by Drew Cordell
I wasn’t ready to be finished with the conversation yet; I still had questions about how everything fit together, and I decided that if Neris knew the specifics of our contract, then he was either who he said he was in relation to Cadan Graves, or Cadan had betrayed us and there was nothing I would be able to do about it. The best thing I could do now was to stop being as defensive with the hope that I could use the opportunity to learn more.
“You know, the end result of all of this is something that isn’t clear to me after my discussion with Cadan. What will you do if Cadan wins this war for you?”
Neris frowned. “I thought Cadan would have communicated that with you.” He didn’t phrase it as a question. “We wish to prevent a mass exodus from the system sponsored by either current faction, but understand not everyone can survive in this system—even with the full extent of the resources of the Eternity planet. Cadan understands—we understand—that we need to create a sustainable future for our branch of humanity. We don’t know if we’re the last ones, and Eternity is so far removed from any other system that a peaceful exodus of any size is… improbable without total control of the system.”
“And what’s the alternative if you can’t gain control peacefully?” I asked. “You clearly don't intend to watch the system cannibalize itself.”
“Are you familiar with the systems in place to try to prevent war after Eternity Online concludes?” he asked.
I nodded. “The losing faction loses control of their AI constructs, and control goes to the winner. It’s all hardwired in the systems that made this war possible. The idea is that the losing faction won’t have the capability to launch actual warfare in a last-ditch effort to save themselves from having to take the exodus.”
Neris looked unsure of how to proceed with his answer, pausing to consider. “Mankind is destructive. Those systems will help—but it might not be enough, and we need to be prepared for that. The answer isn’t so black and white if someone other than Dalthaxia or Salgon win the war. The Eternity system needs new leadership—a fresh start. My family seeks to spearhead that initiative with people like Cadan Graves who have seen the type of corruption that has brought us into these terrible times firsthand.”
He paused before continuing.
“The Eternity planet holds much more than the keys to life—we believe it also holds the keys to death, to true power. Superweapons and technology lost to us after the first Eternity War are believed to reside in ancient vaults buried deep beneath the planet’s surface. We will use the technology to control the system, overthrow Dalthaxian and Salgonian leadership, and build a sustainable future for humanity.”
“What happens to half the population? What's your plan to sustain everyone?” I asked. The pieces just weren't adding up. If it was true, the revelation that powerful technology and weapons from humanity’s golden age still resided on Eternity changed everything. If one faction or group acquired them, then the others wouldn't stand a chance, regardless of how large they were. I imagined the rumored doomsday weapons used in distant and ancient wars that were said to have scoured entire planets.
Neris continued. “Sacrifices must be made for a sustainable future—there will be a great cost no matter who the victor is. We intend to minimize the loss of life as much as possible and peacefully realize a solution that will be sustainable for our system.”
I didn't want the Romero family on our growing list of powerful enemies. I needed to tell Neris something he wanted to hear even if I was still processing everything that he had told me. “Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. As I'm sure you know, I don't have a good past with Cadan Graves, but I am a man of my word and intend to honor my contract with him. Perhaps after this project, there will be other opportunities to work together, Neris.”
“That is good to hear. One more thing, Kyle… Dalthaxia won’t stop looking for your group. I’ll see what I can do to slow that down, but this manhunt for Gwen Delarine is getting out of hand. Romero Mercantile’s influence won’t be enough to stop it. I fear it’s a question of when Dalthaxia will find Ms. Delarine rather than if at this point. My advice: take Cadan up on his offer for real-world protection. He’s very good at what he does, even after his unfortunate incident. Cadan has expressed his desire to help make things right for you—I hope you will not fear to give him the opportunity to do so. And Kyle, please keep this conversation between us. I’d prefer you not even mention it to your friends if possible.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you, Neris,” I said, not wanting to promise anything else.
“Keep in touch and don’t be a stranger. If you need anything at all, just send me a message. I had Rollings send you my private contact information and clearance for free encrypted data transmission when contacting me in any way,” Neris said.
