by Kieron Uchee
I stood up and looked around, it was extremely peaceful and relaxing, I decided to go for a walk. I looked over at Kamasut who had also stood up. She walked over to me and then put her arms on my shoulders and pulled me closer, I could feel her hands shaking a little.
Looking at me she whispered, “I still feel I owe you and this is all I have.” Then pulling me closer she kissed me. My hands had risen and wrapped around her sides, I could feel her breasts against me as she breathed. I looked into her eyes and then gently pushed her away.
“It would be easy to do this, but would not be right,” I said. Kamasut looked surprised, and a little sad. I would guess that most women as beautiful as her were not used to having their favors rejected. Deciding to explain before I hurt her by rejection I began to speak.
“If we did this Kamasut, it would not be because you wanted to but because I have an aura that women find attractive and hard to resist. Also, you feel that you owe me for saving you and want to thank me. You have been physically healed but the emotional healing takes time and it would be wrong for me to take advantage of that at this time. It is not that I don’t find you attractive because I do but this would not be right.”
Kamasut was blushing a little but looked at me and nodded, then she said, “I hope you did not find me to be forward, I just feel a little overwhelmed and wanted to express my gratitude.”
I smiled at her and said, “It is all good, I am glad that we can be friends.” I wanted her to know that she had done nothing wrong and that all was good. The aura I shared with Ama was growing stronger now that I was back ingame and I would have to be careful not to let it get me into sticky situations.
Pointing at the cabin I said, “Let’s get you inside, it is getting late.” Holding her hand, I led her indoors. Saying goodnight, I went back outside and strolled around the island, enjoying the night sounds. It was a peaceful night and it refreshed my spirit. I finally returned to the cabin and went to bed.
The morning had come and gone but the mist that had rolled in during the night had stayed. I gathered up what I thought I would need and stopped for a hot cup of kava. Kamasut was still sleeping and Komhether and Sebastian were talking softly. I joined them and listened in as they discussed building plans and ideas.
After several minutes I spoke up, “Guys, help Kamasut get back to the city and tell her to meet me at Alaric’s pub tomorrow evening. I will be away for a few days; I am going to place the book at the House of Pain and try to see what is happening with Reona at the Kradula.”
Having said my goodbyes I left, making my way along the cable car cable I quickly crossed to the city side thanks to my wings. Changing back to Elf form I went straight to the Pub, once I was near my map flashed, and two red dots appeared. They had several other green dots next to them. Scanning my minimap I saw that it was the two agents who had accosted me. The others nearby were probably backup if needed.
This was a problem; I did not want to fight or deal with them. I had a feeling that they would try to somehow get me out of the game to help deal with the Eldest or at the least try to find out what I knew. Sighing to myself, I entered Shadows and began to make my way through the fog towards the group.
This was pissing me off, I just wanted to be left alone to accomplish my goals but instead, here I am playing hide and seek with those Special Federal Security agents, Jack and Smith. I guess that they had orders and were going to try to carry them out. I found myself hating the situation; The bloody government has to have its nose in everything, I thought.
I finally was close enough to hear them and it was exactly as I had surmised. They were waiting to grab me and I was going to end up in some hole somewhere, what was surprising was the fact that they were planning on torturing me ingame for the info. I was a non-player and had no legal rights so they could do whatever the hell they wanted to me and nothing could be done. All they needed to do was catch me.
I stood and stared at them with anger swirling around in my mind. Slowly making my way out of the cluster of agents I marked everyone as an enemy and watched the colors change from green to red. Moving back the way I came I settled in for a long watch, I wanted to know where they called home in the city. Once I had that information I could plan out something.
All I knew was I wanted to make them pay. Juvenile maybe but these guys were part of the problem in the real world and now they were trying to bring the shit home here. That was not going to happen.
After a couple of hours, I saw a group of them break off and make their way up towards the fourth-tier gate. After following them for a while it became apparent that they were heading towards a large building. The front was an old shop; the rear was a warehouse and the second floor the living quarters. It probably would have a basement.
Once again I waited and after an hour the group departed, it had taken them half an hour to get here so I decided to wait for at least two more hours. A second group had shown up half an hour after the first had left, probably to eat. Once the second group had departed, I slowly made my way to the door. It was unlocked and that made my entrance easy. I drifted through the first floor seeing that there was nothing to note on this floor.
Making my way to the basement I noticed the thickness of the walls and the fact that no one would hear anything, the bastards had chosen well. Going down the stairs I was not hampered by the lack of lighting, my Dragon eyes were more than capable of seeing in the darkness. As I suspected they had set up the basement as an interrogation facility, which sounds so much better than calling it what it is, a damn torture chamber.
Is there any difference between what these Federal Agents are hoping to do to me or anyone else they think might give them some information and the House of Pain, I thought.
