Manifest

by Cody Whitfill

  Gitch didn’t let the lack of valuables or their sudden favoritism bring him down. He gladly settled for king of ear scratches… and not being dead. He gleefully flew around, landing on furry heads, giving a good scratch as he went. He was on to Half-Tail when Dwik waived to catch his attention. He zipped over to the gnome to see what was up.

  "Look, this be fun and all, but that murderous troll turd will be turnin’ back soon and I do not think he’ll be quite as pleasant as I was. Meanin’, I think he will bust ya up, lad. Ya sure the wolves be with us?" Dwik asked uneasily.

  Gitch thought it through. It was a good question. He would hate to lose his new wolf friends again, and he knew this time the imp would not hold back.

  "Hey Goldie, come here a minute.”

  The wolf dashed over and gave them each a quick lick. "YES, GITCH FAIRY MASTER! WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT!"

  "Goldie, would you mind settling something for us?"

  "YES, ANYTHING FOR GITCH FAIRY MASTER!"

  "Your old imp master will be returning to us soon and we need to make sure that he does not hold any residual power over you. Can you think of a way to show your loyalty to Dwik and I?"

  He probably could have commanded her to do something, but that didn’t feel right. In this way, whatever she did or didn’t do was her choice.

  "YES MASTER! I WILL GATHER MY LITTERMATES, AND WE WILL SHOW OUR LOYALTY TO NEW MASTER! YES! MASTER NOT FEAR! NO! NO!”

  "Hey, I didn’t say I was afraid. I’m totally not scared!" he yelled after her, but she had already bounded away to share her plan with the other wolves.

  He recounted the conversation for Dwik, who then proceeded to plop on the ground. His was the ‘wait and see’ approach. Not seeing another option, Gitch sat next to him and started slurping down some wonderful gloop. If you’re going to sit, might as well sit and eat, as long as you have some delicious gloop fruit, that is!

  After a few minutes, the wolves finished deliberating. One by one, they each made their way to the smelly Kraznik. The male wolves lifted a leg and the females squatted, each letting loose their water. Again, this did not provoke the imp to return to his impy state, which was probably a good thing.

  Once each wolf had done the deed, Goldie returned to Gitch.

  "GITCH FAIRY MASTER! WE SHOW LOYALTY! YES! NOW YOU BE MASTER! MARK TERRITORY! YOUR TURN NOW! YES! YES! NEW MASTER GETS LAST PISS! YES!"

  He didn’t really know how he felt about this turn of events. He was fine with the thought of stealing from, lying to, or killing another player. They could always get new stuff or respawn but this was something else entirely. This was taking the dude’s dignity, and he might not recover from having another dude piss on him. Good bye man card, like, forever.

  "Thank you, Goldie, for your... generous demonstration. I will no longer question your friendship or loyalty. However, I do not think I will be your new master."

  Goldie looked confused and a little hurt. She was tugging at his heartstrings, but he knew this was for the best. He gazed over at the four remaining wolves. The two smaller wolves were wrestling playfully. Alpha appeared to have an itch and was scratching herself against a trunk of a nearby tree. Half-Tail was lying down, never taking her gaze off their former master.

  "Alpha, please come here!" he shouted.

  With a final hip wiggle against the tree to reach the sweet spot, Alpha came running up to them.

  "Alpha, I name you new master. Never again should an outsider take control of your pack. You will keep yourself and the other four wolves as safe and free as possible. It is my hope that we stay as friends, but I will NOT be your master, and I will NOT assert my dominance over you. You wolves will be free to live and make your own choices. Do you accept?" Gitch asked solemnly.

  Alpha looked unsure of herself as she wagged her tail slowly and dipped her head low.

  "ALPHA IS SMART WOLF, BUT CAN ALPHA BE MASTER? I DO NOT KNOW GITCH FAIRY. NO, I DON’T! I STILL YOUNG WOLF. YES! YES! STILL, I LIKE MAKING CHOICE. I DON’T LIKE BE UNDER BAD MASTER. NO LAZY MASTER. I THINK... I THINK I BE MASTER NOW! YES! YES! GOOD MASTER? I TRY! YES! YES! GOOD MASTER! I KEEP PACK SAFE! GITCH FAIRY AND DWIK GNOME STAY FRIENDS WITH ALPHA AND PACK? YES! ALWAYS YES! WE HELP YOU! YOU HELP US! YES, I BE NEW MASTER! THANK YOU, GITCH FAIRY! YES!"

