Chapter Text
The watch didn’t tick.
It never did, it just sat there, completely useless.
A shame, because it was a beautiful watch.
It was a sort of amber gold colour, with silver highlights, attached to a darkened chain. When the watch was opened, it revealed the intricate twenty four hour clock face nestled inside one half of it. On the other half was a detailed design, the skull of some large bird, surrounded by thorns, all done in the same silver. A feeling of rising dread would affect most who looked upon it.
Beautiful. Ominous. Useless.
Completely and utterly useless.
At the very least, it was right once a day.
The bright light of the sun danced through the window and across my face. I grumbled and rolled over, attempting to avoid the obvious sign to wake up. But it was too late. I peeled open my eyes and pushed myself up off of the bed.
If I was awake, it was better to just get up instead of rolling around trying to get a few more seconds.
As I got out of bed, a familiar low beep greeted me. The thin, small, rectangle block floated at eye level in front of me.
It was called an EDME, a device used by every Citizen on every level. Its design was simple, smooth, and unchanging.
EDMEs were encoded to their user. They held basic information on their user, notes, chat forums, and Challenge Quest histories, among other things.
It was useful.
My EDME beeped again as some strange sort of morning greeting.
I tapped my hand against the side of it, a gesture that morphed the EDME into a circular brace wrapped around my wrist. The brace form of the EDME was just as sturdy as the floating block form. It was impossible to remove without changing its form again, a feature added in the case of any extreme movement.
EDMEs were important and useful, it would be horrible if a user lost theirs by accident.
I sighed and hopped off of the bed, picking up my jacket off of the ground in the same movement. I grabbed my tinted glasses and set them on my face before heading out the door.
The Setstop Inn was a haven of safety for Citizens and Inetps alike. Citizens would enter the bounds of the mountain village after a long day, and head to the Inn for dinner, drinks, and board. The Inetps would gather at the Inn to hear stories and tales about the higher and lower Tiers. They’d stay for hours, listening to what they were told, never stopping to wonder whether or not what they were being told was true or not. They didn’t care. They just wanted to experience the thrill of an adventure. Even if it was just for a small moment.
I took a few steps down the hallway, turned a corner, and nearly bumped into a very large man.
“Shit!” I exclaimed in surprise, quickly jumping a step backwards.
“Ah, careful. I almozt hit you.” The man’s voice rumbled with each word, it was like listening to a rockslide speak.
“It’s okay,” I rubbed my neck and chuckled in a friendly manner. I glanced at the stranger in front of me up and down. Massive was the best way to describe him. Massive, covered in scars, pale skin, piercing grey eyes, and long blond hair. Or more like medium length blonde hair. Not that that detail exactly mattered, the only thing that mattered was that this was the kind of guy you shouldn’t piss off. I need to diffuse this situation. “It was my fault anyways, I should have been paying better attention.”
“Right,” the stranger guffawed, “Pay attention in future.”
With that we parted, I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. I really can’t afford to get into any fights.
I trudged down the stairs and to the main floor of the Setstop Inn. Citizens of all sorts crowded the floor.
A tall serpentine woman made her way from the bar to a seat next to a table of other people who happily greeted her. Friends most likely, comrades at the very least.
An elven person with a shaved head sat at the bar, chatting on some forum through their EDME. They seemed to be enjoying themself, it must have been a good conversation.
A short, dark haired humanoid woman strolled from the front door to the side of the bar. She sat down next to an eleven man with long red hair. They began chatting in a hushed manner. It was likely some sort of deal, or perhaps they simply belonged to separate warring factions and were not supposed to be meeting.
Although factions were rarely this low down.
In the far corner from the door, a group of people had gathered around a table. Two individuals, who I could not see clearly from where I was standing, were playing a game. It must have been some sort of gambling game with high stakes, because the tension emanating from the table could be subtly felt throughout the Inn. Some people around the table were chattering about the game unfolding before their eyes, while others were watching with bated breaths.
The tension of the game added to the general atmosphere of the Inn.
Every table was filled with groups of people, some were longtime friends. Others simply had nowhere else to really sit, and had settled for spending an awkward few minutes eating their breakfasts in silence with strangers.