Climbing out of the basement I was filled with disgust, both at these men and the society that created these situations. Making my way up the stairs I came to a long passageway with three doors on each side.
The first four were bunkrooms with hastily constructed bunk beds. The last room was set up as an office, with a chalkboard on the wall and flow charts and the names of various individuals that these agents were interested in on a table. I scanned all the info using my PIM and then went to the last room.
It was set up as a lab of sorts, and it had its own mad scientist. I observed him, a human, age unknown but looking about twenty. He was talking to himself and writing down notes in a small leather notebook. I listened in, and sure enough he sounded crazy.
“If my theory on VR is correct then that would explain all the crazy things that happen on earth. Records of magic, healings, visions, direct interventions from Gods. It is all there just as it is here. The problem is who wrote the damn code and why is it that some individuals can access the powers and most others can’t.”
“It is clear that both this game and the Earth are artificial constructs, but are we building them ourselves or is someone else. If it is possible to log out here why can’t we log out on earth? Of course, there are different rules, perhaps a coding mistake has occurred on earth. Or maybe death is the log out. Without a base of understanding of the rules I can only postulate certain things.”
After listening to him I decided that his notebook was required reading and once he went to the board and began to write I slowly entered the room and lifted it off the desk, then made my way outside. Traveling down to the lower harbour I made my way to the Inn I had stayed at before and rented a room for a week.
I started to read and after several hours I stopped to have some supper and a drink, then lighting up a smoke I sat back in the booth and thought of what I had just read. It seemed that Taminder, the mad scientist fellow, was really a bright boy, and had been brought here to acquire practical experience in dealing with NPC and the artificial game world.
This was because he was advancing the theory of multiple virtual realities, only not in a game. According to his theory earth was just one of many artificial constructs, and that we were all playing characters, or
NPC as there was little difference in his theory. I had to admit I thought it was all bullshit as I started to read the journal, but then halfway through reading I had a paradigm shift and could see his viewpoint.
There were just too many things that could not be explained, and even in the modern world crazy shit happened, both good and bad. This had been happening from the dawn of recorded history, and now with GNet it was easy to scroll through the mountains of information, most of which was crap, but enough was real to make a person ask some questions.
To be honest I felt like Taminder was on to something, but I still had to deal with being hunted by these Feds and wanting to accomplish my next task, dealing with the House of Pain. If I could only accomplish one thing here it would be to get rid of those bastards. I could not get them out of the game, but I might be able to get them away from each other. It would have to do.
Chapter 17 Rewrite
I had woken up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world and win. Then I crawled out of the bed and had a look out the window. Wet and misty with low layers of fog covering the streets. Still, I loved the smell, it held just a hint of pine in the air and that was combined with the smell of fresh wood smoke coming from the chimneys. It was the kind of weather made for someone who would be sneaking around, someone like me.
My plan was simple, go to the House of Pain, enter and make my way to the officer’s lounge and deposit the book. All I had to do was not get caught. I hated this House and what it represented, along with the cruelty and pain it inflicted on others. If my plan worked and I hoped it would, this House would not be around for much longer.
Making my way down the stairs I entered the hall that led to the wash area, taking my time I washed up and made myself look presentable. Walking slowly, I entered the dining area and sat down to order breakfast. In the last patch, several of the menu items had been changed to real world style with many different cultural foods available to enjoy.
This morning I decided to have a Full Monty British breakfast. Washed down with about a liter of Earl Grey tea. This fry up comprised of bacon and sausages(bangers) eggs, fried bread, toast, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, black and white puddings, kidneys, kippers, mushrooms. It was delicious.
As I sat drinking my tea I began to review my plan for the day, the first thing was to gain entry to the House of Pain. Once inside I would find the officers lounge, and leave my gift. Then to escape back to the street. I left the Inn and began walking along the streets, making my way up to the level that held the Guild house. The fog had wrapped around me, silently masking my slow approach and deadening my footsteps.
Eventually I arrived and stared from across the street at the house. It was three stories high and had a large fence that went around the house inclosing a back yard. The style was common in the area; these homes were at least three hundred years old. That knowledge was going to be useful to me.
In my discussions with Kamasut she had mentioned that most of these old homes had hidden passageways and secret rooms. I was hoping to find just such a thing and use it to scout out the house.
As I waited and watched I noticed a strange change in the light of the day. It was a wet foggy day with the colour an off white. Yet as I waited the colour changed and almost seemed to have a yellow tint to it. It reminded me of stories that I had read about tornadoes, and how the colour in the sky would often change just before the tornado hit.
As I was thinking about these things the door across from me suddenly opened and two members of the House of Pain stepped out. As I observed them I noted that they were both at level twenty and that while they had on respectable gear it was all green quality. I thought briefly of following them and seeing what they were up to when it happened.
