The Laptop - Ch.52 - Ghost Town (Patreon)

Once again my girlfriends and I were left silently processing Annie's latest revelation. And as usual I had even more questions, except this time I wasn't sure if I should ask them. I didn't want to upset her, and what happened to her homeworld was definitely going to be a sensitive topic.

In the end it was Chelsea who spoke up first. The little catgirl's ears were drooping to either side and her tail hung down low as she sighed, "Damn. I'm so sorry Annie. I can't even imagine how you must feel..."

"It's fine," our guest mumbled, except her expression and tone made it pretty clear that it really wasn't fine. She added with a shrug, "Like I said, it happened a long time ago."

Then she seemed to push all those difficult emotions and the subject that caused them way off into the background. Instead she focused on me and adopted a sort of teacher-like attitude as she said, "I know I've made it sound like we're racing the clock to save your world, but we can't actually get started until it's safe for the three of you to return to Earth-742."

"While it's not ideal, that doesn't mean we can't keep busy while we wait," she continued in that same tone. "We can take advantage of this forced down-time to focus on your training. You need to get more familiar with your tools of the trade, and you also need to build more confidence and become more comfortable using them."

I grimaced slightly, "So does that mean you're going to start assigning me exercises or homework or something? You said earlier you figured I'd learn better by doing stuff myself, instead of just getting the answers straight from you."

"Bingo," Annie smiled. "Don't worry though, I'm not going to give you any challenges unless I know you're up to the task. I might push you a bit here and there, but only when I think you need it."

Chelsea's ears were standing up again and her tail flicked from side to side as she asked, "What about us? I'm as happy as the next kitty to just laze around looking pretty all day long, being Lisa's cute little catgirl pet. But I don't know how Gwen would feel about that."

"On the other hand," she continued, "Maybe the two of us can be more than just eye candy or stress relief for Lisa? I guess what I'm asking is, can Gwyneth and I help out in some way?"

Gwen nodded in agreement. "Actually, is there any way Chels and I could get our hands on some 'tools of the trade' of our own? Like maybe we could become assistant admins or something? That way we could be part of Lisa's team."

Annie looked thoughtful for a few moments before responding, "I can't promise anything just yet, but I'll see what I can do."

"For what it's worth, I think you two are already doing a pretty good job of helping Lisa. You've been keeping her grounded and focused. And don't discount the value of moral support either," the bard pointed out.

I gave both my girlfriends a warm smile as I told them, "Annie's right. I couldn't have done any of this without you two. It'd be cool to have you both working alongside me on the harder stuff, but even if we can't score more of those laptops I'd still need your help to keep me going."

"And I don't just mean for eye candy and stress relief!" I added firmly. "You're both really smart, you two have helped out a lot by figuring stuff out or making good suggestions when I've been stumped."

That got both my girlfriends smiling, and I noticed a little quiet purring from Chelsea. Finally I turned my attention back to my new teacher and asked, "So how do we start this training?"

She replied, "You all wanted to visit Enðedd, so why don't we make that your first assignment? The three of you can go spend some time touring the archives there. Come back here when you're done, and we'll review."

"One tip before you go though," she added. "If you're messing with your inventory over there, when you see the 'mismatch' error do not let it update your inventory. In fact I suggest you never do that again, at least not for the three of you. Whenever you see the mismatch error on your own inventories, just ignore it from now on."

She looked and sounded like a teacher again as she told me, "We'll talk again when you're back from Enðedd, and I'm going to quiz you on why you think I just gave you that advice."

I made a face as I grumbled, "Great, more tests and quizzes. Feels like I'm right back in school again."

"At least we get to start with a field trip," Gwen pointed out with a smile.

"I guess," I pouted. Then I looked to Annie and asked, "So how do we actually get there? How do I find the 'location ID' for Enðedd?"

She got to her feet as she replied, "This one's easy to remember. Zero zero zero zero. Zero zero zero zero. Zero zero zero one. Zero zero zero one."

"You kids have fun," she added as she headed for the door. "I'll see you when you get back."

With that she exited our room, and left my girlfriends and I all looking at each other with some mixed emotions.

