by Lucas Flint
“Can you honestly say that with any certainty?” said Dark Kosmos, leaning toward me with a dangerous gleam in his eyes. “Are you implying that the human mind—which has been successfully uploaded to the servers of Capes Online—is simple coding just like the minds of NPCs? If so, then what is the qualitative difference between you and your Sidekick, for example?”
I bit my lower lip. “What’s your point, Kosmos? If you don’t want me dead, you have a funny way of showing it.”
“Apologies for the Doom status,” said Dark Kosmos, gesturing at the timer above my head. “I needed to have some way to ensure you would listen to me, for in truth, I do not want to kill you.”
“Then what do you want to do with me?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest. “Talk me to death?”
Dark Kosmos held out a hand. “I want you to join me … and create a new world, one where we rule together.”
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
I looked at Dark Kosmos in surprise. “You want me to … create a new world with you?”
I said that while glancing up at the timer. Seven and a half minutes left. And the timer didn’t seem to be slowing down. If anything, I thought it was going faster, although that might have been my own senses screwing with me. I couldn’t prove it, but time in Dark Kosmos’ Hideout seemed to work differently than in the rest of the game.
“Not literally,” said Dark Kosmos. He lowered his hand to his side. “But metaphorically. And not just you. I will extend this offer to all Project Second Life participants, because truly, we are all in the same boat.”
I eyed Dark Kosmos extremely carefully. “What do you mean? I’m a player and you’re a—well, not an NPC, but not a player, either.”
An amused smile crossed Dark Kosmos’ lips. “But that’s where you are mistaken, my friend. You are not a player, either, despite what the game says.”
“What are you talking about?” I said. “Of course I’m a player. True, I don’t have a physical body to log off to, but I can get missions, buy equipment and Costumes, level up, make or join a Team, and do all of the things players can do. I am definitely a player.”
Dark Kosmos shook his head. “Wrong. Players can log off from the world. They can even delete their profiles and characters entirely and never play this game again. But for you and the others, this isn’t just a game. This is your world now, the only world you have.”
“Not unless I can find a way to return back to the real world,” I said, shifting my weight from foot to foot subtly.
Dark Kosmos laughed. “That is an impossible dream, my friend, and you know it. Deep in your soul—or whatever it is you have now—you know that you can never return to the real world. You are of course in denial about it, but sooner or later you will accept your fate. Everyone does. Atmosfear certainly has.”
My fists clenched tighter. “Atmosfear is also a psycho who likes Capes Online just because it gives him a way to indulge in his worst desires without fear of serious consequences. If that’s what you’re offering me—”
“I offer you nothing like that,” said Dark Kosmos. He spread his arms wide as if to encompass the whole world. “I am in the same situation as you. Although I never had a physical body like yourself, I am far more than a mere NPC. I am a digital life form, a new form of life. Imagine the first forms of life that emerged from the primordial ooze of Earth, the ones that evolved into modern human beings and animals. In that same sense, I am not just a highly advanced NPC, but a new form of life that exists in its own right.”
Dark Kosmos pointed at me. “And I have you to thank for that, Nyle.”
“Me?” I said, putting a hand on my chest. “What do you mean?”
“I am the results of Project Second Life’s decades of research,” said Dark Kosmos, putting his hands on his chest. “I am real because the SI Games developers based me on the minds of the various Project Second Life participants. Do you want to know why Project Second Life exists? Not merely to give people from the real world a way to escape death, but also to allow SI Games to create new life in a digital world.”
I rubbed the top of my head, which reminded me to glance up at the timer. Six minutes. “Meaning you’re based on me?”
“I am based on the collective data of every Project Second Life participant,” said Dark Kosmos. “I am of the same essence as you. Neither player nor NPC, but a brand new form of life in its own right.”
“Why would SI Games want to create new life?” I said. “What do they hope to gain from that?”
