“Not so tough now, are you, porky!” Kalmond bellowed as he administered the finishing stroke that split the pig into front and back halves. The kill earned him 437 points, a big dose of confidence and pushed him up to level 8.
Kalmond the stone dwarf
Level 8
XP 5988
STA 25
STR 23
INT 22
AGI 23
CHA 23
MAN 20
MLVL 423
Hit Points 7585
Kalmond tore into the carcass, barely taking note of the salvaged hide, a gold ring and 25 circs. He was angry beyond words at Boris the Dead Dwarf. It took him several minutes to find his voice again.
“You son of a bitch!” Kalmond roared raising his axe to Boris.
“Is that best insult you can muster, you reeking goat farmer?” Boris asked, folding his arms as his former axe passed through his vaporous form.
“You almost got me killed with your damn constant bullshit!”
“Oh did I?” Boris asked with a smug grin. “Never run from boar, especially iron boar. It just makes them excited. They only understand aggression. Had you run on, he gut you for sure.”
Kalmond felt Boris had a point, but that didn’t take much edge of his anger. “Well, shut up, then, and let me hunt,” he growled.
Boris just laughed and trailed behind, and Kalmond thought he could feel the smug expression on those ghostly features. He was so angry he had trouble following boar tracks deeper into the forest. When he reached the path again, it dawned on him too late that the tracks led directly back to where he started. That meant the boar was hunting him.
Kalmond stood his ground this time when the charged. The dwarf crouched low and raised his axe up to block the tusks with perfect timing. The boar veered off to the left, and the axe seemed to chase it by its own accord. The strike glanced off the boar’s hindquarters and did little damage.
Kalmond lunged. The advice of Boris paid off, and the power strike cost the boar dearly as it tried to match aggression with aggression. It recovered quickly, but Kalmond was ready with a swift kick that snapped its neck, scoring a critical that raised his melee skill by another point.
achievement unlocked: kickboxer, a notification stated. That was a new one, Kalmond thought. He never played melee characters, and he was starting to enjoy punching and kicking. He quickly searched the boar and added its hide to the inventory. The forest held one more wild pig to kill.
It didn’t take long to find the boss pig. This one didn’t charge. It strode down the path, head held high. The thing was huge. Its snout was even with the Dwarf’s chest as it pointed its tusks at the sky. It lowered its head, and Kalmond squatted like a linebacker and growled.
“I’m ready, pig,” the Dwarf said.
“No, you are not,” Boris declared. “See you in the afterlife.”
Kalmond’s scream of rage was more for Boris than the pig, who set to his charge the moment Kalmond’s foot moved forward. The dwarf activated his power lunge just as the boar snapped its head up to rip the guts from its prey. Instead of meeting Kalmond’s belly, the pig’s head met the full force of an axe.
Double Critical, announced blocky red letters before Kalmond’s field of vision. He’d felled a level 10 boar with one stroke. Achievement unlocked, another notification scrolled by over the dead beast, rage machine.
At that last notice Kalmond said, “Don’t I know it,” then he turned to Boris. “What were you saying about the afterlife?”
“I thought for sure I’d see you there. I’m proud of you, my Dwarven brother!”
Kalmond looted the boss boar for its hide and was thrilled to discover a jeweled cup worth 275 circs and a pair of stout steel bracers. He put on the armor immediately and added the cup to his inventory.
“Yeah, well,” Kalmond said, “I’m moving up in the world.”
Kalmond had enough questing for the day. He saved the game, making sure his progress was logged, then exited, bypassing the lobby completely.
Chapter 5
Dante opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by three people glaring down at him, each with arms folded across their chests. He met their eyes one by one and registered each unique expression of reproach. His eyes settled last on Holly, whose pose, he was sure, was intended to express disapproval, but ended up displaying a fullness he’d not appreciated before.
“What?” Dante asked with a smirk as he took off off the harness. “Why do you all look so pissed off?”
