“I forgot my sword is on the other side,” the Amazon said after two steps.
“Wanna go fight those monsters again?”
“Err… maybe I’ll buy a new one.”
“Bee would approve… Shit, those guys were bad,” he massaged his aching leg, where a thrust had barely missed his femoral artery. How the woman’s sword passed through his armor and magical protection was a mystery, but obviously, it was not something natural.
Fortunately, they were in the last room. It was round, ten yards in diameter, and hosted a pod on the far side. Through the glass, they could see only a vague silhouette enveloped in a blanket of white hair.
“What a sad thing,” Barbara said. “To enter this thing as a kid and age inside…”
“Vincent! You came for me! Thank you… Thank you!”
“Where are you?” Barbara asked, looking around and up in the air.
“There’s a speaker on the pod,” Vincent said, observing a round patch coinciding with the voice’s direction. “Hi, Brinda… Err… Can I call you Bella? I like it better because—”
“I love Bella,” the pod said.
“—it’s my sister’s name too… Why did they want to kill you?”
“Haven’t you listened to their evil monologue?” Barbara creased her forehead. “Because she—’
“There’s more to it,” he said. “The war is still going on. Why waste time to kill a… child?” The hesitation was because Brindabella could be an old woman now, after all that time spent in the pod.
“To weaken the System’s defenses,” the pod speaker said.
“Care to explain?”
“I guess you deserve to know…” the voice sighed. “Not many realize what Archetypes truly are. We’re not only the System helpers, we’re more… The ten original personality impressions were insufficient to create a lasting mark. They were absorbed in the Main System and became… dulled… After a while, the System tried to find another source of... inspiration? Maybe it’s not the best word, but it’s the only one I can think of now.
“The System is not so egotistic or disinterested as some say. It has its own hobbies and passions but still wants to help the sentients of the Realms. Thus, it put a spell in our Operating Systems—you’d call that an app—that collects data, emotions, feelings, and judgments, which it uses in real-time in its own programming… As a side effect, he also thinks faster and has better magical defenses… If I and others like me die, the defenses weaken. The System must be under attack as we speak.”
“By whom?”
“By the rogue Archetypes who are still in good physical shape. People like me, Hubris, Kiara… or the Raven… we’re weak… I’m not a good Archetype, Vincent… I was inexperienced, a child… I arrived here at ten… and at twelve, I entered the pod for the first time… I was very sick… no healing could help me…”
The voice became strangled and squeaky, and Vincent patted the pod’s window. “It’s OK… I’m here now… I’ll get you to safety.”
“There is no more safety for me… the battle is almost lost… I can feel it… Please, take me outside, Vincent… I want to see the sun with my own eyes one last time.”
“No can do, kiddo,” Vincent said. “I have a plan… Err… Correction. I might have one… Do you know the System’s location? Bee says it has to have a structure somewhere.”
“The System is on an inhabited moon of the Elven Realm, Stellarelphella. It showed me the location in my mind once when I was very sad to cheer me up. There are beautiful sky views from there. I can show my memories to you if we connect our minds… Touch the glass.”
As instructed, Vincent put his hand on the window. A tiny pale hand raised in the pod, touching the other side of the window. A jolt of light went through his eyes, and suddenly, his perception was in another place. A vast landscape with rolling hills covered in low grass and nothing else… until he turned around. He was inside a small building on a hill, open to the air, with columns surrounding a postament and a crystal the size of a soccer ball on it. Slowly, he felt his connection to the place growing enough to jump there.
“OK… I’ll take you to a safe place first, then… Fuck… I forgot about the jerks… Will they be freed if we leave?”
“No, only this wing’s protections will be disabled. The Vault will remain closed.”
“What if we jump there, throw smoke grenades, then jump back and let Vorrak and my armor kill them?” Barbara asked.
“Please, spare them,” Brindabella said. “They were good once, and I was bad before I changed… I’m so sorry about all the bad things I did in the past…” she started sobbing again.
Going near the door, Vincent pulled out a hundred military rations he carried just in case. Leaving the items on the floor, he made the I’ll be watching you sign to the trapped Archetypes, returned to the pod, took it to the Main Square, and transported himself and Barbara to the Guild’s control room.
You have saved Brindabella and captured—
He dismissed the notification. The feat had granted him more levels and some points in Body, but he didn’t have time for that.
