15 Path Ahead

Sector Flashpoint 8, Forkien city's freeline junction. The two-meter wide tube slide opened, depressurizing the isolated chamber from which came out a sleek capsule.

Anne looked no more sleepy as she stepped out of the cyan metallic line-car. Christian followed behind her, glaring at the amount shown in his watch.

Christian and Anne had returned to their home country, Vasiland. This time Anne had been adamant on not using hypersonic jets for their 38 thousand miles long journey, draining all the credit from Christain's account to commute with a Ztube service. Although one of the cheapest, it was still better than those supersonic jet airlines, which took about seventeen more hours, pointlessly taking an arc for a path in the atmosphere.

"I don't know why they shouldn't close those jet airlines. It's way better to travel in a straight line, without bothering other humans with a deafening sound it takes to go around the damn planet." Anne said when they walked out of the freeline junction. She had changed into a dark furry gown from her previous formal attire. The black color kept her warm in the chilly winter hanging due to the snow cloud scattering itself all over the Forkein city.

"If you can afford it, it doesn't mean everyone else as well. Although no one is driving electric supercars anymore, they often strive for better than what they have. And this…" Christian pointed upwards, and as if on cue, a supersonic jet's voice entered her ears, whistling in low pitch noise. He didn't put his finger down in those 15 seconds. The exact time it took the jet flying 100km above them to reach far enough that it couldn't be heard. And he finally said, "...this is that better for some."

"The reason why I hate them." She said, trying hard to break pavements using her pointy heels while they walked towards their chauffeur.

"Thanks to our next month's incoming paycheque, we don't have to rely on them anymore. Which brings the point, why do you think CRC is going to such lengths, even hiring private networks to make a scoreboard for some game."

"It's not some game. Have you even entered it! It feels like a dream whenever you come back to reality after playing it. As if out of our physical body's and brain's capacity, you can't reminisce the events you experience in-game." Her barrage of words stopped as she looked in the sky. Trying to recall the events of her last immersion through the snowflakes drifting in the sky, Anne blurted out, "It's like a dream you want to relive."

"Surely you are exaggerating."

"Do you think people are playing Ulteria for its ancient culture, the melodrama relating to kingdoms, kings and queens, empire, and emperors?" She stopped before their ride and further asked, "No? Then maybe because of that illogical practice called magic. Or perhaps, you might think it's because of the species and beautiful world it has to offer. And maybe they do play it for that, but Ulteria would've been the same as any other Virtual Reality Game if not for its out-of-the-world experience. Almost as if leaving your body behind to transcend to some other realm."

She turned only to find the lackluster look on Christian's face. It was a look that said, 'it doesn't concern me unless meteors are falling in it' He opened his mouth and said the words which resembled his nonplussed face, "After all that, those couldn't be the reason CRC is interested in a game."

"You are right." Anne looked away, escaping his gaze and coughing. She had gone overboard in her explanations and in stating her views about the game. There was no way Christian did not get from it that she was a hardcore gamer.

Both of them did not speak more words until they were inside their hovercar.

"It is mostly because of its AI, assessing individual capabilities, and the fact that the dream-like feeling it gives could cause people to go brain dead." She finally said, revealing her views about Ulteria.

"What?!" His head snapped back towards the right seat on which Anne leaned back calmly.

"Among the first few fully immersive games two centuries ago, there was a company which made the best among them. It provided the same player experience. But such high immersion took a toll on players' brains, to the point that two of the players turned brain dead due to its extremely immersive behavior. It led to the shutting of game servers." Her fingers lightly tapped the air in front, typing whatever she thought worth keeping from this conversation.

"Anne, wait a sec. Are you telling me CRC doubts that Ulteria could be dangerous, and yet for some reason, you are playing it?" He asked. For an analyst, his questions had been non-contextual since the moment he entered that Ztube, the poor guy couldn't focus while remembering about his empty bank account.

"They don't doubt it but acknowledge the fact it couldn't. Otherwise, Eighth-Gen wouldn't have gotten its license to release the game worldwide. For some reason, the company has refused to install its servers on the silicon-core of Juma and Kiton. Anyways, we are getting paid for coming up with an accurate scoreboard for Ulteria, not to divulge its private matters with the public." She closed her eyes and went to sleep. There were too many things to be done for the scoreboard, and rest was a resource she needed to consume.

Now that the analysts were on it, the world soon would get to see the depth of Ulteria.

***

The Antels had yet to wake up. With a low life rating, it was going to take them more time than the Chronos had taken.

Waiting for three yellow living things to wake, Merino had used her experience to light a fire by the entrance of the cave. They all set aside the fire like they were on a picnic with a campfire. But reality begged to differ.

"Merino.G, we need to leave this place before noon. Otherwise, it will be too late, and we wouldn't be able to find a place to spend the night." Trino put Lapethree's specific honorifics to her name before letting out his concerns. Then he asked a genuine doubt, "Why can't we leave while putting them onto the back of the carriage. Why must they be awake to travel?"

He appraised the three Antels, hoping to find a reason. And…

[Name: Pindo](Level:36, Age 51)

  Racial index: 121(Antel)

  Health: 12,545

  Defense: 72

  Stamina: 72

  Strength: 75

  Agility: 73

  Intelligence: 68

The results were the same for Haara and Binul named Antels as well. Their attributes were balanced out almost linearly due to a lack of growth potential and no additional intervention with explicit distribution.

Merino didn't notice him using appraisal on Antels and said, "Their sleeping state has nothing to do with our departure. I am just taking my time to figure out how we are gonna avoid the monsters roaming in the forest."

Xahi grabbed her mother's hand, looking at her solemn expression. From her low level and her behavior, Phill understood one thing. She must be a highly pampered girl. Not having to do any laborious tasks has deprived her of experience gain, the reason her level is so low. Shaking off his wonderings about Xahi, he concentrated on the matter at hand.

"That…" Phill had already thought of a path to leave without getting in the sight of the monsters. Yet, he didn't have any plan if one of them caught on their tails. "I have a route we can take to leave this place without getting in their radar, but we have no means to fend off the ones which might pick up our movements, scent, or anything to our location."

"I…" Xahi opened her mouth and shut it close again, then clenching her fist and gulping down, she finally said, "I wish I could have stayed to train, and only left once I would be strong enough to get through the forest."

"No! What are you saying!" Merino exclaimed in at Xahi's words, "The sole reason I took you away from that place, is to not let you go through that hellish training and work for the country like a dog."

"It's all my fault," She said and hugged her daughter.

"No, Mumma! It's because of that damn human," Xahi did not hold back her anger.

"You guys, don't worry. We will be out of this place. Just give me some time." Trino said, consoling the ladies.

At a loss, they all sit beside the fire waiting for Antels to wake and racking up their brains to come up with a path ahead.