by Dawn Chapman
I tried to think about what I’d been doing, and as I focused on his face, I could see the tears brimming. “You don’t have to do this,” he said. “They will survive.”
In the far distance, I could feel something pulling me away, but it wasn’t what I wanted. I tried to smile at him, and I focussed inside. Stopping the exchange of energy.
The world around me blacked out. There was nothing. No sounds, no voices.
HEALTH – 25%
Then there was.
I saw light peeking around me, and I felt Riezella beside me. “Maddie, we’re here for you. Do not fret.”
The voices dimmed, moved, visions of many things around me. Then everything vanished, and there was nothing but darkness. Real darkness.
Chapter 3
The world around me shifted, lights exploded, here, there, everywhere. I glanced around at the horrors that beseeched my vision. I couldn’t look. Death lay all around me, from the people I’d called as friends to those who I’d hated.
Up ahead was a shadow, a man. I knew him, but I had never met him. Not here.
HEALTH – 20%
Voices drifted to me on the winds. And I heard nothing but empty promises.
SYSTEM FAILURE
CODE CORRUPTED
FULL SYSTEM SHUT DOWN
DEATH IMMINENT
That was aimed at me.
“No,” was all I managed to stutter out. “I will not leave them. I’ve made promises.”
With a flash of bright white lights, I imagined a computer before me, like nothing I’d seen on this planet before. It’s complex letters and algorithm sects, I had no clue to their talks, but I understood their content.
HEALTH – 12%
I reached out. My hands felt as if they didn’t belong to me, heavier, and I had seven fingers. I almost blinked at them, but placing them to the computer’s key system, they fit perfectly. It was made for me. There I began to type. Code after code line. Faster and Faster
SYSTEM FAILURE – PAUSED
The voices and messages popping up and into my head were strange, but I managed to understand the next sentence.
CORRUPTION RE-WRITTEN
SYSTEM SHUT DOWN POSTPONED
REBOOT INEVITABLE
Then something else happened.
Hello, Maddie.
This came as a complete surprise. I replied with but a thought.
Hello.
It is good to finally talk to you.
Who are you?
I am the governing entity behind the digital world you know as Puatera Online.
Artificial Intelligence?
No, I am real Intelligence, just as you are.
I paused for a little while not knowing what I should say or ask. Or if I should actually do anything. But my inner mind had so many things I needed answers to, so I asked,
You’re like me, aren’t you?
I am.
What are we?
We are survivors of a species called the Zofilex.
The last?
Of that, I do not know. I chose to integrate with this world directly, to govern and manage everything in her systems. You didn’t want to join me. You said life was too short. That it was meant to be lived, not to live forever.
There was something returning. Memories, destruction, death. Then there was running. Hiding, trying to exist without a world and without others. Then I found him, Tibex.
Tibex?
You remember? That’s a good thing. Because I need your help.
How can I help you? You’re the one governing all of this, this world. What can I do?
You must return to them. Do not give up. You are much needed.
I didn’t feel needed, although I did feel that they liked me and maybe wanted me around.
All right, I’ll word it differently. Alex needs you. You cannot leave him.
That was all it took. My heart beat faster, and I found myself swallowing as hard as I could to stem and not push myself away from this vision. I had so much to think about.
No, we will talk again. I need you to remember everything first, and you don’t. Return to Dresel and the Savage Angels. War is coming. A war you must win.
That was it. That was all I got. My fingers moved quicker over the keys than I thought possible, but the keys themselves started to fade away. Instead of the place I’d seen, there was something else, bandages. My hands were wrapped in bandages?
I looked around. I was in a small bed in the back of one of the horse wagons. It seemed dark out, and yet, in here, everything was bright, too bright.
I choked out, “What the hell happened?”
And that was when I saw Chip before me, his dopey curly hair bouncing as he shot up and shouted. “Candy! She’s awake.”
Candice’s face came into view as Chip helped me sit up. The pain bearable, but every part of me stung.
“What happened?” I managed to ask once more. My hands tingling, now feeling numb.
HEALTH – 10%
Candice sat before me, taking my hands in hers. “We’d just gone off to finish the last of the egg binding when you started screaming. The small fire we had going was just enough for you to stick your hands in. Steve pulled you out, but they were already badly damaged. Between that and your health has declined a lot, we had to finish the eggs quickly and get you out and to a healer asap.”
“Why would I put my hands in the fire?” It made no sense at all.
She seemed to consider my thoughts and waited while I tried to remember.
Nothing came to me.
“Steve seemed to think you were trying to write something,” Candice prompted, “maybe some kind of code.”
But that was a recent thought, not while I’d been asleep. Or had Steve triggered something showing my code line to me? I tried to slap my head with the bandaged hands, but it hurt all the more.
Steve popped into view from the back of the wagon. He said, glancing at the other two, “Would you mind giving us a few moments?”