  All of the wolves, including Goldie, came over and started thanking him profusely. It had been too long since they had been in control of their own destiny. They would never forget the fairy that gave them back their freedom to choose.

  Soon, a playful contest arose. A wolf would try and lick Gitch, who in turn would try to evade and scratch the wolf’s ear. He was zooming around, trying to evade tongues while doing his best to get in a few scratches.

  Dwik was playing fetch with Goldie. He was slinging rocks as far as he could but she was swift enough to pluck the rocks out of the air before they ever hit the ground. The two were becoming quite close in the short amount of time the two had spent together. Seeing them now, Gitch would never have guessed Dwik had despised canines just a day ago.

  Quest Completed: Find Dwik a Companion

  Dwik has long lived as a hermit of the Dufflin Forest, but no more! He and Goldie have become true companions, and neither will soon forget the role you played in their coming together.

  Reward:

  78 (75) experience

  2000 reputation points with Dwik

  10 copper coins

  Gitch was surprised by the prompt. Dwik didn’t make the best first impression, and he hadn’t been very optimistic on his chances to complete the quest. All the same, he was happy for them both.

  The timer for Kraznik’s return was nearing zero, so Gitch asked if the wolves would wait out in the cave or surrounding woods. He was wanting a one-on-one conversation with the annoying little imp. Alpha, however, was enjoying her new freedom.

  "GO SNIFF YOURSELF GITCH FAIRY! WE STAY! YES! YES! WE PROTECT FAIRY FRIEND! YES!"

  "I will not force you, Alpha, but I am asking as a friend. Please, let me speak with him alone," Gitch pleaded with the wolf. He wasn’t sure how this was about to go down, but he knew he needed to take care of this himself.

  "GITCH FAIRY IS FRIEND, AND WE WILL DO AS YOU ASK. BUT WE WAIT AND WE WATCH IN WOODS. YES! YES! WE PROTECT FAIRY FRIEND! DWIK FRIEND STAY OR COME WITH WOLVES?"

  Gitch flew up to Dwik and put a hand on his shoulder. "Will you go with the wolves? I need to talk with Kraznik, player to player."

  Dwik nodded in understanding. He and the wolves quietly made their way to the tree line and watched with great care the lone figure in front of the cave. Gitch stood, facing the little turd, as the timer reached 0.

  Kraznik appeared with a small pop. He was drenched in wolf piss, but didn’t seem to really notice. He swiveled his head around frantically until his eyes found Gitch.

  "You sadistic prick! Get away from me!" he shouted, half crazed. He bent his knees slightly and unraveled his great wings. With a few powerful flaps, he was airborne.

  Gitch was not about to let his quarry get away, however. He too flew upward and gave chase to the imp. The imp’s wings were certainly more powerful, but Gitch had magic on his side. As oft was the case, magic won. He pulled up alongside him with little difficulty and hollered above the wind.

  "Land now! We need to talk!"

  "Screw you, I’m not landing for nothin!"

  Gitch shrugged and pulled ahead. When he was about six feet ahead of the imp, he flipped around and charged. Just feet from colliding, he activated his one and only spell. Kraznik was struck full in the face. The damage dealt was low, only 12 points, but that was not the real reason he had cast wing blast.

  Kraznik was sent tumbling six feet down by the force of the blast, but that was not all. The ‘extreme disorientation’ was also in effect for another 10 seconds. The imp started flying erratically before suddenly falling into a steep dive. There were three seconds left before the debuff expired, but three seconds is a long time when you are diving through the
air.

  When the debuff timer reached 0, Kraznik visibly shook his head, then shrieked in fear as he found himself less than four feet from the ground. There was no way to stop in time and he crashed into the ground for the second time that day, though this one sounded more like a crunch than a splat.

  Gitch gracefully touched down next to the crumpled imp. He looked barely alive but still had the ability to speak.

  "You’re... a friggin... psychopath! You know... that right? I mean... what the hell was... that... for?!" the imp wheezed out.

  "Well, I did tell you to land and you said no. I figured I would help you out. You’re welcome by the way!" he said with a grin. "Now, I do not have any healing spells. Tell me truthfully. Were you holding out on me? Did you have a health potion stored somewhere?"

  "Go... to hell,” he breathed out.

