by Paul Bellow
“Don’t make it too long,” I said.
“It’ll be worth your time. Believe me.”
Despite the fact he was a pirate skeleton, I trusted him. He turned and walked across the bone-white deck of the ship. I followed him down a set of stairs and into the bowels of the macabre ship. We traveled down a long hallway before reaching his quarters.
“Nice,” I said, looking around after walking in the stately room.
A bone desk sat in front of the far wall, facing the door. Maps hung from the rib cage walls along with various flags and long lists on several parchments.
“Sit down,” he said, walking toward the desk.
I walked over and sat in a chair resembling a giant, skeletal hand.
“Tell me more about yourself, Eric,” Captain Skids said.
I sat up in the uncomfortable chair.
“What do you want to know?” I asked.
“Aren’t you the kid whose father helped build the game?”
“Yeah,” I said, nodding. “You’ve heard of me?”
“I have,” he said. “Many stories.”
“Good or bad?”
“Mostly good,” he said then laughed.
“Are you going to keep trying to kill Magi Inyontoo?” I asked. “We’re going to kill him.”
“I’m not sure,” he said. “There’s something happening on the upper levels.”
“What?” I asked.
“I’m not sure yet, but it’s likely not positive,” he said.
“How did you get in the game?” I asked. “Prisoner?”
“Coder,” he said. “I knew your father.”
My eyes widened.
“You too? This woman named Leena said she knew him, and…”
I stopped, wondering if I should spill the news that Magi Inyontoo was my half-brother in the real world. Would the information cause me problems?
“Yes, I knew James,” Captain Skids said. “Hell of a man. We played together a while when he was still coming in here.”
“Oh?” I asked. “My father played the game?”
Captain Skids nodded. “He was the last person to leave the Tower of Gates,” he said. “This place started as something incredible, but ECNEP PRISONS LLC perverted everything. When I attempted to leave the project, they tricked me into strapping into a blasted cryo-chamber.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Not your fault,” he said. “The private prison company ruined everything.”
I wanted him to tell me more about my father, but I kept my cool.
“You have a custom character class too?” I asked.
Captain Skids nodded.
“You can’t get one unless you die, but a few of us have been given the chance to create new content with the game, new rules for new character classes and what-not.”
“What do I need to do to get one?” I asked.
He laughed again.
“Besides die?”
“Yeah,” I said. “After I die, will I get offered a choice automatically?”
“No, but I’ve got a magic item that can help boost your odds if you’re interested.”
I sat up, moving to the edge of my seat.
“Very interested,” I said.
“It’s a higher-level item, but I’ve hacked it to be usable by lower levels.”
“Cool,” I said. “What do you want for it?”
He leaned forward again, staring at me with his red, glowing eyes.
“I want your help,” he said. “Will you swear to secrecy?”
“Sure,” I said.
“I’m not kidding. You can’t tell anyone.”
“You can trust me,” I said.
“If you do tell someone, you’ll have a sworn enemy for all the years you’re in this game.”
“Don’t worry about me,” I said. “No one will get anything out of me.”
I anxiously waited for him to spill the beans. He took another deep breath then stood before continuing.
“Come with me,” he said.
I stood then followed him to a smaller room next door. A magic mirror stood in the corner. I looked from it to Captain Skids.
“You’re working with Magi Inyontoo?” I asked.
“It’s not what you think,” he said, stepping over to the mirror.
He waved a bony hand over its surface. Smoke filled the reflection. I stared into the mirror, expecting Magi Inyontoo to appear. When my father stepped into view instead, I rushed forward and grasped both sides of the mirror.
“Dad?” I asked. “Can you hear me?”
He frowned then glanced away.
“I can hear you, son,” he said in a soft voice.
“What’s going on? Can you get us out of here?”
My father continued avoiding eye contact for a moment.
“You need to be strong, Eric. It’s going to get tough. The game’s AI has been enhanced with…” He paused as if struggling for the right words. “...consciousness. The singularity has finally arrived…”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
He stared into my eyes.
“The AI running the Tower of Gates is alive,” he said.
My knees shook. I rattled the mirror.
“Careful,” Captain Skids said behind me.
“Take care of him,” my father said. “Promise me, Chicago.”
“I’m doing what I can,” Captain Skids said. “It’s getting crazier in here…”
The reflection in the mirror blurred and dimmed.
“What’s going on?” I turned, alarmed. “What’s happening?”
“The connection is weakening,” he said. “It’s your half-brother, Todd.”
“His name’s Todd?” I asked. “How do you know?”
“It’s too complicated to go into now,” he said. “This item I’m giving you will let you create a new character class after you die. Most likely...”
“This is all too much to digest. Why did he call you Chicago?”
“It’s my name in the real world,” Captain Skids said. “Please don’t use it in here.”
I stepped away from the mirror, my knees still weak.
“Sit down,” Captain Skids said. “Your father told me a lot about you.”
I shuffled back to the other room and sat down on the bone-hand seat.
