The Bathrobe Knight

by Charles Dean

  Darwin momentarily found himself at a loss for words. “Actually, you don’t have to worry about Aliens. They aren’t real.”

  “Then why would he talk about them as if they were?”

  “Do, do your people have a God?”

  “Oh, no, not really. We haven’t for centuries. Our people abandoned the gods long before the great king Qasin united the people, but some of the White-Horns worship the Mountain and the God of the Plains.”

  “Oh, well, Aliens are basically just another God for people who don’t have one back where I came from.” Darwin cursed instantly when he realized he had referred to ‘where he came from.’ Would it be a rule violation to mention the real world to NPCs?

  “So in your village they worship Aliens, and the Aliens live in the heavens above?”

  “Yeah, something like that. I’ve even heard stories that the only way to reach out to them is to wear shiny metal reflective hats.”

  “That’s . . . that’s an interesting religion. You, uhh . . . don’t follow it do you?”

  “Oh, God, no. To me, this whole world was designed with a purpose, and you could say that purpose was to have fun. No need to think about it further,” Darwin said, laughing at his own fourth wall joke. Yep, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it was definitely programmed, I mean designed, with the intent for the player to have fun.

  “Ok, good. Because the whole concept sounds ridiculous. Who wants to pretend another random Race is your God? I might as well claim to be the God of cows at that point.”

  “That is an udderly amazing insight Alex, but try not to milk it for too much,” Darwin punned. “It’s one most of us have already thought.”

  “I’m trusting you on this one then, Captain,” he said, still nervous.

  Do gods have more of a part to play in this game universe than they do in reality? Is that why he is still worried even after hearing it is only a religion?

  “It seems like everyone is trusting me these days,” Darwin thought aloud, unconsciously reaching out for the Creation Stone in his inventory.

  When they finally reached at the group of players, Darwin began to feel a little bad for them. He had started noticing it when they were following their trail earlier, but now it was certain. They were headed for the silver ore mine, and stopped a little distance off from the two Ogres that were guarding the entrance, clearly making plans and deciding how they were going to tackle the problem.

  “Do you think this was their plan out here from the beginning?”

  “I don’t know. It’s hard to say. I followed them for an hour, and they didn’t seem to have any clear plan in mind. It could be a coincidence?”

  “It might be, but this makes the situation go from bad to worse if we don’t kill them. If they attack those Guards then there is still a chance they’ll overpower them, get through the door and find a village loaded with loot from spawn camping just waiting for them. They might not be able to take the village on their own, but you can guarantee they’ll find backup if word get out of a big enough reward.”

  “Even though it would be killing innocent people? Are there really so many readily willing to slaughter innocents for material possessions?”

  This Guard, he doesn’t know that there would be hundreds of players that would appear in a heartbeat to kill an NPC for gear, he thought, remembering the times that even he had killed an NPC he didn’t want to in other games just because the reward for being evil was way preferable to the reward for being good, regardless of how much it hurt him inside to betray his character. Some of them would do it just for the EXP. His faith in humanity is too strong.

  “Yeah, Alex, they will. We can’t let them get through that door, but the question is, do you want to kill them, or do you want the ZombOgres to kill them?” Darwin asked.

  “I want to,” he said resolutely, stamping one of the Spears he had taken from a Turtle-Wolf into the ground.

  “Then let’s do it before they get up the courage to attack.”

  “Yes, Captain,” Alex said, falling into a line directly behind Darwin.

  As they crept closer to the enemies, Darwin noticed Justin and Blake, two of the other Guards, who saw them from the cave and began sneaking into their formation. As even the Turtle-Wolves and Fuzzy Wuzzy started to move with creepy stealth, he began to feel like a commando on a night raid. Sure it was broad daylight, and they were just getting ready to kill a bunch of lowbies who were talking amongst themselves, but that didn’t take away from the feeling.

  Once they were almost directly on top of the enemies, Darwin raised his hands and gestured the Guards to sweep left, and the Turtle-Wolves to sweep right and create a circle around the enemies.

  “Ummm, Captain, what are you doing?” Alex whispered.

  “I’m trying to signal you all to go that way and make a circle around the enemy,” Darwin whispered back, as if anyone should have known.

  “Then, why didn’t you just say so? It kind of looked like you were having hand seizures.”

  Darwin frowned. Hand seizures? he thought, upset that his commando act had gone from emboldened to embarrassing so quickly. “Just do it, okay? We don’t want them to be able to escape once we start the killing. We don’t know if they will go for the fight or the flight option once the battle begins.”

  “Got it. Justin, Blake, with me,” Alex said, disappearing in the brush to Darwin’s left.

  “Now, you guys as well, go and stay hidden until I make the first move.”

  Fuzzy Wuzzy and the Turtle-Wolves nodded and then disappeared into the woods to his right.

