Somnia Online

by K. T. Hanna

  Exbo went down when he got a little too close to the left-hand side of the gigantic hitbox. And Rashlyn executed her Storm ability a split second too late, which resulted in her not saving him, and dooming herself.

  It was okay. She’d been in tank mode; they’d just need to up it a bit more. She yelled out, trying to put as much fierce determination behind her words as possible. “Okay, fire away on any and all cooldowns that have popped back up or you’ve yet to use. Burn him!”

  Three percent.

  She screamed without words, a guttural sound with an oddly freeing sensation. DPS managed to pick up again as recycled cooldowns came back into play. But she glanced at the duration of the fight so far, knowing the Cascade was due soon, as was a…

  Deafening Stench Roar

  You have been hit by a deafening stench roar.

  Disorientation Resisted

  Murmur groaned, because even though they were largely protected from the effects because of buffs and the like, she could still smell it. And it wasn’t pretty. Just a few more percent.

  One percent.

  “Go, go, go!” Devlish roared out. Murmur could barely identify the creature’s health bar due to all of the damned debuffs and DoTs on it. And a sliver before its health was gone…

  Hipnormous begins to cast: Cascade of Death

  Storm Entertainment

  Somnia Online Division

  Game Development Offices - Shayla’s Office

  Day Thirty

  Davenport sipped on the fresh coffee David brought him as Wren’s father sat down. Laria kept shooting Shayla side glances to see if she could telepathically inform her of why their big boss was visiting. He’d been more than patient with them, and he’d been quite helpful when it came to the whole James thing. But she wasn’t sure what he was doing there now, and he wasn’t exactly being forthcoming.

  He placed the coffee cup on Shayla’s table and cleared his throat. “I know you’re wondering what I’m doing showing up here. You know, in the offices of the building I own.” He raised an eyebrow, and the tension dissipated somewhat.

  “Have to admit, it crossed my mind,” Shayla muttered, although even she seemed less stressed than previously.

  “Nice to see you here, David. My offer still stands, by the way. We’d love to have you on board any number of Storm Corp’s ventures.” From the twinkle in his eye, it was easy to tell that Davenport was half kidding. He knew David wasn’t about to leave his tenured university position.

  “So. Why are you here?” Laria’s patience ran out.

  Davenport sighed, like he was mulling over what it was he exactly wanted to say. “James is in the game.”

  Laria blinked. “What? I didn’t think he was a gamer.”

  “He’s definitely not by the terms that you would use.” Davenport laughed. “You’re a lot more gamer than developer, Laria; it’s why what you develop is so much fun for people to play. Still, he is in the game and…well, as you know, everyone in our sponsor’s offices has an account. It was part of the deal to monitor and allow them access to watch how the headsets worked in the game.”

  He paused for a moment before continuing. “This wouldn’t normally be a problem. They’re allowed to play the game. But…I can’t trace him now. He’s logged in, but I can’t find his character location.”

  “Wait…why do I only vaguely remember this information?” Shayla asked the question sharply, and Davenport hesitated.

  “This was something I ran past you while you were extremely busy, and we agreed I’d okay it for Michael to oversee. It really wasn’t of consequence until a few hours ago when I got an alert that James Dougray’s account had logged in. My authorization is needed to access the data connected to those accounts—not because I don’t trust you, just because you had enough on your plate, and once Michael was out of commission, I really thought it had been a token offering.” Davenport pushed his fingers through his wild white mane.

  “And now you can’t find where he is?” Laria puzzled over the words. “I mean, he’s in the game right, with a headset?”

  “He hasn’t logged out.” Davenport locked eyes with her for a moment, lending gravity to the situation. “I can’t find where he is in the world, but I do know he’s still logged in. That’s the problem. I also know that he isn’t in there because his employers told him to retrieve information. They’ve been in contact with me for a couple of days. We have things to…discuss.”

