Ris felt the world fall away from her. The sensation of falling down while the world stayed put seemed to be a reoccurring thing. However, this time it only lasted a second and she became aware of blinking back tears from the sharp bright light above.
“Turn down the lights! This happened to me, too, when I first synced up. Take it easy, Ris, you had a bit of a fright there. Turns out when you first went under you went really under.” A voice that sounded slightly off said from a shadow in the corner of her vision.
Ris felt that the back of her throat was dry. “I always try to do my best,” she said with a rasp and a smile. “Now, why can’t I see? I know I’m not dead, yet.”
“Your body is still getting used to the changes. Everything should settle down in a few moments,” said the same voice, that she now knew was Gerald’s without the reptilian tilt.
Ris reached out and lifted herself up to a sitting position. A few hands were out to help her, with be-scrubbed people saying, “Easy there, Ms. Haden. I’d say that everything went about as well as it could except for the beginning. There were some weird power fluctuations but thankfully they resolved before we were forced to pull you out.”
She brought up a noodle-y feeling hand and rubbed at her eyes, the spots finally leaving her vision and the world came into view. They had removed most of the equipment from her body, and that worrisome ‘crash’ cart was thankfully removed from the room. Gerald was standing next to her, his face devoid of a reptilian snout. Alphonse was no where to be seen.
“Ugh, is it this bad every time?” She felt some bile in the back of her throat.
“No, just the first one or so. Your brain is doing a lot of work and still figuring out what just happened,” said one of the nurses, “we have a few thousand generations of evolution to work around to get the connections right.”Again, the idea of playing with her brain made her a little uneasy.
“Or So? There’s no guarantee that these will stop?”
“We’ve only had one patient not adjust normally and we removed the equipment with no complications.”
Ris slid her legs over the edge of the couch, “Well, how long has it been? I really have to pee.”
Gerald looked down at his watch, “We’ve been at it for about 6 or so hours. Again, once you’ve adjusted you’ll be able to come out partially and handle stuff in the real world. I stopped giving it my full attention once we had to slog down the side of that hill.”
“You and Alphonse both,” Ris grumbled. “Why’d you leave me to have to live out the whole experience. That’s some cruel and unusual punishment!”
Gerald shrugged at that, “think of it as hazing and as a welcome to the group. You should’ve seen what Al did to me when I first started playing. He thought it would be funny to go run around in the swamp. Tell me, do you think you could handle some swamp trolls?”
“Uh, no?”
“Exactly, neither did I then. But no, he wanted me to defend the swamp, which I just appeared in by the way, and cleanse the troll problem before we had a steeper toll to pay.”
Ris rolled her eyes at the pun. “Sounds like such a gripping tale. By the way, how’s my girl doing since I’ve left? Has she done anything?” Ris tried to hide the excitement in her voice.
Gerald’s eyes became slightly unfocused for a second, “the game says she’s still in Sho’Dul. It’s been like 5 minutes, Ris, both real and game. She’s not going to be doing much. Besides, you should be able to feel her since you’re still plugged in. Think about the game.”
As she thought about the game she started to get a headache, but she could feel the world shift around her slightly. There was a slight ghost of an image which looked like the room at the inn. She had the perspective of someone sitting down with a book open, but she couldn’t read what was on the pages.
“Why can’t I get everything? I can’t read the words on the book in front of me.”
“You’d have to go more into the game for that. You’ll know what’s on the pages the next time you fully hop over, and soon you’ll be able to go in and out with no problem when you’re in a room that has the wireless hooked up to it. Come on, let’s go grab Al. He’s in the other room.”
Ris dropped off the couch and holding onto it and Gerald’s arm, took a few uncertain steps before finding her feet. With a thank you to the medical people who kept her together, they walked out the room into the brightly lit sterile hallway of the clinic. Gerald led her a few doors down to an office door that read, “Director”.
He opened the door and they saw Alphonse leaning back in a high backed chair behind a dark wooded desk, his gaze glued to the ceiling. “Hey, Al. We’ve returned to the land of the living.”
