by J. J. Lorden
Plan in hand, he stepped behind the one with its back to him, and slide his blades neatly between ribs directly into its heart and lungs. Improved Ambush did 15,900 points of damage, and a kill notification hit his combat log. Quick as lightning, he ducked around the tree and reactivated Stealth. Moments later the second orc fell as planned, poisoned and crippled.
Its death hit his combat log just as he slid under an axe swing from the third, rotating to shove his knives through dirty leathers into its back and scoring a critical strike. Its health dropped into the red; the thing was basically dead on its feet.
Devil levered his blades out, leaving deep, foot-wide cuts and stepped back. Bleed and Lifesteal ended it seconds later.
The lifeless aberration dumped face-first onto the ground with a thud. Devil crouched and looked around the small clearing, smiling to himself. “Sometimes, I wish I had an audience,” he muttered while cleaning his blades on the final dead orc.
Standing and sheathing his weapons; he considered where to go next–the wood was cleared out, and mutated orc respawn times were long.
As Devil moved to loot the bodies, the sound of slow clapping resounded through the wood. What the hell?
Devil had his daggers back out in a second and instinctively activated Stealth, but he didn’t shift to invisibility. Instead a message appeared.
You have been engaged by a Game Master. All abilities are temporarily disabled.
What? A Game Master? What the hell is going on? I’m not doing anything wrong. And why is he clapping?
“Hello? Uhh… mister Game Master, sir?” Devil ventured tentatively. He wasn’t sure about the proper address.
Through the tangle of trees, a warm glow was moving in his direction. Devil backed up a pace, then a man stepped into the clearing, still slow clapping.
He wore a white hoodie, white baggy pants, and dark leather shoes. His face was hidden below the raised sweater hood, but Devil ignored that. He fixated instead on the source of the warm glow.
It emanated from tightly packed lines of golden script that slowly traced around the figure, trailing continuously as if in an infinite loop.
They wrapped about every part of his body, each arm, each leg, his torso, everywhere. From the top of his hood to the cuff of his pants, only excepting his hands, feet, and face, where the script lines bent around the clothing openings.
It was intimidating. The guy was some kind of an urban monk or something. Whatever he was, it was a class Devil had never even heard of.
As the man approached, Devil began to feel like a toy displayed in a store window under the Game Master’s scrutiny. He stopped a few paces away and stopped clapping.
Devil shuffled one foot back into a subtle ready stance. The figure noticed the movement, and reacted with a small, inquisitive head tilt. Then he raised glowing arms and pulled the hood back.
Under the cowl, the man was smiling, and it felt genuine. He rounded the final dead orc, which Devil still hadn’t looted, and spoke with a tone of natural authority.
“That was an impressive display of skill. Well done.”
“Ahh… Thanks.” Devil replied and his tension eased.
“You won’t need your knives anymore tonight, son. I come bearing you no ill intent, quite the opposite in fact.”
Devil tentatively sheathed his blades and looked at the GM. The figure was familiar, but he couldn’t quite place the face, Devil concluded he had to be a famous gamer. I wonder how he got Total BlaQ to give him admin access.
Devil cleared his throat. “Yeah, obviously. Probably couldn’t hurt a Game Master even if I tried, right?”
“Yes, that is also true. Although honestly, the mantle is something of a borrowed workaround.”
Devil was stunned by the implication. “Borrowed? You mean… you don’t work for Total BlaQ? Are you…” He paused, wanting to ask but not wanting to offend. The man lifted an eyebrow, as if encouraging the question. “Ahhh, are you hacking the system right now?”
The man smiled wider. “Hah. Yes, I suppose you might say I am, although it’s more like a back door than a hack.”
Devil gaped at the admission and heard himself speak. “Woah… that’s awesome.”
The guy didn’t say anything else, and Devil’s skeptical mind kicked in. What’s this guy really doing here? I’m good, but not this good. Devil was one of the top 10 rogues on his server, but that didn’t really mean much to a guy playing with stolen admin privileges and a hidden class.
