Collecting The Goddess (Chronicles Of KieraFreya Book 1) Read online

  Chloe sat up, cleared her throat, and said in her best version of a pompous British woman, “Well, we wouldn’t want that, would we, Tabitha? If you would be so kind as to get me some ibuprofen, a sick bag, and something to comb the chunks of last night’s meal out of my hair, I’ll gladly chop-chop toward Master Smythe’s quarters.” She paused, putting her finger on her chin before pointing it into the air. “Lickety-split!”

  Tabitha rolled her eyes once more and left the room.

  Chloe made it to the office exactly three minutes late. The ibuprofen had kicked away some of the headache, but she still felt the overwhelming sense of shame that was customary after an evening of late-night drinking. She rapped on the door three times, heard the cursory, “Come in,” and took her place on the couch.

  “Heavy night?” Demetri said without even turning to look at Chloe. He was prepared, one leg crossed over the other and a notepad in hand with which he scribbled notes feverishly. Chloe always hated that. Before she’d even opened her mouth, she was being judged. If it hadn’t been a condition of her receiving her full inheritance, she’d likely have blown off every last one of these sessions. It wasn’t like they’d helped her at all over the years.

  “Something like that,” Chloe said, tapping her fingers on her chest. “You know, I’ve always thought it’d be fun to bring my own notepad and write my notes about you during our sessions. See how you’d like it.”

  Demetri looked over the rim of his glasses. “And how would that make you feel?”

  Despite herself, Chloe chuckled. As useless as these sessions had been, he’d always had a knack of making her laugh.

  “So what is it today, Doc? Going to probe my subconscious? Take another trip down memory lane? Going to dive down farther into my deep-seated family issues and tell me why every one of my siblings is a success and I’m just a layabout who pisses away her money on the weekends with a bunch of girls who only use me for it?”

  Chloe’s face straightened. She definitely hadn’t meant to say that much.

  Demetri straightened in his chair. “Something like that.” He smirked. “Chloe, I’ve known you and your family for a great number of years now, and if there’s one thing I’ve always been astounded by, it’s the question of how can such a rich, talented, successful, charismatic family raise six children, yet only five of them inherited the characteristics of the mother and father?”

  Chloe rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as if to say, “Oh, here we go again.”

  “I mean, it doesn’t make sense. If we break this down into theory and look at the nature versus nurture debate, there’s no reason that this should be so.” Demetri stood up and moved to the bookshelf, eyeing the tomes as if studying them. “If we look at Freud or Frankl or Skinner or Pavlov, there’s nothing there that correlates or makes sense.”

  “Bring it on, Doc. Tell me I’m a failure. Tell me I bring shame to my ridiculously talented family. Tell me I’m the mortal among the gods. I can take it. It’s not like I haven’t tried to keep up with the Kardashians.”

  “Kardashians?”

  “You don’t… You’ve never watched... Never mind.”

  Demetri turned his attention back to the shelf, humming a little as he did so. He thumbed through a stack of books and extracted a thin, colorful item. “You know what you are?” He spun the book, displaying a cover that showcased a fluffy gray duck swimming amid its bright yellow siblings.

  Chloe squinted at the cover. “A rat?”

  “No.” Demetri chuckled. “An ugly duckling.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “A duckling who just needs some encouragement and persuasion to reach the heights of her brothers and sisters.” He flicked through the pages, showing the duckling as it left its family, only to return as a beautiful swan. “Sometimes, it simply takes the removal of a person from their natural environment to discover who they are inside. To discover where their strengths lie, and what can help them excel in the world.” He replaced the book on the shelf. “A flower cannot grow in the shade.”

  “So what are you suggesting? That I run off to Ibiza and spend some time discovering myself? Because I could really get on board with that.” Chloe’s wrist vibrated. She looked at her watch, noting the reminder that her next meeting was due to start in 20 minutes.

  “Not exactly,” Demetri said, returning to his seat. He picked up a tablet, unlocked the screen, and passed it to Chloe.

