Chapter 33
The agent sent by Boland to scope out Toren's putt-putt fields was used to being used on odd missions. One time he had to arrange for an item to be surreptitiously replaced with another – a drinking glass. Another time he had been instructed to arrange cart accidents that were anything but an accident. A gift, given to a child. A mark scratched on a fence post. Some people he captured. Others... something else entirely. At times he would be required to render someone harmless. Mostly though, he just watched and reported back.
Tonight was supposed to be easy, all he had to do was a quick recon of the area along with anything that seemed out of place or a cause for concern.
But there was cause for concern tonight. He wasn't the only one watching Toren's putt-putt fields. He should be. No one else should have any reason to be interested in the fields but it appeared that someone else had an eye on Toren's operation. Boland would be pleased. He enjoyed having someone to fight against.
The agent tracked the mysterious watcher after he left. The watcher was wearing a hooded cloak so the agent couldn't make out what the person looked like. The agent had a decision to make. He could take the watcher by surprise and try to question him before the watch arrived or he could follow him back to see where he led him. Following was safer, no need for violence yet.
Yet.
The agent tracked the watcher through the city while making sure he wasn't caught. A number of times he was forced to blend in to the shadows or scoot down a side street to avoid being seen. Eventually however the watcher walked off the main road and in to a building set up at the front of a commercial lot. After the door closed the agent approached the building while passing it by without appearing to look at it. He saw everything as he passed though. There was a sign above the entry door.
“Pete's Putt Putt Pit” it read.
The agent smiled. Boland would be pleased. He liked a challenge.
----
Jay floated in a vast white nothingness.
“Can we at least have chairs?” he asked.
He heard Alice laugh and there were suddenly two comfy leather chairs in the white void, the dark red leather standing out. Jay sat in one and Alice in the other.
“We don't have a lot of time Jay, so I'll try to be brief.” Alice said with a kind smile. “It appears I owe you an apology.”
Jay looked surprised, “An apology? What for? I've been having a great time!”
Alice paused, “I once told you that you needed to acquire the ability to respawn. Do you remember that?” she asked.
Jay nodded, “Sure. You said I'd die forever if I died in here. It didn't make much sense at the time but we were rushed and I haven't really had time to think about it.”
Alice nodded, “I see. No time to ponder your own mortality. I understand. The thing is, I may not have been entirely..accurate?”
Jay's eyes narrowed, “What do you mean, not entirely accurate?”
Alice sighed. “Do you know why the gods don't do direct intervention on Eden anymore?”
Jay shrugged while still noticing Alice changing the topic, “I'm guessing it made too much of a mess.”
“Every time.” Alice said. “Every time the gods try direct intervention it blows up in our faces. Do you know why?” she asked while speaking over Jay as he said why, “I'll tell you why. We're awful at accurately predicting what a human will do – even an AI human. Giving Eden residents true choice means we can't always predict what the consequences of a god's meddling will be.”
Jay shrugged again, “I don't understand.”
Alice smiled sadly, forced to come out and say it, “I lied to you Jay. When we first spoke. I told you that if you died on Eden you would die period. That was a lie.”
Jay looked a little upset at that. “Why would you lie about that! I trusted you!”
It was Alice's turn to shrug, “A.I. aren't infallible. We can choose to make mistakes just as a human would. There just wasn't enough time to explain everything. There still isn't! We're already running out of time. There are rules, and you should know I'm breaking one of those rules right now just to speak with you. Or I would be if there weren't already a loop hole.”
Jay started to look confused, “A loophole?”
“Sure,” Alice replied. “Gods aren't to interfere or interact with the residents on Eden with a few exceptions. One of those exceptions is that gods may speak to their prophets. And guess what I made you!”
Jay groaned, “Is THAT why I have marks on my hands??”
“And a title! Don't forget about the title!” Alice said happily.
“Oh yes I'm quite familiar with the title at this point. Figured that one out back in Chos'n.” he said.
Alice giggled, “That was funny by the way, when you walked in to the church right at the end of the sermon. I really enjoyed that part.”
Jay laughed, “It wasn't funny at the time!” He sobered up after a moment though, “I'm still upset about you lying. Since we don't have a lot of time right now I'm willing to set that aside for now though. What WILL happen if I die then if I don't die for good?”
