Jacob yawned as he stood in front of the large hatch they had been summoned to. He was a few minutes early, though almost every other invite card holder was already there. The only ones that hadn’t arrived yet were Veronica and her father, though no one was surprised. She would probably show up five minutes late, with a fresh batch of snarky quips and complaints. The members of the tour had been given more than enough time to rest yesterday; after their boat ride and the first two rooms of the Ceasarion they had arrived at their cabins shortly after 1pm. The events from the day before were like all those Jacob had been through over the past few weeks: short, but they felt longer.

  “..ridiculous time in the morning, I’m never awake before 11.” Veronica’s voice echoed from further down the corridor, and the tour group collectively sighed in exhaustion. Veronica joined the tour group at exactly 0900, dragging along her father as she did.

  “You’ve all made it.” Jacob jumped at the sound of Rama’s voice. He looked over to see her standing by the hatch, wearing her usual soft smile. Her outfit was more flamboyant than the day before: a long flowing blue cloak, swept back to show a deep blue velvet pair of trousers and a glittering vest over a dark navy blouse. She had her same walking stick as the day before, along with her golden neckbands and circlet. She wore heavy eye makeup, and a variety of rings on each hand.

  “This room.” Rama said, pointing at the door “is the most exciting room on the WCS Caesarion. More exciting than the engine room, more exciting than the control room, more exciting than your cabins. This room is the heart and soul of the entire submersible; I hope you like it.”

  “I’d like it more if I could see it.” Veronica said impatiently.

  Rama pulled the silver card they had seen yesterday out of a vest pocket, ignoring the remark. She placed it onto the hatch, and muttered something. The edges started to glow, and a soft white light surrounded Rama. There was a clicking sound and the door swung open. The group gasped as it saw what was inside.

  Beyond the doors, just down a stairway, was a massive room filled with things they had only seen on the cards.

  The space was organized into multiple environments, which resembled those found on field equip cards. There was a small grassy area, a section of a cyberpunk city, a dark and dreary forest, a magma river, and a small coral reef, all surrounding a specialized card arena. The creatures varied in size from massive Cyber Mammoths, to the tiniest of Micro Fairys, moving between the environments. A Quartz Encrusted Frog croaked at them from within. The space was magical, and the tour looked at the massive room in shock.

  “Is it real?” Kerl asked softly.

  “As real as anything else in this world, though their reality is temporary.” Rama gazed out at the room lovingly, then turned back to the group. “Everything in this room was created by card. The creatures, the grounds, the smells in the air, everything. As soon as you step past these doors you will be equipped with the strongest invisible armor cards our company has discovered. Explore to your hearts content, but do not cast in this room. The results can be… unpredictable.”

  Rama winked at them, then quickly walked down the stairs. The group hesitated at the top, before Kerl moved to follow her. His movement was like the bursting of a dam, and the rest of the tour rushed down the stairs and poured into the room. They spread out and wandered, each moving in a different direction, and Jacob lost sight of his grandfather. He quickly moved down the stairs to catch up, spotting the old man sitting on a wooden bench in the grasslands as he reached the bottom of the steps. The old man was smiling, something Jacob hadn’t seen in a while. The moment he stepped onto the grasslands he understood why. The light warmth of a spring sunshine touched his skin, and the smell of flowers filled the air. It was like the place past the edge of the city where they gathered the supplies for their tea, but every smell, color, and sight was amplified. Jacob slowly walked towards the bench and stood next to it.

  “This place is amazing.” Jacob said softly. His grandfather nodded

  “These fields look like the ones from before the cards.” his grandfather’s voice was nearly a whisper. Jacob saw a single tear roll down the old man’s face, and he decided to give him some space.

  “I’m going to take a look at the cyberpunk city, I’ll be back.” Jacob placed a hand on his grandfather’s shoulder. The old man nodded, but didn’t look away from the grass.

  Jacob slowly made his way out of the field, spotting Kerl as he did. The German was petting a Crystal Salamander Level 7 in the coral reef, which despite its aquatic environment appeared to have fully breathable air. Jacob smiled and shook his head, and headed into the cyberpunk city.

  As he crossed into it the smells changed, shifting from flowers to the rough scent of rain on pavement. The temperature grew colder, and the lighting changed from day to night. There was still plenty to see however, as pink and teal neon signs illuminated every building. Aliens walked about on the street, seemingly going about their lives, and Jacob spotted the South Koreans standing in a small bookshop looking at some ancient volumes. Jacob kept walking through its streets, until he stumbled across a coffee shop. He opened the door and stepped inside, and was immediately met by a wave of warmth. The room smelled of coffee and baked goods, and altogether much more pleasant. While the streets of the cyberpunk city were mostly pink and teal, the coffee shop had a light orange hue to its lighting. Jacob went up to the alien at the counter, perusing the baked goods.