  Gitch shrugged as he stood up and made to walk away.

  "Wait!... I didn’t... anything out... you held in... hands!... please... I can’t... respawn... imp camp! They... goats... terrible!"

  He was barely making sense. What was in his hands? Curious, he went over to the pile of junk and pulled out the vial. It sure didn’t look appetizing, but it might just keep the imp alive and allow Gitch to get some questions answered. He walked back to the crippled imp and uncorked the potion. He held it to his lips and slowly poured it down Kraznik’s throat.

  The imp immediately looked rejuvenated, but he still wasn’t able to get up.

  "Ahh! I think my leg is broken, and my health is still dropping," he groaned.

  “Huh. Sounds like a personal problem.” The imp tried to crawl away, but Gitch kicked him in the leg.

  "Ahhh! You fairy bastard!"

  "Now now, there will be none of that. Please do exactly as I say so we can avoid any further unpleasantness. Do you understand, demon douche?" he asked calmly.

  The imp nodded his understanding, tears starting to pool in the corner of his eyes.

  "Excellent! I have a series of questions for you. I do not want short answers or half-truths, just full upfront honesty. Who are you, and why are you afraid of the imps?"

  Kraznik looked like he wanted to beat the ever-living snot out of the cocky fairy, but he also knew he was defeated. With a heavy sigh, he answered him. "My real name is James O’Doyle. I live, well, lived in Camden, New Jersey. Like most other graduates, I logged in to Manifest the day it released. I was so eager to start playing, that I breezed past most of the questions. My examiner told me I had set a new record at 48 minutes. I figure they already did the brain scan; I didn’t really need to answer the questions that well, or even at all. Seriously, what was up with Question 149?"

  Gitch shivered at the memory. That was one of those questions that would stick with him forever. He would never look at pork the same way again.

  "Anyway, my examiner waltzes up to me and says I have been assigned to play an Imp Vandal. That it was a near perfect match! I told him where to stick his perfect match. There was no way in hell I was playing an imp. I would be a laughing stock!

  He just repeated the same thing over and over, ‘please submit all race change requests to customer support.’ Well I did. You know what happened? A crap-load of nothing. Sure, I received a message saying one of GameChanger’s representatives would reach out to me as soon as possible. In the meantime, I was to proceed with entering the game.

  Like an idiot, I did what they said and entered Manifest. Sure enough, I was an imp in an imp camp in some dark mountain fortress far from the main anything in Mentira. Middle of nowheresville. Knowing I would change races soon, I refused to do the menial quests for my fellow imps. In fact, I took out my frustration on them. They were just pieces of code, anyway.

  One benefit of being a Vandal, I have a knack for explosives. I set off a bomb in the middle of Gurthaz Keep’s courtyard, which took out my greeter, a few of their trainers, and two or three of the main buildings in the process. Needless to say, I reached hatred status pretty quickly, not that I cared. Feeling a bit better, I logged out and waited for customer support to get back to me. They finally did, but not in the way I expected. Not in a way anyone expected.

  One minute I was driving to the store, and the next, I find myself right inside the imp camp. A global message appeared explaining what happened, but I barely had time to read it. A few scouts saw me and killed me right away. I respawned in the middle of the courtyard. I tried my best to sneak out, but I failed and ended up respawning again, and again, and again, and-you get the picture.”

  “Okay, so what about the fairies? Wasn’t there someone who could help?”

  Kraznik sneered at Gitch’s suggestion. “On my 18th respawn, I finally made it past the palisade. I hightailed it out of there, fleeing as far as possible to the east. There was no way I would try going back west, that is all imp-controlled territory. After a few miles, I finally slowed and made camp in a small meadow. Thinking I was finally safe, I fell asleep. It was the first rest I had received in 24 hours! When I finally woke up, there were three fairies standing over me. I was saved! I had found another race that would see me to safety! Ha, no, that didn’t end up happening.

  The closest one looked down at me savagely, and with one of those fairy tridents, delivered the coup de grace. I respawned back in the imp camp. AGAIN! It was hell! Death upon death upon death! I made it out of the camp again, sometime around my 40th respawn. This time I made a beeline for the sea on the other side of the mountains. I was hoping to maybe bum a ride off some merchant vessel, but I never got the chance. The cross winds over the mountains are brutal. I was nowhere near strong enough to make it even half way. It didn’t take long for my stamina to reach 0, and I soon found myself falling through the air, unable to do anything about it.

