by K. T. Hanna
It happened so quickly, Murmur almost missed it. The rogue’s stealth dropped as a throwing knife landed in his left bicep with a sickening thud. A scream tore from his throat as blood dripped from the wound and onto the ground. Three mobs ran over, quick as lightning, their daggers and swords biting deep into the poor rogue’s almost-paralyzed body. It was like the player just didn’t know how to react. His death was vicious and quick. Murmur had to swallow past a lump in her throat as she watched the blood still leaking from his lifeless body as it soaked into the dirt.
She took a deep breath as the mobs moved back, and had to stop from laughing nervously when Sinister spoke. “Boy, am I glad we have a group.”
“Yeah, playing solo probably isn’t the best way here.” Havoc’s tone was soft, as usual, but his words held a chill that made Murmur shiver.
Murmur stood and cast invisibility on everyone, herself last. Her mood had sobered somewhat. “Okay, let’s grab a good place to pull to, with some nice cover for line of sight, and get going with this.”
Things were going too smoothly for them, and after witnessing that death, Murmur was worried. She already regretted having that thought, but what was done was done. The universe would probably take its revenge very soon.
Just like that, the first pull went completely haywire. Somehow one of the bandits pathed differently than anticipated, which, given the game, shouldn’t have been a huge surprise, but these NPCs were left with so much more leeway than usual that it was difficult to predict their movements. Since they weren’t undead or lesser beings, but in fact intelligent bandits, they literally behaved that way.
Four mobs in pursuit, with a fifth Mez’d at the initial pull spot, Merlin raced back. Murmur got her second Mez off with great timing, and switched targets again to the third, calling out while she moved. “Fall back.”
The third froze in place, its mouth shaped in a surprised O, and while it made her want to laugh, she didn’t have time to dwell on it. The fourth bandit, a fighter type, came straight at her, and the intricate spell knotted her fingers slightly, creating a delay. It hit her once before she got the spell off, but even that once was enough for her to cry out in pain as the sword cleaved through the area between her shoulder and neck on her right side. The critical hit drained half her life. “Fuck!”
“Shit.” Sin cast a buff on Murmur, which leeched the damage her spells did directly to heal the enchanter. Still, the wound closed slowly, and Murmur felt tears run down her face even though she hadn’t realized the pain made her cry.
Struggling to stand, she slowly regained the feeling in her right hand, trying to release the spell just in time to catch the first bandit in her snare again. Her wound healed, and the pain in her head receded, allowing her to cast two more in quick succession.
The first target almost dead, Dev switched his aim, casting a worried glance back at Murmur. She concentrated on keeping the other bandits Mez’d, running through the events in her head. She remembered being hit in the forest back when she was level two. Sure, it had smarted, but it was nothing like the deathly pain she’d just experienced.
Maybe it had something to do with where she’d been hit. Perhaps as mobs grew in level, the pain became more real? It was a possibility. And yet.
Mechanically maintaining her Mez and hitting each new target with her DoT as Dev switched, she sifted through the settings. There was nothing about pain level control. No information at all. She didn’t even notice they’d finished killing the pull, so deep was she in an article she’d pulled up. It was published almost twelve months ago when the preorders went live.
Blah blah pain threshold. Bam. There it was. Once the player is out in the world, they’ll realize that mobs will reflect their levels. The higher the mob, the better their aim and thus the more pain they can potentially cause. This has been necessary to encourage full immersion in the world of Somnia.
Murmur frowned, not quite happy with the phrasing, or indeed, with the effect. It was like she felt phantom pain in a limb that was still attached. Maybe it was just because it was the first time she’d experienced it. She couldn’t even begin to imagine the pain dying must cause. Poor Sin.
“Mur. We need to move.” Havoc crouched where she sat, his hand at her elbow, concern mirroring in his black eyes.
She blinked, again struck by the real world effects of concern or embarrassment as they reflected in an in-game character portrayal. “Sorry. Just going over some data. Didn’t expect that hit to make me want to tear off my own arm.”
