Darkness Fallen

by Dave Willmarth

  Chapter 11

  Only The Good Die Young

  Richard Greystone watched his son’s game feed as he reviewed the reports on the explosion in his lab. The feed worried him as much as, if not more than, the reports. Alexander’s brain was embracing the game world. This was a good thing, in that the neural connections he was establishing by moving the arms and legs of his altered elf body were taking hold in his real body. With all the trauma of the explosion, Richard doubted anybody but him noticed how his son moved through the Olympus complex in his brief period out the pod. It wasn’t a drastic improvement, his son wasn’t running or jumping, but the normal hesitation, the careful movements of his son’s last four or five years were gone.

  I should be ecstatic! The drugs, the pods, the nanotech are all coming together as we’d hoped. Given enough time in immersion, he could achieve complete remission.

  But therein lay the problem. Time. Alexander’s deep neural connection to the system also meant that day by day his son was accepting the game as reality. His relationships with NPCs, his dedication to making the world better, and his loyalty to his people. Those were all good things. But the temporary state of coma that he entered, and the possibility that his brain would begin to accept damage taken in-game as real, presented a real and potentially fatal danger to his son. It was possible that the next time his son was mortally wounded, his brain’s reaction would cause his real-world body to shut down.

  At least for today, he’s not planning anything dangerous. Building, socializing, making new friends. Doing what he does best.

  Richard focused on the reports. There was more going on than he’d told his son or the others. His people had tried to notify Matt’s father, Seshat’s husband, after the accident. But he had disappeared, so far without a trace. Not suspicious in and of itself as the man had retreated from the world after his wife was killed.

  But a few hours ago, the FBI had informed him that it wasn’t Matt who was killed in the blast. DNA identification had been done as a matter of procedure. And the DNA of the tech who’d been standing next to Dayle’s pod when it exploded wasn’t Matt’s. It belonged to a tech named Scott Pastor. A relatively new employee at Olympus, Scott had joined them a little over a year ago. He was twenty-six years old and had a bright future ahead of him when he stepped into that lab.

  Interviews with the other techs revealed that Matt had asked Scott to finish his shift, claiming illness and leaving just ten minutes before the bomb went off. Security had no record of him leaving the compound, or even the building. So, either he found a way to mask his identity and escape, or he was still somewhere nearby. Neither option was good. Assuming Matt was the bomber, which was a safe assumption since he hadn’t appeared in the last eighteen hours, he could be preparing another attack.

  Security was increased throughout the complex. More men were being vetted as his private security company recruited reinforcements. Trusted employees were being quietly armed with concealed weapons and communication earbuds. Even Melanie, who as it turned out was one hell of a sharpshooter, was packing a weapon somewhere on her person. Richard took a moment to picture her as he’d seen her earlier, in a businesslike skirt and blouse. He idly wondered where she was hiding the gun.

  Shaking his head, he set down the reports. Taking a quick look at Alexander’s feed, he saw his son opening a portal from Greystone Manor. There were dwarves waiting on the other side. Getting up from his desk, he said, “Odin, watch over my boy, please. I’m going to go encourage his friends to get back in the game to protect him.”

  *****

  Sasha and the other Greystone guildmembers were gathered in a waiting area in the surgical wing of Olympus’s medical center. They’d drifted in, singly and in pairs, after eating breakfast. The room was mostly silent as they waited on news of their friend Dayle.

  Richard entered the room, taking a moment to look into the eyes of each of them before he cleared his throat.

  “The doctors tell me they are just about through with the surgery. He’s not out of the woods yet, but they are more optimistic than they were twelve hours ago.” He tried to smile, but his face just wouldn’t cooperate.

  “Dayle has lost both legs and his left arm. His right arm was badly damaged, but doctors have been able to save it. Not that it will make much difference. His spinal cord was severed. Even if he had all his limbs, he’d be unable to use them.” Misty sobbed as Sasha and Lainey wrapped arms around her. Warren put a bandaged arm around his sister, Lyra, who was crying into his shoulder. Richard swallowed hard, the words sticking in his throat. But he continued.

