But I was dying!
Evidently, you were not. There are some research findings that correlate stress load with false memories. Given recent events, we might hypothesize-
Piss off!
Smorgeous pinged confirmation.
Soul have mercy, am I being punished? Is the Authority haunting me even as I sleep? he wondered.
D_Light lifted his head from the hard ground. His skinsuit was not designed to insulate, and lying outside in the shade had chilled him. He shivered. There was laughter close by, a lilting little chortle. Although the laugh was unfamiliar, the scent that accompanied it-the one he had thought wonderful in the recesses of his uneasy dreams-now filled him with dread. It was painful verification that recent events had not been part of his nightmare.
“Do you always nap like that?” Lily was smiling nearby. She made brushing motions with her hand over her face. D_Light mimicked her, small twigs and bark falling from where they had been embedded in his skin. Indeed, the sedative had done its job. He made a note to Smorgeous to lower the dose next time.
D_Light looked around. Nope, it had not been a dream at all, and therefore his situation was incredibly depressing. He really was a demon hiding in a thicket. Yes, he had been divorced from his family and his point account frozen. And until he sorted this out, assuming he could, he had no chance at immortality. Just another loser crawling toward death, he thought wretchedly.
How is this possible? Decades of kicking ass, and I lose it all? How could the OverSoul do this to me? His present reality seemed surreal, which gave him hope that he might actually be back at the castle having a nightmare right now. He smacked the back of his head on the ground. It hurt.
Having completed this painful test followed by a few others, he reluctantly resigned himself to the fact that he really was awake. “You followed me?” he asked Lily at last.
“Yes,” she answered simply as she gently threw a pinecone at him. It bounced off his chin and she smiled, but it was a sad smile.
D_Light let himself fall back into the needles and twigs. He stared up through the branches above. Rays of sunshine filtered down in a shimmering tapestry of light.
“In ancient times people believed that there were demons that lurked in the forests,” D_Light said. “Well, here we are, a couple of demons in the woods.”
“Not much of a forest,” Lily returned. “And funny, you don’t look much like a demon. Me either, I like to think.” She stood up and walked to the edge of the thicket to peer out.
D_Light maneuvered his body underneath a patch of sunlight, and as he lay there wondering what to do next, Smorgeous’s soft voice pressed into his consciousness. Master, there is a blink summons from Mother Lyra. It is being sent as a high-priority message.
D_Light sighed. Now, on top of everything else, I have her fury to bear, he thought. But what else could he expect? His mother invited him into her exclusive high-stakes game and he promptly abandoned the team without a word and got demonized. She was going to freak out. His only comfort was that he was kilometers from Anywhere now, and so Brian and Amanda couldn’t be ordered to cut his limbs off just yet. It pained him to think that he could have merely done what was simple, what was safe, rather than leap off onto this misadventure of his own design. He could have done the obvious thing and turned in the demon as soon as he realized her status. That would have furnished him with a nice bounty without fuss. But instead, he got greedy. Or maybe it wasn’t about the points-maybe I just wanted to beat the Divine Authority and show everyone how smart I am, he speculated gloomily.
Stop whining, he scolded himself. What’s done is done. Although D_Light did not explicitly give permission to Smorgeous to open the blink, the AI onboard the familiar was good enough to infer the permission.
Mother Lyra’s face materialized before his eyes. The blink did not make her semitransparent or a mere window in the corner of his visual perception; instead, Smorgeous correctly guessed that D_Light wished to focus on the blink, causing the here and now of the forest canopy to blur and be completely replaced by the noblewoman.
I don’t know how you did it, but congratulations! Lyra was beaming with a dazzling smile. I was so right about you! You’re proving to be a FANTASTIC advisor.
Such sincerity in her voice, as if being demonized and hunted down like an animal was not enough. Now she had to kick him with this theatrical sarcasm? Tesla royalty were not known for their compassion, so he could expect no better.
