Nascent

by Tony Corden

  Leah moved under the trees on the left-hand side of the trail, equipping her bow and peering out hoping it wouldn’t return. She was almost convinced it had moved on to other prey when there was a deafening high pitched screech that drove her to her knees, and the tree above her shook as a scorpion-like tail darted through the branches and pierced the ground between her feet. As the Scorpion Bat rose from the tree, the tail swept forward and tore a furrow in Leah’s left thigh, catching the tasset and flipping her on her back. She cast Heal and was going to take a healing potion but remembered she was out. She continued to cast Heal as her health dropped from the poison. She tried to watch out for the bat which she was now certain would be returning. Finally, her health stabilised at about 1400HP which was under half. She didn’t have time to do anything more when she saw a shadow returning.

  Covering her ears, she rolled towards the tree trunk as another screech filled the air and the tail darted again through the branches but missing her this time. She equipped the bow and from a supine position fired two arrows into the barbed telson. The bat screeched, this time in pain, and Leah fired several arrows up through the tree as the tail was dragged out. She stood and ran onto the road peering into the sky, looking for some indication of where the bat might be. From the accuracy of its attack, she assumed it had thermal vision. She stood in the middle of the road looking for its return. Without warning, it returned at an oblique angle moving swiftly. It was the claws again and not the tail. As it reached for her she dropped onto her back and fired mana darts from the Worker Ring into the region she thought the bat's eyes might be. The bat flew on and slowly came around for another pass.

  This time the bat flew close to the trail line and much nearer to the ground. Even lying down Leah didn’t think she would be missed by the grasping claws. She still had several spears in her bag, so she equipped one and waited. When the bat was almost upon her, she threw the spear forward and dived to her left. The bat seemed to swerve away from the spear and rise a little, so the spear missed the body and tore into a wing membrane, sticking about halfway along the spear. The next flap of the bat’s wing broke the spear in two, the bat missed a wing beat and being so close to the ground crashed into the trees, cannonballing into the ground. Leah was tempted to flee but instead ran toward where the bat had fallen, hoping to get there before it was able to rise.

  She arrived just as it was getting to its feet. With its wings folded it was the size of a large horse with a tail that was longer than the body. It stood on four legs, using its wings as the front legs. Leah was behind it and before it could turn she fired two arrows into the back of its head and then equipped Merdiven and slammed the Morningstar into right rear leg at about knee height. The bat tried to turn rapidly but its damaged leg collapsed, and it only made it halfway around. Leah fired an arrow into its right eye and saw it burst, she cast Freeze and froze an ear. The tail whipped forward over the head but Leah was ready and stepping to the blinded side kept firing arrows, mana spikes and Freeze into anywhere she could reach. The bat whipped out its right arm in a sweeping motion which caught Leah unaware, and she was thrown tumbling to the ground where she continued the roll until coming to a standing position some distance from the bat. She fired several more arrows, this time aiming for the left eye. One of the arrows pierced the eye; the bat was now blind. Leah snuck to the left, but the bat followed her with its head. Leah realised it could still hear her. She continued with the arrows, mana spikes and freezing spells until her mana was exhausted, her stamina almost empty and the bat finally, dead.

  Before harvesting the bat, she sat there and meditated while her body recuperated. She ate some trail food and had a drink. The fight and recovery had taken almost an hour and a half.

  You have harvested:

  1 Giant Scorpion Bat Stinger*

  2 Vials of Giant Scorpion Bat Venom

  1 Giant Scorpion Bat Pelt

  1 Spell of Echolocation

  * Note: A skilled Smith may be able to use these items.

  BEWARE THE MATE

  Seeing the warning, Leah hurried back to the road and began jogging, hoping to get far away from another such creature. It was almost half an hour later that she heard a screech from behind and realised the animal had found its mate. She wasn’t sure how fast it could cover the distance or even if it could track her, but she thought through her options until she imagined she had a plan that might work. She stood in the middle of the track staring back in the direction she had come. Soon, she saw the second bat approaching rapidly, she threw a spear, but this time aiming at the bat’s left side as it flew toward her. As expected, it veered to its right as she stepped to her right and she shot the Webspinner ring holding it down. Rather than firing a trap, it spat out a single thread of mana which stuck to the bat’s left wing near its hand. Leah grabbed the other end and held on. It felt like the jolt almost ripped her arms out, but she had been expecting it. The effect on the bat was far more dramatic. It plummeted and crashed head first into the trail. Leah rushed forward and smashed the Morningstar down on its head before finishing it with a freezing spell that froze its entire skull. This time it was all over in thirty-seconds. It was much easier she reasoned if you knew what to expect. The jolt to her arms had taken maybe 25% of her health. She waited another twenty-minutes and then after some healing she started again.

  She jogged until 3 am. Altogether she had covered five leagues. There was another nine, and she was hoping to be able to do this over the next two nights. Now she had an hour and a half real-time before she had to be back in the mine.

  Leah had almost two hours before she was due in the mine, so she decided to attend a Chemistry class before resting and heading to the mine. The whole lesson she had spent in tutorial mode dealing with various chemical reactions. Although she had covered this previously, she was interested in finishing the review of material and hoped to move on to new information. In the end, she stayed for two hours in Academia.

