by Dante Doom
There was a moment of silence and everyone tensed up, waiting for the creature to attack them. Van winced as he reached for his bagpipes.
“You are correct!” the Sphinx said. “You have answered the riddle of the Sphinx! You may enter into the Holy Catacombs of Saint Alberta! But be warned, for while you have passed the test of the mind, you must also pass the test of courage and strength. Toodles!”
And with that, the beast vanished into thin air.
“Alright, well, let’s get moving,” Bidane said as she hurried deeper into the cave. With the Sphinx gone, they could see a large slope leading them on. This would lead them on toward the catacombs were the tears were to be located.
“Capello, did you really think that attacking that Sphinx would be a good idea?” Van angrily demanded. He knew he had made a deal with Kylian not to kick the guy out of their group, but this kind of thing was absolutely over the top. It was unreal how much of a liability this kid was starting to become. While Kylian was a good fighter and a very wise man, was it worth having Capello around?
“Hey, I figured, no guts, no glory, am I right?” Capello asked. “It’s not like we wouldn’t have been able to kill it. There were plenty of us.”
“Even if we were able to kill a creature that was way higher-level than us, it would have easily murdered at least one or two of us. We can’t afford to lose people at this point in the game!” Van snapped. “You’ve got to learn how to stop attacking people unless I give you the go-ahead.”
“What’s the big deal?” Capello asked with a shrug. “If we die, we just come right back. It’s just a silly game. There’s no reason to get bent out of shape when I’m only trying to help.”
“You’re not trying to help at all!” Van shouted. His voice echoed through the darkness. “If you’d wanted to really help us out, you’d have tried to figure out the riddle. All of these petulant attempts to kill people are starting to get me too pissed off here. Next time we camp, we’re going to have to bring you up on charges of failure to be a team player. You might even get kicked out.”
“My uncle said I could play with you guys as long as I wanted,” Capello said. Van’s words had visibly shaken his confidence.
“Well, your uncle isn’t in charge of this group. I am!” Van said. “Unless you clean up your act, I’ll make sure we vote you out and you’ll never come back here!”
“Aw, come on, man,” Capello said, lowering his head. “I’m not trying to cause any trouble; I was just wanting to help.”
“If you ever try to attack anyone without permission, you aren’t helping!” Van said.
“Fine, fine, I’ll only attack whoever you tell me to,” the boy replied. “Are you happy?”
“Thrilled,” Van said. “Now come on—it looks like the rest of the party has gotten far away from us; let’s go catch up with them.”
As they began to walk on toward the party, Van saw a dark figure out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see that it was Kenwar approaching, and waited for the other man as Capello walked ahead.
“Nice work,” Kenwar said. “You really know how to discipline players.”
“Yeah, well, you get used to it when you’re leading raids all the time,” Van said.
“This game really is something else, isn’t it?” Kenwar asked as he continued to follow after the group. He had deliberately slowed his pace down, forcing Van to walk a little slower so that he could talk to him.
“It really is amazing. That desert was probably one of the more brutal experiences I’ve ever had in this game.”
“You know…” Kenwar began as he cautiously looked around to make sure that no one was listening. “I find it incredible that someone like you could be working with the government.”
“How so?”
“Because you’re one of us. I mean, for me, I was sort of forced into this job, but you? You had the ability to walk away, free and clear, but you didn’t. You chose to stay and keep helping the CIA out. It’s sort of surprising to see someone just blindly turn against everything that they love.”
Van felt his heart rate begin to accelerate. This was exactly what Neil had predicted would happen. Kenwar wanted to convince Van to join Draco.
“I’m not turning against anything,” Van said. “I’m just trying to help Sang out.”
“No, you’re turning against Draco here, aren’t you? You’re turning your back on this incredible game and all of the people who enjoy it.”
“Well, if Draco really is the problem child here, I don’t have any qualms about turning against them,” Van replied. “They’re up to no good.”
“Says who? The government? The same CIA that blackmailed you into playing this game?”
“How’d you know about that?” Van asked.
Kenwar grinned. “I overheard someone talking about your history when they were transporting me. They thought I was outside of earshot. I know your whole story, Van. I know you’re the type of person who was really hoping to make something of his life. I know you wanted to go pro.”
“So what? I’m kind of pro right now,” Van replied. “I’m just playing for the good guys.”
“Good guys? Good guys! Van, they threatened to kill me if I didn’t work for them. They said they’d take me out in the desert, make me dig my own grave, and then shoot me in the back of the head. Neil was very specific with his plans for how he’d end my life if I didn’t cooperate. How could good guys do that?” Kenwar asked.
“Well, what’s the alternative? We let Draco take over the planet and kill off the majority of the population? Let’s face it, Kenwar, these guys are bad news. Yeah, the CIA is shady as hell, and yes, they once took me out to a beautiful wooded area and showed me exactly where they’d bury me, but that doesn’t make Draco the good guy in this situation.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Kenwar whispered. They stopped right at a massive gate that would lead to the next area. Van had sent a private message to Sang, telling her to keep the rest of the team moving while he had a private conversation. “Draco isn’t what you think. They are beyond anything that you can imagine. An alien being isn’t the same as a human.”