Alphonse blinked and his gaze dropped while a smile grew. “I gotta hand it to you, Ris, that shield sled was a fun idea.” He clapped his hands together, “My guy has some very positive things to say about you. Let me buy you all dinner and a drink for a hard days work.”
“Hard work? I was the only one actually walking through the desert!” Ris said with a playful tone.
“Well, we will have to relive those dear and touching moments soon, so don’t worry. We’ll eventually suffer with you, Ris.” Gerald clapped her on the back. “Now, what should we have? I’m feeling absolutely ravenous.”
————
After Alphonse checked on a few more things on their way out the building, the trio got into a company owned car and they made their way to a steakhouse that was known for its dry aged meats.
Alphonse shook his head after Gerald picked the place. “What? I just feel like eating a juicy steak alright?”
“And it always coincides with your sync time, doesn’t it? Isn’t that a little odd?”
Gerald made a hrmpf sound.
“Wait, that does happen?” Ris wondered if her character would cause her appetites to change.
“It’s more of a conditioning thing than anything else. If we sit here talking about, say, cake. Eventually, you’ll be in a receptive mindset to the idea of eating cake. Now take a race whose main nutrient source is meat. Be in their shoes long enough and you’ll want to eat some meat.”
“But that still doesn’t explain why it happens every time he syncs? Isn’t that worrying?”
“Well, we didn’t eat in game, so his character was getting hungry. The idea that meat sounds pretty good just happened to sync over from the game side to real Gerald. It’s one of the main reasons why we have the sync time set for at most a week. It’s not good if our Gerald and Ger grow too distant. Without Gerald to guide Ger’s development, problems can pop up.”
“But, then if Ger can influence Gerald, who’s guide whom?” Ris moved a little uncomfortably in the seat. This was still a little too unreal for her.
“Well, that’s kind of the point of the game. I wanted it to let people grow into better versions of themselves without having to make so many real world mistakes. For instance, suppose you don’t have the first clue about asking someone out. You got some money, people tell you that women like money, and you try and flaunt it. If you don’t know any better, then sure, you get a few women interested. But, as is almost always the case, they aren’t the kind who are interested in you. Suppose you had the chance to figure all that out in a setting that was a little less real. It still had the same reactions as before, but now you know without any lasting real world consequences.”
“So you made this entire game, just for a high fantasy dating sim?” Ris could not believe how sad that sounded, coming from Alphonse.
He waved his hands, “no, no, no. You’re missing the point. Gerald, can you explain it?”
Ris raised a hand, “It was a poor example, but I get it. With how real that game felt when I was in it, I’m sure I could feel like everything I did mattered on the same scale as in real life. But what if, since this is a digital world, I chose to go out and just start killing people? I mean, I’m going to have to do it eventually in the game. What if I end up enjoying killing people? Even kids? It sounds like it could be a potential breeding ground for some really messed up people.”
“Well sure, you could go around doing that, but just like in real life, someone would stop you.”
“I’d just respawn at my statue thingy.”
“Not in that instance. You’d wake up in a jail, and lose all that lost potential. And no, you couldn’t kill people in the jail. You’d be stuck in the cell until your time was up or you were judged to be punished further.”
“Further?”
“Kicked out of the game, access revoked, stuff like that. Again, its ultimately a game, not real life.”
“But you want it to an analogy to life.”
“I never said it was perfect, I just want to help people help themselves. A lot of people don’t do things not because they aren’t interested in doing them, but because they feel like they can’t.”
“Like shield surfing?” Ris said with a smile.
A twinkle came to Al’s eye. “Exactly.”
————
“I’m telling you, that was the best steak I’ve ever had.” Gerald said, tapping his stomach with one hand while raising the small tumbler of bourbon in the other.
“You say that every time we come here.” Al sipped from his wine glass. “You’ll say it again when we come again next time.” He looked over at Ris, “we come here once a month. Like I said before, our boy here enjoys a good piece of meat after he syncs. While I,” he swished the glass, “enjoy a fine glass of wine.”
