I was unharmed but unlike last time, I was doused in blood and bits of Poe.
There had been no warning, time hadn’t frozen, no messages had appeared. I glared at the icon representing my blood shield, wondering why it hadn’t activated like last time. It wasn’t grayed out or anything so maybe I just needed to…
Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
Thank you for using Celestial Shields™, a division of Interstellar Safety Solutions, LLC. We hope you’ll consider us for all your exploration needs.
Once again, I was standing in a small depression, in the middle of a smoking crater, everything around me burnt to a crisp. The blood and bits of Poe that had briefly covered me were gone, apparently burned off and I was back to my earlier clean self.
This was getting old.
I took stock. Apparently I had two shields. One was my blood shield and was a skill or ability that worked when I activated it. The other one was automatic and was apparently built in. I went to my to-do list and tried to add a 5th entry. My new task was appended to the end of my list so I added the Soccer Ball trainer too:
Task ID
Task Name
Priority
Category
Value
Duration
1
Find Hannah
High
Personal
High
Unknown
2
Restore Sarge
High
Personal
High
Unknown
3
Accept Introductory Quest
High
Main
Critical
Ongoing
4
Pet Kevin
Unknown
Personal
Unknown
Ongoing
5
Find out how shields work
High
Personal
Unknown
ASAP
6
Train Soccer Balls
High
Personal
Unknown
ASAP
To test my theory, I decided to see if I could manually trigger the blood shield. I activated it and it popped out like before, humming, my own private bubble. It stayed with me as I climbed out of the depression, so it was apparently personal to only me. There was a new timer, underneath the icon for the Blood Shield, counting down from 5 minutes.
Did that mean it would protect against anything for 5 minutes or the duration was 5 minutes unless it was used up? How much damage could it take?
The third bar, the one below health and mana, now was 20% empty. Did that mean the cost to activate the shield was 1/5th of my blood bar? It had filled up when Poe exploded on me, so maybe that meant I needed to touch blood to fill the bar before I could use the shield.
“Someone explain this!” I yelled to the sky but no one answered, not even Kevin.
I glared at him for failing to enlighten me, but he just kept bouncing joyfully.
I tried to re-activate the shield to see if that would refresh the timer but nothing happened. It remained around me, timer counting down, no change.
Oh well. I’d figure it out later.
I looked back and noticed Poe’s remains weren’t sparkling. Did that mean each character in this world could only be looted once? I’d gotten all his personal items when he blew up before, so maybe I couldn’t get them more than once. It made sense, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything.
Maybe I had to loot him before he self-destructed to get any items. Actually, that would make sense, based on what Poe had told me earlier.
I kicked another rock down the road, thinking hard.
The Council was trying to stop players from murdering the cadre to gain an advantage in the test. It was logical to assume they had valuable items on them, considering what I’d found on Poe. Some of those items might provide unfair abilities.
If the self-destruct also obliterated the NPC’s gear, that would remove the possibility of looting them after they blew up. The blast radius was big enough that there wasn’t enough time to kill them, loot them, then run away. I’d only survived because of my Celestial Shield, or so it seemed.
Regardless, the only thing I knew for sure is that there were more people down the road, so I decided to keep going. “Come on, Kevin,” I called back to where he was air-licking. He shot up next to me, prancing happily and we continued down the road.
As we walked, I began to play around with my User Interface. There was a staggering number of screens, tabs, icons, views, and more. It felt like I’d been dumped into the cockpit of a fighter jet with no explanation. What I really needed was a grandma-type phone interface, with only 3 buttons where one calls the cops, one an ambulance, and the last one calls the grandson.
Like EDL. Three letters. E. D. L. When I focused on it, the words “Emotional Deportment Level” appeared. That was probably enough for a person who wasn’t clueless, but for me, it was nearly useless. I didn’t even know what “deportment” meant, let alone how it related to me. Next to it was the word “Low” in red. That was probably important and I would be sure to ask someone. I added it to my to-do list.
Task ID
Task Name
Priority
Category
Value
Duration
1
Find Hannah
High
Personal
High
Unknown
2
Restore Sarge
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
High
Personal
High
Unknown
3
Accept Introductory Quest
High
Main
Critical
1 Hour
4
Pet Kevin
Unknown
Personal
Unknown
Ongoing
5
Find out how shields work
High
Personal
Unknown
ASAP
6
Train Soccer Balls
High
Personal
Unknown
ASAP
7
Emotional Deportment?
High
Personal
Unknown
ASAP
“Don’t forget #4”, I reminded myself, then knelt down to give Kevin scritches. He glowed green.
My blood shield icon started flashing and I noted I had 10 seconds left. It counted down to zero and the shield vanished.
