Skye is the Limit by Phenomenal Pen (best ebook reader ubuntu .TXT) 📖

All the Dreamwalkers shook like leaves. Bear Tooth threw his huge body close to the floor, his ears laid back and his sharp teeth clacking. The rest bowed their heads and lowered their gazes.

“Forgive us for doubting, Your Omnipotence,” the Count said without raising his eyes.

“That’s all right,” Mage said in an abrupt mood shift, his hair, eyes and voice all returning to normal. “Just don’t ever question my celestial powers again. Got it?”

The Dreamwalkers nodded vigorously and gulped with dry throats.

“At ease, gentlemen… lady,” Mage said with a nod towards Nethril. “Now that that’s out of the way, let’s move on to the main item on our agenda. I need to tell you something about the opponents you’re about to face, the Orcs.”

The Dreamwalkers settled down to listen because they knew they were going to need all the help they could get before they finally dove into the Orc Mother’s Nest.

“Now, all the NPCs and mobs in SKYE employ advanced A.I. but the Orcs are a whole other animal, so to speak. The sheer quantity of units led to attack patterns that are highly coordinated on the group level and not on the level of individual units.”

“What do you mean, Your Omnipotence?” Bear Tooth asked.

“He’s saying that the Orcs will move as one,” Man-At-Arms explained. “They attack in sync. Swarm formation.”

“Precisely. All the Orc units share an ultrasonic link with the Orc Mother. Imagine synchronized swimmers or cartoon bees.”  

“Ultrasonic?” the Count asked.

“Yes, Orcs and Nidhoggrs share a mutualistic relationship because, without their eagle-eyed mounts, the tiny eyes of the Orcs are almost completely blind. The Orc Mother produces ultrasonic signals through her mouth, using diaphragmatic structures that function like a megaphone.”

“Ultrasonic…” Man-At-Arms said thoughtfully. “Does that mean only Bear Tooth can hear her?”

Bear Tooth raised his head and pricked his ears as though to ask: Why me?

“No,” Mage answered. “Bear Tooth may be ursine in appearance but all his senses are still human.”

Bear Tooth lowered his head and ears in dismay. He thought of, but ultimately decided against, raising a question as to why he managed to land a bear’s looks but none of its handier traits.

“It’s true,” Mage continued. “In this particular dream episode, you all need to work hard to improve yourselves. Every new ability or level-up must be earned by increasing your XP through grinding.”

“Grinding,” Man-At-Arms jumped in, “is the cycle of defeating monsters, collecting more gold and items and buying more gear.”

“Man-At-Arms is right.”    

Man-At-Arms’ thoughts turned inwards. He was having one of his philosophical, existentialist “brain fart” moments. During such moments, he didn’t accept reality or how it was presented. He imagined alternative ways. It was like going down the rabbit hole while at the same time questioning the law of gravity that dictated which way was up and which one down. 

He pondered the implications of Sky-Earth tech being fused with a game engine and RPGs in particular. The original Sky-Earth experience was surely sandbox-oriented or Open World, which meant that there were no clear-cut objectives. Players should be free to do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted.

However, with the insertion of shared dream episodes dominated by the Nightcrawler, an endgame, resolution or quest became necessary. The Nightcrawler took the role of gamemaster in the traditional sense. Man-at-Arms just wasn’t sure how much of their dream episode was crafted by AI, the Nightcrawler or the game developers.

Man-At-Arms had actually looked forward to a quest where he would build a commune or a utopia with the other players, or even max out the in-game currency by being a miner or a trader like Hordo. He wouldn’t mind pursuing a skill tree either, like farming or perhaps some of Nethril’s herbology and alchemy. He supposed the emotional nature of dreams made most Sky-Earth simulations a perfect match for what was called PvE (Player vs. Environment) or PvM (Player vs. Monster).   

“Excuse me,” Nethril said hesitantly, even raising her hand like a school child. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Dream-maker, but how can we use the info about the ultrasonic link?”

“Right. I was getting to that. I plan to give you a few lines of source code, just standard system calls and some magic numbers, which you’re going to place in strategic locations around the Orc Mother’s Nest. These third-party tools will emit a constantly changing array of encrypted packets or GPS coordinates that will disrupt the Orcs’ ability to communicate and navigate. What we’re aiming for is multiple hack saturation.” 

“Please forgive my impudence, Dream-maker,” Man-At-Arms said, “but wouldn’t that be… cheating?”

“Think of it as a mod. A modification. We throw a wrench in the works to test the game to its limits. We keep asking ‘What if…’ – What if a labor force of brainless zombies revolted? What if an EMP device was detonated in the middle of a city of androids? In any case, I don’t see any problem because I, the creator and copyright-holder of SKYE, am giving you my express permission.”