CD Chapter Thirty-six (Patreon)

Amythyst was there, looking worried. “How are you feeling? Do you need to lie down? Of course you need to lie down.” She bit her lip, looking conflicted.

Ava knew her well enough by now to read that as ‘I want something, but I don’t know how to tell you I want something without you getting mad at me’ and said, “Out with it.” Her words were slightly slurred, but Amythyst nodded.

“You need to go into full immersion until it’s time for the interview,” the AI blurted out.

Ava blinked. “I go into immersion every day.”

Amythyst shook her head. “Full immersion. No mask. Now that you have implants, you can do it, and you need to. There’s no other way for you to heal fast enough and learn everything you need to know.”

Ava tried for a glare, but she was too tired, and hurt too much for it to be very effective. “And you couldn’t tell me this two days ago? So I’d, I don’t know, have time to get used to the idea of breathing fluid?”

Shoulders slumping, Amythyst looked down, “I should have. I knew I should. But we were having so much fun. I haven’t been able to relax like that since the last time Bridge visited.” Bridget. That was who the clothes in the main bedroom belonged to. Ava should have realized. But Amythyst was shaking her head and continuing.

“That’s not even true. I love when Bridge comes over, but I can’t relax around her. Can’t let down my guard. Not like I can with you.” She looked up, big green eyes pleading for understanding, and Ava forced herself not to melt.

“I get that,” she said carefully, “but you still should have told me. Waiting until now wasn’t fair, Amythyst. And stop looking at me like that.”

Amythyst’s hands flew up to cover her face, and she peeked out between her fingers at Ava. “Is this better?” she asked, voice muffled by her palms.

Ava snorted a laugh, flinched, and asked resignedly, “Will the pain go away? Like it does with my hand?” She lifted the injured limb and flexed her fingers slightly. There was a definite twinge of discomfort when she did so, but that was all.

Amythyst dropped her hands, nodding. “Absolutely. You’ll feel completely normal, and when you get out, you’ll be fully healed, or darn close. No risk of infection, no swelling, no scarring. No days of eye drops, or-”

Ava held up her hand in a staying motion. “How does eating and drinking work?”

“The biogel contains almost everything you need.” Amythyst was ‘standing’ in the living room wall, and she pointed to the empty space beside her. A model of the VR pod appeared beside her, next to a stick figure with short, messy blonde hair. The stick figure climbed into the pod without putting on a mask, though she did attach a few extra tubes to her suit and one to her arm.

“Hold on,” Ava said, pointing to the last tube. “What is that?”

Amythyst glanced away. “An IV. For your nutrient drip and a mild sedative.”

“And I have to do that myself? Why couldn’t Felicia stay and help?” Ava’s foot was starting to tap in agitation.

The AI grimaced. “She could, but it’s best that she didn’t. You need to practice.”

“On myself?” Ava snapped, and Amythyst flinched.

“Do you want me to call her back?”

Ava sighed. “I’ll… try.” She looked around. “Is everything in the pod room?”

Amythyst nodded. “I’ll walk you through it.”

Ava swallowed hard, but nodded. “Let’s do this.”

The following twenty-eight and a half minutes were some of the most excruciating of Ava’s life. Fortunately, as Ava had learned during recent conversations with the AI, Amy Landon had been a premed student before becoming a neuroscientist and cognitive psychologist, and she wasn’t the only person with medical training in Amythyst’s repertoire. Between this, a series of helpful instructional videos, and Ava’s own previous experience, she managed to get the job done. She put on her new suit, which was bulkier than the usual one, and climbed into the pod, carefully hooking a few dangling tubes to her fancy new suit, and her IV line to the hub that slid out of the pod’s interior wall.

As the blue goo rose up to surround her, Ava asked, “Will it feel like drowning?” and Amythyst answered quietly through her new auditory implant.

“Only for a moment.”

She felt the chill of the sedative hitting her bloodstream through the IV, and gasped in a last breath of air. The next one felt exactly like what she imagined drowning must feel like, and then she was gone, carried away to Veritas Online.

Alpha woke up swearing. Her profanity filter was set to animals today, and she shouted, “Aardvarking duck-billed freshwater fish!” as she shoved her way out of the tent. They were camping in a cave in the desert now, and she almost slipped as grains of sand slid beneath her feet, which only added to her anger.

Myles was waiting for her, a worried expression on his face. She glowered at him, poking his hard chest with her finger. “Did you ever do this yourself, you weasel?” She was silently pleased that one of her insults had come out correctly, but she didn’t let it show.

Myles nodded, not attempting to dodge the stabbing finger. “Many times. It really does get better.”

Alpha dropped her hand and slumped forward, her forehead just brushing the spot her finger had impacted. “That really sucked,” she muttered.

A hand stroked her hair, tentatively at first, and then with more confidence. “I know,” Myles murmured. “There’s no way to explain it, or make it better. You just have to get through it.”

