Driskroll quoted that oft-repeated line from a tech blogger who said that about Gideon ten years ago, cementing the multi-billionaire’s image with the public ever since. The reputation was well-deserved. In four years of going to the annual Plexcorp headquarters all-hands meeting, he never once saw Gideon crack a smile. It looked like he wore a mask.
“First I’ve heard of it,” Kalmond said. “But I wouldn’t put it past the devs. Gideon’s been doing things differently these days.”
“That’s all over the internet, too,” Driskroll said.
An adventurer walked past them both and went into Driskroll’s shop.
“Well, I gotta go make some circs,” Driskroll said. “See ya.”
“The Orc is very strange,” Rock said. “But I find all above-grounders strange.”
“What about me?” Kalmond asked.
“I find you strangest of all,” Rock grumbled.
“It’s only going to get stranger from here,” Kalmond said.
When the arrow hit his left shoulder and set his left side on fire, Kalmond began to think the Realm was reading his thoughts and punishing him accordingly. Given the nature of the immersion technology, that wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. That certainly would explain the four trolls heading his way, followed by two questers with the horns of mylos floating above their heads. One of the adventurers was a human female warrior, the other female sea dwarf.
Kalmond deflected the second arrow with the axe of warding, but the reflected shot flew wide, missing the attacker. The human let loose another arrow with distressing speed, and this one stuck Kalmond very close to the first. The strong fire resistance of his armor protected him from the worst of the fire damage, but the base damage was significant. As Kalmond used his telekinesis spell to push back the two trolls, the human took the opportunity to backpedal and switch bows. The third arrow carried a lighting enchantment that slowed Kalmond significantly. He’d lose 5000 hitpoints and was distressingly far from returning the favor.
By this time, the sea dwarf had closed the gap and struck out with a two-handed sword. Klang! The sword sparked as it bounced off Rock’s shell. She appeared from nowhere and turned on the dwarf with her scimitar to deliver a leisurely blow that took down the dwarf’s health bar by nearly half. Kalmond was gladder than ever that he chose not to fight the dillo. They were “rock” indeed.
While the dwarf tangled with Rock, Kalmond tried to get within range of the human with her damn bow. The attack revealed she was a level twenty-three. She was fast. Kalmond wasn’t really sure what he would do when he got to her, considering the level difference. He was angry enough to find out.
When a fourth and fifth arrow landed perfect hits to Kalmond’s legs and slowed him to a crawl, he truly thought he was finished. That was when Urtoast broadsided the warrior with a cold blast, knocking her back
“No, you don’t!” Urtoast shouted over voice chat. “Zombo, to arms!”
“Don’t pick on lower-level characters!” Zombo replied after nailing the warrior with a crossbow bolt.
“Oh great,” Driskroll interjected on a private voice channel. “Do-gooders. Just what we need. And them in character, too.”
Kalmond chugged a health potion followed by a rejuvenation elixir, then turned to check on Rock. He needn’t have bothered. Rock had the outmatched dwarf backed up against one of the huts. Only her ears and beady little eyes protruded from her shell. She simply raised her naturally-armored arm or turned her shell against whatever the level nineteen dwarf threw at her. Kalmond laughed heartily when she finished the dwarf with a chop to the neck that looked as easy as lopping the leafy end off a carrot. The dwarf’s head tumbled to the ground, and Rock’s head popped back up. She paused to produce a rough cloth she used to wipe the blood and meat from her crude but effective scimitar.
“Where the hell were you?” Kalmond replied to Driskroll.
“In my shop,” the orc replied. “Standing ready to sell healing potions to the hearty fighters messing up my town.”
“Your town?” Kalmond barked.
Driskroll laughed and replied, “It’s figure of speech. Anyway, you all have it under control, looks like. I’m looking out my window and see that turtle thing just slaughtered a dwarf like nobody’s business.”
Urtoast and Zombo made short work of the human warrior. For the first time, Kalmond noticed that both adventurers were paladins aligned good. Driskroll was right, they were do-gooders. Maybe that’s what the town needs, Kalmond thought. They didn’t even loot the corpse. Urtoast walked his way, but Kalmond passed by him to loot the fresh kill.
