Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30. Local Time: 17:35 Hours.
Thacea
A Kingdom of fire and steel.
A Dominion of manaless sorcery.
An Empire that claims the void beyond.
To say that I was curious about the demonstration ahead would be a disservice to the word and the concept it purported to represent.
To describe my current state as anything but excited, would be akin to describing the newrealmer as anything but exceptional.
For what lies in store for a people that should not exist?
What sights should be expected from a civilization that should not have surpassed the age of flame and muddied brick?
Could a sight, any sight for that matter, live up to the exceedingly high bar set by their seemingly antithetical nature? Alluded to by carefully chosen, yet fundamentally incongruent descriptors of an impossible world?
Perhaps not.
Or perhaps, there was still something yet to be said for the element of the unknown.
For if I were to ask myself frankly: ‘just how different can a realm truly be?’
I need only look to the alien and foreign structures that have become fixtures within a space not meant for their existence.
Moreover, I need only look at Emma’s newfound efforts at constructing what appeared to be a ring of steel with glass pillars, connected via the snake-like umbilicals to that loud humming box which gave life to these reality-defying constructs.
If this was her sight seer?
Then it proved one thing about her realm that has been consistent all throughout our interactions.
Their dedication to overcoming that which should have been their functional limitations, by circumventing the natural order itself, to brute force into existence principles that should not be possible without mana.
----------------------------------------
Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30. Local Time: 17:40 Hours.
Thalmin
The unexpected.
That’s what the newrealmer embodied.
For with each passing moment came even more challenges to the worldview I thought was infallible.
Part of me was undeniably excited, jovial, utterly ecstatic at what the newrealmer had hinted, teased, and alluded to over the past five days.
Yet another part of me was terrified of what was in store.
But this wasn’t necessarily a fear of the unknown, nor was it a fear of raw power.
It was more so a fear of the decisions I would have to make, and the relationships I would either have to strengthen or strain, should Thacea’s assumptions over Emma’s realm turn out to be true.
For what was being proposed wasn’t just a realm amongst adjacent realms, but a realm above the rest.
Part of me wished to embrace the disruption of the status quo that would inevitably follow from this.
But the fear that came with it was undeniable. Especially as I stared into the impossibly dark abyss of the curtains the newrealmer was putting up.
With the help of a third arm.
----------------------------------------
Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30. Local Time: 17:45 Hours.
Ilunor
“WHAT IN HIS MAJESTY’S NAME IS THAT?!” I couldn’t help but to shout in utter disgust. As a wave of nauseating unease filled my form.
What had started out as a prolonged exercise in patience as the newrealmer began assembling her mana-less sight-seer, had suddenly evolved into a demonstration of body horror of unimaginable proportions.
I felt an overwhelming urge to express my fear and disgust following the sudden and unprompted eruption of a third limb from the newrelmer’s back, revealing an arm with far too many joints, ending in far too articulate claws; like a malformed dire strider emerging from its host.
But I would not give in to my base fears.
This was all a standard ploy, to weaken my mental constitution, and thus leave me open to suggestion when her tricks came to play.
“Oh, crap, erm. I apologize guys. I should’ve told you about this earlier.” The newrealmer chuckled, reaching her normal arm up towards her back where this abomination of an appendage had originated from. Like a spider or some such abominable creature, it continued moving about on its own, divorced from her torso’s movements, as it began aiding in the construction of what was ostensibly a darkened tent around this circular metal construct. “It’s just my ARMS.” The earthrealmer spoke in this sing-song, lackadaisical, almost sarcastic tone of voice. As if she was amused by the whole affair. “In all seriousness, that’s just short for Augmented Remote Manipulator System, technical-speak for what amounts to just an extra ‘artificed’ arm that’s meant to aid me in these tricky aspects of assembly that would otherwise require two or more helping hands.”
I glared at the newrealmer for the longest while, expressing my discontent through my silence as I hrmphd out in disgust. “If your realm follows a similar trend to your naming conventions, namely, a gross overuse of descriptors with nothing to show for it… then I’d say all of your efforts in assembling this abomination of a sight-seer has been an exercise in futility.”
