Beyond the Boss

by Drew Seren

  “The thing about having something like the AI in charge of an environment like this game is that it makes the perfect scapegoat for everything that goes wrong,” Theodore said. “But things like equipment not working right, not getting loot or XP, those things are definitely things we can blame on the AI.”

  Tufkakes laughed. “Yeah sometimes it’s nice to actually be able to blame God and have it be the real cause and not our own stupidity.”

  Horc sighed as they got close enough to be able to make out the green text over the woman standing at the boat. Miranda, Human, Barbarian, Level 50.

  “It’s Miranda,” he forced out.

  Baladara stared at Horc. “The pod tech? That Miranda?”

  Horc shrugged. “Not sure, but probably. She’s got text over her head this time. That’s not something she’s had before.”

  “Yeah, that Miranda,” Bigdaddybear said. “Just got a text from Rick. Since it’s all in caps, I’m going to presume he’s pissed about it, but he said Bordeaux, the head of Pod support, is with our boat.”

  Horc’s heart sank. He wasn’t in the mood to have one of the techs, particularly Miranda, in the game helping them. She wasn’t his favorite person in the world, and he was fairly sure she was just going to screw things up.

  Miranda waved to them as they rode closer. “Hey guys, I brought you a boat.”

  Horc reined in his lizard, kicking up a few pebbles as it came to a stop. “Thanks. Why the difference in your appearance this time?” He cut right to the chase. From dealing with her before, he wasn’t in the mood to beat around the bush.

  She gestured down her body. “Like it? The AI has found a way to block the techs from getting in as techs, and basically having the same power level as it has, so my only option was to come in as a player. After losing your Gnome, I figured you could use another hand.”

  Titanya walked up to Miranda and put her hands on her hips. “Do you know how to use that toon to the best of its ability? She looks rather flashy to me.”

  “A bit.” Miranda shrugged. “I made a few mods to the toon to help me stay alive. Extra magic items and that such. Oh, I also brought some more healing potions. They’ve been modified too. No cool downs, so you can use as many as you have to so you can stay alive.” She lifted a bag from the long boat.

  “That’s helpful,” Baladara took the bag and pulled out potions and started shoving them in her bag. “Anything to help with the real world mental damage this game is causing?”

  Miranda screwed up her face. “What do you mean?” She stared at Baladara. “Wait, you’re using gloves and goggles, you shouldn’t be at risk of any real world consequences.”

  Baladara huffed. “Tell that to Mike. When the spell feedback hit him, it left him a mess. I had to put him to bed and take over to help keep Horc safe.” She handed the bag to Tufkakes. “This AI is getting more dangerous. Sister, this isn’t just a game anymore, and you better hope you can contribute to this team’s success and not be a hindrance. Horc’s already hurting from losing one party member, I don’t want to see him hurting ‘cause he tried and failed to keep your incompetence safe.”

  Horc thought about getting between them for a split second, then decided to let Baladara have her say. She obviously had things she wanted to get off her chest, and Miranda was a good target for her.

  Miranda let out a long breath. “There’s apparently a lot we’re still learning about this AI. It’s a good thing we haven’t opened the game to the public yet.”

  Baladara’s face flashed red. “Still learning?” She lunged toward Miranda.

  Tufkakes thrust the bag of potions to Jamica and grabbed Baladara. “Girl, it ain’t worth it. We can use the extra muscle right now. Wait till we get out of here and hit her IRL…it’ll be more satisfying.”

  “Okay.” Baladara relaxed and turned away from Miranda. “Thanks TK. But I don’t think she could bring assault charges for something that happens in game.”

  “Maybe not, but right now we need her and her boat.” Tufkakes took Baladara by the arm and led her toward the back of the boat.

  Horc looked at Miranda who looked more than a little confused by Baladar’s outburst. “Okay. Now that that’s over, do you know how to drive this thing, and where we’re going?”

  Miranda pointed over the edge of the boat. There were rows of seats, each with a small clockwork Viking in it. “These guys power it. According to Remington, they’re steam powered and magical, so they shouldn’t be able to be taken over by the AI like NPC rowers would.”

