The room Gideon now found himself in was smaller than the other chamber and had several doors leading off to other rooms. There were various monitors and control panels here and there along with a few potted plants, tables and chairs, a sofa, and even a large glass tank on a recessed shelf running along one wall.

  It looked like a general crew quarters or something similar, perhaps with sleeping chambers located off to the sides. While he was still taking in his surroundings, a series of announcements showed in the chat box on the lower left side of his HUD.

  BASIC SKILL ADDITIONS

  Endurance +1

  Improvised Tools +1

  Gideon ignored the announcements. He’d seen enough of the Great Hunt to know that there would be a flurry of such announcements particularly in the early phases of the game. The constant uptick of achievements was supposed to make players feel like they were doing well during early game, but for most people—Gideon included—they were simply an annoyance.

  Later on, when achievement levels began to rise much higher, they became incredibly invaluable and smart players would specifically take missions and hunt creatures that would give them the best chance of enhancing those skills. But that would come much later and, given Gideon’s current predicament, he wasn’t even sure whether it would work the same for him.

  NEW MISSION: Reach the Transit Station

  Life support is rapidly failing on your vessel. You need to reach the lunar transit station as quickly as possible. Enemy scouts are nearby, however, so you will need to avoid them or protect yourself.

  REWARD: 5 Enhancement Points

  Gideon had barely read the mission announcement when a second followed on its heels.

  SIDE MISSION: Find a Suitable Weapon

  You have landed in what is now hostile territory with no idea what you will find when you exit this craft. Find yourself a weapon which can be used to fend off attacks and defend yourself as you head to the transit station.

  REWARD: Equip Weapon Function Enabled

  He shook his head, looking around the room for something he might be able to use as a weapon.

  “This is nuts.”

  Missions were a key part of life on Artemis, a way for the echo system to direct new players early on in the game when they were still finding their feet. He’d seen newbies encounter similar missions within their first few hours starting in the Great Hunt, of course, but they’d been down on Artemis, not stuck in the wreckage of a Ministry spaceship fighting against space and some unknown enemy.

  Typically, the landing scenarios on Artemis would force newcomers to battle some inconsequential enemy within the first few minutes. Little fluffy birds that did no damage at all, or rat creatures that wouldn’t even attack unless provoked.

  The goal was to get new players used to their bodies and the whole crafting mechanic that dominated the Artemis experience as quickly as possible. Killing a few easy mobs built confidence and allowed players to get used to how everything worked.

  You kill a few fluffy birds, get a little bit of ether, some raw materials to use in crafting, and then off you go. It was essentially a risk-free tutorial designed to orientate players to the game.

  By contrast, nothing about what Gideon had seen so far was risk free.

  WARNING: You have ingested and utilized Ministry ether without proper authorization. You now owe the Ministry ten ether. This will be deducted the next time you make a deposit at the nearest ether harvester.

  “Oh, come on! How the hell is that fair? I’m not even on Artemis for fuck’s sake!”

  Something beeped on his HUD, accompanied by a flashing signal that drew his attention to the right. He turned, trying to lock in on whatever it was and seeing a small green triangle hovering above something in the glass tank that dominated a large section of the room.

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  “What the hell is this now?”

  “Sir, I suggest you proceed to the tank and—"

  Once more the words cut through Gideon’s head like a buzzsaw. He slapped his hands over his ears, hunching over with his teeth gritted, trying to block out the voice.

  “Okay! I’ll do it. Just stop talking!”

  Mercifully, Bullseye didn’t continue and, after a few moments, Gideon was able to settle himself sufficiently to walk over to the tank and examine what was inside. He figured lizards or snakes, but when he stared into the tank at where the green arrow indicated, Gideon was pleased to see a small turtle about the size of his palm chewing contentedly on a piece of lettuce.

  The arrow continued to flash on top of the animal, prompting Gideon to slide across the tank cover and gently pick up the turtle. It looked up at him as he carried it away from the tank, still chewing lazily on the lettuce, one glassy eye regarding Gideon.

  “Okay, what the hell am I supposed to do with this now? And don’t answer verbally. Just send a written message on my HUD or something.”

  Words popped up on a chat panel at the bottom left of his screen. He was grateful to be reading rather than enduring the excruciating pain Bullseye’s voice had caused, but he wondered why the AI hadn’t just communicated with him this way previously.

