by Dante Doom
“I’ll take that bet,” Savannah said as she grabbed the lid with both hands and pushed against it. The coffin slid open easily, as though the thick, black lid was on oiled rails. “Aha!” Savannah shouted as she spotted an Energy Rifle resting in the satin interior. “Found the Arc Rifle.”
“Well, I’m not paying up on those points,” Fingers said. “And something could still grab you.”
Savannah ignored Fingers and reached in to get her hands on the rifle. A weapon of this power was legendary and would easily allow her to kill Elanor. Her hand hovered above the ornately carved barrel of the gun. It looked somewhat like an old western style rifle, although it had two long metal spikes sticking out by the barrel.
Savannah grabbed the gun and immediately felt a jolt run through her entire body. You’ve Found the Arc Rifle floated above her head. She pulled the weapon out and looked at the specs.
Arc Rifle:
•Damage: 300
•Fire Rate: 1
•Special: The Arc Rifle ignores damage reduction and armor.
“Wow,” Savannah muttered as she read the gun’s special ability. Damage reduction was powerful, but ignoring armor meant that any player could be killed by the gun, near instantly depending on their life points. This was a tremendous power to hold, and she could not believe that it was in her hands.
“So, is the gun good?” Fingers asked. “Let me see it!”
“It’s powerful,” Savannah said as she took the rifle out and showed it to the team. Timon was slowly shaking his head at her. He said nothing, but she could see the concern on his face. She shrugged at him and turned to face Ten-Thirty.
“Where is the nearest portal out of here?”
“By my calculations, we should head out of this crypt and move to the north. From there, we will find a portal that leads to a Med Center Hub. The hub has multiple destinations.”
“We’ll need to figure out some way to contact Elanor,” Savannah said. “Maybe the hub will have a message stone. That would be a great way to retrieve her.”
“What if she doesn’t want to join us?” Timon asked. “What if she decided to continue on her journey alone?”
“I hope not. Miss Elanor was probably one of the nicest people I’ve ever met,” Fingers said.
“Extremely,” Savannah replied. “I’m sure she got held up with something. Let’s find the Med Center and get ready for the next step of our adventure.”
“And what is the next step?” Timon asked.
“We’re going to rank up,” Savannah replied as she looked at the weapon in her hands. “We’re going to seriously rank up.”
Savannah walked through the busy Med Center, scanning the area with her group. Players were all over the place, talking to one another, shouting out requests to join raids, and in some cases even begging for free items.
“All right, I’m taking the Machina to get a tune-up,” Fingers said. “I know a guy here who owes me a lot of favors. He might be able to figure out how to make Ten-Thirty stronger.”
“Sounds good,” Savannah said. “Meet back at the medical tent in two hours?”
“Got it,” Fingers replied. He slung his arm around Ten-Thirty and escorted the android away.
“That gun… I know what it can do,” Timon said. “I saw it on your face the moment you grabbed it. It can kill her, can’t it?”
“Yes. Yes, it can,” Savannah replied as she turned to face him. “Look, we’ve already tried to hash this out before and it didn’t work for either of us. Let’s leave it alone and focus on getting the killing over with already.”
“I don’t want to be a part of this,” Timon said. A look of pure frustration had come over his face. “The more I think about it, the sicker I get over it.”
“I’m sorry,” Savannah said. “I really am. But this is just the way that it has to go.”
Timon shrugged “I wish you would reconsider. That rifle could easily be turned against Leopold.”
“Enough,” Savannah grumbled. “I don’t have the energy to do this right now.”
Truthfully, as much as she cared about Timon, she wasn’t terribly broken up about killing Elanor. What was more concerning was how she was supposed to deal with being an aide to the King. She was gambling on a lot by trusting that he wouldn’t screw her over, but it was less risky than angering him by following whatever Timon thought would work. This plan was still her only option, and she couldn’t let him distract her from what she needed to do.