  “Finally! You’re ditching the pen and paper for something digital. I told you, Doc! Welcome to the twenty-first century. You don’t need paper anymore.” Chloe looked at the screen in her hand. There was an image of a blackened piece of glass in the shape of a rough-cut diamond. “What’s ‘Obsidian?’”

  Demetri leaned forward, encouraging Chloe to swipe the screen as he went through the information Mia had given him, describing the fully immersive experience of the online virtual reality game and paying particular attention in relaying the potential well-being and health benefits the game offered its players. There were in-game images that looked as if a photo had been taken at a Renaissance fair, only with advanced CGI graphics for the trolls, dragons, and goblins.

  “You see? With this, you can dive into a world in which you’re no longer a Lagarde. You can build colonies and alliances and guilds and towns and hash out any issues you have in the real world. You’ll start as a nobody from scratch. I can monitor you as you go, and we can track your progress as you develop. A clean slate.”

  “This looks amazing,” she said, flicking through the screens. Her shoulders slumped as a realization struck her. “But you know my mother and father will never allow this, not with all the meetings and events I’m scheduled to attend. When will I ever get a chance to play?”

  “That’s the best part,” Demetri said, handing over a crisp white sheet of paper with her father and mother’s scrawling signature at the bottom. “I’ve already spoken to your parents. You’re officially off-duty for the next two years. Doctor’s orders.” He winked.

  “Two… Wait. I can do whatever I want for the next two years without a single interruption from my family?”

  “You sure can,” Demetri said, pointing to the tablet. “As long as it’s in that world. You heard me say that it’s a fully immersive experience, right?”

  Chloe didn’t know what to say. The idea that she could literally leave her life behind and see what her world would be like out from under the shadow of her family was an absolute dream. Would she miss them? Sure. But two years wasn’t forever, and the promises and benefits Obsidian offered seemed unbelievable. Almost too good to be true.

  Which made her pause.

  “Hold on a minute. What’s the catch?”

  Demetri held out a second piece of paper. The black Obsidian logo on the top right, and there was a monetary figure in bold on the middle of the page. “This game is in early development. You will be among the first players to jump in and test out the environment. This could be your legacy, Chloe.” He held out a pen, clicking the top. “Are you ready to make your first real investment?”

  Chapter Two

  “All ready to go?” Mia’s voice said, appearing in Chloe’s ear as if the woman were standing right next to her.

  Chloe took a deep breath and looked around the pod, a huge egg-shaped thing that had been painted a sleek black. When she had first seen it, she couldn’t quite believe it was real, particularly among the detritus, loose cabling, and mess of an office Demetri had taken her to.

  They had walked halfway across the city to get here, finally going through a rusted back door in the seedy part of town. Chloe had to admit she had been surprised to find the attractive woman waiting to usher them both inside. She wasn’t sure what she had expected—maybe a crazed scientist with hair askew and coke-bottle glasses. Not this pretty young thing whom Demetri seemed to have known from childhood—

  Oh. Now she got it.

  Chloe shifted to make herself comfortable, the nodes strapped to her head and th
e electrodes all over her body creating an unusual feeling. “I think so.” She looked at the IV drips dangling out of her arm. They would be her lifeblood and sustenance for the next two years. “I’ll be honest, I feel like a friggin’ pincushion right now. It doesn’t help that I can see through this small window here, too. Don’t you think it might ruin the effect somewhat if I can see outside while trying to play the game?”

  Mia’s blurry face appeared, a broad smile on her face. “Don’t worry, that’ll go dark when we get started. That’s just so we can see inside and check that you’re okay. It’ll also help you slowly readjust to the real world when you come out of the experience. We predict some...disorientation upon your return to the surface.”

  Mia swallowed hard, sweat peppering her brow. “At least you’re confident that I’ll be coming back out.”

  “Everything should be fine,” Mia assured her as she pressed a few buttons on a computer and a timer appeared in front of Chloe’s eyes. “And you’re sure I’ll be okay when I resurface? Won’t I, like, wither away and get bedsores and stuff?”

