Chapter 9: Friends and Contracts pt III

Pulling himself free with some difficulty, Tobi took a step back and had a good look at the former tree. The man couldn’t be anymore different from his dad if he tried. Not only did he look twenty years younger, but his hair was green, the whites of his eyes were yellow and his pupils were shaped like diamonds. It was nearing the point that he probably wasn’t classed as human anymore.

“What are you doing here?” Tobi asked, “I thought you wouldn’t be home for hours. I planned to get off before you got in from work.”

“I got home hours ago… Don’t you know what time it is?”

Shrugging as he habitually did, Tobi considered it for a moment. “Two-ish?”

“Try Ten-ish. Tobi, you’ve been in Aevitas for almost twelve hours.”

Not sure how to respond to that and obviously confused, Tobi quickly thought back to what he’d done so far. The AI program thing said he’d only been logged in for 2 hours and 19 minutes. He couldn’t have been in Aevitas itself for more than an hour. Considering Aevitas Operated at twice the speed of reality, that was only thirty-or-so minutes.

“I see you found him.” The dark-clad person said, appearing by Tobi’s side like a silent spectre, “Tobi, before we explain everything, could I ask you to first try and log out of the system. There seems to be a problem with your account and we’ve been trying to log you off all day.”

“Er...OK… Log Off.”

“...”

As nothing happened, all three people looked at each other with mixed expressions. Tobi’s odd-looking father appeared worried while the man in black only frowned. Tobi remained bewildered and simply looked at the pair in confusion. It took a couple of seconds for the penny to drop, but Tobi’s mind quickly made the connection.

“I should have known it wasn’t normal when I got those weird messages.”

“What weird messages?” The man in black asked.

“Synchronization failed. Connecting to Mother Unit. Character Synchronization failed. A bunch of others too but I don’t remember them all. I take it you’re from SkeaTech?”

The man in black nodded his head subconsciously, his eyes cast down in thought, “Ah. Yes. My name is Benjamin Dubois. I work in Public Relations at the European Office in Paris. My name in Aevitas is Lorry, you can call me by that name if you prefer.”

“OK… So… Trapped. Now what?” Tobi asked, his mind still trying to process his situation.

“Now I explain to you everything I know and we go from there.” Lorry replied calmly, “Though maybe we can do it somewhere else.”

“Sure,” Tobi agreed slowly, deciding to go with it for now and saving his shock and horror for later, “Ah. Wait. Before that I have to give the loot to Callum.”

“Who?”

Starting off without answering, Tobi ran toward the warrior that was in charge of the group he was in. He knew he could probably run away with all the items thanks to not making any contract in advance, but after realizing how they really risked their lives, he didn’t think it would be fair. He wanted to make sure they all got their own share of the loot, even if it didn’t amount to much.

“Callum. I gotta go. Is it alright just to give you all the items I picked up and let you give it out to everyone?”

“Sure,” Callum answered, a little surprised by Tobi’s sudden ambush and the two men flanking on either side. As Tobi started fishing a bunch of junk out of his pack, he suddenly hesitated and stopped him. “Most Merchants buy these kind of items from us instead of passing them out. We only really share the useable items. Don’t you want to buy it?”

Stopping to look at the so-called junk he’d been taking from his pack, Tobi knit his brow in thought, “I don’t have appraisal though. So I don’t know how much it’s worth.”

“I can appraise it all for you,” Lorry offered helpfully.

“Screw that. I want to get you back to the city. How many people were in your group?” His dad asked.

“Ten,” Tobi and Callum answered together, “Eleven including Tobi.” Callum finished.

“OK, I will buy the lot off you for 11 Silver. How does that sound?”

“Sure!” Callum answered in surprise, obviously willing to part with the crappy items for such a large sum.

Tobi’s dad handed over Ten Silver, keeping a single one back and passing it to Tobi, “This is his cut.” He said, deliberately making a show of handing it over.

“No problem. Thanks for your help in the battle too. You two were amazing. Can I know your names?”

“I am Chronos and he is Lorry. And you’re welcome. Right. Now that’s finished, can we go?”

Staring at his dad in befuddlement, an eyebrow raised and a smile tugging at his lips, Tobi couldn’t help but wonder what made his dad so impatient.  “What’s so going on? Why do we have to get back to the city so quick?”

