by Pdmac
“You’ll find out tomorrow,” Karl answered, taking in the scene. Gwen demurely sat on the divan, with Annabeth and Raquel sitting on overstuffed high-back chairs opposite her. Raquel’s face was one of forced politeness.
“Why tomorrow? Why not now?” Annabeth demanded.
“Because it’s too dark to make sense of anything now,” Karl patiently explained then furrowed his brow. “What are you doing here?”
“We noticed that you seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time here,” Annabeth said with a hint of self-righteousness as she ticked her head towards Gwen, “and we thought that we ought to explain the rules in place. We were explaining to Lady Gwen here that we were willing to share, even if it means waiting three days to have you to oneself. But that meant sharing and not keeping you to herself.”
Gwen fixed her emerald green on him and he felt his passions rising.
“They were most polite and informative,” she said. “I quickly realized that I have intruded on an established precedent and conveyed my deepest apologies. As to their proposal, while I find it very generous and interesting, I have yet to determine whether it is something that suits me.”
Karl felt his heart quicken at the thought that she was no longer interested in him, at once cursing women for being so fickle while at the same time remembering the lingering kiss before he went into the tunnel.
“But that must wait for the moment,” Gwen regally stated then turned to the two women. “For now, I must discuss the future of my domain with these two. I find your proposal most interesting, yet need to think about it. Perhaps we can resume our discussion tomorrow.”
“Of course,” Annabeth cheerily replied standing, a reluctant Raquel also standing. She looked over at Karl. “We’ll wait for you outside.”
“Perhaps it would be better if you waited in your rooms,” Gwen stated. “I do not know how long it will be before your commander is available to you.”
“That’s alright,” Annabeth answered, tugging Raquel to follow. “We don’t mind, do we?” They were out the door before Gwen had a chance to respond.
She gazed up at Karl with a bemused smile. “Such delightful and entertaining ladies. You’re very fortunate to have them as friends.”
“Yes I am,” he replied, unsure of both his answer and her comment.
“Well?” she inquired. “What do you think of our little secret?”
Karl paused before answering, wondering whether she was asking about the secret that they were infatuated with each other or about the tunnel. Fortunately, Manas came to his rescue.
“We’ll need to go back during the day so they can get a feel for the land and the entrance spot.”
“We’ll go back out tomorrow,” Karl said, giving Manas a ‘thank you’ nod. “I’ll need to brief my team.”
“I’d like that to happen here,” she said, “for obvious reasons. I don’t need to remind you of the necessity of secrecy.”
“I understand.”
Standing, she moved towards the door to the outer hall. “Until tomorrow then.”
Once Manas passed through the open door, it closed behind him.
“That was quick,” Annabeth said, her frown deepening. “What’s going on?”
Pursing his lips, Manas stared at the closed door. “She had something she wished to discuss in private.” He turned and headed down the hallway.
“Like what?” Annabeth called after him.
“I don’t know,” he said over his shoulder. “That’s why it’s called ‘private’.”
Crossing her arms, she spun around to face Raquel. “Well we’re just gonna stay here until he comes out.”
With a sigh, Raquel shook her head. “Right now, she has the advantage. Once the battle is over and we’re on our way, it’ll be back to normal.”
“What?” Annabeth fussed. “You’re gonna let that woman interfere with our fun?”
“Doesn’t look like we have a choice. It’s not like he’s fighting to get away from her.”
“What are we gonna do?” Annabeth pouted then scowled at the door.
“I’m going to bed,” Raquel answered then turned to amble down the hallway.
“It’s not fair,” Annabeth grumbled, standing in indecision before chasing after Raquel. “He was supposed to be with me tonight.”
On the other side of the door, Karl and Gwen were wrapped in each other’s arms, their mouths locked in a long deep kiss. When they broke to catch their breaths, Gwen grabbed his hand and led him to the bedroom, closing the door behind him. Positioning him by the bed, she gently pressed her hand on his chest, forcing him to sit on the edge of the bed then took a step back.
“Stay there and watch, my gorgeous Viking.”
Karl’s heart thudded in his chest as lust and desire rose to maddening heights, watching as she reached up and unclasped the broach at her shoulder. The gossamer fabric of her dress gently billowed as it slipped off her shoulders, cresting over her breasts then dropped to the floor, leaving her quite naked, stunningly naked.
Karl sucked in a breath and reached for her, but she pushed him onto his back and straddled him.
“Take me now,” she begged.
Chapter 6
Felix twisted his head to gaze longingly out the window. It was one of those days where the siren call of the golf course taunted him as he half listened to Scott ramble on about the latest additions and variants to Bridge Quest. Though he knew he ought to be interested, why he should care now about developments on islands six to eight when none of the players had crossed the first bridge yet was stretching his patience. With a disappointed sigh that he’d be lucky to get in nine holes this afternoon, he held up his hand for Scott to stop.
“Talk to me about the NPC that’s with the group in Westhaven.”
“Elena?”
“I believe that is her name,” he said, turning his head away from the window and twisting around to face Scott who sat in an overstuffed chair in front of Felix’s desk. “What is she doing there?”