  Laria sat for a moment, going over in her head what had happened with Wren. So many problems emerged when she entered the game. She didn’t like James, but she didn’t want to condemn him to a life of spasming on the floor when they might be able to prevent any further damage. If that was the reason he couldn’t be located.

  “Well, if he’s definitely in the game, then I’d say we have to be careful. He’s not our friend or ally, but that doesn’t mean we can leave him potentially ruined.” Laria spoke softly, like she didn’t want to offer these suggestions, but she had to because she did have a conscience.

  “Can we send someone around to his place to take a look and find out if he’s okay?” David offered tentatively.

  Davenport frowned for a moment before nodding. “We really should, especially since my contacts may have mentioned that he has his own work-from-home station there, including what he’d need to access the game. He might be irritating sometimes, but I don’t want him to come to harm because we wouldn’t give him information on a technicality. Still not giving it to him, though. Just want to check he’s okay.”

  For a moment Davenport seemed older than he was. Then he looked up at the people gathered around the table and let out a sigh. “I just remember the readings when Wren was first trapped into that headset. Not that these are exactly the same, but still…someone needs to go and tend to the man, someone who understands that if he’s unresponsive, they can’t take that headset off.”

  “Wouldn’t be surprised to know he had one of Michael’s tweaked versions.” Shayla crossed her arms and raised her eyes to the ceiling.

  Laria shrugged. “He might even have tweaked it himself. It’s not difficult, but it will yield unexpected consequences if you aren’t completely sure what you’re doing. As evidenced by my daughter’s. You know she can’t use another headset to access it, right?”

  Davenport nodded sadly. “You’ll figure out something. It’s not like she’s trapped in there anymore. At least there’s that.”

  “So.” David looked around at them all. “Who’s going to go check on the pain in the ass?”

  No one spoke; they all just looked at him. He chuckled. “Oh…me. Fantastic. Come on, one of you has to come with me. I’m not going to face him alone.”

  “I’ll send one of my security staff with you, just in case. Not sure if the man has booby trapped his residence or not.” Davenport clapped David on the shoulder as he stood up.

  “Just go.” Laria had already switched her attention to what she needed to do. “Just make sure he comes back to me in one piece.”

  Davenport smiled and ushered David out of the office, speaking as they walked. “Will you finally sign that consultant paperwork for me?”

  Laria grinned and dove back into the system to monitor the spread of the anti-virus so nothing surprised them in that regard.

  Somnia Online

  Cenedril - Curet

  Riasli’s Exile Hideout

  Day Thirty

  Riasli twirled around in her large-roomed hideout to music no one could hear outside of her head. She was proud of her accomplishment, of dragging in another specimen whose headset changed their susceptibility, and their link into the world and the power of the shards.

  She alone had done that, not been told, not demanded of her, but she’d accomplished what she’d set out to do, and done it well. Her eyes lit up at the thought of the praise she might receive once she led this James to her master. The one who’d given her so much that she’d never before imagined.

  James was far
more susceptible to her wiles than Murmur had ever been. Damned enchanter mind protections. Riasli was the perfect class for this type of infiltration, the perfect person to help spread the virus through and out into the world beyond Somnia. Psionic abilities were perfect for seeping into the mind and planting seeds. Except the people trying to stop her had psionicist protection, and that made all the rules break.

  James stirred in the corner, and the calico feles watched him with cool unemotional eyes. She wasn’t very fond of elves. There’d been reasons behind what she’d done to the ruins of Curet. Despite all the changes that ran through her programming, Riasli still didn’t like them. Granted, they returned that dislike tenfold, but still.

  Finally, James stretched and opened his eyes. They fluttered like the wings of a trapped butterfly until they locked onto her. Panic flooded his expression so quickly, she was taken aback. She could see how he processed everything he could see, and yet also how he couldn’t reconcile it in his mind. He was off kilter, unsure, and Riasli knew how lucky she was that he hadn’t hijacked a dev character with more of its skills unlocked.

