《Herald of Tomorrow》Interlude 1
Advertisement
Settled in a deep gulf of the tower’s shadow, stood the mighty walls and domes of Pos Masic. From Magus Tower, ancient fortifications ran the length of the western capital. The valley of carved stone glowed radiant from deep within. A pale, marble road encircled Magus Tower itself, wrapped from base to tip. The tower’s labyrinthian inner halls could house the entire Pos Masic population twenty times over.
From dusk til dawn travelers and adventurers explored the massive tower by the thousands. Never a day came where Magus Tower stood empty.
Until that day.
Kitano felt a chill. A storm blew in from the eastern sea. She whipped the rain from her forehead, staring up at the old tower. Where once it’s been a hub, a nexus point for all players on that particular server, now stood abandoned. As no adventurers explored, the NPCs - merchants and other skilled traders alike found no reason to set up wares.
“Empty. Just as I said,” Juice muttered.
Kitano turned. “What happened back there? Did you see what I did in Underworld 30?”
“Underworld 30 has collapsed.” Juice answered. “But that’s the least of our problems. For I have made contact with Mr. Crooks.”
Kitano brightened. “That’s wonderful. He can see me?”
“He’s been trying to contact you.” Juice’s display bobbed in the air. “Crooks wants you meet with him. There’s a UNW commodore with him. It sounds urgent.”
Kitano’s lips parted in surprise. It was Firechanter Gaming’s Head of Game Development, Mr. Anthony Crooks’ office, who’d sent out the work invitation she’d accepted. As for why he’d ever set time aside to speak to her, let alone accompanied by a UNW official? Her heart skipped a beat.
“If it’s about what happened then they can just ask—” She found the NPC wizard, Grandeur, frozen by her side. Unblinking, he stared up at the tower. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Crooks is lagging the server in order to make arrangements.” Juice turned his display toward Grandeur. “As for him? Well, Grandeur’s global data was… corrupted.” Juice allowed her to process the news. “Don’t look so distraught. He was only an NPC. Anyhow, it’s half past time we met Mr. Crooks.”
Nodding, Kitano went to log out from Herald of Tomorrow, only to find the basic menu commands still frozen. “Juice?” she asked. Her hands – her real hands – felt numb as they searched for the headset once more. “How long has it been? Is reboot still in my system? I haven’t been able to move my hands.”
“Reboot? No. But the meeting will occur here,” Juice answered. “They’ve set up a virtual lobby.”
Pink light tore into the shadow of Magus Tower, the world ripped open. The teleport doorway was a crude tool used by developers. All at once Kitano felt cold. The clouds overhead stopped in place. She noticed the wind too had come to a halt.
This can’t be good. She stepped through the teleport. What awaited her was not the familiar, cold, and bed-ridden room, but a polished and modern office. Crooks’ digital office had no walls, rather, the emptiness expanded on and on forever. No art could be displayed, save for a single watercolor suspended above the mountain of a man.
Advertisement
“Tony,” she said, nodding in hello.
“Good to see you. Please take a seat Arama,” Crooks said. His tone was full of ice. “This is Commodore Leeford.” He gestured across the desk to the soldier seated there. The commodore’s suit was just a little too tight to be comfortable. He wore a light gray tie that didn’t match his shirt. But he had a determined look, the kind people still pined over in a real gentleman.
“Ms. Kitano, would I be accurate in my understanding that you met with Stephan Rose last night, here in the Herald of Tomorrow game?” The commodore steepled his fingers as he studied her.
Last night?
“I wouldn’t call it as much.” She tried to smile, but the commodore held her in cold contempt. So, she found her seat quickly. “Yes... He was logged in there while I was investigating the error message on Underworld 30.”
“What entailed during this meeting?” Leeford asked.
“He seemed surprised that I was there.”
“Your being at Underworld 30 had nothing to do with him?”
Kitano glanced at Crooks. She could see the circles under his eyes. The big man’s lip trembled in anticipation. He’s not angry at all… he’s frightened.
“Was it a cordial meeting?” Crooks asked.
“Not really,” she sighed. “If I’m going to be honest? He seemed upset with me. Like I did something wrong. He seemed upset about the NPC that accompanied me.”
