Utopia War

Chapter 7 - Proxima Ring (i)

Just over the hill, in the narrow valley, the dark figures of five Bonegrinder Legion sworn swords were disassembling their rough camp. They were clad from head to toe in grim black armor and wore pitch-white swords, each haunted by a thousand thousand ghosts, on their backs.

The legionarii were veterans of this war; they earned their swords by slaying every ghost that was bound to it.

Up on the hill two women lay flat on their stomachs, covered by the tall grass, watching the sworn swords. One wore a gargantuan blade on her back, much longer than she was tall. The other held an axe which was also a gun, and a guitar, and a primitive means of flight.

"If we're really quiet we can maneuver around behind them and launch a surprise attack," said Sparkle.

"Why though?" asked Min-ji "What's our quarrel with them?"

"They're the bad guys," said Sparkle "They're bad."

"How can you tell?"

Sparkle had been through all this with Min-ji before.

"See how their clothes are covered in bats and skulls? That's how bad guys dress in this world."

"That seems rather reductive," said Min-ji.

"Oh you're so terrible at this!" exclaimed Sparkle in frustration.

It was loud enough that the possibly misunderstood bad guys heard it. They turned towards the source of the noise and charged. So much for the ambush.

Sparkle drew her sword, the ridiculous weapon only wieldable in the permissive physics of the fantasy sim. The Bonegrinders were very nearly within melee range.

"I'm sorry Sparkle," said Min-ji, barely noticing "This sort of thing isn't really within my scope of interests. I don't see the point."

"What's the point of chasing a ball?" asked Sparkle forcing two of the attackers back with a wide sweep of her sword "What's the point of anything?"

"I suppose I just don't think it's very fun pretending to hurt people," said Min-ji. She was backing away, trying to avoid the fight.

"That's okay," said Sparkle "We're still best friends."

Sparkle held her sword in front of herself with both hands, in a strange but menacing seeming pose.

"Sparkle Ribbon Guardian Cut!" she yelled, as she sliced at the air twice with her sword. The magical rules of the sim translated this into a wave of yellow energy that knocked the next three attackers back. The other two, however, were back into position to attack.

"Fear not, fellow xia!" bellowed a voice from behind, the power of the player giving extra weight to the sound "Here comes the Siblinghood of the Sizzling Savage Sword to lend a hand!"

Four warriors came riding white unicorns snorting violet flame. As soon as they came into range they leapt from their mounts and into the fray. The two standing legionarii backed away a little, their swords held high in defensive positions.

"How the bravado of these beasts evaporates when they face the sizzling sword of Darthor!"

Darthor spun past the defenses of one of the Bonegrinder fighters and cleaved off the man's head with a clean stroke from his scimitar. It sailed off in a blood arc.

<Sorry everyone,> said Proxima, to the assembled players <I'm going to have to spirit away two of your heroic allies.>

Min-ji and Sparkle disappeared like a cheap camera trick.

"What dark sorcery is this?" exclaimed Darthor, grinning like a maniac at his own wit.

* * *

Min-ji and Sparkle woke in the pristine white exit ward of a local cloning center. The lights were pleasingly low so as to avoid irritating their sensitive new eyes. The two wore the identical white, flowing robes all new clones were dressed in.

They were in comfortable beds, and it was hard at first to wake. Proxima, or her avatar at the least, was waiting in their room for them.

"Welcome back," she said "How are you feeling?" she added, as though she didn't already know.

Min-ji and Sparkle slowly got up and out of bed. They were now physically the same age, around 19. While this was within a year or so of the age Sparkle preferred, it was almost a decade away from Min-ji's habitual age.

Min-ji wasn't particularly thrilled with the situation, but she did have to admit it felt quite fresh and energizing to be back in such a young body.

"My EMFMs aren't-" started Sparkle.

"They're still growing," said Proxima, who was usually polite enough to let people finish asking their questions "I wrote these new ones into your DNA since you're so insistent about them. They'll reach maturity in a year. Eat lots of calcium until then."

"What am I supposed to do in the mean time?" Sparkle whined.

"They still function," said Proxima "Don't pick a fight with any starships until they're finished growing. You'll be fine."

"Okay," said Sparkle, totally mollified "I trust you know best."

"What about my implants?" asked Min-ji.

"I recreated everything that was part of your self-image. So memory weave, neuromodem, and your little baby EMFM," said Proxima "You're mostly genefixing. Your maternity geneticist was an artist. If you need anything else just think it and I'll pop it in while we're here."

"No that's all I need," said Min-ji. Her voice was more high pitched than she would have liked.

"Remember you can always signal me anywhere on the Ring if you need anything," said Proxima "It'll probably take a few days for you to calibrate your bodies back the way you like them."