Ultimatum: The Proving Grounds

by Wade Adrian

  Toby nodded. His eyes were drawn to a few people at the far end of the room on computers, but not using VR. “What are they up to?”

  Paul glanced aside. “Our three functioning GM accounts are trying to keep the whole damn game from imploding. I doubt Miller would let them help us much, so we’re having them continue their normal duties for now. Tickets, people stuck in walls, or who destroyed a quest item. That sort of thing. The rest are running stats to monitor the servers.” He pointed to the projections on the wall. “Trying to keep us appraised of the situation.”

  Toby nodded. “Cool.” There was a map, but it was all greek to him. There was one spot he recognized. “That’s the church?”

  “The Morblina ruins, yes. We’re keeping people logged in there all the time.” There was a light blue circle around the area, in contrast to different colored circles elsewhere on the map. “We’re claiming the territory. We get a lock on the grounds and we’re safe further out. We can have some things built too, if we gather the resources.” He shrugged. “Not a problem for you or me, really. We don’t have time for that sort of thing. But having others work those systems for us will help immensely.”

  “Starting up a sweatshop?”

  “Well… I wouldn’t put it that way.”

  “That’s what it sounds like.”

  He shrugged. “From a certain cynical point of view, sure.”

  Toby grinned. “Only one I got, man.”

  “How terrible for you.” He shook his head and raised his chin at the screen. “There are four GM accounts capable of logging in. Three of those are stations in this room, which makes it pretty simple to guess which one is Miller. We’re keeping tabs on him and making notes every time he pops up. He can do a lot of things, but escaping the monitoring programs isn’t one of them.” He pointed at the map. “Every place he has been seen is marked, but so far… he hasn’t actually done much. Honestly I would prefer he did, just so we would understand what he’s up to. We really only get blips when he uses a GM ability. If he walks somewhere he’s under the radar. If he stands there watching, under the radar. Annoying.”

  Toby tilted his head. “You don’t think he’s trying to blow stuff up?”

  “He was always a bit on the greedy side, but there’s greed and then there’s explosives. Handing over the power to blow up your house to someone else is just foolish. He was never a fool. He might know more than we do about his patrons, of course. There’s the off chance they try something as the feds fear they might. It’s not very likely, but no matter the odds they can’t afford to ignore the possibility. Meanwhile, we are concerned with Miller himself.”

  Toby hadn’t even stopped to consider any of that. “This is all well beyond me.”

  Paul nodded. “But we’ve been tossed into it. So we make due. Can’t just roll over and let him win.”

  “Fuckin’ A.”

  Paul didn’t look away from the screen. “Such a refined young man.”

  “Pfft.” Toby shrugged. “Old enough to vote. Go to war. Buy alcohol and cigarettes.”

  “And how often do you do those things?”

  “Uhh…”

  The door to the pit opened. Amos, er, Jerry was the first to enter and held the door. The rest of group one and their alternates followed him in. Claire was carrying a pizza box and nodded at Paul with narrowed eyes.

  “Uh-huh. I told them you’d be here.” She held the box out. “Mangia, mangia.”

  Paul held up his hands in surrender. “If I must.” He took the box. “Pepperoni. How original.”

  “Feds were not super innovative with their order.” She held out a bag to Toby. “You, too. Mangia.”

  “Whatever that language is, I don’t speak it.”

  “It’s Italian like the pizza. Eat.“

  Jesse rearranged her hair into a ponytail. The bun probably wouldn’t fit under the headset. “She saved you an egg roll. Almost took off Phil’s finger in the process. We might need to update the ‘days without incident’ sign in the break room.”

  Phil shook his head. “Like managing a daycare sometimes.”

  Jerry nodded as he glanced up at the projections. “What’s the plan, boss man?”

  Claire glared at Jerry. Phil had to stop eating to answer him, after all.

  “We’re still behind the experience curve, but with Toby’s help we can probably close the gap and pull ahead. There are no other incidents like what we saw being reported, so we have to assume for now that our bugbear encounter was unique and Miller’s doing.”

