Second Life?

I want to thank Baccara Rhodes for the wonderful donation.

Here we go. This is where I go off the beaten path…

-=-

Well. I wasn’t that bad off. I knew how to do everything I had been told about so far, though obviously there was much I still didn’t know. I knew I could fly, after a fashion, and was able to move things and pick them up.

Everyone looked busy here, and I figured that going it alone was the next step.

Three steps, jump and away a go.

Heck I even missed the trees this time!

The building that just seemed to appear in front of me did want to get to know my face intimately, and I obliged it.

“Owie. Again.”

I floated up above it, and flew out again, looking at the view…

And watching things appear randomly around me as I moved?

Things would often appear near the edge of my visual range, but even more disturbing was the tendency of a few items to suddenly materialize near me.

Often right in my flight path.

I experimented with waiting a few moments in my flight, and found that the more detailed the building, the longer it took to appear fully to me. It seemed that it took time for me to see things in a new place, or for them to appear. It was hard to tell which it was.

I was in an area filled with buildings, and some people seemed to be milling about. I landed, this time right where I wanted to, and looked about to get a fix on my surroundings.

It was amazing.

The buildings were as unique as the people. I looked at a Victorian mansion that sat right next to what looked like a ginger-bread house with a Godzilla-sized bit taken out of it. A white tower stood behind them both, rising above them in terrible majesty. I also noted a log house, rocket ship crashed nose first into the ground, and what I think was a tomb.

Rather eclectic little layout, it seems…

“Want to know how far this rabbit hole goes?” The voice behind me seemed amused. I must have been gawking too long. Not to be undone by a touch of humor, I gave the proper response.

“Why, oh why, didn’t I take the blue pill?”

I turned and looked him. He looked to be human, and old, if not elderly. He was sitting on a rock nearby, carrying a staff he sat across his lap as he waited.

“Kind of fitting, since I don’t seem to be in Kansas anymore.”

He stood and bowed. “Greetings, Avatar.” He looked up while still bent at the waist. “Did you come seeking knowledge of the world you have been thrust into, or shall I let you wander and learn on your own?”

“I… I’m not sure. I was just looking about…”

“As do we all, when we first came here. I still wander, which is why we just met.” It was so smoothly added, I didn’t mind the interruption. “Some might call it fate, others providence.”

He stopped bowing and looked me in the eye, “I will always call it ‘Fool’s Luck’”.

I paused, not sure how to respond. He seemed friendly enough, but…

“What would you need from me?” I hated asking the question, but could not think of a better way to phrase it.

He didn’t even blink. “A single dollar. Pay enough I think for my skills and knowledge.”

I thought about it, and looked in my inventory. I saw no money listed.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I have…”

His voice was measured, friendly patience. “You don’t look for how much money you have. Think on it, and you will KNOW how much you have.”

Within a few minutes, he had shown me not only how to figure out how much money I had, but also how to pay him a dollar out of the two-hundred and fifty I had appeared with.

Funny thing is, it took me days to realize he had taken the money just to keep me happy. A dollar won’t buy much. Not even in second life.

-=-

Ain't free time great? You all get entertainment, and I get to show off.

What more can I ask for?

Fingers... Won't... Stop... Typing...

-=-

He ran his fingers through his hair, his bearded face lost in thought for a moment. He seemed to come to a decision with a snap, and turned to look at me.

“We have three ways to go about this, son. I can take you on a whirlwind tour of our world, answer your questions here, or I can take you to a nice spot to sit back, relax, and ask whatever you like.” He really didn’t inflect much about which one to choose, but for some reason it seemed to be a test of sorts. Perhaps to find out more about me. Or maybe to just decide if I was worth the trouble.

I decided to be clever about it. “What would YOU do?”

“Well, lad… I would tell you that as a hired servant, I have no place in telling you WHAT you should do. I give options and information. I don’t make decisions for ye…” His eyes almost glowed with glee.

“Right. I’ll take the quiet relaxing spot then.”