Candice clearly wanted to be in on this conversation, but she nodded and moved to walk away, Chip in tow.
I looked up at Steve wondering what was going on inside his extremely clever mind.
Steve sat on the end of my bed. “Feeling any better?” He started to take off the bandages from my hands. I tried not to let the pain show, but they hurt like hell.
Steve was the one who winced for me. “They’ve not healed at all?”
I glanced to my health bar, it was so low it wasn’t registering anything. A tiny, tiny mark.
HEALTH – 5%
Steve frowned and picked up an ointment. “There’s something really wrong with your programming.”
I let out a gasp as he covered my hands with the ointment. It stung, but it did ease the pain. His forehead crinkled in a soft way I now found cute.
I pulled my hands back from him, taking the pain like a trooper though I didn’t want to. “It’s not the programming,” I said. “It’s just me.”
I motioned to Steve. “I’ve a couple of things to tell you.” Steve edged forwards. “Where’s my ring?”
Steve handed it to me, and never having felt pain like it, I slid the ring over my seared and burned flesh. I twisted it.
The faint pink glow shone around the room, and I felt the twinge of something happening.
HEALTH BOOST – 26%
The ring’s pink glow turned blood red, and my hands started to heal. The redraw skin lightened and then grew new skin over it.
He watched. “Wow, that’s amazing.”
I knew what I’d done, not only using the power of the ring, but calling on the powers from the Tromoal themselves, and not the youngsters.
“I’m not just an NPC,” I said. “I’m something very different than anything you’d imagine.” What they wouldn’t or couldn’t know just yet was what I was trying to let settle into my brain. I couldn’t compute it. If I wasn’t programming, and I wasn’t human, then alien?
Or maybe I was the
one thing I’d always thought I hated. Visitor. Could I be a player? Alien or not? I laughed as he watched as my skin healed more. His face turned upwards, and he finally met my eyes with his. “What are you, Maddie?”
I didn’t know what to tell him or how to even explain things to myself anymore, so I just shrugged.
Steve handed me a mug. When I sniffed it, I realised it was full of a warm healing potion. I sipped it, enjoying the sweet, fruity taste.
HEALTH – 40%
It was good to see my health bar going back up. I felt much better now.
I heard Candice outside the door talking with some of the others, and then she knocked, stepping in. Her long blonde hair fell around her face, and she beamed at me. One very beautiful woman. I wondered how many Visitors had the same physique in here as they did at home.
“Good to see you’re feeling better,” she said and moved to my side. Her face fell, though, as she looked at Steve. “I’m afraid we have to leave for a while, though.”
I almost took a double take. “You’re leaving? Why?”
Steve locked eyes with her. “Me too?”
“No, I can get someone in to take your place for a while. You’re needed here. There have been some complications back at the Mayor’s farm. A quest came in for us to eradicate those zombie cattle and others that might be infected, and we thought it best to take it, deal with them, and come back to you.”
I would try to understand her reasons. They were players. They neither wanted to or needed to babysit the Tromoal. As much as I liked having her around, I knew she also needed to go.
“It’s okay, I said. I understand you should go. Get them sorted, make the world a little safer.”
She reached forwards and placed a hand on mine. “We’re not giving up on your fight, Maddie. We just realise the opposing team isn’t going to come rushing in at you. The kind of war they’re planning will take a little time.
“And you wish to gain more skills to help us?” Steve asked her. I hoped they were planning to come back.
Candice grinned. “Yes. The skills and rewards will not only help us with Maddie’s coming war but also with continuing to play the game after.”
I tried to sit up as I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. Steve helped me to stand. “You all right?”
I wobbled some more then finally found my strength returning, thinking I might not fall over.
“Please, let me get some fresh air. I’ll not flake, promise.”
Candice led me out of the bay to the lift and then back outside and into the heat I was missing. No matter how much I hated the deserts, they gave me one thing—comfort and warmth.
The town was bustling. People ran here and there, getting things loaded onto carts and more.
“The town has really taken to the orders you gave them. I think the camp and the people stationed there will be fine.”
I agreed. “You’re taking Josh with you to the Mayor’s?”
Candice nodded. “Never thought about having an NPC on our team before, but that guy can really fight.”
“I hadn’t known that about him, but I’m glad you trust one of us.”
Candice’s face flushed. “Oh, I’m sorry. I forget, but he really is someone not to mess with. He’s also really warmed up to Chip. I think they’re going to be really good friends.”
I chuckled, unsure if she knew which way Josh liked his mates, but seeing Mandy and Rose together was enlightening. Candice never batted an eye, but I think she would have if Josh managed to get Chip away from his obsession with her.
On that note, I actually saw Josh heading our way. He had a huge grin on his face. “Good to see you up and about, Maddie. I couldn’t believe you’d done that to yourself.”
I frowned, still not remembering the actual injuries. But I knew the pain. Rubbing my hip, I quickly checked my health. I was okay, still. It was on the up, not heading back down. This was great news for me. The poison in my system really didn’t like me using the ring.
