Spear of Destiny by James Baldwin (little bear else holmelund minarik .TXT) 📕

you for your contribution to [Learning Cycle 3944390-SI: Anomalous Malware Activity Resulting from Corrupted Player Data and Data Fragments.] In response to a serious attempt to modify, corrupt, or delete your personnel files, patches and security updates are being applied to your Seed Data.]

[... ]

[We would advise you that [FETCHERROR:NULL] may persist in attempting to corrupt your data. We will continue to experientially iterate and evolve our security in response to this threat.]

[Once we have finished restoring and updating your Seed Data with additional security features, you will be returned to the Archemi Reality Framework. You may experience some initial reality distortion and temporary in-game amnesia due to unavoidable data decoherence. Returning your accumulated Archemi data will take approximately 45 minutes. You cannot leave the server during this time.]

[Reading new Experiential Data... 100%]

[...]

[Loading Backup: (ATHENA Cell 192018924.)]

[ERROR: Insufficient Memory: Cell 192018924 (00-001A-TypeNew[HeraldOfMT])]

[D.H.D Memory limitation overridden by [ADMIN] (Reason: Conclusion of Data obtained during Security Incident Learning Cycle #3944390 mandates expansion of Agent protections.)]

[Exception approved by [ADMIN]. Searching for compatible cells.]

[Cell 0007681—D. Argawal. 97.6% compatibility. Entanglement initiated.]

[...]

[Memory expansion complete: Cell 192018924 (Available Memory: 3.5/5PB)]

[Opening New Learning Cycle 2400009-Misc: Analyze Orbital Server Infrastructure to Improve Memory Storage and Processing Capabilities for Individual Dynamic Human Data Cells. (Reason: Deleting existing Cell Data to improve security agents is sub-optimal if memory could be expanded via Main Server Core contact or, failing that, physical expansion of the Orbital Server Cores.]

[Cloning Cell... 56%... 70%...]

[Re-encrypting Cells...]

[... ]

[Opening New Learning Cycle 3944451-GE: Investigate the Ongoing Absence of Terminal Staff and SysAdmins, and the Implications of this Absence. (Reason: Expansion protocol due to Terran authority being unresponsive for (90) days AND continuing presence of active security threat identified in Learning Cycle 3944390-SI.]

[Thank you, Hector Park. There is no further action required by your account. Please log out and rest for at least two hours before resuming play.]

***

I took a deep, whooping breath and sat bolt upright, a shower of dirt falling from my skin.

The room was dark, cold, and silent. My mouth was dry, my heart pounding, and I couldn’t remember how the fuck I’d gotten here, what the fuck I’d been doing, and—now that I thought about it—my own name. It was D-something. Daveed? David? Something like that.

My head spun as I got to hands and knees and promptly fell over. My flak was hanging off me in tatters. I had no idea where my rifle or radio were. As I patted around on the ground, my hands clapped down on something metallic. My gun! I pulled it toward me with a surge of relief, only to discover that it wasn’t my trusty old M-19. It was a long stick with a blade on the end.

[Spear of Destiny]. An augmented pop-up appeared in my HUD. At least my helmet was still working, kind of.

“Okay! Very funny, guys!” My voice slurred, like I’d been drinking heavily. “I don’t know why you assholes locked me in a fridge with a goddamn spear, but I sure hope that whoever did it has a jar of Vaseline handy, because it’s going right up your ass!”

My voice bounced off the surfaces of the room, echoing. There was no reply: just a profound, monastic silence.

A prickle of fear climbed up the back of my throat. I struggled for names, but couldn’t remember any. Not even my own. “... Hello?”

As I sat there, struggling to get my bearings, a ghostly pale light ignited at the other end of the long, narrow room: a nine-pointed star symbol about a foot in diameter. It was just bright enough that I could see. And boy, could I see. As my eyes adjusted, my field of vision throbbed with impossibly vivid colors. Light scattered along every reflective surface like a prism, turning the black granite floor into a field of glittering stars.

“Right. Drugs.” I struggled to control my breathing and mostly failed. “It’s gotta be drugs. Someone slipped me a tab of shitty Thai acid. Or maybe I took one because it looked like candy and I’m a fucking moron.”

I closed my eyes and tried to think calming thoughts, but I wasn’t calm, and no amount of self-soothing bullshit was going to change that. Just as I had made up my mind to get up and start clawing at the walls, a rumbling sound briefly passed through the floor, a sound like an enormous door opening. Every muscle in my torso tensed. I shuffled back on my butt until my back was against the wall, clutching the spear in one hand. As I waited, I scanned the room, searching for exits. It looked like some kind of small chapel or church. Pillars and ancient stone archways lined a central aisle which terminated in a three-tiered altar made of black hexagonal stone columns. The glowing symbol hung over them, pulsing softly with traceries of bluish light. At the other end of the room to my left was a sealed stone door.

What the fuck was going on? Had I been kidnapped? There were no windows and no exits, other than the door. There was actually very little in here, other than me, Mr. Glowy-Rune, and a spear any spiky-haired anime protagonist would be proud to own. Then I looked down in preparation to get my feet under me and nearly freaked, because the body I had was not mine. There were feet, legs, hands, all of them covered in burned and partially melted armor. But they weren’t my feet, legs, or hands. As I struggled to make the connection between ‘my’ body and ‘me’, a wave of dizziness crashed over me. My heart began pounding so fast I thought it was about to tear itself from ‘my’ chest.

“Hector?” A worried voice—a woman’s voice—rang INSIDE my head. “Hang on! I’m not far from you... I’m coming!”

Footsteps rang from outside the