There was a sudden muted flash of light that seemed to come from the air, and everything froze. I was momentarily stunned but kept observing the two players who were literally frozen in mid step. What the hell. I glanced at my interface and was shocked to discover that the clock was frozen also.
This was supposed to be impossible. Nothing could stop time like this, even patches to game content did not halt time. After waiting for several minutes, I took a breath and made my way across the street. I stopped once I was at the door and observed the two players, they were indeed frozen in time and space. Shrugging my shoulders, I relieved them of the few coins they each carried and then made my way into the House of Pain.
As I began to search through each of the rooms I noted that most of the players were between the levels of twenty and forty with the officers all above level fifty-five. Not that it was important but these little tidbits of information often came in handy at some point. It was on the third floor that I eventually found what I was looking for.
There were about a dozen officers all gathered in a large room. They had been frozen in the act of eating and drinking while gathered around what could only be described as a throne. Sitting on the throne with three naked NPC girls chained at his feet was the Little Shit. Just off to the side was the Kritiq. I had forgotten what an ugly little bastard that thing was. I guess he had bonded to the Little Shit during their time imprisoned together.
Opening my bag, I placed the Big Book of Discord on the Little Shits lap and then proceeded to make my way through the room. I stopped here and there to help myself to the gold, silver and jewels that the officers had. It was quite the haul and I would count it back at my Inn. I had no idea how long time would be stopped and I still wanted to find the hidden passageways within this house.
I might have to return here someday and having an edge was what I wanted. Back in the main hallway I walked into the room at the far end. It was clearly the master bedroom and judging by the filthy clothing scattered around and the garbage and food thrown on the floor it was being used. I did not need to worry about someone finding me in here, I could hide under some of this garbage and remain unseen. I am not a clean freak, but to leave the place where you sleep looking like this, it bothered me.
I began to check the bookcases and the fireplace as those were the sort of traditional places where you might find a hidden door. Nothing was seen, and I prepared to leave the room, hoping I would have time to explore another room. Just as I was about to leave I glanced at the bed and noted that is seemed just a tad higher than it should be.
Stopping for a moment I examined the bed a little more carefully, noting that the head board was actual a mural painting on the wall. It showed the city from three hundred years ago. The palace on the Temple mount was much smaller and the library much larger. The main entrance to the library was a dark doorway, and the way it was painted made it look slightly recessed into the wall.
I stared for a moment then put my finger tip on the doorway and pushed, with a soft click the mural swung inwards revealing enough space for a man to enter. I stepped into the passageway and watched the mural swing shut. After about 5 seconds a soft green glow appeared. I waited for several seconds more to let my eyes acclimatize to the lighting and then looked down the passageway. It was narrow and appeared to be made of bricks.
It seemed that every twenty feet along the passageway was a small alcove. I looked at these alcoves as I went down the passage and I observed that they each had a doorway with a small lever attached. Stopping at one of them I noted that several peepholes were cleverly built into the hidden door, allowing whoever was in the passage a chance to make sure that the room they would enter was empty.
Continuing along the passage I saw that it came to a stop with a ladder that led downwards and another that led up. The ladder going up interested me as I had thought I was on the top floor.
Guessing that there might be an attic I decided to explore a bit before I made my way downwards, after all I was in the Thief class now. Making my way up the ladder was not hard and the soft green glow followed me as I ascended. I soon climbed into a long rectangular room that ran the length of the house.
The floor was made of bricks as were the walls, there were two large w
indows that I was surprised to see. I knew for a fact that the outside of the house did not have windows in an attic. At one time, someone had left some strong magic here and I was now very curious to see why.
I scanned the floors and the walls very carefully for any Runes or anything that might be some kind of magic trap. It all looked clean so I carefully stepped into the room proper and made my way to the far end where a desk and several shelves were situated. I began to go through the books that were on the shelves, most dealt with elemental magic with a few dealing with politics and history and legends and myths.
Walking over to the desk I sat down and began to go through the drawers, a few gold coins and a small bag were all that I found. Opening the bag, I observed four rings of the epic quality. They almost crackled with energy. Putting them back I carefully added the bag to mine. Seeing nothing else of interest I walked over to the closest window and looked out, it was still foggy and dark with very limited visibility.
Glancing down I noted a park directly across the lane from the back of the house and in the park, were three beings. They looked like energy contained within a cloud in a humanoid shape and they appeared to be fighting one another. As I observed them it became apparent that they were expending large amounts of energy of some kind, which came to a climax as all three seemed to merge together and then blow apart with a large white glow all in total silence.
Once the glow faded I could see that there were several small pieces of the beings scattered around, and I watched as they began to flicker and then slowly fade. In the end, only three pieces were left and they were dimming. I am not sure why I felt I had to get down there but it was almost a compulsion. Giving in I opened the window and stepped out onto a ledge.