He slapped his knee and hooted. “Good choice, lad. Keep in mind, there were no bad ones either. Sometimes, a question is just that: A question.”

And then he disappeared. I looked about in confusion a moment, wondering what happened. About the time I decided I must have offended him somehow, I heard a chime and something smacked me in the face.

It was a ticket. I KNEW this one already.

As I tore it in half, I swore I would ask him about some way to stop having things hit me in the face all the time.

-=-

ooo it just gets better and better

coco

Lessons Learned...

-=-

I appeared in a clearing, near what looked to be a large tower that was capped with a glass dome. My new ‘guide’ was standing on a porch in front of it waiting for me.

Instead of following him directly to the tower, I looked about for a moment. A castle, looking somewhat unfinished, was to my left, to my right a series of beach chairs facing what seemed to be the shore and a scoreboard. I also saw what looked to be a saloon nearby. In the distance, I could see what looked like a church. I even saw sails from what I assumed were boats or ships.

Turning back to the tower, He seemed to be waiting patently for me to notice him and follow. I did so.

“Sorry. Was taking a look around.”

“Not a problem, lad. Something for you to keep in mind: When you appear in a new place for the first time, it can take a few minutes for everything to appear fully. Most people understand this, and will give you a few minutes to adjust before pushing you to move.”

“Yeah! I noticed that when I was flying. Things would just pop in if I moved too fast. Made flying hazardous.”

“The effect is called ‘Rezzing’. It has a few meanings, but generally when a place, person or item is appearing or still ‘fuzzy’ they say it’s rezzing”

He pointed to an open section of ground and gestured. I watched as a fountain appeared quickly and colored itself to look like marble and stone.

“It happened quickly, but if you watched closely, you would see each Prim that made a part of the fountain appear.”

I caught that. “Prims? They make things? Like some kind of fairy?”

He laughed. He really ‘laughed’. The full motion and all. “Sorry, lad. My mistake. I meant that the fountain is made FROM Prims. Prims are the building blocks you see for everything in Second Life.”

His hand waved and a series of wooden shapes appeared. A sphere, cone, cube, cylinder, and a few others I didn’t know names for.

“Just like playing with blocks as a wee lad. You stack them, shape them, and color them into whatever you like. Toys, jewelry, buildings.”

I nodded. The idea was simple enough. So, how do I do that?

He waved his hand and all the ‘Prims’ vanished. “Hold there, lad. Let’s try and get you used to this place before I unleash you on building. Trust me, building is the least of your worries yet.”

I felt a little cheated by this. “Why should I have to wait? You offered to answer any questions I had.”

He smirked. “All right lad. Take me to a sandbox of your choosing, and I’ll show you the basics.”

I stopped being irritated, and looked around in confusion for a moment.

“Okay. Where’s the sandbox?”

He looked at me patiently. I fidgeted.

I gave up. “Right. You win.”

“No lad. YOU win. Just keep in mind, some of us had to learn the hard way. It’s possible, but I would NOT advise it as the way to go for most people.”

He turned and walked into the tower. “Come on in, lad. We can take a moment to sit down and figure out where you want to start.”

As I followed him in, I already knew what I was going to ask him first.

I mean, how DO you sit here, anyway?

-=-

So much to learn, so little time.

I am loving this story! You're a very talented writer, thanks so much for sharing this with us.

Sorry, the comedy is slower here. It picks back up in a bit...

-=-

The inside of the tower was almost gothic. Rows of church benches sat in front of a speaker’s podium sitting on a stage. He turned and sat on the edge of the stage, and offered me a seat on one of the benches.

I looked at the bench. It mocked me for not knowing something as simple as sitting on it.

“Just gesture with your off hand, and then think about sitting.”

I took the offered gesture and repeated it toward the bench. I then walked over to threw my legs over the back of the bench, and laid back-down on the seat. I looked up at him and sighed.

