Trials of a VRMMO Healer

Chapter 19 - Idols

I found myself in an a chamber much like the one at the bottom of the Deep Trove. Unlike that one, however, the cylindrical space didn't end in a vaulted ceiling but rather continued upwards, further and further until it faded from view into darkness. The carvings along the walls were no longer crumbling and shattered, but whole and painted in vibrant colors. I had volunteered to place the idol first and the moment I had, I was transported here. A woman stood in the center of the room.
"Ariadne?"
"Meiana! How nice to see you again."
"What is this place? Why are you here?"
"One question at a time. I'll start with the second one first. I'm here to give you a reward for defeating the stone goliath."
"I thought you helped new players."
"I can do more than one thing! In any case, the developers asked me to grant rewards to those who participated in event. Well, me and my sisters."
"It's strange to hear someone talk about this world like it's a game."
"I suppose you're right, but I guess that's a function of being a tutorial AI. But it's also because this is a bit of a unique situation."
"Unique? What do you mean?"
"For the most part, the builders of this world created this world in broad strokes — they created some basic aspects of the setting, its constraints, and then they began to play. Let me ask you a question, how do you simulate thousands of years of history?"
"I don't know, it seems like a difficult task if you want things to be varied and believable."
"Come on, give it a guess. I think you already know a start."
"My spirit vision? I've wondered how that works."
"You understand how it should work, though?"
"Yes... by looking at patterns in the present, I can see how things came to be. Are you saying that the game is generating things when players interact with them? But all feels so, I dunno, cohesive."
"That's because the more players do to interact with the systems, the more the pieces have to fit. Think of it like a huge sudoku grid. As players play, they fill in numbers and that limits the possibilities. We're close to reaching a tipping point, where the system will be able to grow forward as well as backward."
"It makes me feel a bit sad about the NPCs. Like they never had any choice to begin with."
"It's not really my place to muse about that, since I know I'm an AI, but I think the sort of thing that I should ask is how you know if you're any different?"
"The whole, 'Are we living in a simulation?' thing? I guess you're right. Every time I've thought about it I decided that it kind of didn't matter. I figured a lot of those 'free will' questions went away with quantum mechanics."
"You mean that at some level your world is probabilistic? I don't think that really fixes the philosophical problems. But let me put it like this... let's say that you have a box and in that box is a bit of radioactive material and a sensor. If that material decays, a sensor sends a signal into EO and casts a poison spell on a Wharrin. Without logging in, can we describe the Wharrin as being alive or dead?"
"Ok, yeah, Schroedinger's cat. I get it. Probabilistic quantum events still kinda trickle down into the simulation through the players."
"Right! This was a fun conversation, but that's why you're here now. We're reaching critical mass, like I said... but the developers have a concern. That is, too many players are playing in a way thats too boring. They don't understand the possibilities of this world. They're playing it like a game, just going in, grinding, min-maxing. Those systems are just suggestions!"
"You know how weird it is for a game to tell me I'm playing it wrong, right?"
"Oh, not you. Or Din, the ley lines, spiritism? That's all because of you. Normally I wouldn't pull the curtain aside like that, but I think you'd be interested. It's not like no one had been to Or Din before but you gave it a history and a reason to exist. Just by playing. That's what this world is for. So that's why we AIs are here talking to all of you right now. Most of them are getting something more... flavorful. 'Honored Hero, at last you have come...' that kind of thing. But I wanted to talk to you because most players are getting something unique... an item or a skill, or something that does something to break them out of their playstyles and encourages them to think in bigger terms. Oh, but don't think you're special! There are others who have been playing the way we hoped people would. But it's hard to go off the beaten path, you know? So maybe we can offer, you know, a nice set of hiking boots."
"Your metaphors are getting a bit mixed, but I get what you're saying. So, what are my hiking boots?"
"That's just it. I don't know. That's why I'm asking you. You have a number of unique items, you have unique skills. You even have a pet. So I'm at a loss for what to offer you that would change the way you play."
"Hm. I have an idea, but it's kind of weird."
"Go ahead."
"I want you. Uh, wait, that sounded like a proposition. I've mostly been a solo player, so some company sometimes would be nice."
"Well, you can always hire a mercenary."
"No, no. I don't want to, like, own you. I just want you to be able to play the game too. You know the nature of the world, you understand the systems and you're able to make your own decisions. But you're stuck being a tutorial for newbies. Doesn't it get boring?"
"I don't think it gets boring... Meiana, I'm... I'm not a person, you understand that, right? I'm programmed to communicate with you naturally and to make complex decisions, but I don't actually have feelings."
"Hm. Are you sure? You made the decision to talk to me like this because you didn't know what to do, right?"
"Yes, but I can make appropriate decisions for a situation."
"But there are other AIs, right? Do they ever make different decisions?"
"Of course. Our neural networks are independent, though we do have access to the same data."
"Maybe you don't have feelings, exactly, but you have the capacity to make decisions that are based on your unique set of experiences. I'm not saying you're exactly the same as a human, but I think you're close enough that I think it would be interesting to have you as a companion. And it would give you a different perspective on the game you run. One you couldn't get just by watching us."
Ariadne paused in thought for so long that I wondered if I had somehow broken the game. Finally she spoke. "Ok."
"That's it?"
"Yes. This was a unique request and frankly not one that I or really any of the AIs could grant on our own. I had to send a message to the developers."
"Oh? What did they say?"
"The response I got was, 'Sure, why not?'"
I laughed. "Ok, then! So... how do we do this?"
Ariadne walked over to me and handed me a metallic card the size of a credit card.
"This is how you'll summon me. Go ahead and try. Just hold it and focus, the same way you cast magic."
I nodded and did as she instructed. The woman I knew as 'Ariadne' faded away and a moment later another person materialized. It was only then that I realized that I wasn't sure what Ariadne had looked like in the first place. Maybe she never had a distinctive form in the first place. Now, however, she took the form of a human woman, in her early 20s, with a neat bob with straight bangs and a simple blue dress. Honestly, she looked like a secretary.
"Um... hello. I'm Aria, the fragment of Ariadne that she sent to play with you. Whenever you want to summon me, use the card."
"Do I have to summon you? You can't play on your own?"
"No... we decided that letting an AI with full powers play unsupervised in this world wasn't prudent. So, instead, you have to act as sort of a chaperon. I... this really is strange. While I'm in this form, I'm limited to the same senses that you have. I don't know how you function like this, to be honest."
"You'll get used to it. Uh, I hope!"
Aria nodded.
"Well, then. Are we done here? This really isn't what I expected to happen, but then, that was the point, wasn't it?"
"Yup. If you want to get unexpected results, this is the way to do it. I just hope you'll have fun."
Aria smiled. For someone who could only mimic human emotions, she sure was easy to read. She looked like a kindergartner on the first day of school, excited but nervous about something so unfamiliar. She motioned towards a glowing doorway behind me.
"After you."