The Traveler ID is a simple thing, on the surface. Every traveler gets assigned one by the system to identify themselves to quest givers and each other. In the beginning, that was all it was. Yet, the travelers quickly realized the opportunity presented by a system-sanctioned, unique identifier. The ID always had a function to be displayed and registered, mostly for questing purposes, but it didn't take long for travelers to abuse this simple function of the system.
Signing contracts, providing access to closed-off areas, acting as keys for machinery, creating accounts for all manner of systems, evidence for legal battles, callsigns for large-scale battles and tactical planning, imprinting on a friend's book of memories, registering for a travel permit, and many more useful things.
The use of the Traveler ID spread like wildfire among the hubs, and nowadays it is used for almost everything. It has become an indispensable facet of traveler society, constantly used in everyday life, rivaling the usefulness of money. As a side effect, it has become near impossible to infiltrate any traveler hub, traveler guild, or even something as simple as a family home. All that is needed to reveal the impostor is a single door, an elevator, or even a light.
The Traveler ID is unique, system-regulated, and infallible. If anyone ever figures out a way to fake it, it may well spell the downfall of traveler society.
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I slowly woke up after a well-earned rest. My room was apparently perfectly isolated, as I couldn't hear a single noise even though I knew one of the busiest cities I'd ever seen was right outside my window. I lay in bed for a while, simply relaxing for a bit, which felt well earned. I used the time to look back at my time on Suigoss, in part nostalgic for the simple times of killing my way into more power, while simultaneously being appalled by how crazy my life had gotten after I'd died on Earth.
Maybe I was crazy to think this, but I'd say it was an improvement, overall.
Still, I'd survived. Fighting tooth and nail, I'd gotten stronger and, against all odds, made it through the other end alive and well. I wasn't sure how other travelers' experience with their “tutorial” main quest was, but considering there were guildmembers as low as the fifth tier that had been here for a while, I strongly suspected that they had it quite a bit easier than I did. Add to that that it was apparently weird to get to a hub without being recruited beforehand, they probably even met other travelers on their quests and received help from them.
Truly, my gambling addiction had put me on the hard path one last time before being replaced.
Now, all I needed to worry about was to properly integrate myself into this new society I stumbled into. Apparently, my only duty here was to fulfill my yearly quota, which I had automatically filled by completing my first main quest. The promotion to a tier two traveler came with an automatic check mark next to that requirement, so the newly integrated traveler could take some time to find their place in the hub. That didn't stop me from taking quests either way, of course. I'd also need to figure out just how long a year was here, since I seriously doubted it was the same as back on Earth.
Eventually, I managed to peel myself out of bed. I did have a small laundry list of things to do, and while I did want to go to the void to thank Tim, I wanted to get at least a few days on the hub before I fucked off to another plane of existence. So, first on my list of priorities was completing my long-standing quest. Now that I finally wasn't constricted by a planet-sized ceiling, I could finally reach space. Sure, there were some minor details to take care of before I went, like how to breathe up there, but considering where I was, it should be fairly easy. Intending to ask my fellow guildmates for advice, I left my room and made my way to the common room. A quick look around revealed that it was completely empty, much to my disappointment. I had been told that I could approach Polly, Jorm, and Chantalle at any time if I had questions, but I hadn't really been told how to go about doing so. My first instinct was to go up a floor and see if any of them were in their offices, although I had a strong hunch Jorm wasn't going to be there. The decision was taken off my hands, though, when I spotted a colorful butterfly flying between two plants close to a window.
“Hey, sorry, River, right?” I called out as I approached. “I could use some help. Do you have a minute?”
“I do, but I'm actually not River,” the butterfly said, much to my confusion, which was lifted almost immediately when the small butterfly morphed into a grown man. “It's me, Liam!”
The doppelganger stood there proudly, a smirk on his face. Apparently, he enjoyed my mix-up a lot, and I wasn't about to rain on his parade. Actually, that was the first time I'd seen him change forms, and it was kind of neat to watch. The process only took a few seconds, his form bubbling outwards until the rough shape and size of a human was achieved, before everything settled into place and took on color.
“Impressive,” I nodded. “How come you were impersonating River, though?”
“I can imitate the abilities of whatever form I take,” Liam explained while taking a seat on a nearby chair. “Sometimes I use it to help out with the plants. It's a lot of work to keep everything neat and healthy, and River deserves a break every now and again.”
“Cool ability,” I said earnestly. Liam essentially had access to a ton of skill sets, depending on who he transformed into, which would make him a terrific all-rounder.
“It is quite neat,” Liam admitted with no small amount of delight. “Now, what is it you need help with?”
“I'm trying to go to space, and I'm uncertain whether there are any special rules about mucking around up there,” I pointed straight up to drive my point home. “I'm also concerned about being able to breathe, and was wondering if there were any easily accessible tools to help with that.”
“Going to space? What for?” Liam scrunched his face in confusion. “That some weird voidling thing?”
“For a quest, actually,” I couldn't help but chuckle. “Need to reach space by my own power. The weird voidling thing would be going to the void, not space.”
“I guess that's true…” Liam stroked his chin in thought. “I'd love to go sometimes, provided you can take me. The void sounds like a neat place.”
“It is quite 'neat',” I made air quotes with my hand tentacles. “Unless you get abducted by a massive, ancient, high-tiered, mega voidling because you accidentally wandered into their territory, which, as far as I can tell, isn't properly delineated.”
