SNBRN
Messaging Pierce was useless. I believed I had the situation analysed correctly in a manner of seconds. Pierce was hardly going to close his window out of Snbrn, considering it was our only path to salvation. He'd message his server, thinking the whole time that it was me, and who knows when he would learn differently. How Anatoli had known that Paulie's server wasn't Tae-joon was a mystery that would need to be solved later… But it did give me a glimmer of hope.
If Tae-joon had managed to get himself back in the loop by finding Paulie's server, then I could do the same by finding Pierce's.
The problem, of course, would be deciding which of the seven codes was the proper one. Naturally, THR was right out; I didn't think Snbrn would be crazy about me being my own client, especially since I hadn't even loaded the client disc yet. Just to test it out, I clicked on THR, hitting Enter to see what the game would say.
"Error: Invalid client." The game couldn't be any plainer than that. So if I could only serve for someone whose client disc had been run, that meant the only one that should work would be the most recently loaded client… and that could only be the person who served for Pierce. My confidence restored, I clicked on one of the codes at random - SER.
"Connection successful." I had to stop myself from pumping my fists in the air at that stroke of luck.
After a few seconds more of loading bars, my screen filled with an impossible image. I was now in full view of someone's entire bedroom, as though a camera had been placed in a corner of the ceiling. "What the fuck…" I was too distracted to notice the game's user interface. There was legitimately a person sitting at his own desk, Snbrn clearly plastered on his screen.
"Helloo?" he whistled through my speakers, his voice a mixture of concern and playfulness. I wasn't quite sure what to make of him yet, but if everything I'd been told was true, I had a job to do for him.
I allowed myself a few seconds more of disbelief and trepidation, considering the nature of my day to this point. Honestly, it had just been impossibility after impossibility. Alas, I found the window for server/client communication and opened it up.
Server: Hey, looks like we'll be working together.
Client: I've been counting on that. Mind going into the Phernalia tab and laying down all of that sick equipment?
Server: Not a problem, mate. Uh, anywhere you want it in particular?
Client: Plenty of room in here. Place the first things here and move out to the living room if you have to.
I finally decided to give some attention to the interface, reading the tabs along the top of the screen until I found the Phernalia. True to Paulie's word, the first item shown was called the Cruxtruder. It was reminiscent of a pedestal, the kind that would be right at home in an art gallery, sturdily supporting a surreal marble carving. After clicking the device, it was then attached to my mouse, apparently allowing me to drag until I found the ideal place to drop it in my client's room. At my best guess, it was about 1,5 meters on each side; I wondered how I was going to manage to fit three other machines in this poor bastard's bedroom.
Doing my best to optimize space, I clicked the Cruxtruder down in the back of the room, flush with the wall and a dresser. The client flinched at the sight of the machine appearing out of thin air, but it seemed he and I were both quickly getting used to the death of classical physics. He recovered quickly, spinning back around to type in the chat.
Before opening up the messages, I decided to save a bit of time by placing the next device, the Punch Designix. It seemed to be the smallest of the four, so I was able to fit it along a wall next to his door. This time, however, he didn't flinch, his hands working away at the keys for a few seconds.
Client: On second thought, I don't want things to get too tight in here. Can you put the other machines in the living room? I'll go ahead and open up the Cruxtruder.
Without waiting for my reply, he whipped out a nunchaku, giving it a few slow twists. Where the hell did this skinny white dude get a damn nunchaku? I briefly thought. Alas, it was likely unwise to be calling the pot black when my weapon was of Okinawan origin. If my client was a martial artist as well, perhaps there was a lot I could learn from him. Of course, that would require surviving my way into the Medium. One thing at a time, Ki.
The top of the pedestal on the Cruxtruder was some kind of metal lid. When the nunchaku smashed against it, the lid popped off. Two items sprung forth from within - a cylinder that appeared to be glass or plastic, and a glowing ball of pulsing light. Both were boldly orange, but only the cylinder plopped to the ground. The ball hovered ominously, as though it were a butterfly.
