by Dante Doom
“The good news is that we’ll all be unemployed after this,” Neil replied. “Well, at least the four of us will. Poor Mr. Kenwar here will have a short and exciting career as a professional digger. It’ll last him the rest of his life!”
“Please, stop threatening me,” Kenneth said. “I promised I’d help. What more do you want from me?”
Neil grinned as he dug into his pocket. He produced a pill bottle. “You know, one of the handy things about working in the CIA is the fact that we have access to all sorts of terrible things. For example...” he paused to pull out a small round pill. It was red. “This here? This is none other than one of our most effective poisons. Designed for use on foreign dignitaries when they’re on diplomatic missions. Takes a few days to kick in. Not only is it untraceable, but the death looks natural.”
“W-what are you going to do with that?” Kenneth asked as Neil began to stroll toward him.
“Oh, I was thinking long and hard of a solution to our problem, and I believe I’ve found it,” Neil said as he grabbed Kenneth by the arm. “You’re going to pop this here pill. Don’t worry—it won’t kill you immediately. It’ll take at least three days. So that’s good news for you because I happen to have the antidote right here.” Neil pulled out a separate bottle and shook it. “This is a happy medium. You swallow this sucker right now, and we’re guaranteed that you will do whatever it takes to make us happy.”
“You’re crazy!” Kenneth said. “Sang, you can’t let him do this to me.”
Sang shrugged. She knew very well that Neil was holding allergy medicine in his hand, as the man had a terrible allergy to pollen. Fortunately for him, Kenneth didn’t seem to realize that it was a common drug for those who suffered from the sniffles.
“Look,” Sang said, “we’re stuck here. So, if you eat that pill, we know we can trust you. You work for us, we get the girls out safely, we steal some information from Draco, and then we all go home.”
Kenneth stared at Sang, his mouth frozen open in terror. “I… I don’t…”
“Too bad,” Neil said as he jammed his fingers into the guy’s mouth. “Now be a good boy and take your medicine! Or the next thing I shove into your mouth is my revolver.”
Kenneth made some panicked whimpering noises, but seemed to swallow the pill. Neil was very thorough in checking his mouth.
“You are all kinds of crazy,” O’Hara said as she watched Neil shine a flashlight into the man’s mouth.
“Am I crazy for thoroughly making sure he swallowed a poison pill?” Neil asked.
“Yes,” Sang, O’Hara, and Van said together.
“Well, whatever. Come on, we don’t have a lot of time. Let’s load everyone in and get this show on the road,” Neil said.
“Oh… oh… God,” Kenneth whispered.
“It’s not so fun when you have to pick a side, eh?” Van asked as he patted Kenneth on the back. “Don’t worry, I promise that if you follow through, I will personally force Neil to give you the cure.”
Sang opened her eyes to see that she was standing by the campsite. The ground beneath her was gently rocking back and forth. She felt a strong desire to vomit well up within her—it was as if she were hung over. The Cwake had helped wake her up a little, but the side effects of going without sleep were starting to catch up with her, and hard.
“Ugh,” Van groaned as he appeared next to her. “At least Bidane built the camp so we’d pop back in here.”
“I am going to die,” Kenwar whispered. “I… I thought I was going to get out of this alive. I’m gonna die!”
“Calm the hell down,” Sang said, rubbing her temples with her fingers. “You’ll be fine as long as we get through this thing okay.”
“Okay? Okay!” Kenwar repeated. “We’re not gonna be close to okay! Draco is going to kill all of us! We’re dead! Dead!”
“Maybe,” Van said, “or maybe we’ll survive this thing. Stop fussing and get in contact with your Draco team. Inform them that we’re moving toward Lemuel’s castle from the front. If we’re lucky, they’ll take the bait and focus all of their attention on finding us in the battle.”
Kenwar sighed. “Fine, I’ll tell them. But you better pray to God that they fall for this; if they don’t, we’re all screwed.”
