With the first player in, Moleth thought, shouldn’t we watch him progress before adding in another?

Zurith sighed. The code for the game states that as they clear a dungeon or exit after clearing a dungeon level, another player is added.

The first player entered the dungeon in the first five minutes, Moleth countered. We should give the player more time to acclimate.

That happens about five percent of the time with new species, Moleth said. Commander Rilsil’s own species did that.

What? Rilsil said, shocked, as he was brought into the mental conversation that was slowly giving him a headache. These two couldn’t agree on anything. He had a vested interest in making sure that these humans completed the tutorial, but these two could jeopardize everything with their bickering. Rilsil was already preoccupied keeping the ship in place and out of sight from a species that seemed to be looking into the night sky a lot more than they had any reason to do.

In social species, Moleth explained, the trend is to head to the cave within the first day. Aggressive species tend to head towards the cave only after exploiting the land zone for levels first.

Rilsil sat on the bridge, his paws on his nose. After their initial meeting, he had agreed to remain in telepathic contact so that important decisions could be communicated to him. He was rapidly regretting that decision.

What about passive species? Zurith asked.

They don’t get admitted to the system, he explained with a dismissive thought-wave.

That was an interesting statement, Rilsil internally reflected. Now, why would that be?

They don’t get admitted because majority of the passive species are generally considered food species. Even if they did magically develop technology to become a dominant species, they would never progress in the tutorial. There have been trials on passive species—they just sat there and ate the grass.

Rilsil blinked as he processed that piece of information. It made sense. He understood ninety-nine percent of Dhana were filled with aggressive and cooperative species.

He opened up his terminal and silently typed in a query, ‘passive species in Dhana’.

The results came back as a long list as livestock. He tapped on the first one and saw it was a cattle animal, from Rytaxa V. The Aarina were a six-legged species that ate grass and bred. They were prolific if not culled every twenty years or so. At least they tasted good.

So, we need another player? Zurith repeated. He pulsed his gelatinous mass, disbelief flooding across his telepathic link.

Yes, Moleth said, waving his tentacles as he typed out more code on several terminals. I suggest that the opposite sex is the only additional requirement we add.

You want them to breed? Rilsil interjected.

I very much doubt that they will do that so soon, Moleth explained. Social species tend to only breed after some time, or when their basic needs are met.

What are their basic needs? Zurith though.

Food, shelter, and water, Moleth listed. Sex is the next on the list.

Commander, do you agree to the addition of a second player to the tutorial? Zurith asked. I was hoping to start gathering data on Adam to begin crafting his unique missions.

If that is what is normal, Rilsil said, there is no need to hamper them. You may have to work harder on Adam’s unique quest line.

The telepathic communication went quiet as the two Dhana programmers went about their tasks.

***

Adam looked around the cavern and contemplated his position. He could either go back and check the magic path, or he could leave.

With his hit points and mana refreshed from levelling, Adam retraced his steps, grabbed his discarded torch walked back to the cavern with the campfire to relight once more. The embers of the fire still glowed in the low light, and after a second inspection Adam found that this cavern had three exits to it. The one he had come through and the exit where sun still streamed from outside. Which left the third and final one unexplored and in need of investigation. Decision made, he followed it and realized it looped back to the first fork in the tunnel presented to him with the choice to choose a strength or magic route. He took the magic path and found it empty of anything other than a magic barrier. He soon returned to the ogre chamber, gathered his loot, and marched towards the light.

The path was straight and ended with a slight rise leading to a small opening that was covered by a shimmering wall. Curious, Adam approached the wall. When he touched it, a tingling sensation ran down his finger and into his hand. There was a flash of light, and he was standing outside the cave where he’d entered. The sun broke through the canopy, casting broken light onto the forest floor before him.

A tall metal pedestal stood a meter away from him. A beam of light struck it, the light diffracting and lending the pedestal a divine quality. Adam approached the pedestal and touched it. The panel lit up and blinked a message to him.

{Please select the terrain that you want.}

Below the message was a picture of a forest with two blinking arrows pointing to the left and the right. Adam pressed the button to the left and the picture changed to a jungle. The world around him blurred, a jungle appearing in front of him, complete with vines hanging from towering trees and dense ground foliage. Adam’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked about. He pressed the right button. The trees were replaced with mangroves and an estuary of brackish water. Adam looked at the name of the terrain, which said ‘Mangrove Swamp’.

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What terrain did he need? He needed a place to rest up, and caves were not an option, as the one he had found had been occupied. What was the next best? He would need space to build a shelter and resources such as wood. He would also need space to grow food. He continued to skip through the terrains available: river lands, plains, grasslands, rolling hills, mountains, and desert. He dismissed all of them and came back to the forest, which he decided would be the best choice as it provided him with materials that he could use with the least amount of effort.

He pressed the picture with his finger and another message flashed on the reading desk.

{You have selected forest terrain. Do you wish to set this terrain in place?}

{Yes/No}

He pressed the ‘yes’ button and a wave of blue magic pulsed out from the pedestal. Then the pedestal faded.

You have selected the forest terrain.

You have opened up 6 km2 of area: 1 km2, +1 per level.

Adam waved the message away and looked around the forest. All around him, thick trees blocked out most of the sunlight. What light did make it through the canopy was broken up and cast long shadows on the forest floor. The trees were not all uniform some were brown, with thick gnarled bark, others were white with smooth bark, the shards and types of tress varied greatly.

Adam turned around, slowly taking in his surroundings. He saw a cliff face with two glowing runic circles. The larger circle was blue, while the smaller circle was red. The large blue runic circle started to glow and changed to green. Then, there was a humming sound that increased in intensity and finally climaxed into a burst of white light. Adam’s vision went white—and then blue.