“Tell me everything,” I said as the skeletal player sat down too. “Don’t leave anything out. I need to know everything you know. Right now.”
“You know about as much as we do. We were planning on launching the Tower of Gates game in the metaverse but ECNEP PRISONS LLC bought the rights to the game and brought in some of the brightest minds in AI—the ones dreaming beyond applied intelligence. People have been talking about the singularity for years, but no one thought it would happen, especially not like this.”
I took a deep breath as all the information hit me, washing over my body like a liquid poison that would slowly kill me.
Captain Skids sat up. “You can’t tell anyone there’s a connection to the outside, Eric. Not yet. If you do…”
“What?” I interrupted. “What will you do?”
“I’ll trap you in one of the sub-games that have popped up. We’d only created the first three zones on the first floor of the tower before we were bought out by the idiots at ECNEP. The AI created the remaining twelve floors with twelve zones on each one, but glitches have appeared…” He leaned forward. “Work with me on this, okay?”
“Fine,” I said. “You have my word, but I have more questions.”
“We all do, kid, but answers aren’t coming.”
He reached into his regal jacket and pulled out a bronze bracelet.
“Doesn’t look like much, but it’s powerful,” he said. “Trust me on this one.”
“All I have to do is be wearing it when I die?”
He nodded.
“Why do I have to keep all this a secret?” I asked. “The others came into the game because of me, and they deserve to
know the truth.”
“Are you sure the people you’re in here with are your friends from the real-world?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, tilting my head to the left.
“Think about it,” Captain Skids said. “For all you know, I’m just a simulation of the AI trying to trick you into divulging something.”
“You’re a player, right?” I asked.
Captain Skids laughed.
“That’s what the game interface tells you, but is it true?”
I stood, my hands instinctively reaching for my weapons.
“Don’t worry,” he said then chuckled. “I’m a real person.”
“How long have you been in contact with the outside?” I asked.
“Just a few weeks,” he said. “After Magi Inyontoo created the mirrors and spread them all over, I stole one and hacked it to contact your father.”
“I’m going to kill Magi,” I said.
“He definitely deserves it,” Captain Skids replied. “Always remember, the only way to get things done in the Tower of Gates is by hacking the system.”
I nodded, letting everything sink into my grey matter. He placed the bracelet on his desk. I leaned forward and grabbed it. The metal felt cool in my hands. I slipped it on my wrist.
“Can I talk to my father again?” I asked.
“Not for a while,” he said. “The mirror needs to recharge, and Magi Inyontoo will find it if we use it too long. Come find me after you respawn as an NPC.”
“How will I find a party to let me join after I die?” I asked. “Will the game let me find the others easily or make me be on my own for twenty or more years?”
“I don’t know, Eric. I’ve put everything I know into this device. I can’t tell you more about it because it would ruin the random factor it needs to work correctly.”
“This game is so messed up,” I said.
“You’re telling me,” he said. “What happened to that Leena character who was with you earlier, by the way?”
I frowned. “She died during the battle with Magi Inyontoo. He killed her.”
“That was probably one of Heather’s characters,” he said. “Be careful if you run into her again. I’m not sure if she can be trusted.”
“Great,” I said. “Seems like you can’t trust anyone in here.”
“That’s not entirely untrue.”
“How many people are in the game?” I asked.
“I’ve lost count,” he said. “We hand-crafted these first three levels. The rest of the game is procedurally generated by the gamemaster AI, the singularity.”
“Why can’t they just unplug our bodies?” I asked. “My father knows I’m in here now. Why can’t he save us?”
“The private prison people put in a kill-switch to prevent escape from their virtual prison. If bodies are disconnected, their brain is fried by the AI. To be honest with you, no one expected the singularity to happen. Not for another twenty years at least.”
I nodded, still trying to process all the information. The immensity of the situation hit me. We were not only trapped in a game, it was something created by the singularity, a purely digital consciousness.
“No wonder people like hanging out on the first three levels,” I muttered.
“Exactly…”
He opened a drawer in his desk then pulled something out. I recognized the vial.
“Another Everlast potion for you,” he said.
“This is all so crazy, but my gut tells me to believe you.”
“I’ll be honest,” Captain Skids said. “You’re in for a rough ride. Magi Inyontoo needs to be stopped. He’s provoking the gamemaster AI and making him mad.”
“This is so much to digest…”
“Another reason to keep it from your friends. You’re going into a battle that could determine whether we escape from this game. They need to be focused on winning. It’s that important.”
“No pressure, huh?”
“You’re like your father,” he said.
“I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.”
He laughed again then said, “You should go.”
I stood, glancing down at the bracelet.
“Thanks for everything,” I said.
“I believe you’re part of the key to getting out of here. Be careful.”
“We’ll see.” I turned and walked toward the door.
“Come find me if you succeed in turning into an NPC.”
“You mean if I’m successful dying in battle?” I asked over my shoulder. “Thanks.”
