Equivalent Exchange (Doors of the Dreamer, Chapter 15)
Faust and Mephistopheles
Author’s note: This is the last chapter for July. More to come in August and September.
David’s uneasiness never fully dissipated, but things were quiet for the next two weeks. Unnervingly so. During that time, David and Lance cleared fourteen dungeons. David leveled up several times, unlocking two new spells.
By the second week, David found he had become completely accustomed to this new lifestyle. In the mornings he would do body weight exercises, middays and afternoons would be spent in the dungeon, evenings were for sleep, and at night he had two ways to pass time during his watch.
The first was brainstorming. He had realized that despite Lance’s three years of experience and encyclopedic knowledge of this world, there might have been something he missed. Sometimes having a fresh pair of eyes could make a big difference. David knew that in the world of games and reality there were always loopholes. Things that an ordinary person, especially one with a strong belief in rules, would never notice. With this in mind, David devised several experiments.
He started by testing the limits of the strange doors that dotted the city—or at least he wanted to, but Lance wouldn’t let him and already had answers to most of his questions. In short, anything or anyone brought from this world to theirs was imperceptible but tangible. That lead to the question of whether something could be brought back through the door. In other words, could David or Lance take food or even a person back into this world? Apparently Lance had tried that too, and the answer was no.
Next he turned to the inventory system.
“What’s the difference between retrieving and equipping an item?” he asked Lance.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“It is until you start asking questions like, ‘What happens if I retrieve my wand and cast a spell?’”
“Well, did you try?”
“I did, and it didn’t work.”
“Right. Skills can only be used when you have the appropriate gear equipped. Retrieving said gear and just holding it does not count.”
“What about something like a sword? If I retrieve my sword it still can be used as a weapon.”
“Yes, but gear only confers stats to you when it is equipped.”
David nodded. “So I can’t use my sword right-handed.” Clerics couldn’t equip anything other than wands and staves in their main hand.
“That’s what you really wanted to know, huh? Do you need more practice?”
“I’ll figure it out.”
In the end his experiments accomplished little, and he focused more on his other pastime: reading.
“You’ve been looking at your phone a lot recently,” Lance said one day while they were resting in a dungeon.
“I realized I had some books downloaded.”
“What are you reading?”
“The Bible.”
Lance looked at him.
“What?” David said.
“Have you read it before?”
“I grew up in a Christian household, so yes.”
“Then why read it again?”
David put his phone down and leaned against the wall. “Because it might be immediately relevant.”
“This again?” Lance shook his head. “There is a logical and natural explanation for this world, just like our own, even if you and I don’t fully understand it yet.”
“Oh?”
“Many-worlds interpretation. If we assume there are infinite universes, then a world such as this could exist, and it is theoretically possible that the denizens of that world could invent a way to travel to another universe. That’s the most reasonable explanation. If there is a god, he is not here.”
“If there is a God, He is here by definition. Omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent.”
“Then why are we here? Why would an all-powerful, all-knowing god allow any of this?”
David smiled. “I’m sure there is a logical and natural explanation, even if you and I don’t fully understand.”
“That is a deeply unsatisfying answer,” Lance said, crossing his arms.
“Such is life. But hey, if your theory is right, we are here by our own volition. Blame God all you want, but we opened the door.”
“Then, what, the whims of humans can overrule the will of a god?
“Or maybe God’s plan accounts for the whims of humans, allowing for both free will and salvation.”
“Or maybe there is no plan at all.”
David shrugged and turned back to his phone.
In truth, he felt he had no better grasp on the situation than Lance. Even if they agreed that their enemy was demonic in nature, that didn’t bring them any closer to going home.
That night, he was reading during his watch when his phone started vibrating and Oliver’s name appeared. He looked back at Lance’s room. The door was closed. He took and deep breath and answered the call.
“Hello?”
“David! I finally got through.” It was definitely Oliver’s voice.
“Where are you?”
“I was going to ask you the same.”
“I asked first.”
“I’m at home. At least, it looks like my place, but it definitely isn’t.”
“Did you go through a black door?”
“I did. There’s no one here, and I can’t figure out how to come back. I’m kind of freaking out.”
“Oliver, do you remember the name of our guild?”
“What?”
“In Battlecraft. What was our guild called?”
“Heaven’s Fury. Why are you asking me that?”
“When was the last time we spoke in person?”
“What is this, twenty questions?”
“Answer.”
There was silence for a while. David grit his teeth. He really, really wanted Lance to be wrong about this one.
“Why don’t you trust me, man?” the voice on the other side said.
“Who are you?”
“It’s me, Oliver. Your friend. Who are you? Because right now you don’t sound like the David I know.”
“Tell me who you are. I know calls don’t work in this world.”
“Then why pick up?” Something changed. Oliver’s voice lost its tone, flattened somehow.
“Because I need to know the truth.”
“Truth. The truth is you abandoned your friend and now he’s dead.”
“What?”
“Eight years ago. That was the last time you and Oliver talked in person. Do you know what’s happened since then?”
“I… Sure. We talked online pretty often.”
“Yes. The video games. You knew he spent a lot of time online. You knew he had a strange schedule. You knew he was awake at odd hours. Did you know that he dropped out of school? Did you know his father left him? Did you know his mother abused him?”
“What? He never said anything like that.”
“You never asked.”
David’s body was suddenly very cold.
“Do you want to know what happened next?” the voice continued. “He killed himself. Over a year ago. But you must already know that, right? You would not be a very good friend if you didn’t.”
“No. That’s not possible. I just talked to him.”
“Think about it, cleric. That was me.” The voice raised an octave. “It was very convenient, I admit. His weakness led to you, and now yours will bring you to me.”
“You… You used him to—”
“You need to stop wasting time. The knight is leading—”
David hung up.
He walked out to the balcony. The air was still. He was tired. He was tired of this world. He was tired of this empty city. He was tired of fighting. He stared at the ground with an empty mind.
Minutes—or perhaps hours—later, he spotted a black dot in the distance. It weaved between buildings, slowly growing bigger as it made its way toward him. When it was a certain distance away, he recognized it as a fiend. It was sat upon what appeared to be a small black cloud.
“Hello, David!” it called out in its tedious speech.
“Go away.”
“Now, now, that’s no way to talk to a friend!”
The fiend floated in front of him. Its appearance was slightly unusual—instead of black orbs for eyes, this one had brown irises with horizontal, hourglass-shaped pupils, like a goat. The goat-like image was further emphasized by nubbly horns protruding from its forehead.
“Leave before I knock you out of the air.”
“Listen! I have something you want!” It smiled and rubbed its tiny hands together.
“All I want is to leave this hellish place. Can you give me that, you pest?”
“I can show you the way out! Yes! But that’s not really what you want! You want to know if your friend is truly dead!”
“Equip wand of the dove.”
The fiend jumped up, waving its arms. “Wait! Don’t be hasty! I’m here to help! I can tell you the truth!”
David hesitated.
“I’ll tell you what you want to know!” it continued, its goat eyes darting about. “I’ll take you to the white door, too! Yes! You can verify it yourself!”
“I’m listening.”
It calmed somewhat. “I’ll tell you! But first, an exchange! Equivalent exchange!”
“How about this,” David said coolly, “you give me what I want and I don’t kill you.”
“You must leave Lance behind! The knight stays with us, and you go home! And! I’ll tell you anything! Anything you want to know!”
For one wretched moment, he considered it.
“Smite.”
David returned to his reading, though he found it difficult to focus.