He chuckled, even if it sounded a little forced.
“You don’t have to be so tough you know.” He said, letting her arm go once she was standing. “We don’t expect you to be made of steel.”
She stepped back in surprise, seeing Havoc’s seriousness in a new light. He might be even more observant than she was. “What is there to be, but that which is expected of us?” She smiled, cryptically, trying to imitate Belius.
But Havoc didn’t laugh like she’d thought he would, instead he shook his head and frowned. “One of these days you’re going to realize the only person you’re fooling is yourself, Wren. Both in the game and out.”
Before she could respond, he sped up and joined the others just in time for Merlin to pull. After that, there wasn’t a spare moment to ask Havoc what the hell he’d meant.
Storm Corp
Storm Technologies Division—Theoretical Neuroscience Arm
Countdown: Thirteen months before Somnia Online launch
Michael had to admit, bringing Brandon and Silke into the picture was helping with his workload and freeing up a lot of time for him to interface the upgraded headgear with the AIs. He wasn’t precisely sure why he didn’t want his assistants to talk to the AIs much, except that he didn’t want to endanger his pet project. After all, a sentient AI had the potential to derail everything. Focus would shift, and his invention would be put aside for the miracle that was Rav, Sui, and Thra. Especially since he was more sure every day that it was their interpretation of the data making the headgear a success.
Dr. Jeffries ran a hand through his hair and rubbed at sleepy eyes. He did not have time to sleep. Not now.
Someone knocked on his door. He put his glasses back on as he called out, “Come in.”
“Dr. Jeffries? There’s a problem with the hind arm G2. I’ve checked over all the connectors, and the testing gear. It’s just not calibrating correctly. I think we need to adjust the ratio?” Silke bit her lip, obviously not confident with her assessment. He could understand why. There were still things no one knew about the headgear. Michael had made sure of that.
“Work on G2; we have the big group in two weeks. Their software and hardware will all need to be upgraded if they’re malfunctioning in any respect. It’ll probably be a long couple of weeks.” He stood up, and grabbed his original headgear.
“Thank you, sir.” Silke’s smile was bright and lit up her usually serious face. Her brown hair was unkempt and often tied haphazardly in a ponytail at the nape of her neck. Since her brain was brilliant, she only ever seemed to take care with her appearance if she knew they were getting an important visitor. Work always came first—it seemed to be her passion. If Michael had more time, she was exactly the type of person he was interested in.
He waited until she’d been gone for a few minutes before taking his prototype to the server room. There was something he needed to test, something he thought he’d witnessed once, but hadn’t been certain of. If he was right, then there were many things he still had to work on to pull the most potential out of his device, and out of the AIs.
His eyes gleamed with fire, and perhaps a bit of insanity.
Release Day: Somnia Online
Digging through each camp once they cleared it revealed usable loot. Murmur found a heap of stuff she could cook with. They also discovered hides and cloth, equipment they could use for upgrades. Each camp consisted of about eight pulls of two to four bandits at a time. Luckily, they had yet to
pull another set of five. Secretly, Murmur was a little wary of overpulling in a way she’d never been before. Usually all she’d had to do was heal, but now if she fucked up on a bad pull, odds were everyone would die. No pressure or anything. The memory of the pain that stupid pull had caused her probably had something to do with it too. Now she was extra careful and helped Merlin scout the areas.
All three camps cleared, they circled back to the first. Still no other players had ventured out this way. Murmur frowned, wondering what others might know that she didn’t, or else where they might level. With Havoc still avoiding her, her mood grew sour. “Why haven’t we seen any other groups?”
“No clue.” Devlish was weighing two swords in his hands. “But I’m not about to complain.”
Beast smacked his friend on the back. “The right one. It’s much better. Stop trying to go for the good-looking blade. As for the other players, there are several areas up to level fifteen on this continent alone, and every other one. This area is wide here, and I believe both lakes have good leveling areas too.”