“I told her ‘no harm no foul,’” Urtoast said, appearing over Kalmond’s shoulder. “No need to take all her stuff.”
“I didn’t make that deal with her,” Kalmond said. “And these Mylos idiots are nothing but harm.”
“Without evil in the realm,” Urtoast replied. “How can there be good?”
Kalmond groaned and rolled his eyes. “Keep telling yourself that.”
He recovered two longbows, one enchanted with lighting, the other with fire. In his hands, the crossbow would be more accurate, but the bows were both +13 with enchantments. They’d do nicely. Even though he was set up for taking damage, especially with the plate mail and the axe of warding, he got tired of dancing on the edge of death to meet the bigger challenges. He looked forward to softening his targets from now on.
He didn’t find much more on the bodies as the Realm saw fit to withhold some items. Life in the circles wouldn’t be much fun if you lost every item every time you got killed by another player. But Kalmond was satisfied with the two thousand circs he recovered and the five healing potions.
“I’m kinda disappointed in you,” Urtoast confessed.
“Sorry to bust your bubble,” Kalmond said. “Is it OK with you if I go save the Realm again?” Shit, Kalmond thought. He’d not meant to give that away.
“I knew it!” Zombo exclaimed. “He’s on another mission.” He turned to Kalmond with an eager voice. “Are you setting up for another Realm-wide conflict?”
“Not at liberty to say,” Kalmond replied. “Seriously, though. I appreciate the help. I’m in your debt.”
“We just love the Realm,” Zombo said.
“Sure,” Kalmond replied, then walked away with Rock lumbering behind. Then an idea stopped him dead in his tracks. He was about to miss out on a golden opportunity to capitalize on the interest of two adventurers. Kalmond turned back to Urtoast and said, “Before I go on my next quest, can you help me build a palisade wall?”
“Sure,” Zombo spoke first and dispelled the impression that he was a rube. “For some circs.”
Kalmond wondered for a moment if he wasn’t being hustled. “I’m short right now,” Kalmond lied, “But how about I give you the job of town security?”
“Is that a thing?” Zombo asked.
“Not officially, but if I give you building permissions and you build and guard the wall, I will arrange discounts with all the vendors.”
“That doesn’t seem like a good deal,” Zombo replied. His companion’s lack of comment made Kalmond think Urtoast agreed. He certainly didn’t jump at the offer.
“Think about that, though,” Kalmond said. “This is a beta area with a new dungeon just opened with another new dungeon opened up below that. You’ll get discount prices on the newest, rarest loot.”
“Since you put it that way,” Zombo said. “I’m in.”
Kalmond turned to Urtoast who replied, “Well, we could use the circs to buy weapons and supplies. Fighting for right and good takes lots of resources.”
“I like the way you hold character,” Kalmond said. He was a little impressed, if not a bit annoyed as well.
Kalmond brought up the alder menu and hastily added permissions for Urtoast and Zombo to build defenses. He also set them up with discounts. He considered giving them a lot in town because there were more than a few available, but held that back as an additional reward.
He stood for a while as Zombo and Urtoast went immediately to the woods to gather trees. In a few minutes, tall trees around the town faded out, leaving a bigger clearing between the town and the woods. Kalmond was glad to witness the first walls go up to the North. The two paladins left a significant clearing between the wall and the forest so people on guard towers might see approaching attackers.
Kalmond had a quest to redeem, so he took the portal back to Dundree. The first thing he noticed were the guard towers. Runecaster and McCrushin had been busy. A quick check of the town stats showed defenses were up to sixty percent and his reputation with the town had reached 900 of 1000.
The town’s population was twenty-seven out of forty. He didn’t see the new houses at first, but they were there at the far end of town by the east wall. Kalmond wondered if the new villagers were strictly silicon NPCs or brains in jars. He decided to check in with Martin to find out.
