Survivors

by Dave Willmarth

  “Thank you, Peabody. Can you tell me if one of the facilities is in England?”

  “Yes, Mace. There is an immersion pod manufacturing facility in Newport, Wales. The facility houses a sizeable number of servers. About half as many as this facility.”

  Mace was getting tired of hearing such monumental news from a monotone, computer-generated voice. “Peabody, we’re going to give you an upgrade. I want you to access the internet and do a search for an actor named Morgan Freeman. Please gather samples of his voice and use your best facsimile when interfacing verbally.”

  There were several minutes of silence as Peabody performed his task, and Mace used the time to absorb everything he’d just been told. A dozen more people accessing the game from around the globe. Some of whom in what he had to assume were secure facilities like this one. He was imagining the lone player in Texas being in some kind of wind-powered survivalist bunker when Peabody surprised him.

  “Is this an acceptable simulation?” A deep, sonorous voice asked. It wasn’t quite Morgan Freeman, but it was damned close.

  “That’s excellent, Peabody! Now, I want you to do something else for me…”

  *****

  Shari was playing with Dakota near their miniature corn field. The dog had dutifully done his business as soon as they’d arrived without even having to be asked. When Shari had turned on the hose afterward to water the soil, Dakota had jumped in front of the spray, barking with joy. In the next few moments there were both soaked and having a great time.

  Until out of nowhere, what Shari could only think of as the voice of God Almighty said, “Admin Shari, Mace requests your immediate presence in the security room.”

  She and Dakota had both frozen and ducked down a bit when the voice rang out. Realizing after a moment that it was only Peabody, Shari growled in irritation and headed for the elevator. Dakota, uncertain as to what Shari was growling at, followed behind with ears up and alert.

  When they got off the elevator at level thirty she stomped wetly into the security office with Dakota right behind. Seeing Mace, the dog trotted over and placed a wet paw on his knee. He then looked significantly at Shari, as if trying to tell Mace that something was wrong with her. Mace didn’t need the hint.

  One look at Shari coming through the doorway and he began to regret his prank. “Oh, shit. Did Peabody catch you in the bathroom again? Did you fall in?”

  “What? No! Idiot.” Shari looked at her wet clothes. “Dakota and I were watering the corn. What the hell did you do to Peabody?”

  Mace grinned. “I got tired of that computer voice, so I had him copy Morgan Freeman. You don’t like it?”

  “You have to warn me when you do shit like that, Mace!” she grumped at him.

  He raised his hands in a placating gesture. “I just did it like, three minutes ago. But forget that. There are other players out there!” he almost shouted.

  Shari’s mouth was open to yell at him, but she paused. “Players? As in, other live people? Where?”

  He started to go through the whole story when he noticed that the air conditioning combined with her wet clothes was making her shiver. “Let’s get you into dry clothes. I can walk and talk.”

  He continued to give her the details as they moved to her room, sitting on her bed as she changed into one of her sets of fluffy bunny scrubs. Though for a few moments as she was stripping down he was finding it difficult to concentrate.

  “Holy crap. That’s… wow.” She finally said when he was done talking. “So, can we figure out a way to talk to them?”

  Mace nodded his head. He pushed himself back against the wall, patting the bed to indicate that Shari should sit with him. She leapt onto the bed and cuddled up next to him, while Dakota circled a few times before laying down on the floor at the foot of the bed.

  “In the morning, I’ll work with Peabody and Elysia to see about getting some kind of message to them. They’re too far away for us all to be on the same server, but maybe we can establish a voice link. Or at least in-game mail. There may be a language barrier as well, but maybe there’s a way the AIs can translate.”

  The two of them talked well into the night about the possibilities of getting in contact with others, until they eventually fell asleep where they sat.

  *****

  Griff was back in the game after only a few hours of sleep. The sun was just clearing the treetops and beginning to warm the village as he made his way downstairs to the inn’s common room.

  A dwarfess he’d not seen before was serving breakfast to some half-drunk villagers whom Griff suspected were still there from last night’s celebration. He sat at the nearest table and she approached him with a smile, which he returned.

