Ona: The Memory

Level 2

The mysterious woman guided me through the dense underbrush of the forest, walking in a straight line toward the highest 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 headset startled me.

“Bromme?”

“Loaf?”

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

“How?”

“I’m running to your location on the map.”

“No, it’s too dangerous to enter the forest at night.”

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 ogre and can handle anything.”

“The tutorial level defeated you…”

Loaf was confident. “The shared link system increases the level of the other player.”

Ona smiled at the discovery of an in-game secret. “Yes, the increased abilities is a result of the shared link. The tutorial does not include the feature.”

“Good plan! I can help you gain experience when monsters attack.”

“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 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 decided to wait near the pond.

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

“Who are you?”

The sky turned dark and the stars began to shine. “I am Ona.”

I tried to move, but the controls were not responding.

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

Loaf shouted over the crackling of the audio in the shared link. “I found a way to improve the connection speed. Where are you?”

“Loaf, you ruined a nice moment of peace. The map should have an icon for the location.”

“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 and 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 she held in her hands, then walked to the edge of the pond to admire the starlight reflections.

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

I watched the stats on the screen and the map and 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. I checked the overhead worldview and noticed the icon for my player on flower near the pond.

Ona started laughing. “I win.”

Loaf shouted into his headset, “Where do you go?”

I tested the game controls and discovered a flaw in the design. ‘Loaf, I was transformed into a flower!”

“What?”

I said, “The game went online three years ago, but the virtual reality standards changed and the number of players quickly declined. The old control system was dropped by most players.” I remained calm and searched for the options menu to editor the controls. “And will make the flower dance.”

Ona said, “Yes, dance with me!”

I watched my health return to normal

Ona said, “Bromme survived the frozen flower fields! The dance is a celebration!”

Loaf turned to the young woman controlling the events in the game world. “Bromme is a pro gamer. About a year ago he retired to focus on earning a college degree. I guess you are a match for his skills.”

Ona said, “The path is clear. The memories are stored in the mountain. Level 3.”

© J. Bateman

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