“Don’t hold your breath Ilunor, you might just end up purple.” The newrealmer shot back with not a hint of frustration but instead amusement.
What exactly she has to be amused about is beyond me.
For if that castle earlier was of any indication, I expect at best a realm of well played actors, playing the facade of a middling realm with one or two clever novel tricks.
So whilst mud and sticks they might not be.
Deific crownlands they surely aren’t.
----------------------------------------
Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30. Local Time: 17:45 Hours.
Emma
The prep time was the most annoying thing about this. And it wasn’t because it was hard or anything. The EVI was doing most of the work with the precise calibrations and calculations needed to make this overcomplicated lightshow work.
The holo-projector was an older model, one that was Aggre-Printer friendly, where every one of its components could be printed off of a MS Class IX printer.
Which meant that its operation was both reliable, but also annoying to someone born in the last two hundred years after the advent of static-holos.
For the ZNK-19 was a blast from that past, requiring a track of rail that took up the circumference of about a third of our bedroom, five light-emitting arrays that would go around and around on the aforementioned track, and a black-out tent to maximize its contrast and thus its visual and auditory effect.
The projection started very differently to that of the rest of the gang’s similarly fantastical methods of holographic projection. As unlike their seemingly organic means of morphing the world around to fit the content of their recordings, the human method very much embraced the artificiality behind the fundamental mechanisms of its operation. For as the gang stepped foot inside of the borders of the holoprojector, several things began happening almost immediately.
First, were the optical trackers, as a hundred little tiny cameras dotted across the ‘arms’ of the projector began assessing each independent viewing angle for each and every one of the audience members present; all in an attempt to account for every possible line of sight, to best anticipate and run the complex numbers necessary to maintain the illusion of being plopped into a 3D space.
Second, were the various light-emitting arrays, as each of the arms began their first, second, third, and fourth consecutive diagnostic runs independent of one another. The lights created something of a disco-like effect before finally, they began ‘meshing’ the different grids they projected into overlapping overlays, forming clean lines, and vector graphics so smooth that the ground itself looked like a white void at certain angles.
Third, came the mechanical operation of each of the array’s ‘mounts’. As each of the ‘arms’ began revving up, their actuators flexed and waved around in practiced motions across all planes and axes on seven different fully-mobile joints, before finally, they stopped.
Fourth, and finally, came the tracked operation. As the ‘arms’ of the projector began spinning within the track laid out for them. Finishing one complete lap within the circle in about a minute, then increasing that rate to about half a minute, then a quarter, a tenth, until finally, the arms were barely anything more than a complete blur as they spun around us at dizzying speeds.
“Newrealmer, if you were planning to trap us in an artifice of death, then I applaud your fortitude in lulling us into a false sense of security prior.”
“Relax, Ilunor. This won’t kill you. Besides, even if you accidentally step out, which I warned you about before, we have safety measures in place.”
I reached out my hand towards the perimeter of the track, but just before it would’ve made contact with the spinning arms of doom, they abruptly stopped in their tracks. Quite literally in fact, as the whole process once more reverted back to step three, with each of the arms once more warming up in-place.
Convinced, or perhaps still having accepted his fate, Ilunor simply replied with a huff, prompting me to restart phase four, as the arms began revving up to full speed once more.
Picking up where we left off, the grid-like projections that had formerly been confined to the floor were now elevated into three dimensional space, forming what looked to be scanlines on and around us, slicing up the empty space between us into grids. These grids began rapidly segmenting into ever-smaller chunks that would’ve given the voxel-gaming community a run for their money.
Eventually, they reached such a fine level of segmentation that distinct shapes began to be projected around us. Starting first with your titular white-gray void of a starter room consisting of nothing but a featureless expanse, before rapidly developing finer and finer details. A horizon line was first established, followed by both the skybox and ground following suit. This was rapidly followed up now by the formerly dark space now being entirely encased in a fully immersive experience, just short of that of a proper VR headset. As what was now projected around the gang were the familiar surroundings of a place that I’d barely visited following my move to Acela.
A place that I should’ve mentally prepared for at first, but that I’d jumped head first into without truly grappling with the repercussion of its likeness being brought face to face with me.