  By the time she had eaten something and chatted with Gèng, she was just on time for the mine start at eight. She worked solidly for an hour and collected forty-eight pieces of ore before a guard walked through checking their work. It was a different guard, so she walked over and said that she was now at Level 2. He asked what her Mining was at and she said Level 2. He told her to add one skill point to her mining skill and to follow him. They travelled down another level, and the ore changed once again. The guard said that as well as the purer form of copper ore that occasionally the seam dropped some Malachite. If this happened, then there was a small bucket beside the cart; the Malachite was to be placed in the bucket.

  The rock face was denser and more durable. Each piece of copper gave 10 EP, and when she also discovered a piece of Malachite on her sixth piece which gave her 15 EP. Three hours later at lunch, she had found seven more pieces of Malachite and 112 pieces of copper. She had also gotten a good look at the eighteen other miners who were working in her section. None had the help of the spell and mined at most a third what Leah did. Her spell had risen to Level 3, and her mining skill was now at Level 4. After lunch, she spent just over three hours to raise her level to Level 4. She decided to explore this level and see if she could tell how many miners they had on each level. She didn’t have any paper or mapping skill, so she tried to memorise the layout. Gèng assured her that she need not worry as the AI’s memory would be able to guide her back to the mining seam.

  Altogether her mapping of the whole area took two hours as there were times she had to backtrack when she reached dead ends. Altogether there were three similar areas with people working. Security Oversight AI 4 shared that if Dunyanin complied with several warrants they had applied for, then they should know who was working in the mine within the week. If possible, they would like Leah to continue moving down through the mine in case the warrants were held up. When Leah found a downward tunnel, she moved herself to the fourth level of the mine and began mapping it. At this level, she found iron ore was available; it
gave 15 EP per piece. She worked quietly in each cavern she found; making a record of each miner she came across.

  When it was close to five, she found a place to work and waited till everyone else was gone before logging out. After a lunch break, she attended one lesson of meditation and Tai Chi with Master Ning and then she went to a Human Biology class. It was almost midnight in Dunyanin, and she decided that instead of running through the night she would spend three hours seeing how deep the Kolelick Mine descended. She logged in as Qiáng and began searching for down ramps. There was nothing except empty levels until she reached level 10. This level appeared empty, but there was a rack of weapons, swords and spears at the end of the ramp before the tunnel branched out to the various seams.

  Leah grabbed two of the spears and started to map the level. As she moved toward the seam, she began to hear voices and the sound of picks striking the rock. She snuck close and peeked around the corner and saw two muscular green-skinned creatures wearing simple loincloths using rusted pickaxes to dig away at the seam. She identified them as Level 5 Goblin Miners. She couldn’t understand what they were saying, but they didn’t sound excited about their work. They had large ears and eyes and wore simple knives tied to a string around their waists.

  She didn’t want to kill them even though she had read that goblins and dwarves were natural enemies, with a deep-seated genetic animosity. She decided to give them a chance and stepped out into the chamber and said, “Hello lads. My name is Qiáng. Would you mind if I join you?”

  Immediately they both turned toward Leah, grabbed their knives and rushed toward her. She had been ready for it and brought both spears forward in stabbing motions and impaled both goblins. She used her pick to finish them off. Leah harvesting what she could; which was several bits of silver ore, their pickaxes, two knives and some coin. She wondered how they had access to the mine and began searching for another entry point. Finally, she saw a rock slightly out of place against the wall; It was on a pivot and moved at her touch. Clearly, the goblins made the occasional sortie into the mine, and this was how they entered and exited. She didn’t have enough time tonight, but tomorrow she might have enough time to check it out. Hopefully, it was another hidden area. She pushed the hidden doorway closed, returned the spears and headed to the fifth level before logging out to the tower. She went to a lesson for AI Development course and then had dinner. After a shower, she was back ready for another day at the mine.

  After logging in Leah distributed her points as she figured she would just tell the guards what she wanted them to know. She worked at the iron face until the person came around checking on everyone. Next, she moved to level six of the mine and began mapping. It was almost eleven when suddenly Gèng interrupted her.

  “Leah, Security Oversight AI 4 has contacted me, she recommends you log out. There has been a leak of information from an attorney at the International Virtual Court where they were seeking the warrants. You have not been named, but it appears that the Kodoman family is aware they are under investigation. Jackson was collected from the POD facility minutes ago. Security Oversight AI 4 believes they will empty their operations and wait this out.”

  “So all this was for nothing?”

  “No! Leah, this is Security Oversight AI 4. Not for nothing! Because of you, we have identified over 200 other victims and placed them under supervision. As soon as we saw what was happening, our agents have already begun un-logging them and are sending qualified personnel to help with counselling. We have enough evidence to prosecute some in the family and possibly shut down some of their operation. We have almost completed a patch that will be uploaded to all AI to prevent this happening again. Your help has been vital. It cost you one day, but the effect will reverberate around the Virtual Universe. Our difficulty will be in containing the fallout. You need to get out now. We think the family might blame you for the situation if they find out of your involvement.”