Ris sipped from her own glass, mezcal mixed with a cornucopia of flavors that made the seemingly harsh rough liquid move gracefully across her tongue.
“Well, I’ve known Gerald long enough to know that he appreciates fine cooking. Who knows, if I choose to stick around, I might have you two over for a meal that I’ll make.”
Eagerness filled Gerald’s eyes, and Alphonse nodded at the prospect. “While we’re digesting, I would like to bring one thing up from our earlier adventure. Ris, have you ever gotten into a fight before?”
Ris looked down into her glass, “No, I can’t say I have. I tend to try to diffuse situations before they escalate.”
“So in Magora’s shop earlier, when she was trying to steal you away for whatever things she had in mind. Would you have fought her if I hadn’t been there?”
Anger flushed her cheeks along with the liquor, “Of course. What kind of question is that?”
He held his hand open in a placating gesture, “All I’m trying to say is that things work a little differently over there. I got taken for a rube in my first few interactions with merchants and I ended up in an alley with a knife in my back, and my pants stolen before I respawned. Hern’s price was to ridicule me for an hour on being so naive.”
Gerald raised his glass, “Without Al to show me the ropes, I was almost made into a matching set of armor for some human traders. All he’s trying to say is that you’ll be put into far more sinister circumstances than in the real world, and that it’s okay if things turn into a fight. In fact, if you can’t stop with them words by telling them exactly what you want, then using steel is fair game. Just because you can respawn doesn’t mean you have to submit to them.”
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Ris took a deep breath, “Well to tell you the truth, I did feel a little uncomfortable in there. I was really happy to get out.”
“Unfortunately, it seems that Magora isn’t quite done with you yet. I’ve gotten word that she sent feelers out to learn where you’ve been staying. She’ll probably make a move eventually, but we have plenty of time to get you ready. After all, this is what the game is about.” Al said, putting his empty glass down.
She huffed, “What, giving people PTSD?”
“No, to show them what they are truly capable of.”
————
A few goodbyes and she was on her way home in an auto cab . The meal was rich, and the day had really taken it out of her. Still, Ris was excited for the days to come. She wondered what her race really was, and why all those strange things had happened to her. Who exactly were, what were their names, Boreas and Freeza? No that didn’t sound right… “Frenda,” she said out loud.
The car shifted, coincidentally, at that moment. Again the cab was being far more aggressive than she could remember, but again it wasn’t anything for her to think about.
She had hoped that the business with Magora wouldn’t go any further, but it looked like it was going to proceed whether she wanted it to or not. Better get a handle on the game before that happens, though.
Pulling off of the expressway, the auto cab came to a stop to merge into the sparse traffic. Ris watched the headlights go by, like passing ships in the night. Midway through the merge, the auto cab sped up, causing her to grip onto her seat. The cab pulled into a tighter turn but hit a slick spot on the ground, and one of the wheels lost traction, causing the cab to spin out. What the- was the last thought in her head as a car collided with hers.
——
Risseln Keal breathed deep as she felt a hollowness in her chest and in her mind. She felt half complete at that moment, like an artwork left unfinished.
Well, that was weird. She saw that the log off button was greyed out, and she understood that she, the real her, whatever that meant, had left the game.
Can you hear me, Ris? Came Ger’s voice inside her head.
Great - what now. What is it?
If you want to talk to me, you have to focus on me when you think. It’s weird at first but you’ll get used to splitting up your mind like that.
She tried to keep an image of Ger in her mind as she thought, Hey, what is it?
Good! You got it pretty quick, it took me a couple tries. Anyway, I’ll be over in Sho’Dul to drop some pieces off at the smith. I can introduce you when I swing by if you’d like.
That’d be great, the only person that Al introduced me to here was Magora, and she wants my skin as a coat. I don’t even know the innkeeper’s name.
