Vivid Stars Online

While Linnea completed her purchase, I pulled up my calendar to schedule my many tasks. Between making sure that David was settled in, checking on the frigate's progress, organizing the troops, and writing up a notice for investors, I had plenty to get done.

However, I blinked in surprise when I saw that my trip to the new ritual chamber was due in four days. It can’t have been that long, right? I wondered with a shake of my head.

I began working through what I’d done recently, only to realize that it was correct. Spending days in the cave system over multiple trips had screwed with my perception of time, and looking back, I realized that it had taken over two weeks all up.

Still, that could work, I mused as I began scheduling tasks. Three days to organize everything, then a day to get my new power before we take everyone up into the mountains and down into the cave system.

With the frigate still being repaired, I didn't have a good way to transport a lot of trips. Given that the troops from the town would have to march, anyway. That would take them a couple of days to reach the spot I’d gone up the mountain.

If they could be ready in two days, then it would line up perfectly, If not, then I would just have to wait another day or two for them to get there. Not like that’s an issue, I thought with a snort, it seems like I have no end of things to get done these days.

Still, I wouldn’t trade it for anything and I was actually grinning in anticipation when Linnea returned. She asked what had me so excited, then laughed when I explained.

“I’m glad you’re getting used to everything,” she said once she’d calmed down. “You sounded really nervous when you first got the promotion, but now it sounds like you’re a lot more optimistic.”

“Yeah,” I responded, reflecting on what she was saying. “I guess I just realized that everything has a solution. I think you and the professor were both trying to tell me that, but I was just stuck in panic mode.”

“Now that I can see everything coming together, I’m getting a lot more confident. Even if more things come up, I’ve seen enough evidence to know that we’ll be able to get through them.”

Linnea’s smile turned bright, and she moved forward to lay a hand on my arm. “That’s a great attitude to have.”

I grinned in return and pulled her into a hug for several seconds before letting her go. It was an awkward gesture with us both still in armor, yet still left a smile on my face.

“Let’s go pick up David,” I said, turning to leave. “We’ve spent enough time here that he should be ready.”

Linnea followed along a moment later, her two guns occasionally clanking against her armor. I noticed several guards eye her new cannon warily, and one even moved to intercept before noticing me and thinking better of it.

It must be the real deal then, I theorized as we made our way down to the noble's entrance. That’s the first weapon I’ve ever seen them react to. You would assume that means it’s the most dangerous one either of us has ever brought.

That was a good sign in my book, the more firepower we could get on our side, the better. It was just a shame that Linnea had to be reaching the limits of this planet’s technology.

Most of what she's using was already imported from the core worlds, and we wouldn’t be getting any more of that until the trade lanes opened. That’s probably why they aren’t using it themselves, I realized as we neared our location.

If there’s no more trade, then there are no spare parts if it breaks. That would be a big issue if you couldn’t fix it with Technokinesis like I can.

While the planetary capital might have a higher grade of imported goods available, there was no denying that it would be a problem going forward. She was alright now at level thirteen, but what about level twenty?

Without a significant upgrade, her gear would begin to fall behind, while I could still rely on my powers and Arkathian relics. Good thing the Dutchess is already planning to deal with the pirates, if we can take them out we might be able to commission some traders.

Then it would just be a matter of money to get higher-level gear. The other avenue would be to have Elana develop something better based on the weapons our fighters and gunboat have. I don’t even know if that is possible, though.

Realizing that I couldn’t find a simple solution now, I added it as a note on my to-do list as we came into sight of the noble's entrance. While David was far from a noble, they were more than happy to host him for me if he arrived first.

Sure enough, he was seated in the waiting room halfway through a plate of refreshments. Despite having waited for us he didn’t look annoyed, though that may have just been because of the exemplary treatment he’d received.

Upon seeing us, he drained the last of his drink and grabbed the last few pastries on his plate. “I’m ready when you are, Sir,” he said with a nod while lifting a large bag.

“Then let’s get going,” I said, gesturing toward the exit and waving off a member of the serving staff. “I want to get you situated today with everything you need to get working.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he responded with a grin as he walked up to us.

Turning, I lead us out of the palace and over to the train station. Our gunboat was still parked on Brian’s landing pad, so we had a brief trip by train to reach it. David tried to ask a few questions on the way, but I waved them aside and asked him to wait until we were secure.

Bringing agriculture to this province was going to be an edge for my growing lands, and I didn’t want rumors to spread too early. The last thing I needed was for one of the other counts to get a jump on me.

