Conquest

by Dean Henegar

  “Why in such a rush, Lovely? You know I always pay upon completion.” Narbos gestured toward one of his guards who brought a large satchel that jingled with coin to the assassin. Narbos held his hand up causing the guard to stop when he was just about to hand over the payment. “Oh no, my dear, you know the rules. No masks allowed in my office. To get paid I need to see your beautiful visage,” Narbos added, enjoying Lovely’s discomfort.

  Lovely sighed in annoyance and pulled down her mask. Her face revealed a horrifying sight. Deep scars crossed her face. Whatever had caused the damage also severed half her left ear as well as most of her nose.

  “That’s my girl! Be proud of your scars. I’m sure you earned each one. Now, on to the good stuff, payment.” Narbos snapped his fingers and the guard handed over the satchel of coin. “Now, my dear, should you be so inclined, I have another job for you that needs completion quickly. Are you game for another assassination? Same pay as your last job and even a bonus up front,” Narbos added, while another servant brought a box to Lovely, opening it to reveal a curved dagger that glowed with a faint green light. “I believe his dagger is called the Final Kiss. It should be the highest-powered dagger available at your level. Take the job and take the dagger now, whether you succeed or fail,” Narbos said while waiting for Lovely’s response.

  Lovely looked at the dagger and it took all of her control to not agree to the job, whatever it was. This dagger wouldn’t need to be replaced for at least 10 more levels and, even then, it would still be a great off-hand weapon.

  Final Kiss: Epic Dagger. Item level 125. The Final Kiss has been used by various assassin guilds for centuries. Taking so many lives, and being coated in poison so many times, has allowed this weapon the unique ability to keep whatever poison is applied to it active and at full potency for as long as the wielder wishes (poisons allowed only up to a maximum of intermediate strength).

  Only useable by characters with neutral or evil alignment.

  Level required: 8

  “What’s the job, Narbos?” Lovely asked while trying to keep the excitement from her face or voice.

  “Simple job this time. These good folks from the town of Haven are resisting my attempts to unify the zone of Bharga’s Crossing. Imagine that; they don’t understand the benefit of my benevolent rule. As soon as I have finished up with Tramwell, and the forces I had to send there, return. I have decided to besiege Haven. There are several annoying players present and I suspect the AI is handing out quests to hamper our conquest of the zone. I will have a list of several targets for you to eliminate once the battle begins. Some of the targets are players and some are npc’s leading the defense. Here are the details on your potential targets and a generous coin advance to cover your expenses.” Narbos had his servant hand over the coin and dagger to Lovely.

  “Taking out key leaders, just as we begin our assault, will help save us time, effort, and resources. There are a lot of moving pieces to this one and I have faith that you will carry out your part, Lovely. Do we have a deal?” Narbos asked as he waited for Lovely’s reply.

  “Where is Vhellia? I thought she was also in charge. She wasn’t here when you issued the quest for the dwarves either,” Lovely inquired. Not liking to do business with just Narbos, Vhellia was the steadying force to his megalomania. Lovely believed his behavior was mostly for roleplaying purposes, but something about the guy was off.

  “She’s attending to real world matters. I’m in charge of quests and she’s in charge of working with our real-world benefactors to provide us the monetary support you so greatly enjoy the benefits of. Now is not the time, nor is it your place, to become involved in our guild politics. Though you do have an open invitation to join Chaotic Outcomes as a guild officer anytime you want. Do you wish to join us permanently, Lovely?” Narbos asked, knowing full well that Lovely didn’t like him personally and would never tie herself to a single guild. There was too much money to be made in being an independent contractor.

  “Not a chance, Narbos. I like doing my own thing,” Lovely answered before picking up the dagger and bag of coins. “As far as the job goes, consider it done. What kind of time frame do you need me for? If it’s going to take too long, I may need some more coin,” Lovely stated bluntly.

  “Less than a week for the siege; say, two weeks max, given the time it will take for the troops sent to Tramwell to return and for us to gather our other forces together. Pull this off without a hitch and you’ll get a bonus.” Narbos opened another box on his desk, revealing the twin blade to Final Kiss. “Off you go then, Lovely. It’s always a pleasure to see your beautiful visage, but I have other work to do.” Vhellis made a shooing motion.

  Narbos waited for Lovely to leave and then ordered the rest of the guards out as well, wanting no distractions as he worked on all the moving parts he had in play. Narbos knew that Vhellia and the other guild officers thought they were smart, though he was sure none of them had the advantage of a top tier education like his own. Narbos had been playing since the first day of beta in Limitless Lands and had been astoundingly successful in his endeavors. He was nearly level ten and had to plan which path to take once he reached it. The overlord class fit Narbos perfectly and he had amassed a sizeable force. For the first few levels Narbos was focused on his own character, using skill points to purchase skills for himself, despite enjoying having his own npc forces to boss around. After level four, he realized that the real power in the overlord was in the massive number of npc’s that would obey his every whim. He purchased only minor upgrades for gear and equipment; the focus was now on quantity. He built his town and formed plans to conquer more and more.