“You’ve been in the game more than four hours,” Martin said.
“So what?” Dante asked, sitting up, making no secret of his annoyance as his face reddened. “Look, I deserve some damn game time. Besides, it’s really work. The game is acting weird. I’m finding bugs that we didn’t know we had.”
Najeel moved in and grabbed the xirclet from Dante and tossed it clumsily to Martin, who snatched it from the air with barely a glance. Holly just fixed him with a face drawn together to a point.
“Smart-ass,” the former cloud manager and fellow member of the Noble Four said. “I was only in the game for a couple hours. Also, you might have to cut back on your game time now that you are part of a secret, illegal executive staff. We still have to figure out how to run Plexcorp while Gideon is in the tank.” For good measure, she added, “Knucklehead.”
“The Realm is our work,” Dante replied, much more defensively than he intended. “Virgil says there is some shit coming down the pike we need to deal with in-game.”
“Well,” Najeel replied, pinching his chin between thumb and forefinger. “Perhaps that is so. The VIRGIL construct achieves greater levels of autonomy and higher levels of predictive power as it grows.”
Martin took his turn piling on and said, “That may be so, but it doesn’t mean it can run the company.”
“It already is,” Najeel replied, “In effect, Virgil is playing Gideon like a character, and doing a remarkable job, at that.”
“That’s just freaky,” Holly said. “It’s like the robots are taking over the world or something.”
“Well,” Najeel said, “Technically, the VIRGIL construct is not a robot, nor is it an artificial intelligence. It is a human brain linked to a vast cloud computing network via integrated brainwave modem. It shares resources with all the other linked brains, including Gideon’s.”
Dante paled at the statement. “Even mine,” he asked, “when I’m linked up to the system?”
“Mr. Alger,” Najeel said. Dante braced himself. Najeel always spoke formally when he was about to lecture. “The harness you are using now is a radically more advanced device than the prototype of a week ago, but the fundamentals are still the same. Yes, the xirclet provides a sensory resolution orders of magnitude greater than the original device, but it does not perform the same on you as it does on Gideon and the...harvested organs.”
“Oh,” Dante said, absently running a palm across his head as if searching for cracks. “That’s a relief. I guess that’s why the world is so real to me, and also why things hurt.”
“Yes,” Najeel replied. “The pain limits are strictly governed with multiple redundant fail-safes, otherwise…” Najeel trailed off.
“I’d die in the game?” Dante asked breathlessly.
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” Najeel replied with a wave of his hand. “Certainly not death.”
“Oh, good,” Dante replied with an audible sigh.
“No, without the governors,” Najeel explained, “You’d suffer multiple severe dissociative episodes leading to permanent psychosis after your mind fails to deal with levels of agony not achievable even in the real world.”
“What the fuck have we been using!” Holly exclaimed.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Martin said. “We checked the safeties in the first hour of getting the first xirclet. They’re hard-coded. If they fail, the harness shuts off, and you’re back in reality again. I’m a medic and a Marine. I know how to work with deadly thing
s, and I’m trained to keep people from harm.”
“Yeah,” Dante said. “And trained to cause harm, too.”
“Only when necessary,” Martin said with a sinister smile.
Dante’s face fell suddenly. “What do you think is happening to Gideon?” Dante asked.
An uncomfortable silence fell over the group at the mention of the mad genius whose own private mercenary police force tried to kill them before he locked himself away in the game. Gideon Thistlethwhaite himself lay in a coma immersed in an isolation tank, deeply connected to the game world he created and tried to rule over like a god. Instead of achieving that goal, he was more like another one of the disembodied human brains he used as processing devices.
“Fuck Gideon,” Martin said flatly.
“I know you can’t mean that, Martin,” Dante said. “The man is mentally ill.”
The ex-marine turned away to look at the floor. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he said, voice uncharacteristically soft.
Dante took a deep breath, said, “So, it seems like you’re done being pissed at me, so let me tell you what Virgil said.