I made my way to one of the free stools at the bar. And I sat next to a canine woman, who was feverishly scarfing down her meal. She was in a rush to get wherever she needed to be going, and it showed. Based on her outfit, she was probably trying out the Rogue Class.
Each Class had its perks, and those perks could be accessed through a user’s EDME. Usually while in the lower Tiers, Citizens would experiment with different Classes to see how well they worked. Then they would choose one that fit them, and focus on maxing everything in that Class.
It was usually after Tier 20 that Citizens choose their Class.
The canine - probably Rogue Class - woman glanced over at me in the middle of lifting a forkful of her meal to her mouth.
I realised I had been staring at her, and I turned my head, beckoning the Bartender over.
“Howdy there, sleep well? What can I get started for you?” The bartender said cheerily. He was older, jolly, fellow. And from the slight bags under his eye, the small braid in his hair adorned with a wilting flower, and the makeshift yarn bracelet wrapped tightly around his wrist, he probably had a kid. Or two.
I took only a small moment to observe him, before making my order, “The lady here last night mentioned that you had a fruit salad?”
“Sure do! I’ll get that for you, anything else.”
“A coffee sounds nice.”
“Coming right up! It’ll just take a moment.”
A yell of anger, and the bang of someone slamming their hands on a table interrupted the dull chatter and ambiance of the Inn.
I leaned slightly closer to the Bartender, who was looking at the corner of the Inn with a concerted expression. “How about you get me that to go?” I asked, offering a small smile of reassurance. He returned a feeble smile and nodded weakly, before turning to get my order together.
Most Inepts, especially on lower Tiers like this one, don’t have a stomach for any sort of violence.
I turned my head, and joined the rest of the Inn in staring at where the noise had come from. Unsurprisingly, it had come from the high stakes game being played in the corner. Most of the people gathered around the table had backed away out of sheer caution, so I could now see the two players.
One of them was a feline with mid length dark hair, and a large blue scarf wrapped around his neck. I assume the scarf was of some importance to him, or maybe he just ran a little colder than usual. His back was mostly facing me, and I could see his tail sticking straight up and quivering slightly. He was really angry.
And maybe for good reason, as his opponent was sitting staring up at him with one of the smuggest expressions I have ever seen on a face.
They were eleven, with slightly tanned skin, and brown hair that fell to their shoulders. They were a part of the Mage Class, if their outfit was anything to go by. Their uncovered purple eye gleamed with mischief as they spoke, “I don’t see what you're so upset about, just accept your loss with grace.”
The feline slammed his hands against the table again, “You fucking cheated! Like Hel I’m going to accept anything you bastard!”
“Cheated? That’s quite an accusation, I didn't cheat.” A lie. I could see it in the way their eye glinted, they were lying and they knew it.
I could finally see the game they were playing on their table, Cards and Chips. The eleven Mage had likely stuck a few cards up their sleeves. And of course no one would really notice as their sleeves were outrageously large.
They spoke again, “It’s not my fault you were stupid enough to keep playing when you started loosing.”
The feline hissed, a primal and guttural response to anger.
They were going to start a fight.
Setstop was a haven, which meant fights technically were not allowed, however if two people were really determined, a fight could happen.
It wouldn’t be pretty.
They continued to stand-off against each other when the Bartender returned with my order.
“Fifty two credits,” he said, sparing a nervous glance to the feline and elven Mage at the corner of the Inn.
I paid and took my meal to the door. As I was leaving, I heard a crash, and furious yelling and swearing. Then a louder shrill voice yelling a lecture at the culprits.
I didn’t bother staying to see what had happened.
The street outside of the Setstop Inn was bustling with activity. Those that called the mountain village home moved about the streets, selling their wares, and buying what they needed for the week. The Citizens, the ones passing through the village and only staying for a short while, moved through the crowds. They bought what they needed, went and accepted a Challenge Quest, then left and came back later. Sometimes they wouldn’t come back. Sometimes you’d hear what happened to them pretty quickly. Other times you wouldn’t hear anything.
All it boiled down to, was that some people just weren’t cut out for this.
I raised my wrist and tapped the side of my EDME, causing it to morph back into its block form. I pressed the screen and it beeped at me, pulling up my profile.