“Valley Hill.” I announced in one part excitement, tempered by one part darkened grief as I stared at these near-perfect replicas of my hometown with weary eyes. “Or more accurately, the Heritage town of Valley Hill.” I continued, as we were thrust into what was in effect the outskirts of the town. The EVI clearly had taken inspiration from the former three’s presentations, as it mimicked how each of their sight-seers had all started off at the outskirts before moving slowly inwards into their respective towns.
All four of us stood on the raised service road flanking the main motorway connecting the town to the rest of the transcontinental motorway network. There, we were immediately greeted to a sight that most of the planet’s population, alongside most of the spacer population for that matter, had all made the effort of seeing at least once in their lives.
Untouched greenery.
Or what was ostensibly the closest thing you could get to it following the Environmental Monitoring and Control Acts of 2595.
Yet despite its serenity and seeming wild nature, elements of its closely monitored and regulated existence was seen even from the roadside, as evidenced by two parallel composalite dividers that ran all the way along the motorway. Beyond that, several more bridges were seen connecting the two halves of the forest together. This seemingly nonsensical infrastructure project soon made its purpose clear the further the scene moved forward, as what at first looked to be a bridge connecting nothing but forest, proved to be exactly just that.
As what lay on top of it wasn’t your standard rail, motor, or lev-way, but a patch of contiguous forest floor.
“Does… does Earthrealm not know that you are not supposed to elevate the ground beneath your feet onto the bridges you build?” Ilunor chided with a dry and amused chuckle.
This prompted me to answer truthfully, and without any hyperbole.
“Yes, as you will soon see. However, this bridge isn’t meant for people nor the transportation of goods.”
“Then what is it for, newrealmer?” The Vunerian practically chortled out.
“Animal life.”
…
“What?”
“Some of our infrastructure projects necessitate solutions to the problems we create. Problems which while not relevant to us in any way, we deemed to be our moral imperative to solve, seeing as it was our actions that created the disruption in the first place. In this case, the motorway you see here effectively slices this forest in half. This necessitates us creating alternative paths to connect the two disparate halves of the forest together.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“You talk as if the animals couldn’t simply walk across your overly large road, newrealmer.”
“Well, they can’t.” I pointed to the two transparent barriers flanking the road. “It’s dangerous for them to cross.”
Ilunor, owing to his next point, made an effort to move onto the open road itself.
“And pray tell why exactly would it be dangerous for an animal to cross-”
“EVI, traffic simulation.”
“Acknowledged.”
NNYYOOOOOOOOOM!
Ilunor, and the entire group for that matter, began performing double takes as they looked up and down the road from our position on the service corridor just a few feet beside it.
“W-what… what was-”
NYYOOOOOOM!
FWOOOSH!
ZOOOOOOOM!
But he couldn’t even gain his bearings as he hopped this way and that, avoiding oncoming traffic like a chicken that’d found its way onto the road, as more and more vehicles began zipping across the motorway.
Almost all of them were passenger vehicles.
Almost all of them were privately leased or owned.
As given the breadth and depth of public cargo logistics infrastructure, as well as mass transit, that left these roads more or less open for a very particular group of people.
Automotive enthusiasts who loved the ‘freedom’ of the open motorways.
And the occasional short-haul motor-hauler.
The latter of which was approaching… now.
HONK! HONK! HOOOOOOOOOOONK!
This latter hologram, owing to Ilunor having decided to hop right onto the road, slammed right into him.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Before passing right through him like a ghost.
“Calm down Ilunor, it’s just a hologram.”
That near death experience left the Vunerian shaking, and the fear in the Vunerian’s eyes was utterly palpable as a result.
“This is why it’s dangerous for animals to cross.” I surmised succinctly, without adding much in the way of any open jabs as Thacea was the first to turn towards me with wide and concerned eyes.
“Those… are those some sort of manaless vehicles, Emma?”
“Vehicles?!” Thalmin interjected with a perplexed huff. “All I saw were streaks of color!”