  One slight push, one stray thought sent toward him, watering that little seed she’d planted in his brain, and the expression on his face slacked into adoration. Even though she could still sense that rebellious part of his mind that didn’t want to believe what she’d done to him was real, he was already hers.

  Completely and utterly.

  Now all she needed to do was bring him to Michael so that everything could fall into place.

  “Sleep well, my pet?” she purred at him, her eyes flashing with malice.

  “So well, so good. What do I do now?” He practically panted the words, that small corner of his mind that screamed in protest grew smaller and smaller, locked away in a prison she had no intention of releasing him from.

  Riasli grinned. “I’m so glad you asked. We have special plans today. I’m taking you to meet my boss, and he’s just going to devour you.”

  James’s only response was a languid smile, like it was positively the best ever idea to be devoured whole by an entity he didn’t comprehend.

  This was the part of her new life Riasli adored, and she fully intended to make sure it always remained that way.

  Murmur kicked the massive corpse of Hipnormous and scowled. It didn’t even feel like they’d beaten anything, considering how long it took for the damned thing to die from DoTs with half of the raid dead from the rocks that fell on top of them. It was so anticlimactic. It felt like cheating.

  “It’s okay. It’s still dead, you know.” Havoc kicked the corpse too, like he needed a bit of an outlet himself. “Trust me. I’m a necro. It’s my job to know when something’s dead.”

  His deadpan expression undid her, and Murmur laughed. “Fine. Fine. I’ll take a fluke, lucky kill of this damned thing any day. As long as I don’t have to fight it again today.”

  “Hear, hear.” Merlin was checking his bow over. It actually appeared to be a little worse for wear. “I don’t think I’ve ever shot so many arrows in one fight before.”

  “Probably not.” Devlish leaned on his tower shield like he needed to keep himself upright with it. “And besides, I think we have more urgent matters to attend to. With the way loot is dropping in this dungeon, hippo guy only dropping three pieces isn’t going down well. I liked our other ways better.”

  Murmur nodded, unsure why Telvar’s dungeon of all of them was the one not giving them riddles and things that required them to solve puzzles or approach things differently. Then again, most of Somnia had never had truly traditional dungeons in the first place, so perhaps this was different for Somnia.

  Exactly. Sometimes I think you’re almost an AI.

  Ha-ha, very funny. Thanks so much, Murmur directed at the AI, wishing she could convey the glare she wanted to somewhat better.

  “Just take a look over them, Ver?” Murmur said as she saw the Viking approaching. “Give it to whomever gets the best upgrades and keep all the crafting mats for our little Neva, okay?”

  “Sure thing, boss.” Veranol grinned and began looking through his HUD from the way his eyes glanced off to the side and seemed to go out of focus. Murmur ran a hand through her tangle of thick strands just wishing she could figure out one of these dungeons beforehand.

  You’re trying too hard.

  You’re annoying me, Murmur snapped back.

  Fine!

  And with that Somnia’s presence was, at least momentarily, gone. Murmur sighed and rubbed her forehead. The runes underneath her skin glowed like fluorescent purple messages she didn’t know the meaning of. Her head throbbed with the strange syncopation their pulsing sent through her veins, like for just that moment, she was one with the world. She remembered to breathe, and to try and find that center point where this world seemed to be in harmony with her.

  Everything felt right. The balance, the fight they’d just completed, all of the dungeons they’d solved. Like it was meant to be or something.

  She took one more calming breath and opened her eyes, breathing in the sight of Sinister approaching with a huge smile on her face.

  “Well, whatever possessed you to give the loot to those who needed it most worked. Bigger upgrades than expected for a few key players in the other guilds and you’re almost their favorite person again.” Sinister grinned and looped her arm around Murmur’s waist.

  “Just theirs?” Murmur teased, and then flushed bright red, not knowing what came over her in the first place. “Shit. Sorry.”

