I frowned at the latest entry. At least it had gone better than the needle in a haystack test. Or Trial as James called them. Four down, six to go. At this rate I would start playing the game on par with first graders. We could totally duke it out over ownership of the little dragon thing, which was still flying around.

Event!

King's Taste Tester

A food tester! You were asked to sample the King's food for poisons, and that you did. A bit here, a bit there, and perhaps a bit too much of the lamb if the truth was to be told.

With a keen sense of smell you detected that some items were tainted. Discolored ones too were removed from the King's potential feast. However many slipped by your nose.

When it came to the actual tasting, you found a truly deadly poison and nearly died. Of course there were all the others you missed. This kingdom was due for a change in regime anyway.

Royalty may recognize you as a man who has sacrificed for his country.

Knights and guards may recognize you as the man who let a King die.

Near death has reduced your endurance for the next few days.

Turned out the little dragon was male and his official race was [Messenger's Pet]. No joke, the game even put the text up with brackets around it to make his race stand out from everything else. I figured out more about the dragon after this latest event by using an [Identification] skill. The system seemed to put brackets around all text regarding races, places, or skills. The ability wasn't high enough to get a name or other details. James explained that learning [Identification] was the whole reason for me tasting this smorgasbord.

Skill Learned: [Identification]

Type: Basic

Specialties: Unknown

Details: Focusing upon a target can reveal additional details. Speed and details will develop as this skill increases.

Free food and an in game skill all at once? Sure, why not. I would probably have eaten it anyway. There were enough good flavors to wash out the bad.

The liquor though, that I had to stay away from. My steadfastness to sobriety had caused more than a few misses. In this most recent event the King's men were also being subjected to food I let slide. The whole thing had been like a messed up game of hangman.

System Help:

Basic versions of skills provide no extra bonuses. Many skills contain specialties that may become available. This is dependent upon Path unlocks or repeated usage in specific conditions.

All this food reminded me of Thanksgiving. Mom would be starting the entire process in a few months. The best part of going home, once I got past the constant questions about my life's current direction, was food. My skill wasn't high enough to pick up many details. By applying [Identification] to every item on the banquet, as well as the poisoned bodyguards as they fell over, I had leveled it up a bit. There was a percentage bar and number floating beneath the skill description.

Skill Used: [Identification] Name: James Race: Voice Title: Voice of Questioning Intent Details:

(???)

Warning!

Skill Rank too low for proper inquiry

James identified was a giant series of question marks. I swear the black man smirked after I tried it on him.

Besides the taste testing there had been other events. Swimming was a messy one. Floating was simple enough until the water got choppy and sharks started circling. Failing to last, for the fourth time had really bummed me out.

"What sort of people would actually succeed at these challenges?"

"You might be surprised. We've had some who come from your world with abilities far surpassing the norm. Others will pursue training in the world and have started reaching heroic heights." He said.

"Please tell me there's no people out there, just, smashing mountains with their bare fists."

"Nothing so outlandish, but lifting carts, fighting monsters with their hands, spells of destruction. Be proud!” James' tone carried notes of sarcasm. “Your kind are quickly becoming legends in their own right."

"I bet things are still a mess." It was an massive online role playing game. There would never be an end if the developers could prevent it. Interest in this world would have to dwindle. Continue Online could easily span decades. Of course, humanity had thousands of years on earth and still hadn’t figured out a peaceful ending.

"How do you balance it?" I asked.

"How would you?"

"A punishment system that reduced their stats."

"That's one method. After all, scattering to the wind and being reconstructed is costly for your kind." Was he talking about death and resurrection? Hah. In most games players had to release somehow and start over at a base point. I guess James and the world had a cost associated.

"The other is simple, this world is vast, many times yours, and not everyone who comes here is a fighter. Some study, others are wanderers.” I walked around while James explained. He stood to prefer standing in one spot and keeping his movements limited. “Even though your kind is potentially powerful they have shown no large scale organization. Frequently you fight each other over petty things."

"I'll bet they do." I smiled. Humanity had more than once started wars, imagine in a game where there was no permanent death.

