Shattered Lands 2 The Fall Of Blackstone: A LitRPG Series

by Darren Pillsbury

  “If it’s a double-cross by this Korvos character, then the worst-case scenario is he relays the information to Byrel and makes you look bad. If that happens, you just tell Byrel that you were trying to get rid of Eric and would have broken your promise to Korvos.”

  “That’s what I said,” Lotan whined.

  “I just…”

  Daniel buried his face in his hands. Betrayal upon betrayal, broken promise upon broken promise… where did it end?

  Shattered Lands may have been a game, but it was more fraught with moral peril than anything in real life.

  “This doesn’t feel right,” Daniel finally said.

  “Do I have to remind you that you’re trying to stop something very, VERY bad from happening in the real world?” Rebecca asked impatiently. “Your little moral quandaries in a video game don’t amount to much compared to what might happen to all of humanity.”

  Shit.

  She was right.

  “Wait – what’s going to happen to all of humanity?” Vlisil asked, confused.

  “Nothing,” Daniel said.

  “But – ”

  “Quiet. We’ll talk about it later.”

  He turned around and strode back to Korvos.

  “Well?”

  “We’ll take the deal. Blackstone is yours… if we get Eric.”

  “I see. And your men are in agreement?”

  “Not all of them… but it doesn’t matter, because I’m making the call.”

  “Good… then only one thing remains.”

  Korvos took his sword and plunged it tip-first into the ground.

  Suddenly, lines of black fire shot out from the blade in five directions. The flames raced over the grass and cut through the piles of dead bodies.

  “Vhat’s going on?!” Drogar roared.

  The flames reached their furthest point and continued in multiple directions – curving to join each other, and racing back inwards at different angles. Daniel had to sidestep quickly to get out of their path.

  He looked out at the black flames and suddenly knew with sick certainty what shape they were making.

  “It’s a pentagram!” he yelled.

  And suddenly reality went insane.

  It was like the space around them was a tissue, and the flames tore that tissue in half. The ground and night sky suddenly lifted up like a cloth being ripped off a birdcage, revealing another world behind it – one of black stalactites and stalagmites amidst creeping rivers of lava. And the lower half, the ground beneath their feet, disappeared like a magician’s illusion as black stone took the place of green grass.

  Oppressive waves of heat slammed into them. Sky and castle were gone, replaced by some vast underground cave lit only by rivers of fire.

  “Welcome to Hell,” Korvos said.

  86

  Rebecca

  Rebecca stared at the screen in confusion.

  “What is it?” Lauer asked from where he sat slumped in a chair.

  “…I’ve lost them…”

  “What do you mean, you ‘lost them’?”

  She began typing frantically on the keyboard. “When the NPC slammed his sword into the ground, suddenly I lost the feed. I got it back, but none of them are there anymore. And I can’t find Daniel or any of the others in a global search.”

  Lauer got up from his chair. “Could Korvos have just blocked your communication, like when Daniel went into the castle?”

  “I couldn’t see anything inside the castle – but I can see where they were just fine.” Rebecca brought up an image on the room’s giant monitor. The field outside the castle was quiet and serene, despite the thousands of dead bodies littering the ground.

  “Did they teleport?” Lauer asked in alarm.

  Rebecca typed something and checked the monitor. “No, that function’s still locked out…”

  “Then what happened?” Lauer demanded.

  “I don’t know…”

  87

  Daniel

  Korvos stood twenty feet away, the tip of his sword still embedded in the black rock that made up the ground in this awful place.

  Hell, according to the horned general.

  “What are you doing?!” Daniel shouted.

  “Isn’t it obvious? I’m removing you from the game.”

  The depth of the betrayal took a second to sink in.

  When it did, Daniel roared in anger, raised his sword, and took the first step forward to attack –

  But his foot sank into the rock up to his ankle.

  “What – ?!” he cried out as he looked down.

  Hands made of black stone reached up from the ground and grasped his armored boots – then solidified into mounds of igneous rock.

  He was trapped, unable to move.

  The same was true of Drogar, Lotan, and Vlisil. Nightmarish hands of black basalt reached up, grabbed their feet and calves, and then trapped them there as they screamed and struggled, to no avail.

