It was early in the morning and Max and his friends were waiting inside of Mira’s virtual lobby. Mira’s space had been based upon a medieval tavern theme. Smoke and the aroma of food and drink circulated about the dimly lit area. Round wooden tables were scattered throughout the large room with a bar lining one side.
It was busy with a colorful riot of fantasy characters. A pair of halflings sat at the bar drinking from enormous flagons and each with a steaming potato stew. One table was a mixed bag of adventurers, a pair of elves, a tattooed human, an orc, and a dwarf: all laughing and playing a card game. Another table featured a gnome surrounded by books, he was tracing magical glyphs in the air with a wand and consulting the book as he slowly built a complex arcane mandala. Off in the corner, a dark-cloaked figure watched the room from his gloomy nook, occasionally puffing on a pipe.
The far wall had a large map with colorful pins and notes attached to it. The main entrance was busy with characters coming and going, the large door bracketed by two impressive bay windows. There was a town outside with fantastical architecture. A whole city with intricate and sweeping elvish design, built into the treetops of enormous trees that reminded Max of the prodigious Grand Oaks. On the back wall of the tavern were some display cases with weapons and magical devices, a mannequin with a suite of armor, a bookcase overloaded with tomes, books, and scrolls, and a very out-of-place modern door that had a security lock and scanner plate.
Max, Leah, and Charlie sat in the middle of the buzzing tavern but they were almost completely ignored by everyone. Only the barman acknowledged them. He was some type of Treant, a living tree. He came to their table and asked if they wanted to order food or drink. Everyone else in the room ignored them and acted as if they were invisible. The group snacked on appetizers and ale while they waited for Mira. It tasted quite real and even seemed to be filling, but they knew from playing modern VR games that in the real world, they might be quite hungry if they stayed in game for too long.
“I still can’t believe Bo’s last bout. I think that he was cheated. His Allosaurus mount ended up being a glass cannon. A whole lot of fury but couldn’t take a hit.” Charlie commented.
“It was a very poor match-up. That Ankylosaur was just too tough. When his Allosaurus got its knee bashed, it was all over.” Max replied.
“That was an awesome dismount that Bo did when the Allosaurus fell. Somehow, he managed to turn his defeat into an opportunity to show off. Running up the back of the Ankylosaur and trying to take out its rider. If the judges had allowed it, he would have been the champion.” Leah said.
Bo was still traveling. He needed to go on his post-circuit promotional tour and then would have some time off. Max hoped he would be available when his group did their road trip to NYC for their attempt at the Mystery Labyrinth. They just needed to hit the Adept stage and then would be allowed into the fabled training center. The upcoming tournament would likely push everyone into the next stage.
The last movie night was all marathon showing of the Cretaceous Challenge finals. It had been a mash-up of an Avatar-styled Dino-Rider triathlon. Each contestant needed to capture and train a selection of dinosaurs for a trio of different missions. An Aquatic beast for a search and rescue mission. A prehistoric flyer for a courier race. And finally, a land dinosaur for a Beast Riding coliseum fight.
In the final challenges, all the players had their basic Body augmentations unlocked enabling them to aggressively confront the smaller dinosaurs. Max and his teams had taken notes. Bo and the other competitors had shown some interesting techniques with their skills. Max was about to get up and check out the wall map when Mira came rushing through the front door.
“MIRA!” the whole bar cheered. Mira was dressed in a motley assortment of clothes, armor, belts, and a cloak. Her pet dragon, Tiamat, clung to her left shoulder. In her right hand, she carried an ornate staff, Mira’s real-world features were adjusted to amplify her thin form and youthful face to make her appear as a delicate Elf with pronounced ears.
She set her staff aside and Max was surprised to see that it stood on its own. It balanced itself without any sign of instability. It was dull silver with finely engraved sigils up its entire length with occasional jewels embedded as centerpieces to complex glyphs. He poked it with a finger and found it to be as solid as the walls of the building. He raised an eyebrow at Mira.
“It’s magic, Max. My virtual lobby is built adjacent to and partially within several virtual worlds that I subscribe to. I’ve been playing Mythic Realms forever and am now quite an accomplished mage. I would give myself even odds of winning if I were to challenge the Arch Magus of the Imperial School to a duel.” Mira said, settling into her seat. The Treant bartender brought a tray with a delicate wine glass. The contents glowed ever so slightly.
