I double-checked the coordinates in the OASIS atlas, then teleported myself directly to the top of the highest peak of the Xyxarian Mountains, which were located on the continent of Xyxaria in Chthonia’s southern hemisphere.
I had flown over these mountains several times, on my way to explore other parts of Halliday’s world. But I had never set foot in the mountains themselves. There was no reason to, because there was nothing there. The whole mountain range was a groan zone—an unpopulated plot of procedurally generated landscape, where there were no NPCs to meet and no quests to complete. Thousands of other gunters had explored every inch of these mountains and they’d all confirmed that there was absolutely nothing of interest here.
But when my avatar rematerialized on the top of that mountain, I did see something there—the Shrine of Leucosia. A Stonehenge-like circle of seven chiseled granite pillars, with a raised altar at the center.
I knew this structure couldn’t have been there before today. Someone would have noticed it. Hell, I probably would’ve noticed it myself on one of my flyovers.
I entered the shrine and approached the altar. Then I took out Kira’s Trapper Keeper and opened it up. I flipped through the pages until I found the pencil illustration of the Shrine of Leucosia. The shrine in front of me looked exactly like Kira’s drawing. A stone statue of her avatar, Leucosia, stood at the head of the altar. In her right hand, she held a round shield with her character symbol emblazoned on the front. Her left hand was outstretched and empty, with her palm facing upward toward the gray sky overhead. Beneath the statue, chiseled into the flat stone surface of the altar, were these words:
Seek the Seventh Shard of the Siren’s Soul
on seven worlds where the Siren once played a role.
For each fragment my heir must pay a toll
to once again make the Siren whole.
Beneath this inscription, also carved into the surface of the altar, were six identical shard-shaped cavities.
It seemed obvious what I was supposed to do.
I removed all six of the shards I’d collected from my avatar’s inventory and placed them into the six cavities in the surface of the altar. Each one began to glow bright blue when I dropped it into place. Once all six shards were in place, there was a blinding flash of light directly ahead of me. When my eyes recovered, I saw that the seventh and final shard had appeared in the statue’s outstretched hand. It was glowing bright blue, like all the others.
I retrieved the first six shards from the altar in front of me and placed them back inside my inventory. Then I reached up and took the Seventh Shard from the statue’s hand and placed it in my own. When I did, I experienced one final flashback…
* * *
Kira was sitting in a chair in the Accessibility Research Lab at GSS, back before Halliday shut it down. I recognized it from some of the archival photos and video I’d seen.
James Halliday was standing directly in front of her, holding what appeared to be an early prototype of an OASIS Neural Interface headset. It was much larger and far less streamlined than the production models. It was so bulky that it actually looked more like a helmet than a headset.
Og was standing just a few feet away, with a nervous look on his face.
“This device will allow people to control the movements of their OASIS avatar with their mind,” Halliday said as he lowered the prototype gently onto my/Kira’s head. “It just takes a minute to calibrate it.”
Then Halliday reached over and pressed a button on a control panel and I saw a brief, blinding flash of light.
* * *
When the flashback ended, I found myself back on Chthonia, standing before the Shrine of Leucosia, clutching the Seventh Shard. I immediately added it to my avatar’s inventory. I looked at all seven of them, lined up side by side. Then I glanced back over at the words etched into the altar beside me: For each fragment my heir must pay a toll.
I recalled each of the “tolls” I’d been forced to pay—the seven flashbacks I’d experienced.
On Middletown, I’d seen Kira creating her first piece of digital artwork at school.
On Kodama, it was the moment that Og told her he loved her for the first time.
On Shermer, it was Og showing up at Kira’s house in London, to rescue her and bring her back to Ohio.
On Halcydonia, it was the moment Kira showed Og the logo she’d designed for their new company.
On the Afterworld, I’d seen Prince serenading her on her birthday—a gift from Og.
On Arda, I’d relived the moment when Og revealed the replica of Rivendell he’d built for her.