He never even snickered, though the pleasant smile never lost it’s place. “Try again lad. Just think about standing up, and you’ll be right as rain.”

He was right. I got up without any problems. It tried it again, and this time ended right-side up… Or in this case, down.

“To be fair to yourself, lad, sometimes chairs don’t work quite right. It helps to gesture at the exact spot you want to place your bum.”

I filed that away. “So. Where are we?”

“My guild hall. I often use this for teaching classes, having get togethers, watching movies...” He nodded to the back. “I also run a small shop from here, selling my wares.”

I looked back, there were two picture frames that contained pictures. Below each were dollar amounts with arrows on either side.

“Those are called ‘vendors’. They allow you to buy things, and for me to sell them. They can look like anything, but that kind is one of the most common.”

“So I spend money on things here? What do I need to buy to play?”

He nodded. “Let’s get something straight right now, lad. You don’t have to buy anything to enjoy your time here. You don’t need to eat, drink, or seek shelter. There is nothing out there that you can buy that you can’t build yourself, given you put the effort into it.”

I had noticed that I didn’t feel hungry here.

Sitting back, he then changed his tone. “But!” He paused to make sure he had my attention. “Buying things here is one of life’s simple pleasures. While I love to build, I also love to see others’ works as well. Sometimes I see one I think is so grand that I buy it for no other reason than to reward the person who made it for entertaining me with such a wonderful toy.”

“When I go to play bingo with some friends, I put money in the pot as a courtesy. Also, when someone sets up an event, I put a little something in their tip jar to show my appreciation for such a fine time they gave me.”

“Money can be used for even more than that, but that’s for later. Right now, you should know that cash is as much a toy as a tool here, and that being broke should never mean you have to do without fun.”

I thought about it a moment, and asked the obvious question. “So how do I get more money?”

“Many ways, nearly as many as the first world. You can make things and sell them. You can work for someone and get paid for your time. You can even try your luck at the local games, like bingo or tringo, and see if you can win a few dollars here and there.”

“You also have an allowance that offers you some basic spending cash each week. Keep an eye on your money, and you’ll see when it increases.”

“How much of an allowance?”

“Well, lad. That depends on a lot of boring factors you would not understand yet. Best way to know how much you would make is to wait until they dump the allowance on you. It won’t matter until then anyway.”

I couldn’t argue with that logic.

He clapped his hands together. “Well. Shall we go over some of the basic functions you’re going to need? Using the functions for Find, Maps, and Friends?”

I learned a lot that day. Wish I could remember most of it.

-=-

And we're off and running again!

-=-

“So, lad… Have you got all that?”

I sat numbly on the bench. I felt like someone had tried to jam a manual into my brain through my ears.

I nodded just to make it stop.

“I thought so. Information overload, they call it. Let’s go meet some people, shall we?” He stood up and waved for me to follow him.

We walked to the back of the room, and he showed me two blue glowing buttons. With a nod toward them, he began explaining.

“You will find many things here to interact with, and may ways to get from one place to another. The buttons are my version of a teleporter. If you gesture at them, and then think about teleporting to wherever they lead, you’ll be transported there.”

“Do I have to know where they go?”

“Not at all, choose the one for the 3rd floor, lad.”

He was obviously waiting for me to try it first, so I did.

And I was in the glass dome of the tower I had seen before. It was filled with a full garden, with plants and trees set neatly to offer a comforting view of the area.

My mentor popped in beside me.

He took a deep breath and smiled wide. “This is one of my little hideaways. Made it to allow me a moment of peace now and again.”

I looked about for a moment. “And what’s here?”

He grinned. “Nothing, lad. I just like showing off my handiwork. One of my few and fatal flaws.”

“Oh. Well, it is nice.” I wasn’t humoring him. It was comfortable.

“But I do have another quick lesson for you…”

I knew it.

“All you need to do, is gesture this way, and make a landmark for yourself to find my tower again later.”

I followed his instructions, and was rewarded with it being added to the warehouse I called my inventory.