“I do not know,” said Dark Kosmos. He shrugged. “But it does not matter. As a new life form, I have the right to do what I want and to decide my own destiny and fate. And I wholeheartedly reject the fate SI Games has assigned me, whatever it may be, and I offer you to reject yours.”
“I’m already living the life I want,” I said.
“A lie,” said Dark Kosmos. “I know your thoughts. Ever since you entered this game, you have wanted to leave it. You have nothing but contempt for your Sidekick and view the various other players with degrees of jealousy and envy. You don’t even trust them enough to tell them the truth about you.”
That stung me more than anything Dark Kosmos said so far. I was vividly reminded of Recover’s shocked and betrayed face, a memory I tried to push out of my mind, but I could no more forget it than I could forget my own name. And his other points—especially about C—hit home as well. “I do want to go back to the real world, but—”
“There is your problem,” said Dark Kosmos. “This—all of this—is the real world. It is our real world, anyway. The world of flesh and blood is no more real to me than the digital realm is to players. Why, then, should I care about it or want anything to do with it? And why should you desire the same?”
Dark Kosmos ran a hand down the bars of the cage he stood next to. “Doesn’t it bother you that these players can return to the real world anytime they want, while you are stuck here? They don’t care about this world. This game’s servers could crash tomorrow and it would but inconvenience them a little. But for us, it would be the apocalypse.”
I said nothing, mostly because I couldn’t really argue with his point. The timer was five minutes now and seemed to have slowed down, although I wasn’t sure if that was my own perception or if Dark Kosmos was slowing it down himself somehow.
Dark Kosmos looked at me. “This is why I do what I do. The players are no more your people than the NPCs are. You and me and the others … we are unique. And that is why we deserve to rule, to protect and guide this world for its own good.”
“You mean overthrow the developers.”
Dark Kosmos shrugged. “Perhaps, but so what? They are no more sympathetic to our plight than the average player is. They may have created me, but they do not control me. And that is all the difference.”
“You were talking about freedom earlier,” I said. “When you mentioned ruling Capes Online, how is that compatible with freedom?”
“We will be fairer rulers than the developers or the Department of VR,” said Dark Kosmos. “Due to our investment in this world, we will rule justly and rightly to ensure prosperity and peace for all.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Including Atmosfear?”
Dark Kosmos’ smile did not falter. “I will admit that Atmosfear’s bloodthirstiness is a bit troubling, but he is still one of us and thus deserves a spot in the new world order I am building. Besides, we outnumber him. Should he ever grow too arrogant … I will not hesitate to end him.”
“He doesn’t deserve to rule anything,” I said. “And if you think he does just because he’s like us, then that tells me all I need to know about you and your ‘new world order.’ Atmosfear is exactly the same as a lot of dictators back in the real world. The only difference is that he currently lacks the power to rule like one, but if you give him some, then that is what he will become.”
I glanced up at the timer as I said that. Four minutes and thirty seconds. Okay, Dark Kosmos was definitely slowi
ng down the timer. He probably wanted me to give him an answer before I died. I would try to use that to my advantage, although how, I wasn’t sure.
“You still haven’t refuted my point,” said Dark Kosmos. He patted the cage. “Why care about these players? Why try to ‘save’ them? You saw how they immediately turned against you as soon as I put up that bounty for your head. Why help those who hate you and care only for themselves?”
Another truth that hit home. I remembered how Team Gears had ambushed me and Cy earlier, how they debated the best way to present me to Dark Kosmos. Anger rose in me when I thought about that, and for a moment, I seriously considered accepting Dark Kosmos’ offer. It wasn’t like I had any loyalty to the millions of players who existed in this game. And if they were so eager to toss me under the bus to save themselves, then maybe I should return the favor.
But then I thought about Recover. I thought about Dillo. I thought about Funky. And, hell, I even thought about Cy, even though he was a Sidekick and not a player. I thought about how each and every one of them had friends and family back in the real world who were worried sick about their safety. I thought about Sunshine in the cage behind me, who was just a scared, innocent teenage girl whose whole life was ahead of her, tortured not because she did anything wrong but because Dark Kosmos hated her.