Scott stared at him, wondering if he was testing him or if he really didn’t know. Deciding to show off his intimate knowledge of the latest developments within the game, he said, “She and Dieter have formed an affection for each other. It’s really quite interesting. Using the Vienna studies of human behavior and electronic impulse, we’ve managed to give the feeling of being in love to a number of NPCs. It’s been a recent development in the game, but it’s added a fascinating parameter and exponential.”
His excitement grew as he explained, “If we choose, we can infuse an NPC with a number of very human emotions. Take jealousy for example. We can input jealousy into NPCs and create all sorts of deviations for game play. Right now, we’re in the process of adding human emotion layers to as many NPCs as possible… well, human NPCs. We’re still working on the non-human side.”
“I thought all our human NPCs were already constructed to act like humans,” Felix said with a frown.
“They were,” Scott replied, “to a point. With the addition of the Vienna parameters, we’ve made them even more human.”
“How far along are we?”
“We’ve made the additions to all NPCs on the first three islands. We should have the rest of the changes completed by the end of the month.”
Felix swiveled around in his chair to once again gaze out the window. The siren call was growing louder, especially as his eyes fell onto the golf course directly across the Tennessee River. There was a foursome on the 5th hole fairway with another foursome waiting to Tee off.
“So you’re telling me,” he said, though still looking out the window, “that Dieter and Elena are in love?”
“Yes.”
“What was her place before she left Abeloft?”
The question surprised Scott for it intimated that Felix knew all about the relationship. “She was a serving girl.”
“What happens when they get to the bridge?”
“Ah, yes,” Scott acknowledged. “W
e’ve been debating that. My thoughts are that non-essential NPCs be allowed to cross bridges, NPCs that aren’t critical to the execution of the game.”
“And how can you determine which ones are non-critical?” He watched a golfer hit a shot then pump his fist, pleased with the result.
“There are plenty of nonessential NPCs,” Scott replied.
“I understand that,” Felix said, cutting him off. “If Dieter is consumed with Elena, haven’t you made her an essential NPC? If, in fact, they ‘love’ each other,” he used both hands to make quotation marks, “that means that Dieter will do his best to protect her. If she can’t cross the bridge, wouldn’t that imply that there’s more than a fair chance that Dieter will remain with her?”
“That’s why I recommend she be allowed to cross over to the next island.”
Felix slowly nodded. “Suppose something happens to her?”
Scott shrugged. “Just like it does in real life. If she is killed, she’s gone forever… at least to Dieter. We’ll just reintroduce her back into the tavern in Abeloft if that happens.”
“Will she have the memory of Dieter?”
Scott paused. “That’s a good question. Memory is still one of those areas we’re exploring and testing. All NPCs have short term memory and game required memory. The worst that can happen, from my perspective is that she has memory of Dieter. If it proves problematic, we simply eliminate her as an NPC, though I can see advantages to the memory aspect.”
“And complications,” Felix pointed out, turning back around. “If she has memory, then she has memory of everything between leaving Abeloft and her death, which means if you put her back in Abeloft, she can tell anyone what to expect... as well as what happened when she died.”
“Yes,” Scott admitted, “there is that. We’re working on it.”
“Then you need to work faster,” he said.
“Yes, Sir,” Scott answered.
“I have another question,” Felix said, narrowing his gaze at him. “Our monsters and certain NPCs respawn so that subsequent PCs have the benefit of interacting with them after other PCs have moved on, like orcs at Abeloft for example.”
“We fixed that,” Scotts interjected.
“That’s not the point,” Felix replied, waving away the response. “Essential NPCs respawn so that other PCs can interact with them. You’ve made Elena an essential NPC –”
“With no memory,” Scott interrupted, eyes bright. “That’s perfect. That way, any PC could take an NPC with them and should something happen to it, it merely respawns back at the original spot with no memory of what happened before then.”
“You’re still removing an NPC from the game though,” Felix objected.
“Not really,” Scott countered. “The NPC is still in the game and assumes an ever greater role in either aiding or hindering the quest. This is brilliant.”
“How so?” Felix smiled at the man’s excitement.
“Just think of the variations. Further, not every player interacts with NPCs that other players do, so it doesn’t really matter if one or more NPCs are unavailable to them.”
“So if all the members of Karl’s team decided to take an NPC as a lover?” Felix cocked an eyebrow.
“It doesn’t matter. Worse casing it, we can always add a character if necessary.”
“Suppose a player falls in love and decides to remain where he is, what then?”
Scott gave him a wicked smile. “We make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
Felix chuckled. “Anything else?”
“What about the bridge? My recommendation is to let her cross.”
“I’m leaning towards your favor. Let me think on it,” Felix loftily replied. “Once this present quest is near completion, come back to me and let’s finalize our approach.” His attention again wandered to the golf course across the river as he swiveled around and leaned back in his chair.
“Yes, Sir,” Scott said with a hint of frustration then decided he would proceed as he had planned. As the saying went, ‘It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is for permission.’ “There is one more thing.”