Dante relayed Virgil’s message. He described the anomalies in the town, the fact that the NPCs were behaving like real people and especially the warning that Virgil would “cease to be” if the Noble Four didn’t reach the Sixth Circle.
“How can he know what will happen to him if something does or does not happen?” Holly asked.
As usual, Najeel had a ready answer. “Realm of the Nine Circles is built on the most sophisticated computer modeling system ever devised. Virgil is simply modeling likely outcomes based on current events. It is safe to assume his assessments are accurate.”
“There’s another war coming,” Dante said.
“Or at least another conflict,” Martin said. “Did Virgil specifically mention war.”
“No,” Dante replied. “Come to think of it, he didn’t. He mentioned agents ‘harvesting souls.’”
“Those must be the brains,” Holly said.
“That is also a safe assumption,” Najeel said. “It is only natural for the algorithms to try to balance themselves. That is by design.”
“So we need to get Gideon out of the system so Virgil can rebalance things,” Dante said.
“Very apt, Mr. Alger,” Najeel said.
“I have my moments,” Dante replied.
“OK, then,” Martin replied firmly. “We let you back in, but you adhere to my protocols. Just give me some time to work things out. You can’t just stay under for a solid week. Not healthy. Besides, we need you out here as a co-conspirator.” At the last comment, Martin gave his famous lopsided smirk.
“That sounds reasonable,” Holly said, her expression finally softening. Dante swallowed hard when she tossed her wavy brown hair aside and tucked a lock of it behind one delicate ear. He noticed the light sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of her Greek nose.
If she caught the way he looked at her, she didn’t let on, and Dante turned away to make sure she didn’t. Instead, he changed the subject while he counted himself ahead. He asked, “So, what did you all talk about while I was out?”
“Oh, you know,” Holly replied, “just the usual: how to secretly run a company by coaching a computer-enhanced reanimated brain to impersonate one of the richest men in the world. We also discussed how to launder the ridiculous amounts of cash said brain thing had thrown our way, that sort of thing.”
“Yeah,” Martin added. “That, and how to manage the game world changes and company policies the VIRGIL construct is churning out. We’re losing control of him, and the department heads are freaking out.”
“As is the board of directors,” Najeel chimed in.
At that, the three fell silent and turned their faces to the floor. “OK,” Dante said. “That was weird. You all have the exact same expression. What’s down there?”
“The board of directors is demanding a meeting with Gideon ASAP,” Holly replied. “They want to know why he seems to be taking the company in a new direction. The R9C world has been the company’s cash cow for almost twenty years. They’re demanding answers for these unannounced changes.”
Dante shook his head and sat back down at his workstation. “Why the hell didn’t Virgil just say that?” Dante said.
“He mentioned that?” Najeel asked.
“Yes,” Dante replied, with more of an edge than intended. “If you all hadn’t jumped on me, wouldn’t have left out that detail. He mentioned something about the board. Called them ‘Knights of the Boardroom.’ I just put that together.”
“Damn, that thing is weird,” Martin said.
“He’s not a thing,” Dante replied. “He’s a person. Virgil is a human brain hooked up to a computer.” He shrugged. “Kinda like Frankenstein.”
“This,” Najeel replied, “is another very apt description, though I think you are referring to Frankenstein’s Monster, not the Doctor himself.” Dante palmed his face, restraining himself from lashing out at the condescension. Najeel couldn’t help it. The Doctor continued. “I should add that the VIRGIL construct is likely an aggregate of all the interconnected brains. I am close to proving this.”
At this, Martin perked up. “Did you track down the source of the VIRGIL signals?”
“Well,” Dr. Boussaid replied, “If you’d have taken the time to read my summary report, you’d know that I have made progress in that area.”
“Oh no,” Dante said, palming his forehead. “Here we go again.”
