Gamer Girl

by Mia Archer

  “What?” I asked. “You said you were here so you could help me, so when are you going to get around to actually rendering some of that assistance?”

  “Um, well honestly I never thought past getting down here so I could have this chat with you, and I was really annoyed when I got down here and realized they’d already taken you up to have a chat with Chelsey.”

  “Why would that annoy you?” I asked.

  “Because she’s doing something to the people in this game. It’s like an Invasion of the Body Snatchers pod people kinda thing. People go have a chat with her and when they come out they’re completely in her thrall in the game.”

  “Yeah, she’s using magic from an in-game goddess to try and take over the digital world,” I said.

  Now it was Caitee’s turn to look at me with just a touch of disbelief.

  “She’s what?”

  “It’s a whole thing,” I said. “There’s a goddess named Treaia who is the patron saint of manipulating people. Chelsey has twisted that magic to mind control and the goddess is pissed off about it.”

  “How the hell do you know all this?”

  I walked over to the bars at the front. Banged on them a couple of times to get the attention of any guard who might be out there. I didn’t think for a moment that Chelsey would just leave us out here with no one keeping an eye on things.

  “Watch and learn,” I said.

  34

  Another Escape

  I banged on the bars a few more times. Finally an annoyed looking woman who seemed just a touch groggy appeared. I figured she must be an NPC if she was looking just a touch groggy.

  “What do you want?” she asked.

  “Oh come now,” I said, turning up the charm. “Is that really any way to talk to someone who’s enjoying your hospitality?”

  “I’ll talk to you however I please,” the guard growled, though she looked like she was at least reconsidering how she’d spoken to me. When she next spoke it was a little softer. “What do you need?”

  I reached through the bars and touched her hand. From the way she jumped there was something just a bit electric to that touch. I smiled my best smile and she swallowed a couple of times. I could feel her pulse picking up by the way I grasped her wrist.

  “You could come in here and talk to me however you please,” I said. “Or you could let me out of here and then we can talk about what you’d like to do to me.”

  Caitee made a disgusted noise behind me. I blushed just a touch at that noise. After all, this probably looked pretty bad from her perspective. It wasn’t going to stop me from doing this, but I could see where she’d be a touch annoyed. I’m sure she was thinking if this was the best I had to offer then we were well and truly screwed.

  “I don’t… I mean I’d get in serious trouble if I…”

  “Oh come on,” I said, trying to lay on the charm. I felt like I was acting ridiculous, and I was mostly relying on that insane charisma modifier at this point and hoping it would do most of the heavy lifting. “Don’t you want to help me out?”

  That magic gathered in me again. I could feel it just like before. It manifested as a sort of nervous energy that was just on the verge of busting loose, but I didn’t dare let it loose. Not when I had a chance to do this without pulling a Calixia. Not when I knew my patron goddess would be very cross if I did that sort of thing.

  “Let me ask you this,” I said. “Are you really happy with the way things are going here? I mean sitting in a boring dungeon day after day watching a bunch of empty cells?”

  “The cells are usually full of the pretties the lady brings through to make up her business,” the guard muttered. “That can be some fun for me while she’s waiting for her pretties.”

  “Right,” I said, switching tacks without missing a beat. “So are you really happy being down here adding to the sum total of misery in this world by helping a bunch of girls getting brought into whatever it is Calixia is doing with them?”

  I had a pretty good idea of exactly what it was Chelsey was doing to them based on what I’d seen of the sort of parties she was throwing, but I figured we didn’t need to get into that here. This guard seemed like the type I needed to keep things nice and simple with.

  “I…”

  “You can’t seriously enjoy that thought,” I said. “I know you can’t. You don’t look like the kind who would be that much of an asshole.”

  Her eyes flashed at that, and I worried that I might’ve laid it on just a little too thick. But then she was back. She shook her head as though she was trying to think of a reason why I was wrong and was having trouble coming up with it.

  “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt much if I let you out,” she finally muttered.

  “There’s a good girl,” I said, trying not to sound too condescending.

  The girl put her key into the bars and turned it. The door swung open, and I stepped out.

  “Now would you mind handing me that key?” I said.

  “Of course,” the guard said, and this time around there wasn’t any hesitation on her part. Now that was interesting. Like the more she listened to what I had to say the more inclined she was to continue listening to what I had to say.

  And I didn’t even need to use that magic.

  “Thank you so much,” I said with a smile.

  “You have to be fucking kidding me,” Caitee said as I put the key in her lock and turned it, letting her out of her cell. “How the fuck did you do that?”

  “If I told you how the fuck I did everything then it’d ruin all the mystery,” I said.

  “Whatever,” she said. “You might have connections in the game, but that doesn’t mean you’re not going to have trouble when you get out of the game.”

  I frowned. She had a point. I hated that she had a point, but she had a point. I wasn’t sure how the hell I was going to get out of this, but I figured I’d come up with something.

