The True Enemy Revealed

by Jason Cheek

  You have selected “Shadow Fang” for your Manifest Large Wolf. Names have power in The World and your manifested pet will take on aspects of your chosen name’s meaning.

  Once again, I cast my new manifest spell, this time for my Large Cave Bear. Neysa was just creeping forward to sniff at the odd magical wolf that was my new manifested pet. I could tell from our link that the creature smelled odd. There wasn’t any normal smells she would have expected of a wild animal, but more of a heavy magic stench to the shadowy wolf. A minute later, Neysa’s shared thoughts faded away as a much larger mass of lights shot out from my body and began taking shape.

  Helgath and Neysa looked at each other in consternation as the lights coalesced into a massive bear, the size comparable to that of a Ford F-150 Raptor pick-up truck. Just like before there was a bright flash of magic as a green Cave Bear suddenly stood before me. The manifested creature’s jaws could easily chomp my entire head in one bite, and its paws were nearly the size of my chest. The green claws on each foot stood out nearly a foot-long and were scarring the stone as it shifted its weight while it waited. Once again, a system window popped open before my eyes.

  Create a name for your “Manifest Cave Bear.” This name will forever be used to identify your manifested animal companion in the future.

  Looking into the giant bear’s glowing green eyes, I thought back to my demon pet in Chaos Online. It was a creature that was a manifestation of my own rage and anger at the injustices in my life. There was a swirl of colors as the glowing green cave bear’s coat darkened into a dark gray-silvery color with black tiger stripes. At the same time, the unknown moniker was replaced with “Kitano” as the great beast threw its head back and bellowed an earth shaking roar. I couldn’t help the savage smile that came to my lips at the sound. I had my rage demon back.

  You have selected “Kitano” for your Manifest Cave Bear. Names have power in The World and your manifested pet will take on aspects of your chosen name’s meaning.

  Getting back to business, I commanded my manifested pets to stay as I passed over the last of the gear I was leaving behind to Helgath. Carefully, I hung my Black Coral Iron-reinforced Defender around the Half-Orc’s back. Neysa whined a little from the weight, but, when pressed, assured me that she could manage carrying it all when the time came for them to run. Giving the Silver Dire Wolf a final pat on the shoulder, I placed the Dark Blade of Lord Kayden on the ground and gave her a final hug, before heading out.

  ***

  Royal Investigator Rani Lamkin raced through the muddy flats of the landfill doing her best to remain hidden from view. This was only the second time she’d ever had to use her in-game Stealth skill when she was going about her business. Her title had always been all that she needed to get her into where she needed to go. At least, it had been up till now. Oddly enough, her title didn’t have any effect on NPCs that were sworn to this Startum Ironwolf player.

  Honestly, the NPCs that were born into The World should’ve automatically recognized her authority. The status of “Royal Investigators” had been built into The World’s storyline for the sole purpose of allowing Admins the ability to go where they needed to for their investigations into players that might be breaking the rules of the game. Instead of ignoring her presence and proceeding as business as usual, Startum’s NPCs had kept an eye on her and even forbade her from entering certain areas.

  That was definitely NOT how things were supposed to work. While that was disturbing on one level, he’d been playing by the rules from everything she’d observed of his actions. Meaning, he hadn’t been cheating by using any unknown bugs in the game’s programming to accomplish what he’d been able to do so far. The only thing he was guilty of doing was playing smart and treating the NPCs as real people.

  He reminded her of Justin Mayfair on V-MMORG’s development team. The crazy programmer was famous inside the company for going on about how the NPCs in The World were the first AI personalities ever created. It was a big joke around the company. From the cafeteria rumors, the only reason the programmer hadn’t been fired was because he was some sort of Artificial Intelligence prodigy. Even so, everyone on the development team made fun of him behind his back.

  Now, looking at how the NPCs were responding to this Startum Ironwolf character, it made her wonder if there was a little bit more to Justin’s ramblings then all of them had been giving him credit for. Even more upsetting, her warnings to her supervisor about what was going down had been practically ignored. Her concerns that a player in the training grounds had gotten their hands on a level 200 scroll of Meteor Strike had been summarily dismissed as being a lie.

