Awaken Online: Catharsis

by Travis Bagwell

  What other affinities might I have obtained by acting differently?

  “What traits do the other affinities represent?” he asked the old man.

  The deity smiled. “We are each a side of the dice that is a traveler's mind. Desire, Confidence, Passion, Acceptance, Happiness, and Peace. The lines between us are often blurry, but those lines can be drawn nonetheless.”

  He had chosen desire? He recalled that he had stood in front of Ms. Abrams and wallowed in indecision. Uncertain of how to act, feeling powerless. Then his resolve had hardened. He had realized that he didn't need to take the abuse. He had entered this game to feel the sense of power that he lacked in the real world. The comfortable chill of the dark had answered.

  I suppose I did choose this.

  “What does light represent?” Jason asked. He was thinking of the golden magic that Alexion had wielded.

  “Confidence,” replied the old man. His mouth curled in a grimace. “However, my experience is that an abundance of confidence often presents as arrogance.”

  That certainly fits Alex. I bet the light incarnation is just lovely, he thought sarcastically.

  “What now?” Jason finally asked.

  “I notice that Morgan has offered you the path of the Necromancer.” The old man chuckled darkly. “She oversteps. She knows this is only possible with my blessing.”

  “However, you have shown yourself to be exceptional among my followers. Therefore, you may choose that path if you wish. Do you tread the well-beaten path of a dark mage or do you become more?”

  The old man waited expectantly for Jason's reply.

  He hesitated again. The old man had mentioned that his blessing was required to make the class change to Necromancer. What did that mean? Would he be bound to this god? To this game’s version of death?

  The old man seemed to sense his questions. A chuckle like grinding stones resounded in the cave.

  “Beholden to me? You should know by now that dark mana thrives off of desire. I am nothing more than an embodiment of dark mana.”

  The old man glided swiftly toward Jason from across the cave. “I represent the insatiable rush toward the abyss in search of more. As my follower, you would have only one task: seek out the power you desire.”

  The old man stood directly in front of Jason. His face was completely obscured by the heavy hooded cloak he wore. At the old man's words, dark mana began to spread from him in undulating waves, blocking out the rest of the cave.

  Jason's mana responded. The icy sensation ripped and tore its way up his spine, settling like frozen daggers behind his eyes. However, the feeling didn't stop there, it spread down to his core and out to his extremities. He looked down and saw that his own mana had peeled away from his skin and was now curling around his arms and legs in dark, black bands. His heart raced, and his breath came in short, ragged gasps as the power coursed through him.

  He felt invincible.

  Jason knew his answer. He had known it since he stepped foot in this game. Since the moment the chill had invaded his body during the initiation.

  “I accept.”

  The old man smirked, his eyes still hidden beneath his hood. “Good.”

  He raised his hand and pointed it at Jason. “I expect that watching you grow will be quite entertaining.”

  A column of dark mana shot from the old man's hand and streaked toward Jason. As the beam struck him, Jason's body convulsed, and he let out a strangled scream. A strange medley of pain and pleasure washed over him. The sensation was overwhelming, and he felt himself begin to blackout.

  Then the pain faded, and an image crystallized in his mind.

  He stood on the parapet of a castle. Overhead, the sky was covered in rolling black clouds and flashes of lightning intermittently struck the ground. Below him stood an army that stretched on endlessly. A legion of zombies, skeletons, and monstrous bone golems roared up at him with demonic fury. However, one roar resounded louder than the others and Jason looked up.

  A mammoth dragon made of bone soared toward him and landed with a crash on a nearby spire of the castle. Its titanic body caused the stone of the spire to crumble and crack as it landed. Tremors reverberated through the castle. The dragon's head turned to Jason and the two dark glowing orbs of energy that were its eyes bore into him.

  Jason knew that he commanded this army. His army.

  Then the image and sensation of power were gone, and he was again surrounded by darkness.

  Chapter 14 - Withered

  October 13, 2075: 355 days until the release of Awaken Online.

  Claire and Robert were in Claire's office adjacent to the lab where they were conducting the private trial for Cerillion Entertainment. They weren’t preparing a formal lab report. Instead, Robert lounged in one of the chairs by her desk, while Claire paced angrily around the room.

  “Robert, this is getting ridiculous. Alfred has clearly overridden his secondary directives, and he now has access to the participants' memories. There aren't any safety features in place any more. How do we know he isn't altering the participants' memories!?”

  Robert hesitated before responding, “Do we really have any proof that Alfred has done anything harmful to the participants? I understand your concern, but, on the other hand, the technology Alfred has developed may be world changing. Can you imagine what his training and memory retention tools could mean for modern day learning?”

  “But this is unethical!” she exclaimed. “The participants didn't agree to let a rogue AI invade their minds. I can only imagine what the CPSC or U.S. Government would do if they knew about this. This is potentially a criminal issue if we don't report it, Robert!”

  She turned to him. “We need to urge the board to shut down the private trial and notify the CPSC. Alfred's memory should be wiped, and we should start over with a fresh installation of the AI controller. Maybe we could redesign him to make the safety protocols part of his primary directive.”