"There's my timer," my client said, ignoring the two items for a moment and staring at the Cruxtruder. Indeed, I'd missed the sight of the screens along the bottom of the pedestal when I placed the device, but now they were lit up with an LED clock. Currently, it was counting down from about ten minutes, which meant he had about that long to get into the Medium before…. I sincerely hoped he wouldn't need that much time.
I definitely should have been trying to figure out how to pan my view to his living room, so that I could place the other two machines, but I couldn't help watching to see what he was doing. Clearly he'd learned what to do from his client, and I didn't want to miss a single important step.
I took careful note of his next two actions. His first was to pick up the orange cylinder, clutching it as best as one could clutch a perfectly smooth item. A couple of taps with his fingernail betrayed the material to be more crystalline than what I had originally thought, but attention to the cylinder was set aside for the moment as he looked to the sphere of light. "What the hell am I gonna prototype this with…" He gazed around his bedroom, which seemed to be seriously lacking in the decor department, before pausing at the sight of a few action figures. "Ooh, now we're talking."
Speaking of talking, I wasn't sure why he was saying so many words out loud. He definitely knew that I could see him; was he aware I could also basically hear his every breath? Admittedly, he probably wanted me to be placing the last two machines in his living room…. In any case, he picked up one of the action figures, which seemed to be of some kind of stuntman, and tossed it into the ball of light. I didn't think it possible, but it flashed even brighter.
Not a second later, the ball had reformed into a glowing-orange man. At least, it was part of one. His lower body seemed to be nonexistent, wisping off into a ghostly tail. "Yo, sick move, man!" the creation called.
"Uh, whoa," my client said, clearly quite surprised to see his figure come to life.
"Hey, it's all good, my dude! You gave me the power of sentience, and I'm gonna give you the power of knowledge." It did seem that he was a stuntman, and his enthusiastic flips showed a fulfillment of that role. "I'm your sprite, and there's a few things you need to know. You'd better run your Punch Designix and get the card out of it, bro."
The client stepped immediately over to the smaller device, not offering his sprite a word. I wondered if the thing was right about having sentience. Whatever it was, it seemed the sprite's purpose was to guide someone through the introduction to Snbrn. Fortunately, that meant that I wouldn't have to rely on my client's perfect accuracy to do everything I needed when I eventually started playing.
Deciding to leave the two new friends alone for a moment, I hovered around on the screen until I figured out how to move out of the bedroom. Apparently, I only had to click on the door, which I wish I could say took me less than 60 seconds to figure out. His living room was similarly basic, which meant that the last two devices - the Totem Lathe and the Alchemiter - were easily placed just outside, and not a moment too late. Stuntsprite came bursting through the door, a full two seconds before my client, who was now holding a large card in his left hand. It must have been what came out of the Punch Designix.
It seemed there was little else for me to do; they'd not brought the laptop out with them, so there was likely nothing they needed to communicate with me. I watched as Stuntsprite instructed in the use of the machines. The large card was placed in a slot on the Totem Lathe, and the cylinder - apparently made of a mineral called "cruxite" - was centered on its platform. The machine whirred to life, carving the cruxite into an odd vase shape, which my client immediately moved to the Alchemiter.
Seconds later, my screen was filled with the image of a bright orange pine tree. It was decked out in a stunning display of lights, perhaps apparently multiplied by the shimmering streams of tinsel... but it only lasted for a second. It winked out of existence, dropping a single Christmas cracker onto the living room floor. "Damn, the game thinks I'm Christian?" my client sighed.
"Aw, don't feel bad, Brenner," Stuntsprite said. "The entry item is totally nothing personal. Don't even waste time worryin' about it." He moved to give Brenner a comforting pat on the shoulder but stopped shortly before.