“Yes?” Felix’s focus remained on the fairway across the river.
“It’s about personnel shortages,” Scott said. “I’m down a third from a little more than a month ago. I can’t continue like this. I’m losing too many employees to immersion.”
Frowning, Felix swiveled back around. “Anyone critical?”
“Two,” Scott replied, “but that’s beside the point. I’m asked to develop gaming parameters, variations, and solutions within time constraints without the manpower to make it happen… even with AI assistance.”
“You can put a stop to that,” Felix stated.
“Only if it’s internal,” Scott reminded him. “We have no control over external immersion. If an employee wants to immerse in another company’s game, we can’t stop them, especially when we find out after the fact.”
Felix pursed his lips. Scott’s division was not the only one losing employees to immersion, and ITL was not the only company who found itself at the mercy of gaming success.
“You’ll have to ramp up the AI,” Felix said, though not liking the solution.
“I’m already doing that,” Scott sighed. “I lost Jackson Clark from Designers section yesterday.”
“Where’d he go?” Felix asked, both disappointed and surprised.
“Harem Quest,” Scott replied, rolling his eyes.
Felix stifled a smile. “AI backup?”
“Well sure,” Scott answered, “but AI can only do so much. It doesn’t have the creativity that an out of the box thinker like Jackson does.”
While Scott was technically correct, Felix knew it was merely a matter of time before AI caught up and surpassed the Jacksons of ITL.
Turning back around to stare out the window, Felix quietly said, “Do your best.”
Scott pushed himself up, hesitating only a moment to see if Felix would acknowledge his departure. When none came, he turned and walked out, leaving Felix to watch the next foursome tee off.
Sensing he was alone, Felix looked back over his shoulder to make sure. He knew Scott was right. ITL was bleeding employees… as was every other business. It was even getting harder to find a good restaurant that had enough staff to stay open. Immersion was all the rage. Looking back across the river, he wondered how soon it would be before he was the only one left.
A thumping on the door woke them and Karl blinked as the morning’s sunlight filtered in through the windows. Propping up on his elbow, he turned to gaze down at the beautiful woman beside him. She looked up at him and he felt his passions again stirring. What was it about this woman that so consumed him? Not only was she beautiful, she was an amazing and voracious lover. In fact, her appetite and techniques caused him to wonder whether Manas had told him the truth that she had never been in love before.
“Unless they’re bringing breakfast, they need to leave us alone,” she said with an impish smile, pressing herself against him.
On the other side of the door came a muffled but urgent, “M’Lady,” followed by a louder knock.
“You better see what they want,” Karl urged.
Giving him a quick kiss, she scooted out of the bed and wrapped a silk robe around her, which did little to hide her voluptuous body.
Prying open the door enough to see who had interrupted their sleep, she listened as the messenger related that Cyril’s armies were attacking Durness and that many fleeing the battle were now at the outer gates of Westhaven.
“Notify General Manas. And have someone send up breakfast enough for three.”
“Yes, m’Lady.”
Locking the door, she turned and crossed the floor, losing the robe in the process. Once on the bed, she straddled Karl and leaned down to kiss him then whispered in his ear, “We have time for one more.” She kissed down his chest as she pulled the blanket off him.
They were both dressed when she finally answered
the door and allowed the servants to bring breakfast in. The once fresh hot bread had cooled and the steaming eggs were lukewarm. It mattered little to Karl, for his heart was filled with Gwen. And suddenly he understood why Dieter was so captivated by Elena. Yet, he was faced with a dilemma. Should he stay here with Gwen? By all likelihood, she would become queen. If he stayed, would that make him king? But he had to move on, cross that bridge… didn’t he? But what was wrong with staying here? It wasn’t like he had to cross the bridge.
He gave voice to his thoughts. Slicing a slender bit of cheese, he said, “What happens after the battle is won?”
Her emerald green eyes brightened as she gazed upon him. “You are the most amazing and incredible lover a woman could ever want. No wonder those two are so possessive of you. You are beyond handsome and gracious. You are the perfect man.”
Karl laughed. “Let’s not get carried away. Seriously. What happens after we win?”
“Who knows?” she evasively shrugged.
“Isn’t it possible that you would become queen?”
“Only if Coirthan is dead.”
“And if he is?”
“Then it’s possible, I suppose.” She daintily nibbled on a piece of bread.
Karl felt his concentration fade and all he could see was her. “My God, you are so beautiful.”
“I’m glad you think so,” she blushed.
A knock interrupted their reverie and the door to the suite burst open, Manas charging in. “M’Lady.” Grim faced, he dipped his head, his lips tightening at the intimacy of the Viking with his Lady. Propriety demanded he recognize the man and he nodded at Karl yet said nothing, instead choosing to address the more pressing matter.
“There is a steady stream of people fleeing Durness. They line up outside the gates, demanding sanctuary.”
“Let them in,” she replied as though the answer was obvious.
“M’Lady,” Manas sighed in frustration. “Any number of them could be someone sent here to harm you.”