  “Whatever yourself,” I said. “If we’re going to get the fuck out of here then we need to get the fuck out of here now. I have some work I’m going to do if I’m going to properly do Treaia’s bidding.”

  “You mean you’re seriously still considering doing what a goddess in a video game asked you to do if it means risking your life?” Caitee asked, her voice dripping with incredulity.

  “You got any better plans?” I asked.

  “I mean I don’t have much,” she said. “But you could start by logging out of the game and maybe seeing if there’s a place you can go to lay low.”

  I thought about that. Thought about how I’d been running from these assholes for so long. Thought about how disgusted I was that I’d been hiding from them for so long. Something had changed in me, and that something wasn’t taking any more shit from the rich and powerful of the world.

  Even if it probably meant I was going to have a much shorter life because I was pissing off people who could have their way with the legal system and smooth over any rough patches that came from, say, having an uppity rizon taken care of.

  “The only thing I have control of right now is the game world,” I said. “That means I’m going to take that control of the game world, and I’m going to do what I can with it. That’s the best I can hope for right now.”

  “You’re crazy,” Caitee said.

  “Hey, the worst that can happen to you if this all goes wrong is you end up at a respawn point,” I said. “It’s not like they’re going to actually try and kill you. Not with the connections you have.”

  “Unless she uses whatever the fuck magic it is she’s been using on everyone else to turn me into a pod person,” Caitee spat. “Ever think about that? We need to get out of here and get into the real world where I can use some of my connections to help you.”

  “Fine,” I said. “We can do that after we get the hell out of here.”

  “Seriously?” she asked. “You’re going to trust me? Just like that?”

  She sounded suspicious now. As well she should. I had no inte
ntion of going along with what she was planning. The last thing I wanted was to trade one rich person who might sell me out for another rich asshole who might sell me out. I didn’t trust her any farther than I could throw her.

  In the game world, that is. I got the feeling I might be able to toss her around in the real world, but I had no intention of finding out. No matter how interesting some of the images that were moving through my mind as I thought of that were.

  “Come on,” I hissed, and I motioned for the guard as well.

  “What are your orders?” she asked, stepping into the whole obeying thing quite nicely.

  “No orders,” I said. “You’re coming along because you want to. Not because I’m forcing you to.”

  The guard looked at me, and then looked up. Like she was looking towards Calixia. Talk about creepy.

  Meanwhile beside me Caitee grabbed a massive two hander off the wall. She’d been in the process of strapping the thing to her back, but now she’d stopped and she was easing the thing out of its scabbard ever so slightly and giving the guard a look that said if she gave the wrong answer then there was going to be some serious trouble for her.

  Finally the guard shook her head. Blinked a couple of times. And for a wonder there was a little bit of that light at her eyes. The kind of light that’d hit the other people when I inadvertently did the whole mind control thing. Only this time that light was moving in reverse. Like whatever spell she’d been under had just broken.

  The guard stumbled forward and I caught her. When she looked up at me she seemed confused, then she smiled and wrapped me in a huge hug. Which wasn’t the kind of thing I was expecting, but what the fuck ever.

  “Who are you?” she asked. “How were you able to stop the magic? It was like I was in there doing things she ordered me to and I kept begging her to let me go, and all there was when I begged was laughter.”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “I’m going to take care of this.”

  I’d had no intention of going quietly with Caitee before, but after hearing this girl’s description of what it was like to be in Chelsey’s thrall I really had no intention of letting her get away with this.

  “You’re about to do something stupid,” Caitee said.

  “Maybe I am,” I said, turning to the guard. “Where are your friends? I’m going to need your help if we’re going to do this the right way.”

  “If I do this we get revenge on that red bitch?” the girl asked, her voice hitting a hitch as she said it. As though there was still a lingering part of her that was reluctant to take revenge on the red bitch, for all that it was something she clearly very much wanted if the fire in her eyes was anything to go on.

  “She’s going to suffer humiliations galore,” I said, unable to resist dropping a quote from one of my favorite movies and pieces of literature from the late twentieth with a setup like that.

  “Then I’m going to do whatever I need to do to help you,” she said.

  For a surprise a notification popped up that informed me I’d just formed a bond with her. I’d played games where there was a mechanic like that, sure. Mostly games from Japan that were a touch more racy than your average Nintendo game.

  I’d never seen something like that in an MMO before. I really hadn’t expected it to come along in a game where the social bonds were happening with other players, but I also wasn’t going to knock it if it got me closer to my goal of conquering Chelsey and showing her she wasn’t queen bitch of this place.

  “Good,” I said, and I outlined my plan.

  It was a pretty simple Death Star infiltration, and there was always a risk that someone would recognize what we were doing because it was a scene that was in all the numerous Star Wars remakes and reboots the mouse had done in a desperate bid to rake in some of the boatloads of money that’d never quite appeared after they whiffed on the first movie in their new trilogy, but it was a risk we’d have to take. I was stuck in a prison cell here and I honestly had no idea what the fuck else we were going to do.