“Hey guys, you’ll never guess who I ran into!” Fingers shouted from the entrance to the Med Center.
Savannah and Timon turned to see Elanor standing next to him. She was adorned in golden armor with thick plates of steel bolted to it. The armor was unique from what they’d seen previously.
“Elanor!” Timon shouted as he rushed up to her. “It’s good to see you!”
“Likewise,” she replied as she glanced at Savannah. They made eye contact and Savannah tried to hold her gaze as long as she could. If she were to flinch, it might tip the woman off to her plans for betrayal. “I missed you all.”
“Well, I’m glad you showed up—we were looking for you,” Savannah said as she walked up to the rest of her team.
“I’m sure you were,” Elanor replied, her intense gaze never shifting from Savannah.
“Well,” Savannah said, “that armor is nice; where did you get it?”
“Found it,” Elanor answered. She said nothing more. Savannah shivered a little at her coldness. Had she been found out already?
“Well, that’s great,” Fingers said. “Looks really snazzy on you.”
“I appreciate the compliment,” Elanor said. “Timon, may I have a word?” She reached her golden hand out and took Timon’s, and they strolled out of earshot.
“Hah, looks like you’re out of the secret conversation loop,” Fingers said with a grin. “Now you know what it feels like.”
Savannah was unsure of what to do. The woman’s new armor might be strong enough to fend off the Arc Rifle. She had only one shot at doing this, though, and if she screwed up, Elanor would tear her to shreds. She watched as the two spoke to one another at a distance. Would Timon sell her out and tell the Noble the truth? No, that wouldn’t make any sense. Still, she wondered what they were talking about.
Her stomach was a bundle of nerves and she could feel her breath becoming more shallow the longer the two talked. What in the hell was she supposed to do next?
Elanor finished speaking and walked over to Savannah. “You seem tense,” she cooed as she placed a gentle hand on Savannah’s shoulder. “Why don’t we take a walk? There are some things that you need to know.”
Chapter Seventeen
Savannah walked through the busy streets of the hub, listening to Elanor’s words.
“You are in quite the bind, aren’t you?” Elanor asked.
Savannah said nothing. Her heart was in her throat, but she didn’t know what she could do in this situation. If Elanor chose to attack, she’d be in real trouble.
“Relax, I’m not here to get into a fight with you,” the Noble said. “Quite the opposite, in fact. I know that Leopold wants you to kill me. For some reason, he seems to think that you could lure me into a false sense of security. That man never understood subtlety.”
Savannah felt her heart sinking. Timon must have told Elanor the truth. This was it… she was finished. “What do you want from me?” she sighed.
“Chin up,” Elanor replied, “you’re not completely screwed here. Not yet, anyway. King Leopold isn’t invincible. There are ways of taking him down, but you have to be calm and clever about it. Timon has requested my help in your little problem.”
“He has?” Savannah asked as they reached the edge of the city. Before them was a lush green field with an eternally setting sun. The red streaks painted across the clouds gave a brilliant hue to the sky.
“Yes. He has explained that your father and mother are in peril, should you invoke Leopold’s ire. B
ut I think I can help you.”
“How?”
“I could be persuaded to send a few of my agents to your parents’ home to extract them and find a safehouse for them,” Elanor said. “It’s not beyond my power. Timon would have done so already, if he had the power.”
“Okay, okay,” Savannah said as her nerves calmed a little. Maybe there really was a way to get out of this mess. “What do I need to do?”
“Help me take down Leopold,” Elanor replied. “There is little reason for you to waste your time trying to kill me. It’s not going to happen. In fact, if I’m going to be really honest, the only reason I haven’t taken you out yet is because Timon could be a very useful ally, and he seems fond of you.”
“And if I die, he gets kicked out of the game,” Savannah replied. “I doubt he’d care for that, either.”
