by Harper North
“Stop.”
A raspy man’s voice echoes from the gloom straight ahead. I do as he says and stop. He doesn’t show up on my map, but I draw my Rifle and train my Scope on a transparent, shimmering figure who steps out from what seems to be a large room at the end of this tunnel. There’s no name above him like a normal NPC, and the bluish cast over him tells me that he’s a hologram. An AI left here from long ago. He looks older with blue skin and long, dark, graying hair. A plain brown robe, adorned with more of the alien symbols, hangs on his thin body.
“Greetings,” he says. “I am Nmorg, the last surviving member of the Maxa. Well, I was. If you’re seeing me as a hologram, then I’ve died.” He smiles. “The computer should be able to translate the Maxa tongue to yours. My apologies if it is not up to the task. It hasn’t been updated in . . . oh, a few millennia.”
“I’m Raven,” I say. “I’m here for the Ancient Eye.”
But this guy looks every inch like the wise old man archetype. I smell another mission coming. They always have one.
“Ah, the Ancient Eye,” Nmorg says with a smile. “You have proven your physical mettle, have you not? Otherwise, you would have never made it this far. You’re one of only a few to do so.”
“Now I have to prove my mental mettle, right?” I ask, heart sinking.
“How did you know?”
“You look like the type of guy who’s about to ask me questions or make me solve a puzzle or two.”
“Didn’t your parents ever tell you not to judge a book by its cover?” He smiles.
“I’ve never heard that saying.”
Nmorg paces, shimmering. “The Ancient Eye was invented by the last surviving Maxa to spy on their longtime enemies, the Golgans. It can see far and wide, and can train on anyone that you personally know. But the Golgans activated their death device to rip apart the universe, and all to appease their deities to earn passage to whatever realm they believed they could enter after dying. A twisted religion, if you ask me. The Humans and Merans were barely able to activate The Binding in time, or we would all be very dead.”
“What do I have to do?” I ask.
“Answer me three questions,” he says.
I want to scream.
“Oh, don’t give me that look,” he says, teasing. “The challenge is a simple one. Far simpler than dealing with our failed experiments. But I must provide a warning first. You now stand on a laser that will slice you in half, if you fail all three questions. If you die in this map, you may not try again for one full month.”
“Excuse me?” I look down to see a line running across the corridor’s floor where the laser will come out, if I fail.
“Stepping off that spot will automatically disqualify you too. We must ensure that the Eye does not fall into the wrong hands,” Nmorg says. “It is very powerful and could be used for nefarious purposes. Now, first question. On which planet was The Binding developed? You have thirty seconds.”
A timer appears below my health bar.
I’ve studied plenty of in-game story but have never heard which planet the Human/Meran team built The Binding—only that the two races worked together to place it on the rip in space time before it spread too far. Many of them died to do it. Until now, I hadn’t realized a third race might have had a hand in developing it. “The Maxa planet?” I ask.
Nmorg shakes his head. “Incorrect,” he says with a tsk. “It is true that the Maxa developed it, but what happened was that we passed our grand invention to the other races as the Golgans worked to destroy our race. We slipped it out of our labs under their huge noses, so to say. And we developed it on the moon Tella.”
“Good to know,” I say, eyeing the slit in the floor. I lower my voice. “Hermit?”
“Second question.” He’s not wasting time. Nmorg waves his hands and three glowing, alien symbols appear before him, all of which belong to the mystery language on the walls all around me. “What do these symbols mean?”
“Are you kidding me?” I ask.
“Wrong,” he says.
“But that wasn’t an answer,” I say. Nmorg has no mercy.
“These three symbols are the virtues of the Maxa race,” he explains. “Piety, Service, and Sacrifice. To the Maxa—”
“Hermit,” I growl as he speaks.
“—and we gave our lives protecting the universe and to wipe out the Golgans,” he finishes.
