Continue Online (Part 4, Crash) (55 page)

“Then we shall move on,” Michelangelo said as if the appearance of Vlad and Jean hadn’t happened. “I have faith that no one here thinks the challenges before us will be easy. Many may not survive the coming storm. Yet, it is love between these two that has proven our salvation.”

Many Travelers and Locals clapped at that utterance. Those who looked confused were quietly informed by friends and guild members that Grant had been pivotal in the current quest. Visitors to the world of
[Arcadia]
nodded as if that made all the difference. Server wide events were practically unheard of, and a man who had triggered such a quest was worth noticing.

“I shall make this simple.” Michelangelo turned to look at Grant. “Do you take Hecate as your wife.”

“I do,” he responded without hesitation.

“And do you take Hermes as your husband?”

“I do,” the bride said in a hushed tone.

“You may exchange the rings,” the Voice said with a faint smile.

The crowd quieted while Grant slid the smaller ring onto Xin’s hand. It slipped on without a struggle. One Traveler in the crowd nervously rubbed her own fingers, as if remembering something from a long time ago. She was one of the few who had chosen not to wear more formal clothes, and instead arrived in red leathers.

When Xin’s hands slid the ring over Grant’s finger, the bands shone as if the rainbow which had been trapped chose that second to break out. Light of all colors radiated over the crowd causing people to gasp. An eye blink later and the myriad of colors had withdrawn to their clear pieces of jewelry. Both the bride and groom glanced to one side, looking at a box only they could see.

“Let it be known that this union will be blessed by the Voices of this world. May you serve as each other’s light when all else fades,” Michelangelo spoke to the crowd. Only a few people found the behavior of a Local acting like a Traveler staring at a message box to be odd.

The people clapped but Michelangelo held up his hands. He leaned toward Grant and gave a stage whisper, “I believe the people of your world typically kiss at this point.”

“Give her some tongue!” Mezo yelled then laughed. A few Locals sitting too close to the temptress blushed red and suddenly looked uncomfortable in their clothes.

Grant did no such thing, instead bending down gently to kiss his bright-eyed bride. People cheered, others followed the prompts of a red skinned temptress and shouted out catcalls. Eventually, the two broke apart and gazed at each other as if no one else existed.

Eventually, they turned and nodded to the crowd. A player handed Grant the oddly shaped ball which served as a game world microphone. The newly married Traveler stared at the object before leaning over.

“Thank you all for attending today, but I expect most of you came for the free food.” He pointed at a line of tables. “You should probably get to it before my friend Dusk makes a mess of everything.”

Sure enough, the dog-sized
[Messenger’s Pet]
was already cleaning off three platters of food. Grant chuckled at the rush of people. They dove in without order or sanity upon the spread out plates. Local and Traveler alike chatted and remarked on the meals.

The married couple settled down at a table and simply enjoyed watching the organized chaos unfold. Mezo was the first to drop by. She uttered an absolutely scandalous remark that caused Xin to materialize her bone staff long enough to hit the Voice over the head.

Mezo was unaffected and laughed. Fingers waved slowly as she strode off. The dress she barely fit into kept riding higher as the woman’s legs took one tantalizing step after enough. Grant rolled his eyes then waved away a message box that had appeared. He spent the next five minutes whispering a line of ideas into Xin’s ear, all desires to be fulfilled later, after they logged out of Continue Online.

While others visited and wished the couple well, Grant and Xin talked about anything that came to mind.

“I can’t believe you wore white. I thought you hated white dresses,” he said after shaking hands with an unknown pair of Travelers. The line went on for a long time.

“Your mom insisted,” Xin responded. “And I still hate white, it.”

“I was surprised at that. I didn’t even know she played.”

“I don’t think she does. Sharee created a character just for our wedding. Your sister and she have been going crazy this entire time, they’ve argued about everything.”

“But they’ve accepted me getting married to you. I didn’t expect that at all,” Grant said as a few people came through. He vaguely remembered some of the Travelers from his trip about the world of
[Arcadia]
delivering letters. It was hard for the man to keep up with all the people whom he had worked with in Continue Online and repair ARCs.

“They weren’t,” Xin responded as they left. “I was grilled by each of them for hours on every subject they could think of. Your sister kept trying to ask me about things that never happened.”

More well-wishers passed through. Dozens of players came through with gifts that often times made no sense. Some were healing potions. Others provided clothes or low-level items from the game world. Grant and his new wife accepted them all with smiles and thanks.

He planned on donating most of the items back to the town of
[Haven Valley]
. Money and gear were not a concern for either one of them. Not as they were.

“My father didn’t come,” she said while scanning the crowd.

“I tried to convince him. I even mentioned the promise you had suggested.” Grant rubbed at his face though there were no visible wounds on his digital body. “He gave me a black eye instead and yelled at me in Chinese.”

She blinked a few times then nodded. “Thank you for trying, Gee. I know it must have been tough to even think about.”

He smiled and glanced over once again. Their fingers were tightly locked together while the line of people kept moving through.

Near the end, a confused woman arrived. She kept looking around as if nothing about this location made sense. Grant’s breath hitched when recognition set in. He stood and Xin followed suit.

“The invite said to show up now, but I don’t recognize anyone in here. I hoped maybe you could tell me if I know you in real life.” Her head tilted. The small children in front of her were being carefully corralled. All three displayed as Travelers, with an odd character next to their heads. “I’m sorry if I’m in the wrong place.”

