CHAPTER SEVEN – NORTH CROSS

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There was a certain strangeness about the world when it was populated only by NPCs. The Instinct guided them but the world was quiet. Silent. Chatter was minimal. Occasionally a horse drawn carriage would nearly run over a passing pedestrian and the driver would yell in frustration before continuing on his way, only for the same altercation to happen again in a few quarters of a cycle.

I sat under a shady tree in a small park overlooking one of many busy intersections in Variak. The buildings were low, squat things, occasionally having two stories like the Builders Guild or the inn, but most of them seemed to be small family homes. The roads were cobbled stone and I enjoyed just watching them all as players slowly began to log back in to Tread the Sky.

They didn’t come in a flood. Rather, a slow trickle. Suddenly there was a player. Then three. Then seven. Adventurers had a loudness to them. Where NPCs meandered, players ran. Where NPCs walked in straight, unaltered lines, players darted this way and that, dodging the NPCs like they were obstacles standing in the way of their adventure.

There was a glee in their eyes. A joy to be here. A happiness that left me feeling hollow. How… empty must their lives be that this world was so exciting? This dead world.

“Hello there,” said a soft voice. I blinked, not having noticed someone approaching me from behind.

I turned and found myself faced with a familiar person. It was easy to recall her from back when I’d first begun encountering adventurers. Invaders, back then. I didn’t actually remember her original name though. She was a black haired girl with light brown skin, somewhere between the dark color of Iron’s skin and Amy’s pale elfish coloring.

This girl had been one of the adventurers to visit Dungeon Home when I’d still had my Jellyfae form, but she’d fascinated me more than any other. My eyes widened in delight at seeing her again.

“Hello!” I exclaimed, hopping up to my feet.

“Whoa!” the girl said, taken aback by my sudden excitement. “You didn’t have to get up. I was just wondering where you got the race.”

I rolled my eyes, “Everybody wonders that… but for once I have something to ask back! How do you like your name?”

She blinked. “My… name?”

“Yeah! It used to be something silly like bluewaterwingirl or something right? I remember when you came to my dungeon and I thought North Cross fit you much better because of the crosses on your pretty blue robe!” I exclaimed excitedly.

“I… you… how do you know about that?” she asked, sounding suddenly wary.

I frowned. Why did she sound scared? “I… uhm. You came to my dungeon. I saw you and listened to your harp and your voice. They were beautiful, so I thought you deserved a pretty name too. Was that not okay?”

She blinked. “You… were in a dungeon? Wait, did we go on a dungeon dive together at some point?”

“Uhm. Not really,” I said, trying to figure out how to explain. “I… wasn’t talking to people back then. I didn’t show myself but you came to my dungeon home twice. I used to live there.”

She blinked at me again, still uncomprehending. I sighed in exasperation before putting out my hand and deadpanning, “Hi. I’m Gell, the Jellyfae. I’m an Artificial Intelligence and can change the world in weird ways, but don’t do that anymore because the false gods told me to stop.”

She blinked for what must’ve been the third time, before her eyes lit up with recognition.

“Artificial… Ohhhh! You’re… you’re the A.I. everyone was all crazy about! You’re why the game shut down for a week! The protestors! And you were in the dungeon where my name…? That makes so much sense! I honestly thought it was just a glitch this whole time!” She exclaimed, sounding a little out of place but also relieved at the same time.

“I’ve been called a glitch before,” I replied somberly. “I don’t feel like a glitch though.”

North Cross panicked at that, her arms flailing around with nervous worry. “No no! I’m sorry, Gell. I didn’t mean you were a glitch. Just my name change! Honestly, I love it too! My original name was… well. Lets just say I didn’t realize I’d be using it as my actual in-game name. Most MMO’s let you pick a… well, nevermind.”

She trailed off into an awkward silence, which I quickly tried to fill. “It’s okay. It’s just… back then, your sounds were the most beautiful things I’d ever heard. It’s really nice to get to meet you and talk to you for real.”

“W-wow. Uhm, I’m honored! I’m North Cross! Nineteenth level Bard, at your service!” She held out her hand. I stared at it confused for a moment before she took my own hand and shook it firmly.

“Normally you shake hands when you meet new people!” she said, a sunny expression on her face.

“Really? I’ve got lots of friends now, I think, but none of them ever told me that…” I said, annoyed again. Why was there so much to learn that everyone else already seemed to know? “Well. Thanks. It’s nice to know there’s a formal way to make friends. Most people have just thrown pieces of their name at me.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“I–heh. I guess it would seem like that. You’ve… really never left Tread the Sky? The rumors said… well, I guess that’s not very important. If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were just like any other person except for the unique race!”

I frowned at that, dropping my hand. Was I really becoming just like the invaders? I didn’t… know if I wanted that.

“I’m sorry,” North Cross said, picking up on my falling mood. “Did I say something offensive? I’ve… never spoken to a real A.I. before.”

“Well, I’ve never spoken to a real Bard before. So we’re even!” I replied, forcibly making myself more cheerful. I didn’t want to make a bad impression on the only person I’d met who could make the beautiful sounds she could.

