by Drew Seren
“Looks like folks are finally wising up in the game and getting out,” Bigdaddybear said. “Rick says population just dropped and people are continuing to log out.”
“About time,” Horc said, feeling a little better about people disappearing. If they were logging out they were safe from the AI… Pyranous. “What about the rest of us?”
“Rick’s checking the servers, seeing if he can find a way to isolate things.”
“Ask him about our XP,” Baladara said, plopping down next to Horc. “I just checked mine and we haven’t gotten anything since our last fight in the arena. We should’ve gotten points for Bo’ and his menacing mateys.”
Bigdaddybear nodded. “Working on it.”
Another Ursan appeared in the stands near them. His text read Theodore, Ursan, Shaman, Level 35.
“Theodore?” Baladara said. “Don’t tell me, you used to be Ted.”
Theodore nodded. “I’m not that great with character names. Sorry I was late, it took a little work to get a character I liked.”
“We needed people hitting things,” Baladara snapped. “I don’t think at this point it matters if you like the toon or not.”
“Rick’s going to have to work on why the XP system stopped working for us,” Bigdaddybear said.
“XP stopped working, what happened?” Theodore asked with a frown.
“We’re not sure,” Horc said. A strange energy buzzed through him, it felt like he was being torn apart. “Something’s happening here.” He went to step back away from his friends but caught his calf on the seat behind him. He stumbled back and an odd void opened up around him, pulling him away from the arena and his friends. Somewhere in the distance, Wolf howled and Horc’s world went black.
Alan blinked and stared at the familiar pod lid above him. There were lights above him brighter than they should’ve been. He tapped the controls that should bring up his game selection display, but nothing was responding. He lifted hands that felt like lead and weakly tapped on the window. “Send me back!”
Horc’s adventure continues in “Beyond the Boss” coming Fall 2018.
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If you’d like to see what Tufkakes and Baladara encountered on their scouting mission into the arena, check out that story here…Tunnel Rats and More.
Drew Seren Bio
Drew Seren was raised on a diet of science fiction, both in print and on the screen. He spent many nights watching Star Trek and Space 1999 with his father. Comic books were a main staple of his reading, and then when he was in high school he started reading Dragon Riders of Pern and quickly began devouring any science fiction he could, luckily his father had an extensive library at the time. He started writing soon after that, letting writing help him make it through class. During college and his corporate life, Drew spent a lot of time writing to help him endure the mundane things that gnawed at him. Through his twenties and thirties, comic books and science fiction helped him survive. To this day, he’s still reading as much or more than he’s writing. He’s also an avid gamer, playing first Dungeons and Dragons, and currently lots of World of Warcraft. He’s recently turned his attention to writing full time and exploring the vast galaxy through new and interesting eyes.
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