My blood bar was back to 100%.
“Well Kevin,” I said, “It looks like I get the cost of the shield back if it’s not used.”
He flashed Yellow which I’d come to understand was the hedgehog equivalent of a shrug.
I activated the shield again, my blood bar dropped to 80% again, the timer showed up again. Five minutes, counting down.
“Ok, now we’re cooking!” I told Kevin. “Maybe I’ll figure this out after all!”
He shimmered green and I felt a little better.
We continued down the road until I could finally see where it ended, directly at the base of the energy barrier I’d seen while I was falling to earth. “How far away is that,” I asked Kevin, not expecting a response.
He didn’t give an answer but if I had to guess, we had about three or four miles to go.
Once again, there was a whooshing sound behind me and I heard a familiar voice say, “Hi!!!!”
I turned.
Once again, it was the entire writer and poet, Edgar Allen Poe, looking down and smiling at some kind of data pad. Like before, he poked at his pad a bit then threw the pen into the air where it vanished with a little pop, and just like before, he stuck out his hand.
I wordlessly took it and he shook it, his grip confident and firm.
He stood a little taller than me, his lean, athletic frame radiating an effortless charm. His fair skin was flawless, and his suit, despite a slight rumple, fit him impeccably, highlighting his well-defined shoulders. His dark eyes sparkled with a boyish innocence beneath a neatly trimmed mustache. You could cut a steak on his chiseled jawbone. Perched on his shoulder was a raven with jet-black feathers streaked with blue and green, its eyes bright with excitement as it softly cooed, “Nevermore.”
I checked his stats. Yep, I was now looking at Poe 2.0.
“Oh wow,” Poe said, looking around. “Just you two?”
“Just me,” I corrected him. “Kevin’s just here to keep me company.” Poe nodded knowingly, clearly pretending this was perfectly normal and winked at me.
Like before, he launched into his prepared speech and I pulled up the document he’d given me before. Immediately, I noticed the word choice and complexity of the speech had diminished.
"Welcome, participants, to the greatest challenge of your lives, showcasing the potential of your civilizations. I represent the Galactic Community and will guide you through the process as you prepare for an adventure in our Test Realm.
First, we will confirm your identities, celebrating the diverse life from across the universe. Your physical and mental health is crucial; we'll ensure you're ready for the trials ahead with thorough assessments.
Effective communication is vital; all languages will be standardized.
This challenge tests both strength and intellect. You'll need to understand advanced technologies, follow galactic laws, and respect the many cultures in our federation. We will brief you on survival skills, the basics of quantum mechanics, and the rules and goals of the game.
You'll receive the necessary gear to navigate the quantum realm, following set boundaries and using available resources. Your actions will be monitored for safety and to gather insights into your civilizations.
Before starting, you'll sign consent forms acknowledging the risks and showing your courage.
Some of you may form teams, symbolizing unity. Understand the scoring system to track your progress and contributions.
Follow emergency protocols. Safety zones are your sanctuaries, and help signals are lifelines. Respecting physical and ethical boundaries is essential for success and honors the spirit of this endeavor.
As you journey through the quantum realm, know that civilizations far away watch with interest. Your achievements inspire others.
We tailor your entry point to align with your strengths, making each challenge an opportunity for growth and a step closer to joining the Galactic Community.
We wish you success. May your journey be enlightening, enriching, and a testament to your civilizations' spirit. Welcome to your destiny!"
Poe 2.0 finished and beamed at me.
I clapped politely and he bowed.
“Let’s get started,” he said with a giant grin, then held up his pad and shook it.
For the next hour we did what he’d promised: I signed forms, he rambled on about zones and testing, but if I’m being honest, the only thing I could really think about was how long it was going to be until he blew up again and showered me with bits of himself.
Blah blah blah “diverse wildlife, creatures of lore, hunting grounds, aggro tables”
No boom.
Blah blah blah “Decision-based” examinations, “intent” vs. “outcome”.
No boom.
Blah blah blah “Chance of a lifetime”, legacy of honor, fate of the world
No boom.
Twice he’d been pulverized without warning, and now we’d walked nearly an hour with nothing happening? How was that possible? I looked around, shaking my head.
Poe noticed and stopped whatever he was talking about. He raised his eyebrows in the universal “What’s up?”
“You’re still alive,” I noted.
“Yes,” he said seriously. “I am.”
“Why hasn’t anything attacked you in the last hour?” I asked. “And why hasn’t anything attacked me at all?”
He nodded intelligently, went back to his pad, poked at it a few times, frowning, then nodded to himself with understanding.
Looking back up, he smiled and closed the cover to his pad.
“I don’t know!” he said brightly.
