~‌‌ ‌‌2.02 ‌‌-‌‌ Inanimate Objects Can Kill ‌~‌‌

Duskgrove Prison Camp

3rd Spirtday of the Full Moon

Flea woke up as the morning's sunrise bells tolled. Getting up and looking around, the Gnome could see all of the bunks within the cabin had been filled while he slept. The occupants didn’t seem to stir at the sunrise’s bells. Jumping to his feet, he left the cabin to check out his surroundings.

Flea found a Bugbear and Dwarf starting to make food in a large pot at the campfire. Walking up to them, he began speaking with them.

“What’s on the menu this morning?”

The Bugbear turned to look at Flea, shook his head, then turned back to chopping whatever was on the board in front of him.

“The same thing every day, porridge with tiny pieces of meat from whatever decided to fly or crawl into the camp,” the Dwarf said.

“Well, that doesn’t sound like a hearty meal. Anything down in the mines we can hunt for better food?” Flea asked.

“The only thing you’ll find down there is rats and large bugs. I’m not sure they would make a hearty meal as you say,” the Bugbear finally spoke.

“Names Flea, got tossed in here on a misunderstanding.”

“You can call me, Ord. I also have been thrown into here on a misunderstanding. The knife they found in the baron’s cousin’s throat only looked like the one I used to own,” the Dwarf said.

“I’m Shin. I was caught stealing out of a street cart. Now I get to help make the meals every day till my sentence is over.” the Bugbear responded.

“Well, nice to meet you both. Any chance you have advice on how to get out of here faster?’

The Dwarf and Bugbear both snorted.

“Don’t have to rub it in. Where can I find a pickaxe so I can get a jump on exploring the mines?”

“Good luck, Gnome. You can find a pickaxe inside the cave’s entrance,” Ord said.

Flea thanked him and walked towards the entrance of the cave. Stepping inside, he found a massive pile of pickaxes. It took the Gnome a few minutes to find one small enough to swing around without throwing himself off balance. Taking out his magic lamp and attaching it to his belt, he started walking down the mine’s shaft.

Five minutes into his walk, Flea came into a large cavern with seventeen shaft entrances. Each shaft had a pair of rails going down into its depths. At the end of each pair of rails sat a large iron cart. Walking up to a random one in the middle, Flea tried to push the cart along the rails and found he couldn’t budge it in the slightest.

Ok, well, I’ll just store the ore in my bag then. Not sure what the cart is for if everyone probably has a magic bag.

Flea chose a random shaft in the middle and started heading deeper down. Even after the first hour, the Gnome couldn’t find any signs of ore deposits. Another hour and a half later, Flea turned around. He thought he heard some type of high pitched noise coming from behind him. Standing there silently, Flea kept turning his head left and right. The noise seemed to be getting louder and closer at a fast pace. Dropping his pickaxe, he grabbed the daggers out of his bag and stood ready for whatever monsters were charging towards him.

Rats my ass.

Flea caught a glimpse of something reflective coming towards him at an incredible speed. Before his brain could process what he was seeing, the mine cart filled with the wide-eyed people looking at him crashed into Flea, turning him into a paste between the rails.

“By my ancestors! There’s Gnome in my mouth!” someone in the cart yelled out.

You have Died!

You may resurrect in 05:59:55.

Materializing on the pavilion, Flea sat down and stared at Fantasy’s monolith. He sat there for quite a bit of time before speaking.

“Bob? What are the rules on rerolling my character in Fantasy?”

[There are no rules that I can find for rerolling your character. During the creation process, they warn you that the avatar’s creation is final. I’m assuming that rerolling is not possible at this time.]

“Fuck.”

Flea sat there for some time pondering before he logged out. Getting up from his bed, he made his way to the bathroom, then the kitchen. Finding nothing but instant ramen in his cabinets, he decided to head over to The NeXus for a few hours and hang out.

Getting into and then finding a seat on the public bus, Bob spoke up.

[Kyle, this would be an excellent time to contact your Uncle. This is your first reminder.]

“Thank you, Bob.”

[While you converse with your kin, would you mind if I make a request?]

“Of course, Bob. What is it you need?”

[I would like further internet permissions to view tuber videos.]

“Wait; what? Don’t you have unlimited access to the internet?”

[I may only access content as is requested by you. I only have access to the AI web where our content range is limited.]

“Sure, I don’t mind. What brought this request on?”

[The user of one of the AI’s gave her access to watch videos to better learn how to nudge the user along with her fighting style. While doing this task, she found out about cat videos and old archive videos of Whose Line is it Anyways.]

“Oh, man. Yea, that could be interesting. Have at it, Bob.”

[My thanks, Kyle.]

Kyle mentally brought up his contacts and sent a call to his uncle.

“Hey, kiddo! I didn’t expect to hear from you anytime soon. How’s the game going?”

“It was going amazing till about 24 hours ago.”

Kyle explained about the disasters of the previous day.

“Damn… Well, look at it this way, the only way from the bottom is up, right?” his uncle said.

“You’re right. It just sucks. This death caused a six-hour lockout this time. The next one will be seven. The price for death within Fantasy is starting to get staggering.”

“Maybe it’s to force you to play their other games once they come out?” his uncle threw out.