Even if he was trying to put together an exclusive team, there were tons of other players better than Devil. Why had he been singled out?
The quiet stretched as the guy stood there, hands stuffed into the pocket of his hoodie and slight smile wrinkling his eyes as he studied Devil with an uncomfortable intensity. Devil wasn’t sure, but he got the impression the GM was waiting for him to finish processing.
Devil eventually broke the silence. “Look, I’m just a normal player, better than most, but still not world-class or anything. And, I’m sure that–whatever you’re doing to be here–your back door, that’s probably a pretty big deal. I mean, I know something about coding, and hacking Novamen is pretty insane. So… like, why me?”
“You sell yourself short, Benjamin. Given your limited time in-game compared to other players with your class, you actually stand out as quite the extraordinary talent. I expect you’d challenge the top couple players very quickly if it was your profession. And I should know–I’ve looked at all of them.”
Devil felt stunned and then flattered. He actually did think he could match up with the best, but he’d never admitted that. More importantly, though, he now knew this was serious.
That the GM imposter knew his real name shouldn’t have surprised Ben–if he could pull off this super hack, he could easily get to player data files. But it was unnerving, especially since none of his guildmates even knew his name.
The GM continued, “As to the question of why you, that’s a bit more complicated. I believe that to no insignificant degree, it may be a matter of providence. Or serendipity, if you prefer. Perhaps this will be easier if I introduce myself. It’s not unusual for people to have difficulty recognizing me nowadays.” The man held out a hand, and Ben grasped it.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Benjamin. My name is Bendik Texier.”
A short time later, Ben tore off his VR headset, bolted out of his room, and charged down the hallway. “MOOOOMMMMMM. Mooooommmm, where are you??”
Bendik had assured Ben that his mother was home; the guy knew all kinds of stuff, which really wasn’t surprising since he was… well, he was Bendik Texier, the richest tech genius in the world.
Careening into the kitchen, Ben found his mother sitting at the table. She was staring at him, mouth open, leaning over her plate with a fork frozen halfway to her mouth and a bit of chicken hanging precariously from its tines.
“Oh, thank God you’re here. Mom, you’re never going to believe who I just met in Novamen. It was completely epic. I was killing those mutated orcs in the forest, and this guy shows up with GM privileges. He was glowing all golden with some hidden class and just puts my whole character on lockdown. Total lockdown! Mom… I couldn’t even stealth.” He looked at his mother meaningfully, then barreled on.
“But he was totally friendly and hung out there and said he has some offer for me–no, not me–for us! He has an offer for both of us. He said you met his son too. Mom! Holy shit, Mom!”
Ben grabbed the sides of his head. He stared at her for a second, then held his hands out imploringly and took a step forward.
“I know this is completely insane, but we’ve got to do it. I’ve got a couple finals left, but he said that could be handled and… there’s just no way we can say no to this guy.” Ben finally took a breath and began to slowly shake his head. “I just can’t believe this.”
“Okay. That was a lot and none of it made any sense,” Irene said. “Just take a breath and relax.”
Ben took
a deep breath and blew it out intentionally. Then he took another and another, trying to get a grip.
“Good.” She smiled at him. “Now who is this mystery Novamen person who has you so worked up?”
“That’s just it, he’s not from Total BlaQ at all, he just borrowed their admin rights so he could talk to me in-game. I was confused too, but apparently, it’s time-sensitive, and he did it to validate his identity, to prove who he was to me. I guess he looks different from the last time we saw him. Something to do with the nanite tech he’s been working on.” Ben fixed a stare on his mother; his heart was pounding out of his chest.
“Doesn’t matter. Mom, did you talk with Austin Texier today?”
Irene felt her heart jump and got physically light-headed at the mention of the name. “What? How do you know that? I didn’t tell you about that. Nobody knows except the floor staff.”
“Hooollyyyy shittttt… It’s true! Hahahahah!” Ben started jumping up and down with his head back as he spun in little circles, hands first above his head, and then pumping in front of his chest like a boxer.
“What? What’s true, honey? Ben, what’s going on? Did you talk to Austin Texier in Novamen?”