Van wrinkled his face at the comment. Finally, he would be able to get some answers about what exactly these creatures were. “What do you mean?”
“Draco comes from across the stars and works to enlighten various races that are worthy of their attention. They saw humanity and thought it would be good for them to give us some basic technological advances a few thousand years ago. They brought things like the wheel, fire, agriculture. Over time, as humanity continues to grow faster and faster, they introduce new things with the hopes of seeing how humans do with them. However, once humans received power over the atom, things quickly went south. We developed nuclear weapons and threatened to obliterate the world several times over. You know how the story goes,” Kenwar said.
“Yeah, so what, you’re meaning to tell me that all of our high-level technology comes from Draco?”
“Well, not all of it. They would just give specific gifts every now and then to see how humans would do with them. They aren’t happy with the results, however. Mankind has been using their vast resources to kill their own planet and murder one another. So, what do you think their opinions on humans are?”
“Probably insanely low,” Van replied.
“Exactly. Draco isn’t thrilled with their investment. They aren’t happy to see their gifts used for violence, warfare, and destruction. Most of all, they’re growing more concerned with humanity’s obsession with spaceflight. You read the news lately? We’ve finally built the first commercial space flight system. Cruises to the moon are gonna be sold soon. Do you think that Draco wants mankind bringing their violence and hatred to the rest of the galaxy?”
“Probably not…” Van said. He honestly couldn’t tell if Kenwar was lying or not, but something seemed off. His mind idly drifted back to the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. Hadn’t aliens been displeased wit
h humankind in that movie, and wanted to warn them about their course toward total destruction? Van was almost one hundred percent sure that Kenwar was making this up and was using a classic sci-fi movie for inspiration. He decided that he’d play along. “So, you’re saying that since Draco helped humanity develop, they feel responsible for our violence?”
“In a way, yes. They’re frustrated with our actions and wish to find some way to fix us. These pods, this game, is a way to solve that problem. Only those who are of the right kind of character can be recruited to the status of Draco Pro, though. They consider these people they are recruiting to be the very best of humanity.”
“Yeah, but what about the whole ‘eliminate a chunk of the population’ thing?” Van asked. “That should be enough to prove they’re evil.”
“Over one hundred thousand people die every day, and millions die per month,” Kenwar offered. “Many of them die due to preventable diseases, poverty, starvation, hunger, or even just straight-up murder. How many are taken out of this world because of humanity’s sins? In 150 years, the current population of earth will be dead, and a new population will have taken over. Everyone who is born dies anyway, right? What’s so wrong with cleansing the earth right now and starting over? Fresh?”
“You’re being crazy, Kenwar,” Van said. “Murder is wrong.”
“Oh, I agree. But what about the next time there’s a war? Or when America finally gets a little too excitable with nuclear technology and decides to blow some things up? Millions don’t just die, Van, they also suffer. Think about World War Two. That was one of the greatest tragedies to ever occur; tens of millions of people died, but think of how many more suffered. What is the point of living if we can’t live well?”
“Enough,” Van said. “I don’t even know why you’re trying to tell me all of this.”
“I’m trying to warn you, friend,” Kenwar said. “You think you’re on the right side, but you’re not. You use the term ‘good guys’, but let’s be honest here. What crimes and horrors have the government perpetrated against other people? These CIA goons aren’t your friends. They’re going to turn against you as soon as you aren’t useful to them.”
“Well, whatever,” Van said. He knew that he had to offer some kind of resistance, or else Kenwar would see right through his plan to be a double-agent. “Regardless of who’s good or bad, do I need to remind you that we’re lying in pods surrounded by the CIA? So, let’s just do what they tell us until the mission is over, and then we can go home and figure out where to go from there.”
“If Draco catches wind of what we’re doing and decides that they’re tired of us, they’ll just turn on the lethal biofeedback system,” Kenwar mumbled as he ran his hands against the stone door before them. “Then, the next time you die, you’ll actually die for real.”
“They can do that?” Van asked, feeling his blood run cold. A nervousness overtook him. He’d known that Draco could kill somehow, but he hadn’t known if there were any limitations.
“Yeah, the lethal system was designed as a way to test how players would react when they knew their lives were on the line in a game, so Draco has the power to enable it at any moment,” Kenwar said. “They don't have the power to just vaporize us, though,” Kenwar said. “Now, they could lock the pods on us, so we’d die of dehydration, but we have people who’d break us out before then.”
“Can they kill us directly?” Van asked. “Push a button and just end us?”
“Weren’t you listening?” Kenwar chided. “They don’t have the power to directly zap you, but they can activate the lethal system at any time, essentially marking you for death.
“Is there any way to disable this lethal system?” Van asked.
Kenwar shook his head. “Nope. Not from what I’ve seen. I mean, even a haptic system that isn’t a pod could easily surge electricity into the human brain, enough to fry it. There is honestly no way to play this game without that risk.”
“So why aren’t any of us dead yet?” Van commented.