  Female dwarves in Elysia were not unattractive as far as Griff was concerned. Short like the males and nearly as strong, they were slimmer at the waist, and had no facial hair. This particular female had long blonde hair braided into a ponytail, and blue eyes the shade of winter skies. Her smile was open, and she had a slight bounce to her step as she approached, which drew Griff’s gaze downward before he could catch himself.

  “What d’ye like?” she asked, smirking at his furtive glance. “Fer breakfast, I mean.”

  “Oh, uhm. I’m not sure what ye have. Fer breakfast.” He managed a mischievous grin. It had been a long time since he’d even seen a woman, let alone spoken to one. Except Shari, of course.

  With a wink, she replied, “There be eggs’n bacon, steak, biscuits, porridge with honey… and me muffins are the best around.”

  Griff snorted. “I just bet they are. I’ll have eggs’n bacon to start, please. We’ll see about the muffins later.”

  She turned with a laugh and headed for the kitchen. Griff watched her go with a goofy grin on his face. He’d never been smooth with the ladies. But this game, this world, allowed him to be someone else. And he’d decided just then that ‘someone else’ was going to be a ladies’ man. Dwarves were all about living life to the fullest, so why not join in?

  When she returned with a heaping platter of thick bacon and scrambled eggs, he said, “I’m Griff, by the way. I’m new here.”

  She snorted. “As if I ain’t hear’d all bout ye. Me name’s Josephine, but ye’ll call me Jo or I’ll dent yer head for ye!” Josephine’s look suggested she might enjoy the fight. Griff was intrigued.

  “Pleasure to meet ya, Jo…” He dragged out the syllable as if about to say the full name and watched her raise one eyebrow. With a grin, he let it drop there. “Are you the chef here?”

  “Nah,” she pointed toward the kitchen. “Me mum’s the cook, and Da owns the place. But I like to bake, so I makes me muffins most days.”

  She looked at him as if daring him to make a muffin joke. He didn’t oblige. Instead, he changed course.

  “Well yer simply the most lovely sight I’ve laid eyes on since I arrived in this world, Jo. And thank ye for breakfast.” He made eye contact and allowed a slight grin to tug at one corner of his mouth. “Everythin’ looks delicious.”

  She rolled her eyes and departed with a brief, “Yer welcome, outworlder.” As he admired her departing form, he wondered where he’d gone wrong. But at the last moment before she disappeared into the kitchen, she turned and flashed him a smile.

  The moment she was out of sight he did a little chair dance. “Yes! Rico suaaaave!” He gave himself a fist bump before noticing several of the dwarves in the room looking at him.

  When he gave them all a grin and a slight bow, there was a scattering of chuckles. One nearby dwarf mumbled, “Good luck, lad,” around a mouthful of bacon.

  For the second time Griff was amazed by the taste, texture, and smell of the food. It was delicious. He could even feel it slide down his throat as he swallowed. The weak ale Jo had brought him felt cool and refreshing as it went down. This game was really something else.

  Having finished eating, he got up to leave. He caught Jo’s eye as she crossed the room and bowed slightly. “A wondrous bounty” he declar
ed.

  Jo rolled her eyes as the other dwarves chuckled again. He exited quickly, not wanting to press his luck further. He’d left several copper coins on the table as a gratuity but wasn’t sure if that was proper. Or the proper amount. He’d have to ask someone before his next meal.

  With a nice little strength buff from the bacon, he set off to work his way through the quests he’d picked up. He decided to start with a kill quest. He needed to kill five of the wolves that were steadily encroaching on the village’s boundaries. A few goats had already gone missing.

  But in order to take on the wolves, he was going to need some protection. He stopped by Fagin’s smithy to see what he might have available and found the smith already hard at work. But Fagin set down his hammer when he noticed Griff.

  “Mornin, outworlder! What can I do fer ye today?”