“Out of curiosity, how much can my inventory hold?”

“How much do you want to put in it, lad?”

I was getting a bit peevish by this point. “It’s a straight question. Can’t you just answer it?”

His eyebrow rose, and he paused for a moment. “All right, lad. I did answer it, but I can take a hint when someone’s temper is raw. It can hold anything, any size, and any number. That good enough for you?”

I felt a bit irritable by this point, not at him, but at myself for snapping over something so trivial. He didn’t wait for an apology and continued on.

“All right lad, with that landmark, you can teleport to the nearest tele-hub and get a visual pointer to this tower. You can make other landmarks for yourself as well, and even share them with others to show them places you’ve been and found interesting.”

I followed most of that easily enough, and even though I knew what a tele-hub was: Something like that place I first teleported to. Must be a lot of them scattered around.

“Now, I’m going to give you a landmark for the next place were going to go, and you’re going to use it to find your way there.”

I paused. “You’re not going to teleport me straight there?”

“No, lad. You need practice navigating on your own. Don’t worry though, I can find you if you get lost again.”

“Good point. Ok.” I started to tear the ticket in half, and paused. “Oh, I forgot to ask. What’s your name?”

“Foolish Frost, Avatar. And I’m sure and pleased to meet you. Be off now, I have someone waiting to greet you there.”

And with the ticket ripped in half, I began the next step of my journey in Second Life.

-=-

What? No more gratuitous pats on the back? Come on! It's not like I'm making a living off of this in donations... I'd LIKE to, but I'm not...

I really LOVE this Foolish! Thank you so much for sharing your writing with us

Very very nice stuff ! I am thoroughly enjoying this read.

Agreed! This is so much fun.... I can't wait to hear more. Can't recall the last time I was this eager to check the forums each day.

Just checked your thread for my latest installment! Wish I'd had a guide like him when I was a newbie.

Really enjoying this Foolish.

.

OK Foolish - where's the next chapter?

You can't just hook us and then not reel us in.


.

I'm waiting for the part where Foolish tries to upgrade to 1.6. That's gonna be GOOD!

"Please insert one Linden Dollar for the next chapter..."

Just kidding.

-=-

You know, following a red column of light that shines like a beacon from heaven can really help hurry your travel. I don’t even remember half of what I saw on my way there from the tele-hub, but that red glow kept calling me forward like a depressed lemming on speed.

And I only hit three or four buildings this time. What they were doing floating in mid-air I’ll probably never know, but from the sounds coming from inside them I really would rather not examine it too closely.

Flying was really a great way to travel. It’s not only extremely pleasant, it’s reasonably fast as well. I watched as the clouds rolled by, letting my mind wander a bit as I followed the column in the distance…

And I passed the column…

Whoops!

Turning around, I started toward it and downward.

When I got back below the clouds, I was mildly surprised to see the beacon was focused on a tree sitting near the shore of an island.

A big tree.

A dock was sitting out in front of it, and someone was standing on it. I decided to be clever and land on it.

Did you know, when you fall in the water in Second Life, you don’t drown? In fact, you don’t even get wet.

Pity I didn’t realize that then.

It must have been impressive. A man soars from the sky, lands feet first on the dock, bounces and slides into the water without even a splash.

Then, doing what I do best, I panicked and turned off anything I might have been using for a brain. I turned ran for the shore, and got myself totally trapped in the netting around the underside of the docks.

“Hi, Avatar. Are you okay?”

I turned, thanked the pretty bark skinned girl with green eyes for asking, and continued panicking in the net.

I stopped.

“Can’t drown here, huh?”

“Nope.” She smiled, her hands held behind her back comfortably as she watched me.

She was a wonderful looking woman, if that's what she really was. Her skin looked to be made of treebark and her hair was like smooth green grass. She was clothed in nothing but leaves that made up her top and skirt. A few stray vines wrapped around her legs and arms. The most striking thing about here was her eyes. They were not just green, they were a green that pinned you to the spot when she looked at you.

