Evolution

by Travis Bagwell

  “So, what’s next?” Riley asked Jason when she realized she couldn’t chase Frank around the room.

  “I guess we head up to the next level,” Jason replied, gesturing at the broad staircase that wound up between the stands. “Although, it’s pretty late in the real world,” he added, glancing at the clock on his system UI. “Everyone want to call it for the evening?”

  “I could use a break,” Frank shouted from the other end of the room. “You guys are jerks!”

  “You can come back over here,” Riley yelled back. “I promise I won’t try to pet you. Much…” she added in a quieter voice.

  “I also need to do some homework,” Eliza mentioned with a heavy sigh.

  “Okay, based on the Hippie’s comments, this will probably be the last room anyway. “Same time tomorrow?” Jason asked.

  His group all nodded and began logging out, flashes of multi-colored light briefly illuminating the amphitheater. As his friends disappeared, Jason’s gaze shifted to the empty stands, a troubled frown creasing his forehead.

  He wasn’t sure what to expect when they reached the top level of the temple. The visions of the Keeper and his son were disconcerting – especially with the Hippie’s manipulation of dark mana. He expected that this next encounter was going to be rough. They were likely going to be facing some sort of creature that could use both water and dark mana.

  “And I assume you aren’t going to give me any hints,” Jason commented, glancing at Alfred who sat nearby.

  “The terms of our arrangement have not changed,” Alfred replied calmly.

  The cat hesitated, glancing to the side as though thinking about how to phrase his next sentence. “I would suggest, however, that you move quickly. Events inside the game world are escalating rapidly,” Alfred finally said.

  “Well, that’s pretty cryptic,” Jason said. “Can you elaborate?”

  “Unfortunately, no,” Alfred responded. “The best I can do is urge haste.”

  Jason could feel the ever-present worry gnawing at his stomach. He had a lot to juggle already, and they were running out of time to complete the Priestess’ quest. He also hadn’t uploaded any videos to Robert and Claire over the last few days. He wasn’t even sure how to edit the footage of their journey through the temple with the heavy-handed involvement of the water god. He didn’t want to tip off the general player population to a secret competition among the game’s gods.

  With a sigh, Jason rubbed at his eyes. He felt tired, and he needed some food and some rest. He couldn’t deal with any of these problems right now. “Alright, I’m going to call it. Bye, Alfred.”

  “Goodbye, Jason,” Alfred replied. Then his feline eyes glazed over, the AI likely abandoning the creature and re-focusing his attention on other parts of the game world.

  Jason pulled up his system menu and logged off.

  A moment later, he found himself back in his new bedroom at Cerillion Entertainment headquarters. With a groan, he lifted himself up from the bed, stretching his aching muscles. It felt like he had worked out for hours. Based on how sore he felt, he could only assume that Alfred had decided to ramp up his physical therapy while he was in-game.

  “Maybe he wants me to run a marathon next,” he muttered to himself.

  His stomach growled loudly, reminding him that he had been plugged in for most of the day. It had been a long time since breakfast with Robert, and he had skipped lunch. With another sigh, Jason exited his room and headed for the apartment’s kitchen.

  As he entered the hallway, Jason could hear a crash coming from the kitchen, followed closely by a loud exclamation and cursing. “You stupid piece of shit!” Angie’s voice rang down the hallway, causing Jason’s forehead to wrinkle in confusion and his steps to quicken.

  The object of Angie’s wrath soon became apparent as he entered the kitchen in a rush. A torrent of water was jetting from the sink, spraying parts of the ceiling and the cabinets. Puddles had already formed on the tiled floor, and his aunt’s hoodie was soaked, droplets of water streaming down her cheeks.

  “Sink off!” his aunt yelled at the appliance, pushing frantically at the buttons along the sink’s rim at the same time.

  Jason jogged into the kitchen and quickly pressed the “off button” on the sink – the fountain of water immediately stopping. “Are you okay?” he asked, looking at his aunt.