She heard or really thought the laughter in her head coming from Ger. Yeah, he gets a little focused when he has things he wants to accomplish. The innkeeper is Henri, and he’s a great guy. He’s also a fence if you need to sell things that were collected in a morally questionable manner.
She was living in the house of a thief? How was that going to play out for her?
Oh yeah, you’ll have to get in his good graces first. How about you start off by giving him your name?
I still have a few things I want to situate up here before I brave into the world alone, but I’ll talk to him. Thanks, Ger.
Stay on your toes!
And with that, her head felt slightly more empty than before. At least I can think in peace now.
She sat back down onto the couch that Al had lounged upon; it really was comfy. The material felt soft and reassuring against her skin as she brought herself up on it and cracked open the book A Historie of the Sin’rakh. It started off like any other textbook she’d used back at University. The introduction was written by the historian who wrote the book, one Riles Humber, a human mage of some ‘supposed’ renown who went digging in the great sand box that is Dul.
He complained mostly about the desert mice and how they threatened his established rule in the camp and Ris was starting to think that this book was going to devolve into the ravings of a mad man, when the introduction blissfully came to an end.
But, it turns out, that the man had no ego when writing the actual history. It was straight to the point, with little embellishments. It even had citations to other works and places, if one could easily travel to ‘that spot in the desert 5 days by foot following the footman constellation at night’. Regardless, Ris read a little about what being Sin’rakh really meant.
The Sin’rakh were originally humans that were blessed at some time, the exact date depends on which of the stories is true, first by the god Boreas, the god of winds and air. They were there then blessed for noble deeds and by averting embarrassing crises by the gods Hern, of resurrection and life, and Meythin, of plants and water. This is where their peculiar eyes come from. The gold from Hern, the silver from Boreas, and the blue from Meythin. The reason behind this coloring it seems, was that the gods wished those to know that these people were blessed and to look upon them was to look upon the favored of the gods.
Ris reached up to her face, again recalling those eyes that stared back at her during this beings creation. She looked out the window and saw that the sun had completely set. She breathed a sigh and closed the book gently, as if it was a family album. She didn’t know if the bank would be closed, but she supposed that Henri would be able to direct her.
She got up, stretched, and left the room; locking the door, her coin laden bag in tow.
———
The inn had become a lively place since she had first ascended the stairs. Where before a few people sat at the many benches and tables, now the room was full of people drinking and laughing. In the corner a man with a lute played a tune. As she reached the bottom of the landing, she was so enraptured by the scene that she bumped into a waitress.
“Watch where yer going,” the waitress spat at her as she tried to keep the tray of tankards level.
Ris made her way to the bar, making a valiant, yet futile attempt to not bump into anyone on the way there. The people here don’t have any idea of personal space, she thought. She arrived at an empty seat situated between two figures. The one on the left was similar to Ger, his skin all scales, but he lacked the muscles of her friend. The one on the right looked to be part lion and sat tearing into a piece of meat that she was holding with the utensils, helpfully given, had been forgotten on the bar.
Now, Ris sat bewildered between these two seemingly unnatural beings. She had seen many movies, played many games, and experienced the people that modified themselves in all the different ways. It didn’t seem quite real when Ger was in front of her, but now it hit her hard. She was in a game, and this was her, Risseln’s, home now. This strange and wonderful place was hers.
The man whom Al had talked to earlier walked over to her, “What’y’ll have, Miss?”
“Uh, Ale? I guess?” The man raised an eyebrow.
“ You guess? Al said you were going to be a strange one for a while. What’s your name?”
“Ris.”
He extended a hand out to her, “The name’s Henri. If ya need anything just let me know. I’ll get you something good from the kitchen and a strong drink to get you going.”
She shook it. “Actually, I would like to know if the bank was open still. I think I know the way, but I would like to visit it sooner rather than later.” Her bar compatriots both perked up hearing the word bank mentioned.