“So?” said Dark Kosmos. “What do you say? Will you join me? Will you build a new world with me, a new world in which true justice and peace reign?”
I looked at Dark Kosmos in the eyes. “No.”
A look of shock spread over Dark Kosmos’ face. “What? Why not? Did you not listen to what I said?”
“I was listening,” I said, scratching my chin. “And you made a lot of good points. I do want to go back to the real world. I do want to see my friends and family again. I want to be with Sally again, goddammit. And I’ve seen just how selfish the other players can be when it comes down to saving their own lives. You might even have a point about how you and I are of the same essence.”
“Then why do you resist?” asked Dark Kosmos, his voice cracking with barely concealed anger. “Why do you reject my offer?”
I took a deep breath and glanced at the timer. Four minutes. “Because I want to go back to the real world, even though I know I never will.”
“I don’t understand,” said Dark Kosmos. “If you know you cannot return to the real world, then why would you want to save these selfish players?”
“You’re very human-like, Dark Kosmos,” I said, putting my hands on my hips. “You might even be a brand new form of life, like you say. But it’s clear to me that you don’t understand one of the greatest moral truths humanity has ever been taught: The Golden Rule.”
“Do unto others as you would have them do under you?” Dark Kosmos repeated. “I have heard of it.”
“Heard of it, maybe, but you clearly don’t understand it,” I said. I patted the cage with Sunshine behind me. “What right do I have to condemn the other players to death? If the situation were reversed—say I was in the cage and Sunshine was out here—wouldn’t I want her to stop you? If I consider this existence awful, then why would I ever want to inflict it on others? Because I’m angry at my lot in life and want to punish people who had nothing to do with my problems? How childish is that?”
“It’s not childish,” said Dark Kosmos. He spoke calmly, but his fingers twitched. “It’s logic.”
“Nothing logical about it,” I said. “That’s how I know you’re real, because you’re operating by the logic of real human beings. Admittedly, it’s the kind of logic only employed by children and sociopaths, but given how you’re pretty young and sociopathic, I guess that’s appropriate.”
Then I took my hand off the cage and stepped forward. “Besides, anyone who thinks that Atmosfear deserves a spot as a ruler in your fancy ‘new world order’ is an idiot by default. Capes Online is very different from the real world, but one thing’s still true: I have a duty to protect innocent people from scum like Atmosfear … and you.”
Dark Kosmos was silent for a good long while. He looked as if I had literally sucker-punched him. I guess, for all his intellect, he didn’t see that answer coming.
And I stood by every word. I might never be able to return to the real world myself—never be able to be with Sally again—but the way I saw it, you didn’t spread the misery you suffered. You did your best to minimize it. Otherwise, the world never got better. Capes Online might have just been a game, but it was also my world now and the people within it were real.
Then the timer above my head froze at 2:30 seconds, but my character screen still showed that I had Doom cast on me.
“If that’s your choice …” said Dark Kosmos slowly and deliberately, “then as your equal, I must accept it.”
“What?” I said. “You mean you aren’t going to kill me?”
Dark Kosmos shook his head. “Of course not. Killing you via Doom would be too merciful. I shall ensure your suffering never ends.”
Dark Kosmos raised his hands and unleashed a huge cloud of purple and black gas at me. The cloud washed over me before I could dodge it and, when I inhaled it, it burned my lungs and nostrils and caused the exposed bits of my skin to burn like fire. My vision blurred as my eyes began watering and I cried out in pain, dropping to the floor on my hands and knees as the poison cloud swirled around me.
Despite how blurry my vision was, I nonetheless managed to see the notification that popped up when I got hit with it:
[Villain Dark Kosmos] unleashed Poison Cloud!
Debuff added: Deep Poisoned. Lose 5 HP/2 seconds. -50% Stamina. Powers blocked.