“I’m assuming Avinor eyesight can actually make out objects traveling at high speeds like that?” I offered, prompting Thacea to nod and thus bringing a close to Thalmin’s line of questioning.
“Indeed we do. And what I saw were not simply streaks of color, but what amounted to these… beast-less wagons… large in the midsection, tapered towards the front and back, with what seemed to be blackened spheres of some sort at their bottom-”
“EVI, pause.”
The whole world came to a screeching halt.
“Pull up an NAMC Victory IX. Tenth gen re-release. Four-door. No sunroof.”
“Color?”
“Red. Wait no, black. Wait. Erm… White. Should be easier on the eyes.”
“Acknowledged.”
All of the cars on the road suddenly disappeared, replaced instead by a timeless classic of a vehicle that had been the pride and joy of automotive enthusiasts and casual drivers alike for the better half of a millennia.
In many ways, it was what one would imagine when they thought of a protypical car. A midsized sedan. Four doors. Reasonable trunk space. And a commitment to combining the best of early automotive design with modern sensibilities. As sleek rounded lines complemented the sharp angular geometry of the windows and lights, an imposing silhouette that looked as sleek as it was tastefully imposing, cementing the mid-millenium aesthetic as a mainstay regardless of how many new fads came and went.
“These roads aren’t for horses and buggies, or wagons and… whatever else requires a beast of burden to pull. In fact, animal-drawn vehicles have been more or less gone from my world for a good thousand years already. For our thirst for progress and our desire for expansion was simply incompatible with the limitations of organically-driven vehicles. They were too slow, too inefficient, too burdensome, and simply couldn’t keep up with our wants and needs. So we innovated. We designed vehicles that could power themselves without the need of beasts of burden. We created engines that ran on a variety of power sources, that breathed life into what would otherwise be hunks of lifeless metal. This allowed us to cross the length of towns, cities, counties, states, and entire continents in a matter of days.”
The three went silent for a few moments, their eyes drawn to the impeccable work of Dr. Park and his magnum opus of design theory and mathematics.
“And these are… personal transports I presume?” Thacea spoke up first, breaking the silence that had descended on the group.
“Correct.” I answered with a nod.
“How can you power these beastless carriages without mana?” Thalmin quickly spoke up next.
“Well… early on we burned the compressed remains of dead plant and animal matter, which sometimes included dragons, to create mechanical energy to push the wheels of our cars to get them going.” This seemed to bother Ilunor to no end but I quickly moved on without even acknowledging it. “After that we used a variety of things, but eventually we landed on storing electrical energy instead of burning things to create mechanical energy.”
The vague explanation seemed to generate an even greater sense of intrigue in their collective gazes, as Thalmin continued pressing the matter forward.
“Beastless carriages… are not unknown to us.” He began. “But most if not all are relegated to the Nexian crownlands.”
Like Lord Lartia’s stretched carriage…
“With that being said, with so many on this road… I cannot imagine Earthrealm possessing this great of a number of nobility to both maintain these public works, and possess ownership of so many vehicles.”
“Oh, erm… we’ll get to that. But suffice it to say. These vehicles aren’t exclusive to the nobility. Nor the rich. In fact, it’s an everyman possession.”
“... You mean to say commoners possess ownership of these manaless horseless carriages?”
“Correct.”
“Nonsense.” Ilunor finally chimed in once more, having regained his composure enough to glare right into my soul. “Now, let us for a moment entertain the ridiculous notion that a commoner has access to such a vehicle… what purpose would they need for it?”
This question caught me completely off guard, not because it was a gotcha moment, but moreso because the answer seemed blatantly obvious.
“To… travel?” I offered with a questioning shrug.
“But why would a typical commoner need to leave the confines of their hometown, village, or city?” Ilunor elaborated.
Prompting me to stare at him with an open expression of genuine confusion no doubt blocked by my helmet. “Because they want to? For business? For study? For work? To visit friends and family? I mean, I get it if you’re a proponent of mass public transportation, we do have that, and indeed most people use that. That’s why the roads are so uncongested by the way, otherwise we’d be seeing endless traffic jams from coast to coast.”
Ilunor didn’t immediately respond to that.
As we both stared at each other with the exact same look of genuine confusion.