“It’s dangerous out here. I don’t want you leaving the city.” His dad replied heatedly. Tobi continued to look at him in a daze, not sure what to make of it. He could practically feel the cogs in his brain ticking over and falling into place.

“You mean, the reason you hugged me so hard before was because you thought I might be dead. Like...really dead?”

When neither Lorry nor his dad said anything, it slowly dawned on Tobi how much trouble he might really be in. Can’t log out. Death might really be death. Meaning; he really did nearly die in that battle?

“What the hell? You mean I nearly died?”

While Callum continued to watch, not even slightly understanding what was going on, Tobi looked from one man to the other. The more the men remained silent, the more horrified Tobi became. Dead. He was almost dead. For real!

“OK, we will explain everything back at the city,” Lorry coaxed, placing a hand on his dad’s back and ushering forward.

“Wait. I have a contract here. That’s why I came in the first place.”

Tobi quickly explained the contract he made with the Smithery along with the terms and conditions. After asking Lorry what would happen to him if he breached the contract in any way, Lorry explained what happened to normal players. He then explained how it differed to NPC’s and what it meant for him. Essentially, if he became a Slave, he might literally be unable to disobey and order. Even if his mind refused, his body would obey against his will. As for mining the coal, his body may very well begin mining the coal as soon as he failed the negotiations. He could possibly continue mining without pause until he had the required amount. Forget a month, he’d probably die of starvation and thirst before the day was done.

“I’m never making a contract again.” Tobi stammered, wide-eyed and shocked.

“Just never make any breach conditions.” Lorry shrugged.

“Easy to say that now. Come on, let’s go end this contract. What does Riley guy look like?” His dad asked, looking toward the mountain not too far away.

“Big, probably bare-chested and probably carrying two large hammers.”

“I see him.” Lorry said almost straight away, shielding his eyes from the sun and staring in the distance. Tobi could just about make out figures on the mountainside, but it seemed Lorry could see far better.

“OK, Lorry, you take him to meet Riley and I will go see the foreman. Meet me there. And don’t let anything happen to him.”

Lorry gave a mock Salute to his back before turning to Tobi and leading him away, “Your dad’s quite the handful. I was supposed to meet you here alone you know? He basically threatened us with court cases and all other trouble if we didn’t let him come.”

‘Ah. That explains a lot. The reason no players came to wipe out the Goblins was because none of them were online. Right now it’s probably just me, my dad and Lorry. Sueing SkeaTech though?’ The idea of sueing SkeaTech definitely had an appeal. It felt like quite a while ago now, but it was only that morning that he was cursing SkeaTech to hell. It was their fault that Niamh left him. Well, it was his own fault really, but it wouldn’t have happened if Aevitas didn’t exist, so it was their fault too. ‘...Whatever. I gotta get out of here first anyway.’

“He’ll probably still sue.” Tobi said, almost in a whisper as he watched his dad take a slightly different course to the mountain.

“He can’t. The moment your dad began legal proceedings, the company would begin a formal internal investigation into your case. Which is what they’re already doing anyway. If they still haven’t gotten you out of here in a couple of days, which I expect they will have, they would claim the reason you’re trapped here is because of something you did. Even if it’s not true, that’s what they’d say. In the end, after all the delays and everything else, you’d be out and back in the real world and we’d have never even seen the inside of a courtroom. SkeaTech would then offer you a payment to sweep it under the rug. They’ve already made sure this can’t happen to anyone else so putting an end to this whole thing is exactly what they’ll want. The sooner the better. They’d definitely make it worth your while to forget all about it. Personally, I’d hope to stay in here as long as possible. The longer you’re in here, the more they’ll pay.”

Walking in silence as he considered Lorry’s words, Tobi couldn’t help but wonder how much of what he said was likely, “If my dad would have no case in court, why did they let him come here with you?”