"What is it in your world that causes such violence?"

"I'd imagine it's the same thing that happens here. At least if this place is as real as you said." Chances were a good portion of the game world was based on real life situations. These non-player characters, the denizens of Continue Online, would have just as many hang-ups as the rest of us. It was kind of sad actually. Life outside the ARC was better than it had been decades ago.

"Explain." James said.

Skill Used: [Identification] Results: [Wall] Details: You would have to be special not to know what walls are.

I poked at more things around the room and used [Identification] on anything that was new. Every item here was subject to my button eyeballing skills. Sometimes the same object was reviewed just to see if there was more information. Even the floor and wall got a pass. Pop up messages kept me amused. Occasionally the game would spout some new fact with almost snide wording. The one about my new pal [Messenger's Pet] made me laugh.

Skill Used: [Identification] Results: [Messenger's Pet] Details: Clearly not a cat. Reacts poorly to the name Sniffles the Second. Breathes fire when annoyed.

"Greed. Jealousy. There's deep generational hatred and racism. Chinese had it really bad after the depression. I'd be willing to bet that people who enter from other points in our world make it a point to attack those who are from different areas."

"We, I and those Voices who could be bothered to look, have noticed certain, hostilities, in some of the other locations." James stood, serious as always as he watched me wander around the room. The little dragon trailed after me, nipping at my heels in hopes of getting another cupcake. I gave him the leftovers that seemed safest. The little guy either had an iron gullet or was lucky.

"Luckily this world’s huge right? Imagine if it was as crammed as ours." I had some peanuts squirreled away to toss at the small dragon one at a time.

"Make sure you chew this time." I whispered to the small dragon. James was more than smart enough to pick up on the difference, which was amazing considering he was a computer program.

"It is huge. Still, do you imagine the people of our world have no feelings? That they wish to add your conflicts on top of their own?"

"I'm sure it balances out. I imagine your world asks our people for help all the time." This was a game, there were quest systems, I think. Beth hadn't shown me one, but my friend's post had mentioned a quest.

"They do."

"Well it's a give and take. At least I assume so." I said.

"You are correct. You seem to understand much of our world for a new visitor. Have you experienced other world before?" James gave that somewhat sly smile again.

"Are you asking if I've played other games?"

"I believe that's what your kind calls them." He nodded.

"Then yes, I used to play a lot." Childhood being what it was, I played a ton until college. After that I had been drowned in homework and reality.

"And were you any good?"

"God no. I found some neat things, sure, enjoyed challenges in others, played with friends. I was never one of the best. I usually just played a little bit of everything to see what it was like."

"Why?" James asked.

"Why what? Which part?"

"Why a little of everything, and not just focus?"

"Oh. Attention problems I think. Boredom, or other distractions. Once I got good with a class I usually switched. Playing to be the best was never my style."

"A jack of all?" James was falling behind on the question and answer count. His eager tone was getting the better of him. Often I found myself slipping and forgetting he was a machine. Oh well, we would settle our debt of questions and answers eventually.

"As the saying goes. I'm surprised you know that one."

"One player introduced your world’s card games to ours. It's done quite well."

"Yeah? Did they set up a casino and everything?" I could imagine a fantasy world with a giant casino in its major cities.

"No. What's a casino?"

"Wow. No Casino. I bet your Voice of Gambling or Chance would love one of those. Right up there with Wyvern races." Now I was just being flippant. Throwing out things I imagined this world would have in one place or another.

"What sort of nonsense are you talking about?"

"Mh. Well I can explain Casinos I guess. It’s a place, commonly referred to as The House, where people come to gamble money on games of chance. Some countries and states consider gambling illegal, but most just tax the bejesus out of them. Part of the proceeds get taxed by whoever runs the area, and the rest goes to The House."

They had to have races that involved flying mounts. A world with thousands of years’ worth of history couldn't be that oblivious. The idea of thrill riding giant serpents through the air in a death defying race made me giddy. As a player I would love a round or two, even if I failed.

