by Dante Doom
“Messengers?” Van repeated.
“Indeed,” Trefor said. “If you don’t believe me now, you will when you meet one. Of course, you’d have to be willing to join us before you can meet one. They don’t meet just anyone. I’m here to tell you that these Messengers are wondrous creatures. Join Draco and you can meet one. A real live alien.”
“This is all a little too much, man. I need some time to think it over,” Van said. Everything was starting to spin out of control and he didn’t want to be there anymore. Why was his logout still jammed? Trefor might have disabled it somehow, but wouldn’t Sang have figured out some way to get him out of here yet? “I’ll need to log out and get some sleep, at least, and when I get back in, I’ll definitely tell you my decision.”
Trefor shook his head. “I’m not an idiot, Van. I know you’ve made contact with the Others. I know you’re speaking with the enemy.”
Van raised an eyebrow at him. They considered the Others to be an enemy? Now he was even more intrigued—intrigued enough to pretend to be interested in joining up so that he could gather more intelligence. This could potentially help out the CIA, after all. “So, these Others, they aren’t friendly?”
Trefor slowly turned toward the map and waved his hand over it. The map shifted again so that the population numbers were the same as before. “The Others are… problematic. You see, Draco came across Earth a long time ago, and they saw our lives were bleak and meaningless. They saw us overconsuming, overpopulating, and slowly destroying our planet. They pitied us, though, and sought out a way to save us from ourselves. We aren’t like them, Van. They are highly intelligent beings, far beyond our own comprehension. What they have brought to us is salvation. Yet, even in this galaxy that is so vast and endless, there are those who hate humanity. The Others seek to stop Draco from achieving their plans, but they are far away. Draco is here. The Others can only communicate via long distance methods, so they have tried breaking into this game, hacking it with their superior tech. Draco has fought hard to keep their system locked down, of course, so only the occasionally glitch gets through.”
Van nodded, as that made sense. He remembered how it had always seemed like the glitches were fighting against something to stay in the same place for a brief amount of time. He remembered the constellations and the warnings that had come through back at the cave. The Others had been trying to warn Van and Sang about Draco’s intentions.
“So, why do the Others care so much? What’s it to them if they’re too far off to reach us?” Van asked.
“Beats me. Some people believe that the Others don’t like Draco’s methods of changing this planet,” Trefor replied.
Van glanced at the population count lowering again and suddenly realized something. “You’re talking about killing off Earth’s population, aren’t you?”
Trefor grinned. “Unfortunately, Draco’s plans don’t include everyone. See, we had our chance to run this Earth well. But we’ve been here for too long and we’ve squandered it. Draco isn’t interested in giving hand-outs. They made this game so they could find the best of the best. The strong, the savvy, the clever, the brave. All of these people will be moving on to a new world order. A world where Earth is safe and sound, where humanity is free of their illnesses, and where we... oh, we are at the top. Draco isn’t here to make Earth better, Van; they’re here to make Earth perfect. No nations, no wars... just peace.”
“That’s insane! You can’t just kill off most of the world’s population!” Van said.
Trefor shrugged. “Well, I’m not the one who’s going to be doing the killing. Let’s be practical here, Van... this thing in front of us? It’s huge. It involves a powerful alien force with technology well beyond our comprehension. There isn’t a damn thing you or I could do to stop it, so it’s not really a choice of good versus evil here. I mean, let’s be honest, okay? If I could, I’d try to push Draco to change their minds, but that’s not going to happen. They understand far more than we do. They aren’t here to negotiate, they’re here to help us. So… you’ve got a choice, really. You can accept their help or you can die with the rest of humanity. It’s not about good versus evil, Van. It’s about winning versus losing. We’re not doing anything other than helping humanity the best way we can.”
“That’s psychotic, Trefor! You’re literally talking mass killings! And you’re okay with it? You’re disgusting!” Van spat. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Once again... it’s an inevitability. There’s no stopping this train from rolling. Not you, not I, not anyone can stop this. So why shouldn’t we reap the rewards and taste the fruits of victory? Look at our lives, man! Who the hell are we in real life? You lived in a cardboard box and busted your ass every single day to get somewhere important with your life. Before this opportunity, I worked part-time at a shake store—making food for people who were rude and obnoxious, working for a boss who hated me. Our lives were useless back then, but now? Oh, man... now it’s all changing! We get to be the ones in charge! We get to be the ones who rule! It’s going to be a benevolent rule. Draco is here to help us all! They want to make humanity the best that it can be. Is there going to be some unpleasantness during the transition? Yeah, absolutely, no great changes will happen without blood spilling. We do this once, though, and then generations for all of eternity will be grateful. We can change the world, Van.”
“That’s a world change I don’t want to be a part of,” Van said as he stepped back.
“Really, dude? Look at everything in your life. No friends, no home... and like, what, 3 bucks in your bank account? You’d really keep all of that as opposed to what this offers? Think about it for a second. What will you gain here? Money! Power! Control! You’d be a leader; you’d be in charge of this new world. Don’t be an idiot here, Van. No one’s saving anyone. There’s no way to do it. In the end, the best we can do is look out for ourselves, and you don’t have a damn thing to lose. The choice is simple. Join us.”
