Humanity's home planet had been divided into large chunks. A nimbus hung around the shards, looking like a milky paste with wicked storms crackling along it. Space lightning involved huge bolts that might be larger than the moon. Science wasn’t my strong point, but our future looked terrifying.

Treasure guided our still semi-ragged ship closer. I actually saw the golden mechanoid sigh heavily. Jeeves also looked worried. Eggman was laughing with his huge mouth. A brief glance at Dusk showed his head tilting while staring at the larger human. Even without a speech bubble, I could tell the [Messenger’s Pet] wanted to stab him in the face. That might be me projecting.

“Can we get in there?” I asked the crew behind me.

“Not easily.” Treasure said. “These energy readings imply we’ll be torn apart, and arrive greatly damaged at best.”

“Bah. Make a decision, I’ll be back in a few minutes. Hehehe. I’ve got to drop some doom in the toilet!” Eggman vanished in a whoosh of light. Treasure didn’t even bat an eye. The AIs clearly had a huge blind spot where players were concerned.

“Can I go alone?” I asked. If we swung it just right our [Wayfarer’s Hope] could probably sling shot me in between the clouds. Landing would be extremely dangerous. Maybe an army of Dusk’s under me might help. Or I could borrow mass from something and shed it. Voices above, [Blink] would have been so useful.

“You’ll die,” Jeeves said. “And I wish you would stop trying to do this alone. Part of my mission is to assist you, Unit Hermes, no matter what happens.”

I took a deep breath. Jeeves and Treasure had gotten me this far. Without the AI *I would never have been this successful. Maybe my game experience *would have involved starting on the place Treasure mentioned. The Shores of Ohm, where all the baby silicone and metal filled [Mechanoid]s crawled out of to start their journey to the stars.

“I think you should take Treasure, and run, don’t look back,” I said.

“We won’t.” The rusty gold AI said to me. Its face showed stern disapproval for even suggesting they leave.

My mind calculated the odds of making it back to [Mechanoid] territory from here. We were in [The Old Earth Solar System], which felt like a restricted zone. Having a key to the gate was either Advance Online’s way of limiting who went there, or making sure people were strong enough to go poking around. It might also just be a matter of getting a lucky drop from a space pigeon or some other nonsensical creature.

“You don’t even know if you can come back like other players or Mechanoids.” I lowered my head to look directly at Jeeves. This was driving me crazy.

“I’ll take the risk,” Jeeves said.

“What?” Treasure had a much different reaction. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing I wish to share,” It responded. Both the nanny and butler voices turned stubborn.

“It means that if Jeeves dies down there, it might be impossible for you to rejoin on the Shores of Ohm.” I threw the name out there. It sounded extremely important, especially given how Treasure used it earlier. She had the same reverence people used when talking about meeting loved ones in the afterlife.

There was a pause while the shorter female [Mechanoid] looked at us. First to me, then back to Jeeves. She pressed buttons on her scanner and stared at readings then smiled. Her head nodded rapidly.

“No. I am confident that our data can be recovered, same as any other core. You will return too, Hermes, regardless of our successes.” Treasure stated. “We should not be afraid to do our best.”

I looked down for a moment and tried not to dwell on the situation. There was a way through. If all else failed I would use it to at least secure Jeeves’ future. It would be a matter of trying my hardest to not need such a way through.

“I am with you, regardless of what may come.” Jeeves once again affirmed to me.

“I too am willing to see this to the end.” Treasure said.

I kept our ship paused outside the Earth’s atmosphere. Eggman gasped upon reentry. His character made a loud farting sound that thankfully [Mechanoid]s didn’t process correctly. Skipping that purchase on the [Wayfarer Seven] had been a good decision. At least, I was fairly sure it had been skipped. Our cabin felt a bit more stuffy and Dusk was squawking. One of the small raptor’s four arms kept trying to claw the top of Eggman’s head.

“We ready?” Eggman asked.

“No, I’m trying to convince them to leave,” I told the other player. He might understand trying to keep NPC’s safe. Maybe he wouldn’t.

“Bah. Do or do not, there is no die!” Eggman scratched a large double chin then shook his head. “Maybe I’ve got that wrong. Hehehe.”

“We’re going.” Treasure said.

“You heard em. Pedal to the metal, go go go! All units prepare for battle!” Eggman bounced around in our ship. The motion did more to jar him around then it did our ship.