  Sinister laughed. That strangely beautiful sound that made everyone look right at her as a feeling of happiness surrounded them too. As long as it wasn’t her mocking laugh, Sinister was a ray of light. “Silly Mur. There is nothing to be sorry about. Definitely my favorite person, by far.”

  “Excellent.” Murmur only wished she could get rid of her goofy grin. After all, on a locus face there was no way it looked anything but damned weird.

  Beastial strolled up, scratching his massive cat’s neck. “So are we going to chit-chat all day or move on and maybe sleep sometime this year?”

  “Fine.” Murmur glared at him for a moment but couldn’t keep it up. “We’re going to head out.”

  Steeling herself she spoke up and magnified her voice. “Buff up, gear up—let’s head out and see what else this underwater torture chamber has in store for us.” She glanced down at the nice mostly dry platform they’d just fought on and sighed. It was too good to be true. An underwater zone where she didn’t need to be in the water while actually fighting. Now that would have been a fantastic zone to find.

  Moving out, Sinister by her side, Murmur made sure her Enduring Breath was cast so no one drowned. Enough of them had died, after all. It wasn’t exactly a flawless victory. Back in the water, the substance felt so much more sluggish than she remembered. It was downright suffocating, but if she concentrated on breathing in and out, she could transport herself away from that sensation.

  Not for long, though. Thick bushes of coral, if that’s what they were called, made definite preferred routes anything in the lake should travel. Again with the physics of the lake and Somnian rules. The path wound around a mountain of rocks and shoved them blindly into the strangest looking creatures she’d yet to see in the zone.

  If the creatures had been on land, they would have stood about six feet tall. Their shrimp-like bodies and tails had dozens of tiny arms with hands attached to them, and a huge shell-like helmet encased their heads, protecting from the ranger’s headshots.

  It looked like they came in groups of six. Which wouldn’t have been that bad for trash, except those groups of six came in bundles of three. She braced herself for another huge fight, only to find that the raid separated seamlessly into the three groups it had been allocated as add combatants in the last fight, and they mowed through the strange shrimp-human creatures in next to no time.

  “Well done,” she announced over raid, unable to keep the surprise from her voice. All it took was
two and a half hefty dungeons to get them to this point. As they readied to move out, Murmur realized the shrimp humans had been hiding some sort of cave beyond them. Or wait, it appeared to be a passage split, one that went through a tunnel of some sort. Which made no sense because they were in a damned lake, but she couldn’t let that bother her.

  Pulling up her map of the zone, she paused to study it, making no sense of it whatsoever. It seemed like one big loop.

  Which fork should we take? she asked the guild, not entirely trusting her own decision-making ability right then. She was practically running on empty like most of them.

  Merlin: Well, either way they lead back to one another, so…maybe the easier way leads to the easier boss.

  Rashlyn: That could totally be a trap, though.

  Jinna: It could also mean that it doesn’t matter which way we choose. We’re going to have to fight both of them, and they’ll both probably annoy the crap out of us. Let’s just get this done.

  Murmur couldn’t help but notice how irritable her friend had become. Like there was nothing anyone could to do make it better. He was constantly snapping and wanting to push forward, far less cautious and contemplative. It was almost as if he wasn’t himself. But she didn’t want to risk using her abilities on him to check it out.

  Are you there?

  Me? You mean the me that you don’t like talking to anymore? If Murmur hadn’t known better, she would have thought Somnia was sulking, but that wasn’t possible, right?

  Of course, I like talking to you, just not when you’re being frustrating by picking and choosing which of my thoughts you comment on. Murmur thought that was just self-explanatory.

  Oh. There was a pause that sounded pregnant with thought and contemplation. Then I accept your apology. And what did you want me to do?

  Murmur skimmed over the fact that the AI had forgiven her for something that wasn’t necessarily supposed to be forgiven, and went straight to the point. Can you see…can you check on Jinna? He has one of our better headsets, and I think something is wrong.