“So…” I paused, trying to thing of anything intelligent to say.

“Would you like a tour of my tree?”

“Please. Thank you.” I followed her out of the water, walking up and onto the beach. Flowers were growing everywhere, and small lights wafted by on the breeze, bobbing as if living things. The tree towered above us, its purple leaves offering a magnificent view. The trunk was huge, tinted in red bark. A building of some kind was partially hidden in its branches.

“You live up there?”

“Nope. That’s the Commons. We entertain visitors there.”

“Oh.” I looked around and noticed a gazebo-like building made of stone and iron sitting next to the tree. Not much else was visible nearby.

Her hand came up with a practiced move and the tree trunk… Well… It’s hard to describe, but part of it just vanished leaving an opening into a hollow tree. Smiling, she walked into the opening and waved me inside.

Upon entering, I noticed two things: It was cozy, and no furniture was anywhere to be seen. She walked to the far wall, and pointed at a pair of glowing blue flowers.

“Do you know how to use teleporters, Avatar?” I looked at the flowers a moment, not making the connection.

Both the buttons at Foolish Frost’s tower and the flowers were blue.

“So, they can look like anything, but are always blue?”

She frowned. “I don’t understand. What is always blue?”

I knew I was probably wrong by this point. Her confusion warned me of that. “I thought that since both teleporters I had seen were both blue, that all of them were. Not really right, huh?”

“Well, you did notice a pattern, but it’s only that Foolish like the blue color for buttons. They can look like anything, really. He just likes to be consistent in some small ways.”

“Ah. Others don’t do the same thing?”

“Not like he does, but you will notice a lot of common designs. You’ll also notice a lot more exceptions to that rule. No one has to conform to any one design style when building here.”

“Ah… Umnnn… Then how do you know what a teleporter looks like?”

“You don’t, sometimes. Most people put notices or signs near them, if they want them to be used by others. Another way to see if something does something is to focus your attention on it and see if you’re able to activate it.”

I hovered my hand near the flower, and felt it welcome my touch. Reaching toward the nearby wall, I did not feel anything.

“I see.”

“Yes. You will also find there are times the only way to learn what something does is to touch it and see.”

She waited, the smile cheerfully playing across her lips.

I took the hint and touched the bottom flower.

That female voice from earlier instructed me on how to use the teleporter, and that it would send me to the second floor of the tree.

A simple gesture later, I was looking at a simple round room that was only occupied by the two teleporters and another flower on the far wall. She appeared next to me without fanfare and continued with her tour.

“Foolish made this tree for me so that I could have a tree and a home in one, and I like open places, so…” She touched the flower, causing the side of the tree to open and show a balcony that looked like a tree-mushroom coming out the side with iron railing.

I walked out and looked around. The view was about as good as you can get without being breathtaking. “Nice.”

“Thank you.”

I caught up with something she had said, and turned toward her. “You said Foolish made this? It’s made of Prims too?”

She nodded. “Everything here, other than avatars like you or me, is made of Prims.” She nodded to the view behind me. “Tree’s, flowers, stones… The only things not Prims in that view is the ground itself and the water.”

I nodded again.

“Would you like to see around the base of the tree?”

“Very much. Thanks.”

“No problem. I enjoy showing off my home.”

I followed her as she showed me the land surrounding her tree, until I realized something.

“Wait. You OWN this? You can own land here?”

She nodded, stopped short for a moment, and then nodded again. “Yes, but it’s a bit complex. You could describe it this way: I bought and paid for this land, and own it. I also have to pay the Linden for the RIGHT to own land, and that’s another monthly charge. Did that make sense?”

I thought about it, and shook my head. “So you’re renting?”

She sighed and tried again. “Think of the money as a monthly ‘tax’ I have to pay for the right to own land. If I don’t pay that tax, I lose the right to own land, and obviously lose the land. Got that?”

I nodded.

