by Jason Segel
We’ve arrived at Magna’s ice cave and found it crumbling. It’s a good thing we decided to come when we did, because I’m not sure how much longer this place will last. Fons orders Probo and Ita to stand guard outside as the rest of us enter. Inside the tunnel, there are cracks in the ceiling that are wide enough to shove my whole arm into. As we walk down the path, we can hear the ice creaking and groaning above us.
At the end of the path lies the empty throne room. I remember Magna, Milo’s avatar, sitting in the center, the heat from his burning red body carving this chamber out of the glacier. Most traces of Magna are gone now—even the door that once served as Milo Yolkin’s personal exit from Otherworld. The Company must have removed it. But thankfully they left what we’ve come to find. They must not have realized it’s here, buried deep inside the cave’s wall. You’d have to look closely to see that the hazy silhouette belongs to a man trapped in the ice. We’re here to take him out.
Fons lights a torch and holds the flame to the wall. I can feel the heat of the blaze on my cheeks. Slowly, the ice begins to recede, and the figure becomes darker and more distinct. Then Fons pulls the torch away from the ice and gestures for Ino to come closer.
“Who’s in there?” she asks Fons. She doesn’t dare direct the question to us.
I answer anyway. “An avatar. It belongs to the man who’s responsible for your world.”
“The Creator?” she asks.
“No,” I tell her. “Before the Creator.”
“How could there be someone before the Creator?” she asks.
“That’s enough,” Fons snaps. “No more talking.” I shoot him a look. I’m not one of his kind. I don’t have to take orders from jerks with tentacles for tails.
Ino places her hands on the dripping wall. Her silver skin turns pink and then a blazing red, and what’s left of the ice melts away and the face of a handsome man begins to emerge. There’s no doubt the guy is Busara’s father. They share the same prominent cheekbones and regal nose. Next Ino melts the ice around his chest and arms. As soon as his first hand is freed, it rises to his face, where his fingers wipe the moisture away from his eyes. When they open, they land right on me.
“A Druid,” he says, and I swear I almost give the dude a hug. Apparently, he’s the only person in Otherworld who knows a kick-ass avatar when he sees one. He glances down at the amulet around my neck. “A Druid who’s wearing a disk. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
God, where should I start? I guess I didn’t think through the introductions. Kat notices me struggling to put a sentence together and steps in just as things are about to get awkward.
“We’ve come to set you free,” she tells him.
“Ah,” says James Ogubu. There’s a smile on his face, but he’s hardly jumping for joy. His eyes pass over Kat and move on to our companions. “Such creative avatars.”
“We are not guests in Otherworld,” Fons informs him. “We are Children.”
Ino’s finished defrosting the avatar, and James Ogubu steps out of the ice. Tall and slim, he’s wearing dad jeans and a pale blue button-down. His shoes look like he bought them from a medical supply shop. I’d love to know what the Children make of his outfit. Even on Earth it would be a little unusual.
Ogubu holds out a hand to Fons, who seems confused. I guess no one’s ever attempted to shake his hand before. “I’ve heard about your kind, but I was never lucky enough to meet any of you,” Ogubu says. “May I ask who your parents are?”
“My father is the Elemental of Nemi,” Fons responds warily. “My mother is the beast from below. She lives at the bottom of the Nemi Sea.”
“You’re an aristocrat,” Ogubu notes, without sounding the slightest bit smarmy. His daughter may have inherited his looks, but Busara got none of his charm. He glances over at Ino and smiles warmly. “And your father must be the one your kind call the Creator.”
How could I have missed it? Of course he was. The burning red hands that she used to melt the ice away from James Ogubu make perfect sense now. That’s why Ino and her sister were invited along.
“Where is he?” Ogubu asks, looking around. “This is still Magna’s cave, is it not?”
“The Creator has left Otherworld,” Fons announces. “He abandoned us all.”
“Milo is dead,” I explain. “The game killed him. The Company allowed it to happen.”