“Ham.” Auntie Backstab’s face appeared on our ship screen. My head tried to wrap around the concept that the half [Leviathan] monstrosity had once again showed up. How did she make it through the Jump Gate?

“Is that?” Treasure shook her head. “No, pardon my inquiry. One moment while I bring up our scanners.”

Beeps sounded. The indicator for our shield dipped and other lights came on. I turned to look over Jeeve’s display. A trail of defeated monsters and a few dead players littered our path back to the Jump Gate. All of them had been taken down by Commander Queenshand and crew. Soon my friend had the [Stabinator] up on the display.

“Ham.” Auntie Backstab’s jaw looked broken. The formally imposing armor was in shreds. Green mud melted together with space eel features. The [Stabinator] fared even worse. Spikes were hanging off of the former ball in odd shapes. It looked like someone had pounded into the sides and dented it.

“How are you still alive Captain Backstab?” I muttered to her image.

Boss Re-Encountered! Name: Auntie Backstab Health Pool: Still a lot Damage Output: Questionable Happiness Level: -45

“Ham. Will eat. Ship destroyed.” Captain Backstab mumbled repeatedly. Anger must be driving her forth to catch up with us. The game scripting may be setting her us as a chase to prevent me from thinking too long. It felt extremely aggravating because she could probably still out damage us all together.

Do we turn around and risk it, or follow the prompt to dive forward? I took a deep breath. There were other reckless options. First the other [Mechanoid]s needed to go home and be freed from my madness. I knew if I thought about it too hard, that this whole idea was ridiculous. The craziest part wasn’t even chasing a digital woman, it was dragging other people into trying to get one who copied my dead fiancee.

“Treasure. Take Jeeves, go as far as you can.” I felt all at once certain about our situation. These two were going to die like Ruby and Aqua had. We, I, was still being chased by one giant space ogre who healed from eating metal. This was clearly our nemesis and she wouldn’t stop unless killed.

“Unit Hermes, User Legate, we’re not leaving you.” They both said in unison. I blinked, and felt momentarily proud for Jeeves managing to fit in, even a little.

Our vessel kicked into gear. Out or reflex I sat down quickly then buckled myself into the harness. One of the other two was piloting us now. I cringed and wondered if a better speaker might have been able to solve this problem. Could a better man have found a way to talk to Commander Queenshand ahead of time? A better warrior might have dominated Auntie Backstab. Perhaps a better tactician might have led our [Mechanoid] army towards domination.

“We’re going in.” Treasure said still pressing buttons. My display abruptly shut off. “You can’t do this without our help, and the visual feed you old soul cores rely on is only serving as a distraction.”

“But you’ll die.” I turned the seat towards everyone else and tried to plead my case.

“All forces full speed ahead! Go team robot!” Said a bouncing fat man. His bulk still took up too much room in our ship. Dusk scowled at him from a perch above.

“At least let me see something.” I couldn’t just sit here and not know what we were getting into. Or what we were flying towards. All those lightning bolts, they had rippled across the broken parts of our world.

I needed to watch, one way or the other. Being a coward about these situations was no longer an option. My greatest change in the last few months wasn’t a bunch of character points or skills. It was confronting the things that scared me with both eyes open. I may not be calm or cold blooded, but I would not run. I would live, and hope a better tomorrow.

Treasure waved a hand in my direction and a small window appeared. It showed us cruising at high speeds towards the planet below. Our vessel shook as it entered a different type of space. Was that water? It looked like a bunch of frozen little droplets all scattered about. Is this what remained of the earth’s once vast oceans? I didn’t understand how such a thing was possible.

Lightning happened when positive and negative ions built. Bolts poured out from the cloud's center and flew out rapidly to the various pieces of old Earth. They whooshed through the water droplets which set them dancing as if they could boil in a vacuum.

All these lightning strikes came from the center of what used to be Earth. Sadly that was the exact location that Treasure was piloting us towards. Our screens showed some interference as all the systems started losing functionality.

“Ham.” Auntie Backstab groaned. Her ship had apparently closed most of the gap towards ours. If our vessel had been focused on sensors instead of just maintaining shields and repairing, then maybe we would have noticed sooner.