“From how I see it,” Sang replied, “we’re screwed no matter what we do. Jail time or death.” She paused for a moment to take a deep breath. The consequences of her choice to go back in were dire, but something deep within her was compelling her to move forward. Was it that contact with the Xevov technology that she had made long ago? It had burrowed its way deep into her mind and, while she didn’t have random flashes of information anymore, she certainly felt a powerful compulsion. Maybe it was just her desire to be a hero for once. She couldn’t tell, but all she knew was that she had to keep going forward.
“So?” Van asked. “What’s the plan?”
Sang shrugged. Wait until everyone logs back in; then you rally them into attacking the castle from the front. We sneak into the spaceship during the chaos.”
“Why not just use the army to attack the ship?” Kenwar asked. “A surprise attack would be strong enough to overpower it quickly.”
“No,” Van said. “That region’s where the biofeedback system is fully engaged. If a character dies, the player dies in real life. So, no, I’m not going to order a team of gamers to go willingly and carelessly in and die for our cause.”
Sang nodded. While they certainly could use the numbers, there was no way they’d be able to explain to the players involved that it was a real and true life or death situation. No one would believe them and, even if they did, they certainly wouldn’t choose to risk everything for some strangers.
“Alright,” Sang said. “Van, you do your magic. I’m going to head down to the ship to scout it out and make sure the area is clear.”
Van took a deep breath. “Don’t engage, please. I know we’re in trouble here, but if you get into a fight with them, you’ll lose.”
“Don’t worry,” Sang said as she pulled her bow free from its resting place on her back. “I’m just going to investigate.”
“Good luck,” Van said. “Kenwar, did you message them yet?”
“Yeah, I told them everything that you wanted me to,” the manhunter said glumly. “I cannot believe this is all happening to me.”
“Neither can I,” Sang muttered as she walked off toward the forest. She felt her legs wobble a little as she headed down the slope of the mountain. She was beyond exhausted, and each passing moment felt more and more surreal. But she kept pressing on because this was more important than anything that she had ever done before. Draco was a true threat, she knew. She had to press on.
Never before had she ever thought she’d play such a pivotal role in history. All her life, she had strived for excellence, but never on a historical level. Her desire had been to be the very best that she could realistically be, but she’d never imagined herself on the national stage or affecting a sweeping level of change in the world. That was changing now. For the first time in her life, she would really be changing the world. Who would have thought? The pressure was immense, for certain, but there was something about the fact that she was in charge of saving the world that felt validating. Maybe it was in her blood to be a hero—who knew?
Sang reached the clearing where the cottage and the invisible ship were located. She crept up quietly and hid behind a tree as she watched the area like a hawk. A few NPCs were shuffling around the chicken coop, but other than that, there was no one around. The sound of hissing caught her attention and she focused on the cabin. She could see that there was someone standing inside, but it was hard to tell who it was. The figure stood by the window and shifted a little. Sang wanted to get closer, but there really wasn’t anything she could hide behind to get a better view.
“Fine!” said a voice from inside of the cottage. “I’ll go. But you know it’s just a distraction, right?” There was more agitated hissing, and San
g could practically feel the annoyance.
“Okay, okay,” the voice replied. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
There was more hissing, followed by the door to the cottage opening. A lizard creature emerged from the building and walked toward the ship. Following after it was the man who had been familiar with Van, Draumed. He was cursing up a storm as he shuffled in Sang’s direction.
Sang tensed up as he walked right past the tree where she was hiding, but he didn’t seem to notice her. He was busy grumbling about having to leave the area and find King Lemuel.
“Stupid friggen job. I ain’t no errand boy. Gonna be a freakin’ king and they treat me like this?” Draumed mumbled.
Sang realized that he was completely alone, meaning that if she jumped him, she could get all of the information that she needed about the ship. She pulled out her dagger and looked at it. The weapon carried a different kind of weight in this realm. She knew the biofeedback systems were fully engaged, but did this apply to everyone? Would Draumed be affected? There was only one way to find out.