He blinked his eyes from the afterglow. He heard a moan that turned into a coughing fit. The large blue runic circle was now red, and a woman lay on her side in front of the cliff face at Adam’s feet. Her dark brown skin glistened in the diffused light from the canopy. He bent down to see if she was breathing, and then she coughed. She spat, coughed again, and lurched backwards, jumping up.

“What the hell is this?” she said, her eyes unfocused as she waved her hands in front of her face.

“I think you mean the message boxes,” Adam said.

“Yeah,” she said. “If you want it to go away, just form a thought and it disappears. Waving your hands around doesn’t work.”

“Really?” she said. “Oh, wait, there it is. It’s gone.”

For sharing information with a person, you just met, you have gained the perk Social +1 Charisma

Adam willed the message away; he would have to check on that later another perk was always welcome especially one that boosted his stats.

“My name is Adam,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you.” He extended his hand towards her.

“It’s nice to meet you. I am Lucy.” She took his hand absently, and he pulled her to her feet.

“I don’t know much as I was here alone until you came along, but it seems we are in this together,” Adam said.

“I’m hungry. Do you have any food?” Lucy asked. Suddenly, Lucy’s eyes widened, and she flinched back. “A quest?” she shrieked. “What’s going on?”

“Yeah,” Adam smiled. “I had the same thing happen to me when I arrived.

“What is a quest?” she asked.

“From what I can gather, it’s a mission that you can give yourself,” Adam explained. “What quest did you get?”

“To find shelter and food,” Lucy said. She cast a look around. “Maybe we can build a house and find some food in the forest nearby.”

She stepped over and opened a box that Adam hadn’t seen before. She pulled out two wood axes and passed one over to Adam.

“First thing we should do is clear some trees to make space and prepare some logs for building,” Lucy said.

Quest

Build a log cabin.

Quest giver: Lucy.

Reward: Food and shelter.

500 XP

Accept Y/N

“Wow,” exclaimed Adam, “how did you do that?”

“Cool,” said Lucy, “another one.” She turned to Adam. “What?”

“You just gave me a quest,” Adam said.

“Really? That is pretty cool,” Lucy said, spreading her arms, a grin on her face. “That means we can give each other quests.”

“Right, let’s get to chopping.” Adam shouldered the axe and then headed over to a nearby tree. As he took a swing, the quest box glowed green then faded.

Adam looked at Lucy as his axe bit into the wood. She was wiry, and she seemed strong and enthusiastic. What bothered him was the way she just accepted what was going on. Adam felt more confused than ever before. He just turned up and raced through a dungeon and all he had to show for it was some classes and some very basic loot. And her; was she part of the reward for completing the dungeon? Or was her arrival linked to the clearing of the dungeon?

He had arrived in a completely foreign place, and it seemed he was expected to just go with it. He needed to know more so that he could work out what was going on. Pain seared through his head as he contemplated what had happened before now. He doubled over.

“You alright, Adam?” Lucy said, coming over to him and placing a soft hand on his back. The feeling sent a shiver through his body.

What was going on? “I’m fine thanks,” Adam said dismissively. Weakness could get him killed. Lucy might be an ally or an enemy, only time would tell, he would bet on ally it was always better to presume that a person was friendly rather than an enemy.

***

Clair stepped up to the automatic sliding doors that whooshed open, swamping her in a blast of cold air-conditioning. The hot Darwin sun beat down on her back and disappeared from her as she stepped into the police station. She strode across the spartan entranceway and stepped up to the glass-paneled counter. A uniformed police officer looked up at her and smiled.

“How can I help you?” he said.

“I want to report my son as missing,” Clair said her foot tapping and her fingers bouncing on the bench.

“How long has your son been missing?” the officer said, concern on his face.

“Last I saw him he was heading off to work yesterday,” Clair said, panic rising in her voice. “He didn’t come home last night.” She clenched her hands to fist and flexed them out.

“Could he have gone out with some friends and not told you?” the officer asked, reaching for a form below the desk, behind the counter.

“Yes, it’s possible,” admitted Clair, “but that doesn’t explain this.” She reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. The screen came to life and showed Adam chopping down a tree. She handed the phone to the police officer. The tapping of her foot increased.

The constable looked at the phone and furrowed his brow. “This is your son?” he asked.

Clair nodded.

“It seems that he went out to cut down a tree,” he said, placing a form on the desk off to one side.

“He would have told me,” Clair said.

“He probably forgot to mention it to you,” he said.

“His boss called me today to ask me why Adam wasn’t at work,” Clair said, exasperated. “If this was a planned venture, he would have told his boss.”

“Hmm,” the constable conceded. “It could have been a last-minute thing.”

“I want to report my son as missing!” Clair shouted, exasperated.

“He is not lost ma’am,” the constable said. “You know where he is. He is cutting down a tree with a naked lady.” The constable raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Clair said, taking back her phone. She watched as the tree Adam had been hacking at fell to the ground, and Lucy stepped into the camera shot to remove the branches with him.

“I suggest that you contact the website and ask them where your son is,” the constable said, returning the form back under the desk.

“I tried that,” sighed Clair. “The website is just a string of numbers and only has this screen playing.”

“How did you find it?” the constable asked, taking a form out from under the desk again.

“It was emailed to me,” Clair said. “There was no return address. An email appeared in my inbox with just the link to that website, and a message saying that Adam was here.”

“I tell you what,” the constable said, “I will make a report and if we get any more information, we’ll let you know.”

The constable rolled his eyes. Paperwork was just what he needed right now, especially on this crazy woman’s claim that her son was missing when it was obvious—he was out bush, cutting down a tree. At least the naked lady was fine to look at.