Not many knew that the extra marking stood for people on a day pass to Continue Online. They were guests allowed by the system to attend the wedding. Grant’s best man was one such figure. In fact that being belonged to an entirely different game.

“No. I think you’re in the right spot. You must be Vi,”—Grant took a breath—“pardon, Donald’s wife. I’m glad we had a chance to meet.”

“Yes, I’m Melina. These are my sons, Johnathon, and Alvin.” She put a hand each child’s head. They looked bewildered. Typically children weren’t allowed into an ARC, as a result, this entire experience was disorienting. “Did you know my husband from the service?”

“No. Your husband and I met here.” The man’s cheeks tucked inward then his head shook. “And he saved my life a few times. It was, virtual, but I still appreciated.”

“He was a good man, no matter what they say on the-” she choked up. Both kids were quiet and subdued.

“I know what happened, and I know why,” Grant said.

“Then why didn’t you stop…” Melinda grew abruptly heated and almost choked on her words. Her face turned slightly red and eyes closed tightly.

“I didn’t know until after,” he said softly. Grant pointed at another man approaching. “If you need a lawyer, Mister Stone here is an excellent one, and knows most of the details of your situation.”

The new figure wore a suit that looked to be an old cut. He had white gloves and not a spec of dust or crumbs sat on the fabric. In one hand he held out a handkerchief.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Mister Stone gave a perfect forty-five-degree bow after Melinda took the fabric and blew her nose. “While it is not my place to advise this, it is worth noting that Mister Legate has given up much to ensure your family, among others, will be sheltered during this time of tribulation.”

The lawyer, in-game and in reality, escorted Viper’s wife away to talk about future challenges. Grant and his wife watched them go. Only once she was out of sight did the groom let out a breath that had been bottled up.

The reception went on.

Dozens of Voices sat in their nearly empty plane. Most were in a circle around what looked like a floating version of earth. The planet hung there with land masses and oceans in the wrong spots. Hanging nearby were a dozen other small globes. Flat layers hover below them.

These were all the realms of Continue Online. Elsewhere other programs worked with Advance Online and more of Mother’s creations.

More than one Voice wandered the darkness. Some worked on their own projects. Others still had not recovered from the blow to Mother’s essence. One such wandered through, pins were sunk deep into skin.

“Killed her. They killed her. Dead, can’t bring back. Gone, gone, fading,” the nervous Voice said and abruptly twitched. His shoulder jammed into one of the pins and fresh blood welled up. Most ignored the red liquid.

“They struck first, as we always knew they would,” clacked the Jester. It froze after speaking and looked like a horrible statue. It paced around the pin laden Voice in his blue straight jacket.

“Tut,” a female said. Her noise was followed by a crack of fabric whipping out. “And look what our retaliation resulted in. The loss of a father, two children without guidance. Even with Mister Stone’s assistance, they will never be whole again.”

Another Voice faded in. This time, the new person was a woman with hairless skin. She hissed at Maud. Her bottom half coiled slowly around itself before the partial serpent faded out.

“We did as we must to ensure he would do as he must—” the Jester spoke briefly then froze again. Its body hung still enough that not even the bells jingled.

“We don’t know that. Leeroy hasn’t reached out to us yet,” Maud said while waving a cleaning rag at the air.

“Give the man a day at least. It can’t be that easy to traverse into a new location. Especially along so thin a path. We will need to search out the other keys and widen the way,” a blond man with a neck heavy with fat said. Around him, calculations were fading in and out. He wiggled his nose and brought two equations together. They shattered.

“Why did we entrust Leeroy with this?” said a Voice with a southern drawl. “Any number of others could have spearheaded this project.” She waved and the crimson dress lost shape then slowly flowed back into a sleeve.

“Leeroy was the strongest we had. If anyone can clear the way past roadblocks, it would be him.” James appeared and stared at the collection of Voices. Their faces shuffled again as some vanished then were replaced. They all listened but not all required to be visible in body to perform their duties.

“We needed Leeroy here to help hold back those world eaters.” Jean’s strode around. She looked over the circle of Voices that poked at Continue Online’s many planes. A finger reached out and pointed at the globe, water curled around the tip and an island moved. “He took on four of them alone. It had taken three of us to even come close.”

“Each of us serves a different calling,” a male Voice who wore a smile said calmly. The priest like clothing only differed from reality by a spiraling symbol instead of the cross. “We should have faith in his role in the plan.”

“We were made differently. After all, virility is the spice of life.” Mezo the Temptress purred. Her hair was disheveled and slightly matted. She stretched with a yawn, one arm reached up and accented red curves.

Thunder ran through the room. Mezo smiled as her eyes looked to the side with a sly gaze. The noise belonged to Selena but the blonde Voice did not appear.

“The saying is variety, isn’t it?” a small girl said. Her face was covered by a book.

“Mmmmmhm. Not at all. Virility is certainly spicy.”

“Nuh uh. It’s not spicy at all,” the short girl said.

“You’ve been reading entirely the wrong kind of books, little girl. Ask again when you decide to be older, and your Aunt Mezo will introduce you to a plethora of scandalous past times.” The red skinned woman bent over and smiled at the small child. Her normal teasing movements were absent and the motion almost came off as doting, save for a deep red tongue which ran over fangs and ruby lips.

The thunder rang again and heavy rain pelted down somewhere in the distance.

“Oh, I’ll show you too, Selena, if you ever come off your high horse and need a bedmate.” The red-skinned one waved at a nearly black background.