“What’s up, Dante,” Martin said in reply to Kalmond’s chat request. Each time he heard the name ‘Dante,’ it took him a few fractions of a second to answer to it.
“What kind of activity are you seeing in the Lesser Realm?” Kalmond asked.
“It’s the real world, kid,” Martin replied. “You keep talking like that, and I’m pulling you out.” Kalmond heard a muffled voice in the background that he knew had to belong to Najeel.
“Just tell me what’s going on,” Kalmond said. “And stop threatening me with that. You know you can’t if we all want to stay out of prison.”
“Well, Najeel is freaking out,” Martin replied. “He’s urging me not to pull you out, says you’re the key to this whole thing.”
A thump and scrape assaulted Kalmond’s ears in a way that could only mean someone handling a microphone roughly. “Hello? Hello?” Najeel’s voice came over the channel far too loudly.
“I’m here, Doctor,” Kalmond said. “No need to shout.”
“Ah,” Najeel replied. “I was not prepared to hear your character voice. How very strange.”
“What’s up, Doc,” Kalmond replied. He’d always wanted to say that.
“I understand what Virgil means by the ‘Agents of Mylos,’” Najeel said excitedly. “Gideon’s subconscious has merged with the Realm algorithms. Parts of his consciousness are merging with the Virgil subroutines and vice versa. The same thing is happening with the transplanted organs.”
Kalmond balked. “That’s what you’re calling the brains in jars? They’re human brains Gideon tried to turn into computers—a failed experiment. I thought you were trying to fix this?”
“This is what I’m trying to tell you,” Najeel said. “Keep doing what you are doing. The brains are finding ways to cope by playing the game. You are showing them how to do this by giving them context. That is why they keep giving you missions. That is why the towns are forming. The Realm is learning from you.”
“Quests,” Kalmond corrected.
“Quests. Yes, of course. I must use the proper terms. Thank you,” Najeel replied, oddly accommodating. “The organs are taking over some of the procedural elements, and the existing hardware AI is dealing with that beautifully. I only wish Gideon were conscious so I could…”
“Doctor,” Kalmond said, a bit too firmly. His deep respect for Dr. Boussaid made it difficult to interrupt him, but he had no choice. “I’d love to get the details from you later, but I’m kind of pressed for time.”
“I understand,” Najeel said. “You’re doing a fine job.” The doctor paused. “And I’m proud of you.”
The channel rustled again, and Martin came back on. “Your girl Holly is busy playing the game, too. She’s already in the Sixth Circle. You better hurry. The stronger those towns get, the more Gideon’s brain signature spreads out into the system. He is becoming the game.”
“So, what’s the significance of getting to the Sixth Circle?” Kalmond asked.
“We’re not sure. We think some of the hard-coded procedural algorithms are setting limits on what you can do with Mylos in the rest of the Realm. Because the Sixth Circle is one-hundred-percent created by the system that you might have different powers there.”
“So we have to cancel Gideon—Mylos out here first,” Kalmond said.
“Something like that,” Martin replied.
“Now I know why that answer is so annoying,” Kalmond grumbled.
“Yeah,” Martin said. “Sure is. Best answer I have for now. Chauncy out.”
Click. The channel closed. Kalmond stood near the portal with Rock at his side. He never stopped to wonder if Rock and his kind were individual human brains or the collective dreams of the same. For all he knew, the dillo might be the dream creatures of a single human mind struggling to make sense of its life. It didn’t matter. If it talked like a real person, acted like one, expressed the same thoughts and feelings, then it was a real person. Real enough, anyway.
Kalmond sighed and turned to Rock, who stood near the portal with her long, scaly snout sniffing the air. He sidled up to her and said, “I have some things to do. You’re welcome to look around the town. I’ll come back for you when I need you.” Rock waddled away without a word, sniffing as she went, moving within inches of townspeople and looking them up and down.
Kalmond went to redeem the basilisk egg quest right away. He found Molly in the small front room of her house. Across the small, rough-hewn wood table sat a man Kalmond didn’t recognize at first. The dwarf stood for a moment taking in a face that seemed familiar, but which he couldn’t place. Large, brown eyes fixed him to the spot with care-worn lines around the temples. The man smiled at him to reveal a row of small, white teeth set in a narrow mouth almost hidden by a wild, bushy, black beard. The realization hit Kalmond like a landslide.