Sang crept up behind him, carefully avoiding the twigs on the ground as she walked, not making a sound. It seemed that her Stealth skill activated as soon as she began walking silently, which was different from the other parts of the world. With a swift move, she leapt forward and wrapped her arm around Draumed’s neck, pressing the blade right to it.
“You move, you die!” she hissed. Her arm was pressed so hard against him that she could feel his heartbeat. It was hammering away rapidly, indicating that he most likely could die in this game. That was just the kind of leverage that she needed.
“Take it easy,” Draumed said as he slowly raised both of his hands. “I surrender.”
“I want answers,” Sang spit back. “What’s in that ship?”
“It’s a Draco data center,” Draumed replied. “It’s where they keep information stored, based on the division they are assigned to.”
“Division?” Sang asked. “Spell it out for me.”
“Yeah,” Draumed said quietly. “A division is the focus that has been given to a certain group of Draco’s and professional players. There’s hundreds of them. This division is part of what’s known as the Inciting Division. We’re responsible for monitoring and preparing the Sleepers who work outside of this game.”
“Inciting division? Sounds like you’re the first step in causing the end of the world,” Sang hissed.
“You say the end; Draco says it’s the beginning,” Draumed replied.
“Semantics I suppose,” Sang whispered. She pressed the blade a little harder to his neck. He hadn’t resisted at all and was very relaxed. Was he confident or just completely submissive?
“Look,” Draumed said, “I know you’re trying your best to stop Draco and I admire it. If I were on the outside looking in, I wouldn’t understand why they’re doing this, but you’ve got to realize that this is for the greater good.”
“Greater good? Sorry, pal, but if the greater good requires the majority of humanity to be eradicated, then I would much rather prefer to be on the side of the lesser good.”
“Ha, witty. Sang, are you breathing air right now?”
“What?” Sang asked.
“Each time you draw in oxygen, what is happening? Your actual body is being sent electric pulses that convince your brain that you’re actually breathing. The pods send waves to your brain that allow you to interpret each event around you as if it were real. Each twitch of the muscle, each movement of your hand. And who is in control of this? Is it you? No, not at all. Draco owns everything that you are experiencing. They’ve been playing nice with you and Van. Why? I have no idea. They think very differently from you and me. I couldn’t begin to guess the motivation behind why they just wouldn’t deactivate the oxygen around you. But they could if they wanted to. You are playing with fire here.”
Sang frowned. “You’re bluffing.”
Draumed shrugged. “Are you willing to take that risk? Let me be clear here—you are not in your own world. You are in a world controlled by programmers, directed by Draco. You are trying to spit in the eye of a god. Eventually, this god is going to grow weary of you and remove you.”
“In the Greek times, you used to be able to kill a god,” Sang replied. “And that is what I intend to do.”
Draumed sighed. “Well, don’t say I didn’t try to warn you. Just know that, at some point, you’re simply going to stop breathing. You will gasp and choke, trying to figure out what’s wrong. You’ll rapidly click the logout button, but… nothing will happen. Then, my friend, you will die within three minutes. No dagger, no arrow, no blade piercing your heart, but you will die.”
“Sucks to be me, I guess,” Sang replied. In truth, she had no idea what to do with that information. On some level, she had wondered how much control Draco really had, but she didn’t have time to worry about it now. “I want more information on this ship.”
“Ask away,” Draumed said. “I’m not the type who wants to die for the cause.”
“Why join it at all?” Sang asked.
Draumed shrugged. “My wife was murdered two years ago, taking what was left of my soul with her. I’m so past the point of caring at this point, when Draco told me all about their grand plan to clean up mankind, I jumped at the chance to make a real difference. It sucks that we have to cleanse all of humanity, save for the choicest few, but let’s be really honest here: humanity is sick, and Draco’s the cure.”