Of course players like me would be able to resurrect eventually. Beth had all but told me that death wasn’t permanent. It was inferred from her description of leaping off a cliff dozens of times and the fact that Continue was a game.

"And this is popular?"

"Oh yeah. Old ladies will sit for hours on slot machines. At least they did until computerized gaming really took off."

"Very well. I have more questions."

"Is there a Voice for Gambling?" Time to cash in one some of my owed questions. James would likely call me out if things got carried away. I rarely put much thought into my words anyway. It was part of the strategy I employed to avoid depressing thoughts. My conversations meandered around sometimes as a result.

"For Chance, there are two." James replied.

"Let me guess, male and female? One's kind of a shifty looking fellow, the other's a dressed up dame." I loved this game. How often would anyone get to use the word dame in real life? Moments like this made me smile.

"In some aspects."

"I feel like you're just giving away too much information for a Voice."

"That's the nature of our bargain. Much of what we're talking about is readily available in the world. Were you to ask for something dire, I would be equally invasive." James had proven to speak with his flat tone frequently. His facial expressions flipped between empty and a faint, almost sly, smile.

"Wait. I've lost track of where we are on questions. Do you mean that I can ask you anything I want to about the world? Like about secret moves and overpowered items? And the price would be some horribly invasive question?"

"In essence." Thank goodness he treated that as one question. I had gone rather hog wild with the tone. "Does this bother you?"

"Why would it? I've been explaining the inner workings of my mind to near councilor. On the bad months I admit I'm human in front of a crowd of strangers." That didn't mean that those admissions didn't hurt, it just meant I didn't hide what, who, I was from anyone.

"Then we'll get along fine. When my questions bother you, all you need to do is stop answering."

"I can't see any reason I would." I responded.

"Time will tell Grant Legate." Hearing my name started my teeth grinding again. "There. That motion. You seem upset whenever anyone calls you by your entire name. Why is this?"

"Because it makes me feel like a child. Only my parents used my entire name." That was the main reason.

"And that question didn't bother you? You answered so quickly."

"As I said, I try not to hide how I feel. Explaining it's a bit harder sometimes." I had been through lots of books during my attempts at self repair. Human emotion was a lot more complex than computer wiring. Hiding was useless and only prolonged the pain. Yet I still danced with an image of my wife. I guess we all coped somehow. There I was again, thinking along depressing lines.

"Alright. Load me up the next event. Let’s do something that involves any sort of chance. Dice, cards, whatever your world has." A world where I could gamble with no loss of personal money? Neat. Learning new games would also be interesting.

"Very well."

The next room had tables and cards. I could see how some of this lined up with gambling pretty easily. A run down table in one place reminded me of street vendors. Find the Queen and win a twenty! There was a set of dice. Two giant slick orbs that did who knows what. Many more items littered the poorly made tables.

Identification was an easy enough skill to use. I focused on a object and switched eyesight to the small plus icon that floated nearby. Windows opened up with more information much like all the other popups this game used. Most were boring and I floated around trying to see if this helped the skill grow.

I raised an eyebrow.

James wasn't in this room anymore. I looked around for the larger black man and couldn't see him hiding behind any of the devices. He vanished during my perusal of the objects lying around. I didn’t actually need him for this. The Voice would probably be out there observing this, somehow, just like he had during the feast trial. All the Voices were probably out there somewhere. My whole purpose for this room, aside from just playing games in a game, was to talk to another Voice. Maybe something near would happen.

Maud had given me an idea. Not because chasing in game advantages was in my nature. I just wanted to change around the program a little.

“Oh look, a coin.” I picked up the coin. "What's a good deal for this place?" Choices and possible wagers were weighed while meandering through the tables and games.

There was a strangely shaped dart board. Next to it was a bow, throwing knives, and a few other items that looked like they flew terribly. A cage had a bird inside. The bird was golden, fluffy, and seemed to be half drunk. No telling what form of gambling that was. Maybe people passed it around until the bird barfed on someone.