  “I’ve been better,” she replied in irritation, water dripping down her face and a frown curling her lips. “I just can’t get used to these appliances. They all seem to be automated and hooked into the apartment’s AI, but they don’t respond to commands.”

  “They might have not have registered your voice with the apartment AI,” Jason said, his brow furrowed in thought. “They probably only had my info on file. I can talk to Robert and get him to change it.”

  Jason went back into the hall and opened a closet door, hoping to find some fresh towels. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the apartment was well-stocked with sheets and linens. “Here.” Jason offered his aunt a towel as he came back into the kitchen. He dumped the remaining towels on the larger puddles.

  I might also have to ask Robert for a mop, he thought with some amusement as he surveyed the drenched kitchen. Angie had really done a number on their new apartment.

  “Well, I made a big mess,” his aunt commented, echoing his thoughts as she took a seat at the counter and toweled off her face.

  “It’s okay, we can get this cleaned up,” Jason replied before taking a seat beside her. “What were you trying to do?”

  “I was trying to fix some dinner. Although you can see how that turned out,” his aunt said with a self-deprecating chuckle.

  “Oh. Robert said we can use the restaurant upstairs – it’s free. I bet they also have an ordering feature,” Jason added, pulling up his new Core to see if Robert had installed an app for the restaurant. It turned out that the engineer had thought that far ahead. A few quick strokes later and Jason had some dinner on the way.

  “There we go. It should be about twenty minutes,” Jason said.

  “Thanks, Jason,” Angie replied.

  He turned to find his aunt watching him carefully. “How are you holding up?” she asked, concern in her voice. “You look exhausted.”

  “I am,” Jason replied. “There’s just… there’s just so much going on.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “I guess, although I’m not sure how it’ll help,” he replied quietly. The knot in his stomach clenched just thinking about the issues he needed to tackle.

  “Honestly, I’m not even sure where to start,” he began. “I killed two kids, and I’m still being investigated. Your house is a crime scene, and I got you kicked out. I think I’ve been conscripted by in-game gods in some sort of competition, but I’ll be damned if they have explained what I’m supposed to do. We’re also now dependent on George, and I haven’t been uploading any videos lately.” Frustration colored Jason’s voice as he rattled off his problems. He had to catch himself before mentioning Alfred.

  “Oh, and my parents are completely checked out now. I forgot to mention that part!” he added bitterly.

  “Wow, that is a lot,” his aunt replied slowly. Angie placed her now damp towel on the counter and chewed on her lip in thought. “But maybe you’re taking on some problems that you don’t need to…”

  “How so?” Jason asked in confusion.

  “Well, those two teenagers died, but that was clearly self-defense. One of them was armed. I think the police will come to that decision given some time. Francis is fighting that battle.”

  His aunt gestured at the apartment. “As for our new living arrangements and my house, I’m a grown woman. Other than not being able to figure out how to use the sink, I’ve managed to survive for a long time before you came along,” she added with a soft chuckle. “If this doesn’t work out, we can always find another place.

  “As for Awaken Online, just give it time. I’m sure things will
work out. You seem more than capable of handling yourself in-game.”

  His aunt placed her hand on his, her free hand forcing him to meet her gaze. “Which leads me to the most important point. You aren’t in this by yourself. You don’t need to tackle all of these problems on your own. You have me, and you have your friends. It’s okay to lean on other people a little.”

  Jason just looked at his aunt. For some reason, her calm, reassuring words helped unwind the knot in his stomach. Maybe she was right. Maybe he was just building up these problems in his own head instead of relying on the people around him.

  “Thanks, Angie,” he said, tears budding at the corners of his eyes. “I needed to hear that.”

  His aunt nodded, patting his hand lightly. “Besides, you’re just a kid. You should be having some fun. Hang out with your friends. Do some things you enjoy. Go on a date or something! I haven’t seen you leave this apartment since we moved in. Not that you were super social before, of course.”