Then The Hermit speaks. “Uncovering information on the Maxa is difficult. It is buried deep in this world’s code and only decipherable by a select few intelligences. I have meditated—”
“Third question.” Nmorg claps his hands together. “What energy supplies The Binding with power?”
“I have done much reflection on The Binding,” The Hermit says as I watch that timer count down. “It is dark energy, abundant in the universe, that keeps The Binding from turning off.”
“Dark energy!” I shout, bracing myself for the dreaded message that I’ve fallen in battle.
But it doesn’t come. Instead, Nmorg’s eyes widen and he steps aside.
“The Eye is yours,” he says. “Please, take good care of it.”
I want to kiss The Hermit. But instead, I bolt into the dark. Green ceiling lights turn on as I do and a metal door I hadn’t seen before slides up to allow me access to a large room within. I leave the holographic Nmorg behind as my gaze lands on another old computer terminal, this one even dustier than the one back in the ancient city. Taking Lucky’s lead, I open the bottom panels until I find what I’m looking for.
A perfect glass sphere, giving off an eerie green light. It’s warm to the touch as I pick it up.
Green text bursts to life in my vision.
New Achievement! The All-Seeing Eye.
Careful! What is seen cannot be un-seen.
Placing the Eye in my inventory, I run back out the way I came to make the long trek back to the Save Station. On the way, I activate my comm and tell my cluster that we’re in business.
My saving grace is that Betsy has left tracks in the sand and, although they’re faint, they’re still present enough for me to follow. The robots don’t re-emerge from the sand when I leave the underground, so I loot the corpses of my clustermates and message Coco_Dream that I’ve rescued her Blaster Mod. It was the right thing to do. Then I follow the tracks all the way back to The Rat Race. Everyone meets me there. And from the row of vehicles, we run back to our Jump Pods and travel toward that thick jungle region, where TheBigGuy is hopefully still getting fanned by his NPC’s.
I give the others a rundown of what happened while we fly. All four of us can fit into one Jump Pod, so there’s no waiting once we arrive back at the landing pad nearby the black market. The place is empty when we enter. Perhaps it’s work time on Earth and most people can’t log on. The emptiness is creepy, but I press on, putting the Rare Artifacts in my hotbar as I march through TheBigGuy’s door and find that, in fact, two of the NPC’s are waving ornate fans in his direction. Another one brings him yet another drink. His golden suit shimmers in the yellow light.
“Ah, have you given up?” he asks me.
I respond by placing the two Artifacts on his table, keeping them close to me. “A deal’s a deal,” I say. “I get passage to Earth in real life and fifteen thousand credits to top it off.”
His reaction is priceless. TheBigGuy studies the Eye and the Replica as if he can’t believe it. His mouth falls open. I wait for him to drool, but it doesn’t happen. The others wait while he makes his decision.
“It looks like you’ve got yourself a deal,” he says. “I have a lot more work for you and your cluster if you want it. How does that sound? We could make a killing.”
“I only want to get to Earth and get my credits,” I say, standing over the Artifacts in case he wants to steal them. “You do that and you get these devices.” It pains me to give up such items.
“Done.” TheBigGuy claps, and a message in my log tells me that fifteen thousand credits have been ad
ded to my account. It also warns me that my Binding subscription renews in two weeks and asks me if I’d like to pay for a rotation’s worth right now for ten whole credits off. Greedy ICC.
“And the passage to Earth?” I ask.
“It will be arranged,” TheBigGuy says. “I will commission a shuttle for you as soon as I log off. All you need to do is visit a Travel Terminal on Mera. And yes, I will put in a word to shield your transactions from the ICC. I know a person or two capable of doing some behind the scenes work.”
“Thank you,” I say, hoping he keeps his word. If he didn’t, people would stop coming to him for work, right?
Coco_Dream gives me a thumbs-up. I return it. It must be an Earth gesture that means something good. I need to talk to my clustermates before logging out to deal with real life stuff. I wave GloryStealer and Vadie out as the NPC’s close in to pamper TheBigGuy again.
