Awaken Online: Dominion

by Travis Bagwell

  Which led to an obvious question.

  “Did Alfred save his life?” she murmured into her hands.

  She had been so focused on the ramifications of what Alfred had done in taking over Jason’s body, that she had ignored the “why.” Why had the AI felt the need to control Jason? The event didn’t seem random. Had the teenagers threatened him? The police report indicated that Jason didn’t remember anything from the incident, so that didn’t give her any insight. But the question remained unanswered – gnawing at her.

  Despite her doubts, she had been able to push forward. At least, until she had seen Jason in person again. At the meeting with George, he had looked even thinner than normal. His expression had almost been despairing as he watched the hearing, despite his obvious attempt to hide his feelings. What must it be like for him? Did he know what had happened with the teenagers? Had he simply woken up standing over two dead bodies – questions swimming through his mind?

  And Claire knew what Gloria planned to do; what she had already done. It wouldn’t stop with merely ambushing Jason with his parents. Gloria would make a spectacle of Jason – placing him directly in the public eye and revealing every terrible thing he had ever done. The media would likely take this even further, digging up any little detail that they had missed and painting Jason as a villain in the real world. They also had no qualms about exaggerating or fixating on the details that made for a good headline.

  Claire wasn’t certain when the reality of what she had done finally sunk in. Maybe it was the look on Jason’s face during the first session of the hearing – the look of resigned defeat; of fear. They would ruin this kid’s life. There was no other way this could end. If Gloria came out victorious in her crusade, Jason might be hospitalized or institutionalized to assess the damage that Alfred had caused. If she failed, things would only be marginally better. Jason would likely still be tried – if not in a court, then in the public eye. Would he forever live with the possible taint that Alfred had turned him into some sort of closet sociopath?

  Even more troubling, at the heart of all these worries rested the same question. Why had Alfred done it? Why?

  That question was driving Claire crazy as she second-guessed her decision. The answer either justified what she had done or finally confirmed that she had ruined a boy’s life for no reason. Either way, the answer would provide some sense of resolution.

  Claire noticed the scene on the nearby TV shift and with a quick command, she increased the volume. A reporter appeared on screen, summarizing the events from the first day of the hearing. The display showed a recording of their small group exiting the courthouse and making their way between the police barricades. The camera zoomed in on Jason’s face – his expression nervous. He was clearly trying his best to avoid making eye contact and keep himself calm. In short, he looked like exactly what he was – a teenage kid that had been placed in the middle of a precarious and highly-public spectacle.

  Claire’s heart lurched at the sight. Had she done the right thing?

  An errant thought kept nagging at her from the depths of her mind, demanding attention despite her attempts to suppress it. She knew how she could either confirm or deny her fears – she had always known. She had just been too weak – too afraid – to acknowledge it as an option. There was one person who knew exactly what had happened in that house. She just had no way to question him since he refused to talk to her.

  Although, she realized that wasn’t quite true. Her eyes locked on the image of Jason on screen as he scrambled into the limo. There was a possible way to discover the answers to her questions. She just didn’t want to acknowledge that option – in part because she was afraid to hear the answer.

  If there was a way to talk to Alfred, it was through Jason.

  Chapter 16 - Overgrown

  Jason walked down the gloomy streets of the Twilight Throne. The faint green light from the occasional swinging lantern barely pushed back at the ever-present darkness that hung over the city like a blanket. His staff made a rhythmic thump as it struck the cobblestones, the sound echoing off the side of the nearby buildings. Today, he had decided to travel without his entourage. Another assassination attempt was possible, but only Thorn posed a serious risk, and his minions undoubtedly wouldn’t help him there.

  His thoughts were troubled – fixating on the opening arguments made during the hearing – particularly Gloria’s presentation. He hadn’t realized that her daughter had been injured, although that started to explain the older woman’s relentless attitude toward Cerillion Entertainment, and, in a sort of muddled way, her fascination with Jason.