  “Bad guy with GM powers. Pretty shiesty.”

  Toby shrugged. “Gave us all a few levels.”

  “True, but you can’t think that was his intention.”

  “Only know what I see. Guy is a stranger to me.”

  Paul nodded. “Whatever he’s up to, it’s hidden from us. I doubt he would try to take us out so early, though. Maybe he meant for us to lose a few members, show us he means business.” He rubbed at his chin. “Regardless, the plan is to head back in when the scouts find something of note.”

  Tim waved at them as he walked up. “Jenkins says he’s got something. They’re scouting it out.”

  Paul nodded. “And there we go.” Paul picked up a second piece of pizza. “Alright, lets get suited up people.”

  They dispersed aside from Paul, who was still devouring his pizza, and Toby who was literally feet from his station.

  The younger man shook his head and kept his voice low. “This doesn’t seem like rich guy behavior.”

  Paul glanced aside at him, his mouth full of pizza. “Oh?”

  “Just hire people to handle it, that’s rich guy behavior. You’re in the thick of this.”

  The older man nodded a few times as he ate. “People used to hang these silly charts up when I took business classes. A ‘leader’ versus a ‘boss.’ It may seem silly but I took the lessons to heart. Without my people I’m nothing. They aren’t cogs because this isn’t a machine. We’re a team. I’m just the public face.” He set the pizza box aside and stood up. “Truth is, if all this goes south I’ll be fine. I have plenty of money. But the company would go under and everyone else here would suffer for that. I’d prefer that didn’t happen. I built this team, and I like my team. So far, you’re on a ride along. Do your best to help with this situation and help my team, and we’ll have no problems.”

  Toby gave a nod. He could understand the sentiment. Him showing up to work was the bright point every day for Mr. Stevens. It was when all the teenagers who just wanted a paycheck went home and he could stop fussing over everything they were probably getting wrong. Toby had considered his work simple, even boring. But that was because he knew it so well he could barely manage to screw it up if her tried.

  And Paul had a team just like that.

  Mr. Stevens would have bailed Toby out of jail tonight if he needed to. Toby had no doubt about that. Paul seemed like the type that took care of his people, too.

  “Go team, rah rah.”

  “Indeed.”

  The church was just as Toby had left it… except that it wasn’t.

  The roof was being repaired. There were new banners emblazoned with crowns hanging on the walls inside. Well, those that didn’t sport windows, which were kind of rare. Chairs had come out of nowhere as far a she could tell. It was turning into a respectable place.

  “Huh. Someone’s been busy.”

  Claire nodded from beside him. “Gotta keep up appearances. Looks like this is Kingsmen territory now.”

  “Uh-huh.” He tilted his head as he looked around. “Wait, I’m ‘in charge,’ right? Cause I’m thinking about dress code. Can we get top hats?”

  “I’m afraid we’re just not that classy, sir.” She inclined her head to the doors where the others were gathering.

  “Damn.”

  He slowly followed her over to the doors where the others were waiting. He didn’t mind making them wait a bit… he was royalty, after all.

  “Good day, my lo
yal peasants. Love what you’ve done with the place. Certainly feeling more in keeping with my station.”

  Paul raised an eyebrow.

  Amos groaned. “So now this is a thing.”

  Tim shrugged. “Took longer than I thought. Besides, we don’t need him forever. One week, then regicide.”

  Toby placed a hand over his heart. “I say. That sounds treasonous, good sir.”

  “Oh, you know it.” Tim rolled a dagger around his fingers. “And you won’t even see it coming. Just bamf. Dead.”

  “Dreadful. Perhaps I shall yet fall on the field of honor.”

  Paul rolled his eyes. “Yeah, about that. We’ve got a location, so we need to get rolling. You can gloat on the way, if you’d like.”

  “Perhaps I shall, should the whim take me.” Toby nodded. He glanced about. “Uh… we’re short? We already alternating?”