He quieted suddenly before breaking out in a huge smile. “Ah, Rashlyn is online. Finally. Inviting now.”
Murmur smiled. Despite his protestations, Beast seemed to be taking to his role as recruiter. The basic concept that they’d recruit as many people as they could who they’d raided with in the past made her feel marginally better about everything. Even a little hopeful. After all, you couldn’t raid a dragon or god with a group of six.
Still a little gun shy, they positioned themselves again and Merlin was just about to pull when he paused. “So. Just wondering. Do we remember having casters or rangers before?”
“Nope.” Havoc stepped forward, his boney pet jiggling in place. “Oh.”
“What?” Dev asked before joining them and answering his own question.
In the original group of three they’d pulled, there were now two ranged bandits. In a way it was irritating, but on the other hand Murmur felt excitement swirling in her gut. “They’re not the same. The game adapts. Randomizes shit. That’s freaking awesome.”
Upon closer inspection, none of the mobs were the same as they’d been before—even their names had changed. Their pathing was different. They seemed more alert and on edge.
“Gives a new meaning to camping an area.” Beastial spoke quietly, but there was a gleam to his eyes that Murmur understood. Talk about a challenge!
“Mezing order will be caster, ranger, melee.” Murmur redid her buffs and tried not to jump up and down. Her trepidation was gone. Moonlight shone down from the twin moons bathing the small clearing in rose and pearl.
“Perfect night for killing.” Merlin grinned and loosed his arrow.
Murmur released her spell as the arrow hit home.
She barely managed to dodge the NPC’s arrow before she released her second Mez, wondering if it was a good idea to put some points into agility after all. Her body was cumbersome, with its height. She applied her DoT and nuked the melee mob twice before renewing her hold on the caster.
“We need to line of sight the archer and the caster.” She whispered, watching Devlish react accordingly and use the large stone that hid the group for exactly that purpose. Having taunted the ranger, when the Mez broke, the NPC glared in Dev’s direction, but had to move around in order to sight its target. After all, it couldn’t cast through the rock. Perfect.
“That should make the caster close the distance before it attacks too.” Havoc smiled. “This is more like it. Just make sure you don’t round the boulder too much or we’re screwed.”
“You’re way too blood thirsty.” Sinister grinned, the fire in her eyes a dead giveaway that she was exactly the same.
When the caster finally died, Sin ran forward to loot it before the rest could recover.
“Hey ninja,” Merlin teased.
“Ha, very funny.” Sin shot back, but turned around with a smile and waved a robe in the air. “Wisdom plus one! This is awesome. Now us clothies can finally get some gear!”
“Now who’s the loot whore?” Devlish laughed, but there was that big brother kindness in his tone. “Might even get a decent bow for the elf. The game knows his damage is fucking pitiful.”
“Shut up, or I’ll shove an arrow where it hurts.” Merlin scowled half-heartedly.
Beastial’s brow furrowed. “Wouldn’t an arrow hurt like anywhere it was shoved?”
The group laughed, moving to a slightly different spot to pull the next group. No warrior, just a rogue, a damage caster...and a healer.
“Ooh, first healer we’ve encountered.” Sin beamed. “Bring it. My Mur is going to blow your mind.”
“Literally.” Timing her cast with Merlin’s arrow again, Murmur smirked as she activated the spell, stealing the cleric’s ability to move. She wondered what it would be like, frozen in place, unable to move even though all your other senses worked, with only your mind functioning properly and unable to anything about it. Making sure the net that initiated Thought Sensing was active, she felt outward, following its tendrils. The cleric’s mind was a cloud of anxiety, but no actual thoughts escaped with enough force to become distinct. She felt a little disappointed, but smiled as she renewed the Mez, watching the cleric’s wide and panicked eyes. Imagine smelling the blood of the people you’d fought with, experiencing the deaths you would otherwise have been able to prevent. Being held in place, not by anything physical, but by your mind—betraying you because of an outside influence.