I finally grimaced, "So I guess we need to plan another little adventure."

"While we're still in the middle of our first adventure," Gwen added.

Chelsea shrugged, "This one probably isn't going to take as long, considering all we're doing is going to look at a library. Right? That was the assignment, go check out the archives then come back here."

"Yeah," I nodded slowly. "So we probably won't be gone more than a few hours. Let's say a day at most?"

The three of us talked it over as we made our plans, and in the end we decided not to haul all our stuff around with us. Gwyneth went downstairs and paid the innkeeper so we had our room for another two nights, then when she returned we locked the door and made sure the windows were secure.

I had the laptop with me of course, with my bow slung over my left shoulder and my quiver hanging by my right hip. And my knife and dagger were both hanging from my belt, along with my coin purse. I also had those two healing potions tucked away in my jacket pockets. Gwen was in her full mage outfit, with her staff and hat and all that. And Chels was wearing her rogue outfit with all her daggers strapped in place. Everything else was stowed away in our packs, which we left on the floor next to the large comfy bed.

Not that we were expecting any trouble, according to Annie nobody lived in the realm we were about to visit, but it still felt prudent. Especially knowing that 'safe mode' would be reset when we arrived. It'd also be reset when we returned here, and we already knew from experience that this realm wasn't as safe as we'd originally thought.

Finally I opened up the expeditions app and punched in the destination Annie gave us. '0000 0000 0001 0001' was obviously very different from the ID for home, and the code for that meadow where we first appeared on this world. Those other two felt more natural, more organic in a way. The code for Enðedd seemed sort of artificial. Or at least it felt more deliberate or intentional. Annie was right about one thing though, it was also a lot easier to remember.

The app confirmed that our destination was Enðedd, and the short realm summary it provided pretty much corroborated what Annie told us about the place. There was also a little addendum text explaining that our destination was toggled as a static realm, meaning no changes could be made there, and that the population was zero.

Nothing in the app suggested our destination was dangerous in any way, but I still felt a little wary regardless. I took a deep breath then asked my girlfriends, "Are you two ready?"

They both nodded, so I tapped the key to initiate the portal. Just like when I first did it at home in my basement bedroom, the blue and yellow LEDs flickered then stayed on as the laptop did its thing. And at the same time, the space in front of the door to the hallway began to shimmer and warp. A second or two later reality itself seemed to tear open, leaving a swirling glowing doorway-shaped hole in space.

Like before all three of us held hands, and both my girlfriends closed their eyes as we stepped through together.

A moment later we found ourselves standing in a large open plaza or square in the heart of a big modern city. The first thing that really struck me though was the air.

I'd already grown accustomed to the sounds and smells of Hoag's Hole. Like the subdued noise of the tavern, along with its odours of beer and roasting meat. Then there was the hustle and bustle from the village market, where the fresh air was tainted with aromas of whatever wares merchants were selling, like exotic spices or grilled meats.

All that was suddenly gone. Instead the air felt musty and oppressive, like the inside of a closet that hadn't been aired out in far too long. There was also a faint chemical smell that I couldn't quite place, like some unpleasant industrial process in the distance maybe. The only sounds were a very faint whistling from the wind passing between impossibly-tall skyscrapers high above us, and the rustling of loose trash blowing around down at ground level.

"Oh..." Gwen mumbled as she slowly looked around.

"This place is creepy as fuck," Chels added as she wrinkled her nose, while her ears folded back while her tail puffed out behind her.

I nodded slowly as I turned to check behind us. Sure enough the portal flickered and closed, then all three of us continued to survey the eerily silent empty city. My girlfriends and I all just stood there for a bit, quietly looking around at the new alien world we found ourselves in.

The first visual indication that we were on another alien world was up in the sky. It was sort of blue, but the colour was kind of faded compared to what we were used to. There were some puffy clouds up there as well, but instead of being white they had a sickly yellow tinge to them. Then there were the moons. Enðedd had at least three of them, all of which were visible in the sky above us. There was a big one almost directly overhead, while two smaller ones were closer to the horizon in opposite directions.

