Desert

by Caiden Walker

  And she needed them. The thought of living here alone, knowing there was no future outside for her, was enough to make her heart race. Yes, it would be a life of a sort, but not one she could really enjoy.

  She would be trapped again. Just like she had been all of her life.

  No, if death took her here, it took her. That didn't mean that she couldn't live every minute left to her.

  Louella stared sadly down at the terminal. She only wished she had some way of letting her parents know it really was her. If she could still communicate with them, it might make living here more worthwhile.

  Sighing, she realized that now she had to tell the others. She dreaded it badly, but it wouldn't be fair to them to keep them in the dark any longer.

  They needed to know.

  By knowing, maybe they could help her stay alive a bit longer? Be just a little quicker with the health potions?

  It was worth a try, anyway. Of course, if it worked, and they made it to Gaia and actually won that battle, it would still be end game for her. Once they had left the game, she'd be stuck alone at the far end of the desert. Chances were slim that she'd make it back to the Outpost before getting killed.

  If she still had the ability to fly, it might have helped a bit. For the first time, she regretted not programming a fix to her wings while she had the chance. Now, with the account blocked, that wasn't possible. She was grounded.

  Now her non-healing shredded wings made sense. Why would the wings of a dead girl heal? The wings, like the rest of her, were already dead.

  She touched the outside of the terminal before her.

  "Goodbye, Mom and Dad. I love you."

  With tears starting to stream down her face, she locked herself in the bathroom to cry it out.

  It wasn't like a dead person actually needed sleep, anyway.

  CHAPTER EIGHT: Night Hunt

  Nika noticed Louella's bed was empty when she got up in the wee hours of the morning. But when she saw the closed bathroom door, her mind eased. Her plan was to sneak out, accept the contest, and see what it all amounted to. No better way to find out than to just do it, right?

  From what Ash and Dean had said about the new game last night, it had day monsters and night monsters. So seeing what was available now should put them ahead of schedule.

  She reached the door to the stairs and realized the problem with her plan. She had thought to step over Evan, open the door and make good her brief escape. The problem was the door opened inward, and Evan was literally inches away from it. No way could she open it enough to get around Evan and up the stairs.

  Nika was still standing there considering her choices when Evan's eyes popped open.

  "If you're planning to ravish me, I'm okay with that," he said, keeping his voice low. "But we might want to wait until we have a bit more privacy."

  She laughed. "Actually, I was trying to figure out how to get past you without waking anyone up. Guess that's a no-go, huh?"

  He leaned up onto one elbow and looked out into the room. He frowned when he saw the empty bed. "Where's the pixie?"

  "In the bathroom."

  His face cleared. "Oh, okay then." He threw his covers off and started to stand.

  "What are you doing?" Nika kept to the whispers that they'd been using.

  "Duh. I'm going with you." Under the covers, he was fully dressed.

  "You were planning to sneak off too, weren't you?"

  Evan grinned at her. "Guilty as charged. But I did hate to leave the door unguarded." He hesitated. "You think it's okay to leave the jerk alone with them?" He brightened. "We could tie him to the bed."

  Nika chuckled. "As much as we both might enjoy that, I don't think there is any need. I think his association with VirTech is well and truly over."

  He sighed. "You're probably right, but I still don't trust him."

  "It'll be a cold day in hell when I trust that man again," Nika agreed. "But you really don't have to come with me."

  "Or you with me," he said, now standing fully erect with his mattress and bedding shoved away from the door. "Now are we going to stay here talking or go see what this bloody update is all about?"

  Nika just shook her head and opened the door. One backward glance told her their whispered conversation hadn't awoken anyone, and the bathroom door was still firmly shut. She thought about checking on the girl, but then again that might just be a slight invasion of privacy. Or maybe even more than slight.

  Upstairs they found the mayor in his study, or perhaps they should say his command central. He stood as they entered.

  "Ah and are you ready to begin the contest?"

  He looked behind them and frowned. "I thought you were entering as a party of six?"

  "That depends," Nika said. "You said that most contestants would be entering as individuals. Is there any way to start as singles and then add members to your group?"

  "Let me check the rule book," he said, pulling a large volume out of his top desk drawer. Flipping through pages, he finally stopped on one. "Here we go," he said. "It says here that teams can be formed mid-game, but only the monsters from one team can be kept going forward. So if two teams joined forces, they couldn't pick and choose which monsters to keep or simply join them all together to form a much larger inventory."

  He looked at them over the book. "That wouldn't be very fair to the other players, now would it?"

  "Not at all," Nika agreed. "Is okay by the rules to have a party of six members?"

  "Absolutely," the mayor said. "However, you should know that each party can only have one acting recruiter. So one member, usually the leader of the group, will be the one recruiting and collecting monsters. I'm afraid the other members of the party are really there for mere companionship."

  "So actually, we are entering individually, then?" Evan said.

  "The recruiters, yes, I suppose you could look at it like that," the mayor answered after thinking a second. "But there are perks to having more members in your party."

