Change (The Stork Tower Book 3)

by Tony Corden

  “Y’sam Ejderhasi did not abandon you, he was killed thousands of years ago when protecting the continent from a killer meteor. I have his daughter as a companion. Let me ask and see if she is willing to provide some blood for you.”

  Leah removed Mìng’s statue and willed her into being. Mìng was now over nine metres in length and filled half the glade. Leah spoke in Dragon tongue and said, “Mìng, this is the Dryad Larva for a Dragonblood tree. Your father created their race and shared his blood with them to give them strength. His absence and the presence of predators has weakened them and brought them low. Are you willing to give some blood to help restore your father’s creatures?”

  Mìng stared at the larva for some time then said, “I am. One drop of blood and a Life Spell of Binding to help her grow. The spell is in Father’s book.”

  Leah took the book out and found the spell, it was just within her capabilities and would require almost all her Mana. She talked with Mìng about the process and finally turned to the Larva and said, “First, this is Mìng, and she has agreed to continue her father’s help. This spell includes your name. Apparently, Y’sam Ejderhasi named each dryad during its planting. Do you have a name chosen?”

  “No. Please, will you or the Lady Mìng please choose one?”

  Leah and Mìng discussed possible names for a few minutes, and then Leah said, “Mìng has chosen the name Y’nil Enme. In Dragon tongue, it means ‘renewal’. When you are ready, please stand over your seed, and we will do what we can.”

  The Larvae moved to the centre of the circle, and her legs began to sink into the soil. Mìng used a claw to pierce the flesh of her upper lip. Then she reached over and kissed the top of the Larva’s head. Leah began to speak the words of the Life Spell. Dark green mana began to form over the Larva’s head and slowly began to revolve like a miniature tornado. Leah continued to speak the words and the mana suddenly hardened into a spike of Life Energy and drove down into the Larvae, moving through her and into the soil. The Larva was dragged under with the mana and the ground closed behind her.

  World Quest: Restore a Lost Race

  Atherleah (Level 268) You have healed and planted a Dragonblood Dryad. To ensure the race has a large enough population to survive you are tasked with:

  1. Heal and help plant the remaining Dryad Larvae in this valley.

  2. Ensure their survival by removing the valley’s apex predators, the Elfauns.

  Difficulty: Very Hard

  Rewards if Successful:

  1. 10,000 EP for each Dryad planted

  2. Receive a World Achievement

  Consequences of failure: Dragonblood Dryads will cease to exist in Dunyanin.

  Leah sat down with a thump, completely drained of mana and stamina. She took a restore potion and then turned to Mìng and said, “Thank you. I appreciate your help. Would you like me to heal your lip?”

  “Already healed, I am a Life Dragon.”

  Leah chuckled, “That you are, Mìng. I’ve a quest to help the other Larvae in this area. Are you willing to help?”

  “Yes. Fifty-eight in the valley. But first, I am hungry.”

  “Fifty-eight! Can you sense them?”

  “Yes. Also, sense food and enemies.”

  “Is the food at a low enough level for you to hunt? Are the enemies far enough away?”

  “I can hunt. Enemies are not close.”

  “All right, you go off and hunt. I’ll stay here. Please return soon as I need to log out in about an hour, and I don’t want to leave you here with the Elfauns around.”

  Mìng headed into the undergrowth, and without a sound, she disappeared. Leah sat down and began to think through her options. She wanted to restore the Dryads but wasn’t keen to spend too long in the valley. Suddenly there was a flash of light, and a woman appeared dressed in a suit and holding a clipboard.

  She said, “Ms Carroll. I am a representative of the Dunyanin Administrators and Developers. You are not supposed to be in this valley at this time. If you studied the clues properly you would know you were not asked to restore the Dryads but to help the Elfauns. Also, claiming the Elfaun city is a challenge for later in the Merkize Odyssey. If you complete the tasks in an order different than the clues then we cannot effectively control the media opportunities. The Elfaun companions are not due for release to the public for several months and we are still having some coding issues. Now leave, we will edit your entry into this valley out of the feed. Don’t jump ahead again.”

  “Who are you?”

  “I am a representative of the Dunyanin Administrators and Developers. That is all you need to know.”

  “Where is Emil?”

  “Mr Riverton is on Administrative leave. I have taken on some of his casework. Most of it revolves around you and the mess you’ve made everywhere you go. I am tempted to begin the proceedings to have your account suspended.”

  Leah stared at her for several moments and then based on some relayed advice from Stephen she said, “I see. Well, Ms Representative. First, you are ruining my gameplay. My lawyer is currently writing to the Dunyanin administrators to complain.

  “Next, you have revealed the answer to some clues to me that give me an advantage over the others. My lawyer is writing to the Dunyanin administrators to explain that this has happened and that I suggest the balance be restored by revealing the meaning of similar clues to the other contestants or by changing some material on my disc.

  “Finally, you have either overstepped your authority, and you have no right to tell me to leave a playing area, or you are cancelling my membership. As you are here as a representative and as you have threatened me with suspension then I will assume I am being removed from the world. Such a decision made by the Dunyanin Administrators should be preceded by written notification according to the terms of agreement I signed when entering Dunyanin. My lawyer is drawing up a civil action against the Dunyanin Administrators for breach of contract.”