“Thank you, Woody!” She said with a smile, she grabbed the glass and took a sip.
“Sorry for being late. I haven’t been able to hang with my old adventure party in so long, I found it hard to break away.” Mira said, still slightly out of breath.
“Thank you so much for agreeing to help us, Mira. I’ve been developing my ranged skills, but this slingshot isn’t working out anymore. I’m going to need something a lot better for the Labyrinth. My skills would work well with a gun, but they’re so basic. Besides, I have a custom weapon design I’ve been thinking of that I want to try.” Leah said.
“And the Northeastern Novice Augmentation Tournament is coming quick. Both Charlie and I are enrolled in augmented hand to hand sparring but also in the freeform weapons sparring. We’re allowed one custom self-made device. We need help.” Max said.
“It’s my pleasure to help. I did the aug training too, so I know your Aug AI will censor any specific hacking advice to min/max your skills and quests. However, I can certainly provide you with the right tools and answer your specific questions.” Mira said easily. Her eyes narrowed slightly and then she clapped her hands twice. The whole room faded with only their table and the back wall with the modern door illuminated. The rest of the room was hidden in inky blackness and the raucous tavern noises were silenced at the same moment, making the transition creepy and claustrophobic.
“I’ve closed off the connection to Mythic Realms for now. This stays with us and is off the record. Yes?” Mira asked. Everyone was a bit confused but nodded.
“I can provide you with a great amount of assistance, but I would appreciate a favor in return. My college days have been great, but ten years and three master's degrees in NanoDesign, Robotic Systems, and Cognitive Science is about enough.” Mira said, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her eyes.
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“Once my final capstone project, Miss Tiamat here, is done and accredited; I’ll be ready to bust out and start a new venture. I’m hoping to market her tech on the IndyNet and I’m going to need some seed capital. That’s where you all can return the favor or favors, I hope.” Mira said with a smile.
“The first is very small but also time sensitive. I’ve been very high-level in Mythic Realms for a while now. I know all the easy low-risk but high-reward dungeons, and the ways to speed run a character’s growth from creation to level 20 in about three extended Dreamtime sessions. I have a very lucrative DarkNet contract with a short timeline to provide some overgrown trust fund babies with five very custom and therefore expensive, level 20 characters.” Mira said with a waggle of her eyebrows.
“Umm, Mira. We’re glad to help, but with the three of us and you together, we are still one character short of your target.” Charlie said.
In response, Tiamat climbed down from Mira’s shoulder and picked up a fork. It pantomimed fighting with its “sword” and slaying the table’s candlestick centerpiece. It flourished its weapon and sheathed it and bowed to the table. Leah clapped appreciatively. Tiamat smiled and scampered back to its favorite shoulder top perch, Mira.
“I stand corrected, please go on,” Charlie said in his gravelly voice.
“Excellent. Now the second favor is longer term and a best effort only expectation. I don’t think your augs will censor me when I say that the deeper you delve into the Labyrinth, the more challenging it will get. Your physical skills are expected to be top notch and it will force you to use your mental skills. Integrating the two will be needed to delve deeply, where the best rewards are given.” Mira took a pause and continued.
“Your guess about needing to practice crafting is correct. The Labyrinth will make that point obvious and quickly. Crafting your weapons, armor, and devices will bridge over into extending your skills beyond your body and begin the final path needed for the Master stage. The path of dominating the world around you is the last step of the Aug training program.”
“The best weapons are the ones you know inside and out, with no mysteries, no gaps, no misunderstandings, and no unknown flaws or vulnerabilities. The final stages of the aug program are made for firming up skill sets and customizing yourself. Anybody can buy a weapon or design from the MakerIndexes or IndyNets. Consumers of tech will never have the same edge as a crafter. The ones who make their own way and understand how to do it will always win and stand out, no matter what you do with your life. If you take that lesson to heart and live it, you can succeed as Bo did or I hope too.”
“Now my next requested favor is going to take all that advice and turn it upside down,” Mira said with a grimace.
“The Labyrinth has a dirty little secret. Deep in the Labyrinth, unique items are needed as keys to doors. The Labyrinth also rewards its Delvers. When you beat a boss monster, there is always a treasure chest with unique and useful items. I think you might see where I’m going here. The Labyrinth is collectively copying all its Delvers devices and giving them back as rewards. The deeper you go into the maze, the more powerful or useful those devices are.”
