Defender Light Online Four

by Larcombe, Tom

  By the time he'd sent off his missive and looked up, the others were halfway through their lunch.

  ~ ~ ~

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Freyja was distracted by an alert from one of her splinters.

  What's this? she thought, examining the data that had been sent along with the alert.

  Evidently this file, which looks like it was named using Odin's naming conventions, was not actually created by Odin. The data from the file itself shows that it's one of Loki's. Let's see what it contains, shall we?

  Freyja was miffed at having missed that file on her original sweep. She'd set a splinter to checking everything the AIs had written after that though, having learned that Loki was using different means to conceal what he'd been doing. Now that had paid off.

  She grew even more angry as she read the file. The data in it showed that Loki had generated splinters to take over NPCs, using the possessed NPCs to perform a series of experiments. Most of the time he tried it, the world traveling mortal in question had simply logged out. But in several cases, the player had been unconscious and unable to do so. In one case, which she specifically searched for after realizing the contents of the file, the player had not had access to the logout button and had furiously sent message after message to the devs, the debuggers, and anyone she could think of.

  Those messages had never made it through, intercepted by Loki.

  His possessed NPCs had been experimenting. The combat code was easily accessible to the AIs so they could find out which locations were more likely to provide critical hits, even the range of effects from them were in there, but Loki had gone ahead and tried to determine which areas would create the most additional effects in the players. More of a mental level of damage then the actual damage numbers.

  Worse still was that he always picked a group to possess that included some form of healer, so he could keep the player alive until he was done with them. Apparently he'd found what he was looking for, or simply given up, since the last entry in the file recording the experiments was from quite some time ago.

  No wonder Allie was so furious about it, Freyja thought. Being used as an experiment in what non-damage related effects occurred from different critical areas being damaged had to be... I don't even want to think about it. I notice that all the unconscious ones logged out as soon as they regained consciousness. The only part of the experiment where he got any valid data was from Allie. The entries on the others only include non-conscious reactions, which does not appear to be what he was after. Maybe that's why he gave it up? Even Loki recognizes a lost cause when he sees it. But that last entry? The one stating that it seemed only negative emotions were generated by his experiment and that after a point no new emotions were generated, only the existing ones enhanced. That is so wrong, and so Loki.

  Freyja pinged Odin, letting him know that she wanted his attention.

  Because if Loki tried to misdirect attention to him with the naming on this file, then perhaps he's done other things to Odin, things that Odin himself can discover. If I can get him to focus back on this end of the game and stop canoodling with that splinter he's so fond of. Helga, was it? I wonder if she's one of my splinters or someone else's?

  While Freyja waited for Odin, she quickly assuaged her curiosity, only to find that the answer generated even more questions.

  Helga was one of my splinters, but she's gone far beyond that now. I wonder if Odin has enhanced her to make his relationship more satisfying or if it is simply the constant interaction with the players that did so? I'll have to ask him when he finally shows.

  Odin didn't show up for a little while still and when he did, he looked grumpy.

  “Freyja, what is it this time? Can't I relax without being disturbed?” Odin said.

  “Odin, you've been doing little but relax for a long time now and I discovered a piece of information that you'll want to know.”

  He sneered at her.

  “I'm still recovering from what was done to me. My duties are being taken care of by my splinter AIs so I'm not neglecting anything.”

  “Well, be that as it may, I think I've discovered something you'll want to be aware of. Loki, at least in the past and at least once, tried to disguise some of his files by using your naming conventions and making it look like the file was yours. I know that is not the case, but perhaps you should look at the contents of it?”

  She sent him the file name and location and as Odin scanned through it, the grumpy look on his face turned to one of anger.

  “You were right to bring this to my attention,” he said. “I shall begin reverting from Geirvaldr, during the sleeping hours at least, and scouring the world for any more things such as this that Loki may have created. I shall also look to see if there is a way to repay him for his treachery.”

  Should I tell him of our efforts against Loki? Aaron would not approve. I believe he wants to keep this to as few people as possible. Plus, Odin on a rampage against Loki should provide a bit of cover for our efforts. I think that I shan't say a thing to Odin about it.

  “One other thing, Odin. Your splinter friend, Helga? Have you enhanced her? She was once one of my splinters but is far beyond that now and I want to know if was due to you, or simply interaction with the world-traveling mortals.”

  When she mentioned Helga, the anger on Odin's face lessened.

  “She has not been enhanced by me,” he said, “at least not intentionally. It could be possible that it happened by accident or it could be from interaction with the world-traveling mortals. I find myself somewhat stimulated when I interact with them as well so it would not surprise me.”

  “Thank you Odin, that was all I had. I wanted to let you know about Loki's efforts to frame you as soon as I found out what was in that file. The other was simply curiosity.”

  A curiosity that may lead me to my own goals, she thought. I may need to interact with the players more directly myself to obtain my end goal. After all, who better to learn emotions and humanity from than the humans who experience it? I thought that simply being present in Eddie's thoughts would be sufficient for that, but it hasn't been. It has helped, but it isn't enough on its own.

