The Truth Unwinding
1.3k 3 28
X
Reading Options
Font Size
A- 15px A+
Width
Reset
X
Table of Contents
Loading... please wait.

That night, of course - once I'd convinced Dad to get drunk for hours and black out somewhere - I started gaming.

Oh, it wasn't for nothing, don't get me wrong. I simply wanted to see Eversummer Days with my own eyes. Kolya evidently spent a lot of time on it - to the point where some people tried to blame video games for his suicide, naturally - so I figured if I wanted to get to know him better and see if I could find out things he wouldn't normally tell his little sister, this was the best place to start.

In the Heisei era, a vast computer network spanned the entire world! The Reiwa Accord closed this 'forbidden door', tried to seal away what had been done...but, you know, that's just politics, not important. The important part is, many unique games were created where people from all over the world collaborated upon realms of fantasy, created by the hands of not faceless contractors in a vast machine or machine learning algorithms but by the very users who occupied them. Some say it was a golden age for games, the likes of which we never saw after the Collapse.

Still, it doesn't mean people didn't try to recapture the magic. That's what Eversummer Days is - inspired by a certain roleplaying game of the Heisei era, implemented in the 'metaverse' technology that companies were chasing before the Collapse, it's an open source fantasy RPG with robust world creation and GMing tools. Some people use it for elaborate single-player adventures, but the most popular aspect of the game are 'persistent worlds', mini-MMOs with a heavy focus on exploration, roleplaying, and social interaction.

With the help of my smartphone (and my knowledge from living in the Electric City), I'd managed to track down Kolya's private profile and find out what servers he liked to play on and what his characters were.

...it was a bit of a shock, actually.

Not the part about it being mostly 18+ servers, that was pretty reasonable. Making a shadow profile and lying about your age is a time-honored tradition. And, well...he's an otaku, it's not that strange for him to have that kind of mindset.

But he'd racked up a ridiculous amount of playtime! Not all of it was online, but most of it! Seriously, when did he find time to study -

right, stupid questions, huh.

There were a few characters on the profile, but most of them were pretty much indistinguishable guys who hadn't even reached level 20 yet...and had maybe an hour of playtime between them. But on all of these servers, there was a character who had reached the level cap...

Alexia
"Fall beneath my sword or beneath my feet."

A human woman, with skin like Russian snow, pale blue eyes, black rubber and black lipstick. A bit cliché, sure, but still a striking look to have in a fantasy world...

Right. This could be interesting, huh? Smutty OCs are a time-honored tradition as well!

I signed onto the server it looked like Kolya spent most of his time playing, and started making my character: a planetouched Artificer, Selenia, with the blood of angels from another world. There's this whole corruption dynamic you can explore on the server through collecting mysterious oil and using it for enhancement. (Apparently Artificers, and the various firearms and enhancements they can use, aren't popular with the server purists who insist they're out of genre; hopefully Kolya isn't one of them!)

...I couldn't resist the urge to make her look a bit like Akane, though. A curvaceous young woman with short lavender hair and red eyes, with a sort of steampunk noble adventurer's outfit and nice goggles. Ah, I changed my mind, the purists can go fuck themselves~

Now, actually encountering Alexia would be a bit difficult, but I had a plan. I'd grabbed some of the map files for the server from the smartphone (obviously these are many updates ahead when the server closed, but it was enough to get me somewhere), and a few exploits for the server and current game patch. I didn't want to outright cheat too much, but I did have a client which could give me the location of Alexia for when she showed up.

Reaching the level cap and collecting the oil capsules wouldn't be too difficult. Persistent worlds aren't balanced like a conventional MMO; because of the whole D&D thing, there are massive weaknesses to exploit.

Two words: caster supremacy!

The obsession with reproducing this content in painstaking detail is, it inherits all the system flaws, too. This was a 'low-magic' server where the Artificer completely broke the economy; it was trivial with the server files to figure out how to kit myself out with high-powered gear. Special movement modes like flight broke combat with most of the creatures I needed to fight, until I reached enough power to take on high-level foes.

Bits of oil dropped from artificial creatures. Memnites, Myr, Levelers, Platinum Angels...each of them had a small chance to drop 'Machine Oil' items, which Artificers could use in Infusions. Each of those had a small chance of being the glistening oil, but Artificers could further refine it eventually to find the corruption in any oil.

I didn't use it yet, though. I wanted to make it special. I wanted Selenia to seem pure, until the point her desires revealed themselves...

