Author’s Corner

After buying a couple of plants that would produce pet food for Jasmine and Chrome, we spent the next few days alternating between cultivating and taking care of our new pets. Well, I spent most of the time cultivating. Sharon was more than happy to take every ‘pet shift’ that she could to spend more time with the two of them.

For this cultivation session, I decided to focus more on my Metal Affinity, that way we wouldn’t be lacking in materials for crafting. Though, there was one thing that I decided to take care of even before cultivating, because I had been putting it off for too long. And that was copying Celeste’s aura, to become a Deus Ex myself!

Like I had expected, this process was a bit different than when I changed into an organic species, because metal is not really covered under Nature Magic. I had to use a bit of a mix between Nature Magic and Technomancy to get the shift to work, but in the end I had turned into my very own robot body. Though, it was only the very basic model… Looking at my status, I almost panicked because of what I saw.

NameFalenel HulettRaceDeus ExTitlesVengeful Heart, Amateur Brain Surgeon, Spider SlaughtererFame400Level 4040%ClassDruidAdvanced ClassXeno-ShifterDeityMalthanHealth100/100Health Regen0.17Mana100/100Mana Regen0.05Strength10Wisdom--Agility10Intelligence--Dexterity10Charisma10Vitality10Luck10Upgrades Remaining39Earth 13%Fire 11%Wind 11%Water 12%Lightning 11%Light 11%Dark 12%Plant 12%Void 11%Metal 13%Magnetism 11%Plasma 11%

I panicked because I thought that I might have actually lost all my stat points when I shifted back to my normal form. Thankfully, though, that wasn’t the case. I shifted back to test, and I still had all of my stats, I just didn’t have them as a Deus Ex. So, doing another shift, I looked at the options for upgrades. There were really too many to choose from….

Initially, the upgrades were all separated into defensive, offensive, utility, and cosmetic. Seeing as how I had neither the sense of touch or smell, I used two quick upgrades to get that. It was honestly disorienting to not have the senses I was used to. Next, I browsed around the various upgrades to see what there was. Most items only cost one or two upgrade points, but were able to be purchased again to increase its effect. For example, I found Celeste’s flight wings, a basic upgrade that only cost one point, but started out as mere levitation.

I decided to go ahead and buy the flight, and found out that I could alter the shape of the wings, as well as their color and the glow effect that showed when I used them. For now, I just went with a basic metallic gray and kept everything else as the default. I’d think about what kind of upgrades I get for this in the future. Maybe have my Deus Ex form be a crafting specialist? That could come in handy.

Anyways, after I was done with that, I went ahead and got to working on my cultivation. We had a week until the ship was done, or a few days for the clone project. I had already moved the construction materials to a secluded area of void space in my grove, and actually had to rearrange the mana in order for everything to fit…

I decided that I’d be the one to test the new device in my NeoLife body, since it was more convenient than Sharon doing so. If she tested it, and it failed, then we’d have to go pick up her body in Europe while it was defenseless against the giant monsters. If I did so and failed, I’d just need to wait a few hours before logging back in.

By the time the clone project was done, my Metal Affinity had risen to 15%, and I had replaced a little under a third of the metal that was being used for the ship in my grove. Interestingly, new mineral types began appearing as well, such as trace amounts of what Celeste identified as Orichalcum and Mithril. There wasn’t enough of it throughout my whole grove to create even a single ingot, but it was interesting to see the metal form in the first place.

Now, for the clone controller, it was rather… interesting, to say the least. Celeste created a headset like the old VR controllers, and linked it to a bracelet. Whenever the clone was not in use, it would appear to fall asleep, as our NeoLife bodies would. However, before it was activated the first time, it looked like a white mannequin in a vaguely humanoid shape.

As I tried the device, I felt my aura tingling a bit. After that, it just felt as if I was a bit chilly… We forgot to dress the clone before activating it, didn’t we…

“Yup…” Celeste responded verbally to my thoughts. “It did work, though!”

Opening my eyes, I found that I was in my own body, looking at my own body on the other side of the room. Unfortunately, there was a window that appeared telling me I had lost a level due to seeding my soul in a new body. “Don’t worry, that should only happen the first time you activate a new body, not every time you ‘log in’ to it. Now, on the bracelet you’re wearing there is an enchantment to send you back to your main body when you activate it. Just do so by channeling your magic into it and focus on logging out.”

Following Celeste’s instructions, I woke up… inside my Seed. Apparently, focusing on logging out meant logging entirely out. Well, when I logged back in, I was back inside my NeoLife body. But with that, we determined that we would need to pick up Sharon’s real body before we left. “Now, keep in mind that there are only two ways to log out of your new clone bodies. The first, and easiest, is to use the bracelets. The second, is death. If you lose the bracelets, or they are broken, you need to try to find some way back to the ship so that I can give you a replacement.”

I nodded my head at that, and sent both the sleeping clone body and the controlling device into my grove so that we could take them out later on Earth. Afterwards, I went back to cultivating, focusing on my Plasma Affinity this time until the ship was ready. Sharon, however, was entirely unconcerned as she continued playing with Chrome and Jasmine, even hugging them in her sleep.

The days passed slowly, my time spent focusing on cultivation while Sharon had fun with the animals. Eventually, the ship was ready, and we could make our final preparations to leave. Making sure I had everyone inside my grove, I logged out of NeoLife and left my house for the last time. I needed somewhere with a wide space to summon the ship, so naturally I went to the Anthony Chabot Regional Park. It was still inside Oakland’s anti-spawn barrier, so I wasn’t worried about many monsters appearing to interrupt me.