“And then?”
“And then?” Kitano rubbed her chest, remembering the experience. The pain. “He must have sent me back here. I don’t remember much at all.”
“Convenient,” Leeford mused. “Tell me, why take the NPC?”
“You’re going to think it’s silly.”
“Go on,” he said.
She didn’t know where to start? How could she sum up artificial intelligence theory?
Crooks came to her rescue. “Arama did a lot of preliminary work for us before we branded Herald AI.” He allowed himself to smirk awkwardly. “You see, Grandeur is sort-of a mascot for advertisements… And Arama was his pal in the early stages. Where would we be without the Arrowroot Specialists?”
“I really enjoyed working on the cutscenes.”
Leeford glanced at Crooks and shook his head. “Ms. Kitano, are you taking any drugs currently? Or are you just socially inept?”
She laughed nervously. “NPCs are designed on a learning—”
Crooks cut in. “Arama. Player records show that you played with us for three years, getting your character to prestige level 70.” He passed a data card to Leeford, who began to review it. “You played, on average, 12 hours per day.”
He added a little smile, which added nothing to the conversation.
Leeford looked up from the data card. “And then you stopped in November of last year? Almost two years gone.” He arched an eyebrow. “An abrupt end for a veteran player.”
“The game needed me working behind the scenes more and more.” She looked to Crooks for help. “Some of the magic was lost.” She crossed her arms, sick of their pointless questioning already. “Can I ask what this is about?”
Advertisement
“Some resentment for never becoming a Firechanter employee in full?” Leeford pondered aloud.
“Arama, it’s really important you answer the commodore’s questions,” Crooks said.
“I truly have no true further questions.” Leeford spread his hands. “However, I do find that when a person of interest says, ‘to be honest,’ they’re lying at all other instances…” He turned to Crooks. “Contact local authorities. She should be brought into custody at once.”
Crooks waved his hands in panic. “Wait, listen; Mr. Rose erased the NPC and sent you back? That’s all that happened. Absolutely everything? Yes?”
Kitano paused for a second. In all her years working for Crooks’ office, she’d never known him to be like this, never so despondent.
“Do you not doubt her disloyalty?” Leeford sniffed.
She pursed her lips. “Why don’t you just ask him yourself? Did he complain about me? My work? What? Tell me.”
“Stephan didn’t complain, but then again he couldn’t,” Leeford said. “He's dead.”
Crooks hesitated, then added, “He left a data card with Herald AI.”
“And you think—” she broke off and sunk into her chair.
Crooks rose from his seat. “Commodore? If I may have a moment with Arama?”
Leeford crossed his legs and made an inarticulate gesture. “Be my guest.”
Stepping out from his side of the desk, Crooks motioned for Kitano to join him. As they walked, the grand, expansive white office accommodated them, leaving Leeford and the office desk behind as a speck.
The great wide emptiness brought back memories of other times. The hazing of Shepard’s colony. The unreal unease in the thick of a dead civilization. She cleared the thought away.
>
>Heart rate… ELEVATED
>Blood pressure… BASELINE
>Body temperature… BASELINE
>Synchronized… 89%
>
“Tony?” Kitano looked over at Crooks, whose exhaustion was abundant. “Sorry about Stephan,” she managed.
“Don’t be.” He turned his head.
“Synch is through the roof,” she said, trying to change the subject in her direction. “Why are my logout options frozen? What happened last night?”
He gave her a sideways glance. “Of all the things I learn about my Arrowroot Specialists… I never figured you for a biobake.” The idea of replacing one’s organs with tech, to merge with the greater Galaxy’Net sounded appealing to very few of the Earth Empire’s population. Crooks’ thinly-veiled disgust appeared to be no different. “How far gone… I mean, how much have you- you, well, you know?”
“Just neuro imps,” she said, cringing slightly. Slang for implants seemed a little out of place, given the conversation. “Got into it just like anyone else. One implant at a time.”
Crooks stopped. In the distance, a dark wall rose.
“Back on Shepard, I developed a condition.” Coughing, she cleared her throat. “Maybe I just got comfortable. I don’t know, sitting in recovery for a month seemed worse somehow.”