  Narbos was approached by Vhellia and her guild just before launch and had quickly accepted membership into Chaotic Outcomes. The fact that there was someone outside the game throwing money at him would help in his drive to win the scholarship competition. To maintain impartiality, the school had banned any player from infusing their own funds into the game. There was nothing said against in-game groups providing support, so Narbos was glad to exploit that loophole with his new-found guild. Narbos’ family was wealthy, and he had always had a drive to win at any cost. The actual scholarship meant nothing to him, his family would spend the money to pay his way into any university he chose.

  There were three students, in total, that the university had selected for the political science experiment. Soon into beta, several players had been banned for cheating. Many of the cheater’s accounts were gifted to schools and charities. The university was given three accounts and they were donated to the political science department for an experiment to explore the best form of governance in a fantasy world. The AI granted classes to each of the students based on their preferred form of governance. One student, Delling, had selected a free market government with low taxes and lots of personal freedom. His other competitor, Danica, was convinced that a socialist utopia could be created in a video game. Narbos, whose real name was Brandon, decided it would be fun to run his town as an evil overlord. Danica, so far, was not in the running to win the contest. Her plan to have everyone redistribute their wealth was not well received. She was too tied up in the process of putting down one internal rebellion after another. Of course, it helped that Narbos and Chaotic Outcomes had a hand in stirring up the rebellions. Narbos thought that Delling was just unlucky, having attracted the negative attention of a griefer guild early in the game. Without any interference from Narbos, Delling’s first town was burned down, Delling quickly founded a second that seemed to be doing well. Delling’s bad luck had turned around. The area around Hayden’s Knoll had an abundance of resources to draw upon, once they were fully tapped. When Delling made friends with a player that had some kind of army man class, Narbos knew he was in trouble and had started to get involved.

  Getting rid of Delling’s friend was the key piece that would let Narbos suppress the town of Hayden’s Knoll. The troops provided by the new player were giving Delling the edge in quickly growing the tow
n and controlling the zone. Narbos had hoped to conquer his whole zone and then take over most of Delling’s zone, stifling Delling’s chance to grow. With his underworld contacts in-game, as well as the guild’s resources, Narbos had hatched a plan to take the army man player out of the area. If everything went as planned, that Rayman? Raymond? Rayslap? guy, whatever his name was, would soon find himself in another zone with a whole new set of problems. The game was astounding in its complexity and Narbos was surprised at the options the AI made available to a devious player. There was nothing personal, Narbos even liked Delling in the real world, he just refused to lose…ever.

  Chapter 20

  Rose logged out of Limitless Lands, having received an in-game notification that her boss, William Lang, wanted to see her as soon as possible. It would be a quick trip across the hall to see her boss. She spent most of her game time at the office these days, deciding to be there instead of working remotely from home. Rose told herself it was to better coordinate with the team but, in all honesty, she liked the proud looks her parents gave her as she left the house each day for her “real” job. Rose didn’t have any meetings on the calendar and was surprised that William had asked her to pull out of the game in the middle of the day. Stopping at the receptionist’s area, Rose waited for Cathy, William’s administrative assistant, to finish a call. Cathy looked up, noticed Rose there, and waved her into the office as she held her hand over the phone and whispered, “They’re waiting for you; go on in,” before returning to her call. Rose opened the door and walked into the large office.

  Williams’s office was tastefully decorated; not too ostentatious, like some of the other executives she had seen in the company. William was seated behind his desk and, across from the desk, two chairs waited. In one of the chairs was Zane, holding a stack of files. Everyone had a disturbingly subdued expression.

  “Come in, Rose, and have a seat. There are some issues that have come up that we need to talk with you about,” William said flatly as he motioned toward the empty chair. Rose sat down and nervously waited.

  “As you know, Rose, Mantuco Enterprises prides itself on its good name. We avoid even a hint of impropriety that could jeopardize our image with our core client base. Unfortunately, there has been some disturbing feedback on your guild and, specifically, on a certain player named…” Williams looked through his notes before continuing, “Narbos. There have been dozens of negative mentions on message boards, as well as complaints to Qualitranos about your guild’s methods of play, claiming that what you were doing amounted to bullying. The potential for negative press with this endeavor is deemed to be too great. In addition to the negative feedback, Zane has determined that the potential returns on our investments will not meet expectations, based on our latest projections. When Zane investigated more historical data, he found that the market for in-game currency is a bit too volatile for our comfort level. Our company is based on stable, predictable, long-term growth. Our clients expect that their money will be safe and that the company they invest with will not face any negative press. I’m never one to pass on trying out something new but, unfortunately, this time it didn’t pan out.