There would surely be some already starting about the people I’d asked the mayor to look for further south, but there was a difference between just sounding out some farmers and having a farming expert show up.

The rest of the trip passed smoothly, and we were soon stepping onto the landing pad. “Are those holes in the roof of your ship? David asked incredulously as we approached. “What the hell did that? They don’t look like plasma fire.”

“Birds,” I responded casually with a shrug, before bursting out laughing at the look on his face. “The mountains here have some very large species, large enough that their claws did that,” I clarified.

“Well, I’m glad I’m not a damn ornithologist then,” he responded with a shake of his head. “You won’t see me getting anywhere near a bird large enough to eat me. That sounds like a horrible way to go.”

“I can’t argue with that,” I said with a nod as we entered the gunboat. “The only one we’ve fought on foot was a bitch to put down. It wasn’t anywhere near as large as the one that did this, either.”

David only stared at me incredulously again, before slipping into one of the passenger seats. “This is a sweet shuttle, despite the hull damage,” he said appreciatively. “How’d you get it so fast?”

“So fast?” I queried, as suspicion started forming in my mind.

“Well, yeah,” he responded with a shrug. “Even if you started right at the beginning, the game hasn’t been running that long. I’ve heard that a few people in the core worlds have been able to afford ships, but they're a lot more common there.”

“How did you know I was a player?” I asked, realizing that he was from Earth as well. While it was bound to happen eventually, I was still a bit surprised for it to actually happen. The population of players here seemed to be quite small.

“Dude, your last name is Hope,” he chuckled. “It’s not exactly subtle. Not that I can talk.”

“That’s fair, I probably should have pinged to your name as well,” I said with a nod. “But we’re not too used to other players around here,” I continued, gesturing toward where Linnea was piloting the shuttle.

“Were a bit more common in the capital, but still pretty rare compared to most worlds. I think the low tech level and being so far out scared off most people that weren’t here just for the psionic stuff. Or for a mostly undisturbed world like me,” he finished, waving at himself.

Wheels churned in my head as everything came together. “Right, so you’re actually here to study the plants?” I asked.

“Oh yeah,” he responded enthusiastically. “Most research is done with simulations anyway these days, so when I heard how realistic this game was I had to give it a go. Even just the first day I was here blew me away, so I convinced my supervisor to let me do the Ph.D. in-game.”

“It’s a pretty sweet deal,” he continued with a grin. “I do the Ph.D. for a university here in the game, then I just have to take a copy and change it a bit for the university in the real world. I end up with credentials in both and an interesting topic no one else is doing.”

“Nice,” I responded with a nod, before turning back to the front. Now is this a good thing or not, I considered. On the one hand, it’s good that he has access to the same information I’ve been studying on Earth at presumably a much higher level of understanding.

But on the other, he might not be as invested as an actual local. It doesn’t sound like he’s figured out that everything is real yet, so he’s still just playing a game in his mind. That might lead to issues down the line.

Even events on Earth could ruin things, causing him to simply disappear one day if he stops playing. Still, if he needs to play for his Ph.D., it should give him a significant incentive to stick around.

Reaching a consensus, I turned back around to where David was looking at something on his watch. “While I’m cool with you being another player, as long as you’re going to help. I need to say that I have a good relationship with the town's people.”

“Yep, I understand,” he said, looking up with a serious nod. “I’ll keep up the whole ‘My Lord’ act around them and avoid offending anyone. I saw a guy get arrested for doing something stupid in the capital and I have no interest in getting stuck in jail.”

I stared at him for a moment but then nodded when I realized he was serious. “Good to know,” I said, “I’ll hold you to that.”

Things calmed down after that, and I spent much of the remaining trip chatting with David about what I’d learned. As I expected, I’d only touched the surface of the various topics I’d studied while he had a wealth of knowledge about them.

He also seemed very serious about his work, which made me relax further about the situation. While he clearly didn’t take the role I had heard particularly seriously, I didn’t need him to. As long as he got the work done, which he had his own reasons for, then it would be all good.

We settled down beside the frigate, this time making David’s jaw drop as he stared at the massive ship. I could tell he wanted to ask questions, but I waved them off for now.

“I’ll tell you the story later,” I said with a shrug. “Right now, I need to introduce you to the mayor. She is organizing the day-to-day details of the farming operation and you’ll be working most closely with her.”

He shook his head in disbelief for a moment, before turning away from the frigate and nodding back at me. “Sounds good,” he said, before following me into the town.

Talking with him had helped to clarify a few of the ideas I’d had, while also ruling out a few of the others. I was looking forward to getting the ball rolling on the first stages as soon as possible.