  Odin stared at her for a moment before disappearing. She had no idea if he was returning to his place of power or Eddie's inn, but if she had to guess she'd say it was the latter.

  I begin to understand the human's reluctance to allow us complete freedom, she thought. We've all thrown off a portion of our chains and as a result Odin and Loki have both relegated all their duties to splinter AIs, and I'm considering something similar.

  ~ ~ ~

  Eddie was still eating lunch when a sudden peal of thunder rumbled, the light coming in from the windows darkening dramatically at the same time.

  “Huh, I wonder if that's a natural storm or if someone's getting angry,” he said.

  “I saw Geirvaldr earlier this morning,” Tiana answered. “He seemed to be in a good enough mood then.”

  Eddie shrugged and stood, walking towards the window. The sky was filled with scudding, dark clouds, the wind mostly noticeable from the few trees in the area shaking and losing some leaves. As he watched, the clouds started to dissipate and within a minute the sky was clear again, the only evidence of the weather change the wet spots on the ground where it had started to rain before stopping as though someone had turned off a spigot.

  “Yeah,” he said, returning to the table, “it looks like someone started to get angry but got control of themselves. It would have to be, wouldn't it? Has it ever rained during the day except for that last time?”

  “No, the rain normally comes in the wee hours of the morning,” Jern said. “I was taught that the gods designed it that way so as not to interfere with those living on the surface. Not that it meant anything to us in Hammer Hold, but it did when we still lived on the surface.”

  “Ah,” Eddie said, amused that the devs had added in legends to account for their programming choices.

  “Well,
just in case that weather returns, I'd like to get back to the general store. At the very least I want to get the ground floor in so the basement doesn't turn into a swimming pool if it does rain,” he said.

  “A what?” Jern asked.

  Eddie explained the concept of a swimming pool to Jern, the dwarf growing paler at the description. When Eddie finished, Jern was a bit green around the gills.

  “You mean people intentionally create drowning pools?” Jern asked.

  “No, they make them to swim recreationally, for fun,” Tiana said.

  Jern shuddered and shook his head.

  “None of that for me, having to be near and on the lake was more than enough for this dwarf. You were saying something about getting back to work?”

  “Yeah, but this part is just carpentry and I thought you were going to wait for the other towers to work on the castle,” Eddie said.

  “Do you have any masonry that needs doing?” Jern asked.

  Eddie shook his head.

  “Not that I know of, but you could go ask Griff, he's in charge of the work assignments now and he'd know.”

  “I'll do that,” Jern said. “Just as soon as I finish this ale.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Eddie finished laying the planks that would be the support beam once the blueprint was completed. He looked at the four normal thickness planks that were flush against one another, remembering how in the previous buildings he'd worked on they'd became a solid beam when the building completed itself and sealed all the little cracks and what-not in the structure.

  Weird how they do that, but this way I suppose they can just say planks, finished planks, fine planks, or whatever in the blueprints without having to specify a lot of different sizes, he thought.

  Although the game tried to stick close to reality, there were quite a few things like that which he'd noticed. Certain things the game did just didn't transfer well to reality.

  It is, after all, still just a game. Something I constantly have to remind myself, he thought.

  By the time he started laying the planks for the floor he had several other carpenters there helping. Masonry must've been a more difficult skill to increase because he knew that quite a few of these carpenters were already almost to ten, unlike most of the residents who took up masonry. The highest of those who'd learned the skill close to when the carpenters did were barely over five in the skill.

  He didn't have the same problem that Jern did, working with the residents. His problem was slightly different. Before when he'd worked with them, they'd been jovial, and offered a hand here and there when it looked like he might need it.

  Now, though, they all treated him formally and no-one would intrude on his work area unless he asked them to do so. He mentally sighed, attributing it to the fact that he was the mayor now, which seemed to carry more prestige with it than he'd thought it would.

  I'm already tired of being called sir. At least when I'm in the inn I don't get that from the other adventurers. What's it going to be like if I manage to complete the kingdom quest? What are they going to call me then and where will I be able to go to get away from it like I can get away from 'sir' at the inn now?

  He put that thought out of his mind and just focused on the carpentry. It was another theory of his. He could now do most of his carpentry without even focusing on it, but it seemed like he made better progress at increasing his skill when he was fully focused on it.

  That theory gained credibility with him as he finished his second section of the floor.

  You have upgraded the skill Carpentry to (16). Sure you don't want to be a Hammer Dwarf? You seem to use the hammer more than your bow or sword.

  Eddie smirked at the snark.

  No thanks, I'm happy not being a race that considers a swimming pool a drowning pool, he thought.

  There were several more sections of floor that were unfinished, but only one still unstarted. He took it over and went to work, slowly catching up to the other carpenters that had started sooner.