Lorry gave a noncommittal shrug as he continued on, “I guess it’s easier to be accommodating than argue the point. If they keep you all happy now, it’s more likely that you’ll accept the compensation payment later. Or maybe it’s just evidence to use against your dad if he does try to go to court. While he’s sworn under oath, the lawyers would ask if SkeaTech, in his opinion, are doing all they can to get you out. The answer to that is yes. Even if he wanted to lie nobody would believe it. SkeaTech is definitely doing all they can. Even right now while I’m talking to you, dozens of experts in the company are trying to get you out. They’d then ask if he was allowed to enter Aevitas to make sure you were OK; he would answer yes again. And yes you were OK. And yes SkeaTech let him enter Aevitas at his own request. No he didn’t think there was a risk of him becoming trapped in here with you. And no he doesn’t know if you were the one who caused this to happen in the first place. Because he can’t possibly know that. He wasn’t even home when it happened. The list goes on.”

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“So why am I trapped?” Tobi asked, slowly beginning to believe that SkeaTech might actually win in a courtroom, even if it isn’t his fault he got trapped.

“No idea. I am public relations, not tech. I only know what they told me. And what they told your father. The system undergoes a shut down for maintenance every week. The main servers are sent a warning and the players log out of their own accord. Those that don’t are forcefully logged out by the system. The players in the Tutorial Server are forcefully logged out too, but until now the players in the Tutorial weren’t given a warning about the system shut down. It seems that your character was being transferred during the moment the European Server closed. The AI tried to backtrack to the Tutorial Server but that too was closed. Only then did it try and log you out. By that time, your Dive Unit had been shut down by the mass shutdown program.

“Your Unit was shut down for four seconds before she, the AI, rebooted it again. They don’t know what happened to you during those four seconds. Nobody can even make a good guess. Your body vital signs fluctuated during the reboot, but other than that, your body seems to be in perfect health. We’ve already sent people to your house who have confirmed that you and the Unit are in perfect working order. According to the Dive Unit, your brainwave activity is completely normal too. During those four seconds though, where was your consciousness?

“Whatever happened during those four seconds, it prevented the AI from reconnecting to the Dive Unit. The Dive Unit doesn’t recognize your character as being you and prevents you from logging back out. Yet your consciousness is connected to both the character and the Dive Unit. It’s a puzzle. The Tutorial AI handed over safety of your consciousness to the Mother Unit—the primary AI that controls all of Aevitas. She left you in a sleep-state and attempted to resolve whatever the issue was? During the process, she detected an anomaly dangerous to your consciousness, she had no choice but to stop the recovery efforts.

“After around six hours, the Mother Unit suddenly put you into Aevitas. Nobody knew why at first, so they simply asked her. She said there is a 98% chance that your death in Aevitas will disconnect your consciousness from the character and log you out of the system. The other 2% is a chance that you will die. Your real body will be alive, but you’ll be brain dead. SkeaTech didn’t like that 2% and told her to bring you back out of the game. She said she couldn’t. Any more attempts to mess with your character may have the same result or increase the chance of permanent damage in the future. She is already pushing her limit by maintaining a link between you, your Dive Unit and herself.”

With Lorry’s long explanation coming to an end, Tobi found himself taking his first steps on the mountain. He couldn’t see his dad anymore but he could at least see the man that was likely to be Riley. Just as Brion had described, he looked a lot like Lukas. Just bigger and more muscular. He also had a bit of stubble around his chin, a lot of chest hair and the told-to-be-expected large, twin hammers.

Tobi didn’t really care much for Riley and their coal issue at that moment though so he didn’t make any attempts to flag the man down or call him over. He simply considered what he’d been told about his situation and wondered if 2% was really such bad odds. Also, what was all that talk about consciousness? Can a consciousness really be removed from a body and then just planted back in again? What was it they were uploading into Aevitas in the first place?

“You said I am still connected to the Mother Unit, right?”

“Yes.” Lorry answered instantly, looking back at Tobi with a strange expression.

“Does that mean she is watching me right now?” Tobi asked, failing to fathom what the strange look was about.

“She is always watching everything. Always. But with you, it might be a little more than that. She sees everything from the outside, from all angles. Kind of Omniscient I guess. In your case, she might also be able to see out of your eyes, hear what you hear, stuff like that. I don’t think it was what she intended when she established the link, but that might be what happened as a result. That’s the way the guys in the Development Team made me think of it. I don’t actually know myself. I’m just repeating what I was told.”

Tobi considered the link for a second before remembering the Gorg Riders he saw in the battle, “When I was in the battle earlier, I could see Gorg Riders hiding in the shadow of the mountain. Nobody else seemed able to see them. Was that because of this connection thing with the AI?”