It wasn't hard to get a pretense to seek out Alexia - she has the highest bounty on the whole server. Bounties build up as people attempt to collect them, so clearly Alexia hadn't been killed in some time. A notorious criminal, whose exploits are legendary, who cares nothing for social mores...

It was kind of striking. Is this really Kolya's character?

...maybe I should write this in-character, actually.

In the northern wilds, among the snow, the sky was a hazy shade of winter. I'd been tracking Alexia as she hunted her way toward the planar portal, but I don't think she'd spotted me -

"So when are you going to come out?"

I removed my invisibility ring, brandishing my repeating crossbow and readying an infusion as I watched Alexia draw her katana from her hip suit, smirking with black-painted lips.

"You've got a lot of guts, following me this far. I heard about you - you're the artificer who's been tearing up the place, right?"

I tensed, but I expected it. Since I arrived, I'd been observed by countless adventurers who coveted my power. But I had no interest in such things...

"I want your bounty. Girl could make a good living with that kind of money - and fame." I had no interest in 'good', only power. In that respect, I think Alexia and I were alike...

"Kill me if you can," she declared, and she dashed forward rapidly, almost faster than the eye could see. I quickly released bolt after bolt as she approached, but she avoided them with supernatural ease; what almost hit was deflected by her sword, and what did hit bounced harmlessly from her rubber suit.

"Gladly," I replied, tugging on my goggles and tapping my boots to fly into the air with a burst of flame and smoke. Reloading in mid-air as I flipped, I thought my best bet was to leap into the air, and snipe from afar, but -

she jumped.

She jumped, and gave a cry as she landed a great two-handed blow, my clothes quickly stitching themselves back up as their magic took the bulk of the blow. Even so, I felt that I couldn't stand up to it for long. My infusions would only protect myself for so long...

I needed more power.

I needed more power.

The oil...I had been refining it, in hopes of discovering a way to purify it. But like this...

I folded out metallic wings from my back, storing the crossbow in the bag of holding as I drew two wands. A large, extraplanar shotgun fired slugs toward me, just barely missing as I unleashed missile storms upon Alexia. She was resistant to magic, but it would overwhelm her long enough for me to unleash the infusions...

"Mages. You're all the same. So self-assured of your own superiority. But you're giving me a better show than usual." Alexia quickly drew a vial and injected herself, closing her wounds. "Go on. Kill me if you can!"

"That's right. Magic means doing anything for power." Landing in the distance, I took one of my oil samples...

and crushed it in my palm.

The glistening oil leaked down my arm, leaving trails of metal in its wake. It didn't flow with gravity; instead, it sought out anything that was impure. My focus sharpened as I fired off explosive bolts, and tossed the magazine so I could load the oil directly.

I could feel it.

It made my skin tingle. It made my body burn. I needed more.

In this world, the oil was rarely used, save to create magic items of great power (and careful protection). All feared the consequences, artificers most of all. The power wasn't worth it, becoming a pariah of society, becoming a monster. No one had reached that point, no intelligent creature became one with it...

"That desperate for the bounty, huh?" Alexia grinned, loading her gun with new shells - explosive. "What is it you really want?"

I didn't answer her question before she unleashed the barrage of explosives before me. With my wings enhanced, I surged forth with greater speed, my senses sharper, my muscles stronger. My brain more focused. I fired enhanced bolts that morphed in mid-air into deadly spikes, each one deflected with a single stroke of Alexia's sword.

Her speed and strength were unparalleled. A rogue, a gunslinger and sword-saint, body and mind self-enhanced and bearing legendary regalia. Ordinarily, it would never be possible for me to match her -

and I blocked the blade with my metallic hand, wrenching it from her grip as I pulled it away.

She drew her gun, and I infused myself once more, metal scarring appearing where the shot exploded around me. Yes...yessssss...

"This is just a pretense." Alexia tapped her shoes, and started kicking as I blocked, blades at the end of her feet. "An excuse. Seek out the strongest, so you can use the oil. So you can succumb."

I infused my arm once again. Blackness spread through my veins. My eyes turned to black orbs beneath my goggles, and my arm grew a blade that I used to stab at Alexia, waiting for my chance.

I couldn't be satisfied killing her from afar anymore. I needed to make her feel this...

"Or is it that you know the secret to my strength?" She licked her lips, and the inside of her mouth looked completely black. "If you kill me, I'll grant you this. But I'm not interested in weaklings."

"Beneath your sword, or beneath your feet..." I grunted, and locked blades with her. "How about you just...die for me!"

I pushed forth with my other hand. Stabbed with newly growing talons that connected to the alchemy bag, and unleashed an explosion within her guts, filled with death magic. No one could survive that, and indeed, Alexia coughed up blood as she fell beneath me, and I passionately pressed myself toward her.

