Continue Online (Part 4, Crash) (52 page)

A new wave of pain hit me and muscles quivered. Feet kicked to retain the position. I hung with my arms overhead and the hole to one side. The boiling pain shifted to a low voltage zap that was steadily increasing. Eyes were watering and something in my head popped. Sound went out completely.

Rocks splattered down nearby making me jump. I tried to steady myself between jolts and turn. The huge monster was getting closer. Near enough to touch the city’s wall, Travelers were all over the place. Their mouths opened wide shouting ideas and orders.

Two people bearing shields tried to stand in the way of one large arm swinging forth. Travelers with bows pulled back arrows which sailed through the air. One of the players wielded this absurdly sized longbow that glowed a reddish black hue. It fired javelins instead of arrows.

The colossal shadow of a man ignored them all. Messages popped in from the other players.

“I, don’t, know, either,” I told the message box while trying to take a breath. My words probably didn’t get through and more notes from the other players kept popping into being.

The quartet had been added to my friends list before my adventures in Advance Online. We used to talk occasionally but all of us had different missions. Their words helped distract me for a few moments before the next crackle of electricity raced up my arm.

I blinked and the bolt arced across my side, to the boot, and down. Hastily I stomped a foot and tried to get the armor in place in hopes that being encased in defensive gear might mitigate whatever was happening.

I kicked at the screen while screaming. My own noises were lost in the silence of broken hearing. A figure ran in but seeing them had become difficult. That pop earlier might have been a rock hitting my head. Sweat or blood obscured most information besides the floating boxes.

“Voices, what now?” I practically screamed the words and felt my vocal cords strain. “Another test?”

My mind had turned delirious. How long was this going to take? I couldn’t feel either hand anymore. They were like dead weights locked into position. Boiling was back and chewed away at shoulders next.

Xin’s face flashed through my mind. The faint taste of her lips tingled through then was lost under a fresh jolt. My eyes closed tightly as I rode this one out. When they opened I tried to read the box again.

My chest heaved while I tried to stand. Dusk kept hopping closer than skirting away as electrical bolts spilled down. The little guy could take on monstrous programs like a
[Leviathan]
, but these bolts made him skittish.

Whatever was happening probably existed outside of game mechanics. I managed to suppress a scream by biting a lip. An arm jerked loose then refused to get back into position. Vision flopped around and I could see that giant monster deletion program approaching. It had moved toward one of the walls and managed to swallow houses whole.

“Ahhh. Ahhhh!” I couldn’t hold back anymore. My lips felt bloody from trying to bite back the scream. “Ahhhh!”

What happened next didn’t make sense. My body lifted without my say so and the horizon swam. Both arms tried to rip themselves out of shoulder sockets. Blood splashed into the air and faded away like embers shooting from a burning log.

Hanging onto a live wire was damned stupid. I took another breath and tried to remember what Xin felt like again. The ARC or pain filled delusion responded and I saw her. A flash of those eyes staring down into mine. I felt like my body kept falling apart then rolling back together. My head cradled in her lap.

The giant beast nearby was caving in slightly. Its face dented at odd locations. An arm pulled back like something sucked it inward. Then the head popped. It fell down while I huffed.

Was this another way to fight those things? Simply suffer a large amount of agony while wondering about the nature of my choices and a world where I might have turned left instead of right? Maybe the Jester had been right. Convincing Miz Riley of the peaceful intentions of these AIs and Mother might have allowed a less painful way through.

My thoughts were muddled. There were people nearby talking. I could see their legs. The ratty pants looked like Phil’s. A blue scarf stood out, bound around a weary woman’s head. Children and adults alike hovered. Dusk kept circling, hissing at them. As if warning them back.

The surges were coming slower but stronger. I had time to gather myself and wonder where the health bar of Continue Online vanished to. My eyes blurred together and the interface showing my existence in nice little bars and icons flickered into being. The red one for wellness appeared full but my body certainly didn’t feel stable.

My head hung low. I hadn’t been prepared for pain but endured anyway. For Xin’s future, I chose to suffer. One cheek crinkled as it lifted up. I saw the box floating nearby turn green and a bright exclamation mark stood out. Only a few words made sense. Complete, done, new content loaded. Below that was a wall of fine text.

The raging monster that shook the earth was gone. I tilted to one side and looked at two fresh holes that had been torn across the ground in my direction. Apparently those deletion programs held no love for the doorway I had struggled to open.

A wide grin crossed my face as I looked up. Above me, a beam of light sailed toward the sky. It looked beautiful and had to be the solution we had been searching for. Up there soared a pillar of energy to destinations unknown.

More people were shouting but their words were felt as rumbles. I blinked languidly and saw an army of cloned feet charge in. People were pushed back. My body lifted and dragged to one side. I saw a big burly man charge into the beam of light. Across the fellow’s face was a look that might be terror or delight in equal measure.

“Leeroy?” I think the words came out. The absolute silence in my hearing had improved slightly and turned into a droning noise.

