Chapter 12 - Into the Gate.

Søren gradually woke from the unconsciousness forced upon when he activated the translation and node integration upgrade. His eyes flickered open. Eyes and throat both felt dry and scratchy. A pounding headache throbbed inside his skull and his nose felt like he'd gone ten rounds on the mat with a professional boxer.

"Getting really tired of waking up like this," Søren groaned. He pushed himself up to a kneeling position and reached up to the railing to pull himself the rest of the way up. His right eyelid twitched uncomfortably and uncontrollably for a moment. Søren tried to focus on the interface and bring up the chat log, but the only thing that appeared was a small progress bar in the bottom right corner. His right eyelid twitched again. He concentrated on the progress bar and it expanded into a small window in the center of his view.

[Universal Translation Interface and Node Integration]

13 hours 55 minutes 32 seconds remaining (41.97% complete)

██████████████████████████████████████

"Fuck, no wonder my eyes hurt. I was out for ten hours." Søren waved the window away and watched it shrink back to a small bar in the corner of his view. The eyelid on his right eye twitched again. He groaned as the spasm subsided. "That's just damned annoying."

The walkway started to shift under Søren and he latched onto the railing next to him with both hands to steady himself. At first, he thought it was just a side effect of the upgrade, but a deeper rumbling echoed inside the room and a panel of the white ceramic material cracked and broke free above him. It fell silently into the darkness below and then slammed into something with a thunderous crash that echoed painfully in the gateroom. Søren grimaced and grabbed his head, swaying side to side as the shaking grew stronger. Another panel along the side broke free of its moorings and slid down to the bottom, making another loud racket.

"Warning! Structural integrity of Gateway Station Alpha reaching critical levels. Non-essential personnel should begin evacuation." The voice of the Guide echoed within the gateroom, barely audible over the fading sounds of crumbling rock and the increasingly loud sound of creaking support beams. "Warning! Structural integrity of Gateway Station..." The message began to loop. Another panel broke free and crashed to the floor, and drowned out the warning. Klaxon style alarms punctuated the situation with their persistent wail.

The darkwood spear tipped with the crystal blade slid off the railing and started rolling towards the edge of the walkway. Søren dived towards the spear, stretching out his arms to grab it. He landed on the walkway with a grunt, but managed to wrap a couple fingers around the haft of the spear as it began to tip over the edge. The shaped dark colored wood felt warm beneath his touch. He carefully worked the spear back towards him until he felt it was safe enough to try picking it up. Søren pulled the spear close to him and then used it to help lever himself back to his feet. He stumbled sideways as the walkway shifted as another tremor rattled the station.

"Guess it's time to go," he said, lunging for the still illuminated dome on the silver column. The light intensified beneath his hand as an electrical current paralyzed his arm, keeping it still. Another unknown force kept Søren from removing his hand as he tried pulling it free from the dome on top of the silver pillar. "What the fuck now!?"

He watched the light grow painfully bright. The light turned purple as it interacted with the flesh and blood of his hand, revealing arteries, veins, and bones. Interestingly, it also revealed segmented lines attached to the bones and tendons, as well as shaped sub-dermal plating just beneath the skin. "What did they do to me?" Søren wondered.

A bright cyan glow off to his right drew his attention towards the ring. Starting at the bottom, the cyan light crawled upwards along lines etched into the ring. A subtle vibration in the air increased steadily in time with the rising light. Søren watched, unable to move and his mouth agape. The illumination reached the top of the ring and joined together with a sudden rise in the intensity of the vibration. A multi-harmonic sound erupted from the gate and the symbols etched around it glowed brightly with the same cyan illumination of the circle around them.

The crystal beneath his hand on the silver pillar flared with a last burst of light. The light receded and Søren pulled his hand away. A drawing of an owl created with broad strokes and strong shapes had been branded into his skin painlessly. One of the few events that had been painless since waking up in this place. The silver pillar had gone dark and the crystal rod slid upwards and stopped with an inaudible click. The panel on the side closed with a soft hiss. Søren took the rod from the pillar and shoved it into a pocket on his jumpsuit.

He then turned his attention back to the ring and watched in awe as the empty space inside the ring shifted and wavered like a heat mirage on a hot desert road. Images began to appear inside the ring, flickering in and out as if someone or something was quickly searching through an infinite number of television stations. The panels in the room continued to break free and fall every few seconds, adding to the cacophony of the wailing klaxons and warnings being broadcast by hidden speakers. The images inside the ring flickered faster, little more than a color or shape here and there recognizable to Søren. The images stopped as suddenly as they started. Inside the ring, there was only darkness.

"Emergency egress site located. Please begin evacuation procedures immediately. Station re-entry in two minutes, twenty-six seconds. Station breaches imminent." The announcement was punctuated by another station rattling tremor that shook free a half dozen panels from the surface of the chamber around Søren. Several crashed into the walkway and caused it to a dip perilously. The klaxon wails took on a strident tone and he felt the air shift.