“You were on Shepard?” Crooked nodded, as though that answered everything. “Sorry to hear it.”
Kitano shrugged. “Just give it to me straight.”
“Herald of Tomorrow is in lockdown.” He gave a tired laugh and hunched his shoulders. “Everyone kicked off as the port closures are still in effect. The few biobake players left, like you, are experiencing locked menus, locked console, and elevated sync levels… Arama, we have no idea what this is.”
And Stephan went nuts before getting slagged, she thought, though she didn’t say it.
Crooks gestured to the dark wall before them. Kitano squinted. The wall before them was no mere wall, but a mass of figures standing on a vertical platform. A hundred thousand adventurers, each unique in their own way, huddled together.
“Herald AI is refusing to work with anyone. Won’t even talk to us. Nothing.”
“Those are all players?” She gaped. “Why don’t you just log in and talk to Herald AI yourself?”
“Lobby is as far as any one of us can go,” he answered. “UNW’s not just gonna arrest you, but they’re going to tear the whole company apart while they’re at it.”
“Why? Because of Stephan?”
“Heck if I know. Because there’s an indeterminate amount of biobakes out there who are stuck?” He ran a hand over his bald head. “What Stephan’s got to do with it? I wish I knew.”
Crooks gave her a look; sharp and calculating. He lowered his voice, wanting to conspire. She knew whatever came next, it would be uncompromising.
“You need to find Herald AI.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“There’s nobody else.” His forehead gleamed with sweat. “The suits upstairs want blood. The darn Herald thing won’t answer our calls, but it’s got a virtual place in-game where it could be reached.”
Kitano blinked. “So, you want…Wait, you’re asking me to play the game?”
“We’re just asking you to walk over there and knock on his door.” Crooks frowned. “Who knows, maybe it needs help. Maybe it’s over-burdened. I don’t know. I’m not a dev. All I know is Stephan gave the bloody thing a data card.”
“Spawn me back at his front door then.”
Crooks cleared his throat. “I can’t do much. They’ll see what I’m doing from here on out.”
Kitano nodded slowly and turned back to face the lobby of players.
“It’s gonna cost,” she answered after a moment.
“Fine,” he grunted.
Kitano named her price. When Crooks didn’t fight her on it, she wished she’d asked for more.
“Here we are,” Crooks said. A red door inlaid with stained glass stood by his side. “It’ll take you right back to Pos Masic. Herald AI is held up in Everhollow,” he smiled. Her misery was his delight. “Kol Thom tower in the misty hills area. Can’t miss it.”
“Kol Thom Tower?” But as she stared at Crooks, the lobby disappeared.
She was right back where she started, standing in the shadow of the Magus Tower.
“Kol Thom Tower?” asked Granduer.
The wind started blow again.
Advertisement
- In Serial53 Chapters
The War of our Stars (SWTOR Fan fiction)
YAH, PICTURE! Also, I used "The Old Republic", as I couldn't fit in "Star Wars"....... Yes, the title does mean something. I guess this is a SWTOR Alternate Universe Fanfiction? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I used glowtxt, Microsoft word, and paint to make that. I DO NOT OWN THE PICTURE, I got it when I searched up "copyright free". Also, I just used glowtxt, but if whoever made glowtxt wants me to stop, I'll get rid of it. Whilst this is a fanfiction of SWTOR, the setting is VERY different, you will not see any SWTOR characters within this Novel, there will be places both made up and already existing in SWTOR. Take for example, whilst the Dark Council still exists, it will have completely different members. Also, there are minor changes to the history before and during the Old Republic, but there is little overall change, with the main character starting out at a similar time to a starting character. Star Wars the Old Republic Fanfiction. You'll understand the title, not in the first chapter, but as Frederick goes to outer space. Before the Rule of Two, there were multitudes of Sith and Jedi. Numbering thousands of both Sith and Jedi, a great war between the Empire and Republic has existed since time immemorial. From our World, a young boy named Frederick is born into the Galaxy of Star Wars, born into an Imperial Family, he lives up to the expectations of becoming a powerful Sith. But all he wants to do is to survive.... But by surviving, he does more so than simply surviving. Many have made star wars fanfictions, and this one will probably...... (I have read, watched and played Star Wars, so here you go) NOTES: Action and Adventure are a bit light for the first few Planetary Arcs. I'm terrible at comedy and romance will come will really late. Absolutely terrible until Corellia.