Treasure gasped in annoyance. A tiny mostly metal hand slammed down onto her desk. The female said, “I’m losing readings. One moment, I need to input the last noted course corrections. At this rate we will break through and hold orbit on the clear side.”

“The systems are going out. We’re nearly dead weight.” Jeeves said while shaking its head back and forth.

“No, we’re doomed! But those other players are still online, I know it! If Those twerps made it through, so can we!” Eggman shouted happily despite the bolts streaming around nearby.

What exactly were they conducting off of? It was like this place still had some semblance of gravity, but no longer had actual mass. Our war with the AI’s must have truly turned this place into a bizarre madhouse planet. It could be the game just messing with settings for impact.

I didn’t have control of our destination. It was perhaps for the best, my ability to pilot felt like a drunk person driving sometimes. The prior fuel usage and constant course corrections were all my fault.

“Brace yourselves!” Treasure shouted. Our ship rocked as another trail of lightning went by. The interface I was watching faded out as electricity rippled through. This bolt must have been close enough for some of the branches of energy to reach across to us. I frantically tried to figure out if we were full of negative or positive ions, but nothing came to mind. We had to be a bit of both with energy [Core]s, but portions of Advance Online didn’t follow outright science.

I mean, I was a metal creature who stole minerals and other elements from a ship in order to upgrade myself. We traveled through space into mass teleportation relays and came out the other side. Jeeves and I had fought a space eel. Our ship drove like a car without an Auto-NAV. Clearly the AIs that managed this place though science only existed when it didn’t interfere with the game elements.

“Ahhhh!” Eggman screamed. The rest of us watched our [Core] energy bars fluctuate rapidly. He huffed and pressed some button at his waist. Red vessels traced alone one meaty arm, but after the ability he activated they slowly vanished. It must have been a player portion or nanomachines, some future tech excuse for health recovery.

Seconds later our ship was bumped, and this time the collision was unkind. “She’s on us again.” Treasure said after trying repeatedly to access her console. It flickered in and out.

“Don’t we have shields?” I asked.

“Not with all this ambient energy,” She responded.

“Your pals right, we’re doomed!” Eggman put a fist in the air and jumped up and down. His form shimmered just a bit with a green glow.

“Fine! I’m not driving, and I’m tired of her following us!” If they didn’t need me to drive this hunk of metal in, I do something else to help keep us safe. I unbuckled myself and pushed myself by Eggman’s bulky form. He rolled into a wall and almost crushed Dusk and Jeeves.

“What are you doing Hermes?!” The chubby player demanded. We were like two large pigs trying to pass each other in a narrow hallway.

“Being stupid, but we’re going down one way or the other, and I’m not letting follow us anymore.” My brain was already trying to plot out the calculations. At the right angle, there would be enough force for me to leap between ships. From there I could bring the [Stabinator] down. My abilities could easily take out an enemy’s vessel, especially since our shields were constantly being drained by the lightning.

We had a small ladder in the back. I pushed up through the hatch. [Anchor] activated quickly and my hand glommed onto the hull. Eggman screamed at me as oxygen whooshed out. Dusk chirped and clanked in behind me. It took me less than a minute to get myself outside and seal the hatch behind me.

Jeeves’ voice came out over the intercom. “Are you sure this is wise?”

“No! Try to stay close!” I wondered briefly what my sister would think about these next few actions. My head shook back and forth. I readied myself to jump. Space combat without the [Blink] skill felt exhilarating. If it hadn’t been for Xin, Jeeves, and Treasure behind me I would have really enjoyed this.

“That won’t be a problem Hermes, at this point gravity and propulsion will do the work for us. You have less than five minutes before we breaching the clear zone.” Treasure said over the system.

“Okay! Are we going that slow?” I was an idiot, one with a metal body who couldn’t really die in this game. Treasure and Jeeves might be able to resurrect me on the other side of things. Maybe, but this reoccurring nightmare of a boss had to go.

“Through this? We must not rush, it takes time to correct course and avoid the worst strikes.” Treasure said.

“Ham?” Our mostly broken enemy questioned. I still was unsure what game mechanic justified her ability to break across our lines.

Both legs bunched, [Anchor] deactivated, and I leapt through space towards a looming [Stabinator]. The vessel’s size was downright imposing but impossible to miss. My body was slammed by the accelerating vehicle. I had no idea how fast we were going, or how much gravity was impacting us. I did know the action hurt as inertia sent me rolling around the hull.