“Well, that went well,” Vadie says. “For you.”
“Next raid, you guys get all the spoils,” I say. “I’ll even let you have my XP.” That also hurts but it’s the right, honorable thing to do. “Deal?”
Vadie thinks as the four of us walk through the empty black market. The silence is unbearable. Something doesn’t feel right here.
Coco_Dream seizes my arm and pushes me back. “Oh, no.”
Then I see.
Standing in the doorway, blocking our way out to the jungle, is a large figure in pure black armor and a visor in the same shade.
A Master Admin.
Master_Admin578.
“Stop,” he orders in a deep, authoritative voice.
We don’t have a choice. GloryStealer asks what the heck that is and Vadie stays silent. But it’s clear Coco_Dream is aware of how serious this is.
I move my limbs, ensuring that they aren’t frozen. This Admin doesn’t have a need to freeze us. Behind us is a dead end. The only way out is past him.
“An informant has provided the ICC of your in-game location,” the Admin says. “We have been searching for you, Raven_Vex, but we have been unable to track you in-game. We are very interested in why as well as to determine your connection to a wanted combatant of the game.”
“An informant?” I ask.
“Lucky,” Coco_Dream says with hate. “He’s going to need a name change when I find him.”
“It was indeed Lucky_Champ who gave us valuable information in exchange for an upgraded life in the real world,” the Admin explains with no emotion. “He will receive a promotion to a better job and, in addition, he will receive a new player identity with perks not available to regular players. Raven_Vex, you are to come with me. Do that, and your clustermates will not be harmed in the real world. They will merely be reset to Level 1 avatars.”
“What?” GloryStealer asks. “What did we get into?”
Vadie glares at me, questions burning.
This is my fault.
Coco_Dream stands in front of me. “Go!” she shouts. “Find your friend and get out of here!” She draws her Blaster and fires on the Master Admin.
“I shall deal with you in the real world,” the Admin says to her, stepping forward and closing one fist. Blaster fire bounces off him without harm. He raises his fist and, as I turn away, Coco_Dream’s avatar snaps to swirling ones and zeros.
I’ve seen this before.
He’s erasing her existence from the game.
But I run. There’s only one place to go and it’s back into TheBigGuy’s chamber. There’s no fighting a Master Admin, and I’m sure they know The Hermit’s tricks by now.
TheBigGuy is in the middle of eating a grape an NPC puts in his mouth when I burst in.
“What did I just see?” GloryStealer asks. He and Vadie trail me.
“The ICC is here,” I state.
TheBigGuy rises from his chair with amazing speed. “Then you need to go.”
“The Admin’s at the door,” Vadie tells him. “I don’t know what’s going on, but—”
TheBigGuy rushes over to the stone wall and presses in one of the rocks. A door swings open, revealing a blue Jump Pod sitting in a small cylinder. He even has his own private transportation. “Get in,” he orders. “I’ll do what I can to hold off the Admin. I have some weight to throw around. But it’s a one-seater. Get in. Now!”
I can’t log off or the Admins will wait for me here. Without a choice, I climb into the Jump Pod as the door opens. TheBigGuy slams it behind me as GloryStealer asks once again what that thing was and Vadie tells him that I got their cluster into the biggest mess of their lives.
CHAPTER 10
I BARELY HAVE time to catch my breath or plot Lucky_Champ’s death as TheBigGuy’s Jump Pod rises and hums. Almost as soon as it’s in the air, the Pod quiets and descends again. I get the sense this thing is hacked. This Jump Pod doesn’t have the map of Planet Yaren or the other worlds as the others in the game do. It’s simply a couple of seats and meant for just TheBigGuy and perhaps one of his NPC’s so she can fan him as he travels.
The Jump Pod lands and I tense as the door opens, expecting to see one or more Master Admins waiting. Instead, I see a mostly bare square room with black walls that are lined with glowing purple borders. Computer terminals line the walls. It almost looks like the initial character creation area that new players encounter when they log in for the first time—but not quite.
