Awaken Online: Precipice

by Travis Bagwell

  “You want to…what? You want to mine a dungeon for corpses?” William asked as Jason completed his story. A skeptical look was painted on the burly man’s face.

  “Precisely,” Jason replied without hesitation. “And I want this town to become the conduit for transporting corpses back to the Twilight Throne. As I mentioned last night, I will be calling in reinforcements shortly. There will be approximately three divisions here within the next few days. This should give us nearly 200 soldiers. Until they arrive, I need for your people to focus on fortifying the town, improving the roads, building wagons to transport the bodies, and preparing the vacant homes to garrison the troops.”

  William rubbed at his pale face. His brow was furrowed in thought. “This is doable,” he finally said. “We no longer need to eat or sleep, and we certainly have plenty of time to work.”

  He grinned. “We also discovered that our new bodies have a remarkable amount of stamina. This applies to more than just manual labor. John took twenty shots of Randy’s moonshine last night.” He shook his head. “I wouldn’t suggest challenging him to a drinking competition.”

  Jason smiled, having heard similar stories from the residents of the Twilight Throne. “I’ll keep that in mind. I’m glad that you think we can knock this out. For now, let’s keep our true goal between us. There’s no sense alarming the townspeople before we know what we’re facing in the dungeon.”

  William frowned slightly but conceded to his reasoning. Jason continued, “We’re planning to travel to the dungeon today. I’ll leave ten of my zombies here so that you have some guards before our main forces arrive. They will be instructed to follow your commands. If you need to collect lumber or work on the roads outside the city, make certain that they accompany your people.”

  William nodded and looked at Jason with respect. “Thank you. That will make it easier to convince the townsfolk to leave the safety of the walls.”

  Pint stood up on Riley’s shoulder. “You forget me! What me do?” He jumped up and down excitedly.

  Jason turned to the small imp with a grin. “I have an important task for you. I need you to teleport back to your rock, and tell Rex to send three divisions here as soon as possible. You should also come back with the troops.”

  He leaned forward and handed a small scroll to the imp. He had instructions for Rex that he didn’t intend to share with the group. On top of that, he wasn’t certain that Pint could remember it all. “I need you to give this scroll to Rex.” Jason looked at the imp intently. “This is a big job. You also need to listen to Rex. Can you do this, Pint?”

  The imp held the scroll reverently and snapped to attention, giving Jason a military salute. “Pint can do. Pint good soldier.”

  Riley smiled at the imp. “Ahh, he’s adorable.” Pint blushed at this comment and stood a bit straighter.

  Jason addressed him, “Well, soldier, get going.” The imp saluted one more time and disappeared with a faint pop.

  “Now that we have a plan in place, we need to get moving.” Jason eyed Riley and Frank. “We have a lot of work to do.”

  The trip into the mountains was uneventful. The group marched forward in a thin line due to the narrow trails that wound up the side of the mountain. Jason and Riley walked side-by-side as Frank trudged far behind them. They could make out faint cursing as their large friend stumbled on the rocks that dotted the trail behind them.

  The pair had walked in silence for quite some time, making only occasional small talk. Jason could tell that both Riley and Frank were alarmed at his actions the day before, and they had avoided talking about what happened. As they neared the valley entrance, Riley glanced at Jason out of the corner of her eye before speaking hesitantly, “I-I’m sorry about yesterday.”

  Jason looked at her in confusion. “What for?”

  Riley frowned, her eyes on the ground in front of her. “I thought you were just going to kill the villagers. I should have trusted that you had a plan.”

  Chuckling slightly, Jason replied, “Well, technically I did kill them all.”

  A small smile tugged at Riley’s lips. “But you gave them a choice. You tried to fix the damage you caused - even if it was an accident. I should have trusted you.”

  Riley hesitated before continuing, “Since what happened with Alex, it’s just been so hard for me to open up. I keep thinking everyone I meet is somehow out to get me.” She shook her head. “I know it’s silly, but… I guess I just haven’t gotten over it yet.”