“You moron!” Dragon yelled. “If I’d had a gun, I would have shot you!”
“That’s why we have the policy with no guns in the command center. Hear me out,” Vincent yelled. “The System is a goner; we can do nothing about it. The individual Operating Systems will probably remain valid… I hope. This world will become politically unstable. There will be war. My plan is this: you guys retreat to Pragwyn with all the weapons. Gia, if the Celts return, destroy all bridges, raise obstacles, and make their life hard. Keep the core safe…”
[Gia to Vincent]: I can carry the core myself now and hide my presence.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Good. If the pressure is too much and you must retreat, go to Budapest… Don’t use the rest of the rods except for extreme emergencies… How many—"
“Eight left,” Eagle One said.
“The guys here have only one way to make war, attacking by surprise. I bet they can’t sustain a full campaign. If they come again, bring them hell… I will go to Earth to bring supplies and reinforcements… Bee, Barbara, Lila, Irene, and Sven will accompany me. Sven and AIs, will you survive in a Neutral Mana environment?”
“No worries, man,” Sven said. “We’re from a binary Mana universe; they can work in both situations.”
“Perfect. If someone is afraid and wants out, they can come with me too… I will let them in Prague, and then they’re on their own. Spread the word; I will jump from the Old Main Square in ten minutes, maybe fifteen.”
“I think I should stay,” Irene said.
“I need your competencies on Earth to recruit more people we could trust. Bring Lila and the twins here; I’ll ask Raya if she wants to return to Vienna or come with us… Dragon?”
“Yes?”
“Take this,” Vincent offered one of the spare rings of holding. “It should work like an interdimensional radio… OK, I have to go.”
He focused on Raya, feeling her through his senses. She and Jorge were approaching Sofia, minutes away. Waving to Irene, he Strode to wait for the incoming Bug. Fortunately, Jorge was inspired to land in the Main Square, where he was.
“How many ships have you destroyed?” he blurted once the airship landed.
“About half,” Raya said. “The biggest ones.”
“We did have some problems with the electronics after all,” Jorge said. “We had to stop.”
“This also recharges from the sun, right?” Vincent asked.
“Yeah… Why?”
“You have two options. Stay here, find another gunner, fight alongside the Bogomils, or return to Earth with me in five to ten minutes. We’ll be there for a couple of days to resupply. You have a minute to—”
“I’m staying,” Jorge nodded. “But what if I’m needed in Krivoburg?”
“The Guild will move to Prague for now. Fly there if you must. Raya, I want you to come with me on Earth with the girls and stay out of this war. For their sake.”
“I’ll come,” she blurted. “But if I can leave my girls in a safe place, I’ll return to fight.”
“We’ll discuss it later. Jorge, open the bomb hatch for me. I need the nuke.”
“Man…. Please take care…”
Vincent shrugged, and as soon as the hatch was open, he touched the bomb and Strode to the place he had seen in Brindabella’s memories.
There had been a battle there and an epic one. Thousands of dead bodies lay around the temple-like structure, weapons in hand, so densely packed together that if he had to go out, he would have to step on them. Some, their back turned to the building, had been defenders—now all dead—and some attackers. In the faraway, there was still an ongoing aerial fight between dragons and tiny space-scooters manned by dwarves, both types on both sides. One camp was losing and died to the last. The winners remained in place, and he guessed they were on the rogues' side.
Around the edifice were about twenty people of multiple species, oblivious to his presence. As some looked directly at him, he realized the building was enveloped in a pocket universe that allowed him to see outside but hid the interior. Some attackers held the same type of devices Kaelith and Drakhan had, touching the pocket universe’s border with them. The System defended itself by fluctuating the shield, moving it around, and curving it. Yet, it was losing ground as the attackers spread, trying to breach the forcefield from multiple directions. Behind them, in the distance, were huge spaceships, which answered the question about how the enemies got there.
The forcefield was becoming smaller by the second, now barely encompassing the platform. Messages from Elkandaros arrived, which he ignored. There was a timer on the bomb; he set it to ten seconds, pressed the button, waited until two seconds before the timer expired, pulled the crystal ball into his storage, and jumped back to Krivoburg.
“Shit! I forgot Raya…” Realizing his mistake, he went to Sofia to pick her up. His skills worked, but his vision was blurred, and he felt nauseous.
