Campaign (Blades VR Book 2)

by Terry Schott

  “Maybe not the best thing to drink before trying to catch some sleep.” Sebastian shifted so that his back was toward the light of the fire as he raised his own cup and took a sip.

  Fen chuckled. “I’ll be sleeping long before the caffeine kicks in.” He took a drink and then smiled. “I guess it’s not really caffeine in this stuff, is it?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “How is that possible?”

  “I know how the body reacts to coffee in real life. All I had to do was make the relationship the same here between avatar and the drink in here. For all intents and purposes, it tastes and acts the same way it would on your body back home.”

  Fen sighed. “So complicated. I can’t get over how you’ve done all this.”

  “We. The team is very big.”

  “Is it?” Fen looked out into the darkness. “Seems to me that without you, the whole project is in trouble.”

  “Oh I don’t know about that.”

  “If you ask me, I think it’s something that you’re counting on.”

  Sebastian took a sip of coffee and stared into the darkness. Fen cleared his throat. “I don’t understand why you’ve gone to all the trouble of creating this reality if your goal is to see it fail.”

  “I don’t want it to fail, but Isaac has gotten out of control and something needs to be done or things will get bad.”

  “How bad?”

  Sebastian considered the question for a moment. “He approaches a point of no return, but there is still an opportunity for him to correct his course.”

  Fen laughed. “That sounded pretty ominous.”

  “The guy’s like a brother to me. An aggressive, overbearing, hot-headed brother, but family nonetheless. I could have shut this all down, but I don’t think it needs to come to that. Isaac wouldn’t listen to me.”

  “So you kill yourself and enter the simulation full time.”

  Sebastian smiled. “I think he’s paying close attention to things now.”

  Fen laughed and shook his head. “But you’ve limited yourself severely.”

  “Maybe.”

  “There’s no maybe about it. Isaac is now in a world that you can never return to.”

  “I can do more from this end of things.”

  “Really? From what I’ve seen so far you can’t even cast a simple spell. You’re a magic user without the ability to craft magic.”

  “I will admit, that has been a bit of a setback.”

  “And you can’t code from the inside. Or communicate with your team in the real world.”

  Sebastian drained his cup and sighed. Then he reached over and patted the warrior’s leg. “Relax, man. I’ve got a plan.”

  Fen pursed his lips. “And you’re telling me that right now this plan of yours is chugging along exactly as intended?”

  “Yes, sir.” He shrugged. “For the most part.”

  Fen stood and clapped his friend on the shoulder. “You were always the positive one, Seb.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I’m not sure I meant that as a compliment. I’m gonna go get some sleep.”

  Sebastian reached for Fen’s discarded blanket and draped it around his shoulders. “Everything will be fine, Fen.”

  “See you in a few hours.” Fen walked toward the camp.

  Sebastian poured himself another cup of coffee and stared out into the darkness.

  28

  “Penny for your thoughts.”

  Sebastian glanced sideways at Ezref. “Where’d you hear that?”

  “It’s a common phrase.”

  Sebastian snorted.

  “Not where you come from?”

  “Oh yeah, but I didn’t expect it would be here.”

  Ezref laughed. “I’m going to assume it means the same thing in both lands.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “So. What’s wrong?”

  “You mean besides the obvious mysteries that we’ve discovered and are investigating?”

  “Yes, besides that. Your frown this morning has been deeper than usual. Brooding over something different, I think.”

  Sebastian smiled. “You are very observant.”

  Ezref bowed.

  “I’m conflicted.”

  “About what?”

  “The missing groups. The large number of new parties that seem to join the efforts here and then disappear. And the Dominus.” He shrugged.

  “Where’s the conflict?”

  Sebastian sighed. “A normal party wouldn’t care about any of those things.”

  “No?”

  “Do you see any other groups skulking away from their stations, sneaking into areas where they don’t belong and looking for answers to complex questions that don’t concern them?”

  “No.” Ezref smirked. “But that doesn’t mean there aren’t others who happen to be extremely skilled at evading detection.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “I still don’t see the issue.”

  “We aren’t getting experience.”

  Ezref laughed. “We weren’t earning XP from critter duty, anyway.”

  “That’s true.”

  “If the Dominus had given us a challenging new job, we’d likely be off doing that instead of this. If anyone’s to blame for our activities, it’s the Dominus.”

  “Clever.”

  “How do you mean?”

  Sebastian narrowed his eyebrows and stroked his beard. “I hadn’t considered that possibility. That they are steering us in the direction which we now head.”

  “That’s not what I said.” Ezref frowned. “At least, that’s not what I meant to say. The Dominus and others leading this campaign are very busy. I don’t think they have the time or the inclination to play such a game.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Feel better about our course of action?”

  “I don’t know.” Sebastian considered the question for a moment and then shook his head. “I shoulder too much responsibility for this.”

  “The group?”

  “No.” This reality, Sebastian thought to himself, but instead of speaking the words out loud he just pursed his lips and waved a hand dismissively. “Never mind. I’m rambling.”