Seriously Questionable Choices

Total Health Remaining: 85%

I landed on a spikes rounded edge, my back bent backward over the damaged weapon. [Anchor] activated again as I slammed both hands down to try and get purchase before slipping away again into the great unknown. A small chirp of noise came in right behind me. I looked up and saw Dusk, angry and upset at our slippery situation.

He had mastered traveling on the [Wayfarer Seven]’s hull. Auntie Backstabs ship was not nearly as easy to get around on for either of us. I wasn’t sure where to start with my demolition plan. [Anchor]fluctuated wildly with each minor lightning strike passing by. Dusk seemed to be timing his hops between spikes, I followed him stopped when he did.

Our path seemed to be aiming for a hatch near the underside. Probably used for normal people to board the ship. We passed through hung dents, broken spike pots, and portions of the ship that seemed covered with tar.

“Treasure! Jeeves!” I shouted. They didn’t respond. Our connection was full of static. Whatever space nonsense we were flying through felt like hail and ruined my senses. Only Dusk’s bouts of chirping noise kept me together long enough to get to a hatch, and let myself inside Auntie Backstabs giant ship.

Inside looked nothing like the [Wayfarer’s Hope]. our ship was rather streamlined, with a few seats and displays for all the [Mechanoid]s to operate at. This vessel seemed more like a cage where the wall had been pounded back repeated in spots. Layers of dents existed inside and a few actual chunks of a wall were missing.

I didn’t have time to sneak. Crawling across the ship's hull had taken at least a minute. We were still all moving forward rapidly. Inertia kept me balanced, but this ship had no gravity. If Auntie Backstab did notice me then this mission would turn sour. I still felt unsure about breaking into this broken Captain's personal vessel. She clearly had anger issues and some damned impressive willpower. Maybe she would have been perfectly fine if it weren’t for commander Queenshand’s stance on the [Mistborn].

Thinking like that made this so much worse. My hand went up towards one of the less damaged looking panels. Both eyes closed and I took a breath. [Material Conversion] went into action. A microwave ding and whir of noise accompanied the increase in mass. Fifteen seconds later and I was near the halfway point and managed to suck up an entire panel of wires.

“Ham? Is that ham?” Auntie Backstab’s giant body, which sat roughly twenty feet away, slowly started to turn.

“No,” I whispered quietly. Dusk turned and chirped. I wished that Auntie Backstab had been human, stopping her vessel from following us would have been simply by venting us into space. Instead, she was comprised of two races that didn’t care about oxygen that much.

Not everything in her ship was made of metals. There seemed to be a sort of rubbery plastic mixed in with the walls. It might have been the only thing which prevented her constant abuses of the ships inside from leaving lasting damage. My efforts neared the three-quarters mark of maximum mass before a lightning bolt disrupted everything. The enlarged body briefly stuttered as extra mass around me could not longer be supported.

It fell to the ground in clumps of metal clay. Warm heat spread through my feet and made me regret drinking too much water before getting into the ARC.

“Ham?” She said again. The chair didn’t seem capable of turning all the way, gears ground and a clicking sound came forth.

“Has she slowed down?” I asked the others on my intercom, hoping that absorbing half the wiring back here had helped.

“Negative Unit Hermes, and we will be through the cloud in minutes. Whatever you seek to do must be accomplished quickly.” Jeeves answered.

Dusk chipped. I couldn’t wait for my energy to recover too much. How long had it been since we started? One minute? Two? Were the others still trying to navigate through a freakish storm with the [Stabinator] tearing us apart?

I got more desperate and ran for Auntie Backstabs control panel. She seemed so out of it that maybe it was possible to just remove her method of controlling this ship.

“Ham!” Seeing me move into her line of sight caused the giant to start shaking with eager rage. “Make you metal man soup!”

I ducked towards the ground and put both hands on a large panels base. It looked important, and just seconds ago the half [Behemoth] had been pressing buttons while staring through a screen. [Material Conversion] dinged again and the panel started melting as metals were sucked out of the side. I tried to grip my hands tighter as she wiggled to get out of a large harness.

“You killed my ship!” Her foot kicked me in the gut and I lost part of my grip. The console she had been using started to fold like wet cardboard. I gave it a few more swift kicks while trying to clutch my wounded side. Even weakened Captain Backstab hurt like hell.

