Okay, what the klack is going on. I'm in the middle of a trial for the future ruler of humanity. We just dived to the bottom of the ocean while avoiding massive creatures. Now, we are being told that we are going to race horses! I think the people at the IEC were on far too many drugs or something when they came up with this idea.
“Without further ado, let us begin the preparations. Only one of you will be racing today. However, it will not be a typical horse race of course, as we have no other participants. Instead, the racer will be given a special baton and during the race they must deflect various hazards that they shall come across.”
Ray:”So, I'm the racer?”
“Yep. Go get 'em.”
With that, Ray heads off to the pen area and I am guided to the audience section - which is empty aside from me. Though presumably they are streaming this to the entire universe. Man, technology sure is cool.
After about half an hour, it appears that the race is finally about to start. Ray appears on top of her horse (which is a real horse by the way) in a stunning riding uniform. Like seriously, how does she seamlessly pull off so many styles, it's mind boggling. Naturally, she has our emblem on her back.
By the way, the racetrack appears to be about seven furlongs (1 furlong= ~200m) long. It is a fairly standard oval track. But I can assume that there are a host of hidden surprises inside.
“Without further ado, by the power vested in me as the god of water. Let this race begin!”
The starting shot is fired and Ray takes off on her horse. She chooses to maintain a fairly reasonable pace, which is a good idea considering the unknowns of the race. In her right hand she carries a baton which is supposed to come in useful for something.
After about half a furlong, that something is revealed. In front of Ray, the field starts to fill with spikes of ice condensing in the air and floating. As she approaches them, they start to fly directly towards her. I can imagine that being hit with three in quick succession would mean that she would trigger the safety mechanism on the horse’s neural link and eject her.
Naturally, Ray handles the spikes like they are nothing. Which, compared to Initae’s missiles that she chucked at us for hours, they are nothing. I wonder if Initae specifically gave us that training with knowledge of this stage in mind. Would that be considered cheating? She had to have known something about what this altar contained, it's just too convenient.
Ray continues to make good progress, slicing away the dozens of ice spikes like they are merely large flies. It seems that the farther she gets, the greater the density and weight of the spikes get. By the time she is halfway through, the spikes have nearly doubled in density and weight from the initial ones.
She barely gets any break between each spike that she has to strike down. Thankfully, it appears that her horse is in good condition and isn't struggling at the pace she has set.
About sixty percent of the way through, she takes her first hit. A nasty one right to her left shoulder. I can only imagine that it must hurt a ton. She doesn't even have my tolerance for shoulder jabs that I have built up from all her physical abuse, poor girl.
She manages to recover and is perfectly fine. However, once she reaches the last 25% of the track, something strange happens. It's almost as though the track starts to ripple. The horse starts to move kinda shakily, jostling her every which way, it seems to be able to maintain its footing though.
However, the main problem is that it's much harder for her to hit the spikes out of the air with all the added movement. She immediately takes two hits to her chest and barely manages to continue slicing away. All of Initae’s harsh training sure did pay off. I guess we will have to thank her later. Her ego is going to soar so high, it's going to be insufferable.
I can see her smiling, she seems to be having a lot of fun. Which is good, after all, this whole thing is seemingly just a vacation from Earth at this point. I can only imagine that the trials are going to get harder and harder. Thus it's important to enjoy ourselves to the fullest while we can!
After a long race, which only lasted about three minutes in reality, Ray crossed the finish line. I immediately move to go see her. I bet she had lots of fun and is waiting to gush about it.
Of course, I was correct. She proceeds to go on and on about how much fun it was. Speaking quite loudly about how useful Initae’s training was and how cool it was to be swatting those spikes out of the air. Almost like she was wielding some sword of plasma saber or something.
Although, in reality it was just a baton that had a field around it to instantly vaporize the ice. Man, tech can really seem like magic. Ray and I are guided to go stand in front of the almighty water god.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
By the way, this guy is massive. He must be at least ten meters tall, and is very well muscled. I wonder how they are doing it, it doesn't feel as though it's just a projection. Perhaps it's a shell made with Zekan tech? Most likely. The persona is likely an AI as well. Zekan tech is so cool. Too bad they kinda hate Itokin and Initae and will likely never want to work with us.
“Hahaha, good job little mortals. It appears you have passed the second stage of this altar. Now, of course, it is time for the long awaited third stage!
Now, for a simple question. You have one chance to answer it correctly.
What is fluffier as it is colder?
Warmer as it is denser?
Brighter as it is higher?
Darker as it is deeper?”
