by Mia Archer
Like it probably wasn't a good idea to go antagonizing the nice lady who'd been good enough to save my butt from a couple of goblins. Even if she had really only technically saved my butt from one of those goblins and the millipede had taken care of the other one.
She turned back to the goblin once she seemed satisfied that I’d been suitably intimidated. She brought her raised sword down. The thing twitched a couple of times, then it was done.
"Okay then," I said. "That was disgusting, but…"
Caitee held up a hand. "Wait for it.”
I looked between her and the goblin. I wasn't sure exactly what it was I was waiting for, but I didn't have to wait all that terribly long for "it."
Because "it" turned out to be that millipede digging its way back out of the goblin. And it didn't even have the decency to come out of the ear canal and pull a Wrath of Khan. No, one moment the goblin had an eye, and the next moment the eye exploded out with a sickening wet sound as the hissing and spitting millipede dug its way out.
"You got a light spell ready to go?” Caitee asked.
"Yeah, why?"
Once again it was a question that was asked and answered far too quickly, and I can't say that I cared for the answer once it came to me. Like it literally flew through the air right at me.
Caitee didn't use her sword to kill the millipede like I might’ve expected. No, she pulled her sword back, looking for all the world like a golfer, and swatted the thing. It flew through the air right at me. Time slowed as I saw terrifying multi-legged death coming straight at me. I thought about what it’d looked like digging into that goblin’s arm and imagined that same thing happening to me.
I panicked. I held my hands up and hit the air in front of me with the spell I’d used on Aleric and the goblins to get them the fuck away from me.
A blast of light magic flew out from my fingers and into the thing just before it hit. Caitee grunted, then smiled and shook her head.
"I was wondering if you'd be fast enough," she said.
"Thanks for the warning," I growled.
"Hey," she said. "In this game you have to think fast or be millipede bait.”
"So you know what that thing is?" I asked.
"Boring Millipedes," she said. “Don’t let the name fool you, though.”
“Because it means they bore into your flesh and not that they’re dull?” I asked, my voice flat.
“Exactly!” Caitee said with a grin. “Really nasty bit of work. Especially once it gets in you."
"And do you care to tell me why you decided to work on your golf game with that thing and send it in my direction rather than slicing it up with your sword considering it could’ve bored straight into my skull?”
“Oh you don’t need to worry about that,” she said.
“I don’t?” I said. “Because everything I saw of the fucker would seem to indicate otherwise.”
“Well yeah. It would’ve gone through your eye socket though. A lot easier to do that than go through a hard skull,” she said. “Not a pleasant way to go.”
I was nice and irritated. And Caitee seemed completely nonplussed by my irritation.
"Ever heard the legend of the hydra?"
I put my hands on my hips and cocked my head to the side. I even raised my eyebrows just a little to let her know exactly what I thought of that ridiculous question.
"What?" she asked.
"I did well enough in academics that I got to the Orbital Academy on a scholarship, and you’re seriously asking me if I've ever heard of Greek myths?" I asked.
"Oh," she said. "I guess when you put it that way…"
"You're damn straight I know about the hydra," I said. Then blushed a little. "Though the first place I learned about it was watching the old Disney Hercules movie.”
Caitee grinned. Something told me that was the first place she'd heard about the hydra too. She didn't have the academic chops I did, for all that she was at the Academy.
It was surprising how much that place amounted to a place for the rich and powerful in the elevators to send their kids so their families continued to be rich and powerful into the next generation regardless of how qualified they were to control humanity’s link to the stars, but whatever. Getting pissed off about that wasn’t going to help me in the game in the here and now.
"The point is if you cut one of those things apart it just becomes two deadly millipedes that grow to full size pretty rapidly,” Caitee said.
"Just like the hydra," I breathed.
“Sort of,” Caitee said. “Not exactly the kind of thing you want to use cutlery on if you can avoid it.”
"And the whole chucking the dangerous monster at me thing?" I said.
"If you disintegrate the bastards with magic then they go away for good," Caitee said with a shrug. "I figured if you're playing a Lightwielder now, good choice by the way, then you'd be able to take care of the bastard if I tossed it your way. So…”
"So you decided to see whether or not my reflexes were up to the task?" I said.
"Something like that," Caitee said.
I sighed. "Thanks so much for that vote of confidence, but I could’ve done without it.”
Caitee looked at the woods all around us. It would appear that the rest of the goblins that’d been chasing me had either given up, or they were off in different parts of the forest trying to find me.
"So what brought you here of all places?” Caitee asked.
"You mean to this point in life in general?" I asked. "Or to this particular spot in the videogame specifically?"
"Let's start with this particular spot in the videogame specifically," she said. "You're a long way from the inn.”
"Yeah," I said. "I sort of had a plan to get some revenge on an asshole who was hanging around slumming it in the starter zone yesterday, and the plan went a little awry."
