Forest (Gaia's Rebirth Book 1)

by Caiden Walker

  The pixie gave the cat’s head a small kick with her free foot. “Stupid tiger.” Then she got quiet. “But there aren’t tigers in this area.” The quiet extended. Nika and the others waited with various levels of impatience for her to get up to speed. “And now, I’m guessing that those coyotes back in the other area weren’t supposed to be that high of a level after all? I’d thought maybe they were uber high to keep players on the path. No, huh?”

  “No,” Nika said. “And I’m not buying the innocent bit either.”

  “Well, I really don’t care if you buy it or not, I didn’t change your stupid game.” She paused. “Well, okay, I changed it a little. But only to add a Pixie race and a thief slash hacker class. Both of which were sadly lacking in your game to begin with.”

  Ash stepped forward. “So you didn’t have anything to do with those coyotes jumping in level by about tenfold? Or us being locked in here?”

  “Of course not. I came in at the same time you did. Actually, just a few minutes after to be completely honest. I didn’t want Mrs. Nolan to see the additional race and class choice and know something was amiss.”

  “Wait a minute,” Nika said, her hopes of blaming all her trouble on the pixie quickly vanishing before her eyes. “Are you saying you hacked your way into the game? Because that simply isn’t possible.”

  The girl smirked. “For most people, no, it isn’t. But for me, it was totally doable. Hence my presence in the game.”

  “How?”

  The pixie just looked at her. “You really think I’m going to tell you? While the tiger has my foot between his razor sharp teeth?” Her little head flounced. “Not a chance.”

  Nika mimicked the girl’s pose, crossing her arms over her chest. “And if you think we’re letting you go so you can fly off and disappear to wreak even more havoc in my game, you are sadly mistaken.”

  The girl just looked at her, growing more uncertain as Nika let the time stretch. But still she didn’t talk, and finally, Nika grew tired of waiting. They were only half way to the town, and she really didn’t want to face the night creatures until they were a couple of levels stronger.

  “Fine,” Nika said, “have it your way.” Looking down at the tiger, Nika smiled. “You just keep her little foot tight in there, okay?”

  She would have sworn the tiger smiled and nodded. Well, as close as he could come to it, what with a pixie’s foot in his mouth and all. Still, she got the definite impression that he was onboard with her plan.

  “So we should probably keep on going, right?” Ash said. “We’re halfway, but from here out we really don’t know what’s going to hit us. It’d be good to give ourselves plenty of time just in case.”

  “Yeah,” Dean said, joining in, but still ogling the pixie. “I say we let the tiger eat her. I mean, what’s the worse that can happen? She’ll reboot right?”

  Nika nodded. “You bring up a very good point.”

  “Hey!” the girl yelled. “That’s not playing fair!”

  “Spoken by the girl who managed to hack her way into a controlled beta test,” Nika said, the growl still evident in her voice.

  The girl made a derisive sound. “Some controlled beta test if the game keeps changing on you.”

  “Hey, Nika, can I talk to you for a minute?” Ash asked. “Over here.”

  Looking around, Nika saw Ash had moved over to the edge of the clearing. After motioning to the tiger to stay, she walked over to her.

  “What is it?” She trusted Ash, even if she had only known the girl a few days.

  “Just a thought.” Ash hesitated. “Okay, so you know I would like nothing more than to finish the game, right?”

  Nika nodded, waiting.

  “Well, that being said, what if the rules don’t apply to the pixie? If she hacked her way in, then they probably don’t know she’s even in here with us. And you turned off their camera view, didn’t you?”

  Nika glanced over her shoulder at the pixie, still floating above the giant feline. “You’re saying she might be able to exit the game.”

  Ash gave a small shrug. “It’s worth a try. I know you can see me and Dean’s stats and info. Can you see hers too?”

  She was a bit surprised that Ash knew that, but then she had studied the game. Sighing, she shook her head. “Not unless I make her a member of the party.”

