Free Otherlife Dreams: The Selfless Hero Trilogy by William D. Arand Page A

it too different? What if I used the targeting function through the server console, identified the base ID for the NPC, and pushed the Party invite through the server to that specific ID? A GM without rights would still be allowed to access all the games console and basic system commands, like getting the database ID for a spawned NPC. So long as it didn’t require a password that is. That and I’ve been breaking the rules for everything else so far with impunity, why not try? Sooooooo…
    Throwing out a mental request for the game console, the window appeared. Inputing “Select Nearest NPC” into the console, he posted the command.
    Hannah was immediately selected, and her nameplate went from Green to Yellow. It was no different than how a normal player would do it, though it was done utilizing the server itself.
    So far, so good.
    “One step down,” Runner muttered. Runner shrugged and entered the invite command through the game console to push an invite to the selected target. Appearing in front of him was a request to confirm that he’d like to invite Thief0084 to his party. Memorizing the position of the yes button, he approved the request. His eyes flickered to Hannah to gauge her response.
    There was no change in her behavior, her eyes scanning the woods, watching for patrols. It was apparent she did not get the request.
    Face turning into a frown, Runner decided to change his approach. The system had responded to his desires and actions so far. Truth be told, it was creepy in a way that it seemingly responded to his wishes.
    “Come over here please Hanners. Stand directly in front of me, facing away.”
    “Uhh. Stupid question since I’m asking you, but you’re not going to do anything strange, are you?”
    “Nothing out of the ordinary, I promise.”
    “Ordinary for you maybe,” said Hannah, sighing.
    Standing as directed, she looked up over her shoulder at him.
    “And now? What then?”
    “Hold out your right hand. No, not there. Up a little more. No, errr, to the left. A little to the right. For crying out, ok, look, here,” he huffed. His hand snaked out and grabbed hers, guiding it into the position he wanted. At the exact place a window would have appeared if she were a player. “Now concentrate everything you can, every single thought towards the idea that, ‘Yes, join the party’. Once you feel like you’ve concentrated enough to crush a stone with the power of your mind, move your hand forward two inches. No more, no less.”
    “Right, this isn’t out of the ordinary at all. Who was I kidding? More insanity from the lord of idiocy.”
    As she stood in front of him. working on the request he gave her, Runner called up the invite command through the server once more. Keying up the command to invite her, he sent it off. Accepting the confirmation immediately he waited for her.
    Visibly frustrated, Hannah complied. Facing forward she fell silent, ostensibly doing as he’d instructed.
    Waiting as patiently as he could, Runner merely held her hand and looked at the crown of her head. Watching the light play across her black hair his mind began to spin random thoughts off.
    One such thought landed in right smack dab in the middle of his vast curiosity. Do NPCs have a scent?
    Leaning forward on that impulse he smelled her hair quietly. Surprisingly enough, she did indeed have a scent. She smelled of the road, woods, sweat, dirt, leather, and under all that there was just a hint of something else.
    Runner was broken from his woolgathering when her hand shot forward, punching the invisible button neither of them could see.
    In that moment, the world spun crazily. Vertigo assailed him as he felt his equilibrium stretched to the limit. Trying to blank his mind Runner attempted to steady himself, his left hand clutching into the fabric of Hannah’s clothes.
    It was as if his mind was pulled open, turned upside, and shaken violently. Conscious thought stretched out until he could barely hold a