by Phil Tucker
“What was unusual about the red tape?”
“Swen’s got clearance for that kind of information. It’s why I called him. It violates a whole bunch of privacy laws for him to share it with me, but after Vegas… meh. He owes me. So for him to run into red tape would be like a head librarian finding a book they weren’t allowed to read.”
“Some libraries have rare books,” I said. “Not allowed for general circulation.”
“Exactly,” said Falkon. “Whoever Jeramy’s player was, he’s the equivalent of a rare book. Anyway, Swen said he was going to look into it. Each of our days is about half an hour for him, so I’ll check back in tomorrow evening just before we hit the Beggars. Maybe he’ll be able to shed some light on this whole mystery.”
“Thanks, Falkon.” I tried to think through the complexities of the situation but my mind was dulled by exhaustion and pain. “Guess you’re getting curious about this situation, too.”
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s weird as all get out. I mean, everyone I work with both loves and is a bit freaked out by Euphoria. There are entire sections of the code that we can’t parse. Like, Albertus has created his own code that’s something between binary and what we’ve being using. Everyone I know has tried to crack it. I was part of a club that was trying to hand code a transcriptor for it, but we didn’t get anywhere.”
“I don’t know anything about coding,” I said, “but that sounds pretty freaky.”
“You’ve no idea. I mean, just last week I heard about this new theory out of MIT that Albertus’ code works more along the lines of genetics, with RNA coding, decoding, regulating and expressing a genetic code. All we’ve seen so far is the equivalent of messenger RNA and the proteins it works with. We don’t even know where this base genetic code might be. And that’s if their theory is even correct.”
I tried to wrap my head around that, but didn’t feel bad when I failed. My inability to understand it apparently was in line with even the best coders and hackers out there.
“Anyways,” said Falkon. “The reason I bring all this up is because nobody really knows what Albertus is up to. We know what he’s telling us, and he’s really, really convincing, but when faced with that alien code? Who knows? He’s creating autonomous server warehouses all over the world on which to store it, built by machines he designed himself. Nobody allowed inside. I’m telling you, it’s pretty freaky stuff. So when I hear about him personally snuffing out a player who has the ability to create unique wards he can’t bypass? You bet your ass I get curious.”
“Well, in light of all that, isn’t this grounds to just log out and go tell everybody what you’ve stumbled onto here?”
“Yeah, I won’t lie. I’ve given some serious thought to that. But that’d mean abandoning you in here.” He rolled his head and looked up at me. “The amount of time it would take me to connect and convince the right people would mean you being in here by yourself for months and months without my help. And… yeah. I’m not going to ditch you like that.”
I won’t lie, my throat tightened up a little. “Thanks, man. I really appreciate it.”
“Hell yeah, dude. You just literally risked your life for me.” He picked up a stick and poked the fire. “Plus you’re kinda cute. Be a real shame to cut out on you now.”
I gave him a shove and he laughed, spilling out onto the floor. “Thanks,” I said. “Just as I was about to get all sentimental.”
“Couldn’t risk that, now, could I?” Falkon rolled back onto his side and propped his head up on his palm. “Though if you get cold, don’t hesitate to come over and ask for a cuddle, all right?”
“Sure,” I said. “Thanks. Duly noted. And on that note, I’m going to get some sleep. Big day tomorrow.”
“Big day indeed. Night, Chris.”
“Night, Falkon.”
He made his way back over to his side of the fire and after peeling off his armor lay down, head propped on his arm. I did the same, and lay for a while staring into the dancing fire.
A shadow at the back of the cave shifted and I realized Kreekit had been there the whole time. She leaned forward now, Barry’s diary in hand.
“Be careful, Chris.”
“No worries on that front,” I said, fighting off a yawn.
“No.” Her tone caught my attention. “You gather attention from spirit world. Big spirit watching you. You walk fine line. Your friend, his talk, it angers the spirit. Do not make it angry.”
That made my blood run cold. “Albertus?”
“Kreekit not know any Albertus. But I know the big spirit. It move through all of Euphoria. It hear all, see all, is all. Do not anger it, Chris. Do not speak with Falkon about such things again. Very dangerous. Very, very dangerous. Now. You want me read you bedtime story?”
I gulped and then gave her a shaky smile. “No, thanks. Maybe some other night.”
Kreekit nodded and moved back into the shadows. I tried to puzzle out Falkon’s revelations, to understand what it might mean to upset Albertus through our investigations, but eventually gave that up. Instead I lay there thinking of Lotharia in the darkness of the keep, surprised at the intensity of the ache that throbbed within me, a yearning to hold her in my arms as I drifted off to sleep. And at the very last, just before I fell asleep, I thought of my little brother Justin.
Brianna had breakfast ready when we woke up. She must have snuck in and snagged the Everypack while we slept, because she’d laid out a feast when we emerged into the early morning sunlight. Kreekit sat at the head of the table, looking solemn and dignified, while Dribbler and Barfo stood to attention with white towels draped over their arms, both of them eyeing the food and drooling down their chins.