  “Can I get a blended coffee?” Jacob asked “And a cinnamon roll?”

  The alien nodded and spoke in a foreign language, before moving to make the drink. There was a whirring sound as the alien blended the ingredients together, crafting the beverage. Once it was done it placed the drink on the counter in a small glass, alongside a warm cinnamon roll. Steam rolled off the pastry, and as Jacob picked up his order he could feel the cold of the drink and the heat of the roll. They felt completely real; it seemed impossible to him that it could be created by card. Jacob took a sip of the coffee and closed his eyes. He hadn’t had such a luxury in years, only being able to afford a few cups during his final examinations each semester at the academy.

  “Is the coffee good?” Rama’s soft voice appeared behind him. Jacob whirled around and found the woman seated at a table nearby. She gestured at the chair across from her, and Jacob sat down.

  “Surprisingly so.” Jacob said, taking another sip. He set the roll and his cup of coffee on the table, and looked around the room. “Hard to believe everything here came from a card.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “Everything in this room came from this card.” Rama placed a card on the table, setting it next to Jacob’s roll. Jacob picked it up. Cyber City from an Alien World. A field equip card designed to induce confusion in the opposing caster’s creatures “The cards contain more than could be imagined; it is our technology that holds them back.”

  Jacob stared at the card for a moment, then held it back out to Rama. The woman refused it.

  “I own a card factory” Rama reached over instead to tear off a piece of Jacob’s roll “Last thing I need is more of them.”

  Jacob hesitated, then put the card into his equip deck. “Thank you.”

  Rama nodded, and tore another piece off of Jacob’s roll. She ate it happily as she stared at him, seeming to ponder something.

  “What?” Jacob finally asked

  “What do you think of the Ceasarion?” Rama swallowed the chunk of cinnamon roll.

  “It’s amazing.” Jacob slid over the roll as Rama stole another piece of it. She didn’t take it, instead letting it sit in the middle of the table. Jacob sipped his coffee, then looked around. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “It took years to build, and even more to research.” Rama said whistfully “There’s no other vessel on Earth like it.”

  Jacob considered his coffee, then set it on the table. “If this is what the cards are capable of, why hasn’t anyone else seen this”

  “They could.” Rama said simply, taking another piece of the cinnamon roll. It was half gone, but still steamed as if it were brand new “But they shouldn’t.”

  “Because there’s no profit in it?”

  “Because no one would live in the real world.” Rama finally took the cinnamon roll, taking a large bite “No one would strive to make the real world better. They would live in the cards.”

  “They should at least have the choice. They should know it exists. They should know what’s possible.”

  “So they can fight over it, like they did 50 years ago?”

  “So they can choose their own path.” Jacob was growing slightly irritated at the woman “So that no one would be forced to live in squalor, because there aren’t enough resources around. If magic like this exists, it should be for everyone. Not just those who can afford it.”

  “I don’t disagree.” Rama said, standing up with the remaining portion of the roll “I hope you like the factory as much as you like my ship.”

  Rama began walking out of the shop, then turned to look back at him. “Have faith in the cards, and yourself. You’ll need it.”

  Before Jacob could ask what she meant she left the coffee shop. Jacob watched as she disappeared around a corner outside, vanishing into the city. A large boxy robot rolled past the window, leading a group of approximately a dozen small children. The group was followed by a smaller cylindrical robot at the back of the line, which had a basketball shaped metal orb floating over it. The orb blinked a red light, and several of the children waved at Jacob. He waved lightly back, before they disappeared from view. Jacob considered the city and its inhabitants, then quickly finished his coffee. He left the shop and walked out of the urban area. The South Koreans had left the bookstore, and when he got to the entrance of the city he headed back to the bench in the grasslands. His grandfather was nowhere to be found.

  “Stop!” Rama’s voice called across the room “You can’t be there! You shouldn’t be there!”

  Jacob turned to see Rama at the edge of the arena in the room’s center, looking upwards. Jacob followed her gaze to the match platform, where he saw Kerl eagerly looking about.

  “This is exactly like the SimMatch system!” Kerl called down. Jacob heard the arena power up, and the lights came on around it.

  “Get down from there!” Rama called up “Before it’s too late!”

  Kerl’s mother shouted something in German, but Kerl ignored them both. He continued to push buttons, turning on the system.

  “It has every card!” Kerl exclaimed “Every card is programmed in, it’s spectacular!”

  “That boy is an idiot.” Jacob’s grandfather appeared next to him. Jacob didn’t know when he had walked up, but acknowledged him with a grunt.

  “Where did you wander off to?” Jacob didn’t look away from Kerl.

  “The reef.” His grandfather grunted back “Breathable water, truly remarkable.”

