Vivid Stars Online

The knowledge that the VSO connection used portal technology was a revelation to me. It hadn’t been something I’d ever considered before, but now that I'd uncovered it in the VR pod, it made sense.

From my somewhat basic understanding of how the portals on Altheias worked, they used a process of scanning, deconstruction, and reconstruction on the other side. In other words, they took a copy of you, destroyed the original, and recreated you at the destination.

It was a rather concerning idea really, but the key thing was that it matched what happened in VSO. If you took out the deconstruction set, then it looked a lot like what happened when you logged into the ‘game’.

I didn’t know if it was a full consciousness transfer or just a way to send mental signals back and forth, but either method seemed like it might work.

With a smile, I leaned back and slid a panel over the device. There would be plenty of time to examine it over the coming days, but I was out of time and power for today.

“How did it go?” Simon asked from beside the camera. “I saw you got the core open, did you find anything?”

“Oh yeah,” I responded, turning my smile toward him. “I found the biggest clue yet. I’ll wait till we get back to discuss it, I’m sure Peter will want to know.”

I would have to stay on Earth a little longer than normal to go through it, but I felt the situation warranted it.

He didn’t look happy to be kept waiting, but after a few moments, he nodded and folded up the camera. I finished closing the pod up as he backed it away. While leaving it open would be easier, I didn’t want to risk those two crucial wires being disturbed in any way.

With that finished, we left, taking our cars back to Peter’s house. Upon arrival, I rushed inside, barely able to contain my excitement. It hadn’t even been that long since I’d started working in the real world, and it had already paid off big time.

Simon must have called Peter on the way, as he was already seated in the living room. I opened my mouth to speak as I walked in but stopped as he held up a hand.

“Marcus is on his way. As eager as I am to hear your findings, it’s best if we wait until we are all gathered.”

I nodded in response as I slid into a seat. I had considered the same thing but hadn’t been sure if Marcus could get away from work. Perks of being the boss, I guess, I mused as I waited.

Before long, Marcus jogged into the room, looking a little out of breath. “Sorry about the delay,” he gasped as he took a seat. “Did I miss anything?”

Peter shook his head, “No, we waited.” Turning to me, he continued, “Jared, if you would. Simon only told me you found something important.”

“Very important,” I responded with a nod. “It might even be the key to getting us to VSO permanently.” Both Peter and Marcus perked up at that, and I took them through the day’s findings.

“So it really might be possible then,” Peter said as I finished with what I’d found in the core. His face relaxed as he leaned back and looked up as if he was praying.

“We’re still a long way from achieving it,” I responded quickly to avoid getting his hopes up. “But yes, I’m now fairly confident that it should be possible. We just need to find a way to modify the device to fully transfer us to the other side.”

“Depending on exactly how it works, that might be easy, or it might be very difficult. I don’t know yet whether it’s doing such a transfer each time, or if its only purpose is mental communication between the two bodies,” I continued as thoughts whirled through my mind.

“All the portals I’ve seen on Altheias have been massive, far larger than the cores within each VR pod. That might be just to allow them to take more people and cargo, or they might be a lot more powerful.”

Peter tilted his head for several moments before responding. “So you're suggesting that it might only be sending mental signals back and forth, rather than transferring your mind across? If that is the case, I imagine more significant modifications would be required?”

I shrugged before speaking. “It’s really too early to tell either way, I just wanted to bring up that the devices seem to be much smaller and less powerful than what I’ve seen before. We might need some extreme modifications, or even need to build a full-scale portal.”

“It’s unfortunate that Elana can’t help here,” I continued, before wincing as I realized that was a rather insensitive thing to say.

Peter noticeably flinched as I spoke, before nodding sadly in response. Simon only stared stoically into the distance while Marcus spoke up.

“I want Elana back as much as anyone, but I don’t see the connection to this. Sure, she’s handy with technology, one of the best engineers we had, but I wouldn’t think that would make much of a difference with you here.”

“It’s a matter of knowledge and skill,” I responded with a shake of my head. “While I get an intuitive understanding of how things work, and the ability to make changes without any tools, that is far from knowing how to modify things to work differently.”

“For several months now, Elana has been working with highly advanced Arkathian technology, and without my abilities, she would have to understand it to do so. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s one of Earth’s foremost experts on the subject.”

“Anyone trying to replicate that knowledge would have to spend significant time in the game with access to an abundant source of the technology,” I finished, trying to stress how it wouldn’t be possible on Earth.