  He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "Between you and me, the desert in this area isn't all that safe of a place. Having other people in your party might just come in handy."

  Nika nodded. "But say if we split into two parties of three to start, and both of our new parties then joined forces, we could keep the monsters from the strongest party, right?"

  "That's what the book says."

  "Okay, then," she said. "One more question for you. Can we join together and then split again, over and over? Or do we have to stay together once we join forces?"

  "Hum, that's a hard one. I'll have to consult with the game's elders on that one. Could I possibly give you the answer in the morning?" Then he glanced at the large grandfather clock in the hallway. "Well, later this morning that is?"

  "That would be fine," Nika said. "I understand we get a choice of three monsters to start the game with. Can we see them, and maybe have you explain their differences?"

  He smiled. "Certainly. Right this way."

  The mayor led them out of his office and through his house to the back door. It opened out to a sea of cages. Each one held a monster. Three of the cages were larger than the rest and had plenty of light allowing players to see exactly what the creatures within looked like.

  He stopped by the first cage in the line. "You can pretty much tell their differences simply by looking," the mayor explained. "VeggieMot is the plant-based nature monster. He will be weakest against fire and strongest against water."

  Stepping up to the next cage, he said, "FireStorm is, of course, a fire monster. He will be basically useless in any fight against strong water monsters."

  Motioning to the last cage, he continued. "Finally, there is ThunderClap. He is basically your water type monster. To round everything out, he is weakest against the plant-based monsters."

  Smiling he turned to them. "So, which do you choose?"

  Nika and Evan just looked at each other.

  "Can we have a minute to talk about it?"

>   "Of course," the mayor said. "When you've made your decision, simply tap the button on top of the chosen one's cage and it will immediately be added to your monster inventory. You can carry up to ten monsters in your inventory. Any more than that you collect, you will need to store at a facility along the way."

  With that bit of news, he turned and left them.

  "So which do you think?" Evan asked.

  Nika took a closer look at each of them. "You know, I'm torn between the fire and water, actually. Why don't you pick?"

  He shrugged. "I'd go with Thunderclap if it was me. Something tells me he's more than what he seems to be. Besides, fire is pretty strong as an element. It would be good to have a strong defense for it."

  "Thunderclap it is then," Nika said pressing the button. The creature disappeared from the cage and when she pulled up her inventory, there he was. Okay, they had made Gaia as real as they possibly could. You could put food and potions into inventory sure, but creatures? Who created this game anyway?

  "Where do we start?" she asked.

  "I'm guessing there won't be any little monsters here in town," he said, then paused looking around him. "Well, other than here, of course. I'm pretty sure they would frown on us taking them. This would be one of those facilities for storing player's monsters, you think?"

  "That would explain all the critters," Nika agreed. "But aren't we the only players here?"

  "I'm not sure, but I think the Trials of Meekapu has virtual players. Computerized gamers. Not quite NPCs, but not with real identities in the outside world, either."

  "Well, they did say this was an older game, so I guess that makes sense." Nika squared her shoulders. "Let's do this, shall we?"

  "Let's."

  Walking side by side, they reached the gate out of town in a matter of minutes, stopping to hit the save fountain just in case.

  "Wait," Nika said as they started to pass through the gate. "Which of us is the recruiter?"

  Evan grinned at her. "Well, since only one of us has a creature to fight with, I'm guessing that would be you."

  Oh, yeah. "Sorry about that," Nika said. "I guess I wasn't thinking." She paused. "Maybe you should have taken a monster too?"

  "Nah," he said. "I'm totally fine with being the support. Think of me as your very own personal bodyguard."

  "You want to guard my body, huh?"

  They had just walked through the gate from town and Evan stopped and turned to her. "That's something I've wanted to do for a very long time, actually."

  Nika blushed but didn't say anything. How could she when she only had Blake's untrustable word that their marriage wasn't actually valid?

  At her silence, Evan hesitated. "A couple of years ago, I came really close to asking you out. If I had, would you have gone?"

  She nodded. "Definitely. If we are sharing confessions here, then I should tell you I've always had a bit of a crush on you." More than a crush actually, but saying that wouldn't help matters right now. Not until she found out the truth about her marital status.

  He took a step closer, leaning into her. "I wish I had known that."

  "Me too," Nika whispered, not trusting her voice. If Evan had let his feelings be known before Blake entered the picture, things would be very different today. "But you know I could very well be married. A marriage in the real world is valid even here."

  He paused. He was always saying that Blake's word couldn't be trusted. So he couldn't very well use the argument that Blake said the marriage was never official, now could he? Instead, he went with a different approach.

  "Would a virtual affair really be so against the rules of marriage? You know our real bodies are in separate rooms right now."

  Nika's blush deepened and she shook her head. "It would feel wrong for me. I take things like wedding vows very seriously. Until I can find out whether or not I'm married to that asshole— and get divorced if I am—I'm afraid I'm just not up for an affair of any type. Virtual world or real." She looked down, feeling the heat flood her face. "That's just a part of who I am I guess. Blake called me obstinant and a prude."