  Jesse was missing.

  Paul shook his head. “No. And we won’t rotate Jesse out anyway, she’s a healer.” He pointed down to Toby’s right.

  He looked down to see a wolf seated beside him. It looked back up at him.

  “Woof.”

  He blinked. It had Jesse’s voice. “Oh man, that has got to be disorienting.”

  She laughed. “At first, yeah. You get used to it. It shifts my view down, but its neck is sort of my neck and… you know, I can’t really explain it very well. Trust me, it’s cool.”

  He shook his head repeatedly. “No, no no no. One special displasmoid encounter for me is enough.”

  Claire rolled her eyes. “Spacial dissonance.”

  “Yeah, that.”

  Paul held up a hand. “We’re full. Carol and Bill are already moving to check out the position for us and assist the scouts if needs be. They’re our alternates. When the time comes Tim and Amos will swap out and scout. Everyone up to speed? Good.”

  It took twenty minutes to travel to the location on foot, but they manged to hack at a few monsters along the way to kill time to allow the second group to show up. They were still using the buddy system for groups just in case things got bad. They didn’t know what Miller was up to, but there were plenty of players out there who were up to trying to find and murder them. Made sense to run in numbers. Like wolves. Or girl scouts.

  Carol and Bill were waiting when they finally arrived. She was a mage with a wide brimmed Gandalf hat over her curly brown hair. He was a ranger decked out quite similarly to Amos, though he seemed to favor melee weapons. He only had a short bow on his back and a small quiver that couldn’t have had more than a dozen arrows.

  Paul gave them a nod. “How’s it look?”

  Carol shrugged. “Pretty standard. Bandits on the road here and we scouted their trail back to a lair in some ruins.”

  “Perfect. Reliable experience that shouldn’t be too risky.”

  Tim rolled his eyes. Carol’s eyes shifted to him, but she didn’t say anything. Apparently he wasn’t as on board with safe and routine.

  Bill nodded up the road. “The other group isn’t far behind, and their alternates are already here.”

  Paul turned and gave a wave. “Good. Let’s get rolling. We’ve no time to waste.”

  The bandits on the road had a menacing look. All leather and bandannas like a cheesy spaghetti western. It was the first time Toby had fought human enemies in this game. Until now they had all been creatures of some sort. It wasn’t really different… except that it was. His first attempts at fighting them missed entirely because they moved faster. They blocked more and actively tried to dodge attacks. It made plain just how careless the monsters had been in fights.

  His attacks were slower than most and his intentions more obvious as he held the sword ready to swing with both hands. It was difficult to land blows. He worked with Paul or the others when he could, trying to strike at unaware opponents. When he couldn’t he ended up using the shock wave attack. They thought they were safe outside the reach of his sword, and so were not expecting an attack. It was weaker than his normal strikes, and far weaker than the combos he could build with multiple swings… but it hit them.

  That’s what was important.

  The road was cleared out half an hour later. There were abandoned carriages off the road where the bandits had been keeping their spoils. Or so the scene was made to look. It was unlikely anyone else had been by because the bandits had still been there.

  It was a veritable treasure trove of loot. There was a barbarian only weapon. Ironic.

  The real prize in his eyes was a cloak that added to strength. As soon as he saw it he threw down his dice. Sixteen.

  Paul seemed to consider it, but shook his head. “Stamina is more important for a tank. I keep you people around for damage.”

  Tim shrugged. “Finesse weapons. I use Dex to attack.”

  Jesse tapped a finger against her chin. “I use strength when I attack in animal form.”

  Tim scoffed. “So you’d deny melee DPS of melee DPS gear on the off chance you decide to bite something for sub par damage?”

  “Well… it doesn’t sound great when you put it that way.” She shrugged.

  Toby won the roll with no competition. Which made sense, of course. Had to waste those high rolls when no one else bothered.

