“SHIT SHIT SHIT! FUCK! DODGE! 3-17th LEFT BOUND! PORT SIDE 5! TILT 7! FOCUS!” Shouted the pilot of a starship, swiftly gliding his fingers over the screen, each gesture inputting new coordinates and commands into the nav-systems.
“Threat inbound, 3…2…” Spoke the automated system. Sirens wailed, the lights blinked.
“Lusian? We good?” inquired a man who calmly sat in the captain’s chair, sipping on his coffee, most of which had spilled all over his uniform by now.
“NO!” Shouted back the pilot.
The ship shook, sirens silenced, the lights went dark. A moment later a familiar electric hum filled the void of silence, the systems rebooted and the lights flickered back on. Lusian proceeded to input commands in a rush.
“Right wing has been severed, we lost half our fuel and jump capacity. Left engine overheating, advise: exit the wormhole.” Reported the system.
“Shit shit – shit SHIT SHIT!” Cursed the pilot. “If we exit now, we are taking serious risks, hell knows where we are!”
Captain nodded. “And if we keep going, we’re also taking risks.”
Choose your own adventure
Keep going or exit?
Atheris Hispida: Usually wormholes are quite good at killing you if you overstay your welcome, so I’d say get out of it.
Lucynia Leoktema: PRESSING ON!!!!
Kazu Miwa: Exit ! On one side it’s adventure, on the other side it’s recklessness
Nagisa Shokushu: I like both ideas
Rapu Riverstone: I remember this Cowboy Bebop episode
Nagisa Shokushu: but no risk no fun
Rapu Riverstone: So I vote for exit
Full Ahoy: yeah, exit seems equally exciting
“Yes! Screw it! YOLO!” Lusian typed in commands into the console.
“Acknowledged, commencing punch-abortion protocol, exiting wormhole in 3…. 2…” the announcement got interrupted by a different announcement. “Threat inbound, contact in 5…4…” it switched back to the previous, “1.”
The time seemingly came to a halt for the briefest of moments everything stood still, and then a sudden pull to the side, the ship leaped out of the wormhole and tumbled through space, its engines offline. Then another pull, it phased into existence over snowy peaks. Lusian’s fingers glided over the screen with incredible speed and precision, unlike his words which came out as a scrambled mess of characters, practically indistinguishable to any normal person.
“Startyoudampieceofcraptrashbucket7-3disttirbutethefuel…” He slammed the console.
“START!!!!”
The engines coughed to life.
“Propellant system, online.” Reported the computer. “Threat inbound from the aft, suggestion: evasive maneuver.”
“NO SHIT!” Yelled back the pilot, veering the joystick to the left to dodge the projectile that exited the wormhole with them. The threat was successfully avoided, he watched a spherical, metallic object rush past them, and then phase out of existence.
“What the hell was that??” He shouted.
“Analysis report: that was a cannonball.”
“Where did it go?” He inquired curiously, struggling to keep the starship steady as it tilted side to side, like a drunkard, or a sail boat in storm.
“According to my calculations… Unknown, different dimension.” Replied the automated system.
“So, you’re telling me that damned cannonball punched a wormhole through dimensions, and was aimed at US?”
“Affirmative!” Replied the coffee-covered, calm man from Captain’s seat.
“Why?” Asked the pilot.
“Because of our cargo.” Replied Captain.
“What cargo?” asked Lusian. “We have but a single box in the cargo bay!”
Captain nodded. “Yes, but it’s no ordinary box, it’s a box of…” The ship’s engines coughed, barely staying on. The entire chassis of the ship, or, what’s left of it creaked and squealed.
“We’ve to land!” Called out Lusian.
“Landing spots discovered, suggestions: grass field atop a snowy peak, mirage mountain, white portal to the portside, flat snowy field straight ahead.”
Choose your own adventure
Where shall they land?
Full Ahoy: mirage mountain ahoy!
Lucynia Leoktema: I like grass!!
Nagisa Shokushu: Mirage mountain sounds most mysterious so I’d go for that
Orlena Frex: I wonder where the portal might go 😮
Atheris Hispida: I’d give the portal a chance. Mirage mountain sounds like an invitation to disaster.