“Most commoners cannot do that. Or rather, they simply do not have the means. Nor would their lords deem it necessary.” Ilunor announced plainly.
It was at that point that it finally clicked in my head.
Fundamental Systemic Incongruency didn’t just hit Ilunor, but me as well.
The concept went both ways after all, and after finally getting it through my head, I let out a sigh, placing a single palm on my helmet.
“Well, simply put, Ilunor… we are a nation of commoners.”
This took Ilunor by even more surprise, as he looked at me with even greater disbelief, which I didn’t think at this point would’ve even been possible.
His silent shock prompted me to simply continue.
“And because of that, because we are beholden to no highborn ruler, we choose not to elevate any one man or one group’s holdings, but our collective whole. Hence the massive public works devoted to the needs of the people rather than the personal whims of a few.”
Ilunor’s silent shock continued, which once more prompted me to let out an exasperated breath.
“Anyways, if you have questions about our politics, I’ll more than be happy to answer your questions later. For now, maybe showing you around town will get you a better idea of what Earth is actually like.”
With no further interruptions, I pressed onward, the world around us zipping by across the service corridor until we were met with a bright and cheery sign that read:
> WELCOME TO VALLEY HILL! WHERE MASS-AGRI AND COTTAGE-IND MEET!
>
> FOUNDED - 2039
>
> PUBLIC HERITAGE INCORPORATION EST. 2522.
>
> HOLDER OF THE LOVELIEST HERITAGE TOWN PLAQUE FOR 3 CONSECUTIVE DECADES 2723 - 2753.
>
> POPULATION: 37,937
We continued traveling forwards down the winding roads, exiting off a ramp and into the town limits.
Where we first encountered what appeared to be a mix between vast open and expansive fields of automated open-farms, and what at first appeared to be large warehouses, but upon closer inspection, were multi-story behemoths of glass containing within them crops much more varied than what existed outside.
“Where are the farmhands?” Thalmin noted, pointing at the distinct lack of any workers present, merely machinery that seemed to float in distinct patterns up and around the fields.
“Those are the farmhands.” I pointed at the drones, the roaming operator-less vehicles, and the vast tracts of mechatronics that lined and divided up the rows of land into more manageable auto-friendly plots.
“A-artifices?” The lupinor prince replied with a questioning tone of voice. “You refuse to employ serfs and peasants, instead relying on more mana-intensive artifices?”
“Well, one, we don’t use mana. And two, at this point in time, it’s much more efficient to rely on these artifices. As all farming is done using these laser-precise systems, whilst the farmers themselves operate things from behind screens of spreadsheets and live-monitoring feeds, to maximize both yield and quality.”
“What you’re describing sounds less like a class of farmers and more like a mix of scribes and scholars, Emma.”
“Well… I guess that’s weirdly accurate, and honestly, that’s an interesting way to sum up how most of our primary and secondary industries operate nowadays.” I replied with a nod, prompting even more questions to form behind the mercenary prince’s eyes as we finally arrived within the town’s outer limits.
Low-rise developments dominated the outside of the town, with many of the buildings harkening back to early mid millennium aesthetics that valued brick facades and rustic pavement as opposed to the cleaner, sleeker, contemporary aesthetics of the cities. We passed by storefronts with their wares proudly on display, small businesses specializing in an incredible variety of mouthwatering food that certainly caught Thalmin’s attention. Moving deeper into the town, we were treated to the larger public buildings. First encountering the primary and secondary schools that took up a good chunk of the town’s land area, rising up ten or so stories above the rest of the buildings around them.
“What is that, Emma?” Thalmin promptly asked, practically glued to the sights with his eyes glowing wide with attention.
“Oh, that’s Willerson’s.” I pointed at the primary school. “And that over there is Rovsing’s.” Pointing further towards the larger secondary school across the road. “They’re the main schools in town.”
“They seem to be quite large for trade and guild vocational schools, Emma.” Thacea observed.
“I think that just speaks to the quality of the commoner trades, or the emphasis their nobility places on ensuring their commoners are well educated in their fields.” Thalmin offered with a confident smile.