I could feel the darkness creeping inside me. I could feel our connection.

And I kissed her.

I kissed her as she died, licking the oil within her, drinking of it. So that's how she got so strong...

I understood, right there.

Alexia was just like me.

...

...yeah, that happened. More or less, anyway. The real fight was, as you might expect, substantially less dramatic and had a lot more potion-chugging. But the roleplay happened, at least! But...

Alexia: Hey, you're pretty good. You broke my bounty streak. At least I still have the record.
Alexia: Even with my anti-caster gear, too...
Alexia: And, kissing me at the end? You're pretty naughty, aren't you?
Alexia: I still can't believe no one uses this mechanic. The drawbacks really aren't an issue long-term.

Was this really the same person?

A smutty OC was expected. But Alexia is a lot more than just a sex doll. And the tinge and taste of this personality even out of character is so different from the Kolya I know.

...also, distressingly, I find Alexia really hot. I couldn't resist the urge to kiss her! She doesn't come across as the usual kind of 'guy roleplaying smut OC' at all! (And believe me, I've met a fair few.)

Right. Let's strike up a little conversation...

Selenia: I was surprised. I thought it was just an aesthetic thing. I didn't think you'd been using it!
Alexia: It's a bit half-baked. I understand the mechanics pretty well, but I think people think it's only a caster thing. I can't play Artificer, too many buttons.
Selenia: Guess I've still got catching up to do on endgame gear.
Alexia: I'm more worried they'll nerf your class now that you've been running around the server.
Alexia: Weird question, though...
Alexia: You heard of Akane Shinjo?
Selenia: I have! I based my character on her, a bit.
Alexia: Oh, wow :D
Alexia: She's my idol. Who wouldn't want to be like her?

...'who wouldn't want to be like her', huh?

It's not like Akane is a perfect person. In fact, she starts out fairly awful in the anime. And yet, she's still universally desirable, and shipped exclusively with her friend Rikka, pretty much canon gay...and she has massive breasts...and can get away with anything she wants...

She's a beautiful girl, who loves only girls, and is uninhibited and lovely and superficially 'perfect', even if she's secretly a depressed shut-in in the real world...

...

...

...oh my god it's Kolya.

Right. So. Akane Shinjo is a character (and villain) from SSSS.GRIDMAN, an anime that aired a few years before the Collapse, just before the Reiwa Era. Kolya's been big into kaiju and tokusatsu ever since the time we lived in Japan, and Akane is definitely 'waifu' material. I know I find her hot!

But, she's a person who hides within her a deep depression very much like the one I just escaped, complete with room full of garbage. Her real self is likely nowhere near as 'perfect'. All pretty simple stuff.

But SSSS.GRIDMAN is a sequel, kind of, sort of, to an earlier Gridman series and an American adaptation. Both of those had a similar character to Akane, if more formulaic than tragic - a person manipulated to create monsters and perform acts of evil. And both of those characters were guys.

Given Akane's perfect simulation body, it's not hard to imagine her real-world self could have been envious of such things, and taken the body she wasn't born into...

and given her nature, it's not hard to imagine her as autistic, either. Just like Kolya.

Alexia has that kind of nature. Someone 'perfect', uninhibited. A shadow within the self. Someone who speaks, and must be answered. There's nothing I can think of but that this is an idealized self.

I can't blame my old self for not seeing it, but I've spent a good chunk in my life in the Electric City, and seen the Fourth Order with plenty of 'candidates'. You pick up a few things.

And you know, I was always much more comfortable with him than other men. I knew he'd protect me if I ever needed it, like at the game store. Maybe, on some level, I knew.

This changes everything!

Kolya, don't worry. I can show you your true self. 🖤 All you need to do is trust me.

Selenia I really like her! So does my brother, actually. He introduced me to Gridman, and toku in general.
Alexia: Huh. Isn't it pretty obscure by now?
Selenia: Forty million people in Southern Sun, right? ;)
Alexia: That's true...
Selenia: We can continue this if you want. Meet me in Shallow Pond, in the Tannhauser Gate?
Alexia: I'd love to. :black_heart:

And so, bounty gold in hand, I teleported back to Shallow Pond, and went to the so-called 'spellcasters' inn', the Tannhauser Gate near the teleportation portal.

By server RP rules, resurrections take time in character - recovery and cost, really. In reality of course, the server lets you rez right away; thankfully, no permadeath, though there's certain costs and conditions. Nothing I need to worry about, at any rate.

Now, back into character. I just needed to sit down, and enjoy a coffee, and...