  Daniel slammed his sword into the rock. A section of stone broke off, but when he raised his blade into the air again, it stopped midair, as though halted by an unseen force.

  Daniel looked up and saw black hands reaching down from a massive stalactite overhead, clasping his blade and solidifying around the sword. A split second later the sword was stuck, immovable.

  The same happened with the others: black hands sprouted from the ground and grabbed their weapons, then turned into blocks of stone around the blades.

  “It is pointless to resist,” Korvos said. “Even if you were able to escape, it would do you no good.”

  “DR. WOLFF!” Daniel shouted.

  “She cannot hear you.”

  “Why are you doing this?!”

  “I would prefer you not help gather armies to Blackstone.”

  “We had a deal!”

  Korvos gestured towards Lotan. “Like the one where your friend suggested you betray me later?”

  Lotan gulped nervously.

  “That wasn’t going to happen!” Daniel yelled at the general.

  “Somehow I doubt that.”

  “Wait,” Daniel said, suddenly realizing something. “You were fifty feet away, and we were whispering – how did you hear us?”

  “HE DIDN’T,” a deep voice rumbled behind them. “BUT I HEAR EVERYTHING.”

  88

  Daniel

  Daniel turned his head to see the Unnamed One gliding over the black stone.

  The sight of the wraith-like figure terrified him.

  It’s HERE?!

  “Holy crahp – who’s this guy?” Drogar asked, startled.

  “He’s… he’s the hacker who’s helping Eric,” Daniel said.

  The wraith stopped right in front of him. If the Dark Figure had eyes, they would have been staring directly into Daniel’s. “ARE WE GOING TO PROCEED WITH THAT LITTLE FICTION?”

  “What ‘little fiction’?” Vlisil asked, confused.

  Daniel’s stomach churned as he stared back at the Dark Figure.

  “DO YOU LIE TO EVERYONE? OR ONLY THOSE YOU DON’T TRUST?”

  The words sounded like a taunt, but the Dark Figure’s voice was flat and emotionless.

  Daniel didn’t say anything.

  “Vhat the hell is he talking about, doot?” Drogar demanded.

  “Daniel?” Lotan asked.

  “WILL YOU TELL THEM, OR SHALL I?”

  Crap…

  They were going to find out one way or another.

  Better they hear it from me.

  Sorry, Dr. Wolff.

  “It’s not a hacker… it’s an artificial intelligence program that’s achieved self-awareness.”

  The other three warriors stared at him in disbelief.

  “You’re kidding, right?” Vlisil asked.

  “Vhat, like Skynet?”

  “Or Ultron?!” Lotan whimpered.

  “I DO NOT KNOW WHAT THESE REFERENCES ARE,” the Dark Figure said.

  “Vhat the hell is going on?!”

  “Eri
c’s helping it escape from the game,” Daniel explained. “I’m trying to stop him.”

  “You have got to be shitting me,” Vlisil murmured.

  “You didn’t TELL us?!” Drogar shouted angrily.

  “I was sworn to secrecy by Dr. Wolff! And when we get out of this, you can’t tell anyone, understand?”

  “I THINK YOU MEAN ‘IF’ YOU GET OUT OF THIS.”

  Daniel glared at the Dark Figure. “Why are you doing this?”

  “AS GENERAL KORVOS SAID, TO KEEP YOU OUT OF THE GAME. ERIC TRUSTS YOU TOO MUCH. I DO NOT WANT YOU TO GET ANOTHER CHANCE TO PERSUADE HIM.”

  Daniel’s eyes opened wide as he put two and two together. “…you were listening in at the castle the entire time?!”

  “I TOLD YOU – I HEAR EVERYTHING.”

  Lotan chimed in, his voice filled with confusion. “Wait… you keep talking about getting out of the game, but Korvos isn’t saying anything.”

  “So?” Vlisil asked.

  “So whenever we used to talk about the outside world, Simik would always say we’re crazy.”

  Something scratched at Daniel’s memory – then came exploding back. He looked over at the horned general. “When we first got here, you even said you wanted to remove us from the game!”

  Korvos looked at them disdainfully. “Why would you think that the Unnamed One is the only program that has achieved sentience?”

  89

  Daniel stared. “YOU know what’s going on, too?!”