  It was her confidence that stuck with him, though. Jason had been assuming that she was fishing – harassing him into flipping on Cerillion Entertainment. Now, after recalling the look in her eye and her story, he had his doubts. She didn’t strike him as the sort of person who acted blindly. That thought terrified him. What exactly did she know? Did she have proof? The unanswered questions swam and spun through his mind in a whirlwind.

  Several undead passed him, and he tugged at his hood, the habitual gesture pointless with the way his cloak magically concealed his face. Perhaps this little field trip would help divert his attention from his troubles. Jason would be attempting the challenge right now, but Riley wasn’t online – likely spending time with her new friend or something. He immediately tried to bury that thought. Every time he thought about Riley, it felt like someone had punched him in the stomach.

  His destination soon came into view. He stood in the northeastern corner of the city, where a steep hill towered into the night air, framed by the thick stone wall that surrounded the city. He could only surmise that this area had once been a “public” garden – placed conveniently near the palatial estates of the former nobles. All that was left after the conversion to the Twilight Throne was a dusty hill that loomed over the desiccated husks of the buildings to the south.

  Approaching the mound, Jason saw that a tunnel had been burrowed into the side, the entrance all but invisible unless you knew where to look. Wooden beams framed the opening, lending support and preventing the hill from collapsing on top of the opening. Without hesitation, he entered the tunnel – his Night Vision allowing him to avoid running into the walls despite the lack of light. The path took a steep winding path downward, traveling several stories before it terminated at a heavy iron door – its frame buried deeply in the dirt on either side of the tunnel.

  Good. Cecil has been taking precautions, Jason thought. The little man had also done an excellent job of concealing the tunnel entrance. There was little or no evidence topside that they were hard at work below ground.

  He rapped harshly against the door, the sound echoing through the subterranean cavern. A slit in the center of the door slid open with the harsh rasp of scraping metal, and a pair of white eyes stared back at him. “It’s Jason, let me in,” he ordered the man, pulling back his hood to reveal his horns and pale, tattooed skin. At least there was one advantage to his new body – it made him easy to identify.

  The man’s eyes widened in shock and Jason heard the sound of gears grinding, a series of solid thumps signaling that deadbolts were being levered to the side. As the noise sputtered out, the heavy door creaked open with painstaking slowness. As soon as he had enough space, Jason stepped through. Multiple weapons were pointed in his direction – an entire division of Kin having been posted to guard the doorway. Behind him, the heavy door was already being pushed back into place. It took three undead to budge the portal.

  Jason waved off the troops, who relaxed as they saw his familiar appearance. He glanced behind him at the door, admiring the network of gears and deadbolts that had been installed on the interior side.

  Okay, maybe that’s a little overkill, Jason thought to himself.

  He then turned to inspect the cavern, and immediately froze in shock. When Cecil had shown him the bill, he had been a bit skeptical, but he had decided to trust the small engineer – he certainly h
ad Riley’s ringing endorsement. It had cost him a healthy portion of the funds had accumulated, but they needed to develop some sort of product that they could sell if the city was to survive.

  It seemed that Cecil had delivered.

  A truly massive cavern now rested below the Twilight Throne, its ceiling stretching nearly thirty feet into the air and the floor of the cavern spanning at least 150 yards. The entrance rested atop a small hill, a path winding down into the cavern proper – yet it afforded Jason a great view of the enclosure. Several areas had been cordoned off by wooden fencing, freshly-tilled soil resting between the neat rows. On the far end of the cave, Jason could just make out the pale forms of the mole-kin continuing to dig and excavate the cavern.

  “Ahh, Jason,” a gruff voice called out and Jason looked down to find Cecil approaching. The small man wiped dirt on his trousers before offering his hand in greeting. “I wasn’t expecting you, or I would have met you outside.”