Orlena Frex: In case of doubt, follow the bunny ears.
Kazu Miwa: grass field at the top of a snowy peak ? Maybe they can find some Meniva Flowers :3
Nagisa Shokushu: ohh I change my opinion to portal!
Kazu Miwa: I’d go with portal too !
“Portal? Why is there a portal? Ugh! Doesn’t matter, PORTAL!” The ship tilted and turned, setting course for the portal, but the portal began to shrink. The closer they got, the smaller it got.
“STOP!” Called out Captain.
“NEVER!” Lusian yelled back, full of resolve, his course was set, and a decision was made. He pointed right at it, cockpit first, nothing else mattered anymore. They had just dodged interdimensional cannonballs and got thrown out into a strange world, how much worse could it get?
As the ship made contact with the portal, its wings, as well as the majority of its body, ceased to exist, as if they were never there. Only the cockpit, and the cargo bay directly behind it remained intact. The time came to a halt, an effect similar to wormhole punching, but something was different, something was off this time, it didn’t resume to normal, instead, it accelerated. They got pulled into a stream they couldn’t see, a stream that guided their path for mere milliseconds, before getting spewed out onto a race track.
The remnants of their ship screeched on the racetrack, sparks flying. Engines roared past them. Lusian stared out of his cockpit at a massive gorilla behind the steering wheel of what vaguely resembled an F1 racing car, but larger, much larger, to fit a gorilla. The gorilla flipped them off. The ship finally came to a halt.
“Computer, offline!” Lusian commanded as he swiftly leaped out of the cockpit.
He ran off the track before the security had a chance to even react to the events that unfolded before them, namely, the remains of a spaceship appearing out of thin air on a race track. A few brief minutes later Captain caught up to him.
“Phew. That was… a nice landing! Did we win?”
Lusian’s gaze was stern. “No!? Why did we get shot at in the first place? We’re simple merchants!”
“Oh that, yeah uh, that’s battleship players.” Explained Captain, holding a box at his side, arm wrapped around it, it looked like a generic, brown, shipping box.
“Pardon me? Come again? Who? What?” Lusian inquired emotionally. Confused, scared, perhaps even angry, no, most definitely angry, he loved that ship.
“Ughh… So this box is very important, take a peek inside!” Captain said, holding the box out.
Lusian hesitantly pulled the flaps open and glanced into an empty box that only had a strange object that was spinning endlessly, made out of 0s and 1s.
“What… is that?”
Captain grinned and then swiftly turned the box around and put it over Lusian’s head.
The pilot disappeared.
The same effect, time stopped, and then accelerated. He now found himself standing on a grass field, baffled and perplexed.
“See? Important box!” Captain’s voice called out from behind him, tapped him on the shoulder and pulled him aside. A cannon ball landed right where he previously stood.
“Missed! Ahem, anyways! That box is uhm… inter-dimensional relay… portal, it’s like a hmmm…” He pondered how to explain it. “Imagine each blade of grass is a different world.” He pointed at the ground. “And this box allows you to travel between them, but only a few can control it.” He explained. “Like wormhole punching but across universes not just a single one.”
“So, what does that have to do with me?” Lusian inquired. “You hired me to pilot the ship…”
Captain nodded. “Yes yes, we were to take the backdoor code to the one who can control it, SmiteKrab. But, the damned Ahoy’s crew opened fire on us. They want the code for themselves to traverse the global net.”
Lusian squinted. “A what..?”
Captain sighed. “Right uhm, doesn’t matter, let’s go!”
Choose your own adventure
Stay and explore or box again?
Lucynia Leoktema: The grass is always greener on the oder side, so they port to another grass leaf!!
Atheris Hispida: One way or another they’ll be hunted by cannonballs.
Orlena Frex: The otter side? Has anyone seen Ace?
Kazu Miwa: my mind is fryingwith all those interdimensional travels. I wouldnt be against catching my breath by staying in this world
Nagisa Shokushu: I say explore the city
Rapu Riverstone: ::think
Full Ahoy: hmm
Presea Diamond: Box box
Full Ahoy: yeah let’s get into the box
Lusian had nothing much else to say. What Captain had told him so far has baffled him enough to reduce his further questions to a zero. He was a simple pilot, he never desired more in life than to traverse space in serenity and peace. But traversing dimensions and universes was way too far out of his scope of interests. He followed Captain in silence, only desire was to return to his world, and also not get pummeled by interdimensional cannonballs.
