Level twenty coyotes are fierce foes, and it didn’t take them long to decimate Nika and her party. The plasma went dark and then changed to show the three by the fountain in town. Rebooted to the last save point.
He couldn’t keep from grinning as they watched Nika sink down on the stones surrounding the fountain and put her head in her hands. Ha. Take that you little bitch, he thought.
Then the screen went dark.
Cora looked over the shoulder of the nearest programmer. “What happened?”
“Nika overrode the system code to the game cameras. She’s blinded us as to the game play.” The programmer answered.
Blake was outraged. “She can’t control the system from inside the game!”
“The system and programs, no,” Cora said. “But the in-game settings, yes, she can.”
“Well, override her override,” Blake yelled.
The programmer paused just long enough to give Blake a nasty glare. “If you can give me the security code for someone in the company with a higher clearance than Nika Nolan, I’d be happy to, Sir,” he said. “Otherwise her command stands.”
“Way to go, Blake,” Cora said. “Now we’re blind. If she has anything else up her sleeve, we’ll never know about it until it’s too late.”
Shit.
Chapter Nine: Rebooted
When the health bars on the coyotes had increased from nearly empty to about ten times the length of their own bars, Nika had known she’d screwed up. How on earth could she have been so stupid to have not thought about the in-game cameras?
Of course they were watching them. And when they had seen them headed in the opposite direction from where they were expected to go, they would have easily guessed her destination.
To have upped the levels of the monsters they were facing did answer one question. None of this was by accident. They were being held captive within the game. At this point, she wasn’t sure even winning the game would work, although they were at least several days of hard game play from finding that out.
When they reached Gaia, if they still wanted them trapped, all they had to do was up Gaia’s level like they had the coyotes. They could literally be trapped in here forever, or until their bodies in the real world were ended.
Well, there was at least one thing she could do.
“System control override Forrest Rayne Master Overlord 399324,” she said quietly.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Nolan,” the system’s voice responded. “How may I assist you today?”
“Turn off all in-game cameras available to the outside world.”
“Done.”
“Is there any way for me to affect the programming of Gaia’s Rebirth from within the game?” Nika was pretty sure she knew the answer, but it was worth asking, anyway.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Nolan. There is no way to affect game programming from within the game. You do have control over in-game settings, however.”
“Can you list the in-game settings on my v-screen, please?”
“Done.”
Nika quickly ran her eyes over the list and laughed when she finally hit on something that just might help. “Control, please change the game difficulty from Normal to Novice.”
“Done.”
“Thank you, Control.” Her father had always thought it odd that she constantly thanked the AI operators. To her, it just seemed right to do so.
“You are welcome, Mrs. Nolan. Is there anything else I can assist you with today?”
“No, that will be all,” Nika said, and her v-screen disappeared back into the ether.
“Nika?” Nika looked up to find Ash hovering over her. “Are you alright?”
Nika gave her a wry smile. “Yes, just kicking myself for making a rookie mistake. They were watching us on the plasma and must have realized we were heading to a hidden exit. So they upped the level of the area monsters so high that we don’t stand a chance with them.”
Nika glanced over at Dean to see how he was handling being killed by a pack of rogue coyotes. She was surprised to see that he appeared to be taking it all in stride.
“How are the two of you?” she asked.
Dean grinned at her. “I’m totally cool. That was flipping awesome!”
“I’m glad at least one of us thinks so,” she said. “Ash?”
The girl shrugged. “A little pissed-off that they cheated us, but truthfully? I’m also a little happy that I get to stay in the game for a little longer. I just wish they weren’t screwing with you though. That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Nika agreed.
Dean was bouncing on his heels. “So when do we go back out? Can we face monsters that we can beat this time?”
Nika laughed, “I certainly hope so, otherwise this is going to get boring very soon.” She stood and looked at Ash. “There’s no way we can make it to Riser’s Creek today starting this late in the day, and I really don’t want to make camp until we are a lot higher level. But we could always venture out in that direction and see what that section of forest holds, and if the creatures are uber-leveled or normal.”
Ash smiled. “That would be cool.” She paused. “But maybe we could eat a little something first? I know it isn’t possible to really be hungry, but my brain is still telling me it’s lunch time and I should eat.”
“I could eat,” Dean seconded.
“Majority rules,” Nika said. “Let’s check out the Mayor’s house to see if the buffet goes for lunch too. If not, we’ll polish off the bacon and toast from breakfast.”
As it turned out, the Mayor’s house served three full meals a day. Actually, more than that as the tables would always be full of food. But they did try to keep the foods consistent with the time of day. Now, for lunch, there were platters of sliced bread, cold cuts of turkey and ham, slices of cheese, and a tray of various fruits and veggies, complete with dip.
They each got a plate and went up to their little attic room to eat.
“So, if I can ask,” Ash started, “what’s the game plan now? Do we just travel on and try to win the game?”
Her voice sounded hopeful, and Nika had to smile.