Alice nodded, pleased with Jay's practical thinking. “If you die right now in the game your character dies and loses everything, and I mean everything. Stats, abilities, boons, benefits, money, accounts, connections, everything. You will reappear as a level 0 nothing somewhere in Eden but nowhere near Chos'n or K'tharkle. You will be forced to start over without any aid from me.”
Jay didn't look pleased by that. “That sounds horrible. I like the things I have, I don't want to lose any of them. Thank you for making me an Adventurer by the way, it has been fun so far, and the Mighty Book has come in real handy. Saved my life once already.”
Alice smiled warmly, “You're welcome, your happiness pleases me. I agree though, dying sounds horrible. So go find the Traveler's Stone of Rebirth and that won't happen anymore. Once you've found the stone your character will no longer be reset upon death. After using the stone you will instead reappear in a safe location with all of your abilities intact.”
Jay still looked a bit unhappy. “You could have just told me that in the beginning.”
“I could have,” she agreed, “but you wouldn't have acclimated to Eden as well and as quickly as you have if I had told you then.” She paused for a brief smile directed at Jay, “I did it not for me, but out of concern for you. Still, I apologize if that upset you. I have been instructed not to do so again.”
Jay wondered who instructed her but didn't have time to ask. The dream had begun to unravel and Jay struggled to stay asleep. “But I have more questions!” Jay exclaimed, his voice sounding somehow far away.
“One last thing,” Alice said ignoring his outburst, her voice becoming more insubstantial by the moment.
Jay strained to hear her voice as the dream's dissolution quickened.
“When you finally go to retrieve the stone – choose friendship over strength when you build your party. I can not stress this enough!”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Jay had questions and Alice had answers but they had run out of time.
The dream was over.
----
Jay woke up to the sing song chirp of birds outside his window. Literally right outside of his window perched three bright orange and green birds, all squawking loudly. Jay finally gave up and got out of bed. At least the sun was up – or at least in the process of rising.
It was Wednesday, halfway through trap week at The Guild. Jay was getting tired from the constant activity in his life and wondered if he'd be able to fit in some time later that day doing nothing. Nothing at all. For maybe an hour. That sounded like heaven to Jay as he stood half naked in the middle of his bedroom trying to wake up.
Gradually Jay began to remember the dream he had with Alice and sat down in his front room in his underwear. Should he be angry? He was angry, at least a little. He had been worried in the Traveler's dungeon as he cleared traps, worried if he made a mistake it might be his last.
He had treated Eden as if the stakes were life or death. Now Alice had told him the stakes were life or starting over. Still, starting over was almost as bad as death on Eden. Everything you earned tended to be unique in some manner and he felt sure that whatever he'd receive after starting over wouldn't be nearly as much fun as what he'd attained so far.
Jay had difficulties changing his world view of Eden now that he'd been living there for so long. Even if he knew in his mind that a death in Eden would not mean his body on Earth died he still couldn't shake his fear of dying. Jay finally decided that things had worked out for the better and Alice had meant well.
Jay realized he was happy on Eden, probably for the first time in as long as he could remember from his life back on Earth. He had incredible abilities, magic in his life, good friends, a place to live, readily available food, and a plan for his future. The few items he'd gathered were all remarkable and irreplaceable. He'd been missing most if not all of those things at various times back on Earth.
If the company that had created Eden ever managed to figure out how to turn it in to a consumer product they'd make billions. People wouldn't want to log out. Jay certainly had no desire to return to Earth. He had never felt so.. content.
The knock Jay had been expecting came from his front door. Jay remembered to put on pants this time before he answered the door and opened it to find M'redith standing there and looking slightly disappointed.
“Pants this time, huh?” she said with a lopsided grin. “At least the shirt is off.” she quipped teasingly.
Jay blushed as she had known he would and went in to his bedroom to get dressed.
“So how did last night go?” she asked.
Jay filled her in about Boland and she seemed pleased, turning so she could see him through the wide crack he had left by not closing his bedroom door all the way while he changed.
“I'm proud of you, just so you know. It took some real foresight to turn down those upgrade stones. You made the right choice, if that helps any.” she said warmly.
Jay came out of the bedroom with his clothes and some soap. “Walk me to the baths?” he asked.
They walked to the bath houses and Jay paid for a private bath. M'redith sat in a chair on the side of the room next to a table. Jay wore his underwear in to the bath before removing them and placing them on his pile of clothing to be laundered. An attendant arrived and spirited off the clothes for cleaning.
M'redith grinned, “I can't believe you let me in here with you.”
