With the helmets delivered the girls were getting ready to head back to their place. Butes came into my room while I was unboxing my dive helmet.

“I’m not going to tell you how to play, but isn’t the whole point for us to play together?” She asked.

“We will, just, not right away,” I replied. The fight drained away and resolve settling in.

“You’re sure about this?” Her tone was soft, almost concerned, in a very Butes kind of way.

“They say you can do anything in Frontier Epoch. It’s like a blank slate, but in space! I want to play the game without limits.”

"But choosing that class will limit you!” The fire was coming back.

“Only for the first few levels, then if it's anything like all the other game ever made, I’ll get to choose a specialization at level ten and from there I’ll be playing with all of you. Besides, why is it such a big deal? I mean, it’s just a little while, and it’s not like we’re hard core raiders or anything, yet.”

Butes glanced at the helmet in my hands, her lips pursed in thought.

“Even in Altera, we didn’t play together until the Ulthor raid, right?”

Her pensive glare danced across my face.

“Look, if after the first Deep Dive I’m not at least level five, I’ll re-roll and join you guy, Ok?”

“Ok," she replied flatly

She didn't say anything more to me, her eyebrows knitted together in a frown. A face I was already all too familiar with from my good old grandpa. It stung, but in a very different way. As I looked over at Suki, I could tell she had a worried expression on her face. She stood quietly behind Butes, her arms crossed over her chest. It was clear she was worried. My argument with Alex must have been on Suki's mind as she just looked down and walked after Butes.

I had been aggressive with Alex, but I there was not other choice. It was my chance to play the game my way. A chance to learn everything I could before making a choice that would define the experience for me.

With the girls gone, I attached all the ‘necessities’ and laid down before putting the helmet on. The instructions stated that I would be in the dark for a moment as the sensors connected and initiated a dream state. I'll admit, I was afraid in that moment. I'd never taken any sort of hallucinogenics, even antihistamines made me nervous. But it was a requirement for the new technology and I wasn't about to let a little thing like the fear of letting go stop me.

Words scrolled across the internal monitor in green lettering, “Welcome to the Frontier, Citizen”

“Preparing for Deep Dive in, 3.”

That was it, the moment I’d been waiting for the last two years since Frontier Epoch had been announced.

"2"

Two years with only details about the basic classes and nothing else. Two years of knowing anything could happen in the game. In an enormous universe! People claimed they had developed something beyond procedural generation allowing for nearly infinite worlds and species.

"1"

It was my chance to see the world on my own, without expectations, without a preset role or others telling me that I wasn't what they wanted. I would be useful to others in a whole new way.

"1"

I blinked a few times, when the countdown halted but noticed I couldn't close my eyes.

"1"

I really hated hallucinogens!

"0"

'Did that work?' I wondered as a soft voice greeted me, “Welcome, Carrots.”

'Carrots?'

A tingling sensation danced along my scalp as my vision went dark, like all the blood had rushed out of my skin.

A moment later, I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in the middle of a forest clearing, gasping. Patting my cheeks and hair, I calmed my breathing and let myself settle into the scene. But what I saw around me didn't make sense.

The air was thick with a sense of otherworldliness. The trees were tall and ancient, their gnarled roots reaching out of the earth like the hands of forgotten gods. Their leaves were a deep, rich green, shimmering in the sunlight that filtered through the canopy above. The air was filled with the sounds of birdsong and the rustling of leaves, as if the very trees themselves were whispering secrets to one another.

In the center of the clearing stood a towering tree, its branches reaching up to the heavens like a skyscraper of wood and leaf. The trunk was wide and strong, its bark etched with intricate patterns that seemed to dance and shift as I watched. I couldn't help but feel that this tree was the guardian of the forest, watching over all who entered its domain.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Around the base of the tree, a circle of mushrooms grew, their caps glowing with a soft, ethereal light. They were unlike any mushrooms I had ever seen, with caps that ranged in color from deep purple to bright orange. The glow was mesmerizing, casting a warm, inviting light on everything it touched.

The ground beneath my feet was a soft carpet of moss, cushioning my steps and absorbing the weight of my body. I could feel the earth's energy pulsing through the moss, a steady rhythm that seemed to match the beat of my own heart. I reached down to touch the moss, and as my fingers brushed against the surface, a faint tingling sensation ran up my arm, as if the moss were alive and aware of my presence.

As I looked around the clearing, I couldn't shake the feeling that I had stumbled upon a place where the boundaries of reality were blurred. It was a world that defied explanation, a place where anything was possible. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the scent of the forest, and knew that I had entered a realm unlike any other. It was all wrong!

Frontier Epoch was not meant to feel this way. All the descriptions spoke of a science fiction game focused on space travel, future technology, and alien species. But what I found felt better suited for a fantasy game filled with wizards and magical flutes. Lost in my thoughts, something was pulling me back to the moment as I took another deep breath of the sweet air, with the soft scent of a wood burning. It was nostalgic and completely out of place at the same time. How could I smell thing?

