Sworded Affair

Chapter 171: Metaverse

“Well, that was incredibly unsettling,” Emma sighed as the screen switched off, leaving her alone in the cabin with nothing except her thoughts. “Is this really where humanity is headed?”

[The past you saw in China is fixed, such is the way of things. Your local causality is still rooted to the twenty-first century, anything placed after that, take with a pinch of salt. This is a possibility, nothing more, nothing less.]

“Lovely.”

Emma kept her eyes on the television for a bit longer, on the off chance that another segment would begin to play. A few minutes later, when there was no sign of that happening she got up and began to look around the cabin. It was well appointed, the surfaces panelled with real wood and the seats soft and plush; a far cry from the metal and plastic of modern commuter trains.

With only four seats to a cabin in a generous arrangement, actual wardrobes instead of an overhead luggage rack, and the ability to fully recline into a bed the accommodations reminded Emma of the first class service in long distance sleeper trains, the kind she’d never seen in person but featured prominently in travelogues on YouTube and TikTok. Emma didn’t have time for a nap though, so the choice was clear: onward and upward, through the cabin’s sole door situated at the back of the room.

[ONBOARDING COMPLETE.

FILTER (COGNOSPHERE) APPLIED.

READY PLAYER ONE.]

The cabin dissolved the moment she turned the handle, returning her to the empty warehouse from before, only, it wasn't quite empty any more.

[The Manipulator - Level 20]

Hanging from the ceiling were rows of intricately articulated mechanical arms, presumably to handle heavy lifting or luggage: Emma would have appreciated them more if they didn’t immediately try to cave her head in. Wide, two-handed swings of Epitaph caught the first handful to approach, but two more sprouted from slots in the ceiling for every one she struck. Eventually, they got close enough to force her to block a fist.

[-200 Anima]

The force of the blow sent her flying out the warehouse, both hands gone from the wrist. Rolling to a stop, Emma rose to her feet to see the entire station lit up, vivid red lines interspersed with eyes staring unerringly at her, while hundreds of arms extended from every crevice. It didn’t escape her that the few arms she’d destroyed hadn’t granted any EXP, as they weren’t considered individuals so much as small cogs in a much larger machine. That said, while undeniably dangerous, the building hadn’t pursued her beyond its boundaries on account of being, well, a building.

Deciding to test how that worked, Emma summoned Antipode, instructing the elemental to head close to the station but not quite inside. The large block of ice encountered no resistance as it approached the entrance, not even with the fireballs that surrounded it touching the walls, beginning to set the entire edifice ablaze.

“Stop there.”

Emma was content to let the environmental damage do its work, and only when the entire building was burning did she order Antipode to head inside.. Despite the growing cloud of smoke and burning debris starting to fall from the ceiling, Emma still got a clear view of her summon: the moment it passed the boundary and stuck half its abdomen inside the station, a dozen arms descended, methodically smashing the elemental to icy powder.

[Antipode defeated.]

“It’s strong,” Emma acknowledged, watching as half the roof caved in, the charred supports no longer able to hold up its weight. “Brains could use a bit of work though, I was expecting an AI to be smarter than that.”

[It does seem rather literal-minded. More of a paperclip maximiser than something five hundred years into the future. Might be for the best though.]

Enough fire could kill most things, even unhinged robots from the far future; eventually, the warehouse simply took all the abuse it could, and collapsed in on itself.

[The Manipulator defeated!

100 EXP gained.]

Shaking her head, Emma called on her flying sword again, taking to the air both to escape the smoke and to better examine her surroundings. The difference made by the filter was immediately apparent: where once every building bar the station had been lifeless and dark, the windows now glimmered with bright lights, and the hum of machinery permeated the city. More importantly, the floor no longer looked like she did whilst intangible, and entrances were now visible on every building. The massive floating eyeball and ships were nowhere to be seen, she noted, spurring Epitaph higher now that the one who rebuked her before was gone.

[HEAR OUR CRY, SEE OUR TRUTH

WARNING: This Dungeon is unstable, and will collapse if unbeaten in 11 hours.]

Thankfully, the points she did have to visit were now highlighted on her map, as Emma seriously doubted she had the time to search every building if it came to that.

“The Hall of Beginning, The Liberation, and The End of Time. None of these sound particularly inviting, given the context of the first video.”

Edith remained silent, wise to Emma’s fishing for hints, ultimately forcing her to make the choice alone. The Liberation was the closest, but Emma was never one to skip ahead on stories, so she commanded Epitaph to head for The Hall of Beginning, a large, blocky building with cargo elevators running on the outside for some unknown reason. As she got closer, the elevators were shown to contain not people but server racks, massive trolleys taller than herself packed to the gills with hard drives and wiring.

“Again, this is all quite primitive for a supposedly futuristic society,” Emma remarked. “Shrink them down a bit, and nobody would have looked at them twice if we brought them to Dad’s office.”

Emma didn’t mind too much though, as the absence of people meant her arrival remained undisturbed. The door opened before her, and once more, Emma stepped into the unknown.