There was no visible marker for the hundred meter line. One minute I was running blindly forward and the next I was struggling to stop before I crashed into the wall only a few feet in front of me. I was back in the first room with the beige walls. I let the bundle drop to the floor at my feet while I bent over and put my hands on my knees, panting.
“You have done quite well, Julia. Take a moment to rest, sort through your new belongings before we continue.”
I tossed the knife on the bed, then leaned over and hauled the blanket up and threw that open too. I shook my head as I tried to start untangling the mess inside.
“What in the hell was all that?”
“Your first task. Survive the sack of Prithia. The kingdom is in the midst of a rather nasty civil war, and I’m afraid the sack of Prithia was just the first in a long list of atrocities from each side.”
“Kingdom, I saw the swords and stuff too. Are you saying I’m stuck playing this game in the middle ages?” I’d finally identified most of the clothes in the bundle, combining that with stuff I’d seen on the other side of the portal I frowned. “And I started out in a fucking whorehouse?”
“Not the middle ages of Earth’s history, but an idealized rough analogue the director of Tetranoch 437 thought would provide an entertaining story line. Yes, the starting point for this game was in a house of ill repute.”
“How bout a head’s up next time, R2D2?”
“My designation is D563.”
His voice sounded kind of pissy and I shrugged, it wouldn’t serve any useful purpose to piss him off at this point, but I saved the information in case I needed it later. There was a babydoll style slip that fit me and I put it on. The only bra that had cups anywhere near a reasonable size was attached to a corset I couldn’t have fit in when I was in elementary school so I tossed those in a pile on the floor then tried for panties. It was a choice of see through lace or butt floss and I went with the lace as the lesser of two evils. While I was dressing, the disembodied voice continued to talk.
“I am unable to offer information prior to you discovering it yourself, but I can remind you of things that you have forgotten. Are you satisfied with the clothing that you obtained?”
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I shifted the rest of the stuff up into a ball at the top of the bed to use as a pillow and flopped down on the bed to test it out. After wriggling around for a while trying to get comfortable I answered the AI.
“Definitely not satisfied. I want real clothes, and a drink of water would be nice. Along those lines, where do I go to the bathroom and what are my chances of getting a shower?”
“Bot only did you survive without serious physical injury, a statistical anomaly, you are asking the right questions 37.4 % earlier than predictions indicated. You may be more successful at the Game than your background indicated.”
“Yeah, D123, I’m full of surprises. You didn’t answer my question though” It didn’t gain me anything to antagonize him, but his patronizing tone was pissing me off.
“My designation is D563.”
“Yeah, I’m not good at numbers. How bout I just call you ‘the D’ for short?”
There was a short pause before it replied. “That is minimally acceptable.”
Apparently the program didn’t recognize innuendo so I grinned and repeated the question. “Okay, the D. I want clothes, a drink, a bathroom, and a shower; not necessarily in that order. How do I get them?”
“You have accrued 1000 points by successful completion of your first task. You can now afford your choice of a single article of clothing, three bottles of water, or place a down payment on indoor plumbing. Your next task must begin within at least 8 hours.”
“What’s the total cost of indoor plumbing?”
“25,000 points.”
Holy shit, at this rate they expected me to go a month without a bathroom or a shower. I decided I must be missing something, or maybe I had really died and this was hell. Just to check I tried a follow up question. “How many points can I get in the next task, and what is it?”
“Up to 50,000 points are available depending on performance, additional information is not available to you at this time.”
I sighed and sat up to think about my options. Doing the task now seemed like my best bet. A bathroom and water would be nice, but neither was urgent. I was tempted to get some clothes before I left, but I hated to spend the points since I was technically dressed now and who knew how hard it would be to get more points later. I thought about cutting a hole in the blanket and wearing it like a poncho just so I didn’t feel like I was on display. On the other hand, the first mission had been pretty violent. Maybe going into it dressed in lingerie could serve as enough of a distraction or make my opponents dismiss me and it would make it worth my while. On the other hand maybe it was some kind of wilderness survival task and I would freeze to death without the blanket. I didn’t have enough information to make a decision and I groaned in frustration. This whole thing sucked at a level I didn’t even want to consider.
I stood up and pulled the leather belt on. I tied it around my belly, up high above my hips instead of around my waist so it wouldn’t be visible even under the short nightgown. I practiced drawing the knife and it took longer than I like, so I decided to start off with the blade in my hand. I could always take a second or two to conceal it later if the situation warranted it. I did a couple of leg bends and a few quick stretches first, then shook it out, trying to stay lose.
“Allright, the D. I’m ready to rock and roll, bring on the next task.”
“Your task is to survive until nightfall. Good luck, Julia.” That sounded ominous, but the light grew on the wall and I charged forward before the AI could even tell me to. I didn’t want to mess with the pain brought by hesitation this time.