“Looks like that’s all there is left to do at this point. If there really is a working communication station at Riser’s Creek, I’ll try to get some answers. But I’m betting something will come up to stop that. So, for now, we’ll take one day at a time and just play the game as best we can to level ourselves up.”
When those words were greeted with huge smiles from the other two, she shook her head. It was really nice to have everyone on the same page for once. Being rebooted had done wonders for Dean. Maybe once the worst happened, there just wasn’t anything left to fear.
Lunch was a fast affair, and they each took the opportunity to use the modern facilities before heading back out. The only thing Nika wasn’t too overly fond of about the game was the whole going to the bathroom in nature thing. It just didn’t seem right to her. But holding it in all day wasn’t an option either. Even if they were now virtual beings, they had real bodies out there with real bodily functions.
They headed back to the fountain and Dean of all people had a brilliant question.
“Hey,” he said. “When we died we were rebooted back to exactly our status as it was when we saved, right?”
Nika nodded.
“Then why was it around lunchtime when we left just after breakfast? In the online game didn’t time reset too?”
He was right. Nika paused, considering how best to explain it. “In order to make things real here, we had to set this world to mirror the one outside, at least in regards to time. Rebooting just affects the players,” she smiled. “I mean I’m good, and my dad was even better, but even we haven’t invented time travel yet.”
Ash laughed. “Well, there you go. Now you have your next project all lined up for when we get out of here. Time travel.”
Nika grinned. “I think I’ll stick to games. But after we get out of here, and I straighten
out whatever is going on, I’m thinking about a long vacation. And not a virtual one, either.”
Just for safety’s sake, they each touched the save point. The good thing about the short-lived coyote battle was that it happened so quickly that they had only had time to use one health potion each. When you rebooted, the game didn’t give those back. Which reminded her.
“Here, Dean,” she said, handing him two health potions. “You might need these.”
He took them, looking embarrassed. “Thanks. I’ll pay you back when we reach Riser’s Creek.” He grinned. “With all the loot we’re going to earn slaying these monsters, I may even be able to make good today.”
“Whenever is fine.” She bit her tongue and didn’t say anything else. It looked like Dean had learned his lesson, and she didn’t want to give the new and vastly improved Dean a hard time.
They each stepped onto the path, and when the system message came, they each selected to continue. Then they started out on the path toward the next town.
At first, the forest seemed much the same as the one on the other side of town, but gradually, differences started appearing. For one, the trees were much larger here, and it didn’t take long before the path between them narrowed to the point that they were forced to walk single file for a ways.
Nika was hoping the monsters would wait until there was a clearing of sorts before attacking. She knew that was how the game she designed worked, anyway. Hopefully, they hadn’t changed that aspect of it. Thinking about it, she realized they probably hadn’t.
All the changes thus far, except for the ridiculous costume she was now stuck with, had been made to keep her in the game. Changing the monster AI strategy would take time and it wouldn’t help what appeared to be their cause.
After thinking that through, she relaxed and began to enjoy the surrounding scenery. It really was quite lovely.
The large trees towered above them, their branches swaying in a slight breeze that Nika could feel ripple against her skin. Once they had taken more than a few steps into the woods, the sunlight had become hampered by the leaves above, and it had grown much darker.
They could still see where they were going, but the daylight had been cut at least in half. Here there were shadows, even in the heart of the afternoon. But there was beauty and an abundance of wildlife too.
In the other area, they had seen birds, two deer, the dreaded spiders, coyotes, and a tiger. Here there were chipmunks and squirrels. And, yes, birds too. Their song filled the air of the woods and melted away in the soft wind.
It was peaceful, and Nika began to realize why her father had wanted to open the game even to non-players. This would be a great place to take a vacation. Away from the world that man had so thoroughly destroyed.
As she relaxed, her attitude regained its normal composure. There wasn’t a damn thing she could do about whatever Blake was up to until she got out, and it looked like that was going to be awhile. So she might as well enjoy the experience as Ash was.
And it was evident that Ash was indeed enjoying herself. The girl would run ahead of them, just to give herself time to stop and check something out. First, it was to smell a bright purple flower, then to see if she could tell where a squirrel had disappeared to up in a tree. She was laughing and full of wonder.
Yes, Dad definitely had something with the whole vacation thing. It actually wouldn’t be all that hard to take the game elements out and just leave the world. Thinking about it, she realized that casual vacationers would want to explore the forest too, and maybe even the entire world here. But they would most likely be daunted by the idea of facing monsters.
She smiled. Time travel might be out, but she had her next company project well in mind now. It shouldn’t take over a couple of years, either. And most of that time would be the manufacturing and set up of a duplicate world’s mechanics in the real world.
“Okay, guys,” Ash called out. “It looks like there’s a clearing up ahead. You might want to get ready.”
No sooner had Ash spoken than Nika heard movement in the brush to the side of the narrow trail. Whirling, her blade in hand, she searched for the ambush she was sure was coming. Only there was nothing.
Well, not quite nothing. There was no attack, but there was a flash of black and white fur between the trees. There one second and gone the next.