With only a single example of the technology here, I just didn’t see how anyone could learn enough to begin making changes. Even I would only be able to get a better understanding of what it was already doing.

“Now I do have a lead in VSO,” I continued carefully. “But I don’t know if it’s going to pan out, so we need a backup plan.”

“I understand,” Peter responded, sadness lacing his tone. “My preference would be to rescue Elana, if at all possible. That would bring her back to us safely and give us access to her expertise. I would appreciate it if you continued trying to find a way to locate her.”

“Of course,” I said. “If I find any way to do so, I’ll let you know.”

He stared at me for a moment before nodding gravely and continuing. “But you are right that we need a backup plan. I will find a couple of junior technicians whose disappearance into the game won’t be questioned.”

“If they start on your world, can you give them work with Elana?”

“As long as they can be trusted, I would be happy to take them,” I responded with a smile. “Elana could always use the help.”

While the two pilots were assisting with the grunt work, they only had basic repair skills. Even with the small army of maintenance robots we had access to there were some things best handled by a human.

That wasn’t even considering my quest to repair the ship. I needed three assistant engineers to tick off that section, and the maintenance robots had only filled one of the spots. Two extra people were exactly what I needed.

“I’ll send you contact details so they can find me,” I said as I pulled myself from my thoughts. “And if there is nothing else, I should really head to VSO, I’ve spent longer out than I’d intended to.”

“Of course,” Peter responded as he stood up.

To my surprise, he held a hand out to shake before I could leave. “Thank you for the work you have already completed, Jared. I admit to having been more than a little suspicious when Linnea first told me about you, but today you’ve proven that she was right all along.”

I blinked a little to clear my suddenly misty eyes before shaking his hand firmly. “This is just the beginning, Peter. I intend to get us all to VSO, Elana included.”

After a few moments, I turned to leave, feeling a bit awkward about the situation. It had been a long time since I’d been close to a group of people like this, and while it felt good, I wasn’t used to it either.

They let me go without further comment, and I swiftly moved up to my VR pod. As important as the day’s revelations were, I still needed to return to my expedition.

The mid-morning air was crisp as I woke in the tent Linnea and I shared. We were now well into Fall, or Autumn as the locals called it, and it would be snowing here soon.

Linnea was sitting by a small fire as I exited, her eyes on the surrounding wilderness. Her gaze snapped at me as I pulled myself out of the tent, and she lept up to pull me into a hug.

“I was beginning to worry,” she sighed into my chest before letting go. “Did something go wrong with the investigation?”

I shook my head with a broad grin. “Quite the opposite, we had a breakthrough, and I spared the extra time to explain it to your family. We’d better get moving though, I’ll tell you on the way.”

With winter fast approaching, we needed to put as much distance behind us as possible while the going was still easy. Even with the appropriate equipment, I expected our pace to at least halve once the snow came.

She nodded in response, though I could see the curiosity on her face. We quickly moved to pack up the camp before setting out along our planned route. So far, we’d only had to deviate a couple of times due to unexpected dangers, and we’d always veered back afterward.

I explained the events of the day as we progressed at a steady pace, keeping ourselves moving without tiring us out. While we had far more stamina than the average human, we also had to be ready to fight at any time.

To be safe, we avoided going all out even if it slowed us down, and I’d already been thankful for that after multiple fights. While the beasts here were still not much of a threat, it was impossible to ignore that they were growing stronger as we went north.

Linnea turned and hugged me again as I finished. “That’s amazing news Jared, I can barely believe that it might really be possible.” She sounded on the verge of tears as she spoke, and relief was clear on her face as she looked up at me.

I only smiled and hugged her back. Out of all of us, she had the most riding on us getting to VSO. I’d seen just how bad her health was in the real world, and I could only imagine how much better she must feel here.

“Are you hoping the AI you spoke with might know the modifications we need?” She asked after calming down.

“Yeah, that would be the best outcome,” I responded as we separated. “Though I’m going to ask about Elana first. Getting her back is the most important, and she might be able to do it on her own.”

“I’ll ask it about the VR pods after that, but I’m sure it’s going to ask for more payment, even if it does know. The question will be whether we can provide what it wants.”

“So it all rests on this trip,” she said, her face hardening with determination. Her hands balled into fists at her sides as she turned forward and started hiking again.

“So let’s make sure we succeed,” she said as she strode into the forest.

I could only nod as I turned to follow. While there might be other options, this was by far the best lead that we had. As she said, we would have to make sure we succeeded.