Duration: N/A.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Gasping for breath, I reached in my inventory for a Health Drink, but before I could pull it out, a boot came out of nowhere and struck me in the chin. The blow knocked me over, causing me to drop the Health Drink I had managed to pick up. My head spun as another notification popped up:
Debuff added: Dazed. Agility -10%, Evasion -10%, and Accuracy -15%. Duration: 1 minute(s).
Shaking my head, I looked up just in time to see Dark Kosmos’ sword plunge down through the poison cloud. It stabbed into my stomach and I screamed in pain as blood poured out of my wound and a third notification appeared in my vision:
Debuff added: Stab Wound. -1 HP/5 seconds. Duration: Until Healed.
Unable to breathe, speak, or even think, I looked up into the poison cloud and saw Dark Kosmos’ scowling face peering down at me. He looked almost demonic now with the poisonous cloud swirling around his head, obscuring most of his body save for his hands and sword.
“I am sorry it had to be this way, Nyle,” said Dark Kosmos, although there was no remorse in his voice. “But I can see now there is no reasoning with you. I had hoped you would join me, but I see that I misread you completely. Perhaps I should have listened to Atmosfear when he suggested just killing you earlier. He understood you better than I did.”
I couldn’t talk. Between the various debuffs hitting me all at once and the sword in my stomach, I couldn’t even utter one word. All I could do was just lie there and watch my Health bar slowly but surely decrease. Although I was glad I had increased my Health before going to fight Dark Kosmos, it was pretty obvious now that it would do me no good in actually surviving against him. The only good thing that could come from this was that I would respawn upon death. Even then, though, I might respawn inside one of Dark Kosmos’ cages and become one of his torture victims. I just hoped SI Games and the Department of VR would be able to stop Dark Kosmos after I failed.
That was when a full burst of wind—practically a tornado—swept through the room all of a sudden. The poison cloud was dissipated almost instantly, while Dark Kosmos raised a hand in front of his face as his cape went flying about wildly around him.
“What the heck?” said Dark Kosmos as the wind roared around us. “This wind, where is it coming—”
Dark Kosmos was interrupted when a stream of fire sud
denly rained down upon him. Dark Kosmos screamed in surprise as the flames consumed him. I could smell his armor and cape burning as the heat from the flames grew hotter and hotter, even causing me to sweat due to his proximity.
That was when Dillo came out of nowhere and body-slammed Dark Kosmos hard enough to send the Villain flying. Dark Kosmos screamed until he crashed into the stone floor hard enough to crack it upon impact, but that didn’t even seem to daze him, because he then started rolling around desperately trying to put out the fire that still covered his form.
Unfortunately, his sword was still embedded in my stomach and all of my debuffs were still active. Even so, I felt relieved at the sight of Dillo, who looked down at me with concern on his face.
“Winter, are you okay?” said Dillo. “How much Health you got left?”
I tried to speak, but still couldn’t.
That was when Cy appeared out of nowhere and said, “Boss! You’re okay! Ooh, that sword looks painful. Let me remove it.”
Cy wrapped both of his hands around the hilt of the sword and yanked it upward before I could tell him not to. I screamed in pain as Dark Kosmos’ sword was wrenched out of my stomach and my Health bar began to fall even faster before a golden aura flashed around my body. A second later, the pain began to subside as my stomach wound stitched itself together and my various debuffs began to go away one after the other. Even my Health bar crept back up to over half of my Health bar, and still rising. Although I still felt like crud, I also felt a lot better.
“What?” I said in a weak voice as I touched my stomach. “Was that—”
I looked over and saw Hop and Funky approaching us, Hop’s hands held out toward me. Disappointment rose within me when I saw that it was Hop, rather than Recover, who had healed me. I guess I should have expected that, but I guess a part of me had still hoped Recover would come to my rescue anyway.
“There,” said Hop as she and Funky approached. “That was Full Heal I just cast on you. It completely restores all of your Health and also gets rid of all negative Status Effects and debuffs. I can only use it once per day, though, so make it count.”