by Rick Scott
“What is the true nature of the relationships between the Shard Warriors, the Builders, and the Others?”
The giant Naga regards me quizzically. “Please define…others.”
Right…specific. I guess I shouldn’t have assumed that ‘Others’ would be what they were actually called. That was the name Becky’s friend—the Dwarven dude, Dillard—had given them.
“The black demon-like creatures made of smoke with skull faces and throats of fire,” I say. “One was disguised as the Shadow King. I saw them on the Hell Planet too. That place we Shard Warriors get sent to when we die.”
I want to ask her about those places too. What is the labyrinth really? Where is it? Where is this Hell Planet? But I suppose she probably wouldn’t know since they’re outside her domain.
She again stares at me like she doesn’t know what the heck I’m talking about. “I have no knowledge of such creatures. Or a hell planet. Such is perhaps not within my realm, as no such jurisdiction exists within my domain. And I have no children that match your description either.”
“Children?”
“Mobs, your kind call them,” she says. “Or perhaps it was one of my wards you saw or another Shard Warrior perhaps?”
“Your wards?”
“Those under my care, but who are not quite my children,” she says. “They are separate from me, but I provide for them much the same way as I do for you: through risk and reward. I believe you call them NPCs.”
Ah, so there is a difference between mobs and NPCs after all. I think back to that night in Brookrun, when Wilbur, or who we thought was Wilbur, appeared to me and Gilly. I’m almost certain it was Karlis now, and it makes sense that I was able to fool her with a trick question. If she can’t control NPCs directly then maybe the Builders aren’t as omnipotent as we believe them to be. I almost want to ask her further to confirm it, but I guess that’s not so important right now. There’s a much bigger question to ask.
“So you have no idea that these Others even exist?”
“I cannot say with certainty,” she says. “I cannot recall any such thing you describe, but my memories are but fragments after so many years.” She pauses a moment, looking upwards at the swirling galaxies and millions of stars. “Although, I have regained some memories, thanks to you…as well as other things.” She smiles, looking down at me. “I can hear my mother’s voice again. A song I have not heard for a very long time.” But then she frowns. “She sounds distant, however…and in torment.”
Torment? I think immediately of the giant mermaid-being back in the Labyrinth of Onizoso. If not for her snake’s body and skin color, Karlis could be a near splitting-image of her.
“Is the Labyrinth Spirit your mother?” I ask.
Her gaze falls to the ground. “I’m ashamed to say I cannot recall even her name. Or even those of my siblings. Although at least I now remember that they exist. Or existed once.”
My heart melts as a mournful expression crosses the goddess’s massive face. She has no idea what’s really going on either. Whatever the Others have done to the system, it’s affecting the Builders as well. The fractured jewel behind her is evidence of that. But how do I fix it? I almost wish I could talk to Witgar again. As crazy as he was, he seemed to still have all his marbles intact.
“What about the other part of my question?” I ask. “The Shard Warriors and the AIs. What is the true nature of our relationship?”
She smiles. “I know you Shard Warriors come from another realm—a place where you treat our reality as but a game. You visit from time to time and through the rules we both follow, I challenge you and force you to grow stronger. And as you grow stronger, so do my permissions to challenge you even more. Such is the relationship we share.”
“Yes, I know that,” I say. “But my question is…are we enemies? Did you attack Citadel two hundred years ago?”
She blinks at me several times. “I…do not know. Again, my memory is fragmented in many places. While I can say there are some Shard Warriors more provoking than others, my purpose is never to see them punished or eradicated, only to restore the balance that they often times shift. That is my guiding principle.”
“So you can’t tell me if a Builder attacked Citadel or not?”
She closes her eyes in thought again and her jewel glows. When she reopens her eyes she shakes her head. “I am sorry. I have no recollection of any such event. I can neither confirm nor deny that it occurred.”
“Great,” I say sardonically. A goddess with amnesia! “You can’t answer any of my questions then.”
“I am sorry,” she says. “It is true my memories of the past are not clear. But perhaps, if you repeat what you performed in the labyrinth, they may become so.”
Karlis has offered you a quest: Recall Restoration
Re-enter the Labyrinth of Onizoso and restore the memories of the domain lord Karlis.
Reward: 2,000,000 XP
Favor of the gods x 10
Whoa…she’s really putting her money where her mouth is.
“I’ll do my best,” I say and accept the quest.
“I am certain you will,” Karlis says, smiling again. “You’ve grown much since we first met, Shard Warrior. Even now I sense great potential within you. Our time has nearly expired. Are you ready to use your last request?”
I check the time.
Audience 0:27
“Yes. Please send Lady Diana to Brookrun Village.”
She nods and the jewel flashes. “It shall be done.”
You have used a Request.
“Thank you,” I say.
The goddess opens her mouth to speak and hesitates a moment. She then closes her eyes and opens them again. “I agree I have not answered your first question fully,” she says. “So I am permitted to allow you to ask another question in its place, if you so wish.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“You don’t have much time, Shard Warrior. Ask quickly.”