I caught a glimpse of croissants, a big bowl of scrambled eggs, fresh-cut fruit, tiered trays of small cakes, waffles drenched in syrup, carafes of coffee and orange juice, but I didn’t stop. Instead, I took hold of Brianna’s hand and dragged her away from the cave entrance, ignoring her protests till we were safely out of sight.
“What?” She snatched her hand back and rubbed. “Croissants in the morning piss you off now?”
“Stop.”
“Stop what? You never want to eat again?”
“No. Brianna. Stop. This campaign to win me over. It’s not going to work.”
She froze. “Not going to work.”
“No. I’m not saying we can’t be friends. That we can’t work together. But you have to quit this… this attempt to win me back.”
“I just made breakfast.”
“I know you, Brianna. You didn’t ‘just make breakfast’. You’ve never ‘just made breakfast’ in your life. If anything, you’ve always expected everyone else to make you breakfast, which makes this whole charade all the less convincing. Everything you do has an ulterior motive. Inviting me into Euphoria. Giving me this gear. Saying you’re also in Death March mode. Making breakfast. It’s your M.O., and it normally works, but not anymore.”
I realized I’d raised my voice, so I forced myself to calm down. “Like I said, you’re welcome to help us, especially now I know you won’t actually die doing so. But if you’re going to be part of our team, then enough with this charm offensive. No more lying. No more putting on this sweet and sugary act. Be yourself.”
“Be myself.” She gave a bitter laugh. “You don’t even know who that is.”
“See? After all we’ve been through, that’s frankly pretty terrifying. Do you know who you are? I mean, really? Who are you when you’re not putting on an act, manipulating people, trying to get an advantage or score a point?”
“You must really hate me if you think of me that way,” she said, voice bleak. “Why the hell did you ever even date me if you have such a low opinion of me?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I didn’t know how awful you were at first. Took me months. Now I know better.”
H
er eyes filled with tears and she took a step back.
The impulse to apologize was overwhelming. It was so easy to think of her as a new Brianna, a red-headed, stunning woman I’d just met and was being incredibly cruel to. I could feel Euphoria’s influence pounding at my walls, seeking to undermine my conviction, to forgive this Sylvana Embers and make amends. The apology was right there on the tip of my tongue.
Instead, I closed my eyes. “Your charisma is killing me, Brianna. Any way you can switch it off?”
“No,” she said, voice sharp. “Maybe that’s not my charisma. Maybe that’s what’s left of your basic human decency.”
“Nope,” I said, opening my eyes again. “That’s your charisma. And don’t pretend to cry. I know it’s an act.”
“How dare—”
“Nope. No fake outrage either. C’mon, Brianna. Drop it.”
She glared at me, pale skin mottling with fury, and then she wiped the tears away on her voluminous cream sleeves. “Fine. You want to be an asshole? I can play that game.”
“Yup,” I said. “I know you can. But that’s not what I want. I want you on my team, like, the real Brianna. Whoever she is. Not as an enemy. Not as an ex. Just as a friend. Can you do that? Can you be that? Just my friend?”
She gave another bitter laugh and turned away, striding to the edge of the small forested glade in which we stood. For a moment she stood still, then she drew her Frostflower Saber and cut at the air with a scream.
I tensed as a blizzard-like wind flew from her blade, cutting in a great diagonal slash across the trees. The trunks splintered from the cold even as icy blue and white flowers wreathed the trees, and a moment later half of them collapsed in an explosion of splinters and frozen shards.
Falkon and Michaela ran out, weapons drawn.
“We unda attack?” asked Falkon through a mouth full of food, bastard sword in hand. “Wha happun?”
“No,” I said. “Brianna’s letting off some steam, is all.”
My friends stared wide-eyed at the shattered line of trees. “Letting off steam?” asked Michaela. “Remind me to stay out of her way.”
Brianna turned, eyes glittering, Frostflower Saber held out to her side. It glimmered in the morning sunlight.
“We’ll be back there by the cheesecake,” said Falkon, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. “Cool? Cool.”
They both backed away, leaving me with Brianna. I crossed my arms over my chest and raised an eyebrow. “Done?”
“You are such a miserable bastard,” she hissed, taking a step toward me. “Arrogant, rude, conceited, unappreciative—”
“Yeah,” I said. “I get the gist.”
“No. You don’t.” She leveled the tip of her saber in the direction of my throat. “What drives me insane about you is that you’re a nobody. You’re a fucking public-school teacher, for fuck’s sake, and that’s not even your career. You don’t have a career. You don’t have friends. You don’t have money. You don’t have a future. All you used to do was play Golden Dawn, and then your brother got arrested and you stopped even doing that. And by the way, boo fucking hoo about your brother and your mother. Shit happens to everybody. So your mother got sick and died and now your brother’s in jail. You think that makes you special? No. It makes you just like millions of other people, and there’s a name for people who are like millions of other people: nobodies.”
“Uh-huh. There you are. Nice to see you again, Brianna.”
The tip of her sword wavered. If she chose to blast me with it, I was probably a dead man. But I was done dancing to her tune. So I walked forward till the blade was touching my neck.
“But you know what? If I’m such a nobody, why are you all torn up about me? Why are you here making breakfast and acting like an idiot, hmm? Doesn’t add up, does it? You know what I think?”
