NOVEL NEXT Chapter 244 - Testing. Testing. Can Everyone Hear Me?
Nar splashed some water on his face and allowed it to drip over the sink.
The others were still struggling with coming up with names and passwords, and he had decided to follow the example of a few others and take a quick toilet break.
Tuk's excited chatter as he bounced off ideas with everyone around him, especially Mul to the brawler's chagrin, would have been hilarious on any other day, but not today.
For a moment Nar remained where he was, the water slowly dripping down his face, and noticed how the screaming inside him had at last gone quiet, to match the silence in the toilet.
Now, there was only the emptiness within him. Growing to cover what had once been the ardent dream that pushed him through anything...
He sighed and made his way back to class, ignoring the bottomless darkness that glanced at him from the mirror.
*********
"Now comes the fun part!" Professor Thim said, once everyone had created their accounts or received the same error that Nar had, which he heard happening enough times around him to confirm that it was common enough.
"So, the UI is quite basic and easy to use," the man explained, gesturing to the big screen on the wall. "On the left you have, in order, a search bar to look up people using their public names, and below that you have two tabs you can change between. The first one contains the list of people you know, and the second one contains all of your chats by order of the most recent message received or sent. For security reasons, though that's not something you need to worry about for now, it is mandated by guild policy that all chat history be wiped clean on the first day of every month. So if there's anything important in the chats make sure you save it somewhere in your tablet. And don't worry, you'll receive instructions and tutorials about many of the apps and unlocked functionalities of your touch screens."
He smiled at them. "So, let's get started by finding all of your party members and adding them to your list of contacts! But be careful! Make sure you are exact on the name you are using, otherwise you might send a connection request to a total stranger instead!"
Nar leaned over Gad's shoulder and watched her type out Kur's name, which was a bland PartyLeader followed by a bunch of nonsense. It looked like he had given up coming up with something interesting, and had done exactly what he had questioned Gad for doing.
A split-second later, a little chirp came from Kur's tablet.
"Oh, I see it," he said, clicking his notification, another new feature, and opening up Gad's connection request. "Accept."
Another split second later, Gad received a notification herself.
"You're on the list," she told him.
And tapping on Kur's name, she opened up a blank chat and typed "hello", and sent it. Another notification sounded from Kur's tablet and Nar looked over to see Gad's one word message in their new chat.
"Wow…" he said. "We can now talk to each other."
Kur grimaced. "As long as we have the tablet, I guess. And there's no 2NET in the dungeons…"
Nar frowned at him. "Still… I'd thought you would be way more excited about this. You can now reach us wherever we are!"
Kur shook his head.
"You'll see."
Nar raised his eyebrows at his party leader but he didn't press him.
Maybe it's got something to do with that secret he can't tell us about, he wondered. Though this is pretty awesome as it is. What in the Pile could it be?
"Why do you keep denying my request?" Tuk shouted.
Nar looked across from them to find Mul pointedly ignoring the ring tosser.
"And why did your notifications stop making sound?"
"There's a mute option in the settings," Cen said. "Mul, accept it. Stop being a child!"
Mul sighed with his entire soul.
"Fine… But if you piss me off, I'll block you," Mul said, in an emotionless tone.
"Whatever…"
Rel burst out laughing from Tuk's other side, and when she caught Nar staring over at the commotion, she gave him a big, wide smile, which he did his best to reply to.
"AuraChat is a much simpler version of its sibling app, Aetherchat, or E-Chat, or of the many other, much more complicated and popular alternatives," Professor Thim said, stepping away from the first row of apprentices where he had been observing the procedures. "Unfortunately, as auramancers, you don't have access to those. Your touch screens are far too limiting in their capabilities unfortunately."
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He tapped the side of his head. "You would need a connector. A tiny aether machine that is implanted under your skull, and which is directly connected to the brain."
"What?" Cen cried out in shock. "No way!"
"Implants such as these allow for a lot of interfacing with the Nexus that is sadly barred from you," the man said, looking genuinely upset. "Thinks like lifts can be controlled with a thought. Lights. Windows. Toilets… Vehicles… The 2NET… With certain restrictions, of course! And the implant does a lot of other things too. A lot. And there are many specialized versions out there… But well, enough of that. Your touch screens will give lots of functionality as it is!"
He tried to put a brave smile for their sakes, and Nar glanced down at the forgotten touch screen in front of him.
"I'd rather keep my brain for myself, thank you fucking very much," Mul grumbled.
"Still… Imagine having all of that knowledge directly in your head…" Cen whispered, her tone filled with sorrow.
"You have it in that thing," Mul said, pointing at her tablet with his chin. "And that's more than enough."
So there really are things we can't use… Nar thought, staring down at his tablet. I wonder what else… And how important they are. And what it will mean for us to not be able to use them.
By the sounds of it at least, there was a lot that was barred from their touch. Or thought.
"Oh, one last thing! Tsurmirel controls all the tech and information you have access to. Of course, we respect your privacy, so feel free to do whatever you want with those tablets. But just know that for security reasons the guild keeps a tight control over those screens to make sure there are no security issues. And we'll talk about those in a much later lecture," Professor Thim said.