She got out of her harness, and I managed to absorb enough mass from the hull to spawn two Dusk shaped minions. I saw the real Dusk leap in as well, all three started tearing at the large creature.

“Hermes?” Treasure said over our communications.

“Here.” I didn’t have the breath for more than one word. Being a [Mechanoid] didn’t override my normal mental instincts. When in outer space, I still took a breath frequently, when kicked I still gasped with pain.

“The enemy vessel shows all navigation controls are offline, you need to return quickly before we exit the cloud,” She said.

I rolled away from a stomping foot. Lightning rippled by and my energy bar fell apart. The two metal Dusks turned into puddles and glommed onto Captain Backstab, slowing the giant down just slightly. Her swings no longer had the strength to break them apart.

Dusk was busy clawing and stabbing. The boss's health bar had been overwhelming on the [Knuckle Dragger], but now it actually took damage.

I didn’t have time to hang around and try to finish her off.

“Metal people will not escape!” She started stomping at the broken control panel. Our ship lurched forward and the vessel’s engines started rotating us wildly. Both myself and the boss were bouncing around the cabin.

Spikes hung loosely off of chains. I had no idea how this ship managed to spin will still retaining and sort of ability to chase the [Wayfarer’s Hope], and I needed to get outside. It was too late, she grabbed my shoulder and drug me slowly inwards to that grossly deformed maw. My free arm clawed at the ship's side, trying to find purchase and keep using [Material Conversion]. The ability had saved me before, even now it was brokenly useful.

I threw out another metal Dusk as my energy rapidly recovered. The lightning bolts kept disrupting my [Core] but recovery was oddly fast. The small being of metal started biting. The boss's eyes glazed over as she tried to pull me in. My fingers were actually absorbing enough mass that the outside of the ship could be seen. Auntie Backstab was near death and kept trying to eat my arm as we tumbled around.

“Ham.” She wasn’t even looking directly at me. The monstrous amalgamation operated on vague instinct to pursue food.

My fingers kept trying to grab a wall but slipped. The vessels constant bouncing motion made it like trying to use chopsticks to pick up a puddle. My [Messenger’s Pet] managed to jab Auntie backstab in the face repeatedly which slow the monster down. A third metal version of Dusk spawned from my [Mechanical Minion] ability. A fresh bolt of lightning disrupted my energy bar and the accumulated metal bits fell onto Auntie Backstab. As the metal resolidified it seemed to trap large portions of the half [Behemoth]s body.

Finally, she froze.

“Hermes! You must return!” All around us, things still spun. I managed to get back to the rear hatch and Dusk chirped behind me. I reached one arm out and tried to grab on as everything spun. It was too much, too sickening.

“I won’t be able to make it!” I shouted, hoping the game would automatically relay my voice to the other [Mechanoid]s.

“Hold on. I’ve got something for this.” Eggman said through the comm. I could hear him banging around in the [Wayfarer’s Hope]. “Ready for some nonsense?”

“What?” I put one hand in front of my face to block frozen pellets hailing on me. My world fell in upon itself. Vision distorted and my head felt pulled in two different directions. One eye saw the view from [Stabinator]’s outer hull, the other showed a confused face of Jeeves. I closed both eyes as my gut wrenched and noise about me shifted.

The large man laughed. “Ahhh, I’ve always wanted to save someone. Hehehe.”

Somehow Eggman and I had swapped locations. I panicked and tried to figure out why another player, one I had barely known for a day, risked his life for mine. “Will you be okay?” I asked across our comm channels.

“Probably! I’ve got some toys to try out! I’ll see you below, or not! Hehehe.” Eggman sounded a bit more upset but still put out a good laugh.

“Jeeves?” I huffed rapidly. That had felt weird, almost like being summoned to the [Red Imp] body months ago. The process only missed a kaleidoscope of colors swirling around me.

“No time, we must complete this pattern before ejecting,” Jeeves said. It’s fingers were poking at some screen invisible to me. That had to be a player interface that the AI was digging through.

“Eject?” My brain didn’t wrap itself around the idea quickly. Auntie Backstabs spinning vessel must have done more damage than expected.