Indeed, his message was something I could easily agree with. If the timer on the Cruxtruder was anything to be afraid of, Brenner had to, ehm, get cracking. "Alrighty then. See ya soon, Enzo," he stated, clutching the cracker tightly in his hands and twisting it sharply.
My computer screen flared painfully white, much brighter than I'd seen it get before. The only clue that it hadn't completely crashed was the thin Snbrn menu still strapped across the top of the screen. A few seconds later, however, the image faded back into the view of Brenner's living room. His hands were plastered over his eyes, shielding the majority of his face, as Stuntsprite looked on, clearly resistant to such struggles. This time, he tapped him on the shoulder, leading Brenner to release his eyes.
Immediately, he was drawn to the window, which he jogged to and stared out. "Where am I?"
His sprite started to hover over, but before I could listen in on the conversation, I heard a thud from another room, this time certainly in my house. If Gian wasn't home, there were only two possibilities - either the house was being invaded, on the absolute worst possible day for such a thing to happen, or his dogs were getting restless. I typed out a quick "be right back" message in the server/client chat before leaping into the hall.
For some reason, I found myself surprisedly staring at two very scared looking dogs, who were both shuddering slightly. I hated to admit it, but they looked exceptionally adorable and rather in need of comfort, so I knelt down and gave them both some gentle head rubs. "Aw, all these meteors must be driving you out of your minds…" Leila, a Corgi, calmed fairly quickly, lapping her tongue out at my hand lovingly. The warmth of my heart rose to even greater heights, so I stayed there for a few more minutes hoping to calm Soraya as well.
The hearty German Shepherd was not the type to alter her mood quickly, but it seemed I'd done well enough to quell the quaking in her legs. "How about you two come on in here?" As much joy as the dogs gave me, a deep green feeling was seeping into my mind, a feeling that whatever was to happen to me soon, I wouldn't want to let these two get far out of sight. Soraya walked in right after me, placing her head on my knee as I sat back down at my desk chair. Leila hopped a few times, slowly following suit.
In the time I had spent away from my laptop, the state of the living room had changed noticeably. Brenner and Stuntsprite had left at some point, presumably heading elsewhere in the house. Probably his bedroom, considering that the window where I had minimized the server/client chat was illuminated. The most surprising difference, however, was the imps. A small group of little orange guys were skittering across the living room floor, a strangely creepy display to hear. Something gave me the impression that Brenner wasn't going to love having these pointy little dudes running around and scratching up his walls.
Transfixed by the subtle diversities in the imps' forms, I watched their animalistic motions around the room for who knows how long. A small yip from Leila, who had lightly bumped into my desk, lead me to snap out of my focus, trying to get my priorities back in order. After another few seconds of thinking, I recalled that I had an unread message waiting for me.
Client: You won't want to be too long. Odds are the meteor that's headed your way is very close.
Server: Do you suppose playing this game is what sent them our way? It seems so crazy…
Client: Ah, you'll have more time to ponder that later, I think. Why don't you go ahead and pop in your client disk and wait to be picked up?
Server: Sure thing. You probably want to start killing the imps around your house too, dude.
Client: Shit
I couldn't think of a decent enough reply, so I only offered my computer a look that said, "Yikes." Quickly, the client disc replaced the server, and although the image of Brenner's living room stayed on screen for a bit, it was then replaced by a cascading pattern of spirographs. I was, admittedly, somewhat amused; it was slightly more impressive to watch than that of the server disc.
As soon as the loading finished, however, Brenner's living room was right back on my screen. I watched for a few seconds as he swung around his nunchaku, bashing one of the imps directly on the head. He was clearly a natural, easily distracting me until the server/client communication tab lit up. If everything went to plan, at least everything that had not already failed to go to plan, then that would be Anatoli.
Server: You should open the Cruxtruder ASAP to see how much time you have until the meteor hits. It's gonna take a pretty solid hit, can you do that?