HEALTH – 65%
Nothing out of place.
“What will you do now?” she asked me. “We’re also prepping to leave.”
“I’m going to take a trip to some of the other towns, try to get them to realise there’s a war coming. The open quest call might have been enough to warn them, but seeing me in person will aid that. I don’t know how many I can get to join us, but there’s a greater need for weapons, people, and more.”
Candice nodded. Josh held out a hand for me, and in it lay a key. “I want you to take everything you can from my lockup. Get it out of the camp. They’ll need it and so will you.”
“I’ll get it to Sarah. She can distribute things easier.” I took the key from him and stared at it. “Not planning on dying now, are you?”
His grin faded a little, but then he spoke clearly. “No. I’m going because I wanted to help. I also really think Chip and Candice need someone with a better lay of the land including monsters and creatures. If these zombie critters are as tough as they were a few days ago, then I think they’ll need me.”
I watched on as the groups all got together, and eventually, they moved on. Abel was the one who came and stood by my side this time. “I had something to ask of you,” he said.
“Oh, what is it?
“With the others gone, and Dresel and Steve staying here to work out something, I had a new quest pop up.”
“What was it?”
“It asked me to assist you, to stay by your side on your next job.”
I glanced at my sidebar, and then there was a flash. A blinking box alerted me to something new. So I clicked on it.
QUEST – VISIT THREE LOCAL TOWNS. ENCOURAGE THEM TO JOIN YOUR WAR EFFORT
I could do that. I’d received a lot of attention already for the Tromoal. I wondered if I put out another call to arms if it would help. But maybe not.
As the last biker rode away, I thought about my next move. The nearest town to here wasn’t really a town. It was a hold up for some of the most notorious criminals in Maicreol. “I guess,” I looked to Abel, sizing him up. “We have a trip to Hell’s Pass. If we can get them to join our fight, the other towns will seem easy.”
The way things were heading for me, I thought I might need more pain meds. I struggled with walking. Abel didn’t say anything, though, and walked with me at a nice steady pace to get in the Hog. It wasn’t a long walk, but I was never going to do that without assistance. I felt it better for me to drive, so I opened the Hog up, and he got inside. Driving off, slow and steady, I felt peace return to my being. I loved being in here, more than anything else. I thought about flying as we had with the Tromoal, but that was just too damned scary.
HEALTH – 75%
The best thing about my health returning to normal was there was less pain. Using my foot on the pedals now didn’t hurt. Here in the Hog, everything was better.
I pondered many questions, though, and decided to ask quietly. “So does everyone know I’m not normal then?”
Abel shook his head. “No, and I think that it’s best to keep that information to just those in your original quest. The runners have got your back, but they don’t think there’s anything different about you. They just want what’s best for their families. It’s the Visitors who were around at the time and could see there was something new going down.”
“Oh, so it was a few things that let you know I was different then?”
Abel nodded, staring out the windows as the scenery passed us by. I drove for quite some time before he spoke again. “I'm honest when I say this, but Dresel’s one of my closest friends in the real world. I’m here because he’s the designer, and he also trusts me with many things he wouldn’t trust with anyone else.”
That made a lot more sense. “So you’re a babysitter?”
I watched as Abel scrunched his fists up. “No, I’m not that. I still enjoy playing the game. I want to find all the flaws I can before it gets out of alpha testing.”
“You don’t t
hink our world can be opened up anymore to the public, do you?”
“That’s being debated right now, but the plan is still to go ahead with the first beta launch. It just means there’s going to be a few things going on in here that we can’t advertise.”
“How many players are there already? And what’s the next stage?”
“There are ten teams. I’m kind of the oddball. I don’t have a team. I’m just a filler, a hole finder.”
“And the next stage?”
“There’s more than a few hundred. The tickets to getting in on this were so expensive that most people, most regular gamers can’t afford them.”
“So it’s still very restricted in what happens in here?”
“That all depends on Dresel, and if he doesn’t pull the plug.”
I almost stalled the Hog as my foot slipped off the pedal, “What? he can’t pull the plug, can he?”
Abel tried to look out the window again, but he wasn’t fooling me.
“I’m sorry, Maddie, but yes, this game’s only in development stages. If there are flaws he can’t fix, then there’s a cut-off point. Investors won’t just keep plugging in money forever.”
“What are you telling me?” I asked, finally stopping the Hog, letting the engine tick over so that we could talk.
Abel met my gaze, shifting in his seat. I’d not known him that long, or had I?
The way the world around me worked suddenly faded away from me. Like I was looking at all the code, the programming.
There was so much of it. Everything was codes, codes I couldn’t see through, that made up Abel and the Hog, and as I tried to look at my hands. . . Me.
I tried to breathe in, but I couldn’t.
There was no air. This place wasn’t real!
Chapter 4