  Mia smiled. “It’s covered. These patches here are electrical stimulation devices designed to trigger muscle movement and keep them primed for re-entry. We’ll also work with your body a couple of times a week for…preventive maintenance.”

  Chloe was about to ask what “preventive maintenance” involved when a voice started speaking, accompanied by text in an old-fashioned font.

  WELCOME TO OBSIDIAN, ADVENTURER.

  “Shit,” Mia exclaimed.

  Chloe leaned forward, trying to see what was going on through her tiny window. “What? What is it?”

  It was almost impossible to see. What with the letters literally floating in her vision and the blur of the glass, she could just make out a wide-eyed Mia running a hand through her hair. Demetri stood watching over her shoulder, eyes wide with alarm.

  PLEASE ENSURE THAT ALL JEWELRY AND LOOSE OBJECTS HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM YOUR PERSON AND THAT YOU ARE LYING IN A COMFORTABLE POSITION.

  “No. It was supposed to take 5 minutes…” Mia flapped, elbowing Demetri away from her screen. “We haven’t done the official safety check—”

  PLEASE CONFIRM THAT YOU HAVE READ THE SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE ADVENTURING.

  Y / N

  “Aha!”

  Chloe leaned forward, trying to blink the messages away. Even with her eyes closed, she could see the images as clear as day. “What’s going on?”

  “Er...nothing. Just a minor hiccup. Teething problems. Just think ‘no’ and we can reset and get this started again.”

  Chloe tried to move her hands to select the option for no but remembered that she was strapped in tight. She looked at both options, but must her eyes have hovered over ‘yes’ for just a moment too long because the text faded and another message appeared.

  GREAT. PLEASE NOTE THAT PRAXIS GAMES LTD. TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY OF THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS:

  Chloe could hardly blink before a long list of conditions swam before her eyes. She managed to pick out words such as cancer, epilepsy, chronic bleeding, and body dysmorphia before her vision went black.

  CONGRATULATIONS, ADVENTURER. YOU HAVE LANDED. GOOD LUCK.

  Chloe felt herself fall, and she landed with an oof on something soft and bristly. A moment of silence followed as the voice echoed inside her head. Chloe kept her eyes screwed shut, a horrible feeling of displacement washing over her.

  “Hello? Guys? Ha. That was all really funny, but can we stop all the pretend and get this going properly, please? Guys?”

  Chloe shivered, her skin prickling. A chill wind gushing past her. Instinctively she folded her arms, brushing hands up her sleeves... Wait. Not sleeves. Where had her sleeves gone? Hold on... Where had the IV drips gone?

  Opening her eyes, Chloe’s breath caught. She was in a forest clearing surrounded by monumental pines. They towered over her, casting dark shadows across the needle-strewn floor. Somewhere to her left, the sun was setting behind the trees, its golden glow casting fractal rays of warmth on her skin that were fast torn away by the wind.

  “Holy…” Chloe said, rising to her feet. It all felt so real. She took a deep breath in and smelled the earthen scent of the forest. She tasted the wind on her tongue, and the images in front of her were in such high definition that she had a hard time believing all of this wasn’t real.

  “Great work, guys!” Chloe shouted to the sky, impressed. “Seriously! These graphics are the bomb!”

  She expected to hear a response come down from the sky. Half-expected Demetri’s and Mia’s faces to appear as images in the clouds, ready to respond and guide her. Until she remembered Demetri’s caution that he’d only be able to communicate with her at certain times, once certain conditions were met.

  “Damn. Should’ve asked what those conditions were.” She turned to the sky. “Don’t worry, I got this!”