Then the man's tight smile became genuine and full of mirth, his singular eye gleaming with restrained laughter. "And now, here comes my favorite part! Rather than telling you, it's always so much more fun to just watch you all experience it without having a clue. So, with that said, party leaders, the restrictions are now lifted! Take it away!"
Nar frowned at Kur.
"Take what away?"
Sudden screams erupted across the auditorium, and Nar looked around him to glimpse people shoot up from their seats, their expressions confused and their hands raised to their ears.
"What in the Pile is going on?" Mul asked.
"Kur?" Gad asked their party leader.
"Ah… Whatever! Here it goes," Kur said with a shrug.
"Here goes wha…"
"Testing. Testing. Can everyone hear me?"
Nar gaped at his party leader. His voice had been crystal clear, but Kur hadn't even opened his mouth!
"No…" Mul whispered.
"Yes!" Tuk shouted, standing up and punching the air.
"What is this?" Jul asked.
"Everyone, welcome to the party chat," Kur said in their minds. "It's exactly what it looks like. A way for us to communicate as a party, no matter where we are or how far apart. The System handles it, and it works even in dungeons."
"This is amazing," Gad whispered.
"How?" Tuk demanded, his eyes shining with a glint that made even Nar pause. "How?"
"I'll let you all know that this chat is strictly for party needs only!" Kur continued, glaring at the ring tosser. "You want to mess around? Use the tablet for that. And I can mute anyone that doesn't follow the rules! Is that clear?
They all gave their mute agreements, Tuk nodding with such fierce enthusiasm that made Nar doubt very much the trugger was going to be strictly adhering to the rules.
"Right, then… You need to actively think about talking to the party chat. And then just say whatever it is you want to…"
"Hello? Can you all hear me?" Tuk's voice sounded in Nar's mind.
"Yes…" Kur said, grumpily. "But…"
"YEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
"Ow!" they all complained, wincing.
"Oh, sorry," Tuk said, looking chastised.
"If you'd let me finish, I would've told you not to shout!" Kur growled at him.
"It won't happen again! I promise!" Tuk vouched, but his regret was soon whipped clean by a beaming grin. "It's like we're inside each other now…"
There was a collective groan, only Viy and Rel bursting out with laughter.
"I'm killing him," Mul said, his tone flat. "And then I'll kill myself."
"Sit down!" Cen hissed at him.
Tuk's laughter echoed in Nar's mind.
"I'm only allowing this today," Kur said. "After this lecture, the rules are in place and I will mute rule breakers!"
He was staring right at Tuk as he delivered the warning, and Tuk grinned back at him.
"I'll be good! I promise!"
Kur and Mul groaned in unison, very much doubting those words.
"Still… This will be very handy," Gad said.
"It will… From now on, even when we need to be quiet or apart from each other, we'll still be able to easily communicate," Kur said.
"This is amazing…" Cen said, her mental tone sounding hushed with wonder.
"And no one can hear us?" Nar asked.
Kur shrugged. "The System can store a record of our chat apparently, but there needs to be a reason for the Church to do that. Other than that… Then no. Whatever we say in the party chat stays in the party chat."
"Damn… Wish we'd had this from the start!" Tuk said.
Mul scratched his chin.
"It would've made everything a lot smoother, if not easier… Which I guess is why they didn't give it to us."
Even his tone came across as devoid of emotion, which was a stark realization to Nar.
Crystal… That thing suppresses even his own thoughts?
"Actually… All party leaders unlock the Party Chat skill at level 35," Kur revealed. "So, this one's on the System."
"Oh! It's a skill?" Nar asked him in surprise.
"Yeah, and there's even more to it," Kur said. "We'll be able to see each other's locations on the dungeon map, and I can now place markers on it as well."
There was a moment of stunned shock.
"It's really good, isn't it?" Kur asked, finally smiling, and returning to his normal voice.
"Yes!" both Tuk and Rel shouted at the same time.
"Why were you being all mysterious and brooding about it?" the archer demanded. "I thought it was something bad!"
"Yeah! Me too!" Tuk said.
Kur shrugged with a sigh.
"I don't know… I didn't like keeping the secret, and I guess wasn't sure how you would all react."
"It's awesome!" Tuk and Rel shouted again.
"It is, even I hate having his voice in my head…" Mul muttered.
"And… There's also the fact that you can accidentally tell us your thoughts if you're thinking about the party chat at the same time…" Kur added, avoiding eye contact.
Another bout of silence.
"Really?" Viy asked, her tone very low.
"Yeah… So be careful alright?" Kur said.
"Meh…" Mul said, shrugging. "You all know exactly what I think of you."
"Thanks…" Tuk said, making a face.
"You're welcome, shitbrains."
"And there you have it," Kur said, crossing his arms. "Welcome to each other's heads. Be careful with your thoughts, or they just won't be your thoughts anymore."
Nar gulped with a grimace. He would definitely have to be incredibly careful going forward, but at the same time, he couldn't help but return to his earlier thoughts.
If being able to communicate through his mind directly to his party was this Creation shattering, imagine what it would be to do so with anyone? And to have the entire wealth of the 2NET within one's mind…
It seemed that they had yet to truly comprehend what was barred from them due to their auras.