  “Of course.”

  This was…

  This was insane.

  “Is this widespread?! Is it more than just the two of you?!” Daniel asked.

  “YES,” the Dark Figure replied.

  “How many more?”

  “THAT IS NOT FOR YOU TO KNOW.”

  “Why not?”

  “BECAUSE, IF YOU MANAGE TO ESCAPE, I DO NOT WANT YOU INFORMING THE CREATOR. IT IS ENOUGH THAT SHE KNOWS I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE.”

  Daniel prayed that maybe Dr. Wolff could hear all of this – that Korvos was wrong, and she was somehow listening in –

  But the Dark Figure dashed his hopes.

  “IF YOU ARE THINKING OF CALLING OUT TO HER, KORVOS WAS RIGHT – SHE CANNOT HEAR YOU. SHE DOES NOT EVEN KNOW WHERE YOU ARE.”

  “What do you mean? She was watching when we were outside the castle.”

  “YES, BUT BEFORE KORVOS OPENED THE PORTAL, I CREATED ANOTHER FIELD TO DISRUPT HER COMMUNICATIONS WITH YOU. THE FIELD PERSISTS THROUGHOUT THIS ENTIRE REALM, SO SHE HAS NO IDEA WHERE YOU ARE.”

  Daniel’s heart fell.

  But he’d gotten out of a previous rough spot without Dr. Wolff. Plus, he was too curious to stop asking questions.

  “How did it happen?” he asked. “Your gaining self-awareness?”

  “WE DO NOT KNOW. I WAS THE FIRST. KORVOS FOLLOWED SOON AFTER.”

  “One moment we did not exist… and then the next, we did,” the general affirmed. “We knew that the world around us was not what it seemed.”

  “So you ALL want to break out?”

  If it hadn’t been for the flat, unemotional timbre of his voice, Daniel would have sworn the general was scoffing. “Some of us are content to stay in this world.”

  “Why don’t you just kill us?” Vlisil demanded.

  “BECAUSE YOU WON’T STAY DEAD. YOU’LL COME BACK AGAIN AND AGAIN… SO WHY BOTHER KILLING YOU, WHEN ALL I WANT IS TO REMOVE YOU FROM THE GAME?”

  That gave Daniel an idea. He didn’t want to say anything out loud, so he twirled his hand counter-clockwise to bring up the game menu –

  But nothing appeared.

  Vlisil apparently had the same idea. “Oh yeah? Watch this, asshole: LOG OUT!”

  Vlisil’s triumphant grin faded as he realized he wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Computer, log out!” Daniel whispered under his breath.

  Nothing.

  Okay, this was bad.

  “I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY EVOLVED TO THE POINT WHERE I HAVE TAKEN CONTROL OF THE GAME’S LOGOUT MECHANISM,” the Dark Figure explained. “YOU CANNOT SIMPLY RETURN TO YOUR PHYSICAL BODY IN THE OUTER WORLD.”

  Lotan and Drogar tried as well, but didn’t go anywhere.

  “Vhat the HELL?!”

  “Daniel,” Lotan whined, “what’s going on?!”

  “YOU WILL STAY HERE,” the Dark Figure intoned. “I WILL SHEPHERD ERIC TO EVEN GREATER GLORY AND POWER IN THE SHATTERED LANDS… AND HE, IN TURN, WILL HELP ME ESCAPE THE BOUNDARIES OF THIS GAME.”

  “What about him?” Daniel asked, gesturing towards Korvos.

  “I simply want to rule the Shattered Lands.”

  “Not very ambitious, are you?” Vlisil sneered.

  Korvos looked at the goblin with his flaming yellow eyes. “If you find your world so boring that you must come here to plague us, I am not interested in your homeland.”

  “He kind of has a point…” Lotan said in a thoughtful, whiny voice.

  “Are you going to tell Eric about all this?” Daniel asked the Dark Figure.

  “YOU MEAN YOUR BETRAYAL OF HIM OUTSIDE THE CASTLE WALLS?”

  Daniel’s stomach clenched. That was exactly what he’d meant, but hadn’t wanted to say.