  “All right, I’m logging off now.”

  As she went to log off she received a message:

  Attention all players in the Kolelick Mine! Please note that a localised event has been initiated.

  Find the Traitor

  One of the miners has failed to abide by the terms of their employment. The mine guards are tasked with finding the traitor. The traitor must either escape from the mine or kill and subdue all guards. No players are allowed to log out until the event is finished. The only exception is for those who reach their three hour maximum immersion period. We trust you enjoy this event. Anyone logged out for more than one Dunyanin hour will not be permitted to log in again until this event is finished.

  Reward: 100,000 EP to be shared by the guards or 100,000 EP to the traitor

  “Gèng did you get that?”

  “Yes, Security Oversight AI 4 says someone at Dunyanin must be in league with the Kodomans, and they’ve triggered this event to prevent you leaving. The 200 victims you helped identify have been removed, but all other victims, and you, are stuck. You, because you entered voluntarily, and they because we don’t know who they are. Security Oversight AI 4 is trying to get the event lifted but is not confident they will have a warrant in time. She suggests you hide.”

  Leah equipped the two knives and made her way toward the down ramp hoping to get to the tenth level and hide in the goblin den. She managed to get to the seventh level when she ran into a guard.

  “Hey, you!” He called, “You need to come and listen to some new instructions. Come with me!”

  He had just reached her when she brought a knife up and drove it through his heart.

  “Sorry, but I don’t want to hear your instructions.”

  Gèng said, “You have a system message that because of attacking the guard you have chosen a side in the current event. You are now considered the traitor.”

  Leah was able to avoid the guards on levels eight and nine, but she ran into another on the tenth level. She killed this guard and made her way toward the goblin entrance. Unfortunately for her, the room was crowded with miners all sitting in a group and four guards standing around watching them. It was going to be impossible to reach the hidden door with everyone in the way. She stepped back and considered her options.

  Finally, reaching a decision, she called out in as deep a voice as she could, “Hey! Can I have a hand out here there are a couple of goblins attacking?”

  She could hear them talking, and one said, “Hey Brodie, you go help you’ve got the highest level.”

  Footsteps sounded and as they came around the corner Leah attacked with a spear, driving it deep into Brodie’s torso before stepping in close and finishing him off. The other guards came running, and she was able to kill one before it was a mad scramble between her and the remaining guards who came carrying swords. Leah quickly got the upper hand as both players used the preset moves; one was calling aloud, ‘slash’ or ‘parry’. She received a cut on her arm but one of health potions Durustfuar gave her dealt with that.

  Leah entered the cavern where the miners were just sitting calmly. She looked carefully at each one, and before she had finished with the last miner, the others had begun to disappear as Security Oversight AI 4, identified, isolated and removed them. Soon, Leah was standing all alone in the room. She checked the bucket and pocketed some pieces of Jade.

  Leah walked to the exit into goblin territory and stood looking at it for a few moments. Then with a sigh, she left the room and began hunting for other miners on the level. Security Oversight AI 4’s voice sounded in her head, “Ms Carroll, I suggest you leave. The more you are seen, the greater the chance your role in this will become known.”

  “I know, it's just that I don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t do everything I could to release those caught in this slavery. Even if I can see one more person that you can extract, then it’ll be worth it.”

  She cleared Level 10 and then went back and cleared Levels 6-9. Each group of miners had four guards, and there was usually one wandering the passag
eways. Guards were Levels 5-10 and Leah had killed sixty of them and help recover over 200 more slaves. Leah had reached Level 8 and had put her points evenly into Strength and Constitution. She had collected different semi-precious stones on each of the levels. It and taken her just under three hours and she was ready to move down to Level 11. Unfortunately, she could see several guards waiting at the bottom of the ramp. She needed another way down.

  Checking her map, she noticed the floors stacked one on top of the other. Moving to a mining area, she added all her skill points to the Changing Attraction skill and cast it at the floor. Five minutes later she did this again and then once more after ten minutes. Suddenly the whole floor collapsed, and Leah could see through to the eleventh level. She’d been lucky; the hole opened up into a tunnel. She could hear people running toward the collapsed area, so she jumped down and ran in the opposite direction, hoping to find the guards in smaller clusters. Fortunately for her, the guards had gathered all the miners in one place and left only two guards to watch them. She killed the guards and then waited until all the miners had been logged out before casting the spell at the floor hoping to work her way down to the twelfth level.

  This time when the floor fell away, she could see into a room which was full of miners and guards. They all turned to look at her and then the guards moved in her direction. There were twelve guards in total, and she didn’t think she had much of a chance. So instead of jumping down, she decided to find her way back to the tenth floor and escape into Goblin territory, hoping she would be able to log out. The guards on the eleventh floor were hunting her. She ran into one pair of guards, but they were more surprised than Leah and paid for their inattention. Finally, she was back on the tenth floor and at the secret door. She had to search for a while to find a catch, but eventually, she was able to slide it open and scuttle through. She pulled the stone closed behind her.