  It was freaking terrifying, man. I lost myself for a few days. Letting myself be killed by the imps again and again, not even trying to defend or hide. Lost in my own personal hell. I just kept muttering two words over and over. No escape, no escape, no escape...”

  “What about players? Surely there were other players around that could help?” Gitch asked with a frown.

  “Oh sure! A few players spawned in the camp, but one look at my sorry excuse of a life scared them straight off. They didn’t want to share in any part of my fate. Cowards!” Kraznik spat out.

  “So how are you here now?” Gitch asked, starting to feel bad for the imp.

  “It was Glibtrax, another player. He received a quest to hunt some beasts and convinced the NPCs to send me along as bait. When he finished, and if I wasn’t already dead, he would kill me to send me back to camp. They loved the idea... He was the one who killed that wolf and became their new master. Those wolves did everything for him, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he slit my throat or fed me to the big one. My only chance was to attack him first, but I had to wait until we were alone. Otherwise, the wolves would tear me to shreds.”

  “How did you kill him if you were a prisoner? Weren’t you locked up?”

  “Being a Vandal has its advantages, one of which being my ability to create miniature explosives out of inconspicuous materials. I was able to gather some of what was needed as we traveled, but the rest was readily available within the cave itself. Glibtrax didn’t allow me a weapon and thought himself perfectly safe within his temporary home. I still killed him, but a fat lot of good it did me. Instead of gaining control of the wolves and escaping this God-forsaken forest, I’m just going to die again. Killed by imp or fairy, it doesn’t matter; my fate’s the same.” Kraznik hung his head in despair. The imp had given up hope, and Gitch had just turned him into crap and broken his leg. What a friggin dirtbag. He probably would be pretty sour too, having lived through such an ordeal. This guy had suffered enough.

  "Dang, Kraznik! I can’t even imagine what you have gone through. No player deserves that. I swear, I am not like those others, I just thought you were kind of a douche. You have my word that I will do my best to help you out, okay?" he said sympathetic
ally. Kraznik was at a loss for words, not believing what he was hearing. Gitch patted him on the shoulder and cast mana influx to heal the poor imp.

  Mana Influx Target: Kraznik

  Mana Received: 25 points

  Chance of Spontaneous Combustion: 95%

  Options Available to Imp Race:

  Heal-100 points per wound

  Smite-200 points

  Well... this was not looking like a viable option. He was much more likely to kill him than heal him. Apparently, fairy magic was not agreeable with imps. The smite option was interesting but not especially helpful in this instance.

  Not seeing another option available, he waived Dwik over from his hiding spot at the edge of the trees. The gnome came rushing forward, followed closely by the five wolves. Gitch tried motioning for them to go back, but they were having none of it. They chose to stand by the fairy, come what may. Dwik took a knee next to him and looked down at the injured imp.

  “We can’t let him die and be sent for respawn,” Gitch said quickly. “He drank a health potion, but his leg is still broken, and he might have some internal bleeding. What can you do?"

  Dwik looked over at the imp’s leg, and then at the empty vial next to him. He picked up the vial and took a whiff before tossing it aside.

  "Yer problem is that be only a weak health potion. ‘Course it’s not strong enough to heal him up full. Now, I do not know any healing spells, but spells are not always needed. We will first need to set the leg before he bleeds out."

  "Great! What do you need for that?"

  "We need some sort of splint. Tell Alpha to go and find a stick in the woods. Any will do, it just needs to be straight. As she finds me a splint, you will need to get in me bag for some twine,” Dwik said as he began taking off his tunic. He pressed the shirt against the wound to staunch the flow of blood that had begun to seep out near the imp’s groin.

  Gitch relayed the order to Alpha, who looked hesitant, but did as he asked. Gitch flew over to where Dwik had been hiding in the forest and scoured the ground looking for the small bag. He quickly located it underneath a small bush near the edge of the trees. Rather than stick his tiny hand in and rummage around blindly, he hopped inside, tossing things aside until he stumbled across the white twine. He gathered as much as he could and flew back out. He made his way over to the prone imp and kneeling gnome, praying there was still time to save Kraznik. The guy had been a jerk but hearing his story had tugged at Gitch. He wouldn’t let him die just to respawn and suffer further at the imp encampment. Not if he could do anything about it.