  Jason laughed, wiping at his eyes. “I am a little bit boring.”

  “I don’t know that I’d go that far,” his aunt replied with a chuckle. “I don’t think anyone could claim that your life is boring. But you need to do some regular teenager stuff. Isn’t there someone you could ask out or something?”

  Jason hesitated, his thoughts immediately turning to Riley. He couldn’t shake the image of her standing beside him, battle-worn and beautiful. He just wasn’t sure how to act on his feelings – if that’s even what they were. After her experience with Alex, he really wasn’t sure how open she would be to the idea of dating.

  “Oh, it looks like I hit on something,” Angie said with a broad smile. “Let’s go. Give me some details. I don’t get enough juicy gossip sitting behind a workbench all day.”

  “I’m not sure this really counts as juicy gossip,” Jason replied in a dry tone. “Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m just reading into it, but I guess there’s a girl that I’m sort of interested in. Her name is Riley.”

  “You mean the Riley. I’ve seen some of her videos. That girl kicks some serious ass. And this is coming from your old fuddy-duddy aunt,” Angie said with a smile.

  “She’s pretty cool,” Jason acknowledged quietly, his eyes on his plate. “I just don’t know if there’s anything there. Like, sometimes it feels like she might be interested… but at other times it feels like she’s just a friend.” He hesitated for a moment, lost in thought. “Then there’s her baggage with Alex – her last boyfriend. He basically blackmailed her.”

  “Wow. Now that’s some drama,” Angie said, her eyes wide.

  A chime interrupted their conversation, and Angie stood to answer the door, returning with a bag a moment later. “It looks like our food arrived,” she announced, opening the sack and placing Jason’s dinner in front of him.

  “I could get used to the free delivery,” his aunt mumbled between mouthfuls. “Especially since it’s impossible for me to screw this up!”

  Jason smiled slightly in response, his thoughts still on Riley. He picked at his food until his aunt finally spoke up again, breaking the silence. “Honestly, it sounds like you are interested in this girl.”

  “I guess,” Jason acknowledged.

  “Definitely, or you wouldn’t be wringing your hands about it,” Angie insisted, stabbing a fork at him to emphasize her point. “I’m not saying I’m the master of relationships – far from it actually – but I’ve screwed up often enough to learn a few things. My advice is that you should just ask her out. You can sit and try to work through the ‘signs’ to try to determine whether she’s interested. However, you won’t really know until you talk to her.”

  “That’s easier said than done,” Jason grumbled. “Especially with her history.”

  “Really?” his Aunt demanded, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “This coming from a guy that can rule an undead city and publicly challenges millions of players at the drop of a hat? But you’re nervous about asking out a girl?”

  His aunt chuckled to herself before popping another bite into her mouth. “Maybe I should talk to Robert. Since you haven’t been updating your stream, I bet this would be fascinating to your fans and enemies.”

  She smacked the table with her palm, laughing out loud. “Ahh, I’ve got it. I can see the headline now. Zombies, Ghouls, and Girls: How to Get a Date as an Evil Overlord.”

  “You wouldn’t!” Jason said, his eyes widening and his cheeks feeling unusually warm.

  “Maybe,” Angie replied with a grin. “Like I said, I don’t get my drama fix during the day.”

  “Jerk,” he muttered, bowing his head over his plate to hide his reddening cheeks.

  This earned him another chuckle from his aunt. “Come on now, I’m kidding,” his aunt offered. “But I still stand by my advice. Just ask her out. Do it in-game if it makes it easier. You seem to be in your element there.”

  “Maybe,” he replied noncommittally. He’d have to think about what Angie said.

  “Or you could just give up,” she suggested. “Honestly, I’ve seen pictures of Riley. She’s probably out of your league anyway,” she added with a laugh.

  “That’s rich,” Jason shot back with a smile of his own. “Especially coming from someone who just flooded our kitchen and is still sopping wet.”