Henri eyed them for a second. “Al did say that he left you some things at the bank. Said you were penniless until then. Yes, the bank is always open. Going in the streets, at night though, is not a good idea yet.” He looked back and forth at the apex predators, “Even if you don’t have a coin to your name yet. I would, personally, feel bad if something were to happen to you.” Both forms deflated a bit.
She didn’t like the idea of holding onto all those coins until the next day. They felt metaphorically heavy in her pocket dimension pouch. “I still think it’s best to go, if only for a short visit to ready my accounts. I wouldn’t want to keep my employer waiting on me due to some minor banking problem. I’ll be back in no time.” She got up to leave, “Thanks, Henri, it was a pleasure meeting you.”
“Likewise, Ris.” He turned toward the two occupied stools, “how about I pour you two a drink, on the house of course….”
———
She made her way through the streets, sticking to the main thoroughfares, even if it wasn’t the fastest route. Eventually she made it onto the last street, and there she could see the brightly lit building of the bank. It had magical crystals lining the outside of the building that kept all facets of the building illuminated. Whether this was done to keep the building secure or to annoy the neighbors, she didn’t know.
As she walked down the street, she came across two boys dragging a third into a side alley. The third was yelling for help, but the folk in the street, sparse as they were, were not doing anything. She steeled herself and went to go help the boy. As she turned into the shadow filled alley, she felt a gust of wind push her away from the entrance and back onto the street. She set her jaw and proceeded onward, toward the boy’s shouts.
As she turned around one more corner, she felt another gust of wind push her again, this time slightly to her left. This time, she saw a gleaming piece of metal go past her on the right, followed by the hand of a man who overextended his reach and tumbled past her. She gasped and fell against the wall. Her hands shaking, she reached into her bag and started to pull out her spear. Tears streamed down her face as she fumbled to get the spear out of the bag. Come on, come on. The bright metal giving her some confidence as she held it.
“Give me all your gold,” he said with a face half covered in darkness, “Oh, a pretty one. It’s my lucky night.”
Her confidence building, she used the spear to lift her up. She held the spear in an awkward stance.
“The only thing that thing is good for, is roasting meat over a fire.” She could feel the man’s eyes on her, “I’ll show you what a proper spear can do.” He moved to get around the spear, but she jumped back toward the entrance of the alley, putting more distance between them. He snarled and jumped toward her, knife held high to strike down on her. She felt a gust of wind push her down, and in doing caused her to brace the spear against the cracked earth. She felt the pressure of the man as he impacted the spear and the release as he slid down the spear when it made its way completely through his body. He let out a grunt and the knife dropped from his hand. He fell to his knees, almost in a praying position, as he let out one more breath.
Her hands trembling, she dropped her grip on the spear. She gathered up her knees and began to sob. Three heads popped up from a crate, looking down at her. She saw them, and without thinking, grabbed her spear and ran all in one motion.
Long after she had left, one of the heads became a body and walked slowly to the cooling corpse kneeling in the alley. The hand of a small boy reached out and took the sleeve of the dead man and shook it.
“Papa, let’s go home. I’m hungry.”
———
Ris ran through the streets, not caring where she went. She refused to let the spear go, as she could feel the confidence given off by the item. She needed that right now. Eventually she came to a dead end, where a man was sitting outside smoking a pipe in a chair. A larger plume of smoke was coming out of the house behind him.
“Ho, lass! You look like you’ve seen hell. Are you alright?” He got up and started to approach her.
The wind seemed to swirl around her, and she could feel it calming her as she thought to run again.
“It’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt ya. It looks like you could use a safe place to sit for awhile, if I know anything. Come inside and sit by the forge, it’s still hot from today’s work. I’ll make you some tea.”
He came over and tried to herd her into the forge without touching her. With some cooing and soothing, he led her, after some resistance, to the forge. He gave her a smithy blanket and set a pot upon the flat top of the forge opening. Within moments he had set the tea, and it was set to steeping.