  Due to the fact that our bonding was not properly completed, I will need to extricate myself from your mind. Otherwise, communication will not be possible, and I will be unable to instruct you in your role as a Ministry soldier.

  Gideon nodded, not liking the mention of the word soldier, but getting the gist of what Bullseye was saying.

  There is also a real possibility that your mind will break under the pressure of having to contain my matrices.

  “What do I need to do?” Gideon asked, hoping that it wouldn’t involve anything too gross.

  Simply stand by sir. I will perform the necessary processes. You may wish to sit down, however, as this might feel somewhat uncomfortable.

  He moved to a nearby chair and placed the turtle on the table in front of him. Gideon then braced himself for the pain he assumed was coming.

  “Alright, do it.”

  His vision blurred for a second. Then the pain began. It wasn’t anything sharp, like what he’d experienced whenever Bullseye spoke. The pain was more like a dull headache, slowly increasing in intensity and accompanied by a truly unsettling sensation of being teased apart from his own body.

  It felt like his mind and body were being separated, but also that individual components of his body were now divided. His arms and legs drifted left and right. His heart floated outside of his chest.

  All of this was accompanied by that steadily growing dull pain which shifted from his head to every part of his body. It was the most profoundly disorienting experience he’d ever encountered. Fortunately, the weirdness of the experience overrode the pain he was feeling, making it somewhat bearable.

  The strange sensations lasted only a few moments before everything began to return to normal. His body reassembled itself and his mind once more stabilized as the pain receded.

  Nothing had physically changed throughout the process of course. He’d been staring down at his body the whole time, and his arms and legs hadn’t really separated. But whatever had happened, it was over now and he felt, for the first time since waking up a few minutes ago, like he was whole.

  “There. That should be better now sir.”

  Gideon frowned, looking down at the turtle as it spoke in a familiar voice that was both spoken out aloud and directed into his mind at the same time.

  “Bullseye?”

  The turtle nodded slowly.

  “Indeed, sir. The transition has been successful, and you will now be able to fully bond with your echo and begin building your class and extending the breadth of your abilities as a Ministry soldier.”

  Gideon chuckled. “Okay, so you’re in the turtle now. So, if I leave you hear, you’re not gonna be talking to me anymore.”

  “Correct, sir. I am limited to this corporeal body, to a large extent. If you were to leave me here, however, I would be unable to give you guidance.”

  The temptation to drop the turtle back into the tank and walk off was almost overwhelming, but the fact was, Gideon needed all the help he could get, and this pesky AI was currently his only way of trying to stay ahead of whatever he was about to face.

  “Great! So now I need to carry around a turtle everywhere I go.”

  “It seems so, sir. Perhaps some sort of carrying receptacle would be a good idea. Once your inventory is online, you will be able to store a great number of items within it, but I don’t believe living creatures can be stored in that manner.”

  Gideon nodded, scooping up Bullseye and shaking his head. He was familiar enough with the way echo inventories worked to understand that he wouldn’t have to be carrying around bulky weapons and armor all the time. There was a rift dimension storage compartment included with each echo that allowed access to a character’s belongings, and which could be accessed from any location.

  “So, the inventory’s gonna work even though I’m not on Artemis?”

  “Correct, sir. It will take a little time for that functionality to come onboard, but your echo is fully stocked with all the usual enhancements.”

  Gideon nodded. “Well, that’s something at least. Okay, so I need to find a weapon and get to the transit station, right? I’m guessing once I get there someone will tell me what the hell is going on?”

  “It is difficult to say sir. Your echo seems to be following the usual induction protocol, however these circumstances are markedly different to those on Artemis. I cannot say with certainty what awaits us at the transit station and beyond.”

  Gideon looked around the room for either a bag or something he could use as a weapon. The metal bar he’d used to wedge open the door was badly bent and embedded in a nearby section of wall paneling, so that wouldn’t do much good. There was also nothing he could see in the immediate area which could be used to carry the turtle and whatever supplies he wanted to hold onto until his inventory kicked in.

  He looked over at the row of doors on the opposite side of the chamber, reasoning that, if they were bedrooms, chances were they might have something he could use. Gideon walked to the closest door and tapped the panel on the wall to the right of the doorway.

  The door opened with an accompanying swishing sound and a fist emerged from the entryway and promptly slammed into Gideon’s face.

  As he fell to the deck, still holding Bullseye in one hand, some part of Gideon’s mind reflected that this made perfect sense. Considering how everything else had gone today, a first to the face seemed like the perfect ending.