I nodded to him. “I appreciate that.”
The connection broke and I was surrounded by darkness, stuck in my swirling thoughts as the situation in and out of Eternity Online intensified. Things were only getting riskier, and the stakes were higher than ever. Neris hadn’t threatened me or given me a reason to fear the worst, but I didn’t have the desire to get on the bad side of a family holding nearly 10% of the entire system’s wealth. Romero Mercantile also had a strong relationship with Rollings. There were strong sales accounts that went in both directions—ore to Romero Mercantile and finalized trade goods to Rollings Mining.
I walked over to the holographic display, seeing that Mr. Romero’s identity had been confirmed through the Rollings Mining data infrastructure—there was very little chance this was an elaborate spoof. There was no way I would be able to keep this to myself—it wasn’t how I intended to treat my friends in what was so much more than a game. I would need to involve Brandon, Fen, and Gwen to let them know who Cadan’s backer was and how serious this situation was getting.
The terror from feeling like I was walking into my death wasn’t going away, and it left me realizing just how defenseless I was on Tiyvan IV if Dalthaxia decided to take action against me—they had to be watching and could decide to try to flip the switch on my life at any time. Nowhere was safe for me, not anymore.
36
“Hey, I wasn’t expecting to see you until later?” Gwen asked as I materialized next to her. She was working on crafting in the living space of Ether Rogue, tinkering with what appeared to be a drone mod. “You know, I really should ask you for advice on this stuff, it’s kinda what you do for a living.” She met my gaze with her brilliant crimson eyes, sending a torrent of electricity down my spine.
I struggled for words, thrown off guard by her striking appearance. “Umm, yeah. Hi. Something weird happened. I got the day off, and I just had a long conversation with the Neris Romero. Romero Mercantile is backing Cadan Graves, that’s where he’s getting his funding. Neris emphasized that if we do honor our contract with Cadan, that we will have his family’s favor. He asked me to keep this private. Apparently, Cadan didn’t know that Neris was going to contact me.”
“And Neris’s father is on board with supporting Dark Eternity in the war?” Gwen asked.
“He conveyed that he was working to further his family’s interests, yes. Either way, I don’t need to tell you how much influence the Romero family has. The call was legitimate, and I was able to confirm Neris’s encrypted identity keys through my company’s data infrastructure. He also said that he is going to do what he can to slow the manhunt for you in-game and out.”
“I see. Well, you’re right. They’re very powerful, and it would make sense that Dark Eternity would have a third-party backer based off the things we’ve seen and their apparent wealth so early in the war. Did you get a chance to tell Brandon yet?”
“Nope, he’s working still, I just thought I would log on so I could tell you or Fen right away and we could discuss. Is she here?”
Gwen shook her head. “Just us until tonight. To tell you the truth, Kyle, I’m scared. Maybe this is all too much, I’m scared we’re going to lose more than just our
livelihoods in Eternity Online if this backfires. Everything feels stacked against us—we’re playing against too many powerful people.” Tears were starting to bead in the corners of her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I said as she wiped the tears away. “I know you’re scared. I am too. But we’re so close. We can do this. I know you didn’t have to put your trust in me—but I’m glad you did. I’m glad I met you.”
“I’m glad I met you too, Kyle.”
“Listen, Gwen,” I started, hesitating. There wasn’t a good way to say what I had to say, but it had to be said. “I don’t think you should fight with the rest of us in the Strexian temple, and I know that’s not what you want to hear. With your conscription, one death for you and you’re out of this war for good. It’s not like that for the rest of us. If we die, you can just slip out and wait for us to regroup. If you die, we can’t protect you or get you out of Dalthaxian custody. If that happens, we can’t help you, even if you manage to protect your real-world identity.”