  “Catch any good fish?”

  “Last warning Kerl, come down from there!” Rama called out. “Once it has started, it cannot stop!”

  “Why do you smell like coffee?” Jacob’s grandfather asked.

  Jacob gestured vaguely in the direction of the cyberpunk area “City had a coffee shop.”

  “Sounds tasty.”

  A klaxon sounded, and Rama put one of her hands over her face in frustration.

  “Think he’ll ever listen to her?” Jacob asked

  “Nah, he thinks he knows everything.” Jacob’s grandfather pointed towards Rama, and Jacob looked over. The rest of the tour group had started to gather at the side of the arena to watch. “Shall we join them?”

  “Eh, might as well. Might be entertaining.”

  The two began walking towards the tour group, taking a few moments to get there.

  MATCH SYSTEM ACTIVATED. USER PRESET FOUR.

  They reached the group, and Jacob stood at the side of the arena next to Rama. While the match platforms were elevated, the arena itself was slightly depressed in the floor, inset about 10 feet lower than the rest of the room. It had clearly been prepared that way to allow for spectators.

  “What’s user preset four?” Jacob asked non-chalantly.

  “My preset level.” Rama sighed, looking at the arena “Highest opponent difficulty level.”

  “Think he can handle that?” Jacob glanced over at the woman, who’s face was covered with a look of resignation.

  “Not in the slightest.” She made a curious gesture in the air, and two rows seats appeared next to the arena, tilted slightly to give the best view. They were large and plush, the kind you would find in a movie theatre downtown. A small bubbling beverage sat in each cupholder, while a large bowl of popcorn appeared in each seat. “Might as well get comfortable, we’ll be here for a bit.”

  Rama took the closest seat. Jacob looked at his grandfather and shrugged. The two sat in the seats next to her, and were slowly joined by the rest of the tour.

  “Enjoy the show folks.” Rama said “It’ll probably be brutal.”

  Jacob gave her a mildly concerned look, and she smiled back, before eating a handful of popcorn.

  USER DECK SELECTED. MATCH BEGINS IN FIVE SECONDS.

  An opponent appeared across from Kerl, standing on the opposing platform. She was a woman with long black hair, dressed in the full regalia of an Egyptian Pharaoh. Heavy black makeup surrounded her eyes, and she held the traditional crook and flail of the Egyptian rulers in each hand. She smiled seductively over at Kerl, who appeared to blush a little.

  “Is that-” Jacob’s grandfather started

  “Cleopatra.” Rama cut him off, eating another handful of popcorn. “Real piece of work she is. Liked her son better, but he didn’t last long.”

  “Is that why you named the ship after him?” Jacob asked

  “Mhm.” Rama took a sip of her drink and settled in.

  Jacob glanced over at his grandfather, and they shared the same expression. Rama seemed weirdly unconcerned with the match in front of her, despite admitting that the odds were against Kerl. The entire tour she had seemed a few cards short of a full deck; as Jacob watched the system power up he started to grow concerned that the re-assurance he had given Stan last night about them not being in danger was false.

  CYCLICAL ENVIRONMENT EQUIP SETTINGS ACTIVE. FIRST ENVIRONMENT DEPLOYING.

  “Huh.” Rama said “Forgot I left that setting on.”

  The arena floor suddenly shifted to a Candy filled wonderland, and the smell of sugar hit Jacob like a brick wall. Candy canes and lolipops rose over hills of cotton candy like they were trees, and small gummy creatures moved throughout the environment. A river of chocolate flowed through the wonderland, fed by a chocolate waterfall one one side of the arena

  CHANCE OPTIONS SELECTED. CLEOPATRA SHALL GO FIRST.

  “Is that good or bad?” Jacob asked

  “Depends on what Cleopatra has, her deck is random.” Rama replied “It’s her intellect you have to worry about.”

  “How worried should Kerl be?”

  “Depends on how good he is.” Rama took a drink of the beverage “I’ve never beat her.”

  Jacob felt a pit grow in his stomach. Cleopatra drew five cards, and a buzzer sounded.

  LET THE MATCH BEGIN.

  very exciting in comparison to the exposition heavy world we’ve been in so far; I hope you enjoy the duel. This match is going to follow the international tournament standard just like the SimMatch, but unlike the SimMatch will involve real creatures.

  nothing an entire city subsection, complete with streets and aliens living within it. Those beings, the food Jacob ate, none of it was a projection. It was all there, in that moment, in that space. If Rama had enough power and a big enough space for it she could likely summon the entire cyberpunk city, though it would only last for a short period of time. Equips aren’t forever, and that counts for field equips as well. We’ll see that come more into play in the next few chapters.

  trust in the cards…

  What do you think is going to happen to Kerl?