“Good. But I also bought this land from someone, and paid them money to transfer this land to my name. I could do anything I want on it now, including sell it to someone else. Still following?”

I nodded again.

“That’s all there is to it, really. Pay the monthly ‘tax’, we call it ‘tier’, and buy as much land as you’re allowed to have.”

“How much are you allowed?”

“Depends on how much you’re willing to pay the Linden each month. The more you pay, the more land you can own.”

Ah. I think I got it.

“Great! Now, let’s go to the Commons and relax with some friends of mine…”

-=-

Sorry about the delay on this chapter. My son came down with a respitory infection, and much hijinks ensued. One ER visit later Kailen seems to be a bit better, and is rampaging happily again.

I had to add some text to the above near the middle. It was missing for some reason.

Sorry for the inconvienance...

Thank you Foolish.

/*** hugs for your little guy, I hope he's doing better.

.

This story brought to you by Foolish Frost Industries. Remember: Your donations will prevent story withdrawls due to me becomming bored. That, and I won't have to send Guido and Jose to shake you down for 'protection' money.



-=-

You know, it’s funny how life works some times… You wake up on your day off, thinking you’re going to relax in front of the tube and catch a couple of shows…

And you end up competing to solve a riddle against a green-skinned orc, a demonic looking fellow shrouded in night-black robes, and an elf with green wings that was constantly arguing with his talking pet… Well… I don’t know WHAT it was, but it about as obnoxious as they come.

Foolish was behind the bar and Botany, the girl who had shown me around the tree, was leaned back on a barstool. We were all in the Commons, a tavern they ran in the bough of Botany Black’s tree. Botany and I had been hanging out for a few hours with people wandering in to chat, when Foolish showed up and put something on the chalkboard that sat behind the bar.

(santa’s helper, to have interpreted written words) (strike, pointed extension on a horseshoe)

It was a riddle of some kind.

“Ohhh. Another one, Fool?” The demon leaned forward and become quiet.

The orc turned to look at it. “Hurmnnn. What’s the theme?”

Foolish flashed a smile. “Try it without a clue for a bit. If I have to give a clue, then you don’t get the pride of doing it all yourself.”

The elf’s pet piped up. “I know what the answer is.”

“Quiet, you flying twit.” The elf swatted at it and missed.

“Keep it up, ya flop-eared dandy, and I’ll give the answer to ugly over there.”

Both the demon and the orc looked at each other, shrugged, and went back to staring at the board.

“Stow the bug, lad.” Foolish sounded amused, but firm.

“As you say, Mi’lord.” The elf pointed at his pet, causing it to fade from view. Silence ruled for a few more moments, until Botany spoke up.

“I have the first part figured out, but I’m having trouble with the horseshoe one.”

I looked at the board. Reaching out, I touched it and had a note appear in my hand. The game was deceptively simple. Each of the phrases referred to a word. The word was then similar to the sound that was part of another word. Words were shown by the use of parenthesis, so this riddle was two words long.

And I did not have a single clue as to what the answer was.

The demon seemed to nod. “I think I have that part too…”

Foolish came around the bar and sat in a chair near the table. “Anyone mind some music?”

Assent was voiced around, and he waved a hand toward the ceiling. A cheerful song about a woman solder in London began playing. Seems the Foolish was a Celtic music fan.

Mind you, even though I’ve never been a fan, I had to admit that it sounded right for this place.

The elf stood up. “Got it. The answer…”

The explosion from outside drown out whatever he was going to say. I was thrown part way across the room, and then froze in midair. I could barely make out Botany running for the door, and Foolish hit the floor with curse.

“What the BLOODY HELL is he doing?” In the few hours I had meet him, I had never heard Foolish talk like that. He was looking at… No… THROUGH the wall of the commons, and was obviously watching something outside.

Was the wall warping, or was I imagining things?

Botany yelled through they door. “Physics Sim crash attack. He’s collapsing it right next door!”