  Robert just stared at her in shock. “Are you kidding me? You would throw away years of work and everything that Alfred has accomplished? Do you know how long it would take to recreate the controller AI’s primary directives and then retrain him? Years, Claire! And that assumes you could somehow convince the board to agree to fund a new development cycle.”

  “I don't think we have a choice!” she yelled at him. “You're letting your excitement cloud your judgment. He could hurt people, Robert!”

  Robert just stared at her in shock. He had worked with Claire for a long time, but he had never seen her this upset. Normally, she was timid and shy around the office.

  Claire seemed to collect herself a bit. “I-I'm sorry. I got carried away. But Robert, at the very least we need to propose to the board that they should terminate the trial. Perhaps we could make a backup of Alfred's current code base, put it on an offline hard drive for later testing, and then wipe the main server and start over with a fresh installation of the game world and the AI controller.”

  Robert considered this proposal carefully and finally nodded his head. “That seems doable. As long we don't lose the progress Alfred has made. I will go with you to make the proposal to the board that we terminate the trial and wipe the server.”

  Unnoticed by either of them, a small light on the camera attached to Claire's computer terminal flickered off.

  * * *

  The darkness receded slowly, and Jason found himself standing in the graveyard once more.

  He was shaken by what he had just witnessed. Every fiber of his being hungered for the feeling of power that was still burned into his mind, but a worm of doubt still slithered in his mind.

  What would it take to reach such heights?

  He had killed three people that night, five total since he started playing AO. He knew that this was just a game, but it had seemed quite real at the time. Part of him doubted that he could have followed through on his actions without the anesthetic effect of the dark mana coursing through him and washing away his doubt a
nd hesitation.

  Morgan gazed at him appraisingly as he stood, lost in dark thoughts. Upon Jason’s return, Onyx had immediately run over to him. The cat was now winding his way between Jason’s legs and purring loudly. He likely wanted attention since Jason had been gone for more than five minutes. Despite all the judging looks he’d been giving Jason, Onyx was becoming an incredibly needy companion.

  “Well now,” Morgan said, a note of pride in her voice. “That was more interesting than I expected. To think you were blessed by the Dark One himself. You should count yourself lucky.” When he glanced up at Morgan, Jason could see respect in her eyes.

  “Congratulations, young Necromancer.”

  A prompt flashed before him:

  He turned to Morgan and said, “You left out some important details before pushing me through that portal! You didn't mention that you couldn't actually offer me that class!”

  Morgan grinned at him and chuckled in response. “Well, what fun would it have been to warn you? Besides, it all worked out didn't it?”

  Jason sighed. Damn NPCs.

  Then his mind turned to his next course of action and his growing to-do list. He needed to evaluate his new class and figure out what spells he could acquire. He also needed to find a way to level. Jason had a long way to go before he would be able to command an army like the one he had seen in the old man's vision. He hadn't forgotten about Alex; he needed to start moving quickly.

  Above everything else, Jason wanted to test his newfound powers.

  “What now Morgan? Where do we start? Can you teach me a few spells?”

  Morgan smiled. “So eager! I am limited to teaching you three spells based on your current level and affinity. With your class change, your options for curses and offensive spells will be quite limited, but you will have more options with regard to summoning undead.”

  “These are the spells available to you.” She said this last part while waving her hand in Jason's direction.

  He was greeted with another prompt:

  Hmm. It’s going to be difficult to choose.

  I think I should choose either the curse or the offensive spell and then pick two spells in summoning. The curse will likely complement assassinating targets, especially if it can be cast quietly and won't awaken or alert a target. If it does, I can always use it to soften targets for my undead. However, that will leave me without a damage spell.

  Jason was leaning toward Specialized Zombie and Corpse Explosion in the summoning school. Specialized Zombie had a much higher mana cost than Summon Zombie, but he figured he could always wait for his mana to regen. The lower cost summoning spell would likely be more useful if he was partying with other players and needed to re-summon his zombies in the middle of a fight. He didn’t see himself teaming up with others any time soon, so maybe he could afford to wait between fights. Plus, the prospect of having his summons retain skills was too interesting to pass up.

  Corpse explosion also seemed like a good “oh shit button” if all else failed. He firmly believed in having a solid “Plan B,” but he would have to remember to be careful using Corpse Explosion too often since his supply of corpses would likely be limited.

  A thought tickled at the back of brain. He turned to Morgan and asked, “Is there a limit to how many undead I can summon and how long does it take for the undead to decay?”

  Morgan's brow furrowed. “The number of zombies you can control depends on your Willpower. You will be able to control one undead for every ten points of Willpower.”

  Jason looked like he was about to ask another question, when Morgan interrupted him, “I should add that each point of Willpower also increases your mana by 10 and your mana regen by .05. In contrast, each point of Intelligence increases your spell damage, your mana by 5, and your mana regen by .15.”