Warning: You have received a massive burst of XP. The limiters for XP intaking are not functioning. To avoid losing rewards due to cluttering and competing processes, your OS Task Manager will temporarily shut down minor or unused functions and notifications.
“Whatever,” he said, repressing a retch and returning to Krivoburg. In the New Main Square, the people he had selected for the voyage were ready. Next to them waited a mercenary team of about ten people and Nora, with the two Hummers behind.
“We’re moving to Egercheb,” Dragon said. “We’re in radio contact with the Khan of Wrocslau, and he’s on our side. We’ll rendezvous with him there.”
“Is it OK if Nora becomes our ambassador to the Vikings?” Irene asked. “She’d be of great help.”
“Absolutely,” Vincent said, saluting the secretary with a nod. A pleasant and warm sensation enveloped him, and he noticed Lila had taken his hand.
“Stay put for a minute; let me heal you,” she said. “You’re a mess.”
“No one else wants to go to Earth?” Vincent looked around.
“No, but you won’t believe the shopping list we got,” Irene said. “It’s OK if I take Cupcake, right?” she asked, fondling the tiger’s head.
“Sure… Vorrak, you coming?” he asked. The warg materialized his head near his shoulder and nodded. Everybody was accounted for.
His heart was beating hard in his throat, and Vincent looked around at the town. He intended to return and keep fighting but knew the situation could turn bad and force them to stay on Earth.
“R-ready?” he asked. Everybody nodded or raised their hands, and he jumped to Prague in front of his parent’s building. It was night and snowing. Immediately after they arrived, somebody ran away from the group, turning the corner and disappearing on the next street.
“Who’s that?” Vincent asked. His vision was slightly blurred, and he still felt sluggish and drained. The change to a linear stat progression didn’t help much, and the massive influx of XP still disorientated him.
“I think it was Brigid,” Barbara said. “She was next to us, in Dragon’s care. You don’t make a list of people when you jump?”
“Nope… I register the intention of coming with me and add that person instinctively…”
“You want me to go after— Shit! My armor is not working!” Barbara blurted in panic when the artifact didn’t activate.
“We don’t have magic here, remember? Let her go,” Vincent waved his hand. “Chances are she’ll end up in a mental facility or police station. We’ll check later.”
“You brought the pod?” Irene asked, pointing to the object.
“Yeah… Bella’s sick. Maybe there’s a doctor here who could heal her. Oh, God! I forgot!” he gasped.
“What?” Irene panicked. “To bring someone else?”
“No! That the pod is magical! Bella, are you still alive in there?” he yelled, knocking on the glass.
“It should work fine, boss,” Sven said. “The pods are from my universe too.”
“The pod is working normally,” the Archetype confirmed.
“Will you jump with the pod directly to the apartment?” Lila asked. “It won’t fit through the door.”
“It will,” Vincent said. “I can judge this kind of thing. Raya and Barbara will lift the back, Irene and I will take the front… Bee… hurry, keep the door open!”
A neighbor was exiting the building, thus sparing them the effort to activate the door phone. Not only did the pod fit through the door, but also on the elevator, to Irene’s relief. After a few trips, everybody was gathered in front of the suite.
Vincent’s heart was beating like mad when he rang the bell. He felt at home there more than in any other place and hoped Irene and Lila would too and get along with his parents.
The door opened, but in the doorframe was Ludwing, not Vincent’s family. “It’s Vincent and his pals,” the king yelled. “A lot of them.”
“What are you doing here?” Vincent asked.
“Come in,” the king beckoned. “We have to talk.”
They proceeded to the living room with Vincent in front and Raya in the back, carrying the pod with Barbara. The space became overcrowded in no time. Irene and Vincent’s parents were there, along with his sister and her boyfriend. Elina was holding a baby in her arms; judging from the size, it was a newborn.
“Irene?” Elina gasped, rising up.
“Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?” the girl asked, befuddled.
“We live here, darling…” Karl said with a long sigh. “Martin and Jana were kind enough to take us in…”
“We’re bankrupt,” Elina completed. “I’ll tell you all later. Now it’s time to say hello to your brother. Say hi, Milo.” She approached and presented the baby to Irene, moving the little one’s hand in a waving gesture.