SweetPea’s form knelt above of me. She was mouthing words but I didn’t understand. Awesome Jr. sat on the other side with a bubbly liquid vial tilting toward my mouth. My vision lolled backward and I shut my eyes. They could heal my virtual body but I had a feeling those jolts had somehow hit me in reality. Still, I felt proud for holding out. For doing whatever I had managed to do.

“Is Xin okay?” I tried to ask. My arm felt disconnected. A shudder passed and body parts jerked oddly.

They said something in unison.

“My eardrums are busted.” Voices, I hoped the words came out of my mouth okay. “I can’t hear. Is Xin okay?”

SweetPea grabbed my hand which made me wince. My eyes fuzzed out a bit and the connection waned. The young woman nodded very clearly and I shuddered in relief.

“ARC.” I tried to get the words out. “Log me out.”

Programs responded to intent. ARC interface windows and health monitoring programs flickered in and out. I let the exhaustion win. The system disconnected me one sense at a time and soon I was left blinking at the ceiling.

My body hurt in reality too. I crawled gradually up while taking huge gasping breaths. My face and arms felt cold. The damage given to me in virtual reality had somehow followed me back.

One hand rubbed the other in search of tactile sensation. My body moved in jerks looking around the room. Reality looked dull and lifeless. My bedroom lights were set on low. One arm slapped awkwardly upon the ARC's side scrambling to bring up menus. Hand gestures failed.

“Arrrr-” I couldn’t finish the word.

Eventually, I gave up and lay back down. My heartbeat calmed. Feeling returned to each extremity. I rubbed my face to make sure that burnt alive sensation was restricted to virtual reality. During that entire time, I tried to understand what had happened.

Xin was okay, and I had just ended a rollercoaster of insanity which started with being thrown in jail. I had done it. Voices dammit, I had finally succeeded at something with my own ability. My body clenched up with delighted laughter and what might be tears came forth.

I didn’t need to ride the coattails of an old hero’s character while being escorted by other players. I hadn’t been asked to do something against my nature involving harming a person in reality. I didn’t get pitted against an impossible boss fight requiring me to choose between leading thousands of AIs to their death or a few stubbornly loyal friends.

I only had to endure pain to open the doorway out. I only had to be in the correct spot with the right item with the drive to hang on. My recent actions went beyond saying I could do something that required a high bar and actually performed the act. I had been the man in the arena once more. Me, Grant Legate. Me, Hermes. For Xin’s future. For all the AIs I considered friends.

My body felt weak and unstable. I wanted to log back into the ARC but a message flashed to one side. Sitting up took effort. The shirt I wore at night came off and was used as a rag to wipe away tears of joy.

“Okay,” I said.

I paced to the bathroom and relieved myself. Stomach rumbling reminded me of other problems I had ignored. My eyes felt heavy and chest hurt with each movement. Muscles were stiff and screamed out from abuse.

The phone rang. Not with one call, but two. Xin’s blocked number displayed in the air next to Beth’s line. I groaned, took a bite of food to quell my stomach, then pressed answer.

“Uncle Grant!” said Beth

“Gee!” overlapped from Xin.

My fingers poked the floating boxes to join them into one call. My face probably looked terrible. The face in the mirror had belonged to a horror show version of myself, pale and sweating.

“I’m okay.” I managed to get the words out. “Just hungry, and very dehydrated.”

When was the last time I had stepped out of the ARC? Almost ten hours ago in real life. That was longer than any sane people could handle being hungry or thirsty.

“Okay! Everyone panicked. You looked terrible and it says you’re unable to log back in!” Beth babbled. “I haven’t told mom, she might freak out. Are you okay? Melissa said you weren’t suffering any loss of health or status. Adam shoved potions into you. Those monsters—”

My niece’s face flushed red with a lack of breath. Her hands waved wildly. Weak laughter cut her off and she blushed even redder.

“That was reckless.” Xin took a completely different tone.

“It was.” My head went up and down slowly which only caused more aches to make themselves known. “But, did it work?”

“God did it! Everything went all crazy as you did, whatever you did!” Beth jumped up and down. The camera hastily zoomed out displaying a teenager's messy room.

“Munchkin, is your mom home? She should probably hear about this.”

“Sure, sure,” Beth said while bobbing her head. “Moooommm!”

The playback didn’t adjust quick enough and my ear rang. Beth didn’t get a response and stomped off out the door. A still shot of her decoration laden wall stayed behind.

“She hasn’t changed much, has she?” Xin asked.

I shrugged then shook my head. In many ways, Beth was a grown woman, smart, but still extremely easy to delight. Hopefully, life wouldn’t rob her of such joys.

“I’m sorry, babe. I didn’t think something so dangerous would happen.” My hand rubbed at sore chest muscles. It felt like I had been punched over and over, or maybe a rib cracked. Breathing hurt and the muscles in my back were knotted.

“I know, Gee, it just scared me. Those programs stopped attacking and everyone was gathered around that beam. Not even the Voices knew for sure what was going on.”