  He couldn’t feel the weight of it when he equipped it, but the material in game fell sharply to the ground and was barely stirred by the wind. A gray fur mantle rested about his shoulders while the dark blue cloth beneath it stretched down to, and landed on, the ground. So, it meant to imply it improved strength by being heavy. Now he just needed to train in the hyperbolic time chamber.

  Tim looked it over. “Seems like it expected you to be taller.”

  Paul shook his head. “The length and design implies the weight.”

  “Psh. I know. I was being snarky. Way to ruin it, man.”

  “Way to ruin it, sir.” Paul corrected.

  Carol sighed as she wandered into the clearing. “Is my husband making trouble again?”

  Claire muttered. “Well he is conscious.”

  The mage bowed her head. “Please accept my most heartfelt apologies, and rest assured he will be punished accordingly.”

  Paul nodded. “Of course.”

  Toby walked around in circles kicking up dust as he dragged the cloak. It was a neat little effect.

  Tim looked aside at him and sighed. “Can we move on? Clearly we’re breaking our barbarian’s brain with all of this not killing things.”

  Toby nodded. “No am brain good.”

  Jesse tapped the side of his head. “Yea, but did it ever?”

  “I’m sorry, what’s your intelligence?”

  “Seven.” She shrugged. “But I don’t need it. Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing to leave it out of the fruit salad. And I got all kinds of wisdom. Wisdom for days.”

  Amos shook his head. “Crazy people. I’m surrounded by crazy people.”

  Paul nodded. “Crazy people with a deadline. You can argue on the way.”

  Carol hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “Main bandit camp is that-a-way.”

  “Not for long.”

  10

  The bandit camp in the ruins was surprisingly built up. Surprising to Toby, at least. It looked like they had been at it for weeks, what with walls patched with wood and tiny things like hanging doors with hinges… things people wouldn’t do right away when squatting in an old building.

  Unfortunately, though he could marvel at their home repair acumen, their disposition left much to be desired. There were arrows flying at them long before they got close to the building.

  Further proof of just how mindless the goblins and other monsters had been. The bandits had scouts and were using them.

  Toby rubbed at his chin as he hid behind a tree, arrows whizzing by now and then. The AI might not have much of an approximation of life, but it did a good job of mimicking an organized group trying to protect their home.

  Of course, they were categorically bad, so t
hat didn’t matter. And they were not people, so Toby needed to put that out of his head. Just more mobs.

  They worked their way inward, clearing from the furthest resistance. Scouts lead to ranged guards lead to melee guards lead to bashing at the gate.

  None of the bandits had been any more difficult than the ones out on the road, and with group two pressing the other side of the camp, they couldn’t bring their full force to bear against either group of invaders anyway. The alternates were grouped up again, but with so little resistance people were already talking about sending them out scouting again.

  Not exactly the days of high adventure.

  Until the gate exploded.

  Toby was reintroduced to his old friend spacial dissonance as it took his character a moment to regain his feet several yards back from the gate. Red washed out the world before him. His hit point bar was blinking.

  His stomach didn’t do quite as many flips this time… which was good, as it had been hours since he had eaten the last time. He had a stomach full of pizza now.

  Claire appeared in front of him a moment later. She was talking, but he couldn’t hear her.

  He shook his head.

  She frowned and held out a hand to him.

  The screen’s red tint faded some as white light washed over him.

  “Can you hear me now?”

  “Yeah.” He nodded. “The hell was that?”

  “A trap.” She glanced around at the others getting back on their feet. Tim and Paul had been hitting the gate as well, but they seemed better off. Of course, Paul was a tank decked out in heavy armor and a shield, and Tim was capable of teleporting about at will. Toby, on the other hand… had almost no defensive capability other than a pile of hit points. Which he had nearly exhausted.

  Huh. Paul had been onto something with the stamina points. This might have been the end of his run… on the first damn night.

  More points into stamina would probably be good moving forward. Maybe swap the three two setup.

  Paul seemed concerned as he approached. He lifted his own hand and blue light washed over Toby, sending his screen back to the normal coloring.

  He nodded. “Much obliged.”