“That is another consideration,” Elanor said. “You’ve caught the King’s attention, though, and he seems to be grooming you for the High Court. You’re a nobody, and I can see how valuable that would be to him. I doubt he would ever consider you betraying him, not when you have so much to gain from cooperating.”
“Is he really that arrogant?” Savannah asked.
“Oh, you have no idea,” Elanor replied. “So, here’s the deal… I’m willing to offer you some assistance on my end if you’re willing to step up and do exactly what I tell you.”
“What makes you think I have a choice?” Savannah sighed. “I don’t know if I can do this; I can’t risk my family.”
Elanor shook her head and replied. “You’ve got to pick a side here, and I would seriously suggest that you pick the side that isn’t interested in holding your parents hostage to ensure that you cooperate.”
“It’s not that I want to be on Leopold’s side, but he could kill them!”
“So?” Elanor replied, raising her voice. “He absolutely could, but guess what? At any point in the future, he could issue a decree declaring your family enemies of Verre. He has that kind of power, and he’ll use it if he wants to. I know you’re afraid, but what else are you going to do? Are you going to take out that Arc Rifle and shoot me? Good luck, if you do. My armor will protect me. Are you going to just log out? Savannah, you’re trapped here. You wanted to be a Noble, right? Well, this is what a day in the court looks like; you’ll always be walking a fine line between forces that are way stronger than you.”
“It seems that the more I get to know about the court, the more brutal it is,” Savannah said. “It’s all too much for me.”
“Me, too,” Elanor agreed. “Which is why I’m going to burn it all down to the ground.” There was a harshness in her voice that reinforced her words.
“So, you really are going to try to shut the Grind down?” Savannah whispered. “I don’t understand… why do you want to change everything?”
“When I was young, newly christened as a Noble, I was a foolish girl. I thought that I could change the world…” Elanor said wistfully. “So I got on my horse and did what few of the nobility do—I left the second wall and went exploring. I got very lost, however, and stayed lost. I went from house to house, looking for help, and… the peasantry helped me. One always stuck out to me, though. I tried to pay him and he refused to take it. I never understood until I got home and my parents found out how much silvar I had given to the Serfs. They were appalled that I would give away such great riches, and they sent out taxmen to retrieve our money as a new type of tax. I realized that the peasant who’d refused to take my money had done so not because he was kindhearted or noble of spirit, but because he knew that my parents would take it back. Money that could have taken care of these families for months and months… taken back as a tax. And why? Because my House believed that hunger made peasants work more efficiently. At that moment, I made a sacred vow to destroy the nobility at all costs, and I’ve been working towards it ever since.”
Savannah cocked her head and looked at the silver-haired woman. Was it possible that she was the Noble who had visited her home so long ago?
“I’m going to save Verre, regardless of the consequence,” she said with a smile.
“So, if there’s no Grind, what’s left?” Savannah asked. “What will become of Verre?”
“A civilization where you earn your keep by being good at what you do, not by playing some video game,” Elanor said. “A democracy. Something run by the people instead of the elite.”
“I don’t know what that means,” Savannah replied. “Dem–ocracy?”
“It’s an ancient concept from the World Before. It means freedom. Freedom for the many to do as they please, to solve problems together. Everyone equal. Everyone free,” Elanor said.
Savannah shrugged, unable to picture what Elanor was suggesting in any realistic fashion. It sounded good, though. And there was a conviction in Elanor’s words that suggested she truly believed in her own cause.
“Okay…” Savannah said as she took a deep breath. “You’ll need to get my parents out of harm’s way before I can do anything, but if you do that, then I’ll do whatever you want to take down Leopold.”
Elanor smiled. “Very well, I’ll send my people to extract your parents.”
Savannah let out a sigh of relief. Timon had somehow figured out a way to save her parents without betraying his values. That was really something.
“Now then, we must turn our attention to the task of eliminating Leopold,” Elanor said. “I’ve been thinking long and hard about a solution, and I believe I have one that will suit us well.”
