by Alex Mulder
Kaoru was still lying on the bed. Luke could see her petite chest moving up and down, taking soft, slow breaths. He briefly felt for a pulse on her wrist even though he knew that it was unnecessary. She felt warm.
None of the people stuck ingame have died out here.
Luke frowned. The motel was where he and Kaoru had retired to after putting their plan into motion. He’d never questioned what they were doing. They’d wanted to liberate Yvvaros for the people, and for good reasons. Their good intentions had led to something that left an entire world of human players in limbo.
He pulled out his phone. It didn’t turn on when he tapped the home button, and it took Luke a second to remember that he’d brought his charger with him. He pulled it out and plugged it in, tapping his foot as he waited for it to boot up.
The physical world had become something new, something different. This was the reality that Luke had grown up in, but now it seemed more like a movie, or even a description from a book.
He pulled up the keypad and dialed 911, waiting as the phone rang in his ear. The operator on the other side picked up and gave a scrambled hello. Luke could hear several other anxious conversations taking place in the background.
“Hello, I uh…” He found himself mumbling, almost as though he’d forgotten how to speak in his physical body. “I need an ambulance. My friend is…”
How do describe this, exactly?
“She was playing a video game, and she went into some kind of coma,” he continued. The operator sighed.
“What’s the address?”
Luke gave it to the woman.
“Alright, stay with your friend until the EMTs get there,” said the operator. “Make sure she isn’t lying on her face or mouth, and make absolutely sure that you don’t take the headset off!”
“…Okay,” said Luke. He was expecting the operator to stay on the line with him, as he’d often seen them do in TV and movies, but she hung up almost immediately. Luke set his phone back in his pocket and stood up.
His legs were half asleep, and strained as though the muscles had long since fallen out of shape. He walked over to the motel room door and opened it. It was still dark outside. Luke scratched his head.
It feels like time itself is slowing down. I’m living two lives at once.
He walked forward and leaned against the railing that ran across the motel’s upper balcony. It was quiet outside, but only for a few minutes. The ambulance’s siren brought him back to the situation at hand, and he watched as it pulled into the motel parking lot and came to a stop in front of the rooms.
Luke waved to the EMTs as they climbed out of their vehicle. A minute later, he stood with two of them and a stretcher as they examined Kaoru in the headset. He suddenly felt a powerful urge to tell them everything.
“She’s been like this since-“
“About two hours ago, right?” One of the EMTs smiled at him. “Dozens of cases were all called in at once. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
Luke nodded slowly.
“At least your friend connected using a laptop,” said the other EMT. “We’ve been leaving the ones that connected through a desktop computers in place.”
This is happening nationwide. How many people have been trapped, in total?
“It’s the game,” said Luke. “Yvvaros. Everybody locked in was trapped while playing it.”
The EMTs gave each other a look, and then went back to doing their jobs.
“She’ll be at Plattsburgh General if you want to come see her,” said one of them. “Unfortunately you can’t ride in with her, as you’re not family.”
“That’s fine,” said Luke. A surreal feeling came over him as he watched Kaoru’s unresponsive body being wheeled out of the room, her headset still over her eyes and her laptop balanced on her stomach.
He took one more look outside as the ambulance drove off and then shook his head.
What’s happening to the world?
CHAPTER 2
Luke’s body was fatigued, but his mind was crystal clear. He walked back into the motel room, locking the door behind him and sitting down next to his VR headset. Kaoru’s bag was still in the room, sitting next to his like evidence of a forgotten crime.
He took a deep breath, and then turned on his laptop and pulled on his headset. He was back inside Yvvaros within the minute.
Dunidan’s Rest was crowded with players. Luke frowned. The sun was rising along the horizon in the distance, and he could see at least a hundred faces within the compound that hadn’t been there when he’d logged out.
Tess was the first to notice him. She hurried over, grabbing Luke’s arm and pulling him off to the side before he could start making his way over to where Kaoru and Katrina stood in front of the oasis directing people.
“How is it?” she asked. “In the outside world.”
Luke shrugged.
“Does it matter?” he asked, looking up into the sky.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Luke took both of Tess’s hands into his and gave her a serious look.
“This isn’t on me, Tess,” he said. “It’s not on us.”
“Luke…” She leaned in closer, noticing a few other players that had seen Luke and were beginning to pay attention. “We haven’t won, yet. We can help. We have to help.”
All of the people I try to help end up worse off, or dead. Why should it be any different this time?
“We…” Luke pulled her into a soft hug, one that Tess didn’t fully reciprocate. “We need to live. We need to think about ourselves, for a change. You were already all in, Tess. You’re the only one I care about saving anymore.”
She was silent in his arms. Luke heard a voice directed his way from where most of the players were crowded.
“Kato, good timing,” yelled Kaoru. “We need to have a leadership meeting before this gets out of hand.”
Luke hesitated, and then slowly left Tess and began walking over. Kaoru grabbed him the second he’d made his way in close and pulled him toward her.
“Am I safe?” she whispered. “In the real world?”
Luke shrugged.