  “I don’t like this,” Caitee said.

  “I figured you wouldn’t like it,” I said. “You’re welcome to escape here on your own if you want, or log out and figure out a way you can double cross me from outside the game.”

  “I’m not going to do either of those things,” she said. “I wasn’t trying to double cross you.”

  “We’ll see about that,” I said. “Now let’s get going. Make sure to bind her arms first.”

  “You’ve got it,” the guard said.

  “By the way, what’s your name?” I asked.

  “Zera,” she said.

  “Nice to have you on the team, Zera,” I said with a grin that she returned. Meanwhile Caitee frowned as her hands were bound in a set of massive irons that fit right in with the whole dank dungeon theme they were going for here.

  “Make sure you actually lock her cuffs too,” I said, which earned me another sour look, but I didn’t care at this point.

  Things were finally looking up. Ever so slightly. Which is to say there was still a pretty good chance I was going to have my ass killed before this was all done, but I figured at least my ass would be getting killed on my own terms and not on whatever terms Chelsey was trying to set for me.

  Balanced against everything else that’d happened to me today that seemed like the best I could hope for.

  35

  Infiltration

  “Zera? What the hell are you doing up here? You’re supposed to be down there guarding the…”

  The dude’s words cut off as he got a good look at who Zera was escorting. The frown on his face spoke volumes, and I tensed. I wasn’t going to be all that great in a fight, but if it came down to it I’d do my best.

  I also figured I just had to get a little closer and then it was time to do some convincing. Though as I moved in closer to this new set of guards it quickly became apparent to me that maybe I didn’t have to move in as close as I’d initially thought. No, they were all leaning in and hitting me with stupid grins all of a sudden.

  The lead guard, though, kept right on frowning. It was clear he didn’t know what was happening to him to get his companions acting like this, and he didn’t care for whatever was happening to make them act like this.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  I figured fortune favors the bold. Especially when I was already so fucking close to getting my ass handed to me in the game. I figured the worst that could happen was I got killed and sent to wherever the nearest respawn point was, after all, now that I was out of that dungeon.

  So it’s not like I had all that much to risk except for a faster escape that I made with the point of a sword stuck in me.

  “Come now,” I said, letting the irons that’d been around my wrists clang to the floor. They rattled loud enough that they drew attention from all around, but the guards didn’t look like they were getting ready to eviscerate me.

  I figured that was a pretty fucking good sign.

  “You don’t have to listen to her anymore,” I said. “I don’t know if you wanted to listen to her to begin with, but you don’t have to now.”

  The guy stared at me. There was that brief flash in all the guards’ eyes. Male and female alike. Only the head guard appeared to be a player character, and so I figured that meant it was important I got him on my side.

  That flash subsided. He seemed to be mulling over everything that’d just happened. Then he pulled his sword.

  “I’m not going to let you do this to Calixia!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. Loud enough that everyone in the massive open area leading into Chelsey’s little house of horrors could clearly hear him.

  Motherfucker. So much for sneaking through here.

  He brought his sword down, but another sword appeared between the two of us and stopped him from landing a killing blow as one of the guards stepped between us. I breathed a sigh of relief as the rest of the guards surrounded him and took all his weapons.

  I glan
ced at Caitee. She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

  “I know you’re going to try and tell me you told me so,” she said. “But you almost bought the big one there. You need to be careful.”

  “Almost happening isn’t the same thing as actually happening,” I said.

  The guards finished disarming the guy. I glanced around and saw that more guards were starting to come our way. I didn’t have long here, but I had to know why that hadn’t worked on him.

  “Why did you try to attack me?” I asked. “You’re free. You don’t have to do her bidding anymore.”

  “I’ll do her bidding until the day my character dies,” he spat. “You should see some of the things she does for me in the privacy of her chambers. That’ll buy a lot of loyalty!”

  He grinned up at me and waggled his eyebrows. I had a moment to think about how disgusting men were before I made a quick gesture to one of the guards.

  “Kill him,” I said.

  They made short work of the dude. I might’ve felt bad if this was happening in the real world where he was going to die for good, but I couldn’t be bothered to shed a tear for the poor asshole when I knew he’d simply be going to a respawn point.

  I turned to Caitee.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I was waiting for you to tell me that I didn’t have to do that or something,” I said. “That I shouldn’t kill someone who didn’t do anything to deserve it.”

  “He’s a guard in charge of a bunch of other guards and he’d kill you if he had the chance,” she said. “I don’t know about you, but that seems like a pretty good reason to off the guy to me.”

  “Oh,” I said.

  “Surprised?” she asked.

  “Just a little,” I said. “Not like it matters. Let’s get a move on. We’ve got another group of guards heading for us.”

  And this group of guards was going to be a hell of a lot more interesting than the last group, because if I didn’t miss my guess that was none other than Tori at the head of that group. I figured if ever there was someone who’d want to off me because she was undyingly loyal to Chelsey then she was it.