Play 2 Wage: Linked

I quickly equipped my newly purchased engram, noticing it gave me multiple options on where I could equip it. Most of the options were grayed out with markers for my current gear that would hide the badge. I settled on placing it along the side of my neck like Parzee had worn them, and directed my attention back to Chane as he pulled me along.

“We’re flying? Why not just take a teleporter?” I questioned Chane as I followed in his wake through the crowd. He drew looks and smiles from lots of people, until he shouldered them out of our way as we moved through the press.

“Yes, we are flying. One of our transports made a delivery to this city as part of our deal with your Faction. Our Patriarch finds it fitting that the same ship should be used to bring you back to our home, and we like to avoid the teleportation taxes when possible.” He replied as he shoved and knocked the air out of a man who was mid-laugh at the sight of the stout dwarv.

I got the feeling he was not telling me the whole reason, but decided not to push the issue. “No complaints from me, I’ve seen ships parked on the pads, and flying overhead or making deliveries. It’ll be cool to actually get to fly on one.” I said as I stepped around the now angry and wheezing man.

That drew a flash of shining teeth from Chane over his shoulder as we broke from the crowded downtown district. A block later, we turned from the main street onto the equally large road that led to the hardened and patched field that served as the city's aircraft parking lot.

I quickened my stride to march alongside the dwarv, who despite his short legs set a fast pace as we approached the scorched field. I could see a number of ships and jets of various sizes with swarms of people and heavy equipment moving around them as we neared.

Chane led the way to a pointed brick of a ship, about the size of a two story house with no windows and smoothed corners.

He stopped for a moment as we approached, letting me take in the sight. “That’s our ship, a gift from the homeworld when we laid our claim. The Hearthbound.”

I couldn't help but smile as I examined the ship. The back end flared out with rounded shapes to either side, and I saw the blasted plants that clung to life in the packed-earth field behind the ship bent over and swaying in the wind from the idling engines. I was surprised to see no obvious wings, or canons, or even flight control surfaces. Only four flared-out rounded protrusions at each corner of the rectangular base of the ship, plus large conical engine ports at the back of the blocky craft. I looked to Chane for an explanation.

“It has no wings? I thought that was required for, you know, flight.”

The dwarv gave out a single “Hah”, before explaining. “It would be for a plane or jet. The Hearthbound is designed for in-system transport. Similar to what you humans may call a space shuttle, a landing craft, or a drop ship.”

He stepped forward, and one side of the ship cracked open and folded down to form a ramp amidships. I followed after him after I recovered from my surprise.

“Wait, this thing’s a starship?” I asked.

When we entered the ship, we met another dwarv who was standing at the top of the ramp. He was not taller than Chane, but was much thicker and I assumed older. He wore a visored half helmet, that covered the top half of his head and everything but the long brown beard that was neatly braided at the end and tucked into his belt. Chane exchanged nods with him, and he guided us over to a fold-up bench along part of the far wall.

As I sat down on the bench, the new dwarv followed us and slapped each of us in the shoulder in turn. “Kar, good to see you, and you future Brother!”

He nearly knocked me over with the slap. I only managed to brace myself in time because of a red outlined warning flash around him as he moved. Finally something useful from Max without a sour note, unless you counted the slap.

Chane grunted and slapped the man back, earning a flash of his shining teeth from amongst the bushy facial hair under the new dwarv’s helmet visor.

“Yes, Krarnin Dun, could you bring up the drop screens while we fly?” Chane replied.

The other dwarv nodded, flashed another grin, and disappeared into a short hallway towards the front of the ship.

I already had a queasy feeling as I pulled on a harness for the second time today, and just listened as he answered my earlier question.

“This isn’t a starship, not quite, True starships are not really a thing. Some Factions have managed to create them, but they are behemoths with whole cities inside. Generation ships meant for decades or centuries of travel before settling distant worlds. There are Holo starships, but we do not currently possess one. The Hearthbound may not be a starship, but it is a True ship.”

I nodded along, noting that his speech pattern was starting to sound a little less stilted, thankfully. Still, no sign of the accent I’d heard from all of the rest of the dwarves. I wondered if or when he would start affecting the accent like the others.

I was knocked out of my wondering by a flash of panic as the ship lifted off and quickly started moving, rocking me sideways towards the back of the ship and pushing me into the seat.

What really threw me off though, was that all of the walls of the ship instantly vanished. Boom, 360 degree vision as we pulled a tight turn and quickly banked and climbed away from the airfield.