For just a moment Murmur had an inkling of why the enchanter class had been cut out of so many virtual worlds. But that was then, and this was now. It was the perfect time to discover herself.
DING!
“Oh, about freaking time.” Murmur leaned against the tree at her back as their healer finally leveled.
Sin’s eyes flashed angrily. “Stupid fucking ranger. Now I’m behind you all. If I ever catch him again—”
“You’ll flay him alive and heal us all with the damage?” Beastial teased.
Sin flicked her long white hair behind her shoulder and glared at him. “That’s way too tame.”
Beastial had the decency to pale a little.
“How are we only level nine?” Dev complained, glancing up at the sky, when in fact he’d probably just checked the in-game clock. “It’s around 2am I’d say.”
Merlin rolled his eyes. “We’re only level nine because the game hasn’t been out for a day yet, and because this game actually has a level cap, which means each level needs to be fought for.”
“Grinding is annoying.” Dev sat back, watching Murmur cook through a heap of ingredients.
“Grinding is necessary if you want to level fast.” She answered, not quite paying full attention. “The majority of people venturing into these worlds are here for the experience. They want to experience something that isn’t in their daily lives. The wonder of magic, the ability to come back from the dead, exploration, and hell, even crafting. While there are some of us who play to ‘win’ I guess, we aren’t in the majority. Probably good or people wouldn’t be able to move near the end game mobs. Plus, it’s much more fun to kill shit with your friends.” She added another set of the meal into her inventory and frowned at the silence before looking up.
Her gaze fell on her group, all of them slumped over near the base of a tree, looking like they were about to fall asleep. “No!”
They sat up, blinking somewhat dazedly.
“What?” Sin grumbled.
“We haven’t even been at this twenty-four hours. There will be no sleep yet!”
“Evil. You’re all regal in your silver alien body there, Mur, but you’re still evil to the core.” Merlin grumbled, finally pushing himself into a standing position.
“Good. Anyway, I need mushrooms. Does anyone have any spare?” She glared at them as they all shook their heads, resigned to grabbing any she could see. They had to keep leveling. “Fine. I have four more meals for each of you.”
“Back up and go thr
ough all the shit we’ve amassed. Then I think we should stick out here until level ten, and then take on the caves.” Dev wasn’t smiling. Sometimes he could be serious. “Let’s start at this camp this go around. It’ll take us less time to rip through these, given our level increase across the board. We’ll work in reverse order.”
Standing up, they all shook out their limbs, like dusting cobwebs off. A strange sensation, given these weren’t real bodies.
It didn’t take them long to fall into an experience grinding routine again. Murmur’s rinse and repeat actions of mesmerizing and DoT-ing her targets became mechanical, and she scanned the area between every set of bandits, just in case a rare spawned, or someone decided to add coal to a train’s engine.
Your Mental Acuity is gaining traction.
Thought Sensing (25). Congratulations. You have raised two of your hidden skills to their required level. When you reach your next level milestone, you might want to visit Belius again. Beware that as your powers grow you will notice changes. Mark them, pay attention, and be wary of traps.
Murmur practically snarled at the vagueness of her milestone. So level ten meant she’d have to go and see Belius. She chuckled to herself. That was going to be a while then.
“Something funny, Mur?” Sin asked, poking her. A slight frown of concern marked her brow. “From the smile on your face, I’m glad you’re my friend.”
Murmur focused on Sin after Mezing a healer. “Um, not really. Just another unhelpful update for one of my skills.”
“Ah, then you’re plotting game designer murder. Some quality matricide perhaps?” Her best friend winked.
This time Murmur laughed out loud. “No, not that. Just...I’m frustrated by it, and at the same time enthralled. I want to find out what I get next, where the next step leads...”
“Guess the scan was right then, huh?” Sin smirked, casting strange runes into the air to heal Devlish. A mist of blood darted toward Sin, swirling and exploding outward to envelope Devlish’s body, and then it was gone. It looked like it got sucked into the tank’s skin. “I’m not too unhappy myself.”