Sang gritted her teeth. She could tell by the confidence in his voice that there was zero chance of converting him. Would she have to kill him at the end of this conversation?
“I want the truth: how can I access the data for the Inciting Division?”
“If you want to access the data, you’ll need to check the central console; it’s where all of the records and files are located.”
“Any passwords?”
“Don’t ask me—I wouldn’t know. I’m just in charge of watching the area and escorting players who wander in out of this place.”
“And this area… it’s lethal, isn’t it?”
Draumed sighed. “I’m afraid it is. These areas are what are known as Designated Reality Zones. Anything game-related is disabled here. Logout functions, telecommunications, even private messaging. These areas are used for training or keeping the Draco operatives safe from some jackass who thinks he can use his broadsword to save the world.”
“These Draco operatives: what kind of powers do they have? Are they like the Messengers?”
“Now that, I can’t say. I don’t even know if these lizard guys are Draco or not. They just hiss and scream at us to do things. Not particularly civil.”
“Why are you answering me so honestly?”
“Because, Sang, none of it matters. No matter how much intel you collect, you are going to die. Once Draco realizes that you aren’t at that big battle, they’ll set up a tracer program to find you. It will have some trouble locating you since you’re in the DRZ, but once it locks on, they’ll simply edit a line of code that allows you to breathe and… goodbye. So, why not tell you the whole truth? Why risk my own life for a threat that’s too minor to even worry about? Draco will solve this problem, one way or another.”
“What about Bidane and Dolly?” Sang asked. “Are they okay?”
“They’re fine,” Draumed replied. “For now. If Van pisses Draco off, they’re liable to see to it that the girls are murdered.”
“My last question,” Sang said. “How much time do we have left? How much time before everything starts?”
Draumed was silent for a few moments. She could hear his labored breathing grow more intense. “Not much time,” he admitted. “I wouldn’t plan any vacations for the end of the year.”
“Well, that’s just great,” Sang said. “Anything else I need to know?”
“Just that you still have time to log out. You still have time to go home and never come back to this place.”
Sang grow
led in response to the offer. She was not going to let this man intimidate her into surrendering.
“Well,” Draumed said. “I suppose you’re going to want to tie me up now. I won’t put up a fuss, of course. You’d probably be better off leaving me somewhere here in this forest, since I won’t be able to log out.”
Sang sighed deeply, pressed the blade to the man’s throat, and with one swift motion, brought it across his neck, slicing it open. The words Coupe De Grace appeared above him. Draumed began to flail and gasp as his throat was filled with blood; he fell to his knees, choking and gasping. He clutched his neck in vain, trying desperately to breathe, but he couldn’t do anything. He fell onto his side, writhing and gasping until eventually he stopped moving.
“God,” Sang said as she felt the urge to vomit rise up inside of her. She suppressed the urge and instead tried to focus on the task at hand. She had to bury his corpse. She found some shallow dirt and began to dig with her hands.
Why had she had to do this? she thought as she dug, her fingers tearing through the earth. Why kill him? She shook her head. Draumed had been a threat; even if he’d been tied up, he would have tried to escape. She couldn’t have risked him coming after her again. He had already proven that he was willing to watch humanity end. It was a horrible thing to do, killing him, but at the same time, she hadn’t had much of a choice. This was war. He wouldn’t be the last person on Draco’s side to die, so she might as well get used to it. She sighed heavily as she realized that at some point she’d have to tell this to Van. How would he react?
14
Van stood by impatiently as he waited for his team to log in. He had sent a message to everyone to be there as soon as possible, but no one had logged on yet. It would be just his luck if they weren’t interested in joining a big raid.
“Man, we are making the biggest mistake of our lives,” Kenwar said.
“Can it,” Van replied. “I told you to keep your mouth shut.”
“How can I keep my mouth shut when you’re committing to suicide here? We can’t beat Draco! We don’t have a chance!” Kenwar said. “Say the word, man; say the word and we’re free from this stuff.”