When I looked back at Foolish, he was holding a small phone and tapping a finger with the patience of a man who had no choice but to wait.

“Hullo, Linden? This is Foolish Frost. Sorry, not a social call I’m afraid.” He paused a moment, sticking a finger in his off ear to hear over the din of whatever was happening. “Well, I have this little problem… Yes, well… It seems some bloody griefer is trying to bring down the Sim we’re in around OUR BLOODY EARS!”

He wasn’t shouting from anger, or at least I don’t think he was. It was just that at about that time the noise and shaking got so bad that I couldn’t even make out the walls anymore.

And then I was nowhere.

“Hello?”

It was grey, ugly, and literally contained nothing. No ground was under my feet, no sky.

*Ding* Foolish Frost would like to speak to you.

Well. That was new. I accepted the call.

[Hello?]

[Hullo, lad. You good?]

I looked around. [Er… No… I don’t think so.]

[Well, where are you lad?]

[I don’t think I’m anywhere…]

He said something unrepeatable by a gentle soul like myself.

[Okay, lad. I’m going to try and send a teleport. If that doesn’t work, then worse comes to worse, you just log out and back in. ‘Kay?]

[Fine by me. How do you log out?]

[…]

[Foolish?]

[Let’s just try the teleport first, son.]

Why did that response not instill me with confidence?

-=-

My. That took a turn for he worse. Poor bugger.

I rarely read long posts so normally I would have got half way through the first and given up.

Read this one post by post. As a frog once said 'Ribbiting'

* Waits for the next installment *

Great! I'll never think of a sim crash in the same way again.... it sounds so exciting this way. I can't wait to hear what happens next!

Alfred Hitchcock? The riddle I mean?

Good gawd man, don't quote the entire story section!

And yes, Alfred Hitchcock. Look me up some time for your prize.

A shorter one to start off the morning, and more to come over the day if/when I have time.

-=-

I’m not used to real discomfort here.

Seriously. Since the time I had been in Second Life, I had never felt anything more than momentary disorientation I tended to think of as pain, but this was different. The grey of the this empty place was starting to make me a bit nauseous, especially when combined with the fact I didn’t have any point of reference for up or down.

[Frost?]

[Just a moment more, lad. I’m finding an empty Sim to teleport you into. The less lag the better your chances.]

I closed my eyes and concentrated on his voice, distant as it was. [What’s a Sim, Frost?]

[Lad, Botany is going to talk to you now. I have to run a search for someplace safe to ‘port ye to.]

*Ding* Botany Black would like to speak to you.

I slammed the mental accept switch. Probably a little too hard, but in the moment that Frost was gone, I felt more alone than anything I could have ever imagined.

[Avatar? How you doing?]

[Just dandy! Did you know that we can’t hurl chunks here either?]

[It’s only going to be a few minutes. He said you wanted to ask me something?]

[What?] I was having trouble concentrating. [Right! Sorry. What’s a Sim?]

[A Sim is a physical section of land in second life. The land is made up of hundreds of square land sections that section off the world into separate parts. The borders are mostly invisible, and crossing them is usually not even noticeable unless something goes wrong. You probably crossed dozens on your way to my tree from Fool’s tower]

I loved the sound of her voice. Pity I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to what she was saying.

[Avatar?]

[HERE!]

[…Frost is going to send you a TP, and he wants you to wait until I tell you to use it.]

[Got it. Don’t tear the ticket in half in blind panic. I can do that.]

[Good.]

When the ticket arrived, I held it in my clenched fist and waited.

…

[Botany?]

[Just a couple of more seconds, Avatar]

[Okay.]

About a million years later, she gave me the go to teleport.

I tore the ticket in half.

-=-

The ideas of this part based on comments made by other people in SL. May or may not be true, but makes a good story. I also know the asset servers are the basis for a lot of this, along with a good helping of luck, but you can't blame someone for hedging their bets...

Sorry, bout the full quote. If I get to choose my prize I want a Foolish Frost bear!