“Milo?” Fons asks. He’s never heard the name.
“I’ll explain later,” I tell him. But James Ogubu doesn’t hesitate.
“Milo was the man who used my inventions to build your world,” he tells Fons. “His avatar was Magna, otherwise known as the Creator.”
“The Creator was a guest?” Fons asks.
“Yes,” Ogubu tells him.
While Fons struggles to absorb the information, Ogubu turns to me. “You’re certain Milo is dead?” The news doesn’t appear to have brought him pleasure.
I grimace at the memory of Milo’s withered corpse. “I saw the body with my own eyes.”
Ogubu nods sadly. “I knew it would happen eventually. Otherworld had already destroyed Milo’s mind. There was little doubt that his body was next. The last time I saw him he was skin and bones. But if Milo is dead now, who sent you to free me?”
“Your daughter,” Kat tells him. “She’s been looking for you.”
“Busara?” Ogubu’s eyes brighten and fill with tears. It’s touching to witness, but I can’t help but be struck by the irony of it all. This is the man who invented the disk. The same technology that’s killed so many people started with Ogubu’s desire to help a daughter with heart problems. It’s hard to believe that something as pure and wonderful as his love for his child could have led to a world that’s so rotten and wrong. But that’s the big lesson I’ve learned here in Otherworld—you can’t predict how things will eventually turn to shit. You can only accept that they will. “How is her heart? Is she well?”
“Busara’s fine,” Kat assures him. “She’s anxious to see you.”
“And she’ll probably be much easier to live with as soon as we locate you,” I add.
It may be my imagination, but James Ogubu’s image seems to flicker for a moment. “I don’t understand. You have located me,” he says.
There’s something off about this guy, though I’m having trouble putting a finger on what it could be. I suppose he seems far too composed for the situation—like his real-world body has been hooked up to a strong sedative drip. Then again, who knows what’s flowing through Ogubu’s veins right now?
“We’ve found you here. Now we need to find you in the real world,” I explain. “Do you have any idea where your body might be?”
“Yes,” says Ogubu with a cryptic smile. “It’s in a long, narrow container just large enough to hold it.” He’s describing a capsule. “That’s as specific as I can be at the moment. After all, we’ve only just met.”
“No rush,” Kat assures him. “When you’re ready to tell us, we’ll be happy to listen.” I look over at her with a raised eyebrow. I’m glad she’s feeling confident. If he doesn’t spill the beans, we could end up back at square one.
“You’re certain that finding my body’s the best use of your time?” Ogubu asks her.
This guy is way too cool. “It’s not really up for debate,” I say. “Your daughter’s going to drive me completely insane if we don’t get you home soon. And we need your help. As you probably predicted, Otherworld’s gotten a wee bit out of control.”
“Otherworld was never under control,” Ogubu replies. “This world should not have been built.”
“This is our home,” Fons jumps in, sounding pissed. “Without Otherworld the Children would not exist.”
“Of course.” Ogubu places a hand on the Child’s shoulder. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to be callous. This subject has grown far more complicated since
I last discussed it. There are no easy answers today. Perhaps there never were.”
“Otherworld isn’t the problem,” Fons responds. “Guests like you are the problem.”
I see Kat grimace, but Ogubu doesn’t react to the insult.
“He’s like us,” I inform Fons. “He’s not wearing a headset. He’s not here to kill.”
“Headset players are the biggest issue at the moment,” Kat tells Ogubu. “There are two thousand in Otherworld, and they’ve been slaughtering Children for sport. There’s an entire realm devoted to the hunt.”
Ogubu’s head bows forward and his hands rise to his face. A few seconds pass before he speaks. When he does, his voice is filled with grief. “I am so sorry,” he tells Fons. “I warned Milo that such atrocities were likely, but he refused to listen. He thought he was powerful enough to control the world he’d created. And he assumed he was brilliant enough to govern his guests. I suppose in the end he was neither.
