Solarversia: The Year Long Game Read Online Free PDF Page A

the evening, but there no point arguing about it now. She replaced the headset to find that her victory had caused the floor she was standing on to give way. She fell into a winding tunnel, illuminated by the occasional spotlight, until eventually she popped out of the end, her arms and legs flailing as she fell two storeys to a crash pad on the ground. Her headset flashed a message: "Welcome to Alpha Island. Population 543,286.”
    Looking up, she noticed hundreds of entwined tubes like the one she’d emerged from. Castalia seemed to have grown player-spitting dreadlocks. As she glanced around, datafeeds were overlaid on the objects she looked at. Castalia was revealed to be floating a kilometre overhead, and was still populated with several million people. When she looked at another player, a feed appeared above their head, displaying their profile information. She only needed to glance at a building or a landmark in the distance to be told how far away it was, and how long it would take her to reach it.
    For now, she wanted to get her bearings. Players seemed to be heading in the same direction — toward a signpost. She stared at it and said "Lock on to target: Run." The signpost was taller than a triple-decker bus and surrounded by scores of other players who were either babbling to each other about the various destinations, or taking selfies in front of it. Nailed to the post at head height was a sign that said ‘Out of Order’.
    “How can a signpost be out of order? Are the directions wrong?” her mum asked.
    “Nope. Signposts double as teleport machines, except they won’t start working until the Teleport Quest has been completed. It’s the machine that’s out of order, not the signs.”
    She tried to find a destination whose name she recognised. The Forest of Fun — 1 km, Conga World — 5 km, The Travelling Circus of Nakk-oo — 3,213 km. The closest location, only a hundred metres away, was the Fire Demon's Obstacle Course. She locked on.
     
    ***
     
    Nova had completed the Blazing Balls and the Scorching Skyscraper obstacles without incident. Now she stood motionless, eyes locked with a Luminous Lavadile. She exhaled slowly and edged forward. Still no movement from the beast. It opened its mouth and emitted a long, deep growl. Another step, this one bigger. Her eyes darted from the lavadile to the side of the fire pit it guarded. Could she make it?
    Three or so metres to go. Flames licked the side of the beast’s head and she could have sworn it just moved toward her. This was it. No more time for pussyfooting. She stepped onto her right foot and launched herself forward as far as possible. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the thing make its move. She landed on the bank inches from the molten lava and scrambled up the side as fast as she could. Behind her she heard a whooshing sound and then a snap.
    She rolled onto her back and saw that the powerful jaws had clamped round her left foot. A glistening globule of molten lava trickled down one of its teeth and landed on her leg. It made a gentle hiss as it burned through the fabric of her trousers. Damn thing, get off already. Her health score, displayed in the top right of her visor, ticked down a second time. The snap of the jaw had cost her eight points, the globule a further five. She was already down to 87 health points and The Game had only just begun.
    Not the start she'd hoped for. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a long piece of flint. She grabbed it, sat forward and rammed the sharp end into the creature’s eye. It released her leg in an instant and plunged back into the lava, powered by its strong tail.
    She made it to the top of the pit and turned to take in the scene. There were several hundred other players navigating the fiery assault course. To her left, less than thirty feet away, a guy was in serious trouble. A lavadile, longer than hers, had fastened its jaws around his legs. He thrashed around, trying to break free from its