  Horc peered closer at them, and each one was like a toy Viking, complete with horned helmet, beards, and axes. They reminded him of toys he’d seen in a store during some movie release, but they were shinier.

  “Oh, my,” Stanoran said. “They’re so cute. Too bad we can’t each take one home after this is done. They’d be great replacements for Elf on a Shelf.”

  Rambull frowned. “You really don’t get out much, do you Stanoran? Elf on a Shelf is so ten years ago.”

  Horc sighed, ready for things to get wrapped up. “Okay, then, I guess we need to get someone to push us into the ocean, turn these little guys on, and get moving.”

  Baladara climbed over the side of the boat. “That’s tank work.” She walked to a row of seats in the back and sat down with her arms crossed. She might’ve relaxed on some level, but it was obvious she was still pissed at Miranda.

  “Stanoran and I can get that,” Titanya said.

  “Or Stanoran and I can get it,” Rambull countered.

  Titanya frowned at the big Minotauren. “Let’s not get sexist here.”

  Rambull spread his hands and shook his head. “Not sexist, just Stanoran and I are the largest.”

  Stanoran hopped over the edge of the boat and went to sit near Baladara. “You realize we’ve got two Ursans who are fairly large too.”

  Horc shook his head. “Titanya, do you mind helping me push the boat out. Everyone else get in.” He glanced at Wolf. “You too. I’ll be there in a second.”

  Titanya grinned as she walked to the front of the boat. “Let’s do this.”

  Once everyone was in the longboat, Horc put his hands on the side of it near the masthead and started pushing. The pebbles covering the beach shifted under his feet, and he slipped the first couple of steps. Then he found his footing, and with Titanya on the other side of the masthead, pushed the boat out into the water until it was floating easily.

  “Here.” Bigdaddybear reached down for Horc’s hand.

  Horc took it and Bigdaddybear easily lifted him into the boat. On the other side, Theodore was hauling Titanya in.

  A bit of movement on shore drew Horc’s attention to the lizard mounts there. He wondered if they should’ve unsaddled them instead of just letting them go. He figured if the AI wasn’t acting up, the mounts would’ve magically gone into their bags or something so they could be reused again. In his rational brain, he knew they were just digital creations of the game, but the red lizard had felt so alive during all his interactions with it, even when it had freaked out when the Dragons attacked.

  “The game will reabsorb them soon,” Bigdaddybear said, as if he was understanding Horc’s long look at the shore. “It would be nice to keep them. It was better than walking everywhere, and the lizards fit this body better than a horse would’ve.”

  Rambull laughed. “Exactly. I can’t see me or either of you Ursans on horses. That would look ridiculous, and probably be awkward as well. Since Halfworld is more complex than other games, we have to think about things like size ratios and all.”

  “Not something I would’ve thought of,” Miranda said, walking up the aisle of mini metal Vikings who were moving the oars along to propel them across the ocean.

  “Your specialty is the pods we game in,” Horc said. “The actual game dynamics are handled by other departments. One of the things that make these games work so well is everyone working together to make things happen. Without a team, none of this would be possible.”


  He paused. Would he have been able to even contemplate taking on the AI without the team that had formed around him? A few days earlier, he was fighting to stay alive in the game, but after his life was no longer at stake, other people’s were. Somehow that made things so much more of a reality for him.

  “I hope we don’t have to deal with pirates again,” Bigdaddybear said. “I don’t think a longboat would be good for fighting off pirates.”

  “Pirates.” Tufkakes frowned, making her mask-like markings droop and look like running paint. “Yeah, I don’t want to deal with those guys again.”

  Horc nodded. “It would be nice if things went smoothly, at least for a little while.”

  “Second that.” Jamica leaned against the railing of the boat, then she glanced at Miranda. “I guess you didn’t think to bring heavy cloaks for everyone.”

  Miranda glanced at her own heavy furs, then frowned. “I can’t really think of everything.”