  Evan placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face until their eyes met. "You are neither," he said, his voice rough. "Having old-fashioned values in this day and age is part of what makes you so very special. And so very attractive to me. You are a singularity out there, Nika, and please don't change that for anything or anyone." He grimaced. "Even me. As long as I know that the option of you and me exists in the future, I'm more than willing to wait. Another few months won't kill me."

  She gave him a shy smile. "Thanks for that. But if we don't get out of the game..."

  "Oh, we're so getting out," he said. "You've just given wings to my feet, woman. Now let's go get some little monsters."

  Nika laughed. "Deal."

  It didn't take long before they spotted a boxy little creature that kind of looked like a fox over in a small circle of grass amongst the sand. Walking over as quietly as possible, they got close enough to throw the trap. Once they had selected a monster, five traps had mysteriously appeared in the inventory too. But before Nika threw it, she called out her Thunderclap.

  There was no fanfare, no flash, no special graphics at all. He simply wasn't there one second and was the next. Out of the cage, he looked a bit larger.

  He appeared well within sight of the boxy monster which looked up when he appeared out of thin air. Luckily, he didn't run off. Dean had said they did that sometimes. Staying still was a good sign.

  "What now?" Nika whispered.

  "Try the introduction help screens," he suggested.

  She pulled up the help option on her display and there it was, complete instructions for your first battle. Pulling out the monster, which she had done purely on instinct, was the first step.

  Next was choosing an action for it to take. As young and low level as her creature was, there were only two options. Rain Cloud and Recruit.

  "Can you recruit a monster straight out of the gate?" she whispered. "Or do you have to fight it first?"

  "This is when I wish we'd brought one of the others that have actually played the game," he said.

  Nika couldn't agree more, but then again this was the time to make mistakes and learn how the game play worked without witnesses. She hated the thought that she might bring the group down with her inexperience.

  "Okay, then," she said. "Experiment number one. Recruiting without fighting." She selected that option.

  As they watched, Thunderclap walked over to the fox and stopped. They appeared to be having a silent conversation. As the fox still wasn't running away, Nika was taking that as a win.

  Finally, her small creature looked back to Nika and honest to God winked at her. "Did he just..."

  "Yup," Evan said. "I think this is when you throw the trap."

  Oh, yeah, right. She fumbled a bit, but selected the option on her screen and the monster trap landed within inches of the foxy creature. Holding her breath, she waited.

  The fox looked at the trap, back at Thunderclap, and then simply walked in. As soon as the trap’s gate had closed behind him, both monsters appeared in her inventory.

  She grinned over at Evan. "That was so cool. Is that what I missed out on all these years?"

  Evan laughed. "Well, it probably isn't nearly as cool playing the online games, but yeah, I'm starting to think we missed out on a lot of pretty neat games as we concentrated on Gaia's Rebirth."

  Nika sighed. Not that she'd had much say in that matter. Her whole life had been spent getting Gaia's Rebirth ready for this very moment in time. As it had brought her closer to her father, she didn't regret a single minute of it. The time had been well spent.

  That didn't mean there weren't a lot of games she was going to try once she got out of here and got things straightened out. Maybe she could hire Ash as her personal gaming coach. That could be all kinds of fun.

  A few hours, and a few experiments, later they had used all five of their traps. Three times they ha
d been successful, and twice the creatures had managed to get away. They had even seen several of the same creatures over and over again. But once they had one in their inventory, they weren't all that interested in collecting more of them.

  They ended up with a Boxy Fox, a Trident Turtle, and a tiny little one called Munch. Nika couldn't think of a single animal that Munch might have been designed after. It was a very singular creature.

  Singular.

  Wasn't that what Evan had said about her? That she was singular? Instantly she formed an attachment to the little critter, whatever the heck it was.

  And just like that, she understood the mayor's warning that when teams joined, one team had to give up their collected monsters. She really didn't want little Munch going anywhere.

  CHAPTER NINE: Back at the Ranch...

  That night, when Max was ready to clean the penthouse suite, he made sure to stop by the front desk and let Les know. They had figured that way, Les would be sure that the computer would be out of the view of any hidden camera before he entered during his rounds a few minutes later.

  It was all a matter of timing. They were lucky that Cora's crew didn't like to be present while their office was being cleaned. So lunchtime was a perfect time to take care of everything. Of course, Les fully intended to let Max leave the office before installing the mirror chip. This was his big plan, and if they were wrong about the placement of the camera or, heaven forbid, there was more than one camera hidden in the office, he didn't want to take Max down with him.

  After giving Max enough time to clean the office and move the computer, he took the elevator up to the penthouse. It was a little off his normal schedule, but not so much that it should cause anyone to get suspicious.

  Instead of finding the office empty, Max was still there waiting for him. As the elevator pinged, Max stepped out into the hallway where he had left his cart.

  "They only left one computer and I'm sat it on the floor behind Nika's desk. That might be awkward for you, but Mary and I were talking and we really think someone like Cora would have more than one view. We want you hidden while you do your thing."