“Our ship won’t make it. We’ll be taking a damaged engine core and attempting to life raft. Even now we’re barely fighting off the pull downward.” Treasure pointed to a large spike in the hull. It heavy enough to be tearing away at one side of the ship. To top that off lots of other portions were showing signs of being damaged. It looked like some giant beast had raked off entire portions of our hull.

“Like we did for the Leviathan,” Jeeves said. Our vessel jerked again. The gravity was low, but I could feel its pull as we dropped another ten feet. Engines sputtered on either side trying to hold us aloft.

“It’s a simple pattern, and we don’t have time for more.” Treasure was rushing by. Her hands glowed with a golden light and the walls of our craft were being remade into their new shape.

I pressed against a wall as Jeeves too ran over to help out Treasure. They were busy trying to construct a blue engine like before. They worked great in space where there was no gravity and we hadn’t already built up a ton of speed.

“Okay.” I nodded quickly and looked at the blue raft. This resembled our earlier one to almost a tee. Round, like an upside down cone with a ring for holding onto. “Will this be enough?”

“Landing will be tough, there’s just enough gravity to cause serious damage.” Treasure said. A frown seemed etched on her face and the tired voice was winning the [Mechanoid] duet.

“What if I lose mass? Will that slow us down?” I was speaking rapidly, offering to toss half a dozen Dusk clones out the window. One hand reached up to rub the originals head. He sat there chirping rapidly at me and none of it made sense.

“Mass does not impact acceleration, only force,” Jeeves said. “By using the Engine we will attempt to cancel out some of the acceleration as we descend.”

“What about a wingsuit, glider, flat board? Can we do anything quick enough?” I tried to figure out how much the three of us would weigh all together. Seven hundred pounds? That sounded right. That other human had been ready to lift and toss me through the doorway, so it couldn’t be too insane. Not in a fresh game like this, where humans were average, not exceptional in any skill.

“Like a panel? If it were thin enough, it might catch, but it would be fragile, we would tip unless providing it balance. Maybe we could wire the engines?” Jeeves said. Even now we were getting ready to break through the final descent. I looked out one of the large tears in our ship and saw a landscape of obsidian looking rocks below. Burned sand maybe? Were we flying over what had once been a volcanic layer?

“Make the suit, and modify me, Pattern Smith’s can do that, right? I gain mass, we balance, attach an engine to the bottom to break our descent. If nothing else I can act like a cushion?” I felt desperate trying to figure out a way through. Our ship was ruined, completely. The wing was tearing off as we debated. Soon we would go into a complete spin the remaining vessel abilities wouldn’t be able to keep us afloat.

“Everything has a breaking point, Unit Hermes,” Jeeves said slowly. Its eyes seemed to stare directly at me as if trying to make me feel how ridiculous the statement was. I blinked and shook my head. The idea of using a jet at the last minute to try and cancel our descent was just as mad, but this way we would have both.

“Perhaps. We might be able to synchronize with the increased durability of your larger form. If nothing else, it will be harder to break.” She nodded. “If you are willing to sacrifice yourself.”

“Neat. Let's do it.” I had been walking into a lot of pain since playing this game. Still, suffering all this seemed worth it to recover Xin. My mind had completely adapted to the idea of virtual damage not being anywhere near the kind of lingering agony that real life came with.

I tried to remember the durability of metals that fell. Only Galileo's experiment with a marble and bowling ball came to mind. Two different sized objects of the same material, falling from the same height would reach the bottom at the same time.

Treasure shuffled around the ship. Parts of our floor seemed to be shimmering and forming thicker lines. Jeeves was nodding and grabbed at pieces around the room. We didn’t have much to work with, and every time we adjusted the vehicle we started slipping.

Finally, she motioned to the floor. “Quickly Hermes! Absorb what you can from the ceiling and lay here. Stretch out to touch these points.” Fingers jabbed at small glowing points. “Unit Jeeves, we need that engine, put it here! There are vents on the bottom that should spread out our force.”

We were going to try and form a human hang-glider using some Jerry Rigged hunk of metal. Low enough gravity might make this insane trip possible. I couldn’t imagine doing this on an original version of Earth.

I grabbed at the ceiling and activated the [Material Conversion] ability once more. We were lucky to be outside the lightning bolt forming zone. The air still hung heavy with energy. My bar went away as mass increased. Once at maximum, I sighed and tried not to think about how improbable this whole situation was.