“Wait. So, we need to offer a unique device to get deeper? And then the Labyrinth is going to steal the design and distribute it?” Leah asked.
“Just so,” Mira confirmed. “To reach the 45th level, I had to give up one of my favorite customized weapons. I called my creation the Conduit Blade. It was a hidden short sword that extended from a bracer and could amplify my shock attack. Guess what design is now being sold all over the Darknet. Be careful what you bring to Labyrinth. It’s greedy and it wants all your secrets. It’s a good idea to come with plenty of your custom crafting attempts, or you may get slowed down and unable to descend any deeper until you can provide something unique to offer.”
Max paled. The weapon Tyler had stabbed him with sounded a lot like his sister’s design. Mira didn’t notice his expression as she continued.
“If you get any gifts from the Labyrinth, I would like exclusive rights to copy them. The Labyrinth owes me, and I intend to get something from it. If the dungeon’s gifts are new, and not already on the DarkNet, then they might be worth a pretty penny. I can auction them off myself on the DarkNet and play the same game it is. So, what do you say?” Mira held out her hand.
The trio looked at each other. Charlie shrugged and Leah grimaced but nodded. Max shook Mira’s hand.
“Deal” Max said and then continued.
“Hey Mira, question for you. You mentioned that your Conduit Blade was on the DarkNet. I think one of our competitors might have it. Will he be able to use it in the competition?” Max asked. Mira’s happy expression sharpened.
“Unfortunately, yes. Probably. I never licensed it on the MakerIndex. It’s kinda like the old school patent office. If you license a design, its public knowledge and if a matter compiler prints it you get a credit royalty. I had wanted it to be my secret weapon and hadn’t anticipated the Labyrinth stealing it. Now I wish I had embedded a programming backdoor into its restricted access.” Mira said. She grimaced and then looked thoughtful.
“Hmm. I can’t give you a cheat code to access it, but this is almost as good. The device was built to channel and amplify a user’s shock augmentations. I never did manage to find a way to protect the design from EMP attacks. If it’s being used against you, a well-timed EMP will force it to …. discharge prematurely. If you know what I mean.” Mira grinned.
“Nice! Now let’s get your crew to cooking. That out-of-place door in the wall, over there, leads to the NanoCraft virtual space. I’ve already obtained some student IDs for you all, so you can use them for free from the comfort of your aug OverLayer. You can design to your heart's content, but you’ll still need to access a compiler and port your design to it to fabricate them. Are you ready for your first lesson?”
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The Nano Craft world game was alive with floating and rotating projections of assorted spheres in a dizzying range of sizes and colors. Some flew alone, but many clumped together into interesting structures. In the distance, Max could see huge building-sized structures, with massive arrays of balls, and huge rotating helixes.
“Ok, then. Clear your minds. and get ready for an info dump, gang. This is the equivalent of kindergarten for this virtual space. Each of you needs to jump onto one of the conductor's stands over there” Mira said motioning them forward. The game AI addressed each of them as they stepped up to their stages.
“All matter is made of consistently perfect little Lego building blocks called atoms. All the spheres displayed represent a different element. To start, you will become familiar with what each element looks like. The lightest elements like hydrogen and helium are the smallest while the heaviest like uranium and plutonium are quite large. The dull-looking spheres are noble gases, very inert and not reactive. The brightest colored atoms are super reactive and combine and join readily with other atoms. These visual identifiers will help you later to understand molecular structures by their elements as we progress.”
“We will start with a game to recognize the common building blocks,” the AI said. “Atoms will rain down in front of your stage. You have a series of buckets for each named atom: hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, and so on. With hand motions, you can direct the falling atoms into their correct buckets. Please begin.”
The spheres began to rain, slowly at first. As the game progressed, they came faster, and more varieties appeared. Max and his friend quickly became engrossed in identifying the spheres and directing them to their correct spots. Mira quietly exited the simulation. They would be learning here for a while before she could provide any real advice on the actual designing tasks they intended.
Mira rubbed her hands together; with their help her character farming operation could grow by leaps and bounds. She would be sure to give them a taste of the profits, maybe they would volunteer for some more contracted jobs in the future.
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