“Oh erm, they’re not… they’re not vocational schools.” I quickly corrected. “They’re primary and secondary schools.”
This answer seemed to completely overshoot each of their heads.
“Erm, they’re schools for children starting from the age of like 5, all the way to 18.”
“No wonder you’re so loyal to your lieges, Emma… they trained you from practically birth it seems.” Ilunor commented with a snarky remark, prompting me to quickly shoot his point down.
“It’s general education for the most part is what I’m trying to say. These aren’t schools to put you in a trade, and thus they’re not schools for young adults. These are schools for kids, to give them the basic foundational education necessary for them to pursue more advanced careers following their enrollment in tertiary education.”
All three turned to one another with questioning glances, as Thacea took the charge to voice their questions. “And these schools are for… commoners?”
“Yes.” I replied with an exasperated breath. “Public education is mandatory for everyone. Primary, secondary, tertiary, this is what’s necessary for a highly educated workforce to maintain the society we’ve created.”
“A society of scholars?” Thalmin offered with a quizzical cock of his head.
“A society that allows for anyone to be whatever they want to be, Thalmin. It’s just that most of the workforce requires quite a fair bit of education before they start out.” I shrugged. “There’s a lot to learn and a lot to know, things are complex in my world as you’re about to see.”
The group went silent once more, as we pressed even deeper into town.
After passing by post offices, health clinics, some commercial offices, and other nondescript government structures, we eventually came across the town hall and its accompanying clocktower.
The tower itself went up a good fifteen or so stories, with the townhall taking up a good third of that height.
In front of it, was a meticulously crafted and maintained public park, which completed this small jaunt into heritage town americana.
“And that’s your seat of government?” Ilunor broke the silence first, practically deriding the seven century old structure with a series of tsks.
“Local seat of government yeah.” I acknowledged.
“As to be expected.” Ilunor derided once more.
“Look…” I turned to the rest of the group. “I sort of just wanted to show you my home, like you guys did. So I thought this would be a good way to ease you into my world considering I was just taking after your guys’ example.” I turned to the holographic projection, which began moving further down and out of town, towards a series of houses in a relatively spaced out neighborhood.
There, we came across my old home.
Once more, a brief pang of pain-ridden nostalgia hit me.
But overall, I maintained my composure as I gestured towards the humble two-story, one-attic, one-basement abode.
“And well, here’s home. Or rather, what was my home.”
“How are you able to afford such accommodations?” Thalmin brought up once more, cocking his head.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean no offense by this, Emma. But the only commoners that could afford such a finely crafted and well-built brick and mortar structure, complete with this many windows, and such vibrant colors, would be quite well off, if not minor lords in their own right.”
“Oh, no, my parents were pretty average people by every possible metric in my world.” I shrugged. “This house is not unlike others here, like… most people in town have something similar to this. Otherwise they’d be living in the apartments on main street.”
This seemed to perplex Thalmin to no end as he ended up cocking his head, prompting Ilunor to once more chime in with a bored yawn.
“Yes, yes. Very impressive. A fine display of well-kept mediocrity.” He gestured around him. “Your capital has indeed exceeded my expectations, newrealmer. It most certainly is not a collection of stick cabins and mud huts. However, you should’ve known better than to even have tried to show off your realm, especially as you have already seen the extent and grandeur of our realms. Because if this is supposed to impress me, then I must say you have undershot your mark and overestimated your realm’s station.”
It was at this point that I let out a long drawn out sigh, as I stared at Ilunor with a pair of two tired eyes. “No, Ilunor, this was not an attempt to impress you.”
I paused, before bringing my fingers up, and snapping them soon after.
The EVI added the appropriate sound effects for the snap, coinciding it with the change in our surroundings as the world around us disappeared in a sudden flash, reassembling itself soon after in the form of a passenger rail car that zipped its way across the vast expanses of nature that surrounded us.
From there, I gestured for the gang to look out of the bubble-like glass canopy, which provided an unparalleled view behind, around, and ahead of the locomotive.
A locomotive which was headed straight towards one of the largest megacities on Earth, and my second hometown.
Acela.
“This is.”