by Dante Doom
“Do you want to know who I really am?” Sang asked as she looked for an alternate route around the water. It would take too long for them to make their way around the bog, and that would waste a lot of time. Still, she didn’t know what was in the water. She paused from her search to look back at Van. “I’m someone who got caught up in something way too big and way too terrifying to understand. Van, we’re not talking about winning for the USA, and we’re not talking about getting the CIA better funding for next year. The entire fate of mankind is resting on our backs! You can’t tell me you don’t feel that weight.”
“I feel it!” Van said as he stepped into the bog and began to wade through it. “I feel it so much that I feel like I’m going to pass out sometimes. But you know what’s kept me going? You. You had it together. You kept yourself focused on moving forward, and you didn’t let it crack you. I figured that, as long as you didn’t lose your mind, I wouldn’t either. Now... now I don’t know what I’m going to do. You cracked, Sang. You cracked and it cost someone innocent their life.”
Sang didn’t know what to say back to that. She had already felt awful enough for what she had done, and now she was having to deal with the additional stress of handling Van’s reaction. Was she too far gone at this point? Was what she’d done really unforgivable?
Sang shook her head, trying to get those thoughts out of her mind. This wasn’t the time to think about that kind of thing. The rules back at the CIA had always been to focus on the task at hand and let the company therapist handle the trauma later. She took a deep breath and walked into the bog water. The cold water chilled her to the bone as she waded after Van.
They trudged through the water in silence, the both of them refusing to look at or acknowledge the other. The water went up to about their waists, but otherwise wasn’t hard to navigate. After ten minutes of walking, though, they heard a ruckus behind them.
“There they are!” shouted a voice from behind. Sang turned around to see that three guards were standing at the edge of the water.
“Crap!” Van shouted. “We better move!” The waters began to slosh as Van rushed through the water as quickly as he could. There were no guards on the bank of the bog where they were heading. Arrows began to whiz over their heads as the guards started shooting at them.
“Damn it!” Sang shouted as she felt her foot get caught on something. She looked down, but the water was far too murky for her to see through it. She tried to wrestle free from the thing holding her, but her boot was stuck. More arrows whizzed by her head. There was a sudden bubbling in the water then, and a loud, rumbling noise.
“I think there’s something grabbing me!” Sang shouted out as she felt her leg suddenly jerk downward, pulling her down deeper—she held her footing but was splashing around for purchase.
Van had made it to the bog bank by the time he realized that Sang wasn’t with him. He turned around to see that two of the guards had begun to wade into the water after Sang.
“Van!” Sang shouted as she grabbed her sword and began to stab into the water. “A little help here!” Whatever was grabbing her certainly didn’t like being stabbed, and released its grip for a second. The water violently splashed around her and she felt a sharp stinging sensation in the side of her leg. The words 5 damage, wounded limb appeared above her head. She winced and stabbed into the water again.
Van took a step toward the water, but paused. “Sang…” he said. “I have the data stick; I’m going to go. Sorry.”
“What?” Sang shouted. “Van! Come on!”
“It’s more important for us to get this stick to the CIA, right?” Van shouted across the water. “That’s what you said, isn’t it? I’m taking a page out of your book. Good luck!” And with that, he vanished into the forest.
“Are you kidding me?” Sang gasped as she stabbed into the water again. The splashing was rapidly moving away from her now—whatever monster had been lurking in the depths was gone. She began to limp forward again, but the pain in her leg was slowing her down immensely. Van had abandoned her? She could hardly believe it.
“Stop!” shouted the two guards as they approached her. They were easily catching up to her, thanks to the burning pain in her leg.
“Screw you!” Sang said as she spun around, holding her sword high. “If you think you can take me down, think again! I’ve killed plenty of people today, and I won’t hesitate to kill more.”
This caused both of the guards to stop rushing toward her. They were barely fifteen feet away at this point, and their swords were drawn.