Moron.
I huffed and looked around, then it hit me. There were no creatures of any kind, anywhere, as far as I could see. No bugs buzzed, no “eagles” shrieked, no lions roared, and the sky was clear of birds, “dragons”, or whatever else had been up there earlier.
Could it be that Poe was alive because nothing was around to care?
He was still looking at me expectantly so I just shrugged. Poe 0.0 would have known, but Poe 2.0 was a good-natured idiot.
“Maybe it’s in the manual,” he said doubtfully. “Anyway, we need to get you to the castle.”
He pointed helpfully to the end of the road. “It’s through there.”
We’d finally reached the barrier, not that we’d had a choice. The dirt road we’d been walking on terminated at the barrier. So far, this game was on rails.
Test, I corrected myself. It wasn’t a game. It was a test.
The transparent, shimmering barrier pulsed gently with a faint, golden sheen. Ripples of light moved across the surface, like waves on an ocean, sweeping up from bottom to top. Tiny particles of energy floated inside the barrier, like fireflies in a snow globe. I could hear a warm hum and noticed the hair on my arms begin to rise as we approached the barrier.
“So this is it?” I asked Poe. “The castle is through there?”
“It is,” he said firmly, with great certainty.
I looked at where the dirt road ended, smack at the edge of the barrier. The unbroken barrier.
“How do we get through?” I asked.
“Wow,” Poe said and shook his head ruefully. “That is a really good question. There’s always been a door there before.”
“Well,” I said, “Is there someone we can alert? Like a phone inside an elevator when it gets stuck?”
Poe looked around, behind, down at the ground, then up into the sky before responding. “I don’t see one.”
I wanted to strangle him.
“No,” I said patiently, “not an actual phone, but do you have any way of asking someone if they can help?”
“You want me to go get help?” he asked eagerly.
“No,” I said through clipped teeth, “I don’t. I was hoping you could call or maybe message someone.”
“Got it,” he said. “Let me try.”
His eyes went vacant, at least slightly more vacant, and his lips moved as he read something I couldn’t see.
Blinking rapidly, he shook his head and I thought he was about to burst into tears.
“Oh. Oh no. I’m so sorry Jonesy,” he said and his eyes began to fill. “You can’t make a help request until you’ve completed a quest. There’s nothing I can do.”
I clapped him on the shoulder. “Hey there, it’s ok, we’ll figure something out. There have to be a million ways to get through, or around, or even under it!
“You think so?” he asked hopefully.
“I know so,” I said confidently. “They wouldn’t bother bringing me all the way here just to trap me would they?”
He nodded. “I don’t know.”
“Ok,” I said. “To get through the barrier I need a door. To get a door I need help. To get help I need a quest.”
Poe shook his head sorrowfully. “The only quest I have is the Introductory Escort Quest to bring me here and since we’re already here there’s no point.”
I froze. “You have a quest to give me?”
“I did,” he sniffed, “But we’re already here.”
“Can you still give it to me?” I asked hesitantly, not daring to hope.
“I can try,” Poe sniffed and suddenly, another scroll appeared.
Quest: Escort to the Barrier
"Champions, we need your help. Edgar Allan Poe must reach the barrier with utmost urgency. He carries knowledge that is vital to our cause, and the path ahead is fraught with dangers.
Your task is to ensure Poe's safe passage to the barrier. Be vigilant and protect him from any threats along the way. It is paramount that he reaches the barrier before the timer runs out.
Thank you for your assistance, champions!"
Accept (Y/N)
I accepted and a countdown timer began. Apparently I had 12 hours to deliver Poe alive to the barrier that was only 10 feet away.
“Come on,” I urged Poe and he walked toward me hopefully.
Quest Complete!
The barrier began to emit a deeper hum, a sound that vibrated the ground and reverberated in my bones. The ripples grew faster, and a faint electric crackling noise filled the air. The undulating surface of the energy barrier began to coalesce and from the center of the barrier, a form started to take shape.
As the ripping noise intensified the frame of an opening appeared, no bigger than a sheet of paper, but it rapidly expanded until there was a clear pathway through the barrier, large enough to drive through.
Beyond I could see a vast expanse of green fields dotted with wildflowers, stretching out for miles. A dirt path wound through the fields toward a little village and about five or ten miles past that was the castle.
It was a dead ringer for the “Cinderella” castle at Disneyland, with tall elegant spires, turrets that tapered into delicate points, blue roofs with gold accents, high white walls and a central tower with large, arched windows that was at least fifty feet higher than any other structure.
I let out a low whistle and looked over at Poe, who had a look of amazement on his movie-star face.
“You did it!” he said in awe. “Now we can call for help!”