Hemirtal, Draft 01, CH 03 (Patreon)

James spun and took a step back at the sight of the being behind him.

He was at least eight feet tall, shrouded in a black cloak that hinted at an armor under it, the face was nearly featureless under a helmet of sharp angles, with glowing red points for eyes as the only thing showing there might be a person in there. If the programmers wanted to inspire fear of their powers, they’d succeeded. Even knowing this was a virtual world, James had trouble thinking past the fear.

Still, he had to make sure not to draw too much attention. “Hi,” he said and wished it didn’t sound as scared as he felt. He was a professional. He’d conned federal agents while they were arresting him three times now. He could deal with a programmer.

He swallowed as the red dots peered into him.

“Hi,” he said again, putting more confidence in his voice. “I’m—”

“Michael Remington,” the being boomed. James couldn’t get himself to think of that as the programmer who was using it. “Player nine hundred fifty-eight. Lead programmer of the Armitage division programming team.”

Lead programmer of the Armitage division? As in Armitage wasn’t the company behind the game? James kept the smile from showing as excitement bubbled. If he could get the name of the company behind the game, he’d have his retirement project.

“Right,” he said bashfully, “you’d know who I am, being the people who hired me and all that.”

“You are not supposed to be here. The game is not due to be activated yet.”

James rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry about that. I got curious, and it was right there, powered up. I just wanted a peek into what I’ve been helping you make.” He looked around. “This place is amazing,” he said truthfully.

He doubted Remington the Third would be deferential toward another programmer, even one with admin level authority, but James didn’t think they would have had any sort of interactions that got them to know each other well.

“It is.” The being said.

“If you don’t mind me asking, who are you?”

“I am the arbiter.”

“I mean, who are you behind that, not just—James motioned around them—the role you play here.”

The being leaned forward, and the eyes grew brighter. “I am the Arbiter.” He stated forcefully and James took a step back. “I am the one the others come to when they seek to resolve disputes. I am the one who maintains the balance.” The being paused and James thought they smiled. “As far as you are concerned, I am a god.”

And very much full of yourself, James thought. Filing that with a reminder that people with that kind of authority and entitlement could lash out. They probably couldn’t hurt him for real, but just how brutal could a forced disconnection be?

“I apologize for my insolence,” James said. “I didn’t think the role-playing was enforced to this level, with the game not being active yet.”

“Playing your role is encouraged,” the being said, relaxing.

“I’ll keep that in mind. What happens now? Are you going to disconnect me?”

The being was so still that James figured the programmer had… what? Stepped out of their coffin? Were they discussing what to do with their team?

“No,” they said. “You are already here. There is no point in simply sending you away.” They looked into the distance, toward the rising smoke. “We could do with a test before the other players join the world. There has been no one but us here since time started moving. The infrastructure should get a test now. It will be simpler to repair whatever damage one player causes than five thousand.”

“Is that the maximum number the game can handle?”

The being fixed their gaze on James, but the dots were dimmer. “It is the first wave. Those who will ready the world for anyone who comes after.”

James didn’t know what he meant and almost asked them to clarify, but they’d said they weren’t kicking him out, and he didn’t want them to change their mind. “Alright, how do you want me to test the infrastructure?”

“Go to the village of Shimmerland, where the smoke rises from. Interact with the people there.”

“So you want me to get them to break their roles?”

The being looked at him. “You cannot.” They said, and James couldn’t help feeling like they were amused. “Simply interact. We will be watching. We will see any errors that take place because of you and we will repair them.”

“What if I don’t cause any errors?”

“Then you and the other teams who worked on this world have done what you were supposed to.”

“You sound doubtful,” James said cautiously.

“We were placed in the world to deal with any errors that appear. If those behind it did not think they would happen, they would not have seen a need for us.”

“So it’s your bosses who don’t trust the work I did.” James smiled. “Good to know.”

The being looked at him impassively. If that had hit a nerve, it didn’t show.

“So I just walked to that village and interact with the people there. Any other instructions?”

They raised their head to the sky. “Hear this system message one and all,” he said, and the voice detonated, knocking James off his feet. “We go active this very moment. Take your places, know your roles. I will be watching.”

They looked at James as a black window appeared before him. “You start by creating your character.” And then they were gone.

Welcome to Hemirtal, Michael Remington, this is your character.

Name: Michael Remington

Race: Human

Advantages: none chosen

Disadvantages: none chosen

FAME 0/0

Statistics

STG, 0,

AGL, 0,

COM, 0,

CHA, 0,

MAG, 0

Companions: None

Module Slots Available: 1 out of 1

Active Modules: none

Abilities: none

Skills: none

Next to the character sheet was a graphic of a man wearing simply looking clothing out of a fantasy novel, or a good movie. He was five-six, healthy-looking, but not muscular. His disheveled hair was honey, his eyes blue. His skin a light tan with the roughness of a man who had spent his life working outside.

He looked down at himself. The clothing matched, as did the skin tone. His hair was too short for him to see and he didn’t have a mirror to check his eyes, but it was the form he was in.