“And what do you want from me when I join?” Van asked.
Trefor shrugged. “Well… that ranger you were toting around, for one thing. Draco wants her. We thought we lost her because she logged out after making contact with the Others, but much to my surprise, at least, it appears that she’s logged back in over the last few minutes. Your task is pretty simple. Bring her to us. She’ll trust you—after all, she has no idea what we’re doing up here. Tell her you found something else, something about the Others. Use my Dragon mount and lure her up here. Then… then I’ll take it from there.”
“Why not get her yourself?” Van asked.
“She’s skilled with changing the rules of this game; she would log out without a second thought if we tried to grab her.”
“Unlike me,” Van grumbled.
“Sorry, Van, but I disabled your login for a good reason. People tend to freak out when told this information, and they do things that could be... rash,” Trefor said with a grin. “And I wouldn’t want you to get hurt, now would I?”
“Is that a threat?” Van asked.
“So what if it was?”
“All of this was really just to get to her, wasn’t it? You don’t care about inviting me into anything, do you? You just want her!” Van angrily accused him. Trefor just shrugged.
“Look, getting her is important, yeah, but having you is a bonus. If you do this for me, we’re golden. You won’t have to look back at your life and ever worry about making a difference again. The past is gone, the present is gone; all that’s left for you is the future. Don’t waste it, Van. Don’t throw it all in the trash.”
Van glanced at Trefor. This was absolutely psychotic, and he had to get out of here, but if Sang was still in the game, then Van could maybe get to her. She could probably hack them out. So, he didn’t really have to agree to anything... but he could pretend like he did.
“Screw it, then. What did humanity ever do for me anyway? I mean, I guess you’re right. All they did was call me a loser. This girl’
s nothing special... just some idiot who thinks she’s gonna be the next big paranormal investigator,” Van replied.
“So... are you on board?” Trefor asked.
Van shrugged. “Maybe. I’ll bring her to you, and then maybe I can meet one of these Messengers and they can explain everything a little more.”
Trefor grinned widely. “Perfect, perfect! That’s just what I wanted to hear from you, my friend. Take my Dragon and fly down to the Ruins of Galbar. We’ve been sending fake messages to her character, saying you’re there. Since she’s a bit of a hacker, she thinks she can just pop out. But once she crosses this threshold up here, the barrier tech we use is far more powerful. She won’t be able to just jump out whenever she wants. Then, you and I are golden!”
Van nodded. All of that was interesting, but it didn’t matter; the moment Van found Sang, he was going to exit the game, smash the pods with a crowbar, and preferably move to the countryside. He had not signed up for end of the world alien battling. Hell, no.
Trefor strolled out of the massive building, leading Van up to his Dragon. “Now, my Dragon’s going to keep a close eye on you both. She won’t tolerate any kind of tomfoolery, okay? And we’re monitoring both of your communication channels, so any private messages will be read. Don’t take me for a fool, Van. If you try to be the hero and warn your friend, you’ll die. Draco doesn’t like people talking about this kind of thing in the real world. So, people who know about it… well, they don’t really get to go back out without proper fail safes being included. The biosystems in your pod have engaged in such a way that, if you die in this game, it will immediately terminate your actual body. The only thing that could kill you right now would be my Dragon. You’ll be free to leave at some point, of course, but for now, we’re keeping you in here—nice and safe. Got it?”
Van slowly nodded. Why had his fun galivanting with the CIA had to turn into some kind of nightmare survival scenario? He definitely didn’t want to die, but was Trefor just making up this do-or-die material? It didn’t make any sense, as to why Draco would have that power. But on the other hand... if Draco was some highly advanced alien life form and the pods were part of their technology, then yeah, they could probably just kill him.
Man, they were really making his life a lot harder. A lot harder and a lot scarier.
Van climbed atop the Dragon and held his breath as it took off to fly toward its destination. How in the hell was he supposed to navigate all of this? It wouldn’t be hard to just grab Sang and run for a few moments while telling her to log them out, though there was the Dragon to deal with, but then they’d be free forever. No worries, no fears. He’d give the CIA a full report, take a check, buy a ticket to Venezuela or somewhere else where he could disappear, and never think about any of this again. After all... he wasn’t cut out for any of this. He had originally been blackmailed by the CIA anyway. Now... now, all he wanted to do was make sure that Sang was okay and get the hell out of this whole mess. And the CIA was a top organization, right? They could handle this kind of thing just fine. They had talent, and they had people. He wasn’t necessary for any of this.
Van glanced down to see the Ruins of Galbar. There had once been a massive statue, but it had been destroyed during one of the player events and its ruins were strewn out across the barren field. Van could see that Sang was sitting on the giant ruined head of it. The Dragon flew down and landed with a hard thump. Van could feel its eyes on him as he dismounted from the creature and walked over to Sang.
“Van!” Sang said with excitement as she leapt up and ran to hug him. Van hugged her back, equally as happy to see that she was okay. “I was worried you were hurt!” she said.
“Same to you! You okay?”