  “I guess you can’t.” Horc turned and looked back where Baladara, Stanoran, Theodore and Rambull sat on the bench behind the mini rowers. Baladara still looked pissed, and he wondered how long, Lisa would hold a grudge against Miranda. He just hoped it wasn’t going to cause a problem on their quest. He needed his team working together. Then he realized Miranda wasn’t part of the guild or party. He quickly sent her a guild invite and added her to the party. They were going to need that to give them all an extra edge by having her as part of the guild.

  Baladara’s frown deepened and Horc knew she’d seen Miranda appear on her screen as part of the party. Yeah, this was going to be a lot of fun.

  12

  The arrow on Horc’s map still pointed north, but the edge of the island they approached was a sheer cliff rising several hundred feet. The waves slashed against the rocks, sending spray up.

  Titanya stood next to Horc in the front of the ship, looking at the cliff. “Well, this doesn’t look good.”

  Horc shook his head, then ran his hand through his hair. “You’re right. I guess it was too much to hope that we could just land the boat on a nice beach, get off and then go storm the AI’s lair.”

  “Yeah, I think you’re asking for a lot with that.” Titanya grinned. “Let’s check the game map and see if it will tell us where to put ashore.”

  “Probably won’t do us much good,” Bigdaddybear said from next to them. “None of us have been here yet. The map hasn’t filled in for any of us.”

  Miranda cleared her throat. “In an attempt to be helpful, I had one of Punjabi’s people make sure I had full access to the maps. Mine’s as complete as it can be.” She closed her eyes for a moment.

  Horc had noticed that Miranda closed her eyes when accessing things in her game menu, like having the overlay of the menu with her vision of what was going on in the game was hard for her to process. It was a sign she wasn’t as hardcore a gamer as a lot of people he knew. He was thankful he hadn’t had to do that when he started. It was such a newb move.

  After a couple of seconds, Miranda blinked. “Okay. If I read things right, we need to go left…ah west…along the shore. There’s a beach about a quarter of the way around the continent where we can land. If we go right, the first accessible landing is a bit farther away.”

  Horc frowned. “Continent? I thought this was an island.”

  Miranda shrugged and walked up to the little metal Viking that seemed to control the boat. “It’s not a large continent; I guess you could call it a huge island. What do you consider Ausrtaila? An island or a continent?”

  With a huff, Horc sagged his shoulders. The time to get to the AI dragon’s lair was growing longer, not shorter. The more time it took to get there, the more the AI was going to know and the harder it was going to be to defeat.

  “Anything else we should know?” Bigdaddybear asked as the rowers turned the boat and headed along the cliffs to the west. The sun was low, basically sitting on the water ahead of them.

  “Know?” Miranda shrugged. “Not sure what else there is to know. That’s the closest place for us to put in.”

  Horc walked over to the bench in the front of the boat, sat there and crossed his arms. He hoped he might get a little sleep while night fell and they made their way to the landing spot. Wolf curled up under his feet, again providing a level of comfort to him as the boat moved easily through the waves.

  “It’s been following us for a while,” Tufkakes said, pointing to a wake moving between the ship and the cliffs. In the early morning light, it was fairly obvious.

  Horc frowned. “No sign as to what it is?” He couldn’t see anything besides the water disturbed by the passage of something underneath it.

  Tufkakes shook his head. “It was there when I got up to stretch at first light. I’ve been watching it, and so far it hasn’t done anything but parallel our course.”

  “If we were on land, I’d go check it out,” Bigdaddybear said leaning against the rail next to Horc. “But out in the ocean, I’ve got no spells or anything to help out. Ursans might be more attuned to water than Sand Elves, but I think we’d need a Selkie or some kind of aquatic troll to really be much good here.”

  “We can play Selkies?” Horc kept realizing there was a lot about Halfworld he didn’t know, and wished he’d done more than just randomly roll up his toon. But even with that thought, he didn’t want to make major changes to himself. He liked being a Half Orc Ranger. He reached down and rubbed Wolf’s head where his companion sat at his feet.

  “Yeah.” Tufkakes nodded. “I think I heard rumors of lots more races before the game goes live to the public.”

  “They’re drawing things from all sort of fantasy worlds, legends, and more,” Bigdaddybear said. “I think they’ve got lots planned for the next few expansions too. They want to do a lot more to keep players interested. The more people play, the more money the company makes.”