“Just give us the data stick,” the one on the right demanded. He was tall and skinny, armed with a halberd. “That’s all we want.”
“Come and take it from me,” Sang bluffed.
The one on the left sighed. “Look, we’re pretty aware of how this area works. No one wants to die, that’s for sure. I’m not nearly as committed to this cause as some of these other guys are. Just throw it over here and then we’ll call it a day.”
Sang slowly began backing away from them, wincing with each step. She wasn’t sure what that monster had done to her leg, but it was beginning to feel as if it was on fire. The guards advanced towards her slowly. The one with the halberd began to extend it, so that he could use it as a spear.
Sang had to think quickly before she was skewered by these two. She was too injured to run and she wouldn’t fare much better in a fight. Maybe this was the end for her. A feeling of dread rose in her belly as she realized that she was probably facing the end of her life. Would Van be able to escape and get the data to the CIA? The information would be enough to convince the government to fight against Draco, at least. There would be more agents who would infiltrate the game then, and eventually Draco would be defeated. All because of her choices. But then again, what if Van was caught by someone? What if he was in danger right now? If she’d had some guarantee that he’d be able to escape, maybe she’d be able to accept her death, but right now, it wasn’t a luxury she could afford.
“Just give up!” the halberdier pleaded. “I really don’t want to have to kill you.”
Sang grinned and took a step forward. “I don’t think that’s something you’re going to have to worry about.” She raised her sword high and stood in her battle stance, trying as hard as she could to not wince from her leg injury.
“Enough of this!” the one on the left said. “Let’s end it!” He rushed past the halberdier, his battle axe raised high. Sang waited for him to swing at her before she ducked underneath the blow and shoved her shoulder into him hard.
“Oof,” he exclaimed as he fell onto his back. The water splashed around him as he struggled to stand up, but his plate mail armor made it extremely hard for him to stand.
“Come on!” Sang screamed at the top of her lungs as she walked toward the halberdier.
“Screw this crap!” he shouted as he dropped his weapon and began to wade away from Sang as fast as he could.
“Yes!” Sang shouted as she triumphantly approached the struggling soldier who was half-floating on his back. She pressed her sword to the weak joint on his armor, where his heart would be.
“I surrender!” the man shouted. “Come on, please don’t kill me!”
Sang took a deep breath. An arrow whizzed past her then. It appeared the third guard had begun firing on her again. “Don’t let this come back to haunt me!” she warned as she pulled her sword away from the guy’s chest and began to limp away. The archer wasn’t very good at this distance, as the arrows continued to miss Sang. She let out a sigh of relief once she made it to the tree line. Maybe, if she was lucky, she really would get out of this game alive.
15
Van cursed silently as he hid inside of a large, hollow log. After ditching Sang, he’d found himself in a forest that was loaded to the brim with enemy soldiers. Apparently, reinforcements had arrived and were combing the forest in pairs of two. It was going to be impossible to escape without some kind of major distraction.
He closed his eyes for a moment, just to catch a brief respite. He was too exhausted to think clearly and he was kicking himself about leaving Sang behind. Despite how pissed off he had been with her, there was no reason for him to have abandoned his friend. Yes, she’d made some horrible decisions, but he had more or less left her to die. Why? Why had he let his emotions get the better of him? Maybe it was the exhaustion. Still… if it had been a simple mood swing, why hadn’t he gone back for her when he’d had the chance?
Van sighed as he heard more shuffling around him. Every five minutes or so, a few soldiers would pass through the area, calling out to the others about what they had seen or found.
“Oh, they are definitely close,” said a familiar voice. It was Kenwar. Van gritted his teeth. The man was a highly skilled tracker and wouldn’t hesitate to sell them out in a moment if his life depended on it.
“Well, stop your yammering and do a thorough search,” said another voice. It was the leader who Van had heard a few hours before.
“Yes, Captain Grim,” Kenwar replied.