  Griff liked the other dwarf immensely. They’d laughed and joked while Griff had been smelting ore for him the previous day. “Mornin’ Fagin! I be on me way to tackle some wolves. I have the hammer ye gave me, but I’m thinkin I might need a shield. Maybe some armor. Nothing fancy, as I’ve little coin. Just something better than what I’m wearin’.”

  Fagin nodded. “I got just what ye need.”

  He pointed to a pile of items in the corner. “When yer fellow outworlders were here last, many wanted to learn the smithing skills. Their first few attempts were pathetic at best, and I ain’t had time to melt ‘em down fer scrap. They’ll not be a big help to ye, as their durability be low. But ye can take what ye need fer free. And if ya bring me back ten wolf fangs, I’ll give ye something a mite better.”

  Quest Accepted: Canine Canines

  Bring Fagin the blacksmith ten wolf’s fangs.

  Reward: Common quality or better shield

  Bonus reward potential: Quantity or quality of armor items increase if you bring more than the required number of fangs.

  Griff thanked the blacksmith and stepped over to the pile. Right away, he spotted an iron buckler; a small, round shield with studs on its face and a stiff, leather-wrapped handle on the inside. It wouldn’t give him much coverage, but would do just fine for bashing a wolf in the face. And it was lightweight enough to allow him to move around quickly.

  Setting that aside, he poked around the pile a bit more. There was a set of bronze gauntlets that fit him reasonably well, along with a bronze breastplate that was obviously thin in several places. But he thought it would protect his body from scratching claws well enough.

  Finally, he found a single, dented iron greave. He laughed as he strapped it onto his right leg. If nothing else, the heavy piece of armor would help build his Strength stat as he walked. He’d just have to remember to switch legs once in a while.

  With all his new bits of mismatched armor equipped, he looked like a gypsy mercenary. Fagin winked at him.

  “Ye ain’t pretty, but ye’ll be glad o’ the protection when one o’ them big beasties starts to nibble on ya.”

  Griff thanked him, heading off toward the village gate. A few snickers and shouts of encouragement followed him as he passed his fellow dwarves on the way out. One of the guards at the gate called him to a halt.

  “Here, outworlder! Where ye goin’ dressed like that?”

  Griff sighed. The ribbing was all good natured, but it was getting old quickly. “Got wolves to hunt. Since they don’t seem willing to walk up here’n let you lot kill ‘em.”

  This got a chuckle from both guards, and the one who’d called him over took pity on him. Reaching into his bag he pulled out a dented helm with a wide nose-guard down the center.

  “Here. Ye can borrow me lucky helm. Can’t have the beasties makin’ yer mug any uglier. Jo’d never forgive us!” he winked.

  “HA!” Griff wasn’t surprised that the guards had already heard of his encounter with the dwarfess. There were plenty of witnesses, and the village was small. “Thank ye. I’ll bring it back directly.”

  “If ye get in over yer head, haul yer arse back here and we’ll help ye,” the other guard offered. Griff nodded in appreciation and set out toward the tree line.

  He caught sight of a few fuzzy bunnies in the meadow as he strolled along; one even hopped right up to sniff curiously at his boot. He was tempted to crush its skull with his hammer for practice, but in the back of his mind he heard Maggie’s warning about the bunnies.

  “It’s yer lucky day, rabbit. No stew pot for you,” he mumbled as he continued into the trees.

  Hammer in hand and shield gripped tightly, he stepped from the sunlit meadow into the deeply-shaded forest. The high canopy was thick, the sunlight only penetrating in scattered rays that blinked in and out as the trees moved in the breeze.

  Looking around, he didn’t see any wolves. Not sure why he expected them to just be standing there waiting to be hammered, he began to poke about. He reached out and touched the bark of the nearest tree. The rough texture and clean scent of wood brought to mind childhood camping trips.

  Deciding he didn’t have time to go traipsing through the woods in search of the wolves, he tilted his head back and howled as loudly as he could, figuring he might get lucky and get an answering howl that would at least give him a direction to follow.

  As he had hoped, a moment later a howl echoed through the trees from the north. He’d just taken his first few steps in that direction when another howl sounded to his left. Then another just behind him.“Shit. Maybe that weren’t such a good plan.” Griff mumbled. He’d meant to find a single wolf, not a pack. And definitely not a pack that had him surrounded.