8 297 - In Serial11 Chapters
A Good Bargain [HIATUS]
Warren, A 34 - year old stock market trader, lived a life of riches until he's coerced into doing actions that would look good even in a 'Wolf of Wall Street' movie. As the market crashes on a faithful day in 2008, his action comes to light. His superiors make him take the fall using their financial powers. He finds himself with little to no money, disgraced and hated by the populace. He dies saving a young woman from being hit by a freight truck, pushing her out of the way whilst leaping thinking at least he'd saved a single life after everything that has befallen him.Yaksa is a god of a different world and is in dire need of souls to balance the yin and yang on his planet. His search for souls with extreme yang brings him to ask other gods for cooperation. This is how he finds our MC. He takes pity on the poor man and gives him a single cheat! In the world, he has reincarnated people develop 'gifts' that come from their desires and experiences. The cheat he gains is a 'gift' that will develop from his first life on earth! As a former stockbroker that learned how much money means in life, he gets the gift of Appraisal! Follow Warren as he starts his life in search of wealth and status in this world of power and magic! Here starts the story of the King of Wealth! "A good bargain!" - Warren
8 203 - In Serial7 Chapters
Acolyte: The Emerald Gates
A boy who does not belong. A wizard who would show him the world. Aljana is the City of Heaven, an oasis in an impassible desert ruled by an emperor who despises magic and the nonhuman races. The orphaned Callum has lived on the streets of this city for as long as he can remember, under the thumb of a woman who controls the city's urchins like a cruel master of puppets. He has always dreamed of escaping the repressive Aljana and becoming more than a child of inconvenience. Willow is a man of secrets and plots, with a name known by few and spoken by none. He seeks the truth of this world, for knowledge that is forbidden is the key to powers untold. These two will enter a contract that binds them together, a destiny that will unseal a legacy that traces itself back one hundred thousand years, to the bedchamber of a dying king and his Starlight Queen.
8 154 - In Serial22 Chapters
The folly of a failed magician
An intelligent girl fascinated by magic, one day at her school, some examiners came looking for magical talents, there it was discovered that she had no talent in magic, but she refusing this result decides to embark on a hard and exciting training in a magic that was compatible with her, in order to reach the top and quench her thirst for magic. But this path will be full of difficulties and setbacks, so this question remains. Will she be able to surpass herself and achieve her goal? Or will she follow another simpler path for her? Timeline: The ice queen and the nobody (prequel) | not related the false master of death (at the same time) | not related Hunger of affection (at the same time)| not related 7 envoid of the end (at the same time) | not related
8 182 - In Serial13 Chapters
Little Green Men
As nineteen-year-old Alex Dash cares for his six-year-old twin siblings, Henry and Annabelle, he is forced to navigate a post-cataclysmic world full of hostile entities. Dogs that seem more aware than they ought to, sentient plant-life, nomads aimlessly wandering...Rescued by a farming colony called Community, Alex meets Eva Monroe. She is mysterious, but also familiar somehow. When Alex sees strange lights in the fields, he begins asking questions that no one seems willing to answer. Together, Alex and Eva discover a secret. A secret that no one in Community saw coming...or did they?
8 84 - In Serial58 Chapters
Exploring the Gateway
Join John Miller as he's introduced into a fantasy world that exists parallel to our own when he is given game like powers by a mysterious god. Once he finds his footing in that world, he quickly finds himself delving into the Gateway. The Gateway is a portal to worlds which are all linked to one another and through it to earth. Each are unique in their own ways and contain different types of creatures, magic, and technology. Along his journey to explore it, he finds himself dealing with political intrigue, moral conundrums, and the complexity of human nature with a team of varied characters both with and against him. Updates every Sunday (10 AM GMT) and Wednesday (6 PM GMT) Inspired by CHYOA's the Gamer story.
8 81