Van held still and tried to breathe a little slower as he heard the shuffling of feet around him.
“Hmmmm,” Kenwar said as he knelt down and shoved his head into the log, making direct eye contact with Van. Van felt his heart begin to pound like a jack hammer as Kenwar sneered at him.
“What in the hell are you doing?” Grim shouted.
“Just being thorough,” Kenwar replied as he pulled his head out of the log. “You’ve got to be willing to search everywhere.”
“I think you’re intentionally wasting my time,” Grim replied. Van felt the log creak and shift as Kenwar apparently sat on top of it.
“My tracking skills are second to none, sir. I’ll have you know that they called me Manhunter Kenwar for a reason. I can find anyone if I try hard enough.”
“So why the hell haven’t you found anyone yet? I’m getting really tired of you dragging me in circles. You seem to have forgotten that, as of right now, I own your life. Draco is displeased with you. One favorable word from me and all is forgiven.”
“Of course, of course. And you’ve forgotten the damage value of a hand crossbow,” Kenwar replied.
“I’m sorry, what—” Van heard the click and thunk of a crossbow bolt, followed shortly by a gurgling, gasping, and a thumping sound.
“Haha, what a prick,” Kenwar said as he rapped a few times on the log. “Alright, the coast is clear, you can come out.”
Van paused to consider whether it was a trap or not, but realized there wasn’t anything he could do if it was some kind of clever ruse. He wriggled out of the log and stood up.
Kenwar was whistling as he looted Grim’s corpse. The captain wasn’t wearing anything particularly special, but he appeared to have a few potions hanging from his belt.
“I am genuinely surprised you didn’t rat me out,” Van said.
Kenwar chuckled. “Yeah, well, before you start thinking I’m some noble hero or something, don’t forget that if you die, I’m a dead man, too.”
“Right,” Van said. “Still, uh, thank you. For saving me.”
“Whatever. Where’s Sang?” Kenwar asked. “Up in the trees? Her Stealth skills are good if I can’t even seem to find her.”
“Actually, she couldn’t keep up,” Van said. “I had to make a decision, and kept moving.”
“Well, good for you!” Kenwar said. “Making the smart choices.” He thrust a helmet at Van. It matched the standard Kyrissian helmet. “Put this thing on and you’ll blend in just fine with the rest of us.”
Van nodded as he grabbed the helmet and shoved it over his head. He began to strip the dead captain of the rest of his armor then, making sure to clean the blood off of the man’s outfit first. The words You are Disguised (Kyrissian Soldier) appeared above him as he put on his new boots. The disguise rating was set to 7, meaning that most people wouldn’t notice unless they directly interacted with him or had high ranking in the Spotting skill.
“What’s the plan, boss?” Kenwar asked as he dragged Grim’s corpse to the log and stuffed it in.
“I think…” Van began, trailing off as he looked behind him. Was Sang going to be okay? A flash of guilt overtook him, but he was stuck. If he went back for her, he’d be risking the entire point of the operation, but if he kept moving forward, he would be abandoning her for good.
“Come on, we gotta move,” Kenwar said. “This place is crawling with Kyrissians.”
“I know, I know,” Van said. “Fine, let’s, uh, just get me back to our base camp.”
“This way,” Kenwar said as he pointed to a path. “It’ll get us out of this forest really quickly.”
Van followed his guide, making sure to stay directly behind him. As they moved through the forest, Van could see several patrols marching through, calling out to one another. Every few minutes, Kenwar would call back to these men. No one seemed to see through Van’s disguise. Thanks to Kenwar’s expert skills, they were able to reach the edge of the forest easily.
“Well, that’s not great,” Kenwar muttered as he pointed at the fifteen men who were stationed along the forest in a straight line. “That perimeter is gonna be impossible to get through. My guess is that our fearless and dead captain probably ordered that no one can leave until you’re found.”