  Her eyes lifted to meet Jason’s, and they hardened with determination. “I enjoy traveling with you, and I want to be part of this team. I think that means I’m going to have to learn to trust you.”

  A pang of guilt swept through Jason. On the one hand he was happy to see that Riley seemed to be aware of the trauma caused by her ordeal with Alex. On the other hand, Jason was still withholding information from his friends. She was inadvertently rubbing his face in the fact that he didn’t trust her, or Frank, with his real plan.

  For a moment, Jason considered telling her everything, but he hesitated. Despite what she had just said, would she and Frank really follow him if they knew what he planned to do? More than likely, they would turn tail and run back to Peccavi. The bottom line was that he needed their help if he was going to complete the dungeon, and he couldn’t risk scaring them away.

  Nothing is easy in this game, Jason thought tiredly. I just have too much at stake, both in this world and in the real one, to gamble on their reaction.

  “I want you to be part of the team too,” Jason finally replied. “And I’m glad to see that you’re starting to move past what that asshole did to you. I can’t promise that the things I’ll do in this game will always be easy, and they’ll probably be morally gray at best, but I can promise that I’ll try to do what’s best for the Twilight Throne and its people.”

  Riley nodded, seemingly satisfied with his response.

  That wasn’t technically untrue, he thought. My parents would probably be proud. I’m thinking like a lawyer!

  The group soon arrived at the ruins. Jason stood beside the boulder he had crouched behind the night before as his zombies milled around. He was down to fifty-five minions after leaving a token defensive force back in Peccavi. He could only hope that it was enough.

  Jason’s eyes surveyed the valley carefully. The ruins outside the stone gate were still barren of life, and nothing moved in the small valley. Frank came up behind Jason and Riley, huffing slightly.

  “What you did in the village yesterday was crazy, but you know how I can tell you’re a real psychopath?” He glared at Jason. “You made us jog up a mountain! Who does that?”

  Jason chuckled. “We’ve played tons of video games where we ran everywhere at a slow sprint. It’s a bit different when it’s not just a character on a screen, isn’t it?”

  Riley slapped Frank on the shoulder, amusement dancing in her eyes. “You need to man up, Frank. Aren’t you supposed to be our tank? What’re you going to do when you’re on the frontlines getting stabbed?” This earned her a glare too.

  Jason saw a strange look flit across Frank’s face as Riley turned her back to him. Frank looked worried. Jason had noticed his large friend’s odd behavior during the trip. He had stayed near the rear of the group and glanced suspiciously at the forest as they traveled. Jason still didn’t suspect foul play, but Frank was hiding something. Maybe he hadn’t had the same experience playing AO that Jason had. He was beginning to wonder how Frank would fare in a real battle.

  Speaking of which, there was one last thing Jason needed to do before they entered the dungeon. He just needed to distract Riley and Frank. “Why don’t you two go inspect the entrance. Take some zombies with you. I just need to reorganize my bag and respond to a few real-world messages before we enter the dungeon.”

  The pair accepted his excuse with a shrug and started down into the ruins. Jason watched their backs as they walked away, guilt throbbing in his chest with a dull ache. He hated to
do this, but he didn’t have a choice. He couldn’t gamble on their reaction. Jason quickly brought up his in-game console and sent the message he had typed out that morning.

  Alfred stood beside him, looking concerned. “If your reaction to my experiment was any indication, they are not going to be happy when they discover what you have done,” he said in a serious voice. “I think you should be honest with them. You heard Riley - they both trust you.”

  Jason looked at the cat. Maybe he was right.

  Or maybe the bottom line is that I don’t trust them.

  “I just can’t risk it,” Jason replied quietly. “Better to ask for forgiveness than permission.”

  “Another expression?” Alfred asked in a dry tone.

  Jason smiled sadly. “Hey, you wanted to discover how the players think. Think of these expressions as mini-learning experiences.” With that, Jason hurried down the trail leading into the ruins.