Ben stopped hopping about and landed with knees bent and his hands pointed at his mother, as if he was ready to pounce or wrestle. “No, not Austin, Mom.” He paused, eyes like saucers. “I spoke to Bendik… Bendik Texier.”
Ben did not get the reaction he wanted.
His mother’s brow drew down slowly, eyes shifting from confusion to concern; she obviously didn’t know what to make of the news. She looked past him down the hall and then toward the front door with a suddenly narrowed ferocity.
His mother was shifting into full-blown mom mode, and mom mode wasn’t going to work for this.
Good thing I’ve got proof, he thought with a smile. “That’s not all either.” Her face relaxed some as she refocused on him. “He’s here. He’s at the house; said he’d give me a few minutes to talk to you first, but he’d like to come in and make us the offer in person.” Ben glanced to the door, then to his mother, and grinned–almost shaking with excitement.
“He’s here… at the house? Right now?” She asked, beginning to get alarmed.
“YES!”
“Nobody has seen him for almost three years, how is he here?”
“Not sure yet, but it’s definitely him.”
“How do you know? How can you be so sure? This sounds like an elaborate hoax. Maybe you should get your bat, I’ll get the rifle.” She started to stand, but Ben stepped up, interrupting that silliness.
“Mom, no. Stop. It’s cool, relax. Really, I know for sure it’s not a hoax.”
“How do you know that?” she said. “How could you?”
“Just think about it, what do we have worth stealing? And do you know what kind of tech it takes to hack into Novamen and then just borrow admin privileges? It’s, like, not even possible, Mom–not for anyone else, and especially not from the back seat of a car parked in front of our house!” He pointed toward the front door.
“It’s Bendik Texier for sure. I don’t know why he’s here. He said it was serendipity or providence or something, which is fine, I honestly don’t care about that. He did say it has something to do with you talking to his son, and he has a real offer for us! It’s something amazing, I can just feel it. I mean… how could it not be? It’s Bendik frickin’ Texier.” Ben looked at her wide-eyed, the truth of the matter was plainly evident to him.
Irene bobbed her head side-to-side in consideration. Ben continued on, starting to get anxious about leaving the tech mogul on the front stoop.
“Look, he wouldn’t tell me what the offer was without you. So, since I literally will not allow you to stop us from at least listening to what he has to say, I’m gonna go and let him in. So, we can talk. Okay?” Ben took a tentative step toward the door, one hand leading as if to grasp the doorknob.
Irene leaned back, crossed her arms, and looked at Ben. Feeling thunderstruck by her son’s confidence and resolve, her mom instincts fizzled away. I guess he’s got a point. We don’t have anything worth this kind of effort. It was also a bit too coincidental given her conversation with Austin just a couple hours ago.
“Humm.” Gaze shifted toward the street, even though she couldn’t see it, Irene imagined the father to a man like Austin. Would he do something like this? I think he just might, she quickly realized, with a bit of effort it seemed somehow plausible.
Her tension eased and scooting the chair back she crossed her legs and relaxed. At the very least it might be good conversation. “Okay, I trust you,” she said, nodding to her son.
“Good!” Ben exhaled, obviously relieved. “This kind of thing never happens, like seriously never. Never, never, never… and it’s happening to us… right now. Sooo, yeah, I’m going to go let him in.”
Irene had to smile; Ben was now convincing himself.
“Glad you’re on board.” Ben said, almost to himself, his head turning to regard their front door. He flexed his hands repeatedly.
Suddenly finding himself decidedly nervous, Ben slowed down. “Woah... okay big guy, take a breath.” He spoke to himself, then forcefully blew out several breaths through pursed lips psyching himself up. “Okay, here we go.”
The breathing helped focus his thoughts. I’ve totally got this shit, Ben thought and stepped to the door with confidence.
Irene smiled to herself as her son steeled himself. He sounded like he was mentally prepping for the proverbial “big game.” He turned back to her with one hand on the knob. “Oh yeah, he told me to warn you that he’s going to look younger than we expect. So, don’t be surprised by that, Okay?”