  He began to back slowly toward the village, trying to keep an eye on every direction at once. He’d not ventured far into the woods, so he thought it might be possible to reach safety before the wolves were on him.

  But at the same time, he didn’t want to turn his back and just run. He’d seen too many nature films for that. Wolves were faster than him, and specialized in hunting on the run. Hamstringing their prey to bring them down.

  Just as he reached the tree line, the first of the wolves appeared on his right. It stood maybe a yard high at the shoulder with dappled grey and tan fur, its sharp canines each about three inches long. Not exactly the massive beast he had pictured in his mind, but menacing enough. Especially since another stepped forward out of nowhere to his left.

  Continuing to backstep out of the trees and into the meadow, Griff held his hammer at the ready. The hand holding his buckler was sweating and he worried he would lose his grip. He made a quick mental note to carry a crossbow or a throwing axe from now on.

  The third wolf appeared directly ahead of him. Larger than the other two, this one stood nearly as tall as Griff himself. He took a moment to inspect it as he continued to creep backward, hoping the guards had spotted him and were moving to assist.

  Mountain Wolf Alpha

  Level 7

  Health 800/800

  “Just my bleedin’ luck. My first time in the woods and I call up the boss wolf.”

  Griff shook his head. Taking another step back, he froze when the alpha wolf growled and crouched, as if to strike.

  When he stood his ground, the growling abated and the alpha stood more upright. “Smart bugger. Doesn’t want me to retreat. He must have learned the guards are dangerous. What the hell, it ain’t like I’ll lose anything valuable if I die!”

  Griff banged his hammer against his shield and took a step forward, voicing a growl of his own. “C’mon then, big beasties! Let’s see what ye’ve got!”

  The alpha wolf barked and the two lesser wolves leapt forward as one. Griff was expecting that they’d leap at him from a distance, so he crouched down and faced the faster of the two, which was coming from his left. As the wolf leapt at him, he thrust his buckler forward to smash into its face. The stunned wolf’s momentum carried it forward, but Griff stepped out of its path and turned to face his second foe.

  Too slow. The wolf was already upon him, jaws snapping at his face. Griff fell backward with the weight o
f the wolf on him, and it pinned him on his back. He instinctively planted the shield against the thing’s chest and pushed back, managing to keep its jaws a few inches from his face and neck. But he was tiring quickly. As the jaws pressed closer, he remembered his hammer. With all the strength he could muster, he swung the hammer upward and struck the beast in the side of its head. The blow surprised the animal more than hurt it, but it retreated. Griff scrambled to his feet and faced the animal, only to feel the first wolf sink its teeth into his unprotected calf. It jerked and tugged at his leg, trying to tear muscles and bring him back to the ground. The pain was incredibly realistic, and Griff cried out in fear and agony.

  More from reflex than any plan, he slammed his hammer down onto the wolf’s head. There was a satisfying crunch, and the beast went limp. Griff turned just in time to see the other wolf coming at him again. He raised his shield as quickly as he could, knowing it would be too late.

  The wolf’s jaws were already past the shield when the upper edge caught it in the throat. Its jaws clamped shut and it fell to the side, gagging. Griff took advantage and swung his hammer, striking the wolf’s back between its shoulders. The beast whined in pain, and began to limp away. Another blow and it fell to the ground on its side, unable to move. Griff finished it with a mercy blow to the head. System notifications were flashing up on his UI but he mentally pushed them away.

  Breathing hard and almost completely out of stamina, Griff turned to the face the alpha. Its lip curled up to show massive canines as it snarled at him. Without warning, it dashed forward.

  Griff once again deployed his shield, attempting to bash the oncoming wolf, but the alpha just pushed right past the shield, Griff not having enough strength left to hold it off. It bowled into him, knocking him on his back once again. Only this time, there was no chance to defend himself. The wolf’s massive jaws clamped down on his neck, and with a vicious shake of its head, nearly decapitated the dwarf.