Reckoning of Delta Prime by D. B. Goodin

Author:D. B. Goodin [Goodin, D. B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: David Goodin Author

Thirty minutes later

Jet did her best to fall asleep after April’s visit, but it was no use. Her mind was wound up, and she didn’t think she would be able to sleep.

Maybe I should log back into the Colossal Machine and resume my quest?

Jet didn’t want to continue her adventures without Nigel and April, but that old man who called her the redeemer was so damned compelling. It didn’t take long to convince herself. She unpacked her portable VR interface for the Colossal Machine. It wasn’t as immersive as the full setup she had at the loft, but she wanted to get her mind off recent events. Moments later she was transported back to the Garden of Light.

Jet found herself outside a set of massive double doors made of bronze. Jet always enjoyed how much detail the developers of the Colossal Machine put into the game world. She had read somewhere the artists and level designers weren’t allowed to mass produce any of the game details. Virtually everything was handcrafted. Just as she was contemplating her next move, the double doors opened inward. She was bathed in the bright light emanating from a golden luminescence called the Sphere of Fate. The old man had guided her to this level—which Nigel had compared to the Hanging Gardens—for a reason, and she wanted to find out.

“It’s good to make your acquaintance, JetaGirl,” the old man said.

How does he know about my in-game handle? Jet wondered. I didn’t tell him, and the game’s AI constructs usually have to be told.

“It’s good to meet you, meister,” she said.

“Come. The council wishes to palaver.”

Jet followed the old man through the massive chamber. There were a number of columns made from brilliant alabaster so bright Jet couldn’t look directly upon them for very long. The floors appeared to be made of polished marble. In the center of the room, an enormous golden ball emitted the brightest luminescence she’d ever seen in the game.

“The council’s chambers are just beyond the great seal,” the old man said, pointing onward.

“Are you coming?” she asked.

“What the council has to say is for you to hear, not I. Remember, once you pass the seal you may not return.”

“Why? If I can’t come back, then where will I end up?”

“Such details are not for a simple guide such as me.”

Jet took one last glance at the magnificent room before her. Then she examined the great seal the old man was referring to. She didn’t see it at first, due to the bright ball mere feet behind her. As she gazed upon the golden pattern, she realized the seal was a series of four inverted triangles.

The seal is a magical barrier, it’s another test of the Magi.

The spaces near the intersection of the points had circles with some kind of runic inscription Jet realized the runes were familiar.

It’s a spell ward. Those runes are the incantation. I must learn its significance.

As Jet traversed across the great seal, she realized she was shivering. Her teeth rattled together, reminding her of that frozen coyote in those old cartoons.

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