Pear blinked blearily, looking at the face of his helper, Lilith-023.
"What's going on?" he asked, his words slurring as his head pounded.
"You're game avatar is quite drunk," Lilith explained with a knowing smile, her voice usually so loud and bubbly was gentle and quiet. "So much so that you've lost consciousness. Normally, we would perform simple scans and wake you immediately in the Pod. Given your inebriated state, we felt it was better to wake you here and gradually remove the lingering effects before you exit the Pod."
"So, you're keeping me from staggering around drunk even though I haven't had anything for real?" Pear confirmed as he felt the pounding in his head subside slowly.
"It's a matter of keeping your brain's functionality and equilibrium from being affected by our technology," Lilith said. "We'll be done here soon and then, I, as your helper, recommend that you exit the Pod fully for a period of at least two hours. By then, your avatar will be waking up and you'll be free to rejoin the game without having to wait here with me or in a sleep state. Do you understand?"
"You're telling me that I got too drunk and I should take a break before continuing," Pear said as the pounding totally faded and his words began to become much more intelligible. "It sounds good to me. I want to ask my parents something and spending some time with them would be pretty good, all things considered."
"Wonderful," Lilith offered a smile, her voice taking on its normal tone for a moment. "The company also has a question for you."
"What's up?" Pear asked curiously.
"It might actually be easier to ask after you return," Lilith said. "However, you might be able to guess the question by the time you come back and if you're given the information then, please think carefully about it."
"You're not going to tell me what the question is?" Pear asked, exasperation leaking into his voice.
"Not in the slightest, until you get back at least." Lilith said with a smile. "You're not slurring anymore. It's time to wake up, Stephen."
With a jolt, Pear opened his eyes and blinked. The slurry that filled the Pod had lowered itself so that his face was uncovered and he opened the top carefully. Sitting up fully, he pulled his mask off his face and with a few short coughs looked around his room.
"Wish I'd gone in with Mark and James for a part of their apartment," he muttered at the sight of the large garage room that he'd moved into while he was in high school. His parents had agreed that more room would be good for him and it had made his house the spot that his friends would gather nearly every weekend. "Oh well, at least I've got my own bathroom. What time is it?"
Climbing out of the Pod's slurry, he looked toward the clock featuring his favorite characters from an old game series he played.
"Just after lunch?" he muttered to himself. "No way. Is it the same day?"
"It is," his father's voice answered him with a chuckle. "Have fun?"
"I did," he said with a grin at his father as he dripped slurry into the slotted tray beside his Pod. "How did things go at the doctors?"
"Pretty good," his father said. "Had to sign some insurance and bureaucratic stuff. Nothing too major, power of attorney to your mother and you, gag orders, the fun stuff."
"Sounds great," Pear said as he tried not to wince at his father's mention of giving power of attorney to his mother.
"Oh, and there was some stuff about calibrating a specialized Pod to my brain and an examination of my nutritional levels for long-term slurry feeding," his father said. "They said I should be joining you and the other boys in a few days."
"They're trying my idea?" Pear asked, the grin that split his face removing a weight from his shoulders he hadn't realized was there just as much as it added a new one that he felt keenly. "That's awesome!"
"Whoa, buddy," his father said with a laugh as he moved in to give him a hug. "Maybe wait until you're done drip-drying or after a shower before you give me a hug."
"Oh right," Pear said sheepishly as he looked down at his suit still wet with the thick slurry he'd been lying in. "I should go do that now."
"Don't take too long," Mr. Pearson said as he turned and exited his son's room. "Your mom and I were talking and we think a celebration is in order. How about the famous Smithwick apple pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert? Of course, after we grill some steaks and dogs on the grill."
"I'm so in," Pear said, throwing another grin his father's way at the mention of his mother's grandmother's apple pie recipe. "Can we see about asking the guys to come over?"
"I should hope so," his father said. "We've got some shopping to do, so we'll take care of that and you can spread the word to the boys that we've got steaks on the grill for them. Sound good?"
"Yeah," Pear said as he unzipped his suit in his bathroom's doorway. "My AI helper said I should take a break after Axel pulled me into a drinking competition, so I've got some time to kill until then."
"Who won?" he heard his father's question and the grin he knew his father had splitting his face.
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"I did of course," Pear told him.
"That's my boy!" his father laughed happily as he closed the door to Pear's room and Pear closed the door to his bathroom and entered the shower.
"So, do you think this, what did you say his name was dear? Ripspill?"
"Ripspell," Pear corrected his mother as they watched his father examine bunches of asparagus critically.
"Yes, Ripspell," his mother nodded before continuing. "Do you think having him to teach you how to cast your magic spells in the game is helpful?"
"A little yes, a little no," Pear said. "He's been teaching me how to use the spells against monsters that might not take damage from magic. It's dangerous for my avatar, cause it seems real, but for the most part it's been a bit of a puzzle to take care of everything before it can send me to respawn."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well, the first monster he set me up against was a deer that took no damage from the element of damage my spells do right now," Pear said. "To kill them, I had to use a combination of all three of my spells. My shield spell to protect me, my damage spell to aggro the monster I wanted, and my utility spell to kill the monsters when they approached me."