  “Dayle has a concussion, though doctors say it is surprisingly mild. Apparently, the headgear protected him to some extent. He’s in a coma, and doctors are going to keep him that way for at least several weeks. His body needs time to recover from the trauma. The emotional stress he would suffer would kill him if he were to wake up now. We’re going to put him in a pod to help him heal. But he won’t be connected to anything but medical monitoring equipment.”

  “But…” Misty wiped tears from her face and took a ragged breath. “He’s going to live?”

  Richard looked at the floor for a moment, trying to compose himself. He liked Dayle and considered him a friend. He had recruited the man for immersion testing. After a deep breath of his own, he raised his head and looked Misty in the eye.

  “I hope so. The next forty-eight hours are crucial. We are doing absolutely everything that can be done for him. But I can’t promise you anything.”

  She nodded her head, fresh tears pouring down her cheeks.

  “Will we be able to see him?” Warren asked quietly. From the tone of his voice, it was clear that seeing him was among the last things Warren actually wanted to do.

  “I’m afraid not,” Richard replied. “Dayle will be acutely vulnerable to infection with all his various injuries, which include burns on his back and arm. Even a quarantined clean room would be risky for him. He’ll go right from surgery to a pod. The nano-gel will suspend him, keep him clean, and begin stimulating his muscles when it is safe to do so. All of this, combined with IV antibiotics, should help keep infection from taking hold. This is obviously a brand-new form of treatment, as we’ve just developed the technology. But the doctors are unanimous in their view that he won’t survive if we don’t try it.”

  “So, he’s still your damned guinea pig!” Lyra shouted at him. “We signed our goddamned lives away when we signed up for this. He owns us all now!” Warren tried to hush his sister, but she pushed him away. Balling her fists, she stepped toward Richard. “We’re all just rats in a maze! You study us, watch us try to find our way to the cheese. Then pull us out and start us over again!” She began to beat on Richard’s chest. He braced himself and took the blows.

  “All this for your precious little boy! Dayle might die! We all might die! Just so your little rich boy might live an extra year or two! When Dayle dies, are you going to dissect his brain for the cause? How about mine?”

  The others stood around, eyes wide in shock. Sasha was the first to recover. She let go of Misty and moved toward Lyra, eyes blazing with wrath. “You self-centered little bitch! I’ll-”

  Richard wrapped his arms around Lyra, pulling her into a hug. She struggled for a moment, then just sobbed. Richard gave Sasha a look, then shook his head. She halted her progress across the room, still angry but looking uncertain.

  When Lyra had calmed a bit, Richard moved her to a sofa and sat her down. He sat next to her, holding both her hands in his.

  “No one regrets what has happened to Dayle more than I do. I’m responsible for him being here. Not just because it was my company that developed the tech. I personally recruited him. He was among the first I reached out to. I consider him a friend, and I will never forgive myself for what has happened to him.”

  Richard looked up from Lyra’s face to glance around at the others. “None of you is trapped here. I told you yesterday that you’re all released from any con
tractual obligations if you wish it. You never have to go near another immersion pod. Now that things have calmed down a bit, we can have a team escort you home, or wherever you wish to go. You’ll be paid in full for your entire contracts, plus hazard bonuses.”

  He patted Lyra’s hands gently as he continued. “I understand why you blame me for this. And you’re right. I want to save my little boy. Though he’s not so little anymore. None of us expected him to live long enough for this technology to help him. But he has. I won’t apologize for doing everything in my power to try and save him. Or even just to spend another year with him. I love him.”

  Sasha began to cry where she stood in the middle of the room. Stumbling over to the sofa, she sat behind Richard and wrapped her arms around him, leaning her face into his back. She was squeezing so hard that he had difficulty speaking.

  “But this isn’t only for Alexander. Whether he lives or dies, this technology may be able to help millions recover from devastating trauma. Both physical and mental. And no matter what you decide over the next few days, you have played a big part in making that happen.”