  Alfred stared after him, a sad expression on his face. “I am certainly learning a lot,” he said quietly.

  Chapter 13 - Attempted

  Robert stared at the screen that hovered over the control room. The display had been broken into four sections, each showing a scene of devastation. In one panel, a small village had been flooded by a nearby river, destroying the villagers’ homes and spoiling their crops. Another scene showed a field of stone pillars, many covered in blood. The pillars obstructed a major road between two of the in-game cities.

  Yet the worst catastrophe had occurred in Regalt. An enormous explosion had destroyed several city blocks. Little remained except for smoldering ruins. The damage to the city and its residents was so severe that many players bound to Regalt were forced to migrate to another city.

  “I hate it when I’m right,” Robert muttered.

  “What is this?” Claire asked, exiting the elevator and stepping into the control room.

  Robert grunted irritably, “It’s the new game masters. They’ve responded to several reports issued by both the players and our own internal monitoring system.” His hand waved at the screen. “This is their attempt at resolving those situations.”

  “Can we fix it?” Claire asked in shock. “Certainly, we could just rebuild Regalt.”

  “We can’t,” Robert replied evenly. “Alfred has frozen any administrator changes to the game environment, and he isn’t responding to the overrides.” A frown curled Robert’s lips. “I bet he’s trying to teach us a lesson. This was a stupid idea.”

  Robert continued, “What’s worse is the player response. Here, see for yourself.”

  A few typed commands later, the screen changed. The ghastly scenes of destruction were replaced with the face of a reporter for Vermillion Live, the company’s new streaming channel. The man was interviewing a representative of the CPSC, a young woman dressed in a matching pantsuit. A federal identification card clung to her blouse.

  “Was this necessary?” the reporter asked in a skeptical voice as images of the carnage played out on the displays behind the stage.

  The CPSC representative responded in a curt voice, “Yes. It was. In one instance, a girl was about to be raped. In another situation, players were torturing a young man, taking advantage of the VR hardware’s pain feedback system. In every case, the offending players were warned and resisted the game master.”

  The reporter just shook his head. “I doubt anyone would question that those are terrible offenses, but the game masters have a significant amount of power inside the game. Couldn’t they have resolved the conflict without destroying a town or causing a flood? It just seems excessive…”

  The woman eyed the reporter incredulously. “I doubt the victims feel that way.”

  As the woman spoke, a pop-up appeared on the screen. It showed poll data from the player base provided by Cerillion Entertainment. 77% of players indicated that the game master’s behavior was excessive, 8% agreed with their actions, and 15% were uncertain.

  “77%,” Claire said softly. “This seems like a huge PR problem for us.”

  “Not for us,” Robert replied. “Remember, the CPSC is the one administering the game masters. The board is planning to issue a statement later today explaining that any changes caused to the game world are permanent.”

  Claire frowned. “So they’re setting up the CPSC to take the blame?”

  ***

  The small group stood in front of the entrance to the dungeon. A massive stone arch towered over Jason, the rock cracked and pitted with age. Faded images were carved into the surface, depicting a short race that vaguely resembled dwarves. Jason peered into the gloom beyond the archway and his Night Vision struggled against the darkness of the hallway before him.

  The werewolves made strange yipping sounds as they sniffed around the entryway and fresh footprints could be seen in the dirt outside the entrance. This was an active dungeon.

  “The wolves have caught the scent of something,” Frank said, a frown tugging at his lips.

  “I wonder what’s inside,” Riley replied. “Look at these scratches.” Her hand traced claw marks etched into the stone around the entrance. Deep grooves crisscrossed the rock, clearly made by something large. Surprisingly, Riley looked a bit excited, and dark mana began to pool in her eyes as she gazed at the stone.

  I’m probably having a bad influence on her.

  “I doubt anything good lives in there,” Frank said quietly. Jason noted that his friend stood well back from the entrance, a worried expression on his face. This wasn’t quite the reaction he’d expected since Frank was the one who had been pushing them to explore a dungeon.