Kenwar grinned. “They have one weakness. They don’t have eyes and ears outside of these pods. Once we’re in the real world, they have no power over us. So, all they saw was the fact that I logged out. They don’t know that I’m logged in from a CIA headquarters now.”
Van chewed on that for a moment. He didn’t know what else to say to gain more information from the manhunter.
“Are you guys coming or what?” Sahara demanded as she breathlessly burst through the stone door ahead of them. “Sang made me run all the way back to get you guys! The fighting up ahead is crazy and we need all hands on deck!”
“Of course,” Kenwar said, his gaze never shifting from staring straight at Van. “Who doesn’t like a good fight?”
Chapter Eight
“There’s too many of them!” Van cried as he threw a few more darts at the advancing hordes of Ratmen. They were feral, half-human, half-rat hybrids that hissed and shrieked violently as they rushed through the dark tunnels.
“I’m on it!” Capello bellowed as he leapt into one of the catacomb tunnels and began to scream loudly as he chopped his way through dozens of monsters. The creatures, while numerous, died very quickly beneath the axes of the berserker.
The catacombs had been an absolute nightmare to fight through. Van had been expecting just a few Ogres or some kind of Tunnel Troll clan, but the Ratmen were the worst. They had a very quick respawn rate and would come bursting out of the tunnels every few minutes. The team had violently fought them back, but as the day was continuing, they were growing wearier with each passing fight.
“How far until we find these stupid tears?” Sahara asked as she raised her hands to cast a minor spell of illumination. Light flashed through all of the tunnels, giving Sang just enough time to determine which one to go through.
“I figured we’d have found them by now,” Bidane replied. “But this kind of dungeon is just beyond the pale. I can’t make heads or tails of anything.”
“Only tails I’m seeing belong to those retched Ratmen,” Kylian said.
“Wait! I found something!” Kenwar shouted as he pointed excitedly at one of the walls. “It’s a secret door!”
“Perfect! Open it up, but get ready just in case there’s something violent in there,” Van instructed as he cautiously took a step away from his team. He had taken a beating during one of the Ratmen ambushes and his health was only 50 points away from meaning his death. He knew that, if he was hit by one more deranged attack or firebomb, he’d probably end up dead.
“Got it!” Kenwar said as he fiddled with the wall, causing it to pop open.
“Are those the tears?” Sang asked hopefully as she peered into the secret room.
“No, it’s just a ladder. Leading up,” Sahara said.
“Well, maybe it’ll lead to the tears,” Sang said. “Or at least to somewhere that isn’t as claustrophobic as hell. I’ll investigate.” She hastily scampered up the ladder.
“Rat attack!” Kylian shouted, pointing down one of the tunnels. The familiar sound of dozens of skittering feet echoed through the catacombs.
“Now this is my kind of quest!” Capello gleefully shouted as he leapt into the tunnel on the right and spun his axes around. “Come and get it, freaks!”
The hideous, shrieking rat-fiends came running into view at full speed. There were at least fifteen of them, and they were packed together tightly into rows of three.
“Let’s do this!” Capello shouted as he began to slash his blades back and forth, easily killing the first two ranks of rank fiends.
“Van!” Sang called, dropping down from the ladder. “You’ve got to come see what’s upstairs!”
Van, who had been busy playing his war tunes with his bagpipes, hastily slung his pipes over his shoulder and rushed up the ladder. “Handle this fight!” he shouted to the rest of the team as they backed Capello up. On the good side, no matter how many swarms of rat fiends came rushing through, it seemed that Capello was always exc
ited to be fighting against them.
Van climbed the ladder with his own excitement, hoping to see the tears of Saint Alberta, but much to his dismay, Sang led him into an empty room.
“What’s the deal?” Van asked. “There’s nothing here but a few windows.”
“Look!” Sang said as she pointed out of one of the windows. Van peered through and gasped. He could see two massive armies gathering in the distance. They looked as if they were preparing to go to war. Each side carried a different flag, and Van could see the word Melvania on one of the banners.
“What? How the hell are we this far up north?” Van asked.
“I checked my map—apparently, these catacombs run all over the place. This was one of the access points. I guess this cavern system was designed to work like some kind of fast travel option.”
“Sang, this is perfect!” Van said as he looked at the time. About 9 hours of in-game time had gone by, but it would have taken nearly 14 hours to reach Melvania from where they’d been, and that was without wasting time in what was supposed to have been a short side quest.
“So, are we ditching these tears or what?” Sang asked. “Because we need to get moving. If we can join one of those armies, we can count this day a success.”
Van nodded. “Yeah, I’m in favor of skipping, but I’m not sure the rest of the team would be so happy with our decision.”
“Figure it out then,” Sang said. “You’re the one in charge, so I’ll leave it to you.”
“Thanks,” Van said. He paused and really soaked in her compliment. “No, really. Thank you for letting me lead this team. I know you’re frustrated with how much time everything is taking, so it means a lot that you’re willing to accept that we’re not moving as quickly as just the two of us could.”
Sang shrugged. “I’ve got two options, really. I can rage against the unchangeable and drive a wedge between me, you, and the rest of my teammates, or I can just bottle all of that frustration and take it out on whatever army we’re going to be fighting.”