“I’m probably going to die,” Sang said, shrugging. “I dunno. Just glad you’re alive. What’s up with the Dragon?”
“What about the dying thing?” Van asked.
“Don’t worry about it... anyway, we gotta get out of here!” Sang said.
“Well said. Log us out, and quick!” Van whispered.
“Your login credentials are all screwed up,” Sang replied as she looked at Van. “It’ll take a minute.”
“We don’t have a minute!” Van hissed, his voice low enough to where he hoped the Dragon wouldn’t hear him. “That Dragon’s going to cook us if it sees us doing anything sketchy!”
Sang looked past Van and shook her head. “Well, what do you want me to do? Van, what’s going on?”
Van sighed heavily and sat on the head next to her. “It’s a long story.” He looked over at the Dragon, which nodded its head at him. Van knew that the moment they tried anything screwy, the Dragon would cook them. He had to communicate the truth to Sang somehow. The Dragon had noticed them whispering and begun to walk forward, craning its neck so that it could hear them better. Van grimaced. The Ruins were a very bad location to be in, though, because there was no cover whatsoever. Just a big damaged statue. If Trefor was correct and Van really could be killed, that Dragon was bad news.
“Well, I met an amazing guy. He’s pretty cool,” Van said. “He helped me out big-time and said there’s something wrong with the mainframe.” He was hoping that his secret code would work. She was CIA, right? She had to understand what he was suggesting. “Anyway, he said I looked dead tired! He said it would be a good idea to take his Dragon mount with me and find you... And he said that you’d be able to help them with their problem. Draco needs a good hacker who can... hack stuff. And you can hack anything, right? So, uh, why don’t you help them hack?”
“Van, what the hell are you saying?” Sang asked. “Are you okay? We’re worried about your health.”
“I’m just saying we definitely should climb on that Dragon over there and let it take us to meet my pal, Trefor. He’s a pro gamer and works for Draco. And you should help them hack things. Because you’re a hacker.”
Sang glanced at the Dragon for a moment and nodded knowingly. “Oh, of course, of course. Sure, let’s go, Van. Don’t want to keep them waiting.”
Van let out a sigh of relief; it appeared that she understood what he was trying to communicate to her
“Yes. Let’s,” Van replied as he grabbed her by the arm and started to pull her a little toward the Dragon. They exchanged glances then, and Van felt his heart rate increase. He wasn’t sure what she was planning, but he was ready for anything.
As Sang walked up to the Dragon and climbed atop its back, Van followed her. The Dragon took off and began to fly upwards toward the clouds.
“I can’t wait to meet your friend!” Sang said as the Dragon’s wings beat the air, generating enough lift for it to fly upwards.
Van smiled through his teeth at her. He had no idea what to do now that they were in the air. Sang smiled back... as she pulled out her longsword and promptly stabbed it into the neck of the Dragon.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Van screamed as the Dragon roared in pain, blood spurting from the wound that Sang had created.
“We’re in trouble, right? Well, not anymore! Ha!” Sang cried out as she pulled the blade out and tried to stab the creature again. The Dragon bucked and rotated, throwing them both from its back.
“Ahhhhhh!” Van cried as he plummeted toward the ground, holding onto Sang’s sleeve and keeping them together in the air. “What’s wrong with you?”
“You’re a bard, idiot! You have the Survive Fall skill!” Sang replied as she grabbed something out of her inventory; it was a small potion. She gulped it down and began to gently drift toward the ground.
“Survive Fall guarantees that I’ll survive it! It doesn’t mean I won’t take damage!” Van screamed as he crashed towards the Earth.
The Dragon had thrown them off over a forest, and Van smashed through dozens of branches before he hit the ground with a hard thump. He saw his health points drop down to 1 immediately, and his frame began to glow bright red. The physical pain was more intense than he was used to. While the pain from injuries in earlier adventures had f
elt visceral, this felt realistic beyond the point of a simulation. It was as if he had really just broken every bone in his body.
“Hey, you okay?” Sang asked as she glided to the ground beside him. She knelt down and nursed a healing potion into his mouth, immediately bringing him back up to 100% health. He felt the pain gradually vanishing from within his body, as well.
“Yeah, I’m alive. Where’s the Dragon?” Van asked.
“Dunno... it flew off shrieking. I don’t think I killed it.”
“Of course, you didn’t. Damn it!” Van said. “That Dragon’s a companion mount to a Level 79 professional player! You probably did enough damage to scare it, but didn’t even come close to killing it. Log us the hell out, now!”
Sang nodded and began to fiddle around with her hands. Van waited and watched breathlessly. “Okay, my program’s going to take a few minutes to tangle through all of these barriers and security features,” she said. “While it’s loading, why don’t you tell me everything that’s going on?”
Van nodded and took a deep breath. He began to explain the entire story to her, and she listened quietly. It didn’t take too long for him to give her the rundown, though, and when he finished, she stood in silence.
“Well? What do you think?” Van asked.
“The Others, or whatever they are,” Sang said, “they didn’t just send one little message to my head... I think they actually shared a lot more than I’ve been able to sort through on my own. I think they want to help us. I think they’re the good guys here.”