Caitee shook her head and laughed. "You mean Aleric?"
"I see you've heard of him too," I said.
"You're damn right I have," she said. "I kneed him in the junk when he tried to insinuate that I owed him something when he moved in and stole my kills and acted like he was doing me some great favor or something by kill stealing.”
I barked out a laugh. “Would you believe he got pissed off at me for stealing some of his kills yesterday when I tried to join a group he was escorting to the goblin mine quest?”
“I’d believe it. So let me guess your big plan," Caitee said. "You decided you were going to let him go ahead and take all the aggro from the monsters that attacked the two of you, and then you stop healing him at the opportune moment that leaves a dead Aleric behind?”
I blushed again and looked down. Caitee seemed to know her shit. She seemed to know what I was thinking, for that matter.
"Something like that," I muttered.
"And now you’re annoyed that I’ve figured out what your genius plan was," she said. “It was a genius plan up to the point where you were left without someone who could keep the goblins off of you. Aleric deserved it. Especially considering the small but important role he has in Calixia’s organization.”
“There’s that damned name again,” I growled. “Who is this woman?”
“Trouble. She’s somehow managed to rapidly become the head of a massive criminal organization that runs things in this part of the game world, and you met her and cut off her hand last night,” Caitee said.
“Chelsey,” I breathed. “Chelsey and Tori. The red succubus and the blue hottie.”
“Exactly,” Caitee said. “You’ve got some of the most powerful people in and out of the game after you. Now the question is what are you going to do about it?”
"What do you mean what am I going to do about it?” I asked.
She leaned in a little closer. "Don't play coy with me. I've heard about what happened yesterday at the inn before you blew the place."
"I saw a bunch of people doing a bunch of unspeakable things to each other and then I had to run for my life because those craz
y fuckers tried to kill me for some reason?" I asked, honestly having no idea what the hell else she could be talking about.
"Come on," she said. "I heard about the screenshot."
"The screenshot?" I asked, trying to play it innocent and knowing I wasn’t doing a good job of it.
25
Leverage
I suddenly found myself in a situation that felt very similar to the one in the cafeteria last night. Clearly she knew some things, and I wasn't sure if they were things I wanted to let her in on or not. Like if I told her about the screenshot was she going to turn around and rat me out to someone?
I just didn't know. I didn't think she was that kind of person, but at the same time I had to remind myself that she was one of the rich assholes who populated the Academy, for all that she'd been nice enough to talk to me from time to time.
A tiger could seem like an overgrown cute and cuddly kitty to a handler. Right up to the moment instinct took over and the tiger bit down and killed the handler that’d raised them since they were a cub. Sure that was a bit of a tortured metaphor compared to what was going on here, but still.
The point remained that I didn’t know enough about Katie in the real world other than her father was the Director of the elevator, and that she deigned to speak to me from time to time.
Which wasn’t much to go on, for all that it’d been so long since I had real human contact that didn’t involve someone asking me for assignments or looking down their nose at the filthy rizon that I desperately wanted to make this into something more than it was.
Which was all the more reason to be really fucking cautious here.
"All right then," she said. "Keep your secrets for now."
"But I have no secrets to keep," I said.
"Sure you don't," she said, hitting me with a knowing look.
“Out of curiosity…” I started, and then stopped. I needed to figure out what I felt safe telling her, damn it.
“Curiosity about what?" Caitee asked.
"If someone did take a screenshot of something like that," I said. "What would be the big deal?"
Her eyebrows shot up.
"Hypothetically speaking, of course," I continued.
"Hypothetically speaking," Caitee said, her voice flat.
"Is there any other way to talk?"
"You could be honest with me," Caitee said. "Especially since I was nice enough to save your life just now. I could've kept watching and let the goblins have their way with you."
Oh yes. She was laying on the guilt now. She kept staring at me as though she expected that to work. And I kept right on staring back at her.
To be honest I was having a little bit of a crisis. After all, she had just saved me. But I also didn't know whether to trust her. It was the same old situation I'd been in since this whole crazy situation started.
Finally Caitee sighed and rolled her eyes.
"You're a tough one," she said.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I said.
I figured it would probably be for the best that I didn't say anything about how the only reason I’d been able to hold up against her masterful guilt tripping was I'd been thinking about telling her everything. I certainly wasn't going to tell her I'd been moments away from caving. Not and give up some of the mystery.
"Fine," she said. "Have it your way. If, hypothetically speaking, a screenshot of one of Calixia’s parties actually existed it would be a bombshell being dropped on this strange new game world."
"What the hell is so bombshell about a screenshot of a bunch of people getting it on in an MMO?" I said. "I mean sure that sort of thing’s usually good for a little bit of scandal on forums and stuff, but it never goes beyond that. Why would anyone give a shit?”