“Are you new to these streets?I don’t think I’ve seen you before,” He saw the color of her eyes, “or one of your kind for that matter. What were you doing out going down an alleyway in the Scuttery like that? People should’ve warned you about this place, regardless. Now, what happened.” He handed her a cup of the tea.
She took a sip, it had a lemony taste to it. “I was just going to the bank. I just had to get to the bank. That’s all I wanted.” Her voice was small and she hated that.
“But it looks to me that you met some unsavory people along the way. Look you don’t have to tell me about it, but just know that nothing will happen to you now. The name’s Dendrick the dwarf.”
She blinked her eyes at that and giggled. He shot her a look, red coming to his cheeks.
“Sorry, it’s just that you’re tall. I’ve never met a dwarf before and-”
“You thought we’d be smaller? Well, you’re right. I have a bit of giant in my family somewhere.” He puffed up at that, “It also means I can work the metal harder than any normal dwarf.”
She felt perplexed as to how that union happened between dwarf and giant, but it had done wonders to calm her nerves. Her hands were still trembling, yes, but the cup of warm tea helped settle her as well.
“I’ll be here for a while yet, my friend is supposed to deliver some more intricate pieces to me that I couldn’t get done in time. You’re more than welcome to share my fire…” He looked at her, searching for her name.
“Ris, and thank you for everything. Everything happened so fast. I just wanted to help a boy. And instead,” she looked at the spear, “I killed a man.”
“Funny way the world works. You’re new to the area, so I’ll let you in on an unfortunate tip. There’s a common con where a group of boys or men will loudly drag another into a side alley, and then if someone goes to help, the group together jumps the would-be hero. That has poisoned the well of many a folk in this town from helping out someone. Now, people don’t know if it’s a ruse or a legitimate cry of help. It’s far safer in their minds to ignore it all the same. Don’t blame yourself for trying to do the right thing, Ris. You didn’t know any better.” He refilled her cup and looked down at her spear in the fire light.
“That’s a beautiful spear you have there. Where’d you get it from? I’ve never seen one of its kind, like you, before.”
She fidgeted a bit, not wanting to be rude, but not wanting to tell more about herself. “It was given to me. I don’t really remember how I got it.”
“Do you mind if I hold it?”
“Sure, go ahead, but be careful, it’s really sharp.” He reached out and gripped the spear, letting out a gasp. A brightness came to his eyes as he held the weapon. He looked down at it, and felt the confidence move into him.
“Do you know what you have here?” His eyes full of wonder.
“Uh, a spear?” She took a sip to hide her discomfort.
“This is a spear made of bright metal. I’ve only heard about it from legends. It’s the human equivalent of mithril. The folk of the desert were the only ones who could make it. This is a valuable piece, Ris. Keep it safe.”
“It’s done a good job of keeping me safe, Dendrick.” Her hands trembled.
“Well, while I have a thousand questions, I won’t be pestering ya now. I hope you will visit me again when all this nasty business is far behind us so that we can have a proper chat.” He looked into his own cup, “with proper ale.”
—————
While she sat by the safety of the fire, she learned that Dendrick had recently moved from Thein City and that he too was looking for more people to know. After some more small talk, a knock on the door announced a visitor.
“Ah, that’ll be the man,” he giggled at the word, “I’ve been waiting for. Do you mind if I bring him in off the street? I wouldn’t want to make him unwelcome.” Her eyes got wide at that.
“He’s a trusted friend, and I promise nothing will happen to you.” She nodded, again hating how small she felt, she was a warrior, damnit!
“I trust the work has been good here,” Ris heard a familiar voice, with it’s raspy texture.
“Aye, that it has. Good enough that I still be needin’ ya to finish a few things for me. Thanks again for taking on a bit of the work for me.” The two men talked as they walked into the room. “Don’t mind the girl, there, she’s had an awful time tonight. Just here for a bit of peace and quiet while she gathers herself.”
“I’ll be quick then. I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.” The reptilian man looked from around the shoulder of the dwarf and saw Ris sitting there, wrapped in a smithy blanket.
“Ris,” Ger said, “What happened?”