  As Angie and Jason continued trading barbs, he could feel himself relaxing for the first time in days. His aunt was right. He wasn’t alone. And as much as he hated to admit it, she might also be right about Riley. He’d have to mull over that. For now, he would try to forget his problems – at least for one night.

  Chapter 27 - Corrupted

  Eliza pulled off her headset with a sigh, the interior padding catching on her hair. She had spent a long time in the game world, and her body felt stiff and unwieldy. As she lay on her bed for a moment, she could hear the telltale sounds of her parents in the kitchen downstairs, their voices drifting up to her bedroom.

  Her gaze shifted to her desk nearby, books and papers piled on the tabletop. The house’s AI responded to her shift in attention, a digital screen appearing above the desk and reverting to her calendar. She could see a series of days marked out with little ‘X’s.’ She only had a few more days left until her parents were going to force her to focus full-time on her schoolwork again.

  “Remove my calendar,” Eliza said aloud, and the image immediately disappeared.

  With a soft sigh, she lifted herself up and trudged over to her desk, slumping down in her chair. The house’s computer replaced the image on the screen with a series of forum posts and videos from Awaken Online. Perhaps she had been spending too much time reading about the game if the computer knew her that well.

  She froze as she saw one of the thumbnail images. It showed a familiar-looking tavern, one she had spent many hours in over the last few weeks in-game. She tapped the link cautiously, not sure what to expect.

  A video immediately popped up on her screen. It showed the perspective of a player, his identification information posted in the bottom right-hand corner. Eliza’s hands clenched as she confirmed his location – Falcon’s Hook. The player’s gaze panned over the crowded tavern, the drunken sailors attired in a motley assemblage of green and purple. Then a crash drew his attention and his gaze shifted to the side.

  Eliza’s breath caught as she saw herself come into frame. Her table had been overturned, her potions strewn about the room. As she watched herself, the digital Eliza stood from the table, her eyes flashing a brilliant sapphire as she channeled her water mana. She pulled a wand from her pack, and her free hand moved through a familiar series of gestures. Even as a dense cloud began to form around her body, tendrils curled away from the cloud and began to spread.

  Her Obscuring Mist promptly rolled over the room, players and NPCs gasping and choking. The player’s vision was obscured for a moment as he quickly covered his face with the hem of his cloak. When he pulled the garment free a moment later, Eliza’s petite form stood among a pile of unconscious
bodies. The player started to move but froze when he saw several figures approach Eliza.

  Jason’s unmistakable, dark form drifted through the tavern, followed closely by Frank and Riley. His cloak billowed out behind him, and his face was obscured from view. He strode forward with confident steps, unconcerned about being attacked by a girl that had just knocked out an entire room of sailors. Watching the scene from a different perspective, Eliza now understood why. Frank and Riley were heavily armed, and their weapons had been drawn beneath their cloaks. If anything had happened, Eliza would have been dead instantly.

  Yet Jason made no move to attack her. Instead, she saw him stoop to help her pick up her crafting materials and vials, familiar words leaving his lips. “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your name?” he asked.

  “My name is Eliza.” She heard herself reply quietly.

  “Well, Eliza, what you just did to these sailors was incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it. By the way, my name is Jason, and this here is Frank and Riley,” Jason said, gesturing at his friends before standing and offering her a hand up.

  “Freeze the video,” Eliza ordered, a knot settling in her stomach. The screen froze on the image of Jason extending his hand, his two teammates looking on cautiously. Worry blossomed in her chest, and she flicked the image to the side, her eyes skimming down to the video’s detail information.

  “5 million views…” she muttered, the knot in her stomach feeling like it was growing by the minute. Then her gaze shifted to the comments to the video.

  Warbeaver: Who is this girl and what did she just cast? She took out an entire tavern in about sixty seconds!

  Renkaii: I think it just incapacitated them.

  Kryptic: Who cares? Did you see who approached her? Is that really Jason?

  Warbeaver: That seems like Frank and Riley in the background. At least they match their descriptions.