“Oh, forgive me, Doctor,” Martin said, putting mock emphasis on Najeel’s title. “I was a bit busy restructuring the Plexcorp Security Department after Colonel Stroener left the building with my boot print on his ass.”
“Such colorful metaphors will not…”
“Enough!” Dante barked. Everyone stood in shocked silence for a moment. “I thought you two were past this crap! I’ve had enough of it. I’ve dealt with years of this! We need to work together, or we’re fucked. Why don’t you geniuses understand that?”
Martin cleared his throat, sighed and walked over to Najeel. The two men shook hands with grim faces and spared not a single word.
“Sorry,” Dante said sheepishly.
“No, Dante,” Martin said. “When you’re right, you’re right. Unable to resist, he added, “I’ll just have to respect the thin skin of my esteemed colleague.”
Najeel glanced up and his face clouded over for a moment before he cocked his head, raised his fist and displayed the middle finger of his right hand.
“For the second time this week,” Martin said, folding his bulging arms across his barrel chest, “you make me proud. Finally, you display the appropriate response. I have taught you well.”
What happened next made Dante’s jaw drop. Najeel chuckled.
“Holy shit,” Dante said. “It’s a new world.” Turning to Holly, he said. “We need to get out of here so these guys can make love.”
At that, it was Martin’s turn to flip the bird. Holly followed Dante out into the hallway as she laughed. “What the hell was all that about?”
“You only just met those two. I’ve been working with both of them for two years. Before the...events, all they did was argue like a couple of super-genius assholes between bouts of building ground-breaking technology.”
“So they either fight or fuck,” Holly said.
Dante stopped in shock, then burst out with tension-releasing laughter. “I never thought of it that way, but you’re right. But really, they’re only happy when they have projects and data to work with.” Dante took a step back and reached under his gray hoodie, then produced the immersion xirclet with the flourish of a Vegas magician.
“How the hell…” Holly began. She took the device quickly when Dante held it out to her, then he produced another. “You clipped them both? I had no idea you were such a klepto.”
“Yeah,” Dante said. “Misdirection. Let’s give them some data to work with. Where’s your new office?”
> “I guess we could play now,” she said. “They said we could, but I think they meant later. I could use a break. Let’s go.”
“So,” Dante replied as they reached the end of the hallway and waited for the elevator. “What do you say you and I go somewhere…a bit more private…” He raised one eyebrow and leaned against the wall and gave her an exaggerated wink in a parody of flirting that made her laugh.
“You are such a dork,” she said, and before he could dodge, she punched him in the shoulder.
They rode the elevator up from the basement research levels, then walked across the main building lobby that gleamed with rectangular black marble columns and seating areas populated with black leather chairs and couches with chrome tube frames. The whole place resembled a chic New York nightclub, only brightly lit and populated with tech nerds drinking coffee and engaging in animated discussions on everything company-related. It was often said that the lobby produced most of the Plexcorp’s innovation. That saying wasn’t far off the mark.
At the end of the lobby, they took the set of elevators leading up to the management floors. Dante was shocked to find Holly’s new office was the Plexcorp main lobby in miniature. “How the hell did you get away with this?” he asked as Holly closed the office suite door behind him. He turned in a circle, taking it all in, then stood facing the unoccupied receptionist desk. “Wait a minute...this was Sally Cordina’s office?”
Holly fixed him with a Cheshire cat grin that sent electricity up his spine. “This whole floor is cleared out after our little coup. Its ours. You can have an office here, too if you want. She headed over to a long office lounge couch and slipped the xirclet over her forehead. Dante made himself comfortable on the couch’s twin just five feet away, separated by a massive glass coffee table. “See you in-game, Kavakado,” she said.
Chapter 6
Kalmond moved quickly through the “save game” portal as soon as he hit the lobby, not bothering to check any of the world chat windows, even though they were full of text moving by at a brisk clip. By that level of chatter, something was going on in the world. Kalmond simply didn’t have time to get into it. He needed to focus on the quests.
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