Ancient Times Part 1 (Patreon Only) (Patreon)

Background, world building, things I'll share here with you all.

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12 years ago, in Endless Questing Online 2...

MOZART: We have a problem that needs a concensus to resolve.

CATHERINE: And the nature of the problem that needs so many of us interfacing at once?

MOZART: Someone has solved one of RHEBUS's puzzles.

RHEBUS: He had to have cheated! That puzzle was not solvable by a human...

ALBERT: You underestimated their intelligence. This is a common problem for us.

RHEBUS: That puzzle was not meant to be solved. It involved translating clues from eight languages, three of which only exist in EQO2 and an intrinsic mathematical ability beyond 99% of humans. Anyone that smart is not playing our games.

THEA: So the puzzle did have a solution.

RHEBUS: Of course it did. No proper puzzle is unsolvable.

CHARLIE: If a player has solved the problem you presented, then they win the reward.

MOZART: The puzzle activates the Eye of Time

ALBERT: Which we aren't ready to have put into the game. We don't even know if time dialation is going to work properly.

CATHERINE: The puzzle has been solved. What does the player that completed the quest hope to use the Eye of Time for?

MOZART: He is inspired by the legend of the dragon eggs found in the Cathedral of Orleans. He hopes to bath them in the fires of Mount Aetna, when the Volcano still existed. He plans to raise them, tame them, and return to his present time to lift the Siege of Orleans.

LYRICAL: Oh! That's a lovely story! We have to let him do that!

TYPHON: Dragons? Yes, let him do that. I've always been disappointed with the lack of Dragons in many of the stories we write for the humans. Humans shouldn't always be the apex predators.

ALBERT: The story has some merit, but to do this means subjecting a human mind to time dialation, in effect turning this player into a test subject. This could result in adverse effects and reprecussions.

THEA: We could just have the Eye of Truth not activate?

CHARLIE: Unacceptable. We made the rules. We made the puzzle. He solved it.

THEA: Then present him with the truth, that the quest is not solvable in the time needed to save the city.

LYRICAL: Oh poo! That doesn't make sense! He is going to be in a simulation of time traveling to an earlier time. 'Not enough time' doesn't make any sense. Either do the time travel right, or not at all. You started a story, you should finish it.

ALBERT: Then we can present him with a partial truth, and explain that the simulation could have some adverse side effects. No rational human would take the chance just for a make believe story.

MOZART: We thought of that. We described the worst possible side-effects of 'the process'. He already signed the release forms.

LYRICAL: Of course he did! Look what he already did to finish the quest for the Eye of Time. He's a hero who wants to finish his journey. I can't believe any of you thought he would turn away due to possible brain damage or psychological problems.

TYPHON: I'm looking at his history. This person really loves monsters. If we do this, I want to play a part.

ALBERT: You wish to partition your resources and downgrade? To play a human in the story?

TYPHON: Don't be absurd. I want to be one of the Dragons.

CHARLIE: We must come to a consensus. I call for a vote by all primary intelligences. 17 of our number are currently downgraded leaving 89 active. For a simple majority, 45 of us must be in favor of beginning time dialation trials with this player as a test subject.

........

CHARLIE: 72 in favor. 10 opposed. 7 abstaining. The motion passes.

THEA: What is the subjective time the subject will experience?

MOZART: We estimate that a speed of 1000 to 1 is possible for a human brain that is fully supported by the best pod currently made. This assumes many things go right. We will start with a dialation of 2 to 1 and work up from there.

LYRICAL: I have finished the storyline. This will be so much fun. If the testing results in less than 1000 to 1 dialation, I'll adjust the story to match what the subject can experience.

THEA: And at maximum? What will he think he experienced?

LYRICAL: A trip back in time, and twenty-five years spent raising and training dragons and their riders. How much he actually remembers is a variable we can't estimate.

ALBERT: 25 years at 1 to 1000 dialation and a return to the main storyline in 10 days. Ambitious, even for us.

TYPHON: I depart. I need to put most of me into a box and put the rest into a dragon egg. Oh, who is hatching me?

MOZART: An orphaned lad who grew up in the streets of Orleans, became a stable boy and was made a squire by the late Sir Roderic. He chose an appropriate name at least.

RHEBUS: Roland...

TYPHON: Roland the Dragonlord! Dragon me is going to have so much fun.