"Because anyone who's playing this game right now are the scions of some of the most powerful families in the world," she said. "Ever stop to think about that? Or that they might not like a screenshot or video of them doing the sorts of things that happen at that sort of party getting out into the world and confirming what everyone thinks of the spoiled rich kids in the elevators in the court of public opinion?”
I screwed my face up in confusion. "Actually, yeah. I do have no idea why they’d be so afraid of something like that getting out. Aren't they all using their game avatars?"
"That's true," she said. "But did you actually take a look at that screenshot you took and how it works?"
"Well,…"
I realized I'd been on the verge of admitting something I didn't want to admit if I didn't want to let any cats out of any bags. I smiled and I wagged my finger at her. She sighed again.
"You might as well give up this bullshit,” she said.
I didn't say anything. I’d learned that lesson the first time around. She wanted to be in on this, and she was willing to talk because she thought I had something even if she wasn't sure I had something. I sure as hell wasn't going to give up that advantage!
She went right past the sighing this time and straight to growling.
"You can go into one of those screenshots. Explore the room as it was. Including getting a good look at everybody's name. That can be tied back to the real person behind the avatar if you have the right kind of connections, and believe me the people around here have the kind of money that lets them make those kinds of connections. Not to mention there are media organizations that have those connections already, and a lot of separatist groups on the surface who’d love nothing more than to drag some elevator royalty through the mud in a very public way.”
"Holy shit,” I said, realizing just how bad a screenshot like that could be. “But… Can’t anyone at one of those parties take a screenshot like that and cause trouble?”
“Not really,” she said. “Most of the time people who join one of those sessions have to sign an agreement that includes turning off certain features on their interface if they want to play.”
“And I got in there without signing anything like that or hobbling my ability to take a screenshot,” I said. “Seems like a hell of a security flaw.”
“And I’m sure if this actually gets out and becomes a thing Etherea’s gonna get the crap sued out of them, but that’s not going to help all the people who have their names leaked in a screenshot like that,” she said.
I eyed her. She must’ve realized I was giving her the side eye, because she cocked her head to the side herself.
“What?” she asked.
“If you were Chelsey or Tori you’d be gloating about stuff like this,” I said. “You’re not gloating about any of this, though. What the hell’s going on with that?”
She shrugged again. “What can I say? I try to stay above all that petty bullshit. I have more important things to worry about.”
Her eyes flashed as she said it. There was something about that that had me wondering what was going on that she thought something was more important than gossip. Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t think it was a bad thing that she thought there were more important things that gossip, but it was so out of place considering how everyone else at the Academy acted.
“Must be nice to have the kind of connections to allow you that luxury,” I muttered.
“Actually it is,” she said with a wink. “Besides. You haven’t even realized the worst of what’s going on here.”
"What could possibly be worse than catching some of the scions of some of the richest families in the world getting caught having a massive orgy within the game and trying to kill me to keep that information from getting out?” I asked.
“Simple. What you saw there isn't just the most powerful people in the world, but also some of the most powerful people in the game. You crossed Calixia, and that’s bad.”
There was that damned name again.
“I’m getting sick of hearing about this Calixia bitch,” I said. “Especially if it’s just Chelsey living out her ridiculous power fantasies or something.”
“You’ll be tired of hearing about her by the time she
gets done with you,” Caitee said.
I snorted. I couldn't help it. It was such a ridiculous idea that people being powerful in the game should have any relation to people being powerful in the real world. Only she looked deadly serious.
"You laugh, but those people run the most powerful guilds in the game. Anyone who has a screenshot like that…"
A sudden panicked thought occurred to me. I'd deleted my previous character, after all. I hadn't thought much of it at the time, but what if deleting the character had also deleted that screenshot?
I tapped the interface. It was kind of weird tapping an interface that was just a bunch of buttons floating in the air in front of me, but they activated just fine.
It would’ve been easier if they'd figured out a way to have people just activate that interface with a thought, but I guess that was a little too advanced.
My screenshot folder came up. I gritted my teeth. It was a little annoying that I was waving my hands in front of me looking for all the world like someone trying to cast a spell in some cheesy live action role-playing game. Most especially because it was giving away exactly what the fuck I was doing to an increasingly smug looking Caitee standing there with her arms crossed.
"No screenshot, huh?” she asked.
"Maybe not," I said.
I meant that maybe I didn’t have a screenshot in the first place, but her eyes went wide as she came to the same terrified conclusion I had just moments ago.
"Shit,” she said. "You deleted your original character and…"
"Exactly," I said, dropping any pretense that I didn't have anything potentially dangerously incriminating for the rich and powerful of the Academy. What was the point in keeping that pretense up when I might not even have the incriminating evidence any longer?
I pulled up my screenshots folder. There was the screenshot, safe and sound where it’d been since I took it the day before without realizing what I was doing. I tapped it just to be sure it was still there, and I suddenly found myself in a semi-live view.