  The woman stared at Leah for several moments then faded from view. Leah called out, “Mìng if you hear me I need to go now. Please return.”

  Several minutes later and Mìng stepped out of the forest. She had the carcass of a small creature in her mouth. She quickly finished the meal, and Leah turned her into a statue. As she put Mìng in her bag, there was a flash of light and two men, one human and one elven appeared. As they stepped forward to talk, Leah stared at them for a moment then she logged out.

  End of Book 3

  Excerpt from 'Rescue' Book 4 of the Stork Tower

  Leah arrived back in the Tower to find both Sharon and Stephen still in residence. She said, “Have you two left or are you still here from five hours ago?”

  Sharon replied, “I haven’t left. Stephen did, but he returned over an hour ago. We’ve been trying to get Dunyanin to make a statement on the integrity of their servers and game AI, but they’ve basically ignored us. I have some statements for release that you need to approve.”

  “Does it really matter? It is just a game. I’m not really hurt in any way, why not let it slide?”

  Sharon said, “You can’t! This is no longer just a game. Dunyanin has made your gameplay and the gameplay of the others in the competition into a worldwide media event. Big money is riding on the outcome and even on your everyday activities within the game. The other major gaming platforms are already gearing up to win back the large number of people defecting to Dunyanin. A shake-up like this hasn’t happened in over a decade. You are popular at the moment and what you do and how you react will affect the direction of change. If you don’t maintain your positive profile now, then you’ll find it hard to get it back, and that will change every aspect of your virtual existence. For example, if you are vilified by the press and by Dunyanin then you could lose your support at MIT. It shouldn’t happen but it very well could.”

  “I see. Can it wait until we have all had a break?”

  “Yes. You have nine more Dunyanin hours before the feed goes public. You need to have a statemen
t ready for when that happens, and you must be ready to answer questions. I suggest you give permission for me to let one or two journalists know something big is coming and prep them beforehand. They’ll respond by giving you airtime to explain your side of the story.”

  “What if Dunyanin doesn’t show what happened?”

  “That’ll be worse. In the absence of a feed or facts, people will just make stuff up.”

  “Stephen?”

  “I agree with Sharon. You need to get your story out first and have Dunyanin and others scrambling to verify. If they speak first, then you are left scrambling. My only suggestion would be that you give Dunyanin a lifeline. Don’t back them into a corner. Big corporations like being given a way out. As for Merideath, I wouldn’t mention her at all. You can’t prove she was involved except by airing the threat. The police will be all over your facility, and you know as well as I do that she’ll weasel her way out of that simply by saying Son_of_Aulë is a deranged individual or something like that. Instead, portray her as irrelevant.”

  “I can be back in twenty real-minutes. I’d like to head to church with my mum but that is right on the time the feed starts. Are you sure I need to be available? Could it wait?”

  Sharon shook her head and said, “I don’t think so. Over a half-a-billion people watched segments of the first few days of live feed, and that number is growing. The clip of you being accused of ordering the slaughter of women and children will go viral, as will your execution of Son_of_Aulë as a vampire. The fact that he exonerates you and that you save the Forge may not register unless we help people see the facts. We need to help people see these things, and you need to be the one to help them.”

  “I’ll give tentative approval but which journalists will you contact?”

  “Lisa Wilks from The Virtual World Today and Mark Stevens from DMR Interactions.”

  “Why them? They are big names. Why would they be interested?”

  “They have shown an interest in the whole Merkize promotion and both have already interviewed several of the other contestants.”

  Gèng appeared and said, “I suggest you also find a Chinese journalist and a Russian. Both Yuè_Fēi_Lóng and Боевой_молот have mentioned Atherleah in their interviews in a positive way. A substantial percentage of those who watch Leah come from these locations. It would be useful to keep them onside.”

  Sharon nodded and said, “That is a brilliant suggestion Gèng, I need to increase my vision and my understanding of the audience base. Let me do some work and arrange several interviews. Leah, will you release your personal feed of today and your feed of two weeks ago? Those will prove you weren’t near Clan Molven that day.”

  “Where was I?”

  Gèng replied, “According to the event as described in the various forums you were in that place we can’t mention. You were in the place with all the loot behind the locked door.”

  “Sorry Sharon, I’ll release today’s footage, but I can’t release the actual footage for the time in question. I can give you the hours before and the hours after but that particular time is not available. I can prove I was half a continent away before and after.”

  “It won’t be enough. Everyone knows you can teleport.”

  Stephen interjected, “Why can’t you show us?”

  “I agreed to keep that part of my time in Dunyanin a secret.”

  “Is the timing a coincidence?”

  “It’d have to be. Meredith didn’t even know my name back then. Well, she did, but she didn’t realise what I’d done yet.”

  “Do I need to know as your lawyer?”

  “I doubt it. I don’t think it’s germane to our discussions.”

  “Do I need to know as your public relations consultant?”

  “Definitely not, you’d find it too juicy not to share.”