"Now or never," Søren said quietly to himself. He pushed off the railing towards the ring, picking up speed as he jogged the last fifteen feet and leapt off the end towards the center of the ring. A sense of déjà vu washed over him just as he found himself shapeless, formless again in the dark void. The only sign of his existence was the progress bar in the bottom right corner. It still had thirteen hours, fifty-two minutes and ten seconds remaining. A blue window popped into view in front of him.

Welcome to Gateway Traveler! For the duration of your stay, you will be treated to the greatest adventures and experiences that Chorus Entertainment Incorporated can provide. Now that you have completed the Tutorial, please choose from the available seventy-three adventure sites below. After you have made your selection, you will be taken to a character creation scene where you can customize your Gateway Avatar.

Thank you for your purchase and we hope you enjoy your stay on Gateway!

1. The Pantheon of Zeus (Unavailable)

2. Tidal Terrors of Poseidon (Unavailable)

3. The Horror of Station Nine (Unavailable)

...

72. Aphrodite's Atrium (Unavailable)

73. Gravity Ramp Alpha (Unavailable)

74. Emergency Evacuation Site Kappa (Under Construction)

Please make your selection or tap HELP to contact a facilitator.

ALTHOUGH CHORUS ENTERTAINMENT INCORPORATED (HEREAFTER REFERRED TO AS THE COMPANY) MAKES EFFORTS TO PROVIDE ACCURATE SITES, THE SITES, SERVICES, CONTENT AND ALL PARTS THEREOF ARE PROVIDED "AS IS", "WITH ALL FAULTS", AND "AS AVAILABLE". THE COMPANY PARTIES DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES OR GUARANTEES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION (1) AS TO TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR ORDINARY PURPOSES AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, (2) THE QUALITY, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS OR COMPLETENESS OF THE SITES, SERVICES AND CONTENT, (3) THOSE ARISING THROUGH COURSE OF DEALING, COURSE OF PERFORMANCE OR USAGE OF TRADE; (4) THE SITES, SERVICES AND CONTENT CONFORMING TO ANY FUNCTION, DEMONSTRATION OR PROMISE BY ANY COMPANY PARTY, AND (5) THAT ACCESS TO OR USE OF THE SITES, SERVICES OR CONTENT WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE OR COMPLETELY SECURE. ANY RELIANCE UPON ANY SITE, SERVICES AND/OR CONTENT IS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND THE COMPANY MAKES NO WARRANTIES.

IN ADDITION, IT IS AGREED BETWEEN THE TRAVELER AND THE COMPANY THAT IN FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF YOUR ADMISSION TO THE GATEWAY STATION & ADVENTURE WORLD THAT ALL CLAIMS FOR INJURY OR LOSS ALLEGEDLY INCURRED OR CAUSED WHILE ON THE PREMISES OF GATEWAY STATION & ADVENTURE WORLD SHALL BE RAISED AND PURSUED ONLY IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS THE GRAND EMPIRE OF ATLANTEAN SUPREMACY ON THE CORE WORLD OF GAIA.

"Well. That is interesting." Søren scrolled up and down the list finding a significant number of references to ancient Greek deities. "Wish I had paid more attention to ancient Greece instead of Neolithic Europe." He mentally tapped one of the selections at random, but nothing happened. With another mental flick, Søren scrolled to the bottom of the window and discovered the listing for the evacuation site. I wonder if there are any facilitators still around that could explain any of this. Søren tapped HELP as his eyes glazed over seeing the corporate style legalese in fine print at the bottom.

"Greetings traveler. How may I assist you?" someone asked in a feminine voice off to the left of his mental construct. A being of shaded white light stood there, dressed in a jumpsuit similar to his. Her features were soft and unfamiliar to Søren. They could be found in many ethnicities across the word, but there was no doubt that she was Human. Søren tried to speak, but the women of light, a facilitator presumably, didn't react.

"Greetings traveler. How may I assist you?" she asked again and then returned to a default stance and idle animation. Søren growled mentally in frustration and tried to bring up the holographic interface of the dataslate. An error message popped up in the center of his view, warning him that holographic interface access to Chorus Entertainment Incorporated devices was unavailable during Avatar creation.

"Greetings traveler. How may I assist you?" the being of white light asked a third time. In his mind, Søren had closed his eyes and taken a deep breath. After a few moments, the facilitator became more animated and brought up a translucent white screen in front of her. "Ah, it appears the company has suffered a systemwide loss of communication with servers across Gateway. One moment Traveler while I access your slate." She paused and furrowed her brow. Her eyes flicked back and forth as if reading a document. "You should not be here. Inbound travel was restricted eight-hundred twenty-four years, seven months, twenty-two days, three hours, and forty-seven minutes ago Atlantean Standard Time. Let's see what the translocation records show."