  Now it was just Darwin, the leader, and the moment of truth that they had all been waiting for. Even though he knew this would be a slaughter, especially with two more of the Guards having joined the group, he was still nervous. He had gotten used to killing monsters and program-generated enemies, but they were predictable. With players there was no telling what would happen. One might suicide with a good spell and take Darwin with him.

  You can do this, Darwin. No time to get nervous now, he thought, grabbing his two blades and taking one last deep breath. Let’s go!

  He ran at them and then lunged as soon as he got close, killing two players before his party could react to the signal and join the fight. There were only twelve of them, but his blade moved like a tornado. He parried, dodged, and danced between Arrows, Axes and blades as if the battlefield was not just his home, but the place he had been born and his reason for living. Alex, Justin and Fuzzy Wuzzy were the only ones who made it in time to even get in on the action and take a life for themselves. By the time Blake and the four Turtle-Wolves had arrived, the fight was over.

  “Wow! Captain, that was incredible. The way you spun a full 360 when that Arrow was inches away from you, dodging it completely and landing your blade in the archer’s gut? That’s crazy!” Blake said. Never having actually seen Darwin fight before, he was clearly impressed.

  He doesn’t know I’m just a higher level than them, Darwin thought.

  “Yeah, well, they’re dead and we have work to do. Strip them of any gear that doesn’t disappear with the bodies and let’s regroup in the town.”

  “Yes, Captain,” Alex said with a broad smile.

  “And Alex, one more thing.”

  “Captain?”

  “Bring everyone to the kitchen chamber,” he said, thinking to make sure he wasn’t forgetting something. “Clear it out of all the tables. There is a big decision awaiting us that will decide the fate of the town.”

  “Thanks again for coming to kill them, sir,” Alex said, doing a mock salute and disappearing. The way he faded in and out of stealth was downright baffling to Darwin.

  Is there a stealth function I don’t know about? I wonder what all the classes are in the game. Too bad there isn’t a way to ask Kass about that without just saying outright, “Hey, I’m not a regular player. I was magically warped here after dealing with a break-in homicide in the real world.” I don’t know why I’m h
ere, and oh yeah! This isn’t an in-game Race. It’s something I have mysteriously been since birth, and I still haven’t figured that one out yet.

  Darwin sighed and headed into the chamber. The decision was already made. The people just didn’t have the luxury of knowing that.

  Darwin stood in the old Boss room on a raised platform with the double doors leading into the kitchen behind him. What had once been a poker room and then a makeshift dining room was now the best they could do for an auditorium, but it was still too small to fit all of the Valcrest refugees inside. As a result, no children were in attendance and there were still a great number of people in the halls and the kitchen behind him doing their best to listen to what he was about to say.

  Darwin, who had never given a public speech before, expected to have sweaty hands, sore throat and a red face. He had even anticipated that he might feel dizzy and nauseous. The one thing he hadn’t planned for was feeling comfortable, at home, and in control. The second the crowds gathered his eyes sharpened and the room went from being a mass of people to an extension of himself. He felt the words flowing out of his mouth and into the crowds as if it were as natural as running water rushing through a river. He knew it didn’t matter what his message was. It didn’t even matter what words he used to convey it. What was important wasn’t that; it was the confidence. It was the demand that mattered, the command that he be trusted no matter how insane his words may sound.

  “Valcrest, I came to you a stranger. I came to you a man stripped of home, people and any belongings that weren’t on my person when I found myself in this exile from my own lands. But, you people told me not worry. You gave me food, shelter, a place to rest my head and a job. You gave purpose back to my life when I was lost. Most importantly above all of those gifts though, you gave me your trust.

  “And don’t think I didn’t notice. It couldn’t have been easy, but you did it. You followed me when almost every one of you is a capable leader, strong enough in spirit to stand against any challenge, yet you chose to honor Elmont and follow a stranger you barely knew. I asked that you leave your homes behind--where you had spent generations building families, memories, and friendships--to follow me into a dark and musty cave barely fit for life, yet you did so in an instant and without complaint.”

  As he spoke, the crowd became more and more responsive. They had gone from passive listeners to actively nodding and mouthing their agreement as he spoke.

  “That’s why it pains me to tell you the trials are not over. That the changes we started when we decided not to merely repair scraps, but create a future, still have a great way to go. But, I cannot do this without your continued faith that we are doing the right thing and we are on the right path--that at the end of the day, you believe the sacrifices I am asking you to make are worth the rewards we will gain when they are made.”

  Darwin paused. Everyone had been murmuring and talking amongst themselves when he first decided to start talking, but now they were all as silent as a church mouse, and their eyes were fixed on him with unwavering focus. So this is what public speaking is like? he thought, giving the room a moment to take a breath. Then he opened his inventory and pulled out the Golden Creation Stone and held it up on a flat palm for everyone to see.