  Sharon said, “Unfortunately, now I know about it it’ll drive me crazy not knowing. Either way, this means we’ve lost one of our best proofs. Can we meet back here in half-an-hour to run through what you can and can’t say?”

  Leah nodded, and after a few more minutes she logged out to have breakfast with her family.

  As Leah exited the Pod, she said, “Gèng, could you see if John is free for a chat after breakfast? I’ll also need to talk to Jimmy and give him a heads-up. Can you check with Akia and see if she has any suggestions?”

  “John asked if it is urgent and I said it was. Jimmy was awake and is expecting your call whenever you are free. Akia will not tell me her suggestion. I believe she will tell you if pushed.”

  “I’m not ready to push her into an answer just yet. I know that when I think it best to keep something to myself, then it usually is. When people make me speak when I don’t want to then others usually are hurt by my words.”

  Lin and Michael were already eating, and Leah joined them. After the usual pleasantries she said, “Dad, mum, I received another threat today. It was made clear that unless I agree to return something to the Kodomans by sometime after eleven tonight that they will begin pressuring me in the real world. They referenced mum’s church, and I think they’ll try and harm or abduct someone in the family.”

  Michael sat up straighter and said, “What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know. I’d like to say I’ll resist the pressure because I truly believe what they want is data that will affect the lives of a lot of people. The problem is I still haven’t worked out what the data is, and I’m not willing to risk any of my family.”

  Lin said, “Do we have a say in what you do?”

  “Of course! I need advice, and I want it from both of you. The burden I feel though is that, in the end, it is my responsibility.”

  Lin nodded and said, “In that case, our advice, and here I speak for both of us, our advice is that you decode the data and help stop those people from hurting others. We will take precautions, but we will not be intimidated anymore than you will.”

  Leah’s dad grinned and said, “Your mother answered for both of us because she is a good Christian woman. My answer would have been far more colourful. It would be the same message just far more adjectival. You go stop them, my girl.”

  Leah brushed a stray bit of moisture from the corner of her eye and said, “There is more.” She then shared what had happened during that morning and what plans were in place to counter the most likely outcomes. When she had finished, she waited for a response.

  Her parents were quiet for some time, and then Michael said, “Nothing changes. You go and do what you must. We’ll be ready. I suggest you find some way to broadcast your interview to the people in the Switch. They don’t have access to the virtual news.”

  Leah gave them each a hug and then left to see John. Her talk with him was along the same lines, and she received a similar response. He agreed to increase surveillance and to plan a lockdown of the facility later in the day. Together they worked on some additional security options to help protect Leah’s family. Finally, Leah called Jimmy and explained what had happened and what the plans were. He said, “When you get this data what will you do with it?”

  “I don’t know. It depends on what it is I suppose. But I know that look on your face Jimmy, and the answer is a definite ‘No’. If there is something to be made from it, then I might share it with you, but I won’t simply hand it over to you. You and I both know that if there is a potential for massive financial gain, then your conscience has a holiday.”

  “Sadly, my girl, I resemble that remark, much to my chagrin. Over the years my avarice has lost me many friends. But just so you know, I’ve always wanted more than the Switch, just like you. It’s not so much that I want the money, but I guess I still want out.”

  “You have enough to leave.”

  “I know, but then I’d lose the power.”

  “You’ll get no sympathy from me, Jimmy. What you don’t realise is that you have more than power and money. People in the Switch respect you, they look up to you, and they do that without blinkers. We a
ll know you’re a scheming, controlling, money-grabbing, low-life gang lord, but we also know that buried under all that avarice is a heart that cares what happens in the Switch and a mind that tries to decipher a path to benefit others as well as yourself.”

  “Leah, you need to work harder on your skills as an encourager, and while I’m touched by your heartfelt suggestion, I will have you know I am not a low-life gang lord: I am a superior gang lord.”

  “That you are Jimmy Loo, that you are. Look, I have to go, but I wanted you to know what was happening and what my plans were.”

  “Thank you! I'll see what I can do to arrange a way for some of the more influential people in the Switch to listen to your interview. They won’t be able to experience it, but I might be able to arrange an audio feed. Be careful.”

  When she had finished the call, she hurried back inside to log in and discuss her options with Sharon and Stephen.

  When Leah arrived in the Tower, she walked through to her garden and sat to meditate. She needed to find a place of calm. She had been there for just under twenty minutes when Gèng said, “Excuse me Leah, Sharon and Stephen will be arriving shortly.”

  Leah nodded and stood. Slowly she walked to the central area and sat on her sofa. She continued to breathe carefully and to stay focused and calm. Moments later the two arrived like a whirlwind to blow her sense of calm away.

  Sharon said, “It’s arranged. I contacted Virtual World Today and DMR Interactions; both are interested. They had media contacts in both the Russian Federation and China. All the groups are interested in sharing an interview with you. Everyone wanted the live coverage, and it was looking brutal until I suggested they could share the interview. It took a bit of wrangling, but finally, all agreed to have a joint interview to be broadcast from the Virtual World Today Studios.”

  “What, all of them?”

  “Yep. They are trying to get several of the other contestants to join in and get feedback on how contestants feel about each other.”