Chương 57: The Way Down Is The Way Up

Entering: Challenge Room—The Way Down Is The Way Up Description: Gather as many resources as possible in the allotted time. You begin in the neutral zone. Ascend or descend to denser zones as you are able. Treasures await. Reward: Duration: 20 minutes (smooth time) Abilities: Deactivated Flight powers deactivated Reward: Choice of two ability orbs George flicked his eyes over the room notification and saw that it was similar to Morat's description.

He was standing on a rectangular platform that floated amid a white void. Prestige tokens floated all around in the distance above and below. George's platform slowly floated in a seemingly random direction in a loose cluster of other platforms doing the same above and below him. It looked like some of the platforms would intersect by chance or come within jumping range, but it was impossible to tell for sure.

There were probably twenty platforms at eye level and hundreds—or maybe thousands—floating in the heights and depths of the massive room. As George stared upward, he noticed the platforms far above them were less regular. Some flickered in and out of existence. Some spun or rose and fell like they were caught in an unseen wave. Some were very small, others were huge. Peering over the edge of his platform revealed that it was much the same below him. Then an update from his Quest ability appeared Quest Update!

Description: Discover a challenge room. Completed: 1/? Reward: Choice of bonus item suited to the challenge room. Choose one item from the list below to aid you in the challenge room. Light Grapple: A wrist-mounted grappling hook made of a beam of solidified light. Medium-range. Heavy-duty. Flashlock. Moves user to target at will. Infinite Ladder: A (nearly) infinitely extendable ladder. Slipstream Spacer Belt—Autumn Leaf Version: Short-charge space distender with slowfall effects.

Sentient Fishing Rod: Flycast grabber and subspace storage reel. Mware Inc.

"Desert Hopper" Jump Bands(™): Mware's soulbond-guaranteed suspensor ankle bands. Extend vertical jumps through gravity field manipulation. Jet Pack: Fly fast and fly far. Three fuel canisters and hamstring flame flap included. Clever Girl Glide Suit: A slicklubed arm-leg wingwrap for high-altitude glides and wild nights out on the town. Stim injection available for landing and late-night second winds. Celestial Library pack not included. >> I've said it before, and I'll say it again… I love our Quest power.

It's the best. >>Free pick of items custom-tailored to the moment? Yes, please.

"Which of these will get us the most tokens?" George said.

"And get us out of here alive?" >>We need a way to leave the neutral zone without waiting for a platform to come close enough to jump to. That means moving up or down. >>We don't need a sentient fishing rod because your Draw skill will accomplish that for us.

"I don't think positioning a ladder on moving platforms above an abyss is the direction we want to go, infinite or not," George said. >>Yep. >>I don't feel confident with you flying either a glide suit or a jet pack. If you choose either of them, I'm getting off the ride and finding my own way home.

"So, do we jump up or float down?" George said. >>Hear me out on this. I think if you get the slowfall one, you might be able to use Draw to steer yourself around by tethering onto the platforms as they move. >>I like that one better than the super jump anklets. If you jump and miss, that's game over. But if you go down slowly, at least we can steer our descent.

"OK, but what about that light grapple," George said.

"That seems like it could be handy outside of the challenge room. Couldn't we just latch on to the bottom of one of the platforms and let us tour us around as we swing ourselves over to tokens?" >>George. >>Dear, sweet, innocent George. >>Let me tell you a story. >>There was once a man - a boy, really - named Peter. >>Peter Parker. >>Peter was a good kid. He had a good head on his shoulders but he had a hard start in life. He lost his parents at a young age.

However, as often happens, that early trauma became the grit in the center of the oyster that would one day grow into the pearl of a true hero's heart. >>See, young Peter's story took a turn when he was bitten by a radioactive spider, giving him super strength, the agility of a Cirque de Soleil dancer, omnidirectional danger sense, a penchant for blue and red tights, and the ability to shoot web ropes from his wrists as he swung around the towers of New York City.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. >>Do you see where I'm going with this, George? >>Are you catching my drift? >>Peter Parker you are not, my friend. >>I see no radioactive spiders around here. >>You do not have super strength and the needle on your agility stat is probably stuck somewhere between "beached whale" and "Elder Slothkin." >> I'm just saying… >>Stick to your lane, man.

"Nod," George said.

"Let me tell you a story."

"There was once a man named George," he said.

"George had a hard start in life. He woke up with no memory in a white room and only a button for company. A god-like AI first mocked, then tortured him, and this is all after his world was dismantled by interdimensional terrors and killer robots. But - as often happens - this early trauma caused there to be only pearls left in his life's oyster… >>That isn't how pearls work, but I'll give you a pass considering the limited knowledge base you're working with.

"… Then one day George's story took a turn when he was ingressed by a sassy, impudent node spider. He was granted an omnidirectional danger sense, the ability to move things with his mind, a penchant for voidmetal armor, and a mysterious, powerful gem embedded in his hand. George could even slow time itself.

"Do you see where I'm going with this, Nod?" George said.

"Are you catching my drift?" >>Yes, I have a feeling about where this is going.

