by R. A. Mejia
I’m stunned that she’s thought about my life that far in advance. I certainly haven’t. But for all the appeal that life once had, I know that being normal will never be a part of my life again.
I try to assure my mom that I am safe. “Mom, I’m safer than just about anyone else on Earth since I can’t really die. And, more importantly, I’m happy doing this ‘dungeon stuff.’” I realize that I am too. I have friends like Jeff and Nancy, I’m doing well at college, I’ve learned to be a team player and a better person, I have a woman who loves me and whom I love too, and I’m taking care of my family.
My mom doesn’t argue. She just hands me a card from her apron and stands up to leave my room. “The detective gave it to me to call if you came home.” I take the card, and she leaves the room. I sigh and look down at the business card for Detective Falkner and decide it’s time to deal with this. I take my cell phone out of my pocket and call the number on the card.
“Hello, this Detective Pete Falkner. How may I help you?”
I pause, momentarily unsure if this is a good idea, but then firm my resolve and say, “This is Anthony Tinoco. You came by my mom’s house looking for me and left a card.”
“Yes, Anthony. We were looking for you earlier. However, since our conversation earlier today, the direction of our official investigation has changed. After speaking to your lawyers, my superiors want me to assure you that you have been cleared of all suspicions in the Samantha Stapleton case. We received the video of you in New York at the time of the break in at the Stapleton house. I’m also sure you’ll be happy to know that we found a man in her basement along with all the remaining stolen items and the dead bodies of several missing persons. He was a little incoherent, but he confessed to being the boss and ordering his minions to steal and kill for him and that ‘stupid woman with her little baby’ never knew a thing.”
“Does that mean that Samantha will be released?”
“I think she will be, considering how cooperative the man we found has been. Though, he’s spouting some nonsense about commanding an army of goblins and not being weak anymore. Personally, I think it’s obvious that the guy is trying to go for an insanity plea, but it’s enough to show that Samantha didn’t know that he was in her basement--especially since we have reports of the crime spree continuing after we arrested Samantha.”
I’m relieved that Samantha has been proven innocent, and I thank the detective for his hard work. I’m about to hang up, but before I do, Detective Falkner continues talking, “Mr. Tinoco, officially, you have been cleared of any suspicion.” His voice gets deeper, and he almost growls, “But unofficially, I know it’s all bullshit. I had people following you after you left the station, and there’s footage of you in that neighborhood shortly after, wearing some weird outfit. I don’t understand how you could have traveled to New York so quickly, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know that you were somehow involved in this whole mess. Just because I can’t prove anything now, it doesn’t mean that you’re off the hook in my book. I’ll be watching you, Anthony.”
I end the call and sit there in my room, happy that Samantha has been cleared yet wondering just how much I’ve complicated my life more by trying to help her out and what exactly Dolton will do next.
Epilogue
In an apartment, not far from Stapleton’s house, sits a man. He’s watching the local news channel on a stolen television. The apartment is sparsely furnished. He hasn’t been there long, and he doesn’t plan to stay there much longer. He’s had to keep moving from city to city, but he just couldn’t miss the resolution of the conflict he set into motion.
“And now onto our next story. In a bizarre twist, the police have released robbery suspect, Samantha Stapleton.”
The news cuts to footage of a young woman with orange-red hair leaving the police station. A professional-looking woman in a suit waits for Samantha outside with a toddler in her arms. The orange-red haired woman runs to the child, who raises her hands up and yells, “Mommy!” and the two embrace as the woman openly cries and hugs her child. The news cuts back to the newscasters. The female broadcaster on the left says, “In a statement to the press, the police had this to say about the release ——”
The shot cuts to a tall, distinguished police officer in dress uniform. He’s standing before a podium with a microphone.
“Recent evidence has shown that we had the correct location for the center of the crime spree in the city of Timore. However, we had the wrong person in custody. As our detective team was investigating a lead, they found a clearly disturbed individual hiding out in the basement of the Stapleton house along with direct evidence linking him to all crimes. Additionally, the new suspect has made a full confession. We apologize to Miss Stapleton for our error but had good reason at the time to suspect her.”
The television cuts back to the newscasters. The balding older male newscaster says, “Well, I for one am glad that the police have caught the real suspect and that this crime spree is over. Now, let’s go to Joe Cicada with our Wacky Weather report…”
The man presses the power button on the remote, turning off the TV. He sits in the rickety chair, in the dark, with his face masked for fear of being tracked by the Oversight Committee. But if you could peer under the mask, you’d be surprised that his expression is not one of anger. Instead, he is smirking. His plan may not have gone exactly as he’d hoped, but he succeeded in shifting the police’s attention to Anthony.
The man looks down to the duffel bag at his feet where the glow from multiple red orbs peek through the open zipper. Anthony may have beaten this dungeon, but how will he fare against the others? Will he be able to save everyone?
The man sneers with hate-filled determination as he plans how he’ll next hurt his enemy.
From the Author
Thanks for reading Project Alpha. I hope that you enjoyed it. I also have another LitRPG series, Adventures on Terra, which you may also enjoy.
If you liked the story, please do me a favor and leave a review. Even if it’s only a couple words, it helps a self-publishing author like myself tremendously. Plus, it helps other readers find the book.
If you want to read the next story in the series as it’s being written and get exclusive artwork, support me on Patreon.
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Some of the great Patreon Supporters even got put into the novel. You might recognize some of these names in some form. Thanks guys for your support on Patreon.
Andrew McDonald
Joseph
Jason Myers
Arknon
Mr Nyxt
If you liked this story you might like others in the LitRPG genre. For a list of recommended LitRPG books, you can visit https://litrpgpodcast.com/lit-rpg-novels/
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There is also a great community of LitRPG authors and readers on Facebook.
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Some quick recommendations for some great LitRPG novels from some great authors
Dakota Krout is the puniest author in LitRPG and has two amazing series, one from the perspective of a dungeon, The Divine Dungeon series. The other series is more MMO OP character with some great powers and some funny action adventures, The Completionist Chronicles.
Also check out Charles Dean, the Bearded One, he has several great series. One with a guy who gets transported to an MMO while still wearing his bathrobe, The Bathrobe Knight. Another with a poor IT guy being drawn into a game of the gods and sent to a RPG world where he has to fight against other chosen ones. The story gets a little dark and brutal as the series goes on but is also one of the best progressions of a character over the course of a series, War Aeternus. Lastly, his newest series tells the story of a gu
y who just wants to hangout in an MMO but is forced to become the villain of the game to save it, The Heroic Villain.
Not to be out done by the others, Dave Willmarth has great series. The Greystone Chronicles is a fantasy MMO adventure with town building, crafting, and lots of epic battles. Dark Elf Chronicles tells the story of a devastated plague earth and the survivors that spend their remaining time in a fantasy MMO searching for each other and having adventures. Shadow Sun series, is an interesting story that asks, “What would you do if you had RPG powers during the Apocalypse?” It’s a really gritty story that appeals to both lovers of apocalypse stories but also people that want a real world setting for their LitRPG story.