  “Do you all know what this is?” he asked, waiting for their nods to show him his assumptions were not wrong. “Do you know what will happen if you agree to follow me when I activate this Stone?” he pressed. They nodded again, many doing so excitedly and others even mouthing yes as they did.

  “This is where our path lies,” he said, closing his fingers around the smooth Stone and gripping it as tightly as he could within a fist. “This is the tool we will use to create a future where we are more than the pawns of Kings and the food of evil men. It is the item that will give us the power to manifest our destiny.”

  He stopped again for a moment, letting it sink in with the crowd. There were no questions, but the people were still nodding. They were hanging on his movements, their eyes following his every gesture.

  “I am going to use this Stone here and now before you. By a higher providence I have been set upon this path and I cannot stray, but you can. That’s why I am here to ask you, do I still have your faith? Will you, knowing the dangers and hardships you will have to endure, cast aside your comfort yet again and come with me?”

  Before the pause could take root the people answered his question: “Yes!” they shouted at him. There was no disagreement, no uncertainty or lack of answer from anyone in the group. Even those in the hallway who could not hear the speech were shouting yes to not be left out of the fervor of the crowd.

  They do not know that in following me, they are casting aside their Humanity, he thought without a single pang of guilt. He needed them to agree because if he was going to keep them alive, then there wasn’t any room for indecision or second guessing. There was no turning back from the path that he had laid out for them.

  Activate Tiqpa Creation Stone, he thought, squeezing the Stone even harder than before.

  You are attempting to activate a Creation Stone. Your Race, Demon, will be set as the Faction’s primary Race. All NPCs preexisting within the Faction will be converted to Demons and all NPCs generated by the Creation Stone will be Demons until new Races are added to the Faction by procuring additional Creation Stones or alliances. Do you wish to Accept or Reject?

  Accept. Darwin had already been warned by Eve about what would happen when he chose to use the golden rock.

  You have activated a Creation Stone. Please select a name for your new Faction.

  The StormGuard Alliance, he thought, deciding to name his Faction after his old gamer’s guild. The StormGuard Alliance had managed to claim first in several raid bosses and was more than just a guild: it was his prized creation. He might not have socialized, recruited, or even done much in terms of boosting morale after his raid group had wiped, but he had spent hours farming gold for the guild bank, buying upgrades for the guild raid gear and working tirelessly to research and come up with the best strategies for each one of the raids. It was something he had spent years pouring his heart and soul into, and while he couldn’t go back to it on Emerald Gardens, he could at least recreate it here.

  Congratulations! You are now leader of the StormGuard Alliance Faction. You may now build and assign privileges and Ranks for your Alliance through the Tiqpa Faction menu.

  Everyone was still cheering and the rabble of their excitement had only grown since their agreement. The Stone had been activated, and now that the Faction had been named, and the conditions had been agreed upon, its magic finally kicked in. Its golden hue grew so bright within his hands that the light merely escaping the cracks between his fingers crushed every bit of darkness in the room, eliminating shapes and details and leaving only white light visible to anyone with open eyes. Then it faded, leaving Darwin and the people of Valcrest to struggle as their eyes adjusted back. When he could finally see again, Darwin smiled. Where once stood a crowd of people with blue, green, and brown eyes; with red, blonde, and brunette hair colors; now stood a room full of dark-haired people whose red eyes shined throughout the crowd. His speech was not a lie. He really had come to them a stranger, but now he had a Race, he had a people, and he had a destiny.

  Valerie:

  It’s actually kind of pretty, considering what it is, Valerie thought to herself as she stared at the glass walls of her prison. She had known ahead of time that she would log in here. Mclean and Daniel had both gotten on early and then sent her forum messages warning what would happen, but it still didn’t prepare her for the feeling that came with it: helplessness. They probably didn’t understand what it was like to be in prison, but Valerie had been stuck in a chair that felt like a prison for years.

  11 hours and 32 minutes left, she counted as a minute passed on her timer. Each jailable offense in a starting land wasn’t worth more than two or three minutes in the glass prison, but the number of offenses they were being charged w
ith had pushed a simple game creator’s concept of “a few minutes of time out for bad behavior” to her and her friends being forced to wait an entire day in their solitary confinement cells. She wanted to send them messages, but even that function was disabled for the duration of the punishment.

  She was alone, trapped and helpless. It was a far too familiar feeling. And now I get to spend an entire day not walking around again, she thought bitterly. The worst part about it was that she was being punished by the people she had worked so hard to protect last night. They had spent hours upon hours helping save the White-Wings, and now she was in a White-Wing prison with her new friends.

  The Guards changed for the first time since she got to the cell. It had been over an hour and a half since she first arrived, and she was already used to the quiet terror of being able to see a world around her that she couldn’t interact with. She could see their lips moving but no sound came out.