  ***

  The party entered new territory and found it like the areas they had just passed through. Totally empty. Devoid of adventurer and wildlife alike. The soft crunching of leaves and sticks underfoot and the faint creaking of armour and weapons were the only sounds to be heard.

  Over the next three hours they came upon six camps, each like the one from the day before. They examined the sites in silence and moved on.

  The sun was directly overhead as they entered the seventh campsite. Sebastian looked at the sun and removed his cloak. “We can eat lunch here.”

  “I’d rather not.” Shale made a sour face. “These places have bad energy in them.”

  “I agree.” Fen scanned the area. “Let’s get out of here and stop to eat at the next clearing.”

  “There was one about a mile back.” Xander rubbed at a spot of skin below the Death’s Kiss.

  “We aren’t turning back, yet,” Sebastian said.

  “Then I’ll go find one up ahead,” Shale stood and trotted away.

  The rest followed at a slower pace, with Fen in the lead. “Another hour or two before we head for home base?” he asked over his shoulder.

  “No,” Sebastian said. “I think we should move as far forward as possible and camp out here tonight.”

  Fen turned and walked backwards. “You want to sleep out here in this lifeless wasteland?”

  “Yes.” Sebastian smiled. “Let’s have ourselves a good old-fashioned camp-out on the trail tonight.”

  Fen laughed. “Okay, why not?”

  “How far can this emptiness go on?” Aleron asked.

  “That,” Sebastian said, “is exactly what I would like to find out.”

  29

  Kara knocked once and leaned against the door frame of Isaac’s offic
e. “Bad news, boss.”

  His eyes flicked from the screen to hers, then back at the monitor. “I don’t have time for more problems, Kara.”

  “I don’t think I can keep you out of this one.” She strode in and dropped down into the chair across from him. “Pretty sure that investors are going to be lighting up your personal line when they catch wind of it.”

  He groaned. “Can’t I catch even a tiny break?” He took a deep breath, sighed, and leaned back, turning his chair to face her. “What is it?”

  “Players are disappearing.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “The system keeps track of each player: class, level, live/dead status, you know.”

  “The basics. Of course.”

  She spread her hands and raised her eyebrows. “Those statistics have disappeared for a number of players.”

  “It must be a reporting glitch.”

  “We checked that. Reporting software is working normally.” He opened his mouth and she held one hand up. “As is interface communication. Signals are flowing back and forth without any issues.”

  “Are the numbers zeroing out or freezing and not ticking anything further?”

  “Zeroing.”

  “Zeroes denote loss of connection.”

  “Which is why you’re hearing about it.”

  Isaac pinched the bridge of his nose. “So the players are still inside the game?”

  “That’s right.”

  “How many are we talking here?”

  “Twelve hundred twenty-six.”

  “What?!” He stood from his chair, eyes wide.

  Kara watched him, her expression flat.

  “How long ago did this happen?” He asked.

  “A few started to zero-out days ago. Some came back, so we figured it was a small glitch that had auto-corrected. Then it began to happen again. Batches of a couple hundred new players, at steady intervals. And this time, when they left, they didn’t come back.”

  Isaac dropped back into the chair, crossed his arms, and turned to stare at the computer. Long seconds passed. “I don’t like what I’m hearing.”

  Kara did not reply.

  “And none are dead?”

  “Correct. If they had died, we would see them wake up here.”

  He looked toward the ceiling. “Does your team have any theories about what’s happening?”

  “Two.”

  Isaac opened his eyes and met her gaze. “Either of them good?”

  “Not really.”

  “Let’s hear ’em.”

  “We’re thinking either loss of interface between avatars and the system, or null pockets in the simulation.”

  He frowned. “What do you mean by ‘null pockets’?”

  “Empty pockets of space that interrupt signal transmission between avatars and our computers.”

  “Null pockets were never programmed to be part of the game.”

  “Exactly. But if they did exist, it would be a problem.”

  “Mini areas of nothingness?”

  “It’s a theory.”

  “Not a good one. If a player’s avatar found himself suddenly in a pocket of ‘nothing,’ he’d cease to exist and leave the simulation.”

  “Maybe. Or, it could be like a frozen program, which could cause the player to become stuck. Unable to exit the simulation, but also not inside of it.”

  “That would break key fail-safes.”

  “I know.”

  “Which makes the theory impossible.”

  “But—”

  “No.” Isaac made a chopping motion with one hand. “There are too many safety precautions in place for something like that to occur. If the first didn’t catch it, one of the other three-thousand-plus protocols would. To get through all of them?” He shook his head. “Your geeks are in a negative mood and wasting their time with doomsday scenarios.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Definitely.” He turned to the computer and began to type. “Let me pull this up and take a look.”

  Kara sat quietly for the next few minutes while Isaac navigated the system on his computer. He went through a routine of pulling up a screen, staring at it and then writing information on a notepad before repeating the process.

  Eventually he raised his eyebrows and looked at Kara. “Did you know that this is occurring in a single zone?”

  “No.” She frowned.