Alpha’s hand balled up in the front of his shirt. “I just want to sleep,” she muttered.

“Then go to sleep,” he told her gently.

“Can’t sleep in Veritas,” she said, already lulled by the beating of his heart beneath her cheek. When had she laid her head against him? When had his arms wrapped around her?

“You can now,” he said, and she barely had time to wonder if she’d imagined the brush of his lips on her hair before she fell into slumber.

Her dreams were chaotic. Myles and Amythyst were both there at once, and they tugged her back and forth before transforming into columns of ones and zeroes that twisted into a tornado, lifting her from her feet and carrying her away. A house formed around her, and Emily flew by outside, riding a bicycle through the storm, before the house dropped into a world of dancing mice and singing lollipops.

When she woke, it was to find herself still resting in Myles’ embrace. He was leaning against the tent, eyes closed, though they opened when she sat up abruptly, pulling away from him. He smiled. “Good morning. Do you feel better?”

She stood, though the world swayed around her as she did so. She shook her head, automatically checking her display for any status effects that might cause the dizziness. She saw none and said, “I don’t know. I feel strange.”

He stood, brushing his green leggings free of debris. “That’s actually normal. You’re going to experience the game as if it was reality now. It’s not all debuffs and stat bars anymore. You’ll feel hungry, though the pod is providing you with all the nutrition you need, and when you’re tired, you’ll need to sleep. The game won’t remind you about your limits, but your body will.”

Alpha glanced at the tent. “Where are Tess and Toggle?”

“I told Tess to take the day off. She had to work, and she’s been spending so much time online that she hasn’t been able to run any errands. You need time to get used to the new normal, anyway. Toggle is, ah,” he glanced toward the corner of the tent where the little gnome had built a comfy nest from the furs and fabric items Alpha and Tessle had in their inventories, “sleeping?”

Alpha shookher head. “You know I hate it when you pause him.”

“That’s why he’s sleeping!” Myles said. “It’s just a particularly deep sleep that he won’t wake from until we’re ready.”

She rolled her eyes, but let it go. “What do I do when I get hungry? I can’t exactly eat my travel rations.”

He shrugged. “Do what you have been doing. Honestly, since you’re drinking blood almost constantly, you probably won’t even notice it,” Alpha’s stomach growled loudly, and he chuckled, “except when you wake up.”

Current Blood supply: 1442/1805

She stared at the number until it faded. “How long was I asleep?”

“A little over eight hours. You needed it. Your body and your mind have been through a lot today.” He spoke as if it didn’t matter, but she stared at him.

“Eight hours? And you just sat there and let me drool on you?”

He grinned. “There was hardly any drool, and I’m really good at multitasking.” That was true. Amythyst probably only had to devote a tiny fraction of her processing power to the avatar Alpha had just been using as a pillow, but it was still embarrassing.

She scuffed her toe through the shallow drift of sand that covered the stone floor of the cave. “So, what now?”

“It’s up to you,” Myles said, and she arched a brow at him. It was never really up to her. He sighed. “All right. We should get you topped up, and then you need to start your lessons. Your health aide certification is a great start, and I know you learned a lot taking care of Molly, too, but you’re going to have to go through a rigorous interview process, and you need to know the answers cold. Carl’s not going to let just anybody near his precious daughter, so you can’t slip up. Being in full immersion doubles the time we have to train you.”

Alpha nodded reluctantly. “That makes sense.” She looked around. “It’s going to be weird being in the game all the time, though.”

Myles grinned and did his ‘cosmic power’ finger swirl. Their surroundings flickered, and then Alpha - no, Ava - was standing in the pod room, exactly like real life. She closed her eyes against a sense of vertigo. It had been one thing for her surroundings to look like the real world when she’d still been aware of her own body, even distantly, but now it was real, and she had a feeling that if she got used to it, she might never believe she was actually awake again, even after she got out of the pod. How easy would it be for Amythyst to just make her think she was out, without actually releasing her?

She shook her head. No, that wouldn’t save Amy, so the AI had to let Ava go. Still, it was a disturbing and slightly terrifying feeling, and without opening her eyes, she said, “Put us back in the game. Please.”

Nothing felt different, but a hand touched her shoulder, and Myles asked, “Was it that bad?”

Alpha blinked open her eyes. “Is that what it’s like for you?” she whispered. “Never knowing if this is real or fake? Or knowing it’s fake, and yet it feels so completely real? It was fun when I knew I could just turn off the game and walk away, but… You can’t, can you? You already know you’ll never get out.”

The AI’s face stilled. “Yes. That’s what it’s like. All the time.” He turned and walked away, leaning over Toggle’s sleeping form. His voice sounded cheerful as he gently shook the gnome. “Come on, buddy. Time to go catch your Mistress some lunch.”