They made it to the city, a typical fantasy town. Adventurers roamed it, merchants littered the town center. People were friendly and welcoming, but troubled at the same time. Off to the side, some strange adventurer in a green outfit was breaking every pot he came across. At the tavern, Captain kept asking strange questions to the barkeep and patrons. ‘Odd patrons, explorers, knowledge seekers, completionists.’
At last, they learned of a ‘seeker’, a mysterious persona that dwelled in the basement of the nearest inn, rented out the entirety of it. He would disappear at night, and return at the break of dawn. The seeker they seeked, and at last they found him, or at least, his dwelling. They waited long, and at last he returned. At first, he dismissed them, until Captain spoke a magic word that turned the seeker’s attitude towards them 180. ‘Player?’
“Where from?” Inquired the seeker, a man dressed as ordinarily as possible for this city.
“We’re from the Galaxy-traders, well, he is. I was on my way to the Nort to deliver the backdoor access code I discovered.”
The seeker demanded to see the box. Lusian observed their interaction with growing interest and confusion. The seeker peeked in, the following interaction was filled with excitement, before returning to business-usual discussion.
“I can alter the code to an extent.. Hmm… I reckon the dude who could guide you further is in the Grand Finale de Fantasia 17! He’s uhhm, well, she’s a catgirl. You’ll find her chilling under a tree.” He sneered at Captain. “But, I ain’t doing it for free dawg.” he held his hand out.
Captain pulled out a token from the pocket of his jacket and watched the metallic, coin-like token in his hand carefully.
“I only got 2 left, drop the price, I’ll recommend you to pals then.”
“Naw man, you on the net, ain’t nothing free here dawg. You want a script, you pay for the script. You want free service, go to x.com. Well?” The seeker replied. “Look bro, I got a rare flower to gather in 3 mins, ye or nah?”
Captain nodded. “Aye… Send us.” He tossed the coin over to the seeker who caught it excitedly and glanced at it. An old, worn out, arcade ‘replay’ token. So worn out in fact that the text upon it was faded. An artifact no less, a relic of the old net.
These old tokens grant you access to some great corners of the net, if you know where to look. The seeker seemingly poked at the box with no clear intent in mind. To Lusian it looked like randomest taps on the most mundane brown, mailing box. None of this seemed significant, merely a bunch of random chatter, and a plain box.
“Done and done, off you go!” The seeker clapped his hands, stashed the token away in his pocket and left his dwelling once more.
The two ventured onwards to their next destination, a person by the name of ‘Moone’st Kitty’ whom they found exactly where the seeker told them to look, under a tree, in yet another fantasy world. The deal there was made much as the one before. Some random chatter, price discussion, the same coin was traded, and the box was tapped again.
What followed after was a shock. The agreement was that they’d get sent back to the Galaxy-traders where they’d proceed on their way to meet the one who was awaiting the backdoor code. However, the cry of the seagulls was the opposite of what they expected to hear. They reopened their eyes to see before them the vastness of an ocean. Setting sun glistened in the water, joyful singing could be heard from the other side of the ship.
“Pretty ain’t it?” A raspy voice came from beside them. Against the wooden, weathered railing of the ship, leaned a man. A Bandana on his head and draped in raggedy clothes. He took a sip and then glanced at them. “Yer not ours.” Lusian took a step back, the floorboard creaked and the singing stopped. Captain swallowed audibly.
“No, we’re uh.. Just passing by.”
“Yer not passing, stay the night!” The pirate said, taking a step closer and patting Captain on the shoulder. “Ahrr captain, Sir Ahoy the Fullest, has much to ask of you!” He grinned, a few missing teeth but seemingly no ill intents, no threats. Somehow he felt genuine and welcoming.
“Uhm, I think we’re best to…”
The pirate’s grip strengthened. “Nay, you stay!”