“Urseon?” Kalmond asked. “You look so different.”
“Not so terribly different, but enough.” Urseon rose to his full height to tower over his dwarven friend. He placed two massive hands on Kalmond’s shoulders. “Hello, friend.”
“Your voice is the same, though,” Kalmond replied.
“Much is the same,” Urseon replied. “Much is different.”
“I’m so glad it’s you,” Kalmond said.
“And I am glad to finally know who and what I am,” Urseon said, lowering his hands.
“You mean…” Kalmond trailed off.
“Yes. I died last year in a Russian prison. I remember dying, but can’t recall my name or much else from that other life.” The sadness in his eyes brought a lump to Kalmond’s throat.
“I know this is some kind of dream, I know some machinery is involved and I think you can supply me with more details.”
Kalmond shifted on his feet and stared at the floor for a moment as his stomach churned. When he finally met Urseon’s eyes again, he found the strength to do the right thing. “I’m sorry, Urseon. I don’t think I should tell you. It could hurt you.”
The bear-man didn’t hesitate in his reply. “You are a true friend. I believe you. Perhaps I will discover the truth on my own when I am ready.” He turned to Molly, who sat still with a pleasant expression frozen perfectly on her face as she focused on some point far away. “The rest have no idea.”
“They might,” Kalmond replied. “In their own way.”
Urseon nodded his head, then sat back down with Molly. When Kalmond approached the old portal mage, she moved again as if someone pressed an invisible pause button.
“Hello, Bear Dwarf,” Molly said. “Did you complete your quest?”
“Yes, I did,” Kalmond said, removing the basilisk egg. She took it from his hands and stood, staring into the sphere.
Gong! Quest complete: retrieve the basilisk egg.
The XP bubble rising from the egg read 1380. “Yes!” Kalmond exclaimed, and his jubilation seemed to cause the flash of light that announced his arrival at level seventeen.
Kalmond the stone dwarf
Level 17
XP 23184
STA 38
STR 36
INT 35
AGI 36
CHA 36
MAN 33
MLVL 989
Hit Points 14934
“Three more levels to go,” Kalmond said. “But less than two days left.” The shadows grew long through Molly’s open window. Kalmond stepped out into Molly’s courtyard to prepare for his next quest.
Chapter 18
The first thing Kalmond did at the enchantment workbench was transcribe one speed enchantment and one silence enchantment into his blank scrolls. He sacrificed the lighting bow he took from the dead warrior that Urtoast and Zombo killed, discovering that the bow also had a silence enchantment. He had to drink two more mana potions to get enough power to transcribe the silence enchantment to the blank scroll.
Next, he took the crossbow to the weapons workbench where he immediately applied the silence and speed enchantments. He used the final speed scroll on a gold ring he’d held back for just such an occasion. Now he’d be faster with all weapons and doubly-fast with anything enchanted with speed. He placed the speedy, stealthy crossbow back in his inventory grinning at the many useful applications for such a weapon. He could hardly wait to use it.
While at the workbench, he broke down looted arrows into wood and made more bolts. He had about forty bolts for the crossbow now, with all his new speed, he planned to use most, if not all of them. Being a tank was great, but he was getting a bit tired of it, and now that he was nearing level twenty, it was well-past time to work on some other skills. His ranged weapon attacks needed help. All the enchanting and transcribing earned him 113 experience points.
Kalmond finished up and left the courtyard through the gate that opened into the town square. Villagers leaving the redberry crops at the far end of the village marked the end of the workday. Kalmond stopped by the central fountain to look over the much-improved village of Dundree.
The thin stream of cloudy water that ran through the square had turned into a healthy creek about two of his body lengths wide. It divided the village neatly in half and passed through the fountain where some sort of unseen device diverted some of it through a column of rock where children played, and sheep and goats sometimes drank.
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