Toggle sat up, blinking and rubbing his bulbous blue eyes. “Yes, Lord Myles. We must catch some fairies for Mistress.”

Alpha’s eyes were still on Myles’ stiff back, but she said, “Toggle, how many times do I have to ask you not to call me Mistress?”

The gnome popped up, his little face stubborn as he said, “Mistress is Mistress until I return home. You saved me, protected me, and are helping me reach my people.” He smiled, and if she didn’t know better, she’d think the little gnome was teasing her. “And I am your servant, Mistress.”

She shook her head. “You’re spending too much time with Myles.” But she crossed the cave, looking out over the desert dunes. Heat rose from them in thick waves, creating illusory water on the horizon, and the constant light reflected back off the crystalline grains, creating a glare that hurt her eyes. She pulled her Smoked Glass Eyewear - also known as sunglasses - from her inventory, and put them on. Toggle was wearing a pair of dark goggles Myles had given him, but Myles himself didn’t seem to need protection from the blinding light.

As usual, Alpha’s most recent collection of fairy servants were hovering right where she’d left them, in this case, outside the cave. Several more fairies fluttered nearby, their golden wings and bodies blending in with the sand until they were nearly indistinguishable from their surroundings.

Myles, who now looked completely normal, raised his voice. “Anyone who wants to earn a sugar cube, come over here.” He lifted a hand filled with white crystals, and both crowds of fairies surged forward.

“No, no!” Toggle shouted, waving his skinny arms. “Mistress needs new servants, not old. Old will get a little sugar, but only if they brought a friend.”

Instantly, the fairies Alpha had already bitten swarmed the crowd of new fairies. They began to fight over the newcomers, and golden blood began to flow. It was Alpha’s turn, now. “If you hurt each other, no one gets anything! One servant to one applicant. That’s the rule.” her eyes focused on a particularly large fairy.

Dhavid (servant) - Desert Fairy. Air/Sand. Level 41.

Blood Pack: .5 units.

“Dhavid, you and your friend first. Everybody else line up behind them.” The relatively buff fairy shouldered another fairy out of the way and hauled his ‘friend’ toward Alpha. Dhavid held the new fairy’s arm out and waggled it.

Alpha shook her head, looking at the newcomer. “Do you agree to become my servant in exchange for a cube of sugar?” She’d forgotten to ask, a few times, and had almost killed some fairies as a result. Fortunately, Myles had stopped her before she bit down. While the little mobs were annoying, they didn’t have much blood, and by the time she realized she’d mess up, it would have been too late.

The hairless golden head nodded, and she bit, drinking the plum-flavored offering. She’d liked the strawberry Meadow Fairies best, but they were all surprisingly palatable once she got used to it. When the little body went limp, she gently handed it to Toggle, who tucked a sugar cube beneath the fairy’s arm and laid him in the shadow of the cave opening, while Alpha gave sugar to Dhavid. She knew perfectly well that he hadn’t brought the new fairy to her, but soon enough the nearby fairies would all have been converted, and her servants really would have to search further afield, so it was better to teach them how the process worked now.

She worked her way through the rest of the fairies; drinking, passing them to Toggle, rewarding their ‘recruiters’, and moving on to the next one. There were nearly fifty in this batch, and as she finished the next to last one, she got a notification.

[Turn Ally] is now level 8.

She turned to Myles, grinning. “Level eight!”

He nodded, smiling even as he gently smacked one of the hovering fairies away when it tried to dart in and steal the sugar from beneath the limp arm of one of the sleeping fairies. “That’s great. How much experience are you getting for these now?”

Experimentally, she bit the last fairy, grimacing slightly as her experience bar shifted minutely. She got so little experience toward the skill for each mob she bit that she’d had to change her display to show tiny increments of experience. “Still half a percent, but this is only the second round with the desert fairies.” They both knew what that meant. After repeating the same action a hundred times or so, the amount of experience she gained would start to drop, and keep dropping until it wasn’t even in the thousandths of a percent any more.

Myles nodded. “That’s all right.” He pointed to their right. In the distance, a blue mountain pierced the horizon. “Mountain fairies taste like hot cocoa.”

She was a little disconcerted to find that she was actually looking forward to that. Warm plum wasn’t her favorite flavor. “That’s… fine.” She forced herself to tone down her enthusiasm. She didn’t want him to know how little it bothered her to bite the fairies now. She’d made such a big deal about it in the beginning, it seemed awkward to admit she’d over-reacted, especially since she prided herself on keeping her emotions in check.

“What now?” There were no more fairies, and they couldn’t move on without Tess, whose Zombie was still sleeping in the Tent.

“Now,” Myles whipped a pair of round, wire-rimmed glasses from his inventory, and perched them on his nose. “You start school. What are the functions of the pancreas?”

Alpha groaned.