I look over to Ray, she seems completely stumped. Which makes sense, she has never been the best with material science. I ponder the question for a few seconds. Of course! The answer is so simple that it's staring us in the face, thus making it harder to figure out. But, I am a master of seeing things directly in front of me, so I answer.
“Why, of course, it is Water!”
“Good job little mortal. That is indeed the correct answer! As promised:
I bestow this crown of the seas upon the two of you. The Likaz Altar is now completed”
With the altar completed. We are guided to head back the way we came. Thankfully, we don't have to return via the trench, we go to a terminal in the wall, link in and our consciousnesses are sucked through. Moments later, we are back in the chairs aboard the station. It almost feels strange to be back in our real bodies after a few hours away.
As soon as we are freed from the chairs, Ray runs over and gives me a big hug.
“Man, it's sure nice to be back in our own bodies. That was fun, but I think I'll stay firmly anchored in my own body as much as possible.”
“Yeah gotta agree, the human body is just much nicer. Somehow it feels more correct.”
“Indeed, I bet those android bodies would make horrible pillows too. They don't seem like they would be very soft.”
“Ah yes, the most important trait, the quality of serving as a pillow.”
“Why of course, what else could possibly be more important? You should have personal merit towards this assertion, given your history.”
“Oi, don't bring history into this argument about the logical uses of various types of bodies.”
“Hmm, well history is important, because without remembering it we are doomed to repeat it.”
“Perhaps some parts of history should be repeated, they can't be all that bad, can they?”
“I guess you may be right in that fact, there are some good parts of history that could do with more repetition.”
Initae:”Hey, dear contestants, stop flirting every five seconds that you aren't occupied with a task. We've got places to be!”
Ray & Ko Simultaneously:”We weren't flirting! How many times must we tell you Ms. Transcendent. It's simply not possible!”
With a look of complete disbelief on her face, Initae motions for us to follow her back into the Sycos. We do so and head to the bridge, where the AI, named Sy, proceeds to inform us of our next destination.
Sy:”Dear passengers, our coordinates have been received. Our next destination shall be Grasia, the planet of decay. Estimated time of arrival, 13:00 third day, second month, current year. By use of two voidliths of battleship class.”
Ray:”Okay, time for the question once again. Why the klack is is called the planet of decay?”
Initae:”Well this time its very simple. A few million years ago there was a mass extinction event, so there are massive peat bogs that stretch across most of its surface. Being made of decaying matter primarily, it was given the name the planet of decay.”
Ray:”eww, that sounds gross. But I guess it's not as bad as a volcanic hell or horrific sea creatures.”
Ko:”By the previous logic, I can assume that the god of this planet will be one relating to land. I can't wait to see what crazy stuff they throw at us next. Maybe they will have us raise crops!”
Ray:”ooo would it be like one of those farming simulator games. Those were always my favourite to play whenever I could find the time.”
Initae, standing in the corner of the bridge. Just starts laughing maniacally. Like seriously, her entire body seems to be going into the act of laughing, it's kinda excessive. I am now convinced she knows what is coming.
“Well, we've got an hour or so until we get back to the voidlith, so why dont you two get some rest. You just did a whole bunch of stuff quite quickly. I'm sure you're starting to get exhausted.
I'll make sure our route goes well, so just have fun flirting.”
“We don't flirt! Geez, how many times must we tell you this.”
“You can keep saying it for the rest of eternity, I doubt I'll ever believe you.”
Ray and I are walking back to our bedrooms and being angry at the fact that Initae refuses to accept the fact that we are not flirting. Like seriously, why does she insist that we are constantly flirting. We are so clearly not. It's starting to get annoying. I should cook up a plan so that shell stop making such blatant misunderstandings.
We then proceed to head into our bedrooms and fall into a deep slumber. I have to wake up in an hour though for the voidlith, maybe Initae will take mercy and let me sleep instead.
In fact, she doesn't. She shakes me awake violently and forces me to go perform the shift, I nearly pass out from the exhaustion. It is only with Alex’s help that I manage to limp back into my bed and fall into a deep sleep.
Whatever this altar on Grasia has to offer, Ray and I will conqueror it together. So, bring it on.
End of Chapter 37
A/N: Greetings dear reader. Author here. You have no idea how long it took me to write this chapter. I just couldn't stop laughing at the absurdity of a horse race on an alien planet thousands of lightyears from Earth. Yes, I laugh at my own creations, though, I feel like that is fairly typical for authors.
As always, if you are enjoying, be sure to follow/favourite/share with a friend, it is always appreciated! Until the next one, dear reader.
- Cathrix