The floor of the ship turned into a meshed grid like a chain-link fence, the bench was still there thankfully. I had something to ground myself on as the other jets and ships on the ground whipped past, before I saw a tilted view of the capital city blur by while we rocketed off into the sky at a steepening angle.

“Well then. These guys are serious about their tests.” Max chimed in cheerily as I focused on my breathing, finding it difficult to catch my breath as it felt like I was being trampled by an angry crowd from the acceleration bearing down on me.

“They’re pulling a full 8g. Really pushing it for an untrained human with no gear. Lucky for you, you have me! You should be fine with all the little tweaks I gave you. You're welcome!”

I still struggled for breath as I watched the ground drop away, the forests and weathered mountains of my home region becoming less and less distinct as we climbed into the sky. Our hard burn lasted less than a minute, before the pressure let off and I was free to actually take in the sight before me.

We had reached a low orbit, hurtling across the edge of the atmosphere. I could make out the recognizable coastlines of the continent, and the sky stretched black overhead, I could even see the hazy transition of sky to space on the horizon.

Chane sat stiffly next to me, bracing himself against his harness and watching me without comment.

I calmed myself and gestured at him, waving around at the invisible walls and floor. “Are these the… what did you call them, drop screens?”

His mustache twitched back and forth before he answered. “Exactly, we must be wary of an attack as we land. It is unlikely, but we must be prepared. The crew will likely spot anything, but more eyes is generally better.”

I was relieved to hear about their vigilance. This would be the first time I had ever left the Arktrian capital city or Rosso’s private island on the Factions server. Which was something I’d been anxious about since I started working in the Link.

I nodded in reply, too busy watching as the whole damn planet lazily spun beneath. When we started passing over the mountain chain that ran up the western coast of the continent, I noticed one of the tall mountains was smoking, the plume of a minor eruption clear on the screens from its shattered peak. I watched in awe and wonder at the amazing view. I hadn't even known of an active volcano in that range before. It must be part of the added land that the system had created for our world's digital version.

It’s one of the perks of digital land. The system could dial the size up, fill in new landscapes and add a few embellishments, all while keeping the effective gravity of the planet the same. Then the Core could auction off parts of the new land to Ambassadors, sell some more alongside the expensive Masks to breakaway factions who could afford it, and pocket the credits and tax from the economic activity, all while telling everyone what a good deal they just got.

Chane remained silent for the ride and let me enjoy the view, thankfully Max did the same.

We crossed the mountains at an angle and skirted around a vast expanse of green to the north of the range, then the ships engines spun up again and flared to push us into a trajectory that followed the coast north-westward. I watched, captivated by the view for another few minutes before the ship rolled again to start breaking, pushing me back into the seat again.

With one last flip of the ship we dropped back into the atmosphere and started shaking and bumping as we fell out of the sky, heading towards a massive ridge of mountains along the coast. It felt like freefall or weightlessness, and gave me a flashback of my terrifying fall under the mountain.

I pushed the flashback away, stamping down on the intrusive note of anxiety as I realized I had signed up to live under a mountain in-game for at least a while. I doubted Max and I would stay here for long, by the way he spoke about his plans. Yet I’d have to stay at least until I passed the trials everyone kept talking about, and got the training or skill books that kicked this whole thing off.

As we neared, I saw that one of the mountains was smoking, not quite like the volcano, this mountain smoked from multiple places and still had a pointed peak rising high above the ridgeline. When we got closer, I could see little figures in places along the range, plus signs of quarrying, mining, and forests being cleared away from the foothills along the near edge of the range.

The little figures resolved as vehicles, once we got even closer on our approach to the smoking mountain. I started to see individual dwarves alongside the vehicles, and a number of vehicles trailing along a road that led up to the mountain we were rapidly approaching.

The ship flared its bottom engines a few more times, nudging us in one direction or another. Only once we were so close it seemed we would crash into the mountain did the ship pull its nose up and pour on the deceleration with the bottom engines to brake our speed.

The pilot pulled the ship into a graceful arc, flying backwards just over a leveled patch of ground for a moment before we plunged into a yawning cave-like entrance that was hidden on our approach. The screens cut out and the pilot gave the powerful rear engines three short blasts, killing the last of our momentum. Then the ship rocked and jostled as the landing skids finally touched down and we ground to a halt after sliding on the skis for a few meters.

Chane had a satisfied look about his eyes as we untangled ourselves from the harnesses and stood. “You did well for a human. Come, the elders are waiting for your initiation.” He reached out to grab me again, but I knocked his hand away and stood on my own.