Gwen’s face hardened, but she didn’t look angry. “I have to do this, and that’s not because I don’t trust you—I want you to know that. I need you to understand why I have to be a part of this, but I also want you to know that I’m glad you and Brandon are with me and Fen. There isn’t another group of players in the universe that I’d want in your place, not after all we’ve been through so far.”
I pulled up Brandon’s chair, clicking it out of its magnetic socket on the floor and sitting next to Gwen at the crafting station. “I don’t think you should, but I’m not going to stop you. I don’t want to lose you. I think we have a great group going here, and I think there’s a very bright future for us. This temple though, we don’t know what to expect. We might all die in less than a minute. Are you willing to risk that?”
She nodded. “This is what I have to do, and I know you’ll do your very best to help me live through it.”
“Of course I will, Gwen.”
Gwen took a deep breath, exhaling and meeting my gaze again. “You need to realize that your situation isn't that different from mine and that it's my fault. Dalthaxia isn't going to let up on Vrenn. If you have to respawn there, they're going to be waiting for you.” She seemed reluctant to tell me, as if she thought I would think less of her.
I smiled faintly, knowing that this was the case before she said it. “I know. It's okay. We at least have a chance on Vrenn. Brandon and I chose this for ourselves. This is what we wanted. There's no reason to play neutral if you aren't willing to take calculated risks.”
Gwen set down her drone mod and crafting tools and faced me. My heart was fluttering away in my chest. We weren’t really here, but she was real. Somewhere on Dalthaxia or one of its orbiting stations, this woman was scared and alone, and I couldn’t be there to comfort and protect her in the real world. I realized in that moment that I wished I could.
“You’ve had almost every opportunity possible to try to screw me over, and you haven’t. I don’t think you’re going to. I want to believe that, and I wish I didn’t have such a hard time trusting people. I think you’re a good person who was forced to go through some really terrible stuff,” Gwen said. Her voice was softer than normal, and there was a glow in her eyes, something there that hadn’t been—or maybe it was just the first time I was noticing it.
I nodded. “Believe me, I know exactly how you feel. I don’t know everything you’ve been through, but I know how hard it is to silence the echoes of the past. If you ever need to talk about anything, I want you to know that I’m here for you. I want to be here for you.”
She leaned in then, and I kissed her, gently at first, then with more conviction as the softness of her lips overwhelmed me. Digital or not, her lips felt real—she felt real, and in that moment, we were truly together.
“You don’t know me, Kyle,” she whispered, pulling back from the kissing and looking at me with those beautiful eyes, filled with pain now. She brushed a lock of pink hair out of her face, studying me. “This isn’t me.”
“I know that,” I said, closing my eyes for a brief moment.
“You might never get to know me.”
“I know that,” I said again, studying her. “But I’ve never wanted to know someone so badly in my entire life.” I kissed her again, becoming more aware of the way she felt against me.
“What if you don’t like what you find?” she asked in a wavering voice.
I shrugged. “I don’t see how that could happen. You’re playing a human in Eternity Online. You look at least 95% similar to this in real life. This is your voice, your age, your emotions—this is the closest approximation of you that is possible through this technology. We’re billions of kilometers apart in real life, yet we’re here together now. I think you’re a good person who was forced to go through some really terrible stuff,” I said, stealing her line.
She smirked at that. “Okay… But what if I don’t like what I find?”
I grinned. “Ha. Maybe you won’t, who knows? Are you willing to take that risk?”
“I’m willing to take a lot of risks.” She climbed on top of me, straddling my legs and kissing me more passionately. Real or not, this moment was ours.
“Good Gesh, man,” Brandon huffed as he logged in, pacing around as soon as he materialized on Ether Rogue. “Thanks for the note at least, but I thought they spaced you when I couldn’t find you in the mess hall —and I thought I was next. Tell me everything.”
I had already talked with Fen a few hours after my time with Gwen but told Brandon everything I knew so we could discuss it.
