Ona

Level 2

Ona moved fast, guiding me through the dense underbrush of the forest, walking in a straight line toward a mountain peak in the distance.

I said, “Where are we going?”

Ona said nothing.

The forest had no sounds, and I was starting to think the audio failed on the equipment when a loud crackle in the startled me.

“Bromme, slow down so I can catch up!”

“Loaf?”

“I cleared the tutorial and decided to start looking for you.”

“How?”

“The second run through of the tutorial was simple, and now I’m running to your location on the map.”

“No, it’s too dangerous to search for me in the forest.”

Loaf grunted and pointed to his location a few yards from the forest trail. “Remember, we have the same status numbers. I watched the replay of your fight with a giant.”

“It wasn’t much of a fight.”

“Of course not, you’re a pro gamer. And we increased our level by a full point!”

“Hold on Loaf….Ona, does the experience of one player in the shared link increase the level of the other player?”

“Yes.”

“The game should be easy Loaf! I can help you gain experience when another monster attacks.”

“Thanks!”

Ona stopped when she reached a clearing, a pond in the middle was surrounded by flowers as large as a person.

I said, “What is this place?”

Ona said, “The flowers were all once adventurers, like you, now frozen in time by the waters of the Eternal Pond.”

“What!?” I shouted, horrified at the thought.

“The water restores all health and  doubles the amount of health the adventurer can obtain. A simple drink of pure water is all that is needed.”

“Is there a trap, a boss level monster?”

“No, the only danger is staying too long and starlight causes the transformation…”

I noticed a message on the screen and missed her additional warnings. “Bromme, I logged out of the game to get something to eat.”

I said, “Ona, we need to stop here and rest until my friend is back online.”

“Stay if you wish, but you will become one of the flowers when the starlight shines.”

“Who are you? The game guide?”

“I am Ona.”

The sky turned dark and I fell backwards onto the ground, watching a moon rise, then stars fill the sky in the clearing. I tried to move, but the controls were not responding.

“The connection is getting slower” I said, “The game is almost unplayable.”

“Bromme,” yelled Loaf, his voice crackling in the speaker. “I found a way to improve the connection speed. Where are you?”

“Loaf, you ruined a nice moment of peace and quiet. I was getting some much needed rest in a clearing near a pond in the forest.”

“The shared connection dropped offline for a second and your health almost dropped to zero. What happened?”

“The clearing you see on the map is too dangerous, go back to the castle!”

Ona danced around the pond then returned to stand close to my position on the game map. “Emotion is the end and the beginning..”

The sun fell below the horizon and I could sense a change in the controls. The virtual reality connection was not responding to movement. and the inventory selections were missing.

Loaf ran into the clearing, on a mission to rescue his friend.

Ona said, “Bromme is a flower!”

Loaf searched the area, using the map in his shared link. “I see flowers everywhere!”

Ona pointed to the flower closest to her, then walked to the edge of the pond admire the starlight reflections.

Loaf shook the flower and shouted, but the plant said nothing.

I watched the stats on the screen and the map, but the display offered no suggestions.

Ona returned to the field and shouted to Loaf. “Pull the flower out of the ground, remove the petals, then toss the stem into the pond.”

“What!?” shouted Loaf. “I refuse to hurt my friend!”

“The water in the pond restores health.”

Loaf was considering his options.

I contacted Loaf with a warning message tag from the game options. “Loaf, stop and think of another way to save my character!”

Loaf said, “We are not leaving without a fight.”

The screen went dark and I waited for something to happen.

Ona started laughing. She said, “I win.”

Loaf shouted into his headset, “Why is she dancing around the pond?”

I tested the game controls and discovered a flaw in the design. ‘Loaf, I see what she’s trying to do here.”

“The girl?”

I took a deep breath and continued. “The game went online three years ago, but the virtual reality standards changed. The software needs constant input…hold one…I will make the flower dance.”

Ona said, “Dance like Ona!”

Loaf find me seconds later and pulled me out of the ground, toss the whole flower into the pond and watched my health stats return to normal. I walked out of pond, restored.

Ona said, “Bromme survived the frozen flower fields!”

Loaf ran up to Ona, shouted a loud cheer, and joined in her the dance.

I checked my status.

Ona grabbed Loaf by the hand and the strange pair danced around my character until sunrise, a few minutes in game time.

Loaf collapsed on the ground, laughing. “Ona, my friend is a pro game. He can beat any game wit ease, but a year ago he burnt out and retired. I was never good at games. How did you capture him so easily? I think he lost his touch. Who are you?”

Ona said, “Level 3.”

© J. Bateman

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