“When the Children first appeared, Milo set out to exterminate them. Later he realized what terrible acts he’d committed, and he brought me here hoping I’d help find another solution. He told me he’d scrapped the disk. Going forward, only headset players would be allowed into Otherworld. He thought I’d be pleased, but I knew what that would mean for Otherworld’s inhabitants. Total annihilation. So I came back here on my own and I brought something with me that would put an end to all of it. But Milo found out, just as I prepared to unleash it. That’s why he imprisoned my mind in this cave, and that’s why I’ve been here ever since.”
“What were you planning to unleash?” Kat asks.
“A virus,” Ogubu says. “One specially designed to destroy the headsets Milo created and spare Otherworld’s inhabitants.”
My heart skips a beat, but it’s too good to be true. The virus is exactly what we need—and it’s within our reach. It’s like coming across the Holy Grail mixed in with the mugs in your kitchen cabinet.
“Will it destroy the disks?” Kat asks.
“No,” Ogubu tells her. “I didn’t think destroying them would be necessary. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that anyone other than Milo or myself would ever enter this game with a disk.”
“What is a virus?” Fons demands. His tone of voice could use an adjustment, but it must be frustrating to keep up a conversation with beings from another world.
“A virus is a piece of code that can replicate itself and destroy software,” Kat says. The explanation seems to do nothing for Fons.
“It will kill all the new guests,” I say. Then I meet Ogubu’s eyes. “And we need it.”
“Then bring my daughter to me,” James Ogubu says. “I will tell her where to find the virus—and where she can locate my body.”
I’m confused. Shouldn’t Ogubu, of all people, know why that’s not going to happen? His daughter isn’t well enough to fight headset players. “This game is too dangerous for Busara now. Even the liminal spaces are filled with psychos and beasts. We have no access to headsets—only disks. If we brought Busara here, there’s a very good chance that she’d be butchered or eaten, if her heart didn’t give out first.” I pause for a moment when I hear Kat sigh. My words may have been harsh, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t true. “You have no choice but to trust us.”
“Placing my trust in the wrong people is why I’m here today,” Ogubu reminds me. “The virus may be the only chance the Children have. I assume you know how the Company operates. Do you think it would be wise for me to entrust the virus to strangers?”
He has an excellent point. We could be Company engineers as far as he knows.
“Find a headset,” he tells us. “Bring Busara to me, and I will tell her how to release the virus.”
“That could take a while,” I sigh.
“No,” I hear Fons say. I turn my attention to him and see he’s pulled out his weapon. “We cannot wait. If this virus of yours can free my kind, you must release it now.”
“A gun,” Ogubu notes solemnly, his eyes on Fons’s weapon. “You’re right, Otherworld has changed. Such weapons were forbidden the last time I was free.”
“Put that thing away!” Kat demands, but Fons ignores her.
“These two claim they can die in Otherworld like the Children,” Fons tells Ogubu, gesturing to Kat and me. “If you’re like them, that means you can die too. Tell me where to find the virus or I’ll shoot you.”
“If I die, you’ll never find the answer you seek,” the older man points out. “You can either be patient and let me hand over the virus to someone I trust—or you can lose your best hope of saving your kind. It is your choice. Which will it be?”
A loud crack echoes through the chamber. Another wide fissure has opened up in the ice above our heads. Fons draws in a deep breath and reluctantly puts his gun away.
I hear Kat exhale. “Well, aren’t we all glad that’s all over,” she says. “Now let’s get Mr. Ogubu out of this cave. It’s not going to last much longer.”
Ogubu studies the ceiling. “You’re probably right, but I’m afraid I can’t leave.”
“What?” Another obstacle has been thrown in our way, and Kat groans. “Why the hell not?”
“I’m safer in here than I would be out there. I can’t afford to take any risks. As you know all too well, if I die, I’ll be gone for good.”