I stared at it for a moment before pressing the ](SS)[ symbol. System storage. Through some assuredly complex mix of technology and World Energy, an EDME was capable of storing actual matter as small technological particles. Particles which could be accessed by the user at any time they wished. Anything conceivable could be stored, weapons, objects, food. Any resource at all could be shoved into an EDME, so long as it had the capacity to hold it.
At least that is how it was explained to me.
It’s not as though the EDME was capable of keeping food fresh. It would continue to decay at the same rate it would have in the outside air.
And you couldn’t put living creatures into an EDME, they'd end up dying due to the process of converting their size. But even if one somehow managed to live through the ordeal, it would come out mangled and in unimaginable pain. Not only that, but living creatures took up an incredible amount of space in the system storage. At that point it was just inefficient and cruel.
I pressed the EDME a few more times and stored my coffee and fruit salad away to be eaten later. My EDME returned to my user profile, and I took the opportunity to click on my registered Tier.
I pressed ‘CONFIRM’ and I felt myself fall as the world around me melted away, replaced with an inky nothingness.
I almost didn't notice the person moving very quickly towards the place where I had been, before I had travelled five Tiers up.
Travelling past Tiers never gets easier. I've travelled like this many times, and the feeling never changes. It doesn't matter how many times you do it, or even how many Tiers it is. It feels wrong. Like your insides are being twisted around. It feels like you are moments away from vomiting, but you can't actually get anything out. And it gets to the point where you begin to think you might be stuck that way forever.
Eternal nausea.
Fortunately for you, that's about the time your trip ends. You rematerialize at your destination, legs weak, arms heavy, bile rising in your throat, and cold sweats and shakes.
People really aren't meant to travel this way.
I spat on the ground, trying to remove the taste of bile from my mouth. I really hated this feeling.
A sudden cry of alarm echoed through the street I was standing on. People started running. They pushed past each other, and knocked each other to the ground. When some of them fell, the others who remained standing continued to run. They didn’t bother turning to help, at that point it was just an instinct to do whatever they could to survive. It was survival of the fittest.
A few brushed against me as they ran past, not very many did, most of them unconsciously avoided me.
Instinct was such a primal thing.
They continued to run past, even as a different group ran the opposite direction.
Inepts don’t have the stomach for violence. They can’t handle fear. And they run at the first sight of danger.
Citizens are born and bred for it. They thrive off of fear. And they love danger, it means points and credits.
So when danger presents itself, usually in the form of a group of Colossals, the Inepts run away, and the Citizens run to it.
After the fight is over, the Citizens who participated will be rewarded with points and credits -the amounts of which depend on how many Colossals they managed to kill- and they will receive praise from the whole village. They’ll probably get discounts too.
Profit in stupidity I guess.
Personally, the risk is too high. And I’d prefer to live instead of risking it all for two credits off of my next purchase at ‘Joe’s Butcher House’.
So I just stood there, watching them all run by until the street was mostly empty. In the distance the commotion of crashing, howling, and loud explosions echoed through the streets. From the racket, there were probably ten or so Colossals and a whole lot of Citizens. It was best to just avoid that area for now. I had to wait for something anyway.
I trotted over to a set of stairs in front of a building next to me and sat down. I tapped my EDME, and pulled my fruit salad and coffee out. The coffee was full bodied and well brewed. The only downside was the slightly bitter aftertaste. Far better than that synthetic shit you can buy off of the credit shop.
The fruit salad was just as good, although it had gotten a little mushier since it had been sitting for a while without being eaten. It had an assortment of apples, grapes, oranges, bananas and cherries.
I took my time eating it. The fight had finished by the time I was done.
The Citizens who had participated walked down the street, laughing and gloating to each other about the credits they had been given, and the dropped loot that they had collected. Most of them had minor cuts and scrapes, and some bruises that had begun to turn a purply-blue colour. The majority were covered in dust and splattered with blood that was not theirs.
I watched them all go by. I waited. Any moment now.
The last group started past me, then it happened.
The almost deafening sound of thirty-two EDMEs beeping simultaneously permeated up and down the street. Every Citizen pulled out their EDME to see what had caused it, myself included. We all already knew what the sudden alarm meant.
It was time again.