  “I guess there’s only one way to find out,” Jason replied nonchalantly, summoning his own mana to help tamp down on his quickening heartbeat. Despite his own bravado, walking into a pitch-black hallway that might be occupied by a host of were-creatures was a bit worrisome. He stepped across the stone threshold and was immediately confronted with a prompt.

  System Message: Entering Unknown Dungeon

  This dungeon is designated as a “raid-level” encounter. Ten or more players are recommended to successfully complete this dungeon.

  A two-week reset timer (in-game time) will apply to this dungeon. Any players who die inside the dungeon will respawn at the entrance within 45 minutes in-game time.

  This means we have four to five days real-world time to complete this dungeon. I hope that’s long enough.

  Riley and Frank followed him inside with his entourage of zombies. The group made their way forward cautiously. Stone walls towered over the group on either side, and phosphorescent vines grew along the stone, creating a lattice-like web above them. The vines glowed faintly, but the light wasn’t sufficient to illuminate the hall. Without their enhanced vision, the group would be nearly blind. After walking a few hundred yards, the hallway branched off in three directions. Jason looked at the other halls with a frown.

  “It’s a maze,” he muttered.

  This might affect my ability to farm this dungeon. I need an area with high monster density. Hopefully, there are other areas or levels to this dungeon.

  Riley sighed beside him. “I guess we’ll be exploring aimlessly again, huh?” she asked, referring to their investigation of the dark keep.

  “Except there will be creatures in here more dangerous than Pint,” Jason replied in a resigned tone. “We’re going to have to map it out slowly. I discovered that you can share your map with other people last night. I’ll just keep careful track of each hallway we take.”

  “Well, let’s get to it then. Future loot awaits us!” Frank said with forced bravado, yet he made no move to lead the group down one of the halls.

  With a confused glance at his friend, Jason chose the hallway on the left, and the group continued forward. As a precaution, a few werewolves scouted nearly a dozen yards ahead of the group. After a few minutes, Jason heard a ‘whooshing’ sound from farther down the hallway. Advancing quickly, the group discovered that one of the werewolves had been destroyed by stre
ams of acid spewed from hidden nozzles in the walls. The green substance clung to the werewolf’s fur, melting the decayed skin and bone at a rapid rate. The group froze instantly.

  “Pressure plate?” Frank called out softly, unsure of what had just happened.

  “I don’t know…” Jason trailed off as he examined the floor closely. After a moment, a faint blue outline appeared as his Perception skill triggered, revealing a barely perceptible trip wire. The threads hung loosely along the floor.

  “It was a tripwire,” Jason said, gesturing to the thread. “It’s deactivated now, but we need to be more careful going forward. I doubt this is the last trap.”

  Riley looked thoughtful. “Doesn’t this mean that there is someone here?” She stooped to look at the wire. “There’s no dust on this. It looks like it was put in place recently.”

  Jason was a bit surprised by her observation. Only humanoid creatures would be able to set traps. It was one of those things that required opposable thumbs. “Well, that’s probably a good thing,” he replied. “Maybe this dungeon will be suitable for our purposes after all.”

  Another thought occurred to Jason. “That also means we need to be quiet. There might be creatures in this maze.” Frank and Riley both nodded soberly.

  Jason glanced sourly at the remains of the werewolf zombie. The acid had destroyed both the flesh and bones, leaving nothing for Jason to re-summon. Having both Specialized Zombie and Custom Skeleton meant he could use most corpses twice unless the bodies were destroyed beyond redemption. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been lucky this time.

  Jason assigned the werewolves to take point in ferreting out the remaining traps. Their high Perception skill made them the wisest choice, and they were expendable. As they discovered pressure plates and tripwires, the group was forced to come up with “clever” ways to trip the traps from a safe distance. Most of those plans involved throwing small stones at the trigger points until they activated.