  The smile was ripped off Chloe’s face as she heard the roar of some great beast somewhere back in the trees. “Shit. Right. You’re in the wild, genius. Keep your voice down. Now, how the hell do I make any of this work…”

  Chloe scanned her avatar. She was wearing a rough-spun tunic, shorts, and a pair of leather sandals. Her hair cascaded down her back. She noted, taking a handful of locks, that her hair was not her usual brunette, but instead was a dark emerald, black in the shadows and green in the sun’s rays. “Strange. Apparently, they don’t give anyone customization options in this game. Maybe that’s a feature that’ll be built in later?”

  Looking down at her chest, she smirked as she cupped her breasts in her hands. In reality, she had been a rather modest and fair size (as described by blockhead ex-boyfriends). Now, though, they were at least double what they had been. Her waist had definitely lost a few inches, too. She had heard about guy gamers, and how they lived out their dirty fetishes through the objectification of women in their games but found she actually didn’t mind all that much now that the change applied to her.

  “Well, maybe I’ll keep these as they are.” She glanced skyward. “I see how it is, you pervs!”

  Another roar—closer this time—and Chloe shut her mouth, fleeing from the clearing into the woods.

  She wandered aimlessly through the forest until the sun had set and night had fallen. The entire time she wracked her mind, wondering what to do and where to go. Although she hadn’t been a big gamer, her last boyfriend, Blake, had been obsessed with the Relic Hunter series, an open-world single-player RPG in which players had free reign to accept quests and explore the land. Surely this had to be something similar? Hadn’t Mia said Chloe would come across quests and meet other players in this game? So far, she’d circled around the woods and had no interaction from anyone or anything other than a couple of squirrels hopping through the branches above, and the occasional hooting owl. Only once more had she heard the roar, and that time, it had been far enough away that she had felt a lot safer going in the direction she had been headed.

  “Come on, Chloe, think. What happens in these games? Think. Think… Well, there’s usually a menu, of some kind. No?” She looked around in every direction, finally noticing a blinking pixel in the lower right of her vision. She tried to capture it in her direct sight, but every time she tried, it moved farther away. She felt like a friggin’ dog chasing its tail.

  “Okay, fine. That’s not working. What was it that Mia had said when those messages popped up? “Just think ‘no.’” Think… Think? Think!”

  Chloe thought about the menu appearing and was surprised to find that it literally popped into view. A message box swamped her vision.

  Congratulations, you’ve discovered the menu! You’ve just taken the first step to becoming a functional being in Obsidian.

  There were a series of icons and buttons available for selection. The background was see-through, allowing Chloe to see the world beyond.

  She focused on the Character icon and a character sheet appeared before her, interrupted by a message box.r />
  Congratulations! You’ve discovered your character sheet. Monitor your progress and keep on top of your attributes and skills by accessing this screen.

  Chloe turned her attention to a small question mark beside the notification.

  Attributes: Your attributes are the lifeblood of your character in Obsidian. For the first 5 levels, your attributes will be locked. Based on your playing style for the first 5 levels, Obsidian’s system will distribute 30 starter points across 5 primary attributes. You will also gain bonuses for unlocking new skills. Basic skills will earn you 1-2 skill points, intermediate skills will earn 3-5 skill points, while advanced skills will earn 6-10 points. With every new level you gain, you will acquire—

  “Boring!” Chloe said, waving the text away and moving to the next message.

  You’ve unlocked a new skill: Creature Identification (Lv 1)

  You are now able to access useful information about creatures in the overworld. Gain the advantage over both enemies and friends by stripping them naked and studying them with greedy eyes. (Note: Creature Identification is not to be confused with x-ray vision and does not allow you to see through clothes. Perv.)

  Requirements: Search the menu

  Bonuses: +1 intelligence

  Nice! Somehow Chloe felt like she was already bossing this game. Three congratulatory notes in quick succession and a new skill available, just by accessing the menu. If the game was going to be this easy, she clearly had nothing to worry about.

  The message disappeared, shattering into a mini-firework display before the character sheet reappeared.

  Bio

  Character name: Untitled (click to select a new character name)

  Level: 1

  Class: Null

  Race: Human

  Stats

  HP: 13/15

  MP: 15/15