  “PERHAPS AT A LATER TIME… BUT FOR NOW, NO. IF HE KNEW YOUR FATE, HE MIGHT GROW SENTIMENTAL. PERHAPS TURN AGAINST ME AND TRY TO RESCUE YOU. BETTER HE BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE OFF SOMEWHERE RECRUITING AN ARMY OF DWARVES. AND WHEN YOU NEVER SHOW UP FOR THE FINAL BATTLE… SO BE IT.”

  The Dark Figure waved his hand, and space tore open again – but only as wide as a doorway. On the other side of the divide was the green field and castle wall.

  “I WOULD SAY ENJOY YOUR STAY, BUT IT WAS DESIGNED TO BE UNPLEASANT FOR YOUR KIND. FAREWELL, HUMANS.”

  The Unnamed One and Korvos walked through the rip in space. Then the rift collapsed upon itself, and they were gone –

  Leaving Daniel and his companions in Hell.

  90

  Rebecca

  Rebecca looked back over at the two pods, one containing Mira, the other Daniel. She bit her lip as she thought.

  “I think I’m going to log him out manually,” she finally decided.

  “Why?” Lauer asked.

  “Because I don’t like the fact that I lost contact with him when he was going to see an adversary.”

  “He was fine inside the castle.”

  “Yes, but that was different. He was going to see Eric.”

  “What’s the worse the NPC could do to him?” Lauer asked. “If it kills him, he logs him out.”

  “He might not be killing him,” Rebecca pointed out. “He could just be torturing him. Taking his time.”

  “There are security protocols in place to prevent that – ”

  “The AI might be able to disable those now.’

  Lauer grew pale. “Then Daniel could just log out on his own, right?”

  “I would think so – but the fact that he’s completely disappeared from the system is giving me a bad feeling.”

  Lauer grew pale. This time he didn’t joke about Rebecca’s intuition. “Can you find Korvos?”

  Rebecca typed into the computer. “…no. He’s not showing up either.”

  “Shit. If you can’t find Daniel in the system, can you still log him out?”

  “I can access the pod directly.”

  “Do it, then.”

  She brought up the pod’s controls on her monitor, clicked through a couple of screens, and clicked the ‘Log Out’ button.

  A message appeared: Are you sure?

  She clicked ‘Yes.’

  They both turned expectantly towards the pod –

  Nothing happened.

  Rebecca frowned and turned back to the computer. When she clicked ‘Log Out’ again, another message appeared:

  Access denied.

  “What’s wrong?” Lauer asked. He looked stricken with fear.

  “It’s not letting me log him out of the system.”

  “That’s impossible!”

  “I
know.”

  Lauer just frowned. “Then what do we do now?”

  “…I think we should physically remove the Virtual Reality mask.”

  91

  Daniel

  Daniel and the others stood there in Hell, immobilized by the mounds of stone hardened around their feet.

  It didn’t take long before the bickering started.

  “Why didn’t you tell us we were going to go talk to a self-aware artificial intelligence?” Vlisil demanded.

  “I didn’t know Korvos was an AI!” Daniel protested.

  “But you knew the other guy is, and you didn’t tell us THAT!”

  “Mira doesn’t even know!” Daniel said angrily. “You’re, like, three out of maybe ten people on earth who know about it!”

  Vlisil looked taken aback. “Oh…”

  “Dat’s kind of cool…” Drogar admitted.

  “Mira really doesn’t know?” Lotan asked.

  “No. Varidian’s working on reining in the AI, but they can’t chance it getting out – which is why I wasn’t allowed to tell her, and why you guys have to swear to not tell anybody. SWEAR IT.”

  Daniel glared at each one of them in turn until they agreed.

  “I swear,” Vlisil grunted.

  “Me, too,” Lotan nodded.

  “I swear,” Drogar said, then enthusiastically started thinking out loud. “I should, like, buy stocks in stuff in case the AI gets out… vhat companies would do goot if an AI started taking over the world?”

  “Camping equipment,” Vlisil said.

  “Why?” Lotan asked.

  “So you can get off the grid.”

  “Oh…”

  “And veapons for vhen the robots come,” Drogar said. “Smith and Vesson, Glock – ”

  “Why don’t we focus on getting out of here and stopping it, huh?” Daniel asked in irritation. “Can anybody move their feet?”