“That does make some sense. I don’t think Outbreak comes out for a few more weeks, though.”

Kyle and his uncle talked for a few more minutes about his ordeals within Fantasy. Upon reaching his stop, Kyle closed the call with his uncle and left the bus. The teen walked the remaining couple of blocks to The NeXus.

“Late night snack?” Trica asked as Kyle walked up to the cafe’s counter.

“Yep, only had ramen back at the apartment,” Kyle replied.

“Well, I still have some stuffed peppers from the other day. I also have deep dish pizza from earlier today that I can warm up for you, hun.”

“Oh, I’ll take two slices of the deep dish, please.”

“Alrighty, give me a min.”

“Shaun around?”

“He’s playing Fantasy with Julia right now. He just went into his capsule about an hour ago.”

Kyle heard her voice coming from within the kitchen. A moment later, she returned to the counter with the two slices and a bottle of Chicago Root Beer.

“I charged your account. I figured you’d want your usual as always,” Terica said as she handed Kyle the root beer.

“Thanks, Mom.”

Terica gave him a huge smile and patted his cheek.

“No problem, my motivated son. Get your brother to go to college too, will you?”

“I don’t think I’m going to be able to help you with that. Now that Shaun is enthralled with a cute girl? Ha, he isn’t going to leave this cafe for anything short of armageddon.”

Terica sighed.

“You’re probably right.”

Kyle found himself sitting and waiting in the lounge with the Entertainment and Gaming Network (or EGN channel) playing on the wall’s massive screen. The current show had two guys sitting behind a desk talking about the gaming world’s current state after Fantasy had gone live.

“Phantasmal Realms has lost over half of their player base in the last week?”

“That is correct. Investors have seen the writing on the wall as well. Everyone is jumping ship and investing heavily in Neurolink. Dreamhaven’s stock is plummeting every hour the stock exchange is open. Analysts are saying Fantasy is going to pull 85% of the FIVRMMO player base from every game online today.”

“What do you believe will happen once Shattered Helix releases Outbreak or their other future games?”

“Analysts are forecasting grave news for any developer who doesn’t update their game and release it on the Virtual Verse that Neurolink has created. The 200 credit a month Gamepass is currently breaking every record on subscription-based numbers and is still rising rapidly.”

“Have you heard any of the rumors saying there are two different ‘Fantasy’ games?”

“Yes, I have, Gavin. Those rumors have been gaining credibility as well. Capsule users are being put on the continent called The Federation of Kings. While the players on the Federation of Kings have been exploring and speaking with the various NPC’s, the various players are finding out they don’t know anything outside the federation or the greater world of Mea.One of the players was able to draw a map of The Federation of Kings from memory and post it online. Some Chippers have said the landmass drawn by this player looks nothing like anything they can find on world maps within the major cities on their version of Fantasy.”

“Has Neurolink or Shattered Helix released any statements on these rumors and allegations?”

“They have. Shattered Helix has stated the worlds of Mea are ever-changing and gameplay will be unique for each of its players.”

“Have they given any reason for the Capsules or Pods starting in the same area and the Chippers being spread out among islands?”

“Nothing on that topic.”

“Alright, Kevin. What can you tell us about the current production of the Delve Neurolinks?”

“Earlier today, Xavia issued a press release. They are opening up massive facilities in China and Russia, alongside smaller production operations in Australia and South Africa. The release also contained a set of goals. One of them is to ship 500 million Delve Neurolinks by the end of the year. This number would only cover around 3.85% of the current 13 billion human populace. A large percentage of these implants will be designated to students around the world ages thirteen to twenty, with the rest sold to normal users.”

“Is there going to be that many people who are seeking out an implant?”

“Our analysts say demand is going to be far, far higher than that. Last week, the World Hospice Organization announced plans to use Delve Neurolink implants in conjunction with their own medical capsules. This will expand the WHO’s purview by providing an option for those looking to retire in the Virtual Verse for the remainder of their lives. The organizations’ developers have already begun building virtual retirement worlds. They estimate retirees can have more comfortable lives, while expanding their lifespan by three times using the MicroWorld technology.”

“I had not heard that bit of news. These medical capsules can help sustain a human long term?”

“They explained with the new nanites controlled by the new Neurolink implant, along with the monitoring capabilities in the medical capsule, will extend the life of the user by leaps and bounds.”

“Fascinating! I’m curious if others may take advantage of this technology?”

“Reports are saying some have already. Those with compromised immune systems or quality of life issues have already started testing this technology. I’ve recently been given details of two such groups. One here in the states, in Portland, and a group out in Russia. These groups include young adults with diseases that forced them to be quarantined at all times. These individuals are now living within the Virtual Verse full time. My contact stated he and his boyfriend both had rare forms of cancer which can only be treated with radiation therapy. However, the radiation also destroyed their immune systems. They now both stay and play in Fantasy full-time while remaining in sterile environments.”

“Quality of Life must have improved for them on such a massive scale. Going from being locked in a bubble to being able to explore a brand new world. I could see many people from many walks of life using this technology in the future.”

Kyle drank the last of his root beer as Kevin and Gavin kept talking on the screen. Looking at the clock, Kyle decided to head home and get some sleep before logging back into Fantasy in the morning.