  Ash started biting her lip in concentration. “Would her stats give you any indication of whether or not she was under the same restraints we are?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing I can think of. And I’m more than a bit leery of adding her to the group. She says she’s a hacker, but what if she is really a spy sent to keep the company in the loop? Or lying about being the one changing the game?”

  “I don’t think she’s behind the changes. But I hadn’t thought about the spy thing. I mean she might not even look like that in the real world. Shoot, she could be anybody.” She stopped, her eyes widening. “But if she is a spy, then I think you might want to reconsider and add her to the party.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you control the party’s camera settings.”

  Oh, shit, Nika thought. She was right. If the girl was a spy, then most likely she was broadcasting a feed straight back to the company.

  “There is one more reason to add her to the party,” Ash said slowly. “Once we get access to the map, we’ll be able to see where all the individual party members are.”

  Nika looked at Ash with new respect. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. Thanks for this. And if someway she gets us out of here, I’ll make damn sure you get a full run of the game anytime you want.”

  Ash swallowed and nodded. “Thanks.”

  Turning back, they both crossed the clearing toward the rest of the group. Dean gave them a questioning look and Ash whispered in his ear that she would fill him in later. That seemed to satisfy him, at least for the moment.

  Nika stepped up to the pixie. “Okay, upon conferring with one of my team, I’ve decided to let you join our party.”

  The pixie’s eyes lit up. “Really?” Then some of the enthusiasm left her face. “But I bet there are strings attached aren’t there?”

  “No strings, exactly,” Nika said. “Except that we expect you to help us battle and level up. And more importantly, not to keep secrets from the group.”

  The pixie thought before speaking. “You mean secrets about the in-game play, right? I’m not telling you who I am in the real world so you can have them come and unplug me.”

  Nika considered. “Upon your honor, do you give your word that you are not affiliated with Gaia’s Rebirth in any way?”

  “I do.” The girl paused. “I can tell you that I actually live in a country an ocean removed from your company and that to my knowledge I have never met anyone from there until meeting you here today. Does that cover it well enough for you?”

  “It will do.” Nika turned to Dean. “Before I grant her party status, is that all right with you?”

  Dean glanced at Ash who nodded and winked at him. “As long as she follows your requirements, I’m okay with it.”

  “So be it.” Nika paused. “Now that we have an understanding, and you have my word, I’d like to ask a favor of you.”

  The pixie gave her a knowing look. “I knew it couldn’t be that easy.”

  “No, it is really. You already have my word. But now that you have nothing to lose, I’d like for you to try to log out. It would be good to know if you can exit the game while still on your own. Otherwise, once you join our party, you are likely going to be held here for better or worse until the game is finished.”

  Her head cocked to the side as she studied Nika. “You seriously can’t log out?”

  “Unfortunately, that is the case. And when we tried to make it to the back door I had installed, someone upped the level of the coyotes and sent us back to the save point.”

  The girl thought for a full minute before answering. “That’s not good. Give me a minute.”r />
  Then her face went passive as her eyes began darting, reading the screen only visible to her, her hands and fingers making the choices. Slowly her face went from passive to angry.

  “That bites!”

  Nika gave her a sad smile. “I take it you can’t exit either?”

  “No, the game is telling me that my duty lies here until the balance is restored.”

  Nika realized she hadn’t tried logging off for a full day, taking the game at its word. She tried quickly and got the same message the girl had just spoken of.

  At least she knew the pixie had tried.

  The girl looked thoughtful. “You seem to be taking this really well, and I really appreciate being able to join the party. Once we get to Riser’s Creek they should have a communication station with a virtual terminal.” She grinned at Nika. “I’ve never hacked a virtual computer before, but it’s worth a shot.”

  Nika swallowed, the girl’s offer taking her by surprise. “Thanks for the offer, but system control told me it isn’t possible to affect the game’s programming while inside the game.”