Under the two-pane window was the question

Do you wish to customize your character? Yes/no

“Yes.”

Name: Michael Remington

Race: Human

Advantages: none chosen

Disadvantages: none chosen

FAME 0/0

Full linkage has been detected. Simply focus on a section to activate the editing mode

He stared at the name and a new window appeared.

What name do you wish to go by within the world of Hemirtal?

Warning. Instant messaging is only enabled with people who are on your friend list. Knowledge of their names does not grant the ability to instant message them. To send messages to someone whose name you have, you need to use the courier system.

James wasn’t sure how that would be of use to him, being the only player in the world, so he focused on the name he wanted to use. He could keep Michael’s. He was alone, there was no chance of him running into someone who knew him, but he wasn’t going by a mark’s name if he wasn’t playing them. He also wouldn’t use his name or any of his aliases.

What would be a good name for a fantasy man? Lord Arthur of the Sword?

He shuddered. Far too attention-getting, even if he was the only one there. James spent his life being unnoticed until he needed to be noticed as someone else. This might be a game, but it was what he knew.

What would be a normal name for this world? He couldn’t know that without knowing what setting inspired it. With a town called Shimmerland, there was a definite English slant to it. He settled on William Cobbler.

Name: William Cobbler

Yes/No?

“Yes.”

Name: William Cobbler

Race: Human

Advantages: none chosen

Disadvantages: none chosen

FAME 0/0

He looked at the race.

Race: Human

Human is the common race of the world of Hemirtal. They come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors, but remain the same race. Humans are adaptable and tenacious.

It is currently the only race available to players.

It made that one easy to deal with. He moved on to advantages.

Advantages and disadvantages are traits in place to encourage players to better inhabit their characters. Each advantage costs 1 Statistic point (currently available: 3) and can be balanced out with disadvantages, which grant 1 Statistic point (disadvantages can not be used to increase the number of points available for Statistic adjustments.)

Advantages can grant minor bonuses, either physical, mental, or social, and disadvantages will cause minor penalties.

A list appeared on the right, listed alphabetically starting with the advantages. He looked at the first one.

Absolute Direction

You always know the direction you are going in. This advantage adds a compass to your overlay constantly pointing to ‘Game north’. This compass does not work in conjunction with maps you have purchased unless those maps are magical.

Absolute Timing

You always know what time it is. This advantage adds a clock that shows the ‘Game Time’ to your overlay. Note that it does not take into account any changes players who control a Holding make to their local time.

Acute hearing.

You can hear slightly better than the average person. With this advantage, you will be able to hear a conversation from a little further away as well as fainter sounds.

James wondered how the game would convey that. He looked around and the window remained in the center of his vision. Around it, he saw how clear the world was. Was that an intrinsic part of how it was programmed, or did it come about from something in an interface in the coffin, that linkage the message talked about?

If it could alter his mind, how he perceived the world, did he really want to take one of those? What would a disadvantage do to him?

He looked at the list. It was extensive. As was that of the disadvantages. He looked down that one and focused on one that had to affect his body in some non-obvious way.

Stuttering.

You have difficulty speaking. When talking, especially when excited, nervous, or in other heightened emotional states, your language center miss-fires and causes you to stumble over even common words.

For the game to enforce that, it would have to alter the words that came out of his mouth. James swallowed. If the game could alter not just how he perceived the world, but what he said. Could it adjust how he thought?

He dismissed the windows, and they vanished.

“How do I exit the game?” he asked, now that the world reacted to what he said.

To exit the game, simply access the settings, go to the game menu, and select exit game.

“How?” he began asking and felt himself panicking. He took a series of breaths to calm himself and thought settings.

Settings

Overlay, pain levels, macros, game menu.

He focused on game menu.

Game menu

Gamma setting, audio settings, sensory settings.

He stared at the selection.

Where was the exit option?

“Calm down,” he whispered to himself and cursed mentally. He prided on keeping his cool when a job spiraled out of control. It was what made him so good. It was why corporations hired him instead of hundreds of other spies. So he was going to remain calm now.

Why wasn’t the option there?

There was no obvious reason because he didn’t know the technology. Maybe some elements were calibrated for Michael, and since he wasn’t him, they weren’t responding properly. If that was the case, he might be stuck here until he died.

No. Michael would return from his trip Monday. That was two-and-a-half days from now. The human body could go for three days without water. He would have a lot of talking to do and be in a poor condition to do it when they pulled him out, but he’d be alive. Even if they arrested him, he’d talked his way out of that before.

He breathed easier. The situation wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t horrible either. If it came down to it, he could probably call the arbiter and have them disconnect them forcefully, but that would mean having to explain himself in here before he would have a chance at actual freedom.

He’d wait. If he thought something was wrong before he was pulled out, then he’d call the Arbiter.

He breathed easy again.

He smiled. He had two-and-a-half days to enjoy the game before he’d have to pull the performance of a lifetime.

He grinned.

He was going to have fun.

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