  A long reptilian neck rose out of the water followed by a huge hump.

  “Why does it look like the Loch Ness Monster?” Titanya asked. “Everyone knows Nessie doesn’t exist.”

  “We don’t know that for sure,” Tufkakes countered.

  “IRL doesn’t count.” Horc’s heart pounded as the sea serpent turned and headed toward the longboat. “Miranda, how close are we to the beach?” He wanted options, and fighting a huge sea monster from a small Viking longboat didn’t sound like a very good option.

  “Not far. We could swim if we had to,” Miranda replied.

  “We don’t want to do that,” Horc said. If there was one thing he really didn’t want to do was swim in waters infested with sea monsters.

  “We might want to start defending the ship then,” Baladara said as she began casting her spell, making her hands glow bright red.

  Horc targeted the monster. Its text was red. Seamonsaur Level 50.

  The first arrow to hit it was a Fire impact arrow. The damage it did appeared negligible. The others’ attacks followed close on his, then the Seamonsaur broadsided their boat.

  Horc managed to hold onto his bow, and only the magic of his quiver kept him from losing arrows as he tumbled backward, hitting his back on the boat’s deck and nearly being thrown overboard on the far railing; that wasn’t as far as it sounded. His health bar flashed as a little bit of damage registered from his fall.

  “Hang on!” Titanya shouted as she raised her massive sword and leaped at the Seamonsaur. Her second blow did almost no damage to the aquatic beast, but she kept swinging. Baladara’s magical attacks didn’t seem like they had much impact either, but like the sandstorm, they were working at whittling it down, bit by bit.

  “Help!” Stanoran voice came from somewhere behind Horc.

  Horc glanced around. The Priest had fallen overboard and was frantically paddling to keep his head above water. The water beyond the boat was fairly calm, but near the boat, the actions of the Seamonsaur were making for rough seas.

  Glancing around, Horc spotted several ropes curled around long wooden pins at the ed
ge of the deck. He shouldered his bow as he ran to the nearest rope. The sea serpent hit the boat again, sending Horc sliding into the railing. He grabbed hold and managed not to join Stanoran in the surf. The rope was wet from the ocean spray. Horc fumbled as the Seamonsaur roared and again thrashed against the boat.

  Glancing over the railing, there no sign of the Priest in the waves. “Stanoran!” Horc frantically uncoiled the rope.

  Tufkakes appeared at his side. “I’m not much help against that thing.”

  “Stanoran went overboard.” Horc wrapped the end of the rope around his waist. “I’m going after him.”

  “Let me.” Tufkakes put his hand on Horc’s. “I bet Procyans are better swimmers than Half Orcs.”

  Horc didn’t like the idea of someone else putting themselves in the line of danger he could handle, but it made sense. He had no idea how well he could swim. Horc unwound the end of the rope and handed it to Tufkakes. “Be careful.”

  “Always.” Tufkakes dove off the railing and into the water as Horc tied the other end of the rope to the heavy pin it had been wrapped around.

  Horc wanted to keep an eye on things and make sure both Tufkakes and Stanoran got out of the water okay, but the others might need his help too. He pulled his bow back out and focused on the Seamonsaur. It was only down a little under three quarters of its health.

  With a tight focus, Horc managed to get a Fire arrow into the thing’s eye. Titanya hung onto her massive sword that was embedded into the monster’s shoulder as she fought to get it out. Baladara sent several Fireballs as Horc fired more arrows. Wolf was dangling from under the sea serpent’s jaw, where he’d latched on and was raking his claws into its throat, leaving deepening bloody scratches with each second. Miranda had some kind of beam shooting out of a javelin.

  The rope next to Horc jerked tight. Horc turned to stare at where the hemp strand disappeared into the water. There was no sign of either Tufkakes or Stanoran. He jerked on the rope.

  Pull us up. Tufkakes. Appeared in group text.

  Again shouldering his bow, Horc bent to the task, pulling hand over hand, hauling his teammates up through the monster-roughed sea. He wasn’t going to lose either one of them like he’d lost Scarletcrest.