  Letting go of Lyra’s hands, Richard twisted around and hugged Sasha. Lainey looked as if she wanted to join them, but held her ground. Brick took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

  Letting go of Sasha, he used his sleeve to wipe her nose. The fatherly act caused her to laugh through her tears. “Thanks, Dad,” she mumbled. He gave her a tear-filled smile.

  Richard looked at Lainey, and then he rose from the sofa and moved to gather her in a hug. She squeezed him just as tightly as Sasha had. Brick and Max gave them some room. After half a minute, Richard turned back to the group.

  “You are, of course, all welcome to stay. In fact, I hope you will. We’ve taken everyone out of immersion while we checked over all your equipment. Alexander, as you know, went back in last night to be with Jules, who we couldn’t bring out for obvious reasons. The rest of you can go back in anytime you like. We’ll be starting over at two-week immersions for those who want to continue. If you’re not comfortable with that, we can offer you alternative situations.”

  Brick was the first to speak. “I’ll be going back in. Those bastards aren’t going to scare me off. A few assholes with guns and a single bomb? Shit, that was every day in my neighborhood growin’ up!” he smiled at Richard.

  Max stood and put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “They won’t let me shoot and loot people out here, so I guess I’m in!”

  Sasha snorted. “Idiot.” Then she smiled and moved to gather both men in a group hug. “I’m in too. Somebody has to keep dorkboy and these fools alive.”

  Lainey nodded, looking up at Richard’s smiling face. “I’ll watch over him wherever he is. Out here, or in there.”

  Misty, sitting very still in a chair with her knees pulled up to her chest, shook her head. “I don’t know. It wouldn’t be the same without Dayle.”

  Warren said nothing, not even looking at the group. He was focused on Lyra, who was crying softly with her hands over her face. He rubbed her back and tried to comfort her.

  Richard answered Misty. “You don’t need to decide right now. Not today, or even this week. You have a home here, for as long as it takes you to figure it out.”

  Letting go of Lainey, with more than a little regret if he were honest with himself, he began to head for the door. Sasha stopped him.

  “Hey, pops?” She gave him a wry little smile as he turned around. “We could use some help. In the game, I mean. Especially if Lyra, Warren, and Misty don’t come back. So I was thinking…”

  Richard held up a hand to stop her. “Let me guess. Helga and the others? You want them to be given pods.”

  Sasha’s mouth sat open for a moment, then closed abruptly when she realized it. “Uhm, yeah. That would be good. But no, I was thinking maybe you could ask some of the other immersion players if they want to join us? Like Dayle’s group has.”

  Richard chuckled. “The other immersion players, that would… upset our program quite a bit. But I’ll think it over. Discuss it with Michael and a few others. As for Helga, Lugs, Benny, and Beatrix. They have already been extended the same invitation all of you received. They’ll be here in the building this afternoon. They’ll be shown around and given the choice to join you.”

  He turned once again to exit the room.

  “Wait.” Lyra’s voice was gravelly, her throat raw from crying and yelling.

  “Please. I want to apologize. This whole thing has been a nightmare. It was all just supposed to be fun and games. But I know it isn’t your fault. And I’m sorry about what I said. I know you are trying to do something good here. All of you. I’m… sorry.”

  Richard smiled at Lyra. “You have nothing to be sorry for. And thank you. Now, try to get some rest. We can talk again tomorrow if you like.” He opened the door and left.

  Warren and Lyra left a minute or so later. Warren nodded at the others as he helped his sister to her feet. She gave them a small smile as she turned toward the door.

  Misty, still sitting in her chair, looked lost in thought.

  Sasha put a hand on her shoulder. “We really would love to have you with us. You’re one of us, now.”

  Misty smiled up at her. “Thank you. But I want to see what Warren and Lyra decide.” And with that, she got up and exited as well.

  Max watched the door close behind her. “She’ll come back. I think the siblings will, too. The whole Dayle thing is just too new for them right now.”

  Brick changed the subject. “So, when are we going back in?”