Once I got there, I summoned Celeste, Yin, Yang, Yo, Chrome, and Jasmine. Celeste was busy preparing a data packet to send out once she connected to the ship,while the others were content clinging onto me in some fashion. Even Yin nestled her head against my side while standing next to me.

The summoning process of the ship was the longest I’ve ever done. It wasn’t difficult to summon, just big. Big enough that I’d likely never be able to put it back in my grove without first breaking it into a hundred pieces. Thankfully, my cultivation practice had allowed me to build nearly endless reserves of one thing, and that was patience.

Over half an hour of constant focus later, the ship was finally summoned fully outside onto the wide field in front of me. The ship itself was eighty meters wide, over two hundred and fifty long, and thirty meters tall. It had three large engines on the back, and at the front it narrowed to form a long V shape. I could see the two turrets on the front of the ship, and was reminded again how pitifully underpowered it would be if we ever got in a fight. Celeste alone likely has more firepower than this ship.

On the side of the ship, near one of its four airlocks, was the name ‘S.S. Seraglio’ written in large silver letters. After snapping her fingers, entirely for dramatic purposes, the airlock opened up and a small ramp descended to let us in. Yo and Yang stared up in awe at the ship, and rushed inside as soon as the ramp touched the ground. Yin was considerably more calm, and walked in after them, while the two pets were just happy dancing around my feet until I went in.

Inside, the ship was lit up with evenly spaced lights in a narrow corridor. Celeste led everyone to the bridge, which had just enough seats for everyone to sit down, and one spare for when we picked up Sharon, with another for when Yin evolved. Celeste and I helped strap everyone in, and I sent those that weren’t able to take a seat into my grove to wait for now, since this was the ship’s first test run.

“All systems green, awaiting your orders, captain!” Celeste spoke up from her seat with a wide smile, clearly enjoying this.

“Let’s go get her.” The ship slowly rose into the air, then turned and flew off at a high speed. Though, those of us inside barely felt anything. The inertial dampeners were doing their jobs well. “How long till we get to her house?” Sharon had already given us an address to pick her up at, so we at least knew where we were going.

“About an hour, sir. We’re currently moving at the fastest safe speed within an atmosphere. Once we pick her up, we can leave and move at full speed. It’ll take us about three days to get to the asteroid belt, and then we can enter FTL and start our journey.”

I nodded, and sent Sharon a call via the friends list. “We’re on our way. Got everything you’ll need?”

I could hear her happy voice responding back over the connection. “Yup, all ready to go!”

“Alright, we’ll be there in an hour.” I smiled slightly, and cut the connection. “Celeste, ready to send the data packet?”

“Ready and waiting.” She chuckled lightly, and I could see that she had the connection already established and was just waiting to be told to send it.

“Go ahead, then.” I shook my head and sat back in my comfortable captain’s chair. I had all the fancy buttons, which I was not sure if they served any real purpose or not. Yo was wildly pushing buttons at her console, but they did not seem to do anything more than entertain her with an old arcade style game.

Celeste nodded, and pressed a button on her console, sending the data packet to every major government on Earth. I wasn’t sure what reactions they would have, or even if they would read it. My goal was simply to make the information available to them before we left.

Roughly an hour after we left Oakland, we arrived above Manchester, where Sharon lived. Having the ship hover in place, Celeste left through the airlock to go retrieve our final party member. She told me that once we had the material from the asteroids, we’d be able to make a teleport bay on the ship. The bay itself was already built, but without the needed materials it was just a useless room. So, the only way to retrieve Sharon was to do so manually.

Roughly five minutes passed before they were on board, and Sharon happily took her seat in the bridge. “Officer Sharon Bradbury, at your service sir.” She smirked as she did a mock salute.

Celeste took her own seat as well, while Yang looked over to me. “Master… we’re leaving now, right…?” She seemed a bit apprehensive to go into space, but I nodded my head. “Okay…” As the ship rumbled slightly from suddenly accelerating upwards, Yang quickly hugged her own body.

Sharon, seeing that, reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be okay. Just a bit of turbulence.” Yang shakily nodded her head, and sure enough, within ten minutes the shaking had subsided completely, and we were well beyond the clouds.

“Incoming transmission from the Prime Minister.” Celeste giggled as she read it out. “He says thanks for the information, and he won’t try to detain us. Apparently, we’re the third ship to leave Earth this week. But, we’re the first to actually leave useful information behind.”

“I take it we can expect to find other people along our way, then.” I sighed, shaking my head.

“Maybe. The asteroid belt is a big place, and they might not pick the same world to go to as we did.” Celeste shrugged her shoulders, and soon we were accelerating to our maximum speed. “But just as a precaution, I’m setting our destination away from Mars. I imagine that people would likely want to take advantage of it as a rest stop and orbit point near the asteroid field.”

“Alright. Wouldn’t be exactly safe to encounter another ship out here when we can barely defend ourselves as it is.”

And with that, we were off to see the asteroids, with Earth becoming a gradually shrinking blue dot behind us. Celeste’s voice rang out over the intercom. “Stardate zero three point twelve point zero. Our journey has officially begun, and we are off to see the universe! Or at least the galaxy, or a small part of it. Going boldly where no gamer has gone before!”