"Hah!" Laughter escaped me as realization dawned. What better way to talk to a Voice of Chance and Gambling then to gamble on what it would like?

"Alright, here's my proposal." I waved the coin around. "Heads, whatever Voices preside over Chance come down for a talk."

"Tails, you apply a penalty of your choice once I'm down on the world." The feast had taught me that there were penalties in this game.

Wait. This wasn't a two sided coin was it? I checked both ends. A dragon tail on one side and a head was on the other. Good enough for me. I flipped the coin let the ground catch it. My next trick would be to ignore the coins outcome for a bit and use [Identification] on more items.

"This makes no sense." A table nearby had cards. They weren’t the normal decks though. This was more like a tarot set. Images were all different and had strange suits. Instead of diamonds there was a footprint. Instead of spades there was a scale off some beast, probably a dragon again.

I shuffled the worn deck as kindly as I could then turned some over. First was a mask, much like the one on the Jester. It’s expression nearly mocking with a half mad grin and sunken eyes. Jester’s suit was a beast footprint. Trails of blood hung around the cards border belaying violence in the background.

"Very funny." I muttered.

The next two were vaguely interesting as well. One was a representation of Maud. Her suit was that of a burning fire over a brick which might mean home and hearth. Surrounding her was a litter of grasping children. I smiled. The look on her face was less exhausted and closer to exasperated.

The last was a man in a duster that I hadn't seen before. He might have been in the portion I skipped over when looking through the Voices pictures.

"Huh." He looked sort of snappy with only slight stubble. Clearly human though, so not belonging to any of the fantastic races. His suit was fine without a single hair out of place. The guy almost seemed like a well dressed pool shark. I could see it. At least his sleeves weren't lined in stupid gambling symbols or anything similar.

There was a clink behind me. I turned around feeling amazed. That noise ushered in memories from decades ago.

"Pool?" Numbers on the balls weren't the same. They looked almost like roman numerals. Table felt was an off red instead of the standard green. Everything about the table screamed makeshift. Next to it was a man with a pool cue who was dressed nearly the same as my earlier tarot draw. He was chalking one end with a lazy half-smile.

"Pool. Another game brought over by you Visitors. I rather like it."

“Nice tie.”

“Want it?”

“Not my style.” I paused. “Why pool? More skill than Chance?" This man didn't seem like a complete gambler. My initial appraisal was that he preferred a risk of uncertainty mixed with personal hard work and knowledge.

"Gambles a gamble. It’s a matter of guessing skill. You up for a game?" The pool player had basically announced that this could be another measure of my abilities.

"Sure." I stepped past the coin and took note of the dragon tail displaying. Looks like I failed, but gained attention anyway.

"Your go then." The balls had already been broken and the other man hadn't sunk anything. His scatter was pretty good so I had a few choices.

I walked around the table and tried to figure out if there were any obvious bumps or curves. One of the pockets looked a bit makeshift compared to the regulation tables I played on during my teens. My cousins had been pool sharks. Not me, I just visited. Still, I knew the rules. At least whoever had created the game in Continue had kept the stripes and solids.

"Which ones the eight ball?" An eight ball shouldn’t be sunk until the end. Too early and it would be a loss. Kind of like a landmine on the table.

"The Black Dragon Egg over there is last."

Skill Used: [Identification] Results: [Black Dragon Egg] Details: The [Black Dragon Egg] is used to mark the last ball to be sunk in a pocket. This entry is specifically for a game of skill and chance. Do not confuse this with a[Black Dragon Egg]. The later involves skill and chance with a [Dragon]

Warning:

[Dragon](s) are not a discovery made by this Traveler. Further information currently unavailable. Entry will be updated as information is discovered.

The messages were waved away so I could see the table. Careful aim was applied to sink one of the stripes. Another two shots were successful before missing. The cue I chose was actually fairly nice. My hands ran up and down the pole in amazement of the craftsmanship. They managed to replicate the smooth feel of a polished cue but still kept some of the wooden grain so it almost curved.