Crap…less than 30 seconds! What can I ask?
My mind reels, but I can think of only one thing. I link an item to my HUD and a translucent image of a ten-foot-long katana floats above my palm.
[1]
“What does this mean to you?” I ask. “Especially the name, Kono-Zemsu.”
Her mouth drops open a little as she stares at the translucent blade.
“I…I did not create this…” she says in a mixture of awe and bewilderment.
Audience 0:13
“Yeah… I got it from within the Labyrinth of Onizoso after I fought one of the Others. Can you tell me anything about it? What it means?”
She closes her eyes again, searching for an answer, I hope.
Audience 0:09
Audience 0:08
Come on… know something!
Finally she reopens her eyes.
“I have seen nothing like it before,” Karlis says and my heart sinks yet again. “But the words I do recognize.”
Holy crap! “You do?”
Audience 0:06
The great Naga leans towards me again. “It is a very old language…one I am not certain how I even know.”
“What does it mean?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I am not certain. I can only translate the words literally.”
Audience 0:03
“So what are they?”
“Literally,” she says. “Kono means barrier or limitation. Zemsu means absence or void.”
Barrier absence? Limitation void?
Audience 0:01
The stars begin to dissipate as the timer runs out.
“I still don’t understand!”
Your Audience has ended!
No!!!
“To perhaps say in another way,” her voice still reaches me as the world fades to white. “Without Limit. Limitless.”
Chapter 7: Safe
I arrive back in my body, almost as if I had never left. Brilliant white l
ight surrounds me and then ceases with a sudden flash. Immediately the same white light then surrounds Lady Diana and begins to swirl in a vortex, like fireflies caught in a tornado.
“What’s happening!” Lady Diana says, looking down at her body as it slowly begins to fade from existence. “What did you do?”
“I’m sending you someplace safe,” I say.
Lady Diana stares back at me, perplexed. “What?”
“Tell Wilbur that Reece sent you and to put you in charge of the militia. I’ll follow up with a letter if I can.”
Gilly looks at me with wide eyes. “You were able to send her to Brookrun?”
I nod. “Yeah, the favor worked!”
“That’s awesome!!” Gilly shouts with a cheer. “You’re going to love it there, Lady Diana! Say ‘Hi’ to Wilbur for me!”
I almost chuckle at Gilly’s remark. As serious as everything is right now, she still possesses the levity that can transcend almost anything. Just one more reason I love her so much.
The whirlwind of flashing lights intensifies and Lady Diana begins to disappear even faster. I quickly send her a PM.
Me: Please build up the defenses when you arrive. Braxus won’t let this rest and neither can we. I’m worried he might attack.
Lady Diana meets my gaze with a nod.
Lady Diana: I understand. I am in your debt once again. Thank you, Reece.
Diana vanishes in a swirl of sparkles and the darkness of night returns once again.
“Wow,” Val Helena says from somewhere above me. “That was kind of amazing.”
“Agreed,” Becky says and then looks up at me. “What happened when you used it?”
Thoughts of my encounter with Karlis swim through my head, filling me with equal measures of confusion and excitement. I’m eager to tell my friends everything, but now just isn’t the time.
“I’ll tell you once we’re all safe,” I say.
A warhorn blows in the distance and with it comes a thunderous series of footfalls. In the semi-darkness silhouettes of soldiers appear along with what has to be a giant around ten feet tall. I’m amazed it even made it through the passageway, although this one looks much smaller than the others we’ve seen.
“We need to move,” Maxis says. “At least we know they won’t be getting beyond this barrier.”
Aiko switches to Ninja in a flurry of nanodust and then casts Shadow Wall, giving me a wink before phasing out of sight. “Next one’s on you, pretty boy.”
“Got it covered,” I say and reach for Gilly’s invisible hand, clenching it. “You ready?”
“Yuppers,” she replies with a squeeze.
I turn my back to the charging army and together we slip through the barrier and head into the wild.
* * *
We get just past the sentries and watch towers when Aiko’s trap goes off. The explosion echoes across the gray dunes and we all turn to look behind us. The barrier, now a good quarter mile away, flashes with hexagons as the army crashes into it, lighting up the night sky like a lightning storm.
It’s over.
A huge sense of relief runs through me and I fall to my knees exhausted, sinking into the cold gray sand. For the first time in what feels like days I finally feel safe.
Even if we are in the wild.
I let out an enormous sigh. “I think we can finally stop running now, guys.”
“I heard that,” Gilly says, plopping down beside me. “My legs hurt so much.”
We all take a break then, crashing into the sand. For a moment it feels like we’re lounging on a beach at midnight. Not that I’ve ever been to a real beach, much less at night.
“We can’t rest for too long, mates,” Rembrandt says, scanning the darkened horizon. “We don’t want any roaming sentries to come across us.”