  I hate to tell you, Rose, but we’re shutting down the game division project. We can’t see investing any more resources into a project that will not see the required return on investment. The team will be reassigned back to the other departments that they worked in previously. Unfortunately, your position within the organization has been eliminated. We would normally have you move to another division within the company, but your lack of a four-year degree prevents us from having many options. Our human resources department is very strict on the requirement for, at least, a bachelor’s degree for all full-time employees. I have pulled the latest funds we had provided to your guild from the in-game account. You will be allowed to keep the account you have been playing with and the subscription is good for another 180 days. We have also decided to let you keep the VR gear you have been using here in the office, as it will not be of any use in our work. Zane will leave a copy of the final report and the data related to why we decided to cancel the game division. Please take a look, then I’ll go over your final paperwork.” With that, Zane left a one-page summary on the desk for Rose. She picked it up but couldn’t find the will to read it, stunned at losing the first job she had enjoyed.

  Rose felt the crushing pressure of failure. Her immediate thoughts went to what her parents would say when she gave them the bad news. For once, they had been proud of her. For once, she had been proud of herself. Rose gathered her thoughts and tried to fight back the tears that were beginning to trickle down her cheeks, not wanting to appear unprofessional in front of her employer… well, soon to be former, employer. William pushed one of the two stacks of papers in front of him toward Rose before explaining what they were.

  “Rose, I have to say that we were all impressed with your work for us. You came from a non-traditional background, but handled yourself professionally and have proven to everyone on the team that you have an outstanding work ethic. The rest of the team was very upset that you would be let go and encouraged me to find another fit within the company for you. I think that, with Zane’s help, we may have found an option other than termination, if you are interested.

  We are unable to hire you for a full-time position, since you lack an applicable four-year degree. What the company can offer is a paid, part-time internship with the company. The internship would require you to enroll in a local university, with a stated major in some business-related field. You would be paid an hourly wage and would be required to work here at Mantuco for at least twenty-five hours per week. The pay is not great, as it is seen as a developmental position, but because we structured your internship at twenty-five hours per week, you would be eligible for full benefits. In addition, I have spoken with the department vice president and she has agreed to have the internship come with a small scholarship. The scholarship should cover a good portion of your education, leaving the remainder to be covered by student loans, or whatever other financial means you have access to. With a guaranteed job waiting for you at the end of schooling, you should not have trouble getting low-interest loans that aren’t payable until after you graduate.

  If you work as hard, as I know you are capable of, you will have a long and successful career at Mantuco. You’re a sharp young person and we feel you just need a chance. By getting an education, you’ll open new worlds of opportunity for your future.” William paused and then pushed forward the second stack of papers.

  “The other option, if you aren’t interested in the internship, is for us to terminate your employment. I’m authorized to give you a ninety-day severance package, which will also continue your benefits for the next ninety days. I understand if you take the severance package instead of the internship. This day must have come as quite a shock. We’ll have to ask you to decide, now, what you would like to do,” William stated and then sat back while he waited for Rose to decide.

  Rose quickly processed everything that had happened. She had never considered school and hated most of her time in high school. Something had changed in her perspective during the short time she had been working for the company. She had heard that corporations were often full of evil, selfish, back-stabbing people who were only interested in making a profit. She had found instead that, while there were jerks that worked here, for the most part, she really liked her co-workers. Her parents had always been disappointed that she didn’t go to college and the internship seemed like a great way to improve her future.

  “Thank you so much for thinking enough of me to give me this option. I would love to become an intern and have the opportunity to study business,” Rose decisively stated.

  “Great, Rose. I think you’ve made the right choice for your future. Zane here will take you down to human resources to fill out the paperwork. You have the rest of the week off and will start fresh on Monday. Make sure you have an application completed to enroll in one of the local unive
rsities during your week off. Best of luck to you, Rose.” With that, Rose left the office and began a new chapter in her life. Of course, having the rest of the week off would let her play quite a bit of Limitless Lands before her job started. She was going to enjoy letting that idiot Narbos know that his gravy train of corporate funds had come to the end of the line. Having Narbos act the fool may have actually given her a new, and better, opportunity for her future.

  Qualitranos Corporation, office of Trey Raytak

  Trey was neck deep in paperwork, trying to prepare the latest reports on the medpod project for the quarterly review. Things had been going great and it appeared that the Food and Drug Administration was on the cusp of approving the expansion of the medpod project to a larger number of test subjects. While work had been going well, Trey’s personal life had taken another hit recently. Trey’s mood had been high, watching his dad’s condition improve a bit each day. The game’s success continued to climb and there was a mood of excitement among the whole company. Trey’s work load continued to increase, and he found himself with little time to observe his dad in game. What he did see was amusing, though sometimes disturbing. Nobody wants to see their dad get eaten by ghouls…even if it was only a game.

  Just when things were starting to go so well, he received horrible news from his mom’s nursing home. His mother, Genevieve, had needed full time care for a while now. She was mentally sharp, but her physical body was wearing out with age. The call yesterday from the nursing home let him know that his mother had suffered a stroke and was in the hospital. They wanted to know if he wished for them to use emergency life support measures if her condition deteriorated further. Normally Trey would have said no, not wanting to prolong her suffering at the age of eighty-eight. Instead, he said to do all they could to keep her alive.