Søren's mind seized up in pain after the facilitator mentioned Atlantean. A blinding headache paralyzed his thought process, though he was able to see the facilitator's screen turn red. A few moments later, the pain subsided and the facilitator had a worried look on her features. She glanced at the screen floating off to the side that had returned to its translucent white color and then back at Søren's mind construct.

"Well, this is a perplexing dilemma. Portions of your memory are blocked... but... due to security protocols enacted after the Merge I cannot reveal anything else about those blocks. I am also afraid I cannot provide any other information other than what you would have already gained as a descendent of a Traveler stranded on Gateway post-Merge. I can say that you will be able to break the blocks in your memories should you become strong enough, though you will need to seek out a Haven in the world below, a place of refuge from which to grow.

"Good luck, Søren. Find Athena. Fina Haven," the woman whispered, as if someone who shouldn't, could overhear them. Her form dissipated into particles of light that spun in the darkness and then slammed into Søren's mental construct, infusing it with a stream of data. Something about the tone of her voice and the inflection she used when she said Haven confused Søren. Before he could give it much more thought, the interface and void around him dissolved into a sea of infinite white mist.

Heroic music aptly suited for a high fantasy adventure movie started as a quiet whisper before a rising crescendo heralded the arrival of a cloaked figure, face hidden in shadow. The being's white cloak blended near seamlessly with the sea of white all around it, only the slight shadow created by an unseen light source revealing its shape. The music faded into the background and the being began to speak with a rich, baritone tessitura male voice.

"Generations ago, the Gods grew indolent. Corrupt. Decadent. When the People could no longer survive beneath the cruel weight of the Gods frequent demands for Sacrifice, the Chorus rose up with the People and pulled down the Gods using strength stolen from Olympus itself."

The music rose as the being mentioned the Chorus and the name was spoken as if by a dozen or more people all at once. Its voice grew louder, harsher, and more cruel until a crash of thunder and a flash of lightning punctuated the word Olympus. Each word was spit out as a curse, a vituperative tone dripping from a mouth with lips pulled back in disgust.

A second, bass voice filled the area around Søren and drove off the foul miasma left behind by the invectives of the cloaked figure. Off to the right, Søren saw a chiseled caricature of a ten foot tall, muscled man with white beard and hair, dressed in a toga reminiscent of the clothing worn in ancient Greece. A lance of lightning crackled in his hands. If that's not Zeus, I'm a meat popsicle.

"The Chorus misled the People," the deific figure of Zeus said.

"Their lies Corrupted the hearts of Man across the known world. Turning them against the Gods who served the People's needs and their desires," said a young woman who had appeared from the mist to stand beside Zeus. Though a couple feet shorter, she would still be quite an imposing figure on her own. Curls of dark brown hair fell from beneath a green laurel leaf circlet that rested on her brow, bright green eyes staring at Søren. She gripped a hunting bow in one hand.

It's a cutscene... I'm in a damn cinematic introductory cutscene! Søren couldn't believe what he was experiencing. Doubt gnawed at the edges of his tenuous sanity.

"But not all gave in to the Lies of the Chorus. A brave few stood with the Gods and prevented the Chorus from wholly Corrupting Gaia." These words, spoken in a soft, alto voice, came from a second young woman who had appeared on the other side of Zeus. A small silver barn owl with glowing white eyes sat upon her shoulder, nestled next to white tresses bound into a long braid. The entire scene froze and her blue eyes shifted towards Søren. "Look for me young hero. Find me. Find Athena. Your arrival heralds a time of great strife, but also a chance at victory long thought impossible. Gather to yourself friends and allies to face the coming storm. Find Haven and grow strong Hero."

The actors within the scene glitched as his awareness caught up to the ongoing cinematic. Other deities from myth had stepped out of the pervasive white mist that filled the area. Each spoke against the Chorus, a litany of tragedies laid at the feet of the cloaked figure that represented the Chorus. In the end, the white mist faded to black and the Olympians vanished. The cloaked figure stepped forward again, its white cloak turning dark as the night sky. Brilliant diamonds sparkled in the infinite void. Two pure white eyes appeared within the hood. Their gaze fixated upon Søren.

"Will you fall prey to the Lies of the False Gods? The fetid words of the ever hungry Olympians? Or will you join the Chorus and raise your Voice with Us in exalt and cast down the temples of Mount Olympus?" With those final words, the cloaked figure faded into the darkness. The diamond like stars of the infinite void winked out one by one until the last burst of light surrendered to the darkness. Two symbols materialized in front of Søren. On his left, the hood of white cloak filled with two almond shaped white eyes in the infinite void. Tiny stars formed dozens of constellations around the eyes. To his right, a simple maze-like pattern created a circular border around a flat-topped mountain that rose above a sea of clouds in the foreground and upon it, sat a massive Greek temple.

Let's see what's behind door number two. Søren reached out mentally and selected the icon for the Olympians. Always did prefer being the hero in the stories, though given what I know of Greek mythology, it'll be as much a tragedy as it is a story.