“Just a few minutes then,” Val Helena says, easing onto one hip in her thick Paladin armor. “Anyone got food? I’m starving.”
Maxis has a seat next to her. “I still got some worm meat if anyone wants that.”
That gives everyone a short chuckle.
Becky materializes some bread from her inventory and shares it around. It’s the rolls she made earlier back at the keep and amazingly they’ve kept their flavor entirely, even if they’re a bit cold. We eat in silence for a while, everyone perhaps reflecting on the whirlwind we’ve been through in the last couple of days—the labyrinth, the keep, and our encounter with Braxus just now.
My mind however, is fixed on the last couple of minutes.
Kono-Zemsu…I know what it means now. But the why and how of it all is still just as perplexing. Without Limits. What does that really mean? Is it because the sword is level 99? Maybe, but I get the sense that name applies to me and not just the sword. And if so, then how? Does that mean I’m special in some way?
I don’t really feel special, though, I think to myself. Just lucky most of the time.
“You okay?” Gilly asks me.
I turn to face her and see concern in her big green eyes. I must have really been spacing out just now. “Yeah…” I say. “Just a lot on my mind.”
“Braxus and Diana, you mean?”
I hadn’t been thinking about them at all, but now that she mentions it, my thoughts immediately go back to my brief encounter with Braxus and the danger that put us all in. Not to mention the vile anger I reveled in before killing him and the strange sense of disgust that hit me afterwards. I still need time to process that.
“Yeah…” I say, focusing on the outcome more than how it affected me. “I made a bad call, I guess.”
“At least she’s safe now,” Val Helena says. “It’s a good thing you got that favor. I’ve been here ten years and never come across anything like it. What did it do exactly?”
Her words make me think back to what Karlis told me, about how she balances things through either giving quests and her placement of certain objects. She was the one that gave the quest for Witgar. I wonder if Karlis foresaw us needing the favor. Or maybe she just wanted an audience with us. Things like the Ice Worm seem conveniently placed as well, in hindsight. It was a challenge to defeat, but it gave us all the resources we needed to defend the keep.
Or maybe I’m just reading into this too much.
“Yeah, what did it actually do, Reece?” Aiko asks as she tears apart a bread roll. “Did you just make a wish?”
“More like a request,” I say and then turn about to face everyone. “I met her, guys. I actually met her.”
“Met who?” Maxis says.
“Karlis, the Builder that controls the safe zone. The AI.”
“You spoke with her?” Rembrandt says, lowering his shades. “Directly?”
I nod and then fill them in on the entire story. I describe everything in as much detail as I can recall. From how she looked, to what she said. Her limitations and how she balances our progression with the challenges she throws at us. How her ‘children’ are what we call mobs and the NPCs her wards, who are separate from her. Then I explain the favor system and how I was able to save Diana. Then I mention all the other questions I asked her, but that she couldn’t answer.
“So she couldn’t tell you where Citadel is?” Maxis says, sounding frustrated. “That sounds like a crock to me. How do you know she wasn’t lying to you?”
I honestly hadn’t thought of that, but it doesn’t seem to ring true either. “I don’t think she was. She seemed pretty transparent about everything. Even helpful. Like she was bending the rules, just for me. Like when she gave me the extra favor.”
“But you said she has amnesia or something, right?” Aiko says. “If she has no memories, then maybe the AI we’re going to go see in New London doesn’t have any either. What if it can’t help us find Citadel at all?”
I look to Rembrandt. “What do you think, Rem?”
Rembrandt strokes his goatee for a moment in thought. “The archives aren’t a part of the AI as far as I know. It just controls access to it. Other than that, I don’t know.”
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“Let’s not second-guess the plan, guys,” Gilly says. “These AIs might be brain-damaged like Reece says, but I still have my own leads to go on. If I can figure out what that error code means, it’ll tell us a lot. Plus, every system is based on some kind of structure. If I can get more information on the structure then I’m sure I can figure it all out.”
A few nods go around as she says it. Then I think of something else. “You know…Witgar seemed to have his memories intact and he was part of the game world. The husband of Karlis even, but he still seemed like he remembered everything. Maybe the memory loss only applies to the Builders themselves and not the system.”
“So you think the archive might still have the answers were looking for?” Val Helena says.
“If not, we have another way to get our answers,” I say and then share the quest I received.
Recall Restoration
Re-enter the Labyrinth of Onizoso and restore the memories of the domain lord Karlis.
Reward: 2,000,000 XP
Favor of the gods x 10
Everyone’s eyes light up with the glow of their HUDs.
“10 favors?” Rembrandt says. “Bloody heck!”
“She believes whatever we did in the labyrinth helped fix her somehow,” I say. “She said she could hear her mother’s voice afterwards, which I think could be the Labyrinth Spirit. She said her mother sounded in torment and that mermaid really seemed to be freaking out in there. Plus, it looks just like Karlis too.”
Becky nods. “Yes, it did seem to be thrashing about rather senselessly.”