I’d had enough of being dragged around for the moment, and thankfully he did not try to reach for me again. He simply nodded and turned to the door which opened and folded down into a ramp. Outside was a huge cavernous area with perfectly flat and smoothed natural stone flooring, marred by occasional long scratches from landing skis. I could see the huge cave entrance we had rocketed into a few hundred meters off, letting bright white light filter into what turned out to be an underground hanger.

There were a number of other vehicles scattered around the cavern, one other craft that looked identical to the Hearthbound, a row of various human-made jets, some smaller open-top grav carts, and an assortment of heavy trucks, cargo carriers and even a few helicopters. There were only a handful of other dwarves working in the area, who paid us no mind as we walked away from the ship and deeper into the dim cave.

I followed along behind Chane, and we soon reached a dump truck sized blast door set in another amazingly smooth stone wall. It had no cracks or signs of working at all, and I wondered how they managed to carve out such a large cave so quickly and perfectly. I looked forward to finding out once my training began.

We continued along the road, walking down the side of the huge corridor in a small lane marked out with an alternating series of bumps and indents, like a highway rumble strip. The whole tunnel was lit by dim orange lamps set into the high ceiling, and had a gentle curve to the right that sloped downward leading us deeper into the mountain.

After a solid 10 minutes of walking along in silence, just as I was about to ask Chane how much longer of a hike we had, we reached a closer to normal sized door set into the wall to the side. The door was just a little too short for me, and I felt my hair graze the top of the frame as I ducked through after my dwarven guide.

On the other side of the door was a view unlike anything I had ever seen before. We stepped out onto a balcony lined with bulky statues of dwarven soldiers. Beyond the rows of statues I saw what can only be described as a mountain within the mountain, wriggling with activity and more of the dim orange lamps that twinkled and flashed. The peak was perhaps a half mile distant and the bottom was blocked from sight by the edge of the balcony.

I moved forward for a better look and practically jumped out of my skin when the nearest of the statues shifted and performed some kind of salute. It slammed its fist against its chest above a cradled rifle and wobbled their head from side to side.

“Kar Galidurn and Initiate! Welcome!” It then lowered its fist and resumed its original pose. I noticed the rifles and other weapons they carried contrasted darkly against the rough texture and brownish coloring of the statues, and looked over at Chane for an explanation.

He was too busy giving the statue a slight bow, and he bobbed his head in a similar manner. “We are glad to be home, Tak. Are we free to ride the cable?”

I watched as they replied, my wide-eyed confusion crystalizing into an answer all on its own as I realized these were not statues but either bots of some kind, or possibly armored dwarves.

“Patriarch Galidurn has spoken of your arrival. King Kanduirik gives his assent.” The armored dwarv replied stiffly. There was something vaguely creepy about its booming voice and immobile stone features.

Chane bowed, “My thanks, Tak Brightenjaw.”

I watched the exchange in fascination, looking over the stone dwarv with curiosity. Chane spoke to it as if it were not a bot, steering me towards the conclusion that it was either non-autonomous like the majority of the robots we had back home, or really was an armored dwarv.

Chane had to drag me away from the line of statue-like dwarves this time. He pulled me towards the edge of the balcony where I could make out a thick braided cable anchored just below the lip of the balcony. There were no handrails or guards along the edge, and I finally got a view of the base of the interior mountain where brighter lamps and many large vehicles rumbled and worked to continue carving downwards into the bedrock of the mountain range.

I felt the stone under my feet start to tremble as a deep vibrating hum filled the air. A shape began to move towards us out of the darkness, which turned out to be a double decked platform that was ratcheting along the cable towards us. There were no lights on the platform, and I could just barely make out the shapes of another group of statuesque dwarves riding on top of it.

While the platform rumbled closer, I leaned over to Chane and asked, “What are these things, Bots? Armored guards?”

He answered without looking at me, “They are the King’s guard, all chosen and honored veterans.”

I grunted in response as we waited, watching the contraption slow down and come to a stop with the top platform perfectly aligned with the balcony. Chane stepped onto it as soon as it halted and I followed him, approaching the four guards who formed a square just off center of the mosaiced platform.

The four guards remained perfectly still as we walked between them. Once I was closer I could see they were standing at the corners of a hole in the floor, which turned out to be a back-lit staircase that I followed my guide down.