“That’s… just sad,” she replied, her eyes taking on a pitying look. “But I guess you’re a new A.I. I’m sure you’ll meet plenty of musicians in your life! As a machine can’t you just, like… hyper process the internet?”

I blinked. “I… what?”

Hyper... process...?

“Uhh. I guess not? Actually that might be a bad idea. The internet isn’t really a nice place, and you seem like such a nice girl.”

I furrowed my brow in thought. “The developers told me that people were afraid of A.I. I think they mentioned the internet. I think it would scare a lot of people if I went there. You don’t seem to be scared though! I was a little worried you’d run away when I told you.”

“Huh,” she said sitting down beside me. “Then why tell me at all?”

“I suppose it's best to get it out in the open. I’m not like other adventurers. I don’t log out, don’t sleep. Don’t have a decaying body in the… “real world.” I quoted holding my fingers up and bending the first two forward like I’d seen Bald Fist do what felt like a million cycles ago now.

Had it really only been a few days since I’d escaped?

A sudden ping appeared on my interface and as I looked off to the side I saw a request.

“Amy Thyst has invited you to a party.”

“Oh hey!” I beamed, ecstatic to see Amy and Iron again. It hadn’t really been all that long from my point of view but if a whole week had really passed since they’d last seen me, then I wanted to know what had happened in between.

I hit accept and was excited to see their names appear in my interface in the upper left with their respective health bars visible. We’d partied before on our journey to Variak and I mostly understood how the system worked now.

I pulled up my map and discovered their locations were a little ways away but still in Variak. They appeared to be to the west of my location, down the main road. They were probably close to the town square where Variak’s home point was.

Oh! That reminded me that I really needed to set my home point here now that I could pay the fee to do so.

“North Cross, some friends of mine just logged in and invited me to a party! Would you like to meet them?” I asked, enthusiastically grabbing her hand. “I’m sure they’d love to hear your music!”

She laughed. “Sure, Gell!”

“Alright! This way!”

Permission granted, I practically dragged the surprised bard down the road, tugging her into a run beside me. God, I loved this. Meeting new people and not having to be worried about them killing me? Yes. This was what I’d dreamed of. Perhaps it wasn’t as real as I’d hoped but it was better than anything I’d had in Dungeon Home and there were always new people coming to Variak.

We ran for a short while, my map showing me the way to get to Amy and Iron. Houses and buildings passed by in a blur, and with my new builder’s class I spotted many places along the way that could be repaired. Most of them were too complex for me to handle though, or required materials I didn’t have.

The city was filling up, players appearing everywhere. Since the place we were going was one of the most populated areas of Variak, there quickly began to be many more players than there were NPCs and quite a few of them stopped to point at North Cross and I as we ran passed.

I turned a corner, North Cross laughing behind me, before I spotted Amy and Iron in the middle of a small park area that had been designated for teleportation and setting home points. I could only assume that they had teleported there from the room Francis had put me in just before the maintenance that had taken the world down for a week.

I beamed upon seeing them, dashing towards them and letting North Cross go as I sped up.

“Amy! Iron! Look! Look I’m okay! I’m still alive and everything!” I screamed as I ran straight up to Amy and hugged her for all I was worth.

She caught me, laughing uproariously as we reunited. Their eyes were shining and wet and their smiles were genuine.

“Gell! I’m so glad you’re okay. I–” Amy abruptly cut off, her limbs stiffening around me as the embrace became hollow.

I pulled away, unsure if I’d done something wrong, and looked into Amy’s eyes, only to find her focused behind me. Turning, I found North Cross there, staring at Amy and Iron like they were particularly loathsome bugs.

“Leevey!” Iron exclaimed brightly, not seeming to notice the scowl on the bard’s face.

Leevey? Why would he call her that? Was that like Derek?

“Dad.” North Cross acknowledged coldly, shocking me before turning to Amy. “Mom.”

My eyes widened. “Oh! Are you related?”

North Cross turned to me, her eyes softening a bit. “It was nice to meet you Gell. But if these are your friends I think I’ll be heading elsewhere.”

“I… do you, uhm, not like Amy or Iron?” I asked, worriedly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t–”

Before I could finish apologizing, her character lifted into the air and strange lights began to flow around her. She was teleporting somewhere.

“Alevia, wait! Please, just…” Amy cried, rushing towards her.

North Cross had just enough time to roll her eyes and mutter, “My real name? Really?” before a warping sound wracked the surrounding area.

Just like that, North Cross disappeared as quickly as she’d entered my life.

Amy now stood several paces away from me, staring at the empty spot where the bard had just been. She sunk to the ground with a look of grief on her features. I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her, gently.

She was sad. I didn’t understand why, but I knew that when I’d been sad a hug had really helped. She turned into my embrace and started to cry on my shoulder.

What had happened? Why did North Cross seem so distant? If these were her parents then… shouldn’t she be happy to see them? I didn’t even get time to ask her to play me some of her music...

I decided it didn’t matter. Perhaps they’d tell me eventually. For now, holding Amy and watching the tightly schooled stoicism on Iron’s face, I decided not to ask.

It seemed problems were universal, regardless of what world you called home.

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