  The girl’s grin widened. “Kind of like it isn’t possible to hack your way into the game?”

  She had a point, Nika thought. “I’d really appreciate you giving it a go, anyway. And I promise once we get out of here, I won’t try to hunt you down and press any criminal charges.”

  The girl’s laughter tinkled in the wind. Nika couldn’t tell if that was her natural laughter or if it was enhanced by her chosen class. Either way, it was lovely to hear.

  “Oh, I’m not worried about criminal charges. I’ve got a get out of jail free card.”

  And then they were four. Well, technically five as the tiger didn’t seem to plan on leaving them anytime soon.

  Chapter Twelve: Traveling with the Pixie

  Ash had seen how Nika's eyes had widened when the pixie joined the party. But she hadn't elaborated on just what had surprised her. If Ash had to guess, taking into account that the girl had created her own class and hacked her way into the game, she was probably maxed out with powerful stats.

  Hopefully, Nika would fill her in soon. Until then, Ash planned on keeping the pixie very close just in case. In truth, she wished she could cut down a vine and attach it to her like a leash on a dog. But Nika seemed to be going on trust, so it probably wasn't a good idea to suggest such a thing.

  But if the girl tried to fly off, party member or no, Ash was going to hit her with a fire spell.

  The path had narrowed again, allowing only two of them to walk abreast. The tiger had decided to walk beside Nika, forming an unspoken bond with her. Yet another mystery member. But at least he had been around long enough that Ash didn't feel the need to watch him like a hawk.

  With the two of them leading the way, Dean and the pixie came up next. The pixie actually opting to walk alongside them rather than fly. Maybe her wings got tired? Or maybe she was actually being considerate?

  "So," Dean started, glancing over at his traveling companion, "what exactly are you? A fairy? Like Tinkerbell?"

  The girl gave him a small, shy smile. "Pixie actually."

  He cleared his throat. "Um, aren't they supposed to be a bit, well, smaller?"

  The tinkling laugh again. "Actually, they are supposed to be a lot smaller," she said. "Unfortunately, I entered the height calculation using centimeters and the Gaia system used inches." She sighed. "I should be tiny, which wouldn't be so hard on my wings to keep me in the air."

  "But your wings are sized to match the rest of you, right?"

  She nodded. "Yes, but this body isn't quite as light as it should be. Diminishing returns and all that."

  He nodded knowingly, but Ash was betting he didn't have a clue what she was talking about. They traveled on in silence for a few minutes.

  Then Ash realized that she had never introduced herself.

  "I'm Ash, by the way," she said. "The dopey man there is Dean, and I take it you know who Nika is." The pixie nodded. "So what do we call you?" She knew the girl wasn't about to give her a real name, but she was growing tired of thinking of her as the pixie.

  The girl lifted a small shoulder. "You can call me what you like, but the game name I chose was Louella. I think it means Elf Princess or something like that."

  "A good a name as any," Ash said.

  “Heads up, people,” Nika called back. “It's lighter up ahead, and I'm betting there will be a welcoming party.”

  There was.

  The clearing was filled with wolves. Big, gray wolves that were each twice the size of the coyotes they had previously fought. Ash swallowed when she saw their longer health bars and was glad that they hadn't upped the game difficulty yet.

  The pixie, Louella, Ash reminded herself, lifted up into the air and out over them. Then she raised her arms and gathered the air into a shining ball in her hands before tossing it at the nearest wolf. The wolf literally vanished in a sparkling of glitter.

  Holy crap!

  The rest of the party filed into the clearing, forming a somewhat circular line in front of the tree line behind them. It made it easier to hit the creatures without a party member getting in the way.

  Ash leveled a spell at another wolf, and its health went down about a third of the way. Damn. The pixie was over powered after all. As she prepared a second spell, she watched as Dean's double shot hit the same wolf and took it down to zero health points. It too disappeared into a shower of glitter.