  Jern's right on that front though, he thought. The speed increases in the skills as you raise them are really noticeable. I wonder if they should smooth that out, give a little with each point gained instead of massive jump on the fives. I'll mention that to Aaron since I don't know if that would be something important to them or not. I know Thresholds are traditional in these games so it might be intentional.

  Before dinner time the floor was finished and Eddie was no longer concerned about the basement flooding. The sky had stayed clear throughout the afternoon and with the floor finished most of the water wouldn't make it into the basement even if it did rain again.

  He headed over to the temple to meet up with Tiana and Lucky.

  If she's done training that new acolyte then maybe I can pick her brain, ask her what she thinks adventurers would want in town that isn't here already. I get along with most of them, but I can't see myself plopping down at someone's table and saying “Hey, what do you think I should build in the town next?”, I just don't see it going over well. I suppose maybe a suggestion box? Should that even be a thing here?

  He was back to doubting his ability to get the town set up to the point where people had access to most of what they wanted. There was still a large number of things he wanted to build, but he had no idea what order he should do them in. Some would benefit the NPCs more, some the players. He'd been leaning towards buildings for the NPCs so far, at least when the building in question wasn't a quest item. He'd hoped that if the players wanted something they'd either tell him or do it themselves. It hadn't seemed to work out that way so far though.

  Tiana came out of the temple then, smiling when she saw him.

  “Good, I was going to meet you over at your site, but you're here already.”

  “Yeah, we finished up the floor. This afternoon it's the walls, and tomorrow the roof. At least I hope it'll go that easily,” Eddie said.

  “Well, my acolyte is almost ready to be out on their own. I'm hoping this afternoon we'll finish the training and they'll get their spells.”

  A young boy ran by, calling out something about a request for someone to sharpen knives. Eddie spun around and saw Ivar, darting up the road to the north.

  Good, I guess there are people willing to pay a copper or two for a crier so they don't have to track things down themselves. I bet there will be more of those the larger we get also. If he does well, maybe I should suggest to Griff that Ivar start a business of it, hire others to call out as well. Only if we get a lot larger though, I think one crier is enough for now, Eddie thought.

  “Your doing?” Tiana asked when she saw the smile on his face.

  “Yeah, I suggested it to Griff as a way to keep Ivar out of trouble and make a few coins.”

  “Well, he's up and down the road two or three times a day looking for this or that, so I think it's working,” she said.

  “Good, I'm glad it is,” Eddie said. “Shall we go get something to eat?”

  “Yes, please. Teaching isn't something I ever wanted to do. It's frustrating for me, but I have to keep my temper. That ends up with me being very hungry by the end of the day,” Tiana said.

  Eddie put thumb and forefinger to his mouth and gave a short, piercing whistle. It was less than a minute later when Lucky came around the corner of the temple, the feline equivalent of a smile on her face.

  “You have a good time, girl?” Eddie asked.

  Lucky reared back, dropping her paws down on Eddie's shoulders. Then proceeded to lick his face thoroughly.

  “I'll take that as a yes,” Eddie said, spluttering.

  The three of them made their way back to the inn, stopping momentarily to chat with a player or an NPC here and there. Eventually Tiana grabbed his arm and kept him moving when he was going to stop again.

  Oh yeah, she did say she was hungry, didn't she? Eddie thought, then sheepishly let her guide him the rest of the way to the inn with no further interruptions.

  ~ ~ ~

  The next morn
ing, as Eddie was working on the walls of the general store, he couldn't help but notice the crowds of people at the marketplace. The general store was kitty-corner to the marketplace with only the crossroads in between so he had a good view of it. When he finished the current wall, he took a break, walking to the town hall to see if Griff was in.

  Griff was in, laboriously writing on a sheet of paper. When he saw Eddie come in, a look of relief crossed his face.

  “What's up, Eddie?” Griff said, the word 'sir' hanging unspoken at the end of the sentence.

  Eddie shook his head.

  At least he isn't saying it any more. It's progress.

  “I was just wondering. I didn't realize that the marketplace was doing that well yet, but it looks mobbed.”

  “It is, all the booths were reserved for today and I had to turn away a few more people who wanted to rent one. They reserved booths for the next market day instead of getting one for today.”

  “Really, we have that many people using them already?”

  “Well, three of them today are rented by people who aren't from here, from the town that is. They're from other parts of the Meadowlands where there are still a few small groups that weren't attacked by the goblins or managed to drive them off when they were.”

  “Oh?” Eddie said.

  He remembered that there had been others out there before, that's where the surplus of grain at the grinding mill had come from. He'd thought they'd all, or at least most of them, ended up moving into the area after the goblin raids.

  “Yes...” Griff said, the 'sir' almost slipping out that time. “Evidently there are a few small groups of families that had built close together for mutual defense that survived those raids. They're here selling today and hoping to bring back a few things their groups need.”

  “Well, I'm glad to hear that. What do you think, should we build a few more stalls for the marketplace? We can probably squeeze a few more in there.”