D_Light said nothing, just shrugged and bowed his head. The shrug was not a very respectful gesture to a superior, especially under these circumstances, but D_Light didn’t care. He respected Lyra, but he would not grovel. This was not entirely because he had nothing to lose. On the contrary, there were many degrees of severity for the rehabilitation of a demon. Sure, on one end of the spectrum a demon could be destroyed, but this seemed unlikely for D_Light’s offense. He assured himself there would only be a stiff penalty coupled with some mandatory community gaming, maybe even some counseling.
Lyra did not seem to notice the slight at her son’s shrug. Instead, she laughed-not a cold laugh, but a happy one. This has to be a record, Lyra exclaimed. You accomplished a quest before the rest of us even knew what it was! How did you learn of the next quest so fast?
I…I beg your pardon, Mother. I do not understand. D_Light fell over the words he sent telepathically.
Lyra threw up her arms. You’re a demon, right? The next quest was for one of our party to become a demon. You know, ‘the hunter becomes the hunted,’ the theme of the quest? Imagine our surprise when the quest came up and it said we had already accomplished it! She laughed and pointed off to the side, out of D_Light’s view. My Soul, even Djoser is impressed.
D_Light was dumbfounded. Were they making fun of him? Were they ensuring his trust so they could spring a trap on him to get a bounty? This seemed like too farfetched of a story for that, and he could easily check its validity.
D_Light commanded Smorgeous, Show me the updated MetaGame log.
Immediately, Smorgeous brought up the newest entry. D_Light selected the text version of the entry to keep his audio inputs free for the blink.
The Hunter Becomes the Hunted
After aiding in the capture of a demon, one or more of your party is to become a demon themselves. Be careful! If you are apprehended, you will face the consequences and will likely be out of the game. Tip: Keep your sin as minor as possible. Your participation in this MetaGame will not excuse you from a deadly sin.
The text flashed green, and underneath the quest entry appeared the text “Quest Accomplished.”
Lyra’s voice cut in. By the way, you need to answer your BRs. I was trying to reach you all morning. You were busy, I presume?
Yes, escaping the authorities and all, he answered.
She winked at him. So tell me now, how did you do it?
D_Light hesitated, still in shock. Huh, well, there must have been a glitch or something. I must have received the quest before the rest of you. Better to be lucky than good, they say.
Better to be lucky AND good, I say. Lyra winked again. Why in Soul’s name didn’t you tell us what you were up to?
Like I said, I was doing a lot of running and such.
Lyra chuckled to herself and shook her head. So where are you, handsome? We’ve been trying to locate you, but your beacon is turned off. Now I know why. We need to hook up and prepare for the next quest.
D_Light gave his coordinates. Upon receiving them Lyra exclaimed, Damn, you did do some running! I think we’ll grab a transport. See you soon. The blink cut out.
“Yes!” D_Light exclaimed as he made a fist and pumped his arm. He was about to start whooping ecstatically when he remembered the warning in the quest log about being caught; he was still a real demon.
Instead, he ran straight at Lily with the intent of embracing her, whirling her around, and maybe planting a few kisses on her exquisitely chiseled face, but she dodged to the side and, with one
arm, swept him along over her outstretched leg. He tripped completely over her leg and crashed violently into the brush, his face narrowly missing the trunk of a tree. A bit befuddled and even more embarrassed, D_Light sat up. “Hey, I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I was going to give you a kiss!” D_Light was sure he looked idiotic, but he didn’t care.
Her eyes were wide, and she stood in a defensive stance, similar to how she looked when the spanker had attacked her earlier that same morning. “I do not wish to mate with you,” she stated matter-of-factly.
Upon hearing this, D_Light laughed with abandon and pounded the dirt with his fists, sending up a cloud of dust and pine needles. “I think you’re cute, but I don’t just run up to women and start mating with them. That’s never panned out for me.” He laughed some more.
