Ona

Level 3

I watched Ona run deeper into the forest toward the highest peak.

Loaf said, “The girl Ona, who is she?”

I said, “The adventure games I played in 2D, 3D, retro and VR have one common theme. The story goal. I think the Ona needs a hero to rescue the world.”

Loaf said, “Not the girl? She is dressed like a princess”

I laughed. “Ona is like the game world narrator. I think we might need to be rescued from her.”

Loaf mumbled about the game controls being too confusing. He sent a chat message, “So what was all the talk about her appearance? Uggh, the controls are frustrating!”

I could hear Loaf mashing the buttons on the controller as he struggled with the tracking mechanic in the virtual reality gear. I said,. “Ona does not have an age in human years, but she is close to four hundred years old according to the game lore.”

Loaf said, “The character design is generic, but fits the world theme, almost like a child is guiding us on the storybook adventure. In real life you are just as skilled as in these games.”

I said nothing in reply as they continued to track the girl. In a few minutes of real time the adventures climbed out of the forest into a wide expanse of tundra near the base of the mountain.

The air was chill and the wildlife was silent.  A small ruined castle tower perched on an outcropping of rock seemed interesting so they decided to look closer.

The tower was a blend of white and black stones, wide at the base and narrowed to a point, maybe two or three stories tall and standing on a windswept outcropping of stone. The well worn path lead to the entrance.

“Stop where you are!” said an old woman standing in the entrance, holding the massive wood door partly open.

I stepped forward. “The girl dressed like a storybook princess, and calls herself Ona, was heading toward the mountain. Have you seen her?”

“Ona?”

“Yeah, the girl.”

“I am Ona.”

“Don’t you remember? The name is Bromme,” I said. “And why are you so old?”

“Hmmm, I see many adventures on this road and not one has dared to call me old. Respect your elders!”

Loaf stepped up to the entrance. “I want to see the tower.”

Ona said, ”Why?”

“Adventurers like to explore.”

“Ona likes to help, but the tower is like a tree, or rock, or bird in the sky. All props on a stage.” She pointed to the mountain. “The level 4 entrance is at the base of the tallest mountain, in a cave. Goodbye.” The tower door was slammed shut with the sharp crack of wood on stone.

I ran to the entrance of the tower and reached out to pull the handle. The wood door pulled free of the hinges and dropped to the ground. “What is this place?”

The tower crumbled into dust and he jumped free of the crumbling stones.

“I’m free!” yelled a voice in the clouds of dust.

The VR menu screen flashed a message, “Rescue successful, hero status granted.”

I stepped forward to search the rubble and found a young woman, long white hair, black armor plating, and ice blue eyes, sitting on the ground laughing.

“Hello, I’m the Source Aura. I was locked in the tower with no escape. I tried deleting my character stats, turning off the game and returning to the tutorial level.”

Loaf reached down to help the young woman stand. “How long were you here?”

“Five days according to the game world time. I heard the game was discontinued and figured it was a software error.”

I scanned the crumbled ruins for signs of other adventurers.

The Source Aura said, “The rescue was a fun surprise, but we need to get moving, fast.”

“Why” I said feeling no sense of urgency. “I doubt there are other real players in the game.”

Loaf said, “But the tutorial castle was filled with players starting out on

The Source Aura said, “Non-player characters. I was the last real player to complete the castle tutorial before the announcement. The game started locking new players in a loop of failure at the tutorial level.”

“I’m Bromme and this is Loaf. He bought the game on sale,” I said pointing to my friend, “He asked me to be his guide.”

Loaf said, “Hey, I can’t afford to buy new gear so I bought a discontinued game. I want to learn how to play a VR game and what better place than a game with no other players?”

The voice of Ona whispered to Bromme, “Run!”

The sound of armor clanking and racing up the hill reached the players.

Loaf was the first to spot her, a tall brunette with deep red armor plating ran out of the forest and climbed the tundra slope with unnatural speed. 

“Princess, I found you, return to the castle at once,” said the red knight.

The Source Aura Fell grabbed hold of the adventures and pulled them around to the back of the rock outcropping, “The red knight!” Run!” She pointed to the steps leading into darkness. “The collapse of the tower opened a path to level 3, goodbye friends.”

Loaf refused to enter the darkness and broke free of the young woman’s strong grip. He pounded a gloved fist into the stone wall of the cave and the entrance collapsed, rubble and dust fell onto the narrow staircase. 

The Source Aura pulled a torch from the wall and whispered a spell. The torch sparked to life and she looked at her companions. “Emotion is the end and the beginning!”

I pulled Loaf into the cave. “Are you Ona?”

“No, I’m another VR player. I was pursed by the red knight the moment I passed the tutorial and started playing through the virtual world She keeps yelling ‘adventures are no place for an inexperienced player’ or something like that.”

The howls and cries of the red knight were heard at the entrance until the adventurers reached the base of the stairs and entered a large cavern studded with blue crystal shards. A pack of transparent ghostly wolves, looking more like clouds of grey smoke than a recognizable form, drifted through the cracks in the stones around the crumbled entrance and raced toward the adventurers.

The Source Aura could hear the approaching danger. “The red knight called the forest wolves.” She dropped the torch and sat down, legs crossed and hummed a deep melody. The crystal shards vibrated and shook until a sudden rain of crystals dropped like daggers around the lava tube entrance to the cavern and blocked the path. The ghostly wolves howled, but could not pursue the adventures.

I shouted for the young woman to stop.

The floor opened up and the adventurers slipped down a long winding lava tube into a deeper cavern, all three landing on their feet. The cavern had smooth white walls and green slime on every surface.

Loaf shouted, “Bromme, did you do that?”

I looked around and noticed my hands glowing a neon green and slime dripping from my fingers. “New skill?”

The Source Aura laughed. “The slippery slime escape! I used the same plan once and nearly broke my arm.”

I reached out and pointed to a large door at the back of the cavern with a number carved ornately into the wood timbers.

Loaf brushed the slime off his armor and said, “Level 4.”

© J. Bateman

Concentrikey © 2023