that everyone who chooses to play this game can honestly
discover a new world. Not to only read about it on a forum and follow
some guide. Player success will be earned through effort, not a
walkthrough.”

“
I
know this part seems unfair. Details for games are almost considered
public knowledge. Trillium and ARC developers know they can’t
suppress everything. In-game communication will be unrestricted with
regards to secrets of this world.”

“
This
portion of the statement is from me directly. In fact, my boss will
probably cancel my Christmas bonus for going off script.”

“
In
the teaser released earlier today, you can see a number of players.
Without going into too much detail, I, myself am one of beta players.
It is every bit as, every bit as awesome as I might have hoped.”
A grin had been plastered to his face. Similar to the one from the
male newscaster at the start of the clip, but much more heartfelt.

“
This
is the kind of game I, I dreamed of my entire childhood, as a
teenager, and only hoped for until six months ago. It makes me think,
it shows me sides of myself I never expected, and it’s a thrill
I can log into any time after a long day. I have failed in this game
more times than I care to admit.” There was a pause from his
embarrassing words. The journalists were kind enough to give a mild
chuckle.

“
But
I’ve loved every failure as much as the successes, because I
get to see myself, through my character, grow.”

People
gave their mild cheers again as the man behind the podium held up his
hand.

“
One
last part for everyone, Trillium has announced they will be holding a
lottery for over five hundred ARC units. These will come with copies
of the Ultimate Edition. Additional details will be announced on our
website.”

The
clamoring started up again. People waved microphones and handsets in
front of the podium, trying to get more information.

“
That
will be all, thank you, and I'll see you in the game.”

I
sat back and rewound the video, trying to remember when it was
released. My token effort at getting an Ultimate Edition failed. I
even tried throwing my name into online radio pools to be visitor
number seven hundred. Nothing worked. I didn't even walk away with a
free copy of the game. An old high school friend had. He linked
screenshots every now and then on his web streams. A constant blog of
all the stupid stuff he found amusing in life. There were cutesy
animals, political cartoons, and pictures of his character. In one
screenshot he had impaled a fish with his sword and was roasting it
over flames.

I
pulled up his website while the van kept us moving towards my
sister's place. He had an entire circle of people playing Continue
Online. They had pictures, he had pictures. There were short captions
about the action shots. There were other friends much the same way.
Nothing was exactly about the game. There was still nothing about
levels or rankings. They put in words about creatures they fought and
how hard some were occasionally. Even the photos seemed strangely
staged.

But
extremely real.

Okay.
I was interested.

Dammit.

I
hung my head. This game was probably exactly what my prize was. There
had been a survey sent out three weeks ago asking what my fellow
employees were most interested in. I dug through the Email trash bin
and pulled out other items. Dialing into my Atrium remotely was
possible in this Trillium provided van.
Turned out I was also the
only one of my coworkers who didn’t own the game. Well, it
might not be the game. I might be building myself up for no reason.
Henry had said the others would ‘slit their wrists’. They
had no reason to do so for a game they already owned.

Finally,
after much confusion, and watching the videos over and over, the van
pulled up to my sisters. I knocked on the door. My niece answered
with a smile.

“
Uncle!
You’re alive!”

“
Hey,
Beth, here I am! Haven’t worked myself to death yet. Despite
Hal’s constant reminders that it might happen.” I smiled
and put my arms out for a hug.

She
came in close and tried to squeeze the life out of my old bones. Her
head was nearly tall enough to head butt me, but she shared her
mother’s slightly shorter frame. Beth had grown in the last few
years. It seemed like every time I showed up there was another
surprise. At least the hair dying phase was showing signs of slowing.

“
So,
Beth, how’s your mom?” We stood at the door and chatted a
little bit.

“
She’s
doing good.”

“
She
home?” I asked.

“
Yeah.”

Speak
of the devil. Stairs and creakiness betrayed my sister coming to
check the door. Their house was a split level house in the suburbs.
Pricing was a bit cheaper for a dwelling out here.

“
Oh
shit, Grant, you’re here!” My sister came down the stairs
looking slightly disheveled. I smiled and gave a half wave, half
shrug.

“
You
know, had some spare time. Figured I’d drop by and see how life
was going.”

“
It’s
going good.” She paused and looked thoughtful for a moment.
“Fine.”

“
She’s
up there with Jake.”

“
Young
lady!” My sister stomped her foot and glared at Beth.

“
That’s
fine. At least one of the Legates is getting some.” I smirked.

“
Grant!”
There was a slight blush to her cheeks while my sister tried to be a
proper mother. Too bad my niece was a teen and probably knew as much
about the whole process as her mother did. The internet hadn’t
exactly hidden information despite numerous attempts by Congress.

“
So,
Jake's doing, fine, then?” I grinned at my sister. She was a
few minutes older than me and we hadn't moved past the teenage
nagging stage.

“
He’s
doing great.”

“
I
really dropped by to ask Beth some things about her ARC. So I’ll
let you get back to Jake and keep things,” I tried not grin too
hard “fine.”

“
Oh.”
My sister paused. Then almost looked like she wanted to tear
something from the wall and throw it at me. “Next time, call
ahead!” She ran back up the stairs.

“
Tell
Jake I said hi!” I shouted after her.

“
Go
to Hell, Grant!”

I
chuckled to myself. She often had the same sort of commentary to me
back in high school. Mostly when she was sneaking boyfriends over and
our parents were out for the night. Turnabout was expected in a
family member. Beth and I paused our conversation while my sister
finished her trek back to the upstairs room and slammed the door
behind her.

“
She
wouldn’t have answered the phone anyway.” My niece said
with an exaggerated whisper. She stepped back and let us into the
house landing.

“
It’s
okay. Your mom's allowed to have boyfriends.”

“
I
know. But maybe not Jake.” I laughed at her response.

“
He’s
doing fine.” Harassing family was a tradition.

“
Ugh.”

“
What
about you? Any young men I should meet? Or ones I have to scare off
with a shotgun?”

“
That’s
a little archaic. My social studies teacher would say you’re a
backward thinking man.” Beth shook her head with a smile.

“
Sorry,
channeling your grandfather for a moment.”