  So they could one, two punch them like they had the coyotes before. Good to know. A quick count showed twelve wolves, two of which were already dealt with. A third disappeared under Nika's blade, followed closely by a fourth taken out by the tiger.

  Ash noticed that the two close combat fighters had taken damage and tried out one of her new healing spells on Nika. She was pleased when she saw her health bar fill back up to near full. On a whim, she tossed a heal on the tiger too, but it didn't work. Heals must only work on party members.

  She thought it was only fair to warn their feline friend, so she started to make her way around the tree line to stand beside him. "My heals don't work on you. Don't get too low on health or you'll..." she stopped, realizing that she had no idea what he'd do. Would he reboot back to save like them? Wasn't that only true of players?

  What happened when an NPC died in battle? Would he re-spawn? There were a few need to know questions that brought up, but the main thing right now was to keep the tiger alive so they wouldn't have to find out the answers to those questions the hard way.

  He didn’t seem to understand her, and feeling a bit silly she mimed dying and pointed at him and then back toward the trees. Whether he got her little show or not, at least he stood back while the party dealt with the rest of the wolves. Hell, with the airborne backup, the battle was a short-lived one, anyway. His help really wasn't needed, which was a good thing.

  Once the wolves had all disappeared into the cyber nothingness, they gathered at the center of the clearing to count their gold. Each of them had amassed another twenty gold apiece. Down somewhat from the last battle, but then they were splitting it between more players. Did the tiger get a cut?

  Surely not, if he was an NPC? But the funny thing was, Ash thought, he wasn’t much acting like one. Glancing over at Louella, she started to wonder. If the test could be hacked once, it could be hacked twice, right? The trouble was, a tiger couldn’t talk, so there was no way of finding out.

  "Okay, everyone, gather around," Nika called out, waving them all in. "And good work with that speedy heal spell, Ash, it was appreciated."

  Ash just nodded, wondering if she should get the woman off to the side for a quick, private debriefing. Of course, Nika was one step ahead of her.

  "'As you all have probably noticed, our newest team member here is extremely powerful."

  Louella had the grace to look embarrassed. "Sorry," she said. "But I wasn't sure you all would let me join your party, and I had to be sure I could handle things on my own." Her head
ducked. "I'd change it now if I could."

  Nika put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "If we're being honest, I should probably tell you that normally I would be really pissed that someone manipulated the game as you have." She shook her head. "But the truth is right now, all I care about is getting out of this game and it's beginning to look like the only way out is through. That being said, I for one am glad you're a bit on the over-powered side."

  Ash raised her hand, not wanting to just interrupt. Nika saw and nodded to her.

  "I tried to heal the tiger, but the spell bounced back. I think that's because he's not a party member?" She didn't want to actually accuse their feline friend of crashing the party without more evidence.

  Nika's eyes widened slightly as if her question surprised her. Then she turned to the tiger. "You know I have been wondering a little about you, myself," she said, looking him in the eyes. "Just what the hell are you? There are some sand tigers in the game much later in, on the outer edges of the desert, but I don't recall any of them being black and white like you."

  The tiger just stared at her.

  "Okay, I'm guessing you can't communicate with us by talking, or you already would have." She thought for a minute before continuing. "Can you nod if you understand me?"

  The cat's big head inclined to the side as he looked at her. He whined and then went to stand beside her, rubbing up against her legs.

  "Okay, that looks like a no," Nika said. “So maybe he is just an NPC?”

  The tiger puffed out a snort of air and sat down.

  Nika shook her head. "I’m not sure what more to try. What else is there?" She looked to Ash. "Am I missing something?"

  "Not that I can think of, except..." Ash trailed off.

  “What?”

  “Well, can you try to make him a party member? If he is from the outside world, he should be classed as a player and we should be able to add him to the team, right?” The girl bit her lip. “Actually, in the online game, a bit further in we get the chance to add an NPC to our party as well, so it might work either way.”