Lily did not seem to get the joke entirely, but she laughed anyway. It was contagious. “You are-” she squished up her face and shrugged her shoulders. “You are a rather unusual male, I think.”
CHAPTER 19
Treva, the seeker, sniffed the floor of the spanker ghetto hallway on her hands and knees like a dog. This was fitting since her olfactory system was actually inspired by dogs-inspired by, but then improved upon, one thousand times over.
With a sense of smell so much more powerful than her human-like eyesight, she saw the world much more with her nose than her eyes, and Treva did not like the view. The tasty male and female she had been imprinted with had vanished to be replaced by the scouring chemical residue of the cleaning bots.
Nearly as unsavory as the smell of the detergents was the leftover metallic, greasy stench of the sniffers. These pathetic machines had originally been tasked with finding the meat-puppets, but thankfully they had been sent away so Treva could work alone and undisturbed-as a seeker must.
Treva inhaled again. Nothing, not a trace! She stood and stretched her long, sinuous muscles. Although her olfactory system was modeled after a dog’s, her musculature was more or less derived from the feline family-an irony completely lost on Treva. The cat in her enabled lightning reflexes and speed. Unfortunately, these fast-twitch muscles now burned with pent-up energy. She wanted to resume the hunt so bad!
A couple smiled and nodded to Treva as they passed. Treva nodded back, but she was careful not to return the smile. She always kept her short, razor-sharp fangs hidden from those who were not prey.
Seekers were trained to keep a low profile and genetically engineered to blend into the populace. She appeared to be a mundanely attractive woman. Too beautiful and she would be noticed, but too ugly (or even average by old-world standards) and she would likewise stand out. She had a typical pandectic appearance-dark hair that fell down her back in two thick braids, pretty brown eyes, and moderately dark skin.
Anyone who grokked her would find her name and a terse biography in the Cloud, which spoke of her introverted personality and love for long runs. Professionally, she was a level sixty-six player who preferred grinder games related to chemi product testing, mostly lotions and perfumes. All this was a fabrication created by the house that owned her, in cooperation with the Divine Authority, to which she was often of service.
For those few who spoke to her, they did not find her eloquent, witty, or a good listener. Nevertheless, she still passed as human-albeit awkwardly at times. Few, upon meeting her, would feel compelled to invite her to a party or on a date, but that was of no concern to Treva, who only desired the hunt.
And now she had a terrible hunger, a hunger only to be satisfied by those she was imprinted with.
She took a step, leaned back down, and inhaled another slow breath. She concentrated harder this time. Her brain processed the millions of scent threads, ignoring the irrelevant, sifting for just the two. Even clones-genetically identical-could be distinguished from one another through scent. The scent threads of her prey were unique.
Tracking clones was one of the training techniques her masters used. In her early training days, they would not let her feed on what she hunted-cloned products were expensive to raise to adulthood, and it would be a sin to waste them.
But her masters were not here now, and occasionally her nature got the best of her. A few months ago she had tracked a runner to a mall where, it being a public place, he’d assumed he was safe from immediate execution. But this runner did not appreciate the intensity of Treva’s hunger. The runner had been elusive, so by the time she caught up with him, she could no longer contain herself; the poor soul was very publicly torn apart.
Because there were many witnesses, her image was suddenly everywhere in the Cloud. Subsequently, Treva had to undergo some plastic surgery and gene therapy to change her biological signature and restore her anonymity-but only after she was severely punished.
She took another step and inhaled deeply again. The cleaner that had sanitized the area had done the job well, but she had picked up a faint trace. She could not identify the direction yet. Ah yes, tender ones, I’ll have you soon, she thought.
CHAPTER 20
Lily watched the humans as they performed their peculiar ritual. Three of them, D_Light included, were arranged in a circle. They did not speak, but instead made hand gestures and occasionally laughed, winked, nodded, or tapped their feet. Lily knew all the real communication was telepathic. Nevertheless, she thought they looked silly in their silent speech. They reminded her of children playing a strange game of their own invention, rather than the masters of the universe that humans fancied themselves to be.