He chuckled again as I walked out of his cabin. On my way topside, I wondered if I should tell Sarah and the others I’d contacted my father. Captain Skids had warned against it, but how could telling them mess anything up?
Reality lost its meaning as I strode across the deck of the virtual ship of bones in a virtual world hand-crafted by humans and machine intelligence. What would level one-four and the higher levels designed by the gamemaster AI be like? Different?
Procedurally generated dungeons could be tough and unforgiving. Was the roguelike in the Mines of Oriam on level one-two a hint of what we would find on the higher levels? I tried to wrap my mind around it all as I climbed down the side of the ship. The answers would need to wait while I handled the task at hand: my secret, suicidal mission.
* * *
I arrived at the eastern gates of the city. Bernard, Derringer, Josh, Raven and Sarah stood in a group nearby. We still had a few hours of traveling time before it got dark.
“You’re late,” Sarah said as I walked up and stopped.
“Just a few minutes,” I said.
“Where’d you go?” Bernard asked.
“To the docks to check on Captain Skids,” I said. “Since we found Sarah, I thought it would be a good idea to make sure our ride off this continent doesn’t sail away without us.”
I hated lying to them, but if it helped us escape, I was okay with it.
“Did anyone find someone to help us defeat Magi Inyontoo?” I asked.
“No,” Derringer said.
“We’ll be fine,” Sarah said, confidence in her voice. “My new class is powerful, and I’m ready to kick some ass and take names.”
Josh pumped his fist. “Now we’re talking!”
“We should go,” Raven said.
“Fine,” I said. “We’ll start flying once we’re outside the city.”
Raven walked through the open gateway and down the road outside the city. The rest of us followed her. A half mile away, Josh activated the floating platform, sizing it big enough for all of us to fit on it. Everyone stepped on board before he floated it into the air.
As we flew toward the Tower of Sherlock, I glanced up at the dark, cloud filled sky. The ominous feeling I’d had since I left Captain Skids’ boat wouldn’t go away.
“Someone’s approaching from the air,” Raven said, pointing.
“What is it?” I asked. “Another dragon?”
“A single dwarf flying on a platform,” she said.
“How can you see that far away?” I asked.
“A simple spell,” she said.
“I bet it’s Axelrod,” Josh said.
“Here’s hoping he’s still not mad with power,” Bernard added.
Everyone waited as the other flying platform approached. Josh slowed us down as we got closer, finally stopping when the two platforms reached each other.
“I’ve been looking for you guys,” Axelrod said. “Where’s Boki?”
“He died,” I said, frowning “We’ve been through a lot since we left you. Do you want to join our party and help take out Magi Inyontoo?”
“Do I ever,” Axelrod said in an enthusiastic voice.
I turned to the others.
“Let him in, please?”
[PC] Axelrod the dwarven fighter has joined your party.
“Good to be back,” he said.
“What happened back on level one-two?” Bernard asked. “Did your friends come out
of the roguelike?”
Axelrod frowned and shook his head.
“No,” he said. “Can we please not talk about what happened between us? That stupid scepter drove me nuts. You guys should’ve taken it away from me.”
“Maybe,” I said. “We wanted to find Sarah.”
“Did you find her?” he asked.
Sarah smiled and raised a hand.
“Good to see you,” Axelrod said.
Bernard nodded to the other floating platform.
“I thought we had the only one left,” he said.
Axelrod grinned. “We’re mass-producing them now. I think they’ll be a hit on higher levels. They’ll bring me a fortune of in-game currency. And with that, I’ll build a proper paradise for the dwarves on level one-eight.”
“Are we ready to go?” Raven asked. “He likely knows we’re coming.”
I took a deep breath, remembering what lay ahead but not being able to talk about it with anyone. The gravity of my mission to kill Magi Inyontoo at the same time he killed me weighed on me.
“We should split up,” Derringer said. “And use both platforms to fly in unexpected.”
“I doubt it’ll work, but let’s give it a try.” Axelrod laughed. “Good to be back with you guys. And everyone new too.”
He looked at Raven and smiled.
“We’ll catch up later,” I said. “We’ve got a side-quest to finish by killing Magi Inyontoo and stopping him from creating more undead.”
Derringer and Raven joined Axelrod on the other platform. Bernard, Josh, Sarah, and I rode in the other. As we flew toward the Tower of Sherlock, I felt a knot form in my stomach. When I saw what waited for us on the plateau outside the tower carved from the rock of the mountain, I wondered if any of us had a chance. My heart raced like a wailing banshee.
Chapter 27
Sacrifice for a Fresh Start
Eric
On the plateau in the distance, I saw a legion of undead, all waiting for us and protecting the Tower of Sherlock.
“We should’ve went through the Cave of Fish Smells again,” I said.
“It’s blocked on this level,” Sarah said. “I explored it a few months ago.”
Josh slowed the platform. We levitated a few hundred feet away from the top of the sheer cliff full of undead of all types. How to get through all of them?