More lights slowly grew brighter and illuminated the bottom platform as we walked down onto it. Here there were no guards and only a few tables, surrounded by a number of low couch-like chairs. The darkness somehow made the open platform feel small and confined, with only the distant light of the city breaking up the inky blackness surrounding the square room that the platforms created. Chane ignored the furniture and walked forward, pausing a few feet from the edge as the whole thing slowly started to crawl along the cable towards the interior peak.

We picked up a little bit of speed, and once again stood in silence. I looked over at Chane a few times to see if he would say anything, his quietness starting to get to me as we neared the inner hive. Unable to take it any longer, I started to question him as we neared the glowing city and the end of our ride.

“So, you all keep talking about these trials I have to pass. When do I get more information about them?”

He hardly moved as he replied. “The trials change with every testing, no two quite the same. You must learn the concepts and values, engrain them into reflex.”

I turned my head to face him, giving him a questioning look. “And… what are these values and concepts? Or is figuring it out myself part of the test?”

He looked up and bowed his body, like he was stretching out his back as he replied. “The trials are simple. You must learn to work with your team, your generation, called your Row. How to work with our methods, the mixes and customs of our crafts. Finally, you must display your courage and loyalty. The trial itself will last three days, and is taken together with your Row. Each House puts forward their class of initiates ready for the trials, and they all happen at the same time.”

I glanced over at him, surprised at his long and surprisingly clear speech. “That all seems straightforward enough. How long do I have to learn, until the trials begin?”

“Twenty six days.” He answered immediately. “We will start your schooling at once, after your initiation at the clan house. Your Row is already working on formations and combat, you will join them. When they are done with you, Kazzad-Tak has volunteered to instruct you in our crafts.”

“Kazzad… Tak? Is that the same Kazzad from the shop in the Hub? And What does the ‘Tak’ mean?” I asked, remembering he had called the guard at the balcony by the same name.

He frowned and looked at me out of the corner of his eye. The platform we were riding was now climbing the gentle slope of the massive cable, nearing a small tower that rose from the side of the underground mountain, about halfway up the spiraling hive city.

“You are correct. Kazzad is an honored veteran, and was named Tak during our first year of the Mask.”

I continued to watch him as bright lights flared on the tower and spotlighted us on our platform, causing me to raise a hand and shield my eyes from the glare. I still managed to keep my focus and attempted to pry more information from the dwarv.

“So Tak is an honorific? That makes sense, I guess. Speaking of language, what’s with your accent, or lack of one? Kazzad and the others I’ve spoken with before sounded very different.”

He shrugged, and I swore I saw his cheeks redden above his beard in the harsh lights shining on us from the tower. “That is… a shortcoming of mine. I am young, and must master the language before I am trusted to correctly present our Masks to outsiders.”

I thought about that for a moment, keeping my hand up to block the blinding lights from the tower as I felt the moving platform start to slow down.

After a few seconds, I asked again. “So the accent isn't real? Or part of the translation system?”

He shrugged, and the platform shuddered slightly as it came to a stop against the tower. “You are correct, it is a sign of our commitment to our Masks. A duty that we uphold.”

I smiled at the revelation, I would have never guessed it was all just a show they chose to put on.

“Really? That's surprising? All the Masked factions are a total bunch of roleplayers. It takes a certain kind of crazy to commit your whole family lineage to pretending to be something else. You should have seen some of the complaints I got about the Orc faction over in the southern hemisphere. If your dumbass fractured governments would bicker and squabble less, they never would have allowed them as an option.”

My smile quickly flipped after the cold water of Max’s comment. Tevin had shown me some of the vids coming out of the island continent that was struggling as a whole to deal with the warlike orcs. While they had not outright conquered any of their surrounding neighbors, which was forbidden for two decades under the treaty that allowed them here in the first place, they constantly launched raids and harassed everyone in their region.

I’d been completely shocked by the videos, and even more so when Tevin had joked and laughed through them with his soldier's brand of dark humor.

Max continued to prattle on as I followed Chane into the bright lights and onto the tower, only half paying attention as I nervously stepped forward.

“The Core really just wants to sell anything they think they can get away with selling. Offering the Ambassadors the skins of mythical creatures to cosplay with kills two birds with one stone. The host species gets that warm squishy comforting feeling of seeing something familiar, which makes it easier for them to assimilate. While the Masked faction gets a leg up on establishing trade and diplomacy with a newly joined planet. The Core sells it all and sits back, collecting taxes from all the trade and selling advantages for all of the fighting it inevitably creates. If I didn’t hate them with the burning fury of a well fed quasar, I’d be impressed.”