There were two others near the circle, but facing outward, ever so watchful. The pair was bristling with weapons. The male one looked at Lily only intermittently while scanning the rest of the surroundings, but the female allowed her gaze to linger on her as though probing.
Lily reminded herself that she had to be insane to remain with this pack of eccentric “players,” as they called themselves. If he were alive, Todget would be horrified and perhaps profoundly disappointed to know she was putting such trust in the enemy-perhaps the very ones who were responsible for his death. It was then that Lily had to admit to herself that her trust was not founded in a genuine hope for safety, as D_Light would have her believe, but out of simple curiosity…and something else. Intuition?
It was customary to have an intermission between each quest in a MetaGame. This allowed players to rest and regroup between challenges. Also, it was thought that this pause gave time for the next quest to be chosen for them by the artificial intelligence software or whatever was running the MetaGame. D_Light had been a little afraid that the others would turn him in during the intermission. After all, the quest did not say that those of the party who became “demonized” had to remain in the party. However, he hoped that this was inferred. Besides, had he not proven himself a valuable asset? Still, moving forward with a demon in the party was bound to be problematic. The others might be demonized as well for aiding and abetting him. They were taking a big chance, and so it came as no surprise to D_Light that when the party reunited, the topic of who stayed and who went immediately came up. D_Light, Lyra, and Djoser opened a conference blink.
Djoser began. It’s one thing to bring you back into the party, but her? I mean no offense, D_Light, in case you’ve taken a liking to that girl, but she’s an additional risk. Besides, you cannot add a member to the party. It is against the rules. Djoser crossed his arms to signal that the conversation was over.
Lyra smiled smugly. Actually, read the rule again. Lyra then shared a text visual of the rule to which she was referring.
MetaGame Rule #11: You may lose a member of your party at any time for any reason, including death or incapacitation, without being dropped from the game. You may not replace or add another member to the party unless doing so directly accomplishes a quest.
Well? Lyra threw up her arms. D_Light became a demon because he helped this girl, Lily, right? Because he took Lily with him-because she joined him-he became a demon, and becoming a demon was the quest. Her addition to the party was a natural byprod
uct of the game.
D_Light added, A rather ingenious way to add a member to the party, if I may say so myself. D_Light patted himself on the shoulder and grinned. He preferred to let the rest of them think he had planned it all out this way. Djoser looked mildly amused, but his smile seemed to suggest, “Don’t push it.”
Fine, and what does this girl bring to the table? Djoser asked while raising his eyebrows.
D_Light anticipated this question and answered without hesitation. She’s in good shape. She can run like hell. She seems to be able to defend herself pretty well. She adapted to the spanker world really fast, so I think she’s got a good head on her shoulders. Most importantly, she’s been a demon for a while and never got caught. She’s bound to know a few tricks to keep us free and clear.
Lyra frowned. I thought you helped her escape. D_Light had briefed the others on the events earlier that morning while they journeyed to their rendezvous location.
Yeah, I don’t think she knows much about the Game, D_Light said. She needed someone like me who could log her into a spank game so she could blend in. But she knows how to live outside the Game, and that’s something none of us really know, right?
What is her deal anyway? Djoser asked. Is she a sideliner or something? Maybe a product? There’s something off about her.
D_Light knew what Djoser meant. She doesn’t have the markings of a product. So, yeah, my best guess is she’s a sideliner, but she hasn’t said anything.
Have you asked her? Djoser asked.
Of course, replied D_Light, but I think she’s been a demon for a while, so she’s learned to not blather.
Lyra nodded and took a deep breath. We don’t have time to explore her life history right now. We need to get going before the Authority catches up. We can learn more about her on the road. If something doesn’t jive, we ditch her, no problem. Besides, if at the end of this game we can’t fix her demon status, you know…
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