"And how does that work?" Mrs. Pearson asked as she pushed the cart after her husband with her son following at her side. "Using a utility spell to kill something? Didn't you say that they couldn't damage something?"
"They don't deal damage," Pear said. "Not directly at least. The spell I have is called Bind and it says that it summons ropes of magic to restrict a target's movements. There's nothing there about what happens if I manage to stop something that's already moving."
"So you restricted the deer to death?" his mother asked, looking at him carefully.
"In a way I guess," Pear said uncomfortably. "I tied up the legs while they were running at me and that made them fall to the ground hard enough to break bones, usually their necks and legs. I didn't like it, but Ripspell said we weren't leaving until I finished the task."
"Hmm," his mother made a noise. "I'm not sure I like the sound of this man."
"Sometimes I don't either," Pear said. "He talks about magic like it's a weapon, the way a gun or a knife is. I'm not sure I like that."
"You knew that you'd probably have to use your avatar's magic to kill things," his mother pointed out.
"And that's the problem with Ripspell," Pear said. "He's supposed to be some sort of bigshot wizard that's mastered all the game's magic elements and he's supposed to know a lot about another kind of magic in the game, runes I think. He uses what he knows about it all for fighting. Says that he used to be a member of one of the city's knight orders. His experience with all that means he knows what he's talking about with all this stuff, but it's like that's all he knows. Having that sort of knowledge is great, cause it means that I can learn it all faster, but it also takes some of the fun of learning it all out of it. Even if he focuses on how to fight with it all."
"That sounds to me like there might be other ways to use the spells that he doesn't focus on," his mother nodded. "If you want to keep learning from him, then you can make that choice for yourself. You're an adult. Just remember, if you don't want to keep learning from him, then you should tell him clearly and it's best to do so sooner rather than wait until it's too late."
"I'll keep that in mind Mom," Pear promised her.
"Good, now let's catch up to your father before he picks out a rack of those ribs he's eyeing," she said with a smile speeding up from her walk to do that.
Pear hit the send button on his phone, alerting his friends to his family's dinner plans and making sure they knew they were invited as he approached his Pod.
"Been nearly two and half hours, so I'm good if I go by Lilith's timeline," Pear said, setting his phone down before climbing into the Pod. "Time for round two."
"You were longer than I expected," Lilith's voice greeted him as he looked around the decorated room and the view of mountains outside of it.
"Dinner preparations," Pear told her with a grin. "What was your question?"
"Did your father tell you that the company was planning to go ahead with a plan to conduct an intensive study of the Pod technology as a method of mental care for medical patients that were suffering from dangerous and terminal illnesses?" she asked.
"He mentioned something like that," Pear nodded.
"Do you consent to the company, C99, being allowed to show a rendering of your avatar to your father, George Pearson, and your mother, Marie Pearson, if she should join the game Astrana: Last Stars Online?" Lilith asked.
"I consent," Pear said, nodding, confused at the question.
"Wonderful," his helper smiled. "Now, given your status as the apprentice of Theobald Ripspell, do you consent to the company, C99, using a rendering of your avatar in the basic servers as a Non-Player Character?"
"What?" he asked, blinking at the question.
"Theobald Ripspell is one of the few Non-Player Characters that are given more freedom from the game's overseers," Lilith explained. "In the basic servers, where the players without personalized Pods are sent, he has more freedom than others, but it isn't to the degree that it is in the more advanced servers like you play on. His decision to make you his apprentice was something unforeseen. To keep basic Players from attempting to gain a similar apprenticeship should word trickle to them, the company would like to create a Non-Player Character using your avatar's likeness and a study of your personality and play-style."
"Why don't they want the basic Players to become his apprentice?" Pear asked.
"Ripspell's coding allows for more freedoms and with those freedoms comes a stricter personality and more eccentricities than C99 feels can be accepted by basic Players," Lilith answered. "To prevent future complaints, the company would like to use your character to fill the position of his apprentice."
"I think I understand," Pear said. "If I have more questions later, can I ask them?"
"Of course," his helper nodded. "As your AI helper, my first two directives are absolute and they require that I answer your questions to the best of my abilities and that I monitor your mental state so as to prevent you from suffering from situations that might lead to significant changes in your mental state that would lead to suicide, homicide, depression, and anxiety."
"You keep an eye out for all that?" Pear asked, no small amount of amazement filling him.
"I'm simply the first line of watchers," Lilith explained. "Should certain conditions be fulfilled, I will alert either a higher overseer or a Game Master. They will evaluate your situation and make the decision."
"Sounds good," Pear nodded. "Can I go?"
"Would you answer my earlier question?" she asked.
"Oh, right," Pear said. "I consent to C99 using my avatar's appearance, my playstyle, and a study of my personality to create a Non-Player Character for the basic servers."
"Thank you," Lilith said. "Please enjoy yourself."