  That was why she was here now. If everything went down the way Startum thought it would, she would need to have the hands on information available for her report. It would be the only way she could prove her case that she’d been right in her analysis from the very beginning. The only bad part of this whole thing was that, once she turned in this report, she’d be the laughing stock of the in-game Admins. It wouldn’t matter that she was right. All that would matter was that she was providing evidence to Justin’s outrageous claims that the NPCs were more than what they seemed to be.

  Pushing those annoying thoughts aside, Rani climbed to the top of the pile of refuse she was using as a hiding spot and scanned the edge of the forest. She had to make sure that none of those annoying companions of his saw her entering into the city. Otherwise, she feared they’d try to stop her. Not seeing any eyes watching the entrance, she slid down the side of the mound and sprinted for the new tunnel into the city of Telrain while her charcoal-gray cloak fluttered behind her from the wind of her passing. Leaping down the decline, she flattened herself against the wall breathing heavily.

  The out of breath feeling she had wasn’t from the physical strain of running so much as from the stress of getting caught in fulfilling her mission. Doug Rudd, her Admin Supervisor, hadn’t been too understanding about her problems with the NPCs that hadn’t recognized her authority. Honestly, she didn’t think he actually believed her when she reported that the NPCs hadn’t automatically followed her commands. It was frustrating to say the least. She should have just had a “God Mode” button to push for their in-game avatars to solve problems like this. Not that she’d ever seen such a mode for an Admin since she started this gig.

  Rani did another quick check to make sure no one was following her. Hopefully, that meant she’d made it out of that mess free and clear in all of the confusion. It was crazy that a player could create an entrance like this in such a short time. She nearly swallowed her tongue as she came out the other side of the tunnel and ran smack-dab into a nearly solid mass of undead standing still in the streets. Looking around at the horrific creatures, she swore there had to be thousands of them waiting to attack. It was unbelievable just how much power this lone player had acquired in such a short time of playing the game.

  Her eye caught a semi-open trail through the mass of nearly naked bodies. Probably the path her quarry had taken to enter into the city, she reasoned, as she started pushing her way through the press of cold, rotting corpses. To say it was disgusting was the understatement of the century. It wasn’t as if they did anything more than stand there. It was that their starting tunic and pants they were raised with didn’t hold up long to even the most basic of movements. Already, most of the zombies were wearing nothing but rags.

  The only good thing about her current situation was that at least these undead pets weren’t bloated like some of the corpses she’d seen in the camp. That would’ve made this whole endeavor nearly impossible to endure, she thought, as she finally made her way to the end of the horde. As soon as she saw the deserted streets ahead, Rani broke out into a run, trying not to puke her guts out from the experience.

  The central keep was her destination. Rani was well aware of the basic plan Startum had come up with. Although she hadn’t been invited to the strategic discussions he had with his friends, she’d gotten the basics of the plan f
rom Councilor Fulrin. Supposedly, the Chaos Storm guild leader that had somehow taken control over the capital city of Telrain had somehow gotten her hands on a level 200 spell called Meteor Strike.

  A quick check through the game’s item database had given her the basics on the spell, which had only made her swear up a storm. While it had been nice to have her analysis proven correct, this was a mess of epic proportions for the new game. She’d hastily sent up an alert to her on-duty team leader and had followed the trail. Not that they could do much about the unfolding situation without high level approval. She was sure the possibility of losing a main training area like this in one of the primary kingdoms was causing a stir for upper management.

  Supposedly, the plan was to capture the scroll for the Council of Light to secure. Councilor Fulrin seemed to believe they’d be able to snatch the scroll before it could be put to use and get out of dodge, but if they didn’t, it was going to cause major problems for V-MMORG. Surprisingly enough, Startum was giving them a hand. His undead forces were going to clear the way for the Battle Priests to escape Chaos Storm’s grip.