“It’s good you didn’t piss him off. Neris Romero isn’t an enemy we want to add to that ever-growing list. Did you ask how he met Cadan in the first place?” Brandon asked.
“No, I didn’t,” I said, wishing I had. “I was a little off my A-game at the time. I fully expected to walk into that office and get a bullet through the head. I thought it was the end.”
Brandon didn’t seem to like that either. “And you just walked in?”
I shrugged. “Seems like if they really wanted to kill me then there wouldn’t be much I could do to stop it.”
Brandon didn’t seem to like my response to that, but he moved on anyway. “Do you still think we have eight days we can afford to spend to warp to the trial’s location, or do you think we should just make the jump?”
I considered this. “Like I said, Neris Romero did tell me that he was going to be working on stifling the manhunt for Gwen, but he thought Romero Mercantile would only be able to slow it at best. Either way, it doesn’t change the fact that my situation—maybe yours by proximity—is dependent on the fact that Dalthaxia still hasn’t linked my real-world identity to Gwen. Gwen is fighting her own battle on Dalthaxia, and I think time is working against us, that’s clear now. If we sell to the Dalthaxian Alliance, maybe we can get them off us, but Cadan Graves is obviously a powerful man, especially with such an influential, wealthy backer.”
Gwen nodded. “I agree things are getting worse and more dangerous. I think one jump would be prudent. I just don’t know where we’re going to end up, and we will need to refuel the jump drive before proceeding to the wormhole, if it’s even there. From Ether Rogue’s calculations, this jump is going to cost us ninety-five percent of the jump drive’s fuel tank.”
“I can refuel the jump drive. I can be on standby to jettison the refueling pod and complete the EVA right after the jump,” I said, volunteering and knowing that I could complete the procedure. Out of our group, I was convinced I was the best at EVAs, with Brandon being a close second.
Gwen nodded. “That could work. I’d want Brandon and Fen on the blaster turrets in case we have company.”
“How long do you expect the refueling to take?” Brandon asked.
Gwen shrugged. “If Kyle is quick, less than five minutes. But that includes all the EVA work and actually hauling the fuel pod into place and securing the injector line. I can work with that time-frame, but I can guarantee we w
ill be leaving as soon as the fueling is complete. Ether Rogue has some good stealth tech, but the jump signature of a ship this size isn’t invisible. Others might come when they see that a ship jumped to this location. We should be in and out before anyone can come looking.”
“That’s not bad. I want to believe that we’ll be the only ones who can access the wormhole without the map fragment, but I’m not sure,” I said.
I was getting strong flashbacks to the incident I’d had with the Virodeshian pirates, and how five minutes was more than enough time to lose Exowurm. In this case, we’d lose the map fragment, and Dalthaxia would just scoop it up from Treshvyn upon our deaths.
“Guys, get to the bridge! Another ship just warped into proximity with our asteroid belt,” Fen called through the intercom.
37
“Sweet Gesh,” Gwen hissed, jolting to her feet as we scrambled to the flight cabin of Ether Rogue. Fen hadn’t been specific, but we had thought we were so isolated from everything else that an occurrence like this was unlikely to the point of nearing impossible.
“Seventeen kilometers away. I don’t think they see us,” Fen said as we sat in our chairs, strapping in.
“What kind of ship? What faction?” Gwen demanded. “Did we miss signs that this belt had been mined before?”
“Looks like a mining barge, neutral by the looks of it. I am unsure if it is an NPC or PC from this range,” Fen reported as we strapped into our seats. “Our scanners did not pick anything up as we arrived here, but unless they left infrastructure behind, we would not have been able to.”
Gwen cursed. “Doesn’t matter now. Most NPCs know about the Dalthaxian bounty on me, anyway. Do they have visual confirmation on us?”
Fen shook her head. “Doubtful. We are offline and are obscured by the asteroid belt. They should not be able to detect us right now.”
“Let’s watch and see what they do. You’re sure it’s just the one mining barge?” Gwen asked.