  He scowled. “You need to get a handle on your team, Kara. They should have told you that.”

  “I should have asked. I’m sorry.”

  “Any new theories based on this new info?” He asked.

  “Of course. They are most likely inside an instance.”

  “A bunch of players have entered a single private instance and are fighting their way through a special scenario.” He leaned back and spread his hands. “That would be my guess.”

  “We would still know where they were.”

  “Not if the instance was supposed to be offline during beta testing.”

  “An instance that is offline and can accommodate thousands of groups entering it simultaneously without draining the system’s resources?”

  “When you put it that way, only one instance comes to mind.” He watched her, a smile on his face.

  “Oh god.” She stood. “I’ll get on it.”

  “If the ‘Dryad’s Heart’ instance is somehow open for business, then I need you to bring the reporting function online for it ASAP.”

  “I’m sorry to waste your time on this, Isaac.”

  “It’s fine. I hope I’m right.”

  “If you are, then players are going to start wiping and exiting the game very soon.”

  “Maybe they are high enough level by now that they can defeat the instance.”

  She barked out a laugh, and he did too, before looking back to his computer screen. “Keep me posted.”

  30

  Sebastian sat up and looked around. Streams of light from the rising sun danced along wisps of mist as they receded with the darkness. Everyone in camp was asleep, except for Fen, who was on guard a few feet away. He waved, held his coffee cup up, and nodded invitingly at the metal pot beside him. Sebastian rose and pulled a blanket around his shoulders. Then he tiptoed over Shale and sat beside the warrior.

  “Morning.”

  “Morning.” Sebastian reached for the coffee and poured himself a cup. “You just make a fresh pot?”

  “Yeah. Sorry if I woke you, I tried to be quiet.”

  Sebastian took a long drink, enjoying the heat as it spread down his throat. “It wasn’t the noise that woke me. ’Twas the smell.”

  Fen grunted. “Not much I can do about that, boss.”

  Sebastian’s head swept left and then right. “It’s too quiet out there.”

  “Been like that all night long, apparently. Not a single peep.”

  “Didn’t realize I’d miss the insects and birds until they weren’t around.”

  “This world you’ve created is beyond incredible.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I mean it. Down to the smallest details.” Fen shook his head and sipped from his cup.

  “The programming automatically filled in many of the finer details. I am proud of what we’ve accomplished, though. So far, at least.”

  “So far? If there’s more to do, then maybe it wasn’t such a good idea for you to leave your desk to enter the game full time.”

  Sebastian grinned as he raised the cup to his lips. “Maybe the remaining programming can only be done from the inside.”

  “Huh. I never considered that.”

  “Ooh, coffee.”

  Both jumped as Shale sat beside Fen.

  “Damn, girl.” The warrior pushed against her and laughed. “You’re too quiet.”

  “Thank you.” She took his cup and tipped it back, grimacing as she swallowed. “Yuck. Cold dregs.” She reached for the pot and refilled the cup. Then she took another sip and sighed. “That’s better.” She leaned against Fen and looke
d past him to Sebastian. “What’s the plan for today?”

  “Same as yesterday. Move forward to see what we can discover.”

  “We’re running out of supplies,” she said.

  “Ezref can help with that. He can create food and drink.”

  “Single spells or banquet?” Fen asked.

  “Single.”

  The warrior grumbled.

  “What’s wrong with that?”

  “You’ll know once you’ve tasted what he crafts.” Fen shivered. “Beginner food and drink is bland and flat.”

  “It’ll keep us alive, though, right?”

  “Yeah. Although if we are stuck eating it for too long, we might want to die rather than eat it. It’s like chewing cardboard and drinking stale urine.”

  Shale laughed. “You been drinking urine lately, Fen?”

  He winked. “I told you I experienced a lot of the game before joining you.”

  “Oh god.” Shale made a gagging noise and then laughed again. “Funny.”

  Sebastian stood. “I’ll stoke the fire and cook the rest of the food we have. The others should wake up from the noise I make.”

  “Dibs on the extra piece of bacon.”

  “Who said there would be an extra piece?” Shale asked.

  “If there is.” Fen grinned.

  ***

  The party ate their last meal of “real” food and broke camp. It was still early morning when they resumed their search for signs of animals or other groups. The morning passed without incident, and they voted to keep moving rather than stop to eat. A couple of hours after noon, Shale appeared from the woods ahead.

  “Find something?” Xander asked.

  “I think so.” She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. “Couple clicks that way. Some kind of path leading up a tall hill.”

  The rest looked in the direction she had indicated. “That’s a mountain,” Mercy said.

  “It is?” Shale frowned and glanced over her shoulder. “Oh,” she giggled. “Path leading up the mountain, then.”

  “Which mountain is it?” Sebastian’s eyes conveyed a sense of uneasiness.

  “It’s part of Kabrank’s Range,” Ezref said.

  “And the actual mountain?”

  “I don’t think they each have a name.”

  “They do,” Mercy said, “but I’ve no clue what they are.”

  “Does it matter?” Aleron asked.