“As safe as anyone can be,” he said. “The ambulance told me that they’d had dozens of similar cases called in tonight.”
Kaoru nodded slowly and then turned back toward the group.
“Look, I know all of you are panicked!” She had to yell almost at the top of her lungs to be heard over the noise. “We’re going to be okay! Our bodies are still alive, all of them are! And the Hero of Kantor can get us through this! The Second Severence will not be the end of us!”
Luke squeezed her shoulder and frowned. The crowd was staring at him expectantly. Before he could say anything, Katrina pushed her way over to the two of them.
“There’s another group of abandoned players outside our gates,” she said. “Should we let them in?”
“Another one?” asked Kaoru. She looked over to Luke, as though expecting him to weigh in on the situation.
She doesn’t get it. None of them do.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Luke, finally. “Let them in. Or don’t. I couldn’t care less.”
“What’s gotten into you?” Kaoru stared at him blankly. Luke felt Tess sidle up next to him, wrapping herself around his arm as though trying to physically offer her support.
“Luke,” she whispered. “Please. They need you.”
“They need something else,” said Luke. “If they follow me…”
If they follow me it’s just going to happen again, and again.
A chorus of screams broke out from the other side of the newly repaired gates. The crowd of players surrounding Luke surged away from it. He watched as Kaoru and Katrina hurried off to investigate, and forced himself to follow after them.
“God damn it!” Kaoru ran a hand through her jet black hair and stared out from the top of the wall. “They already attacked us once. Why…?”
A crowd of about thirty pani
cked players was banging against the gates of Dunidan’s Rest, screaming out pleas for sanctuary. A second group of Tymians was approaching in the distance, killing any players in their way as they went.
“Let them in,” said Luke. “Quickly.”
He felt Tess pull at the back of his armor as he moved toward the edge of the wall.
“We can defend more easily from inside,” said Tess. Luke shook her hand off and then jumped down to the sand outside.
PROGENITOR’S SOUL
The crowd of players stared at Luke in awe as he started by them. The Tymians were approaching at full speed. He heard the gates opening, and knew that he’d have to buy at least enough time for Kaoru to organize the players inside into a proper defense force.
Several of the creatures slowed as they approached Luke. They didn’t go as far as to try to surround him or cut off his escape, but there was still a certain level of intelligence in their movements.
Luke gave his Progenitor’s Sword a test swing. His armor was tight against his body, black with blue veins of energy running through it. Each time he took a breath, it expanded as though actually responding to his body’s natural rhythm.
One of the Tymians hopped forward. Luke moved to meet it in combat and then stopped. It was wearing armor and clothing, torn almost to rags. The other Tymians that Luke had seen were bald, but this one had a few scraggly patches of hair on its skull, as though most of it had fallen out recently in large chunks.
It can’t be…
The Tymian moved in closer, flanked by several others. Its eyes glowed blue, like all of the Tymian eyes Luke had seen since the Universal Truth had broken free. Its hands looked human, with several extra fingers budding off from the sides of the palm, recently formed.
“You…” Luke shook his head. “You were a player?”
The Tymian didn’t respond. It rushed forward, and Luke did what came naturally. His Progenitor’s Sword cut through the creature’s neck like a hot knife through butter, splashing purple blood onto the sand nearby.
CONJURE SWORD 4
Luke used his extra swords to cut into the other nearby Tymians. He pushed forward toward the main group, needing to see what was going on. Clumps of Tymians were clustered around the players that had fallen before he’d made it over. Luke needed to see.
The Tymians in the nearest group looked up as he approached. The body of a player lay dead on the sand, covered in claw gashes and bite marks. It had an empty cavity in its chest revealing where its heart had once been. One of the Tymians leaned its mouth forward over it and vomited something up, a spherical, pulsating, purple seed. It fell neatly into the hole, dripping with disgusting grey colored saliva.
Luke fell upon the group, swinging his sword like a wildman. He felt sick to his stomach. It was his fault, somehow, and he’d arrived too late to put a stop to it. Fighting the Tymians made him feel as though he was desperately trying to erase the evidence of a shameful mistake, but it was all that he could do.
Body parts flew through the air like leaves in the wind. Luke was panting by the time he finished the last one off. His head pounded, and he watched as the main group of Tymians ahead of them slowly began making their way over.
A claw struck Luke from behind. He spun around and found that the player that had been on the ground a moment before was now up and about, eyes glowing the same neon blue color as the rest of the Tymians. Luke grit his teeth, blocking another claw strike and then countering with a slash of his own.
Luke breathed out hard through his nostrils and then charged into the main group of Tymians. He wanted them dead. He wanted to keep Tess safe. He wanted so much, but all of it felt like it hovered just out of arms reach.
MIRROR IMAGE 3
HOLY REGENERATION 2
He scattered the Tymians as he crashed into their tightly packed ranks. Claws and gnashing needle teeth snapped at him. Luke’s armor gave him the speed he needed to dodge under and around, countering as much as he could.
