Every game I'd ever played, including Altera Online and Infinite Wars Online, has a crafting system. It's pretty basic, you select your recipe, schematic, or whatever it is that you want to make, and press "Go."

DomeNET Online has nothing like that.

I had evacuated my stomach a few times and lapsed into a session that Beatrice referred to as my, 'fetal position phase,'. But at least I learned how to skin an animal. It still felt like I was a serial killer after I finished skinning the last Dire Wolf, but such was the life of a Hunter as Beatrice kept reminding me.

"You alright now Carrots?" Beatrice asks pinning her knife to the log by the hand cranked well.

"Yea, I'm good now. The last one only made me queezy, but I think I can handle it."

"Good. Now let me take a look at your arm."

After pelting me with a piece of toast earlier, Beatrice injected me with a cylindrical device she called the 'fixer.' The initial sting and burning was bad but the shock of being stabbed in the neck from behind without any warning, that was worse.

Beatrice didn't explain the technology; instead she said, 'It doesn't matter as long as it works.'

I figured it was a stimpak, but didn't expect it to hurt. Even with the pain receptors down, it still felt like the first needle that the dentist numbs your gums with, yea, it was terrible.

Beatrice gestures to my arm and says, "It should be all fixed up now."

Blood had crusted already, so my arm looks like a bit of a horror show, but to be honest, I don't know if it was all my blood or if it was from the animals we skinned. I really need to get myself some crafting and hunting outfits, so I don't walk around looking like a serial killer all the time. Who would have thought I'd care about fashion in a game.

Cold water washs over my arm as I head over to the well and wash it off. I expect to see some teeth marks, but my arm is perfectly fine.

"What did you inject me with?"

"I told you, it doesn't matter." Beatrice takes my arm, holds it up for a second then lifts it towards my face, "See, it looks perfectly fine."

"It must be nanites or something like that if it fixes the flesh and muscles." I say, following Beatrice back inside the cabin.

"Probably, not anything I really care about. Oh and I'm keeping all those hides and the meats for myself, that fixer was expensive."

"Wait, that's at least 220 Dims!"

"Yea. So?"

"How much is a fixer?"

"About 1000 Dims, depending on how Chrica's feeling."

"Who's that?"

"She's the local Field Medic, runs a shop in town."

"You didn't tell me about the Medic shop, because?"

"You can't afford anything there, and she doesn't work on credit. So why show it to you?"

"I guess that makes sense." I grab a shirt from my pile of new clothing on the sofa and change into it, the clean shirt feels refreshing for a moment, until I realize two things, first of all, I stink and second... "Did you just loan me 800 Dims? Does that mean I'm an indentured servant or something?"

"Basically." Beatrice pours some juice and sets the cup on the counter.

"Was this your plan all along? Send me out to kill those Dire Wolves for you, and if I die oh well the 'forest took him'?" My gestures get broader, and I start turning tomato red.

"No need to get all upset, I've been taking care of you. Besides, if you died out there, it wouldn't be my fault, you didn't even ask how to hunt the wolves, where good hiding spots were, or if I had some knowledge about traps. How was I supposed to know you were just winging it?"

"I nearly died twice out there! And if it weren't for your 'fixer,' I'm pretty sure I would have lost my arm!"

"But you didn't, so time to get back to work."

"Work?"

"It's time to teach you how to gather some resources so you can get to building your own cabin." She looks at me with two raised eyebrows.

I groan and grab the other pair of jeans I'd bought then head to the shower.

"No point in getting cleaned up, in fact, you should probably put on the torn up shirt again."

"What are we going to be working on now?"

"Carpentry!"

"Oh joy, I can't wait to see how many fingers I lose swinging an ax."

"Don't worry, I have more fixers."

"You mean more debt for me to accrue."

"More reasons not to cut off a finger right?"

Sigh

By the end of the day, I know how to skin animals, cut down a tree and mill it using an actual sawmill that Beatrice put together herself. At least that's what she says, who's to say she didn't have another servant who actually did end up dying to the wolves.

The mill was powered by an engine made up of 'stuff,' as Beatrice so eloquently put it. Essentially it generated power but required someone cranking it like a bike. So, of course, I was riding the stationary bike.

Power, as it turns out, is a rare commodity out here in the Frontier and from what Beatrice tells me, it's actually difficult to obtain even in Telstra.

"So why don't you all start drilling for fossil fuels or find coal to power your contraptions?"

"You mean, why don't we destroy this planet the same way we destroyed the planet we were all forced to evacuate in arks?"

That hadn't even crossed my mind. If all these people left their planet, it wouldn't have been because it was too much of a paradise and they were tired of sipping drinks by the beach.

"Then how do you all get more energy then?" I jump from the bike and set another stack of wood beams on the pile that we had started to amass.

"That's what they're still trying to figure out back in Telstra at the Research Center," Beatrice replies pulling a rope around the stack.

"Haven't they had a long time to figure it out by now? Besides, how did they power everything back on Terra to build these arks?"

"It was a one-way trip, Terra isn't there anymore. We completely stripped the planet of all it's resources in our last push to get off of it."

"Wow, that's horrible."

"I guess."