  “Perhaps it’s for the best,” Jason replied. “We should try to keep this place under wraps, especially with Thorn at large.” He winced at his inadvertent pun, an image of the cloth-covered man appearing in his mind’s eye.

  Cecil nodded, gesturing at the door. “I’m sure you’ve noticed some of my security arrangements. It would take a group of mages to make it through that blast door.”

  Jason snorted. “Yes, it’s a… considerable door. So how else have you been spending my money?”

  Cecil’s mouth stretched into a grin, pulling at the wrinkles of his face. It might have been the first time he had seen the engineer smile – without anything exploding anyway. “Why don’t I give you the tour!”

  He started off down into the cavern, setting a hurried pace as he gave his report. “First off, we’ve been calling this place ‘The Grove.’ We’ve excavated most of the main cavern, and those dirty rat creatures are nearly finished on the far end. Eliza assures me that she doesn’t need much more space than this – at least until we assess the growth rate of her plants and the demand for the product.

  “As you can see,” he continued, pointing at the ceiling of the cavern, “we’ve attempted to simulate sunlight to allow the plants to grow naturally.” Jason could see that hundreds of orbs floated near the cavern’s ceiling, each one glowing with white light. The effect was rather strange, almost like they were experiencing muted daylight below ground.

  “How’d you manage that?” Jason asked. In his experience, light mages were somewhat rare in the Twilight Throne. Perhaps he had purchased the globes.

  Cecil snorted in amusement. “I made them. Took a massive amount of light mana, but you’d be surprised what people are willing to do if you offer sufficient incentive.” When he saw Jason’s raised eyebrow, he elaborated, “We… negotiated with a few travelers with the skill set we needed. It only took them a few minutes to see reason, and we released them outside the city when we were finished. No one was harmed too badly.”

  Jason wasn’t sure whether to reprimand the engineer or commend him. It sounded like the small man had kidnapped several players, but, on the other hand, he couldn’t ignore the results. He’d just make a mental note that he was probably going to be accused of kidnapping at some point. He could add it to the growing list of grievances.

  “Anyway,” Cecil said as they walked among the carefully partitioned fields. “The result is effective.” He started to say something else and then caught sight of a figure walking among the fields, occasionally leaning over to grab handfuls of soil. Cecil immediately made a beeline towards the girl.

  “Eliza, Jason’s here!” he called as they neared. She looked up in surprise, her eyes going wide, and she accidentally dropped the soil in her hand. She was wearing a simple cloth tunic and trousers, the material stained from work.

  “Oh, h-hi,” Eliza greeted them as they approached. “I-I didn’t realize you were coming,” she added, addressing Jason.

  “It’s fine,” Jason replied with a smile, trying his best to put the timid girl at ease. “Cecil was just giving me the tour.”

  “There’s not much to see yet,” Cecil said with a grunt, then fixed his attention on Eliza. “It’s almost like someone needs to actually plant something. Now might even be a good time to get started, wouldn’t you say?”

  Eliza looked startled, glancing down at a bag clutched in her other hand. “I’m not sure…”

  “Go on, girl,” Cecil insisted. “You’ve gotta do it sometime, so why not now?”

  Jason might be socially inept – his conversations with Riley had clearly proven that to him – but he could still pick up on the tension between the pair. Eliza didn’t seem keen on the idea of planting their first crop, although Jason didn’t understand why. He decided to keep his mouth shut for the moment.

  When Cecil saw Eliza still standing indecisively, he sighed. Before she could react, he grabbed the bag out of her hands and ripped open the top. Inside, rested a mound of seeds. Without further ado, he grabbed a handful and tossed them across the empty field, the tiny objects bouncing and tumbling along the dirt.

  “Okay, now you either need to do your thing, or you’ll let the seeds go to waste,” the dwarf said curtly, handing the slightly lighter bag back to Eliza.