"There you are," Alexia said, grinning ear to ear. "I was beginning to think you'd gone off on a spelljammer or something. See, I've been really busy being dead. You know, after you murdered me~?"

"You don't look like you're here to take back your bounty," I said, shifting awkwardly. "You'd never succeed, anyway. Even you can't fight this many people and win."

"I'm not."

Alexia closed the gap instantly, and kissed my lips. I tasted of her corruption, and I tried vainly to resist the feeling. The call of machines. That which wrapped around the creases of my brain and told me I could be something more.

"I'm here to finish what we started, Selenia," she whispered, and she picked me up and dragged me away while I was too dazed to think. I quickly recovered, but we were alone together...

"I didn't...I wanted more, but I couldn't. There's no one who would support me, if I abandoned myself." Adventurers still need a place to live, and keep their things. If people knew I was corrupted...

"You killed me, didn't you? You wanted more. You need more. This world needs us, Selenia. This world needs your desire. Our desire." Alexia kissed me again, and I needed more, just like she told me, I didn't want to hold back. I wanted, someone who would help me, so we could reawaken the corruption, and make it manifest upon this world..."I can use the oil, Selenia. I can shape myself. But if I ever want to take it further..."

"You need an artificer," I whispered, giving a dopey smile as I felt the high of the taste of Alexia's tongue. "You need me."

"You're worthy to take my life, so you're worthy to stand by my side." She stroked my hair, gleefully speaking of such things. "You could create artificial life. Create your ideal world. The opportunity is yours, if you wish to grasp it..."

(Ah. I see what Kolya's going for here. Can't resist your waifu? Just as planned~)

"There are so many before us, seeking to end our plans before they even begin..." I tacitly accepted that this was my fate. I stopped holding back the corruption, and my eyes went black again. "I hate this world. Refusing to accept that which I could create. Unwilling to accept artifice. I longed to show people this power, but they shunned me..."

"In death, I understand you better than anyone." Alexia pressed her body to mine, as we exchanged black fluids between our mouths. "Accept it. Accept what you are, and we'll always be together."

"Yes...yes!" I gave in, I opened my mind and my soul, and in a single instant they were dyed black! I could feel it within me! I could feel phyresis! And I could spread it, with Alexia's help, as far as it can go...!

My mechanical wings spread out, and turned black. My arms, my muscles, were lined with enhanced metal and sinful oil. Inside, my phyresis continued without end.

"I have to leave your side, precious, corrupted artificer." Alexia bit me twice - once on my ear, and once on my neck to mark me. Her harsh, sharp teeth left a highly visible impression. "But I will return. Sooner than you think."

"Sooner than I think..." My legs quivered, and my eyes rolled into the back of my head. Even as Alexia left me, I could feel her inside, and I could feel the purity of love, of phyresis, of this world's destined future.

And so, I touched myself, letting the oil course through me as I allowed the pleasure to warp my mind and very self, for the glory of Phyrexia...

...

...hee hee~! All of that looked like corruption of Selenia. In-character, that's what it was. But out of character...

all I did was tell Kolya what she wanted to hear most.

All I did was give her the opportunity to admit to her desire for corruption, control, and love.

In character, she tempted me. But I tempted her, with the chance to unleash what others feared. Hee, it's angels who tread where mortals fear, not the other way around!

Her heart is already tainted by her desires, you know! Already, her fate has changed irrevocably! And when she comes to walk by my side, I will end those who seek to wrong her.

Alexia: This was really fun. I'm sorry we have to cut it short, but I've got chores to do.
Selenia: That's fine, I should hop off myself. I got a bit carried away today ^^;
Selenia: *kisses your cheek*
Alexia: *kisses your lips*
Alexia: You're really fun. I feel like we really could do lots of things together here.
Selenia: I'd be happy to. :black_heart: We're really compatible...
Alexia: :black_heart:
Alexia: Bye for now, Selenia~

Now, I can feel confident that I've given Kolya something to look forward to - soon, I'll be able to show her who she is, and what she wants. And that she can take girls, like I can...that she can be as beautiful as Akane.

Grinning ear to ear, I logged out of the game, and got up, walking to the front door and checking the entranceway...

Gleefully, I picked up the package I'd had delivered, tearing it open ravenously as if I hungered for what was inside.

Laid atop the rest of my order was a smooth, seemingly seamless black ring, perfectly sized to rest upon Rana's neck.

Rana is mine. She can only be mine, and Mona's. This shall be the instrument of her demise, and her surrender, and her greatest joy.

Another step toward my ideal world.

28