The buildings were also sort of alien, in an 'uncanny valley' way. They were really close to what we'd see back home on Earth, while being different enough in subtle ways that made them seem wrong.

Like for one thing they were too tall. I knew there were some really tall buildings back home, but they were rare. Here it seemed like all the buildings in the heart of this city were at least two hundred stories high. And they were all made with lots of mirrored glass, brushed steel, and concrete. It made the whole city feel sort of universally grey. Back home there'd have been some different shades. Maybe nothing too garish, but some buildings would have been pale red, or pale brown, or black, or shiny silver. Here it was all just universally grey.

Which led me to the next realization. There was almost no colour here, and definitely no green at all. At home there were always at least a few plants, even in the heart of the city. Like there'd be planters here and there, or holes in the sidewalk for trees to grow up through. Or weeds squeezing up in between the cracks. Here there was none of that. No plants, living or dead. Nowhere for plants to even grow.

The only non-utilitarian thing in sight was what I took to be a big fountain in the middle of the plaza. It was dry now, there was no water flowing, but the wide circular feature sat below the level of the pavement, and was lined with light-grey tiles. There were some brushed steel nozzles in the middle of it too, which is why I took it for a fountain rather than just a man-made pond. And the middle of the city felt out of place for a kids' wading pool.

Finally there were the vehicles. There were about a dozen in view around us, but they all looked like something you'd find in a sci-fi movie. They were reminiscent of cars and mini-vans, except none of them had wheels. Their sleek brushed-steel and shaded glass construction made it clear they were meant to fly.

A couple of them seemed to be parked normally, on the sides of the roads that surrounded the large open square. Most of them though looked more haphazard, like they'd suddenly landed just any old way. One was parked sideways blocking a road. Another was sort of crooked in the square off to our left. And a third was sitting in that empty fountain, with its doors still open.

"You know what makes this place so spooky?" Chelsea's voice suddenly broke the silence. Her ears were still folded back, and her tail remained puffed up as she continued, "The trash blowing around. If it was spotlessly clean, I could believe this was like a museum exhibit or something. But the trash makes it feel like a real living city, except all the people are gone."

Gwen nodded, "You're right. That and the way some of the vehicles look out of place? It's like every living thing just vanished, maybe only a day or two before we got here. Now it's like some kind of giant ghost town."

"It's definitely creepy," I agreed. "Fortunately we aren't going to be here for too long."

Then I gestured at the laptop in my hand, "I just need to check a few details, then we can start looking for the library."

My girlfriends both nodded quietly as they continued looking around. They stayed close to me though, as they studied the large plaza we'd appeared in. Meanwhile I focused on the little pink laptop again. There wasn't anything around I could use as a desk or table, so I ended up holding it in my left hand and typing one-handed with my right. It wasn't the quickest option, but I didn't feel comfortable using one of the abandoned vehicles as a desk. They were just spooky enough that I was happier keeping my distance.

The first thing I looked at was the log screen in the expeditions app. Sure enough it recorded the portal we'd just used, although the destination field read 'Invalid Location' rather than indicating the code I'd used. That was strange, but not really a problem. The origin field was the important one, and sure enough it was similar to the code we'd originally used to get to Daearen. Even more critical, while the numbers were close they weren't identical, which was a huge relief.

I wouldn't know for sure until we tried it, but I was confident the minor variations meant when we returned to that world we wouldn't be back in that meadow sixty-something kilometres away from Hoag's Hole.

With that out of the way, the next thing I did was open the map view. It gave me another ASCII rendering, but when I zoomed in I was able to confirm that the map correctly placed us in the large plaza in the centre of the enormous city. Even better, the library was actually listed on the map, and it was pretty close to our location.

Finally I left the expeditions app and opened the realm editor instead. That told me our current realm was Enðedd-0, and as I scrolled through the main entries it verified most of the other stuff Annie told us about this place.

"Alright," I nodded to myself as I exited the app then closed the lid on the laptop. "The library's not far away, so we should be able to get this over with and get out of here reasonably quickly."

Gwen groaned in response, "I sure hope you didn't just jinx things for us."