The man in a Duster, whom I assumed was a Voice like James and Maud, returned two balls before a miss. That made us even. I smiled and made another shot. Sinking one of his and setting me back. A half smile, scowl, thing, had crossed my face. He smirked in a lazy sort of way from under his hat's brim just before sinking another two.

I rolled my eyes and put another four in. Two went in at once from a split shot, and the fourth was accidental. We were even now. While he took his next shot I played with the dice on the table. Feeling their weight, casting a few throws. They were the standard six sided.

"This one of ours? Or yours?"

"Ours."

"Guess that explains the color." These dice were yellow cubes instead of the normally polished white. "You have any other types of dice?"

"Mh. Didn't like them. One hundred sides on a dice seemed a bit much."

"Silly right? Still, some loved them. Probably because it helped them replicate something your world does with more realism." Here I was filling the other man’s silence with mindless chatter. He hadn’t really been the talking type so far.

"Your turn."

"Oh." I wandered over and looked at the table. He managed to sink another few and retain the lead. This time there was no good shot. He had effectively boxed me behind the [Black Dragon Egg].

I sighed and pondered how to do this.

Trick shot time. I lined up the stick and ball, angled my shot sharply, and managed to hop the ball over his into mine. Just the bouncing tap had managed to sink one of mine hanging near a pocket. My teeth clenched as the cue ball rolled backwards and gave the [Black Dragon Egg] a tap.

“Whew.”

I fired another shot on the far end of the table just to return the favor. All of remaining balls were lined up near the [Black Dragon Egg]. Any shot he did from here would have to be carefully placed. Of course, attempt at thwarting the machine was mostly useless. An artificial intelligence, that specialized in gambling and chance, could easily make this shot. The man in a Duster sunk another one and managed to leave the [Black Dragon Egg] untouched.

I hung my head with a weak chuckle as he finished up his last two and moved onward. He called the shot and sunk the [Black Dragon Egg] easily.

“Oh well.”

“You tried.”

“Did you want to talk about the Casino thing?”

“Sure. The least I could do for a loser is hear him out.” He braced both arms over the cue tip and waited for me to explain. That spawned another twenty minutes of conversation where I tried to tell him how a Casino worked. Winners were few, odds were in The House's favor. Places designed to be as much distraction as anything else. Kind of like this entire game. I had lost the coin toss and the round of Pool.

Finally, satisfied, the man in his Duster tipped his hat and faded out. I was left with a popup window.

Event!

Poor Pool Performance

Playing pool perhaps isn’t your strong suit. Even though you understood the rules, your skills weren’t enough to challenge the Voice of Gambling.

Despite your pitiful demonstration he’s listened to what you’ve said (He goes by Ray). Ray will provide his followers a chance to gain favor by establishing their own Casinos. They will be modeled in the very method you described.

Followers deciding to pursue this will have to complete a number of quests for approval from local landowners. In addition they must seek cooperation with whatever underworld guilds are nearby. Finally they will need to find employees capable of surviving a seedy situation. All in the name of fame and money!

For introducing this quest chain you get…

• 0.001% of all proceeds as a monthly stipend

• A Coin (1) - Rare

• Divine Attention +3

However, you risked much to gain Ray’s attention.

• All luck based activities suffer -10% to results for one year

• All Casinos’ established will welcome you, but Ray’s mark is even more noticeable inside. (-50% to all luck based activities)

“Well.” I flicked off the notification and looked around. Nearby was the tails displaying coin. This little thing had been the main reason for those negative bonuses. Still, divine attention had to be worth something.

The proceeds portion seemed absurdly low but after a year in game it might just be an insane goldmine. Not that I cared about gold in a game. Especially recently. If it was the same as how I treated money I would probably end up giving most of it away. My niece might enjoy it. Maybe my parents played and could use something.

“What’s next James?” The room of chance still existed. Things tended to fade back to basics quickly after the event notice popped up.

A cage near by started rattling. I turned to see thedrunk bird and something else crawling around hissing.