  Sasha said, “I want to wait until morning. See what Helga and the others do. Maybe even meet them this afternoon!”

  Brick grinned “Yeah. I bet Helga’s as big as me in real life!” he said with a bit of a lusty gleam in his eye.

  “Nobody is as big as you in real life. I still want to giggle every time I hear the dwarf’s voice come out of that giant body,” Lainey joked.

  Max interjected, “You realize if they choose the pods, they’ll have to start over as noobs. We’ll need to figure out a way to level them quickly. And they won’t be of much use until they level up.”

  Sasha nodded her head “We were planning to level up some of the citizens anyway. Have them make some dungeon runs in Stormforge. Send them out hunting dire wolves. We’ll work it out. Which reminds me… I need to talk to Richard again. I’ll catch you guys later.”

  Sasha went up to Alexander’s office. Grabbing a note pad and pen off one of the tables, she plopped down on the sofa and began to write. After maybe thirty minutes, she set down the pen.

  “Heimdall, are you there, sweetie?” she called out.

  “Of course, Princess Sasha. How can I help you?”

  “I need to talk to pops. Could you let him know, and tell me where to find him?”

  “Right away. Just a moment.” Sasha smiled up at the nearest camera. Heimdall had started calling her ‘princess’ almost immediately after Alfred had. She thought of the AIs as friends.

  “Richard says to join him in his office. He is there now. Shall I send the elevator for you?”

  “Yes. Thank you, Heimdall. You’re the BEST!” She smiled at the camera again as she crossed the room. The elevator doors opened for her as she approached. Once inside, Heimdall lifted her to Richard’s office level and let her out.

  Richard was waiting for her. He gave her a little hug as she walked into his office. “How ya doin, kiddo?”

  “Been a rough couple days, but I think I’m okay,” Sasha answered. “The whole bomb thing. Too much like when Angela was… when we lost Angela.” She couldn’t meet his eyes. She knew the sorrow she’d see there. “And what happened to Dayle is horrible.”

  Richard watched Sasha’s face. He knew it wasn’t just Angela she was thinking about. Sasha’s own parents had died not long after Angela. Sasha had been twelve years old. But she was a tough young lady. And Richard had made sure she was financially taken care of. He’d also
included her in as many of their family activities as he could. She was as much a daughter to him as if she were his own blood. He’d secretly hoped, as Angela had, that Sasha and Alexander would become an item. Angela claimed that kids with Alexander’s brains and Sasha’s fire could take over the world! But the romance just never blossomed.

  “Yes, it is horrible. All of us are having a bit of a hard time dealing with it. We have counselors if you’d like someone to talk to?”

  She shook her head. “Nope. Thank you, but I’m good. I did want to talk to YOU, though.”

  He motioned her over to the sitting area, and they each took a chair. She produced her list from a pocket, unfolding it as he asked, “What can I do for you?”

  “Well, the thing is, you know we converted Fibble to a ‘good guy’ after we rescued him. And he’s been with us through all these fights and dungeons and stuff.” Richard nodded his head as she spoke.

  “By my count, he should have leveled up to about level 50, at least. If he gets experience at the same rate we do. I know he’s been leveling because he gets the tummy tingles!” She smiled at Richard’s chuckle. “What?”

  “Just now, when you said tummy tingles. You said the same thing the first time you had a root beer float at our house. Angela made them for all of us. When you swallowed your first bite, you said it made your tummy tingle.” His smile made hers all the wider.

  “I remember that! It was after… the zoo, I think? Dorkboy and I were… eight?”

  “I believe so. You two have grown up so fast!”

  Sasha rolled her eyes at him. “Okay, pop. What I want to know is, what stats is Fibble getting when he levels. And does he get free stat points to assign? And if he does, how can I help him do that? He can’t read or anything.”

  Richard’s eyes widened a bit in surprise. “I hadn’t even considered that. The answer is, I don’t know. I’m sure the developers wrote in experience and leveling for monsters and NPCs. But I don’t know about attribute points.” He got a mischievous look on his face. “Let’s find out!”