Lorry mumbled something incoherently to himself before turning back to Tobi, “Yes. Though we kind of hoped something like that hadn’t happened. The link with the mother AI goes two ways. The data your character receives should be limited based on your stats, abilities and some other factors such as class, active buffs, terrain, and a bunch of other conditions that might come into play. Your character seems to be receiving more information than it is supposed to. If your eyes look at something, then you don’t just see what your character sees, you can also see what the Mother AI can see. It might not be just seeing through stealth that you can do either.”

“What else is there?” Tobi asked, curious; also not missing the fact that Lorry referred to SkeaTech as ‘we’ instead of ‘them’ or ‘they’ like he had been doing.

“No idea. Most of it, if there is anything else, will be related to your senses. See in the dark as though it were day for example. I guess you will find that out in a few hours. Or if we went deep into the mines and found a dark tunnel. A spell of silence that stops sound escaping might not stop you from hearing what they are saying; as long as you’re within earshot in the first place. A scent masking spell might not work against you either. I don’t know what abilities you will have, but I can bet there will be more than just seeing through stealth. There’s Riley, you should go finish your contract so we can meet back up with your dad. We’ll test your stealth seeing ability thing on me later. See just how good it really is.”

 Looking up the hill toward Riley, seeing him laugh and joke with the men around him, Tobi suddenly felt something tug at his insides. It wasn’t something unpleasant, exactly, but it wasn’t something nice either. It almost felt like something inside himself had drift away. It was probably a stupid thought, but Tobi couldn’t help but feel as though he’d just lost something.

The closer he got to Riley and the men, and the more he heard their voice, the more Tobi felt something akin to loss inside himself. It took another couple of seconds to figure out what it was, but then it hit him.

‘Lonely?’ Tobi realized, doubtfully checking his own feelings. What he felt was a lack of connection to other people. His mum, his dad … Lucy. He suddenly realized that he was alone in the world. Or at least in this world. When Lorry and his dad logged off, he’d be the only player left in all of Aevitas. No friends he could call when he was bored, no stalking Niamh’s social networking page and making himself depressed, no more morning breakfasts cooked by his mum, or laughing with Lucy while watching TV. There wasn’t even a place he could call home.

The sudden loneliness he felt wasn’t limited to just that either. He truly felt something empty inside that was different to anything he’d felt before. It was almost like…

Shaking his head, Tobi tossed away his idle thoughts. He’d wasted far too much time lately in self-pity and wallowing away in his own miserable world. ‘Who cares if I’m trapped in here for a while. It’s not like I had anything planned anyway. Beats spending hours in my bed listening to crappy love songs and telling my family how much I want to be left alone. And now that I finally have my solitude I'm bothered by it? Get a grip Tobi.’

Resolving himself to continue on without sinking into negativity, Tobi marched his feet toward Riley and put on the best smile he could muster, “Riley Cobbler?”

“Yes?”

“Your dad and Lukas sent me. I’m to broker the deal between your family and the foreman and help you carry the coal back home.”

“Really? Hey. that’s great!” Riley cheered, slapping Tobi on the shoulder and laughing happily, “Come on, the foreman’s this way. What did my dad promise you for doing this?”

Tobi shrugged habitually and made sure Lorry was still relatively close by, “2 Silver. And if you don’t pay within 2 weeks, I get the smithery.”

Riley stopped walking, his jaw hanging open and his hand tightening around the handle of his hammer.

“Don’t worry, I know your family will pay. The Smithery thing was your dad’s suggestion. Or maybe it was Lukas’s. Either way, it was your dad that insisted it went into the contract.”

Slowly beginning to walk again, Riley took a measure of Tobi and returned to his side, never once glancing towards Lorry. It was only then that Tobi realized that Lorry was using stealth. He might not have noticed at all, except there was something odd about how he looked. He could definitely see Lorry as clearly as before except; “It’s like looking at you through a window...”

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Riley asked, looking from Tobi to the empty space he was staring at.

Lorry laughed and came back into view, “That’s such a cheat. That’s the strongest stealth ability I have. Most stealths only work in shadow, but that one is a very rare stealth ability that only certain types of Assassin’s can learn. It’s supposed to make me completely invisible as long as I don’t step in a shadow.”

Stumped for words, Riley pointed at Lorry in surprise and then to Tobi, “You could see him?” He asked, his finger drifting back toward Lorry.