After I’m confident that I’ll not get turned into ones and zeros and float away into the sky, I step out. The room has no exits or entrances other than the Pod I’ve used.
At the thought of ones and zeros, I think of Coco_Dream21. Not only is she an awesome player, she’s an awesome person. And Master_Admin578 wants to deal with her in the real world.
And like Atlas, she would be on Earth.
I’m playing on the Earth side of the game now, after all. I pace for a few minutes, wondering what to do next. That’s not like me but, since there’s no way in or out of here and I’m TheBigGuy’s prisoner until he’s done talking to the Master Admin, I have no other choice.
“Raven,” TheBigGuy says over my comm. I’m shocked as we haven’t friended each other. That might be the result of hacking too. “I covered for you and told the Admin that I saw you log out. He says he can’t detect you other than visually.”
I wait for him to ask why. The last thing I want to do is tell TheBigGuy that The Hermit has shielded me from direct detection.
“However,” he says, “this whole debacle nearly destroyed my operation.”
“Have you seen Coco?” I ask. “Are any of my clustermates even left?”
“The Android? Don’t know,” he says without care. “Your other two logged out before the Admin walked in here. That made my story plausible. And now Admins will be crawling around this place, waiting for you to log back in.” I sense irritation in his voice.
But I’m also curious. Why did he cover for me and put himself at incredible risk? He might be an ICC executive in real life but he’s still subject to the law. Unless they’re different on Earth.
“You’ve still got your ticket to Earth,” he continues. “It took a lot of string pulling and forgery to get it. And Raven, it is your job to take it. Don’t, and suspicion will rise and eventually destroy me. I managed to get your information from the ICC’s files and give you a new identity. Your lavish transport will arrive at your closest Station in three hours real time. That is under a notorious wasteland area on Mera, correct?”
“Yes,” I say, unable to take my thoughts off Coco_Dream. “Why lavish?”
“Because everything in our worlds has a digital trail,” TheBigGuy says. “Sending a used clunker will attract suspicion from the ICC. My transports are always top of the line, even when I move my staff. Understand?”
“Yes,” I say, not sure how this is going to work. But TheBigGuy sounds confident enough. “What is this box I’m standing in?”
“Oh, that’s just my personal log-in area,” he says. “No one gets in and out without my permission. And by the way,” he
practically purrs, humorously flirtatious, “you’re my new, lovely assistant named Chloe Vera.” I roll my eyes before I log out.
At least I’ve made the Elders of Raralin happy by paying off my debt. I’m no longer guarded, and now free to leave without constant reminders of their demanded payment. Yes, even temporary residents are expected to contribute or get punished. And bonus: I’m welcome to return at any time.
Upon explaining my travel plans, the guards are happy to lead to a tunnel connecting to the final Transport Station—the same Station and tunnel used when I had arrived in Raralin. I’ll miss the amazing underwater city. The ocean far above shimmers with the aurora’s light, creating every color in the rainbow. The lights glimmer with a warm glow, asking me to stay. I wave to a few of the Raralin citizens as I depart. A few give me looks, as if wondering why in the heck I’m going back into the ICC’s world.
My heart aches as I leave this last holdout of real Meran culture. But honor must come first. It is my duty to help Atlas. He is my friend.
The double doors to the transport tunnel open and the guards wave me on my way. “Good luck,” the first tells me, saluting. “May you find honor and peace.”
“Honor and peace,” I return.
The stone tunnel is primarily used for shipments from the outside world. On the stone’s other side, up above, is the ocean and, eventually, the wasteland and deadly radiation. I approach to the moving track I did before, and board it. My hands are clammy, my heart pounding, but I grip the handrail and release my breath slowly as the moving track speeds up. I’ve brought nothing with me. In minutes, I’ll be going to Earth and leaving everything I know behind.