Savannah noticed that her communications system had begun to buzz. It was her father.
“I need to take this,” Savannah said as she held a hand up. “Why don’t you get the rest of the team so we’re all on the same page?”
Elanor nodded. “Very well.” And with that, she made her way to the group.
Savannah activated her private com system. Her father’s face appeared in front of her—he looked exhausted and bruised.
“Good to see you!” Hem said.
Savannah grimaced at the sight of her father “You’re hurt.”
“Eh, Leopold’s men were rather insistent about me staying out of the game, when I thought otherwise. I managed to lose them in town and then snuck back to the basement and locked myself in. Listen, I’m going to need to ghost to you to get back in since I’m not tethered to anyone.”
“What?”
“How many times do I have to tell you, Savvy? You’ve got to be attached to someone if you’re going to be in the Grind illegally. So, you’re my target. What’s your character number? The last one I tried didn’t work.”
“Dad, you shouldn’t come back in here. Elanor’s going to be sending some agents to get you and Mom out.”
“Agents?” Hem repeated. “Why would she do that?”
“I made a deal with her. I told her I’d help fight against Leopold in order to get you two out of there.”
Hem grinned. “That’s good thinking, kiddo.”
“I hope,” Savannah sighed. “I still don’t know if I can trust her, but… Leopold’s not much better.”
“You can trust her,” Hem said. “Believe me.”
“She keeps saying that she can shut down the Grind,” Savannah replied. “Did you know this plan?”
“Oh yeah, I know it all too well,” Hem said with a wild grin.
“Do you think it exists?”
“I’ve seen it.”
“Seen what?”
“I’ve seen how to turn the Grind off,” Hem replied. “Leopold was forcing me to gain points for a reason. You see, there’s this question that no one has ever bothered to answer. In Verre’s centuries of existence, no one has ever been able to figure out why the Grind exists. Our ancestors in the World Before built it, right? Why? Where did this tradition come from?”
“I’m not sure…” Savannah said. “No one ever seems to know.”
“Well, if you’ve seen what I’ve seen, you’d want more answers,” Hem replied.
“Leopold’s got a plan as crazy as Elanor’s, but not nearly as benevolent.”
“And what would that plan be?” Savannah asked. In the back of her mind, she had been wondering why Leopold was making someone Grind for points, but she had been far too concerned about her family to think about it.
“Well, there’s this level called the Gate of the Heavens. It’s one of the hidden levels. In the center of the heavens is a massive tower, spiraling upwards for what seems like forever. That’s the Central Control, the place where the Grind itself runs from, but you need points to unlock the doors. Leopold is convinced that something inside the top of the tower will have access to control of the Grind’s administrative system.”
“Wait, so you mean to tell me that Leopold is trying to gain direct control of the Grind?”
“If he can gain total control over the Grind, it means that he will no longer have to worry about his political allies. He’s had to make deals, promises, and offers to many people in order to stay in control in the real world. People like Elanor can slip through the cracks because he isn’t omnipotent. Once he gains access to total control, he’ll be able to revise reality on a whim. He’ll become a god within this game.”
“Oh, great…” Savannah groaned. “I just agreed to fight against someone with power like that?”
“Relax, Savvy, he hasn’t been able to unlock what he needs just yet. But when he does… Everything changes. He no longer has any reason to make a deal with anyone. He will do as he pleases and will grow even more powerful in the real world. You would have to do whatever he says, or else he would be able to block you or your children from gaining a rank. He could split up families in the blink of an eye.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t sound great…” Savannah said as she pondered the idea of having to deal with her own children being threatened by Leopold in the future.
“I hear rumbling up there,” Hem said, pausing and looking around, his holographic image flickering. “And that’s definitely the sound of a struggle. Hey, uh, in case Elanor’s agents fail, know this, Savvy: I love you. Stop Leopold. You’ve got to do it no matter what.”