While playing Altera Online, the best we could get was tactile feedback using special suits and gloves. But we could never taste or smell anything.

Pulling some of the moss and dirt into my hands I pulled it up to my nose to take in the smells. As I did so, a weight pulled down on my right arm where a futuristic vambrace was covering most of my forearm. I turned it over, and the screen lit up.

"Hello, Carrots."

Text scrolled across the screen, and a voice emitted from the device.

"My name is Eden, I will provide you with..."

The interface froze, then the vambrace itself vanished from my arm in a burst of shimmering voxels. Tapping my forearm, I stood up and looked around. There was nothing but, well, the forest. I couldn't even see the rest of the forest through the trees, an irony that was definitely not lost on me. I assumed there was a voice recognition interface, since there were no other visual cues.

"Eden?" I prompted.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

The voice was still there, but I couldn't identify where it was coming from. It was like a sound being pumped directly into my mind. I put my hand on my chest and let out a sigh of relief.

"How do I get the wrist band back?"

"This interface has experienced a malfunction, please find the closest User Terminal for assistance."

"Uh, what?"

"This interface has…"

"Wait."

It actually waited. Interesting.

"Ok, I get that your broken, so where is the closest user terminal?"

"This Information is not currently available."

"What? How am I supposed to access the game menus and finish my modifications? And how am I supposed to keep track of my inventory and quests?"

"This information is not currently available"

"This doesn't make any sense!"

"Please restate your query"

“I don't know how to get to a user terminal. Can you help me with that, please?”

"This information is not currently available"

I had to think. There had to be a way to access the functionality when my interface was broken. How did the voice thing still respond to questions? Maybe it could do more than just respond to simple questions. At least that what I figured.

"What functions can you provide?"

"This interface has experienced a malfunction and can only provide basic information."

"Well, that's vague." I rolled my eyes at no one. "Ok, tell me my user information."

“Username, Carrots, role, Citizen, rank one.”

"That's it?"

“Please restate your query”

"How do I get other stats?"

"This Information is not currently available"

It was no use arguing with the broken interface. Not that I didn't try, but after several minutes of going around in circled, I had to try something else.

Taking a deep breath, I stood up and started to examine my surroundings. Before starting my wonderful conversation with the ever useful interface, I recalled the scent of fire, which meant there was other life in the forest. That or I was about to walk into a wildfire, which at that moment was better than trying to talk with the interface.

So, I set out into the forest, sniffing the air.

----------------------------------------

Out on the edge of the Frontier, where civilization was a mere suggestion and the forest reigned supreme, Beatrice leaned on her worn-out fence, eyeing her cattle with a stern look. The air was thick with the scent of pine and damp earth, the late afternoon sun painted everything in shades of gold.

"Ain't no time for y'all to get restless," she muttered under her breath, eyes squinting against the glare. Her hand moved over the wooden slats, tracing patterns etched by time and weather.

Her power generator, an old hunk of metal and wires, coughed and sputtered nearby. She gave it a hard kick with her boot-clad foot. "Don't you dare," she warned it.

But like a stubborn mule, it paid her no mind and died with a pathetic wheeze. The electrical current along the fences went down one by one, their green lights flickering out until only the dark wood remained.

Beatrice let out a curse that would make even the hardiest sailor blush. She tossed her hat on the ground in frustration and wiped her brow with the back of her hand. She'd been through this dance before - too many times to count.

As she stomped over to the tool shed, she could feel the cattle's eyes on her back. "Stay put," she ordered them without turning around.

Inside the shed, amidst a clutter of tools and spare parts, Beatrice grabbed what she needs - wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers - then headed back to battle her mechanical foe.

She dove into work with fierce determination. Sweat trickling down her face as she tinkered with wires and fiddled with parts that seemed to have a mind of their own. The generator hummed and whirred under her skilled hands but refused to roar back to life.

"Come on," she grunted through gritted teeth, knuckles white around the handle of her wrench.

The sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows over the Frontier. Beatrice was still at it, a lone figure under the fading light. She was tired, dirty, and far from done. But there was a spark in her eyes, a relentless drive that wouldn't let her give up.

Her hand slipped, and she hissed in pain as a bolt dug into her palm. Blood dripped onto the metal and earth below. She ignored it and pressed on.

Hours turn into moments as the high noon sun warmed her back. The forest hummed with life, a chorus to her solitary fight.

Finally, with a triumphant laugh, Beatrice stepped back from the generator. It roared back to life with a surge of power that lit up the fences one by one.

She stood there for a moment, chest heaving, palm throbbing. She looked at her cattle - they haven't moved an inch.

She grinned and wiped her bloody hand on her pants. "Told ya to stay put."

Alone but not lonely, battered but undefeated, Beatrice continued her vigil on the edge of the Frontier. It was just another day in paradise. She bathed in imported seltzers said to come from her families ancestral home. Breakfast for lunch was delicious.