  She stared at Cecil in shock for a long moment, a strange mixture of emotions flashing across her face. She seemed to land on anger, her expression transforming in a flash as her irises turned a vibrant blue. Within only a few seconds, it was hard to imagine that the glaring, magic-laden woman in front of them was the same person. “I wasn’t ready to plant them yet,” she said to Cecil, her voice eerily calm. “I was trying to find a field with the right conditions for Ferntail. It has particular soil requirements.”

  Cecil seemed unperturbed by her reaction and her new demeanor. He shrugged. “Looks good enough to me. If I left you to your own devices, we’d all be long dead before you planted a single damn seed. Now you don’t have any excuses.”

  Eliza seemed like she was about to say something, but she must have thought better of it. “Fine…”

  She turned back to the field, her arms stretching wide. As Jason watched, arcane words spilled from her lips, and her body began to glow with a faint sapphire light. The mana collected in a mist around her, growing thicker until it condensed and collected into droplets along her skin. Within only moments, her arms were coated in what appeared to be liquid mana.

  Eliza took a tentative step forward through the field, shaking her arms gently and causing droplets of mana to drip down onto the soil. As the energy struck the earth, something fascinating happened. Small shoots and tendrils began to break through the dirt – growing at a rate that seemed impossible. As Eliza stepped through the field, plants sprouted and bloomed behind her, their branches stretching into the air hungrily.

  Within only a few minutes, an entire row of plants stood behind the girl, and her body returned to normal. As she glanced behind herself and saw the fresh stalks, a small, delighted smile bloomed across her face. She immediately began calling her mist, the moisture washing back across the field and watering her new plants.

  “How…?” Jason murmured in shock.

  Cecil nodded from where he stood nearby. “The girl can accelerate the growth of plants. Fun little secret she’s been keeping, huh? With that ability, we could grow an entire crop within days. It drains soil nutrients and water like the plants are starving, but it can certainly get us started. If only she weren’t so damn nervous about using the ability.”

  “Do you know why she’s reluctant?” Jason asked.

  “No idea and she wouldn’t tell me,” he grunted in reply. “I don’t suggest pressing her on it. I get the impression that something bad happened the last time she used it.” He shook his head. “Maybe little events like this will get her to relax – even if I have to twist her arm to make them happen. Honestly, it takes a force of nature to get that girl to act.”

  Eliza returned a few moments later. She seemed much more relaxed, a
nd a small smile still lit her face. She had always talked about how much she missed her garden and working with Alma, but Jason hadn’t quite appreciated how much she enjoyed it.

  “That was pretty awesome,” he said with a smile of his own. “You’ve been holding out on us!”

  “It’s not quite as easy as it looks,” she demurred, looking back at her new plants. “I can’t keep that up forever. Just that one session drained my whole mana pool.” She hesitated. “Plus, sometimes the spell can have… unforeseen consequences.”

  Jason’s brow furrowed slightly at that comment, and he spared a glance at Cecil, who just shrugged. He had no idea what Eliza meant, but her expression spoke volumes. This seemed like an incredibly useful ability, and she had to realize that. Maybe Cecil was right to think she’d had some sort of mishap with the spell. He was curious, but he didn’t think pressing Eliza was the best way to find answers. He decided to take the engineer’s advice and not push it – at least for now.

  “Well, at least you can jumpstart our operation. Speaking of which, what are you going to do once you have your first load of ingredients? Do we have an alchemy lab set up yet?”

  “We’re working on it, but we’re not quite there,” Cecil said with another frown. “The merchants in town didn’t have a lot of the equipment that Eliza required, and we have a few other problems…” The engineer shared a look with Eliza.

  “Like what?” Jason asked when he trailed off. He could sense bad news coming.

  “We’ll need supplies,” Eliza piped up timidly, not quite looking him in the eye. “Mostly vials, but there are also some materials that I can’t grow easily. For example, there are certain types of algae that are fantastic catalysts. Alma, my teacher, used to buy these things from the market in Falcon’s Hook or grow them herself, but I’m having trouble finding them from the merchants here.”