Screams of death and fear came from behind him. Luke glanced over his shoulder to see that a couple of the Tymians that had made it past him were attacking a few straggling players still making their way in through the gates of Dunidan’s Rest. He waved his hand, sending his conjured swords to their aid.
The Tymians around him took advantage of the distraction, attacking him like feral cats. One of them tried to sink its teeth in through Luke’s armor, managing to get a few fangs through into his skin. Another clawed at the exposed back of his head, forcing Luke to lean forward into a roll.
“No!” he screamed. “I won’t let you!”
He began swinging his Progenitor’s Sword like a baseball player in the batting range, downing wave after wave of Tymians. They continued pressing forward, attacking him without restraint. He wiped purple blood from his face and snarled.
The monsters surrounded him. Only by moving and attacking continuously with circular movements was Luke able to keep from being overwhelmed. His heart raced in his chest. He was within inches of losing.
And? What would that even mean for me? My body in the outside world would continue on just fine.
The thought was a strange one. Instead of giving him strength and banishing his fear, it made Luke think of Tess, of how vulnerable she would be without him to look out for her. It made him think of what it would be like to never see her again.
Luke let out an animalistic shout and slammed his sword in an overhead strike at the Tymian in front of him. It cleaved the monster in half along with the one behind it. Luke’s head pounded, and he could feel blood dripping from his nose and ears. He continued swinging his sword as though it was the only thing his body could remember how to do.
“I won’t lose!” he yelled. Stars prickled in the corner of his vision.
This isn’t from their attacks. What the hell…
The colors seemed to fade from the scene around him, and darkness slowly slipped over Luke’s eyes as though somebody was slowly dimming the lights. He bit his lip hard and swung his sword wildly, even as his head pounded in pain and his legs gave out underneath him.
“Kato! Wake up, Kato!”
The sun was out. Luke blinked. He was lying on the sand, surrounded by corpses. Kaoru was leaning over him. He’d started to say something when Tess pushed her out of the way and fell on top of him, hugging him as though trying to hold him to the ground.
“Luke…” she whispered. “That was too close.”
Luke groaned. He slowly sat up, looking down at his chest and legs.
My armor… it’s back to normal. But my head…
He grimaced. His temples ached. It felt as though his skull was threatening to split into shards. Luke could taste blood on his lips, and when he brought his fingers to his cheek, it came back slick and red.
“Your head…” Tess whispered something under her breath, casting a spell on him. “We came as soon as we saw you fall.”
“I… fell?” Luke could only barely remember what had been happening before he’d blacked out.
It wasn’t the Tymians. It was… from my own ability.
He stared down at his hand, opening and closing it. It felt fatigued, as though he’d just finished running a marathon.
“I’m fine,” said Luke. “Is everyone else okay?”
He stood up and looked around. Bodies surrounded him, an almost perfect circle of Tymian corpses carpeting the sand. Dunidan’s Rest stood behind him, walls untouched and gates unbreached.
“You’d just about finished them off by the time we made it out,” said Kaoru. “Only a few of the player refugees fell to the Tymians that did manage to charge the gates.”
Luke nodded slowly.
“Good,” he said. “That’s… good.”
He took a step. His legs still held underneath him, though his head was spinning. Luke started back toward Dunidan’s Rest, noticing that several of the Tymian corpses looked less like Tymians and more like strange, player Tymian hybrids.
Tess wa
lked behind him, wearing her concern openly on her face. She leaned in close as they passed through the gates and frowned.
“Your new ability, Luke,” she whispered. “You can’t keep using it like that.”
Luke stared at her for several long seconds.
“What else am I supposed to do?” he asked.
Most of the players in Dunidan’s Rest were gathered in a single crowd, in between the general store and the guild halls. The compound wasn’t big enough to house all of them comfortably. They’d have to set up tents, ration water and supplies, and go to great lengths to make it work.
“We’ve fought them off, for now!” announced Kaoru. She turned toward Luke and nodded, as though expecting him to say something. He didn’t meet her eye.
“So is it true, then?” shouted a louder voice from the crowd. “You have a player here who can still log out?”
A wave of uncontrolled anticipation went through the crowd. Kaoru held up her hands, as though trying to hold them back from a distance. Katrina and several members of Athena’s Wrath moved along the line, keeping them all in check.
“It’s true,” said Kaoru. “It’s none other than the Hero of Kantor, the same hero that saved all of you today!”
She waved to Luke again, more insistently. He slowly made his way over and looked up at the crowd.
Dozens of desperate eyes locked onto him. Men and women alike looked at Luke as though expecting something. They were so vulnerable, and there were too many of them. In each face, Luke saw a flicker of something he recognized, hovering just underneath the surface.
I can’t help them either. I’ll just get them all killed.
Luke shook his head and turned away from them.
“I’m not a hero,” he said, quietly. His body language carried more of the message than his words, and he could hear the crowd surging in surprise behind him.
“Kato?” Kaoru was surprised, too. “Just say something to them. Anything will do.”
“There’s nothing to be said.” Luke walked over to Tess and took her hand into his. “I can’t stay here, Kaoru.”