“Alright little guy.” It looked like the [Messenger's Pet] had found his way back into our event room. Now he was trying to get at the bird inside and failing to elicit any response. In fact the drunken bird almost seemed to be unaware of the dragon tearing around the outside of its cage.

“Whoa now. Don’t do that!” And over they went.

That got the bird's attention. One of its extra-large eyes on a fluffy head had tried to zero in on the dragon. Comprehension was slowly coming to life as it fumbled both legs around and tried to sit up straight. I ran over and tried to pry the miniature dragon off the cage. Even as feisty as it was, the thing only had claws the size of a tiny cat.

I regretted trying to pick it up almost instantly. The tiny thing nipped and clawed at my arms. A red bar that had to be my health flashed on to the screen and went lower with each line of blood drawn.

“What is wrong with you?” I didn’t know what would happen if he did manage to get to the bird who was still trying to figure out how to stand up. The thing would sway and half squawk in confusion.

I didn’t have the mental focus to try and trigger my identify skill so I went vocal.

“Identification.”

Skill Used:[Identification]

Results:[Lorlell Cova Bird]

Details: Male Lorlell Cova Bird’s are extremely violent towards other species of birds. Or anything with wings. They are often sedated and used for mortal combat against others of their species.[/align]

“Why are you trying to piss off the drugged bird?” I lost my grip on the tiny dragon and things went downhill from there. The [Messenger's Pet] leapt onto the bird cage and sent it rolling around the floor.

The ensuing show was like a hamster that lost all traction on the wheel. Spinning resulted in feathers, squawking and clanking nails against metal garnered more screeches. Finally the bird snapped and went violent. Suddenly the ball of feathers puffed up to almost double the prior size. The tiny dragon was still huffing and hissing. His jaw worked to spit fire and failed due to an empty tank.

I flipped a table and held it awkwardly like a shield between me and the outraged bird. The puffball fighting bird was huge now and from the violent sounds considered the tiny dragon to be an enemy. My dragon buddy seemed to be losing. I scanned the games and tried to find anything useful.

Oh, right, I had access to tons of makeshift weapons. This was one step away from a barroom brawl movie. First up was the pool cue. I grabbed it with a free hand and jabbed one end towards the fighting creatures. Between my table shield and pool cue spear I felt practically Spartan.

“Hey. Hey.” I thrust one end at them. It was hard to feel super worried for myself since they were both shorter than my knee.

“Stop that.” I poked at the larger ball of feathers. My makeshift staff hit nothing and sunk deep without visual effect.

The [Messenger's Pet] was torn up and had gashes in his wigs from where the [Lorlell Cova Bird] had refused to let go.

“Knock it off!” I swung the pool cue downward and bonked the [Lorlell Cova Bird] on the head. Which was a bad, bad, bad idea.

“Hurrr.” If anything it got bigger. I flinched in panic and threw a table at the puffball bird. That worked against me. The [Lorlell Cova Bird] made a noise and beady eyes crossed, but maybe two seconds later it was up and diving at me. My calf was bit as I ran around kicking like a scared schoolgirl.

Failure to dodge noted.

Total health loss: 10%

I tipped another table, then everything on from a table near the dartboards. Everything in range became a projectile or obstacle against the bird until the bird stopped moving and just lay there. The tiny dragon proceeded to huff and growl until our situation became clear. Our bird enemy was down for the count and completely out of it. [Messenger's Pet] stood up on top of the smaller creature and puffed a smoke ring into its face.

“Yeah, all you, beating up a drugged bird. Good job.”

The small dragon nodded and rolled the bird over with his claws.

“Whoopie.” I muttered, looking at the scattered remains..

“Why do that?” James was back and seemed amused.

“Which part?” Had we really just fought off an angry bird? Just the idea had me laughing. I did look a little piggy.

“All of it.”

“With Ray I wanted to see what would happen. With the bird it was to keep little guy from being torn up.” The [Messenger's Pet] was looking smug and licking his wounds. Every so often he chirped a pleased tone.

Slowly an absolute wreck from dozens of games faded away. Best of all was not looking like a childish army had torn up the toy room.

I huffed.

“Next?”