“Speaking from experience, I assume,” Liam sat back and sighed. “Well, if you ever figure out how to avoid these guys, let me know. As for your quest, you don't need to worry. You can fly around up there as much as you want; staying safe is up to you, and if you somehow damage anything, expect to be billed for a lot of credits. As for breathing… The guild should have a few respirators in storage. I'm sure if you ask Chantalle, you'll be able to borrow one, no problem.”
“I assume I can find her in her office upstairs?” I asked, relieved that things were easier than I'd feared.
“Usually, yes. That ant works entirely too much, if you ask me.”
“I'll go talk to her then,” I said, already turning away from Liam. “Thanks for helping me out!”
“No problem, you can always count on me,” Liam replied, giving me two thumbs up before turning back into a copy of River.
I left the communal space and quickly made my way to the third floor. I'd been shown where Chantalle's office was the day before, and with the layout of the place being quite simple, I found my way there quickly. A curt voice called me in after I knocked, and I once again came face to face with the laborious ant lawyer of Tier 0. She must be an expert at telekinesis or something similar, for her office was a mess of activity. Documents floated everywhere, occasionally stopping close to the ant to be referenced, while multiple pens were busy writing down more notes. Cabinets were opened, folders floating about, either disgorging their content to be perused or simply being refiled elsewhere.
I didn't want to disturb her work for too long, so after a short conversation, I was permitted to borrow a breathing apparatus, free of charge. She gave me directions on where to find it and how to retrieve it before politely asking me to leave her office, which I complied with immediately. Busy as an ant, that one.
Down on the first floor, I entered the guild storage for low-tiered items, which had been shown to me yesterday. It was barely more than a large closet, containing a console on the far wall. According to Polly, most things that weren't in constant use were stored in spatially expanded, hollow cubes. Some space magic-savvy travelers had figured out storage like this thousands of years ago, and it was still the most popular way to store stuff away. There were some shenanigans with technology integration and whatnot that I didn't understand, but the point was that you could pull anything you wanted from a console like this, like it was your own inventory. Provided your Traveler ID was registered as a valid user, of course.
I didn't waste any time presenting my ID to the console, and it spat out the needed breathing apparatus almost immediately. It was a deceptively simple thing, about the size of a button, pitch black, and smooth as hell. As per the instructions I received, I held it close to my skin near my face, where it attached seamlessly. Supposedly, it would detect when there was no breathable air around and then provide me with breathable air. Somehow. I won't pretend to understand how it worked and simply appreciate that it did.
Preparations complete, I walked out of the guildhouse and onto the busy street. I got a few pointed glances, but ignored them, setting my sights high above instead. I charged up a teleport, and “jumped” as far up as I could with it. I snapped open my wings before repeating the spell over and over, gaining altitude at a rapid rate. The nice blue sky rapidly turned black, and it wasn't long before a system window popped up, causing me to stop. But, instead of checking my rewards for finally completing the quest, I took a moment to look over the hub. My new home.
I couldn't be certain, but it felt like this planet was quite a bit bigger than Earth was, and as far as I could tell, every inch of it was covered by a single mega-city. I struggled to find larger patches of green, mountains, or bodies of water. Presumably, the whole thing had been terraformed to provide as much space for the travelers as possible, and oh boy did they take advantage. I did spot Awotwi far below me, the massive monster currently at rest. Aside from him, everything else blended into each other, forming a messy city. Some of the larger skyscrapers stood out from the masses, as did what I assumed to be sky ports for the spaceships to dock on.
It wasn't exactly nice to look at, which made me appreciate Rivers' insistence on having lots of greenery in the guild a lot more. Even if it didn't look nice, though, it was still an impressive sight. There had to be trillions of travelers down there, and that was but one hub of many. A sobering thought, considering that I had always assumed humanity was alone in the universe.
Content with my observations, I finally took a look at my reward screen.
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The Flight of The Rainbow Moth (Part 2) has been completed!
Rewards:
- 50 Luck
- 10% Chance to upgrade quest rewards from the system (Chance not affected by luck attribute)
- Part 3 of the quest will start.
The Flight Of The Rainbow Moth (Part 3)
Without receiving assistance, and by your own power, travel to another planet. Let luck guide you to find your final resting place.
Rewards:
???
Part 4 of the chain quest.
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Some free attribute points were always appreciated. As for the other reward, it went along nicely with the reward from the first step of the quest. Now, I had a ten percent chance each to either receive additional rewards or upgrading the regular rewards. There was possibly a small chance to get both, even. Yet, considering that the chance wasn't affected by luck, I'd have a hard time getting the improved rewards. Considering that I'd only triggered the effect once or twice so far, I was ironically pretty unlucky regarding this.
Still, it was nice to have.
As for the next part of the chain quest… I seriously doubted my ability to complete it right now. The distance between planets was massive, and traveling between them by my own power would take a long time. I could potentially scout out some planets that were incredibly close to each other, but the part talking about letting luck guide me made me sceptical if that would even work. There was no harm in trying, but if I understood this quest correctly, it was supposed to imitate the life of a rainbow moth. From what little I learned about them, they could float around in space for untold years until they finally picked a planet to land on, so it stood to reason that I wasn't supposed to land at the first opportunity.
Whatever the case, this quest would need to be shelved for the foreseeable future. Once I got stronger, I would be able to shorten the time needed to complete the quest drastically. Happy to have checked an item off my to-do list, I set my sights back on the hub. Maybe it was time to explore the food travelers enjoyed. Certainly, getting to taste food from all over the expanse would be an enjoyable way to spend my time… Although, maybe I should look into getting some money first, to afford my gluttonous cravings.
With a new goal in mind, I took one last look at the impressive view before starting my descent.