  That was why Rani was racing through the empty streets. She had to get into position to see everything as it went down. Maybe she could help get the scroll out herself and stop this disaster from happening. Either way, it was her job to get eyes on the unfolding situation so that V-MMORG would have an accurate record of everything that occurred.

  Coming up to the kill zone between the city and the keep, Rani stumbled to a stop at the sight of the Half-Orc and Silver Dire Wolf that were Startum’s soulmates. With them were two unusual beasts. A massive black bear that looked like something mixed between a black panther, saber-toothed tiger, and a cave bear, and a black shadowy wolf whose form flickered in and out of the shadows. Both creatures’ glowing green eyes curiously focused on her.

  At first, Rani thought the beasts were summoned pets, but she automatically corrected herself a moment later as she realized they were actually manifested beast companions. Once again, she had to wonder at who the hell this guy was to have gathered all of these abilities so early in the game. She’d already confirmed that he wasn’t a previous Alpha or Beta tester for the game.

  At first, she was worried that they might try to stop her from proceeding further like Startum’s NPCs had at the edge of the forest, but none of them made a move to stop her. Slowly, she made her way around the ferocious group as her eyes took in everything. The backpack of gear, black coral shield, and the two-handed sword on the Half-Orc’s back. The highly ornate bastard sword lying on the ground in front of them. They were obviously waiting for some sort of signal. Did that mean Startum was making a play for the scroll, she wondered, or were they here to help Councilor Fulrin escape?

  None of that was important. For now, Rani had to stay focused on the issue at hand. If Startum took possession of the scroll, V-MMORG would have the time they needed to apply an emergency hot fix to correct the situation. Making it unmolested past the group, she took off at a sprint heading for the keep’s outer walls.

  ***

  It was a few minutes past a quarter to eleven when I led the group of zombies towards the keep’s open gate. As I slowed down to a walk, the zombies began to listlessly shuffle around me as I mentally ordered my personal undead pets out ahead of the formation. It was the only way I could think of to hide my face in the mass of undead. Besides, the slower pace helped to make the zombies’ movements more lifelike.

  The massive double doors in the main wall were thrown open with guards lining either side of the archway. A group of five players greeted my zombies with superior sneers as they roughly checked each one over for weapons. They roughly they shoved my pets around and smacked them in the back of their heads trying to make the peasants cower in fear. The undead did nothing of the sort and stood oblivious to the taunts. From the players’ comments, they thought the peasants were silent due to their fear as they rudely shoved the zombies into the courtyard.

  Freaking morons, I thought, watching the bullies having their fun. After the twelfth zombie silently stood ignoring their abusive games, the players began to grow less interested and let the rest of us go by mostly unmolested. When it came my turn to pass through the gauntlet, the players had settled down by then and left me mostly alone except for giving me a quick once over for weapons as I did my best to stay bent over like an old man.

  Thankfully, my armor had been crafted from coral stone that had been grown to slide without more than a slight rasping sound instead of the metal clank of normal armor, or I’d have never made it through their gauntlet without being detected. That was fortunate, since the undead around me were set up to guard me from attacks. One obnoxious slap to the back of the head could have completely ruined the entire plan.

  Breathing a sigh of relief, I made my way through the gate as the undead players slowly followed me at their set distances. A couple of zombies at the end of the line were knocked down and kicked around by a new set of guards that had come up to “inspect” the peasants. The players were having fun shoving the zombies to the ground to kick them, before a guild officer told them to chill out and to let the peasants pass. The trailing undead quickly hurried back into the loose formation around me as we entered into the ice-sculptured courtyard.

  Even though most of the winter flowers had been knocked over and the sculptures wrecked, you could tell the garden had once been a place of beauty. I imagine a few of the players had went around to see what they could destroy inside the game, only to discover The World didn’t respawn the decorations back after a certain amount of time like in their previous games. It made me wonder whether or not Julie had bothered to discipline them for their antics. Probably not, digital beauty like this wasn’t something she concerned herself with, unless it made her money.