For some reason, an image of Gorog flashes through my mind. I watched the ogre get speared through the chest, and yet the boy who controlled the avatar is still somehow alive. “I know that’s usually how it works,” I say. “I’ve seen it happen. But there’s a thirteen-year-old kid from Elizabeth, New Jersey, who was murdered in Otherworld but survived in real life. The Company thinks he’s proof that the disks can be fixed.”
“They may be right,” Ogubu responds. “But they’ll never figure out how to do it.”
“Do you think you could?” I ask.
Ogubu shakes his head. “If I were able to study the survivor, perhaps. But that’s not going to happen, now is it?”
“If you tell Busara where your real body is located, we can—”
Ogubu stops me. “When you bring me my daughter, don’t take any chances. If you want me to speak with her, she must be wearing a headset, not a disk.”
“Fine,” Kat tells him. “We got it.” The ice all around us is crackling like a bowl of Rice Krispies. “Let’s go,” she tells me. “We’ve got to figure out how to get our hands on a headset. Know anyone who can loan us half a million dollars or so?”
I follow her out, feeling far more hopeless than I did going in. I understand Ogubu’s reasons for refusing to help us, but I’m not really up for another hurdle right now.
“I can help,” Fons says behind us. I’d forgotten he was there, and that I’m still royally pissed that he pulled a gun in the ice cave.
“Oh, really?” I snap. “Let me guess—you’ve been saving up for a rainy day?”
Fons’s brow furrows. He clearly has no idea what I’m talking about. “My friend Alexei—”
“Your friend Alexei?” I laugh out loud. “Why would he want a virus released? In case you haven’t figured it out, he’s a goddamn headset player.”
“Which means he has a headset you might use,” Fons says.
Kat glances over at me. “Why would your friend want to help us?”
“He wouldn’t help you,” Fons replies. “He will help me and the rest of the Children.” He says it with such reverence that I’d almost swear he was talking about Jesus or Superman or some combination of both. Maybe this Alexei dude should start his own cult.
“Look, I understand he’s your hero and all, but do you have any idea who your buddy Alexei is in the real world?” I demand. “He might not be a very nice guy.”
“The real world?” Fons sneers back. “Otherworld is real enough to me. I know who Alexei
is here. As far as I am concerned, that is all that matters.”
“Do you really think he’ll listen to you?” Kat asks.
“Certainly,” Fons replies, without a trace of doubt. Apparently he’s convinced that their affection is mutual.
“Then arrange a meeting for us with Alexei,” she says.
“In the real world,” I add, just to be obnoxious.
“When?” Fons wants to know.
“Tomorrow,” I reply, stomping off toward the exit. “At noon.”
“Tomorrow?” Kat asks. “Isn’t that a bit early? Don’t we need some time to figure out who this guy really is—or where he’s at?”
“His name is Alexei Semenov,” I call back. “He lives in New York.”
* * *
—
I get to the end of the tunnel and step outside into the icy air. It takes me a moment to realize I’m the only one here. Probo and Ita are nowhere to be seen. I’m about to complain that our guards have abandoned us when Kat reaches out for my arm and drags me back inside the cave. I see she has a finger pressed to her lips. Crouched down low, Fons shuffles past us and examines the footprints in the snow outside. When he stands up, he points at me. “Come,” he says softly. Kat and I both start to follow him. “You stay here,” Fons orders her.
“Screw you,” Kat says. “I go where he goes. You think ’cause I’m female I can’t take care of myself?”
“Of course not,” Fons says as though nothing she just said made any sense. “I chose him because he’s the annoying one. If anything happens, I’d rather he died.”
“Yeah well, I’m not gonna let that happen either.” Kat pulls her hood up and disappears from view. Before I lose sight of her, she looks almost amused.
I bend down and take a moment to study the footprints in the snow. Probo and Ita took off to the right. They seemed to be moving fast, but if they were running away they chose the most difficult route. The path they took is all uphill. If I had to guess, I’d say they were running toward something.