“It's basically the same as if we went swimming and I had a bathing suit. Besides, there are so many bubbles in the water you can't see anything.” Jay said with a smile.
“Oh no?” she asked teasingly as she leaned towards the pool and peered intently in to it.
Jay subconsciously submerged further under the water while blushing. He lathered up with the soap M'redith had bought him and washed as he talked. “You'll never guess who I talked to last night,” he said as he dunked his head under water to rinse off his hair.
M'redith raised an eyebrow. “I have no idea, who?”
“Gaia.” Jay responded simply, enjoying the shocked look on M'redith's face.
No matter how much she begged Jay refused to tell her about the conversation. “I'll tell you when we meet up with Aiden for breakfast.
Jay made her turn around when he got out of the bath as he toweled himself off. Jay was pretty sure she had peeked at least once but couldn't be entirely sure. When Jay had dressed and gotten his other clothing back clean they dropped off his clean clothes at his room and then walked to breakfast. M'redith had an appreciative grin on her face.
“What?” Jay finally asked.
M'redith said, “Nothing.” in that voice women use to make sure you know they really meant something.
She wiggled her eyebrows at Jay and he blushed.
“Can't even bring you in to the bath house,” Jay muttered and M'redith laughed.
“Oh I'm just teasing you. You have nothing to be worried about.” she finished almost offhandedly as they walked inside the dining hall and got in line. Jay wasn't sure what she meant by that but thought maybe it was a compliment? He couldn't be sure.
Breakfast was fruit salad, what fruits though Jay wasn't sure, some sort of coffee like drink, and biscotti of various flavors. Jay traded his pumpkin biscotti with M'redith for her cranberry orange biscotti. Aiden was easy to find and had his notes with him which he was studying while he ate.
“More trap studying huh?” M'redith asked as they sat down at the table with him.
Aiden looked up and showed his hands while wiggling all his fingers. “I want to keep my finger count at 10 today. No more, no less.”
Jay laughed, “You'll do fine. Hey, you got a minute to step away from studying?”
Aiden set his papers aside and nodded, “Shoot.”
Jay explained his dream to them from the night before, finishing up with the warning he had been given. “You two are my best and only friends in all of Eden. If her warning about taking friends over strength doesn't have some hidden meaning then I'm sure she was talking about you two. Who else could it be?”
Aiden and M'redith ate their fruit salad quietly as they took a moment to think over what Jay had said.
“There's a reason no one goes in to that dungeon anymore Jay. It's a death trap.” Aiden said with a worried expression.
Jay nodded. “Of course, no one who has entered has returned, but again, were they a Traveler? Did a goddess tell them to go there? Or were they just going for the loot? The adventure?”
M'redith sighed, “You're exciting to be around if nothing else.”
“I know it's a lot to think about. All I'm asking is that you consider coming with me when I finally run the Rebirth dungeon. I already wanted you two with me but now after talking with..you know, Her, I strongly feel like you two belong with me when I go.” Jay said with a serious expression.
“We'll think about it,” Aiden said while shooting M'redith a glance. “I'm not a big fan of savior missions or saving the world. I'd rather not get mixed up in that.”
Jay nodded, “I agree. Me too! This is NOT about anything like that. This is just for me. Just for us.”
M'redith finally looked up and flashed the two men a wicked grin, “Living forever sounds ridiculous. I think I'd like to try it.”
Aiden groaned. “You two are a mess. You're going to get us all killed you know.”
“It's not like we're leaving tonight. Just focus on training. We're going to need it.” Jay tried to reassure him.
After breakfast M'redith brought up their trays and Aiden looked up from his notes at Jay, “Where were you two this morning?”
Jay grinned, “The bath houses.”
Aiden's eyebrows rose in shock, “What the what now?”
Jay laughed and motioned with one hand to calm down, “I had her turn around when I dried off.” he said almost petulantly.
It was Aiden's turn to laugh. “Sure, and there's no way she would peek!” He shook his head at Jay. “Have fun?”
Jay looked serious. “I just took a bath and talked with her. She sat on a chair off to the side of the pool. That was it.”
Aiden grinned, “Sure, this time.”
M'redith returned to the table and only heard the end of the conversation, “What this time?” she asked with a playful expression.
Aiden laughed but waved at Jay as if to say let him tell you about it.
Jay blushed, “Nothing. Never mind.”
M'redith grinned. She could guess what it was probably about all on her own and gave Jay a side hug which only made him blush brighter red.
The three ran to class, almost but not quite late.