  As I walked, my eyes took in the mass of players stuffed inside the keep’s grounds. There had to be more than two thousand players standing around talking to one another. It was hard to tell more than that. They weren’t standing in neat formations like a typical medieval castle’s guards, but were bunched up in smaller groups talking animatedly. Some were even drinking and eating. With the different types of clothing, weapons, and armor, the entire grounds felt more like a crowded Renaissance festival than a raid of players preparing to hold off an imminent attack.

  Maybe I was getting too used to having in-game vassals with actual military bearing than dealing with regular players and their prima donna attitudes. Thinking back on my friends, I realized that wasn’t the case. It was actually just a case of being used to people who actually knew how to play, were cool, and understood when to be serious. Still, prima donnas or not, there were too many of these asshats around for us to win a head-on assault against.

  Pushing those stray thoughts away, I focused on my surroundings. The pathway we were on led us to a wide courtyard directly before the thick, ironbound doors of the keep. The entrance was actually a separate structure that acted like a mini-gatehouse. It was only a quarter of the size of the central structure with an open patio for a roof. It kind of reminded me of the old style balconies you’d see in movies where the King or Queen would make announcements to their subjects from on-high.

  In front of the entrance, a wooden stage had been constructed for the execution. Instead of a gallows or a guillotine, there was a wooden stump with a flat top that looked like a headsman’s chopping block. The muscle-bound, shirtless player standing beside the stump was dressed in an outfit that fit his role of Executioner. You know the look, black pants, matching hood, and a wicked looking hand-axe that hung from his belt by its oversized head.

  A quick identify showed me that the man’s name was Kasey JoJo. He was a level 40 Shadow Warrior with Chaos Storm. The size of his health and mana bars showed that he was also a Nightmare start player. The shadow warrior class he had listed was somewhat interesting to say the least. I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but it was probably some sub-class of DPS Warrior. Maybe it was some sor
t of Rogue slash Warrior combination. While his class might be cool, he still looked like a massive tool.

  Executioners, death squads, assassinations, sham courts, chain gangs, sweat shops, kidnappings, torture, and petty indignities, did newfar bring over the worst of earth’s inhumanity into the game? I wondered with a sigh, shaking my head. I guess that’s what happens when you introduce human players and artificial intelligent personalities in a game world. The current spectacle before me was a prime example of this. It was like something directly out of a B-rated medieval Hollywood flick. I’m sure Julie’s plan was to cow the surviving townspeople of Telrain to get them to fall in line and do her bidding without complaint, but there had to be a better way than doing it like this. It was like she was choosing the cheesiest, over the top tropes from the nastiest dictators of all time to get her way.

  My eyes kept taking everything in as I searched for my ex-girlfriend. Standing around the balcony were a number of different people. Councilor Fulrin and his escort of armored Battle Priests were easy to make out in their white leathers and shiny armor. Their lines were straight and orderly in comparison to the players who lounged about on the balcony, like gangbangers relaxing around a stairwell, waiting for the show to start.

  I saw Prince Lekroth in a private discussion with Councilor Fulrin. None of the players seemed to be paying them any attention. Maybe Julie thought her kidnapping of the prince would influence the Council of Light to give into her will. A quick glance at my quest log showed that Objective 1 for the quest “Evacuate the townsfolk from the city of Telrain and bring them to safety!” was showing a ninety-nine percent completion status in evacuating the citizens of Telrain, so at least I knew our Prince wouldn’t have a reason to not follow his pledge to acquit his older sister.

  A commotion caught my eye near the middle of the balcony. Immediately, a mane of long-blonde hair caught my eyes as I saw an angry woman bitching out a group of what had to be twenty officers. They were all hard-faced women and men whose frowns seemed to deepen as her harsh words continued. While I couldn’t quite read lips, I could get an idea of what was being said, since she kept waving a hand in frustration towards the city. Smiling to myself, I mentally played a Mystery Science Theater 3000 moment in my mind.