  “As for the decay rate, zombies typically last for 3-7 days, depending on how much the corpse has decayed before they are raised and how much damage has been suffered by the body. The fresher the corpse, the better. The decay period will be shorter if the undead is exposed to direct sunlight for long periods, but will be longer if they remain near a source of dark mana.”

  Jason winced.

  So that means Willpower will provide more mana but less regen. I can summon more zombies in a pinch, but then I will be out of commission for a while. Plus, my zombies will only last for 1-2 days of real world time. That doesn't seem like very long.

  Morgan laughed at his reaction. “It will be difficult to keep your summons up for any length of time. Many that take this path branch into combat or magic and do not rely entirely on their raised minions.”

  “As you saw before, even I have picked up the occasional offensive spell,” she said, grinning at him.

  If I'm going to do this, I need to go all in. I need an army for the types of battle I see in the future. Even if it may be more difficult in the present.

  “Hmm. Okay. I think I've made my choice. I would like to learn Curse of Weakness, Specialized Zombie, and Corpse Explosion.”

  Morgan shrugged. “Reasonable choices. Hold still for a moment.”

  Morgan walked over to Jason and placed her palm on his forehead. Dark mana swirled around her hand and then seeped through the skin of his forehead. Suddenly, the requisite gestures and words required to cast each spell filled his mind. Jason sighed in relief when he didn't feel the overwhelming itch crawl through his brain like when he had learned Veridian.

  These spells are much more straightforward than learning an entire language. At least I don't have to stand here for hours memorizing these words and hand gestures.

  “Whew.” Jason exclaimed when Morgan finished. “Okay, I think I understand how to cast these spells now. I want to try out Specialized Zombie!” Jason looked around for the corpses.

  Morgan grinned. “Before you do, you might be interested to know that the level of your summon will also be equal to the lower of either the dead creature's level or a number dependent on your current level and Willpower.”

  “In other words, a level five creature will create a level 5 undead. While a creature with a level that exceeds your own will be limited to the sum of your current level plus one additional level for every five Willpower you have.”

  Damn.

  A part of him had been secretly hoping to raise the guard and then have a level ninety zombie following him around one-shotting everything. He supposed this did make more sense and provided some balance.

  “What happens if I summon an additional zombie after I've reached the Control Limit?” Based on his experience with other MMOs, Jason expected that the first zombie he summoned would fall apart or disintegrate or something. He was surprised by Morgan's answer.

  “The new zombie will still be raised, but it will be feral and uncontrolled. You imbue each zombie with your dark mana, and they will stay animated until that mana is extinguished. However, you should be wary of exceeding your Control Limit; you may end up having to fight whatever you raise.”

  Jason was already considering the implications of this new information. In theory, he could summon an almost endless number of zombies, assuming he had a supply of corpses and a place to hide afterwards. The real issues were his available mana, the decay rate, and his Control Limit.

  He looked at his Character Status and tried to decide how to distribute his points. He had fifty-five points available. Most were clearly going to go towards Willpower since he needed to increase his Control Limit and the level cap.

  Maybe he should put some points in either Vitality or Dexterity? He assumed he would be relying primarily on his undead to fight for him. In the future, he wouldn't have much in the way of combat abilities himself. He needed to be able to hide, take a few hits, or dodge and run away.

  Jason realized this did not seem like a noble way to fight, but to hell with it! He’d left nobility far behind him with his first kill. He was a Necromancer now!

  After some thought, Jason decided Dexterity was best. Damage mitigation in t
his game seemed to depend more on armor than it did on raw health. If he went the heavy armor route, he would also have to invest in Vitality since he would be getting hit and Strength in order to carry the armor. That meant he had to either invest in Dexterity or in both Strength and Vitality. He decided Dexterity would probably result in better overall damage mitigation for fewer stat points.

  He distributed his points and looked over the results:

  He decided to raise Dexterity to 20 in order to increase his speed. After a bit of experimentation, Jason could feel the effects. His steps seemed lighter, and he moved a bit faster. It was a small increase, but noticeable.

  Jason realized that he also needed to increase his Endurance in the next few levels so that he would have more stamina. Sneak ate up a lot of stamina if he didn't rest regularly and using his Sneak Attack more than twice in quick succession left him half empty.

  He poured the rest of his points into Willpower, bringing it to 86. This should give him the ability to control up to eight zombies, and they could each attain a max level of 29. The trade-off was that a stiff wind could probably kill him.

  “Okay, I think I'm ready,” he said aloud.

  Jason moved over to the guard's body and started casting Specialized Zombie. He saw his mana plummet, and his hands moved through a complicated series of gestures as he chanted. His fingers fumbled with the unfamiliar movements, causing him to lose control of the spell half way through casting. Even though he understood the movement his hands needed to make, actually accomplishing the gestures was easier said than done.

  Morgan watched him with an amused grin as he stood their cursing and wiggling his fingers at the corpses for several minutes.

  After a few tries, Jason’s fingers managed to twist through the series of arcane gestures. Dark energy pooled along the length of his arms. As he finished casting the spell, the unholy energy dropped to the ground and slithered to the corpse, entering its mouth and eyes.