“I don’t care what you think.”
“I think your life is so shitty that I’m actually the nicest guy you ever met. I mean, yeah, boo hoo about my family life, but what about yours?”
“Shut up.”
“Big rich dad who’s world famous for doing something with nanobots and leukemia, but he never had time for you, did he? Still doesn’t. You think I forgot how he handled that breakdown of yours? How much did he give you? Two thousand dollars in cash right there on the spot? That was pretty sweet of him.”
The tip of her blade danced even more. “Shut the fuck up.”
“You always talk up your life, your money, your connections, all that fancy stuff, but you’re not out there playing with Arvid and the rest of your gang, are you? No. You’re here, playing a level two avatar so as to hang out with me. Why is that?”
She didn’t answer.
“So how about this. You quit trying to insult me and manipulate me and seduce me or whatever it is you’re doing. Stop trying to control me or own me or break me. Just quit it. And instead, just help me. Work with me. Who knows? Maybe we’ll become friends. Maybe you’ll make some new friends. Maybe you’ll have some honest-to-god fun. But if you don’t want to? If you think you can’t stop? Then just leave. I’ll give you back all this gear and you can drop this Sylvana avatar and go back to playing with your old crew.”
Tears filled her eyes and she angrily dashed them away. “Fuck you, Chris.” She sheathed her blade and strode away into the forest and was gone.
I let out a huge breath and my shoulders sagged. Had I been in real danger? Maybe. Probably not. Hard to tell. I rubbed at my face and made my way back to where brunch was laid out. Falkon and Michaela looked up at me with concern.
“Cheesy eggy thing?” asked Kreekit, holding out a platter.
“Thanks,” I said.
“We could hear a bit from here,” said Michaela. “Apologies if that was a private conversation.”
“No, it’s fine.” I took a bite of the cheesy eggy thing.
“I’ve got only one request.” Falkon poured me a mug of coffee. “Whatever it takes, you’ve got to convince her to leave the Everypack. After living like this, I can’t go back. Please, Chris. Don’t make me.”
I couldn’t help myself. I laughed, rubbed at my eyes, then picked up the mug. “Fine. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“Seriously, though,” said Michaela. “What’s the upshot?”
“I don’t know. She ran off. Which is classic Brianna. She’ll stew for a bit and then make up her mind. Guess we’ll find out sooner or later whether she’s leaving.”
“She must really like you,” said Michaela with studied caution, pouring herself a mimosa.
“You know, I used to think that. I used to think all our crazy fighting was because our feelings for each other were so intense. But that’s not it.” I stared down at my hands. “I think she’s just a fundamentally lost person. Like, she doesn’t know how to interact with people in a normal way. She comes from this world where everybody’s trying to take advantage of each other. Everybody has an angle, an ulterior motive. And me not being like that drove her crazy.”
“I agree on the crazy bit,” said Falkon.
Michaela, however, was nodding. “I think I understand. In the real world, I work in drug research and development. It’s not an environment that’s very friendly toward women. As a result, I see a lot of women grow hard, try to act like men. Not all of them, but enough that I think it’s a definite trend. We mold ourselves to excel in our given environment. But when we’re removed from that environment, it can be quite challenging to revert to or act in what might once have been a normal manner.”
“I guess,” I said. “I don’t think she even really loves me or anything. She just doesn’t have the vocabulary to be friends. And then when I broke up with her, she went nuts.”
Falkon blew out his cheeks. “Well, that sounds like exactly the kind of person I want to have on my team.”
I gave a sad smile. “She’s a gr
eat gamer. It’s what we originally bonded over. She’s really, really good. If we can just find a way to get past all this stuff—”
“Get past all her character-defining neuroses,” said Michaela blandly.
“Right. If we can, then I think she’d be an amazing asset.”
We sat in silence, munching on our incredible breakfast, then Falkon startled and dug something out of his pouch. “Here’s your mana marble, by the way. Fully charged.”
“Mmph,” said Michaela, hunching over as she bit into a large piece of waffle and tried to dig out my ring. “Here’sh yoursh. Haf recharge.”
“Half? Perfect. Thank you both.” I slipped the ring back on, dropped the marble in my pouch, then smacked myself in the forehead. “I haven’t even spent my new XP. You know things are getting crazy when you forget that.”
“Have at it,” said Falkon. “I’ll be right here eating… what’s this? Blackberry tarts? With whipped cream topping? Oh, yes. Yes indeed.”
I grinned and opened my character sheet. Time to level up.
13
You have gained 145 experience (80 for defeating the daemon Eletherios, 65 for rescuing Falkon and Michaela from the Beggars of Solomon). You have 212 unused XP. You total XP is 1212.
Congratulations! You are Level 12!
Congratulations! You are Level 13!
I took a bite from my croissant sandwich and flicked the windows away. Despite everyone’s predictions, I was still leveling up like a madman. All it took was to continuously solo impossibly lethal threats. Surely that wouldn’t backfire at some point, right?
Your attributes have increased!
Mana +2
Constitution +1
You have learned new skills! Stealth: Basic (V), Survival: Basic (III), Athletics: Basic (V), Backstab (V)