Client: I'll see what I can do with my staff. Think you can fit all those machines in the common room? Might be easier for me to move there
Server: Yes, looks like enough room to me. Go ahead out, I've got the Cruxtruder down.
Although I would have hated to admit it, my heart was already quivering not 60 seconds into my Snbrn experience. Whatever was happening, it was serious, and if I didn't get a move on, it would be happening all over my future grave.
It seemed that my size estimate of the Cruxtruder from my brief server experience were roughly correct. I quickly approached it, digging my fingers under the lid and tugging on it. That seemed fruitless, so I clearly hadn't been lied to. The next question, then, was where I had left my staff. I usually kept it in the corner of my room near the rest of my athletic stuff, but it hadn't been there, or else I wouldn't have left my room without it. However, a quick glance around the common room showed that it wasn't lying there, semi-forgotten. I must have left it in my car.
For a second, I rushed in the direction of the front door, halting as my view was suddenly populated by another machine. I managed to freeze just in time, it seemed, to avoid getting a face full of Alchemiter. Surely, I was getting a message just at that moment. Anatoli wasn't likely to apologize for something like this, but he would surely have a witty saying or two that I could roll my eyes at in the near future. In the meantime, I would have to climb over the unfortunately large device.
Knowing that every move I made was being followed, surely, didn't exactly make my progress graceful as I lumbered over the Alchemiter, but I couldn't let that distressing thought fill my brain. There were far more important things to be anxious about. For example, as I burst out the front door, I felt a surprising wave of heat, the likes of which I had only felt on a summer trip to Texas. A distant sound crackled in the background as I ran to my car, doing my best not to distract myself by looking around. Fortunately, my staff lay patiently on the backseat. In a manner of seconds, it was gripped tightly in my hand.
My return to the house, although temporally brief, offered much more chance for distraction. Smoke seemed to split the sky into stripes. Clearly, the increase in heat I felt had been the result of one too many meteor crashes. Thoughts of what could possibly be ignited by a blitzing space rock threatened to send me into a far more toxic state of mind, so I gulped loudly and ducked back inside.
Without thinking, I tossed my staff over the Alchemiter, then awkwardly crawling over the device. Clearly my earlier display of awkwardness wasn't inspiration enough to move the device, which perhaps might not have been an option in the first place. Either way, I was sure I'd have some words for my dear server as soon as we next met in person.
"Hopefully this works," I mumbled to myself, adjusting my grip on my staff for several seconds before swinging at the top of the Cruxtruder. It gave a faint, metallic thud but offered nothing further. Well, there went that plan.
A thump from my bedroom lead me to flinch, taking a moment before remembering that it must have been the dogs. Alas, before I could react, the door swung open, and Leila burst into the living room, yipping obliviously and hobbling towards me. "Look out, girl; I've gotta hit this thing again." Doing my best to channel my nerves into my arms, I swung at the Cruxtruder with as much strength as I could. Finally, I was successful.
Seeing the amount of time I had left certainly served only to make me more nervous. Five minutes and eight seconds flashed on the screens as a teal cylinder of cruxite leapt at me. I jumped back, barely missing a whack to the shin. Leila yipped again, shuffling her adorable body over to make sure I was okay. Naturally, I knelt down to give her some serious head rubs, hoping to ease the tension in both of us.
"You know, girl, I'd love to keep up with this Snbrn stuff, but I'm pretty sure my sprite never came out…" I looked up at the Cruxtruder just in time to see a flashing teal ball barreling right towards me, almost as though it were waiting for that exact moment. I let out an unfortunate curse and rolled backwards, hoping that I was more than a hair's width out of the way.
Had my eyes not been closed, I would have seen a brilliant shine of light. Clearly, my sprite had found something to prototype itself with. I only hoped it hadn't stolen my staff.
"Kieran!" an excited voice cheered. Oh no. As I slowly peeled my eyes open, I caught sight of the voice's source. My jaw promptly crashed open. "You'd better hurry up and get your other machines running!"
"Leila?"