“This is about the extent of what we can manage. I had wished to repair the entire vessel, but there’s simply not enough time, and with only two Pattern Smith cores we could never modify an entire ship in time.” She sounded extremely tired now and seemed to be rambling.

While she spoke our vessel started losing altitude. We tilted to one side abruptly as the wing tore away. Jeeves stepped in behind me and quickly set in our blue liferaft. It clinked into some place at the back of end our floor pattern. Treasure laid down and locked her arms into a handhold. Jeeves twisted the blue cone into place and grabbed his own slots. For a moment, I felt stunned that these two had invented such an item after only a minute of conversation.

“Dropping, keep us steady, Hermes,” She said. The panel almost fell out of the [Wayfarer’s Hope] like cutout simply falling out whole.

The main ship lifted away and our panel fired off blasts of energy as the remaining engine fought to keep us steady. I kept my hands and legs in place and tilted as forces drove me around. This was far worse than flying with the [Red Imp]. Jeeves weighed slightly more than Treasure so I had to twist to the left.

All of us fell downward towards the center. Our spaceship was in pieces. The [Stabinator] fell nearby. Auntie Backstab’s large body stood there dully in the middle, former Dusk critters turning her into a metal gilded statue. [Stabinator] automatically fired off weakened engines, the ones still functioning after my [Material Conversion] tore through portions of it.

“Hang on!” I shouted.

I tried to prepare myself like a cushion against the ground. We were all made of metal, and maybe if I took the impact first they would survive. My mass was easily four times the old size. Stretched out arms held the flattened hunk of metal. Risking my life to keep Jeeves safe might just kill me this time. We had no parachutes, only a long slab that I was holding down the edges of while engines fired off below trying to keep us stable.

“This is insane!” Jeeves shouted. It’s actual words were lost as gravity pulled us downward. Only the [Mechanoid] method of communication could be understood.

“Live a little!” I tried to joke, but my heart wasn’t in it.

We were on course to collide with a platform that looked like polished stone, or a flattened river meandering through the mountains. Our current course set us towards hillsides that surrounded the path.

I took a breath, trying to slow my heartbeat down. The sound encompassed everything. Another breath passed my lips, then one more. This wasn’t the sound of me breathing in a game, I could actually hear myself outside the ARC trying to suck in lungfuls of air and not die of fright.

Falling. We were falling. I wasn’t piggybacking on my niece’s ARC and with a Second Player helm. This was me. How had she handled the drop? By watching the sky. My head turned to look over my shoulder to look out at space. Trying to find a measure of peace in what might be the biggest failure of my life. Jeeves and Treasure were holding hands awkwardly over my back. They spoke words that I couldn’t hear.

Air. We were badly gliding through an atmosphere. The [Wayfarer’s Hope] and [Stabinator] both veered off further into the electricity generating clouds. Whistling grew louder. I turned my head around and saw Jeeves and Treasure both staring at me. For a moment, they looked so tiny and helpless. I wondered briefly, what would it have been like to be a father? Would it be like this? Worried that you were meant to be the strong one, while still feeling utterly helpless against the challenges ahead?

“Final push!” Treasure shouted. Pressure crushed against my gut. Our descent slowed notably but not enough. We veered slightly onto one of the sharp mountain ridges. Both Treasure and Jeeves had somehow collapsed over my back. My arms felt bent backward. Metal grinding overwhelmed my hearing and a fresh dose of pain drove my eyesight blurry. I gasped. We slid, then rolled, then tumbled downwards. Finally, the gray space of near death took over my screen.

Hit Rock Bottom

Total Health Remaining: 1.0%

It felt blissfully quick. I took a few moments to glance around at the empty landscape of [Mechanoid] near afterlife. I felt proud and sad at the same time. Sad that my own whims brought things to this point, and proud that not once had I turned myself away. This was my trial of Orpheus, my ascent to bring her back. Like Xin said during our brief moment together, I had to keep moving forward towards the goal. To look back and worry about the madness of this course would invite failure.

Fading in were two other [Mechanoid]s, Ruby, and Aqua. They spared no time for conversational chatter. I saw the red one nod slowly, and our androgynous blue companion just wore a serene expression. I tried to wave but they were already vanishing, and in their wake a new message displayed.

Key unit respect rewards

+30 [Respect]

Item: [Aqua’s Key]

Item: [Ruby’s Key]