“Hmmm,” Van said as he ducked behind a tree to avoid being seen by the host of guards. “Well, what’s the plan then?”
“Why am I the one to come up with the plan?” Kenwar asked. “My specialty is in finding people and navigating. Not figuring out how to rush past a ton of guards.”
“Rush…” Van said. “If we rush through, we’re safe, right? This area is designed to be deadly, but the moment we get out of it, they can’t actually kill us! Plus, combat will go back to being unrealistic.”
“Yeah, but supposing they stop you from breaking through their lines?” Kenwar replied. “Then what? You die horribly. Maybe you should come up with a better strategy other than running at them while flailing your arms and hoping for the best.”
“A distraction would help,” Van said. “Take their focus off of the area and give us a chance to get through.”
“What kind of distraction?” Kenwar asked.
“The kind that involves you frantically calling for help because you found me,” Van said.
“Seriously?” Kenwar groaned. “What if they kill me?”
“They won’t. Just make something up. You’re a weasel, you’ll be fine,” Van assured him.
Kenwar sighed. “Alright, fine. I’ll create a diversion; you get out of here. But I’m warning you, after I get everyone scrambling around looking for you, I’m getting the hell out of this forest.”
“Fair enough,” Van said. “Ready?”
“Sure, whatever,” Kenwar grumbled as he walked into view of the guards. “I found them! They killed the captain! Help!”
The guards all looked at each other with surprise on their faces.
“I couldn’t take the both of them—this way, hurry!” Kenwar said as he pointed toward the west. A few of the guards began to slowly move forward, but as Kenwar turned to run, the rest of them followed after, leaving only a few guards behind.
Van took full advantage of the distraction and marched up to one of the posts where the guards had been stationed. The few that remained were watching him curiously, but didn’t say anything.
Van nodded at them as he reached the edge of the forest and turned around, standing still.
“This is the most boring part of the game,” said one of the guards. The rest all agreed.
“I wish we could be out adventuring or something,” another said. Van let out a sigh of relief as he slowly took a step back, leaving the official forest area. The login button on his UI immediately became clickable.
“Hey, what are you doing?” asked one of the guards who had turned to face Van.
“Uhhh…” Van trailed off as he decided to just make a run for the camp.
&
nbsp; “Hey, after him!” the guards shouted as they gave chase. Van ran up the rocky incline leading up to his central base. He felt as if he could run forever now; his stamina bar was bright and was barely draining with each step. It felt far different, being back in the regular game area. The haptic feedback intensity was way lower and even his footsteps didn’t feel as real as they had back in that zone.
He reached the top of the mountain to find his entire team waiting for him.
“Capello!” Van shouted. “Kill those guys following me!”
“Awwww yeaaaah!” Capello screamed as he leapt up from his sleeping bag. He scrambled to grab his axes and then charged past Van. A few other members of the Iron Dragons chased after Capello also, screaming loudly right along with him.
Kylian, Sahara, and Bidane were standing around the fire, talking strategy with a few of the other players. Kylian turned to face Van.
“Welcome back,” Kylian said. “You have a lot of things to explain.”
“Right, right,” Van said as he pulled up his interface. In his inventory was the data stick. He selected the data stick and, much to his surprise, all of the contained information appeared in the item window. The list of data was far too long for him to read, but it was clear that, in the game, all of the information was easily accessible without a computer. He quickly pulled up the data connection function of the game. All information was logged into the local computer system—in this case, the haptic pod would store all of the information. There was an external hard drive located in the haptic pod that could store character information if you wanted the option of moving to a different pod and skipping all of the character recovery processes. He transferred all of the information to the external haptic stick, knowing that it couldn’t be accessed remotely due to the anti-hacking procedures built into the USB drive. After that, he shot off a quick message to O’Hara and Neil, informing them of what was going on.
“Any time now,” Bidane growled. “What the hell was all that back there? Why couldn’t we log out in that place?”