“Yeah. I didn’t even know he was stealthed at first, haha. I only realized because he looked a bit weird.”

“But that was Unholy Radiance. Nobody can see through that except a Necromancer or a Dark Elf.”

“Oh, you know what my spell is?” Lorry asked, his eyebrows lifting in surprise.

“My Grandfather was an Unholy Assassin. I’d recognize that spell anywhere.

“Well, you’re half right.” Lorry shrugged, “More than just those two can see through my spell. Ash Elves, Dragons and the Malanquit can do it too. So can some others, but that depends on their class, level and what abilities they have. Then there is the Merchant spell Area of Wealth; within a limited area all stealth spells will be broken.”

Once again stumped into silence, Riley looked from Lorry to Tobi and back again, “But he didn’t cast any spell. He just looked at you.”

“That’s because I have Eyes of the Mother,” Tobi joked, secretly referring to the Mother AI.

“Of the Mother? Mother Aya? Does this mean the Mother has returned?” Riley asked hopefully, “Will her blessings return too?”

Not sure what was Riley was talking about, Tobi turned to Lorry hoping for some explanation

Lorry shook his head to show he wasn’t sure either, “Mother Aya is Mother AI. It somehow got misinterpreted during the beginning. She is worshipped as the God of Gods, the Mother of all creation. She did actually make most of this world after all.”

“I see...” Tobi said, knitting his brow, “Riley, I don’t actually have Eyes of the Mother or anything. I just made up a random name for my ability..”

“Then how could you see through his stealth.”

“It’s a secret. That’s why I made up the name.” Tobi said, hoping to put an end to the matter and end the conversation topic.

“I see.” Riley murmured, right before a large smile broke across his face, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

“I will explain it later.” Lorry muttered, just barely loud enough for Tobi to hear.

A few seconds later, the trio passed the crest of the slope and walked into a clearing. Dozens of people milled about the area, including a dozen or so that were part of the Goblin Subjugation army. Tobi saw his green-haired father across the clearing too. As soon as their eyes met, his father turned to look at a fat-bellied, grey-haired man with a heavy-laden carriage at his back. His father nodded to the man and gestured toward Tobi with his head. The man gave a nod in response and watched their approach.

“Back so soon, Riley?”

“Yes.” Riley answered happily, “I have the Merchant to make the contract deal now. He will be the one negotiating the price.”

The grey-haired man looked to Tobi, taking a measure of him before winking, “Let’s have it then, what do you want?”

Not understanding the wink, Tobi just got straight to it, “20 Sacks of Coal. 5 Silver. To be paid within 2 weeks by the Cobbler family. If it isn’t paid, I will pay it within 7 additional days.”

The contract window appeared but the foreman shook his head, “You offer too much Silver. Lower it a little.”

“4 Silver?”

“Too much.”

“3 Silver.”

“Keep going…”

Taking a quick look at his smiling dad, Tobi felt his mind brighten and smiled, “1 Silver.”

“You rich folk love spending money, huh? Why don’t you offer what you’d really like to pay?”

Raising an eyebrow, Tobi saw his father’s smile grow even wider. He wasn’t even looking at the foreman when he made his next questioning guess of 1 Copper.

“Deal!” The foreman agreed with far too much enthusiasm, repeatedly tossing sacks of coal in front of Tobi until twenty lay at his feet, “Riley. Your family now owes me 1 Copper. You have 2 weeks to pay up.”

Sticking his hand in his pouch faster than striking Cobra, Riley fumbled out a copper coin and passed it over without a second’s hesitation. Another second later and he handed the 2 Silver of payment over to Tobi, “Thanks. Now you just have to help me get it back home and your contract is done, right?”

“Yup.” Tobi smiled back, wondering how his dad achieved that little charade, “Oh, but we have to stop by Daiyan’s Farm on the way back.” He added as he put the sacks into his own backpack. The fact that the sacks were each as large as his own backpack and still fit didn’t seem to bother anyone.

“What the hell for now?” His dad shouted, rising from the Foreman’s chair he’d been occupying.

“Another contract.” Tobi smiled, quite pleased with himself. Having his dad and Lorry around certainly seemed to make everything a lot easier. If he carried on like this, he’d have all his deliveries done in no time.