A green light on the engine indicates its power cell is full, so I head over to grab another log and load it on to the sawmill's belt. Along with powering the engine, the bike also powers a small device that essentially acts as an anti-gravity unit when attached to the logs. It makes them incredibly light but lasts for just under 5 minutes. Had to move fast, or the log would crush my toes. I found that out the hard way. Thankfully the fixer was able to heal my body for another few hours according to Beatrice. That explained why it was so expensive. A heal over time, or HoT, was a powerful ability in any game, so having an item that simulates an HoT for several hours had to be expensive.

Wood chips fly out of the mill as I get the new log in place. "So, is there ships on this planet?"

"Some."

"Care to elaborate?"

Beatrice actually sighs when I push on this question. "There are ships. But only the Major houses have them. It's too expensive to power the anti-grav units for a ship. And as you can tell, it takes a lot of effort to power just this sawmill engine and that handheld anti-grav unit which can only handle a few hundred pounds."

"So, how do the major houses power their ships?"

"Some use manpower. Others took up places near rivers that had enough current flowing through them to generate power. But it's so finite, and everything they use in the cities draws so much power, that it's a scarce resource. Not to the point that someone would kill you for the Energy Arrows in your pocket. But enough that I put that bike away in a safe place when I'm not using it."

"How do they stop the major families from just going back to bad fuel sources?"

"The AI stops them."

"Which AI?"

"That big machine you stuck your hand into."

"Oh, you mean that thing that runs my chip?"

"Yea, if someone commits a crime, the AI sends a signal back to the central office, and the person is hunted down."

"How does the AI know they killed someone?"

"That's all beyond me. But I know that it doesn't really 'know' much. It's actually not been able to stop all crime, just makes it harder to perform. Plus not everyone has an internal chip."

"So, back to my question, why haven't the houses pulled out their chips and used bad fuel sources?"

"Because without a chip, you can't enter any of the major cities, or even go back to Telstra."

"Then have someone else do the dirty work for you."

Beatrice stares at me with a puzzled look. "As a race, I would hope that no one would do that. I mean, first of all, even if someone did it, they couldn't hide it for long since others would notice the emission of highly concentrated toxic fumes. And even if you coerced someone into constructing the mines or gathering those materials for you, they would eventually rebel, and you'd be back at zero."

"Since when have 'possible' future consequences stopped anyone from doing what's bad? I mean, it's not bad until you get caught."

The light turns green again so I get off the bike and pick up the anti-grav unit and look up at Beatrice. She's staring at me, jaw clenched. I almost drop the anti-grav unit.

"Do you know what this disc thing might be?" I ask.

She squints and keeps drilling me with her eyes.

"This thing I got from Quentin's." The small pouch I'd stored my items in is on a table by the sawmill. I pull out the disc and turn it over in my hands.

"I have no idea. Quentin's had it for a while."

"Did he try powering it up?"

"I'm pretty sure that's the first thing he did."

"Hm, oh well." It clinks as I toss it back. "It's almost dusk anyway, so, should we get ready for dinner?"

"Yea."

"I'm a growing boy aren't I?"

That gets a smirk, "Alright."

I place the last set of wood beams on the pile and Beatrice takes her time looping the rope around it saying, "I guess I can share some of the meats with you. I'll just add it to your bill."

"I'm never going to pay off this debt am I?"

"Nope."

With a groan, I pick up my satchel and toss the anti-grav unit inside.

"Go on ahead. I'll be in shortly."

"Sure thing. Let me just put my stuff inside."

While Beatrice is putting away the bike and all its attachments, I head into the shower to get cleaned up.

Turning my wrist over, I decided to check on my stats now that I'm alone.

[ Menu -

* Map

* Stats

* Quests

* Options]

Selecting stats, I look over the information.

PID:

Username: Carrots

Family Name: Field

Rank: 3

Occupation: Citizen

Origin: Unknown

Residence: 47.51, -122.80

Primary Stats:

Strength: 18

Composure: 10

Stamina:20

Agility: 20

Intelligence: 15

Wisdom: 12

My stats! I never thought I’d actually get to see them. They are also higher than I expected for just the short amount of time that I've been playing. Mainly since this is only my first session online and the first time user experience isn't even over yet. I still don't even know what the major quest I have to beat to get away from this starter zone is going to be.

Maybe I have to figure out a way to power a ship, so I get fly off world? Beating a Dire Wolves den just doesn't quite line up with a reasonable quest line now that Beatrice shared all these details.

A thought slams into me as I realized after being so immersed in the game. That I'm actually IN a game!

Up until now, the world has felt so real that I don't even remember that I'm actually laying in the real world with a helmet on and everything around me is just 1's and 0's.

A snort squeaks out, and I'm in amazement of this entire VR world again since I first landed appeared in the clearing.

I pull up the quest list on the EDI and notice the Hunt Dire Wolves quest that Beatrice gave me actually didn't complete when I returned. It must be because I didn't kill all three wolves in the pack that attacked me? What did end up happening to that wolf that got away? How much sleep will I need tonight now that my Stamina is much higher? Maybe I won't need any in-game rest at all.

These thoughts course through my mind as I walk out of the bathroom and see Beatrice standing at the door with her rifle aimed right at me.

"Trish?"

"Who are you?"

I want to laugh it off as a joke, but the look in her eyes tell me this isn't something to shrug off. Especially when she raises the barrel to my head.

"I won't ask again. Who are you?"

#domenet #chapter