Irene nodded. “Okay.”
Ben opened the front door. Standing there at the base of the steps was a tall, athletic man who looked to be maybe 35 years old.
“Hello, Ben. Is everything Okay? I heard a bit of a commotion.”
Squeaking, the screen door swung wide and Ben stepped onto the landing, holding it open. “Yes, sir, everything is fine now. My mom said she talked to your son today. So, as far as I’m concerned that confirms who you are. Can’t say it explains why you’re here, but at least it justifies why you know we exist.”
Ben nodded to himself as he said this. “I think we’re both ready to listen. Do you want to come in?”
“Yes, very much so. Thank you,” Bendik said climbing the stairs. Giving Ben a reassuring smile and a pat on the shoulder, he passed and entered the house. Ben followed him in, closing the door behind him. He took a step, then turned back and flipped off the front porch light with just a touch of paranoia. Nothing to see here, just a normal night.
Irene watched the fit, brown-haired man enter her home. Ben was right to warn her about his age–he appeared no older than Austin. The face she beheld certainly could have been the face she’d seen on the cover of every tech blog in existence–if this man was Bendik Texier 25 years ago.
The forehead was smoother, eyes brighter, and his smile lines were faint compared to the photos. But the smile was the same, and the way he carried himself was unmistakable–confident, but not in a rush.
The similarity to his son was scary; they’d easily be mistaken for brothers now. She didn’t understand it, but this was absolutely the elusive billionaire tech genius Bendik Texier.
Irene stood. “Mr. Texier, welcome. It is a most unexpected pleasure to meet you.”
Bendik smiled warmly at her and extended a hand in greeting. “It is likewise quite an unexpected pleasure to meet you and your son, Irene. Please call me Bendik, I don’t like being called Mr. Texier by my peers.”
He turned to look at Ben. “That goes for you too, Ben. It’s Bendik. I’m beyond being called Mr. Texier. Besides, it’s just not appropriate for my new younger look.” He smiled and laughed good-naturedly at his own comment.
Ben just nodded. “Ahh, okay. Bendik, thanks.”
He turned back to Irene. She gestured to a seat
at the kitchen table. “Please have a seat, Bendik. Can I get you something, a nice green tea perhaps? Or maybe mint? I’ve got a local organic green that’s pretty good and I dry the mint myself.”
Bendik pulled out a seat to sit and stopped to flash her a beaming smile. “That sounds absolutely perfect. I love mint tea, and from leaves that you personally care to dry. I can’t possibly choose otherwise. I don’t suppose you have any local honey, do you?”
She nodded at the compliment; it was astoundingly easy to accept. “I do. I get it from a friend.” Irene put a yellow steel kettle on the stove and set the water to heat. There were other ways to heat water that were much faster, but the yellow kettle made her happy.
Ben sat down next to where his mom had been sitting, diagonal to Bendik. He wanted to know about the man’s digital avatar. It was so unique, strikingly different from anything he’d ever seen online. “That avatar you had in-game, it was awesome. It looked like a kind of urban monk or something. What class was that?”
Even asking, his sense of wonder at sitting with a living legend made Ben’s head swim.
Bendik turned to him. “I know, it’s really pretty amazing, isn’t it? It’s not actually a specific class, Ben. It’s a completely unique avatar build that is mine and mine alone.”
“Really? Wow, can you do that? I’ve never even heard of anything like that.”
“Yes, really. And you can.” Bendik replied, and then looked impishly at Ben, leaning in slightly. “It’s also part of why I’m here, Ben. I’m here because of that avatar, because of why I have it–which is far more amazing–and because I want you to make one too.” The man paused, his smile losing its playful edge, but Ben hardly noticed, he was dealing with a blown mind.
Bendik sat back, addressing them both. “Before that, though, I’d like to first say thank you. I’m honored and humbled to have been led here to your doorstep. I rarely have the opportunity to spend time with people of your caliber.” Irene was a bit startled by the compliment. It sounded so genuine, although she had no idea what he was talking about.