Nika racked her brain for all the research she had done on forest creatures. She couldn’t think of a single one, other than a skunk, which she had most definitely not programmed into Gaia’s Rebirth. And even if Blake’s misplaced sense of humor had added them, they wouldn’t have been at the height of the fur she had just seen.
No, the tiger from yesterday had made its way around the town and onto the same trail as them. Well, it had saved them once. As long as it continued to be friendly, she didn’t mind the extra company or fighting power.
“Hey, Nika,” Dean called out. “A little help?”
Chapter Ten: Level Three
Ash was glad that Dean was right behind her when she finally reached the clearing only to find it filled with coyotes. Dean had a momentary relapse into panic as he yelled for Nika before beginning to aim and fire at the beasts.
A quick count showed six of them, double the number they had faced before. Ash was sure that it was going to be a quick trip back to the save point. At this rate, they’d never make any progress.
But these coyotes weren’t as high level as the others. Firing a single spell into one of them took it down to half life, and an arrow from Dean polished it off.
The canines were trying to surround the party, but when Nika joined them at the rear, they ended up between the Amazon and the rest of the party. This gave the players an advantage.
Nika jumped the one closest to her, throwing her arm around its neck and raising its head just enough to bare its throat for her blade. One slice and he was down.
While Nika turned to take on another, Ash kept firing her spells into the coyotes, trying to make sure she hit each one. Then Dean would follow behind her spell with an arrow and they were done.
In a matter of minutes, the three stood there catching their breath. Finally, Ash put it into words. “Did that seem way too easy to anyone besides me? We had more trouble with the spiders. I mean, I know we are level two, but it shouldn’t make that big of a difference.”
“It wouldn’t have,” Nika said. “But when the team back home cheated with the last battle, I was afraid they would do it again, so I changed our difficulty to Novice.”
“Novice?” Dean asked. Another reminder that he hadn’t ever really played the game.
“The easiest difficulty of the game,” Ash explained. “There’s Novice, Normal, Hard, and Hell.”
He nodded. “I’m kind of glad we aren’t in Hell.”
“Yeah, I finally managed to play the online game all the way through on Hard, but Hell kicked my butt every single time I tried,” Ash said.
“If the team back home decides to play fair from here out, I can change it back to Normal if you like.” Nika gave a grimace. “Playing on Novice only gives you seventy-five percent of the Normal experience points, so it will take us longer to level up.”
Catching Dean’s disappointed face, Ash shook her head. “Why don’t we keep it at Novice for a bit? At least until I reach level three and learn the heal spell.” She gave Nika a look and moved her head slightly toward Dean, who was busy collecting his spent arrows.
Nika gave her a wink and nodded. “That sounds smart to me. Unless, of course, Dean objects? We are a team now.”
Dean looked up grinning. “Sounds great to me. Monsters that we can beat totally rock!” He looked around the clearing as if hoping more would appear. “Don’t they re-spawn after a while? I’m pretty sure I heard my bro say they did.”
“They do, but it takes time,” Nika said. “I’d say we keep going a bit and see what else is out here.”
Dean moved out, actually taking the lead for once, and Nika moved to follow him. A
sh started out, but stopped, whirling to face the side of the clearing, her wand at the ready.
She had seen something flying through the trees, and it was far too large to be a bird. “Hey, Nika? You guys didn’t add dragons to the game, did you?”
Nika actually laughed. “No, as much as I love their legends, we tried to keep it as true to earth history as possible.”
Ash searched the treetops for another glimpse of the thing, but it had hidden itself too well. She waited long enough for Nika to come stand beside her.
“What did you see?” Nika asked, her tone now deadly serious. “Please tell me it wasn’t a dragon.”
“I’m not sure,” Ash said. “But it was too big to be a bird.” She looked at Nika, her face concerned. “I think we’re being followed.”
“We are, but I’m pretty sure we don’t have to be afraid of him.”
Ash’s mouth fell open. “So you know who it is? Who?”
“That tiger from yesterday.”
Ash’s face cleared. “No. I mean, yeah, he’s definitely following us, but this is different.” She hesitated, biting her lip, afraid this was going to come out sounding really stupid. “I’m pretty sure that whoever is following us has wings.”
“Whoever? You mean you don’t think it’s a monster?”
Ash hesitated. “It could be, but it hasn’t moved on us yet.” She shook her head. “Or maybe it’s just my imagination. Let’s keep going. It’ll either show itself, or it won’t.”
And it’ll either be friendly, or it won’t, she thought. She didn’t think for one second that glimpse had been her imagination, for all her words otherwise.
Dean was waiting for them on the other side of the clearing, but he didn’t ask. As soon as they caught up, he took off at a fast walk along the path. This new Dean was a force to be reckoned with. She kind of liked him. A lot more than the old version that was for sure.
The next clearing wasn’t really a clearing, but a widening of the path. As if they had entered a gate, once Ash, who was bringing up the rear, had stepped between two overly large trees, they realized that every exit from the path was covered in tree-to-tree spider webs.
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