"Only thing was missing: He could not shoot webs from his hands, nor swing from buildings… yet," George said. Light Grapple Selected. To use Light Grapple, make a fist and point at target. A dot will appear on the target. When the flashlock engages, the dot will flash. To extend the grapple, open your fist, and a beam of malleable light will connect you to target. Disengage, draw, or extend at will. Will not lock on to objects of less mass than user. A white wristband appeared on his left wrist.

George raised his hand to look at it and saw a small lens on the underside of the smooth band. >>[Sigh] >>Fuck it. >>Let's do this. >>At least the grapple is on my arm instead of your dinky, human noodle arm. >>We can't have you dangling there with a dislocated shoulder, can we?

"They're both my arms, Nod," George said. >>Sure, boss. >>Whatever you say.

"OK," George said.

"Let's give this a try." He made a fist and pointed at the platform beneath his feet. A bright dot appeared. He held it steady until it flashed, then opened his fist. A beam of white light snapped into place between the bracelet and the target. He bent his wrist and grabbed the light. It felt solid between his fingers—strong, yet supple. He pulled back. It stretched, then held. He walked backward, willing it to lengthen, and it extended as if he were pulling a long spool of tangible light from the bracelet.

He willed it off. The beam vanished instantly. >>Well, there you go. Piece of cake. >>Even a George can use it.

"What do you think the maximum load on this is?" George asked. >>The description said "heavy-duty," so… uh… probably a lot?

"So, do we go up or down?" George asked, glancing down over the side of the platform. >>Down, duh. >> It's in the title of the room.

"The Way Down Is the Way Up." If that isn't a clue as to where good goodies lie, then my name isn't Nod the Destroyer. >>Now… watch this. I've tracked the trajectories of every platform within a half mile up or down, and I'm going to show you the paths of the nearest ones… now. George's vision filled with intersection lines showing the paths of the various platforms.

"You know what, Nod," George said.

"You're pretty handy to have around." >>I assume that pun was unintentional. >>Also, only 00: 16: 43 left. >>I want you to go out there and get daddy 100 new prestige tokens.

"Do you think we can get that many?" George said. >>It depends on your facility with your new web-slinger, but, between our new grapple toy, your draw skill, and my razor-sharp wit, I think we're going to blow that 10-15 token average out of the water. >>Hey, see that platform coming our way? It will pass directly beneath us in about 30 seconds. See if you can get down there. It'll be good practice. It is only about 15 feet below us, so if you totally blow it, we probably won't die.

"OK," George said.

"Here goes nothing." He made a fist and locked the light grapple onto the platform between his feet and pulled it taut. He looked behind him and waited until the lower platform was just about to pass beneath his own. George laid down on his belly and scooted over the edge. He let his legs dangle and then slid his torso over the edge until he was hanging from only his hands. The leading edge of the lower platform was about ten feet directly below him.

"Whoopsie daisy!" George said, grasping the lightrope with his left hand and then with both hands. He swung on the rope a foot beneath the platform but didn't fall. His legs were scissoring back and forth, and he couldn't stop them. He took short little breaths as he dangled and swayed beneath the platform, and felt a moment of panic as he saw the lower platform passing beneath him. It had already passed the halfway point.

>>As our hero embraced his part-human, part-spider nature, he swung over the hungry void without an ounce of fear save for the ounce rushing out of his bladder. The damp adventurer flailed his legs to no avail. His fate literally hung from a thread—a thread woven of the most insubstantial and fleeting cord of all, light itself. Panic stole over his mind and locked it in a remorseless grip. However, his fear mattered little. His ineptitude mattered little.

Only one thing mattered now: for our hero to rise, he would first have to fall… With that, Nod cut off the lightrope and George fell heavily onto the lower platform.

"Shiiit!" George shouted as he unexpectedly fell the short distance to the bottom platform. His left leg came down first and buckled, sending him tumbling onto his stomach and skittering toward the edge. >>Luckily for our hero, his bodyguard-cum-brainbot subscribed to the school of hard knocks and tough love. Saying nothing of his host's ungainly dismount, nor unmanly cry of "Whoopsie daisy," the brain spider—"OK, Nod," George said.

"Shut up. Was that really necessary? My leg hurts." >>Do you mean the insouciant narration or the abrupt fall? Because the answer to both is "yes." >>Up and at 'em. >>Prestige token off the port bow! George looked around until he saw the token approaching in the path of the platform. >> OK. Here's the plan. We are going to go as deep as we can, as fast as we can. It is lousy with tokens down there. >>And probably mithril and balrogs for all we know. >>But nothing ventured, nothing gained, I say.

>>Now snap up that token and gird yourself for some spelunking, spidey. George raised his hand toward the token as their platform slowly drew abreast of it and activated his draw skill. The token flew into his palm and he sent it into his dimensional storage. Collected: 1 prestige token (20 total). >>Hey, guess what? We're the prestige token leader, based on the last leaderboard. I can't wait to see what rating we get for this round. >>Everyone is going to want to be our friend.

"Or kill us," George said. >>Well, at least we'll go out in a blaze of glory.