He guided the guests to the rest of the crew that had stood in a circle around a metal barrel, inside which a fire burned. The singing resumed, and although cornered, and trapped on a pirate ship, in the middle of the ocean, neither Captain, or Lusian, felt particularly threatened, until Lusian backpaddled from the group, in an attempt to sneak away, and found himself leaning against a gorilla, the very same gorilla he saw on the race track.
“Ohhh? You’re the reason I lost!”
Lusian’s eyes widened. “No! That was Captain! I am merely a pilot.”
The gorilla grinned.
The events that ensued were considered far too graphical to describe.
In the meantime,
Captain found himself in the room with the pirate captain.
“Ah, you must be the infamous Full Ahoy, captain of this fine vessel.”
“The box.” Ahoy said, tapping his finger on the table.
“Now!”
“I can’t do that, I am tasked with delivering it to the world of Nort, SmiteKrab is waiting for it.” Captain replied.
Ahoy sighed. “You know about him? Anything at all? His intentions? The reason for wanting the backdoor?”
Captain shook his head. “He at least didn’t shoot interdimensional cannonballs at us.”
Ahoy nodded. “You’d respawn, and Lusian would reset in his world, no harm would’ve been done, if you didn’t keep dodging them.”
Captain shrugged. “Yeah, but then you would get your hands on the backdoor.” Ahoy nodded. “And hide it we would. The power of it is more than you realize. You, did not notice, did you?”
Captain tilted his head to the side. “Huh? What was I supposed to notice?”
Ahoy grinned “Get up from the game.”
Captain raised his eyebrow. “Uhm, log out!” He commanded, but nothing happened.
“See?” Ahoy’s grin grew wider. “Now you get it, don’t you? You’re not just sitting at the console absorbed in the game. You are ‘literally’ absorbed in-to the game.” He explained. “The backdoor is an artifact, permitting not only access to any game connected to the web in any way, but also, erasing the boundary between the reality and the virtuality.”
Captain’s eyes widened. “No, that’s… impossible!” His eyes darted around the room, and over his body, scanning the environment. Truly, how did it happen? He never noticed it, but somehow, he is no longer just immersed in the game and drawn into it, but instead he’s fully absorbed into the world itself.
“If… if I die..??”
Ahoy shook his head. “Oh don’t worry, you’ll respawn all the same.”
“And the… SmiteKrab?” Inquired Captain.
“Ohh, we don’t know his intents, but he planned to spread the backdoor around like a virus… Potentially creating, well… threat to public safety.”
Captain tilted his head to the side. “And? What role do you play in all of this?”
Ahoy leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers on the table. “We are the game masters and moderators. For now, you’re within Zero’s Arcade local net, SmiteKrab is here too, one of the players. We’re searching for him, but we can’t have you deliver the backdoor to him.”
And although this was a bizarre story and difficult to believe, one thing was undeniable, he was absorbed into the game world, he was here, this was the reality, and no longer just a game. A decision had to be made, here and now. Captain anxiously contemplated his choices. Stay to keep the backdoor safe, hand it over to the Ahoy’s crew who claim to be moderators, or go for SmiteKrab afterall.
“I’ll stay!” He called out enthusiastically.
“Pardon me?” Inquired Ahoy.
“Oh uhm… I’ll stay. Here, with you, and safekeep the box, the backdoor, until we figure out a way to safely store it.. Or something.”
Ahoy’s eyebrow raised, and then he burst out into a laughter.
“You’re a fool… I like you! Welcome to the crew.”
Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to years. And years turned to taps, on the shoulder, and gentle whispers.
“Hey, wake up, we’re closing.”
Lusian gasped, startled awake, his disoriented gaze darted around the room.
“What? Where?”
Zero, the arcade owner blinked at him confused.
“Dude you dozed off a couple of hours ago, but uhh, it’s midnight, we’re closing. Chop chop.”
“Oh.. right.. Man, I had the wildest dream.”
Zero grinned at him.
“We all occasionally have those,
now Full Ahoy outta here man!”
Audience prompts for this tale
-
I want a box with a dimension inside
-
I want cannonballs, but this time they are interdimensional cannonballs
-
I’ll refer to my previous statement, the box is a servant that gets participants for its masters dimension, much like you get your staff members.
-
A single coin? Worn out from passing from person to person. So old that not even the metal remembers the secret it holds?
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